Having heard about this place being good for its desserts, naturally being a dessert-lover, I was drawn to it. My friend and I went on a quiet weekday afternoon so there wasn't anyone, which is great! I was awed by the selection of desserts and simply didn't know which to pick! After a long long time we managed to decide.
As it was tea time, there was a tea time special. A choice of dessert and a drink for $9.50.
Food Ordered: Arabella Sweet Pleasure Strawberry Italian Soda Iced Lime Mint Chicken and Mushroom Sandwich
Arabella is the dome-shaped chocolate cake with Jivara mousse with caramelised bananas, fruity ginger and passion fruit puree. I'm not a fan of caramelised bananas but was attracted to the presentation of the cake... the taste of bananas wasn't as strong as I thought it would be so that was good for me. I loved the outer covering.
Sweet Pleasure was made of layers of hazelnut praline dacquoise, Jivara milk chocolate ganache with fleur de sel, topped with chocolate mousse. I loved this cake. Except for the fact that it was difficult to eat, thanks to the hard top layer, it was delicious. Not overly sweet, the hazelnut taste was strong and made it really different from other cakes.
The Lemon Mint was a strange unappetizing green colour but nonetheless it was good. You can taste both flavours nicely.
The only one that disappointed was the Italian Soda. All Soda no strawberry. Made me extremely bloated after that.
The Chicken and Mushroom Sandwich was adequate in taste. It was quite big and more than enough for a lady like me. The ingredients were sufficient. It wasn't fantastic but at $12.50 I guess it's alright.
The bill came up to $36.40 for five items between two of us. Really a good deal I must say. Please note that this price is only during Tea time Specials.. weekday afternoons only.
On Christmas Day .... a second trip, we tried: Macarons - Chocolate with Raspberry Macarons - Chocolate with Lemon Forest Noir Ambrosia Lychee Tea
To keep it short, the macarons are good but not fantastic. You really have to pick the flavours carefully. The Chocolate and Lemon one was too sticky for me whereas the Raspberry one was good in texture but slightly too sweet in taste.
Forest Noir was very much your average Blackforest cake but the Ambrosia was fantastic. lol my friend kept stealing mine!
And the Lychee tea is definitely a huge improvement from the Italian Soda I picked the last time. Good Drink.
This time we spent about $30 for 4 items. (See the difference minus the tea time special? Pity we're not all tai-tais.)
Anyway I'll definitely be back for more desserts and Lambourghini/Ferrari-watching. :)
Happened to be around Kallang couple weeks ago and we went to check out the totally revamped Leisure Park.
The last image I had of that place was run down and sleezy. Before the close for renovation, I remember going there for BK and buying cheap stickers at push carts around the first level. There was also this game arcade where I used to waste my time at while waiting for fireworks on NDP day.
Now, the place looks so much brighter and bigger. However there were many empty shops still when I went. Based on my memory, there was a Subway, a foodcourt (filled with aunties and uncles), a toy collector shop, a pet shop (with no pets), some fashion stores, a game shop and few gift shops open. Think there's also a cold storage at the basement if I'm not wrong. (I'm old... memory's failing me...)
Guess this place is not going to be that happening as yet. Unless there's some event at the stadiums. But once the train starts its service there, crowd might just start picking up.
I wouldn't suggest you to choose this place for a window shopping mall for now. Give it a couple more months. Hope more shops will be opened. And seems like a cinema or sort might also be opening there. (Top level wasn't accessible yet when I was there.)
Giving it a 2/5 for now. Will review again when I revisit them later next year.
Tamon is a small Japanese eatery located along East Coast Road near 928 Laksa. It had been sitting quietly in its corner for years and I was really tempted to try. Its opening hours are quite limited. They are open from 12-2pm (weekdays) and 6-10pm (weekdays and weekends). They aren't open on Public Holidays. Finally after one failed attempt (reached there and they weren't open), we managed to enter this place, frequented by Japanese in the area.
Seating for this place is for about 30-40, with about 4 tables of 4 outside. It is pretty cramped with the seats very close to each other. You can't have two larger sized people sitting back to back otherwise they would have a really hard time getting out.
They have a variety of items however they only have 5 dinner sets to choose from. Dinner sets are the best bargain at about $20 . The rest of the items are at normal prices which aren't very cheap.
Food Ordered: Tamon Bento Dinner Set A
The Tamon Bento ($26) consisted of sashimi,tempura, saba shioyaki, chawanmushi served with miso soup and rice. Both sets had a variety of sashimi and tempura which were sizeable and fresh (sashimi). The batter for the tempura was pretty good and it wasn't oily. The saba shioyaki (grilled mackerel) was well done, retaining its taste without being too "fishy". The best item here was the chawanmushi. Its texture was very smooth. One of the best I've tasted really.
Dinner Set A ($26) consisted of sashimi,tempura, chicken teriyaki served with miso soup and rice. The extra item here would be the Chicken teriyaki. It was a pretty sizeable serving so I shared it with my friend. Nicely done with very little fatty bits which is what I like.
In terms of service they were slow to respond at times even when there were only a few people. They were quick to tend to regulars though.
So I took one star off due to the service and limited opening hours. Parking isn't too easy too in the area.
After a whole day at VivoCity, it was time for dinner, and as expected, everywhere was packed with hungry people. And finally settled at The Mussel Guys as there wasn't any queue! But no queue doesn't been no good food.
The place was packed inside with people talking and children crying. Not quite the place to go for a romantic Xmas dinner. Can pass as a clean and comfortable place for friends to gather and enjoy fresh mussels.
We ordered Sauteed Mushrooms, Steamed Mussels (350g), Sausage Pasta and drinks.
The Sauteed Mushrooms, $4.50, was value for money. Serving was quite big for the price and the taste was just right. But if the mushrooms were not sliced that thinly, the taste would have been better.
Steamed Mussels, $15.90, with white wine and garlic arrived in their mussel pot, which you can purchase home at $180 . The mussels were fresh and there wasn't any fishy taste. At first we wanted to order the creamy or tomato base mussels as we were afraid that it'll taste fishy. But it didn't. Fresh and some were almost crunchy when bitten into. The white wine and garlic blended well with the mussels. I wouldn't say the taste was fantastics as I'd better ones before. But with the price, its still considered value for money.
I shan't comment much on the chicken Sausage Pasta, $12.90. I'll not order this again. It's not even average imo. Pay slightly more for another pot of mussels!
I'll go back there if I crave for mussels. Its value for money.
A dinner with my ex colleagues and they had to bring me to a ulu place for dinner, out of all places. That is what I thought but the then place is within walking distance (5 mins) from Kallang MRT station.
The restaurant got air con and open air eating places. It was packed to brim. I started to have expectations for this place alr!
The waitress was good and recommended some of the dishes to us including their signatures CRABS!
So we ordered:
1. Fried Rice: It was pretty good on its own and very fragrant as well.
2. Signautre Tofu: This one is jz 2 big pcs of tofu with minced meat on them. Nothing special. Taste good though. Hee...
3. Mango Fried Fish: This is a special fried and crispy fish with sweet and sour sauce with thick slices of mango. I loved this dish!
4. Sambal kangkong: Normal. Hee...
We got 2 crabs and done in 2 different ways. Thei signature dishes! I have to say that I loved both dishes!
5. Chili Crab: The crab is freaking big and fresh. The meat jz slide off from the shell without much effort. The chili sauce is so good on its own and not really very hot as well. Use the man tuo to dip into the sauce is simply heaven!
6. Butter Salted Egg Crab: This is a special one. Nvr tasted it before. Surprised by the taste as the salted egg did not turn out to be really salted yet about to bring the tast of the butter crab to a higher level! Unqiue.
The service of the place is very good and prompt. They will served all the dishes less the crabs, after we are more or less done with the dishes, the crabs will appear in front of us. Well to me, this is good, after all eating crabs can be a bit of mess.
The price is also reasonable, coming to about $200 plus with drinks.
I found a new place from crabs and think will be going back more often!
Didn't fancy jostling with the crowds for a seat during dinner so popped by Oscar's for a relatively peaceful meal far from the maddening crowds.
Located on the ground floor of Conrad Centennial, this versatile cafe is known for its international buffet spreads, but we decided to go against the norm and opted for ala carte instead. Decor is rather "cafeish" with a good mix of wood and opulent lighting, complete with Birds of Paradise donning the place.
Personally, I thought the chicken & mango wrap was nicely done as the wrap was lightly toasted and not too thick. The filling of chicken and mango went well with what tasted like the peanut sauce found in Rojak - sweet yet not overwhelming. Fresh crunchy vegetables added zest and juiciness to the dish. Lest expectations shoot too high for this dish, let me just say that its decent, but not outstanding.
Conrad Burger - I've developed a penchant for burgers recently so got myself their signature burger to try. The finely grounded beef patty was a little too overdone but still relatively juicy and tasty without coming too strong on the raw beef taste. Bacon strips beneath a buttery toasted bun provided a nice salty taste.
Oscar's Profiteroles - The profiteroles were quite a bit of a let down. Firstly, they didn't come drenched in chocolate (unlike the ones in France), which would have made it so much nicer. You would have probably guessed that the chocolate syrup was woefully inadequate. On the upside, the ice cream was nice and smooth but strangely enough, the pistachio ice cream tasted more like almond to me.
Chocolate Royal Hazelnut Crunch - A most delightful (and not to mention sinful) dessert, the hazelnut crunch was light and not too rich, complete with a nice wafer biscuit base. Very much like eating a smooth rendition of Rocher, which I personally fancy quite a bit. I didn't quite take to the macaroon, cold Sauternes Sabayon or tropical fruit though.
$85 for 1 appetiser, 1 main and 2 desserts certainly doesn't qualify as value for money. However, food quality is arguably above average so that might just lessen the pain of forking out so much money a wee bit. Service, though professional, could have been friendlier.
Fans of the now defunct PaPi at Mohd Sultan road will be happy to know that Chef Salvatore, who headed the kitchens there, has ventured out to start a new Italian restaurant - La Noce.
Hidden in a secluded area just along Chu Lin Road, off the Hillview estate, La Noce, which means "Walnut", is a tiny eatery which can probably hold about 35 pax. The interior is simply furnished and instantly puts one at ease with its cosiness and warmth. Please be warned that its not an easy place to find but if you do find it, there's free valet parking available. And public transport is a big no no, unless you are willing to walk.
The complimentary bread was a joke. Charred on the outside and dry on the inside. It wasn't served warm as well. What else can I say?
Vitello Tonnato - For $18, I had honestly expected more. Sure, the veal was thinly sliced but the taste was overwhelmed by the tuna sauce so much so that you could have substituted the veal with ham and I wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. Still a decent dish though.
Ravioli White Truffle - You could have imagined my delight when I heard from our waiter that La Noce was actually doing a special of White Truffle Ravioli. Honestly, for $24 a pop, I certainly didn't expect much. However, what I got was way below expectations. The white truffle flakes, if any, were drowned by the cream sauce which was a pity really, considering that white truffles have to be eaten with something light to bring out its aroma and taste. The stuffing inside the Ravioli, which our waiter claimed was made from white truffles (a most unbelievable statement considering the prohibitive prices of white truffles), tasted like mashed up cheese and together with the cream sauce, made for a nausea inducing dish.
Quattro Stagioni - The Stagioni, or 4 seasons pizza as it's also known, was decent but not outstanding. The crust, though thin, was way too hard and I had problems cutting through it. Quantity of ingredients was sufficient though.
La Noce Souffle - This has got to be one of the lousier Chocolate Souffles that I've ever eaten. Minimal chocolate oozed out of the cake when I broke through the crust, which was a bummer really. The texture of the cake didn't taste like cake, but more of kueh, soft and a tad elastic. And $14 for this is a joke.
Dessert Platter - Tiramisu, pine nuts pie, Panna Cotta and Profiteroles made up the dessert platter and honestly, none were outstanding, all average at best. The tiramisu has no alcohol in it, which would still have been acceptable if it was fluffy and moist - both of which were lacking. The profiteroles were reminiscent of the ones in France, freshly drenched in chocolate and served. The only glaring difference was that the ones from La Noce were drenched in chocolate and then left to sit before serving, which made the pastry rather soft.
Sadly, even the quintessential panna cotta wasn't up to the mark. It wasn't very quivery or sweet enough. The pine nut pie was the best of the lot, with the pine but filling light yet tasty. But still not outstanding.
$490 for 7 pax is honestly a case of too little, too much. Too little in terms of quality/value and too much in terms of cost. Service is excellent and so is the hospitality of Chef Salvatore, but he needs to bring back the standards of PaPi before I'll even considering stepping in again.
Hopped into Sketches with a friend for dinner one day. I 'd always wanted to try this place with its DIY pasta but I never had the chance till recently.
We were all excited to be able to make our own pastas. Much like creators of our own destines really. It was exciting to be able to put together your favourite ingredients in hope of making a great pasta dish.
We ordered: Garlic Bread 2 Mushroom Soups 2 Pasta Dishes (custom made-Hungry size) - Fusilli in Napoletana (Italian Tomato Sauce) with bacon, ham, mushroom and green peas - Fusilli and Spaghetti in Alfredo Sauce with garlic, carrots, bacon, mushroom and chicken
The garlic bread was pretty normal, done with the store-bought garlic spreads. Not quite worth the money though but I like to have my soup with bread.
The Soups were served with smaller pieces of garlic bread. I enjoyed the soup as it was thick and flavourful. And very filling. Next time I'll probably share it so that I can leave more space for my creation.
Claudia was right to say that "Hungry size" which is the smaller size is definitely able to fill any regular eater and more. Quite a large portion really so I can't imagine what Starving Size looks like. Mine which is the one in the Napoletana Sauce was quite ... average. I'm obviously not a good pasta designer. The ingredients I picked were similiar in taste so there wasn't any variation, resulting in a edible but uninteresting dish. My companion's pasta was much better. It had garlic in it which made the dish very fragrant, a nice sharp contrast to the rest of the ingredients.
The service was generally good. Water was topped up and the people were patient with us as we asked about the items. The only thing is that the bill came really slowly which made me think that they had forgotten.
The damage was slightly under $45, which I think is pretty reasonable for sizeable servings. It was enough for 3 people, so the two of us couldn't finish.
I would be back for more... and will remember to have garlic next time :)
I love their their portobello mushroom burger, crisscut fries, onion rings & of course their DIY ice lemon tea!
Yes, they serve very huge burgers which I can't finish by myself. Haha.... They are very generous with their mushrooms & it goes really well with the melted cheese. Yummy! Their fries are large and crispy too, especially their onion rings which is definitely worth a mention. In the thin crust of flour is not more flour but real onions! An of course fast food should come in a set. So the drink comes in free flow where the cashier will just give you an empty cup upon ordering. Then you can proceed to the drinks counter to get your drinks. I like their ice lemon tea as it is home-brewed tea & you can add the lemons, sugar syrup & ice according to your preference. My favourite task is to add as much lemon into it as possible. Haha....
Though it's fast food, it's worth the sins to have it sometimes. Haha....
Somehow, I feel that their standard has dropped or probably I've ordered the wrong dish that day. I was browsing through the the menu for the oven-baked & the dish 'Posh Spice' just caught my eye as it's spicy pasta/rice dish topped with mushrooms (my favourite!) and lots of cheese. Hehe... But then, after eating it, I didn't quite like it. The pasta came with a cream base sauce & had mayonaise in it. In the end I could not finish the pasta.
Another thing to note about this outlet is that their eating area is just next to kitchen. So you'll have the smell of cooked food after dining in there. Service was average, need to wave a few times to get their attention.
Well, I think I'll go back again for my favourite mushroom madness pizza & the mushroom attack sphagetti but not their Posh Spice anymore.
Having heard about this place being good for its desserts, naturally being a dessert-lover, I was drawn to it. My friend and I went on a quiet weekday afternoon so there wasn't anyone, which is great! I was awed by the selection of desserts and simply didn't know which to pick! After a long long time we managed to decide.
As it was tea time, there was a tea time special. A choice of dessert and a drink for $9.50.
Food Ordered:
Arabella
Sweet Pleasure
Strawberry Italian Soda
Iced Lime Mint
Chicken and Mushroom Sandwich
Arabella is the dome-shaped chocolate cake with Jivara mousse with caramelised bananas, fruity ginger and passion fruit puree. I'm not a fan of caramelised bananas but was attracted to the presentation of the cake... the taste of bananas wasn't as strong as I thought it would be so that was good for me. I loved the outer covering.
Sweet Pleasure was made of layers of hazelnut praline dacquoise, Jivara milk chocolate ganache with fleur de sel, topped with chocolate mousse. I loved this cake. Except for the fact that it was difficult to eat, thanks to the hard top layer, it was delicious. Not overly sweet, the hazelnut taste was strong and made it really different from other cakes.
The Lemon Mint was a strange unappetizing green colour but nonetheless it was good. You can taste both flavours nicely.
The only one that disappointed was the Italian Soda. All Soda no strawberry. Made me extremely bloated after that.
The Chicken and Mushroom Sandwich was adequate in taste. It was quite big and more than enough for a lady like me. The ingredients were sufficient. It wasn't fantastic but at $12.50 I guess it's alright.
The bill came up to $36.40 for five items between two of us. Really a good deal I must say. Please note that this price is only during Tea time Specials.. weekday afternoons only.
On Christmas Day .... a second trip, we tried:
Macarons - Chocolate with Raspberry
Macarons - Chocolate with Lemon
Forest Noir
Ambrosia
Lychee Tea
To keep it short, the macarons are good but not fantastic. You really have to pick the flavours carefully. The Chocolate and Lemon one was too sticky for me whereas the Raspberry one was good in texture but slightly too sweet in taste.
Forest Noir was very much your average Blackforest cake but the Ambrosia was fantastic. lol my friend kept stealing mine!
And the Lychee tea is definitely a huge improvement from the Italian Soda I picked the last time. Good Drink.
This time we spent about $30 for 4 items. (See the difference minus the tea time special? Pity we're not all tai-tais.)
Anyway I'll definitely be back for more desserts and Lambourghini/Ferrari-watching. :)
Rating given:
Happened to be around Kallang couple weeks ago and we went to check out the totally revamped Leisure Park.
The last image I had of that place was run down and sleezy. Before the close for renovation, I remember going there for BK and buying cheap stickers at push carts around the first level. There was also this game arcade where I used to waste my time at while waiting for fireworks on NDP day.
Now, the place looks so much brighter and bigger. However there were many empty shops still when I went. Based on my memory, there was a Subway, a foodcourt (filled with aunties and uncles), a toy collector shop, a pet shop (with no pets), some fashion stores, a game shop and few gift shops open. Think there's also a cold storage at the basement if I'm not wrong. (I'm old... memory's failing me...)
Guess this place is not going to be that happening as yet. Unless there's some event at the stadiums. But once the train starts its service there, crowd might just start picking up.
I wouldn't suggest you to choose this place for a window shopping mall for now. Give it a couple more months. Hope more shops will be opened. And seems like a cinema or sort might also be opening there. (Top level wasn't accessible yet when I was there.)
Giving it a 2/5 for now. Will review again when I revisit them later next year.
Rating given:
Tamon is a small Japanese eatery located along East Coast Road near 928 Laksa. It had been sitting quietly in its corner for years and I was really tempted to try. Its opening hours are quite limited. They are open from 12-2pm (weekdays) and 6-10pm (weekdays and weekends). They aren't open on Public Holidays. Finally after one failed attempt (reached there and they weren't open), we managed to enter this place, frequented by Japanese in the area.
Seating for this place is for about 30-40, with about 4 tables of 4 outside. It is pretty cramped with the seats very close to each other. You can't have two larger sized people sitting back to back otherwise they would have a really hard time getting out.
They have a variety of items however they only have 5 dinner sets to choose from. Dinner sets are the best bargain at about $20 . The rest of the items are at normal prices which aren't very cheap.
Food Ordered:
Tamon Bento
Dinner Set A
The Tamon Bento ($26) consisted of sashimi,tempura, saba shioyaki, chawanmushi served with miso soup and rice. Both sets had a variety of sashimi and tempura which were sizeable and fresh (sashimi). The batter for the tempura was pretty good and it wasn't oily. The saba shioyaki (grilled mackerel) was well done, retaining its taste without being too "fishy". The best item here was the chawanmushi. Its texture was very smooth. One of the best I've tasted really.
Dinner Set A ($26) consisted of sashimi,tempura, chicken teriyaki served with miso soup and rice. The extra item here would be the Chicken teriyaki. It was a pretty sizeable serving so I shared it with my friend. Nicely done with very little fatty bits which is what I like.
In terms of service they were slow to respond at times even when there were only a few people. They were quick to tend to regulars though.
So I took one star off due to the service and limited opening hours. Parking isn't too easy too in the area.
Rating given:
After a whole day at VivoCity, it was time for dinner, and as expected, everywhere was packed with hungry people. And finally settled at The Mussel Guys as there wasn't any queue! But no queue doesn't been no good food.
The place was packed inside with people talking and children crying. Not quite the place to go for a romantic Xmas dinner. Can pass as a clean and comfortable place for friends to gather and enjoy fresh mussels.
We ordered Sauteed Mushrooms, Steamed Mussels (350g), Sausage Pasta and drinks.
The Sauteed Mushrooms, $4.50, was value for money. Serving was quite big for the price and the taste was just right. But if the mushrooms were not sliced that thinly, the taste would have been better.
Steamed Mussels, $15.90, with white wine and garlic arrived in their mussel pot, which you can purchase home at $180 . The mussels were fresh and there wasn't any fishy taste. At first we wanted to order the creamy or tomato base mussels as we were afraid that it'll taste fishy. But it didn't. Fresh and some were almost crunchy when bitten into. The white wine and garlic blended well with the mussels. I wouldn't say the taste was fantastics as I'd better ones before. But with the price, its still considered value for money.
I shan't comment much on the chicken Sausage Pasta, $12.90. I'll not order this again. It's not even average imo. Pay slightly more for another pot of mussels!
I'll go back there if I crave for mussels. Its value for money.
Rating given:
A dinner with my ex colleagues and they had to bring me to a ulu place for dinner, out of all places. That is what I thought but the then place is within walking distance (5 mins) from Kallang MRT station.
The restaurant got air con and open air eating places. It was packed to brim. I started to have expectations for this place alr!
The waitress was good and recommended some of the dishes to us including their signatures CRABS!
So we ordered:
1. Fried Rice: It was pretty good on its own and very fragrant as well.
2. Signautre Tofu: This one is jz 2 big pcs of tofu with minced meat on them. Nothing special. Taste good though. Hee...
3. Mango Fried Fish: This is a special fried and crispy fish with sweet and sour sauce with thick slices of mango. I loved this dish!
4. Sambal kangkong: Normal. Hee...
We got 2 crabs and done in 2 different ways. Thei signature dishes! I have to say that I loved both dishes!
5. Chili Crab: The crab is freaking big and fresh. The meat jz slide off from the shell without much effort. The chili sauce is so good on its own and not really very hot as well. Use the man tuo to dip into the sauce is simply heaven!
6. Butter Salted Egg Crab: This is a special one. Nvr tasted it before. Surprised by the taste as the salted egg did not turn out to be really salted yet about to bring the tast of the butter crab to a higher level! Unqiue.
The service of the place is very good and prompt. They will served all the dishes less the crabs, after we are more or less done with the dishes, the crabs will appear in front of us. Well to me, this is good, after all eating crabs can be a bit of mess.
The price is also reasonable, coming to about $200 plus with drinks.
I found a new place from crabs and think will be going back more often!
