Chez Petit Salut

Hello! (:

I'm back from my school trips and can finally rest for a little before going for the final one for this year (: The last week spent in the USA was pretty good - everything went smoothly and the kids were easy to manage and they got along with each other very well so all was good (: I've been quite picky about food ever since I returned partly because I have had too much of certain kinds of food in the USA so I would prefer not to have those when I'm back. I don't think I missed Asian/ Singaporean food that much but I definitely wanted a change, which explains my choice to have soup and noodles and all at Ding Tai Feng the day I landed.

Okay enough rambling! The main purpose of this post is to showcase the set lunch that I had at Chez Petit Salut (near Holland Village)! (: I have been to both Petit Salut outlets at Harding Road and Holland Village and I must say truthfully that the meals have never disappointed. If you want something warm, hearty and filling, you might want to pop by one of these outlets to try their relatively affordable set lunches ($30++/pax). Personally, I prefer the outlet at Holland Village cos it has a less pretentious and more homely atmosphere (: Time for photos!

“Salad Niçoise” Tuna chunks, fine beans, cherry tomato, hard boiled egg & black olives

 “Linguine alla Puttanesca” with anchovy, capers, black oilves in tomato

Choux buns with vanilla ice cream, warm chocolate sauce & sliced almonds

December is going to be a busy month but I'll do my best to enjoy whatever that comes my way (: Have a great Sunday!

Absinthe Restaurant

Hello! (: 

We went to Absinthe yesterday to celebrate my best friend's birthday in advance and it was a pleasant and satisfying treat for all of us! Frankly, I seldom frequent the Boat Quay area and don't know where the restaurant is, but thankfully, I've a human GPS who used to visit Boat Quay area a lot so we managed to get there on time! (: 

Absinthe's three-course set lunch goes for $38++ per pax, which is reasonable considering the quality of food and the prevailing market prices for other similar types of set lunches. You can view their lunch menu here: Absinthe lunch menu 

I chose to have the Niçoise Salad with Seared Tuna, Black Olives, Green Beans and Hard Boiled Egg for my starter dish. I realised that I tend to go for this dish whenever the soup of the day doesn't sound appetizing enough for me. I liked this salad because the veggies were fresh and most importantly, the dressing was yummy (: I think some people might find it a tad salty but I liked it!

My main dish: Royan Cheese Ravioli in a Light Broth, Pesto and Citrus. I was surprised to see so many small pieces of ravioli instead of the usual 4-5 giant pieces! Frankly, it tasted like ravioli in buttery soup, which I didn't quite fancy cos I don't like things that are too buttery but the ravioli themselves were yummy (: The sheer quantity filled me right up!

Finally, I chose to have the Crêpe Suzette with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert and I was slightly disappointed when it came to me like that because the ice-cream had half-melted! =( I guess it's the nature of the dish because the crepe would have been warm after cooking and thus it was inevitable for the ice-cream to melt. The crepe tasted pretty normal and it wasn't spectacular. I think their poached pear and their chocolate mousse were better (: 

Yup that's all for my adventure to Boat Quay! I'll be leaving for another school trip tonight but I'll try to keep posting if possible but if not, then I'll continue posting after I arrive back in Sg at the end of the month.  

Stay safe and enjoy the rest of November! (: 

The Udder Pancake

Hello!

I'm finally back in Singapore! (: Woot woot! The past 5 days in Hanoi with the kids were tiring because we had to be on high alert mode because Hanoi isn't the safest place for a school trip. Am completely relieved that everyone managed to come back safely.

I celebrated my freedom from being class chaperone by indulging in Western food last night and this afternoon. I didn't realise how big a part Western desserts played in my diet till I got to Hanoi and all I wanted was ice-cream and coffee cheesecake. Ha!

Today, I went to the relatively newly opened The Udder Pancake with My Bellygood Friend =P It basically is an expansion of Udders (the ice cream place) and these two cafes are actually joined so you can order Udders icecream/waffles and have them at The Udder Pancake, which we did (:

Their pancakes are surprisingly tasty and they are similar to Macdonald's! I like that they are generous with their maple syrup and they had an ingenious way of making their butter salted (i.e. sprinkle salt on a piece of butter)! Their savoury dishes are not bad too so in general, I think it's a good place to have a nice brunch/ tea (: The food will not disappoint and you will get to look at interesting decorations too (e.g. beer barrels as seats). Will definitely be back again in the near future! (: Okay time for photos!

Have a great week ahead everyone! (:

Park at Holland Village

Hello (:

I finally visited the relatively popular Park, which stands out from the other cafes and restaurants at Holland Village due to its location, and I personally find the quality of the food average. I had expected it to be fabulous because the cafe is often packed during the weekends but I guess I might have ordered the wrong dish(es) so I didn't fully enjoy all the food but thankfully the company and the fries made up for it (:

Truffle Fries - fries tossed with white tru e oil and paste, sprinkled with a layer of parmesan cheese - ($11) were good! I would gladly have this again (:

My pancakes with caramelised bananas ($11.80) were a bit of an overkill. I mean, just look at the amount of caramel sauce that was slathered onto the pancakes! =| Their pancakes weren't particularly warm when they were served to me hence it didn't taste like they were just made, but I guess they were passable (: I switched my vanilla ice-cream for salted caramel, which tasted so-so. On the whole, I found that this dish was too much for me and if I weren't as big a dessert monster as I am, I would probably not be able to finish it!

Alright, I shall continue vetting testimonials =P Can't wait for all these vetting to end so that I can finally begin doing Other Things (with other people). Whee!

Privé Grill

Hello (:

School is officially over but there are still many activities going on and I think things will only truly die down after 4 December, after the seniors have their prom. I can't wait to have some free time in December to consolidate things and work on some other things before 2015 comes and the cycle starts all over again! =D

To celebrate the end of the school year and to do a little catch-up, the three musketeers went to Privé Grill for lunch this week and we had the most delightful time eating good food and catching up in a relaxed and comfortable setting (: I really need to thank my friend for introducing us to this place and for taking us there - thank you! (:

We each had the 3-course set lunch that costs $35++ and we ordered different dishes, all of which were up to our standards and expectations (: I only took photos of the food that I had because we were starving and it wasn't nice to make people wait to eat their food hence there will only be photos of what I ate!

The photos are placed in order of their course number:

 Carrot Soup with Fava Beans, Crème Fraȋche & Herbed Croutons 

Seafood Risotto with Mussels, Squid, Prawns, Clams, Chopped Tomatoes, Basil and Grated Parmesan

Banana & Chocolate Crêpe with Honeycomb Ice Cream

Frankly speaking, the only thing that was a tad disappointing was the dessert because as you can see, the ice-cream has melted quite a bit by the time it reached our table. I took this photo right after this dish sat on the table! On the whole it tasted so-so and was still okay but I thought the ice-cream could have been "less melted".

I shall look forward to visiting more new places and eating other yummy food! (:

Happy weekend!