Vineyard @ Hortpark

One of several restaurants we visited in a bid to find the perfect venue for our wedding. 

Unfortunately this was not the place. 

Venue-wise, Vineyard had a lovely location, with the sprawling hort park outside perfect for solemnization. The restaurant itself was too small for us though.

That aside, food was average to below average with really sloppy service (spilled wine, absent-minded waiters, error in bill etc)

 Short ribs that were not fall off bones soft so nothing much to say other than I have had better (apologize for the grainy photos, the lightning was bad)

 Same goes for the duck confit

 Vineyard's menu is a mis-match of cuisine  from italian to thai and perhaps that lies its problem, sometimes I think its better to just specialize in something rather than attempt it all eh? A pretty place to dine in but alas food not quite up to standard.

Department of Caffeine

Department of Caffeine is a hipsters dream. Check all boxes - quirky name, hole in wall tiny little place, hip neighbourhood and cute baristas

That aside, I like the place namely for its awesome waffle.

Coffee is pretty decent

Best buttermilk waffles yet, right thickness and perfect texture (crispy and chewy). Paired with ice cream and caramalised bananas mmm. Will try the savory version the next time!

From the cooked food/semi salad bar - cold soba noodles and a chicken thigh. 

The rest of the usual breakfast fare, scrambled eggs with sausages,toast etc. That tomato was so juicy it was unreal but not a fan of the sausage it was just too chunky and funky tasting.

Department of Caffeine

15 Duxton Road

62233426

The Pelican Seafood Bar and Grill

Pelican is a spacious, classy dining joint, I especially like the booth seats and the sprawling bar although the experience was slightly marred by the weird presence of a DJ spinning club music (wouldnt jazz be a better fit?) 

The Pelican platter - huge tray of fresh seafood including lobster, clams, oysters and the sweetest dungeness crabs. Very fresh, very satisfying

Calamari was decently done

 All of us liked the giant baked snapper pie (very value for money!), flaky crispy crust enveloping the soft sweet snapper fish. 

Linguine and clams - probably my least favorite dish. Flavor profile wise, it couldnt stand out compared to the rest. Perhaps more seasoning?

Overall, I like the Pelican for its fresh seafood although prices may be on the high side. Do check out for promotions before you go. When we were there we had FREE-FLOW white and red wine (10pm-12am), talk about a great deal!

The Pelican Seafood Bar & Grill

 #01-01 One Fullerton, 1 Fullerton Road, Singapore 049213

 +65 6438 0400

The Dunearn - NUSS Bukit Timah Guild House

The create your own set menus at The Dunearn - 3 course set dinner (appetizer or soup, main and desert) for $55 may seem expensive for a meal on campus but the huge portions and quality ingredients actually made this promotion very value for money.

From the appetizers : half dozen oysters (they gave us 7 lol) and pan seared foie gras. The oysters were decently fresh and the tangy sauce gave it the seafood an acidic (and delicious) kick. 

 For mains we decided on the tenderloin and cod + king prawns. I really enjoyed the cod, so buttery and sweet I wish I had 10 more pieces.

Desert was a warm chocolate lava cake (very average) and a refreshing sorbet which we were all too stuffed to finish. 

Oh and do try the prawn fritters from the bites menu, it comes with a salted egg yolk mayo dip which was sinfully rich and good. 

Bukit Timah Guild House
1F Cluny Road
Singapore 259602

Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant

The great thing about living in Singapore is that if you get sick of eggs ben for brunch, there is always the alternative of dim sum! And the best thing is that one can find great renditions of both in this island. 

Having heard so much about Wah Lok's bbq pork buns, we had to order it. 

And damm was it good.

 The right ration of crust to filling, sweet flaky buttery crust on top the soft bun enveloping the smokey char siew. Nice. So good we da-baoed several for our families. 

 Wah Lok's rendition of egg tarts were pretty good too.  Why are the good ones always so tiny!

