Wine Connection Tapas Bar & Bistro Robertson Walk (Part II)

Visited on a Friday night, and outdoor seating was full. The hostess was helpful in getting us indoor seats instead. As usual, the place was noisy. You'll either have to shout just to talk to someone just right in front of you. Or, couples would lean closely and whisper directly into each other's ears.

bottles and bottles of wine

Ordered a tiramisu and a warm tapas of BBQ sausages to share while waiting for our friends to arrive.

tiny cup of tiramisu

The dessert tasted more like mousse. Didn't detect any alcohol in it though. Only the center (and that's a very very small area) had the layering, due to its narrow container base.

inside view

For drinks, I had Barbar (@$9++).

Barbar makes a sweet thirst quencher

nice hue with 8% alcohol level

Here's the BBQ sausages (@$5++) from the warm tapas selection.

was it the sausages or the sauce that's homemade?

actually, I have no idea what meat went in there...

The sausages were kind of smallish. It didn't taste too bad but just not what I like. The sauce was not much help either.

Probably the outdoor seats were in higher demand as the noise level outside can be considered lower than the indoor area. We were at this place because the Wine Connection Bistro was fully packed and they don't practice waiting list. However, the other place began to ease out when it was over 11pm. The only catch, no more food at Wine Connection Bistro at that hour.

Sugisawa @ Robertson Quay, Riverside View

While looking for this place, we had walked past it unknowingly. Kind of easy to miss. It's actually located next to Shunjuu's and opposite of Harry's.

This place has quirky service level. When we first reached the restaurant at about 730pm, we were informed that all the tables inside were taken. A quick glance revealed many many empty tables. Of course, it didn't matter as alfresco dining works for us as well. Then the waitress told us to sit on any table that we liked, and so we did. Just 5 minutes later, another lady (boss?) came out and told us that our table actually was a 'reserved' table. Obviously, they do not practice placing 'reserved' signs anywhere. But perhaps the indication was, just don't sit on any tables that has sauce plate, paper towel and chopsticks already set up on the table. Probably those were the 'reservation' signs.

Anyway, we moved tables and just a minute of two later, we were told that we can move back to our original table because apparently the party that reserved the table didn't want it anymore. Err, no thanks.

menu cover

I think most locals go there for their bento. Quite reasonably priced between $16++ to $20++. My friend ordered the Sakana Teriyaki Bento, and the fish given was cod fish. Nicely priced at $19++. I wasn't feeling that hungry, so ordered a saba shioyaki (grilled mackerel with salt).

beer and lime juice

cold beer on a warm night

too bad the beer went lukewarm quite fast on a non-chilled glass

The food came pretty fast. First to arrive, the saba shioyaki. It looked nice with glistening skin with slight char. But unfortunately, the fish wasn't that good.

saba shioyaki

Next, the Sakana Teriyaki Bento.

sakana teriyaki bento (codfish)

That piece of codfish that came along with the bento was quite generous in size. Pinched half a fish, and enjoyed the plump, melt in your mouth texture. Yums.

yummy codfish

salmon and tuna slices

The total cost of the meal was $47 for two pax.

Lao Beijing @ Velocity Novena Square

Located at Level 2 of Novena Square. Take note that the dinner opening hours is after 6pm.

interior

ala-carte menu

condiments

Ordered two items from appetisers; sliced pork with garlic sauce and chili beef tendons. For mains, my friend ordered lamb and dumplings. Tea was counted per head but served in a teapot. Had eight treasure tea (unsweetened).

wet towel was complimentary but do refuse the peanut if you don't want it

Service was brisk, and had some difficulty understanding the accent of the waitress.

looks pretty, right? (八宝茶)

The 'treasures' were actually just add-ons in the tea cup. The pot of the tea tasted quite normal and no 'treasures' in the pot. Hmm. Oh well, quite liked the mild taste. Unlike some other Chinese restaurants where the service crew might come and pour the tea for you once in a while, this was not practiced here.

The appetisers came next, and they're basically cold dishes. The tendons looked different from the picture in the menu because I don't remember seeing it being sliced so thinly.

sliced pork with garlic sauce and beef tendons

sliced beef tendons

sliced pork with garlic sauce (蒜泥白肉)

The sliced pork was a little tough, but overall had a pleasant taste. Felt that the beef tendons were practically quite tasteless though.

Next was the dumplings. First impression was "wow.. so small." I think I'm quite used to a slightly larger version of the shui jiao (水饺) and probably expected it to look like an unfried version of guotie (锅贴) . My friend commented that it looked more like a yuan bao (元宝). But quite liked this small parcel of delight as the ingredients tasted fresh and not dried out. But more pork and chives than shrimps though. Best eaten with the ginger shreds and vinegar.

chives, pork and shrimp dumplings (三鲜水饺)

The dish that made its grand entrance towards the end of our meal, was the lamb dish. Our polite waitress did inform us that this dish would take a longer time to arrive so we were forewarned.

forgot what's the name of this lamb dish (@$18++)

mint sauce

yummy looking

The lamb does smell gamey but the chopped stalk (was it thin asparagus?), red chilies, fried garlic and shallots bits were good. The meat was actually quite tender and the mint does help to mask out abit of the smell. It was oily too.

The meal costs about $50 for 2 pax. On hindsight, we could've come for the high tea buffet (@$18.80++ 3-5.30pm) instead since most of our dishes can be found in the buffet menu except the lamb. Hahaa!