Frieda Beer Garden & German Restaurant @ Capitol Singapore

Place was suggested by Jingwen, and it was picked as none of our group has tried this before. Plus, our colleague whom was leaving, do enjoy beer thus, Frieda seemed about right.

One thing about the clusters of restaurants at this place, is that it still felt pretty warm in here especially the 'outdoor' seats. Maybe it is just me? Hahaa!

Funny thing was that I had mistakenly stood at the La Scala entrance and the staff was looking bored (as though this probably happened often enough) and asked, are you visiting Frieda? Next door.

Happy Hour

Was too late for Happy Hour though, but nevertheless, still ordered our pints. Place seemed understaffed so, we had to wait for 15 more minutes after we had informed that we were ready to order.

for the thirsties

Mine was the Geisshugel Weiss. Refreshing with a bitter aftertaste. Colleagues ordered Signature Frieda Lager and Geisshugel IPA. Teetotalers went for the fermented drink; 1994 Bionade Lemon-Bergamot and San Pellegrino Limonata.

complimentary bread

The butter was already placed part of the table setting. Bread was nice but we also ordered their house baked pretzel to try.

Rinderragout Mit Wurzelgemuse (Beef Stew with root vegetables and Spatzle) @$29

KäseSpätzle Mit Lachs Creme Sauce Und Gouda Käse Uberbacken (Cheese Spatzle with Salmon) @$29

Coincidentally, two of my colleagues ordered dishes with Spatzle in them. Read more about spatzle here.

Is veal from cow or pork? As per my understanding as well as what is written in Wikipedia , veal is the meat of calves or young cows. We also asked the staff, and according to the staff, the veal sausage here is made of pork. Hmmm.

Anyway, to play safe as one of my colleague doesn't take beef, we ordered non-veal dishes. I suggested to her to get the Chicken Cordon Bleu and it was a good choice.

Cordon Bleu, Kartoffel-Gurkensalat Und Preiselbeeren (Chicken Cordon Bleu)  @$32

with cheese layer rolled within the chicken breast

Cranberry sauce that came with the dish was yummy as well. We used it as the dip for other things such as pretzel. Hahaa!

Hausgebackene Pretzel (freshly baked Pretzel) @$5

The pretzel was lovely with the coarse salt on it. Pair it with cranberry sauce or butter for extra oomph.

Gegrillte Wurst Platte, Hausgemachtes Sauerkraut, Kartoffelbrei, Bretzel Knodel, Dijon Senf @$49

The sharing platter (for 2 pax) consists of grilled sausages (4 types), a piece of ham, served with sauerkraut, mashed potato, pretzel dumplings and dijon mustard.

The mashed potato was a crowd favourite for it was buttery and flavourful on its own. The prerzel dumplings was unique as it tasted like bread but looked like a meatloaf. Hahaha! It was a mild flavourful bready savoury kind of taste, and no, it didn't taste like pretzel.

Pretzel Dumplings

The version of sauerkraut here tasted like the fillings of popiah (the cooked turnip fillings) with a slight tangy-ness, hence it was a rather familiar taste.

Enjoyed all of the sausages but can't remember which one was which but there was pork and chicken somewhere in there, and one that was spicy.

The above orders fed the five of us and everyone was stuffed.

Thank you to the staff who came by to top up our water. Payment at the counter.

Frieda Beer Garden & German Restaurant

Address: 13 Stamford Rd, Singapore 178905

Website: https://www.kempinski.com/en/the-capitol-singapore/restaurants-bars/frieda-beer-garden-german-restaurant

Contact: +65 6715 6873

Business Hours:

Sun-Wed: 11:30 am–10 pm

Thu-Sat: 11:30 am–12 am

[Tasting] Basdban @ 51 Telok Ayer Street

Accessible via Telok Ayer MRT, this place oozes happening vibes in the evening. Think neon lights, attractive cocktails and tasty food. Great for nearby office dwellers, whom are looking for a place to unwind after a hard day at work.

Was invited for a dinner tasting at Basdban, so let's have a look at what's good there. Come with me!

entrance to Basdban

let's eat spicy then

all sorts of flavours

nice bar, let's get some drinks!

Flower in My Gin @$25

That's right, I go for the pretty ones. Hahaa, safest choice because it's Gin, Elderflower, Cucumber and Tonic. Not much of the cucumber taste. Volume is good and I can drink it for looong.

one more shot, because it's pretty!

Take a sip of Kyoho, and you'll find it very very familiar. Pretty sweet, easy to drink, vodka based.

