Le Bistrot @ Stadium

I have been looking forward to our first Valentine's Day dinner ever since the one last year where it clashed with Lunar New Year, hence not able to celebrate properly. So he brought me back to the place where we had our very first date - Le Bistrot at the premises of the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The place was very crowded because it happened to be the night Eric Clapton was in town, having a performance at the Indoor Stadium itself. Nevertheless, we made a reservation for 8:00pm and arrived slightly earlier. Coincidentally, we were seated at the very place where we last sat too!

Unlike other restaurants, this place does not have a special Valentine's Day menu. Theirs is a normal set or a la carte menu, with a fixed price. The price did not increase for Valentine's Day too, which is a good thing!

Starter was bread with soup. Mine is French Onion (how can anyone go to a French restaurant without tasting the onion soup?) and his was mushroom cappuccino, with cream on top.

Bread with Olive Oil

Mushroom Cappaccino Soup

Authentic French Onion Soup

For my main course, I ordered boeuf burgignon, but the dish came out small albeit tasty.

His was braised leg of lamb (what else?) and looks as good as it tastes!

Finally, for dessert, we had vanilla bean ice cream with raspberry caramel tart (for me) and three different kinds of creme brulee (for him). Since both of us have a sweet tooth, we devoured everything on our dessert plate!

Vanilla Bean ice cream with Raspberry Caramel Tart

Different types of Creme Brulee

This is really a memorable and cosy place. How I wish we can come here again!

Food - 3.5 out of 5
Ambience - 4 out of 5
Service - 3.5 out of 5

Price - 4 out of 5 (especially being Valentine's Day, the price is very low compared to other places!)

No. 1 Party!

I was invited to a friend's son's first birthday celebration. And I absolutely love the cake!

What I will give to have a cake like that! I do not think I ever have such nice cakes, even in my birthday parties! Wonder where I can get such cakes, or must it be specially made?

Hungry BBQ - One Stop Service?

I was at a New Year's gathering last night, where we had a barbecue party at my friend's place. The barbecues I attended in the past were a hassle of buying chicken, marinating them, freezing them and then barbecuing them over the stove.

However, when my friend and I were deciding to host the barbecue, she told me of an online website where people can order barbecue stuff and have it delivered to the house on the day itself, with everything nicely wrapped and marinated!

Wow! I never know there is such a service! Wonder if I have been in another planet all these while? Apparently because of the popular barbecue activity so highly in demand with kids and adults alike, some enterprising people have set up a barbecue wholesaler to cater to these crowd. Seems that business is booming.

We looked through the menu and everything is there - from marinated chicken wings to satay to corn, to stingray to fried rice to packet drinks to black pepper beef, even skewers, covering, fire-starters and charcoal! What a great deal! Best is we need not need to slave over the kitchen stove marinating and preparing.

This one-stop service barbecue is really a very good idea! Kudos for whoever who came up with it! Perhaps I will use that for any barbecue session in the future!

La Braceria @ Greenwood Avenue

There was a New Year gathering of some friends, which was held at La Braceria at Greenwood Avenue. For someone with no car, it is a little inaccessible, as the restaurant is situated in a stretch of shophouses deep in the Bukit Timah estate. Even the cab driver did not know the exact location and brought us around the shophouses around Greenwood estate.

Finally we alighted in front of one of the shophouses, only to realise that the restaurant is situated in a shophouse at the end of the lane, so we ended up walking the whole stretch to the place. Luckily the host(ess) knows the owner, so we were able to have the restaurant almost to ourselves.

When food was served, I saw that it was communal dining style. The appetizers consisted of mushrooms, clams, asparagus sticks, cheese, ham, crackers, salad, calamari and prawns. Because we happened to be sitting in a table where we did not know anyone, we could only help ourselves to little morsels of the food in case the rest wanted to take more.

The main course consisted of lasagne, pasta and baked rice, together with crackers and bread.

Finally, dessert - mixed fruit salad! I must say, whoever who ordered the food for us knows how to eat healthily and good at the same time!

This was one of the bread served during the appetixer.
Unique and not like the kinds of bread I have seen before in other kinds of restaurants.

If it is not due to a gathering, I would never have known this place existed because I have never been to this area. But upon coming, I realise there are quite a few cosy places and chill-out joints around. Perhaps if I am ever in the mood to wander, I may just come here again and have a meal on my own or with someone.

Not everyone can take communal dining though. So if you prefer individually-plated dishes, and are not comfortable with sharing food, then this place is not for you.

Food : 3 out of 5
Service : (what service?)
Ambience : 2 out of 5 (can be quieter and cosier)

Forlino @ One Fullerton

We had a pre-Christmas dinner at Forlino at One Fullerton, an Italian restaurant by the Singapore River and Esplanade which I have always wanted to try. The restaurant has an entrance that is like a maze because when we went up to the second floor, we had to pass by a long corridor, another flight of steps, and then a narrow alleyway-like corridor before we finally arrived at the actual restaurant itself.

By the time I entered, I was hungry and tired. Luckily we were seated at a place by the glass panel so we could have a good look at the view outside.

View outside the restaurant

Dinner started with a glass of champagne, in my case rose sparkling wine.

The appetizer is small but tasty, followed by the bread, which I felt was unique due to the shape and design.

Main course was pasta and beef, that comes with a mixture of other kinds of vegetables and food thrown into one. The beef is finely done, although nothing can ever beat the steak at Morton's!

Initially I was thinking of ordering dessert, but after the meal, especially the big flat bread, I was so full that I could hardly eat anything else!

Overall it was a normal dining experience. For the price we paid, there are other places that are more worth it with much better food too! This is a place where service counts above all!

Food : 2.5 out of 5
Ambience : 3.5 out of 5
Service : 4 out of 5
Price : 1.5 out of 5

Dinner And Dance At Hotel Fort Canning

Last night I went for my company's Dinner and Dance, held at the Lavendar Ballroom of the new Hotel Fort Canning, formerly the site of The Legends Country Club. It was a black tie theme hence the whole event was rather classy yet fun and jolly. The food was nice too. It was a four-course Western set. First time I attended a Dinner and Dance with fine dining!

The table decorations

Table setting

The room decoration

The first course (Appetizer) -
Poached Prawns with Buffalo Mozarella Cheese and Tomato Salsa

There were only two morsels of cherry tomatoes which were tasteless. The prawns were small and the cheese was not sour enough. There was hardly any salsa.

The second course (Soup) -
Bread roll with butter with Cream of Mushroom with Roasted Pumpkin

This is one of the best mushroom soup I have ever tasted! Really creamy and of the right texture!

Next up was the main course. Like any other fine dining places lately, there were alternative entrees, which means we could pick which one to take rather than just one course. In this case, there was a fish or beef and I chose beef.

Main course No. 1 -
Pan-fried Fillet of Seabass with Butter Herb Rice, Poached Asparagus
and Ginger Cream Sauce

Main course No. 2 -
Seared Beef Tenderloin with Gratinated Potatoes, Confit of Fennel served in Pepper Gravy

The beef is perfectly medium rare. It is quite hard to find a place that serves good medium rare beef, and this is one of those rare ones where the beef is tender yet of the right cut. The outside is brown, inside pinkish. Perfect!

Dessert - New York Cheese Cake served with Strawberry Coulis

The strawberry and melon piece is sweet, and the cheesecake is just nice, not too tender, not too dry.

It was a great dining experience, since the food is good and the entertainment just as great! Kudos to the organisers for such a wonderful event!

Texas Fried Chicken @ Expo

My friend has been craving for Texas Chicken ever since we saw the bus ad going by. He was saying there used to be a Texas Chicken outlet in Singapore, but has since closed down. The only Texas Chicken outlet I know is at Expo, so we went there for lunch today.

It was outside Hall 4, hence it was quite a distance from the train station. We had to go by the entire row of exhibition halls before reaching the outlet. When we reached the place, it was very crowded, but luckily, we managed to find a table inside the restaurant itself.

He had to queue for ten minutes before getting our orders. We ordered a chicken wing set, comprising of three chicken wings, a biscuit, a mashed potato, coleslaw and a drink. When the order came, it was disappointingly small! At least he said it was smaller than he remembered.

The three puny pieces of chicken

The mashed potato

In terms of mashed potato, KFC's is the best!

The coleslaw

The drink (Coke)

My first experience at Texas is rather disappointing. It is rather pricey for such small pieces and the side dishes are still not on par with that of KFC's or Popeye's. In short, it is not value-for-money at all.

Peach Garden (The Executive Club) @ OCBC Centre

Yesterday was my uncle's 80th birthday, so we were invited to Peach Garden @ The Executive Club for lunch. The restaurant is on the 33rd floor of OCBC Centre, so there are some lovely views of the CBD, Singapore River, Boat Quay and City Hall areas from the window screens.

It was a sumptuous eight-course lunch, with additions like the birthday peach and the chocolate cake at the end. The food is good, delicious, tasty, and the fish is cooked to perfection. The only gripe is that there was shark's fin on the menu! Other than that, it was great! Restaurant food is still the best, as compared to hotel ballrooms!

The birthday peach (filled with lotus paste filling)

1st course - Wrapped Duck Skin

The skin is smooth and juicy. With the wrapping, we could dip the whole thing into the sauce and put it into our mouths, where it melted in our mouths. However, I thought the presentation could be improved.

2nd course - Shark's Fin Soup

3rd course - Almond Prawns

The prawn is spicy and sticky and leave a weird after taste in my mouth. This is the least favourite dish among all!

4th course - Fish

I always thought a good Chinese restaurant depends on the way you cook the fish. Most of the fish I have come across are "fishy", perhaps because of the type of fish used. The perfect kind of fish is steamed until the skin is dry, added in superior soy sauce and oyster sauce, and with some vegetables scattered on it. The fish melts in your mouth and you can taste the sauce oozing out. In this case, the fish is cooked to a pretty supreme standard, although I have tasted better at Crystal Jade at Toa Payoh - that is the perfect kind of fish!

5th course - Abalone, with mushroom and vegetables

Again, a good Chinese restaurant is reflected on how the vegetables are being cooked. This presentation is not impressive. I have come across a big mushroom lying in a bowl of oyster sauce, with a big abalone and green vegetables at the bottom. Delicious!

6th course - Duck with condiments

This was one of the dishes that were not that good-tasting.

7th course - Longevity noodles

Unfortunately, by the time I came to the noodles I was already so full that I could hardly eat any! Hence, I did not really touch my noodles at all.

8th course - Dessert (honeydew cream sago)

 

At least the dessert was nice. Sweet, and the sago cream rushes into my throat. The texture was smooth. It was literally saved by the dessert!

Crowning Glory - Awfully Chocolate Cake

Food : 3.5 out of 5
Ambience : 4 out of 5
Service : 3 out of 5 (for such a place, the service should be better)
Price : Not sure