La Forketta Gastronomia Italiana

Hello!

I've been having extremely tiring dreams that leave me feeling very drained when I wake up =( Am hoping that I'll STOP dreaming and get sufficient sleep tonight so that I can break this restless cycle!

Anyway we went to Dempsey last week as we wanted to go to some place that we haven't gone to for a while and we ended up at La Forketta, which in my opinion is a pretty good Italian restaurant! This is the only La Forketta outlet I've been to as I have never visited the one near Tanglin. What I absolutely like about this La Forketta outlet is that there's a lot of natural lighting and the entire restaurant feels so homely (:

Red, brown, grey and white seem to dominate the interior of La Forketta and they do help to establish some kind of unity and neatness. The restaurant's ceilings are also high and it helps in making one feel less claustrophobic!

Each table had a large red flower for table decor and the usual salt and pepper shakers! I think this set of salt and paper shakers are both functional and pretty because I'd not trouble at all getting pepper and salt out! Sometimes the shakers are quite problematic..

I am not sure if you can get free tap water at this restaurant because we were asked if we wanted still/ sparkling water and we didn't bother to ask if there's just normal iced tap water. As a result, we were given this huge bottle of Acqua Panna ($9) which we couldn't finish but I guess it's alright. 

Their incredibly nice and filling bread basket! I think this is possibly one of the BEST bread baskets that I've had in terms of variety. The even is pizza bread and bread with rosemary and salt! Whee. If you, like me, love the doughy, chewy kind of pizza base, then La Forketta is THE place to go because all their pizza bases are characterised by this lovely chewiness.

Our mediterranean salad ($19) was pretty decent. I think they were extremely generous with the olive oil and personally I think less oil would suit me better but I guess the oil base held the dish together well.

My pesto linguine pasta ($25) was cheesier and creamier than I had expected. I had thought that I'd get the normal, plain pesto pasta with some greens but this was more than a treat! There were many small bobs of steamed potato covered with pesto sauce, lots of french beans and a fair amount of pine nuts! Frankly if I weren't so hungry, I wouldn't be able to finish this! This kept me full all the way till dinner, which is quite amazing because I get hungry quite quickly.

Matty chose to have spaghetti carbonara ($25) which he said was pretty alright. I guess this is one of the strongest tasting carbonara I've tried to date because it is quite cheesy! Well maybe cheese fans would disagree with me because I don't particularly like my pastas to be too cheesy.

Instead of having desserts, we chose to have coffee - cappuccino ($5.50) for me and espresso ($5.50) for him. What we were impressed with was the sugar stick as well as the small shot of sparkling water to cleanse the palate! =D Definitely a nice touch! The presentation for the espresso is similar to the cappuccino's except that the cup of espresso is much smaller.

On the whole, we had a hearty and filling meal at La Forketta and we would gladly go back again! Perhaps next time I'll order their pizzas to try since I like their pizza base so much.

Alright have a great Sunday and an even better week ahead! (:

Shinjuku

Hello!

It's near the end of the week yet there's still much to be done! This week's been quite an eyeopening week and I really do hope that all/ most things will work out well.

We went to a Japanese restaurant called Shinjuku, located at Cuppage Plaza, not too long ago to have a light meal because we weren't feeling particularly hungry that day. I still am pretty amazed at how many Japanese restaurants are nestled inside Cuppage Plaza, a place that I hardly ever go to! This was my second trip to Shinjuku and though they've changed their location, the food is still just as good!

We were promptly served warm green tea upon arrival!

I love boiled edamame ($6.60), especially those that are sprinkled with salt! =D These were perfect - warm, soft yet not overboiled.

Yakitori! Tsukune ($6.60) and Shiitake mushrooms ($5.30). I really dislike how the mushrooms look so withered and dry but thankfully they didn't taste as bad as they look.

Shishamo aka pregnant fish ($7.60). I don't particularly like eating this but I guess it does have an interesting texture and distinct flavour to it. I think it was my godfather who introduced this to me when I was a kid and I was simply appalled that we were eating 'pregnant fish'. Till today, I try not to eat the head and the tail cos I think they taste funny (or maybe it's just psychological).

My favourite tofu dish - agedashi tofu ($7.60). I never fail to order this dish if I want to eat tofu! The only thing I don't really like about this dish is that the tofu will become soggy and disintegrate easily if left in the sauce for too long, making it difficult to pick up. Nevertheless, it was yummy!

