Restaurant Week Mar 2015: Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt (OCF)

Hweecat meow.

It's Restaurant Week once again, the time where participating restaurants come up with set meals at promotion prices. The first day of Restaurant Week happens to coincide with Pi Day (3.14.15), which calls for a celebration for us Mathematics-loving cats. Since Cat was not sure when his afternoon appointments would end on that day, I made a 8pm dinner reservation for two persons at Olivia Cassivelaun Fancourt (OCF) to stay on the safe side of punctuality. 

On the actual day

Cat arrived at City Hall MRT at around 6.45pm, which was earlier than our 8pm dinner reservation but would have been late for 6.30pm dinner reservation. We were faced with two options: to walk around and wait until 8pm for our dinner reservation, or to try our luck with dining early. We decided on the latter.

Alas, it started raining when we were on the way to The Arts House @ Old Parliament! We rushed straight into the main building, frantically searching for the restaurant. After pacing up and down the stairs, we realised that we went to the wrong building - OCF was at a separate building from the main Arts House building!

Unsurprisingly, we got drenched on the way to OCF. :O Thankfully, we were given a table despite our early arrival. Even though the tables further in at the restaurant with better comfort were fully filled and the only seats available are the bar-tops and the table nearest to the entrance, we were nevertheless glad to be able to finally have our dinner.

(Of course, we could wait for the other tables, but our stomachs couldn't wait any further.)

In typical Cat and Hweecat food-ordering style, we told the service staff, "One each *points to menu*" In between courses, the service staff asked us who would be having which dish.

Entrées

Le Ballotine de Volaille

I opted for Le Ballotine de Volaille - chicken stuffed with foie gras and wrapped up like sausage. Chewy on the outside, melt-in-the-mouth on the inside. Goes well with bread and tastes satisfying.

Egg bon-bon with black truffles and leek emulsion

Cat went for L’Œuf Royale - egg bon-bon in leek emulsion and topped with black truffles. This is an egg-based savoury experience with a creamy surprise on the inside. When Cat lowers his head close to the egg-based dish for his nose to take in the aroma, and offers Hweecat a share of the egg bon-bon multiple times, you know it is a winner.

Bon appetit!

We asked for another serving of bread just to clean up our entrées. Before our mains came, a service staff asked if we would like more bread for the mains. Without much thought, we replied, "Nah, it's okay."

That turned out to be our biggest blunder of the day.


Plats

Japanese seabream in pesto

As Cat does not like seafood in general while I love seafood, I had La Dorade - Japanese seabream, seafood and cocobean fricasseé in pesto. The Japanese seabream has a slightly strong, sweet flavour with a delicate texture. Not sure if it is farmed or caught in the wild.

Cat does not like the fish due to its slightly strong taste, I find it decent and fresh. The portion was a tad bit small though.

Australian striploin

Cat had Le Bœuf - Australian striploin topped with Cevennes onion, with potato puree and roasting jus. No questions were asked about meat rarity. The striploin is of such premium quality that it tastes incredibly tender and juicy. We guess the striploin is cooked rare to bring out its natural sweetness. We haven't tasted beef as good as this piece of striploin so far, but then again, we haven't tried top-grade beef in Japan yet. (Update 27/10/15: We tried really good beef from Japan!)

Again, we wish the portion was bigger. Cat was still hungry after finishing the striploin and starting to get impatient.

Dessert

La Fraise - strawberry dessert

Only one type of dessert was available for the Restaurant Week dinner set - La Fraise. It's a combination of sweetened strawberries, strawberry sorbet and Opalys white chocolate and tastes like deconstructed strawberry crumble cake. The strawberries do not taste like low-grade jam strawberries, instead they tasted reasonably fresh. What a way to conclude our dinner on a sweet note. (:

Hweecat posing with her dessert

Hweecat attempting to pose demurely :P

The dessert surprisingly made our stomachs feel slightly fuller, but we were still not fully satiated! Hence, we ended up having supper after dinner.

Post-Dinner

We couldn't quite fathom why we paid S$55++ per person for a meal which leaves both of us hungry, until a few days later. We then realised that we had made a wasteful blunder.

We should have asked for more bread for the mains!

We were already hinted by a service staff about it, too. Without bread to soak my plate clean for the main course, I ended up leaving a bit too much pesto for my Japanese seabream. We could have stuffed ourselves silly soaking up our main courses with free flow bread and walked out with a fuller stomach! D:

Overall, food quality is pretty good by our standards (we enjoyed our food but we really wanted more!), service was flexible and attentive (at least we were allowed to dine earlier), and the manager even took time off to explain the dishes to us. Still, a hungry Cat could potentially become an unhappy impatient Cat. If you have a pretty big appetite and love plentiful food, do make sure to ask for more bread to avoid a hungry experience!

Old Kallang Airport area (Dakota Crescent) feat. Tian Kee & Co.

Hweecat meow.

Thanks everyone for reading Cat's post on our first date anniversary! Do support our posts as we keep you guys updated with our cat-ventures. (:

Today's post will be slightly different from my typical posts whereby the focus is on food. Let's just say...it's more about the exploration.

It started out as a typical Saturday whereby Cat and I bought some snacks at Paya Lebar to chomp on during Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) sessions. Alas, our Dungeons Master was unable to run the session! Hence, I decided to drag Cat along for a long afternoon walk from Dakota to Stadium MRT station.

Our plans were disrupted by a violent thunderstorm when we arrived at Dakota MRT, so we ended up taking refuge at Old Airport Road Hawker Centre while the thunders raged. It wasn't a total waste of time though; we stumbled upon Geylang Lor 20 Banana Fritters which sells really sweet and crispy-yet-not-oily Goreng Pisang made with Pisang Raja (King of Bananas)! No photos of these small deep-fried delights, so here's a photo of the stall from ieatishootipost. Note that it costs $1.30 per big Goreng Pisang, and it's best eaten fresh. (:

Photo Credits: ieatishootipost

Thankfully, the thunderstorm ended soon after and we continued with our afternoon walk.

Our next stop is at Dakota Crescent, one of Singapore's oldest public housing estates. Built in 1958 by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) (HDB's predecessor), the estate was named after the aircraft model Douglas DC-3 Dakota that often landed at Kallang Airport, which was Singapore's first civilian airport. Dakota Crescent consists of 17 blocks of white low-rise flats which are less than 10 storeys tall. Unlike its more popular SIT cousin Tiong Bahru, which has undergone gentrification and is now a hipster enclave and café hotspot, Dakota Crescent is a quaint backwater which seemed almost entirely untouched for more than 50 years.

When we stepped out of Mountbatten MRT station, we were greeted with colourful Renaissance-like balconies which look oddly picturesque in contrast with the white walls.

Colourful balconies - Singaporean style

We saw community cats - loads of them. Some of them like lounging around on chairs.

Cat boss of the chairs

 Some of them prefer frolicking under staircases.

"Meow."

We found a bird taking refuge at a ground-level balcony which looked like a blast from the past.



"Chirp chirp."

We walked along Dakota Crescent and spotted a cafe at one end of the row of shops, near a TCM clinic. Tian Kee & Co. used to be an old-school provision shop, until the previous owners retired and the current owners turned it into a cafe. The current owners of Tian Kee & Co. kept several artifacts from the old provision shop - the signboard of the provision shop remains, as well as the 20-cent kiddy ride outside.  

Tian Kee & Co.

Tian Kee & Co. retains a rustic charm that is difficult to find nowadays in 21st-century Singapore. Rusted-out black-and-white sign which says something along the lines of "no sale of cigarette and alcohol to persons aged under 18"? Check. Green wooden stools? Check. The ubiquitous orange Bonjour bread shelf that we 90's kids see in old-school provision shops? Check.

Pensive Cat

At this point in time, we were getting a little thirsty and craving for some food. The cakes had interesting names and looked so mouth-watering; we had a hard time deciding on what to order! 

Instagram-worthy Rainbow Cheesecake!

We like the pastel colours of the Rainbow Cheesecake (S$7.50), which reminds us of Rainbow Paddle Pop which is popular among 90's kids. The texture of the cheesecake is not too dense or overwhelming; rather, it has a jelly-like texture which is closer to a yogurt cheesecake than a typical cheesecake. The crust is thin, crispy yet not too dry, which is ideal for my palette. Cat usually does not like cheesecake, but he enjoyed this Rainbow Cheesecake beyond the last crumb. (:

Root Beer Floats for 2

We noticed that the cafe was having a 2-for-S$8 root beer float promotion, hence we decided to give these root beer floats a try. Based on the recommendation of a young female waiting staff, we had our root beers topped with coconut ice cream and lychee ice cream respectively. It's probably the best root beer floats we had so far - the ice cream complemented the taste of the root beer such that we could discern the sweetness of the drink. Cat usually finishes his drinks in double-quick time; he made an exception for this root beer float, slowly sipping and savouring the sweetness of the root beer float.

Half Breakfast Set

Tian Kee & Co. also serves all-day breakfast sets. As we had eaten earlier, we ordered a Half Breakfast Set (S$7.90) to share. The Half Breakfast set comes with scrambled eggs, two pieces of evenly-toasted bread, butter and salad. The scrambled eggs are fluffy yet not too airy and overcooked. Truffle oil, which is used to season the scrambled eggs, accentuated the rich natural egg flavour and elevated the status of these scrambled eggs to egg nirvana. In Cat's words, "These people really know how to cook!"

While chilling out at Tian Kee & Co., we noticed that the people who visit the cafe are mostly casually-dressed young adults decked in slippers. The surroundings are mostly quiet, except for the sounds of the baristas preparing the drinks and food. We spotted more cats around the area too - yes, Dakota Crescent has a lot of cats! :D

It was getting a little dark in the evening, so we left Dakota Crescent and continued with our long walk along Kallang River, towards Stadium Waterfront. (:

P.S. Sadly, Dakota Crescent may not be around for long, as the estate has been slated for redevelopment by end-2016. This means the Dakota cats and Tian Kee & Co. would have to go. ): Do check out the Facebook page set up (not by us, but by kind-hearted feeders) for the Dakota Crescent cats!

Restaurant Week Oct 2014: Laurent@Portsdown (from Hweecat's perspective)

Hweecat meow. I'm back after a busy schedule of rehearsals for Beautiful Sunday concert with RACO. (:

Now, time to finish my backlog. Sorry Cat. :P

The theme for this edition of Restaurant Week (25 October 2014 - 2 November 2014) is "Chocolate" - good news for chocolate lovers like me. My roomie, being a foodie, had earlier sent me photos of food from her dinner at Laurent@Portsdown and raved about the chocolate tart. As I looked through the reviews on DiningCity trying to find a restaurant to book for the weekend, my roomie buzzed me up on Whatsapp saying that she made another dinner booking for 2 at the same restaurant - for me and Cat! :D

Since Laurent@Portsdown is located close to the end of Portsdown Road and about 20 minutes away from one-north MRT by foot, we suggest taking a nice stroll to the restaurant when the sun is still up. As we walked down Portsdown Road, we saw plenty of trees and greenery, as well as high-rise buildings from afar. We also spotted avid runners along the road. There were few cars, hence we had a relatively quiet stroll and plenty of fresh air on the way.

Restaurant Interior - Spot the Eiffel Tower display!

The restaurant has a generally more casual feel compared with WOLF, with the service staff dressed more casually in shirt and jeans. Interior decorations have a lighter tone, with tasteful decorations which provide a more homely and casual feel to this French restaurant. The patrons are also dressed more casually - there seems to be no specified dress code, which is good news for comfort-loving Cat. (:

A young female service staff ushered us to our table and passed the menu to us. We have a choice between two starters and two mains; there is only one choice of dessert. We were also promptly asked if we would like a glass of house wine for $10; we declined politely. As we were deciding from the drinks menu, I spotted two young women from the other table pouring from a large jar of what seemed to be citrus juice into their cups. "Look behind!" I told Cat excitedly, pointing behind him.

"Look behind!"

He turned behind and looked curiously, then turned back and told the young female service staff that we want one each from the starters and the mains and "we want one of these *points in the direction of the jar* whatever you call it". Bemused, she explained to us that the drink is called Laurent's Lemonade, which is their famous house lemonade made with lemons and grapefruit.

Laurent's Lemonade - freshly made

The Laurent's Lemonade is served in a big jar filled with lemons and grapefruit (I think). It is an exciting experience for both of us as this is the first time we are having lemonade from such a big jar! The lemonade tasted not too sour with a tad bit of bitter taste from the peel. Overall, a very refreshing drink.

Prawn Cocktail with Guacamole of Avocado

The starters are seafood-based, which is awesome news for seafood lovers like me. The Prawn Cocktail with Guacamole of Avocado was above average. Guacamole is sufficiently creamy with a slight bit of spice and goes well with the salsa.

Traditional Lobster Bisque

The Traditional Lobster Bisque came paired with bread. The seafood taste is a tad bit overwhelming, hence Cat donated most of the lobster bisque to me.

Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Orange Zest Sauce

For mains, Cat ordered Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Orange Zest Sauce. The duck meat looks reddish, but is cooked with such tenderness that it melts into the mouth. If there is something that we would pick on, it would be the skin which seemed a bit too oily. After all, Cat is a fan of Saveur's incredibly crispy duck confit.

Snapper with Brandy and Lobster Sauce

I ordered Snapper with Brandy and Lobster Sauce for mains. The snapper fillet is firm such that it does not disintegrate when cut, yet tender enough to glide around my tongue gently as its layers come off one by one. I am pleasantly surprised not to detect any fishy taste in my snapper - either those "snappers" out there in the market are mislabelled, or the chef really did an awesome job in his treatment of the snapper. The brandy and lobster sauce consists of ratatouille, which is a traditional Provençal stewed vegetable dish made popular by the namesake movie. I loved the sauce so much that I requested for a spoon to scoop the sauce clean - if etiquette is not a concern, I would have literally licked the plate clean.

Chocolate Tarte

Finally, the highlight of our dinner: Chocolate Tarte! This chocolate tart is so incredibly delicious that it is a MUST-TRY! Everything about it is so so perfect - from the creamy dark chocolate layer that is not too sweet and not too bitter, the peanut butter and crispy hazelnut crust, the flawless transition of taste and texture between the layers and so on. The sour berries at the side also complement the taste of the chocolate tart perfectly, providing some zest to the dense layers of chocolate and peanut butter crust. The chocolate tart is flawless to the finest detail - deserving of full marks even from a chocolate fan like me! (:

Look at the layers!

Here's a close-up cross-section of the chocolate tart. Just look at the rich layers of chocolate, peanut butter and hazelnut crust!

Before we left the restaurant, we requested the female service staff who served us to help us take a photo. She cheerfully obliged and said that Cat and I look quite cute together. Cat and I felt flattered by the comment. :P

One thing for sure: We'll be back to Laurent for the desserts, especially the chocolate tart. :D

Laurent@Portsdown
5B Portsdown Rd
#01-02

Opening Hours:
Tuesdays - Thursday 10am - 10pm
Fridays - Saturdays 10am - 11pm
Sundays 9am - 10pm
Closed on Mondays

Restaurant Week Oct 2014: Laurent@Portsdown (from Cat's perspective)

Cat meow.

When we two cats were recommended to this place by Hweecat's roommiecat who used to share a basket with her during the best days of our lives, the first thing we discussed was the pronunciation of the name. Finally decided on pronouncing it the same way as a famed mathematician, we entered the restaurant to find out that there was also a chocolate chef by the same name (Laurent Bernard) and this is a cafe-restaurant under his chocolate brand. 

