Restaurant Week 2014- Royal Mail

2nd Restaurant week was with the girls! :D Very pleased that we managed to get a common date to go for this because we always have trouble finding a date that suits everyone! 

Since there were 3 of us, we could have one of everything!

For starters we had scallops, roasted vegetables and foie gras

Scallops were good! It's only the second time I've had scallops, and this had a delicious pomelo avocado chutney base. roasted vegetables were okay, nothing spectacular. I can't pass judgement on the foie gras because i only took a small taste of it. I can't stomach innards, pun not intended haha.

For mains we had salmon, beef cheeks and chicken

I was hesitant to get the chicken breast because it's so easy to do badly but I was in for a surprise!!! I think the chicken was the best main, with a very very good white chocolate sauce. Never thought the pairing would work but it sure did. Salmon was nice and soft too, but the beef was a bit of a let down, a little too gelatinous. It didn't help that we sat right under the air con so food got cold quickly and the beef because chewy and hard. ):

I loved that dessert was FULL OF CHOCOLATE

can't decide which was best because they were all awesome. The fondue chocolate was good rich chocolate, after the fruits were gone i used the chocolate to eat everything else.

the white chocolate panna cotta and the cheesecake were both smooth and creamy and very very yummyyyy :D

we've come such a long way together (: glad that we still find the time to meet up every now and then (:

Restaurant Week Singapore 2014- Salt Grill and Sky Bar

I've heard about restaurant week NYC from Ter previouly, but never knew that Singapore has it too!! So I was pretty psyched to try out restaurant week this year, and was very lucky that my friend shared with me an early bird booking code that gave me a better pick of restaurants and dates.

 Salt Grill and Sky Bar 

We booked Salt Grill for my parent's early anniversary and went there as a whole family for lunch! (: Getting to Salt was very exciting because you have to go through ion sky and take an elevator all the way up to the 55th floor. I have to say that the elevator was very pretty with twinkly lights hahaha

Anyway, so we were seated at a table by the window! Yay, view of the skyline (: The restaurant is very beautiful with a gracefully curved slope that winds up to the 56th floor. There is plenty of room to walk around and view the skyline if you'd like that.

So here we are with the set menu. They served some hot crusty bread with olive oil and something to dip. This dip was amazing, it had... chopped nuts and other salty things that made the bread super yummy! We also asked for butter lols even though it may be a travesty to have both olive oil and butter on the table. But oh wells :D

For starters we had the crab omelette and tuna sashimi

The omelette was definitely better in my opinion, because there were a lot of flavors on one plate. It seemed to be Asian inspired, with mushrooms and a very refreshing broth! The crab was good too, although I don't really eat crab.

The sashimi seemed slightly smoked, and was fun to eat with the puffed rice. But we've always favored salmon sashimi over tuna, so a whole plate of tuna was a bit much.

We tried every main on the menu!

My favourite dish was the Potato Gnocchi with corn, asparagus and Parmesan cheese. So tasty, and the corn and asparagus was a very nice complement to the starch heavy gnocchi. Looking at it makes me want to eat this again!

Snapper with cous cous! This was quite refreshing, a little tangy. My mum said it was not bad, quite interesting, and I agree although I kept tasting some mint somewhere and I don't really like mint so that was a minus for me.

Beef came with a choice of mustard type. My sis couldn't decide so she got a little of each on the side hahaha. The beef was tender and flavorful, very nicely done as well!

and finally it was time for dessert!!!

Cheesecake and sorbet. The cheesecake was creamy and soft and nicely complemented with sour sorbet!

However the banana parfait won hands down because it was more unique! The banana parfait tasted like milky banana ice cream, and the chocolate mousse was pure chocolate goodness. Everyone knows that banana and chocolate are a winning combination anyway. There was also peanut brittle that tasted a bit like honeycomb and provided some crunch in an otherwise very smooth dessert. LOVED THIS.

Here are some pictures of us! (: Very happy and satisfied with our delicious lunch :D

Kith Cafe

I shall share about a nice and easily accessible cafe I visited recently (:

Was researching for a nice cafe to go to for lunch, but most cafes are so terribly inconvenient ):

Finally found one that was really convenient: Kith Cafe which is located at Park Mall, close to dhoby mrt station

I had only read reviews about the brunches so I was very pleased that there was a lunch special when I went there! It was quite crowded too although it was a weekday, we managed to get the last available seats indoor.

I had a piece of sole fish with lemon butter sauce, and a creamy tomato linguine and side salad all for $19! which I think is a good price (: Fish was good, sauce was nice, and I loved the pasta, which wasn't cloying and perfectly portioned for my appetite. The salad was tasty too, and had cheese! I liked how I had a bit of everything on my plate. haha :D

My friend had a smoked salmon eggs Benedict which was quite large in portion too, and she seemed to enjoy it as well!

yum yum! I was very satisfied with lunch. They had this amazing looking side of truffle fries, but we were too full to endeavor polishing off a whole side of fries.

We did however, get tempted by the cake. This came highly recommended by the waiter, but it didn't really appeal to me, although I usually love chocolate. Im not sure why, but i think it's something to do with the texture of the cake. It wasn't moist or soft enough for me, and I wouldn't pay 8 dollars for this again.

So I think Kith has some pretty good food, but I would just hop over to plaza singapura for dessert next time. 

Food Hunting with Terence Part 6: 10@Claymore

OMG i have put this off for so long i almost forgot about it haha

I have to share this wonderful buffet at 10@Claymore in Pan Pacific Hotel :D

It's special because they have this thing called plates of pleasure, which are plated a la carte, but you can have as much as you like within the buffet.

The lobster was pretty good according to T, the salmon was great and the ratatouille was so good that I asked for servings of ratatouille without salmon cos it was so yummy to eat alone! We didn't have space to eat lamb, but the char kway teow and laksa were both really excellent. All the plates of pleasure are served on small plates so that you have space to try everything!

Roast beef! It was not bad, but not the best item at the buffet

Sashimi was fresh and there's a whole variety, tuna, salmon, octopus, squid etc etc. 

Here's the salmon with the awesome ratatouille. I could eat a whole pot of the ratatouille i think

Laksa was very good, mildly sweet and sour, and had barramundi fish in it, consistency was not as thick as normal laksa, and I liked it this way!

This unassuming char kway teow is REALLY good!!! We polished this off in no time

Mushroom soup! Thick and flavourful, but nothing to rave about

Lobster with cheese! A little small, but well you can have as many as you like at the buffet, so no complaints!

Here are the desserts! I think the main food is better than the desserts, although they did have a decent variety.

Cheese selection

Bread

My favourite dessert the fondue fountain! Only one variety of chocolate, but it was nice nevertheless

Salad!

I think it's one of the most competitively priced in Singapore, we paid just under $100 for two people for lunch, which is quite okay for what we got I think. The hotel had a nice ambiance, and there was definitely enough variety for me, more importantly the food was fresh and I thought they had quite a good range and quality of seafood and meats. Maybe the only downside is that dessert wasn't very good.

When we went, there were not many people around, and service was impeccable, Whatever we ordered off the plates of pleasure menu came very quickly, and when I kept asking for more ratatouille they obliged and sent me a huge plate of it. hahah


Favourites of the buffet: 
- Fresh salmon sashimi
- ratatouille
- very interesting char kway teow and laksa
- fondue!

Food Hunting with Terence Part 5: Alkaff Mansion

19. Alkaff Mansion

Exceptional restaurants deserve their own post. We'd wanted to go to a nice place for lunch the week before Ter went home to NYC. Since he managed to take half day leave, we picked a place with lunch special (:

Alkaff Mansion is  really fancy Italian restaurant perched on a hill. The 3 course lunch menu was 42++ which is a good deal considering that just one item costs about that price for dinner.

Focaccia Bread and breadsticks with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The sad thing for me is that Italian restaurants don't do butter ): It has become somewhat of a joke with Ter, because I root for French food, and he, Italian.

Mushroom soup with truffle oil. This was quite heavenly, the truffle oil was drizzled generously all over, and the consistency was as thick as a paste, chock full of mushroom bits!!!

Ter's colourful octopus which he described as a burst of flavour

 Seabass with roasted potatoes and mash served on a hot stone like plate. There was a hint of cheese on the fish, which made it quite special!

Ter's duck ravioli which looks ugly but tastes good. The only thing he complained about was that he would have liked a chunkier filling to give him something to bite.

Hazelnut Napolitan!!! SO AMAZING

The quality of food, service and ambiance was top notch. It's no wonder that Alkaff is a top restaurant in Singapore, definitely a place to go when there's a special occasion. And if you can make it for the set lunch, even better!!!

Happy and full and probably rounder hahah

Food Hunting with Terence Part 4

16. Miam Miam (Bugis)

I have been wanting to try Miam Miam for the longest time! It's a French Japanese fusion restaurant and has always been crowded when I walk by.

 This is the Miam Miam Spaghetti. haha i'm not sure if it's meant to be an Asian or Western dish, but it's okay, because it tastes really good. I think it's the sauce, which seems a bit buttery?

Chocolate souffle with vanilla ice cream. A little bit of a let down, because the texture inside was too wet, it was like eating tiramisu that was dripping wet. okay not a great analogy lols.

 We were trying to decide if we would be too full for their signature french toast, but the waiter said 'don't think, just eat!' and i'm glad we got it, because this was really good. If only the white thing on top was ice cream not whipped cream.

Overall a nice place, but it's a little pricey. One main and two desserts set us back by 50 dollars!!! and they even charged us 1 dollar for water omg

17. Yoshimaru Ramen Bar (Holland V) 

So I got a groupon deal for this online! Wheee! Ramen is always comfort food, especially after a long and tiring day. I am so blessed to have him come pick me up all the way from Pulau NTU.

Yum I really like ramen and they do it very well at Yoshimaru. You even get a bowl of sesame to grind and pour into your soup!

18. Amber@West (ITE West) 

I really recommend this to everyone living in the West, because it's probably the cheapest fine dining you can get! haha

It's 25 Nett for a 4 course set dinner with Mocktail, and 15 for 3 courses at lunch.

Of course the service is impeccable because the students are all on training and it's quite a cosy restaurant too, quite nice for a date night out without bursting the bank.

Starters: 

Watermelon with feta cheese and tomatoes

Italian Bruschetta wth field mushrooms and tomatoes

Soup: 

Minestone Soup

Mains:

Fish with sambal chilli and beans, asparagus, field mushrooms

Pork Loin with rice

Cherry Tart and Chocolate gelato

Chocolate mousse cake with poached pears

All in all a very nice night! The menu changes seasonally, you can check the latest menu on their website (: