Sol & Luna - Weekend Brunch @ I-Spring

Someone wanted a western brunch, and so we came. Located at I-Spring (CapitaSpring Building), one need to inform the staff at the building lobby before taking the lift up to Level 17.

Sol & Luna appeared to be well-staffed and we were led to our table quickly. There's a time limit for each table and its turn-around time is about 1.5 hours.

brunch at Sol & Luna

latte @$6

Passion De-Light @$14

I had the Passion De-Light cocktail, but was surprised by its taste. Though it was stated as having vodka as the base, this drink was really light with little to no alcohol taste. More sour than sweet and tasted of cucumber and citrus.

ZQ got herself the Parma Ham Eggs Benny, while Jeff got a Sol and Luna Big Pan breakfast. 

Parma Ham Eggs Benedict @$18

S&L Big Pan @$27

The Big Pan breakfast had Salsiccia Sausage, grilled Roma tomatoes, avocado, sauteed mushrooms, and toasted sourdough.

Darren opted for a pasta dish and we stole a bite. I think it was delicious and unlike the typical oil-based aglio, its sauce seemed somewhat unexpected for an aglio olio. The sauce had a creamy texture and was so darn tasty! 

House-Made Spaghetti ‘Aglio Olio’ @$24

We also chose a meat dish to try. The lamb shoulder. If you're afraid of the gamey/funky lamb smell, this dish was done superbly at Sol & Luna and had none of the gamey smell nor taste. Instead, its meat was tender and had a gentle mild flavour. Loved the broccolini and those juicy tomatoes.

12 Hours Slow Cooked Welsh Lamb Shoulder on The Bone @$36

And we ended the meal with dessert. Tried the Chestnut Mandarin Mont Blanc and the Lemon Meringue Pie.

Lemon Meringue Pie @$10

Overall, the dessert here was rather sweet. Personally, I prefer the Lemon Meringue Pie here as it was zesty and quite a nice looking tart.

yums

It was funny, how we were wondering if the staff brought us the wrong quantity of the Mont Blanc, as two pieces appeared on the plate when it was served. The staff explained that the order was correct and it is two pieces per order.

Chestnut Mandarin Orange Mont Blanc @$13

The chestnut paste was 'melting' and hence, it's visual was just disappointing. Taste-wise, it was sweeter than the lemon meringue' and I didn't enjoy it.

Expect to spend about $47 per pax for a 2-course meal with a drink.

Sol & Luna

Address: 88 Market St, #17-01, CapitaSpring 048948

Website: http://solandluna.sg/

Contact: 8031 4316

Business Hours:

Mon - Thur:  11am–12am

Fri:  11am–12.30am

Sat - Sun: 10am–12am

Sawadee Thai Cuisine @ Tan Quee Lan St

My colleague wanted to eat Thai food, so it was decided on Sawadee Thai Cuisine that we previously passed by on the way to Wan Po Tea Shop. Take note that there will be a $100 deposit required to confirm your reservation. 

shop front

Staff was friendly and one could peruse the online menu by scanning the QR code.

scan QR code for the menu

table setup

My friends decided on the items and we went for medium plates as per recommended by the staff, as we were in a party of 5.

Was surprised when our drinks arrived. Some of the glasses looked like there wasn't enough tea to go around. This was made even more jarring when one out of the 4 milk tea had more tea than others. Hmm. Other than that, the tea tasted good.

Thai Milk Tea @$6

Thai Glass Noodles Salad (Yum Woon Sen - medium) @ $24

Tom Yum Soup (Tom Yum Talay) @$28

The glass noodles salad portion looked a tad small for a medium. Served warm, and I liked that it wasn't too sweet. 

The tom yum soup was served in a small pot and it was portion out to the 5 of us by the service staff, automatically. A small sip with a big dose of sourness! Tasty, flavourful and definitely a wake-me-up! If you like really sour, this is it!

Thai Green Curry Chicken @$16

Am surprised that there wasn't a medium size option for the Thai Green Curry Chicken. So delicious, that curry! Pour it over the rice, and that mouthful tasted heavenly! Must try here.

