St Regis hotel, the latest glamorous and prestigious hotel to open on our shore. Tout as a 6 star luxury hotel and with so much at stake, Yan Ting, a Cantonese restaurant offers to promise you a totally different dining experience.
Stepping into St Regis is quite an experience on its own, the grandeur of the hotel will simply blow you away. The splendor furnishings and the majesty furnitures are not all, even taking a lift in St Regis promises you a unforgettable reminiscence.
6 Star is not exaggerating, and from the moment you enter the hotel, it feels so good to be rich, even just for that afternoon.
Albeit being a Chinese Cantonese restaurant, the contemporary and classy feel of the restaurant’s interior certainly does not show any indication, with the exception of the 4 seasons painting, and the exquisite chopsticks and spoons plated in gold and inlaid with jade pieces.
An elegant chandelier is the highlight of the low ceiling in the restaurant. Stylish curtains and the comfy seats brings out a cozy and relaxed dining atmosphere.
The main emphasize which makes Yan Ting stands out from the other Chinese restaurant is in the pricing for its dim sum. While others usually charged dim sum by per basket or plate, Yan Ting attempts to break through the norm and bring the pricing of dim sum to another level by its per piece charging.
For Yan Ting’s A la carte menu, just like some of the more prominent Chinese restaurants, they are priced by per person, and the small servings of the food meant that there is no chance of sharing food.
Being in a 6 Star hotel, you definitely will not expect Yan Ting to be easy on the pocket, with most of the simpler dishes priced from $10 to $24 each. And with the small serving, expect to spend up to $100 for a decent meal, per person.
Appetizer Unlike their western counteparts, most Chinese restaurants doesn’t actually serve out appetizer since the Chinese doesn’t have the emphasize on course eating. The small squid is actually quite good, simple enough to start our taste bud going in anticipation of the rest to come. And its free, so no complains there.
Cripsy radish pastry ($1.80 per piece) This is the first time i had a radish pastry before, and i must say it is good, the crispy skin compliments well with the soft radish inside.
Oven-baked fluffy Char Siew Pastry ($1.60 per piece) The Char Siew Pastry is indisputably the star of the show here. Take a bite into the crispy fluffy pastry, and you will discover the juicy and sweet char siew hidden within. Having one each is really not doing justice to the pastry. And i’ll rather pay $1.60 for one of these wonderful char siew sou, than to eat several cheaper ones. Excellent!
Stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce ($4) I never had stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce before, and to be honest initially i mistook this dish for the fried carrot cake done with XO sauce which is commonly found in Chinese restaurants dim sum menu.
Although it tasted more like Char Kway Teow than “cheong fan”, but i find it to be quite all right, and at $4 even though the portion is quite small, its still cheaper and more worth well than the XO sauce fried carrot cake that i had at Peach Garden.
Steamed shrimp dumpling ($2 per piece) The steamed crystal shrimp dumpling, or more affectionately known as “Har Kao” comes at a hefty price tag of $2 per piece. If you do your maths, this works out to be $6 for one basket of three Har Kao. There’s always a first time for everything, and this is really a first time where i had such expensive shrimp dumplings.
However, Yan Ting’s Har Kao is really one of the best that i had tried so far, the thin skin envelops the fresh and succulent prawns. But at $2 each, Yan Ting is really testing the limits for the first-rate dumplings.
Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling ($2 per piece) “Siew Mai” or steamed pork and shrimp dumpling is always the dim sum i’ll base my judgment on how good the dim sum at the restaurant really is. The Siew Mai here passes the test, the combination of the crunchy prawn and the lean pork goes well together.
Xiaolongbao ($4 per piece) To be frank, I never liked xiaolongbao, since i can’t really appreciate the beauty of it. Even though the xiaolongbao is a bigger rendition than your normal ones, to pay $4 for one xiao long bao, i’ll be crazy.
But, the Xiaolongbao at Yan Ting is really different from the usual ones, the pipping hot stock juice literally floods out upon a bite into the skin of the xiaolongbao. Although the xiaolongbao is quite good, but i’ll not order it again if i come back to Yan Ting. For a $4 xiaolongbao experience, once is enough.
Traditional Cantonese egg tart ($1.60 per piece)
The egg tart is done exactly the way i like it, cripsy skin with the smooth egg custard within. I lamented the fact that the egg tart is too small. And at $1.60 per piece, they are not really cheap.
Deep-fried Yam Croquette ($1.60 per piece) The deep fried Yam croquette with diced chicken is excellent. Although the croquette is deep fried, but its not too oily, and the Yam taste is quite unique too.
Steamed Wild Mushroom Roll ($1.60 per piece) We ordered the steamed wild mushroom roll out of curiosity from the name. There’s two to three different type of mushroom, well the mushroom roll is not really my call.
Hong Kong BBQ platter ($16 per serving) BBQ pork, roasted duck, and crispy roasted pork makes up the Hong Kong BBQ platter. Note that its $16 for one portion, andthree of us ordered 3 portions, which adds up to $48. Ripped off is the only word to describe this.
The crispy roasted pork is not too bad, but it comes in only four small cubes. The roasted duck is really ordinary, and the BBQ pork or char siew, does not justify the exaggerated price tag of $16 for 4 cubes of roasted pork, two slices of roasted duck and three slices of char siew.
For $48, you can have a whole duck, with healthy servings of char siew & roasted pork. This is totally what you will not expect coming from Yan Ting, however the truth is there for all to see. This is somehow an anti-climax for the rather excellent dim sum that we had.
Total Bill was $150.20 for 3 person, which works out to about $50 per person. But if you work out the sums, excluding the BBQ platter which was $16 per portion, the amount for dim sum is actually about $34. Although we didn’t have that much dim sum, but i still find $34 to be acceptable given the high quality dim sum we had.
6 Star dim sum comes at a price, although some of the dim sum did not really justified the price, but overall the dim sum was nothing short of excellence. I’ll definitely try Yan Ting again, even though its a extravagant experience, but like they say, good things come with a price. Just that in this case, its a heavier price.
Do note that if you decided to give Yan Ting a try, you must be careful and not over ordered, that is unless you got a deep pocket. Service is good and professional, with the staff knowing when to approach us, and when not to disturb us. Yan Ting certainly test my limits for good dim sum, although i am still skeptical about their A la carte menu. Give that a miss and try their dim sum! And dim sum is only available during lunch, not dinner.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Safra Yishun country club, take a 15mins walk from Yishun MRT, LIC had the opportunity to visit the place last week and took some photos, so i thought i’ll share them and for people who have never visit any Safra around our island yet.
