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! (:

Kith Cafe (Park Mall)

Hello everyone!

The March hols are finally here! (: (: (: It's time to take some time to rest, recuperate and of course, to relish every minute spent doing things we enjoy and meet people we love whom we seldom get to meet during term time!

If you will be out and about meeting friends this weekend or this coming week, I'd recommend Kith Cafe @Park Mall as I think they serve pretty great breakfast sets as well as drinks! (: There is limited seating capacity and if you are, like me, claustrophobic, I'd not recommend you to sit right inside the cafe as it can get quite warm and stuffy! =( Sit near the doors if you are sitting indoors or choose to sit outdoors if you prefer more air (: The only gripe with outdoor seating is that it can get a tad too warm if the sun is scorching!

Alright enough blabbering, here are some photos!

I chose to have the honey ginger chai tea latter ($5), which was only so-so. I like my chai tea lattes to be strong and this tasted more cinnamon-ish/ sweet. But it was a comforting drink to have after my horrible karma incident just before this meal!

Matty chose to have the tiny macchiato ($4), which never fails to amuse me because of its size! According to him, it was pretty decent! I shall make it a point to order a macchiato in the near future so that I know how it tastes like!

His main dish was the Big Breakfast ($16.50), which was decently priced and well-portioned! Each of the items on the plate was actually of above-average quality and the sausage was apparently much better than expected! (: You really should have this if you want a hearty meal!

Alternatively, if you aren't feeling too meaty that day, you can try Green Eggs & Toast ($15), which was what I had that day and it was splendid! (: I never taught that this meal could fill me up but it did a pretty good job (: I especially loved the eggs on the crisp and warm toast - it totally made my day! (:

I wanted to have desserts but I felt too claustrophobic so I decided to leave instead. However, I made it a point to buy banana bread ($5.50 for 3 slices) and earl grey pound cake ($4.50/ slice) before I went back home! (: The earl grey pound cake was yummy! Would definitely go back there just to buy the cake for breakfast the next day (:

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

Miharu

Hello! (:

Today's lunch was a simple affair at the much-raved about Miharu Ramen Place. It's a small little eatery near Gallery Hotel and Matty has been raving about it since his girl friend brought him there for Ramen last year.

We made our way to the entrance of Miharu and we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they had expanded! (: Seating is limited at this small eatery but we went at the right time I suppose because we didn't have to queue and we also didn't have to sit outdoors in the heat! We managed to secure a table in their newly expanded 'wing' and was happy to sit in the cool environment while waiting for our food.

I love edamame ($4) and I especially LOVE those that are coated with salt! I know it's not very healthy to consume salt but I love it! Same goes for my love for MacDonalds' fries I guess. Can't really get enough of these two! Would have them any day! (:

A plate of Yaki Gyoza ($6.50) which was pretty decent. Since I didn't try it and Matty didn't rave about it, I guess it was so-so (:

My Tokusen Ton-Shio Ramen ($13.80) was fantastic! I loved that they were generous with just about everything in the bowl - from the corn serving to the bamboo strips and the noodles. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of this bowl of ramen is its thick and full-bodied soup broth. I think the teensy bit oilier shio ramen soup base had a part to play with the overall flavour but if you would like to have soup with a 'heavier' taste to it, this bowl would be perfect for you!

Matty chose to have the Gokubuto Miso Ramen ($15.50) and it's similar to mine except that the soup base is different and his noodles are much thicker! I thought that his noodles would taste like the Chinese yellow noodles but no, these were firmer and the texture is rougher. I didn't mind it one bit and I even helped to finish the noodles that he didn't finish. What can I say, I'm a carbo queen =X

My only gripe is that there aren't desserts so we had to go to town after lunch to get some! Oh well it is alright, am glad for the new experience. We would definitely be back for more ramen in the near future! (:

Have a great weekend! (:

Au Petit Salut

Hello! (:

I've decided to post something here before the weekend cranks up its gear and it gets too late for me to spend time on this space again! :S

Not too long ago, we went to Au Petit Salut after not visiting this place for yonks and we were pleased that standards remain high and the food remains good (: We were even more pleased to find out that the new items on their menu were pretty palatable too! 

Our bottle of sparkling mineral water. Somehow I've never had this brand of water before and it tastes pretty different from the usual Perrier. Sometimes I make a mental note to vary my drinks order so that I'll not always end up with sprite, heh, but I really need something fizzy!

Anyhow, we went on a Saturday afternoon for lunch and we both had their $36++ 3-course lunch set. Basically this set comes with a starter, a main and a dessert and complimentary coffee/ tea, which is a pretty good deal if you consider the entire dining experience! (:

Complimentary bread basket. What I absolutely love about Au Petit Salut's complimentary basket is the warm bread rolls and the cold, hard butter! I actually only like butter when it is cold and hard so this combination was perfect for me.


For starters, we chose to have

a serving of soup of the day - this was pumpkin soup if my memory serves me well, which was very warm and hearty, I actually liked this a lot though it might be considered one of the least 'worth it' dishes -

and marrow! Marrow has gotta be one of the many things I've never tried nor will I venture to try in the near future. haha Matty said that it was pretty good though the marrow taste wasn't as strong as he had expected. If you want to have kickass marrow, Loola's at Esplanade does quite a good job of it so you can pop by to try! (:


For our mains, we had the

Fillet of snapper, prawn emulsion and sea weed tartare, which was surprisingly huge because there's only so much fish you can eat! I liked that the slab of fish fillet was well-cooked and most importantly, FRESH! There was no fishy smell or anything and it went well with seaweed on it (: Could have this again any time!

He ordered the steak with mash and I was quite surprised to see corn and lettuce piled on top of his steak when it arrived! heh. Au Petit Salut's steaks are usually of high quality and this was no exception (: The serving size was just nice and you won't feel to full finishing this entire dish on your own.

For desserts,

I chose to have the Choux buns filled with vanilla ice cream, drizzled with warm chocolate sauce, sliced almonds, which has almost become my staple dessert dish whenever I dine at Au/ Bistro Petit Salut! haha Somehow I always end up looking longingly at people's choux buns when I try to order a different dessert so I have learnt my lesson and am going to stick to ordering just this! (:

Being a huge fan of cheese, he went for the selection of matured French farm cheese served with walnut bread. To order this, we had to pay $6 more because it's a more 'premium' dish but it was worth every penny! The only gripe he had was that the bread slices were far too few; he ended up not having sufficient bread to eat the cheese with! Nevertheless it was great! He was clearly happy at the end of the meal (:

Finally, before we left, we had our coffee & tea and I think that's a pretty neat way of ending a nice, relaxing and belly-filling meal (:

I will definitely be back at Au Petit Salut again in the near future for the FOOD! I must say that the atmosphere verges on the slightly pretentious side for me but it hasn't crossed the line where I would feel uncomfortable so I'd still go back to this place in future! (:

Alright that is all. Have a great weekend everyone! (: