Pete's Place

Hello! (:

I realised that I have been forgetting to bring my camera out on meals hence the lack of proper photos to update this space! =( I've decided to make a more conscious effort to bring the cam out whenever I can and today saw me taking the first step to making this work!

Increasingly, I feel that weekdays are long and draining and when the weekend comes along, I literally heave a HUGE sigh of relief because I can, for once, take a breather from school-related matters and live life as a normal, non-teaching human being. I always believed that weekends are for rejuvenation and 'restoration' and the recent weeks have made me more appreciative of the weekends that I have.

We went to Pete's Place for a simple, hearty and homely meal (: I have only been to Pete's Place once prior to today's visit and I remember the food being good and the service friendly. Today was no different.

We settled into our table right at the corner of Pete's Place and ordered a bottle of St. Pellegrino ($9) to share. I think this is fast becoming my alternative drink in place of Sprite (: I think in some ways this is slightly better than Sprite cos my dining companion would get to share some fizz with me! (:

We decided to go for the $35++ buffet lunch which includes the salad bar (including soup and bread), some 'main courses' as well as fruits and desserts. Although the selection and variety of food served isn't large, it definitely is sufficient (: I like that almost all the dishes are fantastic in terms of quality so that more than makes up for the lack of variety in dishes.

There was pumpkin soup and minestrone soup on offer today and we each scooped ourselves a bowl of pumpkin soup because we aren't fans of minestrone. It was a little too thin for my liking but it was still sweet and tasty.

There was a wide selection of bread and three types of butter and we helped ourselves to quite a few plates of bread. I think my favourite has got to be the sundried tomato focaccia bread (featured above) - it was really light and doughy!

The salad bar was nothing short of wonderful! There were many food items on offer and we kept going back for more (: I think this salad bar is possibly one of the closest alternative to Sizzler's Salad Bar, so I might consider coming back here more often if I'm in the mood for this kind of salad. Here are some shots of food we ate from the salad bar:

The Mains. There were a few 'main courses' on offer: there were mini fish fillet with wild rocket, shell pasta with chicken, aglio olio (with 2 kinds of sauces to go with it if you wish), baked tomato and cheese pasta and broccoli with baby tomatoes. I know the dishes sound extremely carbo-heavy and I guess this isn't for everyone so you needn't feel oblige to go for the full buffet. There's actually one other buffet which excludes the main courses so you can just help yourself to the salad bar (including bread and soup) as well as fruits and desserts. But if you, like me, are going for the main courses, then you MUST try their aglio olio! It's not your usual spicy and slightly oily aglio olio - it's light, well-seasoned and not overly-cooked. It's fragrant and delicious and if you are a carbo queen like me, you'll want to have A LOT of it! haha Here are some photos of our mains:

Finally, we went to check out the fruits and dessert section and was initially a little disappointed that there wasn't much to offer. Apart from the cantaloupe, we didn't help ourselves to any other fruits because we didn't feel like having full fruits (think an entire jambu, or pear, or grapes). Instead, we took a lot of tiramisu and some slices of apple tarts! (: The tiramisu was good but only if you eat it once it is served. We had the good fortune of eating one which had been left there since we walked into the restaurant and another that was freshly served and as expected, the taste differed totally! I loved the freshly served dessert! (: The chocolates with hazlenuts were also very tasty. I think these two desserts are sufficient to make you feel happy! Photos of dessert:

Finally, we ended our meal with a cup of warm tea and coffee (: Nothing beats a great meal with a friend! (:

Once again, I must reiterate that I am extremely thankful for weekends and I hope that they will not come and go so quickly! Heh. Alright time to rest. Goodnight (:

My Fling with Macaroons

Hello!

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while cos I was stuck in school for a camp last weekend and had loads of work to catch up on during the week so have gone radio silent for a while.

Life is, as usual, busy but it has been good (: Perhaps the latest update that I have is that I'm officially having a fling with macaroons. I've never liked macaroons nor have I gone so far as to buy a box of them but recently, I've found myself doing that quite a bit.

This box is from Antoinette and they cost $32.10 for a box of 12. They are possibly the best that I've tasted so far.. (: Can't wait to get my hands on the Laduree ones but these shall suffice for now (:

Am not sure how long this fling will last but even as I (over)indulge in macaroons and other desserts, I know that chocolates will always be my one and only true love. (:

Have a great weekend! (:

Bar & Billard

Hello everyone! (:

This weekend'll be a busy one for me as I'll be away for a school camp till 1pm on Sunday afternoon. Personally, I feel that having a camp in the middle of the school term is a horrendous idea and I do hope that we will be able to eventually shift the date of this camp but I'll just do my best to help out at this camp so that it will run smoothly.

Last week, we went to Bar and Billard for the first time in a long while and I was happy that we ended up at this restaurant because it turned out to be a very conducive place for talking and catching up with one another over good food (:

What I especially like about Bar and Billard is its tall ceilings and that it is relatively quiet compared to other weekend restaurants which are usually bustling with loud chatter. Here, we could enjoy our afternoon eating and chatting at ease without having to worry that we weren't speaking loud enough for each other to hear us.

We paid $55++/pax and the selection and quality of food was pretty good for that price! (: I especially loved the warm food section as well as the desserts section! I kept going for many rounds of the same dishes because they were fantastic! (: Here are some photos of the food that we had that day:

If you would like to find an alternative lunch venue this weekend, you might wish to pop by Bar and Billard and I hope that you'll have as good an experience there as I did! (:

Alright I have to crash now lest I can't last tomorrow's programme.. wish me luck! Have a great weekend! (:

Boat House

Hello! (:

This post is a little late but I guess it's still worth posting because the food was pretty good (:

During the March hols, we went to Boat House for our one & only meal for Restaurant week! It was my first time at Boat House and we had quite a difficult time locating it because we had thought that it was in Fullerton Hotel itself but it was not! After consulting the concierge for directions, we made our way across the street from Fullerton Hotel and managed to get to our lunch destination on time! (: 

Boat House is quite a small restaurant and there are many staff at the restaurant so you will get served pretty quickly. The downside is that I felt slightly uncomfortable because they are always pacing about to try to see if you have all you need. I generally prefer dining at places where the waiters and waitresses would leave me alone so there was a tad too much walking and hawking being done in my humble opinion. But they weren't intrusive or anything so that's good (: Oh I decided to include a photo of the flower at our table cos I thought it was pretty nice (:

We had free-flow bread slices for starters and though it was chewy, it wasn't warm =S I would prefer my bread to be warm but it's alright.


Basically, we had a three-course restaurant week lunch set that came at $40++/pax (:

Our starters included:

 Earthy tasting mushroom soup with a piece of foie gras sitting atop a small bread toast &

Home cured salmon, garlic aioli, crème fraiche, that came wonderfully plated. It tasted pretty good too (:

Our mains were:

Pan seared Atlantic sea bass, fricassée of seafood, braised leek with essence of forest mushroom, which was a real delight to eat! I couldn't believe that fish could taste so meaty and it could actually fill me up so much but I am not complaining because it was fresh and succulent! 

Roasted Spatchcock Celeriac purée, Baby spring roots with red wine sauce, which was a little small but was well-cooked nevertheless. I like the pop of colours that the veggies gave to this dish (:

Our desserts were absolutely delightful:

Rose chiboust, lychee, hazelnut biscuit, raspberry coulis, which, true to its name, had a very strong rosey taste and smell.. and it isn't for everyone but I guess it's good to try.

The Chocolate pavé, bergamot mousse, crumble (i.e. chocolate mousse) was actually pretty good! Initially I was quite hesitant but I figured I'd rather pick chocolate over rose so I ended up with this and it was one of the smoother chocolate mousses I've had!

In all, we felt that this was the definitive meal of our March hols and it made us appreciate being able to dine outside on weekdays once in a while (: I would love to participate more actively in Restaurant Week 2014 if possible but we'll deal with that when it comes.

Alright that's all for now. Have a happy and rainy weekend! (:

Easter Brunch at One-Ninety

Hello everyone! (:

Happy Easter! (: (: (: This is possibly my first time doing something a little different on Easter. No, I didn't celebrate the tradition in its full glory but I did, however, used the event as an excuse to indulge in food.. A LOT of good food.

Truth is that my wonderful friend Matty decided to take me out for Easter Brunch at One-Ninety because the first week back at school was pretty harsh on the system and I'm so thankful that he did that because we had a great time! (: Apart from the sheer amount of food (read: lots and lots of meat!) that we ate, we also had a great time chatting and watching people that dining around us (: In short, in was a lovely round-up to the long weekend and I am truly thankful for friends like him (:

If you LOVE meat and foie gras and seafood, you really ought to come for this buffet next year if they decide to have it again. The cost per pax is a pricey $108++ but for the ambience, the food and the company.. it is pretty worth it I guess (: It boils down to how much you expect and want to get out of it! Alright enough yakking.. here are some photos taken today:

There really was a lot more food to eat but we kept going back for the ones that we liked and skipped the others so the dishes here aren't at all representative of all there was on offer today.

Love these glorious weekends (: I wish time would tarry a little during the weekend but it is okay! We always have the next weekend to look forward to.

Have a great week ahead everyone! (:

Antoinette

I won't deny that the first day of school was more than a shock to my system and I'm still trying to orientate myself but things should be fine once certain things get settled. As I always say, take things one at a time and that's exactly what I'll do. Hopefully by the time the weekend comes, I'll be feeling more settled.

Thought that it would be apt to post a photo of what we had for high tea last Friday, which possibly was the only day that felt like a holiday, with Wednesday coming in second. It was our first time at Antoinette and we didn't have the afternoon high tea set because we just had lunch at Boat House (more on that in the next post), so we settled for some Orange Pekoe and Moroccan Mint tea ($8 and $8.50 respectively), one serving of Antoinette chocolate cake ($9), and a slice of strawberry shortcake ($8). I felt that this combination was nothing short of perfect and I'd gladly have this again any time though I know that I'll probably be tempted to try new things the next time I visit. We ended off our high tea by ordering three macaroons (passion fruit, orange and seasalt caramel - the last being my favourite), which cost $2.50-$2.80 each, but I forgot to take a photo of them so there will no photo shown. They are indeed very yummy and I think I shall be more adventurous with macaroon tasting if and when I go back to Macaroon land.

Alright, that is all for now (: Have a great week ahead!

Werner's Oven

Hello! (:

I shall post about my trip to the east this afternoon since I've decided to give myself a break before I move on to do other stuff!

A few of us went to Werner's Oven this afternoon to celebrate one of our friend's/ colleague's birthday and it turned out to be one of the best places I've been to for small group meet-ups. Werner's Oven isn't a big restaurant, it's more like a homely cafe (see photo above) and it is relatively quiet on a Wednesday afternoon. Apart from us, there was only another couple dining at Werner's and just before we left, another girl came along to dine here. Don't be mistaken that their food is terrible just because they have very few patrons at lunch! It actually is the opposite because Werner's serves very authentic and good German food! (: In fact, it is so good that it's worth going back again in the near future! (:

We started off with the Wurstplatte for 2 ($48), which is a Sausage Platter that has a few type of sausages:  farmer's, weisswurst, smoked, nürnbergerle. And these sausages are served with sauerkraut, mashed potatoes & German bread. The sausages were neatly and efficiently sliced up and were quickly consumed so I am guessing that they had to be pretty good (:

I think this plate of stewed potatoes and vege is an extra side dishes from one of our mains featured in the other photos.

The famous Knusperiege Schweinhaxe ($21.50), aka crispy pork knuckle served with mashed potatoes & sauerkraut, was the dish that we had anticipated and went all the way to the East for. The skin of this pork knuckle is fried till it is crisp and it crackles when cut! We ordered two of these and both were de-fleshed by the time we were done with them. I guess they had to be REALLY good! (: On my part, I especially LOVED the mashed potato and couldn't help getting more servings of it from the different plates with mash on them. The mashed potato did not have an overly milky texture nor was it too buttery so it was perfect for me! (: 

They also shared  the Ox-tail Stew ($21.50), which contains big chunks of ox-tail stewed to perfection served with a buttered roll. This was also readily and heartily consumed by all (except me) at the table (:

Of course they didn't forget to order a fish dish for me and I had the Breaded Fish & Chips served with green salad ($14.50). To my surprise, the slices of fish were much thinner than expected but I must commend the chef for making the breaded fish fillet less oily than most I've had prior to this. I think this portion size of fish and chips is just enough!  (But I ate a lot of mashed potato before this dish came so my comment might not be totally accurate). Nevertheless, it should be enough for a person with average appetite.

In all, I enjoyed my afternoon with friends and I do hope to go back to Werner's again to try other dishes. What I was also very happy with is that Werner's actually has a bakery just next door that sells fantastic tasting bread! I bought the oatmeal bread loaf home and am already looking forward to having some oatmeal bread for breakfast tomorrow! (:

Alright that's all for now (: Hope to update again soon!

Have a great rest of the week! (: