Sarang @ Orchard Central

Located at Level 7, this place is opposite the AFC (Asian Food Channel) place. Diners can opt to sit either indoors or outdoors. Not sure why, but I opted for outdoor seats even though it was 4+ pm. Must be out of my mind then....!

Sarang (Love)

menu

table setting

The outdoor seating area feels spacious. They even have a big kickass fan there!

look at that ceiling fan!

We ordered ginseng porridge, chicken bong bong, and yuzu makgeolli (rice wine). It was such a odd hour to be eating, and interesting combi for tea-break.. or pre-dinner... The service crew here was friendly and always with a smile.

city view would look better at night

ginseng porridge

flavoured salt for the porridge

with chicken shreds

a mouthful of porridge with a bit of salt

Liked the presentation of the ginseng porridge. Served piping hot, with the porridge bubbling a bit. It has just the slightest hint of ginseng's bitterness. The porridge was smooth, mildly flavoured and nice to warm the tummy on a cold day. Eating it under humid weather, was quite an experience in itself though. The stone pot was quite shallow, so the portion of the porridge was not a lot.

Loved the heayweight chopstick and spoon. Feels classy.

chopsticks and spoon

nice motif

Chicken bong bong was essentially, chicken wings coated with thin batter and deep fried. Not sure why there is a need for that batter, as it doesn't seem to have any flavour to it. The chicken wings were just mildly season and came hot from the fryer. The meat inside was still juicy.

chicken bong bong

served with shoestring fries

The shoestring fries were adequately salted and in fact, quite addictive. Just the way I liked it. Goes well with my makgeolli drink.

yuzu makgeolli

gone in a jiffy

The total bill came up to $31, with one third of that price coming from the alcoholic drink. Hehehee!

Whampoa Keng Fish Head Steamboat @ Rangoon Road

Had dinner at this place yesterday. We reached there probably around 8+ and there were lots of tables unoccupied.

Once you're seated, they will place the utensils right away on your table, regardless of what you're ordering.

ready for steamboat

wet towel

We ordered the premium fish, pomfret steamboat (small) and a side dish of claypot pork with dried chilies and salted fish.

our order of 鱼头颅 pomfret fish steamboat (@$35)

The soup contained lots of vegetables squares, small chunks of yam, those deep fried flat fish (that enhances the taste of fish soups), and of course large chunks of pomfret fish. The soup itself was nicely sweet. Some of the fish have bones, so do be careful when eating them. Not to mention, the fish was extra smooth and may just slip out of your chopsticks if you're not careful!

yummy pomfret

claypot pork with salted fish and dried chilies

fragrant and salty sliced pork

The sliced pork goes well with rice. Not surprising to find one eating copious amount of rice due to this dish alone. It's also very oily, and some of the pork slices have soft bones in them.

Total bill came up to $54 and fed two pax. Actually, we were quite stuffed after all the vege, meat and soup.

Aerin's Cafe and Espresso Bar @ Raffles City

Located at Raffles City basement, near Din Tai Fung. It was a convenient place for a casual meet-up sans reservation on a Friday evening.

signboard

menu

The menu looked really simple at one glance. We ordered buffalo wings, portobello mushroom salad, Aerins taglietelle, prawns risotto, a hot chocolate (for the kid) and one carafe of sangria for the adults.

ready to dig in

portobello mushroom salad

One would've expected more from the salad at $13++. There were only like 2-3 smallish medium sized portobello mushroom inside, some chopped tomatoes, some pine nuts and some rocket leaves. Taste wise, it was acceptable and not too oily.

Though we ordered one carafe, only 1 glass of sangria made it to our table. Had to inform the service staff that we ordered a carafe to be shared amongst three people. One carafe can pour max. of 3 glasses only. Am not sure why, but this was the second time that the sangria that I had in Singapore, tasted like someone mixed it with candy'ied cherries. Much prefered if it was just red wine mixed with orange juice and some lemon.

sangria (@$29++) per carafe

Did not take any pictures of the main courses (risotto and taglietelle) since they were ordered by my long-lost primary school classmates. (yea... I was like paiseh!) But I did take a bite out of those two plates. The risotto could've been better, especially the texture of the rice. It smelled cheesy, lightly seasoned but maybe a little on the bland side. Came loaded with asparagus. The pasta was good though. Even the kid approved of it. Came with lots of mushrooms and some smoked salmon.

buffalo wings?

My order of buffalo wings turned out to be something different. First of all, it wasn't even a wing.. they were drumlets. Drumlets? Sigh. Another, was the sauce was more like a dip. Mention buffalo wings and I'd be expecting mid-joints totally smothered in smoky hot sauce. So, had a different expectation of what was served.

This place had baby-chair and also plastic utensils for the young ones. Service was friendly.

Total bill came up to $105 for 3 adults and 1 child.