Swimming pool is definitely a main feature of any country club, be it for the kids or adults who fancy a swim, especially so in our hot weather.
Chalets are also a main feature of Safra, members can get them at a cheaper rates but i think non-members also are allowed to book them. Otherwise just get a friend who’s Safra member!
Personally i didn’t book any Safra chalets before, although several occasions i been to friends organise ones. I guess its pretty cool to book a chalet and just relax with your family, love one, and friends.
The rock-climbing area is one of the unique facilities available at Safra Yishun.
With this, LIC shall end the post on Safra Yishun! There’s plenty of other facilities like tennis court, gym, arcade, bowling centre, pool tables, spas at the country club also. Well you can check them out to see the facilities, some requires a fee, while others should be available for booking.
Don’t be afraid to explore the Safras around our island, they are built by the government for us to use after all!
This is a non-food related post, i’m sorry for any disturbance if you have came to ladyironchef wanting to read about my food adventure, but instead found yourself reading this post which has totally nothing to do with food. The next post will be on Eatzi, which is a cafe eatery under the same management by Jack’s place, which is also located within Safra Yishun.
You are always welcome to visit
ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Eatzi steakhouse & bistro is under the same management of the family-known name, Jack’s Place. The one that we are exploring today is located within Safra Yishun, just besides the swimming pool which makes it convenient for customers who want a hot meal after a swim.
With the green white chequered table cloth so oddly-like to the interior of Jack’s place, the familiar items on both menus makes you wondered why Jack’s place came out with Eatzi.
While some restaurants group came up with different restaurants, but they branded and package the different restaurants. But in the case of Eatzi, they do not hide the fact that they are under the same management as Jack’s place, and with the menu items also mostly similar, it makes us wonder do we go to Jack’s place, or Eatzi?
Nevertheless, Eatzi has their daily set lunch menu which offers different food on different days. The day that we went was a Tuesday, the choice of soup cream of corn. Main course is boiled fish with spinach & mussel topped with ginger cream sauce, or sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken.
Sauteed pasta with crumbled chicken ($9.80) The Sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken comes in the daily set meal. All set lunch includes a soup of a day, choice of main course, and dessert of the day, and coffee/tea.
Nasi Goreng with egg & satay ($9) Asian fusion delights seems weird to be on the menu of Eatzi, a place more for its steak and western meal. Nonetheless, the serving was quite big, and one person will struggle to finish the food. Do note this dish is on the A la carte menu, not in the set lunch.
NZ Ribeye steak with brown sauce ($14.80) Obviously Eatzi being a steakhouse, you ought to try some steak here. The NZ ribeye steak is on the executive set lunch menu, the main different between the normal set lunch and executive set lunch is the different type of food, with the executive priced slightly higher.
The waitress brought the steak on the hotplate over to our table, and pour the brown sauce to make the steaks goes sizzling! This is followed by the potato, which is cut into half and mayo sauce is applied to fill up the centre of the potato.
Eatzi offers affordable eating in a cafe with its set menus. Certainly when the food is so cheap, you can’t be really expecting much quality from it. The place’s great if you want a simple meal and at a cafe environment, its affordable pricing is definitely targeted to the mass market.
However, i won’t be going back because of the apparent lack in quality, and personally its a case of eating good food, not necessary expensive ones, but good food. Given a choice between Eatzi and our local delights at hawker centre, i’ll gladly choose the latter.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
I literally watched this place renovate and prepare for opening. I looked forward to it as it seemed to offer more reasonable prices and was much nearer to my place than the coffeeshop.
The day it opened, I walked past pretty late and was dying to get some desserts. My sister and I stood there for a bit waiting. We didn't know if they had takeaways and wanted to ask if they had Yam Paste. They have some tubs of paste that looked like Yam paste on the counter but it wasn't available in the menu.
We waited and waited. 2 servers and 2 ladies whom we figured were the bosses looked at us in the eye but didn't say anything. They stood in front of us and instructed something to the counter people without acknowledging our presence... After a full 10 minutes of standing there, we went home without our desserts. We were really patient weren't we?
A few days after, my father suggested for us to go eat there. Thinking that they were just overly busy that first day I agreed. We were greeted as we approached the cafe and seated quickly. They gave us the menus which were strangely worn.
Food Ordered:
Chicken Rice Set B (Steamed) - $5.50 This set came with soup and a reasonable serving of vegetables. Chicken Rice happens to be "main dish" of this cafe. Most of the people I saw ordered at least a set. The meat was not too fatty and the rice was just slightly fragant and not too salty. The vegetables (thankfully) were not overcooked. I'd agree with my dad that there was slightly more rice than the usual at coffeeshops.
Thai Style Chicken Cutlet Rice - $5
I liked this one more than the chicken rice. The sauce was tangy and spicy. The Chicken Cutlet was very crisp. The rice was plain white rice but the sauce was flavourful enough for me.
Marmite Pork Ribs - $10
This one was surprisingly disappointing. The ribs were really small and there were about 5-6 pieces only. Mighty expensive if I had to say. Maybe I'm feeling a little disappointed because I just came back from Wuxi and the infamous dish there is Pork Ribs.... Tastewise it's alright with enough fatty bits. The sauce was pretty tasty but I still find it expensive. Moreover its presentation wasn't nice at all.
With no GST/service charge, the total came up to $20.50 for 3 people. Foodwise it is better than your regular coffeeshops. And in terms of pricing, it's pretty competitive in comparison to the food outlets in this area, esp the air-conditioned ones. Judging from the business it's been getting, I'd say this is here to stay... :)
Haven't been to Sofra for ages and so decided to bring a group of friends to try something "different" from what they use to savor.
As usual for starters we ordered the Hummus ($4.20) and the Sesame Bread ($3.40). The Bread was soft, yet crispy so that made it interesting. Together with the Hummus, which was tinged with lemon juice, it was a great start to our meal.
Izqara Kofte ($12.90) was served next. We ordered the mixed combination of chicken, lamb and beef. One of the more interesting dishes was the rice (Turkish Pilaf) . It was fluffy and very fragrant. Perhaps it was cooked in butter as they usually do with pilaf. We found out that the secret is in the sizzle – which gives it a creamy, buttery, and melt in the mouth consistency and taste. It’s the gastronomic equivalent of sinking into a huge armchair in front of a roaring log fire. But there was no log fire in Sofra. The meat varieties were well seasoned and it was refreshing for us as we were all hungry.
Sultan Kebab ($12.50) arrived piping hot in an oven baked tray. The lamb pieces were tender and complimented the mashed potatoes with baked creamy cheese that just kept oozing out in between the layers. It was not at all difficult to eat as the meat was in bite sizes.
The final dish was the Jumbo Kebap Combo ($34.90) just right for 2 persons. It has the eggplant Kebap, shish Kebap and doner Kabap. As usual, Sofra did not disappoint with their meat dishes which were done to the right taste and texture.
This blogstore is one I chanced upon while surfing around one day. The owners also have another called Black Sequin which sells clothing at reasonable prices.
They sell a special product from Japan and I was really curious when I went to see the website. The website had plenty of information like the ingredients of the product, a FAQ and it is very easy to read and navigate around.
Despite all the information, Kiasu Me still emailed them to find out more and their replies were friendly and prompt. They also reply via MSN and their chatbox so it's really good. I also like how they constantly update their customers regarding the status of the orders.
I have yet to receive my items (as the spree has not closed) but I'm already very satisfied with how they have lived up to their motto of *Service comes first*
Tian Wai Tian has been around for as long as i remember, and i believe they need no introduction. Located just besides the PIE expressway at the Upper Serangoon road exit. If you are coming from train, then stop at Potong Pasir MRT on the North-east line.
There isn’t any ambience to talk about, Tian Wai Tian is your typical zi-char in a normal coffee shop kind of place. Tian Wai Tian is so popular that besides the seats in the coffee shop, they also have tables at the back alley.
The most amazing thing is actually Tian Wai Tian only serves a few of their popular dishes, as in they don’t even have a menu to choose from, its always the same old few dishes, yet they pack in the crowd everyday!
Fish Head Steamboat ($20) Tian Wai Tian’s famous fish head steamboat! There are two types of fish to choose for your steamboat, the white promfet and the red groupa, which we got. The soup base is always a very important item for any steamboat as all the essence of the ingredients are cook together in it.
The soup here is pretty good, and you can have it topped up too. But i find it to be slightly on the salty side. More vegetables are needed to have a better balance.
Well a must-try dish if you come to Tian Wai Tian, since this is their signature dish.
Prawn Roll ($7) I believe the prawn roll is a very common dish and most people should be familiar with it, my family usually have it during the Chinese new year! The prawn roll here is good, dipped in the sweet sauce, awesome!
Tofu Prawn ($12) The tofu prawn in spicy sauce taste refreshing initially. Seldom do we see a combination of prawn and tofu cooked in spicy sauce. However, the taste is a tad too much and we can’t finish the dish.
Fried prawn sauce chicken ($8)
The fried prawn sauce chicken is mainstay dish on most of the zi-char stores, my favourite so far is the one in Holland Village XO Fishhead store. But the ones here are pretty decent i guess.
Sambal Kangkong ($6) Kangkong are best done in hot spicy sambal, and the one at Tian Wai Tian doesn’t disappoint. Hot and spicy!
Total Bill is $55.50 for 4 person. Tian Wai Tian serves their famous fish head steamboat, with the few of their popular dishes. Variety isn’t what you can have at this zi-char store, but if its some familiar dish that you need, find them here!
Service-wise, practically none, this is a zi-char, not some fanciful restaurant. The auntie working there can be quite rude and snobbish, so don’t say you are not warn.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
The same night of cake adventure hunting before we went to Grand Hyatt’s Mezza9. My secret food partner and i went in to Marriot pastry shop at the lobby to inquire whether they have any promotions for their cakes, but they only have half price for their pastries. And the staff were already packing up, so there’s only a few selections left.
Banana Muffin ($1.50 after half price) Such a big muffin for only $1.50, grab one after 9pm!
Muffin ($1.50 after half price) We brought two muffin since there were two types left.
Almond Crossiant ($1.75 after half price) The nice look of the almond chips on the crossiant is what tempted us to bring it home.
Total bill for 2 muffins and 1 crossiant is $4.98 after half price promotion. Reasonably cheap for hotel standards pastries, sorry for the lack of details because we had the cakes from Mezza9 and were too full for the pastries here. My secret food partner took it home, and they were gone in an instant.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Wessex village, a tranquil and peaceful estate in the leafy Portsdown Road area is no stranger to the art scene in Singapore. Recently, with the entry of some new restaurants, it is slowly becoming the “It” place to be.
This will be good news for my fellow “west-erners” since LIC always lament the fact that the east side has more good food. With Holland Village, Chips Bee garden, Greenwood Avenue, Sunset way, Rochester Park, and now Wessex Village, who says there isn’t good places to chill in the West!
But this may not be music to the ears to some others, people who enjoyed the quaint environment and would rather preferred Wessex Village not to become the next Dempsey, over-rated and over-populated.
Have no fret about that, because currently in Wessex Village, there is only Pietrasanta an Italian restaurant, Laurent’s Cafe & Chocolate Bar, Klee a cocktail bar, and Colbar a very old-school coffee shop.
My friend and i explored the serene area, we checked out Pietrasanta but my friend wasn’t in the mood for Italian delights, but the place looks great and will definitely try it the next time round.
We decided on Cicada, an art centric casual restaurant lounge.
Nestled amid lush green vegetations, Wessex Village is a colonial style residential area surrounded by open space and trees to provide a soothing and relaxing ambience.
The building structure there are mostly colonial style, and this is the same for Cicada in a colonial type of bungalow building.
Al fresco area in Cicada is also spacious and roomy, which makes it a great place for friends to chill out under the the natural environment surrounded by greens, the village feel.
A large group of Caucasians chilling out, but don’t be quite mistaken by this scene. According to the manager Ronald, their main customers are actually locals and not Caucasians, and most of them are people from other area rather than the residents in Wessex estate.
Seafood Mango Salad ($13.90) Marinated seafood and honey balsamic dressing makes up the Seafood Mango Salad. The mango is sweet, and the prawn springy. The greens together with the sweet honey balsamic dressing opens up your taste bud for the meal.
Sauteed Organic Mushrooms ($5.90) Mushrooms are always a tricky dish, cook for too long and the mushroom becomes over-cooked, while finish it too early the mushroom will fail to absorb the essence of the other ingredients.
The Sauteed Organic mushrooms have a slight hint of white wine, wild herbs and tomato taste.
Smoothie Oreo ($12) The Oreo Smoothie isn’t good enough, the oreo bits are left too big to go through the straw, usually they will be crushed and mixed with milk. We gave the feedback and the manager Ronald told us the reason was due to fault in the blender that day.
However it is still quite unforgivable as this is a restaurant after all, and the least they can do is to notified us about the problem which unfortunately, they didn’t.
Butter Croissant toast with smoked salmon ($13.90) The butter croissant toast besides with the smoked salmon, comes with alternatives in ham, bacon or sausages. The greens in the toast complement the smoked salmon salty taste.
However, we lamented the fact that the croissant toast is not cripsy enough, the bread is too soft, and same for the green. We felt that it will be better if there is crunchier greens like cucumber added in, for a more complete taste.
The mayonnaise sauce also threatens to spoil the smoked salmon, fresh avocado sauce will perhaps be a better option to go along with the smoked salmon. The sandwich is an otherwise good and hearty dish, if Cicada can improve on the small issues.
Penne Pasta with seafood ($24.50) The most expensive pasta on the menu, no doubt so with the ocean prawn, scallops and calamari in spicy marinara sauce. Different type of pasta suits different type of base, tomato base spaghetti is the only choice to go with it. Well for a spicier version, the penne pasta works well.
The first savor of the Penne pasta with seafood is excellent, the spicy sauce together with the oceanic taste floods our taste bud. However, the dish seems to lack in something, because after a while we got a little sick of the dish as it starts to be overwhelming.
Cicada Club Sandwich ($15.90) The Cicada Club sandwich consists of bacon, lettuce, tomato, weisswurst sausage in focaccia bun. The bacon and sausage is decent, but again the use of mayo sauce here doesn’t quite complement the ingredients. Mayo will be better off when paired up with fried stuff.
Total Bill is $96.90 for the 2 of us. I think we sort of over-ordered given we had two appetizer, two sandwich, a pasta and a drink. The sandwich ranges in the tens, while pastas are in tens to twenty. The drink is definitely no go, while the sandwiches can really be better. And for once, i didn’t have any room for desserts.
I checked out the dinner menu as well, while lunch at Cicada is causal and simple food, dinner is more sophisticated with more selections of mains in the high twenty range. According to the manager, the atmosphere for dinner is more romantic and the area more closed up for more coziness.
We found the day-time area to be too ‘open’. Cicada should be going for the french open space concept, but this does not really encourage longer stay because the space is too bare and open. We believed that a more enclosed area, using different type of curtains can just do the trick.
All in all, Cicada promises a lot with its art-centric causal restaurant tag, but we ended up quite disappointed. Cicada certainly can be better, and hopefully the next time i dropped by Wessex, it will be a very different Cicada.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
” The next time, hopefully a very different Cicada “
One Twenty Six is a relatively new and swanky restaurant located at the now half year old rejuvenated Big Splash. Run by the same team behind One Rochester, the waterfront restaurant has a lot to live up to if it is to impress. Situated directly in front of the East Coast coastline, One Twenty Six boasts 2 seating arrangements. One alfresco seating and the other which is the usual fine dining establishment. In other words, the place is chic and demands at least a visit to see what the woo ha is a all about.
First off, let me apologise for the badly taken photos of the restaurant, the place definitely looks much better when you actually see it. And it is advisable to visit it at night when it is cooler since afternoons tend to heat the primarily glass made restaurant up quite a bit.
Complimentary Bread - To its credit, the place serves good bread which is made in house. They are all served warm and definitely gives the impression of being in a fine dining restaurant with its soft, fluffy and fragrant bread. Some had hazelnuts baked into them while others had raisins and hints of coffee. Add a dash of butter and its practically a meal on its own, if you are here for lunch, my advice is to ask for as much bread as possible if you are a big eater. That's my advice, take it if you like, ignore it at your own peril.
Salmon Roll/Seasoned Baby Octopus On Bed of Mesclun Salad with Japanese Dressing/Mediterranean Caprese Salad - All of the above starters had a fresh and satisfying taste about it to usher in the actual meal. The seasoned baby octopus was soft and sweet while the salmon was light and fresh. The caprese salad tastes like a cross between fish cakes and cheese with its tangy texture and milky taste but is still pretty good in the grand scheme of things.
Capellini Arrabiatta With Prawns - This main course packs quite a punch as it is very spicy albeit still maintaining a sweet tomato taste. The pasta itself tastes like a cross between chinese bee hoon and pasta with its fine strands but is definitely softer and more springy then the usual bee hoon strands. The prawns are juicy, sweet and crunchy as well. Overall, its a good filling course for people who like it spicy.
Oven Roasted Spatchcock, fork mash potato with sage jus - Spatch cock actually refers to the way the chicken is prepared. In this sense, it means the chicken is spread flat and roasted. A taste reveals an aromatic peppery taste and tender juicy meat. Pity the serving size was rather small though.
Pan Fried Sea Bass with potatoes and foam - In all honesty, the sea bass was rather thin and small. It was pan fried rather well despite the small serving. Crispy skin with a cheesy tasting foam around it. The meat itself retained much of its natural flavors and was sweet.
Roasted Lamb Loin - The lamb was done medium rare and very nice indeed. My tasting reveals well marinated and juicy meat which went well with the stew-like bed of greens below. Due to some technical issues, the waitress accidentally gave too much pepper to the dish but still, it turned out to be my favorite item at the restaurant so far.
Tiramisu/Rum and raisin nougat - While the main courses and starters might be hit or miss items, the desserts definitely had no such issue. Made fresh and sold on the day, the desserts differ daily for the lunch menu. The tiramisu had a good balance of cheese, rum and cake which helped bring out the flavors of each section. One of the better tiramisu's i've had but thats my opinion while the nougat was an interesting mixture of raisins, rum and ice cream which is very different. Nougat being nougat, i'd expected a cake or cookie like texture but this tasted more like ice cream and it melts albeit slowly. The taste of rum is strong but thats the way i like it.
All set lunches come with a choice of coffee or tea and i must say, they serve rather good coffee. Without the sourish taste that accompanies most gourmet coffees, this one was sightly bitter, strong and quite high on the acidity scale if i'm not wrong. I had the impression that it was also smooth and its something i wouldn't miss ordering if i'm here.
Portion size aside, the lunches offer a nice variety of choices to choose from and differs weekly so you'll rarely get the same choices twice. Judging by the way the restaurant cooked the lamb, i'll brave the storm and say that they probably do good in their meats (lamb and beef) but thats to be decided after i do try their 200 day old aged wagyu beef. The view and location is nice but slightly warm during noon. The service is good and friendly and their desserts are above average. Looking forward to try their degustation menu.
1=SGD 0.0587
St Regis hotel, the latest glamorous and prestigious hotel to open on our shore. Tout as a 6 star luxury hotel and with so much at stake, Yan Ting, a Cantonese restaurant offers to promise you a totally different dining experience.
Stepping into St Regis is quite an experience on its own, the grandeur of the hotel will simply blow you away. The splendor furnishings and the majesty furnitures are not all, even taking a lift in St Regis promises you a unforgettable reminiscence.
6 Star is not exaggerating, and from the moment you enter the hotel, it feels so good to be rich, even just for that afternoon.
Albeit being a Chinese Cantonese restaurant, the contemporary and classy feel of the restaurant’s interior certainly does not show any indication, with the exception of the 4 seasons painting, and the exquisite chopsticks and spoons plated in gold and inlaid with jade pieces.
An elegant chandelier is the highlight of the low ceiling in the restaurant. Stylish curtains and the comfy seats brings out a cozy and relaxed dining atmosphere.
The main emphasize which makes Yan Ting stands out from the other Chinese restaurant is in the pricing for its dim sum. While others usually charged dim sum by per basket or plate, Yan Ting attempts to break through the norm and bring the pricing of dim sum to another level by its per piece charging.
For Yan Ting’s A la carte menu, just like some of the more prominent Chinese restaurants, they are priced by per person, and the small servings of the food meant that there is no chance of sharing food.
Being in a 6 Star hotel, you definitely will not expect Yan Ting to be easy on the pocket, with most of the simpler dishes priced from $10 to $24 each. And with the small serving, expect to spend up to $100 for a decent meal, per person.
Appetizer
Unlike their western counteparts, most Chinese restaurants doesn’t actually serve out appetizer since the Chinese doesn’t have the emphasize on course eating. The small squid is actually quite good, simple enough to start our taste bud going in anticipation of the rest to come. And its free, so no complains there.
Cripsy radish pastry ($1.80 per piece)
This is the first time i had a radish pastry before, and i must say it is good, the crispy skin compliments well with the soft radish inside.
Oven-baked fluffy Char Siew Pastry ($1.60 per piece)
The Char Siew Pastry is indisputably the star of the show here. Take a bite into the crispy fluffy pastry, and you will discover the juicy and sweet char siew hidden within. Having one each is really not doing justice to the pastry. And i’ll rather pay $1.60 for one of these wonderful char siew sou, than to eat several cheaper ones. Excellent!
Stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce ($4)
I never had stir-fried “cheong fan” rice roll with XO sauce before, and to be honest initially i mistook this dish for the fried carrot cake done with XO sauce which is commonly found in Chinese restaurants dim sum menu.
Although it tasted more like Char Kway Teow than “cheong fan”, but i find it to be quite all right, and at $4 even though the portion is quite small, its still cheaper and more worth well than the XO sauce fried carrot cake that i had at Peach Garden.
Steamed shrimp dumpling ($2 per piece)
The steamed crystal shrimp dumpling, or more affectionately known as “Har Kao” comes at a hefty price tag of $2 per piece. If you do your maths, this works out to be $6 for one basket of three Har Kao. There’s always a first time for everything, and this is really a first time where i had such expensive shrimp dumplings.
However, Yan Ting’s Har Kao is really one of the best that i had tried so far, the thin skin envelops the fresh and succulent prawns. But at $2 each, Yan Ting is really testing the limits for the first-rate dumplings.
Steamed Pork and Shrimp Dumpling ($2 per piece)
“Siew Mai” or steamed pork and shrimp dumpling is always the dim sum i’ll base my judgment on how good the dim sum at the restaurant really is. The Siew Mai here passes the test, the combination of the crunchy prawn and the lean pork goes well together.
Xiaolongbao ($4 per piece)
To be frank, I never liked xiaolongbao, since i can’t really appreciate the beauty of it. Even though the xiaolongbao is a bigger rendition than your normal ones, to pay $4 for one xiao long bao, i’ll be crazy.
But, the Xiaolongbao at Yan Ting is really different from the usual ones, the pipping hot stock juice literally floods out upon a bite into the skin of the xiaolongbao. Although the xiaolongbao is quite good, but i’ll not order it again if i come back to Yan Ting. For a $4 xiaolongbao experience, once is enough.
Traditional Cantonese egg tart ($1.60 per piece)
The egg tart is done exactly the way i like it, cripsy skin with the smooth egg custard within. I lamented the fact that the egg tart is too small. And at $1.60 per piece, they are not really cheap.
Deep-fried Yam Croquette ($1.60 per piece)
The deep fried Yam croquette with diced chicken is excellent. Although the croquette is deep fried, but its not too oily, and the Yam taste is quite unique too.
Steamed Wild Mushroom Roll ($1.60 per piece)
We ordered the steamed wild mushroom roll out of curiosity from the name. There’s two to three different type of mushroom, well the mushroom roll is not really my call.
Hong Kong BBQ platter ($16 per serving)
BBQ pork, roasted duck, and crispy roasted pork makes up the Hong Kong BBQ platter. Note that its $16 for one portion, andthree of us ordered 3 portions, which adds up to $48. Ripped off is the only word to describe this.
The crispy roasted pork is not too bad, but it comes in only four small cubes. The roasted duck is really ordinary, and the BBQ pork or char siew, does not justify the exaggerated price tag of $16 for 4 cubes of roasted pork, two slices of roasted duck and three slices of char siew.
For $48, you can have a whole duck, with healthy servings of char siew & roasted pork. This is totally what you will not expect coming from Yan Ting, however the truth is there for all to see. This is somehow an anti-climax for the rather excellent dim sum that we had.
Total Bill was $150.20 for 3 person, which works out to about $50 per person. But if you work out the sums, excluding the BBQ platter which was $16 per portion, the amount for dim sum is actually about $34. Although we didn’t have that much dim sum, but i still find $34 to be acceptable given the high quality dim sum we had.
6 Star dim sum comes at a price, although some of the dim sum did not really justified the price, but overall the dim sum was nothing short of excellence. I’ll definitely try Yan Ting again, even though its a extravagant experience, but like they say, good things come with a price. Just that in this case, its a heavier price.
Do note that if you decided to give Yan Ting a try, you must be careful and not over ordered, that is unless you got a deep pocket. Service is good and professional, with the staff knowing when to approach us, and when not to disturb us. Yan Ting certainly test my limits for good dim sum, although i am still skeptical about their A la carte menu. Give that a miss and try their dim sum! And dim sum is only available during lunch, not dinner.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
” dim sum extravaganza “
Rating given:
Safra Yishun country club, take a 15mins walk from Yishun MRT, LIC had the opportunity to visit the place last week and took some photos, so i thought i’ll share them and for people who have never visit any Safra around our island yet.
