Showing posts with label Dining.CityHall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dining.CityHall. Show all posts

Saturday, 14 February 2015

Restaurant Sela

Celebrated papa’s birthday last month with a yummy meal at Restaurant Sela. I love how birthdays are such a great reason for celebration! :) And what’s a better way than to bond over some good food and wine ^^ Restaurant Sela impressed right from the beginning when I called to make a reservation, and continued to do so throughout our experience there.

I didn’t manage to get a photograph of the ciabatta ($3) that we started with, but they were the loveliest little pillows of bread ever! Perhaps I should just mention a tiny quibble we had, which was the amount of time the food took to prepare, which they only informed us only when we were ordering our food. But thankfully the bread helped to quell my growling tummy. It was so fluffy and warm, we couldn’t get enough of it!

There was a good variety of options on the menu. I was the only one who opted for a seafood dish because all the meats were snapped up in an instant. The Baked Miso Chilean Seabass ($28) was one of the best fish I’ve eaten! It tasted way more luxurious than it seemed, with a texture and flavour of codfish. The skin of the fish was lightly charred to perfection, and seemed to have a touch of caramelised balsamic to it (though it could well have been the miso that I tasted). It was bathed in a sake broth and was complemented with a generous serving of clams.

Sam ordered the Beef Tenderloin ($42) and I’m so glad that I’ve taught him to share ;) It was soooo good. Cooked to medium doneness, the interior was a beautiful pink that looked absolutely inviting. It was tender, and packed a punch with its delicious flavour.

Mummy had the Slow Braised Pork Belly ($28) that was almost melt-in-your mouth and achieved the delicate balance between fat and meat. We loved the fragrance of the apple risotto, which had a lightness that is almost non-existent in typical risottos. The Granny Smith chips on the side were an interesting touch, though I was a tad let down that it wasn’t crispy.

Zhen ordered the monster Australian T-Bone Steak ($58) which was a whopping 400gms, excluding the bone, I believe! It was a massive portion. And despite the fact that it was all sliced up (perfect for the lazy ones), the meat retained its juiciness. The caramelized onions that came with it were simply addictive and possibly stole the limelight from the meat! Just kidding. But they were really good.

Finally, papa had the Herb Crusted Lamb Rack ($32). This took a long, long time to arrive at our table. The rest of us were nearly done with our mains when it finally arrived! And the rest of our dishes had already taken a good 20-30min, so you can imagine how long this took. But it was well worth the wait. Though I’m not a fan of lamb, I could tell that this was a dish that was executed with flair. According to papa, it was incredibly tender, and the flavours were amazing.

As we were celebrating a birthday, the restaurant not only helped us to serve the cake, but also presented papa with a dessert, with compliments from them! They made a point to ask for his name when I made the reservation and wished him ‘happy birthday’ personally. Plus they gave us a couple of concessions, which we really appreciated :) Little touches of good service this does go a long way!

This new restaurant has potential, and despite it being a mere half year old, it has garnered spectacular reviews since its opening. Time to place this on your radar as the newest hotspot to check out next.

Restaurant Sela
32 Seah Street
Tel.: +65 6337 6358
Mon-sat Lunch 11.30am-2.30pm
6.30pm-11pm

Thursday, 2 January 2014

Nam Nam Noodle Bar

hi!! (: okay this is kinda lame, because i only tried one dish in this restaurant, but i loved it so much i have to write about it anyway!! (: i've been wanting to try NamNam for the longest time, since i fell in love with vietnamese food after trying it in vietnam. but the queue here is always so long! good thing is that we went there before the dinner crowd, and so we managed to get a seat very easily! (: but i really don't like the layout of this place because it's super cramped!!! there was literally no space for anything on us except ourselves. ended up putting our bags on the floor :( there is barely enough space to walk! haha weiling was commenting that it's kinda like the roadside stalls in vietnam lol :P haha quite.

