Words by Missim, Photos by ladyironchef

With Christmas just around the corner, I’m sure all of you are looking for a romantic restaurant to celebrate the special occasion with your loved ones.

We were at The White Rabbit for their Festive Menu. Good food for Christmas, hey! Isn’t that just what everyone needs?

For Christmas 2011, The White Rabbit has several options to cater for everyone. The four course Festive Set Lunch menu at $48++/pax comes with appetising starters such as Chicken and Duck Liver Parfait, and Tuna Carpaccio; scrumptious main courses include the Roulade of Turkey Breast, Poached Seabass, and The White Rabbit Mac & Cheese; and delicious desserts like the Chocolate Log Cake and Warm Sticky Date Pudding.

Besides that, they also have a four course Festive Degustation menu at $98++/pax; and a special four course Christmas Eve Dinner at $108++/pax.

For the appetizer (from the $108++ four course New Year’s Eve Menu), we had the impressive sounding trio of Parfait of Foie Gras, Toasted Brioche, Shallot Marmalade; Pan Seared Scallop, Wakame Salad; Fresh Fig, Iberico Ham, Parmesan and Rocket. In short, they were foie gras, scallop and bacon.

I loved the scallop at first bite. It had that lovely smoked taste and melted most wonderfully in my mouth. I simply could not get enough of it.

For the next course, we were served Champagne Poached Seabass (from the $98++ for four course Festive Degustation Menu). The dish looked inviting enough however, it tasted very like something my teochew mummy will cook for dinner. I call it the ang moh chue he (Caucasian steamed fish) – instead of using champagne, my mum uses hua tiao jiu.

Finally, the main course! The Rouldae of Turkey (from the $38++ three course Festive Set Lunch menu) was stuffed with Chestnut, Smoked Oyster; Cornbread and Sage, Cranberry Sauce. Well, as all turkey, it was not exactly the easiest meat to chew and swallow. Hey, it is only during Christmas that you’ll eat turkey so why not?

For dessert we had Sticky Date Pudding with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce. My first sticky date pudding and my goodness it was so good! The warm sweetness of the dates and the cake, coupled with the vanilla bean ice cream was heavenly.

In all, it was a good meal and surprisingly I was full as a stuffed turkey. The White Rabbit at Dempsey Hill is a pretty restaurant to have that lovely Christmas meal with a loved one.

Singapore Food Blog Review
The White Rabbit
39C Harding Road
Dempsey Singapore
Tel: +65 6473 9965
Note: This was an invited media tasting.

Everyone knows Dempsey Hill. It is arguably one of the hottest dining destinations in Singapore, with popular restaurants like The White Rabbit, Barracks Cafe and PS Cafe. But not everyone knows about Don Quijote Spanish restaurant at Dempsey. Well, I guess now we all know.

Be it a nice date with your partner; or a birthday party celebration with a big group of friends – Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant is the ideal place if you like tapas, paella and sangria.

One thing to note: the original branch at Lorong Kilat is no longer in operation.

The menu is huge. From cold tapas like Mixed Platter of Ham, Sausages and Cheese ($36) and Anchovy and Piquillo Pepper on bread ($12); to hot tapas like Tortilla Espanola ($11), Calamari ($12) and Gambas Al Ajillo ($13); to meats like Ox-tail Stew ($36) and Tenderloin Steak ($39); to Paellas ($30 for small); and desserts like Leche Fritta ($9) and Warm Chocolate Cake ($19) – there is something for everyone.

Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant recently launched a Market Seafood Menu where they serve “live” seafood from the market. It largely depends on what is available in the market, but the typical menu will feature a selection of fishes, lobsters, clams, mussels, and scallops.

While waiting for Sophie to arrive, Qiuting and I started with the Mejillon Al Vino Blanco – Mussels cooked in White Wine ($16); and Gambas Al Ajillo ($16) – Garlic fried Live Prawns.

The Scallop ($18) that came next were equally impressive.

For main courses, we were served a gorgeous Baked Whole Lobster ($69), and the visually pleasing Baked Whole Snapper ($45).

We stared at the baby lobster when it arrived on our table and for a moment, we didn’t know what to do. After five seconds, instinct took over and the three of us started to attack it with the fork. Om nom nom nom. It was as good as it looked.

The Baked Snapper, on the other hand, was slightly disappointing. The fish was really fresh, but we felt that it was under-seasoned.

And of course, a Spanish meal would not be complete without having Paella. At Don Quijote, there are four different Paellas: seafood, squid ink, vegetarian and meat.

The Paella de Carne ($30 Small/ $45 medium/ $60 large) came  with Beef, Chicken, Chorizo Sausages and rice cooked in a delicious saffron stock.

Even though we were quite full after polishing off the Paella, we were tempted by the highly recommended Tenderloin Steak Cubes with Blue Cheese ($20). The owner was very confident about it, and truth be told, I was quite skeptical initially. But I had to take back my words after having a cube. It was oh-my-god-yummy.

I also ordered the Chorizo Asado Barbecued Spanish Chorizo Sausage ($10) as Qiuting never had it before. It was a shame that we didn’t have room for desserts, otherwise I would love to try their Warm Chocolate Cake made with Spanish Chocolate ($19).

Don Quijote at Dempsey Hill is a nice place to go to if you are craving for Spanish food. While prices are not cheap, neither are they exorbitant – it is on par with most of the better Spanish Restaurants in Singapore.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant
Blk 7 Dempsey Road
#01-02 Singapore
Tel: +65 6476 2811
Sun to Wed: 11.30am – 10.30pm
Thu to Sat: 11.30am – 1am

Note: This was an invited media tasting.

For more recommendations, read my list of best Spanish Restaurants in Singapore

Located in the lush Dempsy Hill area, The Prime Society is a steak restaurant in Singapore that specialises in prime quality meats. With its indoor and alfresco dining, the restaurant can easily accommodate up to 150 guests, and they also have a bar where you can enjoy your pre-dinner drinks.

Previously from Flutes at the Fort restaurant, Chef Rollinson took over The Prime Society’s kitchen earlier this year and he was quick to make his mark on the menu. We were at The Prime Society to try his new set lunch menu ($28++ for 2 courses, $33++ for 3 courses).

It includes choices like Seared Foie Gras/Beef Carpaccio for appetisers, and Grilled NZ King Salmon/Wagyu Bolognaise/Black Sirloin for main courses.

The Beef Carpaccio was almost too handsome to eat, but I eventually finished everything of course. This is only available as an entrée for Prime Society’s set lunch.

The Prime Society managed to strike the right balance with the Hokkiado Scallops. Without being overpowering, the rich and creamy sauce was the perfect companion for the plump and meaty scallops. Yummy!

Unfortunately, the Grilled Wagyu Rump for that night was somewhat disappointing – we felt that it was slightly overcooked. Whilst the steak still managed to retain a pinkish tinge in the middle, it was a little too tough; losing the tenderness and flavour of the prized cut.

Given that The Prime Society is known as one of the best steak houses in Singapore, it was an anticlimax to the otherwise excellent dinner.

Luckily, the excellent Dark Valrhona Chocolate Bar (only available during lunch) saved the day. Instead of serving it with vanilla ice cream, the chef chose to pair coconut sorbet with the dark chocolate bar. The result? I was licking my spoon for every bite of the chocolate and sorbet.