Swimming pool is definitely a main feature of any country club, be it for the kids or adults who fancy a swim, especially so in our hot weather.
Chalets are also a main feature of Safra, members can get them at a cheaper rates but i think non-members also are allowed to book them. Otherwise just get a friend who’s Safra member!
Personally i didn’t book any Safra chalets before, although several occasions i been to friends organise ones. I guess its pretty cool to book a chalet and just relax with your family, love one, and friends.
The rock-climbing area is one of the unique facilities available at Safra Yishun.
With this, LIC shall end the post on Safra Yishun! There’s plenty of other facilities like tennis court, gym, arcade, bowling centre, pool tables, spas at the country club also. Well you can check them out to see the facilities, some requires a fee, while others should be available for booking.
Don’t be afraid to explore the Safras around our island, they are built by the government for us to use after all!
This is a non-food related post, i’m sorry for any disturbance if you have came to ladyironchef wanting to read about my food adventure, but instead found yourself reading this post which has totally nothing to do with food. The next post will be on Eatzi, which is a cafe eatery under the same management by Jack’s place, which is also located within Safra Yishun.
You are always welcome to visit
ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Eatzi steakhouse & bistro is under the same management of the family-known name, Jack’s Place. The one that we are exploring today is located within Safra Yishun, just besides the swimming pool which makes it convenient for customers who want a hot meal after a swim.
With the green white chequered table cloth so oddly-like to the interior of Jack’s place, the familiar items on both menus makes you wondered why Jack’s place came out with Eatzi.
While some restaurants group came up with different restaurants, but they branded and package the different restaurants. But in the case of Eatzi, they do not hide the fact that they are under the same management as Jack’s place, and with the menu items also mostly similar, it makes us wonder do we go to Jack’s place, or Eatzi?
Nevertheless, Eatzi has their daily set lunch menu which offers different food on different days. The day that we went was a Tuesday, the choice of soup cream of corn. Main course is boiled fish with spinach & mussel topped with ginger cream sauce, or sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken.
Sauteed pasta with crumbled chicken ($9.80)
The Sauteed pasta with olive oil topped with crumbled chicken comes in the daily set meal. All set lunch includes a soup of a day, choice of main course, and dessert of the day, and coffee/tea.
Nasi Goreng with egg & satay ($9)
Asian fusion delights seems weird to be on the menu of Eatzi, a place more for its steak and western meal. Nonetheless, the serving was quite big, and one person will struggle to finish the food. Do note this dish is on the A la carte menu, not in the set lunch.
NZ Ribeye steak with brown sauce ($14.80)
Obviously Eatzi being a steakhouse, you ought to try some steak here. The NZ ribeye steak is on the executive set lunch menu, the main different between the normal set lunch and executive set lunch is the different type of food, with the executive priced slightly higher.
The waitress brought the steak on the hotplate over to our table, and pour the brown sauce to make the steaks goes sizzling! This is followed by the potato, which is cut into half and mayo sauce is applied to fill up the centre of the potato.
Eatzi offers affordable eating in a cafe with its set menus. Certainly when the food is so cheap, you can’t be really expecting much quality from it. The place’s great if you want a simple meal and at a cafe environment, its affordable pricing is definitely targeted to the mass market.
However, i won’t be going back because of the apparent lack in quality, and personally its a case of eating good food, not necessary expensive ones, but good food. Given a choice between Eatzi and our local delights at hawker centre, i’ll gladly choose the latter.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
I literally watched this place renovate and prepare for opening. I looked forward to it as it seemed to offer more reasonable prices and was much nearer to my place than the coffeeshop.
The day it opened, I walked past pretty late and was dying to get some desserts. My sister and I stood there for a bit waiting. We didn't know if they had takeaways and wanted to ask if they had Yam Paste. They have some tubs of paste that looked like Yam paste on the counter but it wasn't available in the menu.
We waited and waited. 2 servers and 2 ladies whom we figured were the bosses looked at us in the eye but didn't say anything. They stood in front of us and instructed something to the counter people without acknowledging our presence... After a full 10 minutes of standing there, we went home without our desserts. We were really patient weren't we?
A few days after, my father suggested for us to go eat there. Thinking that they were just overly busy that first day I agreed. We were greeted as we approached the cafe and seated quickly. They gave us the menus which were strangely worn.
Food Ordered:
Chicken Rice Set B (Steamed) - $5.50
This set came with soup and a reasonable serving of vegetables. Chicken Rice happens to be "main dish" of this cafe. Most of the people I saw ordered at least a set. The meat was not too fatty and the rice was just slightly fragant and not too salty. The vegetables (thankfully) were not overcooked. I'd agree with my dad that there was slightly more rice than the usual at coffeeshops.
Thai Style Chicken Cutlet Rice - $5
I liked this one more than the chicken rice. The sauce was tangy and spicy. The Chicken Cutlet was very crisp. The rice was plain white rice but the sauce was flavourful enough for me.
Marmite Pork Ribs - $10
This one was surprisingly disappointing. The ribs were really small and there were about 5-6 pieces only. Mighty expensive if I had to say. Maybe I'm feeling a little disappointed because I just came back from Wuxi and the infamous dish there is Pork Ribs.... Tastewise it's alright with enough fatty bits. The sauce was pretty tasty but I still find it expensive. Moreover its presentation wasn't nice at all.
With no GST/service charge, the total came up to $20.50 for 3 people. Foodwise it is better than your regular coffeeshops. And in terms of pricing, it's pretty competitive in comparison to the food outlets in this area, esp the air-conditioned ones. Judging from the business it's been getting, I'd say this is here to stay... :)
Rating given:
Haven't been to Sofra for ages and so decided to bring a group of friends to try something "different" from what they use to savor.
As usual for starters we ordered the Hummus ($4.20) and the Sesame Bread ($3.40). The Bread was soft, yet crispy so that made it interesting. Together with the Hummus, which was tinged with lemon juice, it was a great start to our meal.
Izqara Kofte ($12.90) was served next. We ordered the mixed combination of chicken, lamb and beef. One of the more interesting dishes was the rice (Turkish Pilaf) . It was fluffy and very fragrant. Perhaps it was cooked in butter as they usually do with pilaf. We found out that the secret is in the sizzle – which gives it a creamy, buttery, and melt in the mouth consistency and taste. It’s the gastronomic equivalent of sinking into a huge armchair in front of a roaring log fire. But there was no log fire in Sofra. The meat varieties were well seasoned and it was refreshing for us as we were all hungry.
Sultan Kebab ($12.50) arrived piping hot in an oven baked tray. The lamb pieces were tender and complimented the mashed potatoes with baked creamy cheese that just kept oozing out in between the layers. It was not at all difficult to eat as the meat was in bite sizes.
The final dish was the Jumbo Kebap Combo ($34.90) just right for 2 persons. It has the eggplant Kebap, shish Kebap and doner Kabap. As usual, Sofra did not disappoint with their meat dishes which were done to the right taste and texture.
Rating given:
This blogstore is one I chanced upon while surfing around one day. The owners also have another called Black Sequin which sells clothing at reasonable prices.
They sell a special product from Japan and I was really curious when I went to see the website. The website had plenty of information like the ingredients of the product, a FAQ and it is very easy to read and navigate around.
Despite all the information, Kiasu Me still emailed them to find out more and their replies were friendly and prompt. They also reply via MSN and their chatbox so it's really good. I also like how they constantly update their customers regarding the status of the orders.
I have yet to receive my items (as the spree has not closed) but I'm already very satisfied with how they have lived up to their motto of *Service comes first*
Rating given:
Tian Wai Tian has been around for as long as i remember, and i believe they need no introduction. Located just besides the PIE expressway at the Upper Serangoon road exit. If you are coming from train, then stop at Potong Pasir MRT on the North-east line.
There isn’t any ambience to talk about, Tian Wai Tian is your typical zi-char in a normal coffee shop kind of place. Tian Wai Tian is so popular that besides the seats in the coffee shop, they also have tables at the back alley.
The most amazing thing is actually Tian Wai Tian only serves a few of their popular dishes, as in they don’t even have a menu to choose from, its always the same old few dishes, yet they pack in the crowd everyday!
Fish Head Steamboat ($20)
Tian Wai Tian’s famous fish head steamboat! There are two types of fish to choose for your steamboat, the white promfet and the red groupa, which we got. The soup base is always a very important item for any steamboat as all the essence of the ingredients are cook together in it.
The soup here is pretty good, and you can have it topped up too. But i find it to be slightly on the salty side. More vegetables are needed to have a better balance.
Well a must-try dish if you come to Tian Wai Tian, since this is their signature dish.
Prawn Roll ($7)
I believe the prawn roll is a very common dish and most people should be familiar with it, my family usually have it during the Chinese new year! The prawn roll here is good, dipped in the sweet sauce, awesome!
Tofu Prawn ($12)
The tofu prawn in spicy sauce taste refreshing initially. Seldom do we see a combination of prawn and tofu cooked in spicy sauce. However, the taste is a tad too much and we can’t finish the dish.
Fried prawn sauce chicken ($8)
The fried prawn sauce chicken is mainstay dish on most of the zi-char stores, my favourite so far is the one in Holland Village XO Fishhead store. But the ones here are pretty decent i guess.
Sambal Kangkong ($6)
Kangkong are best done in hot spicy sambal, and the one at Tian Wai Tian doesn’t disappoint. Hot and spicy!
Total Bill is $55.50 for 4 person. Tian Wai Tian serves their famous fish head steamboat, with the few of their popular dishes. Variety isn’t what you can have at this zi-char store, but if its some familiar dish that you need, find them here!
Service-wise, practically none, this is a zi-char, not some fanciful restaurant. The auntie working there can be quite rude and snobbish, so don’t say you are not warn.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
The same night of cake adventure hunting before we went to Grand Hyatt’s Mezza9. My secret food partner and i went in to Marriot pastry shop at the lobby to inquire whether they have any promotions for their cakes, but they only have half price for their pastries. And the staff were already packing up, so there’s only a few selections left.
Banana Muffin ($1.50 after half price)
Such a big muffin for only $1.50, grab one after 9pm!
Muffin ($1.50 after half price)
We brought two muffin since there were two types left.
Almond Crossiant ($1.75 after half price)
The nice look of the almond chips on the crossiant is what tempted us to bring it home.
Total bill for 2 muffins and 1 crossiant is $4.98 after half price promotion. Reasonably cheap for hotel standards pastries, sorry for the lack of details because we had the cakes from Mezza9 and were too full for the pastries here. My secret food partner took it home, and they were gone in an instant.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
Rating given:
Wessex village, a tranquil and peaceful estate in the leafy Portsdown Road area is no stranger to the art scene in Singapore. Recently, with the entry of some new restaurants, it is slowly becoming the “It” place to be.
This will be good news for my fellow “west-erners” since LIC always lament the fact that the east side has more good food. With Holland Village, Chips Bee garden, Greenwood Avenue, Sunset way, Rochester Park, and now Wessex Village, who says there isn’t good places to chill in the West!
But this may not be music to the ears to some others, people who enjoyed the quaint environment and would rather preferred Wessex Village not to become the next Dempsey, over-rated and over-populated.
Have no fret about that, because currently in Wessex Village, there is only Pietrasanta an Italian restaurant, Laurent’s Cafe & Chocolate Bar, Klee a cocktail bar, and Colbar a very old-school coffee shop.
My friend and i explored the serene area, we checked out Pietrasanta but my friend wasn’t in the mood for Italian delights, but the place looks great and will definitely try it the next time round.
We decided on Cicada, an art centric casual restaurant lounge.
Nestled amid lush green vegetations, Wessex Village is a colonial style residential area surrounded by open space and trees to provide a soothing and relaxing ambience.
The building structure there are mostly colonial style, and this is the same for Cicada in a colonial type of bungalow building.
Al fresco area in Cicada is also spacious and roomy, which makes it a great place for friends to chill out under the the natural environment surrounded by greens, the village feel.
A large group of Caucasians chilling out, but don’t be quite mistaken by this scene. According to the manager Ronald, their main customers are actually locals and not Caucasians, and most of them are people from other area rather than the residents in Wessex estate.
Seafood Mango Salad ($13.90)
Marinated seafood and honey balsamic dressing makes up the Seafood Mango Salad. The mango is sweet, and the prawn springy. The greens together with the sweet honey balsamic dressing opens up your taste bud for the meal.
Sauteed Organic Mushrooms ($5.90)
Mushrooms are always a tricky dish, cook for too long and the mushroom becomes over-cooked, while finish it too early the mushroom will fail to absorb the essence of the other ingredients.
The Sauteed Organic mushrooms have a slight hint of white wine, wild herbs and tomato taste.
Smoothie Oreo ($12)
The Oreo Smoothie isn’t good enough, the oreo bits are left too big to go through the straw, usually they will be crushed and mixed with milk. We gave the feedback and the manager Ronald told us the reason was due to fault in the blender that day.
