1 Twenty-Six @ East Coast Park

It is his birthday, as well as "anniversary" of our one and a half years of dating, so I brought him to this place right by East Coast beach called 1-Twenty-Six, which is a place we have always wanted to try. The location itself is already in a perfect place because we can see the beach from where we were seated. Growing up in an area near to the beach, this is really a great place to hang out and chill!

The front entrance of the restaurant

The beach from where we were seated

The food is of a communal dining concept, which means the bits and pieces all come in a plate for us to share, and we would take the food from the plate and pile into our own small plates. When I called in for a reservation, I did indicate it was a birthday dinner, so the service staff kindly gave us a specialised menu, consisting of appetizers (communal style), individual main courses with communal sides, and desserts.

Starters - Bread with water and olive oil

Appetizers - Calamari, Canapes, Salmon Paste

Tomato Puree

Main Course - Roast Chicken

Sides - Salad, Chips and Fried Calamari

Dessert - Blackberry Tiramisu with Vanilla Ice Cream

Because this was a birthday dinner, a complimentary bottle of red wine was also given!

2 glasses of red wine

All in all, despite the fact that I have wanted to go there, in the end, the food was a disappointment. The calamari was hard, the mains were overcooked, and the salad was too hard. Maybe salad is supposed to be hard, but I would prefer fresh soft lettuce anytime! For the price that was paid, I would definitely think the quality would be much better!

This is definitely more a place for drinks and chilling out than a special dinner.

Food - 3 out of 5
Price - 1.5 out of 5
Ambience - 3.5 out of 5
Service - 3.5 out of 5

Coriander Leaf @ Clarke Quay

My predecessor is leaving, so the whole department went to Coriander Leaf to buy her a farewell lunch today. Coriander Leaf is famous for being a cooking school that conducts lessons and teambuilding events, as well as for its fusion food. Although the food we took is from its real chefs and not from the students.

The menu looks interesting, so does the food. Even though the table setting is Western-style, the food itself is a combination. The first dish is soup, as per Western style, but the soup itself is actually fish maw soup with egg and mushrooms, as per Chinese style.

Everyone ordered the same main course - fish, but the fish looks slightly burnt at the side. The fish is served fillet style, accompanied by Thai rice and Asian herbs.

Finally, dessert, made up of ice cream and cake. The dessert is a bit too sweet for my liking though, and I already am the type who have a very big threshold for sugar and salt!

I have heard so much about Coriander Leaf that I thought the food will be really good. However I was quite disappointed as the food was too sweet or else slightly burnt. If this is what they teach the students, then I would not want to take up a cooking class there!

Food : 2 out of 5
Service : 3 out of 5
Price : 3 out of 5

Moi Lum 梅琳 @ Maxwell

I went for a belated Lunar New Year celebration-cum-gathering of friends at this Chinese restaurant called Moi Lum. There was still a set menu for Lunar New Year despite the fifteen days already being over.

The restaurant was empty save for a few tables occupied by old men whom I suspected were school friends having their fiftieth reunion or something. The interior of the restaurant was brightly lit with quite a number of pillars, making the seating cramped and crowded.

The first dish was lo hei (what else?!), and after we were done with the dish it was a mess!

Second dish was Shark's Fin Soup. Much as I do not feel comfortable taking shark's fin due to all the killing of the sharks around, I was overruled - 9 against 1. :-(

Third dish was vegetables, that tasted salty, followed by roasted crispy chicken that tasted even saltier.

Then there was a dish of bean curd with mayonnaise.


Prawns came next. At least the prawns were fresh enough although small.


Finally noodles, followed by mango sago pudding as dessert.

I must say, the food is not that impressive. It was not cheap for lunch, around S$50.00 per person. I would kind of think for that kind of price, there would be better food being served. Overall I would not really recommend, but that is just one person's opinion!

Food : 2 out of 5
Ambience : 1 out of 5
Service : 2 out of 5
Price : 2 out of 5

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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