La Barca Ristorante & Wine Bar @ Goodman Arts Centre

Located within Goodman Arts Centre, which is off Fort Road and Mountbatten Road on the East Coast.  For location and parking, please refer to this link: http://labarca-sg.com/location/

This place is one for special occassions. Was there to celebrate a dear friend's birthday. Reservation was easy via Hungrygowhere's online reservation system. Confirmation was pretty immediate.

As with any celebration, there is a need for some wine. Birthday girl likes prosecco, hence we had that.

Prosecco @$70++

Happy Birthday!

Once orders were placed, out came the complimentary breads, alongside with butter.

breads

Such cute looking breads. The larger one seemed to have cocoa. It helped to keep the hunger at bay while we waited for the mains. Similarly, ordered a Pizza Prosciutto to share.

Prosciutto Pizza @$28++

The pastas arrived within 20 minutes. Portions was slightly dainty for a main course.

Fresh Homemade Green Angel Hair Pasta, Baked with Fresh Milk Cream, Prawns, and Baby Spinach @$32++

Venetian-style Risotto Mantecato with Cuttlefish, in Cuttlefish Ink @$32++

Fresh Homemade Pecorino-filled Tortelli with Parmesan Cream and Seasonal Truffles @$42++

All the pastas were good. The one that stood out, was the Tortelli Truffle. It was completely enveloped in cheese and one bite into these babies, first thought was "Soooo good!" But, there were only so few of it. Only managed to grab half a piece... =(

The Angel Hair Pasta was nicely creamy (but not heavy) and pleasant with the spinach. Prawns were succulent and fresh. Risotto was well-cooked and not too salty.

For meats, we had seabass fillet and pork shank.

Seabass fillet @$40++

Braised Pork Shank in Chef’s Special Sauce with Mushrooms and Potatoes @$40++

While the pastas generated quite a buzz within our group, the meat dishes were just alright. Seabass fillet was light and mild, while the pork shank was quite a rustic dish, with earthy flavours.

Added another order for a 1kg Florentina and we were duly informed that the cooking time for this dish was about half hour. Fine with us, as this meant we had more time to chit-chat and to catch up. =)

This place offers wine of the month for both red and white at about $55 per bottle, so we decided to try the red to complement the red meat.

Wine of the Month (red) @$55

ruby red, pleasantly smooth with a bit of spice and mature tannicity

The Florentina is done medium rare, using Australian beef from Rangers Valley.

Traditional Fiorentina Served with Roasted Potatoes @$13 per 100gms (min. 1kg, 2 pax)

Cannellini Beans with Sage and Fresh Chilli

I think we didn't care much for the beans. Beef was tender and has good flavours, especially for those done medium rare and with a bit of fats. The parts that were more of medium doneness, was pretty chewy.

close up on the meat

Service staff was pleasant and helpful.

La Barca is currently one of the participating merchants of the Entertainer App 2014, and we were able to redeem the 1-for-1 main course deals here. Sweet.

This place is suitable for special occassions and the occasional indulgence.

PAUL Boulangerie et Pâtisserie Français @ Marina Bay Link Mall

Located at Marina Bay Link Mall, Marina Boulevard. It's easier to access via Raffles Place MRT, or Downtown MRT than Bayfront MRT.

PAUL first came to our shore in 2012, with its flagship store at Takashimaya and since then, it has grown to a total of 5 outlets with another one coming soon in December this year.

Was invited to try PAUL's new menu which was launched not too long ago. The Marina Bay Link Mall area was actually pretty quiet on a weekend morning. Hence, this would make a great place to dine if you prefer a quiet environment.

shop front

which one to choose?

Asked a little girl what would her choice be, and she pointed to the macarons. Such a cutie!

colourful macarons

Lunch begins at noon, so we adjourned to our tables.

in the restaurant

menu

For the hungries, a small bread basket was served along with soft butter, imported from France.

beurre

bread

PAUL was established in 1889 in the city of Croix, near Lille in Northern France. Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, one can enjoy traditional rustic taste of France when one dines at PAUL.

What's in its new menu, you asks? There are 26 new items and we sampled 6. Here we go:

Salade de la mer @$20.90

Plate was visually appealing. Loved the colours. Sweetness of the grapefruit really bursts forth and the cooked prawns were firm and yums.

Next up, Tartine boeuf. Rustic bread with crispy edges, topped with sweet caramelized onions, herbed cream cheese and a tender slice of sirloin steak cooked medium. Gone in two bites. Enjoyable.

Tartine boeuf @$19.90

For mains, one could try the classic Confit de canard (duck confit).

Confit de canard @$28.90

Herb marinated leg of duck, that required two days of preparation and 4 hours of cooking. Fork tender, a tad salty at first, but the sweet cranberry sauce managed to balance it out.

Otherwise, a cold drink from the menu might do the trick as well.

Iced tea of the moment @$7.50

lemongrass iced tea @$7.50

According to the staff, the lemongrass iced tea is this outlet's current bestseller amongst all the iced teas.

Back to the mains, we also tried the Longe de thon (tuna loin).

Longe de thon @$29.90

Nicely pink, with a good sear around its sides and adequately salted. Cranberry sauce was outstandingly sweet and well complimented by the slight hint of spice in the peppers. Zucchini was well cooked and rather juicy. Nice.

Moving on to desserts, I had a coffee that could qualify as desserts as well! Café glace, which had a whole scoop of icy cold deliciously creamy vanilla gelato swimming in coffee. It was like having an affagato with more coffee to drink. I like.

Café glace @$10.90

For desserts, we had a huge tower of waffles; Gaufre avec glace (waffles with ice-cream).

waffles with ice-cream @$13.90

another angle

The waffles were seriously crispy! Waffles and ice-cream, what's not to like?

However, do save some space for Eclair Paris-Brest.

Eclair Paris-Brest @$7.50

This traditional choux pastry with hazelnut cream and the crunchiest of hazelnuts, is a must-eat. Yup. Try it. Best to share it with a friend (or not!)

Special thanks to all the friendly people from PAUL, and not forgetting Hsu Lin, Sheryl and Rachel. Thank you for the lovely lunch and it was a great introduction to PAUL's new menu.

The new menu is available at all PAUL's outlets in Singapore. Starting Nov 20th, do look out for PAUL's new jams; strawberry and apricot. An idea for Christmas gift, perhaps?

PAUL

Location: Marina Bay Link Mall, B2-07 8A Marina Boulevard (please refer to its website for more locations)
Website: http://www.paul-singapore.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PAUL1889.singapore

Ultimate Hawker Fest [终极街头美食节] 2014

Would you like to participate in something meaningful this month? Coming our way this 22 Nov 2014 is TOUCH Community Services' Ultimate Hawker Fest (UHF) in its 3rd year running.

Let's celebrate Singapore's Hawker Heritage, where 20 chefs were brought together by three of our celebrity food bloggers; Ms Maureen Ow (www.MissTamChiak.com), Mr Derrick Tan (www.SgFoodOnFoot.com) and Mr Ian Low (TheSilverChef.blogspot.sg) for UHF 2014.

There will be 3 food zones, namely the Ultimate Original Recipe [食代相传], Ultimate Pursuit of Happiness [食膳为心] and Ultimate Ingredients [食材科举].  All profits from this one day event will go to 32,000 beneficiaries under Touch Community Service, regardless of race and religion.

Here are the details of UHF 2014:

Date: 22 November 2014, Saturday
Time: 11am to 5pm
Venue: Suntec Convention Centre Halls 401 and 402
Buy coupons at https://www.ultimatehawkerfest.sg/buy-coupons
View menu: https://www.ultimatehawkerfest.sg/menu

Coupon is priced at $50 per booklet, while stocks last.


Have you gotten yours? See you on the 22 Nov 2014, at Suntec! Give me a tweet when you're there~

Singapore Restaurant Week 25 Oct to 2 Nov 2014: Taratata Bistro @ Keong Saik Road

It's that time again. Yup, Singapore Restaurant Week. This time round, didn't have the opportunity to try more as I'd be in Seoul for the majority of those dates. Nevertheless, made a lunch reservation for 25 Oct at Taratata Bistro.

Located at 35A Keong Saik Road, which is about less than 10 minutes walk from Outram MRT station. Taratata Bistro is small and cosy. Place was busy with almost all tables occupied. Table for two are placed very near one another, about an elbow space apart. Am sure the convo with my bro is freely heard by the adjacent table as we have heard their stories as well.

pour le déjeuner

wall decor

Very simply, the Restaurant Week set menu comprises of two choices for appetisers and mains, so we took one of each. Add $10++ for a glass of wine, which we did.

complimentary bread

Sparkling or still water? As usual, iced tap water s'il vous plaît.

Brittany cider

First up, appetisers. One hot, one cold.

half dozen escargot baked in herb garlic butter

The escargot was amazingly tender. Enjoyable.

snail and bread

Presentation of the salad was good, with vibrant colours. Tasted refreshing with tangy and sweet alternates.

marinated salmon with lettuce and basil scented sundried tomatoes

Once the appetisers were done, the main course arrived quickly. Oh, and the elongated plates were huge! Keke.

poached stuffed chicken supreme with forest mushrooms sauce

pan-fried cod fish with green pea puree & seafood chowder fish sauce

Poached chicken has an earthy undertone flavoured by the forest mushrooms. Pleasant, and intriguing, as for some reason, I thought that the chicken had asian hints of soy sauce taste to it. Mashed potato was smooth, creamy and buttery.