but the food more than made up for it!!! (: both of us went for the pho beef steak slices ($8.90), and it was soooo good!! of course not to the standard in vietnam, but it's definitely one of the best in singapore that i've tried! ^^ the soup broth was robust and so tasty! and there was quite a nice portion of beef slices in it. i always love how pho seems so healthy! i can never understand how the vietnamese can make something as bland-tasting as rice noodles taste SO GOOD. i absolutely love it!! 

and also loved all the various condiments on the side that we could add to our food ^^ i added a little bit of fish sauce, which was probably not necessary since the soup was tasty enough and i added so little that i couldn't taste the fish sauce anyway :p but i super loved the chili that is meant for pho (it's written on the bottle). it went so perfectly with the whole bowl of goodness :)) a match made in heaven :)

i would love to come back and try the banh mi sometime! it's like the vietnamese version of subway hehe. looks yummeh!!! 

Nam Nam Noodle Bar
Raffles City #B1-47
Tel.: +65 6336 0500 
Daily 8am-10pm

Monday, 11 March 2013

Sun Japanese Restaurant

I'm kinda running out of ideas for new japanese restaurants already :p at least those that aren't exorbitantly expensive. this place was kinda on the pricey end of the scale but it's good for a nice celebration :) and though it's more expensive than normal, but not too crazy... (btw anyone who has recommendations for any nice jap restaurants that aren't on my blog yet, please suggest k! hehe)

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i realised we tend to order quite the same dishes in jap restaurants wherever we go :p haha. started off with the sun sashimi salad ($18). a bunch of greens topped with some sashimi and roe! yummmmz! :) i wish there was more sashimi though :p but loved the sauce! :) it had a tinge of wasabi in it that gave such a satisfying kick ;)

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we ordered two kinds of sushi, one was the avocado soft shell roll ($10 for 4pcs) which is a crispy soft shell crab sushi roll wrapped with fresh avocado slices. i liked how the healthy avocado complemented the fried crab.

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the other sushi was the spicy aburi salmon roll ($11 for 4pcs) which i really liked! it is a crab, avocado and asparagus sushi roll covered with flame-seared salmon and topped with spicy mayonnaise :)

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we wanted something hot to eat as well, so we ordered the salmon and saba teriyaki steak ($29). this was a dish well done, with the fish nicely glazed with just the right amount of teriyaki sauce :) and it was grilled to a decent texture, just so that it still remained fluffy.

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for the beef sukiyaki, you can choose either australian wagyu ($29) or japanese wagyu ($39). it was quite interesting how there was quite little soup at the beginning, but the longer it boiled, the more soup there was, from the water from the veggies and all! and the flavours came together beautifully in a sweet-savoury combination.

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one gripe i would have about this place is that the portions are rather small, making it not so value-for-money. but that gave us the chance to order more dishes ;) for something healthy, go for the kani tamago toji ($18) which is fresh crab meat, mixed mushrooms and spinach simmered with egg gravy on a hotplate. this was surprisingly tasty, and had a nice homey feeling :)

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the soft shell crab tempura ($16) was done decently :) nice and crisp with a light batter.

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and to end off, i really enjoyed our desserts! :) we ordered the milk ice & brownie ($7) and matcha tiramisu ($7). actually i wanted to order the tofu cheesecake, but i needn't have to as the matcha tiramisu was layered with what seemed like the cream cheese used in tofu cheesecake as well which was absolutely decadent, yet less sinful than its western counterpart ^^ and LOVED LOVED LOVED the green tea sponge - although would have been better if it had even more green tea flavour heh. the brownie was awesome as well, very chocolately and went well with the ice cream on top :)

Sun Japanese Dining 
30 Victoria Street, Chijmes #02-01
Tel.: +65 6336 3166
Lunch: 12pm-3pm daily
Dinner: 6.30pm-11pm (Mon-Sat)
6pm-10.30pm (Sun & PH)

Tuesday, 25 December 2012

Park Palace

Decked in opulent red fabrics and dark wood furniture, Park Palace exudes an allure of Chinese royalty. Beautiful lanterns hanging from the ceiling are the only simple decorations that adorn the restaurant, and the spotlights cast a pretty glow on the pristine white tables and crockery that warmly invites you into the meal.
The menu is extensive, with pages of Chef’s recommendations to choose from, among many others. The double-boiled soups sound scrumptious from their descriptions, but do call at least one day before to find out what’s on the menu as these soups have to be prepared in advance. Definitely worth your while, by the sound of it!


