Dim Sum Lunch @ Royal China

Finaly brought my parents out for lunch on National Day.  I had not done that for a while, not because i did not want to, but mum always said that she ws tired to go out.

We decided on Dim Sum, since they did not know how to appreciate western food, be it French or Italian or American.  I brought them to Royal China in Raffles Hotel, since that I thought Royal China is the best Dim Sum and they have tried Lei Garden.

Royal China was very crowded on a public holiday.  You could see old folks at many tables, and mum commented that it was quite pitiful to be old, because could only wait for holiday for their children to bring them out...Hmmm

We started our lunch with the heavenly egg tarts.  Other than those in Hong Kong, the egg tarts in Royal China would be the best that you could find in Singapore.  I thought that the egg tarts today were a little less warm, maybe they waited a while before they served, unlike weekdays, where they served it to you immediately.

Char Siew Can Pao.  Special of the Day

Har Kaw.  I think they are one of the best haw kaws in Singapore.  Thin skin that melt in your mouth, fresh and crunchy prawns, served steaming hot!

Chives Dumpling.  Can taste the chives freshness and fragance, the skin is thin and smooth.

Zha Leong - Fried Fritters wrapped with Chee Cheong Fun.  Crispy in the inside, smooth and soft on the outside!  Yummy!  Not many places had this, so if you are here, must try!

Siew Mai.  Somehow they changed their Siew Mai's look everytime i come.  The last time i came here, the top had a big prawn as a decoration.  This time the prawn was missing, replaced by a Guo Ji Zi..

Special Royal China Chee Cheong Fun.  It has 3 ingredients, scallops, char siew and prawns!  Very tasty, though i find it a bit salty.

Wu Kok.  Fried Yam Balls.  Usually the fillings were meat and some green peas.  For Royal China, they used scallops!  Love the combination.

Fried Beef Hor Fun (干炒牛河).  A bit oily, but it was very tasty.  The beef was tender, and the hor fun was smooth, and you can taste the generous portion of bean sprouts, which took the oiliness away.

Overall:  9/10
Royal China
1 Beach Road #03-09 Raffles Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6338 3363

The Battle of the Pork Knuckles

I did not think that it was such a good idea afterall, so please do not follow what I did- I had German Pork Knuckles and beer for 2 consecutive nights!!!  Yes, the deep fried, crispsy, oily, dripping with excess and unwanted calories, yet super duper yummy, German Pork Knuckles.

Let's compare the 2 pork knuckles that I had.  The first one was from baden Restaurant & Pub in Holland V, and the second one was from Brauhaus in United Square.

Both were served with Sauerkraut, which means sour cabbage.   The process of making was similiar to making pickled cucmbers and kimchim using lacto-fermentation.  I think it complemented the pork knuckle very well with the little sourish flavour, take away the oiliness from the knuckles.

Both pork knuckles were fried to golden brown, with crispy skin.  And under neath the skin, you could see the thick layer of fats...

The difference was in the potatoes.  Baden's potatoes were baked, while Brauhaus's were boiled.  I prefer the boiled version.  However, the Baden's version had salad to go with it, made you less guilty haha..

The main difference that separate the 2 was the beer.  In Baden, they served German light lager, while in Brauhaus, you can order from a wide selection of beer, and I chose the Belgium fruity beer.  Their beer were pricy, each beer (about 330ml) cost between $10-$13.  Well, I guess you have to pay a price for choices.

Price wise, Baden would be a better bet.  We had 8 mugs of 500ml beer, 1 pork knuckle and the total damage was S$100; While in Brauhas, 4 bottles of fruity beer, 1 pork knuckle and 1 dozen of escargots set you back by $131.  So i would definitely recommned Baden if you want a fix for the pork knuckles and beer without damaging your pocket.

Ambience. 
Baden is the typical pub ambience, and Brauhaus supposed to have a better ambience since it was neat the fountain.  However, I was visited by 2 roaches that totally killed the mood!!  I don't think i will return to there soon..

Baden Restaurant & Pub
42 Lorong Mambong Holland Village Singapore

Tel: +65 6463 8127


Brauhaus
101 Thomson Road #B1-13/14 United Square Singapore

Tel: +65 6250 3116

Gunther's (without flash!)

Gunther's belongs to the same group as Garibaldi, which is just next door.  It seems to be a notch higher than Garibalid from what I have heard a lot about Gunther's.  Friends who have tried, food reviews and food bloggers had mostly given rave reviews about it.  Most of them said that Gunther's is a must try, served good quality food.  Of course, it is almost very expensive, and they recommended lunch, unless your pocket can afford it.

Finally it was my turn to try Gunther's!  And i chose to go for lunch instead, since it was quite a value at $38+++, and also i did not want to burn a big hole in my pocket.  I made a reservation for 1230pm lunch, and they called the same morning to confirm my reservation.

Upon entering the restaurant, S & I were greeted by friendly staff, and we were shown to our table.  And the table stood there to help you to pull out your chair, and also with your napkin.  Ok, service pass.  The next question was the standard question that you would get in any upmarket Italian or French restaurant "Sparkling or Still?"  When i am in the mood to spend $10 for water, I will say "Sparkling".  If not, I will usually pass, and asked for "Ice Water" later.  You get the same kind of sparkling water for $2 in super market, not sure why I need to pay 5 times more in a restaurant. 

When the water was served, the captain pushed out a trolley with the "Special of the Day", which include a live lobster, a musk melon from Japan, an huge Japanese Oysters, among many others weird looking fish.
We skipped all these, and focused on the set lunch instead.  I was not happy with my photo this time, as I forgot to bring my external flash.  The place was just too dim to have proper lightings for the photo...sigh
Set lunch includes a starter, a main, dessert and coffee/tea.

For starter, you can choose from
Ravioli foie gras, bordelaise

Scramble egg, smoked salmon
Chilled gazpacho

Main:
Gunther’s creation - Today's creation was grilled fish

Coquille pasta, summer vegetables, Scarmoza cheese
Grilled striploin, béarnaise

Dessert of the Day:
Yogurt Raspberry icecream

We went for Ravioli foie gras, bordelaise and Chilled gazpacho as we thought that smoked salmon was common available elsewhere.

Chilled gazpacho.  Tasty, the black thing which taste salty gave the soup a nice flavour.  Chill and smooth, good way to start your meal.

Ravioli foie gras, bordelaise. 

Today's creation:  Grilled Fish.  The skin was crispy and not oily.  There was not any hint of fishy taste or smell.  However, I thought that the display was a bit messy.  I was expecting more creative display since it is Gunther's.

Grilled striploin, béarnaise.  The beef was tender and the display was more interesting in terms of colour.  The strip of corns gave the beef a bright yellow look. 

Dessert

The canelé that looked like a cylinder had a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. I found the crust a bit too hard for my liking.  The financier was a bit hard too.  Probably i just loved my dessert soft.

Coffee.  The coffee was served in a traditional Belgium cup.  Coffee was fantasic, strong and nice aroma.

Overall:  8/10 for the value.  I expected more from Gunther's, but well, maybe it was lunch, and the best was saved for dinner.

Recommended for romantic candle light dinner.  Not recommended for photo taking of food.

Address: 36 Purvis Street #01-03 Talib Centre Singapore

Tel: +65 6338 8955

Dinner @ Garibaldi (No photo!)

This is one of the few occassions that I wish I have a PNS.  I know that I am going to Garibaldi for dinner, however, I am also out of office the whole day for client meeting, and it looked really stupid to carry my handbag, laptop bag and camera bag.  So in the end, I give up the idea of bringing the camera, and to enjoy my dinner.

The last time I went to Garibaldi was at least 5 years ago.  I organised a gathering with my Uni folks, and we decided on Garibaldi.  I couldn't remember how was the food, all i remembered was that we had a big group of us, including a baby.  My classmate did not know that it was a up market restaurant, and she brought her baby!  The waiters were staring at us for making so much noise, (12 people's laughter + 1 baby's cry) distrubing those people who are trying to enjoy their candlelight dinner!

We started the dinner with some sweet italian wine, which i thought tasted like Sparkling water.  We wanted to order the PROSCIUTTO (Finest "Pio Tosini" Parma Ham with Traditional Romagna Fried Dough) for starter, because V and I liked Parma Ham.  However, the waiter suggested to have the Parma Ham with Mozzarella Cheese instead, so we went with his suggestion.  Parma Ham was tender and frangant, and it went perfectly with the wild rocket, but the Mozzarella Cheese was normal.  The complimentary bread was soft and warm, but the pumpkin mash was too weird for my palatte.

Mains:
I had the CAPELLINI - Angel Hair Pasta with Half Spiny Lobster, Sweet Peas and Tomato Sauce and V had the SPAGHETTI - Spaghetti with Seasonal Seafood & Fresh Tomatoes.

I always like Angel Hair Pasta for its softness, it can absorb all the gravy, for those who love the crunchy feel, it may be a bit too soggy for them.

The speaghetti was very generous with the seafood, but V said that it was a bit too hard.

Desserts:
TIRAMISU’ - Tiramisu with Homemade Lady-Finger Biscuits, Licorice Scented Mascarpone Cream
SEMIFREDDO - Chocolate and Hazelnut Parfait “Piedmont” Style
Tiramisu was ok, just thought that not enough liquor.  The Semifreddo tasted like chocolate biscuits haha..We completed the dinner with coffee..

Overall:  7/10
Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar

36 Purvis Street #01-02
Singapore 188613
Tel: (65) 6837 1468 Fax: (65) 6337 3770

Les Bouchons Rive Gauche - GT's birthday

We went to Les Bouchons Rive Gauche at Robertson Quay to celeebrate GT's birthday.  GT always talked aboout the fries of Les Bouchons, he said that they were made of real potatoes.  While I was checking it up at HGW, the rating was kind of low, main complaint was the service.  Nevertheless, we went there since GT likes the fries.

The reservation was at 7pm.  I reached there at 645pm, wanted to go in, and was stopped by the waitress.  She told me cooly, "Sorry, we are open at 7pm"  "Can i go in and wait?" "No! Maybe you can go to the wine cafe nearby?"  Alright, I gave up, so i went near the river to take a stroll, and went back to the restaurant at 7pm.  GT was already there when i reached, and to my surprise, he was allowed "entry" at 650pm!  Ahhh..so much about service..

One of the sauce to go with, the rest were mustards.

Salad

Look at the golden chunky fries!  They were really nice, crispy on the outside, and soft in the inside!

Creme Brulee, which doubled up as the birthday cake as they did not have any cakes.  The disadvantage was that the creme brulee was soft, such that the candle became wobbly, and you had to blow the candle really fast!  The birthday boy was really fast, before I could sing a sentence of the birthday song or take photo, he blew the candle!!  We finished with coffee, that was served with chocolate.  I would not return for the steaks, I found it normal for the price that I had to pay, the fries were good though.  But then again, would i return to pay $32.90 for fries?  The wine list was not extensive, and the price was on the high side.  Ambience was good though.  It was a very relaxing night to sit outdoor, facing the river.  The icing on the cake was the nice and cool weather.  Having said that, there were a couple of restaurants near the river that would have the same ambience.  I would recommend Aston for better value steak..

Overall:  6.5/10

Les Bouchons Rive Gauche

41 Robertson Quay, #01-01.

Tel: 6733-4414

Opening Hours

Lunch: Noon – 2pm
Dinner: 7pm – 10pm
(Closed on Sun)

Brunch at Spruce

Polo & I met for brunch, and we decided to check out Spruce.  Ibanker was supposed to join us, and she was the one who gave us the date.  However, last minute, she stood us up again, said that she needed to go to Kluang with her bf.  Well, this was not the first time anyway, and we have decided that we would still go ahead without her :-)

Spruce is hidden at Tanglin Road, Phoenix Park and I took a taxi there so as to ensure that I could find the place.  The place was packed on a Saturday morning, and it was a bit noisy as there was a table of 6 beside us, chatting loudly.  It was better after they left.  There were indoor and outdoor seating, and we chose the indoor because of the weather, but the outdoor had nice atmosphere too.

We went for the Crab Cake Benny - Crabcake, Poached Egg, Smoked Bacon and Hollandaise, recommended by my Lao Si, and also the Spruce Big Brekkie, which consisted of Eggs (Scrambled, Poached or Sunny Side Up) Bacon, German Sausage, Roasted Tomato, Roasted Potato, Mushrooms and Foccacia Toast.  I asked for an over easy instead.  I enjoyed the Spruce Big Brekkie more than the European in Wild Honey, probably was because of the juicy German Sausage, which seems to be ideal match to the potato and mushrooms.

Crab Cake Benny

Polo was very cooperative, removed the greens so that I can close up on the bacons :-)

Spruce Big Brekkie

We had a lot of fun, catching up, admiring the photo from Polo's Europe trip.  It was a pity that she forgot to load her wedding photo into her lappy, but well, we can meet again :-)

We were fighting over the bill, and she won, said that it was her treat for my birthday, and the next one will be on me :-)  We will bring YY here when she is back ;-)

Spruce
320 Tanglin Road

Singapore 247980
Tel:  6836 5528
Open Weekdays 10:30am-10:30pm; Weekends 8:30am-10:30pm
http://www.spruce.com.sg/

Belated Birthday Dinner - Astons Specialisties

Please do not be alarm!  Yes, I am still having my birthday feast, though this it now belated.  This time, i checked out Aston Specialisties with my cell members.

We were supposed to be there at 7pm, but Auntie was 20 minutes late and plus the bad jam at PIE, we were 30 minutes late.  Poor Lena & Lynne had to endure people who were eyeing their table staring at them.  I chose the Aston at Katong, because this was the best out of all the Astons.  However, Auntie was not too happy with my choice, because Katong is notorious for parking.  We managed to find a lot, but she gave it up as she did not know how to parallel park.  So we parked at a private estate instead, and Auntie said that could save some money.  This was also why Auntie was called Auntie.  Though she was the youngest among us, she behaved like an auntie.  She haggled over 10 cents, lazy and favourite activity was to be a couch potato.  In summary, she did not behave at her age!

Wine for the night.  This was a strategic move to order wine, to prevent more stares!  So Lena ordered wine to buy some time..Aston's price was reasonable, $32 for a bottle of wine, quite reasonable.

We had the same dish, Ribeye Steak.  The only difference was the side dishes.  At $16.90 for Ribeye Prime Cut, you could choose 2 sides, either hot or cold.  The sides were the usual baked potato, baked beans, salad, greens, onion rings, french fries, mashed potatos.  Food was decent, given the price that we paid.  Total damage was $105.  Very reasonable.

We had a shock when we reached the car.  I saw a piece of paper sticked on the window, and when we walked closer, we saw that the car wheel was clamped!  A security guard came over to tell Auntie that she parked at private property, in order for him to unlock the clamp, she had to pay $100!!!    That was almost the price of the dinner!!!  From the summon, the car was clamped at 1950Hr, and we arrived at 1930Hr, they were really very viligant to clamp down the wheels!


119/121 East Coast Road
(Opposite Katong Mall)
Tel: 6247 7857