Madame Patisserie Bar & Bistro @ MacKenzie Road

Located at 25 27 29 MacKenzie Road, with nearest MRT Station being Little India. There's a huge carpark there, cut across that and then cross the road and one will reach the bistro.

First thought of Madame Patisserie. Desserts? All sorts of pretty looking, dainty sweet desserts filled my mind. However, a quick look on the menu revealed pretty much of western starters, main course and bar snacks. Here is the link to their online menu.

On the day of visit which was on a weekday, the place was still quiet. But reservations tag were on most tables. The diners came from 730pm onwards.

main dining area

Happy Hour is long, from 3-9pm. A pint of Erdinger (on tap) @$11++ and Singapore Sling @$9.90++. I'll tell you more on the Sling. Later.

beer for you?

Madame Patisserie has a relaxed, casual atmosphere. Unwind after a day's of hard work? Sure. If you prefer to dine in a more private space, look no further as they do have that special corner.

private space

Ok, on to the food! Let's start.

Madame's Soup of the Day: Apple & Carrot @$10.90++

Soup was comforting, mildly sweet and akin to buttersquash. Familiar. The garlic bread was really crispy, and very crackly even when doused with soup.

Then, the service staff brought in the salad, Rucola Beef. Menu stated sliced grilled beef, rocket leaves and 'wafu' dressing and topped with fried shallots. Knew that the fried shallots will be the deal clincher in this dish and true enough. My table was happy. Good combination. However, personally felt that it was a tad salty, so this should be good with a beer.

Rucola Beef @$17.90++

Foie gras was next. A really pretty looking one too. The apples and strawberries with maple balsamic vinaigrette seemed to cut down on the richness of the liver. Enjoyable sweet savoury dish.

Pan Seared Foie Gras @$20.90++

And the crowning glory of all appetisers...Da Bacon Bomb! Such a hip sounding name, contrastingly plated with a touch of elegance. Portobello mushroom, with egg in the center, wrapped with bacon and baked to near perfection, served on a bed of potato mousse. Sinful and tasty.

Bacon Bomb @$16.90++

Main course, serving next.

Beef Cheek @$24.90++

It is a drier version of beef cheek. The sauce was listed as red wine sauce, but it had that extra flavour that kept me guessing. So, in terms of that, it was interesting. The beef was firm yet easy to cut.

Duck Confit @$17.90++

Another pretty looking dish! The orange sauce on the plate was such a happy colour. The duck tasted good too. Tender, adequately seasoned and non-greasy feel. Yums.

beckoning for a taste

Next up, was another fowl. Time for some Chicken Roulade. Juicy chunks of chicken meat, lovingly rolled up with crispy outer layer. Don't forget to taste the grilled tomato. Sweet.

Chicken Roulade @$16.90++

Can't live without carbs? No worries. How about a pasta (or two)?

Smoked Duck Linguine @$20.90++

Beef Paccheri @$18.90++

The Beef Paccheri, Madame Patisserie's version, sees the pasta being baked to achieve a smokey flavour. Liked the amount of sauce for both pasta dishes.


One more meat dish to end our main course. Slow roasted lamb shoulder, served with mint sauce. As the knife sinks into the meat, one will know there and then on the texture of this dish. Easy to cut, gentle to chew and each bite brought forth a burst of that nicely cooked lamb flavour. If you like lamb, go for those fattier bits and nearer to the bone. It was good.

Agnello @$26.90++

beautiful bites

How could we leave without sampling its desserts?

Apple Crumble, Vanilla Mousse with Lychee Jelly, and Chestnut and Pear Dome Mousse Cake

crumbly and very sweet

Chestnut and Pear Dome Mousse Cake @$8++

Quite liked the Vanilla Mousse as its inside is more cake-like. Personally, would've preferred real lychees instead of lychee jelly though.

As with a bar, I'd order a drink. Tried its Singapore Sling and was served with a rather touristry version.

Singapore Sling ver 1

They do have a stronger version, and that tasted much better.

Singapore Sling ver 2

Thank you Gordon, for hosting us. Chef Regis for allowing us a glimpse into your culinary journey, and the good folks at Hungrygowhere for your invite. To my dining companions, great meeting you and hope to see you guys again!

Brotzeit German Bier Bar and Restaurant @ Westgate Jurong East

Located at Level 1 of Westgate, next to Paul. Happy Hour till 7pm. And on Sundays, they have four different kinds of Schnitzels with a complimentary side-dish.

menu

still early

At Brotzeit, Radler is my choice of drink. A pint (~0.475 litre) of that goes for $14.50++. Just wished that it had remained chilled for abit longer.

Radler and Dunkel

For carbs, we had Fladen Bayrische (otherwise also known as 'Bavarian Pizza'). Thin crust dark rye bread, topped with bacon, ham, peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese. Very light flavours.

Fladen Bayrische / Bavarian Pizza

Pork knuckles was pretty popular. Everyone else were ordering it. Maybe next time.

This meal costs $53 for 2 pax.

Pete's Place @ Grand Hyatt Singapore

This italian restaurant is located at the basement level of Grand Hyatt, 10 Scotts Road. Was there to try its Sunday Brunch. Priced at $82++ per pax with free-flow of Guerrieri Rizzardi Prosecco, Querceto Chianti, Ruffino Lumina "Pinot Grigio" and  Tiger draft. There are juice option as well. Non-alcoholic option cost $58++ per pax.

Was easy to make reservations via its website. When the appointed date came, we arrived at about 1145am, and the place was already half-filled.

interior

Prosecco

Informed the service staff that we'll be having the Sunday Prosecco Brunch, and they'll bring the filled to the brim glasses over. Light, slight bitterness, hint of fruit, crisp and dry.

Started with cold seafood. Freshly shucked oysters that most will line up for. Prawns were firm and succulent and the crab was sweet. Not sure why, but the mussels were rather tasteless.

cold seafood selection of mussels, oysters and prawns

And of course, vegetables. Plenty of options, for example tomato salad with cheese, pasta salad and one more that I can't recall whatsitsname. Anyway, one can do their own mix-and-match too.

must eat vege

Now, for the meats. Liked the pork belly, especially at the fattier parts. Felt that the roast beef was abit of a letdown as the piece that I had was particularly stringy and tough to chew. Beef cheeks were alright but thought the texture of the meat tasted more like beef stew. The minced chicken roll was rather nice. Detected a hint of coconut in it.

pork belly, roast beef, and minced chicken

red drum fish, baked fish and beef cheeks

Red drum fish actually tasted somewhat like tuna? Didn't like it though. Prefered the other fish. For the longest time, deep fried calamari was 'out of stock'. So when it was finally available, took some to try.

deep fried calamari, beef carpaccio and smoked salmon with capers

Calamari was soft and its batter crispy. Liked the beef carpaccio and smoked salmon.

a glass of chianti to go with the meats?

How about the pasta? Hmm, there wasn't any gnocchi nor squid ink pasta that day on the buffet line.

ravioli in butter sage

my mini mixed pasta plate of simple pasta, penne with turkey ham (hidden), sweet pea and beef cheek

My brother liked the ravioli, which he said was creamy. The penne with turkey ham was nicely tangy with its tomato based sauce. If you'd like more carbs, perhaps can try the pizza. Thin crust and topped with ample cheese. Yums when eaten hot.

pizza

lovely salads

I think we managed to try most of the desserts. Tiramisu, panna cotta, chocolate, tarts.. all done. Tiramisu was really light and moist. The chocolate tart was really really dense but it was nicely bitter. Yums. Liked the crumble. Has a nice hint of egginess to it.

lovely tiramisu mess

raspberry crumble, panna cotta, chocolate tart, mini tart

hot coffee at the end

A bit of this and a bit of that, all compounded towards the end of the meal. Felt super-full though we didn't eat that much. Drinks, probably just 2 glasses for me. Nevertheless, enjoyed the brunch with my family member.

All in all, cheers to you bro. May all your wishes come true!

Old Hong Kong Kitchen @ Novena Square 2

Located at Level 2 of Novena Square 2. Usually crowded during lunch hours. This place serves dim sum, and was there to have some.

dim sum menu

interior

chrysanthemum tea (@$4.80++ per pot) and cover charge

Actually wanted to order fluffy cha siu bao (叉烧包) but accidentally ticked the bolo cha siu bao instead, without realising it till the order arrived. -_-''

bolo cha siu bao (@$6.80++)

sweet cha siu

The quality had deteriorated. Had this a few months ago at the same place and it was much better. Now, the ratio of bun is very much higher than the fillings plus it was not even warmed up before serving.

rice rolls, deep fried mango prawn and steamed beancurd skin with chicken and fish maw

The chee cheong fun was three thick slab of flour, with honey cha siu, shrimp and scallop fillings.One taste stood out from the chee cheong fun dish. It was sweet. The deep fried mango prawn roll was nicely crunchy but it was tiny.

deep fried breaded mango prawn roll

Colleague said wanted to try the steamed fish maw, chicken, mushroom and pig stomach in beancurd skin.

steamed chicken, fish maw, pig stomach in beancurd skin

Hmm, didn't find any pig stomach in the dish though. Apparently it had been substituted with crabstick instead, and this was done without informing the customer. Tsk tsk.


Also had a basket of salted egg yolk custard bun (流沙奶黄包). The version here is a tiny ball of bao, with thick lava that's full of those salty sweet sandy goodness. Eat it while it's hot.

salted egg yolk custard bun

Prices of dim sum here are averaging from $6 onwards. Very steep. Expect to pay about $18 per pax for ala-carte dim sum, with drinks and cover charges (towel and pickles). If there's any consolation, that price bought me quite a filling dim sum lunch (but am not a big eater anyway). But satisfaction wise...

BangkokJam @ Wheelock Place, Orchard Road

Finding an impromptu dining place around Orchard on a Saturday evening, saw us moving from one spot to another. Queue was too long? Place too expensive? Shop too crowded?

Hence, finally came to a place where we could rest our tired legs. BangkokJam, located at Level 2 of Wheelock Place.

colourful coasters

interior

What's your usual order when doing Thai food? For me, its Thai milk tea.

Thai milk tea (@$4.80++)

The rendition here was quite enjoyable. Iced cold tea on a hot stuffy evening. Not overly sweet and good tea strength.

Another popular drink, would be lemongrass tea.

lemongrass drink (@$4.80++)

Quite surprising that we didn't order any phad thai that night. Instead, we had Stir Fried Egg Noodles with bacon and crabmeat. This plate tasted very similar to Singapore beehoon (新洲米粉).

stir fried egg noodles with bacon and crab meat (@$11.90++)

Another perennial favourite would be the olive fried rice. My friend's choice of carbs.

olive fried rice (@$11++)

seafood in red tomyam soup (@$7.90++)

The sourness of the tomyam soup was just right. However, it could use abit more heat.

Spaghetti in Thai cuisine? Seems like fusion. Prawns with spaghetti in coconut base sauce.  The spaghetti tasted like thick bee hoon and the coconut base sauce was quite yums albeit a little watery. Good for slurping while its still hot~

prawns with spaghetti in coconut base (@$11.90++)

Most of the dishes are non-spicy. Very tamed down version. For sharing, we had a plate of  mixed grill.

Bangkok Mixed Grill (@$23++)

grilled chicken, squid, beef and prawns

The grilled chicken and squid were good and tender. Too bad the beef was overdone and was quite tough. The chili sauce had kick but in general, food here was abit on the high sodium side of things.

For desserts, we had red ruby. Not the usual watery kind with coconut milk. This version had coconut ice cream instead. Pretty good, the ice cream and the rubies. We liked.

red ruby (@$4.50++)

The meal fed the five of us (with 2 not very hungry) and costs about $20 per pax. There's a 10% discount for Stanchart credit card if the total bill (excluding taxes, gst) is above $80.