Set Dinner @ Prego

I wanted to use my FAR birthday voucher where I could either get a bottle of house wine or a cake at any of the dining establishments in the group, so I decided on Prego. JK and I ordered the set dinner which seemed pretty decent. Also we just had pizza and pasta over at Prego a couple of weeks earlier and wanted something different. We chose the same starter (prosciutto with greens and toast and olives) as it seemed more interesting than the soup. I am not really a big fan of prosciutto but this was not too bad. The toast was excellent - crispy and light - and the olives were yummy.

I chose the paella with saffron, seafood and meat. Maybe I was so used to paella in a skillet that when it came served on the plate, I felt it tasted and looked more like a risotto. It was a bit wet, like risotto. But it was still good. I liked it.

JK had the beef medallions which were served with mash and jus. The beef was tender and full of flavor. Very nice!

We had the same dessert (or was there only one choice? I couldn't remember now) - ginger/cinnamon tasting ice cream over pistachio with buttery shortbread crust and strawberries and custard, poached pears and raspberry sauce. Pretty nice though I preferred the strawberries and crust more than the others.

It was quite a long dinner as we wanted to unwind and chill over 2 bottles of white wine. We were there from 730pm till close to midnight. Sometimes we just need to savor our meal and fill it with good conversation and company.

Royal Doulton Candles

I love candles and I "discovered" candles from Royal Doulton from Isetan Scotts though they have been there for about 2 years now. Well, I hardly check out Level 4 usually :p The scents were not overpowering and I decided to try everything by getting the votive candles (or candelinas - 14 or 16 hour burn) and got the ceramic candle holder free. Nice :) Royal Doulton candles actually contained essential oils making it aromatherapy candles.

The scents are:

Energize - A fresh lively citrus blend of lime with the essential oils of bergamot and lemon.
Lavender - pure french lavender

Meditation - An exotic essential oil fusion of cinnamon bark, cardamom, orange, teak, lime, ylang ylang, bergamot, clove leaf, patchouli, peru balsam, clove bud, black peper, nutmeg, coriander, labdunum, benzzoin resinoid, and lemon

Relaxation - Enjoy a soothing breeze from a lily of valley garden blended with white star jasmine and the essential oils of rosewood and copaiba balsam.

Romance - An intimate blend of honey, musk and woody amber, lifted with jasmine and orange pure essential oils.

Weekender - A beautiful bright sunshine citrus, with the floral notes of jasmine blossom and the essential oils of lemon, orange, bergamot & camphor.

I have tried Weekender and it smelled so good. Throw was not too bad either. I like all the scents except for maybe Meditation.

Breakfast @ Oscar's (Conrad Centennial)

We went down for breakfast around 9am and it was already packed with diners. We managed to get a table inside Oscar's. Other breakfast locations were at the pool area or the lobby lounge. Fruits to start the day. The pineapple looked so sad. We were served orange juice and coffee hot from the flask. Nice. Reminded me of Angsana where coffee was also served in a flask.

Onto the proper food. I only liked the hash brown and samosa. The tom yam fried rice and noodles were cold! And this is coming from a person who like her food in room temperature or semi-cold.

The omelette was average as I preferred it to be less wet. The toast went well with the butter and strawberry jam. Comfort food.

More toast and croissant since the hot stuff didn't appeal to me much. Nutella! Yummy, especially with the crunchy peanut butter. There were also waffles and ice cream and congee and soup and cheese platter and salads but I didn't take those. Only the ice cream to go with the toast and congee.

Birthday Lunch @ Greenhouse (Ritz Carlton)

After calling and checking with so many places to make sure they are not serving Valentine's Day set meals, I finally decided on the Greenhouse at Ritz Carlton for the birthday lunch. It is always a challenge to find a restaurant which is serving the usual food instead of specials. As usual, we started late so we only had about 90mins or less of buffet time :p And we found out Greenhouse did not replenish certain items at all. Boo :( I didn't get to have the very nice mushroom soup with truffle oil. Raw oysters were not served for lunch too. But there were clams, mussels and prawns.
At least there were sashimi, so I was happy. Lots of salmon for me - raw and smoked.

