The second installation of my mini Sentosa food trial brought me to Thanying Restaurant at Amara Sanctuary Resort. Famed for its authentic Thai food that is also served to the Thai Royal Family, Thanying is also unfortunately known for its steep prices to boot.
Thanying is housed in a classy standalone unit reminiscent of a small chapel with its wooden arches and high ceilings, just across from the main lobby of Amara Sanctuary. Huge wooden frame windows offer a clear view of the surroundings and time slows to a crawl in this beautiful and relaxing space. However conversation can be a little restrained as a blanket of silence covers the whole area, probably due to the lack of customers on a Saturday evening.
Tom Yam Goong - Tom yam soup is one of the hallmarks of Thai cuisine and Thanying's rendition of this ubiquitous dish was nothing short of excellent. The soup was sweet, salty and spicy all at the same time and the spice hits you smack at the back of your throat. The taste of lemongrass permeated through rather strongly and I'm guessing thats due to the use of fresh lemongrass instead of the dried ones.
Kai Jiaw Moo Sub (Fried Egg with Minced Pork) - Its really strange to be ordering fried omelette in a Thai restaurant or in any fine dining place for that matter but I couldn't resist the promise of juicy minced pork covered with a crisp layer of frothy egg sinfully deep fried in high temperature oil. Call it comfort food if you wish. The only downside to this dish was of course the excessive oil, which rendered me nauseous after a while due to the huge portions. And its $16 mind you.
Gai Hor Bai Toey (Pandan Leaf Chicken) - Another quintessential dish in Thai cuisine, the pieces of pandan chicken were quite a size and crispy on the outside while remaining tender and moist on the inside. There was a light hint of pandan taste as well, which gave the chicken a nice faintly sweet edge.
Pineapple Rice - What I found interesting about the pineapple rice was the presence of curry powder, or at least the taste of curry powder. I liked this dish for the fact that it was nicely done without being too dry even after being laden with pork floss but I did think that the chicken cubes that came alongside were overly dry and tough.
Pad Thai - Thanying serves up the drier version of Pad Thai, which I personally prefer. However I did find the fish sauce on this one rather overwhelming or maybe its just me being overly sensitive. I appreciated the relatively generous servings of prawns and chicken cubes though.
With the bill just over $108 for 2 pax, this is one expensive and belly bursting Thai experience. Food quality is consistently decent but not exactly fantastic. Service is excellent though and professional to say the least. If your pockets are as shallow as mine and you want a decent romantic dinner at Sentosa, Thanying might just be a viable option, considering that the other "fine dining" restaurants on the island could set you back by at least twice the amount.
I've been here a few times and my intial visit was not a good impression as they didn't served me the correct order. My gripe during my first visit was that we had to wait for a long time due to the long queue.
My recent visit brought about another gripe, the omelette wasn't that springy or a little watery. It was slightly near to cooked. Not what I preferred.
Even the Salmon Chicken for the High School Musical 3 promotion was slightly overcooked.
Went on a business trip to Bangkok lately and i have to say, there are certain things i liked and certain things i didn't like about the place.
Disclaimer: my view may be a little skewed since i spent most of my 6 days in the hotel for job training.
First off, i'll talk about what i dislike.
- Dislike the horrible streets which seem like they just went through an earthquake
- dislike the spicy food and hot weather
- dislike the crowds and generally clatter
- dislike the dirty streets and back alleys
- bombs and protests
Now, we'll talk about what i like:
- cheap stuff for shopping
- huge shopping malls
- superb bargaining
- wonderful hotel (i stayed in Sheraton on the 26th floor shared with a male colleague)
- superb hotel buffets and food
- generally better service then Singapore
- CHEAP BEER (USD 90 cents for Tiger beer anyone?)
- Elephants on the streets
- Ma Boon Kong (enough said)
- Awesome sky train that shields and brings you to major hotels and shopping malls
- company sponsorship (can't live without it)
When all is said and done, its more or less justified to risk life and limb to visit the place. Its dilapidated and back in some areas but in others, it excels beyond what SG can offer at times.
The shopping is legendary and to be honest, i don't even know why i'm paying so much for the same things in Singapore now. However, pros and cons abound as usual.
Verdict? Visit the place at least once. Get over the horrible streets and expensive hotels and you'll find a place with charm, really cheap stuff and a really different experience.
Located at the quiet end of a row of shophouses (that also houses Ice3 and Frolick) along Kensington Park Road, Ristorante De Parma has the expressions, "simple and minimalistic" engraved all over, coupled with warm lighting that eludes a sense of smoothing comfort for a slow relaxing dinner. However, as weather was cooling that night, we opted for one of the two outdoor tables.
Complimentary bread served with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette although came warm was nothing extraordinary.
Le Zuppe, or soups was Minestrone alla Genovese ($6.90), the classic Italian vegetable soup. There are different variations of minestrone soup – divided into different villages or towns, each customise to regional or seasonal ingredients. And in the traditions of Genoa province, it is distinguished by the generous use of herbs in its preparation, and specifically the addition of Pesto. HFB really loved this soup! A delightful surprise from the usual minestrone that is watered down and tomato-based, their version was intense in flavours from the herbs, yet light on the palate.
A must for all mushroom lovers, the Fungo di Portobello ($14.90), was a huge grilled Portobello mushroom dish garnished with bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives, drizzled with their own house dressing. Every bite of the thick mushroom produced a juice-gushing moment. However, HFB just wasn’t used to the fact that the accompaniments, especially the bell peppers came contrasting cold (although HFB was assured by the staff that that’s the way they served it) and was also pretty disappointed that a rotten leaf of purple lettuce was left unchecked and dished out to us.
Listed as a new item in the menu, the Foie Gras de Canard ($27.90) was pan-fried and topped with Caviar & accompanied North East Atlantic Langoustine & Smoked Salmon. HFB clearly wasn’t impressed with this dish – the duck liver was too dry for his liking, and the langoustine and smoke salmon didn’t add any value to this dish – harshly speaking, it was akin to 3 separate items put scrappily together that didn’t gel at all.
One of their house favourite, the Prosciutto Di Parma con Rucola Pizza ($26.90), is topped with Parma ham sourced directly from Italy and HFB’s personal favourite – Rocket Salad! Also special request to add shaved Parmesan Cheese as topping was addressed. HFB ranked their version a close second to Da Paolo’s Pizza Bar purely due to the fact that it’s more costly.
What really hit the umami spot were the desserts that night. The Chocolate Fondant ($12.90) oozed yummy molten chocolate when one breaks the exterior crust, and the paired vanilla ice-cream definitely aid to its cause. Slightly expensive considering the serving portion but definitely worth it if you consider Morton’s charges theirs at $25.00.
One should definitely not leave Ristorante De Parma without giving their signatured Tiramisu ($12.90) a try. Aesthetically well presented with what HFB considered a sizeable portion, it was definitely one of the finest tiramisu HFB had tried. Everything from the sponge, to the Mascarpone cheese and alcohol level was so well balanced that HFB wouldn’t mind dropping by just for it after dinner.
Special mention to the service staffs that HFB reckon was pretty well trained and polite.
a friend of mine recently got a puppy from ericsson pet farm and i didnt know even the price for puppies have went up! god. up till abt 50% more the price i got my dog from them, which was 3 years back.
anyway, along the stretch of road with many other pet shops, ericsson seems like the one which is the most presentable, which i believe is the reason why it always attract the most crowds.
i cant comment on the 'quality' of the puppies they sell, but just sharing some of my experience in ericsson.
one thing i dislike about ericsson is the double standards of serving customer. this week they will happily give you a 20% discount on purchases and next week they'll tell you they cant possibly give you 20% off. i guess it really depend on the mood of the staff on how much discount they want to give you.
another thing i realise after my friend bought her puppy, ericsson is always using the same technique in selling, which is to tell you another buyer is coming to get the dog today or the day after, but the staff likes you and will wanna sell the dog to you instead. the staff said the same thing to me when i got my dog from them. this is something i really discourage as it seems like they are trying hard to sell you the dog which if people bought the dog on impulse, you cant say for sure the owner will be a responsible one. and what happen next is the innocent dog becoming a victim on irresponsible ownership.
situated at the 4th storey in compass point, sengkang library is singapore's first 'DIY' library that encourage the people to 'self service', which explains the comparatively large number of service stations to help the library users.
categorised into 4 zones namely like the adults and children book collection zone, transaction zone, multimedia cafe and activity room.
the shelves in this particular library is pretty interesting as its not the normal linear shelves but designed in a way whereby its somehow protruding outwards where the signages are prominently shown.
there is also a section whereby local artists can display their art creation, which i think is good in encouraging the talented.
comfy environment with modern technology. im really quite impressed by how the library board actually manage their libraries nowadays.
Garibaldi, located along Purvis Street, is part of The Garibaldi Group of Restaurants helmed by award-winning Chef de Cuisine Roberto Galetti and his team. An Italian dinning place that provides a fine exemplar of contemporary, stylish and elegant dining experience all rolled into one, it came no surprise that the tantalising menu emphasises authentic Italian gastronomy primed with the best ingredients imported directly from Italy.
Stepped past the seemingly discreet sliding door and one will be ushered to an elegant bar that offers a great selection of wines by the glass and excellent cocktails – HFB can imagined this to be a perfect after-work to-be-seen setting for chic finance executives and lawyers to mingle at and network.
Make a left turn, and one will find the sombre interior of the small dining area coerce on you – call me unsophisticated but HFB certainly didn’t take to the air-of-pretentious atmosphere of the restaurant.
Also, having a row of smartly dress yet clueless service staff standing at the side of the passageway greeting and staring at HFB while he is seated with his peers add on to his already discomfort.
Kudos to the Complimentary Bread & Balsamic Vinaigrette, which was one of the better renditions that HFB had tried – certainly no one will complain if one goes for a second serving.
For the Antipasti e Insalate, HFB plumped for the Capesante Al Taleggio, or Grilled US Scallops with Porcini Mushroom and Truffled Taleggio Fondue ($25.00). Being a big fan of porcini mushroom, the sautéed nutty flavoured shrooms along with the intense creamy truffled Taleggio cheese was divine. However, HFB felt let down by the textured scallops that were slightly dry for his liking – he thought Sage, The Restaurant did a better job with their Seared Hokkaido Scallops with Normandy Sauce.
What’s an Italian dinner without pasta – the Linguine Al Granchio, or Linguine with Crab Meat and Vodka Sauce ($30.00) was commendable – nice aromatic vodka-infused tomato-cream sauce integrated with the flavours of the sea from the crab meat was simply blissful. However, the serving portion was definitely pathetic and HFB could easily wolfed down another plate with ease.
Dessert was Fondente Al Cioccolato, or simply Molten Lava Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Gelato and Raspberry Coulis ($18.00) – it didn’t wow me but definitely not the worse I have eaten. However, accolades must be given to the hazelnut gelato that everyone around the table seemed to enjoy it.
Overall, 4 of us choked a total of $428.00 including a bottle of wine and taxes. HFB felt that the pricey wine was a total rip-off and service although professional, lacked cordiality.
located in jurong east, jurong regional library is the biggest public library under the national library board.
its easy to get lost in such a big place, just like i did. hmm.. id say that even though jurong regional library is the biggest, its furnishing and ambience are considered just okay when compared to the rest. just how a normal library should look like.
it has about 4 storeys high and a basement. had a hard time knowing where to find my stuff but all thanks to the helpful people there, i found my books pretty quickly.
oh yah, one thing i am impressed about jurong regional library is that they have a stage at one of the level that allow band performaces etc which i think is very encouraging for the youth, to make them believe in their dreams :)
i believe this is the first library i went to when i was young. but sadly/fortunately, till now, there arent much changes in the library.
when you walk into there you'll just feel that you're back in a library back in the olden days, (if you're born in the 80s).
the thing that still hasnt changed, primary school likes to have their excursion there :) so its always filled with excited little kids or the teenagers studying quietly in one corner.
their range of books are quite limited, well at least i always cant find the books i want there. but generally, this place is so 'old school' :)
1=SGD 0.0587
The second installation of my mini Sentosa food trial brought me to Thanying Restaurant at Amara Sanctuary Resort. Famed for its authentic Thai food that is also served to the Thai Royal Family, Thanying is also unfortunately known for its steep prices to boot.
Thanying is housed in a classy standalone unit reminiscent of a small chapel with its wooden arches and high ceilings, just across from the main lobby of Amara Sanctuary. Huge wooden frame windows offer a clear view of the surroundings and time slows to a crawl in this beautiful and relaxing space. However conversation can be a little restrained as a blanket of silence covers the whole area, probably due to the lack of customers on a Saturday evening.
Tom Yam Goong - Tom yam soup is one of the hallmarks of Thai cuisine and Thanying's rendition of this ubiquitous dish was nothing short of excellent. The soup was sweet, salty and spicy all at the same time and the spice hits you smack at the back of your throat. The taste of lemongrass permeated through rather strongly and I'm guessing thats due to the use of fresh lemongrass instead of the dried ones.
Kai Jiaw Moo Sub (Fried Egg with Minced Pork) - Its really strange to be ordering fried omelette in a Thai restaurant or in any fine dining place for that matter but I couldn't resist the promise of juicy minced pork covered with a crisp layer of frothy egg sinfully deep fried in high temperature oil. Call it comfort food if you wish. The only downside to this dish was of course the excessive oil, which rendered me nauseous after a while due to the huge portions. And its $16 mind you.
Gai Hor Bai Toey (Pandan Leaf Chicken) - Another quintessential dish in Thai cuisine, the pieces of pandan chicken were quite a size and crispy on the outside while remaining tender and moist on the inside. There was a light hint of pandan taste as well, which gave the chicken a nice faintly sweet edge.
Pineapple Rice - What I found interesting about the pineapple rice was the presence of curry powder, or at least the taste of curry powder. I liked this dish for the fact that it was nicely done without being too dry even after being laden with pork floss but I did think that the chicken cubes that came alongside were overly dry and tough.
Pad Thai - Thanying serves up the drier version of Pad Thai, which I personally prefer. However I did find the fish sauce on this one rather overwhelming or maybe its just me being overly sensitive. I appreciated the relatively generous servings of prawns and chicken cubes though.
With the bill just over $108 for 2 pax, this is one expensive and belly bursting Thai experience. Food quality is consistently decent but not exactly fantastic. Service is excellent though and professional to say the least. If your pockets are as shallow as mine and you want a decent romantic dinner at Sentosa, Thanying might just be a viable option, considering that the other "fine dining" restaurants on the island could set you back by at least twice the amount.
See all my pictures here.
Rating given:
I've been here a few times and my intial visit was not a good impression as they didn't served me the correct order. My gripe during my first visit was that we had to wait for a long time due to the long queue.
My recent visit brought about another gripe, the omelette wasn't that springy or a little watery. It was slightly near to cooked. Not what I preferred.
Even the Salmon Chicken for the High School Musical 3 promotion was slightly overcooked.
Rating given:
Went on a business trip to Bangkok lately and i have to say, there are certain things i liked and certain things i didn't like about the place.
Disclaimer: my view may be a little skewed since i spent most of my 6 days in the hotel for job training.
First off, i'll talk about what i dislike.
- Dislike the horrible streets which seem like they just went through an earthquake
- dislike the spicy food and hot weather
- dislike the crowds and generally clatter
- dislike the dirty streets and back alleys
- bombs and protests
Now, we'll talk about what i like:
- cheap stuff for shopping
- huge shopping malls
- superb bargaining
- wonderful hotel (i stayed in Sheraton on the 26th floor shared with a male colleague)
- superb hotel buffets and food
- generally better service then Singapore
- CHEAP BEER (USD 90 cents for Tiger beer anyone?)
- Elephants on the streets
- Ma Boon Kong (enough said)
- Awesome sky train that shields and brings you to major hotels and shopping malls
- company sponsorship (can't live without it)
When all is said and done, its more or less justified to risk life and limb to visit the place. Its dilapidated and back in some areas but in others, it excels beyond what SG can offer at times.
The shopping is legendary and to be honest, i don't even know why i'm paying so much for the same things in Singapore now. However, pros and cons abound as usual.
Verdict? Visit the place at least once. Get over the horrible streets and expensive hotels and you'll find a place with charm, really cheap stuff and a really different experience.
Rating given:
Located at the quiet end of a row of shophouses (that also houses Ice3 and Frolick) along Kensington Park Road, Ristorante De Parma has the expressions, "simple and minimalistic" engraved all over, coupled with warm lighting that eludes a sense of smoothing comfort for a slow relaxing dinner. However, as weather was cooling that night, we opted for one of the two outdoor tables.
Complimentary bread served with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinaigrette although came warm was nothing extraordinary.
Le Zuppe, or soups was Minestrone alla Genovese ($6.90), the classic Italian vegetable soup. There are different variations of minestrone soup – divided into different villages or towns, each customise to regional or seasonal ingredients. And in the traditions of Genoa province, it is distinguished by the generous use of herbs in its preparation, and specifically the addition of Pesto. HFB really loved this soup! A delightful surprise from the usual minestrone that is watered down and tomato-based, their version was intense in flavours from the herbs, yet light on the palate.
A must for all mushroom lovers, the Fungo di Portobello ($14.90), was a huge grilled Portobello mushroom dish garnished with bell peppers, sun dried tomatoes & olives, drizzled with their own house dressing. Every bite of the thick mushroom produced a juice-gushing moment. However, HFB just wasn’t used to the fact that the accompaniments, especially the bell peppers came contrasting cold (although HFB was assured by the staff that that’s the way they served it) and was also pretty disappointed that a rotten leaf of purple lettuce was left unchecked and dished out to us.
Listed as a new item in the menu, the Foie Gras de Canard ($27.90) was pan-fried and topped with Caviar & accompanied North East Atlantic Langoustine & Smoked Salmon. HFB clearly wasn’t impressed with this dish – the duck liver was too dry for his liking, and the langoustine and smoke salmon didn’t add any value to this dish – harshly speaking, it was akin to 3 separate items put scrappily together that didn’t gel at all.
One of their house favourite, the Prosciutto Di Parma con Rucola Pizza ($26.90), is topped with Parma ham sourced directly from Italy and HFB’s personal favourite – Rocket Salad! Also special request to add shaved Parmesan Cheese as topping was addressed. HFB ranked their version a close second to Da Paolo’s Pizza Bar purely due to the fact that it’s more costly.
What really hit the umami spot were the desserts that night. The Chocolate Fondant ($12.90) oozed yummy molten chocolate when one breaks the exterior crust, and the paired vanilla ice-cream definitely aid to its cause. Slightly expensive considering the serving portion but definitely worth it if you consider Morton’s charges theirs at $25.00.
One should definitely not leave Ristorante De Parma without giving their signatured Tiramisu ($12.90) a try. Aesthetically well presented with what HFB considered a sizeable portion, it was definitely one of the finest tiramisu HFB had tried. Everything from the sponge, to the Mascarpone cheese and alcohol level was so well balanced that HFB wouldn’t mind dropping by just for it after dinner.
Special mention to the service staffs that HFB reckon was pretty well trained and polite.
You can view all the photos here.
Rating given:
a friend of mine recently got a puppy from ericsson pet farm and i didnt know even the price for puppies have went up! god. up till abt 50% more the price i got my dog from them, which was 3 years back.
anyway, along the stretch of road with many other pet shops, ericsson seems like the one which is the most presentable, which i believe is the reason why it always attract the most crowds.
i cant comment on the 'quality' of the puppies they sell, but just sharing some of my experience in ericsson.
one thing i dislike about ericsson is the double standards of serving customer. this week they will happily give you a 20% discount on purchases and next week they'll tell you they cant possibly give you 20% off. i guess it really depend on the mood of the staff on how much discount they want to give you.
another thing i realise after my friend bought her puppy, ericsson is always using the same technique in selling, which is to tell you another buyer is coming to get the dog today or the day after, but the staff likes you and will wanna sell the dog to you instead. the staff said the same thing to me when i got my dog from them. this is something i really discourage as it seems like they are trying hard to sell you the dog which if people bought the dog on impulse, you cant say for sure the owner will be a responsible one. and what happen next is the innocent dog becoming a victim on irresponsible ownership.
urgh.
Rating given:
situated at the 4th storey in compass point, sengkang library is singapore's first 'DIY' library that encourage the people to 'self service', which explains the comparatively large number of service stations to help the library users.
categorised into 4 zones namely like the adults and children book collection zone, transaction zone, multimedia cafe and activity room.
the shelves in this particular library is pretty interesting as its not the normal linear shelves but designed in a way whereby its somehow protruding outwards where the signages are prominently shown.
there is also a section whereby local artists can display their art creation, which i think is good in encouraging the talented.
comfy environment with modern technology. im really quite impressed by how the library board actually manage their libraries nowadays.
Rating given:
Garibaldi, located along Purvis Street, is part of The Garibaldi Group of Restaurants helmed by award-winning Chef de Cuisine Roberto Galetti and his team. An Italian dinning place that provides a fine exemplar of contemporary, stylish and elegant dining experience all rolled into one, it came no surprise that the tantalising menu emphasises authentic Italian gastronomy primed with the best ingredients imported directly from Italy.
Stepped past the seemingly discreet sliding door and one will be ushered to an elegant bar that offers a great selection of wines by the glass and excellent cocktails – HFB can imagined this to be a perfect after-work to-be-seen setting for chic finance executives and lawyers to mingle at and network.
Make a left turn, and one will find the sombre interior of the small dining area coerce on you – call me unsophisticated but HFB certainly didn’t take to the air-of-pretentious atmosphere of the restaurant.
Also, having a row of smartly dress yet clueless service staff standing at the side of the passageway greeting and staring at HFB while he is seated with his peers add on to his already discomfort.
Kudos to the Complimentary Bread & Balsamic Vinaigrette, which was one of the better renditions that HFB had tried – certainly no one will complain if one goes for a second serving.
For the Antipasti e Insalate, HFB plumped for the Capesante Al Taleggio, or Grilled US Scallops with Porcini Mushroom and Truffled Taleggio Fondue ($25.00). Being a big fan of porcini mushroom, the sautéed nutty flavoured shrooms along with the intense creamy truffled Taleggio cheese was divine. However, HFB felt let down by the textured scallops that were slightly dry for his liking – he thought Sage, The Restaurant did a better job with their Seared Hokkaido Scallops with Normandy Sauce.
What’s an Italian dinner without pasta – the Linguine Al Granchio, or Linguine with Crab Meat and Vodka Sauce ($30.00) was commendable – nice aromatic vodka-infused tomato-cream sauce integrated with the flavours of the sea from the crab meat was simply blissful. However, the serving portion was definitely pathetic and HFB could easily wolfed down another plate with ease.
Dessert was Fondente Al Cioccolato, or simply Molten Lava Chocolate Cake with Hazelnut Gelato and Raspberry Coulis ($18.00) – it didn’t wow me but definitely not the worse I have eaten. However, accolades must be given to the hazelnut gelato that everyone around the table seemed to enjoy it.
Overall, 4 of us choked a total of $428.00 including a bottle of wine and taxes. HFB felt that the pricey wine was a total rip-off and service although professional, lacked cordiality.
You can view all the photos here.
Rating given:
located in jurong east, jurong regional library is the biggest public library under the national library board.
its easy to get lost in such a big place, just like i did. hmm.. id say that even though jurong regional library is the biggest, its furnishing and ambience are considered just okay when compared to the rest. just how a normal library should look like.
it has about 4 storeys high and a basement. had a hard time knowing where to find my stuff but all thanks to the helpful people there, i found my books pretty quickly.
oh yah, one thing i am impressed about jurong regional library is that they have a stage at one of the level that allow band performaces etc which i think is very encouraging for the youth, to make them believe in their dreams :)
Rating given:
i believe this is the first library i went to when i was young. but sadly/fortunately, till now, there arent much changes in the library.
when you walk into there you'll just feel that you're back in a library back in the olden days, (if you're born in the 80s).
the thing that still hasnt changed, primary school likes to have their excursion there :) so its always filled with excited little kids or the teenagers studying quietly in one corner.
their range of books are quite limited, well at least i always cant find the books i want there. but generally, this place is so 'old school' :)
Rating given:
woodlands regional library is located in woodlands civic centre having 4 storeys high!
The place felt quite 'fun' to me as they have sections like children reading parks with the kiddish furniture and some things they can play with.
theres a big waterfall at the atrium beside an escalator, library where got so nice one????? haha
if im not wrong theres also a cute tree decorated in a very fairy tale like manner near the children's section.
there is also a very relaxing decorated music lounge where you can sit there comfortably enjoying the music they have.
beautiful place :)
Rating given: