Crystal Jade Kitchen @ Scotts Square

Located at Level 3 of the spanking new Scotts Square. This restaurant is one of the few that bustles with activity. Went there for dinner on a Sunday evening.

interesting patterns on the wall mirror

interior

wet towel chargeable @30cents each

 Ordered some dishes to eat with rice. Currently, they have a $1 soup promo (opening promotion), so we got that for each of us. Serving size is for 1 pax each.

$1 chicken soup

The soup tasted quite mild. Perhaps it was just lightly seasoned. Salt shaker is provided prior to serving the soup. There were some tiny bits of chicken meat in the soup. Warmed our tummies on a cold night.

Next, was the crispy cuttlefish with salt and pepper.

crispy cuttlefish with salt and pepper

It's actually cuttlefish coated with flour and deep fried. The cuttlefish was fresh and not overcooked. Had the impression that this dish would be similar to the salt and pepper chicken (Taiwanese snack) but it certainly bore no resemblance whatsoever to that.

closer view

We didn't really wait till all dishes arrived. It was devoured as soon as it reached our table. So it somewhat felt like a 4 course dinner.

Then, the fish maw, cucumber with oyster mushroom arrived. Supposedly our 'vegetable' for the night.

fish maw (the squid looking thingy), cucumber and oyster mushroom

The fish maw wasn't those usual deep fried fishmaw that's usually cooked braised with pork ribs or in soups. It came looking like a sliced up squid strips. This was our most expensive dish @$16.80++. Were there any oyster mushrooms in there? Thought those looked more like the Japanese brown enoki mushrooms. Enjoyable dish but not wow.

Roasted duck was up next.

roasted duck

plum sauce

The duck was rather chewy that night, unfortunately. Perhaps, roasted pork would fare better than this.

For desserts, my friends had red bean paste and mango pudding. I was too stuffed to eat anymore!

red bean paste and mango pudding (milk in separate container)

closer view of mango pudding

This meal costs about $65 (inclusive of taxes and a pot of chrysanthemum tea) and enough to feed 3 pax.

The Coastal Settlement @ 200 Netheravon Road

Secluded at 200 Netheravon Road near Changi Beach Club, this place is not that difficult to find. Turn right to Netheravon Road and take the first left turn to go into its carpark, if you're driving. Otherwise, bus #29 comes to this area as well. Here's a link to their website for directions and contacts.

food menu

drinks menu

special menu?

Happy hour is till 9pm, where a 3L Kronenbourg 1664 Eiffel Beer Tower goes for $50++ ($80++ otherwise). We got ourselves one, and filled it up with Kronenbourg 1664 Lager.

drink and be merry!

mini glass, bottoms up!

While deciding on what to order, and between gulps of beer, do explore the interior of the restaurant. Lots of things to look at.

Vespa lovers, feast your eyes

chairs, ladders and a bucket?

spacious, cosy, interesting

Think we went a wee bit overboard with the food. Ordered two starters; Wagyu Beef Cubes and Deep Fried Calamari. For mains, we had Prawn Aglio Olio with XO sauce, Grilled Fish, Perfect Roast, Rosti Sausage and a Rib-Eye Rosti. That is a whole lot of food for one guy and four ladies. Uh huh...

ice water is served freely

Service crew was friendly and polite. This place is relatively new (opened on 14th December 2011) and has a laid back vibe to it. Feels almost like you're at a friend's place for dinner.

Right, back to the food.

deep fried calamari, with tartar/mayonaise sauce in a passionfruit bowl?

crispy tasty bits

The calamari was tasty, with crunchy bits. And the passionfruit sauce bowl was interesting. Goes well with ice cold beer.

wagyu beef cubes (@$22++)

closer view of the cubes

The wagyu beef cubes were a tad disappointing. Overdone for most of the cubes, resulting in rather chewy bites. The mesclun salad that came with it, was dressed in a somewhat sweet dressing. Nice porcini slices though.

yummy mushroom with vege and beef

Appetites whetted, and ready for more. Onwards to main course!

clockwise from top: Rosti Sausage, Perfect Roast, Prawn Aglio Olio with XO sauce

best tasting dish of the night!

Liked the prawn aglio olio very much. Noodles done al-dente, springy enough but not undercooked, lusciously coated with oily and spicy 'hae bee hiam' (dried shrimps with chili) XO bits and topped up with three prawns cooked just right. Pricey dish (@$22++), but tasty and flavoursome. Yums!

Perfect Roast: truffle fries, roast chicken and french beans

First time having truffle fries. Can't say I like the smell, though. Fries itself was quite 'hard'. The chicken skin was nicely marinated but inside was a tad dry. Too bad. Perhaps, the name "Perfect Roast" has certain implications on our expectations?

Rosti Sausage

simple and enjoyable

The Rosti Sausage is such a simple dish and nicely laid out. Strips/strands of potato goodness dabbed with sour cream, a mouthful of greens and a bite of sausage. It was good.Wash it all down with beer. Burp.

The most surprising dish of the evening was the grilled fish. I had this picture in my mind of a grilled fillet western style. So, it was quite a surprise to see a whole fish done up in Asian homecooked style (though the menu did say it uses Indonesian spices...)

grilled fish with pineapple chinchalok paste

Not good with fish varieties but think it's ikan selar or scad fish (where you have to peel off the hard skin near the tail and lower body). Quite a homely comfort food. Detected a hint of santan in the rice too. My nanny used to make this dish and its dipping sauce consist of raw chopped onions, chopped chilies and dark soy sauce.

fish with kicap, kangkong and rice

The Rib Eye Rosti (medium rare) came last.

rib eye rosti with broccoli (@$32++)

Quite a large chunk of meat. The doneness for some parts were still quite rare. Overall, preferred this than the wagyu cubes.

medium rare

Feel free to chill out at this place till 12am. Spotted a picture taking machine inside the restaurant, so played with it for a while. Quite fun! Oh, all the submitted pictures will also appear at the restaurant's FB page.

press 'Take Photo', look up at the round camera hole (top part of the machine) and smile!

send it to yourself via email!

busy

The main course prices are mostly within the $23-$26 price range (with the exception of steaks). Didn't have any room for desserts. Maybe next time. Expect to spend about $50~$60 per pax for a 3-course meal plus a pint of beer.

ci gusta! @ Anchorpoint

Ice cream! Or rather, gelato! Located at Level 1 of Anchorpoint, this is one bright and cheery ice-cream parlour. Like many other artisanal ice-cream places, one can try/taste as many flavours as one likes before deciding on the final few.

Available sizes are Picolo (S) $3.90, Medio (M) $5.40 and Grande (L) $6.90. Can choose up to 2 flavours for Picolo while the Medio and Grande allows up to 3 flavours.

colourful and enticing

there are other things to order as well

seats

Tough time deciding which flavours but eventually, settled for Rum and Raisin (for the alcoholic in us), Salted Caramel (for me) and Peach Mango (anyhow choose because the colour looked nice!) at Medio size. Note that there will be an extra 50cents charge for Rum and Raisin.

Left: Peach Mango, Bottom: Salted Caramel and Top: Rum & Raisin

closer view of Salted Caramel

Personal favourite? Salted Caramel gelato! Tasted like a creamy cross between peanut butter and toffee. The Peach Mango was like a sweet breath of fresh air, with pleasantly subtle yet distinguishable mango and peach flavours. Reminds me of sorbet.

Peach Mango bursting out of the cup!

The Rum and Raisin was more watery and can definitely taste the alcohol. Liked this one better than Vanilla Whisky. But, still like the Salted Caramel more!

This mash of flavours worked. Get heady on Rum and Raisin, indulge in Salted Caramel and then refresh via Peach Mango. Hahaha!

Asian Kitchen Lu Gang Xiao Zhen (鹿港小鎮) @ ION Orchard

Located at B3 of ION Orchard. Small and compact place but still managed to walk-in without reservations despite the other restaurants at B2 needing to queue for at least half hour.

menu

Was in a group of four, so we ordered some dishes to go along with steamed rice. Ordered a medium portion of 'guitar' duck (original flavour). What's a 'guitar' duck? Apparently, it meant 'pipa' (琵琶). Anyway, it's roasted duck. Other dishes that we called were the four season beans with salted egg, deep fried beancurd with some vegetables, a'reunion' omelette and sweet and sour pork. All the rest of the dishes (except the duck) came in small portion.

This place serves ice water. To order, just write it down on the order chit, and pass it to the service staff. Someone will then come over and recite the order once again for confirmation.

chili condiments (not very spicy)

guitar duck (medium)

tender meat

The duck was nicely tender and not gamey. The medium portion is good for four pax.

french beans with salted egg

tiny chili padi's lurking, so be careful

tofu with some vege

looks healthy

sweet and sour pork

closer view

reunion omelette

got prawns and taiwanese sausages underneath

The dishes were enjoyable. The 'reunion' omelette were really thin and it had fresh prawns (just slightly cooked) hidden inside. Seasoning was agreeable to our tastebuds, and somehow the portion worked for the four of us (three ladies and one guy). But then, our guy friend needed an extra bowl of rice.

It's fuss free dinner (without having to queue too long for seats), pleasant tasting food and quick service.

Paid about $76 for all the above (inclusive taxes and drinks: 2 evians, and iced milk tea and soya bean).