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

Strangers' Reunion

Strangers' Reunion has been around for a pretty long time, and there was such a huge hype over its waffles that has kept me excited for reallyyyy long. no idea why i procrastinated so long before visiting this place, but i'm so glad i did! decided to check out the place for dinner after reading about it on a couple of blogs - it seemed that their dinner menu was more interesting than brunch ;) they do serve all-day breakfast though! and dinner starts from 6pm.

actually, there were several items on their menu which were highly raved about, and the truffle fries ($12.90) didn't disappoint. in fact, i was really impressed, and i conclude that it's one of the BEST truffle fries you can get in singapore, after PS Cafe!! the aroma of the fries wafted towards us and we could barely get a proper shot of the dish before we enthusiastically dug into it. the bowl was emptied in 5 minutes :P hahaha. really loved the generous amount of parmesan shavings and truffle salt scattered on top of the fries, and the garlic aioli that came with it was an interesting twist that was the perfect complement to the fries.

i'd heard a lot about the crispy pork belly ($24.90), but i think it was the only dish that kinda disappointed :( not that it was bad, but it just wasn't...good. it was pretty normal, and slightly tough in fact! nowhere close to the 'melt in your mouth' experience which i'd heard about. oh wells. i really liked the ginger beer, apple & date chutney that was on the side though! the tinge of spiced sweetness went really well with the pork belly ^^ the truffled mash was very interesting as well!

in a rare showcase.... the truffled wagyu burger ($26.90) deserves TWO photos because it looked so orgasmically good!!!! don't you agree?! that thick patty looks absolutely delish! #foodporn. i was surprised that the truffle flavour developed most significantly in (guess where?) the burger bun! haha rather fascinating infusion, but it tasted pretty good! topped with a beautifully-fried sunny side up egg, the thick beef patty tasted as good as it looked and the tomato relish rounded up the flavours wonderfully. the sweet potato chips that came on the side made us feel slightly healthier, and tasted really yummy.

i really wanted to try the sous vide salmon which i'd heard so much about, but it was no longer on the menu! :( sadddd. instead, we ordered the halibut & chips ($27.90) and i highly recommend this as well!!! it was fried very delicately - seemed like tempura-style - and it was light and hardly oily which was great! the meat was really fluffy as well, and it was soooo tasty ^^ i just realised that they didn't serve us the kaffir lime mayo that was stated on the menu though!! :O BOO :( remember to ask them for it when you're there! it sounds good! 

and finally, for the star of the day - the buttermilk waffles with homemade mixed berry compote and vanilla ice cream ($14.90)!!!!! SO GOOD. i loved how they gave such a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream! ;) generosity goes a long way :D it was the perfect combination of flavours with the tart berries that were deliciously juicy, the crisp & fluffy waffle and sweet, (icy) ice cream. and Strangers' Reunion recently opened a waffle bar next door as well! how awesome is that ;) definitely gonna try out the wider selection next door one of these days! 

Strangers' Reunion

37 Kampong Bahru Road 

Tel.: +65 6222 4869

Sun, Mon, Wed-Thu 9am-10pm

Fri & Sat 9am-12mn

49 Seats

i suspect that 49 seats was named as such because of the exact seating space it has! though it could be smaller. well, i counted 38 seats in the indoor portion of the cafe :P it's a really cosy space, and fills up pretty fast, which is no surprise considering their specialties which they execute with flair.

i thoroughly enjoyed my tom yum seafood pasta ($14.90) which came highly recommended to me by Sam ;) it had a really satisfying tom yum kick, with just the right level of spiciness! at least for me haha. Sam felt that it was too spicy, but i think if you take out the chill padi inside it's actually quite manageable. there was a satisfying amount of prawns, and a huge mussel in it! also had bits of something which i couldn't identify - crab, perhaps? haha i've been tasting this "thing" for two days in a row but i can't figure out what seafood it could probably be! strange.... O.o anyway it's a good bet to order this! the only thing was that i felt it was a tad too creamy? i added a bit of water to dilute the sauce a little :P it'll help if you have a cold drink with it i think! just that they don't provide water here. hmm :/ 

Sam's seafood marinara ($13.90) was pretty yummy too! i guess if you don't like tom yum, this would be the alternative to go for! though i really recommend the tom yum over this one if you love the thai spice ;)

we didn't order anything else, since the pasta was surprisingly filling! the portion didn't look very impressive, but i was SO FULL after that. oh yeah and because we shared a coke float too haha. but i heard that their cheese fries and fish with alscampi sauce is really gooooood, so please try it and let me know!!!! i'll come back for those next time ^^ plus there is no service charge & GST! (double whoop!) 

i recommend that you make reservations though, because almost every table was reserved when i went there, plus a long queue to boot. enjoy ^^

49 Seats

49 Kreta Ayer Road (oh maybe it's because of their address so they're called 49 Seats...haha oops!)

Tel.: +65 6225 4332 

Mon-Thu 6pm-2am

Fri & Sat 6pm-4.30am

The Tuckshop

hi!! (:

this post should have come right after exams, but...I'M OFFICIALLY DONE WITH SCHOOL! :D hehe this dinner at The Tuckshop was my celebratory dinner after my last paper ^^ and ironically it took me right back to primary/secondary school with their super retro old-school decor. the tables were literally the kind that i used in pri/sec school! and the whole place has a decidedly unpolished, industrial-chic feel to it. great for winding down after a week at work, or...on a monday after exams ;) it was perfect that day, being the start of the week because it was pretty quiet and we lazed there for almost three hours just chatting away ^^ 

so anyway, it seems like The Tuckshop has been around for awhile, but they recently launched a new menu (in April i think!) which looked absolutely scrumptious if you've seen it on their Facebook page. and it fared pretty well in meeting our expectations with those mouth-watering photos ;)

to indulge after exams, we ordered truffle fries!!! quite reasonably priced at $8, it was topped not just with the ubiquitous parmesan, but also chives. kind of reminded me of my favourite pringles flavour - sour cream and onion ;) the fries were delightfully crispy, but sadly the truffle flavour was rather non-existent. otherwise, it was masked by the chives. either way it was quite disappointing. the so-called wasabi mayo dip also lacked the pungent kick of the wasabi.

thankfully, the main dishes made up for it! Sam's order of the Hey You, Hey Mee ($16) was our favourite out of all. this light creamy pasta has got to be one of my favourite cream pasta finds! i usually dislike cream pastas because of the jerlat feel you get after awhile. but The Tuckshop's version was uplifted with the energising tangy flavour of jalepenos in it. the pickled green chillis added just the right amount of spiciness and sourness into the light sauce, that made us keep craving for more. the prawns were big and juicy too! 

My Chop Chop Sausage Orzo ($15) paled in terms of flavour, but made up for it in the 'interesting' factor ;) it was a totally confusing dish in fact :p looks exactly like rice doesn't it?! nope, it's actually pasta. plus, it was a western/italian dish infused with asian flavours of air-dried chinese sausage. i loved it. haha. 

the portions are quite small here, but they satisfied us just nicely, especially with the truffle fries on the side. definitely a place to visit, and if you like beer, happy hour is on all night long (at least that was the case when we were there). enjoy!

The Tuckshop

403 Guillemard Road

Tel.: +65 8511 8102

Mon-Fri 5pm-12mn

Sat-Sun 3pm-12mn

Table Manners

firstly, i've gotta say that this is one inaccessible place to get to. it's literally all the way at one end of Singapore and i didn't even know that Changi Business Park had a mall there! O.o haha sorry, sua ku but i really don't travel all the way to this part of Singapore alright. but the point here is Table Manners is worth the travelling. i absolutely LOVED every single thing we ordered, and there were so many items on the menu that we totally over-ordered for the four of us, and even ordered dessert and drinks on top of everything :p 

we started off with some bar snacks:

i'd heard so much about the mushroom fritters ($8) and we absolutely HAD to order them. and they were so delicious!!!! a very light batter on the outside that was not too oily housed lovely succulent mushrooms that stimulated our tastebuds with their pungency. 

the ebiko mussels ($9) were an absolute delight as well, with surprisingly quite a lot of flesh and generously slathered with the ebiko and some sort of dressing that had a lovely umami flavour.

while i felt the truffle chicken bites ($10) were of pretty good quality - Table Manners does its batters well, keeping it very crisp and light without being too oily, and the interior retains its natural juices, which is great! plus the truffle flavour was quite pronounced, which was a huge plus point - i did think they were still a pretty ordinary dish. perhaps it was because i was already quite full when i started on these though, so my judgement might be slightly impaired :p 

i was so disappointed when i heard that the Truffle Capellini was not available that day because it sounded divine!! but our other mains didn't disappoint ;)

the King's Burger ($20) is made for a monster with its scrumptious ingredients - bacon, onion relish, gherkins, cheddar cheese slices, sliced tomato, lettuce and topped with a sunny side up egg. the combination of all these ingredients produced a smorgasbord of flavours that went perfectly with each other. the truffle fries on the side was a a lovely touch and were pretty good! 

the TM Ribs ($36 for full rack) were reallyyyyy good! absolutely tender - the kind that falls off the bone when you poke it with the fork - and came with a side dish of potato wedges. i still prefer fries > wedges though!!

we also got the Norwegian Baked Salmon ($22) which was a baked just right, with a lightly crisp exterior and fluffy interior, and this sat atop a yummy mash jazzed up by a garlic miso mayo and tasty mushroom ragout! 

it's amazing how EVERY single dish at Table Manners was good, and what's better, their drinks are great too! part of the group that owns Bar Stories as well, which is known for their specialty bespoke cocktails, you can be assured of the quality of the drinks you can find at Table Manners too. you can choose from a list of sweet, spicy, bitter and sour cocktails, and there are even "gentlemen" drinks as well! 

my passionfruit martini was a winner with its tangy flavours and was wonderfully refreshing! loved how there was a slice of fruit in it as well ^^

the Ginger Lemongrass martini was exactly how mummy liked it - spicy. haha yikes >.< this is really an acquired taste i guess! imagine drinking ginger juice laced with alcohol. and a hint of tom yam (haha because of the lemongrass). this is exactly how this drink tasted.

the most visually-exciting drink we ordered was the rosemary cooler! it literally came with the herbs all sticking out, like a herb pot! lol!!! super interesting, and it was quite fascinating how the flavours of the rosemary were infused into the drink.

for those who wanna skip the alcohol, i highly recommend the Calamansi Rose mocktail ($9)!! i really liked how there were really fragrant, lightly sweet notes from the rose, and this was complemented the sourness from the calamansi.

during happy hour (8pm), all cocktails are priced at $13 and bar snacks are $6/7! super good deal!! 

we ended on a high note with the sea salt chocolate caramel tart ($7.50). it was small, but boy, it was GOOD. luscious smooth chocolate with hints of caramel and a tinge of salt that prevented it from being cloyingly sweet. 

such a satisfying meal that was totally worth the calories!!!! i would come back much more often, if only it wasn't so far away!

Table Manners

5 Changi Business Park Central 1

Changi City Point – The Oasis #01-68/69

Tel.: +65 6604 7669

Daily 11.30am-12midnight 

Cups N Canvas

sometime last year i blogged about my 21st birthday party and how my gorgeous dessert table was created by the lovely people from Super Desserts Market. since then, they have stopped that business (unfortunately >.<) but have gone on to bigger things like having a cafe! (: and one year later, i've finally tried out Cups N Canvas ^^ i didn't try the desserts though, which was a terrible pity since i loved their so much! but it's a really lovely cafe to chill-out in, and is located conveniently near school :) 

i would say that their menu honestly isn't fantastic in any way. their breakfast is limited to two simple dishes - of which Sam chose the eggs ben-addict ($14.90), which consisted of the usual suspects. poached egg perched atop honey baked ham and a burger toast. the burger toast was a real disappointment because it simply didn't seem to go well with the poached eggs at all (one of which didn't have a runny yolk) and was a tad tough. 

i'd say their saving grace would be their lunch sets though! for every pasta/main purchased, you get a drink free! and that's what really enticed me. i was fascinated to see a sweet potato latte (usual price $4.80) on the menu and i ordered it in a heartbeat. it was really unique and interesting! (: it's basically a milky sweet potato blended drink, and i loved how there were little bits of sweet potato in it. wish there was a spoon to scoop up all the goodness!

this came with my choice of pasta - the Red Hot Chick ($15.90), which i guess was a fancy name for an arrabiata pasta? chicken, garlic, chill, cherry tomatoes tossed with linguine. i liked how there was a generous portion of chicken and cherry tomatoes, but other than that i found it pretty normal. if not for the drink, i wouldn't think it was worth the price. 