Last but not least, we shared the tempura moriawase ($18.80) aka mixed tempura. Somehow these tempura pieces tasted very crisp and the fried batter tasted pretty light. I suspect it's the kind of oil they use but it might also be the way of cooking. It's definitely one of the better tempuras that I've had in a while!

I'll be interested to try other Japanese restaurants at Cuppage area and may make a trip down this hols! (:

Alright that's all for now! Have a great weekend!

Ramen Santouka

Hello!

It's been a long time since I last blogged and I feel terrible neglecting this space but life's been a tad more eventful than usual and hence this was relegated aside.

Anyhow, it's been raining quite heavily over the past couple of days and the weather makes me feel like going back to Santouka for ramen! (:

I was first introduced to this place by my secondary school friend who confidently claimed that this place serves 'da bomb' char siew ramen! Though I don't eat char siew, I thought it'd be great to drop by to give the famous ramen a try! I've been to Santouka a few times now and I still think that it serves one of the best shio ramen I've ever had in my life!

If the weather's warm, you may want to order a bottle of asahi beer ($7.50) to cool down a little. I don't drink but my lunch companion that day does so he had that! =)

I love corn ($1) and he loves eggs ($1.50 for one egg) so we ordered these two side dishes as add-ons to our main bowls of noodles!

After all these years,the shio ramen ($13.50) still looks and tastes the same. Apart from the thick and tasty broth, what I love about this dish is the springy ramen that goes so well with the slightly salty and milky broth! Would have this any day! (:

If you prefer a stronger tasting soup base, you can opt for the shoyu ramen ($13.50), which has exactly the same ingredients as the shio ramen and is delightful in its own way.

I'd highly recommend Ramen Santouka to all who would like a bowl of good ramen! However the restaurant is small and you'll have to try to beat the lunch/ dinner crowds to get a table by going much earlier or much later if you don't wish to queue in line for a long period of time.

Alright that's all for now! Have a great weekend! (:

Robert Timms

Hello!

We're nearing the end of our glorious weekend so I shall post our happy meal of the day to remember a weekend well-spent! =) Contrary to what dee/dum thinks, I actually didn't feel that guilty so I guess I have been expecting this short break for some time (:

We ate at Robert Timms today and it was wonderful! We were famished by the time we reached Robert Timms so everything on the menu looked delectable!

I knew that I was going to order a cappuccino ($6.30/ cup) because I wanted to have a bear on my coffee! You know the only thing that I remember of Robert Timms is the HUGE bear that was on my foam the first time I went there for a drink. Imagine the bear above being magnified till it fills 7/8 of the surface area - that's how big my first bear was! Oh well. The attentive waiter figured that I'm a sucker for such stenciled animals so he told us that we could have a lion (see cup on the right). I asked if we could have a zebra instead but he said they don't do zebras.. hmm I shall ask for the range of animals they have the next time I go there. haha!

I had the French Toast with Maple Syrup and Fruits ($11.80) which I totally adored! The toast is really yummy cos they didn't use plain bread; instead, the bread had some grains in it and it gave the toast more texture! I shall attempt to make this at home some time in the near future (:

Dee/dum had the Breakfast Down Under ($15.50), which was filling and yummy! Thankfully the sausage was up to standard and he liked it (: Pardon the blurry shot - he must have been too hungry and wanted to get to his food fast! Heh.


We would definitely go back to Robert Timms again in future! Maybe I'd drop by some day just to try their desserts which look quite substantial and hearty!

Alright have a great week ahead! (:

Pizzeria Mozza

Hello!

It's marking season and I've been diligently doing my work (hence the lack of posts) but I decided to find some time this morning to blog about Mozza because I've been craving Italian (in particular risotto) food! Having been to Mozza once prior to our recent visit together, I knew that we would be well fed and contented after the meal and after this visit, I can say for sure that this place serves extremely hearty and solid food!

Their iconic envelope (:

Never in my life had I seen a plate of Lardo ($18) - partly because of ignorance, partly because I don't eat it - so this plate of lard was new to me. Frankly I kept thinking that it looked like flat rice rolls (aka chee chong fun) and wanted to eat it (because I love chee chong fun) but apparently it's nothing like that! According to Matty, it 'melts in your mouth' and it tasted 'superb' to him. So I guess it's really worth a try if you are not averse to lard and would like some (exotic) indulgence.

Our other starter was the famous tricolore salad ($18), which was highly recommended by my best friend and we loved it! What I love most about this salad is its refreshing tasting dressing! Matty noted that the salad is very well tossed because all the leaves are covered with some bits of cheese and he thinks that's another reason why this salad packs a punch! Also, the portion is huge so you needn't worry about not having enough veggies for the night. I truly love this dish!

We decided to only get one pizza - the Funghi Piizza ($30) - because past experience tells me that we will struggle to finish more than 1 pizza so we had better not make the fatal mistake of over-ordering to prevent food wastage! Mozza really knows how to make a fine dough base because I would readily rank this pizza base as THE BEST I've ever tasted (though I know that it really is up to one's personal preference what kind of base you like). It's chewy yet not too doughy and it is perfect for the bountiful amount of ingredients sitting on it! The funghi pizza can be a tad too salty for some people but I like it a lot (:

For desserts, we tried the brown butter tart ($17), which was a little dry for my liking but it's light enough for those who don't want/ like heavy desserts.

The other dessert dish we ordered was their famous Budino ($16) (i.e. butterscotch mousse with sea salt caramel and cream) and this left my taste buds singing oooh-la-la! You MUST leave some space in your tummy for this rather small dessert because it made me really happy!


Mozza's a place I would definitely love to return to in the near future! Perhaps I'll bring the limmies there once I'm done with my marking just to celebrate surviving marking season, yet again =) Till then, I'll press on with marking!

Have a great weekend!

Shimbashi Soba

Hello!

We have been rolling on a streak of luck since this morning and we're extremely thankful for that! (: (: (:

I blame the cold weather as well as our hunger for the lack of photos from today's lunch at the newly renovated Shimbashi Soba (Paragon)! We were REALLY famished so we didn't take photos of our sides (2 pieces of salmon sushi for $4, two cups of chawanmushi that cost $7.80 each) as well as our dessert (green tea icecream with mochi ball, jelly, red bean paste and fruit, $9.80).

We, however, did manage to get two photos of our mains:

Tempura Seiro Soba ($20.80), which tasted authentic and pleased Matty very much! (: Oh I didn't know that the soba sauce could be 'recycled' to make soba tea! Basically you'll retain your soba sauce and the waitress/ waiter will bring this pot of soba water (i.e. water that they boiled the soba in) and you can mix the soba water with your soba sauce to make soba tea. I tried a mouthful and it tasted somewhat like mild miso soup. Not too bad for a cold day but I doubt I'll readily drink it! 

Shokado B ($27.80) which came with a medium bowl of warm soba, some sushi, some sashimi, some tempura and two slices of watermelon! (: I thought this was PERFECT as I could get a taste of all things Japanese in one meal. Love having such wonderful sets (:

We would highly recommend Shimbashi Soba as the to-go-to restaurant for authentic-tasting soba and udon! You wouldn't be disappointed! (:

Have a great week ahead! (:

Osteria Operetta

Hello!

I think I've found THE Italian restaurant that serves the nicest tasting complimentary bread - Osteria Operetta! (: This restaurant opened not too long ago and we decided to pop by on Sunday afternoon to try it out since we didn't want to go anywhere too far for our meal!

We were pretty surprised to see that the restaurant was half-filled with the Sunday crowd even though it only opened 30mins before we arrived! I guess it really is quite popular, probably because of the good quality food as well as the cosy, homely interior!

We were served with this generous bread basket which not only had warm mini-bread buns (the focaccia was fantastic!), it also had those pita-like bread and magic-wand sticks! =D Totally delicious!

We ordered this large bottle of S.Pellegrino because I felt that I needed something fizzy that day and I didn't want to order expensive Sprite. But of course Matty reminded me that this isn't any cheaper but I argued that at least it had more volume! haha Fine next time I shall just stick to Sprite and normal tap water (:

The comforting bowl of mushroom soup with truffle and olive oil ($8)! It tasted very homemade and it had quite a bit of texture. Good alternative if you do not wish to have salad.

This dish is called "Diavola" ($25) and it basically is pasta with a very heavy seafood-tasting-and-smelling sauce because it has sea urchin and oysters mixed into it! The first bite was a shock to my senses but I guess it was okay after a while. I am glad we decided to be brave and order this very exotic sounding dish, definitely a dish I'll remember (:

A relatively more normal dish - the chitarra pizza ($28), which actually is salami slices and cheese pizza (: I love the slightly doughy pizza base and the bountiful amounts of tomato sauce and cheese! Yumyum (:

Alright that's enough of a break! Shall go back to doing work now. Have a great rest of the week! (: