Sunday 25 August 2013

In Italy @ Craig Road

Great place for a group dinner. The wine was rather good ( though not a bargain), and pastas was very decent and ingredients are fresh, and me being a noodle fan, loved the different pastas we had that night....

Apparently, it also hails from Tuscan Traditions.....


The Bread basket is exciting - the usual hand made breads, and also fried dough fritters, with delicious pesto sauce.... yumm...

Very liking the fact that the parma ham dish is very fresh, and the tomato there actually taste very very sweet ( good sweet), and love the taste of the drizzled olive oil.

Vongole Spaghetti - with a bit of tomatoes, and white wine, this is really a nice light dish

Frog Leg, Prawn & Soft shell crab Fritters - fried food with a yummy sauce, how can it be not nice....?

Capelletti pasta in chicken broth - this is a nice not heavy way to serve stuffed pasta, and the pastas are very al dente

Oriechiette  with sundried tomatoes and porcini mushrooms & parma ham- this is so hearty and so tuscan....love it!

Squid Ink Pasta tonerrelli - like stir fried squid ink pasta with veges, prans and tomatoes....very very nice lah. Good quality squid ink pasta with good olive oil.......

Celina's Gastrobar @ Duxton Road

Godson wanted dinner and not too expensive option, so after a bit of research, I found this place....
Well, I thought the  fusion dishes would have more potential, but they are rather average, but just that, there is a punch lacking there...... I supposed to survive there, they might need just something special.


grilled pork cubes - was quite good tasting though slightly too sweet, though the combi of tomato & cucumber was a little strange to me. Would rather they made a salsa to match. 

Fried chicken wings - this is reminiscent of Prawn Paste chicken wings. Quite nice.

Grilled pork belly - not too sure about the sauce. But I don't remember much about this dish, I thought the pork belly was too tough.

Moosehead @ Telok Ayer Road

I spied it when walking towards my gym, and decided at all cost to try it...
Pleasant little surprise, slightly pricy, but the food is nice authentic spanish tapas with a slight twist. I love the rich deep taste of fresh ingredients, cooked by someone who knows freshness and how to capture them in cooked food. That is the sort of thing you can get at moosehead.

Other than the menu being slightly limited, it is a great place to hang out with friends. And very nice selection of wine as well.


The limited menu - all written on the wall. Very nice decor as well.


We had the slow braised chicken in tomato sauce....sooo yummy, and the bread was done so well too....I also was licking the entire claypot bowl

Grilled fish of the day - the amount of herbs, the delicious olive oil made this dish a real winner, it goes so well with the bread too. This is truly the power of tapas....

Cafe Salivation @ Race Course Road

Now, this is a western vegetarian food place which is rather rare in SG. Its usually indian or chinese. So I found this to be a rather interesting place.

Food wise, they have rather exciting menus, which to non vegetarians may be common place, but actually is very exciting for vegetarians.

I like that the food is simple and sincere. They don't try to be what they are not. Another comfort food category, though will not impress your millionaire gf or bf but will  make do for a simple feel good meal.

A pinkish perky decor, quite unlike the usual little indian joints around...

Roasemary fries - nice, yummy comfort food

Vegetable croquettes - love the fact they added a tiny bit of spice for taste, the yogurt mint sauce is a great combi for this.

Pesto Fettucino - creamy pesto sauce! Nice, and well done al dente pasta. Not sublime, but really well done by veg standards. If I need to bring my veg friends out, this will be the place.

Jewel Cafe & Bar @ Rangoon Road

Interior design- great
Food - Yummy & interesting ( and not so expensive), not haute cuisine, but good enough to make you feel happy
Nice wine.

Me , being the simple person, love this kind of cute, quirky alternative restaurants. And if the food's good and affordable, its really my kind of thing.

Would recommend this to anyone, who wants to wander off the beaten track in SG culinary scene.

This place is actually more of a fusion place than a real western joint, but fusion done successfully. The taste of the food is not tradition but rather comforting.

Octopoko - yeap a starter using octopus ( ceviche style), some squid & a bed of avocado to round it off. I love that they use lime liberally to really combine the taste together.

Southern Fried Chicken with truffle fries - Chicken marinated with milk super tender in the inside and really nice and crispy on the outside....

Unamai Prawn pasta - well cooked prawns ( darn my crustacean quota again), but the ebi fly roe and the sauce makes for a really yummy wafu spaghetti. Well done!