overall, food wasn't impressive but i would come back for the desserts (+drinks?) and ambience. it was a lovely cosy hideout, that was pretty quiet save for the lunch crowd. with wifi, it's perfect for an afternoon of studying, and there were even sofas for us to chill on. great for a date! (: also, the reason why it's called Cups N Canvas is because there is a whole section of the cafe dedicated to art! whether it's classes for beginners, or just for artists to dabble with some paints, you've got it covered at this place. it was really interesting to watch, and though i'm no artist (sadly, no creativity at all), i enjoyed watching the painting sessions of other patrons (: 

happy with my sweet potato latte! xx 

Cups N Canvas

139 Selegie Road 

Tel.: +65 6884 6855

Tue-Thu 10.30am-10pm

Fri & Sat 10.30am-11pm

Sun 10am-8pm

Closed on Monday

Chikuwa Tei

behold! thick slabs of sashimi that are so deliciously fresh and supple ^^^ yummmms. haha now doesn't this look drool-worthy? :P hee.

i've been hearing lots about chikuwa tei's sashimi, and i just could't wait to try it!! and it definitely didn't disappoint ;) (btw sorry for the bad photo quality for this set of photos :( i didn't bring my camera so had to rely on my phone >.<).

chikuwa tei has quite a number of value-for-money bento sets, making decadent dishes like this good for a (more than) occasional treat ;) it's not cheap, but this chirashi sushi ($25) is definitely worth your buck. and it's already the most pricey on the list of available sets. think (okay you don't need to imagine since i've already got this charming visual representation here :P), a generous portion of 1cm thick pieces of assorted sashimi (tuna, salmon, swordfish), with a (big) handful of bouncy, juicy roe atop a bed of rice. sounds amazing doesn't it? this portion of sashimi is definitely sufficient to satisfy any sashimi cravings!!! i was simply mind-blown and was happily chomping on my food throughout the whole meal ;) it was really tasty, and even though i still feel that Aoki's version is unbeatable, this is a more affordable alternative that comes a close second :)

we even ordered more sashimi on top of that! the moriwase ($36) is meant for two people, but i really think it's enough for four! haha. there are already 16 huge slabs of sashimi on this plate!!!! how awesome is that?! :D and there is salmon belly ~~~ the best of the best ^^ one thing i realised though, is that their sashimi seems to be a little chewier (hard to bite through) than normal. not sure why that is the case, but it didn't really diminish our experience ;)

zhen ordered the beef teriyaki set ($18) that was fried so fragrantly, the aroma spread across the entire table the moment they served it. talk about working up an appetite ;) and this flavour was infused into every slice of beef, which was also very tender in texture! 

the Ten Cha Soba ($12) was such a wonderfully healthy dish!! i've fallen head over heels in love with soba since i was on exchange. it's so easy to cook, and i love the green tea essence infused in the green noodles! :))) well the fact that it came with tempura kinda negates the "healthy" factor :p but it's yummy anyway. i felt kinda cheated that the pile of soba looked so huge, but there was actually a block of ice underneath it though -.- haha but i guess that was necessary to keep it cold, plus give the dish its appearance :p

and the Sukiyaki Teishoku ($22)! (: a piping hot, rich broth with beef, vegetables and tofu inside! i always love sukiyaki for its savoury-sweet taste :)

we actually also ordered the Salmon Teriyaki set ($15), which was cooked delightfully as well! but my phone camera decided to die on me as well that day, so... :/ hehe anyway, love their food here, and now you know where to go for sashimi indulgence! :D 

Chikuwa Tei

9 Mohamed Sultan Road

Tel.: +65 6738 9395

Daily 11.30am-3pm

6pm-10pm

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar

this was a really surprise find that i thoroughly enjoyed!! was searching for a place to have ramen, and i came across this place which was recommended on some other blog. lo and behold, i realize it had been on my foodie radar list for quite some time but i completely forgot about it. anyway, super glad to have visited it, because it can be considered one of my favourite ramen places now! for some quirky flavours (which i absolutely love) and for its really affordable pricing (: i preferred this way more than the hokkaido ramen at santouka (though that was good too!) and it's so much cheaper!

the key is always in the details, and we had so much fun with this little bowls of sesame seeds which we were given to grind as we waited for our ramen to arrive. this is a really small shop tucked away in a corner of the holland village enclave, and i don't think reservations are allowed, so do take note of that!

i was at a dilemma between choosing the mini burgers and going for their ramen. ended up kinda forcing sam to share both with me :p so that we could get the best of both worlds!! and that was really the perfect combination. we had everyone salivating over the burgers ;) there are three flavours of burgers: spicy cha shu, teriyaki chicken ($2.80 each) and the mentaiko ebi mayo ($3.80). i ordered the combi of all three flavours which cost $8.80. and all of them were soooo good! first up was the ebi burger which came with a light crisp-battered ebi tempura encased in pillowy mini patties. i liked how all the burgers came with a generous serving of fresh lettuce within them, which deftly drew out the flavours of the other ingredients by cleansing our palate. the spicy cha shu was tender and yielded easily as it released its innate juices with a bite. the teriyaki chicken was delicious as well! 

shared the original karamiso tonkotsu ramen ($12) with Sam. this was a flavourful medly which hit all the right notes with its punchy broth, soft cha shu and delish flavoured egg! i always love the egg! 

if i could choose though, i'd go for the spicy version of the above (also $12). this delivered a beautifully hearty essence with the underlying spiciness, which livened up the entire bowl of ramen. not too spicy, just perfect.

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar specializes in Hakata ramen, and so we definitely had to order it! the Traditional Hakata Ramen ($11) was a simple, heartwarming dish with all the necessities (: it didn't make much of an impression with me though, because (*points below*)

saving the best for the last...the Karaka Men ($13) aka the spicy yuzu ramen!!! *squeals!* give me anything with yuzu and i'll fall for it ^^ LOVED THIS. i was really amazed at how the tangy notes of the yuzu went so harmoniously in this savoury dish. who knew that such a combination worked? the zesty flavour kept me addicted right from the start, and i couldn't help but reach for more spoonfuls of soup even though the bowl didn't belong to me. whoops! :P but it was REALLY awesome. i will definitely come back for this, and order a whole bowl for myself. yumms!  

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar
31 Lorong Liput, Holland Village
Tel.: +65 6463 3132
Mon-Fri 11am-3pm, 6pm-11pm
Sat, Sun & PH 11am-11pm 

Peperoni Pizzeria

three words: 21-inch pizza. :O:O:O this has to be the most gigantic pizza i've ever seen and eaten, and it is a.m.a.z.i.n.g. i've seen so many pictures of this pizza and i've been wanting to try it since forever. (i say that pretty often huh?). and i believe this is probably one of the best and most value-for-money pizzas for a bunch of friends. this ginormous delight cost $50nett (no GST & service charge here!), and it feeds 4-6 pax, which means each person pays max $12.50 for this? super worth it. and it was so good!

hehe look how awesomely huge it was!!! :O for a pizza of this size, we were allowed to pick two flavours from the menu, and even then, it wasn't an easy choice! there were many that sounded very interesting, and i have to say that this restaurant does stay quite true to the italian pizza roots. the flavours are mostly cold cuts, but it's thankfully still better than italy with flavours that include real salmon (rather than smoked) and the singaporean classic favourite: Hawaiian. we didn't go for the hawaiian this time though! (: a unanimous choice was the Pancetta, which was simply alluring with the gorgeous sunny-side up egg in the picture. our massive pizza came with not just one, but TWO wobbly sunny side up yolks and i pounced on one of them with excitement :p the other flavour we chose was Salmone, which came with a pretty generous portion of salmon cubes and capers (again, a reminder of italy ^^). while we loved the Pancetta flavour, it was admittedly a tad too salty due to the cured bacon. i was glad for the tomatoes that helped to balance it out a little, but it was still too much for me. i preferred the half with the salmon which had a comparatively pared down salt-content, but was no less tasty. the thin crust totally appealed to me, and i found myself picking the pieces along the sides for their satisfying crunch. the fact that it was a thin crust pizza also helped us in devouring the pizza pretty easily amongst the five (or six) of us. this was certainly an experience and i definitely wouldn't mind coming back to try out more flavours!

