Time to Chi11ax

there is something about the last semester in school that feels different. week 11 of school and here we are, taking 2 luxurious hours off school to indulge in French cuisine ;)

fine dining restaurants are out of my league - while i love good food, i can't bring myself to spend thaaaat much money on it, at least now when i'm not earning any money yet. and that's where Restaurant Week comes in! (: from $25++, you get to enjoy a set meal at typically pricier restaurants that gives you way more mileage than the amount you pay for. 

i've known of the existence of Restaurant Week for pretty long already (several years probably?), but for some reason which i can never comprehend, it just never occurred to me to sign up for it! O.o really glad that this time i finally had my virgin Restaurant Week experience (and a second time the very next day!) thanks to jiayee who asked all of us to go together ^^ what's better than having good food, is having good food + AWESOME COMPANY haha. makes the dining experience so much more enjoyable (: and it was pretty hilarious in fact :P hope we didn't embarrass ourselves oops. 

the set menu at Taratata Bistrot looked super enticing, and i'm so glad for my enthusiastic foodie friends who immediately suggested us ordering every single option to share ^^ perks of dining in a group, yay!! and i absolutely loved every single dish we had (:

every time i put snails in my mouth, i give myself a pat on the back. haha still quite amazed at the things i eat sometimes (but i don't think i'll go any further than this anyway). Demie-douzalne d'Escargots au Beurre d'Ail Persillé. man, i love french. i should probably have pressed on further to learn the language better, but that was four years ago already (again, wow!), and all i mustered was a smattering of nouns when i was in Nice last year. whoops! maybe it's time to practice the language again before i head to Brussels in June ^^

anyway, i digress as usual :P this was an amazingly fragrant dish. the pungent aroma of herbed garlic butter whet our appetites immediately, and it was a delicious starter to pave the way for the rest of our dinner.

the Baked Eggs Casserole with Duck Gizzard Confit and Mushrooms was a hit-and-miss dish at our table. guess you either love it or hate it. and...i loved it! :) perhaps what you might find unpalatable about this dish is the flavour of the liver. but it tasted just like foie gras to me! and i LOVE foie gras. meltingly soft, the duck dissolved on my tongue, and i felt the liver taste was pretty mild tbh! i detest stuff like pig liver and innards with a passion, but i felt this was really manageable (: 

the Pan Roasted Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin in Mustard Sauce was super well-received! i would say one portion of this for two people to share definitely wasn't enough :P it was tiny! but packed with flavour. loved how the pork was so delightfully tender and the sauce was really flavourful with tangy notes. 

i was pretty sceptical about the Salmon Coulibiac with Watercress Butter Sauce. i hate watercress! :x and i knew Sam would never order anything that sounded like this, when there was the Kurobuta pork as an alternative! :P hahaha. but turned out that i quite liked it actually! it was a baked salmon in a puff pastry (and you know i love anything pastry), and the sauce was creamy without being overwhelming. and there was no taste of watercress. phew!

and the pièce de résistance - DESSERT!!!! :D we all had one portion of this to ourselves. no choice here. and i'm so glad we did! it was absolutely delicious ^^ i would totally come back for this!! though i warn you that it's REALLY RICH (and sinful haha). A delicious crisp croustade encasing smooth, lusciously rich molten chocolate. the chocolate was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. it could put many molten chocolate cakes out there to shame. this was thick, yet with just the perfect viscosity such that it rolled over our tongues and coated it with decadence. just the right balance of bittersweetness (though it was a little too much after awhile. but i wouldn't complain haha) and simply bursting with flavour! it came with a caramel sauce drizzled on top and a really interesting ginger bread ice cream on the side. i was surprised by the ice cream! it was super delicious - thankfully without a strong ginger taste, but rather, more cinnamon-y. i loved it! it was really an explosion of flavours though. perhaps a tad too rich after awhile. but still, LOVE IT.

Taratata Bistrot
35A Keong Saik Road
Tel.: +65 6221 4506

also, i managed to squeeze in a mani/pedi at Ladyfinger that week too! ^^

loving my simple, but pretty toenails after the service! decided to give my fingernails a break because they started chipping (AGAIN) after i went for a gel manicure somewhere else :'( does anyone experience the same problem?? this is the second time it happened, but i never had a problem with gel manis previously.

what i was really happy about after the pedicure though, were my super duper smooth heels! :O look at that!!!!! :) i've had a thick patch of dead skin at my heels for as long as i can remember (probably because of my excessive use of flip flops :P) and i tried to smooth it out with scrubs, pumice stones, lots of moisturising, but nothing ever worked. i remember the my nail therapist being really hard at work scrubbing at my soles, but i just thought "oh well, it's never going to work. i already tried so hard."

I was wrong. and utterly amazed!! :D i've really got to put in more effort to keep it this way though! looking forward to my next pedi already hehe. for those who would like a really pampering treatment, remember to check out the awesome deal that Ladyfinger has extended to my readers as well! (:

1. Purchase both Classic Manicure & Pedicure @ $68 and get a *free* Anti-Aging & Rejuvenating Collagen Mask Treatment (choice of either hands or feet) (worth $26.75 for hands and $32.10 for feet)

T&Cs:
- prices are inclusive of 7% GST
- readers must flash this blog post & quote "thelittlemomentsofmylife" to enjoy the offer
- valid from 10 Mar 2014 - 9 June 2014 at all outlets
- not applicable on eve of Public holiday & Public holiday
- strictly by appointment only 

2. *STUDENT DEAL* With every purchase of a Classic Manicure @ $19.26, students get the option to top up for the Anti-Aging & Rejuvenating Collagen Mask Treatment @ $16.05 (U.P. $26.75)

T&Cs:
- prices are inclusive of 7% GST
- readers must flash this blog post & quote "thelittlemomentsofmylife" to enjoy the offer
- valid from 10 Mar 2014 - 9 June 2014, Mon-Fri 11am-5pm at all outlets
- not applicable on weekends eve of Public holiday & Public holiday
- only valid upon presentation of a valid student card
- strictly by appointment only 

you can read my previous post to find out what the collagen mask treatment was about!