Most of the appetisers on the ala carte menu of The Prime Society Restaurant are priced below $20, with the steaks ranging from $44 (220g Grass Fed Rib Eye) to $72 (450g Grain Finished from Queensland). I know it is strange to say this in a steakhouse, but if beef is not your favourite meat, they have other mains like the Western Australian Pork Belly ($40), Spatchcock Chicken ($38) and fish on the menu.

With the exception of the steak, the other dishes that we had were pretty good. I think I will give The Prime Society another chance and come back again for their Sirloin, Wagyu Beef Burger and Prime Society Ribs.

Which is your favourite Steak Restaurant in Singapore?

For more recommendations, read my list of restaurants in Dempsey Hill

Singapore Food Blog Review
Prime Society Restaurant
10 Dempsey Road #01-20
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road) Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 7427
Note: This was an invited Media Tasting.

Whenever readers ask me to recommend romantic dining places in Singapore, I will always think of the restaurants at Dempsey road. Among the options there, The White Rabbit ranks highly on my list of romantic restaurants in Singapore.

The White Rabbit, owned by the folks behind Loof and OverEasy, is a romantic restaurant housed within a beautiful restored Chapel in Dempsey Road.

I fell in love as soon as I stepped into the place.

Fine dining restaurants are usually not very versatile. I mean they are nice for a romantic dinner, but some of them can be quite intimidating. The White Rabbit, on the other hand, is great for just about any occasion. Be it a romantic date with your partner, a chic business lunch with your clients or a casual dinner with a group of friends.

I wanted to dine at The White Rabbit for the longest time, and I finally came here last week for their 3 course set lunch ($38++ per pax).

Amongst the five starters that were available on The White Rabbit’s menu, we opted for the Caponata and White peach salad. Drizzled with Italian herbs and olive oil, the crispy tiger prawns were accompanied by eggplant, celery and Roma tomatoes.

For our second appetiser, we chose the White Peach Salad over the Grilled Vegetables, Smoked Salmon and Mushroom Soup.

The White Rabbit’s set lunch menu has 5 different choices to satisfy everyone: Pan Seared Salmon Fillet, Pan Roasted Sea Bass, Braised Oxtail, Galantine of Duck, Roasted Lamb Rump and pasta. We eventually settled for the salmon and duck.

Served with Petit Pois Puree (green peas) and carrots, the Salmon was pan seared nicely and we thought that it was pretty well done. But with no substantial sides, the portion might be too small for folks with big appetite.

The Galantine of duck however, came with simple yet tasty potatoes. The herbed minced beef stuffing within the de-boned duck was subtle, and the dish somehow tasted like roasted duck.

Out of the three desserts on The White Rabbit’s lunch menu, we had the Tiramisu and Valrhona Chocolate Tart (with the other option being profiteroles). It is difficult to judge a tiramisu since everyone has different interpretations on what makes a good tiramisu. If you like it with a strong alcohol taste, you will love the one here.

The White Rabbit’s tiramisu had an extremely strong liqueur flavour at the base, which left a bitter after-taste lingering in the mouth for a long time. We did not really enjoy it, and thankfully there was the Valrhona Chocolate Tart to distract us.

Paired with a slightly sourish strawberry ice cream, the chocolate-y Valrhona Chocolate Tart was small in size but huge on flavours. It contrasted hot with cold and sweet with sour perfectly.

The romantic restaurant has a uber-chic watering hole in the al fresco area. The Rabbit Hole is an outdoor bar which is a lovely place for some drinks and finger food. It is definitely a good option for events and parties, but don’t expect it to be cheap.

Hold my hands and follow me down the rabbit hole…

The 3 course set lunch at the White Rabbit is $38++ and they also have a 4 course degustation menu at $98++ per person. For their ala carte menu, appetisers like the tuna carpaccio and steak tartare start from $20. Most of the main courses are in the $30ish range and desserts like the creme brulee and souffle are $16 each.

The White Rabbit restaurant has received mixed reviews so far: there are people who love the Alice in Wonderland theme restaurant, and there are also others who feel that the food is inconsistent and not worth the money.

Whilst the food at The White Rabbit may not be the most spectacular, sometimes food becomes secondary when you are eating at such a beautiful place.

Singapore Food Blog Review
The White Rabbit
39C Harding Road
Dempsey Singapore
Tel: +65 6473 9965

In the local Singapore food scene, there are always new restaurants opening and it is good since we have more options to choose from. Dempsey road restaurants is probably one of the most happening food destinations in Singapore. The Disgruntled Chef is the latest restaurant to join the crowd at dempsey hill, but when it comes to choosing a place for dinner – I would head back to Barracks Cafe, House Dempsey road.

This post is a continuation of the food that we had during the high tea buffet. We had so much food in an afternoon, and I blamed everything on the Barracks cafe.

Many people raved about the skinny pizzas at Barracks Cafe, and I will talk about them in a minute. If you are too lazy to travel all the way to Dempsey road, they are also available at the Skinny Pizza Cafe which has branches at Wheelock, Raffles City and Suntec.

We tried three skinny pizzas ($25): Salt Cod Brandade, Grilled Figs With Parmesan Crumble, and the Ahi Taki. Half the time, I wasn’t sure which one I was eating, but I finished all of them anyway. All the pizzas were not bad, but they were somewhat too healthy and wholesome – not exactly my idea of pizzas.

The famous truffle fries from Barracks Cafe, House Dempsey.

All the other food bloggers love the Truffle fries ($9). They had it while having the skinny pizzas, they also had it while having some of the items from the afternoon high tea buffet. And you know what? they ate it with the desserts too.

We had at least four-five servings and there wasn’t any left when we were done. The fries were drizzled with truffle oil, which gave them a smokey aftertaste. It had a gasoline smell, and while I had my fair share of it; I’m not convinced to pay nine bucks for fries. Give me a dessert anytime!

Now, the cake in the picture above, is the popular Strawberry Shortcake ($9.50) from Barracks Cafe, House Dempsey. If you ask someone (who has been to House before) for recommendations on what desserts to order from Barracks Cafe, chances are, they will tell you: strawberry shortcake.

I couldn’t quite possibly describe it, but the strawberry shortcake at House Dempsey was very different from the ones we usually have. For a start, it wasn’t as fluffy and soft like the ones from the Japanese patisseries. Filled with fresh (but sour) strawberries, and poured over with vanilla bean cream — oh honey, I’m in love.

Everyone loves strawberry shortcakes, I mean does it even make sense that you will not want to eat it?

Anything and everything can be made better with hazelnut. Take the chocolate cake for instance, it’s a lovely thing on its own, yes nobody can resist it, but the cake is often too sweet and people always struggle to finish the whole slice. But with the addition of hazelnut, it becomes something more than that. It’s no longer an ordinary death-by-chocolate cake. The Chocolate Hazelnut Gateaux ($12) is much more sophisticated, preferably enjoyed with a glass of cold milk. I’m not sure if it’s because we had too much desserts, but the chocolate hazelnut cake wasn’t my favorite among the ones that we tried.

My favorite dessert was the Lemon Cake ($12), and no, it’s not the one in the picture.

I don’t remember having much of the Pandan Jelly Sponge (above picture) and the Passionfruit Kachang, but I absolutely love the Barracks Cafe’s lemon cake. It was sour, and I mean it in a good way. Most of the food bloggers preferred the Passionfruit kachang, and they only took a small spoonful of the lemon cake as they found it to be too sour. But I love citrus fruits, and I managed to finish most of the lemon cake by myself.

Tell me, which dessert are you? I’m a lemon meringue tart. Or maybe a chocolate hazelnut praline cake. Wait, I think I’m a chocolate souffle too. Oh whatever, just tell me about you.

Restaurant Review
Barracks Cafe House Dempsey
8D Dempsey Road
#01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village
Tel: +65 6475 7787
Note: This is an invited tasting session.

Tuesday is usually the hardest day of the week. Even though everyone always grumbles about Mondays blues, I’d think that Monday isn’t as bad as Tuesday since we are fully recharged during the weekends. But Tuesday, they are neither here nor there. It isn’t midweek yet, nor is it just-one-more-day-to-Friday, and obviously it isn’t TGIF.

Anyway, my point is: Tuesday sucks. So stop asking if everything is okay, because it is not. But my dear, I want to give you some hope. I want you to see the light at the end of the tunnel week. I’m going to try and make your day better by blogging about the High Tea Buffet at Barracks Cafe House Dempsey Road.

I’m a sucker for Afternoon High Tea.

Be it the classic English High Tea with the pretty three tier desserts, or a simple true-blue Singaporean tea  break with Kaya toast and coffee – the fact is, all of us should enjoy our tea break. It is the period in between lunch and dinner, when we feel sleepy and grumpy. Food will never let you down, have a good feast!

From 1st July till 1st October, Barracks Cafe at House, Dempsey road is serving what they called the “Summer High Tea Buffet” every Thursday and Friday afternoon from 3pm – 5.30pm. For $25 nett per pax, one gets to enjoy a leisure afternoon with your friends and loved ones over high tea items and a pot of tea. Now, don’t your Tuesday suddenly sounds much better already?

In the name of research purposes, I went all out and tried to taste everything. Starting with the small and nimbly Cheesecake marbled brownie, I continued with the Chicken salad sandwich, tuna & shrimp sandwich, and munched a couple of the delicious cookies.

The scones, oh the scones.

There’s no need to find any excuses to eat butter and maple syrup, I can think of 1046 reasons to eat them. The scones from Barracks cafe were slightly dry and it would be better if they were heated up. But hey, you know what? Having scones during afternoon tea made it legitimate for me to indulge in butter and maple syrup without feeling guilty.

In addition to the high tea offerings, we also ordered the Red Espresso Tea Set ($9.50). Note that it’s a separate order and not part of the high tea buffet.

For a non-tea person, I enjoyed the red latte, but it was the Brioche with the red espresso jam that was truly amazing. Initially, I thought that the tiny bottle was a kaya spread. To my surprise, it was actually made from Rooibos tea. It looked like kaya, but it tasted even better than kaya! The Brioche, oh, it was so soft and super yummy. I know it sounds kind of bimbo-tic, but that’s the best description I can give.

Forget about the summer high tea buffet all right? Go for the Red Espresso Tea set okay? I’d like to apologize for moaning out loud after I had the brioche. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Unlike the more sophisticated offerings on Barracks Cafe’s ala carte dessert menu, the selections available at the high tea buffet, are simple and down-to-earth. There aren’t that many spectacular sweets, but for the kind of money and the variety offered, I think it’s a pretty good deal for high tea buffets.

With a pot of tea, a nibble here or two, and in the company of your favorite person, the afternoon high tea at Barracks Cafe House Dempsey silently transits into dinner without anyone noticing. How naughty! We also had the skinny pizzas and a couple of their signature desserts. But that’s a story for another time.

Check out my list of Singapore afternoon high tea places. Alternatively, if you are craving for some sweets, take a look at my recommendations of dessert places in Singapore.

Restaurant Review
Barracks Cafe House Dempsey
8D Dempsey Road
#01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village
Tel: +65 6475 7787
Note: This is an invited tasting session.

After coming up with Guides to Holland Village, Chip Bee Garden, and Dempsey Road restaurants, I have been thinking: where’s next? I want to blog about a dining area which is not known to most, and hopefully it will encourage you to check it out.

The stretch of Greenwood Avenue restaurants immediately came to mind: a) there’s a good mix of Brazilian, Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, and Western restaurant, b) the restaurants at Greenwood Avenue are nice for a quiet dinner away from the city and c) not many people have been there before.

Here’s a complete guide to the Greenwood Avenue Restaurants:

Bronte
8 Greenwood Ave Singapore
Tel: +65 6219 9151

Cafe Iguana //Now closed

Sometimes, it can get a little boring when we are always having French, Italian or Japanese food. One of my new year resolutions is to be more adventurous and try out some exotic cuisine that I have never tried before – Mexican food at Cafe Iguana is definitely next on the agenda!

12 Greenwood Avenue Singapore
Tel: +65 6462 1533

Chat Masala Too!

The Singapore Food & Beverage industry is a very difficult place to survive in – restaurants open and close all the time. When I walked past Chat Masala Too restaurant after my dinner at Greenwood fish market, the Indian restaurant was completely empty for the night. If you are a fan of the Indian food there, I think you need to get some friends down to support them before it’s too late.

18 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6762 2133

Donna Carmela/Caipirinha

From what I understand, Donna Carmela and Caipirinha belong under the same owner, with the former being an Italian restaurant and the latter serving Brazilian churrascaria.

2 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6463 4206

Greenwood Fish Market

When I went to Greenwood Fish Market three years ago, I had the best fish and chips in my life! Is the fish and chips still as good? Wait for my next post, I will be blogging about the supposedly “best fish and chips in Singapore” (from my memory).

34 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6467 4950

La Braceria Pizza and Grill

Positioned directly at the back of Greenwood is Greendale Avenue, there’s La Braceria Pizza and grill. I actually missed it when I was there, and only came to know about it after coming across the restaurant online.

5 Greendale Avenue Singapore
Tel: +65 6465 5918

Lana Cake Shop

Can you believe it? I HAVE NOT TRIED LANA CHOCOLATE CAKE BEFORE! Pfft!

I can foresee that this will probably be one of my biggest regret in life. Okay, I shall make an order for the legendary chocolate cake from Lana Cake Shop soon!

Get me a slice of the lana chocolate cake, and I will love you forever!

36 Greenwood Avenue Singapore
Tel: +65 6466 8940

L’Estaminet

Frankly speaking, I know nothing about L’Estaminet Italian restaurant. If you have been there before, can you kindly leave a comment and let us know if it’s worth trying?

4 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6465 1911

Peperoni Pizzeria

Having heard good things about Peperoni Pizzeria, this is definitely the next restaurant at Greenwood Avenue that I want to try.

6 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6465 6556

Punggol Choon Seng Seafood Restaurant

The Chinese seafood restaurant seems a little out of place in Greenwood Avenue, but hey, if you are craving for some Chinese seafood, here’s the place for you.

14 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6465 4621

Raku Japanese Restaurant & Bar

I’m not too sure if you will go all the way to Greenwood Avenue for Raku Japanese restaurant since they have another branch in Holland Village. With that being the only deciding factor, I’d probably go for the Japanese ala carte buffet at Shin Yuu Japanese restaurant instead.

10 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6219 9447

Shin Yuu Japanese Restaurant
16 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6763 4939

The Wagon Wheel
22 Greenwood Avenue Hillcrest Park Singapore
Tel: +65 6469 3688

* * *

Now, who says that there’s no good food in the West of Singapore? Holland Village, Chip Bee Garden, and Greenwood Avenue are all located in the West. There are actually plenty of nice restaurants and cafes in the west if you know where to find them.

Tell me, which is your favorite restaurant at Greenwood Avenue, and which one are you going to try next?

Dining Guides of Restaurants in Singapore:
Chip Bee Gardens Restaurants
Dempsey Road Restaurants
Holland Village Restaurants
Orchard Road Restaurants
Rochester Park Restaurants
Sunset Way Restaurants

Dempsey Hill is arguably one of the hottest dining destinations in Singapore. From upmarket restaurants like The White Rabbit, PS Cafe, and Au Petit Salut; to restaurants serving “exotic” cuisine like Magarita’s and Don Quijote – there are options for everyone. It is the foodie equivalent of heaven.

Here’s a complete guide to the Restaurants in Dempsey Hill Singapore:

Au Petit Salut

For $30++ per person, Au Petit Salut at Harding road offers a three course set lunch which has choices like Burgundy snails for entrees, the delicious red wine braised beef cheeks for main course, Crème Brulée for desserts and a cup of coffee/tea. This is possibly one of the best set lunches in Singapore.

40C Harding Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 1976

Bacchus German Restaurant
Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-02 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 6628

Ben & Jerry, CA California, & Culina at Dempsey Hill

Ben & Jerry

What’s the perfect ending to a heavy dinner? A scoop of Ben & Jerry ice cream!

8 Dempsey Road #01-14 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6473 3231

CA California

CA California is a great place to get a sandwich or salad for a light lunch. They also serve breakfast during weekends from 9am to 11.45am. Perhaps the best option would be to grab some sandwiches before heading off to a picnic at the Botanical Gardens.

8B Dempsey Road #01-14 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6473 3231

Chang Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant
18C Dempsey Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6473 9005

Culina Quality Food & Beverage

Culina is one of the Singapore’s leading purveyors of gourmet foods and wines. Culina Enoteca located at Dempsey Hill provides consumer an opportunity to experience and taste the food produce as well as the wines.

8 Dempsey Road #01-13 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 7338

Housing restaurants like The Muthu’s Flavor, Grand Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant, Pamplemousse Bistro & Bar, CM-PB Contemporary Melting Pot & Bar; Dempsey 6six and 7even is the newest block in Dempsey Hill.

I recently found out that there’s free shutter bus services from DFS Galleria & Wheelock Place to the new Dempsey 6ix and 7even block. Besides that, there’s a different shutter bus route that goes to Dempsey road Blk 8D/15 from the bus stops outside Glenagles hospital, Thai Embassy, Four Seasons Hotel and Au Petit Salut.

CM-PB Contemporary Melting Pot & Bar

A friend who has been to the new CM-PB contemporary melting pot & bar commented that the styling of the food bears similar resemblance to that of Southbridge @ 7atenine.

Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-05 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 0105

Dempsey One Three O *Closed*

This is a restaurant that has an identity crisis. When it first started last year, their website had a Western-style menu, but after looking at it now, Dempsey One Three O seems to be serving Traditional Hainanese Steamboat now.

130E Minden Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6777 7292

Dome (Dempsey)
11 Dempsey Road #01-18 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6476 8748

Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant
Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-02
Tel: +65 6476 2811

Go-Go Bambini

I’m not sure if I should include in Go-Go Bambini into this list since it isn’t a restaurant to begin with. All the parents out there listen up, if you are looking for an indoor playground or a birthday party venue for your kids, check out Go-Go Bambini at Dempsey!

8 Dempsey Road #01-15 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 4176

Hacienda Cafe

If you are looking for a breakfast place in Singapore that serves daily brunch, look no further than Hacienda Cafe. I have always been a big fan of Prive Bakery Cafe at Keppel bay. Cafe Hacienda is like a replication of Prive Bakery without the seafront view, but nestled in the lush greens of dempsey.

Blk 13 Dempsey Road #01-07 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6476 2922
Weekday Brunch: 10.30am – 5pm

Harry’s Bar
11 Dempsey Road #01-17A Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6471 9018

House, Barracks & Camp

One of the biggest tenants in Dempsey Hill, House is a 35,000 sq ft concept space taking up an entire block which has a beauty emporium, Barracks cafe and Camp bar. It’s a great place if you are looking for a venue to organize birthday party/wedding solemnization/parties.

8D Dempsey Road #01-01 to 06
Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 7787

Huber’s Butchery

Huber’s Butchery is known as a premium retailer for quality meat and sausages. The branch at Dempsey Hill comes with a small bistro, and offers several affordable dining in the al fresco area outside the butchery.

18A Dempsey Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6737 1588

Grand Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant

Won’t it be great if we can have dim sum in Dempsey? I called up Grand Hong Kong Chinese restaurant while I was compiling my list of Dim Sum restaurants in Singapore, and was told that they only serve minimum dim sum. What a bummer!

Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-03 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6472 1811

Jim Thompson Restaurant

I have to admit, I have never see this Thai restaurant in Dempsey Hill before. After a quick check on the net, the background of Jim Thompson restaurant is pretty impressive. Apparently the Jim Thompson group has not just restaurants, but also retail shops in Thailand, Malaysia and Japan. Has anyone dine here before?

45 Minden Road Dempsey Hill Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 6088

Pancakes from Jones the Grocer

Jones the Grocer

Jones the Grocer is another breakfast place in Singapore that serves daily brunch. Having tried their dinner offerings at the new Branch at Mandarin Gallery, please stick to breakfast and desserts – and you will be satisfied.

9 Dempsey Road #01-12 Dempsey Hill Singapore
Tel: +65 6476 1512
* Weekday Brunch: 8.30am – 12noon

Jumbo Seafood Restaurant
Blk 11 Dempsey Road #01-16 Singapore
Tel: +65 6479 3435

La Fondue

The name of the place should be pretty self-explanatory. La Fondue is a restaurant at Dempsey Hill that seeks to offer the complete fondue dining experience. If you believe their philosophy, it seems that anything and everything can go into a fondue. Other than their 4 course fondue buffet which comes at a price of $66++, you can choose to order from their ala carte menu which has starters, pasta, meat, seafood and desserts.

Block 25 Dempsey Road #01-04 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 0204

La Forketta
9 Dempsey Road #01-09 Dempsey Hill Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 2298

La Salsa
Blk 11 Dempsey Road #01-17 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 6976

Long Beach Seafood Restaurant

Seafood restaurants tend to have similar names. I always think that Long Beach Seafood and Palm Beach Seafood belong to the same family, until I realized recently that they are actually competitors. Long Beach Seafood is one of the more reputable Chinese seafood restaurant in Singapore. If you are craving for Seafood but lazy to go all the way to the East Coast Park, there’s always Jumbo Seafood and Long Beach Seafood Restaurant at Dempsey.

25 Dempsey Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6323 2222

Magarita’s Mexican Restaurant

There isn’t much Mexican food available, and Magarita’s is one of the better known Mexican restaurants in Singapore.  Margarita’s also has two other branches, one at Faber Drive in the west, and the other is located at East Coast road.

Blk 11 Dempsey Road #01-19 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6471 3228

Oosh at Dempsey

Oosh at Dempsey billed themselves as Singapore’s first pre-clubbing venue. Nestled in a refurbished colonial building, there’s a al fresco restaurant and bar that whips up an European dinner. There’s a 3 course set lunch at $26++, or choose from the promotional 2 course set lunch at just $13++.

Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-04 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 0080

Pamplemousse Bistro & Bar
Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-04 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 0080

PS Cafe Harding road

PS Cafe

Most people either love or hate PS Cafe, and it’s easy to see why. I know of many friends who raved about PS Cafe for the lovely brunch, wonderful ambiance, and gigantic desserts. But on the other hand, there are others who have mentioned that PS Cafe is over-rated and over-priced.

28B Harding Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6479 3343

Rakuichi Japanese Restaurant
10 Dempsey Road #01-22 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 2143

RedDot Brewhouse

My bus that I take to Orchard will always pass by Dempsey, and RedDot brewhouse is always visible from the main road. Strangely enough, I have never taken any interest in it — until now. I just took a glance at their website, and you know what? Besides the fact they are Singapore’s first local microbrewery, they also serves BRUNCH! Give me a minute, I am going to add this to my list of Brunch places in Singapore! Hooray to brunch!

Blk 25A Dempsey Road #01-01 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 0500

Roadhouse

Roadhouse features all time favourite diner food in a rustic yet contemporary setting. It is one of the few places in Singapore that char-grilled their meats and burgers using Josper grill.

13 Dempsey Road #01-07
Tel: +65 6476 2922

Samy’s Curry Restaurant
25A Dempsey Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6472 2080

Tawadang Microbrewery

German Beer, Pork Knuckle, and Thai Food? Check out Tawadang Microbrewery! They have recently launched a weekend lunch buffet featuring more than 50 dishes of Thai foods and desserts such as Pandan Leaf Fried Chicken, Seafood Otah, Live cooking Tom Yum Soup.

Blk 26 Dempsey Road #01-01 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6476 6742

The Clay Oven Tandoor & Tavern
26B Dempsey Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6472 0221

Tandoori Chicken from The Muthu’s Flavor

The Muthu’s Flavor

I am a sucker for ambiance, so between Samy’s Curry and The Muthu’s Flavor, I’d choose the latter because of the nice interior decor.

Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-01 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 5128

The Prime Society

Located in the lush Dempsy Hill area, The Prime Society is a steak restaurant in Singapore that specialises in prime quality meats. With its indoor and alfresco dining, the restaurant can easily accommodate up to 150 guests, and they also have a bar where you can enjoy your pre-dinner drinks.

10 Dempsey Road #01-20 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 7427

The Dempsey Brasserie

The Dempsey Brasserie is a relatively new restaurant at Dempsey road. The menu has a bit of everything, from starters ($8-22) like French onion soup and truffle skinny fries; to salads ($12-16) like rocket, French bean, and classic Caesar; to mains ($23-42) like TDB Cheese burger and Pappardelle pasta; and desserts ($14) like sticky toffee pudding and warm chocolate fondant.

Blk 7 Dempsey Road #01-03
Tel: +65 6473 4500

The Tippling Club

The Tippling Club

You have probably heard of molecular gastronomy and restaurants like el bulli in Spain. But do you know that The Tippling Club in Dempsey Hill is cooking up a storm using molecular gastronomy in their kitchen lab?

8D Dempsey Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +6475 2217

The Disgruntled Chef

The Disgruntled Chef is a restaurant and bar opened by Chef Daniel Sia (formerly from The White Rabbit). The menu is divided into small plates ($12-18) like baked bone marrow, steak tartare and crispy lamb shortribs; and big plates ($32-48) like crackling suckling pig, roast chicken and slow cooked veal cheek.

26B Dempsey Road
Tel: +65 6476 5305

The White Rabbit

I have always wanted to visit The White Rabbit – the same management by the folks behind Loof and OverEasy – ever since I saw it on the other food blogs. It’s such a beautiful restaurant and bar housed in an awe-inspiring old chapel located near Au Petit Salut, off the main Dempsey area.

39C Harding Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6473 9965

Burger from The Wine Company

The Wine Company
Block 14D Dempsey Road Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6479 9341

Villa Enrique
10 Dempsey Road #01-23 Tanglin Village Singapore
Tel: +65 6475 3800

Vintage India
10 Dempsey Road #01-21 Dempsey Hill Singapore
Tel: +65 6471 3100

Zento Asian Global Cuisine & Sushi Bar
18B Dempsey Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6474 0378

* * *

Wow! This is such a mind-boggling list of restaurants. It took me a couple of hours to blog this post, I hope it will be useful when you are checking out the Dempsey Hill restaurants.

Now, it’s your turn to tell me: Which is your favorite restaurants in Dempsey road, and which one are you going to try next?

Dining Guides of Restaurants in Singapore:
Chip Bee Gardens Restaurants
Greenwood Avenue Restaurants
Holland Village Restaurants
Orchard Road Restaurants
Rochester Park Restaurants
Sunset Way Restaurants

I always wanted to visit The Wine Company as a friend mentioned that it’s pretty affordable to dine there, and they have two good locations in Dempsey Hill and Evans road. I went to the Dempsey road branch and the restaurant was located on the fringe of the more populated area of Dempsey Hill.

We went during the middle of the day for a quick bite. In my personal opinion, most of the items on the menu were more of finger food and drink snacks, not very appealing if you are looking for something substantial. We didn’t have any wine since it does not goes well with burgers, which was a pity as they had an extensive list of wine to choose from.

Even though it was off-peak period when we were there, it took slightly more than 40 minutes, for them to prepare three burgers, and when the burgers came – we were not impressed.

Small would be an understatement – they were tiny!

Given that it was just $10, I wasn’t really expecting much. But the fact that it took so long to come and we were really hungry; you could guess our feeling when we saw the burgers.

It wouldn’t be so bad if you had a full dinner, and the burger was just a snack to go along with drinks. The beef patty was competently done, but I didn’t like the buns. Fries were average, not the type that would make you finish the whole lot of it. Other than that, I liked the idea of having a slice of pineapple in the Chicken Burger ($10).

I wish I could say we loved this place – with the excellent location in Dempsey Hill, a long list of wine and the charming al fresco area. But at the end of the day, the main reason to come to The Wine Company is for drinks. To be fair, we only had two  different burgers so it’s not a good gauge of their food, but the main highlight of the restaurant is still the extensive and affordable wine list.

Restaurant Review
Wine Company
Block 14D Dempsey Road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey Road)
Tel: +65 6479 9341
Open till late

There’s nothing sweeter in life to witness your friend tying the knot; be it a simple dinner of having your close friends to  celebrate the special moment, or a grand affair of getting the whole world (including people that you do not know) to be there – this must be it, happily ever after.

I often receive emails from readers and friends, asking me for suggestion of places, to hold their wedding reception and birthday parties. After going to Barracks at House for my friend’s big day, I’d think that the Greenhouse room in Barracks, is a very good place to throw a party.

‘With that, I declared you husband and wife.’

Such a simple statement, yet it meant so much. Tears of joy, surely. This will be the moment when you look back in ten, twenty, thirty years time down the road, and smile.

Dinner was a simple affair. On this special day, everything and anything, will taste good. We had a choice of the immensely popular Ahi Taki Salad and a seafood platter.

The presence of seafood compelled me to go for the latter, Deep Sea Threesome. A plateful of spicy calamari, appetizing prawns, intriguing black mussels, with the sweetest pineapple and mango.

I know this sounds wrong, but I have been feasting way too much nowadays. With a heavy dinner the previous night, and another tasting the next day, against my better judgment, I decided on the lobster Linguine over the House Ribeye Steak.

And when the first steak arrived on the table, I immediately knew that I was going to regret the decision.

Well, my eyes went wide open when I saw the two words, ‘lobster & linguine’. Unfortunately, I did not read the description of the pasta carefully. The menu goes like this: Lobster Linguine, Crab meat & Prawn Bolognese, homemade black pepper sauce.

Oh, there’s black pepper. Homemade black pepper sauce to be exact. I’m not a fan of anything-black-pepper. The lobster was delicious of course, but I couldn’t finish my linguine. The others were full of praises for the pasta. Anyway, desserts next.

Warm Chocolate Toffee Cake. Swoon. Did I just read warm, chocolate, toffee, and cake? It sounds good, it looks even better. Despite trying a few places for toffee cake, I still couldn’t find a good one that can satisfied me. After having Barrack’s interpretation of this popular dessert, I believe, the missing puzzle for sticky toffee cake – is warm chocolate. I’m a very happy boy.

If you need a place for your birthday party, wedding solemnization, the Greenhouse room at Barracks will be a very good option. Alternatively, there are also other rooms with special theme in Barracks that are available for other events.

* * *

To my awesome Joy & her Bunny, stay happy forever.

Restaurant Review
Barracks at House
8D Dempsey Road
#01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village
Tel: +65 6475 7787

Even though I can’t really take spicy food well, I do enjoy Indian cuisine. Many people dream of opening their own restaurant or cafe one day, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but not everyone has what it takes to be a restaurateur.

There are so many aspects to make a good restaurant; other than delicious food, there’s the training of your staff, gorgeous interior design, an accessible and attracting location, a good wine list, visual-appealing menu, handling the suppliers and one, ten, twenty other small minor details.

The Muthu’s Flavors is the latest brainchild by renowned Muthu’s curry on Race course road. Now you get to enjoy the same good Indian food in a contemporary restaurant setting, with everything plated nicely, in the lush Dempsey hill.

Interior design wise – I’m a sucker for white. It’s interesting to see a traditional Indian restaurant using a bold and unique orange-white combination, and this actually makes The Muthu’s Flavors different from the  original Muthu’s Curry. Well I can’t say for all the staff service wise, but I do think that they have a good manager in Joseph, and his assistant is equally knowledgeable about all the food.

Photo Credit of the second interior shot: Monoxious.com

When a restaurant is located in Dempsey, it’s difficult not to get noticed by people. While I used to think that Dempsey is all about three things: over-rated, over-priced, and over-crowded; but there are some really good restaurants there.

If you know me well, I’m very particular when it comes to the menu, it shows everything about the restaurant. Well it may not be true for all places, how much can you expect when they do not even put in effort into doing out a good menu? Small tiny details like the font, the positioning of the words, the use of colour of font and background, the visual aspects of having some good photos (it can works either way) and the pricing of the dishes; while some restaurants’ menu disgusted me with either messy layout or lousy photos, there are efforts put into Muthu’s flavors menu.

Pappadam, the Indian flat bread was used instead of the typical toasted bread for the Pappadam Bruschetta ($5.50). I always have a thing for diced tomatoes. I’m not sure why, but somehow, they just look so appealing when it’s diced into tiny squares.

Eating the Crab meat stir-fried with fennel ($18.9), it makes me think that I’m eating chicken floss, with the addition of green chili and onions.

I was tweeting the previous night before this dinner, that I’m craving for some awesome curry, lo and behold, the famous Muthu’s Fish Head Curry ($25). Served with ladies finger and pineapple chunks in a rich gravy of aromatic spices, the tangy, slightly spicy sweet curry gravy makes me blush, like a young boy meets love.

Why do we even bother to order the other dishes? This is as good as it gets, and no, we are not going to debate on the ‘best curry fish head in Singapore’ topic. Pour the curry gravy on fragrance white rice, and that’s my dinner.

Tomato and garlic marinated chicken served with Cheese naan, frankly speaking, I could not recall much of the Chicken Tikka Masala ($15.5). Barring the fact that I was already sweating profusely after the sensation from the curry fish head, I stuffed myself with cheese naan.

Between the Massala prawn and the Muthu’s Prawns 65 ($17.9), we decided to go for both. I have no idea of the reason behind the inclusion of 65 in the name, but all of us agreed unanimously that Massala prawn was a better choice as the freshness of the prawns were lost in the deep-frying process.

The Massala Prawns ($23.9) were definitely much better. Huge tiger prawns cooked with a combination of chilies, tomatoes and spices. It’s one of the sweetest thing in life to have someone peeling prawns or crabs for you, some love to get their hands dirty, while others either try to use a fork and spoon to shell the prawns, or simply refused to eat it.

In between our debates over the proper terms of whether it is called de-prawning or de-shelling the prawns, here’s my version of ‘how to peel a prawn‘. 1) Use both hands and hold the god-damn prawn steady. 2) Remove the head and all the tiny legs. 3) De-shell the shell starting from the legs area 4) Pull off the tail and eat your prawn.

Okay fine, so I got greedy. We were full but still, the Lamb Rack Ananas ($22.9) was too alluring for us (or rather, me) to resist. I like how they barbecue the pineapple and add the distinct fruity flavor to the meat. They look good. They smell good. I like to hold it by the bone, gnaw it right up and finish every single bit.

Lamb rack aside, I didn’t know barbecued pineapple can actually taste so good! The others were too full to finish the rack. If the lamb isn’t attractive enough – there’s the tantalizing tandoori chicken beckoning to us.

This Tandoori Chicken ($16.9) is a wonderful all-weather kind of food: I’d imagine holding the drumstick and biting off the meat on a cold rainy day, and feasting on the flavorful chicken during summer. I usually don’t like chicken breast because it’s tough, dry and unappetizing (at least to me), but you know what?

I absolutely love the chicken breast here. It was so tender, and moist. This is the first time I’m giving such high praises to a chicken breast, and I actually like the breast as much as the drumstick.

So, it was a choice between Kulfi or Masala Chai Flan ($7.9), I never enjoy the Indian style ice cream, and having a good impression of a flan dessert helps. The ladies thought that the flan was too sweet; if you’re anything like me, I bet you’d happily finish the whole dessert on your own – I did.

This, is the Beetroot Halwa ($6.9). I know what you are thinking. Beetroot, and dessert? Weird? Yes. As much as I agree that beetroot is always very interesting as it provides the natural reddish purple coloring, but I’m sorry darling; beetroot just don’t work very well with dessert, for me.

Photo credit of restaurant exterior: Monoxious.com

Being a new restaurant, there are still a lot of teething problems to sort out, but it will be interesting how people react to the new Muthu’s Flavors concept. Purist and loyal supporter of Muthu’s Curry at Race course road may, or may not receive well to the idea of dining in such a classy and contemporary Indian restaurant, but I’m sure the younger crowd, and especially those who frequent Dempsey often, will be happy to have a new option for good and affordable Indian food.