Peperoni Pizzeria

Suntec City B1-130

Tel.: +65 6884 7737
Daily 11.30am-9.30pm (Closed on certain PH, call to check)

Tonkotsu King

i've been wanting to try this place since forever!! i can hardly believe i waited so long for it. but the queue is just a huge turnoff. and though i thoroughly enjoyed my ramen here, i'd say i probably won't do this again anytime soon. tonkotsu king definitely has one of the best ramen broths ever though!!!!! :) i love how it is so rich and full-bodied.

i ordered the original tonkotsu ramen, but there are also the red (chili) and black (pepper) spicy versions. i can't judge the black version as i don't like pepper, but i loved the punch from the chili in the red one! the noodles are springy, kinda al dente style, and you can opt for the flavoured egg with the flowy yolk inside! i found it really fun to be able to choose from the various options from the thickness of the soup broth, to the ingredients, the noodle texture, etc. you can customize it just the way you like! :) the only let down was probably the cha shu which was not very tasty, and not tender. sad for me, because melt-in-the-mouth cha shu is a key ingredient i look out for.

if you aren't picky about wanting only the flavoured eggs, you then have a free-flow of eggs to satisfy! they also have a free-flow policy for beansprouts. so awesome :D and this sesame-seed grinding seems to be becoming a trend in ramen places here! :p a great way to entertain yourself before the meal. for this ramen joint though, the plus point is that your food is served almost the moment you take your seat. the queuing is done outside (and it's really stuffy in my opinion. not a pleasure at all), and you give the waitress your order there, so that you are served immediately when you get your seat. 

Tonkotsu King

Orchid Hotel, 1 Tras Street, #01-19

Tel.: +65 6636 0855

Daily 11.30am-3pm

6pm-10.30pm

Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant

CRISPY SUCKLING PIGGGGG *oink*. so totally irresistible!! i don't know why its presentation looks so unflattering-ly simplistic, but i'm telling you that its appearance does not do justice to this pig at all. think pig's skin slow roasted for hours till a nice crackling crisp. in fact, this spanish style of roasting makes the skin so crisp, that it can be cut through with a plate! break a piece of skin off, pop it in your mouth and bite. it crumbles instantaneously, releasing a cacophony of aromas. then use your fork to prick the meat. it falls off the bone so easily, and when you put it in your mouth, it is so tender that you can't imagine (well at least i can't) how they managed to retain all the pork juices while creating such a crusty exterior! it's a perfect marriage of crisp and supple textures, and it's oh-so-sinful, but you wouldn't care less! it comes with lovely tomato jam and brown sauce on the side, which complement the meat wonderfully ^^ this monster though, is really expensive! 1/2 a suckling pig costs $168++ and feeds around 3-4 people.

we also ordered one of our favourite spanish dishes - black squid ink paella ($53 for 2 pax) to share. there was a generous amount of prawns, squid and mussels in it! :) and they were huge! especially the prawns. the rice was also fluffy and moist! such a delicious dish :D totally worth staining our teeth for this :P hahaha. although the good thing was that it actually wasn't very severe! (:

we also ordered some tapas to complement our two main dishes. the Pulpitos ($18.80) was a rather scary dish :p with whole baby octopus fried with garlic and olive oil. it's really quite scary seeing this and putting it in your mouth!! but the sauce was sublime ^^ i just happily slurped it up hehe. i must say that Serenity's food is quite pricey though!! :O but at least the portions justified the price. this size of tapas is larger than the general sizes you find in typical spanish restaurants. but $19 for tapas when i can get a full meal with that same amount of money? you can be sure that this is a once-in-a-long-while indulgence.

we also had the sauteed brussels sprout with serrano ham ($18.80). this was a simple dish, and the ham added a lovely savoury flavour to it.

we all bought drinks to complement our food! :D i absolutely loved my Sangria Pantera Rosa ($16) which was made of red wine, raspberry schnapps, mixed berries, mint and tonic. i was worried that it'll be too sweet because of the berries, but it turned out to be such a lovely combination with the mint that helped to balance out all the flavours.

and we just had to order some Spanish desserts to complete our meal! ;) the churros ($10.80) were pretty disappointing in my opinion though! as in the churros themselves were alright, but the hot chocolate was pretty watery! :(

i enjoyed the pastel de chocolate ($12.80) much more! it was a cashew nut brownie served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream! (: a pretty interesting brownie - i liked the crunch which the nuts contributed to it, and it was moist for the most part, except my last mouthful of it which was a bit of a downer. other than that, i always the classic combination of brownie+vanilla ice cream ;)

Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant
Vivocity #01-98/99
Tel.: +65 6376 8185
Sun-Thu 11am-11pm
Fri-Sat 11am-12am