Tag Archives: dining

May 2

Absinthe (Restaurant Francais)

G and I dined at Absinthe a few months after it had opened.  That meal was one of our most memorable dining experiences in Singapore thus far.  So, we were excited to have an opportunity to return as well as introduce T & A (A’s review here) to “that French place” that I had raved about forever.

Our second visit, while enjoyable, didn’t quite have the impact or warmth as the first.  Like most other restaurants in Singapore, popularity can change a place, seldom for the better.  Gone is the amazing hospitality that G and I first experienced, replaced by remarkably efficient yet cold and distant service.  So much so, that the staff hardly said a single word to us the entire evening (not even bothering to explain each course), yet they diligently refilled our water and addressed our few dining issues quickly and graciously.  While I can no longer recommend Absinthe for remarkable service, the food is still quite good, well thought-out and executed.

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Apr 21

The French Kitchen

G and I were in the mood for French when I remembered a tucked away restaurant near my old office.  The lunch menu looked interesting and the reviews generally positive.  Curiosity is as good a reason to try a restaurant, and voila! A new (old) place that we can recommend for lunch.  It’s always a treat to dine at places that for one reason or another are no longer in the limelight, but still produce good meals.  The crowd wasn’t in force when we visited, perhaps a victim of location, but it was nice to have a cosy lunch for two.

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Apr 20

Capricci

Capricci serves up an amazingly succulent and tender 1.2 kg prime rib á la florentine that you can cut with a butter knife (which they provide for this dish).  But this isn’t the only reason to bring a group of friends to this cosy yet upscale eatery.  Upon entering, you are likely to be warmly welcomed by the owner, Massimo, while Chef Luca personally takes your order, just a touch of traditional Italian hospitality.  Likewise, the staff here have also been well-trained and are efficient and friendly.  Finishing up the trifecta of reasons to visit is the very reasonable pricing for the meal offered.

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Apr 8

Lunch @ Aoki

“We don’t serve sake” was the polite response from our waitress to G’s request of no tuna, salmon (or other large fish).  While salmon has now surpassed horse mackerel (aji) as the most consumed fish in Japan, it is not historically served raw.  This was a pleasant surprise in that Aoki didn’t favor current trends over tradition.  We had heard plenty of positive reviews about the restaurant and so far we were off to a good start.  But since this was a “first date” of sorts, G and I decided to sample their lunch menu and see if it warranted a return visit for dinner.

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Apr 6

Saboten

Sometimes all you need for a good meal is a plain cabbage salad in a chilled bowl followed by an incredibly light, flaky and juicy tonkatsu donburi.

Saboten is a chain of tonkatsu restaurants from Tokyo.  That’s pretty much all they serve here in Singapore, and they do it incredibly well at a reasonable price.  I never thought much of breaded pork before.  Consider me a convert.

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Saboten
9 Raffles Boulevard, #P3-01, (Parco Marina Bay)
+65 6333-3432

Apr 5

Tropical Bale

This was an oddity of a restaurant that G and I both enjoyed in Ubud.  While the food was a wonderful mix of local and French at a price perfect for the budget conscious, there were however a few quirks and not-so-good dishes that could be improved to make it the fine dining establishment that it strives to be.   Then again, sometimes a restaurant is that much more memorable because of what the chef tries to accomplish in a bold but imperfect manner.

Tropical Bale is better suited for a lazy afternoon idling over tea while enjoying the view of the rice paddies in back.  When we went at night however, the dim lighting coupled with the cavernous parlor created an almost spooky atmosphere made worse with a barely lit open kitchen bathed in harsh fluorescent.  Once seated however, the friendly staff and surrounding decorations conveyed a much warmer greeting.  The nostalgia pictures hanging on the wall implied a story of a local chef that may have once visited and possibly learned to cook in France, but we’ll never know since he was on vacation that week, leaving his very capable and young assistant in charge. Continue reading »

Mar 28

Wild Rocket

I booked a table for Wild Rocket during Restaurant Week since I had never eaten there before and had always wondered about this dining mainstay started by a once hobbyist cook.  So for $35 a person, I indulged my curiosity and dragged along G and our buddy T.   Wild Rocket bills its cuisine as Modern Singaporean, or “Mod Sin”, and our meal could indeed be described up as Western fare with refined SE Asian flavors.

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Mar 24

BLU Restaurant & Bar

Restaurant Week is now over in Singapore, and for the budget-conscious it was a great opportunity to dine at new (and old) restaurants that might not have been on your must-eat lists.  That said, a few of the participating restaurants are worth patronizing normally, and at $35/$55 per set menu during Restaurant Week they are an absolute steal.  This explains why a number of places were fully booked a mere 8 hours after registration opened.  Fortunately, I was still able to reserve a table at my top to-try for this year, BLU.

Modernist cuisine, or molecular gastronomy, is still a fairly novel field, so it’s always an adventure to try out a place daring enough to fuse laboratory experiments with cooking techniques.  While most of us may never have the chance to eat at Fat Duck, Allinea, or El Bulli, at least there are a few restaurants in Singapore like Fifty-three, Novus, and BLU, that incorporate cutting edge techniques to add avant-garde twists to classic dishes. Continue reading »

Mar 21

Le Bistrot du Sommelier – c’est si bon!

Our visit to Le Bistrot du Sommelier began as a mission to try tête de veau, a dish that we learned was rarely available as a special.  Fortunately, this rustic French bistro offers a number of other dishes that were all enjoyable, making a second (or many more) visit a certainty.   Since it was an impromptu family dinner with G’s brother M and mom A joining us, we were able to sample a variety of starters as well as take on the côte de boeuf, a signature dish.

True bistros are great finds in that they offer delicious and unpretentious food in a casual environment without breaking the bank.  There is also the added benefit of being able to order and enjoy wine without the need to have Parker’s latest wine guide handy.  Le Bistrot du Sommelier is a fine example of what I mean.  Other than the prices (it’s Singapore after all), this really is a welcoming place to enjoy a good rustic French meal without worrying about which fork to use.

While the printed menu options are limited, if you look on the walls, you’ll see the giant blackboard of beef-related offerings as well as seasonal specialties.  The Mont D’Or cheese high season had just ended in February, but they still had some in stock, so we ordered a 500 g serving along with an order each of the goat cheese salad, foie gras terrine, and escargot for our starters.

I should also mention that bistro food tends to be very rich and hearty.  The foie gras for instance came in a generous block that even for four liver lovers was quite plenty.  Similar with the salad as there was a bed of celeriac hidden beneath the greens.  Only the escargot came in a measly half dozen serving, but I can forgive them because of the wonderful accompanying sauce.  Our downfall though, was the Mont D’Or, baked with onions and ham.  Think fondue, but a mild taste and velvety creamy texture with a hint of pine.

By the time we finished appetizers, the women were ready to call it a day, but the heaviest items had yet to arrive.  Our mains were a shared 1 kg côte de boeuf that was beautifully cooked medium rare and smothered in onions and whole garlic cloves, and a classic steak tartare that was easily the best I’ve had in Singapore.    My only quibble was that it had a bit too much mustard and rough cut parsley.  The tartare beef was incredibly fresh with a great texture that would have been more apparent without the over-spicing.

We were all so stuffed that we passed on dessert.  Along with the tete de veau, desserts are also on our list of to tries for our next visit.  Le Bistrot du Sommelier is reminiscent of my favorite bistro that I always visit when I travel to Grenoble for work.  I don’t know or care if it’s the best in town or just average, all I know is that the service is friendly, the food is tasty, and experience memorable.

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Le Bistrot du Sommelier
46 Prinsep St #01-01,
Singapore
+65 6333 1982

Mar 17

Lunch @ Torisho Taka

G and I have added Torisho to “our must try for dinner” list due to our recent lunch experience there.  While we both have a fondness of Kazu Sumiyaki for our grilled food needs, it’s always good to have more options.  And Torisho is no stranger to quality; it’s the sibling restaurant of Aoki (which incidentally offers an amazing chirashi lunch).  The lunch selection is not fancy – mostly a selection of donburi, but each dish is well prepared and the prices are quite reasonable.  G went with the wagyu ($38), and I, the pork ($28). Continue reading »