The Dempsey Brasserie @ Dempsey Road

The Dempsey Brasserie isn't new, but this is our first visit there. It's located in the Dempsey district, and is housed in this charming colonial style apartment.


A check on the internet reveals that the chef here has previously worked @ PS Cafe and the now defunct The Nautilus Project. So you get an idea of the food they serve here.



The high ceiling makes this place has a very industrial feel to it.


Started off our Sunday brunch with Red + Green Apple Juice (S$8) and Blackforest Milkshake (S$12). Very welcoming on a hot afternoon.


Most bistros I know offer their ultimate version of a "Big Breakfast" during weekend brunch. And here, it's their The Big Brasserie Breakfast (S$24) - 2 Sunny side eggs, Back bacon, forest mushrooms, grilled cumberland sausage, roasted vine tomatoes, grilled brioche, butter and jam. The tomatoes were very sweet and juicy.


Free iced water is served here.



We also ordered their Signature Mussels and Fries (S$20 for starter pot) in Vin Blanc style (shallots, garlic, parsley, dry white wine). Mussels are air-flown from Boston Bay, Tasmania. Unfortunately, the mussles were not as good as we hoped for.



Golden fries with the mussels.


Also had the Smoked Pulled Pork Burger (S$25) served with skinny fries and homemade apple sauce. Pork was rather tender. They could have done a better job for the fries.


French Onion Soup (S$14) with thick crostini and gruyere cheese melt. Very filling, and sharing is recommended.


The Dempsey Brasserie
Blk 7
Dempsey Road,
#01-03

Tong Le Private Dining @ OUE Tower

Tong Le Private Dining has become one of our favourite place for Saturday brunch. Was here not too long ago and ordered 2 different sets of S$80++ and S$120++ Set Lunch. We have combined some of the S$80 items together with the S$120 items below.



As usual, each of the set lunch started off with the Trilogy of Dim Sum. They were carefully handmade unlike those that are mass produced elsewhere.



Ordered a Mocktail with melon, peach and cherries (S$12).



Superior Bird's Nest Soup with Winter Melon Puree. Very nourishing for the body.



Here is another mocktail with Korean pear, lemon, lavender and mint (S$12). Pear lovers will like this version of their pear mocktail.



One of our favourite dish here is the Steamed Wild Marble Goby with Garlic and Beancurd Skin. The fresh fish is boneless and has been sliced for the convenience of diners.



The Poached Seasonal Wild Sea Fish in Sze Chuan Consomme is another great version of the sliced fish dish.



Cleansing the palate with a beautiful mint and lychee sorbet.



Next up, Braised Japanese Pink Pork belly. Very nice texture and marbling. The Pink Pork is new ingredient, and the pigs are grained fed in Japan.



A "east-meet-west" dish - French Tai Bai duck breast fillet cooked in sous vide with Chilled Osmanthus Flavor Pear. The sous vide treatment of the duck meat allows it to remain tender and moist.



We are hooked to Tong Le's crystal prawns, and the chef specially created this Crystal Prawn with Noodles for us.



Another unique dish is the Yuan Yang Fried Rice with Minced Wagyu Beef. Puffed rice is added to the fried rice for added textures.



The desserts we had in our set lunch includes this Chilled Mango accompanied with Homemade Mango Sorbet, Blood Oranges, Pomelo and Sago



And the Traditional Red Bean and Dried Tangerine Peel with Homemade Red Date Ice-Cream.


Plus the exceptional Bird's Nest Tart.

Tong Le Private Dining
OUE Tower,
Level 4 and 5
60 Collyer Quay
TEL: 6634 3233

Paul Bakery @ Takashimaya

Paul bakery, one of the most famous bakeries in Paris, has been one of the most visited place whenever tourists go there for holiday.



A few months ago, they opened their first Singapore shop right in Takashimaya mall along the ever-busy Orchard Road.


It is always crowded throughout the day. So some patience is required to secure a seat during peak hours.


To try a wide variety of their bread, I would suggest ordering the Patissier Basket (S$8.90), which includes croissant, pain au chocolat, briochette and other varieties served with jam and butter



Had a Chablis (S$15 per glass) which went well together with the freshly baked bread.



Also ordered a Soup of the Day (S$9) to accompany the bread.



We enjoyed our Chamomile Tea (S$4.60) during our brunch at Paul Bakery.



I like the cute little containers they use to serve their jams and French butter.


Since it was not enough, we ordered another basker of their Patissier Basket (S$8.90).



On to the main course, the Provence Cod (S$23.90) served with rice was a unique item which I believe was not served in their Paris outlets. The cod fish was tender, but quite average.



Fairing better was the Salad Fermiere (S$16.90) which had roasted chicken, green apple, raisins, walnuts, carrots, mixed lettuce.



Millefeuille nature (S$6.30). It's described as "crispy, crème-filled Napoleon is a traditional French favorite and a PAUL classic. The crispy golden puff pastry is filled with vanilla-flavored pastry cream and topped with a light apricot glaze."

Service here is really slow, but food is quite OK for us.


Paul Bakery
391A Orchard Road,
#03-16/16A/17
Ngee Ann City Tower A

Summer Palace @ The Regent

Not too long ago, Summer Palace over at Regent Hotel invited one of their chef Patrick Chan from the 2 Michelin stars Cantonese restaurant Zi Yat Heen from Four Seasons Hotel Macau along the famous Cotai Stip.


I thought it will be interesting to try out how different their way of cooking and presenting Cantonese food is as compared to the other Chinese cities.



It was almost 90% packed when we arrived at Summer Palace, thanks to the ads and write ups on the local newspapers and magazines. We ordered the Set 1 menu (S$68 per person, minimum 2 people).



Served first was the Appetizer Combination (Crispy Scallops with fresh apples, marinated turnips, and jelly fish) The appetizers were good, and the ingredients used were fresh.



From the ala carte special menu, we ordered the Chef's special Crispy Crab Claw with Shrimp Mousse (S$16 per piece). The crab claw is really big and meaty, otherwise this is really quite an ordinary dish.



Back to the set menu, the Braised Crab meat and Vegetable Sprout Soup tasted okay, but nothing to shout about.



One of the best dish for the night is the Sauteed Prawns with Fragrant Tea Leaves. The prawns is really crunchy, and there is a very mild tea leaves scent to the prawns.



The Poached Vegetables in Fish Broth and Mud Crap Balls isn't really a dish I enjoyed much. No doubt much effort has been put into making the mud crap balls, but it tasted really similar to our local fish cakes. Would be better if they used real fish meat to cook the dish.



Also quite ordinary is the Inaniwa Noodles mixed with Shredded Eggplant and Capsicum.



Fortunately, the dessert was quite good. We especially enjoyed the Osmanthus Jelly which had a flowery fragrance.



Chilled Mango Puree with Sago was also included in the set menu.


Summer Palace
1 Cuscaden Road,
3F
The Regent

Parco Caffe @ Raeburn Park

Even though Singapore is a small country, but there some places which not many people would know about or even know that it exists. One such place is Raeburn Park.



Most people would assume that Raeburn Park is actually located somewhere near the Tanglin or Rochester Park area. But guess what? It's located just right next to the now defunct Tanjong Pagar Railway Station.


Parco Caffe is actually located inside an office block, but once you enter this place, you will not notice that this is inside an office. Instead, what greets diners here are beautiful grass patches and a garden-like setting.


Iced water is served complimentary to all.


Bread basket is also served. We ordered 2 sets of the S$55 degustation dinner.



This is not from the menu, but we topped it up for our soup dish. The Chicken Roulade Noodle With superior stock (Original Price at S$14), tasted like your generic chicken noodles soup.



The Chick Pea soup with seared Gamberi prawn tails and rosemary fared better.



I enjoyed the Homemade Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek Tortelli served with Taleggio Sauce. Basically it is a wanton, but with a beef fillings.



Also quite good was the Lemon Sole and Prawns, Artichoke Mash and Lobster Bisque


For the mains, they had 2 choices. The first was the Asian spinach chicken - Layers of pan fried marinated chicken drum meat and sauteed baby spinach.



2nd choice was the Japanese Kurobuta Pork Rib tossed in Lemon Honey Sauce served with Asparagus.



We find the Polenta sticky pudding with Raisin, Passion fruit with orange coulis quite ok. But nothing spectacular.



For my entire meal, my favourite food is this Steamed sago cake served with fresh coconut milk and melted brown cane sugar. I guess this could best be described as the signature dish here.

Nice environment, but average food.


Parco Caffe
10 Raeburn Park
#01-28