Category Archives: Food reviews

BAKER & COOK

12 April 2012 7 comments

Another flash-sale site I’m a fan of is Foxysales, which do frequent deep-discount sales on brand name items.

I was SO excited when recently they had a big sale on Oobi baby/kids clothing! I immediately picked a super-soft and thin kaftan top for Hunter, in a navy blue (he looks best in this colour IMHO), cute mandarin collar, and long sleeves. I really like it because the material is really thin (almost see-through) and soft, so it’s fine for Singapore’s weather but also provides a bit of cover in airconditioning or cooler climates.

I also got the matching pants which are also really thin and soft and comfy. They’re slightly on the large size for him, so we’ll get a good few months of use out of it :)

Hunter modelling his Oobi outfit :P

Lil comfy boy

We also checked out Baker & Cook the other day. They rate themselves as “Singapore’s only true artisan bakery & foodstore” – quite a lofty claim! Stepping in, I’m immediately reminded of Shanghai’s Baker & Spice stores, and it’s also reminiscent of the bakeries in Australia. It also smells WONDERFUL in there :) It’s packed with both locals and expats, and seems to be the go-to place for brunch these days.

The counter is a little chaotic, with no proper queue for ordering/paying. But, I did finally get served and our food came out soon afterwards.

Chaos at the counter of Baker & Cook

My man :)

Their latte was top-notch. It was served in a teeny tiny glass for the price, which was a little sad, but did contain 2 shots of espresso and so had a fabulous kick to it.

Latte

I had the Mince and cheese pie which I didn’t take a photo of below (forgot, oops!!), and I liked that I could choose the type of salad it came with. The pie pastry itself was homemade and utterly delicious and buttery, but the mince was a little too salty for my liking.

The Blueberry bagel with cream cheese was FANTASTIC. Often, bagels in Singapore are really dense and overly chewy (in particular those awful “NYC” brand ones at Cold Storage). But this one was fluffy yet still slightly chewy, and dotted with tons of blueberries. It was lightly toasted and went beautifully with the mild cream cheese. I’d get this again next time for sure!

Blueberry bagel with cream cheese

Their croissant was perfect. Very fluffy and oh-so-buttery. It was really light and crisp on the outside, but soft and moist on the inside, and flaked apart with a light tug. It was lovely served with their homemade jam, which is in help-yourself pots on the tables.

Croissant with homemade jam

I really wanted to try the custard-filled donut because, well, just LOOK AT IT below!! How to resist??? It was very nice :) Fluffy and golden-brown, with a lovely springy bite, and creamy custard oozing out. Yum.

Custard-filled donut

The chocolate muffin also begged my attention ;) I do love my muffin tops! It had a lovely amount of chocolate through it, and wasn’t dry, which is often my fear with muffins. Not bad at all.

Chocolate muffin

We brought home some hot cross buns, since they were specially baking them for Easter. They cost around $2.50 per bun (!!) so you’d expect something awesome. I thought they were only okay, but it’s because I’m not a fan of raisins and they put tons in there! Obviously, this is what makes a good hot cross bun, so Chris really liked them.

Hot cross buns

I’m looking forward to going to Baker & Cook again. Their breads and pastries are top-notch and, though not that cheap, make for a nice brunch or snack. If you can, go there on a weekday, because weekends get pretty packed!

CHRIS’ BIRTHDAY @ THE TASTINGS ROOM

2 April 2012 20 comments

The Tastings Room
6 Raffles Boulevard
Marina Square #01-08
Singapore 039594
PRICE: $$$
RATING: ★★★★-

I’d (incorrectly) thought The Tastings Room was fine-dining, so told Chris to “change into pants” (instead of the shorts he was wearing). But then we found out it was more casual-dining, whoops! The ambiance is much like a bistro, with attentive and friendly service and the soft din of chitter chatter from the diners.

We were here to celebrate Chris’ birthday. It was a pretty quiet one since we don’t really do blow-out birthday celebrations, we never have in our 12-13 years together! Apart from our epic 30th birthday presents to each other, we rare do presents, and it’s good that way way because most of the time, we aren’t really majorly coveting anything and prefer to have a nice meal or a little holiday away instead. Chris is always eager to spend more time together as a family with Hunter, so we spent the day with him instead, and Chris was happy :)

The Tastings Room is actually quite a small restaurant, and it was full, probably due to Restaurant Week that was on at the same time. That said, they were very accommodating to us with a baby, and even remembered that I mentioned it was Chris’ birthday when I made the celebration and stuck a candle in his dessert ;)

The Truffle wild mushroom puree soup was very well received. It wasn’t heavy on the cream, and the soup was chockfull with chunks of mushrooms. The wine was refreshing light, and a great accompaniment to the soup.

Truffle wild mushroom puree soup (Wine: Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2009)

Their Rose Sauce Linguini with Salmon was a stunner! I am a sucker for cream-based sauces, so I may be biased. But this one was rich without being too thick, and with a generous helping of salmon chunks. Fortunately, it didn’t give the dish a fishy taste, which can happen with salmon pastas and is a huge turn off. Only gripe? Could’ve done with 50% more of it ;)

The wine was LUSCIOUS – not too strong a red wine, but very mild and smooth. Pinot Noirs always hit the spot :)

Rose Sauce Linguini with Salmon (Wine: Trinity Hill Hawkes Bay Pinot Noir 2010)

The Confit of French duck leg was beautifully flavoured (love the rich gravy reduction) but could have been even more meltingly tender. There was a sizable amount of meat, though I think not enough for adult males that have large appetites. Would’ve been better/more satisfying served with a large dollop of mashed potatoes or something.

Confit of French duck leg

I eyed my Tiramisu suspiciously when it arrived because it was in a slice, and I like my tiramisu in a ramekin because they’re usually more moist that way. But I was relieved that theirs was excellent – moist with delicious layers of cream through it. Wish the slice was double the size ;)

This was paired with a stunning Moscato, which was sweet but not too sugary, and a lovely way to end our meal :)

Tiramisu (Wine: Beni di Batasiolo Moscata Spumante)

Birthday boy with his Apple flan dessert (sadly, it wasn't very good)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the love of my life, the best husband I could ever dream of having, and one freakin’ fantastic father :)

Mariella Vinces, Mary Rizkalla liked this post

PREGO

16 March 2012 6 comments

Prego
Fairmont Hotel
80 Bras Basah Road
Singapore
PRICE: $$$$
RATING: ★★★★-

Prego is pretty huge when you enter, or perhaps it seems that way since they have high ceilings and well spaced out tables. It’s positioned as an authentic Italian restaurant but we were initially not convinced since it’s in a hotel, and in our experience, hotel restaurants tend to serve up food that doesn’t quite live up to their prices.

We were however really pleased with the food. Everything we ordered was delicious! As good as, if not better, than Da Paolo (another Italian joint we love).

Inside Prego

Complimentary freshly-baked bread and tapenade. What a delightful change to the usual bread & butter!

The Rustica pizza – Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Onions & Capsicum was REALLY good. I’m often a bit wary of ordering pizza, because more often than not, you get a tiny scattering of ingredients and it’s labelled a ‘gourmet’ pizza. What?? I’ve forgotten the exact pizza that we got here at Prego, but it had a very healthy amount of toppings, and lots of cheese to bring it all together.

Only downside was that we asked for the thicker crust and it was unfortunately nothing much to shout about. I was expect something like the Pizza Hut or Dominoes thick crust, but Prego’s version was basically still a very thin crust (I don’t like it as it becomes floppy too easily, and I like to pick up pizza with my hands to eat), and with a roll of thick edge.. which wasn’t very edible because it was quite hard and tasteless. A shame, because the pizza itself was top-notch!

Rustica pizza - Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Onions & Capsicum

The Saffron Fusilli – Crab, Zucchini, Chives & Seafood Cream Sauce was SUPERB. The pasta sauce was, curiously, almost exactly like a lobster bisque – in both taste and looks. This meant the dish was really creamy with a strong seafood flavour… and it was just divine!! It had big chunks of crab, which was a lovely surprise since sometimes you just get a pitiful few shreds of crab meat. This one had big chunks, and also chunky veggies in there. Would order this again in an instant :)

Saffron Fusilli - Crab, Zucchini, Chives & Seafood Cream Sauce

I thoroughly enjoyed their Tiramisu, which is their signature dessert. It was a moderate slice (could be bigger, especially since it was so delish!) and so moist, with more cake than cream. I prefer it this way, as it’s so weird to eat a dessert that’s mostly cream, no?

Tiramisu

We also enjoyed the Affogato, since it was served with quality vanilla ice cream and a shot of potent fragrant coffee. The prices at Prego are not the cheapest, but they do serve up damn good food. We’ll be back :)

Affogato

HUGE flower display near our table

A CHILL BRUNCH AT EPICURIOUS

23 February 2012 2 comments

Epicurious
The Quayside
60 Robertson Quay
Singapore
PRICE: $$$
RATING: ★★★–

A chilled out brunch is one of my favourite ‘activities’.. and Epicurious does do the job very well. It’s situated right by the river, and so makes for a nice meal, plus a lazy walk by the river afterwards. It’s very family-friendly, particularly since it’s outdoors, so there are often loads of families and kids around. Only there’s not that many tables, so be prepared to wait if you go smack at (food) peak hour on a weekend!

We previously found the food a bit hit-and-miss, especially given the price tags.. but this time, all of it was pretty good :) I loved the Green eggs and ham, which was pesto-swirled eggs and ham on a large slice of bread, and I added sausages and grilled mushrooms to it as well. It’s also fab because the dish is a big portion (given there were 2 extras to it), so it can be shared between 2 people if you don’t feel like pigging out.

Green eggs and ham!

The pancakes came out so pretty, they looked almost fake ;) 3 fluffy pancakes with a scattering of fruit and drizzled with syrup. YUM!! Would’ve been been better if they had given lashings of whipped butter. Mmmm…

Stack of pancakes

The French toast also came out beautifully presented, and dusted with icing sugar as well as fruit on top. It was made from raisin toast though, which they do point out in the menu so there are no surprises, but I prefer regular bread. It also came with a sort of marmalade dip, and I’d have liked butter and maple syrup a lot more. Guess I could’ve easily asked for it, though :P

French toast

Relaxing in the shade

PLAYDATE @ FOOD FOR THOUGHT

20 February 2012 12 comments

Seems that I’m at Food for Thought all the time now ;) The lovely food, the reasonable prices, the fantastic playground and the great location (right smack in the Botanic Gardens)… it’s all the perfect recipe when you have a kid. Hunter absolutely loves it there and starts going a little frantic once we step in.. because he knows the playground is behind the glass doors and he gets pretty desperate to get out there to stretch his legs and toddle around!

Service there is always so friendly and the food arrives promptly. Great when you have fidgety kids that can create quite a mess! Hunter loves scrambling around the chairs and tables.. they’re perfect holding-on height for him ;)

Playing with his lil gal pal

Peekaboo!

My fish & chips (cryptically called Crispy Fish under the Local Food section of the menu?!) and red velvet cake

All 3 kids scrabbling around in the playground

With the owner of Food for Thought! We grew up together in Sunday School, haha..

Watching the world go by...

3 little kiddies on the stair! Hunter is so fair he's practically GLOWING here.. haha..

We took the kids to Jacob Ballas garden, a lush garden that features a water fountain area that’s a hit with children. It’s a particularly great way to cool them off when it’s hot outside!

Except… our lil Hunter was decidedly unimpressed with the water fountain! He looked on with suspicion as all the lil girls dashed in and out of the water, having a good time. And when I brought him near, he’d WHINNNNE like I was trying to torture him and barnacled onto my leg, refusing to let go.

So, I spent the entire time standing in the middle of the play area, with my son clinging onto me for dear life. I guess I wouldn’t exactly call that a success ;) Better luck next time!