Don Quijote Weekend Brunch Buffet

Hello!

Semester 1 is officially over! Phew. This sem seemed extremely long and it was probably so because of an 'extra' week of school at the start of the year. I'm quite sure we all deserve a good break this June (: Though I still have to go back to school next week (and the last week of June hols), I'm thankful that I can sleep a little later than usual and need not wake up before day breaks every single day! Poof.

This semester is slightly different from the others because I actually have a few friends-cum-colleagues leaving our school for other places and till now, I'm not quite sure how to process the information. My mind knows that they are leaving yet I don't feel anything about it.. not for now anyway. I hope that I will somehow/ slowly accept their departure rather than it being a slap in the face when reality hits.

Anyhow, I told them about my trip to Don Quijote last weekend and they were quite keen to make a trip to this place for our farewell meal.

Matty and I went for the free flow juices & soft drinks brunch buffet, which costs about  $36++/pax (the total sum will come up to about $42/pax). There were so many dishes on the menu and I think we only managed to try half of them because we couldn't possibly have tried so many dishes anyway! This only means that we should make a trip down again some day to try out the other dishes (or perhaps the entire spread!) with our friends.

We started off with warm bread rolls with some butter and they were perfect because we were starving!

I had sprite and he had orange juice and I was overjoyed that I didn't have to pay extra for sprite! (: Woot!

Sopas

Gazpacho - Cold vegetable soup. This wasn't my favourite soup because I generally dislike cold soup, but for what it is worth, it was pretty easy to drink so it shouldn't be too difficult to take in. 

Crema de Calabaza y Puerros - Cream of pumpkin and leek. I loved this bowl of warm, hearty soup! I realised that I love thick pumpkin soup and Don Quijote's managed to hit the mark! Would have this again the next time I go back! 

Tapas

Aguacate con Cangrejo - Crab, scallop and avocado meats, made into a dip. This was quite a light dish and it would be perfect for sharing when there are more people. 

Calamares Fritos - Fried battered squid, served with house sauce. Fried to perfection and they complemented the 'house sauce' perfectly! Wonderful combination! 

 Alitas de Pollo al Ajillo con Salsa Picante - Chicken wings in garlic-and-chilli-sauce. Matty said that the chilli sauce is spicy so those who can't take spicy food, please avoid this dish!

Gambas al Ajillo - Garlic fried shrimp. This was actually very nicely cooked - the garlic made the prawns very fragrant! (: Best eaten warm.

Revuelto de Esparragos y Gambas - Scrambled eggs with asparagus and shrimp. This wasn't very nice actually because I don't like my scrambled eggs to be too 'wet' and mushy. The taste wasn't very distinctive or memorable. 

Setas al Ajillo - Garlic fried mushrooms. These were perfect too (: Just enough for two people to share. 

Rollitos de Esparragos y Beicon - Asparagus rolled in bacon. I didn't try this but Matty said these were 'super good'! haha I guess bacon lovers will definitely have this! I know that my siblings will love this (: 

Pastas 

Pasta con Ternera y Setas en Salsa de Nata - Beef and mushroom pasta in cream sauce. A tad too heavy for my liking and I tried very hard to finish eating this (thankfully I did!) but I think this dish is best served when there are 3 or more people at the table.

 Postres 

Pudin de Pan y Mantequilla - Bread and butter pudding. Not the best bread & butter pudding that I've had but this was good enough! (: Even Matty, who is not a bread & butter pudding fan, complimented this dish so it is worth trying!  

 Pastel de Naranja y Queso - Orange cheesecake. This gave a good balance to the bread & butter pudding as this is slightly denser and richer, yet at the same time I think the orange bits made a difference as the cheese cake didn't taste overly cheesy. 

All in all, the meal was extremely satisfying and the cherry on top of the cake is that the restaurant wasn't very crowded at 1.45pm on a Sunday afternoon. I am looking forward to checking into this restaurant earlier next time so that we can have more time talking to each other without fearing that we will have to shout over our voices.

Alright I am dead beat. Shall retire to bed now. Goodnight & happy holidays! (:

Paradise Dynasty

Hello!

The past few weeks have been crazy because it's marking season and there were many other things going on  which needed my attention as well.. sometimes I wonder if it's even possible to just focus on one thing and do it without getting hijacked by something else! Anyhow, the end is nigh and we're pushing all the way to the finish! (: Will look forward to getting a break in June.

We went to Paradise Dynasty for a late lunch/ tea a week or two ago during a weekday and we were quite pleased that we didn't have to wait for long to get a seat! I think it's only possible to dine here without having to queue at really odd times of the day.. so I guess if you really love xiao long baos, you can try to pop by between the 2-5pm window where there are fewer patrons.

Paradise Dynasty is famous for their colourful XLBs but since I don't eat them and my friend had never been to Paradise Dynasty before, he chose to have the normal XLBs ($7.30 for 6) so that he could compare it with the XLBs that he has tried before. His verdict? The XLBs at Paradise Dynasty tastes more refined compared to Din Tai Fung but not mindblowing enough to make him want to queue for a seat here.

We tried a new dish that day - cold tofu with century eggs ($6.80) - and I was quite surprised that I actually liked it! I don't think I'm a fan of cold tofu but this one tasted quite non-threatening and it was light, smooth and easy to eat. I'll definitely have this again in future! (:

Since I am consciously trying to incorporate dark green veggies into my diet as much as possible, I chose to order a plate of garlic spinach ($10.80) and it was fragrant and satisfying. I was initially quite surprised that the vegetable leaves were so soft clumpy but it was alright.

I also ordered my 'usual' dimsum dish: radish pastry ($3.90) and it was cooked to perfection that day! (: I think it was made on the spot because it tasted so fresh and good! The piping hot flaky pastry went superbly well with the soft and savoury radish filling.. they made me so happy! (:

Last but not least, we ordered a bowl of shrimp scallion noodles ($7.30), which is basically plain noodles with those brown things on top for flavour. This deceptively plain dish is actually very satisfying and I love it! It goes very well with any dish that you order and it isn't overly filling. I realised that I can't actually eat the brown things because they are difficult to chew, much less swallow.. haha so I just left them uneaten.

Alright that is all for now (: Off to take a break on Vesak Day.. (:

Pizzeria Mozza

Hello!

The week that just passed was pretty memorable because it was the first time I dropped my hp and had to pay a lot of money for a new screen. Am still feeling quite blah when I think about it so I try not to think about it as much as I can but every time I look at my handphone, I'm reminded of how much more expensive it is now after its face-lift and I can't help feeling sore about it again. I shall do my very best to be more careful when handling this fragile device from now on. This is why Nokia is still my favourite handphone brand.

Apart from that, life is pretty much the same. There's always a lot of work to be done and there is hardly enough time for leisure, which is why I am very thankful that I managed to catch Raka's performance of Rubaiyat on Friday night at the Esplanade. It was a novel experience for me to be watching Indian classical and contemporary dance, let alone watching how it has been used with poetry to express the ideas in the poem. Frankly, I don't fully understand what the entire performance was about but there were some sections which I appreciated and I left the Esplanade more determined to expose myself to a wider variety of performance art (:

Saturday morning was spent in school for a half day course and after that, Matty and I decided to make a trip back to Pizzeria Mozza for some yummy Italian food to kick start the weekend.

We were served complimentary salty crackers for starters, which were great! I love anything salty so this went down very well for me (:

I have been in love with Mozza's Tricolore Salad ($18) since I first had it with Jo so I always make it a point to order this when I go to Mozza. It never fails to delight (:

Instead of the usual mushroom pizza, we decided to be a tad more adventurous yesterday and went ahead with the Burrata, slow roasted tomato & Sicilian oregano pizza ($30). I know I've said this before but I really love the texture of the pizza bread. I was pretty surprised that the roasted tomato tasted sweet, which was a nice twist from the usual sourish tomato paste. I had no regrets trying this dish though I am not a huge fan of burrata!

Apart from the Tricolore Salad, the other item that I always order is the Butterscotch Budino ($16), which is, in my humble opinion, THE best dessert when it comes to including seasalt caramel. I absolutely cannot resist this item and I'd definitely return to Mozza for more of this! (:

Since we were quite hungry that afternoon, we ordered another dessert - the Lime Cheesecake ($18), which was also pretty solid. The sticky lime sauce that the slice of cheesecake is sitting on is refreshingly sour and it complements the cheesecake surprisingly well (: I thought that the pairing of the two desserts was perfect because we had a blend of sweet, salty, sour tastes all at once (: Fantastic feast for the taste buds - they were bursting with joy!

This week's going to be quite a long and hard week but I'll do my best to take all things in my stride as always.. (: Have a great week ahead everyone!

P.S. All pics were taken using my iPhone because I left my camera in the car. Pfft.

Ladurée

Hello (:

I just wanted to say that I think I am finally going to end my summer fling with macaroons because I've had enough of them for now. This box of 18 from Ladurée ($90) was good but it didn't blow me away (I suspect that is because I'd expected the macaroons to be significantly different/ better than the others that I've tried). Anyhow, the macaroons were nice but they are really pricey for those little sweet hamburger-like things! heh. Perhaps I'll have a couple or a few again in the near future but I doubt I'll go all out to "have one of each flavour" from every single macaroon place that I drop by any more from now on.

The fling was fantastic while it lasted but like all good things, it has to come to an end. Till the next big fling! (:

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! (: