Trattoria da Mimmo Restaurant and Pizzeria @ Clover Way

"Let's have something healthier." That was how we came about choosing this place for our lunch. Italian fare it is.

restaurant's entrance

I was a tad late, so the others arrived earlier. The interior was cosy and spacious.

interior

table setting

online menu

Pretty extensive menu and one of the staff rattled off a long list of Specials for the day. Our first time at the restaurant, so we decided to get the Special Pizza, two appetizers and two pastas. Once our order was captured, a bread basket was immediately brought out.

complimentary bread

olive oil and balsamic

with butter

Staff asked us if we would like the food to be served all at once or to serve the appetisers first. We smiled and said, "all at once". But little did we know that the plates are pretty big, so very quickly our table were full!

Burrata Pugliese con Parma @$56++

hello parma~

It has been quite a long while since I last had any burrata or parma ham. Loved the sweet tomatoes! The burrata was our healthier plate. The small side dish that looked like pickled vegetable was a curious thing. Taste-wise, it definitely does not taste like szechuan vegetable. Staff helped us to enquire from the chef and came back with the answer. Eggplant! Ok, it didn't taste like eggplant too.

smooth burrata

Prosecco @$13++

Trippa della Casa @$24++

The tripe was served piping hot, so be careful. We used the bread to mop up the sauce. I liked it as it was cooked till tender, and its tomato based sauce was comforting.

Gnocchi al Formaggi @$29++

Am always in search for gnocchi that could rival the one that I really liked from Club Street, many years ago. Lucky me, my friends allowed my indulgence and we got a plate to try. However, am on the fence for this one as it had a heavy cheese flavour to it. Maybe I should've ordered the tomato based version?

Pappardelle al Cinghiale @$36++

I was skeptical at first on the wild boar pappardelle (Pappardelle al Cinghiale) but it had a likeable robust flavour. Strong flavours, lovely pasta texture and not overly gamey. In fact, I think it wasn't gamey at all. This was one dish that I kept going back for more!

Special Pizza @$42++

The Special Pizza came looking kinda cute with all the mini cheese balls on it. Mini burrata? Hehe. Liked that the crust is neither too thin nor too thick, as it was just right. The sausage meat on it had an interesting texture and overall flavours were enjoyable. I can finish 2 slices of these.

lemon sorbet @$12++

For dessert, we had the lemon sorbet served in an actual frozen lemon. Keke, first time seeing ice cream presented this way.

And, we did try their tiramisu as well. Light and gone in a jiffy!

tiramisu @$15++

light and yums

The sparkling and still water were charged at $7.50++ per bottle. I saw the other tables having their water poured from a jug, so I guessed the tap water option is available as well.

Service was efficient and we enjoyed the light hearted banters with Isabelle, who attended to us that day.

Thank you Ivan, Tracy, Hence and Shermaine for a lovely catch-up, and for the hearty lunch. Till our next adventure, stay safe.

Trattoria da Mimmo Restaurant and Pizzeria 

Address: 3 Clover Wy, Singapore 579078

Website: http://www.trattoriadamimmo.com.sg/

Contact: 90882659

Business Hours:

Closed on Tues.

Wed - Sat: Monday, 11:45 am–2 pm, 5:45–10 pm

Sun: 11:45 am–2:30 pm, 5:45–10 pm

[Jeju] Sightseeing at Cheonjeyeon Falls (천제연폭포) and Lunch at The Cliff @ Seogwipo

After a hearty breakfast at Jeju Osung, we went on a mini adventure to see the Cheonjeyeon Waterfall (천지연폭포). Here are some photos to share:

Cheonjeyeon Fall #1 (Pond)

accessible via these steps

I could only make it to one of the 3 nearby falls. Weather was gloomy and it was slightly drizzling while we were in there. The steps are made of rocks so it was uneven and slightly slippery, especially when there's moss and leaves.

on the way to Fall #2

drinking water, in case thirsty

Cheonjeyeon Falls 천제연폭포

Address: 132, Cheonjeyeon-ro, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

Website: https://www.visitjeju.net/en/detail/view?contentsid=CNTS_000000000019331

Seonimgyo Bridge

Then, off to The Cliff for some drinks and maybe a light lunch. It was just 10 minutes away from where we were.

let's go inside

chillax vibes

beach bar vibes

It's a self-service system at The Cliff. Order from the counter, pay and you'll get a buzzer to inform when food/drinks are ready.

splurging on drinks and bar food

Went over to the bar to see how the drinks are being made and tried to ask about the liquor used. However, language barrier was apparent as the bar tend tried to explain but I just couldn't catch what they were saying. I think they thought I was asking if there's alcohol in the drinks and obviously, they said yes. 

pretty drinks

We ordered both the alcoholic and non-alcoholic version of Seakdal Beach and both the cocktail and mocktail looked identical! So we had to be extra careful when bringing the right one back to Hence.

Seakdal Beach @₩17000

But hor, cocktail and mocktail are priced the same too! Hmmm interesting, yes?

We decided to order just 2 items for lunch since everyone was still pretty full from the heavy breakfast. Sausage and fries, and it was a toss between pizza or pasta. So glad we went for pasta as the anchovy pasta turned out to be amazing!

Long sausage and truffle fries @₩26000

Black Pork and Anchovy Pasta @₩22000

Why did the pasta tasted so good? One could not really taste the black pork but the saltiness from the anchovies and garlic was so so addictive. Oily, salty and tasty!

Ping Pong @₩16000

I liked my choice of drink; Ping Pong that has a slight hint of lychee. Presumably, they were using just lychee liquer and grenadine. Sweet and refreshing. Lovely contrast to the saltiness from  the sausage and pasta.

The cocktail gave the impression that it was super light but wait for it as the buzz will come only towards the end of the drink.

The Cliff

Address: 154-17 Jungmungwangwang-ro, 특별자치도, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do, South Korea

Website: https://www.instagram.com/thecliffjeju/

Contact: +82 64-738-8866

Business Hours:

Sun - Thur: 10 am–1 am

Fri - Sat: 10 am–2 am

H&C Halcyon and Crane Cafe @ Paragon Shopping Centre

This is one of the more popular places at Paragon on a weekend morning. For us, we chose to have brunch there on a PH morning and arrived early at 1130am. The brunch crowd was not there yet.

Did you know that H&C has a Granola menu? Dearborn granola is available here. An extract from Dearborn's website states that it is a "hand crafted, small batch breakfast food that is proudly made in Singapore. Ingredients are sourced with the same intent, with a keen focus on traceability and sustainability." Let's support local.

Granola Menu

We opted for the simplest version with milk for a taste test. 

Dearborn Granola and milk @$9

Dearborn Granola

I suspect that am probably too accustomed to the taste of commercial granola and those generic cereal packs to understand the differences. Dearborn granola has natural tasting and knowing that the ingredients were sourced with sustainability in mind, probably made me feel better eating it.

Ivan chose the Dan Dan Spaghettini, and it was a repeat order for him. There's a choice of spicy or non, and we opted for non-spicy version. 

Dan Dan Spaghettini (non-spicy) @$26

Give the noodles a good mix before tucking in. Noodles were good, tasty with the minced meat bits but leaning towards the sweeter side.

Crispy Squid in the menu was quickly noticed by both Tracy and myself. It turned out to be a good choice. Chunky, tender squid well battered and fried to a golden brown. This was so tasty! My favourite.

Crispy Squid @$18

Hence ordered an orange coffee and it was interesting. Orange juice was served separately and the coffee was in cube form.

Orange Yuzu Passionfruit Coffee Cubes Latte @$14

in goes the orange

ta-dah!

The last main dish was the Grilled Tiger Prawn  Risotto. The dish looked vibrant with its beautiful colours. However, I was confused by that piece of bread served together with the risotto. 

Grilled Tiger Prawn Risotto @$32

This dish was rather refreshing with the diced zucchini, oriental corn, multigrains and pumpkin 'risotto'. Again, strong flavours and overall enjoyable!

For dessert, we were unanimous in choosing the Nutella & Banana French Toast. It came with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

Nutella & Banana French Toast @$23

On first bite, I was intrigued by that one singular taste that was familiar but can't really pin a name to it. We debated amongst us for a very short while before having the eureka moment of revelation. "The fritters taste from the goreng pisang!" Hahahaa!

Overall, the food at H&C have good variety and delicious. Will be back to try the other dishes. Spent about $34 per pax.

H&C Halcyon and Crane @ Paragon Shopping Centre

Address: 290 Orchard Rd, #03-09 Paragon Shopping Centre, Singapore 238859

Website: https://linktr.ee/halcyonandcrane

Contact: +65 9727 5121

Business Hours:

Sun - Thur: 9:00 AM–8:30 PM

Fri - Sat: 9:00 AM–10:00 PM

Sol & Luna - Weekend Brunch @ I-Spring

Someone wanted a western brunch, and so we came. Located at I-Spring (CapitaSpring Building), one need to inform the staff at the building lobby before taking the lift up to Level 17.

Sol & Luna appeared to be well-staffed and we were led to our table quickly. There's a time limit for each table and its turn-around time is about 1.5 hours.

brunch at Sol & Luna

latte @$6

Passion De-Light @$14

I had the Passion De-Light cocktail, but was surprised by its taste. Though it was stated as having vodka as the base, this drink was really light with little to no alcohol taste. More sour than sweet and tasted of cucumber and citrus.

ZQ got herself the Parma Ham Eggs Benny, while Jeff got a Sol and Luna Big Pan breakfast. 

Parma Ham Eggs Benedict @$18

S&L Big Pan @$27

The Big Pan breakfast had Salsiccia Sausage, grilled Roma tomatoes, avocado, sauteed mushrooms, and toasted sourdough.

Darren opted for a pasta dish and we stole a bite. I think it was delicious and unlike the typical oil-based aglio, its sauce seemed somewhat unexpected for an aglio olio. The sauce had a creamy texture and was so darn tasty! 

House-Made Spaghetti ‘Aglio Olio’ @$24

We also chose a meat dish to try. The lamb shoulder. If you're afraid of the gamey/funky lamb smell, this dish was done superbly at Sol & Luna and had none of the gamey smell nor taste. Instead, its meat was tender and had a gentle mild flavour. Loved the broccolini and those juicy tomatoes.

12 Hours Slow Cooked Welsh Lamb Shoulder on The Bone @$36

And we ended the meal with dessert. Tried the Chestnut Mandarin Mont Blanc and the Lemon Meringue Pie.

Lemon Meringue Pie @$10

Overall, the dessert here was rather sweet. Personally, I prefer the Lemon Meringue Pie here as it was zesty and quite a nice looking tart.

yums

It was funny, how we were wondering if the staff brought us the wrong quantity of the Mont Blanc, as two pieces appeared on the plate when it was served. The staff explained that the order was correct and it is two pieces per order.

Chestnut Mandarin Orange Mont Blanc @$13

The chestnut paste was 'melting' and hence, it's visual was just disappointing. Taste-wise, it was sweeter than the lemon meringue' and I didn't enjoy it.

Expect to spend about $47 per pax for a 2-course meal with a drink.

Sol & Luna

Address: 88 Market St, #17-01, CapitaSpring 048948

Website: http://solandluna.sg/

Contact: 8031 4316

Business Hours:

Mon - Thur:  11am–12am

Fri:  11am–12.30am

Sat - Sun: 10am–12am