Hweecat and I have the unwritten and unspoken agreement that I pay during the weekdays and she pays during the weekends. Usually I end up paying more, but this time round it breaks even. 

It was worth it though. The menu was easy to order from. We had a choice of two appetizers and two main courses. Easy. One each. The drinks? While thinking, Hweecat pointed behind Cat. I turned behind, looked and saw this: 

We told the service staff, "One each *points to menu* and we want one of these whatever u call it". She told us that it is their house lemonade made with lemons and grapefruit.

The appetizer was a choice of two real and distinct types of seafood. There was Prawn Cocktail with Guacamole of Avocado and Traditional Lobster Bisque which is great for seafood loving cats like a Hweecat, so Cat happily donated most of the lobster bisque to the pretty Hweecat sitting opposite. 

The main course: Crispy Duck Leg Confit with Orange Zest Sauce for Cat and a very tender Snapper with Brandy and Lobster Sauce for Hweecat. How nice? Well, Cat usually does not like this particular type of fish due to a strong specific taste but decided to give an exception. That is what we told the service staff. 

Chocolate Tart

The dessert - chocolate tart - is a MUST TRY. Everything about it is so perfect from the dark chocolate that is not bitter, to the peanut butter crust, and the flawless transition, not forgetting the fruits beside it. 

Cat gives the food distinction, the chocolate tart full marks, and the house lemonade a certificate of special mention. 

As we left the restaurant, a sense of great contentment came to us. Cat slipped into Hweecat paws, and we crawled a long way into Holland Drive for tea and had a long chat till late into the night. 

Totally worth skipping evening chess for. 

Laurent@Portsdown
5B Portsdown Rd
#01-02

Opening Hours:
Tuesdays - Thursday 10am - 10pm
Fridays - Saturdays 10am - 11pm
Sundays 9am - 10pm
Closed on Mondays

The Sushi Bar Normal Chirashi Don

Hweecat meow.

I've been pigging out with Cat so much (and getting caught up with work) that I have accumulated a backlog of posts. Time to start completing my posts! :P

Since our first visit to The Sushi Bar at Far East Plaza, I have wanted to make a return visit to try more items in the menu. As we were hungry and craving for some really good salmon aburi sushi, we decided to visit The Sushi Bar again last Friday. To ensure that we will not leave hungry this time, we ordered a Normal Chirashi Don (S$24.90) in addition to a plate of the must-order Salmon Aburi Roll (S$14.90).

Normal Chirashi Don

The Normal Chirashi Don is of such premium quality that we felt it was well worth the price! It comes with 3 thick slices of salmon, aburi salmon, tuna, swordfish, yellowtail and scallop, and topped with ikura (salmon roe). What we really like about the Normal Chirashi Don is that premium cuts of sashimi were chosen for the chirashi don. We were especially impressed with the tuna in this chirashi don, which tasted fresh and succulent, unlike the tuna served in most restaurants which usually tastes mushy (and hence not so pleasant to eat). The sashimi-rice ratio seems to be about 2:1, such that we have just enough rice to eat with the sashimi without overpowering its taste. If the Normal Chirashi Don is already so impressive in terms of quality (and definitely one of the best chirashi don in Singapore), I can't imagine how much more "premium" could the Premium Chirashi Don be!

Salmon Aburi Roll and Normal Chirashi Don

We like how the Salmon Aburi Roll tastes just as 'shiok' as the one we had on our first visit. So far the quality has been consistently great. (:

From our two visits to The Sushi Bar so far, we are impressed with how the chef could serve Japanese food of premium quality consistently at fairly reasonable prices. The portions are generous, yet leave us feeling hungry for more. We feel that it's better than Itacho Sushi in terms of food quality and freshness, yet just a little more pricey. Would we visit The Sushi Bar again? Cat doesn't feel a pinch of regret after paying the bill, so the answer is: yes. :D

The Sushi Bar

14 Scotts Road

#04-28

Far East Plaza

Opening Hours:

Mondays - Thursdays 12.30 - 3pm, 5.30 - 9pm

Fridays - Saturdays 12.30 - 9pm



Koh Grill & Sushi Bar Shiok Maki

Caution: This post contains multiple appearances of the word "shiok" and may cause involuntary stomach growling and salivation. Viewers are advised to read on a full stomach. :P

Hweecat meow.

Cat and I love salmon aburi sushi tremendously since the first time we tried it at Sushi Express. The melt-in-the-mouth sensation of raw salmon seared at the top...it just feels sooooo shiok! :P

(For non-Singaporean readers who don't know what "shiok" means, the Coxford Singlish Dictionary provides a pretty good definition.)

So, how shiok is the Shiok Maki at Koh Grill & Sushi Bar? We decided to order one plate of Shiok!!! Maki (S$16.80) (1st gen) each to see if this local sushi creation lives up to its name and hype.

Shiok...Maki!

Our plates of Shiok Maki look sinfully delectable when served from the counter bar. Imagine avocado and grilled unagi rolled into seaweed and round sushi rice, topped with thin slices of aburi salmon, drenched with some form of cheesy mentai dressing and piled with loads of tobiko roe. That's Shiok Maki for you. :P

Advantage of sitting at the counter bar: You see how your sushi is being prepared.

The moment the Shiok Maki entered our mouths, we could feel the shiok feeling of the salmon aburi as the maki disintegrated and melted in our mouths. It wasn't exactly consistently melt-in-the-mouth for the aburi salmon - we could still feel the salmon texture for some pieces of maki - but still decent. What wins me over is the addition of avocado to the maki, which contributed to the shiok taste of the maki without being fatty in an unhealthy way. (:

Overall, I would say that the Shiok Maki at Koh Grill & Sushi Bar isn't as shiok as we thought (we have tried better aburi salmon in Sushi Express, though not all the time), but the combination is indeed delicious and the maki is fairly consistent. Is it worth the price? Surprisingly yes, considering the quality. ;)

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar
435 Orchard Road
#04-21
Wisma Atria Food Republic

Opening Hours: Daily 11.30am - 10.30pm

P.S. As the 2nd gen Shiok Maki contains shrimp and Cat does not like shrimp, we only tried the 1st gen Shiok Maki for this visit.

The Sushi Bar Salmon Aburi Roll

Hweecat meow.

Today's post shall be relatively short and straightforward, just like the food place that I'm writing about. The Sushi Bar is located inconspicuously at level 4 of Far East Plaza. Nevertheless, this hole-in-the-wall Japanese sushi bar sees hungry crowds in the evenings.

Cat and I visited The Sushi Bar to try their signature salmon aburi roll. At 5.15pm on a Friday evening, we managed to get seats for two. We ordered the Salmon Aburi Roll (S$14.50) and Scallop Mentaiyaki (S$13.90) to share, as we thought that 8 pieces of salmon aburi roll with a plate of scallop mentaiyaki would be enough for both of us. How wrong we are!

Scallop Mentaiyaki

Scallop Mentaiyaki is pretty impressive. Imagine thinly sliced fresh scallops, topped with mentai and garnished with fish roe at the side. Perfect appetiser!

Salmon Aburi Roll

One word to describe the Salmon Aburi Roll: Shiok! The salmon is so well torched that I could feel it melt in my mouth in one bite and not feel guilty about it. After having 4 pieces each, we were left feeling hungry as it is just not enough to satisfy our tummies! In short, definitely one of the best salmon aburi rolls that we've had so far!

The Sushi Bar serves one of the best salmon aburi rolls in Singapore. However, prices tend to be mid-range, so we probably won't be visiting that often unless we have serious cravings for the salmon aburi roll. We'll probably also order 8 pieces of salmon aburi roll for each of us, if we have the money. Gotta pay more for sushi of such high quality, no? *shrugs*

The Sushi Bar

14 Scotts Road

#04-28

Far East Plaza

Opening Hours:

Mondays - Thursdays 12.30 - 3pm, 5.30 - 9pm

Fridays - Saturdays 12.30 - 9pm