Friday, May 30, 2014

Cataluyna Sunday Brunch


Brunching out (hah pun intended) from our usual hotel buffets to Cataluyna for my birthday celebration this year. 

I love the atmosphere! Lively music, happy people high on food and fizz and cheery staff dishing out great spanish food.

First up, the buffet line which had the usual cold cuts, cheese and other spanish tapas. 
Save your stomach for the other dishes. 





Such as the scrambled eggs + chorizo.
Creamy salty goodness


Bikini sandwich - crispy bread with iberico, cheese and black truffle
Ah soo good



Fresh grilled fish



One of my favourites that day - paella with langoustine. My first time eating these delicate shellfish and wow, I can't get over how fresh and sweet the flesh was. More please!


Of course, suckling pig!  Crispy skin with tender flesh and paired with the art of plate smashing as the waiters demonstrate just exactly how tender the pig was. I love Spanish festivities!


Last but not least, a trayful of deserts but we were too stuff to take more than a bit. The lemon tart was good! 


If you like Spanish food and think that the usual Sunday brunch experience can be a bit stuffy, you will love the brunch at Calaluyna. 
If not just come for the sight of the chefs + waiters dancing with a pig in their hands will surely cheer you up. 



The Fullerton Pavilion
82 Collyer Quay, Singapore 049327
6543 0886













Saturday, May 24, 2014

L'Ateliar de Joel Robuchon


Came here for my birthday dinner and was surprised to see how casual dining is here, with counter seating for almost half of the restaurant and high top tables for the remaining.
We got the counter seating which was really fun because we got to see all the chefs at work thru the open concept kitchen. 



Amuse Bouche - Foie Gras Custard with Red Wine and Parmesan Foam.
I personally dont get foam on dishes but I appreciated the varying layers and texture in this. Foie Gras is always good too.



Bread basket - so many types that I had to be careful not to over indulge. The butter rolls were really good.



Foie Gras with mango puree "- nicely cooked, no complains



Soup with iberico ham and a soft boiled egg - once again tasty dish but nothing spectacular



Beef cheek, meat was soft enough but somehow, I still very much prefer the rustic home-made style perfected by Bistro Du Vin. 



Ah the famous mashed potatoes, comes with every main course. I honestly expected this to be life-changing but I was really quite disappointed. I wonder how much butter was used in this because the taste of butter was pretty overwhelming.

The boy chose a pork dish as his main course which was really not worth mentioning.


The poached pear for dessert was pretty good.

Overall, I thought the dishes here were well-executed and technically perfect but it really lacked soul.     The chefs in the kitchen didn't appear to be enjoying themselves particularly (maybe having diners stare at you while you cook is not that great an idea) and that may have been reflected in the dishes.

Service was a whole different story. While the L'Ateliar may not be as expensive or exclusive as its sister restaurant next door, one would expect a certain standard of service given that prices here are not exactly cheap either. The staff were either dismissive or not attentive but to Resort World's credit, we were offered a complimentary meal as a compensation after we provided our feedback to the hotel; a gesture that they didn't have to make but did so anyway so I am truly appreciative. Hence I shall not elaborate further though I will definitely not go back to this restaurant. 
Truth is, not matter how good the food is, people always remember bad service.

Alas my 28th year didn't go off too a good start with 2 bad birthday meals :(


Level 1, Hotel Michael (Resorts World Sentosa)
8 Sentosa Gateway 




Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Grub


Went to Grub on a weekend for brunch and got pretty lucky with the waiting times; was expecting a long queue based on online reviews but we only waited for about 5 mins. Am digging their electronic queue system where you will be notified when your seat is available, that means you get to take a stroll around Bishan Park instead of just hanging around the cafe.  Yay to technology! 



The sinful mentaiko fries was great, though felt 'jelat' after awhile probably due to the heaviness of the sauce. Great for sharing though, just dont attempt this on your own.


The fish burger, features a very impressive fish-to-bun-ratio and was fresh and crispy. 




Also had the breakfast platter which was pretty average. 

Overall, service was great-  efficient and friendly. Will definitely come back to try the rest of the menu.



510 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1, 
Bishan Park 1, Singapore 569983
 6459 5743 

Friday, May 16, 2014

Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck

Back at my favourite dim sum place in Singapore. And the best thing is that this place also serves the best peking duck (living up to its namesake!).

The pictures below actually chronicles 2 separate visits. 

Best thing about having a favourite place is that you know exactly what to order. I would recommend the duck ( must-order, comes served in adorable duck plates), custard bun, pork ribs and egg tarts.










Check out the luscious duck meat, it did look a bit creepy served on the duck plate (cross-section of a duck's body?) but first piece in your mouth and you will forgot everything except 'I need moar!' .



290 Orchard Road,
 PARAGON, #05-42/45, S(238859)
6732 7838 (Reservations are a must)

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Tamoya

One of my favourite lunch places! 
So I got the Kama-tama Udon because I saw it featured on IS magazine's 50 things to eat before you die and well give me the original Kake Udon anytime! 

So the kama-tama features udon done "al-dente" style with a raw egg and broth on the side. Not sure why but the dry-ness of the udon coupled with the gooey raw egg didn't do much for me. Now the Kake, with the soup mmm 


That say, udon here in general is one of the better ones I have had. Plus I love all the toppings you can help yourself with and the add-on tempura! My favourite is the fish-cake and the pumpkin but perhaps I should try something new next time :)

Liang Court
177 River Valley Road #01-32
6337 0301

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Le Cuisson



I hate it when I have a bad dining experience at a place that food bloggers rave about. Makes me wonder - were their reviews biased? Do normal diners just get sub-standard service? or did I come on a bad night? Well I will never know.

Le Cuisson started off as a hawker stall and have since upgraded to a restaurant, of course upgrading its price too. 

Le Cuisson is a pretty small restaurant, with a second floor sitting about 20 and an al fresco area on the first floor, also sitting about the same amount. I expected service to be a bit slow cos I noticed that our floor (2nd) was only served by 1 waiter. But we didn't expect to be waiting 90 mins for our food, and to make things worse every time we asked our waiter he would say "oh 2 more mins" but 10 mins later still nothing. In the end, we even went to check with the chef, pretty unacceptable really.  Plus the dishes we wanted (Coq Au vin and Pork Pot) were "out of stock".. seriously.


Our too-long meal started with charcuterie platter which was probably the best dish that night. The foie gras terrine in particular was great - rich and buttery.


Foie gras was ok


Mushroom linguine with poached egg, thought this was probably the best main. Was nicely done



Both the pork chop and the steaks were extremely tough. The pork chop in particular was very dry too. 


Lamb duo for 2 was a large lamb shank and rump, served with a salad and some baked potato. The shank was nice and tender but the rump was ridiculously salty. Not sure how it happened since we would assume that the whole dish would be salty if the chef had over-seasoned. Perhaps he got distracted and seasoned the rump twice? The potatoes were dry and hard, like they were taken out from the oven and left to sit there for a long time (just like we did). 

Icing on the cake was when the waiter came out with the birthday cake (yes it was supposed to be a birthday dinner for me and that cake was a surprise) in its box, announced "do you want the cake now?" and dumped the cake and box on our table. By then there was pretty much nothing we could do but laugh the whole experience off as one bad dinner. 

So overall, food had some hits but more misses. Of course, anger over waiting time and service did not make our dinner taste any better and I wanted to just caveat this. 
But with service like this, I doubt I will ever come back.


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

The Bistro


Or better known as NUSS Suntec City Guild House. 
Mann the food at these Guild houses are good, makes me almost tempted to become a member. Luckily I have a friend who is. 



The hokkien prawn mee was delicious, inviting smell of smokiness wo-hei and full of fresh ingredients. Generous portion too


Salted egg squid, not as good as those zhi char place but decent


There was a promotion on the steak (believe it was sirloin) that day , only $25 for meat and fries!
The steak was unfortunately overcooked the first time round but thankfully came out perfectly medium rare the 2nd time around. Quite good flavor and much better on its own without the accompanying pepper sauce. 


Buffalo wings - not much kick


Apple Crumble. By then we were absolutely stuffed and I can't recall much of this dish although I remember the ice cream being good.

In short, get the hokkien mee. 
It was pretty crowded when we walked in (in fact we had to sit at the bar) so make a reservation.

3 Temasek Boulevard
#02-401/402 Suntec City Mall
Singapore 038983
6779 1811











Saturday, May 3, 2014

Revisit: Table Manners

Fast becoming my go-to orders at Table Manners

The refreshingly sweet and delicious melon basil saketini, loooove this drink

Truffle Chicken bites - atlas popcorn chicken



Perfectly cooked salmon on a bed of soft mash and some healthy boiled vegetables. Its hard to find a place that does salmon well, I hate it when salmon comes out over-cooked and you are stuck chewing on the hard flakes of flesh. 




The boy's cheesy bratwurst and pasta, decently done but can't compare to the salmon 



#01-68/69 
Changi City Point
5 Changi Business Park Central 1
Tel: +65 6604 7669