Society Bar

To say that I had always wanted to eat at Society Bar would be a lie because the only reason why we ended up at Society Bar one fine Saturday afternoon was that OverEasy, the restaurant that we originally wanted to dine at, was closed. I guess we should have expected little glitches like this to happen once in a while, especially when we take our chances and not check the website or call to make a reservation.

Nevertheless, our foodie experience at Society Bar wasn't completely off-the-mark so we weren't too upset. At the very least, we'd nice scenary to look at and that kept us entertained most of the time while we were waiting for our food to arrive.

Since it was our first time there, we decided to play it safe and order their signature open-face burgers. I went for the

Vegetarian burger ($18), which consists of two huge muhrooms sitting atop a bed of rocket leaves with pesto sauce and cheese on it. This vegetable burger reminded me a little of Relish's tofu burger but the latter is much nicer. I don't think I'd eat this again because the best part of this dish was probably the straight-cut fries, which ironically requires the least amount of preparation and effort to cook.

Jeffrey's Surf & Turf burger ($20) was slightly more successful than mine because it actually had a stronger taste. His burger consists of beef patty with melted cheese and two fried battered shrimps on some greens and a piece of bread. I think this would make a decent SNACK and not a MEAL because the portion seems quite small =S

We didn't have desserts at Society Bar because their desserts didn't look appetizing at all. Instead, we went over to Esplanade to indulge in some icecream! I think Society Bar's probably a nicer place to hang out at night compared to the day (I don't know, I'm just speculating) and it certainly qualifies as a place to go for light bites. I doubt I'll return any time soon for a proper meal but I'll definitely pop in if I see nice desserts on offerin the near future! (:

Alright that's all for tonight! It's midweek! Hang in there everyone! (:

Wah Lok

Earlier this month, my family went to the newly renovated Carlton hotel to have a celebratory dinner at the famous Wah Lok. We went with rather high expectations because we've heard and read that Wah Lok was one of the better Chinese restaurants around and it can be ranked alongside other good Chinese restaurants like Orchard Hotel's Hua Ting.

We made a reservation and arrived at the rather oriental looking restaurant. As seen from the photo above, the predominant colours are yellow/ gold, red and white, which in my opinion are rather "Chinese". I was pretty appreciative that they gave us three menus because there were quite a few of us at the table. I really can't stand restaurants that hog menus and only give one or at most two menus to each table, especially when the menus aren't in use!

What happens at family dinners which require us to order dishes to share is this: all of us will through the menu and each of us will order one dish that we like. So far, this has proved to be the most efficient method of ordering shared-dishes (:

With the help of one of the friendly waitresses, we promptly placed our orders and helped ourselves to the tofu and peanut ($3/dish) appetizer, which was pretty normal.

The first dish to arrive was the BBQ Cuts Combination ($30). Essentially, there are slices of roasted pork, duck and chicken on this plate. Everyone commented that the meat slices were good and they were cleared much faster than I'd expected!

This was one of the more spectacular dishes that night, which apparent is Wah Lok's specialty and was recommended by the waitress: tofu with spinach and mushroom ($6/piece). Each of us had one tofu to ourselves and it was a delight to savour (at least for me). I liked it so much that I helped my brother eat his portion since he didn't want to touch his!

Next came the sweet and sour garoupa slices ($42). I loved the freshness of the fish! I thought that the sweet and sour sauce could have been stronger/ more fragrant but other than that, this dish was pretty good (:

People who love salted egg yolk should be familiar with this dish: prawns coated with salted egg yolk ($45). Probably the best thing about this dish is that the prawns were de-shelled! (: My siblings and I are absolutely lazy prawn eaters so we love it when our prawns come de-shelled! Our parents have told us many times that prawns are cooked with shells so that the shells help to lock the flavour in but we don't mind sacrificing some flavour for convenience! This dish was so-so, nothing too fantastic.

We also ordered Yong Chow fried rice ($16) to share, and it was much blander than expected. Felt that it could have done with more salt and pepper.

The Wah Lock E-Fu seafood noodles ($22) were much better in my opinion. We liked the fact that scallops came with the noodles! (:

Till now, I can't decide if I actually like "Chinese desserts" but I guess I wouldn't pass them over if they appear appetizing enough! (: That night, we tried the following three desserts:

Mango pudding ($6), which tasted similar to Crystal Jade's in my opinion.

Almond cream ($6) and Mango Pomelo Sago ($6). The almon cream was very light and smooth; the mango pomelo sago tasted pretty average.

On the whole, we felt that the food was pretty good but it wasn't particularly special or fireworks-fantastic. Nevertheless, it is a fine place for a gathering/ celebration with close family and friends because the ambience is quiet yet homely.

Alright that's all for now (: Have a good week ahead everyone!

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar

Words fail me today; the weather outside at this very point in time reflects my mood. At moments like this, there's only one thing that can bring a tiny bit of comfort.


This place came to mind while I was searching for something to remind myself that there are things that exist in this world that have the magical ability to make me feel like everything's alright, even if it's for a short while.

And that fact that these things aren't actually intoxicating vapour that can't be seen, touched, held but are tangible, reliable, every-ready to do their job is somewhat comforting. The only thing that separates me from my panacea is my willingness to get out and go the distance in the rain.

Warm chocolate fondue ($20) with a whole platter of little bites for dipping. The chocolate at Max Brenner is so good, it makes me feel like drinking the entire dish.

For that extra boost of endorphins, the warm chocolate souffle with vanilla ice-cream ($16) is highly recommended. Finish the entire platter on your own and you may feel like you are able to take on new challenges that come your way. Alternatively, you may feel so sick that

you feel like puking.

Max Brenner Chocolate Bar is a healing spring, a perfect pit stop for the worn and weary, a chocolate lover's heaven on earth. Chocolate, my mana, my love, my strength.

Spizza

Hello!

We're past the halfway mark for this week so I'm feeling slightly more relaxed. Tomorrow's another busy day ahead but I'm sure I'll manage somehow (:

The weather's been great since it started raining around 245pm this afternoon - I love the coolness of the night after half a day of rain. It's the best weather for sleeping, which is something I'll do immediately after I finish this post on Spizza!

My family went to Spizza a while ago to try their rather well-known thin crust pizzas. It was a Saturday night and Spizza was pretty crowded. I've come to realise the importance of making reservations, especially when dining in large numbers and more so if we're dining as a big group on a weekend: making a reservation will definitely cut down wait-time! From now on, I'll do my best to make reservations whenever possible so that I can reduce the chances of my growing agitated at the long wait time!

As usual, we chose to sit indoors because we're not particularly fond of alfresco dining, unless the weather's gorgeous. Since it was a humid night, indoors seating was a much preferred option for us.

Surprisingly, we managed to place our orders quite quickly despite being bombarded with a multitude of choices!

Jeff, my little brother, ordered a kids meal ($8.80), which consists of a small Hawaiian pizza as well as a cup of coke. Jeff liked his pizza and ate the entire thing! Actually it's not surprising because he can REALLY eat when he's hungry and boy was he famished that day.

The rest of us shared the following three dishes because we weren't feeling particularly hungry:

A plate of caesar salad ($11), which was pretty average. Honestly I'd expected a slightly larger portion but I guess we made do with this!

Spaghetti Aglio Olio ($16), which was extremely spicy! I realise my stomach reacts very violently towards overly spicy things. Not only do I feel like my stomach lining is irritated and that my entire stomach is on fire, I also feel as if I'm experiencing major indigestion =S I guess the main lesson learnt is that I should try not to irritate my stomach that much if possible. Must exercise some restraint!

Gina Pizza ($17), was basically tomato-based pizza topped with olives, anchovies, capers and mozarella cheese. Gumtoo complained this pizza was too salty for her liking but the rest of us were fine with it (:

The other pizza that we ordered was called Ursula ($21), which is essentially smoked salmon pizza with spinach and capers placed on it. Although I'm a spinach lover, I would have preferred it if this particular pizza didn't have spinach because I didn't think it went well with the rest of the pizza. Other than that, the pizza was generally okay.

