Restaurant Week: Salt Grill & Sky Bar

After hearing many good things from my friends, I couldnt pass up the opportunity of dining at Salt Grill & Sky Bar at this year's restaurant week

Perched on top of Ion Orchard, Salt boosts an impressive view. Makes for a great lunch time meal; entrance to the restaurant was via a semi-private lift lobby which for some reason was really dark and mystifying ( I wonder if its symbolic of the dark sky or something) 

Started off with warm crusty bread, warm bread almost always signals the start of a good meal. 

The sydney crab omelette with miso mustard broth. A very good appetizer, the broth emphasized the delicate sweetness of the fresh crab meat. And lets be real, everyone loves a good omelette.

Grilled Spatchcock with parsnip puree 

Took a bite from my friend's dish, the spatchcock was very tender and sweet. 

Red wine poached barramundi with cauliflower puree

Yet another delicate dish, my fish was fresh though a tad overcooked. The cauliflower was melt-in-your-mouth awesome.

Dessert was a duo of sorbet - rock melon and raspberry. I understand that because this was a lunch menu, it was meant to be light but I couldnt help but feel disappointed. The rock melon was sweet and delightful though the raspberry a tad too sour for my taste. But I cant take sour stuff so dont trust me on this.


Best thing about Salt is the service. Warm and friendly without being too intrusive. Our orders got slightly mixed up and was late for about 5 mins, no biggie but the waiters were so apologetic about it (even offering more bread/ heating up the other mains), great service is rare in Singapore so I feel that it should be called out as often as possible.

Salt Grill and Sky Bar
2 Orchard Turn, Ion Orchard, lvl 55,56.

Mooshi Bakes

Mooshi Bakes is opened by the Awfully Chocolate Group and we know how good the desserts are (especially the hei ice cream mmmm) , but what about brunch? 

The souffle omelette was huge, no wait it was gigantic.  This monster of a omelette scared me when it arrived, I mean how many eggs are in that thing?

That said it was sooo light and fluffy, I am not sure how much air they got into those egg whites but eating this was fun. The sprinkle of parmesan on top gave the omelette enough flavor and it tasted really good with the crusty bread and tomato relish paste. 

Too darn big though, I barely made it thru half. 

Truffle scrambled eggs had a hearty kick of truffle oil, making this plate smell so darn good. Paired with cheese and pork sausage for a very sinful brunch. 

I wish the eggs had been creamier though. 

Coffee was below average, cant be helped if the barista is also your waitress I guess, the teh tarik was pretty good though. Overall I like brunch here but I thought the portions were too big, slightly smaller plates at lower price points would be perfect. 

Mooshi Bakes Brasserie

#01-01, 131 East Coast Road

6440 6735

MerryMen

Getting to MerryMen is quite a stroll along Robertson Quay but it was worth it.
Located along the river and dining under twinkling fairy lights, MerryMen is a lovely place to kickback and chill with an ice cold beer.

A must try is the Pork Rack ($28). The pork was juicy and moist and so so flavorful. I was half afraid that the meat will be really tough and dry but this was a really good dish. Resting on a plate of roasted potatoes, french beans and sweet plums. The sides were all very tasty and complimented the meat well.

The fish and chips, served with truffle fries(!), cole slaw, tartar and vinegar. The fish was well-fried but I thought it could do with more flavor, lots of tartar and vinegar was needed which was unfortunate. The truffle fries were really good though, tossed with truffle salt + truffle oil. Would order the fries as a side the next time.

Dessert was a chocolate lava cake that we had to wait 10-15mins for, and trust me the wait was worth it. This is probably one of the best Chocolate lava cakes we had, perfectly crispy and warm on the outside and with that wonderfully melted center. Crack the cake and watch all the chocolate just ooze out.  Ice cream plays a big role in this desert too, and the vanilla ice cream was good, speckled with the familiar black dots - the ones where you know this is going to be a good ice cream.

