La Cantina In Venezia @ Changi Village Hotel

Located at Changi Village Hotel at Netheravon Road. The hotel looked spanking new amidst the laidback charms of Changi Village. On the day of our visit, the hotel car park was full. Waiting for a lot, proved futile and in the end, alternative parking outside of the hotel was the only solution.

We got the outdoor seatings, and the wind was blowing extremely strong that night. It felt almost, like a mini typhoon. Almost.

menu

It offers nice view of the sea and the golf course.

golf course view

hotel pool

sea view

While awaiting for the rest of the group to arrive, we were served with warm bread with olive oil balsamic vinegar dip.

olive oil balsamic vinegar

bread

We ordered carpaccio (beef) for starters. Do have the service staff repeat your orders, because the carpaccio order nearly turned into a cappucino instead! A friend ordered mushroom cream soup, as she doesn't take beef. For mains, we had lobster pasta (special of the day), crabmeat pasta (linguine al granchio), risotto porcini (mushrom risotto) and scallopine al vino bianco (pan-fried pork loin in white wine sauce).

mushroom soup

carpaccio

carpaccio close-up

The mushroom cream soup was really creamy. The mushroom taste was rather subtle though. The beef carpaccio was light and enjoyable. 

lobster linguine

risotto porcini

linguine al granchio

scallopine al vino bianco

The main courses, sadly, were rather disappointing with probably one exception, crabmeat pasta. The mushroom risotto does smell and look better than it taste! The rice was hard, and lacked flavor. The lobster pasta while enjoyable, was a little too salty. And, the person who took our order said the price of this special of the day was about $35+. Imagine our shock when the bill came up to ~$44+ (excluding service charge) for this dish! 

The scallopine dish was a letdown as well. The overcooked pork loin was sour and tough when cooked with the white wine sauce. Not sure if this is the intended outcome. The accompanying vegetables (carrots and zucchini) and potatoes tasted better than the meat. Can you imagine? It's like the sidekicks did their job, but the main cast just didn't rise to the occassion. Overall, the scallopine was heavy handed in salt seasoning as well. 

The only saving grace was the linguine al granchio which has robust flavors, and was up to expectation. Blame it on the weather or strong wind, but as the pasta was cooled down at a much faster rate, and hence, the dish became quite 'heavy' (jelak) after a short while.

Ambience was good, but do choose your food wisely. Expect to pay about  $40-$50 per pax without drinks.

Ootoya @ Orchard Central

Located at Level 8 of Orchard Central. We decided to head there for lunch on a mid-week, sort of like pre-Christmas celebration.

wall deco and warm lightings

The place was fairly busy and we went without reservation. However, we managed to get our seats in just 5 minutes time. Many chicken dishes were listed in the menu, thus I ordered the tori salad (chargrilled chicken served on a bed of shredded cabbage with some salad leaves, capsicum and sliced hardboiled egg, drizzled lightly with basil sauce. My friend ordered katsu jyu (fried pork with egg and rice). We also had a plate of maguro in soy sauce to share.

chopsticks

condiments

First up, was the blue fin tuna dish. Thin slices of maguro doused heavily with soy sauce with a sprinkling of white sesame, and some shredded spring onions.

blue fin tuna slices in soy sauce

closer view

The maguro slices were light and enjoyable, but not outstanding. Next up, our main sets arrived. Each of the set was served with rice, cucumber, simmered item and miso soup.

katsu jyu set

tori salad set

japanese rice, yummy!

cucumber with plum sauce

lotus root, carrot, mushroom and konbu

thick slices of pork!

covered with egg

rosy and tender

delicious chargrilled chicken

egg with basil sauce

The katsu was thick yet tender. I liked those parts that had a little fats on it. The chargrilled chicken really had me at first bite. Was quite captivated by the chicken. The skin has a hint of smokey flavor, while the meat was moist and tender. Yums!

The salad was quite 'dry' as the sauce (oil based basil sauce) was quite minimum which was good in a way. More healthy. Haha. The miso soup was quite light tasting, but it did have a chockful of ingredients in it!

miso soup (has onions, potato, chicken bits and kelp)

It's a pleasant experience having lunch at Ootoya. Good food, reasonable prices. Green tea is served free. This meal costs about $52 (after 10% UOB discount) for 2 pax.

Hailam Kopitiam @ AEON Cheras Selatan

 

AEON Cheras Selatan is my dad's favourite haunt. He always liked to eat inside of the shopping centre, so for a change, we decided to head outside of the mall but somewhere nearby. Hence, chanced upon Hailam Kopitiam and decided to give it a try. It feels just like another 'Old Town' joint.

menu

inside of the kopitiam

We were there for lunch, so we ordered a couple of dishes to try, and coffee as well.

hailam (海南) coffee

cold coffee half drunk

coffee tri-color (the black colored stuff is gula melaka)

 My mom ordered the 'kat zai suen mui' drink, which is literally 'lime and sour plum' drink. It's a must have drink everytime, I'm in Malaysia.

lime and sour plum

this version has a lot of plums, so its a tad too salty!

My mom and sis had the chicken chop and fried fish dish respectively, while my dad ordered chicken rice.

close up view of chicken chop

juicy meat

fish and chips (that looked exactly the same like the chicken chop!) but waiter forgot the sauce!

chicken chop bun

typical hainanese chicken chop with ketchup sauce

chicken sandwich

closer view

The best value for money turned out to be the chicken sandwich (@RM5.80).  The prices here for the food items are between RM6 ~ RM14. I didn't like the coffee here. Would much prefer the real kopitiam's 'hainam' coffee with fragrant roasted buttery taste...nostalgic.

Hippopotamus Restaurant and Grill @ Marina Square

Located at Level 1 of Marina Square, this is a newly opened restaurant. Lots of congratulatory bouquets of flowers still around at the time of visit. The place seemed fairly empty on a Sunday afternoon. Perhaps, still new.

table setting

lightings

Red and brown seemed to be the color of choice. Lots of things on the table when we first settled into our seats. Two big glasses, salt and pepper shakers/grinders, drinks menu and food menu. It's a French styled restaurant, hence there's foie gras, escargot and french onion soup in the menu.

a hint of French

We went there to have steak, so that was what we ordered. I had a T-bone steak (~330gms) while my friend had a classic ribeye (~200gms). There are grilled lamb chops, chicken and one fish (barramundi) in the menu as well, if you don't fancy beef. There were also exotic cuts like rump and hangar (not sure hangar meat is from which part of the cattle...) Each main is served with 2 sides, and up to 3 sauces. Set meals are available as well. Ice water is also served upon request.

cute logo on the menu

iced water served in a carafe

While waiting, we were served some complimentary chips and bread. As we gobbled up our chips in record time, they refilled it again! Wahahaha!

chips to nibble while waiting for main course

country bread

Our main course arrived in due time, and it looked quite lovely.

T-bone steak, with ratatouile and potato gratin, and bernaise sauce

classic ribeye, with ratatouile, baked potato, and shallot

potato gratin

 We ordered our meat medium rare, and it turned out to be quite rare... After our meal, we enquired with the service crew and he mentioned that French styled medium rare will be slightly more rare than what Singaporeans are accustomed to. Hmm...

ribeye - medium rare (looked like very rare!)

T-bone medium rare

First impression of Tbone, is that.. it's full of fats! Other than that, the meat was quite alright. Moist and simply flavored. Not as tender as I hoped it would be. Some parts has tendons and hence, it was rather chewy.. or was it because it was still rare... hmmm... Maybe if it was done medium well, then the experience may differ? Not sure.

The dessert looked nice, but we were rather full from all the meat. The service crew was friendly, and would be glad to answer any questions that the diner may have. Total costs of our meal was close to $60 for 2 pax inclusive of GST + service charge.

Filet Mignon @ Takashimaya Food Hall

Visited on a Tuesday evening, and there weren't many people at this area. It's near GNC, quite easy to find. Nearby, you'll see a small cluster of new eateries as featured in a popular weekly mag.

The concept is pretty simple. For lone diner, proceed to the cashier counter. Look at the menu, and decide what you're going to eat. Order and make payment (cash only if not wrong). Then the friendly and eager waitress will show you to your seat.

seats

chili, salt n pepper

There's currently a promotion where both ribeye and tenderloin are going for $19.90 instead of its usual $39.90. Wow.. with such a huge discount, who wouldn't want to try? So, I ordered a 230gms tenderloin. According to wikipedia, filet mignon (french for cute fillet, haha so cute!) is a steak cut taken from tenderloin. In other words, same same.

tenderloin

medium rare

At first I was quite worried whether 230gms would be a little too much meat for me to handle. But the worry was quite unfounded as it wasn't big, even the asparagus were sooo thin!

Meat was natural tasting, with a little of peppercorn bits charred on the outside. The inside was moist but still a little chewy at times. The sauce was not overpowering, and at the right saltiness. Mashed potato tasted normal and non buttery.

middle part more rare

beef from America

The waitresses are earnest in what they do, and polite service with a smile. However, I am glad I didn't pay more for the dish.

Someone, give me a meltique beef anytime! ; )