In short, Spizza is a family-friendly restaurant that serves decent Italian food. I wouldn't go so far as to say that they serve fantastic pizzas or pastas. Nevertheless, it's definitely a place that you would want to go to if you are keen on trying their various special pizza concoctions! =)

Alright that's all for now. Have a good Thursday ahead! (:

La Fondue

I've not been able to fall asleep for the past two Sundays and I'm wondering what it is that's keeping me up. I hate the feeling of being too tired to do any more work yet not being able to fall asleep; it's like being trapped in some sort of twilight zone and it makes me wish something or someone would just give me that little push so that I can be on my way to dream land.

I shall attempt to write a coherent entry on La Fondue before sending myself off to bed for some much needed shut-eye. Not too long ago, Jeffrey and I went to La Fondue at Dempsey for an unforgettable fondue experience.

Prior to my visit to La Fondue, the only fondue that I've ever had was chocolate fondue, which is generally a 'sweet' fondue. I have heard of meat with cheese fondue before but I've never been adventurous enough to give it a go, because frankly, I can't imagine having savoury fondue! How weird would that taste! Frankly, I'd only agreed to go to La Fondue because Jeffrey said that there was the usual Western dishes like pasta so I knew that there were safe back-up options in case I chickened out. We reached the relatively secluded La Fondue in the middle of the day and were surprised to find that we were the only diners at the restaurant! This might not be such a bad thing because Jeffrey and I were noobs when it comes to Fondue-dipping so it's good to be able to try something new without having to worry if we're doing something drastically wrong (but really, fondue-dipping is easypeasy!).

We ordered their traditional caesar salad ($10) to share. It wasn't fantastic but it provided us with sufficient greens to convince ourselves that the vegetable portion of our meal was taken care of.

For mains, we ordered the Four Cheese 'La Fondue' Special ($42), which came with a bowl of well-cut bread pieces for dipping. The melted cheese was absolutely thick and creamy and it tastes very rich! I am positive that no one can finish this entire pot of cheese on his/ her own because I reckon you'll get sick of the taste after a while! Nevertheless, it was a good first experience having savoury fondue.

Apart from the bowl of mini bread pieces, the pot of cheese also came with a plate of colourful vegetables which we can coat with a luxurious layer of cheese as well! (: This was yummy!

Plate with variety of sauces for the grilled cajun-salmon slices (see next photo).

We also ordered a plate of cajun-seasoned salmon ($38) which we were supposed to grill and eat! The slices of salmon were pretty small but they were sufficient for both of us that day since we already had loads of cheese fondue to start!

Our salmon slices being grilled! (:

Finally, it was time for dessert! To be frank, it was THE DISH that I'd been waiting eagerly for throughout the entire meal! (: We settled for the Fondue Platter ($25), which consists of

2 scoops of vanilla ice-cream,

assorted fruits (green apple, kiwi, orange, strawberry), brownie bits, marshmellows & of course, our pot of warm chocolate (far right of photo). I think the quality of their chocolate is comparable to Max Brenner's and I loved it so much that I kept coating the various condiments with LOTS of chocolate! It's really a must-try for chocolate fondue lovers!

In short, my trip to La Fondue was surprisingly good and I am glad that I no longer am a stranger to cheese fondue! Personally, I still prefer having sweet to savoury fondue but the liking for the latter may take time to acquire. Will go back again if and when I feel like slathering my tastebuds with warm, rich and creamy cheese/ chocolate!

Alright that's all for now. Time to hit the sack! Have a great week ahead everyone (:

CMPB

The past two days have made me understood more clearly what a 'hectic' school life is like. One of my friends in school commented that I was walking much faster than usual today (which says a lot because I like to walk slowly)! Anyhow, I'm pretty glad that the work week is coming to an end SOON! (: Just have to hang in there for a while longer and I can submit myself fully to the unmarked scripts that have to be done by this weekend. But no matter how busy I am, I will NOT make a pass on comfort food! (:

Let me introduce you to CMPB: a relatively new and popular restaurant, located at Dempsey area, that offers soul-soothing brunches/ lunches. It's a great place to chill out during the weekend because of the relaxed ambience inside the restaurant. If you prefer a more natural setting, you can of course opt to sit outside.

I think I've said this many times before but I shall repeat it once more: we tend to sit indoors no matter how glorious the weather is because Jeffrey can't take heat well and I tend to bitten by mosquitoes. As such, it makes more sense for both of us to opt to sit indoors though sometimes I really wish I weren't so mosquito-friendly because the weather on some days is simply perfect for outdoor dining!

As I'm more fond of breakfast dishes, I tend to order them whenever we dine at places that serves breakfast/ brunch/ lunch. At CMPB, I chose to have their Eggs on Request ($20), which consists of some rocket salad, a grilled sausage, scrambled eggs, bacon slices, sauteed mushrooms and two slices of toast. Though it wasn't over-the-top good, it was still one of the more comforting breakfast dishes that I've eaten (:

Jeffrey went for their salmon pizza ($22), which had suprisingly crack-y edges! Somehow, the middle portion of the pizza base wasn't crack-y and biscuit-y even though it was very thin. I'm not complaining because I absolutely dislike biscuit-textured pizzas. If you're a smoked salmon lover, I'd highly recommend this dish because they gave generous toppings of salmon!

We had the Malva Pudding ($12) for dessert. It's essentially a type of warm cake with a scoop of icecream. Till today, I've only had two malva puddings in my life and both taste quite different so I'm not sure which is more 'authentic'. Thankfully, authenticity doesn't bother me as much as whether a dish tastes good and this dessert definitely gained clearance from me in the taste department! (: Loved it! Wish I could have more!

Am looking forward to yet another good meal this weekend! (: Will press on and hang in there! You too! TGIF! (:

Cafe Epicurious

A month or so ago, I received an email from Helena (one of the two ladies managing Epicurious), inviting me to troop down to Cafe Epicurious at Rail Mall to give their Family-Style Dinner Menu. It came as a pleasant surprise to me because I seldom receive emails from restuarants owners/ people in the f&b industry! What's even more surprising is that she generously offered a $70++ dinner voucher, which I can use when I visit Cafe Epicurious! This was really unexpected and I'd like to say a big 'thank you' to Helena and Sharon for this lovely treat, it made my day! (:

And so, on one rainy Saturday evening, my family and I made our way to the nearby Rail Mall for dinner!
We ordered a glass of sprite ($3.50) and a glass of lime juice ($4.50) to share while waiting for the food to arrive.

Because there were 4 of us, we simply ordered the 4 different dinner sets available! We could either choose to have the two-course dinner ($28/pax) or the three-course dinner ($35/pax). Since we were keen on trying their desserts (how can I possibly pass dessert!), we went for the three-course dinner, which consists of an appetiser, a main and a dessert each.

Our platter of 4 appetisers (from left): Ah ma's deep fried curry chicken wings, savoury beef meatballs with tomato-basil sauce, devil shrimp with garlic and chilli, melted cheese and sweet onion quesadilla. All of them had their unique tastes but I would say that our favourite would be the melted cheese and sweet onion quesadilla! It tasted like roti prata with pizza toppings (: Very interesting fusion.

Although Epicurious was pretty packed that night, food didn't take too long to come and we were quite pleased with that! (: Our mains were served soon after our empty starters plate was cleared.

Each main course came with some salad

as well as a little tub of creamy whipped potato (: Absolutely delectable on a cold and rainy night.

Our first main dish was the roasted half chicken! I didn't try this dish but the other three said that the skin was nice but the meat was pretty dry.

The second main course was the lamb shank tangine, which was soft, tender and cooked to perfection! The meat just slid off the bone! It was a joy to eat!

This braised Angus beef short rib definitely tastes better than it looks! Both my sister and Jeffrey liked this and they said that the portion was just right for both of them. If they had to eat one portion each, they would probably not be able to finish because the taste was pretty strong.

Finally, my favourite main course: grilled seafood risotto. The two precious scallops sitting atop the bed of spinach risotto were heavenly! I loved this dish so much that I polished off every single morsel! (:

Finally, we were served our platter of three desserts (from left): lemon and lime tart, devils chocolate cake and sticky date pudding. Out of all the desserts, I think the one that stood out most was the lemon and lime tart! It had a refreshing and zingy taste which contrasted with the richness of its counterparts. I didn't really like the berry sauce on the chocolate cake and the sticky date pudding was a little too hard. I guess I'm used to eating warm and moist sticky date puddings with vanilla icecream so my palette didn't adjust very well to this novel taste! Nevertheless, we savoured the desserts with relish and glee!

Needless to say, we were stuffed at the end of the meal! I think Epicurious' dinner menu didn't fail to impress and it's highly recommended for people who are looking for affordable and good dinner sets! =) Thank you Helena and Sharon again for this wonderful gastronomical treat! (:

Have a good week ahead everyone! (:

Everything with Fries

Good morning (:

I just had breakfast and decided that I'd like to put up a post before showering and meeting some friends for a very unconventional meet-up! Looking forward to it because I've never had that kind of meet-up before! We're hoping that it'll turn out to be a productive session! =)

Coincidentally, I'm going to blog about the food that the people whom I'm going to meet later absolutely adore! =P If you know me, you'll know that I hardly restrict myself from having junk food (fast food included) so when a good friend suggested meeting for lunch at Everything with Fries, I immediately said yes! (:

Being west-ies, we decided to meet at the Holland Village outlet instead of going all the way to Joo Chiat! Everything with Fries at Holland Village is situated opposite the famous Wala-wala, next to Breko!

We met pretty early in the afternoon (around 1230) so the restaurant was pretty empty then. We got ourselves a table and started ordering our food!

Before I go on, I need to say that there are at least TWO good things about Everything with Fries: prices are very affordable plus, the portions are relatively big! (: (: (: Their mains come with a choice of fries and coleslaw/ a small portion of caesar salad, so I would highly recommend getting a main each so that you'll get a variety of food to try! (:

This is the small portion of caesar salad that came with my main (next photo).

That day, I opted for creamy salmon in a cup with salt and vinegar fries ($11.90). The soup was very rich and creamy and there were hidden bits of salmon inside, a perfect dish for someone who loves cream based soup. Their salt and vinegar fries were a complete let down because they were too salty! I'm usually not fussy with salted fries (and I actually think that the saltiness of Macdonalds fries are just right) but this was WAY too salty! T'was a pity.

My friend ordered grilled ham and cheese sandwich ($8.90) and because she didn't want veggies, the people at Everything at Fries kindly allowed her to choose a second flavour of fries in replacement! She had a portion of curry fries as well as one portion of sour cream and onion fries. On the whole, her sandwich was good and her fries were MUCH better than mine! Admittedly, the curry powder on the curry fries was a little overpowering but even then it was still better than the salt and vinegar fries! The sour cream and onion fries were good! (:

Jeffrey went for spaghetti bolognese ($10.90) with

coleslaw and original fries. The spaghetti was average but the original fries were mindblowingly awesome! =) I think everyone should try their original fries because they beat the others hands down! They taste like cajun fries, which are absolutely delectable in my opinion.

Frankly speaking, we were pretty stuffed by the end of our mains but we couldn't bear to leave till we've had some dessert!

We ordered their famous nutella tart ($4.90) to share. While it tasted nice, we felt that it wasn't as "nutella-y" as we expected it to be! It felt like we were eating a slice of chocolate cake instead. Nevertheless, it's a cheap and good dessert that will definitely give you the much needed dessert fix!

Because we'd already ordered something nutella-y, we gave the nutella mille crepe ($5.90) a miss, for fear of having nutella overload but this is how it looks like!

Instead, we opted for the vanilla mille crepe ($5.90) and it proved to be a wise choice because we LOVED it! (: the layers of crepe were so fine and the creme in between the layers was fresh and well-blended. I did a little jiggle in my head with each bite because it made me THAT happy! (: Loved it! Will definitely go back for more!

Finally, we had their warm banana butterscotch pudding with vanilla icecream ($5.90), which was also stunningly good because the flavours from the two items married well! I think I've a soft spot for warm cakes/ puddings with a scoop of icecream so this sat very well with me (: If you like something warm, then this is definitely the dessert for you!

I really enjoyed my visit to Everything with Fries and I foresee myself going back for more cheap and good food! (: Have a happy Thursday everyone! (: