Restaurant Week 2016: Salt Grill & Sky Bar

When it comes to Restaurant Week, certain restaurants such as Salt Grill & Bar get their seats filled up rapidly. I managed to get one of the coveted first-day slots for Salt Grill & Bar on the first day of booking for this rendition of Restaurant Week, just to see whether the restaurant lives up to its hype.

Salt Grill & Bar by Luke Mangan is situated at level 55 of ION Orchard. To get there, you would have to head to the ION Sky lift lobby where a restaurant receptionist would guide you to the Sky lift to head up to level 55. Look out for the concierge at the entrance, and the concierge staff would guide you to your table. As we arrived a little late as Cat was rushing from lessons, we weren't given window seats (which is a bit of a pity) but were instead given balcony seats at the upper level with a fantastic view of city landmarks such as Marina Bay Sands and National Stadium. We were served bread and olive oil upon arrival which we wasted no time in chomping on.

The theme for this Restaurant Week was "Feasts of the Ocean" - imagine mouth-watering seafood and flavours from the ocean. We took particular interest in the creative combination of Western produce and local ingredients in the menu. Frankly speaking, we would really have wanted to try everything.

Entrée

"glass" Sydney crab omelette, enoki mushroom & herb salad, miso mustard broth: This signature appetizer is our unanimous favourite out of the entire menu - so much that we ended up fighting over the last bit of omelette and soaking up every bit of broth with more bread! The omelette was so fluffy that it blends well with the crab meat, while the mustard broth and herb salad provided an unexpected Japanese-inspired twist to the otherwise humble dish of crab omelette. Available on the a la carte menu for S$33.

salmon sashimi, ginger shallot dressing, feta: Salmon sashimi is typically good on its own when fresh. When you add ginger shallot dressing and feta on top of fresh sashimi, it tastes divine. We were pleasantly surprised that the ginger shallot dressing is not too stinging spicy, and brings out the freshness of the salmon sashimi. Eat them all together, and you get a delicious non-fishy taste with slight hints of seasoned ginger and melt-in-your-mouth feta cheese.

Learning from our major blunder when we went to OCF last year, we made sure to ask for more bread for our mains this time.

Mains

Pan fried snapper, pearl barley risotto, coconut, spring onion: The pan fried snapper is perfectly cooked - not too raw and not too overcooked with crispy skin and amazingly soft meat. Served with pea puree and coconut-infused pearl barley risotto, this is a generally light dish which seeks to bring out the natural flavours of each component of the dish.

Confit duck leg, braised lentils, asparagus, pickled orange: This is a rendition of duck leg confit with an Asian twist - it is cooked with braised sauce, lentils, asparagus, almonds and pickled orange peel! The lentils were a little hard and does not sit very well with the rest of the ingredients, but the braised sauce did make the duck pretty tender and flavourful. The almond thins and asparagus provide a refreshing crunch to the entire dish. The strips of pickled orange peel complemented the duck well in providing a slight sweetness to the duck. Quite an interesting dish which has its hits and misses.

Desserts

Raspberry & pistachio flan: A highly photogenic dessert with exquisite plating, the raspberry flan and pistachio mousse is complemented with fresh berries and pistachio bits. The raspberry flan is not too sour, but the pistachio mousse was a little light for my liking.

"salt" chocolate mousse: A chocolate-based dessert which looks exquisite and tastes chocolate-y but is actually pretty light on the stomach. The chocolate mousse contains chocolate chips and is topped with gold-coated chocolate and cocoa powder. Not bad, but not fantastic for a chocolate dessert either.

We were served coffee/tea together with the desserts, which made the desserts a more pleasant affair.
Service staff were generally attentive - I was offered a basket to store my bag, our glasses were frequently refilled with water and Cat's napkin was promptly adjusted when he moved and dropped his napkin. We were also given ample time between courses, and a staff helped us to take a photo before we left.

Overall, we were impressed with the starters but not so with the mains and desserts, mainly because the crab omelette and salmon sashimi had already set a pretty high bar for the rest of the meal and the rest turns out to be not exceeding our expectations. The view was great, the starters were fantastic but the rest could have been better for an experience that truly lives up to its hype, even if it's Restaurant Week and diners are not paying full price.

Dessert Bowl 一碗甜品 at Serangoon Gardens

It was a really hot day when we were exploring Serangoon Gardens one fine weekend afternoon, and we were craving for desserts. We wanted something cool to beat the scorching heat, yet not too pricey as we were saving up for upcoming expensive dinners. Hence, we were delighted to find a small dessert place called Dessert Bowl, which is located on the 2nd floor of a row of shophouses near the main cluster of supper places. We could even smell the scent (or fragrance, depending on preference) of fruits while walking up the stairs to the shop!

Retro photos of Hong Kong along the stairway! These photos invoke nostalgic feeling indeed.

The interior of Dessert Bowl reminds us of Hong Kong, with street scene miniatures and photos on display and wooden tables that look similar to those in Hong Kong dessert shops. After all, Dessert Bowl specializes in Hong Kong style desserts such as Mango Pomelo Sago and durian desserts. For those who love fruits and are fans of Hui Lau Shan 許留山. you will be spoiled for choice with the variety of fruit desserts available on the menu.

Look out for the baby photo smiling at you on the menu!

During our visit, we were handed a card with the menu saying that the mangoes are sour today. Really love it when business owners pay attention to details like this in customer service!

Perhaps one of the best durian mousse in Singapore, this Durian Mousse (S$5) tastes as good as it looks. This delectable dessert consists of silky durian mousse topped with a dollop of durian flesh, contributing to a heavenly mix of textures and tastes. The durian mousse tastes milky, thick and creamy with a pleasant slushie-like texture, while the durian flesh is not too sweet and provides a good taste balance with the durian mousse such that the dessert does not taste overly jelat. It tastes so good and balanced that I could literally clean off the whole bowl of durian mousse by myself!

The Pulau Hitam with Coconut (S$4.50) is a slight twist to the traditional dessert, topped with a scoop of coconut ice cream. The dessert is smooth on the throat, but could get a bit jelat due to the lack of contrast in taste.

We wanted to try the mango desserts, but we don't fancy sour mangoes. We would love to try the Mango Pomelo Sago and Mango Ai-Yu on our next visit!


If you are looking for a relatively affordable place to hang out after a meal or supper with friends, we highly recommend checking out Dessert Bowl for desserts. There are comfortable red sofas near the window where you can chill out with friends and watch people walk by while you enjoy your bowl of Durian Mousse. Definitely better than the usual waffles and ice cream in cafes!

Dessert Bowl
80A Serangoon Garden Way
Singapore 555976

Opening Hours: 
Tuesdays to Thursdays: 1pm - 10.30pm
Fridays to Sundays: 1pm - 1am
Closed on Mondays

Fatcat Ice Cream Bar Plated Desserts

Hweecat meow.

I'm back! Yes, it's been long -  I was away in Taipei and Hong Kong with roomiecat on the first half of November, then Cat and I got busy with work and our 2nd anniversary cum engagement party. Oh yes, we are engaged - in both senses!

One of our resolutions is to source deeper and try out more food places beyond our comfort zones. So, our first review of 2016 shall be on Fatcat Ice Cream Bar, one of the most featured cafes on Instagram.

Fatcat Ice Cream Bar is well known for their Instagram-worthy gourmet Charcoal Waffles with salted egg yolk custard. What caught our attention, however, were the plated desserts which screams "fine dining" and "innovation". These plated desserts are seasonal to keep the menu fresh, so we just had to try these desserts before they get replaced.

If you love s'mores and toasted marshmallows, you would love this Reverse Smores (S$10) which looks like a campfire. This plated dessert features banana caramel sorbet sitting on a chocolate cookie base, wrapped up in a lightly-torched marshmallow and garnished by a bed of chocolate twigs and caramel espresso tuile. Take a bite of the tuile before digging into the gooey marshmallow for a cold pleasant surprise!

Summer Days (S$14) is reminiscent of summer and winter, with flowers, berries and white snow-like desserts. This plated berry-based dessert consists of yoghurt base, strawberry sponge and lychee sorbet topped with berries, flowers and strawberry tuiles. What we enjoyed most about the dessert is the popping sensation from the popping candies!

(Apologies for the flashlight; it was dark and I was using phone flashlight while taking this shot.)

The Indian-inspired Faux Passionfruit (S$18) is so magical - it is probably one of our favourite desserts so far. The dessert comes in two parts - the pre-dessert and the main. The pre-dessert consists of a pair of passionfruit bonbons which arrive at our table in a dramatic way - filled with dry ice smoke which flows over your table when the bell jar is removed. The passionfruit flavour bursts in your mouth when the white chocolate shell is broken - delightful indeed!

The main is a majestic display of creativity in terms of flavours and sensation. Within the purple white chocolate ball contains a fiery burst of passionfruit and curry - yes curry - that goes incredibly well with the coconut mousse and curry soil. The homegrown floral garnishes are not just pretty additions to the dessert plating but also edible and adds a subtle herbal scent to the dessert. It feels as if we are having a main course for dessert - in a very good way of course.

Harry Potter fans should pay attention to this as their interpretation of Butterbeer (S$14) is phasing out soon for newer creations. Proclaimed to be "Flown in fresh via Owl Post from the Three Broomstick in Hogsmeade", this alcoholic drink consists of Hoegaarden beer, butter foam, and "magic" which mixes the beer and the butter foam in a dramatic fashion. It is indeed better tasting than beer, but we are limited to two shots of butter foam. Oh well, their Butterbeer ice-cream does a good job in satisfying Butterbeer cravings too!

Fatcat Ice Cream Bar is well-featured on social networks for their photogenic desserts and deservedly so, and the service is pretty good with the service staff describing and explaining the plated desserts as much as possible. We have not tried the Gourmet Charcoal Waffles yet, but we know we fat cats will be back at Fatcat for more desserts soon.

Fatcat Ice Cream Bar
Blk 416 Bedok North Avenue 2
#01-25
Singapore 460416

Opening Hours:
Check their Facebook page.

Cat Food Logs

Cat meow. I had home-cooked Teochew Porridge again. Sorry for the blur photos, the food was too tempting to eat.