Very happy with my meal :)

And I will be back, maybe to try the pizzas and the sliders

MerryMen

86 Robertson Quay #01-02

&Made by Bruno Menard

I am always on the hunt for a good burger and when I heard about this gourmet burger joint in town, I rushed down to try it. 

Cute menu/placemats 

Went with the B burger with dry-aged beef, cheese and onions. Served with fries ( additional $3 for truffle fries). The burger was good, sufficiently juicy and well-flavored patty. Very satisfying and reasonably priced. The relish/sauce for the fries was a sweet and savory blend and it tasted pretty darn good. So much so that I didnt miss my chili sauce. 

The toastoos are some kind of strange buckwheat sandwich with fillings - in this case, ratatouille. Interesting idea I guess but the flavors did not work at all in my opinion.

Stick to the burgers. 

Caramel pudding served with a corn flake crusted ball of ice cream. Sinfully good. 

Wouldnt mind going back to try the pork or duck burger.

&Made by Bruno Menard
#01-04/05/06, Pacific Plaza
9 Scotts Road
6238 5549

Chilis

Popped by the newly opened Chili's at Central a couple of times for lunch since its so near my workplace. I like it, great service and great portions :)

The Big Mouth Burgers were really really huge. I probably ate about half of the burger before feeling like bursting. Cant say no to the avocado burger, but for some reason mine came with these sinful deep-fried (!) honey glazed bacon strips. Took a couple of bites before deciding I dont want to die early from a clogged artery.  Bacon aside, the burger and fries were good. The patty was juicy and flavorful and fries were crispy on the outside and soft within, just the way I like them. 

Opted for something slightly healthier the next round. Set lunch ($14) with a choice of main, soup and free flow soft drinks. Pretty worth it, I got the grilled bbq chicken salad and chicken/green chili soup. 

The chicken slices were surprisingly moist and tender, making the salad very enjoyable. 

Chili's

Central @ Clarke Quay

6 Eu Tong Sen St #01-18

Restaurant Week - Il Lido

Il Lido is a really beautiful restaurant perched on the shoulders of Sentosa overlooking the sea and the nice green golf course. Headed down for lunch on a week end and it was surprisingly empty; Il Lido is a star restaurant on diningcity (i.e. lunch is $45++)

Bread roll with balsamic, pretty boring. 

 Amuse bouche was an interesting cold cantoloupe soup. I found it a bit too sweet and the soup came off like a dessert. Would have prefer more acidity or spice. 

Wild prawn salad with artichoke cream was delicate and fresh. Nicely done.

Crab Cappelletti - best dish of the meal. The pasta was fresh and cooked perfectly, well paired with the sweet morsels of crab meat. If only I had a full serving of this. 

Pan Roasted Wild Snapper was presented beautifully. Everything was done competently but I found the dish quite boring. 

Tiramisu for dessert. Unfortunately not great, I like my tiramisu with a kick and this was nothing more than a mere nudge (and probably in the wrong direction).

This is my 4th restaurant week and I am starting to feel fatigue - it seems like deals might not be as great as it seems. Next restaurant weeks, I think I might just stick to places I know are winners 

Il Lido

27 Bukit Manis Road (Sentosa Golf Club)

099892 Singapore

Canton Paradise

The Paradise group of restaurants have always been one of my favorite chinese restaurant chains; gone are the days when we only had crystal jade. 

Headed down to Canton Paradise at I12 Katong one weekend for dimsum.

The congee was delightfully creamy and tasty.

Tiny eggtarts (quite pricey at $1.20 each given that you can pop one into your mouth), done quite nicely.

Dimsum is never complete without an order of custard bun. The ones here were good but I still prefer those at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck.

Overall, dimsum here is decent. Service was pretty inconsistent though, some of the servers were super blur (i.e. mixing up our orders a few times)

Canton Paradise

i12 Katong

#B1-15 

6344 8201