Guccio Ristorante by Chef Marco @ 20 Gemmill Lane

Am a supporter of Restaurant Week organised by DiningCity for a while now and recently made reservations for their Chef's Signature event at Guccio. It is actually within 2 minutes walking distance from The Clan Hotel, which I was staying for that weekend. Events such as this, would be a nice opportunity to try new places without having to think too much about what to choose as the set menu is usually pretty limited choice and is meant to showcase the specialty cuisine of the selected restaurant.

I arrived on time for the 1.30pm slot, which I think would be pretty late for lunch? A quick look revealed that most diners were nearing the end of their meal.

Was given a choice of sparkling or still, but I am with Bernice and the choice is clear, because why pay for still when you could get sparkling? Hahaa!

sparkling @$10++

Chef's Signature Lunch Menu

Wendy arrived shortly after I had quenched my thirst, with refreshing taste of sparkling with a slice of lemon.

Bread was served after we placed our orders. Requested for balsamic as it was not offered by default. The bread was cold when served.

Was happy when our appetizer was appeared. The Calamari, came looking colourful and succulent. The olive coloured blobs were actually eggplant puree. The poached baby calamari was tasty and soft but not mushy. Each component on the dish played a part but the star of the dish was still the unassuming yet flavourful calamari.

Calamari

  

Next, was the Gamberi - New Zealand prawns 'tartare'. I think this would be my first time having any prawns 'tartare'. The sprouts on it was rather cute. The green pea puree was fragrant (because I do like green peas~). Not sure why but there was a light hint of citrus on this dish and it was a refreshing taste with mild sweetness.

Didn't enjoy the trout roe as much because it was of an awkward size. Was bothersome (for me, not sure if anyone else shared the same sentiment) because it was not big enough to 'pop' nor was it small enough to ignore and swallow.

Gamberi (supplement $10++)

Next, was our main course. Pork and fish.

Salmone

The pan-fried Norwegian salmon was Wendy's choice. The blobs of red that I thought was tomato, was actually beetroot cream. The seasonal greens on the plate was tasty. Fish was good although we would have preferred it to be slightly more pink.

Salmone - side view

I had the Maialino, slow-cooked Spanish suckling pig belly. Lovely plating. There's red apple compote and berry sauce.

Maialino (supplement $10++)

lovely layers

The skin was not of the crispy crackling kind, but the meat inside was lovely. The downside, was that the meat had stronger flavours of pork, hence a glass of wine would help. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the flavourful meat with lovely textured layers of lean and fats.

And then, we were at dessert. The choice was obvious. Of course, we got to try Chef Marco's mom's signature Tiramisu.

Tiramisu

Just be careful not to inhale while trying to get that spoonful in. I was careless and choked a bit on the cocoa powder. Both of us thoroughly enjoyed the tiramisu.

The Chef's Signature event menu is a good way to try some of the signature dishes on their regular menu without doing too much damage to the wallet. Guccio's Set Lunch Menu @$38++ had similar mains offered as well.

The Chef's Signature lunch set was good value and portions were adequate. Compliments to Chef Marco and his team.

Spent about $68 per pax.

Guccio Ristorante 

Address: 20 Gemmill Ln, Singapore 069256

Website: https://www.guccioristorante.com/

Contact: 6224 1684

Business Hours:

Tues to Sun: 11:30am–2:30pm, 5:30–11pm

Closed on Mondays

Restaurant Week October 2016 @ Kuvo Orchard Shopping Centre

Do you try out new places during Restaurant Week? Have been to a couple of restaurants for the past few years now through this event. I think it was useful to suss out up-and-coming restaurants or just to find a menu that offers good value with dishes that you like. Booked a date with buddy for dinner at Kuvo to try out its $38++ 3-course dinner.

Restaurant Week Menu at Kuvo

As usual, we started with a glass of wine. I chose a white wine from Austria while she has her usual bubbly. The Austrian white had a fruity flavour with slight mineral finish.

Lenz Moser Prestige Grüner Veltliner @$12++

First course was the scallop tartare presented in a large white plate. Very light and clean tasting. Tasted of fresh greens and sweet scallops.

wasabi espuma, petite mesclun and hokkaido scallop

Next, I had the braised beef cheek while friend had the Cod Medallion. Am happy with braised till fork tender beef cheeks. Flavourful and of a good portion. Had a bite of the cod medallion and it was rather firm.

200-days grain fed beef, porcini pommes puree, asparagus spears and port jus

Cod Medallion in bacon-nut crust, pearl barley fricasse and lardon emulsion

For the final course, we had desserts. The Cocoa Bar, served with vanilla gelato was such a heavy dessert but so good, so decadent.

Cocoa Bar - rum soaked raisin, milk chocolate sauce

vanilla gelato

Kuvo

Address: 321 Orchard Rd, #02-01 Orchard Shopping Centre, Orchard Shopping Centre, 238866

Website: http://kuvo.com.sg/

Business Hours:

Monday – Thursday : 5pm – 1am

Friday & Eve of PH    : 5pm – 2am

Saturday                   : 12 noon to 2am

Sunday & PH             : 12 noon to 1am

Ristorante Takada @ Alexis Condominium 356 Alexandra Road | Singapore Restaurant Week March 2016

My bro's birthday month happens to coincide with restaurant week, so prowled through the list of participating restaurants and chose one with a dining star. Can't be too shabby when buying dinner, yeah? Haha! Bro said that he seldom eat Italian food when he's with his friends or colleagues, so this dutiful sister will try to enlighten him a bit. Hmm, on hindsight, seemed like I've been bringing him to try Italian cuisne for his 3 recent birthdays including this one. Oops. Will do something different, next year.

Alexis Condominium is located near Anchorpoint, and nearby landmark is a Shell petrol station. Nearest MRT is Queenstown. The info could be handy, since my taxi uncle did not know how to get there and we were lost for a while. Ristorante Takada is one of the restaurants that reaches it fully-booked status pretty fast, so by the time I grabbed a seat, the only available seatings were for the later slots at 8.30pm. So, it was a late, late dinner.

keep calm and drink water

Takada's Restaurant Week Mar 2016 dinner menu

For the birthday boy, an upgrade to Kagashima Wagyu Steak with Red Wine Sauce would be, quite necessary. For the accomplice, I went with the Iberico Pork with Balsamico sauce. The other table had cod fish and that looked great.

Happy Birthday 哥, wish you best of health and happiness!

Antipasto was bruschetta with tomato. Served with sweet vibrant red tomatoes on super crispy toast. Tasty snack. Next up, was a mushroom cappucino. A half-cup of hot frothy cup of mushroom soup with earthy flavours. This was followed by a serving of warm bread. Liked the feeling of warm bread and while it was dense, the insides were still soft and bouncy.

Mushroom Cappucino

warm bread

Next up, was the start of our 3-course dinner; The Mix Cold Appetiser dish. Fresh greens, a blob of creamy burrata hiding underneath a slice of parma ham, a slice of hamachi on the greens, sweet cherry tomato, drizzled with olive oil and a lone olive at the side. Mild flavours of savoury, creamy, and freshness from the earth and the sea. Lovely presentation, good taste.

Mix Cold Appetiser

look at the treasures

For carbs, we chose the Risotto Foie-gras with Raspberry Bubble and Tagliolini with Hokkaido Sea urchin Ikura. My bro said that foam tasted of raspberry but after that he mixed everything into the rice before I could get a taste. -_-'''

The risotto, exceeded my expectations. Foie-gras done excellently, with all its wobbly rich goodness and not too intense in flavour. The risotto grains were well-cooked and each grain felt so compact and full, as if it can't wait to burst out of its form. That sauce, was it balsamico sauce? Not sure, but everything works well together. Yums.

Risotto Foie-gras with Raspberry Foam

Tagliolini with Hokkaido Sea urchin Ikura

On the other hand, the tagliolini seemed like it was pushed out in a rush. Not as impressive as I thought it would be, but that could be because expectations were rather high since reviews always mentioned this dish, and it being one of Ristorante Takada's recommended dishes.

Tagliolini with sea urchin was a rather light dish of cold pasta. Somewhat refreshing but at this moment, the palate needed something stronger.

Next, would be the meats. Main highlights, if you'd like. The Iberico Pork and the much anticipated Kagoshima Wagyu Steak.

The Iberico pork looked like a roulade or a super thick slice of luncheon. Indeed, it was rich in porky flavours and the meat was firm.

low temperature cooked Iberico Pork with Balsamico sauce

The Kagoshima Wagyu A5. Taste it, at least once. Beautiful, in visual and in taste.

Kagoshima Grade A5 Wagyu Steak with red wine sauce, served with grilled broccolini and baby potato

medium doneness, juicy velvety texture

Had two slices of this highest grade beef, and it was simply delightful. Will be on the look out for more of this good beef, when I travel to Japan, later this year.

Winding down, it was time for the mixed desserts; tiramisu and chocolate cake. Good intense coffee flavour from the tiramisu. The chocolate cake has a dense texture and lovely richness. Great with coffee and good for us, coffee was included in this dinner menu.

Tiramisu and Chocolate Cake

Not only that, we had a pretty plate of petit fours. The tiny baby-sized green tea macarons were so cute! Gooseberries were tangy and sour, as usual. The chocolate coating only helped a bit since it wasn't very sweet. The cookies were well baked and had a lovely crunch.

baby matcha macarons, gooseberries coated with chocolate and cookies

cookies

Ristorante Takada's Restaurant Week Omakase Dinner Menu was indeed value for money. Overall, had an enjoyable experience dining there.

Also realized that, am not a stranger to the creations of Chef Takada. Dined in his restaurant, way back some four years ago, when he was at La Luna Rossa. When I said that to Maiko, she informed Chef Takada. Though we have not met before, he was friendly and interested to know about our dining experience at this restaurant.

Just before we left, he asked, "Do you remember the lady chef?" It took me quite a few seconds before I nodded and said, "Yes." She emerged from the kitchen and we exchanged greetings. Chef Chiaki Watanabe, formerly from Arossa. 久しぶりです! Happy to know that they have reunited once more in Ristorante Takada. No wonder, the food has a familiarity to it.

ごちそうさま, ありがとございます！

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant @ Purvis Street | Restaurant Week March 2015

Visited on a weekend lunch during the recent Restaurant Week. Was my bro's birthday as well, so decided to bring us to Garibaldi to experience some good service and good food. It better be since it has a star for Restaurant Week!

The restaurant gave us a call when we ran abit late that day. From the outside, the place felt rather deserted but once ushered into the dining hall, the restaurant was rather busy.

Garibaldi's RW 3-course set lunch costs $40++ as with any other restaurants that had been awarded a Dining City star.

RW menu

cheese sticks to chew on

Complimentary bread to ease the hunger. Replenishable upon request.

house bread, complimentary

As in any celebration, how about a bottle, err.. make it half since there's only two of us. Half bottle of Livon Pinot Grigio.

Pinot Grigio @$60++

cheers!

The wine was light, and with mineral taste.

Service was quick and courteous. Food was delivered promptly. First course, was seafood soup.

seafood soup 'acqua pazza' style

Light and slightly tangy broth, and pleasant. However, it lacked that seafood umami taste.

Main course was pasta or meat.

homemade saffron fettucine with jumbo prawns and zucchini

baby pork drumstick confit with chestnut gnocchi and mushroom

The texture of the homemade fettucine was simply lovely. Well tossed with olive oil, tasty and the trombetta zucchini could've fooled me for asparagus. Very nice.

Baby pork drumstick was probably an alternative way of saying, 猪脚? My bro and I concluded that this dish will be excellent if there was skin left on the meat and some fats in between. Generous amount of protein but it was a tad too dry. However, there was some hidden gem in this dish; namely, the gnocchi.

gnocchi, chestnuts and mushroom

Am a gnocchi fan but only for good gnocchi. The Garibaldi version is of course, excellent. Perhaps the 'limited edition' amount of these small pillowy babies added to the 'want'. Found only 4 pieces in this entire plate. Of course, there's perfect explanation to it. Gnocchi in this dish was meant to augment the dish, not overshadowing it. Agree, as too much of it will cause 'jelakness'.

Last course was dessert. Knowing that it was a celebratory lunch, they brought out a small surprise in the form of a complimentary tiramisu.

happy birthday bro!

complimentary tiramisu

dolce - banana everything

Tiramisu was very likeable. Soft and not too sweet. The RW dessert was good too, although the recurring flavour of banana got a bit tiring after a few bites. Liked the middle one best. Tasted like a dense banana tofu.

That's not all. Included is the post-meal drink of coffee or tea. For coffee, one could opt for black, latte or cappucino.

latte

It is served with a generous amount of biscuits.

nice container

Was an enjoyable experience dining at Garibaldi. Efficient and attentive service, and the lovely tiramisu for birthday boy.

Do enquire from them if you wish to celebrate your birthday there and with a group of 4 pax (min.), as you might be eligible to enjoy a complimentary bottle of prosecco and a free tiramisu.

Expect to spend about $80+ per pax.

Tburu Bar & Grill, Sushi Restaurant - Orchard Gateway@Emerald | Restaurant Week March 2015

Tburu is a month-old fine dining Japanese restaurant, located at Level 5 of Orchard Gateway@Emerald. Orchard Gateway@Emerald is where we find the Crate & Barrel shop. Took the lift to the fifth floor and you will see the entrance to the restaurant.

Tburu entrance

would you like to dine with me?

While Tburu may be new, its owners are veterans in the F&B scene. Having owned restaurants in Hong Kong, and in Singapore; One on the Bund (defunct) and the currennt KIKU Kappo Izakaya Restaurant at Duxton.

menu cover

Ordered a Kirin draft beer that was served in a rather unusual looking mug.

Kirin draft beer (@$11+)

Counter seat offers a clear view of what the chefs are preparing, plus you get to see seasonal items from Japan.

looking at ya, fishes from Kyushu

Chatted with the chef while waiting as I was rather curious about the odd looking fish that was staring at me. Learnt that the middle one is called Kawahagi 皮剥ぎ, or otherwise also known as leatherjacket fish. The skin can be grilled and good as beer food, while its flesh is for sashimi. Was told that Kawahagi's liver is fattiest in Autumn.

First course in the Restaurant Week set was the "Truffle Kanpachi Carpaccio". Sort of like Japanese fish, Italian styled.

Truffle Kanpachi Carpaccio

The dipping sauce was not needed since the fish slices had been adequately sprinkled with sea salt. Every mouthful was a delight. That burst of saltiness from the ikura and sea salt, plus the kanpachi flesh was firm and oily. Yums.

While waiting for the next course, a complimentary plate of crunchy Japanese cucumber キュウリ was brought out. The housemade miso has other ingredients mixed into it, was a tad dry and not overly salty. Can be eaten on its own.

housemade miso, toasted sesame and Japanese cucumber

Next was an ala-carte order of a grilled item.

can you guess what this it?

The smoke escapes and whiffs of rosemary floated passed and dissipated faster than you saying, "whoa".

grilled A4 wagyu oyster @$22+

The meat could do less time on the grill as it turned out to be rather chewy. Hints of rosemary was evident in the meat.

Next item was continuation of the Restaurant Week set menu; The Bincho-tan Charcoal Grill Platter.

roasted potato and garlic

kurobuta belly, mentaiko tori, yasai

The kurobuta belly was oily and that's how it should be. Nicely grilled till its edges are a slightly charred. Loved the smokiness of the meat. Mentaiko tori was so soft and succulent. Usually I won't order ginkgo for yakitori and I still won't.

For yakitori, was quite interested in the pork intestine and duck tongue. Perhaps, next time? Was informed by the maître'd that most grilled items in the menu is priced per stick for individual portion, and the lamb chop and iberico collar offers a bigger portion as it is meant for sharing.

For the last course, it was Tburu Makimono.

Tburu Makimono

salmon and eel makimono

Dainty morsels of balanced taste.

For RW dinner sets here, there is definitely space for something with more carbs. Was informed that the Dan Dan Somen was the top item ordered by regulars.

Tburu is a quiet, unhurried place with elegant settings.