Brotzeit @ Vivocity

Visited on a Friday evening. Had to queue since did not make any reservations prior. Was pleasantly surprised when the service crew brought out a plate of mini-bite sized tuna on bread squares on toothpick and offered it to hungry people in the queue. Queued for about 10-15 minutes before we got our tables.

menu

it's Oktoberfestbier now

 

waiting for food

We ordered a platter (@$88++) to share as we have 5 hungry adults to feed. The platter has pork knuckles, sausages, and chicken (we think). Comes with two sides which diners can choose. We chose potato wedges and vegetables. Of course, we must have beer when in Brotzeit. My choice of drink? Radler beer. Because? It's mixed with Sprite. Hahaa, I like my drinks sweet, ok.

platter to feed 4-5 pax

simple boiled vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, bellpeppers and carrots)

meat and more meat!

flat chicken?

best sausage

pork skin

knuckle meat

We had so much meat! The white sausages were juicy and tender. The red sausages; one had cheese in it, and the other had herbs. The red herb sausages were rather salty. Hmmm, so was the cheesy one. The flat looking fried piece of meat (we think it's chicken... but not sure 'coz no one read the description!) were quite flat in taste and pretty dry. Lucky we have our beer, cheers!

nice coaster

fizzy Radler

The entire place was boisterous that night! Very happening, because there was a large group that occupied perhaps 3-4 tables and each table accommodated probably about 6 pax.

We were so full from the meat and potatoes, and washed everything down with cold beer. Yums.

pork knuckle meat devoured, left with just bones...

Total bill came up to about $167 for 5 pax (including 4 half pint beer and one non-alcoholic drink).

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.

Drinks @ Unity Street, Robertson Walk

Went to chill out at Robertson Walk yesterday. First stop, Cappadocia Cafe and Restaurant. The night was nice, air was cool and there wasn't any crowd at that cafe. Saw people smoking shisha too. Ordered a mojito cocktail as I didn't want to get a beer. The beer selection that they have are Heineken, Tiger, Sol, Efes, and  Erdinger, if not wrong. Another friend got an apple tea drink.

mojito (@$13++)

The cocktail tasted mild during the first half of the glass. I think I like caipirinha better (because of the palm sugar!). Hehehe, I was thinking that this mojito wasn't sweet enough! Anyways, the alcohol kicked in much slower and felt better after finishing the drink. The service here is somewhat, regrettable. The person who took our order seemed to have difficulty understanding our order. Took him quite a while to write it down also. Maybe he's new. Anyway, we asked for iced-water and he said he'll get it for us but it never did come.

Next stop, Wine Connection Deli & Bistro. Depending on what you're ordering, a bottle of wine could be as affordable as $25++ per bottle. We ordered a bottle of winner of some gold medal Spinyback white wine from New Zealand (@$37++) but they have this weekend charge of another $10 per bottle.

As it was past midnight, we decided to get some food as snack. Our friend who had been here before recommends the ham and bruschetta. So we did the 'make your own platter' combo where you tick off the items that you want to eat.

bruschetta, honey glazed ham and ewe cheese

favourite meat, looking yummy and waiting to be devoured

The bread was nicely crisps, tomato bits tangy and tasty but abit too laden with olive oil. The ewe cheese being a hard cheese, was a little chalky and not too pungent. Ham was fantastic. Nice thick cut, and for the good parts are what we deemed the 'fatty' parts. Not fatty per say as in you see layers of fats but that particular taste in your mouth as you savour the flavour and juiciness of the meat.

The Spinyback wine was fruity, not tannic and has a slight salty sourish finish. Acceptable for someone who prefers moscatos.

Spinyback white wine, not sure whether it was a riesling or something else

The service at Wine Connection was good. Friendly and efficient. It started to rain while we were enjoying our drinks and snacks, so we asked their help to shift over to a dryer area where the rain don't splatter onto you. No problems here. No complaints also even when they had to lay out another set of utensils for us. Nice.

iced-water is served freely to customers

This place seemed rather popular, judging by its crowd.Oh, and by the way.. maybe it's better to look at the cheese before ordering especially for cheese illiterates like me. Ordered a goat's cheese that no one (on our table) can eat (stomach). What a waste!