Restaurant Week, 2013 edition: Little Diners

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. 

 

Leecher choosing items off from the set menu before making his decision.  

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.  

 

Guys on one side, girls on the other side ~ triple date!    

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. 

 

Cheers to a day of feasting, fun & drinking (^^)  

 

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. 

 

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!). 

 

Leecher with wild mushroom soup :)  

 

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.
 

 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!

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).

     

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    

             

KL Work Trip, Sep 2012: Madam Kwan & Shanghai 上海苏浙苑

 

TGIF! Can't believe Friday is here again - the last Friday of Feb before another month comes knocking at our doorstep. Before I head off for another busy weekend (celebrating Leecher's birthday!), here is the 2nd installment of KL Sep work trip, which I have almost forgotten till I saw the folder (on Desktop) staring at me, alongside with many other folders, haha! Since I started Feb with an entry on this trip (Part One), I thought I should end the month with the last entry on this trip :) 

A large cup of tea as my morning perk-me-up, alongside with orange juice.
Loaded up on breakfast as I figured that I'll be stuck at client's place all the way till late afternoon. Suffered from hunger pangs attack in between but thankfully I brought along some energy bars to nibble on. 
 
Lunch at a local food court which looked pretty much like SG food court, with plenty of food choices for everyone.
 
I had a mini wok of hokkien fried noodles (black) with chicken and chili - gosh, this was really yummy! Love cheap & good food :)

It was back to the hotel after a long day of work & I was mentally exhausted. Provided one-on-one training to over 20 users; felt like a broken recorder after a while having to repeat so many times.

 

A quick change of outfit later - well, just switching my skirt for jeans & heels for flats, it was time to head out for dinner! 

Back to Pavilion again for dinner. Yes, I'm getting lazier (and perhaps boring) in my quest to travel to find tasty food, haha! I'll just look for the next best alternative nearby, since I'm just too tired to venture further than 100 steps.

 

Acting all touristy :) My trusty Pus Pus ran out of juice (aka no batt) so I had to rely on backup aka Iphone 4S instead.

After walking round the whole basement, I finally settled for Madam Kwan - well known for uniquely Malaysian dishes, from the signature Nasi Lemak to "wok" style hokkien mee.

A quick glance at the menu, I was all set to order (^^)
 
No brainer as to what I ordered, haha! Dived straight into one of their signatures - Nasi Lemak completed with a side dish of achar. 

Topped it up with dessert - a scope of chocolate ice cream sitting on top of shaved ice + corn. 

Madam Kwan at Pavilion Shopping Centre

Lot 1-16-00, Level 1

168 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: +603 2143 2297/98

After 2 nights staying in the hotel, it was time to head home. Before I board the flight home, I had lunch at Shanghai 上海苏浙苑, a leading Chinese restaurant that specializes in exquisite Shanghainese cuisine.

I was shown to a corner table and magazines swiftly arrived to keep me company as I waited for the dishes to be served. 
 
Extremely bloated from lunch, I was all ready to head home!

Shanghai 上海苏浙苑

JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur 

183 Jalan Bukit Bintang Level 1

55100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2 months on ...

Those we love don't go away, 

 

They walk beside us every day,

 

Unseen, unheard but always near,

 

Still loved, still missed and very dear.

 

新年快乐 2014

 

We ushered in the year of the (wooden) Horse a couple of weeks back and it was also my first CNY without baby bro. Besides lil bro who had to observe customs/traditions since he was lower in rank, the rest of us were allowed to continue with CNY celebrations. On CNY eve, we made a trip to Mandai to visit baby bro. We got new flowers and hung up the mini barney that Auntie Emily got for him. Thereafter, I headed home to both sides of the parents' place for reunion dinner. 

 

CNY day 1 was spent rushing between 3 places - parents-in-law, grandma and great grandma. I didn't take any pics on the 1st day due to the hectic rush. I even forgot to give great-granny her angpao till I reached home and discovered the angpao in my bag :( Immediately called my mum and ask her to give on my behalf while I TT the amt to her, lol!  Nevertheless, we spent CNY day 2 at my maternal grandparents' place, gambling & catching up with my cousins.    

 

Gamblers' reunite a year later. 

 

with mummy dearest :) 

 
 Mummy dearest with her sisters :)

CNY Day 3 was spent on visiting too, In the morning, we headed over to Bernard's place to visit Baby Aden + mahjong.

Last year, I had the privilege of carrying Baby Raenee, Ryan's precious girl. This year, Baby Aden came along much to the delight of their parents Bernard & Steff :) He's such a charmer!
 
First time playing mahjong without any chips. We had to record our loss/winnings on paper, lol!

Then it was off to Keith's 小舅 place for another round of gathering. 小舅 & 小舅妈 would whip up lots of dishes for everyone.
 
The cousins unite; Leecher looked really out of place amongst all his younger cousins (^^)
 
Before I end off this post, this is my collection of angpao for this year! Thanks to all those relatives who still gave us angpao even though we are married :) 

49 days

Today marks the 49th day since baby bro left the family. 

According to the Chinese custom, it will be his last day on Earth. After 11pm tonight, he will head for a new chapter of life.

As the priest performed his chanting, I told baby bro that he'll have to be on his way for a new lease of life after finishing the final meal that mummy dearest prepared for him. It was through fate that we became siblings in this lifetime & I'm very grateful for it. No matter where he is, he will always remain as my baby bro. The one that we all dote on.

Time has come for us to bid farewell (once again). I do sincerely hope/pray that he'll be a healthy child in his next life.

Perhaps, fate will let us continue our kinship in another lifetime....