Modesto's @ Orchard Parade Hotel

We ate once before a few years back at the Modesto's at Vivocity. I'd even forgotten about it until Jian mentioned is whilst we were deciding where to eat, as we actually wanted to eat at Esmirada, but couldn't get a table. I cannot remember what we ate, but he said it was some pizza with scamorza or something or the other.

Anyway, we were seated inside. Now, inside is a far cry from outside. Outside (al fresco) is very casual & a bit haphazard & is really more for people-watching & having a beer or something, but inside is quiet, grand & makes me feel like I'm in a fine dining restaurant. It's great for dates. Hehe. Oh yar, we were on a date mah. Husband & wife dinner date is still a date, you know.


Bread with olive oil. Complimentary, I think? It was plonked on the table soon after we arrived.

Insalata Di Avocado ($16.50). Is yummy.

Penne Alfredo Con Funghi ($21). Don't know why shitake mushrooms & pasta would cost over $16, but oh well. It was nice enough so I guess I shouldn't complain. Well, I'll only complain about the price. I think the portion was quite substantial though. So maybe I won't complain. :9

Verdure Pizza ($19.50). Thin crusted pizza, yummy also. I think I've gone off pepper though, but it's not their fault there are peppers on it. I didn't know I'd gone off peppers yet. I wish there were more mushrooms & eggplant though.

We didn't order any drinks as the drinks didn't seem like such a good deal. Luckily so, as we were STUFFED by the end of the meal. We were actually already full by the time we finished the pasta.

This little stowaway came along to make sure we didn't eat any lamb.

Oh, I must emphasise on their service. All the staff maintain eye contact with you, I noticed. Everytime I said 'Thank you', they would stop, LOOK at you & say 'You're welcome'. At most other places, they just charge off, maybe with a cursory nod of the head or something. It DOES make a difference. Heh.

Tom's Diner @ Hong Leong Gardens

Hong Leong Gardens is a soon-to-be torn down block of old apartments. Pity, really. I grew up walking past this place almost everyday. Kind of like it. The floor tiles are very 70s retro.


We've eaten here twice already. The portions are generous. The first time, our food was way salty & we told them so. No air-con here though, so try to sit under the fan. Outside isn't too warm either, since it seems to always rain in the afternoon nowadays.


My Club Sandwich with Fries & Coleslaw ($10.80). Not bad, really. It's nothing to shout about, but it's tasty & fills the tummy. One thing is that they are not stingy with the ingredients, which is good. Nothing like a pathetically filled sandwich, like 7-11's to spoil your day. I would SO go back for the club sandwich. I kind of like it more than I should. Heh.

Jian's mushroom pasta. I think he requested for linguine, but she said linguine would take like half an hour to prepare, unless he wanted penne. I didn't really get it? Pasta takes a short while to boil, doesn't it? Maybe they had a portion of penne left & just wanted to egg him into eating that one, without wasting. Anyhow, the taste was not bad really. Will leave Jian to fill in the price (something along the line of $12, I think).

Jian had 1 or 2 Hoegarden pints. Can't remember how many. Maybe 1. A Hoegaarden pint costs $12 here all night! Super!!!! I want to come here & drink Hoe's all night after I pop!

Picnic by the Poolside @ Dracoholic's

We were in the mood for outdoors, so we prepared food & drinks & toted everything downstairs to the poolside. We even used REAL wine glasses & plates, as opposed to plastic & paper. Well, except for our forks. We used plastic forks.

Satellite prepared a smoked salmon pasta salad with sun dried tomatoes & capers. Served cold.

I prepared the platter using what Dracoholic had in the fridge. Anti-clockwise from left: ham (either breakfast or picnic), cherry tomatoes, cornishorns, smoked duck (yes the same one I used for the Orange & Duck Salad), parmesan cheese, comte cheese, shiraz cheese & goat cheese.

This guacamole is quite good... although we did not make it ourselves...

... This is the packaging it came in & it was not cheap. It's $7+ for this, which includes 2 servings. as you can see, one serving is not a lot.


In future, I really MUST take pictures of our accompanying wine/drinks.

Bakerzin @ Jurong Point

Last Sunday was our third time to Bakerzin @ Jurong Point. The first 2 times, I remember I had the Balsamico sausage pasta, which I was pretty happy with, & the mushroom pasta (linguine al funghi or something), which I had again on Sunday. Jian had the Carbonara (OK, for this one, I am not too sure, & he cannot remember himself) & Tuna respectively. He wasn't very impressed with the tuna, I remember.

Bloody mary soup. It's just tomato soup. Noting special. We KNEW it was tomato soup already, but the taste didn't wow us.

Jian's Lamb Stew Pasta. When it arrived, I commented that it looked like chinese noodles. He agreed & said it looked like noodles from a zhi char stall. I was pretty turned off by the presentation, actually, as it seemed like it was stir-fried with sliced lamb & those horrid patterned-cut carrots. I was SO turned off that I didn't want a taste, especially when Jian seemed disappointed with it. & he was, as I asked him after his first mouthful.

My mushroom pasta was the reason why we came back here. I like the creamy sauce with melted grated parmesan cheese in it. The only thing is that recently, I have been turned off by garlic & onions, so I shoved the garlic aside. I KNOW they slice the mushrooms thinly but they put a lot of slices in the dish to make it look like there is a lot, but I guess I am OK with it. I like that for the two times that I have had this pasta, the linguine has never failed to be al dente.

The only thing isthat there was no salt & pepper on the tables. Maybe you have to take it yourself from somewhere. Also, we happened to choose a table with no cutlery on it, but by the time we got the soup, our cutlery had not arrived.

We spent almost $40 on this meal. Better to come here on weekdays, when there is the $10.90++ pasta promotion. It includes a drink.

La Nona

Don't judge a book by it's cover. As in Don't judge a book by the wonderful looking menu and the nice tasting bread.

In general, La Nona was decent, but I would have much preferred to make my way back to La Braceria Pizza and Grill. I realized that most of the time reading reviews off of hungrygowhere may not bring you to a good restaurant. All taste buds are build differently I guess.


For an antipasto platter, I feel they need to work harder. This is a very normal platter that can be made at home. At least, they didn't need to be stingy with ingredients. I think Satellite can any day make a better platter than what you see here.

The pizza was not as delicious as La Braceria due to the lack of cheese. It wasn't as juicy and succulent; the sauce in general was weak.




I'm not a big fan of risotto, and am extremely picky when it comes to this dish because I don't really enjoy it in the first place. Most places do not get the doneness for the grains right. For me, what makes a good risotto is when the rice grain, although soft, will pop in your mouth when chewed. Secondly, the taste must be there, some risottos, you can just taste the cheese that is in the dish. You should be able to taste the infused main ingredients, i.e. mushrooms risotto, you should be able to taste the flavours of the mushroom, not only a hint of mushroom covered by the heavy creaminess of the cheese.

All in all I don't think I would go back there again. Too pricey for normal italian food.

Infuzi

Finally I remembered to take pictures at Infuzi, however, they came out ugly looking.. will try to ask my cousin to pass me the pictures another night.

You can actually ask for a special menu created for you at a higher price if you are particular in what you want to eat ... This picture of the fresh lobster is from another night where I requested to have a boston lobster steamed in a butter sauce ... yum delicious ... perfectly tender and the butter was nicely rich!

For the dinner I had with my cousin, I had a very nice steak ... I didn't order the Pan-Seared AustralianWagyu Rib-eye (Marbling 8+) with Red Wine sauce because when I had it previously, it wasn't what I expected ... when I ate it ... I was thinking ... I can go buy a piece of waygu at mediya and cook it myself ... perhaps the piece of meat was a bit thin for me .. hahahahah

I had the Grilled U.S Angus Rib-eye with Pearl Onion Sauce & Parsley Butter and my cousin had Duo of Kurobuta Pork;Pan-Roasted Rack with Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes with Chorizo, Braised Belly with Mirin & Rice Vinegar Reduction . My cousin greatly enjoyed the dish... I will try to get you a picture of that ... my pictures came out awfully dark and it just looks like a few blocks on a plate.

On a separate occasion, I went and had the set meal ... the newest addition to one of their set meals is a nice prawn pasta in curry sauce; I honestly think that they should include this on their menu as a standard entree.

Carpaccio of Yellow-fin Tunawith Arugula Salad,Anchovy Mayonnaise & Lime
Dressing
Caviar Pan-Fried Duck Liverwith Duck Sausage Confit,Onion Compote & Mesclun Salad
Prawn Pasta tossed inLight Curried Cream & Aged Parmesan
Sorbet
Grilled U.S Angus Tenderloin of Beef with Mushroom & Bacon Sauce
Slow-Baked Chocolate withPeanut Mousse & Berries' Puree
Coffee or Tea

Infuzi has a few good dishes ... the Maine Lobster Pasta with Lobster Oil & Japanese Seaweed, the Seared Hokkaido Scallops, Pan-Roasted Mud Crab Cake, Pan-Fried Duck Liver with Port Reduction

I think Satellite has some photos from Infuzi also ... but I don't think she will ever upload them ...

Good Old Home Cooking

Simple meals to warm the heart! Note that these were cooked on separate occasions ... I am not that crazy to eat all these things in one night!


Szechuan Frog Leg Porridge ... I will place the recipe up when and if I remember how I cook this dish! But it's a great mid-night snack! Satellite and I enjoy eating this dish lots! Woops, I forgot to take a picture of the porridge.



Sumdumful, Jian and myself had a simple meal one night when we were all lazing around in the house and didn't want to step out. Steamed Herbal Drunken Prawns, Steamed Cod Fish Cantonese Tyle, and Bak Choy with Garlic.


Sumdumful, Jian and myself eating a simply cooked western styled dinner ... no salad cause Miss Satellite hasn't been around to make our wonderful salads!


This is cod fish with a lemon white wine sauce and red wine tomato pasta with sausages. By the way, they were my guinea pigs, as I'd never done up a lemon white wine sauce before ... there was salmon also that night but I didn't get a good picture of it!


Oh and I definitely cannot forget the weekly soup ... If I don't have soup I feel like I am missing something ... Home made soup is great for the health and good for your complexion ... best of all when you make it at home, you can be assured that there is no msg! Radish and carrot soup with red dates ... great for our kidneys and livers!

Cook of the Day

After a nice day of mah jong and chilling with my cousin and family friends, they were invited down to try out my cooking ... The only reason why I cooked is because our family friend will never let us pay for a meal when we go out ... so this was probably the only way we can treat back!

Anyway I cooked the typical, roasted chicken, pasta, onion soup with chicken, and pork chops (first time). The meal actually took me about 1 hour to prepare and it took us about 30 minutes to buy all the items we needed.

Recipes ... hahahaha I think you can find them online ... no big deal; Fact is I don't usually remember how I cook my things ... I'm pretty lucky ... usually it just works out pretty decent!

Look Look, The Chicken is Pooping Grass!!!

Oh yah, and I forgot the portobello mushrooms.

And then the whole table full of food ... so much, so much we couldn't finish! I think I remembered daboing it for Jian to eat... HeeHee ... think he had the prawn pasta ... not sure if Satellite ate any though...

Da Mario's not so Fantastic

60 Robertson Quay #01-10 The Quayside
Tel: 6235 7623

Recently went down to Da Mario's to see what all the rave is about since so many of my friends asked me to go down ...

My review ... it really is average.