Rating given:
Didn't fancy jostling with the crowds for a seat during dinner so popped by Oscar's for a relatively peaceful meal far from the maddening crowds.
Located on the ground floor of Conrad Centennial, this versatile cafe is known for its international buffet spreads, but we decided to go against the norm and opted for ala carte instead. Decor is rather "cafeish" with a good mix of wood and opulent lighting, complete with Birds of Paradise donning the place.
Personally, I thought the chicken & mango wrap was nicely done as the wrap was lightly toasted and not too thick. The filling of chicken and mango went well with what tasted like the peanut sauce found in Rojak - sweet yet not overwhelming. Fresh crunchy vegetables added zest and juiciness to the dish. Lest expectations shoot too high for this dish, let me just say that its decent, but not outstanding.
Conrad Burger - I've developed a penchant for burgers recently so got myself their signature burger to try. The finely grounded beef patty was a little too overdone but still relatively juicy and tasty without coming too strong on the raw beef taste. Bacon strips beneath a buttery toasted bun provided a nice salty taste.
Oscar's Profiteroles - The profiteroles were quite a bit of a let down. Firstly, they didn't come drenched in chocolate (unlike the ones in France), which would have made it so much nicer. You would have probably guessed that the chocolate syrup was woefully inadequate. On the upside, the ice cream was nice and smooth but strangely enough, the pistachio ice cream tasted more like almond to me.
Chocolate Royal Hazelnut Crunch - A most delightful (and not to mention sinful) dessert, the hazelnut crunch was light and not too rich, complete with a nice wafer biscuit base. Very much like eating a smooth rendition of Rocher, which I personally fancy quite a bit. I didn't quite take to the macaroon, cold Sauternes Sabayon or tropical fruit though.
$85 for 1 appetiser, 1 main and 2 desserts certainly doesn't qualify as value for money. However, food quality is arguably above average so that might just lessen the pain of forking out so much money a wee bit. Service, though professional, could have been friendlier.
See all my pictures here
Rating given:
Fans of the now defunct PaPi at Mohd Sultan road will be happy to know that Chef Salvatore, who headed the kitchens there, has ventured out to start a new Italian restaurant - La Noce.
Hidden in a secluded area just along Chu Lin Road, off the Hillview estate, La Noce, which means "Walnut", is a tiny eatery which can probably hold about 35 pax. The interior is simply furnished and instantly puts one at ease with its cosiness and warmth. Please be warned that its not an easy place to find but if you do find it, there's free valet parking available. And public transport is a big no no, unless you are willing to walk.
The complimentary bread was a joke. Charred on the outside and dry on the inside. It wasn't served warm as well. What else can I say?
Vitello Tonnato - For $18, I had honestly expected more. Sure, the veal was thinly sliced but the taste was overwhelmed by the tuna sauce so much so that you could have substituted the veal with ham and I wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. Still a decent dish though.
Ravioli White Truffle - You could have imagined my delight when I heard from our waiter that La Noce was actually doing a special of White Truffle Ravioli. Honestly, for $24 a pop, I certainly didn't expect much. However, what I got was way below expectations. The white truffle flakes, if any, were drowned by the cream sauce which was a pity really, considering that white truffles have to be eaten with something light to bring out its aroma and taste. The stuffing inside the Ravioli, which our waiter claimed was made from white truffles (a most unbelievable statement considering the prohibitive prices of white truffles), tasted like mashed up cheese and together with the cream sauce, made for a nausea inducing dish.
Quattro Stagioni - The Stagioni, or 4 seasons pizza as it's also known, was decent but not outstanding. The crust, though thin, was way too hard and I had problems cutting through it. Quantity of ingredients was sufficient though.
La Noce Souffle - This has got to be one of the lousier Chocolate Souffles that I've ever eaten. Minimal chocolate oozed out of the cake when I broke through the crust, which was a bummer really. The texture of the cake didn't taste like cake, but more of kueh, soft and a tad elastic. And $14 for this is a joke.
Dessert Platter - Tiramisu, pine nuts pie, Panna Cotta and Profiteroles made up the dessert platter and honestly, none were outstanding, all average at best. The tiramisu has no alcohol in it, which would still have been acceptable if it was fluffy and moist - both of which were lacking. The profiteroles were reminiscent of the ones in France, freshly drenched in chocolate and served. The only glaring difference was that the ones from La Noce were drenched in chocolate and then left to sit before serving, which made the pastry rather soft.
Sadly, even the quintessential panna cotta wasn't up to the mark. It wasn't very quivery or sweet enough. The pine nut pie was the best of the lot, with the pine but filling light yet tasty. But still not outstanding.
$490 for 7 pax is honestly a case of too little, too much. Too little in terms of quality/value and too much in terms of cost. Service is excellent and so is the hospitality of Chef Salvatore, but he needs to bring back the standards of PaPi before I'll even considering stepping in again.
See all my pictures here
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Hopped into Sketches with a friend for dinner one day. I 'd always wanted to try this place with its DIY pasta but I never had the chance till recently.
We were all excited to be able to make our own pastas. Much like creators of our own destines really. It was exciting to be able to put together your favourite ingredients in hope of making a great pasta dish.
We ordered:
Garlic Bread
2 Mushroom Soups
2 Pasta Dishes (custom made-Hungry size)
- Fusilli in Napoletana (Italian Tomato Sauce) with bacon,
ham, mushroom and green peas
- Fusilli and Spaghetti in Alfredo Sauce with garlic, carrots,
bacon, mushroom and chicken
The garlic bread was pretty normal, done with the store-bought garlic spreads. Not quite worth the money though but I like to have my soup with bread.
The Soups were served with smaller pieces of garlic bread. I enjoyed the soup as it was thick and flavourful. And very filling. Next time I'll probably share it so that I can leave more space for my creation.
Claudia was right to say that "Hungry size" which is the smaller size is definitely able to fill any regular eater and more. Quite a large portion really so I can't imagine what Starving Size looks like. Mine which is the one in the Napoletana Sauce was quite ... average. I'm obviously not a good pasta designer. The ingredients I picked were similiar in taste so there wasn't any variation, resulting in a edible but uninteresting dish. My companion's pasta was much better. It had garlic in it which made the dish very fragrant, a nice sharp contrast to the rest of the ingredients.
The service was generally good. Water was topped up and the people were patient with us as we asked about the items. The only thing is that the bill came really slowly which made me think that they had forgotten.
The damage was slightly under $45, which I think is pretty reasonable for sizeable servings. It was enough for 3 people, so the two of us couldn't finish.
I would be back for more... and will remember to have garlic next time :)
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I love their their portobello mushroom burger, crisscut fries, onion rings & of course their DIY ice lemon tea!
Yes, they serve very huge burgers which I can't finish by myself. Haha.... They are very generous with their mushrooms & it goes really well with the melted cheese. Yummy! Their fries are large and crispy too, especially their onion rings which is definitely worth a mention. In the thin crust of flour is not more flour but real onions! An of course fast food should come in a set. So the drink comes in free flow where the cashier will just give you an empty cup upon ordering. Then you can proceed to the drinks counter to get your drinks. I like their ice lemon tea as it is home-brewed tea & you can add the lemons, sugar syrup & ice according to your preference. My favourite task is to add as much lemon into it as possible. Haha....
Though it's fast food, it's worth the sins to have it sometimes. Haha....
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Somehow, I feel that their standard has dropped or probably I've ordered the wrong dish that day. I was browsing through the the menu for the oven-baked & the dish 'Posh Spice' just caught my eye as it's spicy pasta/rice dish topped with mushrooms (my favourite!) and lots of cheese. Hehe... But then, after eating it, I didn't quite like it. The pasta came with a cream base sauce & had mayonaise in it. In the end I could not finish the pasta.
Another thing to note about this outlet is that their eating area is just next to kitchen. So you'll have the smell of cooked food after dining in there. Service was average, need to wave a few times to get their attention.
Well, I think I'll go back again for my favourite mushroom madness pizza & the mushroom attack sphagetti but not their Posh Spice anymore.
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