The pan-fried cod fish was very firm. Green pea puree was sweetish and the seafood chowder sauce was wondrously umami'ish. Those tiny octopus tendrils were fun eats and contrasted in texture and taste against the cod.

Lastly, apple crumble for desserts. There was no other option for this, so everyone gets the same.

one huge apple crumble, served hot

Very soft, and very hot. Crumble was sweet, and apples slightly sourish. Managed to plough through the dessert and ended up feeling very full! Black coffee helped to cut through the sweetness. Two could've shared this. No kidding.

All in all, it was a good experience. Looking forward to the next Restaurant Week.

Spent $89 for two pax, inclusive of drinks and taxes.

Restaurant HOME @ The Rail Mall

Located at The Rail Mall, Upper Bukit Timah Road. Usual route to get there would be via bus #67 from Choa Chu Kang bus interchange. The bus stop is right infront of The Rail Mall, so it could still be conveniently accessible.

HOME by award winning and celebrity Chef Tan Yong Hua

A slight rain prior but the clouds cleared just as we approached the appointed dinner time.There's a classy homely feel to the place.

table setting

chinese tea

Started with HOME's signature, the Peking Duck Barbecued with Lychee Wood. The table was served with the duck's crispy skin, to be dipped in sugar. Cracklingly crispy. A delicacy.

crispy skin

sugar dip

After which, one gets to wrap the thin sliced meat with the flour crepe. The sauce here is not overly salty, so one could dip plenty.

Peking Duck Barbecued with Lychee Wood ($38++ half/$68++ whole)

place all together

Peking duck wrap

The second serving (of the bones and remaining bits of meat) of the Peking duck was then deep fried with dried chili, roasted minced garlic and capsicum pepper fine salt. The appearance of this dish is close to the one that I had in Duck King (鸭王) Beijing.

deep fried duck with dried chili, roasted minced garlic and capsicum pepper fine salt @$10++

The next signature dish was the Baked Soon Hock in Claypot. Pricing is based on weight @$9/100gms.

baked fish in claypot

Fish was fresh, firm and sweet. Chef Tan shared that to make a good claypot fish dish, the size matters. Fish ought to be at least 1kg. A splendid, simple dish.

soon hock fish

Next up, Homemade Egg Bean curd with Shrimp Paste, Crabmeat and Roe in Pi Pa Style. It must've been quite a big spoon to make such a big piece of pipa styled beancurd.

Homemade Egg Bean Curd with Shrimp Paste, Crabmeat and Roe in Pi Pa Style

Loved the striking golden colour. Served piping hot, with plenty of sauce. Deepfried beancurd that tasted so good.

crabmeat, shrimp paste, beancurd

Next dish was the Stewed Golden Noodles with Lobster and Spring Onions wrapped in O Ba leaves.

Lobster in O Ba leaves

The noodles were requested to be specifically made using Chef Tan's recipe. The result? Springy, egg noodles without the alkaline taste. It tasted as though it was tossed simply with sesame oil, and light soy sauce. Very yums.

Lunch Sets

Next we sampled Restaurant HOME's lunch sets. In the lunch set, one gets a soup of the day, a dessert and a noodle dish. Price ranges from $20++ upwards.

The soup of the day happened to be Boiled Dried Vegetables with Candied Dates, Wolfberry and Pork. A soothing kind of soup that reduces heatiness.

Soup of the Day

Noodle choices include Crispy Roast Pork, Barbequed Duck, Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Loin (char siew) served with yellow noodles.

The plates pictured below, were of tasting size. The actual serving size for example, one gets a quarter of a duck for the BBQ Duck with Lychee Wood set lunch @$24++ per pax.

barbequed duck with lychee wood served with homemade yellow noodles

crispy roast pork with homemade yellow noodle

Or, one could try the homemade Ramen with 8 Head Quality Amidori Abalone (fresh).

homemade ramen with 8 head abalone

After so much meat, the Chilled Rosella Flower Jelly with Diced Mango was a welcomed change.

Chilled Rosella Flower Jelly with diced Mango

For those working nearby, the lunch sets will surely satisfy the big eaters. Or, share it with someone.

Special thanks to media personality, Chef Tan Yong Hua whom is also the Director-Executive Chef of Restaurant HOME (家). A humble and affable man, whom patiently answered our queries, shared tips and his philosophy on food.

Thank you too, to my fellow blogger friend, Hence for this session.

Restaurant HOME

Location: No. 394, Upper Bukit Timah Road, S678046
Contact number: 6465 1698
Website: www.restauranthome.com.sg