Regular readers know that I am a big fan of the Prive Group by restaurateurs Yuan Oeij. After trying their new Josper Grill menu recently, I am convinced that Prive Restaurant at Keppel Bay is one of the best restaurants in Singapore.

The Josper grill is favoured by many well-known chefs around the world. The system has a greater heat control, and the dual function of oven and grill signficantly reduces the cooking time of the meat.

There are 8 items on Prive’s Josper Grill menu, with options like seafood platter, kurobuta pork, lamb rack, ribeye and tenderloin. Naturally, prices are slightly steeper. The rack of kurobuta pork is available for $52, while the 280g Ribeye Cap is $75. The normal ala carte menu, on the other hand, is much more affordable. Prices range from $13-24 for appetisers; $24-35 for main courses; and $10-16 for desserts. Prive Restaurant also offers a 3 course set lunch during weekdays at $35.

Between the three of us, we shared 3 appetisers, 4 main course and a dessert platter. For appetisers, we started with the Grilled Watermelon Stack ($15). The sweet and juicy grilled watermelon was great, but I’m not sure if I’d pay $15 for it. I’m not a big fan of salad, but we had a pretty decent Apple, walnut & Brie Salad ($13). For me, the highlight from the appetiser menu was the Pan Seared Foie Gras ($24). Yummy goose liver with caramelised banana strudel, baby spinach and raisin brioche.

After having three appetisers and a glass of wine, we proceeded with the main courses.

To be honest, I thought that the Capellini with Sakura Ebi tasted like bee hoon – an atas $24 bee hoon. Having said that, it was done just right, and the sakura ebi added an additional dimension to a tasty plate of bee hoon.

We also had the Double Rib Lamb Rack ($58) which you see in the photo above. It was actually quite good, but I was preoccupied with the kurobuta pork and ribeye.

I was delighted to see the Rack of Kurobuta Pork ($52) on Prive’s Josper Grill menu. I love pork. The 280g corn-fed U.S Snake River Farm Kurobuta Pork (the first picture of this post) was gorgeous. I’d gladly give up a steak for this rack of kurobuta pork anytime.

“Our steak is better than CUT Steakhouse”. Yuan told us at the start of dinner.

Having heard raved reviews about the steaks at CUT Marina Bay Sands (my foodie friends boldly proclaimed that they have the best steaks in Singapore), I was a little sceptical initially.

My partner and I were left speechless when we had our first bite of the steak. It was SO GOOD – definitely one of the best steaks I’ve had. And you know what? I wouldn’t exchange this steak for any kurobuta pork.

There are four steak options on the Josper Grill menu: the premium Black Angus Tenderloin ($58), 340g Centre-cut Ribeye ($58), 280g Ribeye Cap ($75) and the humongous 450g Thick Cut Ribeye Steak ($90).

The Dessert Platter ($32) is a great way to end the meal on a sweet note. It offers 6 mini version of the ala carte desserts. Clockwise from top left: Lychee Granite, Valrhona Chocolate Mille Feuille, Cinnamon Apple Strudel, Lemon Meringue Tart, Ice Cream Profiteroles, and Sticky Date Pudding.

While you are paying fine dining prices for the experience at Prive Restaurant, the food is hardly so. It is unpretentious and uncomplicated. Prive is definitely in my list of must-go restaurants in Singapore.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Prive Restaurant
2 Keppel Bay Vista
GF Marina at Keppel Bay
Tel: +65 6776 0777
Note: This was an invited media tasting.

I love a good restaurant. But if there’s one thing I like even more, it’s having good company for dinner together. Dining in a fine-dining restaurant is very nice, but it really depends on the people around you to make it even better. Sometimes we get lucky, it’s an extra bonus when we are dining with nice people, and it happens to be a very romantic restaurant.

Many people always ask me to recommend a romantic restaurant in Singapore, I’d like to tell them: so long you are with your other half, everywhere is romantic. But I can’t possibly do that can I? You want to know a romantic place for your first date, a romantic restaurant for birthday parties, a romantic restaurant for that special occasion, and like today, a romantic restaurant for Valentine’s day; it’s all about the ambiance.

I’m very pleased to ‘stumble upon’ Boathouse, a newly opened Modern European restaurant at Fullerton Water Boat House. Chic decorations that exudes a laid-back and homely feel, gorgeous view that overlooks the Marina Bay area, elegant and simple furniture, oh I love this place.

Fish Chowder Sea Bass Carpaccio ($15)

I had Wagyu beef on a couple of occasions before, but this was the first time that I actually had a Wagyu Beef Ribs. The first bite? It tasted just like pork ribs. The second bite? It’s definitely a lot better than the normal pork ribs. It’s a superior version, no it’s  wrong to even compared it with pork ribs. My dear, you are looking at the Wagyu Beef Ribs with Aged Red Wine Jus ($33).

The meat was so tender that it falls off the bone and melts in your mouth splendidly. Placed together in a plate, the wagyu beef ribs absorbed the aged red wine jus, and in turn the latter captured the essence from the long braising process. How good was it? Catherine wiped the plate clean with bread.

Ju had the Atlantic Pink Snapper ($25) instead of the Wagyu beef ribs. She mentioned that the fish was fabulously fresh, firm, sweet, and didn’t want to share it with us. An excuse to return? I’d think so!

I seems to be having a lot of pasta recently. Boy I’m glad all of them were good quality ones, and the Tagliatelle Wild Mushroom in Truffle Sauce (S$19) was no exception. Every slurp of the tagliatelle was intense, and so flavorful. Some might find it to be too salty and overpowering, but I thought that it was pretty well done.

The Caramel Apple tartlets ($15) were small. Fine, they were tiny. Initially the restaurant told us it was tasting portions, but after confirmation from a few friends who went there for dinner, they were still serve the mini apple tartlets for the full price.

Fifteen bucks for three mini tartlets and ice cream? I wouldn’t pay for this, and neither should you. Please do not order the apple tartlets until the restaurant made changes to it.

The mind is a funny thing. It always play tricks on you, and subconsciously conjured images of things that you wouldn’t want other people to see. Halfway through the meal, my mind decided to play a game with me. Like as though there was a remote control, it pressed the ‘play’ button, and memories of a very good semifreddo that I’ve before started to flash.

Reason #1 why the pastry chef here does not have a sweet tooth.

With the sourish fruit compote to compliment the White Chocolate Semifreddo ($15), it gave the impression of an anti-sweet establishment. Desserts, are after all, meant to be sweet. I tried the semifreddo on it’s own, and it was so good. In order to see the reasoning behind the inclusion of the fruit compote, I reluctantly had a taste of the semifreddo with the tart berries – well it wasn’t so bad, but I’d obviously prefer dessert to be sweet.

In my opinion, a good Panna cotta must have a firm yet wobbly-like texture. This one here was fairly competent, but under the limelight of the excellent semifreddo and creme brulee, the Panna Cotta did not make a statement.

Reason #2 why the pastry chef here does not have a sweet tooth.

The presence of the licorice reduction, with the Creme Brulee. I was told that the evil licorice was planning on taking over the dessert world, in a test-tube-like container.  Okay I exaggerated. You know, the guys (& some girls) who raise their eyebrow at the slightest mention of desserts? The licorice reduction would be perfect for them since it literally reduced the sweetness level, making me wondered why anyone would do that.

Oh well, that aside, I enjoyed the creme brulee very much.

Torched to a magnificent golden-brown, the underlying custard was naturally sweet. The contrasting layer of the cranky caramelized sugar with the beautiful custard: I’m in love with the creme brulee.

My middle name is dessert: apple tart with ice cream, creme brulee, panna cotta, and white chocolate semifreddo.

* * *

This is the second part of a series that I’m doing on the waterfront restaurants in One Fullerton. I’ll like to thank Fullerton Heritage, Sophia and Kannan of Boathouse for arranging and hosting this dinner.

BoatHouse is definitely one of my favorite restaurant now, and I will not be surprised if they are one of the best new restaurants in 2010. There’s a separate rooftop bar on the third floor called Prelude. Stunning, stunning place with an awesome view of the Esplanade and Marina Bay.

Prices range from $20s for pasta to $30s for a main course. For the superb location and wonderful ambiance, Boathouse is offering a very value set lunch; the 2 course set lunch is $22++, while I’d go for their 3 course set lunch at $29++. Most of the items on their set lunches are from the main ala carte menu which make it extremely tempting.

See you at the Boathouse Fullerton.

Restaurant Review
BoatHouse
#03-01 The Fullerton Waterboat House
3 Fullerton Road
Singapore 029415
Tel: +65 6538 9038

Boathouse is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore.

Twenty four of us descended to Gunther’s in a foodgraphy-frenzy. Hells hath no fury like a flogger hunger. The long discussion of food, followed by the occasional exclaims of ‘ooh‘, and ‘ah‘. Welcome to the world of the food lovers.

Japanese tomato

It was smooth, and silky, strands of it sticking out; yet in the dim light setting against the white background, it looked angelic, yes, this must be it: Cold Angel-hair pasta. I enjoyed every slurp, and I’ll gladly have it again.

This, is the In-thing for this season, like the latest fashion trends for each year; rejoiced people, it is this time of the year for the sacred white asaparagus, not green, not red, but white. And then, I spotted the yellowish sauce over the the Poached white asparagus with Bouchot mussels.

I stopped, and slowly took a bit of it with my spoon; “it couldn’t be, Oh yes it is!” I dipped everything on the plate with the hollandaise sauce, and made sure not a single drop of it was left.

“Have you had white asaparagus before?”

“No, I don’t see whats the craze over them..”

A surprise always had the biggest impact when you least expected it, and it came pleasantly of course.

There was pata negra, and salted baked seabass for the folks who couldn’t have beef; and damn, the roasted black pig from spain sounded so good, I should have claimed to have allergies against cows!

My piece was very well balanced in the portions of the fats and meat (read: too much fats). I took a bite of the meat, and chewed down some fats. And it’s not that the Grilled Cote de Boeuf wasn’t good. In fact it was more than excellent; the slightly tinge of pink fully captured my imagination.

My eyes tweaked to see what was coming. It was supposed to be desserts next, but they were serving us, pizzas. You know, the elongated slice of thin-crust bread with toppings all over. Ah no, I was clearly mistaken, this was no pizza, it’s the Fine apple tart a la dragees, with rum & raisin ice-cream.

Once we had our desserts, once we paid off the bill, it would be bye-bye until a year later. Or at least that’s what the script wrote. A year, is far too long a time for us to meet up. We should meet up regularly my friends, and hunt down all the good food around our island.

I’ll like to thank my fellow floggers for attending the food bloggers’ luncheon, Gunther’s for hosting the event, our various sponsors and not to forget my lovely partner Yixiao for flooding my mailbox and phone constantly during the preparation stages.

Gunther’s
36 Purvis street
#01-03 Talib centre
Tel: 6338 8955

Meet my fellow food bloggers:

Yixiao @ hautestaff
Catherine @ Camemberu
Nic @ Black tie white lie
Fen & Yuan @ sgdessert
Dave @ Importance of salt
Cheryl @ thebakerwhocooks
June @ joonelovesfood
Mia @ skinny-epicurean
Jiaxin @ foodiesqueen
Jeremy @ eggtoast
Antonio @ foodieah
Phil & serene @ keropokman
Karen @ superfinefeline
Leroy @ thehungrycow
Elaine @ divine essentials
Kelvin @ timelessfacade
Maureen @ jaime-la-nourriture
Ryan @ caramelcorn
Evan @ bossacafez
Ivan @ food.recentrunes
Claudine @ claudzratznblabz

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

Two complete strangers, brought together by something call fate. Friends we are, brothers we have become, and partners we will be. It is amazing how much our bond has grown. The girls call this bff, or bestie. But for us, there is no need to say anything. That’s because everything is clear in our heart.

Discussing a serious topic in such a whimsical place does seem inappropriate. But hey, we can talk about anything, anywhere. The truth always hurts, but I’m glad to hear of it. Because only true friends dare to speak the truth.

We are bound to have disagreements, I hope we will understand each other for everything we do. No matter what happens in the future, or whatever decision we make, our mutual support will carry us, through everything.

You are the one who see this started from nothing to what it is today. You, are the only one besides me, who can exactly summaries all that had happened. You, are the one who always remind me to stay true and keep me grounded.

I know you will always be there for me, just like how I will for you. That is because, we are the best of friends.

***

Much as I cannot differentiate the taste of a Kurobuta and a normal pork, just the name of the Kurobuta alone is enough to excite me. Slow roasted crisped Kurobuta pork belly ($26 before 50% discount). When we say crisp, it really meant business. The crisp-cracking sound when I took a bite into the top of the pork belly, oh my. Slightly thin layer of fats was the real deal, almost divine. Well, the picture might look just like the normal sio bak to you, it is. But a divine one.

We have something from the sea to go along with our previous dish from the land. This time, the Chilean Cod ($26 before 50% discount). With the smooth and silky fish meat, there is a layer of crusted skin. We mistook the tomato fondue as chilli at first sight, but it complimented the fresh cod very well.

Portions were a tad small for the two hungry eaters. So we ordered the four cheese pizza ($17 before 50% discount), with gorgonzola, mozzarella, pecorino & talleggio cheese. Like I always say, I’m no food critic. Among the four cheese, I cannot tell which is which. But I do know the combination of the four, resulted in a very strong cheesy taste. We thought we like cheese, but apparently, it was slightly too strong for us. Only for the cheese lovers!

Total bill was $44, for three mains and a drink, with a 50% discount from Citibank credit card. The current promotion is available at Oomphatico’s for dinner during Monday to Thurday only. It is a fantastic deal, because among the many places Citibank offer for the 50% offer when 2 dines, Oomphatico’s is one of the few that do this promotion during weekday dinner, most of them are weekday lunch. I’m very much tempted to go back again before the current promotions end, to try the rest of the dishes.

Read my previous visit to Oomphatico’s here.

Oomphatico’s
163 Tanglin Road
#01-35 Tanglin Mall
Tel: 6733 9088

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

You know in life, there’s usually only one opportunity, and like they say, if you missed the train, it’s gonna be gone forever. That is why, gracious and forgiving, as cliché as it may sound, is important. Second chance.

Making the wrong choices once is bad enough, this time, we are going for the safe option. What better than their signature Le Royale ($7). If I’m to be a scientist, all the cures and breakthrough will never occur. But call me a mathematician, the cake had 64% of dark chocolate mousse. Of hazelnut feullitine and praline, I could never differentiate them apart. But I love them both, yes I do. So it doesn’t matter, anything with hazelnut & feullitine works for me. You know I love you, xoxo Le Royale.

Some of the female companions that I know, does not like to drink coffee. Yet they always frequent Starbucks, well just for their green tea frapp. Yes, call it irresistible, healthy, or whatever, our ladies love their macha. The lovely light shade of green tea mascarpone mousse was appealing. I’m no expert when it comes to green tea, but what I do know, the macha was very subtle. And the chestnut cremeuex was an interesting choice for the middle layer. Not that i’m a fan of chestnut. Oh yes, simply named,  the macha ($7)

Oh dear, if looks can kill, so can Tarte Citron ($5.50). The beautifully burnt effects from the blow torch was a sight to behold. Italian meringue with lemon cream on almond tart. My, my. This really is a beauty. And if you think she is a bimbo, the taste was as good as the looks too.

I never know Canelé has good ice cream. Well, they are known for their cakes, and chocolates, but ice cream! I love surprises. And Nougatine ($8) is all about that. Praline ice cream with hazelnut nougatine was always my beloved. But it was the salty caramel dripped alongside the ice cream, which really made it so good.

Total bill was $33 for three cakes and one ice cream. Well I thought that the ice cream was pretty decent even at eight dollars per pop since it was more than the size of two scoops elsewhere. The raffles city branch is canelé restaurant instead of patisserie, since they offered main course as well. But I resisted putting the word restaurant on my title since we didn’t try any of their main course. That will be another time of course.

Usually opportunities only come knocking once, but I’m gonna knock on the door a few more times.

Canelé Restaurant
252 North Bridge Road
#B1-81 Raffles City shopping centre
tel: 63347377

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Ate. Nine. Ten.

Esplanade we were at, yet it certainly didn’t feel anything like Esplanade. The al fresco area was within the ground floor, yet while sitting there and people-grazing, the mood was out away from this world.

Service was almost impeccable. Since most of the tapas were off-the-menu, we wanted to know what we were eating and started asking the staff a lot of questions. Initially when they served us the first few appetisers, they were not sure of the names, and the ingredients in it. But they got used to us asking questions, and when they served the rest of the tapas, they made sure they checked the names and ingredients. Well we did make them stress that day, akin like taking a spelling test. Nonetheless, the staffs were always cheerful and friendly.

In the time of recession where people cut down on their expedition, it takes a brave soul to come out with interesting dining concept. The idea that the chef serves whatever he wants, is actually not new. But there just isn’t much places doing it, most people after all, aren’t adventurous enough and want to have a say in what they are eating. 7atenine. Catchy name, check. Unique concept, check. Ambience, check.

There’s something about Salmon which makes them irresistible to ladies. For some unknown reasons which continue to elude me, most ladies seem to love them. The salmon tartare. For the ladies! Fresh crunchy salmon in lemon cream sauce, with walnuts & some leafy greens providing the crunch. What impressed me was the effort entailed in preparing the cucumber. Instead of short slices, the cucumber was peel off vertically, in a long string. This, surely warrant our praise.

What I liked about the Taco cerbice was the simplicity of the dish. The crunchy sour dough plus the smooth octopus meat. Topped with greens, it further beautify and added balance to the appetiser.

Like couples who are always together, ham always comes with cheese. The dish is a basically an appetiser of ham & cheese. Cubes of green apple, cheese, and ham. While there’s nothing intriguing about the combination, it’s a simple dish to kick-start the meal.

I always remember the significant and special food that I’ve before. Like the best mushroom soup, the best dim sum, all those are deeply engraved in my memory. And the Beef roll on hot stone, would definitely be the latest addition to my memorable list. Putting the thinly-sliced beef rolls on the heated up stone, a brilliant idea! The usage of salt to bring out the natural taste of the beef, with the hot stone keeping the beef warm at optimum temperature. Divine.

Tangy, was the best way to describe the lobster gaspach. Shredded lobster fried was good on its own. But having left it too long in the slightly sourish sauce, it was soggy when we tried it. And did I mention I loved the way 7atenine decorated the bowls with a brush of the sauce. A stroke of genius.

With the pairing of cheese and anchovies, the Mozzarella cheese with anchovies certainly let our imagination ran wild. Just exactly what does the humble small salt-water fish and cheese have in common. Well nothing, but that’s what makes the pairing unique. The presence of bell pepper and tomato brighten up the aesthetic aspect. Much as I’m for creative cooking, this dish didn’t exactly impress.

The best. Mushroom Risotto. 7atenine rendition was done close to the porridge form, quite unlike the harder glutinous-rice like version I had before. Boiling several types of mushrooms to get the stock, the end result was a strong mushroom infused flavour in the risotto. The presence of strong cheese taste was a plus. I do not think words alone can describe the goodness of the risotto. Comfort food.

Again, we see the use of raw salt to bring out the natural flavour of food. Poached lightly, the Salmon with potato wrapped bacon was another worth mentioning dish. Even when eaten on its own, the salmon was fresh, but when you dip it with the sauce, it brought it to a brand new level. The bacon bits, by the side, was salty and flavourful. My date enjoyed her roast mini potatoes, although I didn’t quite fancy that.

When ocean meets farm, the Seabass in celery cream. Sprinkled with bits of salt, the seabass reminded me of my mom’s home-cook fish. The fish was better eaten alone, rather than together with the brown sauce. The mesh celery represented the farm.

At first look, we were guessing the ingredient used to “dye” the calamari black. Guess guess, squid ink! An interesting twist to the otherwise boring calamari. The tomato salsa was refreshing, but other than that, there wasn’t much wow factor. The crusted calamari.

A cheesy pasta. The spaghetti with ham symbolised every aspect of the cheese pasta. A simple dish done right. We were wondering what ham was used though.

If 7atenine is all about interesting new dining concept, then the sizzling wings would definitely be the best representative. Using the pegs (for hanging clothes) to hold the chicken wings so that diners were not dirty their hands. Bravo! While the effectiveness of the peg remained to be questioned, we should applause the innovation. On the other hand, the chicken wings were nothing to shout about. I was pretty astonish when they served the wings, since nothing in my dictionary told me that wings were classified under tapas.

The beef flank was the last main course that we had before serving desserts. The meat was tough and inelastic actually. I didn’t touch much of it. Well, a disappointing anti-climax for the main course.

Caffe latte trifle was the first of the three desserts we started with. Everything coffee. From the ice cream, meringue, to the thin layer of sponge, all of them are coffee flavoured. There’s rice krispies on top too.

With a base of berries, there’s the strawberry ice cream and vanilla bean on top. The execution of the simple strawberry gazpacho was enough, for us to end the meal on a sweet note.

We were surprised by the inclusion of vanilla bean ice cream since the sight of the normal walls ice cream was so common everywhere else. I liked the fact that they spreaded some Oreo crust by the side. I can taste vanilla bean, and with some help from the crust, it turned into Oreo ice cream. And oh yes, warm chocolate brownies must always be eaten together with chilled, cold ice cream.

Total bill was $86.58 for 2, lunch unlimited buffet. In my humble opinion, my date and I agreed that 7atenine is the best new restaurant in 2009, that is until i try a better one. Although not all the tapas impressed me, but the food taste is more on the extreme ends, it’s a case of whether you love it or hate it. Personally, I felt food lovers will generally accept this concept better than the rest, especially so if you are the type that are adventurous and love to try new creations.

It is definitely fun to be keep in the suspense, and wondering what is coming next. Of course, with expectations there will be disappointment. I’m sorry if you do not agree with me. But I love this type of dining concept,  the playful presentation of food, the friendly services, bold creations, the ambience and the amazing value. Of course, the company of my date plays a vital part as well. This year, the best meal I had so far, 7atenine!

7atenine
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-10/12 Esplanade Mall
Tel: 6338 0789

7atenine is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

* * * Now closed * * *

My fourth, her third, another’s second, and many others first. Our common love for food. That’s how it all began. At the heart of East-Meet-West. Persimmon.

Kopitiam, the symbolic of our local heartlands. The place where everybody grew up sipping their milo & coffee, where everybody settled their three meals when their mother was on strike, and the gateway to many delicious heritage hawker food.

Persimmon is quintessentially a swanky and upmarket kopitiam, retaining the traditional feel by using the classic kopitiam furnitures and floor tiles. The furnishings were a combination between comtemporary and rustic. And not to mention her location is right in the middle of Tiong Bahru, with the shophouses and kopitiam lining side by side.

Choices of desserts pick from a la carte buffet. Bread pudding, carrot cake, mango pudding, panna cotta, chocolate mousse. For the discerning us, perhaps only the carrot cake made the cut.

The kong ba bao (stewed pork belly) was way off my radar. The bun was hard and dry, the meat was not fatty enough, and lacked the delicious gravy. And oh ya, it wasn’t part of our menu, but was under the a la carte buffet offered.

Inspired by NoSignBoard white pepper crab, Persimmon white pepper Crabcake is all about that. Enjoyed the white pepper “crab”, no doubt in the form of crabcake, without any hassle. Under the sunny weather, the crab was toned prefectly brown, with a crisp-cross shell, and savoury meat within. Adiós

The crown of Persimmon. Hainanese Chicken Salad. Featured in almost all the media publications, there isn’t any excuse for you to miss this dish. The concept is simple, Singaporeans loved their chicken rice, but dreaded the calories. So what do you do? Remove the rice, throw in some greens, and voila! Singapore’s very own Hainanese chicken salad. Poach chicken, fresh local herbs & mesclun greens, rise crisps, and special dressing.

Tomato base pasta? Boring! How about our rich cream base instead? I hate cream! Right, why not try our Linguine laksa leaf Pesto? Specially created for your exquisite taste buds, the laksa infused linguine will definitely blow you away with its unique taste. Think laksa, but swop the thick rice noodles with pasta. Some felt that the laksa leaf was too heavy and overwhelm the whole dish. On the other hand, i thought the pasta was perfectly fine. Innovative with a big I.

Mixed blonds (fusion) are interesting in some ways, and the 8 treasures certainly roused my curiosity. Three mushrooms, two nuts, chinese sausage, parmesan cheese and risotto. What happens when Italian Risotto combine with the 8 treasures? You get the 8 treasure Risotto! The intial impression was Glutinous rice, but it was way better. I need to be honest, i couldn’t taste all of you. But in the end, it doesn’t really matter, you are all mine!

Staying true with the principle of fusion food, we have the European-style steak meeting heads on with our Asian carrot cake. The grilled ribeye with “chye tao kueh” carrot cake is bound to make your eyes popped out. The carrot cake was fried with XO and balsamic, with the latter providing a sour taste. A vast contrast with the steak. Not everyone could accepted sour carrot cake with steak though. Aspiring combination, but somehow failed to sizzle with the seemingly weird taste.

Eaten alone, the Slow poached salmon with zuchinni ribbons didn’t come as tender as we thought it will. But dipped in the green curry sauce, the fish went through a make-over in the taste department. There was cucumbers used in the green curry, which caught my attention. Like what one of our fellow friend say, when you don’t understand, just say “fusion!”

Our humble Otak is given a upmarket transformation by going créme brulée. With richly flavoured spicy kaffir lime & coconut used as the main ingredients, there was fish mousse hidden beneath the otak. The otak creme brulee is a very creative fusion dish indeed, but the experiement could perhaps be better. Some of us found the otak to be too watery, and maybe it’s meant to be this way. But is créme brulée ever so soggy?

There was a slight tweak to the menu compared to the one i previously shown. And the cost per person was 20 dollar nett, which everybody agreed was a reasonable price given we managed to try a variety of food. I hope everybody enjoyed their meal, and see you all at the next LIC food outing! We had 27 people for this outing, which was quite a healthy figure.

Well, like what some of you mentioned, it was a case of hits and misses, fusion food is pretty much an experiment between the Asian and Western cuisines, and it was certainly interesting to try some food which we’ll never get to try elsewhere.

And not to forget, LIC outing is all about the fun, joy and laughter during the event, and getting to know more friends. I’ll also like to take the opportunity to thank Helena and Sharon, the co-owners of Persimmon for having us there.

Do add me on facebook, if you missed the links earlier.

Read Jaime-la-nourriture chinese post on the outing here

For those who missed this Persimmon outing, you can get the best discounts when you mentioned ladyironchef while you are at Persimmon. So do go down and give the fusion food a try.

While co-owner and partner Mac excel in decorating the desserts, June enjoyed researching the use of new flavours instead. Perhaps it is the unique combination and strength in the partnership that gave Obolo Patisserie its success. ladyironchef decided to organise a dessert outing there and it went on smoothly with the support that the partners provided.

The interior of Obolo is very small, and could only fit in 15 people. Mac and his team rearranged the tables and did the settings for us, with the print of our dessert degustation menu, Obolo’s christmas catalogue, and a small gift in the form of cookies.