I’ll like to thank Rayner from Contagious and the folks behind Muthu’s Curry for the invitation to the food tasting session.  If you are keen to try out the food, The Muthu’s Flavors, Dempsey is having a 25% off total bill promotion from now until 28th Feb, and they have a new outlet at 313 @ Somerset too.

Restaurant Review
The Muthu’s Flavors
Blk 7 Dempsey Road
#01-01 (Near B&J)
Tel: 6474 5128

Many months ago, a long time before I fall in love with food, I have totally no idea what eggs benedict is, much less heard of hollandaise sauce.

I always remember my first encounter with Eggs benedict, it had a hefty price tag and I wasn’t willing to splurge twenty bucks on two poached eggs, or what I called the most-expensive-eggs-you-ever-eaten.

I immediately regretted it when I saw the heavenly holladaise sauce that was drizzled on top of the gorgeous poached eggs. And ever since then, I went on a brunch-frenzy to make up for what I have been missing out. My goal? To seek all the lovely breakfast food in Singapore

Excluding the ones that I had while I was traveling overseas, it suddenly occurred to me that it was a long time ago since I last had brunch in Singapore. There’s nothing like an all day brunch when you can have breakfast at any time of the day, as and when you crave for it. Cafe Hacienda does not serve all day brunch, but it’s pretty close – they have brunch till late afternoon everyday.

I find the idea of having my breakfast in the afternoon very alluring; sitting down in a chic and cozy cafe, sipping a cup of coffee and tweeting “I’m having brunch while the rest of you are busy at work”.

Credits go to Choupinette of course, it’s a shame that I have not tried eggs benedict and holladaise sauce before that, but it really does not matter now. Although I’m twenty years late, but it’s always better to be late than never. Honestly, I do not understand what’s the big fuss with wild rocket, Yes, it’s pretty, but other than that, it doesn’t really goes down well in the mouth, but maybe it’s just me.

Hacienda’s Eggs Benedict ($13.50) is a replication of Prive’s, I always prefer bacon rather than salmon with poached eggs; there’s nothing like a sinful fried bacon streak to make me go ga-ga.

Memories they say, are the stuff that make our life worth living for. I remember a ferrero rocher cake that I had a year ago, it was definitely one of the best I had. Fast forward to the present, taking a sniff of the cake, I actually felt butterflies inside my stomach.

Please, please let this be good.

I leaned forward cautiously, desperately wanting to get back the moment that I’ve before; I took the dessert with a fork, and carefully placed it into the tip of my tongue. The cake went down, and I refused to acknowledge the ugly truth, so I took another mouthful, and another mouthful, until it was clear that the Hazelnut Praline ($6.80) was really not as good as before.

This was a great disappointment. My friends had warned me that the cake had lost it’s former glory – I refused to believe it until I tasted it myself. The praline base used to be one of the thickest, but now it’s reduced to a mere thin layer which lacked the crunch of the ferrero rocher cake.

* * *

Cafe Hacienda is Prive without the seafront view, but nestled in the greens of Dempsey. It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of Michel Lu, the dining concept that he brings about is simplicity; a nice cafe that serves delicious comfort food at a reasonable price – but some people just don’t get it. See you there!

Cafe Hacienda
13A Dempsey Road
Tel: 6476 2922
(Opposite PS Cafe)

Cafe Hacienda is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

It’s a love-hate relationship with Dempsey; you either rave about the place, or you hate it being overcrowded, over hyped, and over priced. I used to be the latter, but that was before I paid a visit to Dempsey, and you ought to admit, despite the crowds there, there’s still plenty of places to check out, and who could resist the lush atmosphere?

The first dish is always of utmost importance; how the meal will eventually turn out – depends on this humble appetiser. You may think its not a big deal, but according to scientific researches done by Dr. Bradley, the first dish will usually dictates the mood for the upcoming dishes; humans are emotional creatures. Almost everybody else felt that the Rock shrimp tempura ($15) was ordinary, but I on the other hand, totally love it! It was a shrimp rendition of my favourite sweet & sour pork, and I wiped the whole plate clean since everybody was saving their stomach for the rest of the food.

Without further ado, let me introduce to the one-that-you-have-been-waiting-for, Sashimi of course, Mango sashimi ($29) to be precise. There was mango, avocado wrapped together with three kinds of fish in thin rice paper.

The Carpaccio ($25) was delicious. Thinly sliced, laid in the pool of savoury yuzu sauce; it was squeaky-fresh – it seemed to be swimming in the plate.

When we dine out, people usually want to try out some of the restaurant’s signature dishes. And the Tuna pizza ($22) was one of them at Zento. If skinny pizzas are your kind of thing, then this would be it. Raw fresh tuna on top of the oh-so-thin dough, crunch, crunch, the pizzas were gone!

I always have a thing for prawns, especially deep-fried ones. Naturally, I like the Volcano ($25) pretty much, with the focus in the middle of the futomaki. But some didn’t take quite well to it as they felt that the freshness was gone after the deep-frying process. Alongside the shrimp tempura, there was smoked salmon, avocado and crabstick too.

The combination of seven skewers ($48) was the perfect showcase of the different ingredients, and of course, it’s for sharing! Most of them were pretty decent, but if I were to choose one, I’ll go for the separate tasty foie gras ($15) instead.

The sushi rolls had fascinating names like fantasy, rainbow, and even monkey roll. But we had the Green river ($30) instead. Toro, eel, avocado and plum paste, with seaweed powder on the outside.

After the rounds of appetisers, yes, all the food you saw were just starters to warm us up. The first main course was the Roasted marinated duck breast ($48), and it was indisputably the best. The first impression of the duck was from a conversation when we saw the photo of it in the menu.

“Ah! they served char siew rice here too!”

The photo of the duck in the menu looked exactly like char siew rice! Anyway not many places serve duck, and do it well; the duck meat was done just nice, retaining the tinge of pink beneath the charred skin.

I love prawns, baby! Big, big prawny prawns. The Jumbo shrimp tempura ($42) was dazzled with the sweet and slightly sour pineapple sauce, and there was wasabi fried rice alongside too. Jumbo in size, great in taste, and a huge hole in the pocket too!

We weren’t expecting any surprises from the chicken since it’s a done-to-death item. And the Roasted spring chicken ($38) turned out to be what we expected, just chicken.

Besides the duck breast, I also enjoyed the Chilean seabass ($45). The miso-infused flavour was subtle, bordering on bland, but it actually enabled us to taste the sweetness of the fish.

I could almost hear the cat say, “purrfect!”

Every main course at Zento is paired with different types of rice, the same goes for the Rack of lamb ($45) which comes with almond raisin rice. Lets just put it this way, for the price, we’ve had better elsewhere.

We pointed to “the most expensive main course” on the menu, the Wagyu stripped loin ($75). We had it done medium, but it came slightly more at medium rare.

“Do you have stomach for more?”

It was towards the end that this simple question was posed to us,  Well we were glad that we did, otherwise we would have miss out on the amazing Crunchy spicy tuna handroll ($12). It was O-M-G. Instead of the typical seaweed roll, they used soy paper as a substitute, maybe we shouldn’t call it a substitute because it’s definitely a better option than seaweed. The soy paper simply dissolved when it touched our mouth; every bite was so good!

Most of the folks were stuffed by now, but how can we say no to desserts? So another dessert-holic and me tried most of the ones available; we started with the Coffee parfait ($12). It was frozen custard made with cream, with ice-cream texture minus the melting part.

We lamented about the quality of the chocolate within the Chocolate lava cake ($16). It could/should have been better. Nonetheless, you can’t go wrong when there’s icy cold vanilla ice cream together with the warm chocolate lava.

Dyana, the co-owner of Zento advised us against ordering the Green tea creme brulee ($12) but we decided to try it anyway. The taste was, forgettable, which explained why I couldn’t recall how it tasted like.

There was a period of time long long ago where the fried ice cream at the old Tiong Bahru food centre was in the rage. They called it the Tri colour fuzzes bomb ($14) here. and rightfully so. Underneath the crispy fried skin was cold ice cream. I was fascinated by the fact that the ice cream didn’t melt during the frying process.

* * *

Zento was quite unlike any other Japanese restaurants that I went to before, stepping inside you probably won’t know it’s a Japanese restaurant until you see the menu. Contemporary and chic design, with bold and innovative creations in their menu. My appreciation to Hungrygowhere.com for the invitation to the food tasting session, and Dyana for her warm hospitality.

Zento Asian Global cuisine & Sushi Bar
18B Dempsey road
Tel: 6474 0378

If 7atenine was the best meal I had so far, then Au Petit Salut would be its equal.

I was the passerby in your colourful life, we never seem to meet, until now. Our encounter is but an absence and a providence: now that we’ve met, I hold you dear. The place of eternal memories; Au Petit Salut.

Lush, lush, lush and green. It seems so near, yet so far. Right in the middle, but not in the middle; I had to admit – I was wrong. Overrated, you are not, there’s just something special about you. I wished we’ve met earlier, but like they say, it’s better to be late than never.

It was all we need to get started with, a piece of bread, and a stick of butter. We threw envious glares at the seemingly-softer white-looking bread at the table adjacent to us; it was just, human nature.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do – and in a French restaurant, eat snails as the French does. This was my second time eating the slimy-looking creature, and as much as I thought it looked similar to cockle; I love the strong butter and garlic smell. Half dozen baked Burgundy snails with tomato and garlic butter, way to go!

I’m-a-carnivore! And the only appetiser on the menu which seemed to satisfy the meat-eater in me was the Pork terrine and mesclun salad, shallots, gherkins and capers vinaigrette. I took a bite, chew-chew-swallow-swallow, and I took another bite. A piece of pork with really extraordinary subtlety and texture. And my dear, this was where the meal just began.

Words are powerful stuff, they can make you happy, sad, angry or nervous. In this case, I was excited by the mere-presence of the word, beef cheeks.

What part, you asked again?

Beef cheeks. Pardon me, but I have never eaten somebody’s cheek before.

Red wine braised beef cheeks, carrots, mushrooms and parsley potatoes. I realised I couldn’t really tell the difference between the different parts of the cow, but did it really mattered? The braised beef cheeks were tenderly-done, and there was the potatoes which were a-part-of-it.

I had to agree that braised beef tasted better than lamb shank, or maybe I haven’t tried one that is worthy, yet.

If the beef cheek were tenderly-done, then the Pan seared onglet beef was done exactly the way I love it! And just exactly what was Onglet, I know it’s a prime cut of beef, but past that I’m beyond caring. Don’t talk to me about the different grade, the marbling of the meat, there ain’t no need to discuss the cooking technique, I-just-liked-this!

With a tinge of pink, the medium-rare meat was per-fect! And I love the confit shallots which spreaded over the top of the beef, like the sky covered over the land. The presence of the French fries were puzzling, I decided I was going to ignore its guest appearance on the plate and focused on the beef instead.

The lemon tart was fabulous – how can something so simple. be so, absolutely wonderful. The texture of the lemon curd was done just right, and paired with the subtle ice cream with a hint of lavender-honey, I’m a happy boy.

I had a quickie with the Crème brulée; I took the first taste, stunned for a moment, and took my second. This continued until I finished the whole dessert. Beneath the nicely-touched caramelised sugar, was the smoothest yet firm, custard, infused with vanilla beans.

Till we meet again, my love

* * *

Total bill was $70 for two set lunches. I, had an awesome time! Which left me with this question, why didn’t I go there earlier! Au petit Salut has one of the most reasonable set lunches at $30++, comparing with most of the restaurants which are doing theirs at $38++, I thought it is a steal. Of course, there are certainly better restaurants out there, but I love the place as a whole. See you there!

For more recommendations, read my list of the Best French Restaurants in Singapore

Au Petite Salut
40c Harding road
Tanglin Village (Dempsey)
Tel: 6475 1976

Au Petite Salut is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

I have a friend, his name is Jones. He is a grocer, and he ain’t a normal grocer. Gourmet products, that’s right.  All the customers would drop by and waved, “Hello Jones!”. And the kids would peeked around curiously, and oh yes, they had a song which goes something like this;

Jones the grocer, Can we eat it?

Jones the grocer, Yes we can!

Jones the grocer, I want some food!

Jones the grocer, Come and get it!

My latest breakfast-brunch crave brought me to Jones the grocer, because they are one of the few that serves brunch during weekdays (the other few being Prive, Rider’s, and Casa Verde).

Much as I liked having brunch on a lazy Sunday morning, but the idea of having it during a WEEKDAY enthralls me even more! Well the rest of the world rushed off to work, I’m slowly sipping a cup of coffee, having my favourite eggs, and reading the newspaper. You get the idea?

I want breakfast. I want eggs. I want pancakes.

Pancakes we wanted, and Coconut pancakes ($12.5) we got! Sour mango wasn’t exactly what we expected, but it presented a contrast with the syrup, well they called it the palm sugar syrup here. Whatever, all the syrup tasted the same to me, sweet and sweet!

And did you see what I saw? Vanilla beans! Tiny speaks of vanilla beans! I’m not going to go into the story of how excited I’ll become when I saw the beans, but, I’m excited! It was nice having vanilla beans with pancakes, but we did felt that it would be better to have it with butter and syrup for breakfast at least. And oh ya, the pancakes here are one of the thickest-I-ever-came-across.

Jones english breakfast ($20). I’ll like to call it the best-of-everything. Poached eggs, grilled bacon, pork sausages, sautéed mushroom, and even slow roasted tomato for some nutritional balance! What is there not to like?

I can never resist the golden-yellow egg yolk flowing out of the pure egg white: striptease – stop playing with me or I’ll eat you up! I put the poached eggs, bacon, and mushroom on top of the sourdough (the sausage was too huge to fit in on top), and I tried to put everything in one bite.

Well I failed of course, but that’s obviously what I intended to; in this way I could repeat and repeat the same full-mouth-process until I finished the whole thing, and wanting more.

Total bill was $35.75 for the brunch, they had 10% service charge but the 7% GST was already included in the bill. Was it expensive? No, for the mere thought that I was having my breakfast while the rest of the world were busy slogging it out in the office, that’s something priceless.

But for weekday brunch, I’ll prefer Rider’s and Prive if you have your own transport, not that it is easy to get to dempsey either.

Jones the grocer
9 Dempsey road
#01-12 Tanglin Village
Tel: 6476 1512