To tantalize your tastebuds before the main meal, take your pick from the list of appetizers. We recommend the deep-fried diced fish with chef’s special spicy sauce ($10). A delicately crispy, caramelized batter lovingly cocoons fish meat that is so fresh, it’s almost as if it was just plucked from the ocean and served to you.

It is the little touches that make your experience at Park Palace a memorable one. The house special soup ($12), for instance, is served in an adorable mini teapot. The double boiled clear soup has a rich flavour of ginseng, but is balanced out nicely with the meat, such that the strong tastes of ginseng doesn’t overwhelm. Do not forget to scoop out the goodness in the pot at the end! The black chicken, pork and longans are tender from being boiled for hours, and encapsulate the essence of the soup.

Do ask your server for the daily or weekly specials during your visit. Prepared from the freshest seasonal ingredients personally selected by the chef himself, you can be guaranteed of the quality of these dishes. Take the braised king scallop with mushroom and asparagus for instance. The scallop is so tender and succulent that it simply melts in your mouth and the flavour develops and strengthens with each bite.

Another special dish is the hairy crab roe noodles. Lusciously eggy sauce smothered over smooth noodles, it is a homely dish that warms your senses.

One of the must-tries at Park Palace is their roast duck ($24). Done to perfection, the skin is so crisp that it crackles satisfyingly in your mouth. Juicy, with just the right amount of fat, the duck goes well when paired with the sweet and sour plum sauce that is served on the side.

Finally, end off your meal on a light note, with a gorgeously presented dessert – the chilled mango cream topped with vanilla ice cream and oats served in a coconut ($8) sounds like mouthful, but you really do want to get everything in a single spoonful! It is a delicious combination of tastes and textures. A feast for the eyes with it’s arresting appearance, the velvety ice cream blends together wonderfully with the coconut ice shavings, and the oats provide a surprisingly agreeable crunch that tops this dessert off.

Also try the hashima with red dates and lotus seeds ($12). It slides down your throat with the fluidity of jelly, and the cored red dates demonstrate the conscientiousness of  Park Palace - they make sure that their diners can eat with convenience.

*This is an article i wrote for reserveit.sg (: Try out their online reservation service, and you can check out more articles there!

Park Palace 
Grand Park City Hall Hotel, Mezzanine Level
Tel.: +65 6432 5888
Mon-Sun: 11.30am-2.30pm
6.30pm-10.30pm

Friday, 16 September 2011

Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant

ohmygosh. this must be one of the most decadent chinese lunches i've ever eaten!! hahaha. i felt like i was eating some sort of wedding dinner-esque kind of lunch. no need for introductions here. it is WAH LOK CANTONESE RESTAURANT in carlton hotel. okay fine, i should probably introduce it a little since they were so nice to us (: (: wah lok is one of the pioneers to introduce authentic cantonese cuisine into singapore! the plush opulent interior can be likened to stepping into one of those grand chinese palace dining rooms. we felt like royalty! the restaurant is famous for its cantonese dim sum and quintessential, authentic cantonese cuisine.

we started off with the bo lo bao, which is one of my favourite dim sum dishes. the bun was soft and fluffy with a thin delicately sweet crusty top which broke easily when we bit into it. the charsiew inside was simply delicious, very soft, with just the right amount of fat and lovely sauce, such that it melted in the mouth.


