Restaurant Week, 2013 edition: Taratata Bistro

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 :) 

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. 

Egg-cited for our lunch meal :) 

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!

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.

Lunch-date!

A basket of warm bread was served as soon as our orders were taken. 

Since wine was on discount .... why not? heehee!

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.

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 :)

 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.

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

Black Swan

   

The latest addition under Lo & Behold Group (the group that brings you White Rabbit, Overeasy etc), The Black Swan was recently crowned as the new kid on the block in CBD area as the latest water hole & eatery. Instead of being the usual mountain-tortoise me, I'm proud to say that I have been to this place already, lol! What an achievement :)

Set in a historic art deco building in the heart of CBD area, this place is easy to find. In fact, it was just within walking distance from our workplaces. I arranged to meet up with Leecher after work & walk to the venue, almost missing the entrance as we were too engrossed in talking.

When I first stepped into the restaurant, I was blown away by the classy European bistro deco. Wow - I'm certainly impressed.

      

 Reservation was easy ~ either book through Chope or call the restaurant directly. I love that they have customised plates too :)

 

Sipping a glass of champagne & eating oysters on Mondays just feels sooooooooo right! No traces of monday blues left after this, I promise.

At $18 bucks, these were extremely affordable. If we weren't here for an agenda, I would have easily ordered a couple & drown myself silly. 
 
Cheers *loves*

Fries are always a must, they made great nibbles while waiting for the rest of the company. You get to choose b/w cajun or truffles fries ($9) and needless to say, it was truffles fries for the table. 

 

The New Caesar ($18) consisted of baby romaine hearts, one-hour poached egg, parmasea-anchovycrisps and caramelised bacon.

We ordered a couple of mains for sharing too. The main course menu was limited, hence we settled for seafood linguini ($32), duck leg confit ($36), stockyard australian wagyu ribeye steak (for 2 pax, $96). In fact, we ordered 3 out of the 7 dishes that they offer under "large plates". Overall, I felt kinda ribbed off by the ribeye steak for 2 pax. It wasn't huge and yet it was pricey. My fave goes to duck leg confit, for the skin was crispy and meat, tender.

   

We ordered date & toffee pudding, together with dark chocolate dome as desserts. Dark chocolate was extremely rich, since it was made of 70% valrhona chocolate. However, it got slightly jelat after a couple of mouthfuls. As for date & toffee pudding, hmm ... I still prefer the one that I had @ Halia.

 

with bff! 

 
Leecher & Jonah ... looking like insurance agent, lol!  




 Paparazzi at work, haha!
 
    2 pairs of love birds, heh!

The Black Swan

19 Cecil Street

Singapore 049704

Tel: 8181 3305

Honeymoon: L'Angle Cafe/Restaurant

Romantic Morning Walk in Paris 

Picnic in Tuileries Garden

Exploring Tuileries Garden

Vacation Rental in Paris 

Grocery Shopping

******

Back to work on a Monday & the start of the new month, yet again. Been feeling a lil under-the-weather recently but still enduring a visit to the doc for I don't really like to take medication. I used to have a phobia on swallowing pills when I was younger thinking that the pills will be stuck in my throat ~ I will dissolve the pills in the water and drink that instead, haha! What a way to torture myself, as the after-taste will stay in my mouth. As I grew up, I've learn how to swallow pills and suddenly, my life became a lot easier. Even so, I still don't like seeing the doc unless absolutely necessary. I guess I'll just need to rest more & let my body recover by itself :)

We were famished after a long day and walked into the first cafe that appeared within our sights for lunch. L'Angle Cafe/Restaurant is situated along the corner of the apartment.

If you're stuck on Champs Elysees and don't want to get "carrot-headed" with crappy tourist restaurant fare, you can head to this cafe for a simple (inexpensive) meal away from the crowd.

Waiting for food to be served :)

We always start with a glass of wine. This time round, we ordered rose wine from Cotes de Provence AOC (€5.20 for 25cl glass). Cotes de Provence AOC is the largest appellation in Provence, accounting for almost 73% of all wine produced, with 88% of the production being rose.

Cheers!

Cotes de Provence roses are typified by a bright pale pink colour. Fresh, exotics fruits dominate, accompanied by floral and spicy notes. They are best served chilled - the one we had wasn't served chilled. Nevertheless, it was well-balanced and smooth.

Soupe à l'oignon also known as french onion soup (€7). OMG, this was absolutely tasty! They placed a bowl of cheese by the side that we can add in. Instead of drinking it directly from the bowl, I prefer to dip the bread into the soup and eat it.

Our mains consisted of Confit de Canard (duck confit, €11.50) and Poulet Roti (roast chicken, €11.50). Duck confit was extremely delicious - the skin was crispy and slightly salty much to the delight of Leecher's tastebud. Chicken was tender and juicy too. Besides the above, you also get to choose from a range of mains like salmon tartar, cod loin, grilled beef steak, hamburgers etc.

Ended the meal with Creme Brulee Vanille (€6). The serving was bigger than I thought, but good enough for sharing :) 

L'Angle Cafe/Restaurant

28 Rue De Ponthieu

75008, Paris, France

Tel: +33 1 4225 6141