2nd plate - butter chicken was good and the garlic butter prawns. Better than the cold prawns.

No more ee-fu noodles, replaced by the char kway teow which was so-so. The tart was nice and the har gow was filled with sweet plump shrimps. The skin was a bit dry from sitting too long in the steamer.

Dessert time! Back to basics - chocolate and strawberry ice cream with almond flakes. The strawberry ice cream had bits of real strawberries in it. Nice!

Dessert plate to share with whoever wanted a bite :p Creme brulee was nice.

Strawberry shortcake (also not replenished) was light and spongey. The grand marnier cake was equally rich and delicious with a hint of liquor and dark chocolate.

The ice cream bar was actually a cake on a stick - cake lolly. I believed it was orange flavored cake. Pretty good actually. The chocolates were good as usual.

Another year older. Cake was with compliments from Greenhouse. We were so stuffed by then. So we just took a picture of it lit with candle and me in it. We even forgot to take a group picture.

Close up of the cake. We asked for it to be packed to take away. I tried it the next day and it was just average (or maybe I was overdosed on sugar by then). Mango cake if I remembered correctly. The dessert buffet was much better.

And this was how it was packed. I took the picture after a couple of bites. For once I dumped the cake without finishing it. Maybe it was not meant to be kept overnight. But what a way for Ritz Carlton to actually box up a cake in a plastic container. It was quite unexpected for a 6-star hotel.

Tatsuya @ Goodwood Park Hotel

Tatsuya has moved from Park Hotel in Orchard (formerly Crown Prince Hotel) to Goodwood Park Hotel and since I would be in town during lunch time, we decided to head there for the set lunch bentos.

The place is still a cozy little place but looked much brighter than over at Park Hotel. Reservations is definitely needed and call early to get a table. We dined by the sushi counter and it was equally good too as you get to see the chefs in action.
I was undecided about what to have and in the end ordered the sashimi unajyo set (same as previously) as I wanted a bit of everything. The sashimi was very fresh and the chawanmushi was smooth. Tempura was coated with a light batter and fried crispy, not soggy at all. The unagi was pretty ok but I didn't particularly like the regular rice. I have been having Japanese food almost everyday and I much preferred sushi rice now, with the vinegared sweet taste.

TT ordered the sashimi set which looked real good too, especially since it came with sushi rice. I could have forgo the unagi and just order this. Next time...

Oh....and the service was good too. I received an sms a couple of days later from Tatsuya thanking me for patronizing the restaurant and hope to see me again. This little touch of customer service certainly did make me remember the restaurant better. Maybe this is why it is always so crowded with regular customers.

Location

Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant

Goodwood Park Hotel

(next to the main lobby, outside, towards FEP direction)

Tel: 6887 4598

Ajitei scallop ramen and clams

I was in the mood for something soupy and decided to head to Ajitei after swimming for the scallop ramen. It was still good. Sweet scallops and al dente ramen. The egg was so-so. I think I much prefer the stewed egg for ramen.

There was a promotion on clams and I decided to order the steamed clams in sake. It was soooo gooood! The sake was not too strong, so it was nice for those who were not into alcohol. The clams were tender and sweet and juicy. It was quite a big portion, enough to share. There were probably over 20 clams in the pot. So yummy!

The Queen & Mangosteen

I do like The Queen & Mangosteen over at Vivocity for pub grub. It opened not too long ago and ST and I went there during the 2nd day of CNY. As it was in the afternoon, we decided to just sit outdoors to enjoy the view.

I ordered the veggie burger (can't remember the actual name now) which contained cheese, avocado and portobello mushroom and came with a side of fries and salad. It was not too bad though I got a bit full midway through it.

Then we saw other customers who ordered the mini burgers and those looked real good! 3 mini beef burgers which were thick and looked juicy with a bucket of fries. Nice! I would try that next time.

Nice place with decent food and a selection of Brit drinks. Good for those who miss England and needed a dose of that.

Location
The Queen & Mangosteen
#01-106 Vivocity
Singapore
Tel: 6376 9380

YSL Y-Mail Zip-Around Wallet

I have always been attracted to the Y-Mail range from YSL. In fact, it is the only range which I like as it is kitschy, quirky cute to me. Killing time before watching the movie at 930pm, I went into YSL to check out the wallets.

I was surprised to see the Y-Mail wallet still available as I always thought it was a limited edition range when it was released last year or so. Apparently it is now part of the regular collection, which is good (unless the price goes up every season) :p

It is in my radar while I search for a replacement wallet. Yes, I am on the wallet hunt again, but this time I am looking at the continental wallet. The only style I will use for everyday use. I like that it has 12 card-slots as I need that many card slots. I have waaaay too many cards :p

Anyway, I will still look around and see what else will catch my eye.

C & C from CC (Conrad Centennial)

The doorbell rang just when I was running the bath in Conrad Centennial. Celest opened the door and in came the hotel staff with a tray of champagne and chocolates. A nice thoughtful gesture on Conrad's part to send up the champagne and chocolates for my birthday, and make it more memorable. What was amazing was their timing. I wondered how they knew I would be in the room. Was it because we just borrowed the DVDs from the in-house library collection and they guessed we would still be in the room? Cos the rest of the girls departed just shortly before we borrowed the DVDs.

A huge box of chocolates! 24 pieces. I was already so full of sweet stuff that I could barely eat more chocolates. So I only took one (till now there were lots left and I still only had one). Will bring the box of chocolates to the office to share.

Since I was going to soak in the bath, I decided to do the cliche thing. A glass of bubbly, a piece of chocolate and a book. A coincidence I was reading "Seduce Me" by Carly Phillips but how apt, huh? :p You can spy the signature Conrad rubber ducky in the background (no, I didn't use it) and the bath salts. I used my own - Rose bath tablet from Muji. A light rosy scent. Nice.

Thank you, Conrad, for the champagne and chocolates.

Another Year Older

It has been a busy weekend with birthday celebrations. Lots of feasting and good company :)

Friday - Feb 13
Lunch at Shima, Goodwood Park
Massage at Ayuthaya Spa, Pan Pacific Orchard
Dinner at KHA, HortPark

Saturday - Feb 14
Check in at Conrad Centennial
Lunch at Greenhouse, Ritz Carlton
Dark knuts: Avenue Quantum, Victoria Theatre
Dinner at coffeeshop next to Concorde

Sunday - Feb 15
Breakfast at Oscars, Conrad Centennial
Late lunch/dinner at Cedele, Millenia Walk

Wow! I didn't realize I went to 4 different hotels over the weekend.

Kudos to UPS

I was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from UPS informing me that the latest shipment from VS has arrived and checking with me on the actual cost charged by VS, and the GST which was applicable. It ended the email asking me to verify and confirm the GST charge before they pay Singapore Customs on my behalf.

That was a drastic change from their previous way of paying applicable GST on customers' behalf without verifying the actual cost charged by the shipper. I had blogged about UPS bad service when UPS paid GST where none was applicable and what they did to recover consumer confidence.

With this current practice of letting me know in advance, it is really good as I get to check the amount is correct, and I will also know when to expect the parcel. UPS is really very prompt. After I sent the confirmation email and got an acknowledgement from a "live" person (not those generic automated email), the parcel was sent to my place the following day. So all in all, it took about a week to receive my goods from VS (from ordering to receiving - shipping itself took about 4-5 days inclusive of GST payment confirmation).

I am not sure if this is a new practice from UPS for all customers or just for me. After all, I did recommend they should let me know in advance when I was communicating my previous dissatisfaction with them. Whatever it is, UPS has gained a happy customer and now I am not so hesitant to place order which will exceed or near the GST-free cap on goods.

Greenwood Fish Bistro

I have heard lots about Greenwood Fish Bistro & Market and I finally made my way there last week as friends wanted oysters. On Tuesday it has a oysters promotion where each oyster is only $1 with order of a main course. Warm holey slices of bread - very nice! We asked for more bread as it was just sooooo good.

First order of oysters - 18 oysters for 3 persons (6 each) to start us off. They were from various places and very fresh.

Picture taking before digging into the bread and oysters. The double J comedy duo was back to entertain us :p

The 2nd order of oysters - I had 4 more to make it 10 for me. The others had a dozen total. The 2nd batch was more salty, not sure why.

S & J ordered the black cod (aka seabass at Greenwood). It was very good, not that into the cinnamon poached pear though. The mashed was nice too.

The house fish and chips which the other J ordered. It was supposed to be delicious as D always ordered this when she went there for dinner.

I was wavering between the fish and chips and the pasta when the pasta won. Seafood fettucine and it was excellent. Real creamy and plenty of seafood, especially the squid. The squid was just right, not rubbery chewy at all. This was comparable to the seafood fettucine I loved in Canada. It was best to share this as it got too jelak/creamy for me after a while. Good thing the double J were around to polish my food, just like old times. The garburators are back :p

Hedgehogs from Purdy's

The entire Chinese New Year period has been very busy, filled with catching up with old friends and relatives. People who flew in from other countries. So I spent the 1st week meeting friends from Canada and Australia. The 2nd week was a work week, so it was spilt between work and usual routine and family and friends.

A friend's parents came in from Vancouver too and so I got a little present :) Purdy's! I love love love Purdy's Chocolates hedgehogs. Actually when Brussels was still around, I prefer Brussels' hedgehogs but Purdy's nut-coated ice cream bar.

The 10 little milk chocolate hedgehogs in a triangle box. Yummy!

So cute! The hedgehogs nesting in their little space. I used to have hedgehogs bedroom slippers too. Wonder what happened to them now :p

The truffle inside is made from gianduja (hazelnut), giving a taste similar to nutella. A hedgehog a week will be a nice treat.

Birthday Wishlist for 2009

I totally forgot about my birthday wishlist until someone asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Hmmm....as mentioned before, I think it is so hard to buy things for people when one is older as the ideal ideal gifts will be too expensive. Hahahaha.

Anyway, here is my wishlist for 2009.
Trip to Maldives (Banyan Tree, W or someplace equally nice)
Anna Sui Secret Wish fragrance (I love this and am already on my 3rd bottle which is finishing soon)
OPI 90210 collection (all 3 nail colors)
Trip to Greece and Italy
Decleor eye gel (Harmonie Soothing Eye Contour Gel)
Phytomer eye gel (Cernes Contour)
Barbie Loves Stila Paint Can - 2000 Jewel Doll
Barbie Loves Stila Talking Palette
Stila - The Precious Pearl Palette
Tocca candles (Mimosa, Cleopatra, Florence, Stella, Bali, Montecristo)
Dior Addict 2 fragrance
Gucci Envy Me fragrance
Portable slim lightweight hard disk (250GB is more than enough space) -- BOUGHT IT
Netbook or Sony Vaio super slim notebook
Blackberry Pearl (yes! Still on my quest to find it)
Thomas Sabo charms (I already have star, glam girl, credit card, dragonfly, shopping victim bag)
Agatha pink/white pearl dog charm

That is about it for now :)

Ristorante de Parma

We finally made it to Ristorante de Parma for dinner over the weekend. It was empty when I arrived at 645pm or so but people started streaming in after 730pm. The focaccia bread was warm and brushed with olive oil. It was aromatic with the herbs but the dish of dipping olive oil with vinegar could be better with the proportions. I could hardly get to the vinegar at all. Maybe it would be better to have the bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the table for diners to pour out for themselves.

Close up of the bread with the herbs.

While waiting for JK, I ordered the Pomodori al Forno which is tomato baked with crabmeat and topped with mozzarella cheese with a side of salad.

Close up of the tomato with the baked cheese. Again, lots of olive oil. In fact, I think they were very generous with the olive oil for all their dishes. This was not too bad if you like tomato as it could get to you after a while.

Pizza Bianca or white pizza which was brushed with olive oil and 3 cheeses (smoked scamorza, parmesan & mozzarella) and topped with semi-dried tomatoes & mixed herbs. It was light and crispy. Good for a light meal. Best to share with others as there were 8 slices. I was not totally wowed by this yet and JK felt it could be better if it was not so dry. Then again, since it was the first time we had the white pizza, we could not really compare with others.

Close up of a slice of white pizza. I need to head back to East Coast USA to try the version there as white pizza is more prevalent than the West Coast.

JK ordered the set dinner which she upgraded for a foie gras salad. I tried the foie gras and I didn't like it. Lol. I just was not a fan of liver (duck or otherwise) unless it was done Sun Moon way, with the Japanese sweet sauce or something. That foie gras was more palatable for me.

The black cod which was pan seared and served with mashed pumpkin or sweet potato and vegetables. The cod was flakey and a bit dry and tough, unlike other cods. The server was not really able to explain when JK asked what was the difference between black cod and other cod. But at the end of the meal, Ping did come over to explain why it could have been tough (i.e. overcooked as the cut was different from the usual which was thicker), and gave a 10% discount off the set. That was a nice gesture. Thank you, Ping.

I ordered tiramisu to finish off the meal and it was huge! JK liked it more than I did. It was the wet type and infused with alcohol and espresso. It was creamy and good. This was the first time when the dessert was too much to be finished. But it also meant it was great to be shared.

My after dinner drink of cappuccino. It was not too bad after adding sugar, especially since I preferred sweet coffee.

I did not try the pastas or other pizzas, maybe that would be better? I am guessing they specialize more in pizzas and pastas as the selection of mains were limited.

Location
Ristorante De Parma
14B Kensington Park Road

Serangoon Gardens

Singapore 557265

Tel: 6281 3380, 6280 1096

Closed on Wed, except on the eve of a Public Holiday

Hediard Lunch Set

It was more than half a year since I last went to Hediard for a meal and I was surprised to see the differences. It was not packed with diners like usual and the clientele seemed to have changed.

They messed up my reservations. I had requested for the table by the window (only 1 window in the entire place) and they gave that table away. I was left thinking why bother making reservations or requests if they would not be adhering to that. The staff was apologetic and said she thought they would be done with their food when I got there. But...my reservations was for 12:15pm and their breakfast ended at 11:30pm, so how could you expect the people to finish their food by 12:15pm? Also when I got there, they seemed to just get started on their dishes.

That pretty much left a sour taste and it continued to get worse in there. The diner was oblivious to her surroundings and how her bag and the menu she placed next to the bag actually encroached onto my seat. So I had to kinda sit in the middle of the 2 tables I was given. I could not be bothered to ask the lady to move her things since I had no wish to sit so close to her anyway. But seriously, basic courtesy, anyone?

It got worse. At the table next to mine sat another lady who actually had her feet up. She was sitting cross-legged in a public restaurant! Hello?! You could get comfortable, but to sit cross-legged? With these kind of diners, it was not too much to wonder why it was no longer as popular. My gf who made her first visit to Hediard the weekend before for lunch commented that it was equally empty then and she was the first customer for lunch on a weekend at 1pm. That was totally unheard of when I went there for brunch last year.

I decided to have the same set lunch (available only on weekdays) as my last visit - French Onion Soup and Croque Ferdinand with a glass of rose.

The rose was horrible, not as good as previously. The french onion soup did not taste as good as I remembered. Then again, maybe my mood has destroyed my sense of taste too. The onions did not seemed a caramelized or soft. It was still nice, but just not as good as I remembered it to be.

The croque Ferdinand was still good. It was served warm and the crust of the bread was toasted to a crisp.

I loved the gruyere cheese and mornay sauce. Somehow the 2 dishes were able to sustain me for the entire day. This was my first meal of the day and I was still feeling full after 6 to 7 hours. Amazing. The hot chocolate which I ordered was still rich but again, not as great as memory.

I am not sure if I would want to go back to Hediard so soon with such service and clientele around. The standards seemed to have dropped totally.