Our dessert degustation menu consisted of 12 desserts platter, namely 7 petite cheesecakes & entremets, 2 petite tartlets, 1 dessert shooter, and 2 les macarons. As always, i requested sampling portions for the menu as it’ll allowed us to try a variety of the desserts available at Obolo. Therefore, the pictures that you’ll be looking at are all mini-size, and does not reflect the actual size of the desserts.

Tartlet filled with milk chocolate & passion fruit ganache. The chocolate-passion was a sourish petite tart, mainly from the passion fruit used. Most of us found it too sour for our liking, and the sourness from the passion fruit completely overwhelmed the milk chocolate. I preferred it sweet.

Dark Chocolate ganache mousse, cassis ivoire mousse, praline feulletine base and moist dark chocolate-almond biscuit layers. Having tried Le Cassis before, i still enjoyed the contrasting taste between the slightly sour blackcurrent and the sweet of the chocolate ganache. I’m a big fan of the crunchy praline feulletine, but i thought that the layer was too thin, and not enough! Nonetheless, Le Cassis is definitely a hit with most of us.

Baked cheesecake infused with mango and passion fruit. While i didn’t really fancy passion fruit as i found it too sour, but in this instance the mango actually provided a better balance in the overall taste. The layer of biscuit crumb base would be nicer if it was thicker. The Mango-passion cheesecake had mixed reactions, with some finding it too sour, and some giving a thumbs up for the creative use of flavours.

67% caramel chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache, pecan chocolate fudge cake base. We were debating whether the nuts at the base were walnuts, but it’s actually pecan. The caraibe was one of my favourite of the night with the velvety chocolate mousse, dark chocolate ganache and chocolate fudge base. It was all about contrast and layering, really.

Tartlet filled with dark chocolate ganache. One of the few real chocolate of the night, the Chocolat Noir was better than the one that i had at Cova. One of the main feedback from the rest was, there was more sour than sweet dessert for the night. Mac explained that for decoration purposes, they liked to add in berries. But it ain’t the season for berries, and those that looked nice actually taste sour.

Some would prefer her to be drenched with liqueur, but the purist certainly say no! If you asked me, I’m on the purist side. The light mascarpone creme, dark chocolate ganache & chocolate genoise infused with coffee. Pull-me-up, of sugar and espresso. The tiramisu au chocolat.

Remember Pineapple tarts? You reminded me of Chinese New year, even though its only two months away. Pinada cheesecake, despite given a make-over, I still missed my pineapple tarts. The rum-soaked raisins didn’t help also.

Looking at the pistachio ivoire mousse, your eyes must be green with envy. Not to mention there’s still the cherry-raspberry gelee to deal with. I never like jam, definitely not the gelee in between the way of the dark chocolate ganache mousse, and the chocolate almond biscuit with kirsch. Almost prefect, the Nikta.

All the way from the states, there’s the New York cheesecake. Smooth, creamy, with a hint of lemon. At the pinnacle, seats the stunning strawberry. She’s the one that teased me all right, during our precious encounter. And now that I’ve conquered you, what do you have to say?

Appearance is secondary, they say inner beauty is more important. Nonetheless, the outer beauty sure makes a good impression. Sprinkle with gold dust, the ginormous strawberry garnished the top. There was tangy mascarpone mousse, and there was red berry gelee. Add in some kirsch-mixed berry compote, and i give you Summer Berries.

Miss macha was a last minute substitution, simply we got sick of Mr passion fruit. By common consensus, the shell was very thick, chewy, and a tad sweet. It’ll be better if she was lighter. But you couldn’t deny the fact that the macha macaron’s filling was prettily done.

Always a safe choice, the pairing of hazelnut and chocolate. Certainly a crowd teaser with that fulsome filling. Once my favourite, always my favourite. I don’t care what they say, i’m in love with you.

I’ll like to thank everyone who attended the dessert outing last night, and hope you all had a great time. There were old friends, and new faces, but everybody’s welcome! Also my thanks to Mac and June who supported and hosted us, for without them, this outing wouldn’t be possible.

For the rest of you folks who missed out on this dessert outing, not to worry. Details for my next food outing will be out tomorrow! So do let me know ASAP if you can make it for the lunch.

ps: read fen’s detailed review at sgcake.com
evan’s beautiful photos at bossacafez.com
jia xin at foodies queen

Cheers,
Brad

I’ve always love my cakes and desserts, so it also came as a surprise to me that i only visited Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge now. Furthermore, it helped that the place is located in town area, right in the middle of level 2, Takashimaya. I went to the second level all right, but couldn’t find the place until my companion told me it’s beside Burberry. And it’s until then i realised i been passing by the place last time but didn’t notice it.

The restaurant interior surprised me as i thought it was bigger on the outside. With an elongated L shape area, customers enjoying their meal can look out to the busy street of Orchard road. While others are rushing around, you’re enjoying your cup of tea with some light desserts. Life’s bliss.

Having the other tables so closed to each other, and with no walls in the whole area, the place was very noisy with all the chatterings and crying sound of the kids. This on the whole, dampened the relaxing mood slightly.

High Tea is served from 2.30pm to 6.30pm. There’s their high tea set for one person at $20.90, and two person at $ 26.90. Obviously the set for one person isn’t worth the price, so if you’re going alone, you’ll be better off ordering a la carte instead. We had the high tea set for two person since it’s our first time there.

The tea that came along with the set was really just, your normal lipton tea. The porcelain tableware with its blue foral prints had a very English feel.

A blueberry cheesecake ($4.90 a la carte) that didn’t taste like blueberry. I usually didn’t quite fancy blueberry but this one was very good. The blueberry was very sweet and flavourful, layering on top of the slice of cake. The taste was very similar to the one that i’ve at Caffe Beviamo.

Cheesy yet not to the extent overwhelming. The biscuit crumb layer underneath the cake added the crunch to the soft and fluffy cheese cake. The “oomph” taste immediately announced its presence. It’s light and airy, and unlike some cheesecakes which are really heavy, you won’t feel sick of eating this one.

Another dessert which we selected for one of the two home-made pastries was the bakewell tart. I didn’t have much similar tarts before, but i must say the tart was excellent by its own standards. The crispy texture of the top, together with the soft body provided a nice compliment to each other. And there was a layer of jam in between which also added flavour to the tart.

A good try if you are going to Royal Copenhagen.

The shrimp sandwich was one of the two mini opened face sandwich ($10.90 a la carte) of the chef’s choice. Basically a sandwich without any top, it consisted of shrimps, caviar and lettuces. Coupled with the mayo sauce, the opened face sandwich reminded me of the one I’ve at Caffe Cova. The shrimps serving was generous all right, the caviar added intense flavour to it, but the lettuce wasn’t very crunchy, and somehow I don’t think I really enjoyed the dainty petite sandwich. After finishing it, i was wondering, was that it?

The big slice of smoked salmon was a surprise, but again opened face sandwich and me just don’t click. My friend enjoyed the popular shrimp sandwich more than this. The thing about opened face sandwich is you feel that you are just eating the fillings without any bread, which doesn’t have the sandwich-feel.

It was the famous Copenhagen scones ($6.90 a la carte) that we eyed for. The one which got everybody talking about. Royal Copenhagen chef’s speciality, fresh daily baked scones served with butter, whipped cream and jam.

There were five types of Danish fruit spread selection, namely blackcurrent, raspberry, strawberry, orange marmalade, and rosehip with apples. We were contemplating between the safe choice of raspberry or the adventurous rosehip with apples. In the end the spirit won, and we chose the latter.

This was the very first time both of us tried scones, while i spread my cream, jam, and butter in the middle of the scones, my companion preferred to tear bits of the scones and dipped them into the jam and butter to eat. The scones were very fragrant, slightly hard on the exterior, soft & fluffy inside. The only gripe – it wasn’t warm! It would be prefect if the scones were warm and freshly baked from the oven.

Total bill was $31.65 after the extra charges for the 2 person high tea set. The experience was a pleasant one, although it was blotch by the rather noisy atmosphere. Service wise was still acceptable, there were a couple of staff which we thought wasn’t very happy serving people, but there was one staff whom was the saving graces with her friendly smile and services.

I’ve called up beforehand to make a reservation, but the staff told me there was no need to for a weekday high tea. And when we reached the place at around 4pm, it’s packed to the house, but luckily there was still seats for us. Which made me wonder whether was it coincidence that they saw a rush in crowd that day, or it was always busy everytime but the staff didn’t want to take the reservations.

Frankly speaking, i didn’t fancy the opened face sandwich, so chances are if i come back again, i probably won’t order the high tea set. The cakes and pastries are really good, and at $4.90 they are a lot cheaper than patisserie like Canele, even though they are not as attractive looking, but it’s the inside that counts isn’t it?

Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge
391 Orchard road
Level 2 Takashimaya
Tel: 6735 6833

There are so many different types of desserts out there, so what’s your favourite? Chocolate cakes? Gourmet cheesecakes? Everybody has their own preference, i’ll say i love any types of desserts, and will willingly try all of them. The thing that i enjoyed about the pastry is that they ain’t just pretty to look at, they are also delightfully good.

So does that means that you can’t have a good chocolate cake if you want a similarity excellent cheesecake? Fortunately at Obolo, you can have the best of both worlds without any compromise.

From what was then an online patisserie to the boutique patisserie you see today at Joo Chiat, Obolo has gone a long way serving its gourmet cheesecakes and chocolate cakes. The flagship store opened in June 2007, almost a year plus already, provided a retail avenue for Obolo to showcase its repertoire of desserts.

The boutique de pâtisserie had a sleek and clean look, with the clever use of mirrors to create a bigger impression of the place. Nonetheless the small pastry restaurant can hardly sit more than 10, and it’s quite a squeeze in there.

Obolo’s famous for their signature New York cheesecake, which looked stunning with three ginormous strawberries. But we couldn’t possibly missed out on Noisette, and since we favoured chocolate over cheese, we decided to pick the latter. My friend and I decided to opt for an all-out chocolate feast, with all our selections chocolaty to prevent a clash of flavours over the chocolate and cheese.

Noisette ($6.70)

Dark chocolate mousse, caramelised toasted hazulnuts, crunchy praline feullitine, chocolate genoise. Noisette was the cake that put Obolo among the Sunday Times top 50 cakes. It got a smooth texture, not overly sweet. The Noisette was rich with chocolate and hazelnut flavours.

I particularly enjoyed the crunchy praline feullitine base, but the layer was too thin! It would definitely be better if there’s another layer in between the mousse.

Le Cassis ($6.70)

Dark Chocolate ganache mousse, cassis ivoire mousse, praline feulletine base and moist dark chocolate-almond biscuit layers. Le Cassis certainly looked pleasing to the eyes with its bright colour combination. The sour blackcurrent actually helped to smooth out the sweetness of the cake, which created a nice balance between sweet and sour.

With the cassis (blackcurrent) ivorie mousse on top, and the dark chocolate mousse enveloped in between the two layers of chocolate-almond biscuit, it provided a good blend of different taste. The cassis sour, the dark chocolate slightly bitter-sweet, the chocolate biscuit layer and the praline feulletine base added the crunchy sweet component.

Bittersweet Macaron ($1.80)

To continue with the chocolate-feast, we had the bittersweet macarons. Dark chocolate, not too sweet nor too bitter, just nice for the taste bud. It could be a double-edge thing though, in the shoe of those who didn’t fancy bitter chocolates, this would do nicely. But for the dark chocolate purist, the bittersweet macarons could be a tad sweet.

Hazelnut Macaron ($1.80)

The hazelnut taste was definitely there, the texture of the hazelnut macarons shells were chewy and the fillings in between was velvety and fulsome. Being a hazelnut fan, I immediately went for this one when i saw the lists of flavours available, with the others being cassis, rose, pistache, mango passion, raspberry, ruby, chocolate passion, vanille, and pabana.

Total bill was $17 for 2 cakes and 2 macarons, which made a nice treat for after-meal desserts. Obolo definitely got prospect with its gourmet cheesecake and range of desserts, which made me wondered why didn’t they set up a branch in town. Obolo’s owner June explained that they are looking into expanding, so we can be looking forward to another branch probably next year.

With around 11 different type of cakes to choose from, Obolo is constantly coming up with new flavours, having said that, you should be able to find one that suits your taste bud. Prices can be considered slightly high given their inaccessible location, and that Canele’s charging similar prices. But i think for the Easterners, Obolo’s definitely a place for your treats of desserts.

Obolo
452 Joo Chiat Road
Tel: 6348 9791

“Alice is bored of sitting on the riverbank with her sister, who is reading a book. Suddenly she sees a white rabbit run past wearing a coat and carrying a watch, lamenting running late. She follows it down a rabbit hole and falls very slowly down a tunnel lined with curious objects. She lands in a long hallway lined with locked doors..”

Stepping inside Oomphatico’s, you are instantly teleported down the rabbit hole, into the world of Alice in wonderland. With its bold and fun design, incoporating of vibrant and cheerful colours, together with the white-and-elegant furnitures, the European style was stamped all over the interior.

There’s also a nice al fresco area just beside the Trader’s hotel lobby. It marks a change from the normal al fresco area which will be under the mercy of the weather as it’s a sheltered area.

The use of the funky design in Oomphatico’s make it stand out from the rest. The focus is on red, black and white, which is also evident in their menu. Oomphatico’s actually aims to serve healthy and hearty food, using organic ingredients, and they have an all-day breakfast menu to cater to you sleepyheads who can’t wait up early for the most important meal of the day.

Buonito! ($9.50)

Berries and vanilla yogurt. An excellent alternative to decadent desserts. The initial flavor was sour with the berries coming into play. But with hard work, there’s result. The vanilla sweetened the sour berries and carved out a balanced taste. The bottle’s definitely adorable, but the Buonito! was priced on the high side, which i rather spend the money on a dessert.

Bella Margarita ($16.50)

With a choice of plain, ham or herbed pizza base, Oomphatico’s offered a twist to the 5 pizza selections. Our Bella Margarita’s the classic with Oomphatico’s magic makeover, topped with cream cheese, garlic and pepper. On paper, the pizza might seem ordinary, but it was the plain June and average Joe, the normal ingredients which made the pizza a good pick.

Our ham base, paper-thin pizza was crispy. The combination of the ingredients provided a spark when eaten with the thin pizza. The serving was generous, and you ought to share this around, the two of us couldn’t finish it. Something that’s ordinary might not be bad, that’s why they called it the classic.

The Farmers Club ($14)

Chicken, bacon, chedder cheese, avocado, and eggs. In short, everything you need for a hearty and full sandwich. The farmers club got everything of that, with one side two sandwiches coming in the form of bacon and egg, and the other end chicken.

Sandwiches at $14 might seem a tad expensive, but this one’s an exceptional. There’s four sandwiches to share, with giant portion of the chicken bites on two of the sandwich. The chicken bites marginated with pepper, were tasty.

The bacon and eggs on the other side of the two sandwiches, were good and reliable. But the bread’s the one that was laudable. This was not your normal gardenia bread, the slightly toasted bread showed some hints of being toast, yet it wasn’t too hard when bread remained too long in the toaster.

Total Bill was $47.08 for two person. Prices are slightly on the high side, but then again, there’s the novelty of the place, and the big portion of the food to contend with. Two of us couldn’t finish what you see on the table, and i suspected three person sharing two orders might be just nice.

Oomphatico’s ventured to where others didn’t, and provided a new focal point with its innovative menu, the entertaining & cute environment, and better-than-expected food. I heard critics sharpening their knives and complaining about the place, but i say ignore them, for Oomphatico’s definitely packed with the oomph factor!

The restaurant’s an excellent venue for your girl-friends meetups, relaxing high tea, or even a romantic and cute place to bring your partner to, enter the world of Alice, in Wonderland! I dare say i’ll return again, at least until the novelty wears out. Then maybe they will come up with something different to capture my imagination again.

Oomphatico’s
163 Tanglin Road
#01-35 Tanglin Mall
Tel: 6733 9088

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

* * * Now Closed * * *

Having visited Absolute Haven before, I shall skip the niceties and move on to the food. Do look at my review during my previous visit to find out more about Absolute Haven (AH). I decided on AH for lunch on that particular day since my cousins have budget concerns, and i happened to remember about AH weekly set lunch promotion. A nice fit.

The previous time i had dinner, but being on the mailing list of AH, they sent me regular updates on their current promotions, and now they are having their weekly lunch promotion, $9.90++ for a 3 course meal, available Tuesday to Sunday.

Soup of the day

The soup of the day was grilled vegetables soup, there were green and red pepper, carrot, potato and some other vegetables. Slightly spicy and sour, the grilled-taste was evident in the soup. I ain’t a big fan of soup, o well.

Oatmeal Crusted chicken breast

There’s two main course available for selection from their set lunch menu, and one of which was the Oatmeal crusted chicken breast with miso braised rooted vegetables and pically sauce.

Thinking back now, i didn’t recall tasting any miso flavour in the root vegetables, and just what exactly was pically sauce, i never found out. I reckon it’s the slightly sweet and sourish red sauce which gave the chicken breast an additional zing.

The chicken breast strike out as dry and hard. But never judge a book by it’s cover, or rather in this case, never judge a chicken by it’s look. We were proven wrong by the first taste of the breast meat. Despite the dry look, the inner portion of the meat retained the soft and moist texture. I always dislike eating chicken breast because i found them to be too hard and dry, but this one’s the complete opposite.

Seafood ragout angel hair pasta

The other main course, was the seafood ragout angel hair pasta with tom yam pesto sauce. I was curious about the angel hair, having saw it but never try it before. Like the name implied, angel hair is a very thin variety of Italian pasta, which beared a resemblance to the Chinese rice vermicelli.

The tom yam pesto sauce did gave the pasta a different twist in flavour. It was spicy, sourish all together as one. I didn’t really fancy tom yam flavour, but if you are a tom yam fan then this should do the trick for you.

Dessert of the day

We rounded off our 3 course lunch with a simple triple chocolate ice cream.

Total bill for 4 set lunch was $46.3 which worked out to be $11.50 per person. I was initially skeptical about AH set lunch because at $9.90 per person it’s totally in a different league with its a la carte pricing. How good can a 3 course meal at $9.90 be, when a normal main course for dinner at AH cost around $20.

But like what i found out, there isn’t anything intriguing about the food at AH set lunch, but it does provides value given you can have a soup, a decent main course and a simple dessert all for $11 per person. With western food at some food courts costing around $6-8 bucks, i say this is really a good option for lunch if you want somewhere with a good ambience, but at the same time not hurting your pocket. And one of their main course option changes every other week. So there’s always variation for you.

Absolute Haven
70 Prinsep Street
Tel: 6333 4358

Sage the restaurant, recently relocated to one of Mohamed Sultan’s historical conservation shophouse, just across the street from their previous place at a rather obscure location on the second front of Robertson Walk. Sage is one of the widely hype restaurant in our local food scene who has won acclaims from many foodies.

Sage the restaurant has just started their set lunch menu which offers 3 course at $38++, and 4 course meal at $45++. Given that the main course for their dinner menu ranges from 30s to the 40s individually, i’ll say that the set lunch do seems rather value. And note that lunch is only served from Wednesday to Friday.

The husband and wife combination works very well for Sage, with Chef-owner Jusman So helming the kitchen while his friendly wife, Kimberly taking charge of the service aspect. Chef Jusman So also recently won the choice title of rising chef of the year in the World Gourmet Summit (WGS).

The interior of the newly furnished restaurant speaks contemporary chic. With Black and grey being theme colour, the white simplistic tables strikes out bringing the simple-yet-elegant feel of the place. There is just a single picture frame to adorn the black wall, with the back of the room leading to the open kitchen

The open kitchen concept provides a insight of the chefs hard at work to provide a satisfactory meal for us. I do believe that having an open kitchen concept is a rather important aspect of a restaurant, for one, diners can have a look at the chefs at work, and also by doing an open concept, it shows that the restaurant has nothing to hide, and it does build a bridge linking the diners stomach and the chefs heart for their effort.

I applaused the fact that Sage chose to retain its seating capacity at 38, when they can actually have no problem expanding the place and filling it up every night. That for me, is a true sign of Sage’s intention, not to compromise the standards of the food quality with any increase in capacity.

Complimentary bread

The complimentary bread was very good, soft and fluffy, with the butter spread that comes along together, i’ll have asked for second helpings if not for the fact that we still have a four course meal ($38++) to finish.

Smoked Salmon ($12)

Scottish smoked salmon loin on cucumber relish with avruga caviar. Cauliflower couscous salad and dill infused leek & potato vichyssoise. The smoked salmon loin was tasty although i found it to be slightly salty. I didn’t like the cauliflower couscous salad as i felt that its rather heavy for a salad but my friend thought it was all right.

The avruga caviar, pearlescent black in colour, is a more sustainable alternative to its more expensive relative, Beluga caviar, completes the salmon loin.

Crab & tomato ($12)

Marinated crab salad topped with oven dried tomatoes and avocado mousseline, taggiasca olive tapenade and vine ripe tomato gazpacho. The oven dried tomatoes and the vine ripe tomato gazpacho, enhances the flavor of the crab meat. I couldn’t quite make out the taggiasca olive tapenade, but it tastes nice to me. Same goes for the avocado mousseline, but then again i am not really a fan of avocado.

Overall a simple dish (maybe not that simple in cooking it) that packs a lot of different flavors into one. The cooking method do seems to be the trademark of Chef Jusman who use many different type of ingredients to blend into one.

Mushrooms soup ($12)

Cappuccino of wild mushrooms. My friend and i had no words to describe the soup after having a spoonful. The plain-looking mushroom soup has a make-over and the interpretation comes in the form of a cappuccino, not quite what you will picture for a soup.

Nevertheless, the mushrooms soup was nothing short of excellence. Like what i mentioned before, mushrooms are always a tricky task, cook it for too long and the mushroom becomes over-cooked, while finishing it too early the soup will fail to absorb the essence of the mushrooms.

The mushroom soup arrived in a cup of cappuccino, with foamy top layer, and creamy base. Some common mushroom soups might still have bits of mushrooms in it, but not this one. The wild mushrooms seem to blend together naturally, and every mouthful just tasted so flavorsome.

Personally i do not like mushroom soup, but the fact that one spoonful of soup leaded to the other, with me finishing the whole soup tells you how good the soup was. There are definitely better mushroom soups out there, but for now, this is the best mushroom soup i had before.

French Onion soup ($12)

Perhaps the mushroom soup was too good, that we actually find the French onion soup to be quite normal in contrast. Nonetheless, the soup was still very rich, with its strong onion taste.

Traditional French onion soup with crouton and melted gruyere cheese. Crouton is the small piece of sauteed bread that acted as a companion to the soup. However we did not really taste the melted gruyere cheese because the bread became rather soggy in a short while.

Cod ($42, with $15 supplement applies to set menu)

Roasted fillet of cod topped with prawn and cognac butter on salt cod brandade and bouillabaisse sauce. The Cod was definitely the star of the show. Both my friend and i arrived at the conclusion that the cod was class. The roasted fillet was wonderfully balanced, there were hints of the roasted element, but it did not shows on the fillet.

If the end product of the Cod was the magic produced, then the prawn and cognac butter was certainly the wand that produce the magic. The cod on its own did not warrant a perfect score yet, but wait until you tasted the cod together with the prawn and cognac butter layer, that was pure magic.

The mashed potato beneath the cod also tasted well together with the bouillabaisse sauce. The sauce which was made from a traditional provencal fish stew has a fulsome flavor, and when you had a piece of the roasted cod with the prawn and cognac butter on top, and dipped with the bouillabaisse sauce, there was nothing quite like to describe the taste.

Duck Confit ($28, with $10 supplement applies to set menu)

Duck leg confit on a savoy cabbage parcel stuffed with field mushroom, leek and red onion in pommery mustard sauce. We chose duck confit because it’s always a dish that is difficult to handle, and can test the skills of the chef. The mark of a good duck confit obviously lies in the meat, if the duck is cooked for too long, the meat will become soggy and soft, while under-cook will make it becomes too tight and hard.

Poking a fork into the duck leg confit, we were glad to find that the duck meat remains firm while retaining its perfectly crispy skin. With the price tag, this was one expensive duck leg, which you otherwise could have a whole duck elsewhere, but made no mistake, the duck leg confit was certainly worth the money.

The pommery mustard sauce did come across as rather weird initially, but mixing it with the firm duck meat brought out the brilliance of it.

My friend enjoyed the Pernankan-inspired cabbage parcel stuffed with field mushroom, leek and red onion, but it did not works for me. I felt that the cabbage parcel was too salty for my liking, and the leek and red onion combination did not really suit my tastebud.

Strawberry Panna Cotta ($12)

Vanilla panna cotta topped with strawberry jelly and chocolate ganache, compote of strawberries and crunchy nougat. The sweet vanilla panna cotta and chocolate ganache striked a good balance with the slightly sourish strawberry.The panna cotta itself was quite thick and rich with the fragrant vanilla taste.

The serving size was quite adequate, and the strawberry panna cotta was quite good, until i try the Oreo Semifreddo, which is in a different league all together.

Oreo Semifreddo ($12)

Oreo cookie semifreddo with frozen raspberry mousse and soft coffee scented meringue. This, is the first time i am having a semifreddo, and i am already regretting why have i not try this earlier. The Oreo semifreddo was made up of three different compositions, with the top layer being the soft coffee scented meringue, the middle layer the oreo cookie semifreddo, and the base the frozen raspberry mousse.

The oreo semifreddo really, was playing with our scents, the soft coffee meringue was more to the bitter side, while the oreo cookie ice cream added the sweet touch, and the frozen raspberry mousse completed with a chilly sourish zang. Trying the three different parts separately yielded nothing special, but it was when you united the three layers together then you realised what the oreo semifreddo was about.

Total bill is a princely $135 for 2 person, and this is lunch, not dinner. This ought to be the most expensive lunch i ever had, but all the same, the best lunch. The amount is madness really, two set lunches at $45 each, we topped up $10 for the duck confit, $15 for the cod, and factor in the 17% additional charges, do your sums!

The way that Chef Jusman uses a combination of many different ingredients in one dish is one thing, but to blend all the tastes is another matter all together. There are of course positive and negative things for everything, and there is no exception here too. The slightly negative aspect will be every dish is too flavorsome and it really takes time to absorb and digest what you eat. However you can choose to look at that from a positive angle too.

One thing i ought to mention as well, before this visit to Sage i made a few attempts to go actually but on those few occasions i were held up in the very last minute and couldn’t make it. Each time i called up Sage to make another new reservation, and each time Kimberly picked up the phone and answer my every inquiry politely and patiently. There was never a time where i felt that she was frustrated by this guy here calling up a few times to keep on postponing the reservation. For that i applause her for her sincere altitude, which can be genuinely felt across the phone.

I rave about Sage the restaurant, I praise the way Chef Jusman uses his ingredients and play with his food. I appreciate the manner which Kimberly treats her customers, genuine, friendly yet professional which makes you totally free at home. Not to mention the other serving staff at Sage which i find are quite knowledgeable and know when’s the right time to approach us and when not to disturb us. The combination of all the factors make Sage the restaurant a strong contender to ladyironchef’s best restaurant 2008.

