Twenty-three

Another year older, another year wiser :) 

This year is going to be one with so many changes - with graduation, starting work, and who knows what else? - and along with it, more experiences. This year's birthday was different, somewhat. I always make a big deal out of my own birthday, and god knows how difficult that makes things for Sam :P hahaha. I always unintentionally spoil his surprises, whoops! I'm also the one planning the entire celebration with the family (actually it's just food, haha cos I'm the foodie here right?) and I get to choose whatever I want to eat. Yay! (greedy me :P) It's never a birth-DAY for me, but rather a birth-WEEK. Hahaha. 

This year I don't know whether it's just that I can't be bothered (growing old? :O) or maybe I've mellowed, but I didn't think much about my birthday coming up as I would usually do. I like to think it's the latter ;) Perhaps with stuff going on at home and everyone just getting settled into their jobs, I didn't really expect them to have time to celebrate my birthday with me. But they did :) And it was not so much of a "celebration" but more like just a get-together with everyone and it was great! :)) I guess when you haven't seen each other in what-seems-like ages, every gathering is a celebration in itself :) Just spending time with these people makes me feel so so lucky that I have them in my life <3

Met up with the hopers finally! Since the longest time. I chose this picture because Scott insists that it looks better (probably more like because he looks better, while I look huge because I'm in the front), but since he organised this dinner and we didn't get to celebrate his birthday, so shall give it to him ;) hehe. So many things going on that are so exciting!!! Liying's first day of work, me & Mel being future colleagues (yayyy!) and both Scott & Shan's exciting news ^^ Thanks so much for dinnering on a Thursday night when most of you have work the next day! :) 

Biggest surprise of all was my "lunch with Sam" at Potato Head Folk! This was the surprise that I spoiled for him haha. And well, luckily I just conceded to go along with his plan (haha otherwise he'll get all stressed againnnn) even though I was almost ready to back out of lunch because it was so late already!!! Otherwise he'll have to drag me kicking and screaming to this place (haha kidding). And when we reached, I headed right to a two-person table before I looked ahead just slightly and got the hugest shock of my life!! :O AWW MAN :'))) Haha I couldn't stop blabbering with shock. These guys are the sweetest :)) Totally reminded me of how they surprised me at Marina Barrage like what, 3 years ago? Omg how time flies!!!! And look how far we've come since then :) THANK YOU SO MUCH <3<3<3 love y'all :') and if only Rachel was here! Just missing her to make this picture complete :) The decor of Potato Head Folk made such a great backdrop for this photo! Review will be up in a few days ^^

And YAYYYYY, they bought me exactly what I needed!! And the colour is too gorgeous. So ME. I love it! ^^ And whee I can finally get rid of my old ugly pair of slippers. Gotta thank Sam for his elaborate plan of helping to get me to the gathering and for the present idea! ;) *mwacksssss* thanks a million baby :') 

Even the exterior of Potato Head Folk looks so nice!!! We just had to grab a random stranger and ask him to take a photo for us :p 

Hee <3 And for the rest of that day, we enjoyed some really nice couple time, finally! :) This boy has been so busy with work. Which is not a bad thing, since it seems like he enjoys it! :)) Really glad that it turned out well for him <3 But also, really enjoy the times when he can put his work aside and we can have a dateeeee! We spent most of the day lazing around and chatting actually, since we hadn't had the chance to sit around and talk for the longest time! And we had dinner at Jamie's Italian ^^ One year after this place opened in Singapore, I was so excited to try it!!! I dined there last year when I was in York too :) And being so greedy as usual, I ordered quite a lot of food :P Sorry for the bad photos - I don't think you can actually see how they really look like, sigh. The lighting was just too dim. But the food was pretty good! Hehe luckily I did all my research before, and knew what to order. Their menu changes quite a bit though, so some stuff I wanted wasn't available. 

Jamie's Walnut Salad ($9.50)

This looks like an absolute mess! :'( I'm really sad okay. I couldn't even save these pictures with iPhoto. I ordered this salad because of how pretty and colourful it looked in a photo, but sigh, can't see anything here. You can take a look at the photo here instead. For $9.50, this portion of salad was tiny. It was really really little!!! And I could barely find any walnuts in it?! While it was tasty, especially with the aged balsamic dressing, I felt that it really wasn't any value for money. Thankfully, all the other dishes were really generously portioned. 

I've heard nothing but praise for the 30-day matured prime rib, but that was just too expensive for us. Instead, Sam opted for the 220g Rump Steak ($28.50), and it turned out to be pretty good too! It was a really juicy and flavourful slab marinated in its own juices - and was that a hint of red wine I tasted?  Albeit a tad tough (perhaps because it was on the skinny side), the taste fully made up for it. 

I went for the really sinful-sounding Jamie's Italian Signature Porchetta ($35). Think slow cooked pork belly that was delightfully tender, filled with a stuffing made of herbs, garlic and spices. I loved how well cooked the pork belly was (so so soft), and the cacophony of flavours that the stuffing lent to it. Halfway into the dish, I found it a bit too flavourful though, especially with the equally savoury fennel crackling on the side. Perhaps more pork and less stuffing would have been a better balance. 

It was hilarious how Sam & I had the exact same reservations about ordering Jool's Favourite Sicilian Tuna Fusilli ($14/$21) because of our bad experience of pasta in Sicily :P This dish came highly recommended in all the reviews I read though! And we were really pleasantly surprised by it! The spicy tuna sauce was a refreshing contrast from the meaty main courses we'd ordered and helped to cleanse our palate in between dishes. We ordered the tasting portion and felt that it was quite a lot already! 

Although we were already like 90% full by the end of all that food, I still went ahead and got dessert :P After hearing so much about the Epic Brownie ($11.50), I simply couldn't resist! And it certainly lived up to expectations :D  A warm, fudge brownie - this was so sinful and so good. Can't imagine eating it alone though. And I could have done without the almond ice cream. Yucky. But then again, I'm just biased. I would still order the brownie again if I come back.

Despite the fact that this restaurant has been in town for a year, Jamie Oliver's reputation obviously has kept its popularity on high. The restaurant was packed when we were there and I doubt there is any room for walk-ins. Reservations should be made a couple of weeks in advance!

Jamie's Italian
Vivocity #01-167
Tel.: +65 6733 5500
Sun-Thu 12pm-10pm
Fri & Sat 12pm-11pm

Trattoria Gallo D'oro

I had the pleasure of having quite a number of fantastic meals right before i flew off to Europe in early june. this post is obviously quite overdue, but i'm so excited to write about it! (the other restaurant was Shelter in the Woods, check it out if you haven't!)

started off with the amuse bouche, which was a simple bruschetta that whet our appetite for the rest of the meal to come.

because we were there for zhen's birthday, the lady boss/manager kindly gifted us with a glass of prosecco to kickstart our meal! the crisp wine cleansed our palate and went perfectly well with the amuse bouche.

we were really lucky that day because the restaurant had just flown in a fresh batch of scallops, and the waitress was so excited about this that we just had to order it! the Croccantino di Capesante ($32) was a row of plump scallops that were bathed in a balsamic vinaigrette and finished with a caramelised carrot/pumpkin (too long ago to rmb) that added a touch of sweetness to the acidity of the sauce. 

one of my favourite dishes has to be the Tagliolini Bella Vista ($48) which was a lobster meat squid ink pasta. the sauce was packed with flavour from the lobster juices and tomato base, finished off with a tinge of spiciness. there was a generous amount of meat from the lobster, and its fluffy texture complemented the springy al dente pasta.

perhaps the only dish we felt was a slight letdown was the Osso Bucco ($38), which is a very traditional italian dish. very typical of how italians prepare their food, the focus was on the natural flavours of the meat. the braised veal was stewed in the natural veal jus, and was so tender it easily yielded with a fork. perhaps because we had it after the pasta though, it felt as though the taste paled in comparison.

the Florentina ($120) was a whopping 700g slab of meat - bones excluded. which was really really HUGE by any standards. this, was the crowning glory of our meal. seared on the outside, with a light hand of salt and pepper, the chef deftly coaxed the essence out of the meat, allowing the quality of the meat to speak for itself. topped with a few sprigs of rosemary, this was easily one of the BEST florentine steaks i've ever had. 

What i really enjoyed about dining in this restaurant (and Shelter in the Woods as well!), was how they seemed to effortlessly fulfil the sacred trinity of ambience, service and food. it wasn't stuffily high-end by any means (albeit pricier than a usual meal), and had a wonderfully cosy interior, with the walls adorned by art pieces by the chef himself - and yet, the service was top notch. we had the most personal experience from the lady boss/manager herself (lucky for us because there were not many patrons that evening), who came by on a regular basis to check on us, tell us more about the restaurant and dishes and offer her recommendations on wine pairings. the waitress too, was very personable and attentive, and extremely well-versed with the dishes (she was able to identify and describe to us a very obscure tiny ingredient in the dish which we were curious about). the food? definitely satisfying. Trattoria Gallo D'oro had just undergone a change in management, and we were one of the lucky few to be the first to experience it! :)

Trattoria Gallo D'oro

Central Mall, Magazine Road #01-03

Tel.: +65 6438 8131

Mon-Sat 12pm-3pm, 6.30pm-11pm 

Closed on Sunday