The Charcoal Restaurant @ Treasury

The Charcoal Restaurant is situated at the ground floor of The Treasury, opposite the new Supreme Court. It has two entrances (exits). I went in from the side entrance facing the courts, whereas the main entrance is the one facing the side road. For those familiar with the area, you can more or less understand the orientation. For those unfamiliar with the place, well, dig up a map and take a look for yourselves. ;-p

The restaurant reminds me of an European bistro of sorts, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinner was four course, consisting of soup (we both ordered mushroom soup), main course (I ordered Bangers and Mash whereas he ordered seafood), cake of the day (I had chocolate while he had truffle) and then coffee / tea (where we both had tea).

The food is okay, although the tea is good, fruity with a strong aroma. Most likely the waiter served us Darjeeling tea instead of English Breakfast or Earl Grey. Not that I am complaining, because I am more a tea person than a coffee person (although between cappuccino and coffee, I much prefer the former).

What I like about the restaurant is the interior setting. It has a very zen-like feeling, chic and up-market type of look. No wonder most of the patrons are youngsters, as the design reflects the sophisticated and elegant taste of the young, not the classic taste of the old(er). It is a place I will not mind going again, just for a cuppa or to hang out with friends!

Food : 3 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Da Vinci Italian Restaurant @ Cuppage

Da Vinci Italian Restaurant is in Cuppage Terrace. That restaurant is shared by a Mexican Restaurant, so it serves both Italian and Mexican food. The place is owned by Indians, with Indian waiters and chefs, but the food is not too bad, although the servings are a bit too large for me. Ever since I lost some weight, my food intake has decreased.

The restaurant is a small cosy place with just a few tables. Honestly, if I was not asked to go there, I would never have known this place exists, because it is such a small place that people tend to miss it even if they pass by it.

The interior of the restaurant is dim and cosy, with a romantic aura around. There is hardly any lights, and the table is lit up by candlelight. Really a perfect place to go for a candlelight dinner with a special someone!

There is a huge portrait of the Mona Lisa hanging on the wall inside the restaurant. There are also framed pictures of Da Vinci's other works, like The Virgin and Child with St Anne, Leda and the Swan, Virgin of the Rocks and the infamous Vitruvian Man of course.

The service is good too. Prompt, efficient and polite. At least I get to know a new dining place which I would otherwise not have discovered. I will not mind going there again, hopefully with someone special, then we can get to enjoy the ambience to the fullest.

Cuisine : Italian / Mexican
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Service : 4 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

The Riverboat @ Marina South Pier

Just next to Marina South Pier, right on the sea, is the Riverboat restaurant. I was there for dinner last week. It is in the design of a nineteenth century showboat of the Southern United States. The restaurant is funded by a church mission, so they serve dinners on all days and lunch only on weekends due to the church service held on the upper deck.

The restaurant is on the lower deck. The interior decoration reminds me of the Titanic dining room, but not that grand of course. Since it serves Mexican food, there are ponchos and Panama hats, as well as banjos and drums as part of the decor. There is even an old grand piano!

The food is good too! We ate tacos, baby ribs, chicken and salmon. Dessert was brownies. The brownies are really delicious! My mum had them specially ordered after that, but just a pity I was down with stomach flu the whole week and was in the end not able to eat any of the delicious brownies. :-(

This is a place for a unique dining experience!

Cuisine : American Southern
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Price : No comment since I was not the one who paid

Pier Eleven @ Marina South Pier

I went to the Pier Eleven restaurant on the second floor of Marina South Pier for dinner earlier on. The ambience is good and cosy. The interior of the restaurant is dim and romantic, but we chose to sit outside on the balcony, where we can see the sea and the ships passing by.

It is a very nice place, dining by the sea. The only gripe is that the restaurant is facing the wrong angle, so we were not able to see the sunset, although we could see the moon in full view later on (albeit just half the moon).

The food is nice and not too costly, especially with a ten percent discount for any Platinum Mastercard. The servings are just right, not too big, not too small, and the service is pretty good too. I am pretty satisfied with the overall dining experience, except the Long Island Tea I ordered is a bit too bland.

This is one place which I will not mind going again!

Cuisine : Western
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5 (the ambience inside the restaurant is better)
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Abof Cafe and Restaurant @ Millenia Walk

We had North European food earlier on. Actually Western food is about the same everywhere, thus the Scandinavian restaurant we were in serves pretty normal Western food. The place itself looks rather classy, but quiet. We seem to be the only four customers there!

We ordered a set meal each. There are two sets, a cheaper one and a more expensive one. The cheaper set consists of a soup, sorbet, choice of main course, dessert and coffee or tea. The more expensive set consists of all the above, with the addition of foie gras, and caviar garnishing for one of the main courses.

All of us ordered the cheaper set. The servings are just right, not too big, as compared to other Western restaurants. Two of us (including me) had Norwegian Salmon, Onion Soup, Tea and Carrot Cake. All my favourite dishes! The salmon is good!

The other two had Ribeye Steak, Onion Soup, Coffee and their own choice of desserts. His steak is just right, medium rare, unlike the medium-but-turned-out-rare steak we had in Hooters the night before.

It is a good place to recommend for anyone looking for a cosy dining experience. The place is called Abof Cafe and Restaurant at Millenia Walk, somewhere near Outback Steakhouse. The food and ambience is good, be it for two people, or a small group.

Cuisine : Scandinavian
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

HOOTERS @ Clarke Quay

Finally I got to try out Hooters after thinking of going there for ages. I am not sure whether it was because we chose a seat outside the restaurant next to the river, but the overall experience is not that fantastic. Perhaps inside the restaurant the ambience may be better?

Of course, Hooters is famous for the waitresses in their scantily-clad attire. The waitresses are heavily made-up, with sleek and silky hair, wearing tight tank tops and mini shorts. But the service left much to be desired. The waitress serving us made a face when our friend asked her a few more questions pertaining to his order. She looked so grumpy as if she could not be bothered to take our orders!

The food is not that great as well. Hooters is famous for its chicken wings, so we ordered two plates of ten chicken wings each, one with the normal Teriyaki sauce, the other with the Medium buttery spicy sauce, as appetizers.

The drinks are good too. I had two glasses of Hooty-fruity, a mocktail, consisting of orange juice, soursop juice, calamansi juice, grenadine and blended milk. Sweet and delicious, just like drinking a thin milkshake!

We ordered a New Zealand Sirloin Steak, Medium, to share. Our friend ordered crab's legs and his girlfriend a grilled chicken with spaghetti carbonara. The crab's legs are not that fresh, so they were not that delicious, and our steak turned out more rare than medium.

Overall, it is not a good experience for me. With so much hype over Hooters, it is a rather disappointing experience. Perhaps it is a good place to chill out over drinks and finger food, but not for dining.

Cuisine : American
Food : 2.5 out of 5
Ambience : 2.5 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

Portobelle @ River Valley

There is this little restaurant called Portobelle Cafe somewhere in the River Valley area. The few times I went around that area, I overlooked that place. Honestly, it is rather easy to overlook if no one knows it exists, because it is a very small place, just a few tables inside, and a few outside. If I did not come across a restaurant review recently raving about the food at this place and the address, I would never have noticed it as well!

The interior is pretty cosy, with a Mediterranean feel, considering the place sells Mediterranean and Mexican cuisine after all. No rabbit meat though. I ordered a Moussaka, which is essentially a Greek dish consisting of eggplants and beef stew of sorts. I must say, the food is yummy, and the service is good too!

Just as well we went for an early dinner, otherwise there would be no more places later on as the seats were all reserved. I guess for such a small place with limited seating, it will be almost impossible to get a seat without any prior reservation. Next time I shall go there later on in the night, so I can eat in candlelight!

Cuisine : Greek / Mediterranean
Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3 out of 5 (think the rating will be higher if I did manage to dine by candlelight)
Service : 4 out of 5 (personalised service)
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Fisherman's Village @ Pasir Ris Beach

Contrary to its name, it is not a village of fishermen. Rather, it is an open space of a row of restaurants and eating places right by the sea at Pasir Ris beach. The ambience is good, and it is highly recommended for those who enjoy the sea breeze and the white sand (not that white actually, our beaches here still cannot be compared to those overseas), and to wine and dine next to the water.

Food wise, there is a choice of sea food or side dishes. We had a table right by the sea (very lucky!), and ate cereal prawns, fried rice, red garoupa, sambal belachan kang kong (some sort of green vegetables cooked with chilli) and omelette with mushrooms. The food is good, not that fantastic, but not that bad. Anyway, I am not that choosy when it comes to food as long as it is something that can be eaten.

The service however, leaves much to be desired. The waitress was fast in taking our orders, but slow in serving the dishes. We waited for quite some time before the first dish came. And apparently, the waitress somehow forgot about the fried rice, as we had to holler about three times before the dish finally came.

Then when we called for the bill, it took such a long time to arrive, and when the bill finally came, it was the wrong one. After all, how could it be possible for us to be billed S$500 for just those few dishes?! It was not as if we ate abalone or shark's fin or anything expensive! We took a look and realised a few things on the bill which we did not order, namely crab and lobster.

So we pointed out the mistake and the waitress had to apologise and take away the wrong bill. Again, we waited quite a while before our bill (the right one this time) finally arrived. Still, despite these minor hiccups, it was an enjoyable meal, with nice food and even nicer ambience. Dining by the water is pleasurable indeed! Just a pity we got there too late, if it was earlier in the evening, it would be even better to see the sun setting into the water!

Food : 4 out of 5
Ambience : 4.5 out of 5
Service : 2 out of 5
Price : 3.5 out of 5

Threadfin Steak

In my younger years (from the time I was born until about the age of twenty-five), my family and my aunt's family would gather at my maternal grandmother's house every Saturday for a dinner-cum-reunion.

This was our routine almost every Saturday without fail (unless we had other things on like wedding dinners or we were overseas), until a few years back when my grandmother had a second heart bypass surgery coupled with rheumatism, so we decided not to go anymore so as to let her rest and not strain herself cooking for us.

I remember she would cook many dishes for us. During the week, she would scrimp and save and eat simple dishes, but come Saturday, she would cook about ten dishes. There would be tiger prawns, fish, chicken, mushrooms, vegetables, abalone and rice, with the occasional vermicelli which was a traditional dish for people of her dialect group. We were really spoilt.

I love partaking her dishes, as she is a wonderful cook. She is able to mix and bring out the flavour of the sauces of the food, making the food so aromatic and appetising. My youngest brother loves her prawns the most. Somehow, she is able to cook the prawns in such a way that the final dish comes out looking red and juicy.

Out of all the dishes, I love her threadfin steak the most. For such a simple dish, she is able to make it so aromatic and crispy, that each time she cooked the dish, I would attack the skin and the bone in the middle. The skin was so crispy that with each bite, I could feel the crunch. The bone was so juicy that I could just suck off the juice and sauce inside and crave for more.

I really miss the fish now that we no longer go to her place for dinner every weekend. My mum would buy the cod steak occasionally and instruct my maid to cook it the way my grandma used to cook, but somehow no one is able to bring out the flavour like how my grandma did.

So I did the unexpected. We were shopping for groceries yesterday morning in preparation for a barbecue tomorrow evening when I came across the cod fish steak. Immediately, I remember how I love this fish. Coincidentally, he said he like the fish too. Thus I offered to cook them and we bought the fish.

How did my grandmother used to prepare the fish? First, the fish is pan-fried with little oil, about a tablespoon. Once the bottom part is cooked (golden brown), turn the fish over and start cooking the other side. Once the fish is cooked, put it on a plate. Then, using the same oil, cook some garlic (chopped into fine pieces) until golden brown. Sprinkle the cooked garlic with the oil over the fish and start serving.

Simple, right? It may seem simple, but actually it is not that easy to cook it to perfection. The trick to the taste and flavour is in the garlic oil. If the fish is pan-fried to perfection and the right amount of garlic is used, the colour will be golden-brown, the bone will be juicy and the skin will be crispy. The flesh of the fish itself should be soft and easy to break using chopsticks.

Needless to say, I have not perfected the recipe. My cod steak turned out soft, but the skin was not crispy and the bone not juicy enough. Furthermore, there was no garlic, so I had to improvise by using chopped onions and ginger instead, so the taste was very different although the oil still brought out a bit of the flavour.

It was quite a good first attempt. When I told my mum, she exclaimed, "Are you sure you know how to cook that?!" Hmmmm.... At least the fish was eatable, and no one had any stomach upset (I hope!). But I still wish to be able to cook the fish to perfection, the way my grandmother did. Perhaps next time, with a bit more practice, I should be able to achieve it!

Durian Cake Making

I went for two durian cake-making workshops on Friday night and Saturday morning. These workshops are interesting as the cakes are to be chilled, hence no oven baking is involved. Cool! Then I can finally make a cake without having to go through any oven!

Not using an oven means the steps are so much simpler and easier. All you need to do is to mix the ingredients together, whisk all together, then put in the fridge and let the cream settle. The tip is to use durians that are in season, so the fruit itself is softer and more aromatic. Also, remove all the seeds, crush the flesh and freeze the durians before mixing them into the cake ingredients.

I went home smelling like a big durian! But the efforts are paid off though, especially when people who ate the cakes all gave positive comments! I shall try out the recipe on my own one of these days and see if I can do it just as well!

Making Nasi Lemak

"Nasi Lemak" - rice made of coconut milk, garnished with anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted nuts, fried chicken wing (or fish), beancurd and sambal (chilli sauce). It is a traditional Malay or Peranakan dish, normally served during breakfast. It is also one of the most popular local dishes.

I went for a workshop this morning, on how to make "nasi lemak". First impression when I stepped into the class was that there was an overwhelming lot of ingredients. We went through the step by step instructions on how to prepare the various ingredients, like the chilli (now I know why some chilli is hotter than others), the anchovies (why some are more fragrant and crunchy) and the chicken wings (how to make the chicken crispier? It is all in the flour!).

It was a very fun-filled session. Everyone chipped in and the instructor was very detailed in her explanations. Before the session was over, I was so worried about getting belachan all over myself as the smell was really strong when the chilli was being cooked. I feared that people would complain of me being smelly!

Come to think of it, the cost of S$2.00 per dish by the hawkers is considered pretty inexpensive already, considering the amount of work and preparation involved, not to mention the cost of all the ingredients. Wonder if the hawkers ever recoup their losses even if they sell two hundred dishes a day? I will never complain that hawker food is expensive again!