Kyoho @$23

Negroni @$28 (HH: 1-for-1)

One could be childlike with Kyoho, but definitely adulting with Negroni. Smokey, bitter...herbal.

smoke gets in your drink

Negroni, ready and sexy

Drinks such as Kyoho, Oriental Flare and Sichuan Sour have their mocktails version as well.

 

Let's feed the bellies! First up, some slices of salmon sashimi swirled up in funky dressing. Contrary to its name, it tasted of good 'ol soy and nothing quite funky about it besides the catchy name.

Funky Fish @$18

Sticky Pork Ribs @$18

Fashioned after 糖醋排骨 , the sticky pork ribs with Sichuan sweet vinegar glaze were lip smacking good. Meat was firm to bite and decorated with crunchy pistachio. Housemade pickles were delish too.

The first two dishes were non-spicy, so we were eager to let our tongues tingle with the "Lalalalalala Fried Chicken" (why the name so long ah?). Served on a retro looking plate/shallow basin (?) and sprinkled generously with toasted white sesame. The Sichuan green chili looked dangerous.

Lalalalalala Fried Chicken @$28

lala (clams) and fried chicken

Pro-tip: White rice with Lalalalala Fried Chicken equates to ooh-la-la kind of euphoria.

white rice

Was it spicy? For sure! For me, it was like level 7 out of 10. But I think there could be some chilies in there that wasn't as spicy. My friends said so. I had my doubts because every bite of mine, it was super shiok spicy! What I liked about Sichuan green chili, is that the spiciness was sharp and strong at the front and eventually fades away after a short while. If it gets too much, I had Flower in My Gin to cool me down.

Next, was a vegetable dish. Wok-fried broccolini, caulini and minced tofu. Strong flavours of savoury salty. The leaves were juicy and sweet though.

Two to Tango @$23

BB Prawn Aglio Olio @$28

If you're wondering what does Sichuan style Aglio Olio tasted like? Hmm.. it is unlike a classic aglio olio. Definitely saucier, and slightly sweet. Prawns were of a good size, and juicy.

slurp it up

If you want to eat 烤鱼 (grilled fish), order up the 'Wholey Fish'; Barramundi in mala broth.

Wholey Fish @$48

Was super duper full by this time but let's eat some Unagi Donabe! Portion was meant for 2-3 pax.

Basdban Unagi Donabe @$45

Sichuan waxed meat, Spicy sausage, Unagi, Dried Sole, Morel mushrooms, lard, special shoyu

Must must eat the scorched rice. Good stuffs!

precious scorched rice

And of course, we'd wrap it up with dessert.

Glutinous Rice @$15

Let's talk about Glutinous Rice done three ways; fried, pudding and boiled. Glutinous rice pudding was interesting. It has the aftertaste of 红糟 (wine lees).

Pick Me Up! @$15

Pick Me Up! is actually somewhat of a deconstructed tiramisu. There's sweet, bitterness from cocoa, crunchy, soft, coffee flavours, mascarpone and yes, contains alcohol. I like!

Thank you Kris for the invite and Basdban for hosting the dinner. Special thanks to Chef Eugene for feeding us! And Sharon, for taking care of our table. See you again.

Basdban

Address: 51 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048441

Website: https://www.facebook.com/basdban.sg/

Contact: 9755 1058

Business Hours: 

Sun: Closed

Mon-Fri: 11am–3pm, 5–11pm

Sat: 11am–11pm

Whisk & Paddle @ Bukit Gombak Park

There's one at Tebing Lane which is somewhere around Punggol area and now this outlet at the North West area. 

The cafe was nicely spacious and it was fairly relaxed at 530pm on a weekend, on the day of visit. The place only got noticeably busier at around 730pm.

interior

There's a QR code placed on each table, so one could scan it for the menu and order through the website. The service staff will then bring the food/drinks to your table once it is ready. Payment as per normal at the payment counter after the meal.

Latte (iced)

coffee cube

ta-da!

The iced latte was nicely mild with the milk not too overpowering. Just wished that there was more of the coffee cube.

Bar Bites

Masala Cauliflower Bites

The masala cauliflower was fragrant and we definitely could smell it first. The batter was nicely crisp but the seasonings seemed to be on the batter itself. Not much flavour from the cauliflower. Still enjoyable nonetheless.

We were in a party of 5 pax, so we ordered 4 mains to share.

Mains

Prawns Macaroni and Cheese

closer view

The Mac & Cheese definitely tasted milky and liked that each bite could get some of those shrimps.

big bite

Come to think of it, we ordered plenty of carbs that day. The pizza was interesting as it had lychee as toppings.

Duck and Lychee Pizza

Thin crust pizza, smoked duck was good and adequate cheese. What's there not to like? Oh ya, if you hate pineapples on pizza then you might not like lychee as well. The lychee didn't do much for the pizza except to add some sweetness to the bite. I still prefer pineapples though.

wished there were more smoked duck slices

And yes, the pizza was indeed greasy but it makes a good hearty bar food! I do see some tables ordering beer. A pint of beer during HH is cheaper than a milkshake.

cheers!

My request for the group, is that we order meat dishes too and not just carbs. Little did I realise, that the meat/seafood dishes that we ordered, came with a baguette, Hahaa! Carbo loading!

French Onion Chicken Leg

Seafood Pan in Tomato Cream Sauce

But of course, the baguette was extremely useful to mop up the delicious sauce from the French Onion Chicken and the Seafood Pan. Both sauces were likeable. It would be better if the corn in the seafood pan was actually sweet. The ones that we got was lacking in flavour.

All in all, it was a nice cosy cafe in the West/North-West region, to gather with family and friends. Staff were efficient and we could sit for hours there since it was not overly crowded. Food portion was good and no one left feeling hungry.

We spent between $32 to $44 per pax.

Whisk & Paddle

Address: 816 Bukit Batok West Ave. 5, #01-01, Singapore 659089

Website: http://whiskandpaddle.com.sg/

Contact: 6550 2330

Business Hours:

Closed on Tues

Wed - Thu, Mon: 12–10pm

Fri: 12–10:30pm

Sat: 9:30am–10:30pm

Sun: 9:30am–10pm

MiMi Korean BBQ @ 2 Peck Seah Street

It was our annual Christmas gathering and Gina wanted to eat Korean BBQ. Searched for new places via Google and I found one that none of us had been before, plus it accepts reservation. There's options for buffet or ala-carte. For the buffet, everyone at the table need to take the same and limited to 90-minutes session. Pricing is reasonable for $34.50+ on Fri-Sun, PH and eve of PH. On other days, it is just $29.50+. Do check directly from the restaurant's website for updated pricing.

Anyhow, we shall decide once we are there!

Reservation was fuss free and was contacted by the restaurant staff on the day of the reserved date a few hours prior to our visit.

menu

restaurant interior

A tumbler of cold roasted barley tea was served as soon as you're seated. Observed that majority of diners on that Friday evening, would come by around 730pm onwards.

drink up

Decided to take up Premium Set A (@$129+) for more beefy options! Beef short rib (boneless), ribeye, marinated beef and short plate. 4 different cuts of beef to satisfy our cravings! Also ordered a Seafood Pancake to try.

Once done, staff will help to turn on the grill and pour the egg onto the sides of the grill. Banchans were also served immediately after we ordered the mains.

table full

seaweed

kimchi

japchae

pickled sesame leaves

beansprouts

The meat served here looked good! Wasn't expecting the beef short plate to be of such a big piece and this is the same thing served for buffet! Wow, I'm sold! The marbling for the ribeye and the boneless short rib were really nice.

Premium Set A (@$129+) - marinated short ribs, short plate, ribeye, boneless short rib, sausage, onions, mushrooms

let it sizzle

There was a small piece of fat provided amongst the sliced onions, and I guess we were supposed to use that to oil the grill. Didn't notice it hence, in all our eagerness (plus hungry tummies), we just placed the short plates directly onto the grill. It was fatty enough to not stick to the grill.

And of course, how could we miss out on some soju and beer combo? I like it at 1:2.5 ratio.

somaek 소맥 (beer + soju) 

Seafood Spring Onion Pancake @$27+

While the Seafood Pancake had a lovely batter that's crisp on its outer side and not doughy/mushy on its inside, it could do with more seafood.

beef short ribs (boneless)

made a wrap (쌈)

Personally, I felt that the best texture and flavour for the meat, goes to short ribs! 

It was a filling meal for the 3 of us ladies, and there's complimentary mini yakult for diners after their meal. Self-service from the cooler-box near entrance.

take one

We spent $67 per pax and had an enjoyable meal. Staff was polite and helpful. Will return to try other things next time!

Thank you Florence and Gina for the many years of friendship! See you next time.

MiMi Korean BBQ 

Address: 2 Peck Seah St, #01-01 Air View Building, Singapore 079305

Website: https://mimikoreanbbq.business.site

Contact: 9114 9510

Business Hours:

Daily: 1:30am–3pm, 5:30pm–12am