Wa Bar@ Tanjong Pagar

Alright, in case you are wondering. This is primarily a bar, and then they serve some food here and there as drinking snacks.....not the same delicateness as the japanese izakaya...but rather a mixture of americanism, korean hip-hop, and loads of Big Bang playing in the background ( and in case you don't know who Big Bang is.... not refering to the beginning of time and space as postulated by Hawkings, but rather a Korean band loved by anyone under the age of 30)

Good solid fun food, and I love Makooli. Its a fun place to be, with rather good food.....though I couldn't figure out where the kitchen is....

Makooli - :) I shall call it Korean Wine Beer....since the alcoholic content is so low

They served it in a miso soup bowl

Garlic Chicken - this is really good.......dun know how they cooked it, its sweet and savoury and garlicky.....yum

Some exotic udon cooked with pork in some dark sauce....sauce was great and the pork slices was yummy.....the noodles was a tad undercooked though.....hopefully...next time it will be better.

Open Door Policy @ Tiong Bahru

I was having a girl's night out around Tiong Bahru, so we head to Open Door Policy, since I had brunch there before, and the food is rather interesting and kinda sophiscated-tasting. They did try some new flavours and textures which makes the food kinda exciting. But I wouldn't call it orgasmically wonderful.

It is food well cooked, with good flavours, Presentation wise quite quirky....but nothing to blow your mind away.The risotto portions are a tad too big, and I thought that a few more pasta dishes would also offer a lighter alternatives to the menu .

Its not a bad place to hang out with your chic friends, the decor is rather quirky as well.....In terms of wine selection....its also quite extensive.

So old school.........very endearing wor....

Papadum coated Duck with Mint Yoghurt Sauce - the sauce is good, the papadum ( my perennial favourite) gives an interesting texture.....but the duck is not as tender as I expect it to be. Duck needs to be tender.....perhaps, they should use chicken instead.

Mushroom Risotto - I like the fresh white mushrooms mixed with hearty mushroom risotto. The flavour of the risotto is really strong...I tasted loads of truffle oil.... But as it is a rather strong tasting dish, the sheer portion of it did not leave you wanting for more....I wish the risotto is served as a side, or it comes with some other ingredients on the plate.

Prawn & Saffron Risotto - Again, the taste is hearty and good....but portion wise its way too big. Flavours are good, but get too repetitive after the entire plate.

Pistachio Souffle - ok, I like this souffle, innovative, well cooked...portion is big, but sharable between two people. I was seated at the bar, and really loved watching the chefs cook the souffle though!

Salta @ Icon Village , Tanjong Pagar

It was the farewell party of the company lawyer, and since Salta is near, we went there for the lunch menu.
Good, but service is really a bit slow.....my burger was really yummy, but my colleagues who was having steak complained about the steak being too salty.


In my opinion, this place is a 'yes'. But I am really not a meat person, so I do wish their portions are smaller.

Lunch set consists of a soup, plat principal and tea or coffee. Thats the seafood chowder for the soup course. Very hearty, and seafood is fresh.

This is the beef burger, with a slice of tomato, a slice of pineapple ( yum! I like the idea) and avocado guacamole.....bun was nicely toasted....... And though the portion is big. I managed to finish it.......:)

Forest Dew Restaurant @ Boon Keng Blk 22

I lived in the wonderful little neighbourhood of Boon Keng, where there are loads of old people, and loads of good local and cheap food...as in all mature HDB estates.

This place really did not look exciting at all, until we tried the food there.

Vegetarian food does have their own allure. Cooked pretty healthily, there are lovely dishes that would change one's perception of chinese vegetarian food from oily, unhealthy deep fried stuff to actually one which would make you think: I could be a vegetarian too!

The part about the restaurant's exterior not being very exciting....its true...the menu is not the prettiest

SanBei Tofu :its just tofu, with basil leaves cooked in a nice delicious dark sauce......

Olive Fried Rice :Well, the pork floss is mock pork floss, the olive fried rice is delicious ..

Fish soup beehoon - who would have thought of this as a vegetarian dish? But it works pretty darn well

Cereal Prawn - The 'prawns' are actually abalone mushrooms, and really yummy.

Casuarina Curry @ MacPearson Road

Indian food has this rather curious trait. It always taste a gazillion times nicer when cooked by immigrant Indian chefs, and when house in coffeeshop style setting. Well, service there is not bad...the indian waiters are prompt, friendly and mostly patient.


Curries are sooo delicious....we tried prata and dosai too....just fantastic.


Its a good place if you are around the area and not sure what to eat.....this place serves good indian stuff.

Menu & the name

Papadum - this snack is so good, I wonder whats the allure of potato chips?

Dosai with masala potato & mushrooms..

Prata - the perennial favourite.....

Men Tei @ Robinson Road

This place looks like they serve bad ramen......but actually to the contrary, I really like their ramen. The broth is tasty and not as oily and heavy as some others. You can taste the depth of the kelp and bonito based. The noodles are very 'al dente', very nice....on top of that, you don't have to queue like mad to get in....

truely a little gem in the middle of CBD.

Menu again!

I was captivated by the description of the noodles and their famous char siew....unfortunately, I order one without the char siew, and ask for all kinds of veges instead.

I had the shio ramen, which is the lightest tasting of the lot. This really did not disappoint. I am hesitant to try shio ramen in singapore because, not many places understand the subtle flavour of sea salt. This place does it pretty well........maybe they use hakata sea salt.

Etna @ 50 Duxton Road

I was planning a dinner with my male BFFs whom I gotten to know in Shanghai. We always have a good laugh talking crap and sharing industry gossip. So I wanted them to try something nice, authentic, and cozy.

Etna was a place I read about in the internet...and I immediately thought that it was similar to Cenacolo near my old HK apartment...and really wanted to try if it is the same....

The feeling is similar, good hearty italian food set in a cozy setting...( main difference being wines in HK's Cenacolo are much cheaper). Etna does produce a slightly more refined taste than Cenacolo....( I think Cenacolo's standards have dropped recently). The service is prompt , and is great for dinner with friends, food is charming and exudes a warmth that is great for the soul....

one little peeve though- they don't have the classic sicilian pasta dish where fresh sea urchin is mixed with olive oil and tossed with pasta.

As with any decent italian restaurant, there should be the antipasti, primi, secondi etc etc in the menu....

Suspect that they added a bit of tomato paste into the bread dough....not bad.

Forgot the name, but its a chef special - arego cheese with foccacia bread with porcini mushrooms.....miam, who can resist a combi like this?

Antipasti Etna -Deep fried rice balls with pork stuffing and grilled vege ( a la style of a ratatouille) ...

Penne with Crab & tomato sauce - crab and tomato sauce goes so well, that when you order a pasta like this, you know that it can't go wrong....

Spaghetti with scallops & cured tuna rod tossed in olive oil.....this is really excellent, you can taste the quality of the olive oil, which makes it so reminiscent of the food you will get in Italy.

The last dish we had was pork loin wrapped with bacon. The pork was cooked perfectly, the sauce is delicious..and even the dollop of mash potato was wondrously tasty - thumbs up!

More updates from my second time at Etna - still so delicious

Penne with Baked Eggplant and Pecorino cheese - very simple but very hearty taste!!

Quattro Formaggio Pizza - usually I find the 4 cheese pizza very heavy and would give me lactose intolerance almost immediately....this one is soo light, and so very cheesy too. Needless to say - no lactose intolerance for this.

Home-made Tagliatelle with Rosemary, Prawns & lardon. What a combi....seemingly random, but actually darn delicious....

Last time I was too full to eat dessert...this time.......the molten chocolate cake....yummy

Panna Cotta - looks and taste like pudding....a little bizarre.

Creme Caramel - yeah! thats a favourite.....a bit rich for the last few mouthfuls though.....