[Tasting] Birds of A Feather - Sharing Menu @ Amoy Street

My favourite place to enjoy Happy Hour till 7pm and "Find the Chicken in the Chilies". 

Birds of a Feather, interior

Happiness in a glass, Prosecco (@$10 Happy Hour)

Bird's Snack

I always look forward to something new when returning to familiar places. This time round, the creative kitchen team had come up with a new snack, which is an elevated spin from prawn toast (面包虾).

Bird's Snack - deep fried onions, land caviar, minced scallop on brioche

Encountered a short dilemma as the snack was too pretty to be eaten yet, it was beckoning for a taste. In the end, the stomach triumphed. Balanced flavours and simply enjoyable.

If you're in a party of 2, they have "Sharing Menu for 2 " @$128 per pair or the "Anyi" menu for a minimum of 2 pax @$102 per pax.

Birds Avocado & Crab Bruschetta

Birds Avocado & Crab Bruschetta

lovely starter

One is never short of flavours at Birds. Aesthetically pleasing as well. Enjoyed the canape in two bites.

Yu Xiang Eggplant

Yu Xiang Eggplant, tart

Wow, I didn't expect an eggplant dish to be looking like this. Thought it was a chocolate tart dessert! There's baby mozarella, edible flowers and somewhere in there, lay pickled daikon and juicy eggplant. Yums and this was a meatless dish.

Pork Dumplings

Pork Dumpling, from Anyi menu

The pork dumpling dish looked mighty fine, I must say. Pan-seared with distinct marks, surrounded by sage foam, topped with crisp almond and fried sage leaves. The secret, is in its sichuan dressing. Don't be shy and do scoop up more of the tangy vinegary sauce to enjoy with the meaty parcel. So good.

Anyi 安逸, means feeling comfortable and relaxed. And I do get that feeling at BOAF. Then, coupled with bubblies, delicious food and informative conversation with Head Chef Eugene, one leaves happy.

But don't leave without trying the slow-roasted Angus Beef Short Ribs.

Beef Short Ribs

delicious slow-roasted Angus Beef Short Ribs, part of Anyi menu 

Sichuan rub, broccolini, morels and ratte, potato fricasse

Oooh, I think this is my first time having beef short-ribs in this style. Super love the sichuan rub for its familiar flavours. The meat was tender yet with a good chew. Mouthfeel was luxurious and best paired with a drink (or two!). Definitely need 2 to finish.

For something lighter but equally luxurious, their Loup de Mer was nothing short of amazing.

Loup de Mer 

Loup de Mer, Sharing Menu for 2 (+$35)

Beautiful European Seabass, topped with House Pickled Shitake mushroom slices, salsa verde and broccolini.

The dish is worthy of two thumbs up! Fish deboned, lightly baked and pickled shitake lends an interesting lift to the sweet, super cottony flesh of the fish. Wow, I think I could finish more than half of the fish on my own.

I believe I have found my favourite chicken, beef and fish dishes at Birds!

For dessert, both menu offers Pear & Jelly.

Pear & Jelly

Pear & Jelly, Classic Ice Jelly

Wah... as usual, Head Chef Eugene and team, exceeded expectations. Beautiful plating, and the inclusion of pickled cucumber did tickle the palate by introducing an unexpected element yet so matching.

Thank you Kris for inviting and Chef Eugene for the delicious food, as always. Kudos to team Birds for lovely experience. With Shermaine and Tiara.

Birds of a Feather

Address: 115 Amoy St, #01-01, Singapore 069935

Website: https://www.birdsofafeather.com.sg/en_SG/

Contact: 6221 7449

Business Hours:

Daily:

Mon - Thurs: 10.45am to 3pm, 5pm to 11pm

Fri - Sun: 10.30am to 12am (10pm on Sun)

QIN (亲) Restaurant & Bar @ The Clan Hotel

For guests staying at The Clan Hotel, the breakfast is provided for via QIN Restaurant located at Level 4 and 5 of the Hotel.

Was there again for breakfast and dinner during the recent staycay. Made reservations for dinner prior to the staycay via Chope as am not sure how busy is the restaurant during weekends. I do know the restaurants at that area tend to get very very busy on Fridays and Saturdays.

Breakfast

For breakfast this time round, I was seated at the bar area. My breakfast slot was 730am but I only made it downstairs around 8am.

Level 5

The daily special was nasi lemak, so decided to try that since we had tried all the possible combination of breakfast during our previous stay.

interesting ceiling

default breakfast items; bread with kaya butter, fruits bowl, juice

Hmmm, spotted a new item for breakfast. There was an additional piece of kueh on the plate.

The nasi lemak's portion was a tad too much for breakfast. Unfortunately, the entire dish was cold except the rice. The best tasting items were the sambal onion chili and the chicken rendang. The sambal chili was strongly flavoured, so might want to go easy with it. Liked that the chicken rendang served, was thigh meat. The otah was unexpectedly chewy/dense and the egg block was too compact for liking. Fluffier version would be better.

Daily Special - Nasi Lemak

To conclude for breakfast, I think I'd just stick to QIN breakfast with omelette the next time.

Dinner

This was my first time, the restaurant replied to confirm my reservation with pdf menu attached. I was having some minor issue updating the room number (couldn't edit it via Chope) so whatsapp'ed the restaurant and the staff kindly updated on behalf. Pretty efficient service, I must say. There are some discounts offered for hotel guests when they dine at the restaurant.

menu

My dining companions were late, so I got myself a drink to sip while waiting. According to the friendly staff, the #1 cocktail in terms of its popularity with female diners is 'The Five Kings' and #2 would be 'The Roar'. Hmm, Pineapple Pisco (The Five Kings) sounded pretty sweet so opted for the #2. Turned out to be a good choice because the drink is in my favourite hue. Coincidental and not on purpose.

The Roar - Brass Lion Butterfly Pea Gin @$25++

I liked The Roar. Sweet but not overly and the curry leaves bits in there gave it an Asian twist. Lovely.

MT ordered the Kurobuta as one of our mains and Wendy ordered the Sang Mein. I got ourselves an appetiser; The Chili Crab Crostini. And then, we gonna do dessert after that.

Chili Crab Crostini @$25++

Oooh, one thing I didn't realise, was that the chili crab was in jellied form. Pretty interesting.

Chilled Chili Crab

Crispy Crostini

let's take a peek

fully loaded crostini

On closer view, there were pomelo bits, avocado bits mixed in with the flavoured crab meat and it should be eaten together with the jellied top for that's where the chili crab full flavours are. Quite enjoyable!

Sang Mein @$38++

The Sang Mein smelled awesome but was a tad disappointed with the amount of prawn in the dish.

red leg prawn, crustacean oil and truffle scent

Nevertheless, we enjoyed the flavours of the noodles.

For the same price as Sang Mein, the Kurobuta Pork Rack with its massive 400g looked ready to satisfy any meatatarian cravings!

Kurobuta @$38++

The Asian salsa with its bright orange colour. looked like chicken rice chili sauce but it was not. Tasted of fish sauce, non-spicy and a tad tangy. Wouldn't mind if the sauce had a spicy kick to it.

The outer parts of the meat was slightly dryer than those nearing the bone. Overall, we were happy with this. Loved the grilled vegetables too.

We were surprised when staff sent over complimentary love letters for us to try. Wow, that's a super nice gesture. Thank you!

Rose Love Letter (complimentary)

The kuih kapit (love letter) was crispy yet does not crumble that easily and managed to hold the cream pretty well. Lovely flavours and enjoyable.

We also ordered their popular dessert of Hot & Cold Orh Nee and the Childhood Memories.

Hot & Cold 'Orh Nee' @$12++

so pretty

Am inclined to think that the "Orh Nee" while it looked very instagramable and of a visual treat, the taste was rather mild. I made a mistake and probably subsconciously had the expectation that it'll taste like what was familiar but it doesn't. But still pretty lah.

Childhood Memories @$15++

The staff who served our last dessert, "Childhood Memories" said "There's a surprise in this." Then, she left. So mysterious ah? What's the surprise? Is it the popping candies or the milo dinosaurs? We never knew, 'coz she never say. Hahaaa!

But indeed, there was some popping candies in the concoction and am inclined to think, is popping candy the childhood food for friends in SG? In my hometown or my era, popping candy 'aint my childhood stuff. My favourite item in there was the wafer-like thingy that melts in your mouth. Was it made of Horlick's? I hope it was! This dessert was cute.

All in all, dinner service was good and we were there for almost 3.5 hours. Wow. 

QIN Restaurant & Bar

Address: 10 Cross St, Level 5, Singapore 048417

Website: https://www.qin.com.sg/

Contact: 6980 3535

Business Hours: Daily 

Birds of a Feather with Friends @ Amoy Street

This has become my favourite place to indulge in 辣子鸡 (Laziji). The version at Birds is called "Find the Chicken in the Chillies" and yes, nowadays, I'll even munch on those chilies. Trained much!

Find the Chicken in the Chillies @$16++

What I like about this place besides the shiok food? The decor and vibes are comfy and up-casual. And, I'll let you on a secret (or maybe not?), Executive Chef Eugene is kind of like a heart-throb, doesn't he? Hehe. Anyways, he is nice and friendly. Always a pleasure to see him at Birds of a Feather.

Birds of a Feather entrance

our seats

Happy hour till 7pm, and we were there for lunch, so it made sense to get a bottle if you have more than 2 pax ordering alcohol.

the approach

Cava Grand Castillo (Cava Brut NV) @$50++ per bottle

cheers!

Finally, we tried the other starters since there were more of us this time round. Pigs ear. I thought it would be crispy. I was wrong. It was a salad!

Pig Ear Mosaic @$18++

have a slice

Crunchy, slippery pig ear slice coupled with the lovely sweet potato noodles in there and coated with those lovely tangy spicy sauce, was just tasty. Enjoyable.

If you love soupy, go for the Sichuan Oxtail Soup. Another favourite of mine. Those meaty bones, best! Thumbs up. Broth has depth and frankly if there wasn't anyone around, would pick up the bowl and slurp from there. Satisfying.

Sichuan Oxtail Soup @$24++

Hong Shao Short Ribs @$38++

Have been wondering how's the Hong Shao Short Ribs would taste like, so we ordered to try. Chunky fork-tender short ribs, placed on top of a rolled up potato noodles and topped with foam. Ok, I asked what's the foam and someone answered but I had forgotten again. Sorry!

Hong Shao Short Ribs (different angle)

Toss and mix, then enjoy. I love the well braised short ribs as expected. Wholesome flavours and lovely texture of the potato noodles. So far, am liking all the noodles from this place but I'll share with you which one is my favourite. It can be found in the oxtail soup earlier, or in another dish that you'll get to see in a few more sentences.

A man of his words, and as promised during a previous visit, Chef Eugene sweetly surprised Kris with this complimentary plate of 'sotong'.

Chef's Special - for Kris

We all dug in of course, and had a taste. Tangy, refreshing and with a kick.

Am glad we ordered the Truffle Alfredo Orecchiette pasta dish. Do eat it as soon as it was served. The thick truffle mushroom salsa on those ear shaped pasta was awesome if you like truffle. There's an egg in there for more runny yolk to coat the pasta. Suitable for sharing.

Truffle Alfredo Orecchiette @$35++

When we ordered the Sweating Mussels, the service crew informed that this would be akin to mala 麻辣. Ok, sounds about right!

Sweating Mussels @$29++

Presentation was on-point, and visually striking with its myriad of colours. But do be careful when trying this for the first time. The spice level was WoOoHooO! At least to me, it was fiery spicy. But will keep going back for more once the fire subsided abit. That's how good this dish was. Plus, it has my favourite yam noodles in there!

tadah~ my favourit'est yam noodles!

And then, Eugene surprised us one more time, with a complimentary dish of Wagyu Beef & Foie Gras Claypot Rice. So sweet!

Once again, the aroma of truffle and those thick slices of beef plus wobbly onsen egg and creamy foie gras, was all beckoning us for a taste. Hehe.

Wagyu Beef & Foie Gras Claypot Rice

let it flow~ let it flow~

As expected, it has a luxurious feel to the dish. While there was no 'burnt rice' or 锅巴, the soft rich taste of the foie gras, tender wagyu combined with the well flavoured rice was enough to send one to food heaven. Yummy!

Once again, thank you Chef Eugene for the delicious food.

We celebrated Shermaine's birthday and the finale of a Seasalt Chocolate Cheesecake, beautifully presented.

Seasalt Caramel Cheesecake @$11++

For hot beverage, the mocha here is pretty good, or one could go for the Ice Caramel Coffee Cubes Latte.

mocha @$7++

Ice Caramel Coffee Cubes Latte @$8++

Thank you Kris, Shermaine, Tiara, Rachelle, Ivan and Eugene for an enjoyable afternoon, and kudos to team Birds of a Feather for the lovely place to gather.

Birds of a Feather

Address: 115 Amoy St, #01-01, Singapore 069935

FB: https://www.facebook.com/birdsofafeathersg

Website: https://www.birdsofafeather.com.sg/en_SG/

Contact: 6221 7449

Business Hours:

Daily:

Mon - Thurs: 10.45am to 3pm, 5pm to 11pm

Fri - Sun: 10.30am to 12am (10pm on Sun)