Oriole Coffee + Bar @ Capitol Piazza

Having been to Oriole at Somerset in the past, I had the impression that they served quite a good Jamaican jerk chicken and coffee. Had the chance to try Oriole in Capitol Piazza (didn't know they had an outpost there!) recently and here are some photos of what we ate.

Shermaine wanted to use The Entertainer App and we opted for similar value items to enjoy the 1-for-1 offer. For this, the staff informed us that we needed to get 2 items from the same section of Classic and All Day Breakfast. Not sure why there's such a restriction instead of just relying on the price of the dish, we complied nonetheless.

Fish Tacos @$20

Oriole Truffle Burger @$18

Fully Loaded @$20

2 Eggs + 2 Muffins @$21

The Fully Loaded has choice of 2 sausages (pork/cheesy chicken), eggs done your way (scrambled, poached, sunny or overeasy), maple glazed bacon, air dried tomatoes, baked beans and toast. For breakfast, am always in the mood for scrambled eggs. But the portion of the eggs here was rather disappointing.

As with any poached eggs situation, there's the customary flowy egg lava shot. The 2 eggs and 2 muffins were spiffed up with spinach and smoked salmon. However, the smoked salmon here was rather flaky. Not sure why. The poached egg had too much vinegar and thus, it was a tad sour.

profile view

The burger patty was overdone and the tacos shell were neither crispy nor soft. It was just in-between. From our experience, I'd say Oriole Somerset may be the better choice. But then again, the last I went to Oriole Somerset was a few years back. Things might have changed.

Empire State Restaurant @ Causeway Point

Was there recently for late lunch. Causeway Point sure is crowded on a Sunday! Empire State has ongoing promotions where senior citizens aged 55 and above can do a buy 1 get 1 free. Or choose the $19.90++ pasta combo set where one can choose salmon & prawn pasta combo or glazed ribs and ribeye pasta combo and includes drink and soup. Am just going to use my Entertainer App.

restaurant

Ordered 4 main courses to share. Tried the BBQ Pork Ribs, Fish & Chips, Herb Chicken and Squid Ink Pasta.

Herb Chicken @$13.90++

Fish & Chips @$15.90++

The chicken had a mild herb flavour, possibly rosemary. Chicken was alright, and not too dry. The fries needed improvement as it tasted limp.

The fish & chips was a single big slab of crispy battered fish. I think it was dory fish. The slaw was enjoyable although a tad too watery.

BBQ Pork Ribs @$17.90++

Squid Ink Pasta @$15.90++

The pork ribs was a tad too tough but tasty enough. The surprise find was the squid ink pasta which everyone thoroughly enjoyed. Strongly flavoured and tasted good. The prawns and squid was rather limited edition though.

This place is suitable for family and the ongoing promotions made it viable for a family of 6 pax to dine there for about $10 per pax.

The Lokal @ 136 Neil Road

Second time to The Lokal and first time having dinner there. The place is small and cosy hence, reservation is advisable. Brought colleagues there for dinner as they have yet to try. Visited on a weekday night and the place was rather busy. Liked the friendly vibes from the crew.

outside the restaurant

Besides the dinner menu, one could also order up the specials indicated on the chalkboard. Took our time to peruse over the menu. Service was friendly as usual.

dinner menu

let's see what the Chef is up to

Complimentary tap water is available and served promptly. But they were also having a 1-for-1 Kir Royal, so why not! This is basically a sweet champagne cocktail with Crème de cassis.

Kir Royal

iced lemon mint tea for the teetotaller

If you're very hungry and in a group of say 5 pax or more, then it is rather advisable to order up an appetiser or two. We ordered the truffle oil fat fries and boy, it was good! Chunky, slight crisp on its outerside and fluffy on its insides. Plenty of parmesan, was just how we liked it. Yums! Served with housemade chili and ketchup.

Truffle Oil Fat Fries @$10++

Though the mains took a while to arrive, the portions were pretty generous. Ordered a few mains from the chalkboard menu and also from the regular dinner menu. We tried the half roast chicken, the Cape Grim Sirloin Tagliata, the panfried seabass and grilled pork chop.

The service staff did inform that the pork chop would be served slightly pink when we ordered this dish. Liked that the pork chop came with loads and loads of kale. Superfood ftw! Tried a piece of the boneless pork chop and thought it was less pink than expected. The parts with some fatty bits were the best. Otherwise, its meat was quite lean.

Grilled Pork Chop @$22++

Panfried Seabass @$28++

The panfried seabass originally was to be served with clams. No worries if you can't take clams as substitution is possible at this friendly cafe.  We had ours substituted with carrots.

The size of the roast chicken was quite wow. Everyone thought it was rather large.

Roast Chicken (half) @$26++

The Cape Grim Sirloin Tagliata was served with a snow-caped mountain of Asiago cheese over a bed of watercress greens and in it, was the steak. Quite a nice visual, I must say. Overall lovely taste. First time having cheese and watercress combo and I liked it!

Cape Grim Sirloin Tagliata @$28++

nice steak

And of course, we must have desserts. Something sweet for the finale.Why have one desserts when we can share two? Haha! That was what we did, and am glad that we did!

First up was the chalkboard daily specials menu: The Dark Choc Mousse with Biscotti and Kaya. The kaya  at The Lokal, was definitely different from the kaya that was already imprinted in our mind and taste buds. The version here tasted slightly like a more lemak (creamier version of) butterscotch. The biscotti was very good. Super duper crunchy too. Useful to scoop up those dark choc mousse and some kaya. But the presentation of this dish...somehow reminds me of a Pegasus. Hmmm.

Dark Choc Mousse with Biscotti & Kaya @$10++

Then, the best desserts that night, was the sticky date pudding. Bestest. And loving the $10++ price tag for the desserts (and fat fries too!).

Sticky Date Pudding with caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream @$10++

Had tried a few sticky dates pudding in my lifetime and so far, am liking the version at The Lokal. Best eaten with sauce and ice-cream. Recommended!

ps: Note that the main course listed on the chalkboard is not eligible for use with The Entertainer App.

BWB | Burger VS Wings + Bar @ Orchard Central

Located at Level 11 of Orchard Central and it has been 2 years since last visit. Read about previous visit here. We were just in time for their Happy Hour where draft beer is on 1-for-1. A pint for $18++ or half pint for $13++.

Kronenbourg Blanc

Since there was just the two of us, we ordered burger and chicken wings. The place was busy as expected on a Friday evening. But its alfresco area was practically empty.

As we were sharing, we had requested for the burger to be cut into halves. Service staff obliged but I do agree with other people who had commented before me, that the presentation of the burger was just plain, uninteresting.

BWB Classic @$21.90++

angus beef patty (medim doneness), egg sunny side-up, tomato, bacon, onions, chili con carne, cheese

For wings, we chose the chili crab flavour. Glad to see that the wings did not shrink over the years, and again, it didn't score any points for the plating. Thankfully, the taste was still good. Messy to eat but enjoyable.

Chili Crab Wings @$15.80++

Expect to pay about $24 per pax for a main course and a beer (after using The Entertainer App).

Dallas Restaurant and Bar @ Sky Garden Suntec City

Sky Garden at Suntec, is a long way to walk from City Hall MRT. There was a period of time when I wanted to try Dallas chicken wings. That period was when there was only one Dallas outlet, at Boat Quay. Then, there came another period of time when people were raving about the grilled corn. I wanted to try that too.

So, chose this restaurant to meet with HS 'coz she's treating. Yay! Moreover, we can use The Entertainer App here. Double yay!

The restaurant offers al-fresco area as well as the cooler, air-conditioned indoor dining. No prize for guessing which one we opted for. Liked the decor, and the indoor dining gave a rather classy feel.

seated by the window

browsing the menu

Happy Hour on weekdays lasts till 8pm. The cocktails which were originally priced at $18 or $19 are going for $12 during the magical hour. Ooh, so I got myself an 'Old Fashioned'.

Old Fashioned @$12++ (HH) - Maker’s Mark, sugar, orange & aromatic bitters

First sip, was like "Oh, whiskey." Haha, what was I expecting? Must have lost my mind for a while. What's the difference between scotch and bourbon? According to wiki, scotch is whisky made in Scotland and bourbon is whiskey made in USA. OoOooh... and bourbon is distilled from corn while scotch is generally from malted barley. So, all bourbon is whiskey but not all whisky is bourbon. OoOOohhh...

So Maker's Mark is bourbon whiskey and whiskey being whiskey, you'll know when you taste one.

For mains, we ordered ribs and cod fish. Food took quite a while to arrive and we thought that the ribs looked quite blackened! Don't be alarmed. A cut through the knife revealed tender flavourful meat, especially when chewed with some fatty bits. Nice.

Baby Back Berry @$30++ (half rack)

slow braised pork ribs that's easy to cut

The miso cod was pretty spot on with its flavours too. Pretty greens of broccoli and sweet peas, quick squeeze of lemon onto the vege and fish, and voila, we are so ready to devour. Miso sauce was very strong in flavours so a small dab of that onto the fish would be more than sufficient. Cod was lovely.

Miso Glazed Cod @$32++ served on a bed of mash, seasonal vege and a dash of miso paste

For desserts, we satisfied one of our curiousity and ordered the chargrilled corn. The corn was delish! A combo of something spicy, cheesy, creamy and savoury sweet. Recommended.

chargrilled corn @$6++ (cut into halves for easy sharing)

The spicy came from the chipotle mayo, and it has parmesan cheese, lime and smoked spices sprinkled onto the corn. Yummeh!

Thank you Hui Shan for the treat!

Praelum Wine Bistro @ Duxton Hill

Visited this place for the November baby's birthday. The factors that were taken into consideration; nearby parking, wine, decent food and cosy ambience. Plus, this place is new to all of us in the group (don't we all like to find new places to dine?).

Reservation was easy via Hungrygowhere. Was pleasantly surprised to receive a text from Gerald (Praelum) on the mobile and he asked whether we had any dietary restrictions, and also if we would like to arrange anything for the birthday girl. Thought that was rather nice of him.

cosy

our table

The place was fairly relaxed at about 7+ in the evening. The food menu has limited choices, and later on, we discovered that the food portion of the mains were just about the same as the tapas. Gerald was very friendly and was on-hand to recommend food and drinks.

food menu

Complimentary bread basket was served while we waited. This was really useful, as on that night, the food that we ordered, were arriving very slowly. The bread had a nice crust and soft on its inside.

complimentary bread

Tarte flambé was highly recommended to us. A dish that originated from Alsace, France. Thin crust, light, savoury and crisp. Indeed it was rather nice and tasty and we did two orders of this.

The other appetiser that we had, was the five-spiced calamari. Nothing remarkable and a tad too salty, unfortunately.

Tarte flambé with portobello, onions and gruyère @$18++

Five-Spice Calamari with sesame mayo dip @$16++

Ordered some meats as our stomach was still grumbling. Was informed that one of their must-try is the Pork Parcels. This has been around in their menu for the longest time. Also tried a new dish, the Grilled Chipotle Chicken.

Pork Parcels @$22++

Grilled Chipotle Chicken with mango relish @$20++

The meats were all good. The pork parcels consist of herbs, cream cheese and mushroom. We were sharing this amongst the four of us, so cutting it open was indeed a messy affair. Tasty and flavourful. The chipotle chicken was slightly spicy and the mango relish was a good pairing for that sweetness against the smokey spicy flavour.

For drinks, we had a bottle of De Stefani Prosecco Zero. Nice hue of light straw colour, bubbly, fruity and dry. Paired well with our foods.

De Stefani Prosecco Zero @$80++

Still hungry, hence more food was required. Ordered two mains and was really surprised by its small portions. Nevertheless, the food was enjoyable. Loved the tender, meaty chunks of the beef. The mashed potato was nicely smooth too.

Salmon-En-Croute (main) @$28++

Braised Beef Cheeks (main) @$30++

Ended the night with lava cake, courtesy of Praelum. Thank you for the lovely desserts treat, complete with a lighted candle.

happy birthday, dear friend

Expect to spend about $50 to $90 per pax. Do note that there are price discrepancies on its menu found on its website as compared to the menu in the bistro (information is correct as of 9 January 2016).