Spruce

Hello!

First and foremost, I'd like to wish all teachers a very happy teachers' day! (: I hope that those involved will enjoy their teachers' day celebrations as well as teachers' day holiday! For the rest of us who do not have the luxury of enjoying a day off tomorrow, we can still bask in the teachers' day celebratory mood and celebrate teachers' day by going out with our teacher-friends for a meal or to catch up over coffee.

If you're looking for a place to have a slow and delicious brunch session with friends, I'd suggest visiting Spruce. Jeffrey and I went to Spruce a couple of days ago with two friends and we liked the restaurant and their food! =)

Situated along Tanglin Road, Spruce is relatively inaccessible but you should have no problem getting there via car or cab. My first impression of Spruce is that it's very PS Cafe-like because they're both located next to greenery and they provide indoor and outdoor seating. Personally, I'd pick Spruce over PS Cafe if I wanted somewhere with a more relaxed atmosphere because the latter tends to be a bit too crowded and it can get a bit noisy at times.

Outdoor seating area. Although it was an extremely sunny day, the outdoor seating area wasn't too warm because of the whirling fans and shade from the roof and surrounding trees.

You can choose to sit here if you want an unobstructed view of the greenery but I think most people won't want to sit here because you'll become food for the mozzies! In addition, I think it's easier to converse with your dining companion(s) if you face him/ her/ them.

The indoor seating area can be seen on the extreme right hand side of this photo. That's where we dined at! =) We usually chose to sit indoors because Jeffrey tends to perspire very easily!

IKEA cutlery at our table. We were wondering whether the salt and pepper shakers were from IKEA too.

As it was our first visit there, we didn't know what the portion sizes would be like. Both our friends ordered sides because they were feeling quite hungry. Surprisingly, the portion sizes for sides are relatively huge! Check them out!

Hotcakes ($5). As my friend couldn't finish her pancakes, I'd the pleasure of helping her finish her pancakes. The pancakes tasted thicker and fluffier than the ones served at PS Cafe but they were, in my opinion, not as good as Jones the Grocer's or Cedele. Nevertheless, the pancakes is a great side dish to share (:

French Toast ($5). Our second side dish is this plate of tantalizing french toast. I didn't get to sample the french toast but it definitely looks like something that we'll want to try in future.

Spruce Breakfast Sandwich ($12). Nicely toasted bread with egg, tomatoes, advocado and cheese, it's probably one of the nicest warm breakfast sandwich that I've tasted. The potato wedges at the side were pretty okay but they would have tasted better with a bit of seasoning.

Spruce Burger ($17). Unlike some burgers which only come with little vegetables, the Spruce burger has lettuce spilling out of its side! The sesame-sprinked top bun is magnificently toasted such that its surface is slightly crispy yet the bread is kept soft and moist. The thick cut fries were tasty and they will please anyone with a craving for thick, potato-ey fries.
Big Brekkie ($16). This dish consists of grilled mushrooms, a sausage, scrambled eggs, baked beans and two piececs of tosated bread. Our friend commented that the sausage tasted normal but the rest were yummy! (: Definitely a must-try if you're craving for a wholesome breakfast meal.

British Brekkie ($17). Alternatively, if you're feeling more carnivorous, you can order a British Brekkie, which consists of baked beans, scrambled egg, bacon, sausage and two slices of toast. This breakfast set promises to satiate your big breakfast cravings!

Chocolate Cake ($8). The richness of the chocolate cake hit us the moment we took our first bites. The chocolate cake was dense and it was locked with chocolate flavour! Chocolate lovers will love this cake but I'd advise ordering this cake to share, otherwise you may get too overwhelmed by the chocolatey taste to finish it!

Sprite ($5). After our visit to Prego, I told myself that I must remember to check the price of sprite before placing an order for it but unfortunately, my thirst for sprite got the better of me and I, regrettably, ordered this exorbitantly-priced cup of sprite without first checking the menu =( My two friends rubbed salt into the wound by commenting that this cup of sprite costs as much as one of our side dishes! =( I made it a point to drink most of it so that I won't feel that bad squandering my money away on this innocent-looking cup of sprite.