Spicy Steamed Seabass @$38

Didn't enjoy the seabass as the sauce was a tad underwhelming in terms of overall flavours but overwhelming in its sourness. The fish was of a good size though.

Thai Stuffed Chicken Wings @$5 per piece

The stuffed chicken wings were served piping hot and loved that it was meaty. Didn't taste like it had a lot of stuffings. Instead, it tasted like a good regular fried wing. Hmm.

Sawadee Thai Cuisine

Addresss: 9 Tan Quee Lan St, Singapore 188098

Website: https://www.sawadee-cuisine.com/

Contact: 6238 6833

Business Hours:

Daily: 11am–2:30pm, 6–10pm

[Tasting] Guriru グリル @ 2 College Road

Guriru (or 'grill') is neatly tucked inside 2 College Road. It offers diners an alfresco dining ambiance complete with swimming pool view, perfect for us to unwind after a hard day's work. Some may even say that this place has the vacation vibes!

follow the sign

dining by the pool

view from our table

Guriru is a charcoal-grilled seafood concept by Chef Teppei Yamashita . Its menu is inspired by the Japanese Hamayaki (浜焼き). In the traditional sense, Hamayaki usually have freshly caught seafood broiled at a beach. While it isn't an exact match, the relaxed and happy vibes of Hamayaki are carried over to Guriru, and the restaurant do receive fresh locally caught seafood as well as importing some other premium seafood from Japan, such as the oysters and beef.

To order, simply scan the QR code that from the slip of paper placed on your table.

How about we start off the meal with some oysters from Hyogo? Raw oysters served with homemade ponzu sauce. Our friendly service staff, Berna brought out the tabasco sauce for us even without us asking for it.

Hyogo Oysters @ $19 (half dozen)

White wine works well with seafood, but of course, feel free to select your tipple of choice. While there is no Happy Hour implemented at Guriru, the current prices of the drinks are reasonable.

White Wine (Gold Trees Sauvignon Blanc) @$12, or Sake (Nambujin Tokubetsu Junmai) @$15 per glass

Yuzu Highball @$15

Aki-Momiji (lychee, lime, soda) @$8

One can never get enough of oysters, so we got the grilled oysters as well. One could opt for butter garlic, or simply shoyu sauce for the grilled oysters.

grilled Hyogo oysters

grilled Hyogo oysters (garlic butter, shoyu)

If you prefer something more substantial, meaning with carbs, and you still love Hyogo oysters, I'd say... go for the Guriru Oyster Rice. Portion is enough to be comfortably shared amongst 4 pax to savor its flavours. Slow-cooked japanese rice with special sauce and topped with Hyogo oysters. Good wholesome savoury flavours. Very likeable but do leave some stomach space for other items!

Guriru Oyster Rice @$18

For typical Japanese izakaya snacks, we tried the recommendations from Berna.

Crispy Salmon Skin @$9

Eihire (dried stingray fin) @$12

Fugu Mirin Boshi (marinated puffer fish slices) @$14

Kawa Ebi (tossed in seasoning) @$10

Salmon skin was served warm and it was indeed crispy as its name implied. Quite shioks to hear the crunch when you munch on it. The fried small prawns (kawa ebi) was addictive as well. One can't help but to continuously pop one after another into the mouth.

The eihire and fugu mirin boshi at Guriru, is not those super crisp types. It felt 'meatier', with strong flavours and goes well with the drinks.

favourite snack of the night

Let's get more food from the Hamayaki Live Charcoal Grill! How about some good sized black tiger prawns, shishamo, whole squid and kurobuta pork belly? Yes please.

Black Tiger Prawns @$6.50 (1 piece) / $25 (5 pieces)

Shishamo @$9 (5 pieces)

Whole Squid @$16

Kurobuta Pork Belly @$12

All the grill items were done beautifully. My favourites are the Whole Squid and Kurobuta Pork Belly. The squid flavours was subtle and mild, with tender texture. None of those rubbery nonsense. 

The pork belly did not disappoint. We learnt that the meat was slow-cooked for 4 hours before getting its time on the grill. The meat was wonderfully tender was yet still holds firm when picked-up with the chopsticks. Must try.

closer view of deliciousness

There's pizza on the menu too!

Prosciutto Pizza @$21

thin crust pizza

We also sampled some special items prepared by Chef Teppei; Grilled Hitachi Beef and Foie Gras ice-cream.

Hitachi Beef

The beef texture was so soft, and tender. Such delicate texture. The sauce is strongly flavoured so a tiny dab of it will do. Seems like the sauce has some spicy element to it.

To complete the meal, we enjoyed the hot and cold, savoury and sweet combination of foie gras vanilla cinnamon ice-cream. Do eat it right after it is served as it melts pretty quickly. Unusual and interesting. Could be something that you either will like or will hate it.

Foie Gras Ice-Cream

Overall, the food was enjoyable and service was excellent with staff always moving about to top-up the water, to clear off empty plates or simply to enquire if diners need to add any other orders.

Alfresco dining has its plus points as well as downside. For me, if the day gets too hot, I do prefer air-conditioned dining. I suppose an ice-cold beer would be of some help? Hahaa! But on cooler days, it is pretty nice to dine with the pool view. Feels like a staycation, well...almost.

Thank you Hence for the invite and Eunice for hosting the tasting. Special thanks to Chef Teppei for feeding us with delicious food and not forgetting the lovely staff of Guriru.

Guriru グリル 

Address: 2 College Rd, Level 1, Singapore 169850

Website: https://www.guriru.sg/

Reservation: https://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/restaurant/guriru

Contact: 9010 7020

Business Hours:

Closed on Sundays.

Mon - Thur: 12–10:30pm

Fri - Sat: 12-11:30pm

Beast and Butterflies - 2022 @ 90 Robertson Quay

Not a stranger to this place, read more from this post. Went back there in May 2022 with Tracy, Hence and Ivan. Our visit was more memorable as Fiona really made sure we had a good time there. Thank you!

It is quite obvious that my favourites there are the Hokkien Mee and Pork Knuckles. This time round, I wanted to try the lamb rack, so we got that too. Also took the chance to enjoy their weekend 2 hours free-flow cocktail with top-up of $25++. You could select the Mimosa, Aperol or Sangria. I tried the Sangria and I do agree with Fiona that the concoction is delicious!

Claypot Hokkien Mee @$14

Crispy Pork Knuckle @$22 (half portion)

Is it just me or the portion of the pork knuckles seemed to have decreased? Hahaa, I think I could do a full portion next time! Crackly skin and moist meat. Hokkien mee is as flavourful as I remembered it albeit it had lesser crispy pork lard but I am sure if you request for more, it will likely be acceded.

Lamb Rack (300gm) @$48

Lamb Rack was the most expensive item but it was pretty good and we liked it for its succulent texture. Well seasoned too, so each bite was precious. No additional sauce was required.

We were kept happy with our cocktail. Mood was light and jovial with a touch of sweetness, and Fiona did check on us to see if there's anything else that we needed.

Sangria

Of course, we ended our meal with dessert. Not just one or two, but four!

(from left to right) Molten Chocolate Cake, Apple Pie, Lemon Tart 

Pandan Panna Cotta @$12

The Pandan Panna Cotta has that distinctive pandan fragrance and the rich sweetness from the gula melaka sauce. It was wobbly and not too dense.

The Molten Chocolate Cake, I just love digging into all the chocolatey gooey goodness for that decadent bite. 

Molten Chocolate Cake @$17

For the apple pie, I liked the version here because it is not too sweet. Lovely to enjoy by yourself or with friends.

Apple Pie @$10

The lemon tart was lovely too with some tart/tangy/sweetness from the lemon flavours and to be honest, I think you can find something that you will like.

Lemon Tart @$8

Thank you Tracy, Hence and Ivan for the birthday treat. Am glad to have all of you in my life to enjoy the delicious food and our adventurous impromptu travels. 

Special shoutout to Fiona and team at Beast and Butterflies.

Beast and Butterflies

Address: M Social Singapore 90 Robertson Quay Singapore 238259

Website: https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/singapore/m-social-singapore/beast-and-butterflies/

Contact: 9183 9420