what's to be had at 313?

Too cute it made me smile :) Sitting in the al fresco area was a choice I didn't have to give a second thought about. :)

 

I was torn between wanting to see pretty latte art and a cold drink. Cold won me over on an unusually sunny day. :) Vanilla latte it was. Good amount of coffee amidst all that milk. It wasn't 70% milk on a usual latte. Definitely less but it was aromatic and smooth on taste. :)

For starters.

Bangers and mash. The bangers were tasty. Very tasty. The creamy mash was fluffy and light on flavour. The onion gravy added the needed saltiness to the mash. We cleaned up the plate. 

Beer battered fish and chips. A generous 4-piece fish portion with a handful of thick potato wedges. Served piping hot it was tasteful on its own but made better with tartar sauce. Personal preference :)

Sticky date pudding with a lovely dollop of old fashioned vanilla melting prettily into the warm pudding.

The handful of plump raisins in the caramel sauce were bursting with rum. What a surprise :) 

Chocolate. There were more adjectives accompanying this on the menu but let's state the obvious because the obvious was really thick and rich.

Oh if you loved chocolate.

You also need a tissue paper on hand because it's gonna be lip smackingly chocolate-y. I was with a girlfriend. We could get as messy as we wanted. Okay, maybe just me because she was prettily made up and took care to dab at her mouth after every spoonful. I just relied on my trusty tongue. :p

Thanks for the treat and for the souvenir from your trip!

What a tongue twister.

I'll be glad to use it for hmm. red packets? :) A big fish and a tiny fish pouch for coins.

I need to get me to Vietnam one of these days.

So Oriole. For coffee art the next time round.

The barista washes his coffee machine at 8pm sharp daily so get your coffee fix before then!

The magic of Chong Qing hotpot

En route to Tanglin shopping centre :)

Last year was Crystal Jade xlb hotpot buffet at Holland Village. This year she picked

this for me :)



First serving of a mixed standard set and an eight treasure tea :)

The yuan yang pot with a half of mala soup and another of herbal chicken that was an additional top up of $15. I've never tried the soup bases included in the dinner menu but this was thick and flavourful worth the money for the top up. :)

Bubble bubble toil and... devour! :)

Edamame peas were on the table for munching while waiting for the soup base to be served. There was an extensive choice of hotpot ingredients and everything was fresh. No item needed thawing nor was anything served in a haphazard fashion. Thinly sliced meats made for easy and quick cooking. Doesn't leave you hungry even for a moment. :)

Even the vegetables did not have signs of worm eaten holes as I often find at other hotpot establishments. The portions are small and allows you to order a wide variety without having to torture your stomach. Tha was a pretty important thing I feel at hotpot places. Especially if it was just two diners. We had four so we had no problem finishing up our orders.

There were also one-off servings of mock abalone, sashimi, cocktail sausage, xiaolongbao, pot stickers and dessert. These didn't need to be ordered, they would be brought to you in the midst of dinner. These weren't fantastic and didn't require a second order anyway.

And just after the last orders, they kindly shifted us to a new table so that we could have our cake in clean comfort. I really appreciated the effort, seeing as how they were already done cleaning up most of the tables and were preparing for closing. To my utter embarrassment, my friends started on a birthday song of which the restaurant manager (?) overheard and promptly joined in.

Strawberry shortcake from Rive Gauche. Too much cream but even then, the cream was light and easy on the stomach. Ample fresh strawberry fillings. It was a sinful treat! :)

And stitch chopsticks that are too cute. Thanks for starting and keeping at my collection of the monster. :) a soft toy, a key chain and now, chopsticks. I know you treat me like a ten year old. <3

Thanks for taking time off for a dinner treat for me. :)

A birthday's as big a deal as other people make it out to be. Loving the idea of growing up a little more with every celebration. :)

did u get it right?

Where else for dining at a very lovely marina?

Prive at keppel bay :)

And what could top being serenaded by a monkey dressed as a gondolier. "O sole mio"

Napolitanian lyrics Che bella cosa e' na giornata 'e sole n'aria serena dopo na tempesta! Pe' ll'aria fresca pare già na festa Che bella cosa e' na giornata 'e sole. Ma n'atu sole, cchiù bello, oje ne' 'O sole mio sta 'nfronte a te! 'O sole, 'o sole mio, sta 'nfronte a te! sta 'nfronte a te! Quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne, me vene quase 'na malincunia; sotto 'a fenesta toia restarria quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne. Ma n'atu sole, cchiù bello, oje ne' 'O sole mio sta 'nfronte a te! 'O sole, 'o sole mio sta 'nfronte a te! sta 'nfronte a te!