I do believe that there are certainly better restaurants out there, Les Amis, Saint Pierre, Iggy just to name a few, are all stronghold in their own rights, but since i have not try the other restaurants, i can only comment on what i have tried. And for the restaurants which i have been to, i say Sage is one of the best, until i experience a better one then, Sage the restaurant it is!

Sage the restaurant
7 Mohamed Sultan road
Tel: 6333 8726
ladyironchef“>Website

Sage the restaurant is listed as one of ladyironchef’s favorite restaurants in Singapore

Cova, which opened in 1817 beside the famous “La Scala” theatre, was founded by Antonio Cova, a soldier of Napoleon who first ‘campaigned’ as a pastry chef in the Galleria De Cristoforis.

Over the past 190 off years, Cova has built up a name for its authentic Italian culture , offering an espresso coffee or a tea savoured in the comfort of a neo-classical lounge in the mainstay of high-society life.

Outside of Italy, Cova can only be found in Japan and Hong Kong, so land ahoy! For Cova has finally opened on our shores. Choosing the ritzy Paragon Shopping centre where the likes of Prada, Gucci can be found, for the opening in Singapore certainly won’t go wrong for a premium brand like Cova.

Caffe Cova is spilt into a tea room and restaurant, with the open concept cafe having the space once taken by Dome, and the restaurant taking over the premise of Swarovski crystal shop.

The restaurant interior is done up splendidly, the lighting and the tone is set in majestic gold to reflect the ambience of the place. The serving waiters are dressed smartly, stepping inside the restaurant, think fashion and lifestyle.

They had quite a wide range of cakes available, but its not available on the menu because the cakes changes everyday. So you’ll need to go to the counter to order for it.

But, the big but, there’s only several cakes of the day, which you order in slices. The rest are all sold in whole, which makes it difficult if you want to try many different cakes, or unless you got a large group with you.

Prices in a posh restaurant like Cova is definitely not what you will describe as affordable. For their dinner menu, the mains are all in the 30 range.

For a swanky restaurant, you may ask 30 should seem rather reasonable, given there’s other places not in their league but charge around the same price. But Cova being famous for its coffee, cakes and pastries, i remain skeptical about paying 30 for their main course.

My secret food partner and I went for dinner, but we were after their cakes and pastries after all. So we didn’t ordered any main course, desserts are enough!

Unfortunately for us, Caffe Cova seems to be very popular during tea time, when we went during dinner time, quite a lot of their pastries are sold out, that includes their signature Sacher cake. And we went just one week into their opening.

Bigne Pistachio

Cova has sets for their mini pastries, with assortment of 4 petite ones going for 9 bucks. For such a miniature pastry at 2 bucks, it will make Bread Papa’s cream puff seems a very good deal.

The bigne Pistachio does not really have much of a pistachio taste. Period.

Mini Chocolate Raspberry Tart

The chocolate shavings on the mini chocolate raspberry tart is what caught my attention, its done very exquisitely and pretty to look at.

The raspberry in the middle is rather sourish, but i guess it gives a compliment in taste to the sweet chocolate. But i’ll rather the raspberry to be slightly sweeter to perfect the overall taste.

Mini Chocolate Gooseberry Tart

Chocolate toppings coupled with gooseberry in the middle to make up the tart. Personally i do felt that the mini chooclate gooseberry tart is my least-like among the 4 pastries.

The gooseberry is too sourish, and its not like the case of the raspberry. Not so sure whether thats how gooseberry should be, but i don’t like the mini chocolate gooseberry tart.

Mini Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

The hazelnut tart is the best of the lot, with the other three being quite a letdown. I love hazelnut, eating nutella out of the container is a favourite pastime for me.

The mini chocolate hazelnut tart is gone in a mouthful, you wish there is more.

Assortment of cookies ($5.50 per 100 gram)

There’s quite a wide variety of cookies to choose from, but please don’t be mistaken by the picture, there’s more cookies from the 100gram than the seven shown in it.

Back to the point, the cookies are actually quite ordinary, like your normal butter cookies. I like the Krumiri (long banana shape-like), butter cookie with chocolate coating at the tip.

My partner preferred the star shape cookie with-a-hole-in-the-middle, which is covered with sugar.

The assortment of cookies at $5.50 per 100 gram isn’t very expensive, for a place like Cova where everything else is so expensive. But considering the fact that Famous Amos cookies are priced in the repotire of 4 plus, i do think buying famous amos is a better economic choice

Nevertheless, Cova cookies selections are placed in a nice bag, which makes a rather affordable and presentable gift for friends and family.

Gamberi ($14)

A refreshing combination of prawn and mayonnaise. The bread was a soft brioche so credits for that. But the Gamberi sandwich wasn’t even hot and toasted.

Furthermore, the sandwich portions were meagres given the price, the shrimps were crunchy but there’s only 3 tiny ones in the sandwich.

Total Bill is $32.50 for the pastries, cookies and sandwich. All in all, Cova is a good place for novelty, if u havent been to better italian sidewalk cafes, or even tried da paolo’s sweet little treats, its a nice place to experience the tai-tai lifestyle. Otherwise, i do find it quite a rip-off, which Cova rides on its brand name and not really worth it.

There are certainly other places for better cakes and pastries, but i guess going to Cova is more than just that, its the overall glamorous experience seating in Cova that really attracts people there. Maybe i will go back again for their Sacher cake.

Cova Paragon
290 Orchard Road #01-20A
Tel: 6733 0777

The Indulge @ Cathay offers fusion European cuisine with an Asian twist. Located at basement 1 of Cathay, the front of the restaurant isn’t that prominent from first sight, its more behind in a corner.

The fusion cuisine is apparent in the names of the dishes like panseared salmon with kung po sauce, dory with thai sauce, chicken kebab with oyster ginger sauce.

The Indulge interior is quite small, roughly seats about 20-30. The lightning is actually quite dark, i suppose its for the “ambiance”

One thing that i don’t like was at one corner of the restaurant, they actually dumped quite a lot of stuff there which makes the overall feel messy and untidy.

Apparently The Indulge won quite a lot of awards, and appeared on magazines and local publications.

The Indulge offers “super value” lunch promotion set meals, at $10.90++ you can choose from a few main course, and it comes with free tea, soup of the day, and dessert of the day.

There are some dishes which are supposedly the chef’s signature dishes, but not feeling very adventurous, my cousin and I decided to go for the cheaper set meals.

Chicken Chop with roasted black pepper sauce ($10.90)

The black pepper sauce chicken chop comes with either garlic rice or mash potatos. I chose garlic rice, and the fragrant of the garlic in the rice surge in when i had my first taste of it.

Although the garlic rice was not bad, not so much can be said of the black peper chicken chop. It was downright ordinary. Being a restaurant i was expecting something more, but it just never came.

Grilled Beef sirloin with black pepper sauce ($10.90)

The same could be said for the black pepper sirloin. Done medium rare, the sirloin did nothing to impress us.

One thing which i also did not like was the lack of sides, it could be better if there are sides of veggies or stuff like potatoes which will make the meal more complete.

Dessert of the day

The dessert of the day is a single scoop of ice cream, while the ice cream is your normal vanilla, but the sauce and nut goes quite well with it.

Total bill was $25.50 for 2 person, not expensive given its a restaurant. But its a double-edged thing, the quality is certainly not there since its a restaurant also.

Maybe we ordered the wrong dishes, maybe we should have try the signature dishes to have a true gauge of the restaurant, but if the normal dishes taste so ordinary like your typical coffee shop western food, i’m not so sure about the rest.

But having said all that, The Indulge still served fusion food with affordable pricing, and its a good place for a meal in Cathay, especially when there’s not much dining place there, and you can have a quick bite before or after your movies.

The Indulge
2 Handy Road
#B1-26, The Cathay
Tel: 6732 3952

* * * Now Closed * * *

Absolute Haven pride itself in serving Modern European Cuisine. Barely one years old, the restaurant has attracted numerous food-lovers and had rave reviews about the place. Thus its no wonder LIC must make a visit to Absolute Haven for a dinner.

Located at Prinsep street, the area has seen the entry of many new restaurants and has become a dining spot positioned within walking distance to Orchard. Absolute Haven is probably the crown among the many restaurants there, with the others not really being competitiors to it, but as complements which help to build Prinsep street as a place to dine.

Entering through the gates of Absolute Haven, there is the alfresco dining area where you can chill out with your friends. Otherwise, if you are on a romantic date and do not want to be seen sweating while enjoying your meal, step inside, to the cozy and chic environment of Absolute Haven.

When my friend and i reached the place at 7pm, the place was not full yet, but the crowd starts to come in subsequently. Being brought to our seats, we browse through the menu and placed our orders.

Mushroom Soup ($5.80)

A very mushroom mushroom soup, made from portobello mushrooms, shitake mushrooms, and button mushroom. The rendition here is quite similar to the ones I had at Friends @ Jelita, except this one comes up stronger in the “mushroom taste”

Soup of the day ($5.80)

We begin our delightful meal with the soup of the day. I’m not really a soup person while dining out so my view may not paint an accurate picture.

Oriental Cod-Fish ($24.0)

Steamed cod-fish done in oriental style topped with wolfberries, shitake mushrooms and bacon, served on a bed of asparagus.

This is truly an fusion where East meet West. You will never expect a dish like Oriental steamed cod fish to appear in a modish European restaurant like Absolute Haven.

Wolfberries as a ingredient, are by far rarely found in European restaurant, it further emphasized the oriental-ness of the dish. The use of bacon added flavoring which enhance the taste of the fish.

It does seems slightly weird to have a oriental steamed cod fish as a main course as usually it is more common to find it in Chinese restaurants. Nevertheless we enjoyed the unique experience, there’s always a first for everything.But from what we gathered from Phyllis (Absolute’s Manager), some customers find it to be too fishy, and the fish will be taken off the new menu which will commerce on 9th April.

Chef’s Special Norwergian Salmon ($32)

Herb oil confit Norwergian Salmon drizzled with Vanilla cream sauce, walnut & black olive pilaf rice, accompanied with organic butternut pumpkin braised in Earl grey tea.

The food at Absolute Haven are all presented very well, the chef really does put in effort in making the dishes look nice. After all, a good appearance of the food does makes it taste better. Applause to the chefs for their hard work!

Having try quite a few Salmons recently, the version here is slightly different to the ones i had before which are mostly grilled or pan-fried. The herb oil confit salmon is a nice change, and i dutifully finish every bit of it.

The walnut & black olive pilaf rice is good, without a doubt. The organic butternut pumpkin braised in Earl grey tea isn’t really to my liking, but i do appreciated the effort put into making this side dish.

Tira Mi Su ($9)

A classical Italian dessert served with espresso coffee and liqueur in light mascarpone cheese mousse. The Tira Mi Su here simply melts in my mouth, the liqueur was not too strong which does well for me. The slight hint of cheese in the mousse also provides a variation from the normal Tiramisu.

The thought of the Tira Mi Su dissolving at the tip of my tongue is enough to make me visit Absolute Haven again.

Passion Fruit Panna Cotta ($9)

This dessert wasn’t on the menu when we visited Absolute Haven on the 22th March. There was another choice, lavender Panna Cotta, which offers a sweet version instead of the slightly more sour flavor of the passion fruit panna cotta. My friend preferred sour to sweet, so we got the Passion Fruit.

Total Bill came up to around $100.15 for two person. Special thanks to Panerai who make this visit sooner (I’ll have go to Absolute even without the vouchers) by giving me two Absolute Haven vouchers (entitled to two free soup and main course). But do not let this fact spoils the review. I deliberately left this fact for the end so that my share-readers can read through this review without any hint of biasness. Absolute Haven is excellent, and i’m not saying this because i got a free meal.

We paid $13.30 for this excellent dinner for the Tiramisu, the Panna Cotta was on the house, courtesy of Phyllis. Absolute Haven promise romantic fine-dining at an affordable price, without burning a hole in your pocket, you can bring your dates there for special occasions. Even for normal events, it’s a great place to chill out with your family and friends. The price of their mains ranges from $16 to $32, and desserts are valued at $9-$12.

The friendly manager, Phyllis came up and spoke to us about our meal halfway through. She is a real nice person. You could feel her earnest and sincerity while she was talking to us. There are few managers or bosses in the local food & beverage industry that come across to me as genuine as her. Do call her 9766 3798 or even drop her a sms (which i did) to make your reservations.

The service staff there are polite and quick to help out if we got any inquiries, and my friend note that most of them are good-looking. Anyway thats not the main point, the service at Absolute Haven is indeed what other new start-ups should learn from. Excellent services can never go wrong!

Absolute Haven
70 Prinsep Street
Tel: 6333 4358

” Romantic Fine Dining at an affordable price “

Jelita seems an unlikely place to go to, with the main draw being Cold Storage, a video-shop, couple of other shops. However thats precisely where Friends are situated. A Modern European restaurant which proclaims to offer casual fine dining, Friends @ Jelita is just a stone throw away from the popular Holland Village, but offers you the serene environment which the latter could not afford with the omni-present large crowd there.

Having signed up as a member with Friends online at its website, i received a $50 voucher for every $150 spend, or a 1-for-1 Executive Set Lunch/Dinner promotion. Armed with the coupon, my companion and me made our way to Jelita, and arrived at 1250pm. Being a monday, we were not surprise to see the restaurant quite empty, but there were still some patrons though. The staff there told us that Monday is usually a good time to visit Friends as there are less customers, and you probably will not want to come here on a weekend as that’s when the families bring their kids along.

The first notion that striked me was the decorations and furnitures presented in the restaurant. The comfy grey large seats definitely make us feel at home. The lighting was dimmed, which creates a tranquil atmosphere. On the other hand, it pose a predicament to food bloggers because the poor lighting makes the photos turn out not-as-good, that is not a problem if you are a pro at photoshop.

There are two types available, the Classic Set Lunch and the Executive Set Lunch, with Executive being more expensive among the both, undoubtedly the level of standard demand will be higher. It was only sensible to order the Executive Set Lunch since it was 1-for-1. But i was intially sceptical to how good the Set Lunch can be, as the a la carte menu are all priced reasonably higher than that of the set lunch. Friends proved me wrong in this, the executive set lunch ($24.90++) albeit being limited in options, is certainly value for money.

Each Set Lunch comes with the Australian Garden Salad. Topped with dried fruits, raspberry vinaigrette, the hors d’oeuvre is positively a good way to begin the meal.

Soup of the day

Mushroom soup with a hint of mashed potatos. This was good until we tried the other wild forest mushroom soup. The latter makes the mushroom soup seems ordinary. Actually its not bad, just that the mushroom soup meet its match with the wild forest mushroom, which is a tad better.

Wild Forest mushroom Soup (Additional Upgrade of $2)

This is the one that makes the Soup of the day seems inferior. Well, you always expect more especially when there is an additional upgrade of $2. The Wild forest mushroom soup does not fails to deliver taste-wise, it is a good appetizer as the soup helps to unlock our tastebuds for the rest of the meal.

Sautèed chicken fillet

For our first main course, we had the Sautèed chicken fillet which was complemented with dried chili, rosemary & garlic anchovy. The first bite of the chicken tells it all, the fillet was tender and soft, It was unlike what normal chicken taste like, Friends re-defined the chicken experience, this certainly impressed me.

The other view of the Sautèed chicken fillet

The sauce of the chicken fillet was equally good. The dried chili, rosemary & garlic anchovy combinations creates a unique taste. Sometimes the sauce of a dish gets so strong that it cover the meat, but thats not the case at Friends. The chicken fillet with the sauce seems to harmonize and blend with each other, which brings us the Sautèed chicken fillet.

Oven Baked Salmon fillet

Topped with Cajun crust & lemon butter sauce, the Oven Baked Salmon fillet is another winner which bright up our meal. The cripsy cajun crust on the exterior of the salmon was complemented by its soft interior.

The other view of the Oven Baked Salmon fillet

The lemon butter sauce has a cheesy taste, and we almost mistook it for cheese. Both mains are accompanied by mashed potatos toppled with mixed vegies. My companion had a slight issue with the salmon though. Being a big fan of salmon, she remarked that the fillet was slightly dried as compared to the other salmons she had previously. Otherwise, the salmon will be faultless.

Cappuccino

The pretty sight makes us admire the Cappuccino for a while before we harden our heart and stirred the coffee.

Dessert of the day

To end off our meal, we had egg crustard for desserts. This one is good, egg crustard underneath the breaded top. Every spoonful of egg crustard taste warm, like straight from the oven. We felt that it’s rather similar to whats more commonly known to us, egg tarts.

Total bill for two executive set lunch was $60.6, under the 1-for-1 promotion, we paid $31.70 for the delightful lunch. The set lunch and dinner at Friends are definitely value-for-money, and should worth your try unless you want to go for the a la carte menu. The service-wise are definitely one of the better ones which i encountered on my food experience so far, the staff are polite, knowledgable and a smile is always on their face which make diners feel welcome.

By the way, we took slightly more than 1 half hours to finish our lunch, so i thought it might not be so good if you visit Friends during your lunch work break. This is one place where they waited for you to finish the starter before serving on the soup, the main, the dessert and the drink. So really it all depends on how fast you approach your dishes. My companion and I were starving when we start the meal with the salad and soup, so we were wondering when will then they served the main course. Well, if the main course is what you want, advice will be to finish the starters fast and get on with the main.

All in all, the dining experience at Friends is no doubt a pleasant one, which my companion and i both very much enjoyed. I would say this is the place where you can really have your Casual Fine Dining without really burning a hole in your pocket. For people who felt that fine-dining equates to dress-up, this is not a issue at Friends. Whether you are decked out in suits and ties, or your comfy jeans & t-shirts, you’ll be welcome at Friends all the same. On a side note, if you are driving, remember to call the restaurant for directions, as free private parking are available for diners. The next visit to Friends again, will be for their executive set dinner, or A la carte menu. And lastly i’ll like to thank my companion for accompanying me on this lovely lunch. In the company of a good friend, it just makes the meal at Friends better.

293 Holland Road #02-04
Jelita
Tel: 64631011

” Modern European Cuisine at its finest “