The rest of the items were decent to average, with the other stand out being the XO carrot cake. 

One interesting dish - deep fried hor fan which came out like dried crackers. One pours the gravy over it and wait for the "crackling" noise before digging in. I prefer my hor fan silky and smooth, not a fan.

Wah Lok is the typical bustling Cantonese restaurant full of families and motherly waitresses who will make sure that you are well taken care of. Prices are pretty steep for dim sum and not attractive enough to compete with my 2 favorite places - Yan Ting and Imperial Treasure Peking Duck. 

Worth a visit though, if only for that bbq pork bun.

Wah Lok Cantonese restaurant

76 Bras Basah road

2F Carlton hotel

Tel: 6311 8188

Botan Japanese Restaurant

Trekked our way through China Sq to Botan on the recommendation of a friend.

 Botan menu is extensive, aside from the usual sashimi and fried dishes, they do japanese porridge, hot pot dishes, even one whole page of tofu dishes. Got the Chirashi bento ($33) from the Dinner set menu. 

Boy, what a bento. Starting from top right, we have the side dish of the day (deep fried pumpkin and salmon), a mish mash of ingredients (including conch, crab claw, corn), deep fried chicken wing, tempura and finally the chirashi. 

Truthfully, I thought the bento was overwhelming and confusing. I ended up not eating much of the side dishes and only my sashimi. (The pink stuff - its sugar and some seaweed, kinda weird). I am sure there will be some who like so much variety but I think I will stick to simple fish and rice next time.

That said, the sashimi was fresh and prices here are very reasonable. I wont mind coming back to try some of the other stuff on the menu

Botan Japanese Restaurant

#01-01, 36 Pekin St

Revisit:Brasserie Les Saveurs

I have previously blogged about Sunday brunch at St Regis here and wont go into much detail. This might be our once a year tradition because, hey its fun to just indulge and splurge on a meal eh though I did feel that this year's meal didnt feel quite so satisfying (diminishing returns to scale? or did standards really drop?)

 Some items: usual sashimi,jamon iberico, capellini, oysters

The foie gras this time round was tiny and most of the ones we had were overcooked. Pretty disappointing. Thing is, the standard of foie gras served to us got progressively worse as we ordered, wondered if it was a ploy to get us to stop ordering. If so, pretty low man.

Selections from the main course menu - the lamb was pretty good. The rest were ho-hum.

Soo I have always thought that brunch at Brasserie Les Saveurs would be the gold standard of Sunday brunches but now, not so sure if I would return. Any others to recommend?

Brasserie Les Saveurs
29 Tanglin Road
The St. Regis Singapore
Tel: +65 6506 6888
Sunday Champagne Brunch
$138++ (Non-alcohol)
$170++ Free flow Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut & juices

Windowsill Pies

Windowsill must be the cutest shop I have ever stepped into.  Made like a real-life fairytale land, there was the wooden "roof" and the 3d origami style tree in the centre of the shop. I half expected little red riding hood to come skipping thru the "woods". 

Decor aside the star of the shop of course are the pies. Decided on the banana and funny apple pie this time round, the banana one was excellent. Having tried quite a few flavors so far, I must say I am a fan of windowsill's quality pies! I am a sucker for cute decor too, the surroundings def made the pies taste nicer :)

Windowsill Pies 

78 Horne Road

Spathe Public House

Walked in for brunch on a Saturday morning and Spathe was surprisingly empty, not used to brunch places being empty on wkends man

The Eggs ro was drenched in hollandaise sauce, not gonna lie I was skeptical but it was a decent rendition, just go easy on the sauce chef!

croque monsieur with garlic fries - the fries were good, very addictive.

Spathe's version fo the carrot cake was average, too sweet in fact.

Heard good things about the octopus salad, def trying that the next time I am here

Btw, I like how their dishes are served on black plates, make the food 'pop' eh.

Spathe Public House
#01-01, 8 Mohamed Sultan Road
6735 1035