Halia @ Raffles Hotel

Halia - do you call it fusion? I am not sure....food wise, I thought it was well made, but perhaps, not that fantastic an experience, but for a simple brunch, which boast fresh ingredients and well made, it is not too bad a place.....thought the setting may be a tad formal being in Raffles Hotel and all.....

Would say that their drink list is much more interesting.

Bacon , ice cream & berry Pancakes.....very nice pancakes though....

Breakfast set- sausage, bacon, toast, omelette, mushroom & tomato

Halia Special - Chilli crab pasta - really interesting combination, and I like it, except that I have a crustacean quota.

Halia special drink - this is the real highlight of the day ...Ginger tea with honey. This is amazing....

Hedriad's @ Tanglin Road

An elegant little place for an elegant brunch. For the price, the food is well made, and a very suitable place to pass time to re-kindle and bond with close friends and relatives....

Loved the red & black setting

Had earl grey tea ( which is nice) but what blew me away is the thin wafer like bicotti with the turkish- delight looking bonbon.

I have had the eggs benedict, with ham with hollandaise sauce & pesto sides. Simply the most elegant eggs benedict.

The Hedraid Breakfast set, with brioche & toast. Frankly the compote and french butter they served was the highlight of the day. Of course, brioche being brioche is always so delicious....

PietraSandra @ Portsdown Road

When it comes to good italian food, I am always up for it. This place is hard to get too, but the setting was indeed 'hidden' & very very charming.....
Serveurs are mainly foreign talents..but they are charming and sincere...so was quite enjoyable.

Its one of those places to go if you want another side of singapore.

This place seems to serve some food mainly from the Tuscan traditions in Italy.

Either a tomato paste for the bread rolls (below) or a pretty thick gazpacho, but really refreshing and sweet from the tomato taste

Loved it that they baked their own bread....

Chachuterie platter - with parma ham, salami, proscuitto ham, some other ham and parmagiano cheese. ( really fresh...and not too expensive)

Hand-made spaghetti with duck ragout - this is simply delicious, I could almost imagine in a farmland enjoying this meal in the rolling hills of Tuscany.

Braised Duck in Red Wine & Chocolate sauce - very rich hearty and gamey. Though I really quite enjoyed that as well

Char Grilled Pork Belly - very intense was the verdict. While the char grilled oaky flavours might be the point of the game, may not be everybody's cup of tea.

Quattro Stagione - well, though the ingredients does suggest it is one, it certainly does not look it....but taste wise, it is still pretty good.

Tuna & Cream Fettucine with truffles - very creamy and very strong taste of truffle oil. Taste good for a few bites, but i find the cream pastas tend to be a bit too heavy for my taste buds.

SQuid-ink Pasta with crab meat sauce - this is a great winner...very yummy 

Raviolis in meat sauce - I find this quite the ultimate peasantry pasta dish. Very hearty in a good illustrious way.

Yes, and after all this feasting, I couldn't possibly miss the Dolce......
tiramisu is chiffon cake light, and loved the rich liquor taste.

Sur Neuvo @ North Canal Road

ALRIGHT, this is not your typical tex-mex restaurant , if thats what you are looking for.
Its rather a south american restaurant, just that I don't want to add another label on my blog.

Latin American cuisine always conjures up sumptuous images of sublime ceviches, beefy roasted meat, delicious salsas......

This place has a Venezuelan chef helming the restaurant, and though I rather like the taste and experience of the food, my friend who have tasted original Peruvian cuisine says she prefers those from the land of passion and danger.

Personally, I like the taste, I think its great to have a variety of cuisine in any city which attempts to call themselves cosmopolitan. It may be slightly adapted to suit Singaporean taste, but I wouldn't mind going back there again with friends to try out other dishes......

Really like the exotic-ness of dining here

Love that they have ceviches in tasting portions - though my friend commented on the lack of 'tiger milk' quality. They are rather refreshing and tasty.

Crispy Pork Belly - The skin so crispy and the fat so yummy....the meat could be a tad more tender, but this is high in my list.

Chorizo with rice & Ricotta cheese - very hearty and very yummy

Braised Lamb Shank - Although done rather well, it tasted like a well braised lamb shank.. the Latin American Twist was sadly missing, but still very tasty.