[Staycation] Rest for a bit @ Momentus Alexandra

Was initially offered a single upgrade to Premier room till I enquired if it was possible to be accorded the double upgrade. Staff did another round of checks and found a Club room that was still available. She shared that for that particular week, there was an influx of GHA Discovery members staying at the hotel.

Club Room

Club Room (24-square-metre)

view from room

The Club Room amenities are not included for the upgraded room and the minibar in the room was empty but no worries as one could walk over to Anchorpoint, which is just across the road, to stock up on drinks and snacks.

bathroom

Appelles products

toiletries

Alexandra Food Village

Went over to the newly renovated Alexandra Food Village and decided to snack on some sweet potato balls and as usual, got myself some avocado juice. I usually get the juice from the other stall where it is manned by a lady.

Walked past the Queenstown Famous You Tiao (stall #01-72) and since there was no you tiao at that time, I bought some sweet potato balls to try.

sweet potato balls

First time trying sweet potato balls and wow, these were so good! Soft and chewy on its inside, with almost a thin layer of lava and sweet. I thought six of these were nothing much but it was pretty filling. Ate it for lunch and tea-break.

GHA Discovery In-Room Amenity

GHA Discovery in-room Welcome Amenity

 

The in-room amenity was delivered later to the room (around 5+pm) and it was there jars of local snacks.

crispy broad bean snack

sweet peanuts

muruku

I remembered seeing these in the Club Lounge on previous visit. The muruku and broad beans were savoury and crispy. 

morning view

Breakfast at Verandah Rooftop Rotisserie

Went down to Level 7 for breakfast at about 9am and it is considered as 'off-peak' at this hotel. Think there were 2 or 3 staff manning the floor and none actually enquired if it was the guest first time at the hotel. Staff would just indicate where the guest would be sitting and that's about it. 

let's get seated

The coffee and juice machines are included in the breakfast buffet (unlike the semi-buffet lunch where one has to top-up for the coffee and juices). 

omellette station

ready eggs

fruits, carb and protein

orange juice, omelette porridge with creamed spinach

assortment of dumplings, rendang, fried rice and fried noodles

tag to indicate table occupancy

On first morning, the staff didn't place any tag to indicate the table is occupied and I ended up with the staff clearing away the table when I went away to get coffee. 

Free Shuttle Service

waiting outside the hotel for the shuttle bus

shuttle bus

The shuttle bus was pretty on-time as per the schedule. Took a short ride to Harbourfront and walked to Vivocity for some shopping and lunch. Went back to the same drop-off point to get a ride back to the hotel.

Bonus

wildlife spotted across the road

Meat & Foie Gras Dinner Buffet @ Ellenborough Market Cafe Paradox

One of those rare occasion where we opted for buffet. I think Tracy saw it from some viral post in insta and decided to try. Thanks to Shermaine for making the reservations!

first plate

I was a tad hungry, so went to the counters where there were less people. There were long lines to the foie gras and grilled meats, so I went elsewhere instead.

Took some babi tau yu (soy sauce braised pork), nonya chap chye (braised vegetables), wagyu beef something, pasta bolognese and bendi (blanched okra) paired with sambal belachan.

recommended

The okra was tender and tasted lovely with the chilies. Pasta was good too and I saw the kids at the neighbouring table enjoying the pasta. Braised pork and the cooked wagyu were enjoyable too.

foie gras and rilettes

The Chefs decided to do thin slices of foie gras during that round, so the presentation wasn't great.

grilled pork and lamb chops

grilled chicken

wagyu beef

Thank you Tracy and Shermaine for getting us the grilled meats. Best in the lot was the grilled wagyu. It was more tender than the lamb chops. Chicken breast was firm. The satay sausage was interesting for its yellowish hue and sweet taste.

wagyu beef shoyu ramen

Singapore nonya laksa with prawn

The wagyu beef ramen tasted like sweet shoyu while the nonya laksa broth was good.

kueh pie tee

Thank you Shermaine for constructing the kueh pie tee for us. 

cold seafood - prawn, salmon sashimi

pineapple and rock melon

I liked the taste of sweet pineapple with a dab of wasabi soy sauce. Yums.

hot cross bun with butter

ice-cream

reconstructed

And of course, can't miss the durian pengat (which got replenished). Tasted intense.

durian pengat

Thank you Tracy, Hence, Ivan and Shermaine for the get-together! 

Side note: Do check with staff on which credit card that has the best promo for the buffet before payment as Citibank was the highest at 50% off during the date of visit.

Buffet Info:

Website: https://www.paradoxhotels.com/singapore/dining/ellenborough-market-cafe

Thursday to Sunday & Public Holidays

$98++ per adult | $42++ per child

1st Seating: 6:00 - 8:00PM

2nd Seating: 8:15 - 10:15PM

Yappari Steak @ Vivocity

Walked past this shop during lunch time and decided to pop in. On hindsight, I must've been influenced by the instagram post recently featuring their founder.

Got seated pretty quickly and the place was fairly busy on a weekend around 130pm.

menu

Went with the staff's recommendation of top blade and did the 200gm portion. Also ordered Orion draft to go along with the meal.

paper apron and utensils

do you wear one?

looks well used

Was amused as I saw the staff who seemed to have some difficulty in pouring the beer. There was too much foam during the first pour where half the glass was foam. She then removed half of the foam and topped up the rest of the beer.

Orion draft @10++

rice and shredded cabbage set

いただきます

top-blade 200gm @$23.80++

Actually, I have no idea how long should I be cooking the steak on a hotstone. It's been so many years since I last had a hotstone steak. So, ended up being all busy from slicing the meat, turning it to prevent overcooking and probably removed it too early from the stone... Anyway, I am the one who's gonna eat whatever outcome of the doneness the meat became.

spicy shoyu was my top sauce

searing smaller chunks

The meat wasn't that tender but neither was it that tough. Somewhat in between? Flavour-wise, I preferred the meat with the spicy shoyu sauces. The natural taste was a tad too beefy for me. The wasabi sauce seemed like it was mixed with something else. Sauce bottles were oily to touch.

warm egg drop soup

The egg drop soup was surprisingly tasty and balanced out the taste of the beer.

Not all staff exuded friendliness but they were helpful. Overall spend was about $41 for the meal.

Yappari Steak

Address: 1 HarbourFront Walk, #02-110 VivoCity, Singapore 098585

Website: https://yapparigroup.jp/shop/overseas/singapore.html

Business Hours:

Daily: 11 am–10 pm

Sushi Zanmai @ IMM Jurong East

First time trying Sushi Zanmai in Singapore. Met my bro for dinner and he opted for Japanese cuisine, so we went to Sushi Zanmai at IMM.

The restaurant was fairly relaxed at 7pm and we got a table almost immediately.

Mar special menu

Though they have physical menus, one places the order by scanning the QR Code.

Drinks were served almost immediately upon placing the order. Got myself a refillable cold green tea.

sashimi 3 types; salmon, hamachi and akami

Hama Sashimi Moriawase @$19.90++

Sashimi slices were not too thin though I did glimpse that the table next to us, were given thicker slices of salmon belly.

Chuka Wakame @$2.80++

The chuka wakame was slimy-er than other places, not sure why.

gari

I do like the pickled ginger at Sushi Zanmai, pretty good and tender.

aburi engawa sushi (@$2.80 per piece) and hotate sushi (@$2.50 per piece)

The sushi was ok only. I had expected more flavours from the aburi. The engawa sushi looked as though it was torched with the toppings and perhaps that was the reason why the aburi was not 'enough'? It didn't bring out the oily flavours of the engawa.

ebi tempura @$9.80++

The ebi tempura was well fried and served piping hot.

ice-cream for dessert

goma ice-cream

Overall, this place reminds me of Sushi Tei. I would probably return for the sashimi.

Staff was proactive in topping up the refillable tea and I do appreciate the service. Thank you!

There is a Sushi Zanmai app that one could download from the playstores and for first-time user, one could utilize the one-time $5 voucher to offset the bill. Just need to inform the staff at the cashier, show the voucher and redeem before one pays.

Sushi Zanmai @ IMM

Address: 2 Jurong East Street 21, #02-23 IMM Building, Singapore 609601

Website:  https://sushizanmai.com.sg/Sushi_Zanmai_Menu.php

Business Hours:

Sun: 11 am–9:30 pm

Mon - Sat: 11 am–10:00 pm