However it is still quite unforgivable as this is a restaurant after all, and the least they can do is to notified us about the problem which unfortunately, they didn’t.
Butter Croissant toast with smoked salmon ($13.90)
The butter croissant toast besides with the smoked salmon, comes with alternatives in ham, bacon or sausages. The greens in the toast complement the smoked salmon salty taste.
However, we lamented the fact that the croissant toast is not cripsy enough, the bread is too soft, and same for the green. We felt that it will be better if there is crunchier greens like cucumber added in, for a more complete taste.
The mayonnaise sauce also threatens to spoil the smoked salmon, fresh avocado sauce will perhaps be a better option to go along with the smoked salmon. The sandwich is an otherwise good and hearty dish, if Cicada can improve on the small issues.
Penne Pasta with seafood ($24.50)
The most expensive pasta on the menu, no doubt so with the ocean prawn, scallops and calamari in spicy marinara sauce. Different type of pasta suits different type of base, tomato base spaghetti is the only choice to go with it. Well for a spicier version, the penne pasta works well.
The first savor of the Penne pasta with seafood is excellent, the spicy sauce together with the oceanic taste floods our taste bud. However, the dish seems to lack in something, because after a while we got a little sick of the dish as it starts to be overwhelming.
Cicada Club Sandwich ($15.90)
The Cicada Club sandwich consists of bacon, lettuce, tomato, weisswurst sausage in focaccia bun. The bacon and sausage is decent, but again the use of mayo sauce here doesn’t quite complement the ingredients. Mayo will be better off when paired up with fried stuff.
Total Bill is $96.90 for the 2 of us. I think we sort of over-ordered given we had two appetizer, two sandwich, a pasta and a drink. The sandwich ranges in the tens, while pastas are in tens to twenty. The drink is definitely no go, while the sandwiches can really be better. And for once, i didn’t have any room for desserts.
I checked out the dinner menu as well, while lunch at Cicada is causal and simple food, dinner is more sophisticated with more selections of mains in the high twenty range. According to the manager, the atmosphere for dinner is more romantic and the area more closed up for more coziness.
We found the day-time area to be too ‘open’. Cicada should be going for the french open space concept, but this does not really encourage longer stay because the space is too bare and open. We believed that a more enclosed area, using different type of curtains can just do the trick.
All in all, Cicada promises a lot with its art-centric causal restaurant tag, but we ended up quite disappointed. Cicada certainly can be better, and hopefully the next time i dropped by Wessex, it will be a very different Cicada.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
” The next time, hopefully a very different Cicada “
Rating given:
One Twenty Six is a relatively new and swanky restaurant located at the now half year old rejuvenated Big Splash. Run by the same team behind One Rochester, the waterfront restaurant has a lot to live up to if it is to impress. Situated directly in front of the East Coast coastline, One Twenty Six boasts 2 seating arrangements. One alfresco seating and the other which is the usual fine dining establishment. In other words, the place is chic and demands at least a visit to see what the woo ha is a all about.
First off, let me apologise for the badly taken photos of the restaurant, the place definitely looks much better when you actually see it. And it is advisable to visit it at night when it is cooler since afternoons tend to heat the primarily glass made restaurant up quite a bit.
Complimentary Bread - To its credit, the place serves good bread which is made in house. They are all served warm and definitely gives the impression of being in a fine dining restaurant with its soft, fluffy and fragrant bread. Some had hazelnuts baked into them while others had raisins and hints of coffee. Add a dash of butter and its practically a meal on its own, if you are here for lunch, my advice is to ask for as much bread as possible if you are a big eater. That's my advice, take it if you like, ignore it at your own peril.
Salmon Roll/Seasoned Baby Octopus On Bed of Mesclun Salad with Japanese Dressing/Mediterranean Caprese Salad - All of the above starters had a fresh and satisfying taste about it to usher in the actual meal. The seasoned baby octopus was soft and sweet while the salmon was light and fresh. The caprese salad tastes like a cross between fish cakes and cheese with its tangy texture and milky taste but is still pretty good in the grand scheme of things.
Capellini Arrabiatta With Prawns - This main course packs quite a punch as it is very spicy albeit still maintaining a sweet tomato taste. The pasta itself tastes like a cross between chinese bee hoon and pasta with its fine strands but is definitely softer and more springy then the usual bee hoon strands. The prawns are juicy, sweet and crunchy as well. Overall, its a good filling course for people who like it spicy.
Oven Roasted Spatchcock, fork mash potato with sage jus - Spatch cock actually refers to the way the chicken is prepared. In this sense, it means the chicken is spread flat and roasted. A taste reveals an aromatic peppery taste and tender juicy meat. Pity the serving size was rather small though.
Pan Fried Sea Bass with potatoes and foam - In all honesty, the sea bass was rather thin and small. It was pan fried rather well despite the small serving. Crispy skin with a cheesy tasting foam around it. The meat itself retained much of its natural flavors and was sweet.
Roasted Lamb Loin - The lamb was done medium rare and very nice indeed. My tasting reveals well marinated and juicy meat which went well with the stew-like bed of greens below. Due to some technical issues, the waitress accidentally gave too much pepper to the dish but still, it turned out to be my favorite item at the restaurant so far.
Tiramisu/Rum and raisin nougat - While the main courses and starters might be hit or miss items, the desserts definitely had no such issue. Made fresh and sold on the day, the desserts differ daily for the lunch menu. The tiramisu had a good balance of cheese, rum and cake which helped bring out the flavors of each section. One of the better tiramisu's i've had but thats my opinion while the nougat was an interesting mixture of raisins, rum and ice cream which is very different. Nougat being nougat, i'd expected a cake or cookie like texture but this tasted more like ice cream and it melts albeit slowly. The taste of rum is strong but thats the way i like it.
All set lunches come with a choice of coffee or tea and i must say, they serve rather good coffee. Without the sourish taste that accompanies most gourmet coffees, this one was sightly bitter, strong and quite high on the acidity scale if i'm not wrong. I had the impression that it was also smooth and its something i wouldn't miss ordering if i'm here.
Portion size aside, the lunches offer a nice variety of choices to choose from and differs weekly so you'll rarely get the same choices twice. Judging by the way the restaurant cooked the lamb, i'll brave the storm and say that they probably do good in their meats (lamb and beef) but thats to be decided after i do try their 200 day old aged wagyu beef. The view and location is nice but slightly warm during noon. The service is good and friendly and their desserts are above average. Looking forward to try their degustation menu.
Rating given: