The House of Robert Timms, Orchard Shopping Centre

This was my first visit to The House of Robert Timms over at Orchard Shopping Centre and the food was still decent.

The mussels in white wine sauce was not that great due to the strong stench of the mussels. Not sure if they were not cleaned properly or it was the season catch. Not my favorite.

The pasta with asparagus and mushrooms was wholesome and toothsome. I liked it, especially for days when I want to have no meat.

I was craving for something more creamy and ordered the carbonara. It was really yummy with the cream sauce and mushroom and bacon. It was also heavy, so not an everyday affair.

The girls ended the meal with the sticky date pudding with ice cream. I did not try it as I was not really a fan of sticky date pudding. It looked good though.

Basilico, Regent Hotel - Restaurant Week 2011

One of my favorite Italian restaurants in Singapore is Basilico over at The Regent Singapore. It has been around for many years and is known for decent, fresh and good Italian food, helmed by Italian chefs. I was delighted to know it was one of the restaurants in Restaurant Week October 2011 and swiftly booked a slot for dinner.

I like this concept of a antipasti and dessert buffet with a choice of main course. There were around 9 items on the list and I had a hard time selecting what I would like to have.

I love the antipasti spread at Basilico. There were many types of cured meat from Italy, including parma ham, and the variety of honey to go with the numerous wheels of cheese. My favorite was the duck rillette with toast and the grilled vegetables and asparagus. The cheese went very well with the truffle honey too.

I chose the risotto with foie gras and truffle porcino for my main as I was avoiding seafood then. It was toothsome and the foie gras was gorgeous with the soft tender flesh wobbling. It brought out the flavor of the risotto very well.

TT had the Angus beef in red wine sauce and this was also very good. The meat was done nicely.

JK had the lamb chop which was superbly done. It was not too gamey tasting.

No dessert pictures but I love the gelato and the mini cakes and tarts. Wonderful service and dinner at Basilico.

L'Espresso, Goodwood Park Hotel

After the disappointing dinner at Gaia Ristorante and Bar, we went over to L'Espresso for some coffee and tea and desserts.

I like how the latte was served with a sugar stick to stir in the desired amount of sweetness and the presentation of the drink was quite pretty.

I had the hibiscus and rosehip tea which came in a beautiful pot and teacup and saucer. It also came with a sugar stick.

The durian crepe which was humongous. We sure didn't expect it to be two big pieces of crepe filled chock full of durian pulp and topped with ice cream and fruits. Then again, it had to justify the price tag too. This was most wonderful, especially if you like durian.

I must go back to L'Espresso again for the perennial popular afternoon tea some day.

Gaia Ristorante and Bar - Restaurant Week Dinner October 2011

I kept missing out on the previous Restaurant Weeks as I was either too late to book it or I was just too busy to make it. So I was pretty excited when I managed to fix 3 dates during the Restaurant Week in October 2011.

Gaia Ristorante and Bar at Goodwood Park Hotel caught my attention as it is connected to OSO Ristorante which is highly raved.

The ambience was invitingly romantic, with dim lighting and cozy booth corners lining one side of the room. Unfortunately, being Restaurant Week, I guessed they were trying to maximize the dining space so there were also tables set virtually back to back, making it quite awkward to have a lovely meal when you could hear the other diners' conversations.

The assortment of bread served was something different from the usual and I liked that.

The set dinner menu priced at $55++

SARDE IN SAOR

I couldn't say I particularly care for the deep fried sardine marinated in onion. Then again I was never a big fan of sardines so it was quite a biased opinion.

MERENDA DEL MAZZAROL

The taste of the panfried ham and ricotta cheese reminded me of spam.

PASTA COE E MOECHE

Finally, something which I didn't mind having. Soft shell crab with tagliatelle. The pasta was al dente, lightly coated with sauce and was quite tasty with the slight crunch of the soft shell crab.

BACCALA ALLA VICENTINA

I chose the cod as my main and I was underwhelmed by the blandness of the fish. Maybe it was the style of cooking from the northeastern side of Italy where the head chef (Moreno Martini) is from. The corn cake, or polenta as mentioned by the server, was totally dull and lacked much flavor.

TIRAMISU

The saving grace of the entire meal was the dessert. Not that it was supremely fantastic but after the few courses of utterly forgettable dishes, this was a highlight. It was slightly wet with the taste of coffee and liquor and made a decent ending to the meal.

To be fair to Gaia Ristorante and Bar, the food was fresh and nicely presented. It could just be that the method of cooking was not to my liking. Or it could be those dishes served for Restaurant Week were not their specialties. In any case, I did not particularly care for the food and doubt I would return in the near future. It was most disappointing as I had such high hope for it.

El Toro, Winsland Conservation House

Such a belated post...we dined there on 21 July 2011 after hearing good things about it. I have driven past it many times and always wondered if I should give it a try. The location is kinda in the middle of nowhere as it is at the Winsland Conservation House, where Dubliner's is. Not really in my radar since I am usually at the Mandarin Gallery to Wheelock stretch of Orchard.

We tried the appetizer plate (plato mixto) as it has a bit of everything - mini quesadillas, special bbq wings and jalepeno poppers with sour cream, salsa and cheese dip. I love the warm quesadillas with the crispy tortilla. The jalalepeno popper was a bit too rich as it was deep fried, not super spicy either if you like hot stuff. The bbq wings were very yummy too.

I liked the paella (porto rican paella) which was said to serve 2, but could probably serve 4 small eaters comfortably, especially if there were other dishes to share. It came with fish, spicy sausage and chicken. It was a bit wet-ish, so would suit those who like it moist. I prefer mine a bit drier. But it was much better overnight as I doggy-bagged it and had it the next day.

The waiter recommended this for dessert - chocolate chili cake with ice cream. Bad choice. We did not like it one bit. Chili and chocolate just did not go well together. It was a subtle heat which emanated a few seconds after the first bite. Very strange.

I would love to go back to El Toro again to try the other dishes on the menu.

Mooncakes from Mandarin Court and Marina Bay Sands 2011

After a few years of buying so many boxes of mooncakes, I finally stopped buying again until this year. I decided to get a box of low sugar white lotus paste mooncakes from Mandarin Court at Mandarin Orchard. I do love the box it came in, with the lattice screen over a cloth floral design set in a cushion olive bronze-y box. It just screamed quiet, understated luxe.

It even came with its own plastic forks, besides the ubiquitous plastic knife. I liked how each mooncake was individually packed which was so much more hygenic and fresh.

We also received a box of mooncakes from Marina Bay Sands. I loved the packaging, which looked like a Chinese lantern.

Untie the bow at the side, and slide out the tower of mooncakes.

Remove the cover and undo the ribbon and it swung open, revealing each moon cake in its own space. Taste-wise, I felt it was a bit too sweet.

Maybe it is age, but I much prefer the low-sugar mooncake from Mandarin Court.

Royal China, Raffles Hotel

I have passed by and seen Royal China at Raffles Hotel for several years but I never went in till this year. Ashley wanted to have dim sum for her birthday celebration and chose Royal China after reading positive reviews of it online. So off we went. It was so popular that it did either 2-3 seating on weekends, definitely not a place to linger after you finished your meal.

Royal China is from England and thus you can find aromatic crispy duck on the menu, done exactly like what it is in England, according to my Brit/others friends who have spent ages hunting and lamenting they could not find it in Singapore. Peking duck is not aromatic crispy duck. Good news to those who are still wondering where they can get their fill of aromatic crispy duck.

The first thing that struck us was the use of robin egg blue which was reminiscent of Tiffany & Co blue. The ambience could be noisy when crowded but it was not too bad as the carpeting did absorb some of the noise. The liberal use of robin egg blue and white was calming and had a modern feel, unlike the usual red and dark wood in other Chinese restaurants. Service was brisk, in order for diners to finish their meals in the 1 - 1.5 hour allocated.

Char Siew Siu - I could not remember if there was mango in there or it was purely just char siew.