Restaurant Week Oct 2015: Kuvo

I have heard plenty of good reviews about the food and ambience at Kuvo, a lifestyle concept by the folks behind The Connoisseur Concerto (TCC). Situated at level 2 of Orchard Shopping Centre, you would need to find a nondescript entrance beside the elevators, which lead to an escalator up to Kuvo itself. We have a good impression of TCC in terms of food and service, hence Kuvo was on our must-try list for this rendition of Restaurant Week.

We were warmly welcomed by Steven, the restaurant manager, who shook my hand with a firm handshake. We were seated at the window table with a view of the evening scene at the Somerset area, and promptly given the dinner menu for Restaurant Week. The theme for this Restaurant Week was "Seven Deadly Sins" - imagine premium ingredients with saliva-inducing flavours in savoury dishes and sinful temptations in desserts. Hokkaido scallops, ribeye steak, Norwegian salmon, fried dessert... certainly makes for a dinner which we would be really proud of.

The Carpaccio of Hokkaido Scallops is a refreshing appetiser consisting of thin Hokkaido scallop slices topped with ebibko and ponzu-horseradish dressing, with daikon crisp and frisse at the side. The scallops tasted sweet, succulent and amazingly fresh such that the slices slipped into our mouth with little effort. The salad had hints of horseradish aftertaste which does not overpower the overall sweetness of the scallops.

We had the Char-Grilled Ribeye Steak, and we were impressed by how incredibly tender the ribeye is. The ribeye was done perfectly the way we like - medium rare. It was relatively easy for us to cut up the ribeye, which could be partly attributed to the slightly thin cut. The ribeye was juicy and densely flavoured, and the fat was soft and a delight to chew on. The truffle mash that accompanied the steak was heavenly and rich. The steak is surprisingly comparable to those served at higher-end restaurants like OCF; in fact, we have absolutely nothing to nitpick about.

As with any dish with really good beef, we wish the portion was bigger. Cat was still hungry after finishing the ribeye and started to bemoan the absence of free-flow bread.

It took a longer-than-expected wait before we were served our Deep fried Mango & Raspberry Ice cream. The plating and creativity of the dessert was fairly well executed. However, it was a bit of a letdown as it did not complement well with the overall menu of rich subtle flavours. Cat felt that the texture of the filling reminded him of melting frozen banana, and we could not taste the flavours of raspberry and mango. The batter was a bit oily for my liking.

Service was efficient and organized, as we could see that the service staff and the kitchen had some form of well-rehearsed routine order. The service staff are fairly attentive; usually leaving customers to their own business unless requested. They were also helpful in taking photos. 

Before we left the restaurant, Steven asked for our feedback and presented us with his namecard. We paid S$35++ per person for the Restaurant Week set dinner (+S$10 for sparkling water), which is reasonable considering the impeccable steak. We would love to be back for the service - and the steak.

Teochew breakfast

As we continuously praise commercial food let us not forget that the cheapest healthiest and nicest food is often cooked by self.

There is no better way to start a Saturday morning the best day of the week with home-cooked breakfast Teochew-style. The classical Teochew porridge meal consists of side dishes like eggs, fresh and preserved vegetables, cooked and canned meat. Special thanks to mum who specially gave us tomatoes at our indent and cooked braised meat for us. The all-important black olive vegetables is also a crucial part of Teochew porridge.

Full menu

Teochew half watery porridge

Omelette with crabstick

Lor bak braised meat

Enoki golden pin mushrooms

Fresh button mushrooms

Fresh cherry tomatoes

Braised tau pok beancurd

Preserved black olive vegetables

Chaosansi bamboo shoots with meat

Tell us about a balanced optimized breakfast. (:

Movie Date "Inside Out" at The Cathay feat. Soi 55

We went out on a movie date at The Cathay to watch "Inside Out", a Pixar animation film which personifies emotions and illustrates the mental architecture of a girl named Riley. "Inside Out" is arguably the best movie that we have watched in a long time since "Up" (also by Pixar), as its ingenious and realistic depiction of "psychoevolutionary" theory is relatable to both children and adults alike. We were laughing and "aww"-ing throughout the movie in our couple seats, while also busily analysing the movie with reference to the brain model we know of (such as the Memory Dump, Core Memories, Personality Islands etc.). Definitely a must-watch movie of the year!

If you haven't watched "Inside Out" yet or want to watch it again, do grab your tickets fast before the movie ends its run. (:

Credits: Disney/Pixar

Cat figures his primary emotion is more of Disgust, while my primary emotion is Joy - just like Riley!

Before entering the cinema, I grabbed a cup of Thai Iced Milk Tea (also known as Cha Yen) (S$3.90 each) from the newly-opened Soi 55 branch near the ticketing counters. The catch? You can bring any drink bought from this Soi 55 branch into the cinema (legally)! The price for the drinks are hence a little higher than those sold at Golden Shoe Food Centre, but the Cha Yen tastes as good as it looks.

Soi 55 Thai Iced Milk Tea!

Between Thai Iced Milk Tea and Coke, which drink would you prefer to bring into the cinema for the movies?