Disappointed again, my favourite work of art wasn't available when we popped in.
So instead, we tried these...
Musings, Ranting and Experiences - Life's what happens while you are waiting for a table
So on the spot, crabs for dinner - it shall be.
Quite obvious from the crabs chosen who ordered what - G wanted their signature chili crabs and I wanted something that at least remotely felt like the creamy butter crabs from seafood paradise. To add some variety we also ordered their lotus leave pork ribs, another recommended signature.
The food was not too bad, but honestly, not worth the hype and long queues. We were suppose to collect our order at 6pm but when we got there at 6:10, the lady in charge of the take-out queue asked if they had given me a call to ask me to come. "You wait until we call you then you come ah" came my dismissive shoo-away. After taking like another 30 mins or so to get and pay for my order, I already had more then enough time to admire the steel determination of the people in the queue and to contently stand next-in line in the take-away queue.
Probably the only highlights would be their chili crab. It helps to have a cool dining companion who will lovingly peel off the entire pincer, fat and juicy ready for my kill. Like I said before, my hubby is the best! =0)
Tea and tea cakes have some extinguish and pompous fluff about it, something extremely pretentious and pinkie finger curling over the teacup handle that makes it fun to enjoy once in one's lifetime. I had my immersion over the weekend.
The V Tea Room opened at the Esplanade mall over two years ago and has always remained an ideal cosy but opulent nook reserved in my little pink diary for tea and lounging with the girlfriends. It boasts an elegant Victorian theme decor with masquerade masks and golden framed paintings, exquisite tea china and exotic artifacts and collections.
Barely containing my excitement, I skipped straight to the tea cakes on display to examine the variety and range of rich and decadent sounding cakes. Everything just looked so exquisite and unique sending a tinkling buzz to my brain to awaken the sleepy cake giant suppressed.
G is always lamenting about the lack of authentic Korean fare with the full Kimchi works in Singapore. So when Jang Shou hit the Asiaone food reviews, and the known food blogger, ieatishootipost gave his thumbs up review, that automatically became G's next food target.
I was always under the impression that Korean dining was quite similar to its close Japanese cousin- reputed for finesse and attention to every detail - from food to interior, to service and bill size. turns out, I was quite right. The place was spick and span, spacious and furnished with booths and tables neatly fashioned to give each dinner party privacy yet open enough to get the attention of the staff, although that wasn't really necessary because they were attentive the entire night.We ordered two of the recommended specials - the beef ribs (Suwon NeoBiani) and the olive pork ribs with honey (Galbi). I look at the generous marbling, and you can tell its the good real stuff. The sizzling of the grill was soon complimented with the delicious smell of the fat frying and the beef cooking. The wait staff patiently waits for the meat to cook while placing the all of three accompanying mushrooms and bulb of onion in to fry aside. The meat is then cut judiciously into small bite size pieces - G later tells/demonstrates to me that in Korean, you wrap each piece in a lettuce slice and everything much be taken in no more then 1 mouthful.
Presentation apparently is key from the detailed cooking efforts taken by the staff. They change the serving grill twice during the cooking process when it is evidently charred from the frying all so that the meats look pretty and presentable in the grill. The end result - very delicious and well marinated juicy and soft pieces of meat melting in our mouths. I tried to save some pieces of the meats to take with my Bi Bim Bab but I was never good with patience and most of my meats were in my tummy before our main carbs arrived.
G ordered his authentic cold noodles (Chik Naengmyun) and I ordered the safe Bi Bim Bab. The rice was a little too wet and hence was not too enjoyable. The cold noodles were a little too 'interesting' for me. Its sweet and cold and has peanuts in it, so it didn't exactly go down well with me although G said it was authentic enough to remind him of the ones he had in Korean.
All in all it was quite an experience and honestly, for the quality and the service and the ambiance, the prices were fairly reasonable. G is glad to have found a place to lean on if his authentic Korean cuisine craving kicks in. I just like the grilled meats and will probably just stick to that if we come back. We would definitely want to try the 3 layer pork the next time too.
Jang Shou Korean BBQ
#01-13A/B Esplanade Mall
(Colours by the Bay)
Tel: 6337 8880
My nice hubby patiently arranged all the dishes neatly for me to take my necessary photo. In the end, I decided to post the photo he took instead. =)
My penchant for lazy Sunday nights-in usually kick into over-drive after lunch and even more so if the Friday and Saturday before had been packed with either errands or activities.
If we stay at home on Sundays, then hours appear longer.
If the weekend appears longer, Monday is not round the corner...