We went there and it was full of people, service was a bit slow and I had to do the help my self stint to get my chilli flakes. I wouldn't say that they are overly attentive ... perhaps it was a busy night ... but when isn't it busy?

Antipasti:

Breaded Mozzarella Sticks - $10 - Deep fried breaded mozzarella sticks with arrabiata sauce. I don't think anyone can go wrong with this ... unless of course the restaurant served it with maybe ketchup or something ... but then of course I think some people who love ketchup would probably love the combination!

We also had the Carpaccio di Manzo - $19 - Thin slices of raw beef tenderloin on a bed of rocket salad seasoned with fresh lemon, extra virgin olive oil and Grana Pando cheese, shaved. I think it would have tasted a bit nicer if they had added some sea salt on it and perhaps some balsamic. Of course that is the way I prefer it!

On we go to our main course - of course I had to have the carbonara - $16 ... I didn't quite like it cause I prefer my cabonara's super rich and tasty, I think it makes a difference if you use cream cheese versus Parmigiano-Reggiano and Pecorino Romano.

We also ordered a Sole Mio Pizza - $22 - Tomato, Cheese, Rocket Salad, Parma Ham and Shaved Parmesan Cheese. We felt that the base of the pizza was way too soft ... The texture kind of tasted like it wasn't fully cooked yet, but when we looked around ... everyone's pizza was just as white! Could be the type of Flour they use or the technique they use to make the dough. But to be fair, they were extremely generous on their toppings! It felt more like a salad with bread, than a pizza.

Dun mind the pictures .. was way too hungry so had to eat first!

Porto Romano

Well, we were supposed to go down to Restoran Yu Ai, but unfortunately we didn't know it closed so early, so we headed back to Mont Kiara for some mediterranean food.

Well of course I couldn't resist ordering the french onion soup, and it seriously wasn't french onion soup ... they should've just called it onion soup. There was a whole bunch of oregano and italian herbs in the soup that Onion Soup would have been more appropriate of a name for it.

I had the Lamb Shank, no complains here; it was pretty decent and tender, the portions was huge. I should have ordered salad rather than the side to be a pasta. Oh I asked for some tobascco for the pasta but they didn't have any; what they do have though is their own blend of hot sauce...which basically taste like a mix of chilli padi, vinegar and other spices.

My cousin went ahead and ordered the Paella Risotto. Actually, it was pretty decent... it's not like the usual Risotto where it's all mushy like gruel or porridge.

Well, head on over to check it out. Supposedly they have another outlet in town.

The Olive @ Genting Hotel

Ok ok ... maybe I am too picky ... but although the restaurant is good ... I wouldn't say it was fantastic, seeing that it is a signature award-winning restaurant!


The better looking image is from Jules eating guide! See the difference in photography!

Mind the pictures ... back then I was really trying to figure out how to use this phone ... but now I am just pure lazy to switch the settings around. My cousin says I should go for photography class! Hurhur ... what I really want is a professional digital camera ... anyone wanna buy for me ... the one I want ah ... is like a couple thousand dollars .... muahahahahahhahaha ... I'm waiting!!!!!

The only things I found good were, 1 the antipasto plate, 2 the mushroom soup, 3 the steaks (unfortunately, they forgot to give me good grade olive oil and balsamic to dip my t-bone steak in, although it didn't need it)

The rest liked the portobello mushrooms ... but I found the serving a bit pathetic!

I think Vikki ordered the pasta with clams ... she found it a bit on the tangy side cause they used a lemon tomato sauce type base ... but of course sometimes I feel it doesn't make a difference because Vik loves to use Tobasco sauce!

Miss Fang Tai had the Squid ink pasta, she found the pasta a bit over cooked ... but the sauce was yummy on the jalat side of things.

Daniel's Ribeye steak was nice also!

To be fair, I got to admit, by the time the pizza came, I was a bit too full and couldn't really taste the pizza ... if I had not pigged out so quickly, I think I would still be able to give a fair review of the pizza.... hahahaha