the next dish, braised shark's fin wrapped with egg white dumpling in superior soup was probably the most interesting sharks fin dish i've ever tasted! for the first time, the shark's fin wasn't found inside the soup itself! the soup was a heartwarming thick chicken broth that was fragrant and tasty. the shark's fin was encased in the thin egg white dumpling, and mind you, it was a very generous amount of shark's fin!

the baked cod fish wrapped in banana leaf with chef's sauce is one of the best fish i've ever eaten!!!! :D save for the fact that it had a ton of bones in it (i would have definitely preferred a fillet), the fish was delicious. it had a slightly smoky flavour from the baking, and the sauce seemed kinda caramelized, which added a lovely taste to the fish, which was really soft and perfectly done (:

the braised homemade beancurd with vegetables was a very simple and homely dish which i loved. i tried it in another restaurant (which i didn't review...argh! kill me xP) and it was equally lovely (:

the fried rice with diced preserved meat was so fragrant, that once it arrived at my seat, the flavour just wooshed into my olfactory senses! haha i'm trying to sound cheem, but i think i just failed. anywayyy, it tasted as good as it smelled. every mouthful of rice was full of the lovely aroma and flavour. it was just delicious!

we ended off the meal with the baked custard pastry and osmanthus cake. i liked the crusty pastry with the smooth custard inside. and the osmanthus cake had a really interesting flowery flavour that ended off meal perfectly with on a lightly sweet note (:

JUST AWESOME. :D

Wah Lok Cantonese Restaurant
Carlton Hotel, Level 2
Tel.: +65 6311 8188/ 8189
Mon-Fri 11.30am - 2.30pm
6.30pm - 10.30pm
Sat, Sun & PH 11am - 2.30pm
6.30pm - 10.30pm

Wednesday, 17 August 2011

Skinny Pizza

yippee! finally i got the chance to try skinny pizza!!! it's so ex, so i've been waiting to eat with my family, although it's so near school :P teehee. i'm so excited to talk about it! i really loved the crispy crusty pizza (: (: yummy!! oh btw, if you're hungry, be prepared that you have to wait 20min for the pizza!

all the pizzas came with a paper-thin base that was airy and beautifully crisp. you could hardly hold it with your fingers cos the crust just broke to pieces really easily. the first pizza we ordered was the meatball napolitana ($23), which consisted of jumbo juicy beef meatballs atop a bed of sweated onion, herbs, spices and parmesan cheese, with a yummy neapolitan-style tomato sauce. the beef balls were pretty juicy and although i felt that it could have been covered with more sauce, i guess its cos the paper-thin crust probably couldnt take the sogginess! haha (: the lack of sauce was perfectly justified by the crispness of the crust.


the smoked turkey swiss ($25) was a really interesting combination of smoked turkey ham, emmental cheese and blueberry compote (: i loved how the blueberry added a different perspective to the dish, a sour-sweetness that brought out the flavours of the turkey ham beautifully (: together with the rocket leaves, this made the dish a refreshing one!

the macadamia roasted pumpkin ($18) was my favourite pizza of the day and it was a vegetarian pizza! omgosh surprise surprise! haha. the pumpkins were slightly crispy with some mushiness, and the roast gave it a smoky-ish taste that was so yummy (: and i LOVEDDDDDDD the macadamia nuts! omgosh so yummy (: it was sprinkled with a generous amount of parmesan cheese too. so delicious! there was supposed to be french goat's cheese but we didn't want it haha.

on to desserts! they had a whole menu dedicated to desserts, and mind you, the pictures were gorgeous xD all the chocolate goodies sounded really appealing!! although we were quite full already (thankfully the thin crust of the pizza left us some space for dessert), we couldn't resist ordering dessert. the chai chocolate cake ($9.50/slice) was a really interesting chocolate cake infused with an earthy aroma of marsala tea. i loved how the leafy taste gave a twist to this otherwise typical chocolate cake (:

the warm chocolate toffee cake ($9.50/slice) was a hit - the fact that it was wolfed down greedily within 3 minutes is testament to that! the outside was covered with a generous smooth layer of warm chocolate toffee fudge, and the cake inside was heart-meltingly warm and delicious with layers of toffee fudge in between too (: OH SO YUMMY!
although the pizzas and desserts here are really pricey (especially when you think of how THIN the crust is?!), i wouldn't mind coming here again because i felt that the quality of the food was great!

Skinny Pizza
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-63/64
Tel.: +65 6333 5069
Daily 11am-10pm

Friday, 5 August 2011

Fruit Paradise

i've walked past fruit paradise in raffles city so many times already! and i've been wanting to try it for a long while. well i finally did! (: i love how gorgeous the fruit tarts look. but then, i have to say this upfront, i was slightly disappointed by its size.

when cut into slices, the tarts look wayyyy different than they do when in the full size. a lot less...impressive. because they are cut into such thin (read: stingy!!!) sizes, there is hardly any topping on it >.< i suspect quite a bit of toppings are sacrificed when cutting these tarts cos they are bound to drop off when they cut such thin slices >.< such a waste. the nutty caramel ($6.80/slice) was an interesting mix of fresh fruit and caramelized nuts (yummy!) with salty caramel cream on a sponge cake in a tart. haha sounds complicated? it's really quite interesting. all the tarts here are like fruit cakes in a tart base.  i loved the firm and slightly sweet tart pastry (:


the blueberry tart ($6.80/slice) was probably the most generous in terms of the amount of fruit on it. the blueberries were amazingly plump and juicy! :D and haha i'm kinda embarrassed to say this, but it was the first time i actually looked INSIDE a blueberry, only to realise it isn't blue! :P lol! hey i bet a lot of you have never realised that before either right!!! haha it was so funny. i was really surprised! it happened that one of the blueberries were cut in half, and i was staring at it, wondering why it looked so weird.

just in case you're as blur as me, this is how the inside of a blueberry looks. LOL!

and i loved my mango strawberry ($7.80/slice) tart!!! :D although the amount of fruit was again rather dismal. there were only 4 thin slices of mango :( but it was yummy anyway!

overall, i would say that it is good to try this place, once. but i probably wouldn't come back again, unless i wanted to buy a whole tart. or maybe they could just cut a bigger slice next time? ;) *hint hint!*

Fruit Paradise
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-44
Tel.: +65 6333 4849
Daily 11.30am-10pm

Monday, 21 March 2011

Out of the Pan

the entrance to out of the pan now seems to be rather concealed and inaccessible after the renovation of the raffles city shopping centre basement. but i must say that after the renovation, the place looks awesome after the renovation, and there are so many new food places which i would love to try out! (:

out of the pan specialises in crepes, and they do them in a lovely way! (: it's pretty interesting how many of them have an asian twist, like a few of those we ordered. mine was the korean bbq pork crepe ($14.50). there is a choice of three different type of crepe skins (or whatever you call it :P) - plain, whole wheat and sundried tomato. i'm always fascinated by the name of the sundried tomato, so i always order that. no idea how different it tastes though! the korean bbq pork crepe came with kimchi on the side, and coupled with the fresh salad, it added a refreshing element to the dish. the pork was infused with a similar aroma you would have if eating it with rice, and it tasted nice with the crepe! (:


the peking duck crepe ($15.50) was nice as well! it's not really the peking duck in chinese restaurants. more like normal roast duck? but with the tasty sauce in the crepe, who really bothers whether it's authentic or not? it was good (:

i didn't really try the honey soy chicken crepe (i think that's what it's called) but my friend said it was nice!

Out of the Pan
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-45
Tel.: +65 6431 6103
Sun-Thu: 10am-10pm
Fri, Sat, Eve of PH: 10am-10.30pm

Friday, 14 January 2011

Xi Men Ding

the basement of raffles city shopping centre has undergone a major revamp since the past month and now there are so many new delightful places to explore! i can't wait to check them out! :D good thing is that it's so near school (: but, the downside is that i have no money already -.- haha. shucks............i need to save money!!!! all my money is spent on food O.O jeez.

anyway, checked out Xi Men Ding on Sunday. apparently it's really super new because the only other reviews i can find of it are those for the vivocity branch! but yup, for fans of ximending, it's now here in town! (:

for some reason that day, we ordered mostly veggie dishes! the stir fried eggplant with meat sauce ($9.90) was really tasty. the eggplant was stewed till it was boiling hot and meltingly soft and the sauce was chock full of minced meat which was yummy.

a very simple dish, 'jue cai' tofu pot ($13.90) was something i really liked, surprisingly. although it did not have a very strong flavour, i liked how it subtly balanced out the eggplant dish. the tofu was silky soft, and the meat added a slight kick to the otherwise muted dish. i loved drizzling the copious amount of sauce over my rice! (:

mummy just had to order the san bei ji ($17.90), one of her favourite dishes. haha actually i have no idea what the attraction is. surprisingly, the only meat dish we ordered was the one i liked least. as in, it tasted fine, but i preferred the other two dishes much more! :D

Xi Men Ding
Raffles City Shopping Centre B1-43C

Tuesday, 4 January 2011

Dessert Cup




*squeal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

don't these lovely darlings look so gorgeous? xD i could hardly bear to eat them!

they look pretty and taste awesome too (: i tried the hazelnut cupcake - i loved how the light the cream topping was, not too sweet, with a slight hint of hazelnut. i think all the cupcakes are the same, it's the topping on top that distinguishes them. the cupcakes are slightly dense, with a spring in every bite. i also tried the Baileys cupcake which was SUPERB in my opinion :D i really loved the taste of it!

Dessert Cup
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-73
Tel.: +65 6468 2838
Mon-Thu, Sun: 10.30am-10pm
Fri & Sat: 10.30am-10.30pm

Sunday, 14 November 2010

Shokudo

cool!!!! my first time ever going to shokudo xD finally. i've been wanting to try it for the longest time. i always thought it was just another japanese food court! i didn't know it was marche-style type of restaurant :D how fun!

all the food there looked so good! i walked a few rounds around the place before finally deciding what to eat xD


my tepanyaki chicken & garlic fried rice with egg ($9.80) was AWESOME :D it's fascinating to watch them cook this! first they fry the rice and add the chicken in, then they fry the omelette and scoop the rice in and wrap it up. yummy!!! the rice was super fragrant, and went so nicely with the omelette. and i loved the mayo & the other sauce on the egg! :D if only they were more generous with the sauce (not the mayo!) and the chicken (my only gripe - the amount was kind of stingy!), this dish would be purrrfect! not to forget the wonderful garlic which topped it off nicely! :D

does this look like a weird combination?! i sure thought so when i first saw it!. green tea ice cream with red beans on thick toast. after trying it, i could only say one thing - 'SURPRISE!' :D it was interestingly good! (: i love thick toast, like seriously. thick toast with butter, or peanut butter or pork floss.....all my favourites. now i've found something new! :D this combination is really surprisingly good! the green tea ice cream and red bean commonly goes well together, and on thick toast? it just melts into the bread which is crisp on the outside and so wonderfully absorbent inside that it just soaks up all the melty ice cream!! :D okay, the melty ice cream is not exactly a good thing - look at how sad it looks. the lady at the stall took super long to serve it to us -.- but it was worth the wait!

and we had waffle with cookies & cream ice cream! (:  the waffle was nice and crispy! it tasted way better than it looked (i was kind of apprehensive - it looks sort of pale O.O). really nice :D

Shokudo
Raffles City Shopping Centre #B1-44E
Tel.: +65 6837 3793
Daily 11.30am-10pm

i love my tablemates <3