HCMC Eats: La Villa

Hello (:

It's been terribly warm these days and my body's suffering from trying to adapt to the heat =| I hope that it rains one of these days cos for once, I actually miss thunderstorms!

Anyhow, here's a continuation of the HCMC posts, and today, I'm gonna post photos of the food that we had at La Villa, which is actually a house-turned-restaurant. The setting is cosy and it has limited capacity, but I guess that's what gives it the old French charm. We were the only other guests that day, the other being a group of French men, and I thoroughly appreciated having a quiet meal indoors, away from the scorching sun.

The standard of food at La Villa cannot be compared to Les Amis' but I think it's similar to Au Petit Salut's - not as refined nor as interesting, but very thoughtful and palatable. It was a lovely languorous and luxurious meal (:

Have a good Sunday ahead! (:

Les Amis

Hello! (:

It's the second last day of the March hols and truth be told, I'm pretty happy because this has been one of the more fun and relaxing March hols I've had in a while! (: Part of the fun came from having gone to HCMC, a place which I never thought I would return so soon, and having a brand new experience compared to the first time I was there! (More about that in the next post).

For now, I'll share some pics that were taken at our awesome lunch at Les Amis! (: To date, I don't think I've eaten anything that tastes as exquisite as the food that was served at Les Amis (when it comes to French cuisine that is). Somehow the flavours of the dishes complemented each other very well and the spectacular visual presentation really enhanced the entire experience too!

 

It's definitely a place that you might wanna consider if you would like to give someone a special treat or to purely indulge in some fine French food (:

Will blog about Vietnam when I can find the time! Need to prep for school this coming week cos I have quite a bit of 'holiday homework' left to do! (: See you!

DB Bistro & Oyster Bar

Hello (:

We went to DB Bistro and Oyster Bar not too long ago for a celebratory dinner and to be frank, I was surprised that it's a pretty chill-out kind of restaurant and it really captured the feeling of a 'bistro', which I like. I guess I'm not really a fan of fine dining (much as I indulge in it once in a blue moon) so I was pretty happy that DB was nothing like that (:

If you haven't already noticed by now, I have been taking all my food pics using my hp for a long time because I think it's too troublesome to lug a DSLR out, but the downside is that I don't take photos that are as nice as the past and I don't do any post-photo editing hence some of them might look raw/ underexposed, but it doesn't really matter to me cos I think the focus is on the journalling of places that I've been to to eat! (:

So here are some of the photos taken that night:

We had a filling and happy meal and we would love to go back again for more kickass burgers and fries, or perhaps try something else that tickles our fancy! (:

Alright that's all for now. Happy weekend! (:

Miam Miam

Hello! (:

We went to Miam Miam not too long ago to try out their much-raved about desserts and other normal food and we're happy to say that the dishes we ordered lived up to our expectations (: We chose a mix of their "featured dishes" as well as those that tickled our fancy and I think we'll go back again in the near future to try other dishes! Personally, I loved the way they did their french toast and I dare say it's one of the better ones I've had in Sg! (:

It gets pretty crowded during meal times so you might want to go just before the crowd comes or visit at odd times of the day so that you won't have to queue for a long time to get a table! (:

Happy weekend! (:

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! (: 

Gunther’s

Hello! (:

At the start of the year, my best friend and I went to Gunther's to try their set lunch and I found the food and service pretty good so I had been wanting to go back (: Lucky for me, the bubs decided to try Gunther's set lunch too so we went together on a relatively quiet afternoon for a treat! (:

We chose to have the 3-course $38++ set lunch instead of the 3-course set lunch with a glass of sommelier wine for $53++ primarily because we had other work to clear for the rest of the day (and I am allergic to alcohol)  (:

Here are some photos of the food that we had that day! For starters, we chose to have:

 Crispy egg, Provençale style

&

 Grilled scallop in mushroom cappuccino

The other option for starters would be: Salt-baked beetroot, grilled Alsace bacon, mesclun salad.

For mains, we chose to have:

 Tomato rice with mixed seafood

&

 Braised beef cheek, burgundy style

The third option for mains would be: Charcoal grilled Wagyu steak (additional S$20++)

For dessert, we decided to pay a little more to have the desserts of our choice instead of opting for the dessert of the day. The desserts that we had were:

the fine apple tart “à la dragées”, Havana rum raisin ice cream (additional S$8++)

& the Cheese Platter (additional S$10++)

We also had a complimentary cup of coffee/ tea with a plateful of petit fours! (: What a decadent way of ending the meal! (:


We were so full by the end of the meal that we had to walk around for a while before heading home. It was indeed a filling and delightful meal (: Hopefully we will have more time to indulge in longer meals and to have more time to talk and catch up when term ends.

Happy weekend everyone (: