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.

Pie Face @ 313 Somerset

Many would have seen those pies with smiley faces on various social media platform by now. Pie Face originated from Bondi Beach Australia since 2003 and came to our shore in 2014. Currently, there are 3 outlets in Singapore and we visited the one in Somerset 313 as part of our Tring 313 Food Trail 2015, and was our fourth food stop.

shop front

Pies are baked fresh, and those smiley cheeky faces are hand-piped. There are 8 flavours for savouries and about 10 for sweet pies. Just pick your favourites and grab a drink. There are some limited seats inside the shop.

steak pies are crowd favourite

here are the sweet mousse pies

non-pies

Amongst the savouries sampled, were the Chunky Steak, Chicken + Mushroom and Spicy Chicken. It was actually quite apt. The Spicy Chicken indeed will nett you a surprised look. It was indeed spicy!

let's bring out the savouries

the sweet pies

The chunky steak was very likeable and pleasant but I think the spicy chicken was interesting. For those who love spicy stuffs.

For the sweet pies, I like the almond frangipane pie as its sweetness was just right. The other sweet pies were smaller in size, and I preferred the butterscotch flavoured one. The coffee mousse pie was also quite nice. Other flavours included green tea with red bean pie, raspberry pie, chocolate pie and apple crumble.

Pie Face

Location: #B3-10 313@Somerset, Singapore 238895
Website: http://pieface.com.sg/


Read about the experience at Soup Stock Tokyo, Chabuton, O'ma Spoon Korean Dessert Cafe

Rokeby @ Jalan Riang, Serangoon

Located at Jalan Riang, not the most accessible places imho. But of course, if the weather is good and you're stuck without a transport, then the trustee legs will have to make do. About 10 minutes walk from Lorong Chuan. Exit the Lorong Chuan MRT towards the taxi stand, then turn left and head towards Nanyang Junior College, cross the road to the right and turn right into Jalan Girang. Reach the intersection with Jalan Riang and walk straight (don't turn to the left).

Rokeby is located towards the left end of the stretch of restaurants there.

menu

Started off with a plate of plump golden calamari rings. Bear in mind that the rings aint crunchy but it was enjoyably tender. Liked the balsamic on the leaves!

rockets with balsamic vinegar, mayo tartar sauce and tender squid rings

Next, for our mains. Choice of pasta, meat and another appetiser.

Linguini Vongole in Tomato Cream

closer view

First taste of the tomato cream sauce. Hmm, some resemblance to lobster bisque. Slightly tangy but only slightly so. Mildly seasoned and pleasant. Think that most of the clams taste had gone into the sauce since it didn't have much taste to its meat.

Kurobuta Pork Collar

meat chunks

Again, the pork collar was just mildly seasoned. My friends decided that it was rather underseasoned. Salt and pepper grinders are on each table, so one can add that bit more salt if necessary. Texture was good, and well-cooked with a hint of pink. Mash was a tad lumpy.

Chose Vegemite Glazed Chicken because it sounded like it could be an Aussie favourite.

Vegemite Glazed Chicken

generously slathered in vegemite salty goodness

First impression, "wow, so black!" Hahaa. But for vegemite lovers, one wouldn't mind, right? But it was really salty. Seriously. Probably this makes good beer food? Drumlets retained its crunchy exterior even when slathered with much vegemite glaze.

Expect to spend about $20~$30 per pax. Good that there's no GST nor service charge, and yet, diners still get to enjoy friendly service at roc-ker-bee.

Kith Cafe @ Park Mall

Visited on a Friday evening and the place was bustling after 7pm. Chose to sit at the alfresco dining area.

menu, with Today's Specials

The service staff are dressed in blue checkered shirts, and service was brisk since the place got rather busy towards the later part of the evening.

Asahi draft

For warm evenings, have a glass of Grapefruit Asahi (@$10++) to cool. Pleasant tasting and luckily the grapefruit wasn't too sour.

Grapefruit Asahi

Beer sipping and watching the world goes by while waiting for friends to arrive.

outdoor seats

Ordered Truffle Fries and Grilled Chicken Salad for starters. Not many pieces of grilled chicken though, but still likeable. The julienned green apples was sweet sourish and was a good complement to the salad.

Grilled Chicken Salad (@$15++)

grilled chicken, wild rocket, julienned green apple, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts with vinaigrette dressing

Fries (@$9.50++) straight cut fries, parmesan cheese with truffle oil

The fries were served piping hot, and aromatic with truffle oil. Was feeling quite full after finishing the starters. So we ordered just two mains to share. The ravioli looked pretty. In terms of taste, I'd prefer the spaghetti as am not a fan of doughy ravioli. The tenderloin cubes could do with a little bit more tenderness but it was still tasty. Polished these dishes in no time.

Ravioli (@$22++)

ravioli, spinach ricotta, tomato sauce

Spaghetti with beef tenderloin cubes (@$20++)

tenderloin cubes, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes

Also tried the tiramisu and piccolo latte. Tiramisu was not overly sweet but seemed like there wasn't any alcohol taste either. The piccolo latte was thick and can be enjoyed without any sugar.

tiramisu (@$8++)

piccolo latte (@$4++)

The food above was enough to feed four ladies. In fact, was feeling super full after dinner. Last order was around 9.15pm as the place closes at 10pm.

The House of Robert Timms @ Wheelock Place (Part III)

Had dinner there on a Thursday evening.

menu

We came as a group of three, and ordered some starters and a main to share.

Spinach and Mushroom Salad (@$14++)

mushroom, pine nuts, bacon, cheese and baby spinach

The salad came with a small bowl of dressing that was bacon oil with balsamic vinegar. Oily aftertaste that's similar to bak kwa. It's an either you-love-it or hate-it affair. The bacon wasn't crispy. Having salad with bacon oil, seems somewhat defeating the purpose of a healthier choice, doesn't it?

Mussels (@$19.50++)

For the mussels, one can choose the choice of sauce and we had the chili base. Quite liked this dish as the mussels were of a good size and the bread was crispy.

closer view of the mussels

Had BBQ buffalo wings (@$12.50++) as well, but it was kind of tough.

Barramundi with Cilantro (@$26.50++)

The barramundi was nicely thick and sat ontop a bed of mash. But the mash wasn't smooth and creamy. It was actually kinda dry and somewhat lumpy. Liked the greens, the tomatoes and of course, the fish. The flesh was firm and easy to eat.

There's a 15% discount if you're paying with POSB/DBS credit card.

Cafe Melba @ Goodman Arts Centre

Located at 90 Goodman Road, within the Goodman Arts Centre compound.

cafe front

Seated at its alfresco area, and there was plenty of sunlight, right up till 730pm.

outdoor seats

view from our table

The food menu is somewhat limited in choices.

food menu

Iced-water is served here.

iced water bottle, cool relief on hot sunny day

Started off with nibbles, ordered the Truffle Fries (@$13++). Just a small bucket, but it sure was addictive, and goes so well with ketchup!

small bucket of truffle fries

Since we're in a group of 5, we ordered food that's easier to share, and one of them would be Parma Ham and Rocket Pizza (12 inch).

12 inch - Parma Ham and Rocket pizza (@$22++)

Pizza was thin crust and tasted good with parma ham and rocket leaves.

Next, Crayfish pasta. Best eaten hot. Linguini was tasty, and liked the abundance of rocket here. The roasted peppers gave this dish good flavours and some sweetness.

Crayfish Linguini (@$26++)

Melba Breakfast (@$24++)

Should've changed out the bacon. If you like non-crispy bacon, then you'll like the version here. Liked the crisp homemade toasted bread though and the sauteed mushroom was good. Mushrooms received much love from everyone in the group! The rest of the stuffs on the plate was pretty ordinary.

Chicken Parmigiana, served with potato wedges

The Chicken Parmigiana (@$24++) was a late entry to our dinner. Two still has space in their stomachs hence this item from the menu, made it to our table. Likeable and best eaten while its hot. Enjoyed the tender chicken breast that's made flavourful by the tomato chutney and mozarella cheese. The balsamic on the salad was sweet and tangy. Yum.

One thing about Cafe Melba, is that it doesn't have beer on tap. So we opted for wine instead. Must commend the friend who chose this. Villa Maria Estate is New Zealand's most awarded winery.

Villa Maria (@$60++) New Zealand wine

Villa Maria white wine

Also tried the Sileni, which is a Pinot Gris from Nautilus Estate, Malborough New Zealand. All that we've chosen, we liked. Sweet, light, fruitty and very easy to drink.

There is a Standard Chartered credit card promo where diners get 15% off on food menu with min. spend of $50. No discount on truffle fries though (maybe because it's not main course?) and drinks (alcohol and non-alcohol).

Expect to spend around $50~$80 per pax, for food and drinks.