But I digress. I was craving rice and G was craving curry. So true to our indecisive tendencies - after an afternoon of back and forth - we finally decided to head down to Zion Road to packet G's old favourite Nasi Padang. I left most of the ordering to him because - shock, shock, horror, horror to him - I had never eaten there before. The only thing I wanted, was the Korma chicken and bergedil. G chose some curry vegetable, and his favourite squid and egg.
The chicken curry was fragrant with a strong coconut flavour and the drumstick was really soft. I realised this was the exact same curry mom used to bring home to add to our dinner. It strikes a prominent memory because it was the first time as a child I had heard of curry that was not spicy. My skepticism dissolved into epiphany that would remain etched in my recollections, finally unlocked 10 over years later.
The rest of the dishes the bergedil and curry vegetables the bergedil and curry vegetables was pretty normal. The egg, was quite good, true to G's recommendation, not as oily as the variations you get at most rice stalls. It tasted and resembled somewhat like tauhu telok - without the peanuts and the sauce and the accompany vegetables.
All in all, a good hearty meal. A tad expensive though. Our order came up to $40 for two persons! Albeit we bought 3 extra drumsticks and bergedil for B and L but I suppose there is always a premium to pay for published famous old-time food stalls.
Nasi Padang River Valley
54 Zion Road
Opening hours : 9am - 9pm
Closed on Public Holidays
Our initial plans to have a lackadaisical quiet evening at home were inadvertently shelved when the sister tempted us to dine out with J, herself and B. After blasting like over twenty smses back and forth, we finally agreed on a dining venue - Satsuma. But two SMSes later, L threw a spanner in the works and suggested Turquoise Room. It sounded like a good suggestion since G and I had never been there and since she had many times suggested but never got her choice, we decided to skip Satsuma this round and reserved the Turquoise Room.
The place is located within the serene Gillman Village, a stone throw away from Little Bali and the first thought I had as I walked into the spartan patio-furnished restaurant was... 'Rustic. Hmmm, charming'. Perhaps the only betrayal to its modern existence would be the floor to ceiling glass wine cellar which boasts a wine selection wider then the food choices available within the menu.
We brought our own bottle, which alcoholics will be pleased to know that corkage is a mere $10 if your dinner bill comes up to $80 - Q.E.D.
The sister lunged straight into the appetiser section to claim our starters for the evening - the bread platter, calamari and beef carpaccio.
Though the wait for our food wasn't long, I would have to say I was truly disappointed at the quality of the food that night. I don't claim to be a Connoisseur of food of any cuisine, and when I crave for Italian, any ol' bread and pasta fare typically suffices. So when I comment as fairly as possibly about a place's servings being below par, you can more or less assume the worse.
From our choice of appetisers, I liked the bread platter the best. But, considering most average and upper class restaurants serve bread complimentary and with more standard then this, I won't classify this a compliment to the chef.
Among the five of us, we share three different types of pastas - crabmeat linguini, white wine lobster linguini and seafood penni and a beef tenderloin and grilled lamb cutlets.
After the appetisers, we were already not expecting much. Its a good thing we lowered our expectations, that way the disappointment we experienced was already buffered a great deal. The crabmeat and seafood pastas were only mediocre. The lobster linguini was inexplicably tasteless and just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, we popped the total of three morsels of lobsters and discovered a new level of 'rubbery -overcooked'.
Our wine and best starters of the night
B and his Moby Dick t-shirt and our crab-meat linguini
Needless to say, we declined desserts. The sister kept apologizing profusely for the poor recommendation, although disclaiming that she had earlier in the car ride over warned us not to expect too much. Next time I'll have to set a clause that she makes all qualifying statements and comments before any reservations are made. =0p
Turquoise Room
Gillman Village
7 Lock Road, 108935
Tel: 64733655
I certainly don't profess to be an exciting individual. I'm not ashamed to admit I treasure my nights at home where we packet or cook simply from where ever or whatever is convenient. I appreciate the comforts and familiarity of our own home where I can eat in front of my TV or computer watching DVDs, in my pajamas, in my lazy element.
But there is also something about pre-weekend nights and the crave to have a relaxing night out, with the Hubs, and his and my favourite hobbies - eating and shopping! Enjoying free parking at Takashimaya was just the spectacular icing on the cake.Our first dish was the Thai Green Curry Chicken which came with a complimentary dish of salted fish. The curry was thick, fragrant and abundant with vegetables and chicken. It wasn't spicy as promised by our wait staff, but it was definitely very tasty with a mix of Asian spices and flavour. The next dish was less impressive. The minute the fish arrived, the two of us just knew we should have ordered our fish as a whole rather then in slices. Though the portion did not justify its price, the fish was nevertheless fresh and the spicy sweet sauce was quite good. I couldn't handle too much of it though.
The grilled honey pork ribs was the star of the night. When the waiter served the dish, I thought we made another wrong choice because the ribs looked a little plain and tough. But as I poked a rib with my fork, it literally seared through the meat, effortlessly tearing the meat cleanly off the bone! The ribs were so unbelievably tasty - smoky and sweet and soft. Toss in some sweet sauce and garlic chili, the ribs were really addictive. G tasked me to finish the rice cakes and the ribs, which I would have done without much persuasion. The food was definitely in another league from the likes of Thai Express or Siam Kitchen but I still haven't decided if it was worth it.
Thai Green Curry with plenty of water!!
Fried slices of Garoupa with special spicy sauce
The super soft Honey grilled Ribs
We both had absolutely no room left for dessert. But the dessert buffet table was hard to say no to. For $7.50 you can have ample helpings of fruit, kuehs and authentic Thai desserts in all types of cute and small shapes from the array of shiny silver platters at the buffet counter.
I must say, Sabai really takes pride in serving fine Thai dishes. The water chestnut dessert that G had was really creamy and the freshness of the coconut could be tasted with each spoonful. But what truly qualifies them as exquisite, is the immense effort and extend they go to to make a simple dish such a pleasure and tease to the eyes and other four senses.
I really enjoyed my Thai immersion, even if it was for a short hour and half. - Now, on to burn it away with some shopping!
Sabai -Authentic Fine Thai Cuisine
391B Orchard Road,
Takashimaya Shopping Centre,
Ngee Ann City, #04-23,
Singapore 238872
Tel: 6333-8491
We went to Pontini - for an Italian change - this week for Family dinner. I was quite excited because I had heard much about chef Michele Pavanello, two pretty glowing reviews from reputable sources about Pontini when he was the chef there. Now I was keen to see how he was back to claim his kitchen again after his au contraire 'not-so-raved' about stint at Il Lido.
The menu prepared for the World Gourmet Summit was available but we didn't find anything appealing so we stuck to the Ala-carte menu and some of the main-stay recommendations we read up on before coming.
Mom chose the anti-pasti platter from the buffet selection - parma ham, smoked salmon, duck and garnishing lettuce veggie. While dad, G and I chose a beef carpaccio with a generous serving of cheese and arugula, or rucola, salad. The cold cuts were fresh and quite flavoursome. But I found the carpaccio too salty, and myself wasting away plenty of San Pellegrino. I would later come to realize that that was actually really good standard carpaccio considering what I was able to have over the weekend at The Turquoise Room
For our main course, the men safely chose a popular signature - the homemade squid ink tagliolini with crab meat. Grandma had a pork tenderloin ordered for her, mom, the braised veal cheek and me, being the most greedy, ordered the entree-portioned home-made veal ravioli served with truffle emulsion and the grilled lamb rack with sauteed honey mushrooms. The consistent theme revolving around Chef Pavanello's food was - simple and au naturel. The ingredients were simple, but only the premium and freshest cuts would do. The plate-ing and garnishing were unpretentious, but served the purpose to emphasize the main flavours executed to perfection.
The pork tenderloin - good, soft and juicy. The braised veal cheek - oh, one of the best braised veal cheeks I have ever tasted - the flavours so subtle and satisfying. The ravioli was rich, creamy and chockfull of meaty goodness. The grilled lamb - up to expectation with the boring companions of mash potatoes and mushroom, which tasted pretty standard and remained, as I suppose, an appropriate accompaniment befitting to the Chef's theme.
My only nemesis was the squid ink pasta. All the purported notion of wholesome goodness in "home-made" could not overcome the incurable paranoia of eating black-coloured food, I was rather apprehensive about trying the radio-active looking squid-ink pasta. G and Dad claimed it was good but sure enough, it tasted absolutely artificial and plastic to me. I'll stick to good old flour and eggs anyday!
The dessert took rather long to arrive, but fanciful creations are always worth the wait. The traditional tiramisu was served as expected in a cup and had a heart-stopping serving of cocoa, cheese and coffee. My hazelnut creme brulee with raspberry sorbet was light and a pleasant nutty sweet ending to my meal. Dad and mum shared the nougat parfait in warm bitter chocolate soup. It sounds terribly sinful, but surprisingly, the parfait was light and fluffy and the chocolate soup looked more like an foamy broth. It all went down well leaving us with a rather novel twist of an ending to what I would probably classify as an authentic but still rings through as more of a traditional Italian meal.
Pontini
Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel
392 Havelock Road Tel: 6233-1133