Judging from this picture, it looked like it was purely just char siew (bbq pork). It was a bit sweet, moist and generously filled with the meat and encased in a light pastry which flaked as you bit into it. Very moreish. I liked it.

A specialty is the 7-layer steamed cake with salted egg yolk. This was not so good as it was a bit on the dry side.

Mushroom dumpling in a crystal skin which was average.

We also ordered the century egg congee which was pretty good. Another hit was the rice rolls in XO sauce.

More food - spareribs (I did not try but friends said it was not that great), siew mai was not too bad and the salted egg yolk custard bun with mango.

The salted egg yolk custard bun with mango was really good. It would be better if it was more runny. It could be the timing as we had the last seating and maybe the buns had been sitting out there for a while? My 2nd visit was the first seating and the buns were extremely good. The custard literally flowed out when I broke a piece off.

We did not order the aromatic crispy duck as it showed only half and 1 duck portion in the menu. Instead we ordered another specialty - crispy duck in a stew or something. This was a either you like or hate it dish. It was a bit mala (spicy) and came with strips of translucent noodles with pieces of the crispy duck in a vinegar sauce, similar to the pig's trotters dish sauce.

I did order the aromatic crispy duck (and they can do a quarter portion if you ask) on my second visit and it was very good. The difference between the aromatic crispy duck and peking duck is that the duck is fried to a crisp (a bit like duck confit). So you get both skin and crispy duck meat to be wrapped into a roll. With Peking duck, we usually only wrap the skin and not the meat. I like both versions.

Dessert - red bean pancake. This was good too. Crispy pancake with generous serving of red bean in it.

Despite the hit and miss nature of the food in Royal China, I still like it enough to want to go back again. If not for the dim sum, but for the aromatic crispy duck since you cannot really find it elsewhere in Singapore. There is a Chinese restaurant in Bangsar Village, KL which actually serves it too.

Open House @ Grand Park Orchard Hotel

There is a new restaurant in town and it is Open House at Grand Park Orchard Hotel at the junction of Orchard Road and Bideford Road, across from Paragon. Their "all you can eat" lunch buffet is a bit different from other places as it is not a place with a wide selection and where food is placed on chafing dishes.

Instead there are 5 stations where you can place your order and the chef will cook the dish and deliver to your table. The only sections where you take what you like are the salad bar and dessert counter.

The greens were crisp and fresh with a variety of dressings. I love the shaved parmesan cheese, and also took 2 macarons as I could not resist them. Unfortunately the macarons were not fantastic, too chewy like biscuits.

There were 4 items at the dim sum station and we ordered them all - har gow (Shrimp dumpling), siew mai, glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves and char siew bun.

All were pretty good, maybe because they were steamed or prepared only after you placed your order. The har gow was quite big with plenty of prawns. The char siew bun was also yummy with a decent ratio of meat and dough. The glutinous rice was steamed perfectly, tasty and soft. Same for the siew mai.

At the roast meat counter, you could get roast pork belly (also pretty good with crackling skin and a thin layer of fat), char siew (so-so), soya chicken (decent but not fantastic) and roast duck (not very nice). I like the sauces which came with them.

Another winner was the pizza station. Again there were 4 items on the menu. We chose two. The teriyaki chicken pizza was a popular item and it was surprisingly tasty. Maybe it helped that they made the pizza on the spot, including the rolling and stretching of the dough like prata, and then putting the toppings before popping them into a electric grill oven shaped like a wood-fire stove oven.

The other pizza we chose was with parma ham and cheese and topped with rocket leaves. Simple and yet delicious. I love the thin crust. Crispy.

Other stations were claypot and noodles. We tried the bak kut teh, lap cheong claypot rice and chicken mushroom claypot rice. They were not very good at all. Quite a disappointment. There were also assam fish claypot and beef claypot which we did not try.

The noodles choices include beef noodles (pho), wanton noodles, laksa and others which I do not remember. I had a taste of the pho and it was not memorable either.

I would go back there again just for the salad, pizza, dim sum and roast pork belly. The desserts were not fantastic, quite average. Some cakes (chocolate, cheesecake, tarts), local kuehs, petit fours, 2 ice cream flavors and a local soup dessert plus fruits.

Darcis Macarons

I am absolutely in love with Darcis' macarons. The few macarons I have tried - some were awful, some were overly sweet, some were nondescript and some were seemingly pretty good - but all paled after I tried the macarons from Darcis.

Well I have not been to Paris, so I have yet to try the most famous macarons of all - Laduree or even Pierre Herme or Fauchon.

Darcis had a tiny booth at the basement of Takashimaya in February this year and I decided to buy a box of 5 to try.

Kudos to the patient SA manning the booth. She was young (probably a temp or part timer), yet she was knowledgeable about Darcis' products to make recommendations when I told her I prefer something not so sweet. She also took the initiative to ask what type of flavors I like and was able to categorize the macarons accordingly.

In the end I settle for these 5 - Strawberry Poppy, Passion Chocolate, Nougat, Praline and Lemon.

She was also kind enough to write the names of the macarons for me so that I would know which flavor I was eating. Don't you just love the look of the ganache peeping out of the shells? I love how none of the macarons looked the same, it showed how they are all individually made and not churned out by a machine.

Verdict: I love how the shells are airy and chewy and a bit crispy at the first bite. Then you experience the subtle mingling of the flavors in the creamy and smooth ganache filling. This was the first time I could actually taste each individual flavor before they are swirled together.

The SA said nougat is not a common flavor to be found in macaron and highly recommended it to try. I thought it was alright. I think I veer towards the citrusy flavor as I like how the tartness of the lemon or strawberry actually made a good foil against the sweetness of the shells.

I also like the passion chocolate as one can never go wrong with smooth dark chocolate, especially when it is coupled with the tang of the passion fruit.

The SA also suggested I go to the store at Marina Bay Sands where they also serve desserts like waffles and other goodies. See, she did make an excellent SA.

I need to find time to head down to MBS for tea some day. I just hope it is not crowded and is still an undiscovered gem.

Marc Jacobs Fragrances

I had a voucher from Club 21 which would expire soon. Undecided on what to get from Club 21, or rather which store to use it, I decided to head to Marc by Marc Jacobs at Ngee Ann City in the hope that my regular SA would be there. He was there! Yay! Despite the fact that I have not shopped there in a long while, he still remembered me and was as patient as before.

In the end, I decided to just get the Lola Velvet which is a limited edition fragrance. I also won a miniature of Daisy Eau So Fresh at the Mandarin Gallery outlet by spinning the wheel (part of its 10th Anniversary promotion).

2 fragrances in a day. It was really fortunate that I did not buy Daisy Eau So Fresh which was highly recommended by the SA.

I find Lola Velvet to have a stronger scent and a bit decadent unlike Daisy Eau So Fresh which is lighter. Plus I love the purple frosted bottle of Lola Velvet with the velvety flower top.

Fragrance Notes of Lola Velvet

Top Notes: Pink peppercorn, red grapefruit, Pear D'anjou

Middle Notes: Fuschia peony, rose

Base Notes: Vanilla, tonka bean, creamy musk

Fragrance Notes of Daisy Eau So Fresh

Top Notes: Grapefruit, raspberry, pear

Middle Notes: violet, wild rose, jasmine, apple blossom, lychee

Base Notes: plum, cedar, white musk

Staccato Platform Shoes

I am always on the look out for comfortable shoes and so far Staccato has not failed me. Isetan had a 20% off on Staccato shoes recently and I managed to snag a pair of platform shoes.

Somehow when it is platform shoes, it is not so tiring on the feet. I am in between their sizes as it does not carry a 1/2 size so I bought it a size bigger. I am paranoid about getting bunions or doing anything to mar the appearance of my feet :p The reason why I am usually in flats and comfortable shoes. I do not want to put unnecessary excess weight on the feet and thus get those unsightly veins on top of the feet.

These are roomier in the front, which are better than having my toes being squeezed tightly in the other size which also fits me.