Raindrops @ *Scape

Tucked into a neat corner, the place was not that hard to find. Just walk straight past the Cineleisure glass doors, turn right round the corner, past MacDonald's then walk up past Zhang Zhen Huan's fruit juice shop, past the ice-cream shop and voila, the signboard greets you with this month's promo (which is 4 main courses gets you a free bottle of wine in July).

As you approach, the service staff quickly meets you at the door. The entrance to the cafe is Japanese automatic glass door styled. Touch the handle button, and the door slides open. (Usually, they'll open it for you though.. ahhaa)






For appetisers, we tried the tataki tuna, which was pan-seared pacific tuna, shimeji mushroom ragout, salad & balsamico reduction. The texture of the tuna was interesting, and my friend thought it tasted like beef! The rocket leaves were quite bitter, and it somehow affected the mushrooms which I thought was bitter too! Wiki'ed ragout and it means "a basic method of preparation that involves slow cooking over a low heat."


tataki tuna


mushroom ragout with bitter leaves!


For mains, I've tasted the ribeye, meltique beef, pizza, pork kurobuta and fish & chips. The portions are quite generous, and it's good to share 3 mains if you're in a group of 4. Even so, I've yet to find the space to try the desserts!


meltique beef (prime cut)


ribeye


The beef was tender! Ribeye was slightly chewier while meltique beef almost, almost melt in your mouth... Medium rare is how we liked it.


ribeye


prime-cut


The kurobuta pork rack was interesting as well. Pork seemed to go well with fruits. The meat was well cooked and firm to the bite. Though I liked the parts nearer to the bone more. Tender yums!


kurobuta pork rack with apple sauce


well cooked meat


If you're not into red meat, then there's still fish & chips to consider. Served piping hot, fresh from the fryer.


beer battered fish & chips



Though, I can't really discern the beer taste but the fish flesh was fragrant. Enjoyable deep fried dish.


If you're not too keen on meats, perhaps a pizza might be of interest. My mom ordered the hawaiian pizza and she looked quite pleased!


hawaiian pizza (thin crust!)


The pizza crust was really thin and crunchy like a biscuit! The center of the pizza tend to be quite soft, so be careful of the cheese that looked like it was about to slide off the pizza crust!



Would like to go back someday... to try their desserts. Sipping coffee by the window during a lazy afternoon sounds like not too bad an idea...


iced cafe mocha by the window

Revisited on 8 December 2010

This time round, we ordered soft-shell crab with wasabi mayo dip, chunky mushroom soup and for mains we had kurobuta pork rack (again!) and marinara pizza, and for desserts (finally managed to try!) we had mascarpone mousse (tiramisu yes?) and creme brulee.

soft shell crab

wasabi dip rocks!

We actually wanted to order calamari or chicken wings but were told that these items were sold out.. at about 8+ pm! Wow. But we did see other table ordered the beer battered mushrooms. It looked good!

mushroom soup with truffle oil

The mushroom soup was enjoyable with chockful of mushroom bits, and generously drizzled with truffle oil.

marinara pizza (seafood)

capsicum, squid, fish and prawns

Our marinara pizza nearly became margherita pizza. Therefore, do listen carefully when the waitstaff repeats your order! =P

creme brulee

sugary treat

yummy, melt in your mouth and sweeet

Creme brulee tasted as good as it looked. The fruits were a little sour and tart, and it helps to perks up the taste bud after all the sweetness.

mascarpone mousse

soft and moist

Watami @ ION Orchard

Super duper long queue on a Friday evening. Queued for more than half hour, and was offered a table for 3 (in order not to wait any longer...). We deliberated for a while, and fortunately, a group of 4 finished their dinner at that same moment, so we got their table. Lucky us.




There were four of us, so we ordered most dishes to share. Watami salad, potato gratin, seafood doria (baked rice), squid (grilled), cheese croquette, wafu steak and brownies with ice-cream for desserts. Also ordered a regular rice-set ($2.80++) which is 1 bowl of rice, with miso soup and pickles.



watami salad


sauce for the salad


The sauce for the salad is quite salty, so you may want to use it sparingly. Watami salad consists of leafy greens, bell peppers, onions, some crunchy deep fried bits, cherry tomatoes, laver and poultry meat. Liked the meat in the salad. Tasty and nice.




We ordered most dishes for sharing, and one opted to have something more filling, baked rice. Had a taste of her seafood doria, and it tasted sweet and cheesy. Preferred the potato gratin that another friend had ordered. The potato gratin looks exactly like a mini version of how the seafood doria looked. Haha!


baked seafood doria


The ika looked impressive but taste-wise, it was so so. The tender parts are really the ringlets at the mid-section. The tails were rather chewy but the charred bits quite flavorful. Probably good with sake or beer.


ika


I was glad I ordered the rice set. Wafu steak was very salty. Otherwise, it has a good texture that is in between of being chewy and tender at the same time.


wafu steak


closer view (glistening with oil!)


My friend commented that the cheese croquette wasn't as tasty because it had begun to turn cold. To me, it was alright, with cheese trying to ooze out on first bite. It's not a big mound, so one or two bites will finish it off!


cheese croquette


We were surprised by the ice-cream in our desserts. It looked like sorbet, but tasted like ice-cream without the 'cream'. The ice-cream was quite sweet, while the brownies tasted quite mild.


brownies and ice-cream


close up on brownies


The seats were comfortably apart, so that is a plus point, although you can still hear what the neighbours are talking about and vice-versa. It would be a good idea to make reservations on Fridays, otherwise, be prepared to queue.

Mana Mana @East Coast Lagoon

Located at East Coast Lagoon, and if you're unsure of where it is.. just head towards the Jumbo Seafood that area. Towards the 360 Ski area, and it's near to the seaside. Rather secluded for first time visitors! We parked at the carpark near Jumbo, so the walk to Mana Mana was about 10 minutes.


see this sign, and you're really near the restaurant


sails greeting


interior of the restaurant


The ambience was pretty good. Relaxing and good for chill out... It would've been perfect if only the service was better...

Ours was a party of about 13-15ish people that night, so we opted for sets. I chose salad as appetiser (the other choice was soup), chicken cutlet as the main (others were margherita pizza or spaghetti), and brownies for dessert (or fruit platter). It also comes with coffee/tea/fruit punch. Quite a good deal for just about $30 per pax.


salad


Not too sure if it was supposed to be healthier, but the salad came without dressing except for tiny dots of olive oil. Had to dab the 'dry' vege into the chili sauce at times! Yup, could've asked for dressing, but the staff was quite overwhelmed by the workload that night. We had orders that weren't delivered till reminded, coffee orders taken but lost the order chit, guests seated and started eating but no offer to bring water was made even if the rest of the group had their water glasses.


chicken cutlet


The portion of food here, is rather generous. The salad was laid to fill up a main dish plate size. The chicken cutlet were two big slabs of meat. The brownie was huge. And should've taken a picture of the fruit platter. Haha, really!



juicy chicken


dessert




All in all, it was value for money. Just be more forgiving with regards of certain service lapses. After all, it's a place to chill~

Bon Gout @ Robertson Quay

Was at Robertson Quay on a Friday. Walked around quite a bit looking for a place to eat. Passed by many restaurants and finally someone recommended Bon Gout. Quaint little place, where half the shop is filled up with comics, magazines and books. It's a Japanese bookstore cum cafe.


bookshelves of comics


There's a daily set meal, and that include a main, a side dish, pickles, rice and miso soup. The set meal of the day on that Friday was beef and eggpplant cooked in miso, with vinegared tako and seaweed.


beef and eggplant cooked in miso


The lady boss recommends the set of the day, as the rest of the set meals are available daily but the set of day is sort of like 'special'. I joked that since most of us were there for the first time, everything is special to us! ;)

But trust the boss, because the beef in miso was very tender and the miso taste was just right. Tasty but not too salty. It really has the homecooked flavor, and I wouldn't mind eating it daily. Egg plant was still firm, and the side dish was mildly flavored, which cleanses the heavier tasting miso.

There were five of us, so we ordered two sets of panfried beef steak set, one unagi set, one tonkatsu and one miso beef set.


table full of set meals!


unagi set (front), panfried beef steak (back)


unagi


tonkatsu set (front), miso beef set (back)


tonkatsu


beef steak (but a little too chewy for us)


tender beef, we liked!


All in all, it was a cosy experience. The shop people are courteous and polite. Enjoyable experience.