I'm thoroughly satisfied with the food served at Spruce =) The prices are reasonable and their portions are pretty generous. I'm glad that we've found an new place to have western brunches and we'll definitely return there in the near future.

Prego

We've been to Prego twice so far and on both occasions, we went there partly because we had to get some stuff from Raffle City Shopping Mall and also because we were having lunch late. Most restaurants operate from 11.30am to about 2.30pm and then they take a break till 5pm or so when they re-open for dinner. Last week, we chose to eat at Prego because we knew that we would get food even if we don't make it to the restaurant by 2.15pm, which is the time when most restaurants take their last lunch orders, because we can still order proper food (i.e. pizza and pasta) off their "light bites" menu.

Prego is situated at the corner of Fairmont Singapore and it is a great place for a relaxing weekend meal with family and friends. I always feel at ease when I go to Prego because its quiet and calm environment makes me feel like I've temporarily escaped the hustle and bustle of city life, which is quite ironic given the fact that the restaurant is not very far from the main road!

The bar area. It's usually empty except for the few bartenders who potter around behind the counter, preparing drinks for their customers.

Typical table setting. The seating capacity is quite large so the restaurant was never full during either of our visits.

Tomato dip. I like it because it was neither too chunky nor salty. It gave our plain bread just enough taste to whet our appetites.

Jeffrey cutting the huge loaf of bread. The bread was unexpectedly soft on the inside and it was warm too. I love eating warm bread =)

Spinach pasta 'dumplings' with cherry tomatoes in tomato sauce ($25). Alright I admit that it had a fancier name but I can't remember it now =( Personally, I think it's more useful to remember the condiments of a particular dish rather than its name because it's difficult to guess what the dish is just by looking at its name. Anyhow, this was the first time I tried spinach pasta 'dumplings' and I loved it! (: Definitely a good change from the usual pasta and spaghetti! It's also mess-free because you don't have to worry about the splattering sauce over your top.

Ham & Mushroom Pizza ($25). If I'm not wrong, Jeffrey ordered this pizza the first time we went to Prego as well! I guess he has (un)consciously conditioned his mind to choose certain types of food, for example this particular pizza, even though he does not remember having eaten this pizza the previous time. Heh. Amusing!

Tiramisu (~$12). Jeffrey & I have nicknamed Prego's tiramisu "the running man tiramisu" because the picture on surface of the tiramisu seems to depict a running man! The tiramisu was pretty normal. It had a bit more cream than the other tiramisus that we had, which gave it a slightly mousse-y feeling.

Frankly speaking, I don't think I'll go back to Prego any time soon because I think their food is overpriced. We made the colossal mistake of ordering a glass of sprite without checking how much it costs. I regretted ordering it when I found out that it costs $7! Oh my.. that must have been the most expensive glass of sprite that I've drunk in my entire life! Having said that, if you've extra cash to spare and if you're looking for a place to have a slow, relaxed and nice weekend meal, you can always go to Prego to indulge in some Italian food.

Restoran Pekin

Last weekend, my family decided to make a trip to Malaysia for dinner again! (: This time, instead of eating at their open-air roadside coffeeshop, my dad decided to bring us to a relatively famous Chinese restaurant that he had always wanted to bring my mum to.


All of us were surprised to see how big this restaurant is! There were THREE Chinese wedding dinners being held there simultaneously - that's how big the restaurant is. It had the capacity to host three wedding dinners as well as normal customers like us! Amazing.

The table setting is pretty normal but what intrigued me was this super chingchong Chinese-looking plate! Only some of us had 'special Chinese plates' whereas the rest of us had normal plain white porcelain plates.

Keropok! These little crackers were actually a tad spicy.

Peanuts! This dish was more popular amongst us (and I suspect it has to do with its non-spiciness as well as them being the objects of my sister's chopsticks practice).

Fried man tous. We usually order fried man tous for my brother, who is a fussy eater, whenever we dine at a Chinese restaurant because that's probably the only thing he eats apart from plain rice. The fried man tous here tasted normal, but then again how different can man tous taste right?

Beancurd. Personally, I found the beancurd rather interesting because it had a dark green layer of beancurd on top of the normal beancurd. I think the dark green layer had some vegetable bits in it if I'm not wrong but the vegetable taste wasn't very strong. Mum said that the beancurd was made of "egg tofu" so I guess you can infer the texture of the beancurd. It was nice (:

Broccoli with scallops. I love broccoli but I don't really like cauliflower, I think it has got something to do with their tastes and looks. Apart from their apparent similarity in looks, I think broccoli tastes healthier somehow. Maybe it's just my personal preference at work. Heh. This dish tasted pretty normal as well.

Lobster salad cold dish. We hardly ever order lobsters in Singapore because they're terribly expensive! Dad was feeling generous that night so he ordered this dish as a treat for all of us! =) The lobster flesh was somewhat tough in my opinion but the salad mixture kind of made up for it =) The rest of the side dishes were generally okay. We didn't like the beancurd skin thingy on the right hand side of the photo though.

Stir-fried kai lan. This was probably the most interesting 'rendition' of kai lan I've ever tasted. While the stems were cooked in the normal Chinese stir-fry manner, the leaves were deep-fried till they were crunchy! They tasted like seaweed! Quite a nice change from the usual kai lan dish.

Pekin duck! In Singapore, the 'normal' way of serving Pekin duck (aka Beijing ya) is to skin the duck and make duck-skin crepe rolls then cook the remaining duck meat in whatever way you request for. At this restaurant, they add duck meat into the crepe rolls and they don't let you choose how you want your duck to be cooked because it will be served along with the crepe rolls. My family members seem to prefer the Singaporean style of serving this dish but one of my sisters said that the Malaysian way of serving is more authentic because that's how it's done in Beijing.

The entire meal came up tp RM535 which is roughly equivalent to $220. I think we should head to Malaysia once in a while to indulge in relatively cheaper food. Alright, that's all for now. Have a great weekend! =)

10 at Claymore

Our last minute decision to head down to Pan Pacific Orchard for their lunch buffet at 10@Claymore didn't turned out to be a disappointment, despite it having smallest spread of dishes I've ever encountered for a lunch buffet. The peaceful and serene ambience, the attentive yet unintrusive waiters and waitresses and the overall quality of the foood served more than made up for the limitied variety of food dishes. Also, the small selection of dishes meant that we could actually try every single dish on display instead of deliberating whether we should eat this or that for fear of the lack of stomach space.

The tables are set up beautifully, adorning the restaurant with a pristine image.

Soup of the day - Yummy Mushroom Soup. Jeffrey and I thought that their mushroom soup was one of the best that we've tasted. It's thick and creamy, yet not overpowering. I don't know if everyone is only entitled to one bowl of soup because it wasn't part of the buffet spread and it was served to our table by a waiter.

Bread with three kinds of butter (normal butter, herb butter and dried tomato butter). I think the butter served at Don Quijote was dried tomato butter because it looks similar to the orange butter in this photo.

Irish Stew. The sauce was very tasty! I enjoyed dipping my bread into it and eating it.

Some of the dishes that we had (we had many repetitive rounds!):

Long beans, Squid pasta salad (yum!), Crunchy japanese cucucmber, Sweet potato salad (yum!)

Broccoli, Beef, Sausage, Stewed potatoes, Apple cinnamon rice (interesting!)

Stewed vegetables, Fish with pesto sauce (yum!), Stewed potatoes, Apple cinnamon rice

Squid pasta, Apple cinnamon rice, Lamb, Fish with pesto sauce

Chocolate fondue. They have the BIGGEST chocolate fountain I've ever seen! It's essentially a chocolate fountain that's surrounded by two outer rings of condiments which you can cover with chocolate! Amazing (:

Warm pear crumble with vanilla sauce (yum!) I'd many servings of this! =)

Light cheesecake with blueberry topping and chocolate cake (which tasted like Lana cake to some extent)

Frothy latte that came from the machine! (: I'm impressed by how much foam this coffee machine can produce (: The latte tasted pretty nice too.

The bill came in a little nice sachet =) There was 30% discount for all credit cards so our meal costsabout $25/head after discount! Pretty reasonable, I'd say (: Definitely a place to go to if you're craving for some yet not feeling particularly hungry! =)

Tampopo

TGIF! (:

Today's post shall be short and sweet because I'm feeling a little tired. Anyhow, Jeffrey and I went to Tampopo last weekend for some yummy Japanese food! =) I've heard and read good reviews of this restaurant so I/ we went there with high expectations.
It's located at the corner of Liang Court shopping centre. I don't think you can miss it because its big name is plastered on the wall.

This is taken at the entrance of Tampopo. I actually quite like the name because it sounds unusual and catchy.

Most of the "essentials" like chopsticks, soya sauce, chilli powder etc. are placed at the corner of the table (ala Sushi Tei style). I like this kind of table setting because we can practise self-service and get what we need without bothering the waiters/ waitresses.

The waiters/ waitresses are very efficient. They promptly brought us two cups of (free) ocha even before we made our orders! I guess it's their attempt to provide good service to customers.

Shio Ramen ($13.80) with additional sweet corn ($1.50). Personally, I liked this dish because the ramen was springy and there were generous portions of seaweed and beansprouts. The soup was pretty tasty as well but I think the Char Siew Ramen soup base at Santouka is still the best that I've tried. The overall portion size for this dish is quite big so this is definitely something you can order if you're feeling famished.

Black Pig Katsu Don Set ($22.50). Tampopo is famous for their black pigs. If wagyu beef is a cut above the usual beef, I guess black pig is the equivalent of wagyu in pork terms. Jeffrey, the resident katsu don eater, usually orders chicken katsu don instead of pork katsu don because he says that pork has a particular smell and doesn't taste as nice as chicken. I managed to convince him to try Tampopo's famous black pig katsu don set and I'm glad that he enjoyed every morsel of his food (: He commented that his pork slices didn't have the usual smell and they tasted much softer and juicier than usual pork katsu slices. I guess black-pig pork really tastes better than normal pork! Do try it to taste the difference!

Like most Japanese restaurant these days, Tampopo also has a conveyor belt system but their conveyor belt system is not just any run-of-the-mill kind of system! Instead of having many small sushi plates on the conveyor belt, the conveyor belt is almost always empty! The funny thing is that the conveyor belt keeps running even though there's nothing on it most of the time. We decided to test the utility of this system by ordering a plate of california maki.

Each table is divided into two by a conveyor belt that runs through the middle section of the table.

Notice that there's an opening to allow dishes on the main checkered conveyor belt to be delivered onto the conveyor belt that's on the table.

That's our California Maki ($8.80)! Apparently this dish has been placed on the conveyor belt by the chef in the kitchen and it's rolling to us now! =)

The black push-bar on the left-hand side of the photo miraculously pops out in time to push our plate of sushi towards our conveyor belt! I wonder how they manage to accurately designate a particular dish to a particular table.. it's pretty ingenious, don't you think?

Ta-da! Our California Maki makes its arrival on our table top (: Amazing!

If you've never really been fond of pork, perhaps you should make a trip down to Tampopo to try their black pig! You may change your mind about pork after that (: Their ramen and sushi are also above average so Tampopo is generally a good place to dine at if you feel like having Japanese food.

Alright, that's all for tonight! Shall end off here (: Goodnight!