English translation What a beautiful thing is a sunny day! The air is serene after a storm, The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration. What a beautiful thing is a sunny day! But another sun, that's brighter still, It's my own sun that's upon your face! The sun, my own sun, It's upon your face! It's upon your face! When night comes and the sun has gone down, I almost start feeling melancholy; I'd stay below your window When night comes and the sun has gone down. But another sun, that's brighter still, It's my own sun that's upon your face! The sun, my own sun, It's upon your face! It's upon your face!

Oh it sang alright! Complete with lip movements and head adjustments. Till it fell over and spilt my glass of cold water. It was a sight! And just too funny even the other table was amused. :)

A malted malteasers milkshake that was a disappointment. It came warm. And no we didn't send it back.

The wait staff who seated us looked terribly harrassed and tired from what we couldn't comprehend. There were customers but it wasn't packed full so what was the fuss?

A very small portion of the king salmon order. 200 grammes. For $28 this was pricey and I really wished I chose from the breakfast menu instead.

The meat was watery. That couldn't mean fresh and I certainly hope it didn't mean it was thawed from a frozen fillet.

What I don't know for sure can't affect me.

We made a lot of compromise on our food expectations and were only satisfied for our long cab ride from home to the marina for its view and lovely sunny weather that lasted till we finished our mains. :)

With my favourite projectmate from university days till now. Christmas and birthday presents yay! :)

We moved into the air conditioned area due to the rain and she excused herself to order cake! So much for getting directions to the washroom. You lie! :p

And made me a very happy girl indeed. This mocha chocolate cupcake was a dear with the mocca cream in a small plastic tube that you could squeeze ontop in artistic fashion before digging in. :)

I love the place. I just wish the food could've been a better complement.

Till the next time. :)

guess where?

the coffee connoisseur @ novena square

There were a few reasons for this.

One of the biggest was feeling terrible that Josh missed out on our Italian mayhem because of his utter devotion to the safety and security of our nation.

And the fact that it's mandatory of course.

At least he likes it. :)

Then there's also the countless times I've dined/ grabbed a cheesecake from TCC but my family probably wouldn't step into it. Just because it hardly looks like a dinner restaurant.

Of course things change after you've dined at all semblances of restaurants/ pubs/ bars for the past ten days.

I think two reasons were good enough.

There's more but then you'd sleep before the food gets to you...

Dad. Always needing a good soup. :)

Mum who eats beef while Dad doesn't so these are her rare occassions for that kind of red meat. Juicy. Medium well done. She liked it.

Josh had a yuzu salmon pasta. He was worried if the servings were big enough for a dinner meal and no, he won't be dining there with his friends in a hurry. This is the phase in life where buffets look awesome (he's been in that phase since dragonboat days and counting. how nice to have permanent excuses to carbo load.)

Nigel was suffering from a terrible jetlag. He could only deal with tasting. Not actual eating. Did well with the chicken though. Juicy, tender. Didn't taste much sherry but none of that affected an alcohol intolerant like I.

So new restaurant offering by the end of 2011. Last year was the ichiban line of restaurants that has seen our frequent dining attempts throughout this year. And hey, the family has TCC-ed! :)

I don't know about you but I love my family. :)

Brunetti at Tanglin Mall

Italian. Definitely Italian.

I spotted biscotti and cannolis. Oh those chocolate cookies. And the tarts.

The cakes. Pastries. Didn't I just leave these behind in my Italian dream?

Then my girlfriend tells me that she's tried lots of their offerings since her uni days in Melbourne. Didn't I know that Brunetti's is an Australian icon. No. Apparently not.

But. Hmm. How so?

Reading up, it seems that this is as Italian as their founder gets. Giorgio Angele is a native of Rome who first came to Australia in 1956 as a pastry chef with the Italian Olympics team. He opened up his first little cake shop on Melbourne's Faraday Street in the 1980s and has seen a succession of outlets across Melbourne since then.

And guess what, their Singaporean outlet was designed with the aim of making customers feel like "they are walking into a store in Milan," says Yuri Angele, Giorgio's younger son who currently runs the cafe with his brother Fabio. And indeed. That was the exact feeling it conjured up in me. Hit the nail right on the spot there guys.

Large glass display counters showcased their mindboggling range of nibblets just as in those patisscerie we've walked into along the streets of Italy. And their prices were competitive. Their cannolis were going for $5 and these were sold outside the Milano Stazione Centrale for EUR $2.50 a piece. I'd rather have it fresh and enjoy it with a cup of latte here than buying it from the street markets and eating it standing around. :)

We just missed breakfast offerings till 12 noon when we got there so we had to select from their all-day menu. Fish and chips were listed as appetizers but their portion size made good for a main. Their mac and cheese at $17 was a tad dear for their miniscule sprinklings of ham bits and mushroom but if you were looking for richness. This was rich and creamy to boot. Very filling.

My macchiato latte was very thoughfully served with an extra shot of coffee on the side just in case it was too much of a latte and less of anything coffee-like. We learnt it well in Italy. Latte is just hot milk. Specify coffee if you wanted any. :) For $5, I gladly order this anytime.

Apparently from my research (yes, Dr. Google) found that everything at Brunetti is manufactured and sold on the same day. So although we had no more space or time for desserts, this is one place i'm definitely paying a return visit to. If only to relive my Italian dream. And oh yes, desserts of course :)

Brunetti Singapore

163 Tanglin Road, #01-35, Tanglin Mall

Singapore 247933

Tel: 6733-9088

Right smack on the roads enroute to the Vatican. At EUR $1.50 for a piccolo with three flavours. What's not to like? It's a happy takeway shop with hot guys and creamy smooth gelato. How we managed with only two cones? I look back and wonder. Love it.

Home for the weekend :)

Waking up to takeaway chicken rice are the stuff dreams are made of. Just read the International Herald Tribune on my flight home and this article spoke volumes to me. It was entitled Time, Distance and Clarity and it started off about the sky looking bluer than it does almost anywhere else in Rome. I concur. And I continued to peruse the rest of the article. I've gotten used to traveling since I was young what with my mother's line of profession. And I'm blessed by my widened perspective of the world with my travels. But travels are for short periods of time. You get home before you really miss it. Then there was the exchange programme.

A chance of a lifetime (well, it is if you only applied for it once in your life) to McGill. No, it wasn't my first choice. UBC was. And I haven't heard of McGill before. And what a mistake I almost made not wanting to go. So I went. For two whole months all I saw was the side gates of campus and home. Tears more than threatened me in the day in between classes and boy did they overwhelm me in the nights. I called home daily. Even if conversations revolved around the weather and my meals. Fall was pretty with its colours. Life was good with pasta and potato meals. Good lecturers, even getting to make some friends. But. I still wanted to go home. One day after class, I took the main gates out and walked myself to Chinatown. The discovery of preserved radish, Chinese longevity noodles and packaged moon cakes were a turning point. I skipped home. Buildings looked great. I read up on the places to go, I even accepted an invite to the tallest bar in town for Halloween. Life was good. I just never noticed nor appreciated it. The sorrow of having wasted two months lies there. The writer hit it spot on when he wrote, "But it is also true that we're often plain oblivious to the scenery right in front of us. By being closest, it's farthest away."

Then there was Ponte Vecchio in Florence. I read up the guides, found it as one of the top ten things in Florence to see. I wanted to go. I had to right? Then here comes my brother. "why are we looking for this? Just because it's a World War Two survivor? What about the Kranji War Memorial, Fort Siloso. Those are from the WW II too and I don't see anyone rushing to see it?" then it got me. It's a tourist thing. I mean I've seen these sites since I'm taking national education/social studies in school. But what if I wasn't. Would I visit them? It's like a responsibility of a tourist. See the top ten. Do what everyone else has done. As if it was a trip requirement. I'm kicking myself for missing the Sunday markets just to go to the malls with my mum.

But at the end of the day, I'm thankful for every trip that I've gone on. It's never the same. Might be the company. Might be the sites. Could be the weather. Would be largely based on my attitudes. Bangkok year on year is never the same. Travel while you can. I know I'd do that as long as my legs could carry me. Hey, you can't carry money to the grave. Might as well spend it seeing the world. Living the life of a global traveller. So much to see, things to do, places to go. I'm looking forward to Bangkok on Monday already :)

Daawat Tandoori. Service par excellence.

Getting out of the pouring rain and jumping into the hot shower.

And curry for dinner. Of course :)

Naans. They had a good offering of different naans. Be sure to specify how you'd like your naans done. We asked for them soft and they came soft just as requested. :) I had the kashmiri and it was chock full of nuts and fruits. Mmmm!

Two servings of fruits and vegetables right? I've settled the fruits. Now for the vegetables. It was a vegetable shahi korma. Mixed cocktail vegetables. Now the understanding was cocktail as another word for mixed. Right? No. When it arrived, it was fruit cocktail. Complete with the papaya bits i love and random cherry bits. For a moment, it seemed we made a wrong choice. Well, it was curry so we mixed it all up anyway. And you'll never guess. It was absolutely naan worthy. :) It was entirely mopped up by dinner's end.

Do you know the origins of butter chicken? According to a Discovery Channel documentary, this indulgent recipe was invented in 1950s, by a chef at the Moti Mahal located in Daryaganj, the central region of Delhi. Initially famed for its Tandoori Chicken, the cooks there used to recycle the leftover chicken juices in the marinade trays by adding butter and tomato. The tandoor-cooked chicken pieces were then tossed in this sauce and there. was. butter chicken!

Pieces of boneless tandoori chicken cooked with butter, tomato puree and various spices including cumin, cloves, cinnamon, coriander, pepper, fenugreek and dried fenugreek leaves (Qasuri Methi) that contributes generously to the distinctive flavour of this dish and of course, topped with fresh cream.

I was just giving random feedback about the spice level of the butter chicken (too spicy for some) to the waitstaff and within minutes, the boss was at our table, asking if we needed anything changed. He said he heard something was too spicy and he was more than willing to get it changed for us. We were already halfway through and told him that it was just a comment, I was more than happy with it really. :) He went on to tell us about how the spice level can be adjusted with differing proportions of tomato based sauce and said that we should let them know immediately if it wasn't to our taste. 

Genuine concern for your dining experience. This doesn't happen very often and least when I expected it at such a quiet and homely establishment. A very humble man, he enquired about the rest of the dishes and accepted our compliments with shy thanks. That's service par excellence for you. Just randomly during a point in time of our meal, I was looking over at the laptop that the boss was surfing on and when he saw my line of sight, he was all ready to jump out of his seat to see if there was anything he could get for me. I quickly smiled and assured him otherwise. Service quality. check!

Pun totally intended :)

Just because I wanted ice cream. Early Grey for me. Very heavy on their vanilla base. Which works for me :)
Affordable prices and good quantities of ice cream. Lots of repeat visits for me and everyone else!


 Daawat Tandoori Restaurant

207 Upper Thomson Road

Yew Lian Park

Singapore 574346

Tel: 6252 4497/ 6822 3716

Standard Chartered Card Holders get 10% off total bill till 30th April 2012 and there's no service charge. :)

Chomping down at Chomps.

Haven't been here in a while. Che Jian/ Chia Keng Hokkien Mee has shifted their location to the second stall on the left hand side of the hawker centre complete with a brand new signboard. Today's beehoon didn't seem to have spent enough time in the wok to fully absorb the stock so that made it lacking in taste somewhat. Perhaps just this batch that he fried. Lard toppings were crunchy as usual with their brilliantly complementing sambal chilli that I always need an extra spoonful of.

Carrot cake was good although a little heavy on the salt and prawns fried to death from being the hot frying plate too long. I'd only order the white version at this stall though. The black version isn't as tasty as in other places I've tried. That's just my personal take on it.

Satay beehoon. Looking a lot nicer than it tastes. The serving size was pathetic at a cost of $4. And what made it worse was that it was served lukewarm. Hmm. I expected the beehoon to have been blanched once more and the satay sauce to be well heated. Expectations. Oh well.

Was good dining out with the notsolittle brother.

And Christmas IS coming right up! :)

Makes me happy just seeing this on the racks at the NTUC outlet in myVillage at Serangoon Gardens.