Showing posts with label Restaurant Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Restaurant Week. Show all posts

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Restaurant Week, 2013 edition: Little Diners

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The last edition of restaurant week 2013 was at Little Diners. Initially I made a reservation for 2 pax, but changed it to 6 pax as the rest came along as well after a hearty game-session @ Boss EK's place. We were all pretty well-fed with snacks at EK's place, so we went for late dinner (due to my last min request, the restaurant could only accommodate 6 pax after 8pm which was totally fine with us). I was pleasantly surprised to see a place-card on the table with my name on it :) Nowadays, such sweet gestures are really hard to come by. 
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Leecher choosing items off from the set menu before making his decision.  
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The place was visibly still crowded even though it was close to 9pm. The kitchen, helmed by Chef Michael Quinn, was churning out plates and plates of food to feed the hungry diners. From this point onwards, both my camera + iPhone decided to call it quits and I had to rely on Leecher's Note 3 for pics. Somehow, I find that the picture quality is quite grainy as compared to iPhone even though Note 3 boosts a 13 mega-pixel camera as compared to iPhone 4S 8 mega-pixel. Maybe Leecher don't know how to set the resolution.  
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Guys on one side, girls on the other side ~ triple date!    
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Beers for the guys - a day out with Boss Khim means drinking during brunch (will blog about our brunch date @ Saint Pierre in another entry!), drink during games and drink during dinner, lol! He's really a drinking machine! I'm a fan of truffle fries, so its a must-order whenever we see this item on the menu. Sad to say, this plate of truffle fries was a disappointment ~ the fries were drenched in oil which resulted in it being soggy. 
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Cheers to a day of feasting, fun & drinking (^^)  
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Another of their recommended item, Old School Baked Mac and Cheese ~ glorious cheesy goodness topped with breadcrumbs & more cheese, baked till golden brown and served with salad. 
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We were able to select our preferred starters from 4 items. Most of us went for either wild mushroom soup (served with homemade garlic croutos and truffle oil drizzle) or soup of the day, which was cauliflower & pumpkin soup (I think!). 
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Leecher with wild mushroom soup :)  
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I wanted to be adventurous and ordered Fried Risotto Balls instead. These balls were fried to golden-brown, with a melty mozzarella center and served with rustic marinara sauce. These risotto balls were gigantic that I was struggling to finish both.
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 The girls unanimously chose Salmon (served with sweet potato puree and rocket salad) while the guys headed for more meaty choices like Chicken Roulade (slow poached chicken thigh stuffed with parma ham, wild mushrooms and spinach, finished in the oven till golden brown. homemade mash potatoes, roasted asparagus and red capsicum albufera sauce) and Bacon wrapped meatloaf (homemade mash potatoes, roasted vegetables and rich red wine mushroom gravy). Nothing too fantastic about their mains, apart from humongous portions!
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Desserts came in the choices of Old Fashioned Apple Crumble (sweet & tangy apple compote topped with delicious morsels of buttery crumble, served with vanilla ice cream) and Bread & Butter Pudding (brioche baked in a vanilla scented egg custard, accompanied wby luscious creme anglaise).
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Group pic before we call it a night, but missing me (the photographer!), haa!
Little Diner
789 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 269763
Tel: 6466 4088
Email: contact@littlediner.sg    
             

Friday, November 8, 2013

Restaurant Week, 2013 edition: Taratata Bistro

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After our visit to Violet Oon's Kitchen, the 2nd stop for Restaurant week is Taratata Bistro, a Parisian-style chic bistro located along the rows of eateries at Keong Siak Street. Opened in 2011, I was surprised that I didn't hear of this bistro till now *mountain-tortoise, yet again*  Well, my motto is better late than never, so at least I got to give this a try :) 
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The "Closed" sign was hanging on the door when we arrived 3 min early for 1.15pm reservation. For a second, I wondered if I was at the wrong place. I opened the door & was greeted by the waitress that they will be open shortly. In the few minutes, a stream of customers had arrived and we all had to stand outside almost blocking the walk-way. 
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Egg-cited for our lunch meal :) 
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Finally, at 1.20pm, they opened their doors and we were greeted by the friendly manager before being ushered in to our respective tables. Did I mention that one of the guy waiter (captured in the pic above) is rather cute? HAHA!
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While I was in a dilemma over what to order, Leecher was more interested in his new phone (yet again!). He was busy exploring the various theme on his phone and finally put down his phone when I gave him the CAREBEAR stare. No, my carebear stare is not the friendly kind if you're wondering.
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Lunch-date!
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A basket of warm bread was served as soon as our orders were taken. 
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Since wine was on discount .... why not? heehee!
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As compared to the dinner menu, there are lesser items on the lunch menu. For appetizer, I had Demie-Douzanie d'Escargots au Beurre d'Ail Presille (half dozen snail baked in herbed garlic butter) while Leecher went or Saumon Marine Mi-Cuit au Poivre et Salade de Tomate Momotaro a I'Huile de Basilic (seared marinated salmon with black pepper & momotaro tomato salad with basil oil). Escargots were well-baked and goes extremely well with bread that I had to stop Leecher's hands from coming over, lol! Salmon was well-seasoned and light on texture. The mixture of tomato salad with basil oil was quite refreshing too.
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We get to choose b/w crispy baked pork trotter & mushroom fricassee or baked sea scallops with mussels, prawns and mushrooms for mains. We both decided to go for the scallops, since I'm a big fan of it :)
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 Scallops were succulent and juicy! Even though it came in a rather small baking dish, the serving was just enough for one individual. I was greeted with a generous serving of mussels and prawns underneath the blanket of melted cheese. Yums.
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Lastly, we were served with chocolate & caramel tart (with vanilla ice cream) for dessert :) 
Taratata Bistro
35A Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089142
Closed on Mondays

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Restaurant Week, 2013 edition: Violet Oon's Kitchen

It was Restaurant Week once again in Oct. Even though I had my priority booking, I wasn't keen to try out any restaurants. Then itchy fingers me decided to try my luck when booking was made available to the public. I wasn't looking for anything in particular - more of browsing and if anything fits my slot, then it must be fate! Before I knew it, I had made reservations for 3 restaurants, oops! 
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Our first stop was Violet Oon's Kitchen. Nestled along Bukit Timah Road, locating this place was a breeze (all thanks to my trusty google map on iphone!). We arrived earlier, but were promptly ushered into the restaurant with a smile.
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 Violet Oon was known as a food columnist before being appointed as a food ambassador by Singapore Tourism Board. Through her travels, she brought home a rich knowledge of cuisines discovered aboard and married those gems with her beloved native Singaporean cuisine. 
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While I was expecting a more traditional Peranakan decor, I was surprised to be greeted with a clean black and white decor instead.
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Drinks selection, which we didn't try :( The Ka Gua sure looked  interesting :)
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I love it when there is fresh flower on every table! I have always contemplated on getting fresh flowers for the house, but never got around to doing it. Haiz, must procrastinate less so I can get more things done heh.
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Leecher with the ala carte menu, when we are ordering from the set menu - extra leh! 
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Say hello to the new Mrs Lim - his new Samsung Note 3. I think he was more excited over getting a new phone than marrying the REAL Mrs Lim, lol! Kept showing me the new functions while I just rolled my eyes as I find it extremely difficult to use.
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We started with Vietnamese Prawn Summer Rolls served with Chilli & Hoisin sauce. The skin was chewy BUT beansprouts tasted raw. I was expecting spicy chilli, but it tasted mild in reality.
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Leecher ordered Kuay Pie Tee ($18) from their ala carte menu. My my, these were extremely good! Julienne of bamboo shoot and turnip poached in a rich prawn bisque served in a deep fried "top hat" patty, topped with prawn. This was quite a different rendition from the usual kuay pie tee that are sold outside. Recommended!
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 There were 3 options to choose for main course - we settled for Buah Keluak Pasta & Beef Rendang. Buah Keluak Pasta was fried with garlic and chilli tossed in spaghetti. This was da-domb! I'm still not a fan of Buah Keluak, but the spiciness was a tad overwhelming for me. This was the kind of spiciness I was looking for :) Leecher was debating b/w having Beef Rendang or Kerabu Fish, but eventually settled for beef rendang. Beef was soft and tender that it simply melts in your mouth - nothing spectacular though.
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With newly crowned Mrs Lim again once we finished our main course. 
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Testing out Leecher's camera on the new phone. 
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Ended the meal with desserts - kuay beng kah (tapioca cake) and bubor cha cha panna cotta.
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The sky turned dark by the time we left the place. I would love to be back for their brunch menu if time permits :) 
Violet Oon's Kitchen
881 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 279893
Tel: 6468 5430
Opening Hours: 11.30am till 10pm, closed on Monday.
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