Mandarin Oriental Lounge (Singapore)

We were very very lucky to get a very good rate at the Mandarin Oriental Singapore. We always wanted to stay at this hotel ever since it opened several years ago but the sky high price kept us away. With our stay at the Mandarin Oriental, we were upgraded to the corporate floor. Included in the upgrade is the use of the exclusive 'Corporate Lounge'.

The bedroom is where we slept; but the concept for the lounge is that the lounge is the center of all of our activities...check in/ out, high-tea, champagne & snacks and where our breakfast is served.


The lounge has huge windows that gives spectacular views of the Singaporean skyline. The lounge has huge sofas as well as dining tables & chairs and private meetings rooms. At the lounge, this is where we could relax after a long day of shopping with several glasses of champagne & hot snacks.


The decor is a mixture of dark & light wood, glass and metal. Since it is the Mandarin Oriental, the design has antique and modern Asian touches.


The hot snacks chance every day. This day; the choices for example were, crispy pork, satay, fish wrapped in pandan leaves, etc. Everything went very well with our champagne (actually, several glasses of it).


The lounge is a great idea. The service is friendly and very attentive. They treat you very special. Hope we can afford to stay at the Mandarin Oriental on our next visit to Singapore.

Jam Coffee Shop (Ion, Singapore)

The latest very modern, very enormous and very chic shopping mall in Singapore opened so we wanted to see what the latest buzz was about. We actually never thought a city like Singapore could handle another huge shopping mall, but leave to the Singaporeans to make it work.


After lunch and walking around Orchard Rd. We wanted a coffee. We were amazed that every single coffee shop in Singapore was full. I am not joking!!! Every coffee shop in every shopping mall was full. We even stopped at the latest & chic tea room and there was at least an hour wait for a table.

We finally ended up at latest chic and enormous Ion Mall. We went to look at their new book shop and noticed that they had a very nice coffee shop called Jam. Surprise, surprise, it was full. We decided to look around the book shop but at the same time, I kept a hawk's eye on the coffee shop to see if anyone was leaving. When I noticed that a couple was leaving, I immediately flew over to the table in lighting speed.

The coffee shop is very nice since there are very large windows to let in the sunlight as well as give nice views of the city life. This is rare because most coffee shops in most of the shopping malls have no windows and your only view are the shoppers.


The first order was an iced latte.


The second order was hot coffee (which was soooo hot that my friend could not drink it for several minutes).


Loads of yummy pastries to choose but I was strong and did not order anything.

The staff was friendly and but the service is a bit slow. However; we could cannot blame the staff, the weekend crowd can be a problem.

www.ionorchard.com

Fluffy Cakes (Takashimaya, Singapore)

My mother was living in Singapore many years ago and when I used to visit her; there was a cake that I could not resist. I used to have it everyday. So now, whenever I return to Singapore, I have to stop by the only place I consider that makes the best cakes in Singapore (unless someone can tell me where else I can go for better ones).


The place I now go to is the food court in the basement of the Takashimaya Mall on Orchard Rd. You cannot miss the women who specialise in blending, pouring, stuffing and baking these delicate cakes.


The cakes come in two different shapes; the first one is in a shape of a fish. The fish cakes are stuffed with chocolate and laughing cow cheese (my favourite).


Because so many people stop by and buy these delicious cakes. The cakes are never sitting around long enough to get cold. The women are constantly making cakes. Whenever; I ordered the cakes, they are hot, slightly crispy on the outside yet fluffy, soft and tender on the inside.


The second shape is the round shape and they are stuffed with either red bean or crushed peanut & sugar (my other favourite).


I always buy one peanut (round shape) and one cheese cake (fish shape). Here is the fish shaped cake with cheese before I stuffed it into my mouth. Every time I eat these wonderful cakes, they brings memories of the old days in Singapore.

Located in Ngee Ann City; Orchard Rd.

www.takashimaya-sin.com

Shimbashi Soba (Paragon, Singapore)

We had plans to have lunch at Din Tai Fung at the Paragon Mall on Orchard Rd. Din Tai Fung is world famour for their dumplings. Once we arrived at Paragon and went to the basement where all the restaurants are located; we had a SHOCK! There was a queue of people waiting to eat at Din Tai Fung. There were about a hundred people waiting and it looked like it would take two hours to get a table. No matter how good those dumplings are suppose to be; there was no way I was waiting two hours to eat lunch. I was STARVING!.

We did notice a restaurant that is also world famous for making fresh soba noodles. That sounded and looked very interesting since we do not have anything like that in Bangkok. So, we took a very important decision...let's eat freshly made soba for lunch.


We were very lucky to get a table in one minute, since there was no queue when we arrived and people just payed their bill. The design & decor of the restaurant is minimalist and modern. Very Japanese in this concept. The only negative aspect is that; we still felt like we were in the basement of a shopping mall.

The menu is extensive with so many choices of Japanese food and especially the soba section. Too many to choose from and they all looked so good. We had to ask the Japanese restaurant manager for suggestions.


The first dish that was suggested was fresh soba with duck slices in broth. The soba noodles were thin, light and so so good. The duck slices were tender & juicy. The broth was rich and had a lovely duck flavour. The combination of the soba, duck and broth was truly yummy.


The second suggested dish was cold soba with variety of tempura & cold egg on top (top selling dish, according to the manager). The soba was tender & soft. The tempura were deep fried to a golden brown and were very crispy but tender inside. The tempura was a mix of diced shrimp, squid, mushrooms and vegetables. The cold egg added more flavour. Another great dish.


The soba master skillfully kneading, rolling & cutting the fresh soba noodles. The poor guy, I felt like he was some strange species behind a glass cage for all the spectators to watch. However; it was very interesting to watch the man make the soba from scratch and a few minutes later, we were eating them. Amazing.


Overall; I am FAN! I love the idea of having soba made from scratch. On top of it; they tasted wonderful. The staff was very friendly and efficient. A great place to get a table during the weekend lunch rush hour at a reasonable time instead of waiting two freaking hours. We definately will return to Shimbashi Soba when we return to Singapore.

#B1-41, 290 Orchard Road S(238859)
Paragon, Orchard
Tel: 6735 9882

www.sobaworld.com.sg

Nicolas Le Restaurant (Singapore)

We used to go to a French restaurant in Bangkok practically every week called Le Vendome. The chef of the restaurant was Chef Nicolas Joanny. Everyone I knew who was a foodie in Bangkok loved Le Vendome and the cooking of Chef Niciolas. We could not get enough of his amazing food. Then one day Chef Nicolas got married to a lovely Singaporean woman and Chef Nicolas decided to leave Bangkok and move to Singapore to open his own restaurant. It was a sad day when we all heard the bad news. That was around three years ago.


We decided to take a weekend trip to Singapore to meet a friend, go shopping and eat good food. Of course the first dinner we wanted was to eat at Chef Nicolas's restaurant.

The restaurant is in a very popular area where there are beautifully restored pre-war shophouses in art-deco architectural styles. The area has some of the trendiest restaurants, bars & boutique hotels. The culture-rich area is in Keong Saik Street.


The first dish was razor clams. The razor clams were so fresh, they had good texture & were not too chewy which was a good thing. They tasted wonderful.


The second dish was langoustine (bay shrimp) bisque. The langoustine was fresh, firm & soaked up the bisque. The bisque was thick, creamy & had intense langoustine flavour. An amazing dish.


The next dish was cabillaud (cod fish). The fish was cooked perfectly...still rare in the middle. This dish did not have lots of colours or flavours to spoil the star of the dish...the cabillaud. This dish showed lots of thought and care in preparing it. Truly great!


The next dish was grilled Hokkaido scallops. The scallops just melted in the mouth. They were tender, soft & velvety.


The next dish was steamed Japanese hen egg with Iberico ham. What can I say about this dish! It is a dream. The rich & intensely flavoured steamed egg was thick, rich and creamy. It is too bad that the egg is so small because I could have eaten more. The Iberico ham was a great contrast to the egg. The ham was tender, juicy and was delicious.


The next dish was pigeon from the Loire Valley. The pigeon was cooked perfectly...rare. The pigeon was so tender, moist and tasted very good.


The dessert was a chocolate & vanilla dessert prepared in different ways. The chocolate mouse, vanilla foam and vanilla fondant on top of a chocolate crust were all amazingly intense in taste and delicious. I hate desserts that are too sweet; these three were just right.


The open kitchen. Its amazing that all the food is cooked right in front of us. The restaurant must have a very strong exhaust system because the room did not fill up with smoke and it did not smell of food. Seeing the action from all the chefs was part of the fun at eating at Nicolas.


The dining room only has six tables, six bar stools to eat at the counter and a private room in the back. Since the restaurant is small the restaurant fills up every night. Which is a good thing for Chef Nicolas.

It was great seeing Chef Nicolas again and eating his wonderful food again. It brought very good memories of when he was cooking in Bangkok. I am too biased but I think Chef Nicolas's cooking is creative yet not too modern, simple yet full of wonderful tastes & flavours and well thought out and perfectly executed.

If Chef Nicolas ever returned back to Bangkok...legions of foodies will for sure be happy again!

www.restaurantnicolas.com

31 Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089138
Tel: +65 62242404

Eat Me

When Eat Me opened its doors more than 10 years ago (I am guessing how long they have been opened); it was the buzz around town. First of all; the name EAT ME was already a conversation in itself. In the beginning; we went there all the time. It was one of THE places to go and it was difficult to get a table. It was also convenient for the party animals since Eat Me was on soi Convent; near Pat Pong, soi 4 & soi 2, where all the night life was happening.

Here is what www.frommers.com wrote about Eat Me:
Eat Me is all about exposed industrial beams, dark wood, and indirect lighting on walls of an ever-changing exhibition space. It tends to get billed as a supper-only art cafe (but thankfully the food is much better than the art, which is almost always purely commercial fare). The menu features a smattering of great fusion dishes (the tuna tartar and spicy lemongrass chicken are delicious), as well as fantastic desserts such as sticky date pudding or lemongrass crème brulée, brilliant culinary inspirations from the Aussie-Thai owners. The main air-conditioned room is a better bet than the mosquito-infested balcony overlooking a small courtyard. The young waiters' all-black uniforms and hands-free headsets would give them an ominous air if they weren't all so hysterically camp. There are some decent wines to boot.

I thought the review & description of Eat Me from Frommer's was so funny but at the same time spot on.


We have not eaten at Eat Me for several years (yes...several years). We just forgot about the place; but at the same time the culinary scene of Bangkok has matured some what and there are more choices of fine dinning in town. When Eat Me opened; it was unique. Now, there are tons of nice places to go for dinner. However; Eat Me still has a huge fan base and it will always be a favourite of many.

Eat Me is in a very modern building. You have to climb stairs to get to the main restaurant. Once you enter the restaurant; you notice right away the lighting is very strategic due to highlighting the art on the walls and to the food on the table. The dinning room itself is 'L' shaped. There are tables outside on the terrace; but why anyone would want to sit in the heat & with the mosquitoes is a mystery to me.


Eat Me serves hearty, big chunk and good bread. Accompanied with olive oil an salt. All nice.


The first starter was Prawns with Betel Leaf.


The second second starter was Tuna Tartare with soba.


The third starter was Eat Me's version of Pa Pia Sot.


The first main dish was Tasmanian Salmon with grilled leeks.


The next main dish was Grilled Chicken with Papaya salad.


The next main dish was Grilled Lamb with pomegranite.


The dessert was Eat Me's famous Sticky Date Pudding with home made vanilla ice-cream.


Overall; the food at Eat Me is too complicated for us. Meaning that there is too much going on the plate. It is nice to have some colour, texture, flavours in a dish; but when there is too much of it; the dish loses something along the way because our palette & senses do not know what to focus on anymore. Another aspect of the food is that most of the dishes were too sweet. We are not sure why this is.

The service is very good and friendly. The prices are reasonable. The 'art' can be subjective; some are really bizarre, some are awful & some are really nice. Eat Me is a comfortable and easy going place to hang out. There is really no parking in the soi, so I recommend that you park in the Philips Building in front of soi Convent and walk to Eat Me.

www.eatmerestaurant.com

20 metres off Convent Rd. (in Soi Pipat 2), Silom
Bangkok, 10500
02-238-0931

Bar Italia by Gie Gie

We were test driving our new car on the expressway of Ramintra. After pretending that we were Formula 1 drivers with our new car; we got hungry. We decided to have lunch at the new Italian restaurant at the Crystal Design Center which is off the Ramintra Expressway. The restaurant is called Bar Italia by Gie Gie. Gie Gie is the wife of one of the best Italian chefs in Bangkok; Gianni. She also had branches of Bar Italia in the Central World and Gaysorn.


The restaurant is very spacious. It is nicely decorated with modern furniture and has an open kitchen. The atmosphere was a bit subdued because there were only three tables occupied.

Bar Italia has an extensive menu of Italian dishes; but what was interesting for us was the lunch menu. At 370 baht + +; the lunch menu consist of a choice of appetizer, main dish and dessert or coffee. What an amazing deal!


The first starter was Tuna Salad. The portion was large (which is a good thing). A simple salad that tasted good and nothing to complain about.


(Very sorry for the awful photos; the waiter closed the drapes because the sun was shinning so strongly. Since we were deep in conversation, I did not pay attention that he closed the drapes. The result is very very bad photos).

The second starter was Pumpkin Soup. The soup was thick, rich and creamy. A lovely pumpkin flavour. The only problem is that they were very stingy with the portion. I think I finished the soup after five spoon full (of course I am exaggerating, but you get my point).


The first main dish was Seafood Risotto. The rice was cooked perfectly and the seafood was very fresh. The combination was a very nice tasting dish; it was creamy & hearty. A good sized portion.


The second main dish was Beef Lasagna. The beef sauce was thick, rich and hearty. The combination of all the ingredients made this dish really yummy.


We decided that we ate enough and we did not want a dessert but instead ordered coffee. However; the manager was very kind to offer us a light dessert anyway to go with our coffee. The dessert was a lime slushy. The dessert had an intense flavour of lime and it was very refreshing.


Overall; the food was very good. The service was very professional, efficient & friendly. The only problem is that it was very quiet, which is not good for a restaurant. I really recommend the lunch menu; it was a good deal and had a variety of items to choose from.

Crystal Design Center (CDC)
Praditmanutham Road (Ekamai Ramintra road) in front of Tesco Lotus
02-102-2309

Anna & Charlie's Cafe’

I had a lunch date with a former colleague. We decided to meet at Anna & Charlie's Cafe’ (formerly known as Anna's Cafe’) which is only a one minute walk from my office. My friend was kind enough to do the traveling to meet up for lunch.

Anna & Charlie's Cafe’ has a good reputation in town for good Thai food. Not the best; but you never hear anything bad about it either. My office colleagues seldom eat at Anna & Charlie's Cafe’ because it is on the expensive side for Thai food.


The restaurant is enormous! It seems like the place cannot ever be full because of the size. What is nice about this is that the spacing of the tables makes allows people to have a gossip session without other people hearing. At the same time, you are not bothered with other people's conversations. It is not the prettiest restaurant but it is comfortable and has a good atmosphere.


The first dish was Yam Plaa Dook Foo (fried crispy catfish served with spicy mango salad). The crispy catfish was very good. Deep fried very nicely. The catfish was fluffy & crispy. The mango sauce had the right combination of sweet, sour, tangy and spicy. Lovely textures in this dish.


The next dish was See-Krong Moo Ob Num-Peung (baked pork spare rib with honey). The pork ribs were soft & tender. The sauce was sweet ofcourse due to the honey; but it was too sweet for my taste. But it did not ruin the dish. My friend liked it.


The next dish was Pad Yod Fak Maew (stir fried chayote). One of my favourite vegetables; very green, has a mustardy flavour and has good texture.


The next dish was Goong Kra Bueng (shrimp pancakes). We ordered this dish for our appetizer and for some odd reason, it came last. Anyhow; they were good. Deep fried to a golden brown, the minced shrimp & pork were moist and tasty.


Overall; the food was good. The service was very good and the prices are reasonable. There is a huge parking lot so there will never be any problem about parking. The only problem is the traffic on Narathiwas Rd. The BRT has just been opened and it has created chaos. What used to be bad traffic on Narathiwas has become amazingly horrendous!!! Be warned if you make a lunch appointment at Anna & Charlie's Cafe’, leave your place a bit earlier if you want to be on time.

Left corner of Narathiwas & Ratchada

236 soi Srinakorn, Nanglinchi,
Chongnonsee, Yannawa,
Bangkok 10120
02-678-0092

www.annacharlie.net