12 May :: Wednesday:: Evening

Was walking around after Suntec for food when the Turkish restaurant at the Sky Garden caught my attention. There was a healthy crowd there, so the food is either cheap or good, I concurred. Since it has been a while since I last had Turkish food, I thought I’ll give it a go.

Brief Description

Like most Turkish restaurants I’ve been, the deco is more on the cosy, understated side.

The food

Most of the diners there were having kebab, which is not surprising at a Turkish restaurant. The waiters were enthusiastically promoting their daily specials, or rather overly enthusiastically. However, their Turkish charm did make them seem a lot more friendlier and approachable. In the end, my gf and I decided on…. kebab. I had the Adana Chicken Kebab while she had the King’s Lamb Kebab.

Review

1) Adana Kebab is a typical Turkish recipe for meat. Given choice between chicken and lamb, I decided on the former.

The kebab was well roasted, yet not too dry. It’s prepared traditionally, with the kebab flavoured with just salt and red pepper powder and served with char-grilled green pepper and Pilav (Turkish buttered pilaf).  The smooth texture of the rice was excellent and I can only lament the small portion that was being served.

2) King’s Kebab was served in the form of diced lamb and mashed potato covered by a layer of cheese. The lamb had quite a strong taste, which is fine by me, but definitely not for those who like their meat without any smell. Personally, the dish just did OK for me. Nothing really to shout about.

3) Kunefe. This traditional Turkish dessert was excellent! A sweet cheese pastry served warm, I immediately perked up after having a bite. The shredded pastry provided a wonderful texture. Along with the pistachio and sugar syrup, the combination was simply heavenly. I cannot remember being so excited about dessert before.

4) Apple Tea. A daily must have for Turks, the apple tea simply brings out memories I have in Turkey from years ago. Unlike the powered apple tea bought in Turkey, this apple tea does not leave a sour aftertaste. A large port is priced at $7, which is sufficient for up to 4 pax.

Total costs comes up to S$25/pax.

What to try

The kunefe is a personal favourite of mine. It’s probably the best dessert to have at the end of a lousy day.

Ratings

Food : 4/5
Ambiance : 3/5
Service : 3.5/5
Value: 3.5/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Yes to Kunefe

Details

3 Temasek Boulevard
#03-004 Suntec City Mall

Tel:  +65 6336 8082

Daily : 12noon – 9.30pm

Drove past the Starbucks at Coronation Road a couple of times and it seemed like a cosy place. So today, decided to pay the outlet a visit to see how it really is. However, the review is on somewhere else.

On route to Starbucks, felt my tummy yearning for food, so decided to try the Swiss Grill at the Swiss Butchery, which was just next to it.

Brief Description

Swiss Grill is a cosy little bistro serving up great quality chilled meats in the form of burgers, hot-dogs and fillets. Since it IS part of the butchery, immediately I felt guaranteed of the freshness of the food, haha.

The food

A quick glance at the spread the dining crowd ordered suggested that burgers are the popular picks. I suppose the price has something to do with the choice too. A burger is in the mid $10s while the fillets are upwards of $20, $30 if you are looking at steak. Paulaner beer is a popular choice of drink.

Review

1) Swiss Portabello Burger – Grilled chuck beef, topped with bacon, emmental cheese, cream portobello mushroom and bacon between toasted halfs of a bun. For an additional $2.50, it comes with chunky fries and mesclun salad.

The meat is tender and juicy, with the melted cheese holding the mushroom and bacon together. The bacon was crispy but not hard and dry, with the mushroom tasty yet not overwhelming.  The chunky fries and you can hear the crisp with each bite.

2) Pork Bratwurst Hotdog – The diced pickles are served in a separate cup. Initially, I felt the sausage a tad salty. However, with the pickles and chili sauce mixed in, it was quite delicious. The meat was firm tasted fresh. Likewise with the burger, chunky fries and mesclun salad are served with an additional $2.50. At just $5.90 for the hotdog, it is quite value-for-money. The best hotdog I’ve tasted in Singapore, definitely comparable to those I’ve had in Europe.

3) San Pellegrino Aranciate Rossa – A line of sparkling juice from San Pellegrino. We tried the sparkling blood orange and sparkling orange. The fine taste of the San Pellegrino sparkling water comes through with the lightly flavored fruitiness of the oranges. They serve as wonderful complements to the strongly flavored meat.

Total costs comes up to S$14/pax.

What to try

Anything with meat. Do request for chili sauce. It went well with both meat and fries.

Ratings

Food : 4/5
Ambiance : 4/5
Service : 3.5/5
Value: 4/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Yes

Details

587 Bukit Timah Road #01-05
Coronation Road Shopping Plaza

Tue-Sun : 11.30m – 10pm

Tel: 64638080/64633583
www.swiss-butchery.com.sg/

I’ve been to House, Barracks and Camp twice in the last month. Brought to you by the owners of Tippling Club, SPA Espirit, Strip, Browhaus, Qi Mantra and Skinny Pizza, House, Barracks and Camp is set among the numerous restaurants and bars at the hip Dempsey area.

Brief Description

House, Barracks and Camp is set in the original army barracks and offers both indoor and outdoor seating. Seated outdoors, you can admire the lush greenary but have to contend with mosquitoes in the evenings. Wanting a mosquito free air-conditioned environment, I’ve opted for indoor seating both times (Lunch and dinner)

The food

Famous for their Skinny Pizzas and desserts, I’ve ordered them each time I was there. The spread over 2 meals goes something like this:
Truffled Mushroom Pizza, Squid Ink Pizza, Squid Ink Pasta, Steamed Red Snapper, Strawberry shortcake, Warm Toffee Chocolate cake and Caramel Cheesecake.

 Review

1) Wild Truffled Mushroom Pizza – Pizzas are all served with Argula leaves, commonly known as Rocket Leaves. I’m not sure about you, but seriously, I can’t quite take the smell of truffles. They come across as pungent to me. Same thing with this pizza. However once it went into my mouth, it was aromatic. The skinny base made the pizza extremely easy to bite.

2) Squid Ink Pizza – The Squid Ink Pizza was simply delicious. The squid was tender and easy to chew. With the thin crust, the pizza was easily devoured.

3) Squid Ink Pasta – The dish should be Squid Ink Paella. However, we requested to change the rice to linguine. The squid ink was of the right texture and made the linguine easily enjoyed. 

4) Steamed Red Snapper- Served in a bowl with clams, the snapper is fresh and succulent.

5) Strawberry Shortcake –  Comes with fresh strawberries, the cake was sweet but not over-the-top. Voted as one of the top cakes in House, Barracks and Camp, it certainly is deserving of its ranking.

6) Warm Toffee Chocolate Cake – Two words : Sinful & Heavenly

7) Caramel Cheesecake – Sweet, sweet, sweet. This is actually off the menu and was suggested by the waiter as a daily special. Extremely sweet, this may not be good choice after a heavy meal unless you have a sweet tooth.

Total costs comes up to S$35/pax.

What to try

Skinny Pizza and Desserts.

Ratings

Food : 4/5
Ambiance : 3.5/5
Service : 4.5/5
Value: 4/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Yes

Details  

8D Dempsey Road
#01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Mon-Wed, Sun & PH: 10am – 9pm
Thu-Sat & PH eve: 10am – Midnight

Tel: 6475 7787 / 6479 9212

It has been a while since I last updated the blog. Due to increasing workload, I have not had much time to go out and enjoy… until yesterday.

Yum yum

 Brief Description

Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro provides seasonal fresh seafood served western style. Among the favourites are the oysters and salmon. Their staff are always on hand to recommend off-the-menu catch of the day and recommend ways how your food should be cooked.

 The food

I had the Hot Seafood Platter. On the menu, if I remember correctly, it was written that I would have a lobster, calamari, baby octopus salad, Littleneck clams, green-lipped mussles, oysters, fish baguette and grilled prawns. 

What I got was half a grilled lobster, Crab claw salad (substitute for the grilled prawns & octopus), Littleneck clams cooked in white wine garlic sauce, green-lipped mussles, grilled buttered oysters,  calamari and grilled fish skewers.

 Review

1) Lobster – The grilled lobster was fresh and succulent. The flesh is easy to remove and retains the original sweetness and juiciness.

2) Calamari – Greenwood Fish Market’s calamari is well-known. The calamari is cooked to the right degree, where the meat is cooked but not elastic. Tastes heavenly with the tartar sauce.

3) Crab claw salad – A cold dish which retains the sweetness of the crab claw. The salad is tossed with just the right amount of balsamic vinegar, making it a good companion to the cooked spread.

4) Littleneck clams & Greenlipped Mussles  - Nice

5) Buttered oysters – The oysters are cooked with shallots and was not overly buttery.

6) Grilled fish skewers – Assorted fish meat was used for the skewers. Some of the meat were a bit tough and a tad tasteless when eaten alone. But together with the capsicon and tartar sauce, was quite okay.

I’ve been here at least 4 times before. While the seafood is fresh, there’s always a sense of incompleteness in me after the meal.  The upside is that Greenwood Fish Market also serves desserts such as creme brulee. Do remember to share your food with your companions to leave room for desert.

There is no discount for dinner. For the hot platter, the bill comes to S$93/2 pax inclusive tax. Quite a good deal considering the lobster and crab claw.

 What to try

 For those who have yet to try out the food, there are discounts for lunches and daily specials such as $1 oysters on Tuesdays (with every main course ordered, limited to 12 per person, last I heard).

Ratings

Food : 4/5
Ambiance : 3.5/5
Service : 4.5/5
Value: 4/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Probably Yes

Details  

34 Greenwood Avenue,  Hillcrest Park
Mon to Sun: 12noon – 2:30pm, 6:30pm – 10:30pm

Tel:  6467 4950

Here’s a link to one of her recipies on Nigella Express -> Homemade instant pancake mix with blueberry syrup

She makes the pancakes seem so yummy, especially at the end of the show, where she gobbles one up with a hearty dose of whipped cream. Yum yum.

I’ve yet to try this out, so feedback will be very much appreciated.  Thanks!

I enjoy my aglio olio quite a fair bit, and enough to be ordering variants at different restaurants to sample how it is being cooked. Places I’ve tried are Coffe Club, Organic Cafe, Pastamania, Fig and Olive, Swensen’s, Cedele etc.. you get the picture.

What surprises, and irritates me, is how easily some restaurants/cafes can mess it up.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the Aglio Olio at Organic Cafe and Cedele, I was left struggling at Fig and Olive. Problem with the dish from Fig and Olive was that the spaghetti was over-cooked and plain, and instead of garlic and chili, I was tasting barely cooked green and red peppers which left a raw vegetables taste.

While I’m no great chef myself, I have at times experimented with cooking aglio olio myself. Here’s how I like to prepare my spaghetti aglio olio.

Pasta
Cooking pasta isn’t as simple as cooking instant noodles. To cook proper tasting pasta, you’ll need a large pot of boiling water and lotsa salt.

1) Boil a large pot of water.
2) Add in large amounts of salt after the water boils.
3) Throw in the required amount of pasta and ensure that the pasta is fully submerged in the boiling water (now you understand why a large pot is required)
4) Occasionally break of a bit of pasta to test if cooked.
5) Once ready, drain off the water and rinse it quickly under cold water. This will ensure that the pasta stops cooking. Without rinsing, the pasta will be left simmering and ends up overcooked when served.

Aglio Olio
1) Heat up a frying pan with olive oil. Use moderate to high flame.
2) Once the oil is nicely heated up, throw in the garlic to taste. I like to have lots of garlic.
3) Once the garlic starts to brown, add in some parsly flakes and mushrooms if you like. All in sliced chili/chili flakes to taste.
4) Stir fry for a minute or so and add in the cooked pasta
5) Lower the flame and toss the pasta around, making sure it is covered with olive oil. Add in more olive oil if required.
6) Once ready, serve and enjoy.

Hope this helps fellow alio olio lovers.

It’s been a while since my last review. I’ve been too caught up with work, but no fear, I’ve still been trying out food, just lacked the time for reviews.  Here’s a back-dated review of Barnacles Restaurant & Bar.
To celebrate my SO’s birthday, I decided to surprise her with a trip to Sentosa, to dine by the sea. After some research, I decided on Barnacles Restaurant & Bar, at Rasa Sentosa.

 Brief Description

Barnacles Restaurant & Bar provides an enjoyable dinner by the seaside, filling the night with sea breeze from the South China Sea. If alfresco dining is not your cup of tea, there’s always indoor dining under soft ambient lights.

Barnacles is at one end of Sentosa. Driving there, turn right at the first roundabout upon entering Sentosa and religiously keep driving straight, towards Siloso Beach. Parking is available at the beach or if you’re lucky, you can score a parking lot near Barnacles at Rasa Sentosa.

Sentosa Entry Fee is redeemable from Barnacles, but do remember to request for a receipt when entering Sentosa. No receipt, no redemption.

Review

I chose an outdoor seat by the sea, hoping to catch the transient evening light. However, once the evening passed into night, it was actually quite irritating to have the spot lights shining at you… time to move into the restaurant itself.

The restaurant interior is quite cosy. The lights are soft and calming.

Since we weren’t really hungry (damn the tea break cookies), we ordered a crab salad, a grilled meat & seafood skewer and the famous yin yang (toted as one of the top 20 appetisers in Singapore).

The food

Complimentary bread was provided. Toasted to a slight warmt, the bread was an excellent start to the meal.

1) Crab with Avocado Salad. The avocado provided the yummy creamy texture, bringing out the sweet and succulent crab meat. Mixed with their famed chili crab sauce, the dish was a great start to the meal.

2) Yin Yang (Wok-Fried Honey Baby Squids & Mayonnaise Prawns). The baby squids were yummy and went well with the thinly sliced cucumbers, which formed the ‘S’ in the Chinese yin yang sign. The prawns were sweet and fried to just the right degree.

3) Grilled Meat & Seafood Skewer. To be honest, I didn’t quite like this dish. The fish meat seemed overcook and tasted a tad too ‘fishy’ for my liking. The prawns was okay, but wasn’t as nice as the yin yang mayo prawns. Overall, was a bit disappointing considering how I enjoyed the earlier two dishes.

Since it was my SO’s birthday, the restaurant provided a complimentary slice of blackforest cake and a glass of white wine. I’ll gladly pay for the cake. It was moist and wasn’t too sweet. Kudos to the staff again for their ability to make the guests feel special.

What to try

Looking around at other tables, I decided that on my next visit, I’ll try the Seafood Platter on Ice and the Chili Crab.  Probably you should, too.

Ratings

Food : 3.5/5
Ambiance : 4.5/5
Service : 4.5/5
Value: 3.5/5
RTE (Return to eat) : Probably

Details  

Rasa Sentosa Resort, Singapore
101 Siloso Road, Sentosa
Daily: 6.30pm – 10.30pm
Sun: 12-3pm
Lounge Bar: 6.30pm – late
Tel: 63712930

Mooncakes typically come in 3 forms; Baked, Pastry and Snow-skin.

Snow-skin mooncakes are those where the skin is uncooked. It is left in the fridge and served cold. They are also to be consumed asap. Of the different snow-skin mooncakes available in Singapore, one of the most popular and famous would have to be the snow -skin mooncakes from Raffles Hotel.

This year, I am fortunate enough to get a 25% discount off them. I decided to grab a box of the famous Champagne Truffle mooncakes.

Each box contains 8 mini moon-cakes. The design for the box differs each year. Something for the staunch Raffles mooncake supporters to collect. 

The first thing that struck me when I opened the tin box is the sweet fragrance. The smell itself is sufficient to tempt you to bite into the mooncake! The mooncake is best taken in quarters, where you can savour the sweetness of the truffles and the fragrance of the champagne.

Above is a picture of the cross-section of the mooncake. The star of the mooncake is undoubtedly the sweet truffle right at the middle. A warning though, it’s really quite sweet, so do prepare a nice fragrant cup of hot Chinese tea to compliment. 

Retail price is S$48. Unfortunately, the snow-skins are not available for order via the internet. You can make your orders online at Raffles Hotel Mooncakes. Enjoy.

Turandot

Synopsis:
The story of Turandot was taken from the Persian collection of stories called The Book of One Thousand and One Days. Set in ancient Peking, Turandot is about a beautiful but cold Chinese princess who has a grudge against men, especially princes, after traumatised by the fate of her ancestor who was raped and murdered by conquerors. To woo her, potential suitors have to correctly answer three riddles. Failure to answer correctly will lead to a public execution. The story revolves around one Prince Calaf, who falls in love at first sight with the princess and stakes his life in his pursuit for the princess’ love.

Review:
Composed by the famed Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, Turandot is his second opera which follows an oriental theme. With elaborate costumes and well-design set, Turandot opened with much anticipation from the audience.

However, the opening was weak, with the singing barely audible. However, with the appearance of Timur, Liu and Calaf, things started looking better.

Lee Jae Wook was majestic as Calaf while the role of the loyal and virtuous Liu was well played out by Nancy Yuen. Jae Wook’s stage presence commands attention and his voice strong and unwavering.

The surprise, at least to me, for the evening was the joyful performance by Brent Allcock, Melvin Tan and Lamuel dela Cruz as the ministers Ping, Pang and Pong. Their well-choreographed antics was simply a delight to watch, bringing comedy relief to the otherwise serious opera.

The climax of the show is definately when Calaf broke out in Nessun dorma (None shall sleep tonight ), at the start of ACT III. As one of the best known tenor arias in all operas, Nessun dorma has been performed by all of the three tenors.

Conclusion:
While the performance is definately a woot, the storyline towards the end wasn’t quite to my taste. What left me feeling frustrated and perplexed is the behaviour of Calaf after Liu has died to keep his secret. While I can understand that Calaf holds an insane obsession for Turandot, his seemingly nonchalance to Liu’s death made me wonder if Turandot is the only one who is cold-hearted in the story. Likewise, how Turandot had a 180 degree change in personality after a kiss from Calaf was equally incomprehensible to me.

Cast:
Jessica Chen, Turandot
Lee Jae Wook, Calaf
Nancy Yuen, Liu
Brent Allcock, Ping
Melvin Tan, Pang
Lamuel dela Cruz, Pong