Muddy Murphy's Irish Pub @Somerset, Triple One

Located at the back of Triple One Somerset, this place's pretty secluded. Away from the main shopping area e.g. Cineleisure and Triple One Somerset, this place can easily hold a candle to any of the nice glitzy restaurants in the mall. The entrance is just a prelude to what's inside the pub. The interesting quirky decor on the exterior will provide a little idea of what's inside. Once you step in, you feel like you're being transported to those English wooden cabins in movies. The interior is almost entirely of wood finishings, even the walls, which totally adds to the rustic look and feel. There weren't much people on a weekend, which can be good if you're looking for somewhere for a quiet date, or friendly chatting, instead of blaring music.

We were given a table with a real life-sized rocking chair as a seat! I thought that was pretty cool. They've a wide range of drinks such as beers and wines, and a very proper food menu, although this place seemed like its more for drinks:

Rosti Potatoes ($5)

6 pieces of deep fried rosti potato.

Beef & Guinness Pie ($18)

Potted Prawns ($16)

A 160g serving of fresh prawns sautéed in lemon juice, tomato puree, cream, pepper and garlic, served with home-baked sourdough bread and butter.

What's underneath?

Potted Prawns ($16)

Tadang!

La Trappe Witte Trappist Beer ($10 nett)
The world’s first and only Trappist white ale that continues to ferment slightly after bottling. Brewed using only water, wheat, and hops. As usual, beer to go along our meals.

Beef & Guinness Pie ($18)
It's got a huge pastry hat, which means the pie fillings underneath must be equally huge. And yep, we're not disappointed. There're bacon bits on top of delicious, fragrant mash potatoes and carrots on the side. Note, this whole dish can be pretty filling. The pastry hat is quite crisp, and dipping it with the saucy pie gravy is extremely satisfying.

Potted Prawns ($16)
A 160g serving of fresh prawns sautéed in lemon juice, tomato puree, cream, pepper and garlic, served with home-baked sourdough bread and butter.

I thought I had ordered the wrong item, as it looked more like a soup dish. It came with sourdough sliced bread on the side with Anchor butter. When I first tried the soup (or gravy) it was quite thick. Then, I tried dipping the toasts into the soup, and hey, it tasted good. Finding the butter a waste and but found it weird to go with such soups, I spread a bit of it on the toast, and tried dipping it again. Hey, it tasted much better. Eating the prawns on the side, the taste of this dish is really rich! I counted at least 8 very chewy fresh and certainly decently-sized prawns.

Oh no, these 6 pieces of deep fried Rosti Potatoes ($5) looked like Pizza Hut's potato bites. And they tasted like it, (they're made of the same ingredients anyway). There's nothing interesting about this dish....

I love the looks of this place! Plus the warm friendly service, and best of all, all prices nett, no extra GST or service taxes! I'd be back again.

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Verdict:

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 3.5/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups

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About it:

Muddy Murphy's Irish Pub

Address: 111 Somerset Road, #01-02 TripleOne Somerset, Singapore, 238164
Menu: http://muddymurphys.com/menu_cat/salads

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Ollie Cafe @Somerset, Orchard Gateway

Wondering what to early eat in town one day, we suddenly remembered this oddly-located cafe. It is oddly located, because it is surrounded by restaurants and this is the only one that has a totally different décor. That's not the only thing that caught our attention. In fact, we have walked past this cafe several times, and were debating whether the truffle aroma came from this cafe, or Saizeriya just beside. But we do not remember Saizeriya serving Truffle-related dishes, hence we deduced this place, and made a mental note to come here, (but definitely not top of the list...) The cafe has quite brand new equipment and are definitely not cheap, so we hoped the food is just as good! They serve all-day brunch, salads and burgers. There's quite a well-stocked coffee work-station, and we even spied some exotic coffee tins.

The waitress was really friendly and helpful, serving us iced waters the first thing we arrived. The water comes from the most interesting jug ever. Inside the jug, there are lots of mint leaves, lemon slices and ice. The end result of the water? It could pass off as a diluted Mojito. In the end, we had three glasses of that water each.

Not really hungry, we ordered an Ollie Signature Salad ($11.90) and a Pied-a-piper Burger ($17.90).

Ollie Signature Salad ($11.90)

When the Ollie Signature Salad ($11.90) came, we were impressed-- with the portion and the presentation. It's pretty colourful and vibrant. Like the presentation, the flavour is also an interesting mix- there's sweet juicy beetroot chips (looking much like Dorito's wavy chips), very fresh crispy varieties of greens, a tad sourish sun dried tomatoes, and plus tender bites of grilled chicken breast chunks. And nope, I'm not yet done. Atop this wonderful mix, there is a layer of fresh blended creamy avocados, plus a half-jiggly 63 degree egg (all that hype!), and finally, rounded off (literally) with triangles of toasted Pullman sliced loaves. I suppose you had to spread the avocado on top the toasts, and maybe the egg, and then pile it with the greens and reds (tomatoes, beetroot) and take a big bite. But there just wasn't enough toasts to go around for the entire bowl. So we had to finish the rest with our fork and spoons. It's perfect for a girl's dinner, but definitely not for those who are looking for a light meal. It's very filling! Not only that, you will feel very healthy. And probably the best thing is the price. For $11.90++, the quality is quite above average. We didn't catch any withered leaves among that garden!

Pied-a-piper Burger ($17.90)
Choice of beef or chicken patty. Upgrade to Wagyu for an additional $8.

Well, the Pied-a-piper Burger ($17.90) is a slightly different story, having picky taste buds for good beef burgers. It took abit of time to arrive, but when it did, we were once again, impressed with the presentation and portion for a cafe. First thing, it's huge. The cheddar flowing down from the middle of the burger made it looked like some spewing yellow volcano. The fries were slightly over fried and excessively crunchy, perhaps due to the way it was fried- with an air-fryer. Like the salad, the greens, Portobello mushrooms, onions and even the toasted buns were really generous. If you are not picky about beef and are a cheese lover, then this dish will suit you. If you're those who love, say Triple O's Burgers, you will know what I am talking about. The beef patty is tough and rubbery. Yep, you have the choice of having the patty chicken or beef, or have the beef upgraded to Wagyu beef for an additional $8. But that's a total of $25.90, which is something I can possibly eat at &made. Well, probably not the burgers here.

As the kitchen adopts an open concept (not that there's any crazy fires or smokes), the truffle oil could get overpowering. Sitting too close to the kitchen will possibly cause the smell to stick to your hair. Nope, not the Truffle smell, but the oily kind of smell. Opt to sit slightly further away, and have a better view of what's happening over the interesting coffee and kitchen stations. If you're looking for chill-out cafes in the bustling heart of town, this's the place to be.


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Verdict:

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Total Score: 3/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:

Ollie Cafe

Address: #B2-10, Orchard Gateway, 277 Orchard Rd

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B-Bar Bacchanalia @City Hall, Coleman Street

Late night dinner! It's 10pm on a Saturday and we're ravenous, looking for somewhere to chomp before heading off to a party nearby. This's place we've been wanting to visit. It's situated in a pretty interesting place, at a Masonic Club's building. If you've been reading all that Masonic conspiracy theories and Illuminati (Yeah, we mean Free Masons and the sort), you'll probably feel quite intrigued about this place, and abit excited when you reach the front door, because the inside is totally separated from the outside world. But there's nothing chilly about this restaurant, rest assured. It's quite a sophisticated and beautiful place, in fact.

The differences between B-bar and Bacchanalia's ala-carte menu, are the menu, prices, and the environment. Because the menu is more casual, to go with drinks, the prices are naturally lower. There are also a few dishes from the main menu too. As for the environment, so with drinks, you get velvet long sofas with low-tables, like those in a club. For the Bacchanalia's ala-carte menu, you get proper seats and tables. And they seemed pretty strict with seating. The lights are dimmer at the bar area, but because these two areas are just side by side, the bight lights vs. the dim lights create such a contrast. Service is how we'd expect from such a place, nothing to rave about.

We ordered:

Have You Met Matt ($20)

Eisen Junmai Karakuchi Sake, Belvedere Vodka, Passion Fruit & Sancerre Cordial, Rhubarb Bitters

Bacchanalia Burger ($25)

Bacchanalia beef patty, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, B - Bar fries 

Thursday promotion at $25 for a burger and a beer

Bacchanalia Burger ($25)

Chicken Gnocchi ($34)

grilled chicken breast, vermouth emulsion, house-made gnocchi, grapefruit & red onion salad

We wanted to order a Ivan's Tribute as it has some pretty interesting ingredients, like Edamame & Herb Emulsion in the concoction. But the friendly bartender took it upon to himself to tell us it was unavilable and to choose something else, so we chose Have You Met Matt ($20). Consisting of Eisen Junmai Karakuchi Sake, Belvedere Vodka, Passion Fruit & Sancerre Cordial, Rhubarb Bitters, it isn't too sweet or bitter, slightly sourish, but still an intresting dirnk noenetheless.

Food, we got a Bacchanalia Burger ($25) which is great for a hungyr grown man before he indulges in drinks for the night. Well, the burger is as good as they claimed, which we are pretty glad about. The pre-cut fries are also not too oily, salted just nice. The juiciness of the patty is really good. Together with the marination, crispiness of the greens and other ingredients inside, well, we'd definitely be back for the burger.

Our Chicken Gnocchi ($34) arrived next. As it was pretty dark, we couldn't quite figure out which was what. All we could see was two white slabs of chicken fillets and little drops of something around the chicken. And I know immediately that this is a dish that you will not feel full after eating. Hesitantly, we tried the little drops around the chicken and found them to be the Gnocchi. Gnocchi are various thick, soft dough dumplings that could possibly be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, egg, cheese, potato, breadcrumbs, or similar ingredients. A few bites and it was gone. It wasn't really impressive. As for the chicken fillets, they seemed like those what a body builder would love, but they were just quite average. Very tender no doubt, but as this is one of the dishes coming from the main Bacchanalia menu, and priced at $34, we honestly expected more than these.

They've quite an interesting list of cocktails. Dress well, for it's that kind of place that you will be glad somebody told you to wear your best shirt, but it's too dark to see what you're wearing anyway. We would come here for the Bacchanalia Burger ($25), especially Thursday.

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Verdict:

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups

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About it:

B-bar at Bacchanalia

Address: 23A Coleman St, Singapore 179806
Bacchanalia Menu: http://www.bacchanalia.asia/s/Bacchanalia-Restaurant-Menu-copy.pdf
B-Bar Casual Menu: http://www.bacchanalia.asia/s/B-Bar-Food.pdf
Cocktail & Wine Menu: http://static.squarespace.com/static/53ec6752e4b0934f15718023/t/5406cf3ee4b04db10d217b70/1409732414041/Drinks+menu+Final.pdf

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Stirling Bar & Grill @Cheong Nam Road

Merry Christmas!

Haven't decided what to eat for Christmas? Check out this review below!

It's been a long time since we last visited this place. Opposite Beauty World, this west side's supper strip akin to the East's Simpang Bedok seemed different from its heydays with all the construction for the new train line. There're much lesser prata stalls, and a whole lot of indie restaurants and cafes on this strip. Great for us foodies. We visited one of the restaurants today, raved by many other bloggers, Stirling Bar & Grill.

The Place!

Menu!

It's not difficult to spot, as the sign board is pretty prominent. The incandescent lights made the entire well-decorated place all the more cozier. Also, the alfresco area is perfect for football matches gathering, after all, they have a wide variety of beers at pretty affordable prices. Plus, they have snacks like Beef Sliders going for only $2 each. What's beer without bites?

The interior is another impressive sight as well- a well-stocked bar with four draft beers on tap, long communal tables for big groups, velvet purple seats, all perfect for a couples night out or just some happy chatter. We pored over the menu and decided to go with a few of the tried-and-tested, and some adventurous ones:

Halloumi Salad ($9)

Pan-seared greek cheese served with baby spinach, tomato and capsicum salsa

Taking advantage of the happy hour rates, we ordered two glasses of ice cold draft beer. If you order two glasses, you get the next one free. 

Sipping on our beer, our Halloumi Salad ($9) came first. There were really generous servings of the pan-seared greek cheese, which we were extremely happy. It took a bit of effort to toss the layer of tomatoes and capsicum salsa on the top with the also generous portion of fresh, raw and crispy baby spinach, but the final result of the mix was worth it. The salsa provided the juicy edge to the entire salad. A very appetising starter.

Délicieux Duck Breast ($25)

Pan-seared duck breast with creamy truffle mushroom sauce with asparagus and oven baked baby potatoes


Délicieux Duck Breast ($25)

Next came the Délicieux Duck Breast ($25), a chef's recommendation as well, is a pleasant-looking dish. Inspired by the classic Duck a l'Orange French recipe, this dish has many interesting twists. The luscious cream on top the duck is a medley of truffle and mushroom giving me a very rich feeling- of truffle and nicely done tender duck breast. If you hate those oily duck skins, you'll be at ease with this dish. Skins have to have that slight juicy fats, not too much, to be delicious. And this dish is just it. Nonetheless, it would have been great if the meat could be cut slightly thinner, so ladies could better cut and place them in their mouths more daintily. Underneath the garden salad and the meat are actually treasures! The baby roasted potatoes were nicely seasoned, and the asparagus gave a crunch to the soft tender duck meat. 

Ultimate Grilled Chicken ($16)

Charcoal grilled chicken thigh, served with herb tomato sauce, summer vegetables and paprika fries


Ultimate Grilled Chicken ($16)

Ultimate Grilled Chicken ($16), though not a chef's recommendation, should be given honorary mention. It should be given the badge of "Chef's recommendation" of its own! There are many reasons- first, the chicken's char is done very nicely. You could taste the smoke and the grill with every bite, and the edges are very crispy. Second, is the tender, succulent meat. You could cut through the meat very easily even though it looks charred outside, which is just perfect for us who love grilled meats. You could see that the chef has the fire well under his control. The fries was the perfect accompaniment to the chicken. Its paprika flakes added another level of spice to the dish as well. The salad of broccoli and carrots are actually great to wash down the meat if you feel guiltily sinful. Either that, or you can wash it down with beer, which we'd very much prefer.

Signature Steaks ($29/35)  for 200/250grams

Slow charcoal grill before finishing off with high intense heat. Topped with avocado butter and seasoned with our own in-house seasoning and gravy. Served with sautéed mix vegetable and truffle fries.


Signature Steaks ($29/35)  for 200/250grams

Finally, came the star of the night. The 250 grams Grilled Ribeye ($35). You could order a smaller portion of 200grams at ($29) if you want to save stomach space for other dishes. Their beef are chilled, not frozen, which means the natural taste of the steak is very much maintained. Armed with our steak knives, we cut the middle open to check the doneness. It was slightly underdone, as we asked for medium rare, but still alright to our liking. 

Guess what stole the steak's limelight? The Truffle Fries! The Truffle smell AND taste are extremely loud, and when we mean loud, it really is. (We're a fan of Truffle fries, but always felt that restaurants have always been stingy with this expensive ingredient) I'd recommend you to order a side of the Truffle Fries ($8) if you're here for drinks and snacks. If you're looking for a nice slab of steak around this area, then do try out this place. After all, chef Collin Tan was once the chief griller of The Steakhouse at Clarke Quay, and the prices are quite reasonable as well. 

Classic Crepes ($6)

Choice of nutella/ lemon zest, served with vanilla ice-cream

Ending our meal with their popular Classic Crepes ($6), you get a choice of Nutella or lemon zest, plus a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream on the top. Nothing can go wrong with hazelnut and vanilla ice cream. Especially with Nutella! We fell in love with the chewy and soft crepes with crispy edges too. 

We will definitely visit this place if we're in the vicinity. There are also lots of interesting events happening as well. They have live bands, soccer matches screenings, at the alfresco area. If you want to avoid the crowds in town, check out their Christmas menu, which you can follow their Facebook for more details if you're already hooked, like us!

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Verdict:

Food: 3.5/5

Service: 4/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:

Stirling Bar & Grill

Address: 15 Cheong Chin Nam Rd, Singapore 599739
Menu: http://stirling.sg/menu/

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Fish Tales @Somerset, Scape

Have been seeing this name at a few places- magazines, groupon deals... and as we were looking for a place for a quick bite before my show at Cineleisure, this cafe at Scape is quite ideal.

It wasn't difficult to find this place. You could see that they've spent quite an effort on the décor. Seats are ample on a weekday. It's a self-order & buzzer service, quite straightforward. The menu is not complicated. You might want to flip it over to see their selection of Risottos.

We tried the Original ($9.90) and Cheesy Affair ($10.90).
Basically the Original looks like the Cheesy Affair without the sauce, so you could imagine it...

Cheesy Affair ($10.90)

While chomping, we noticed in small prints that you could change your fries for pasta for just an additional $2! Would have changed it if we were told at the counter... On the whole, while prices are definitely cheaper than Fish & Co's, their quality is comparable. The Cheese one is filled with Nachos Cheese.

Practically oozing out of the fish. If you love Nachos Cheese, then this's perfect for you. The fries are done just nicely as well. There's a few combos you could choose from, $3.90 for a drink and soup, $7.90 for a drink, soup and additional ice cream, from none other than Salted Caramel, from Upper Thomson Road.

Do come here if you are not too picky, rushing for a movie and want something other than fast food at Cineleisure.


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Verdict:

Food: 3/5

Service: 2.5/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Total Score: 3/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:

Fish Tales

Address: Level 2 Orchard Link, Scape, Singapore 237978
Menu: http://fishtales.com.sg/wp/wp-content/themes/fishtales/download/FISHTALES-Aug14-Menu.pdf

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Level 2 at Killiney @Somerset

I had always wanted to try this place. Being so obscure, as you had to climb the stairs to reach the second floor, plus the extensive menu and store front on the first floor, somehow these attracted me... and I did, tonight. Feeling kind of peckish, we went ahead, abit late for dinner, at 9+.

We were expecting them to tell us it'll be last order very soon, but nope, there were quite a few other late diners as well. It's one of those cozy, dimly-lit place, but the decor could probably be improved a bit.

Go for the tall tables. The view's pretty interesting from the second floor, overlooking ABC (Artisan Boulangerie Co.). There are many people walking around, crossing the roads, all in a very different part of town- the residential part. The street's also buzzing with all sorts of people from different countries, because of the petrol station and 24 hours NTUC Fairprice supermarket just beside. If it's the afternoon and you had a book and a coffee, this place's perfect for a quiet time-out.

We were greeted warmly when we first arrived and requested for warm water due to the rainy weather. The server (possibly the manager, due to his attire) politely obliged and gave us a mugful of warm water which we were quite grateful for. He handed us the menu, the same one we saw at level one, and left us to read through.

We ordered:

 Parma Ham, Aragula with Truffle Oil Pizza ($17)

 Hand-crafted Wagyu Burger ($21) (+$10 Foie Gras)

You may add Streaky Bacon for an additional $3, or Egg (Egg??!!) for $3 as well.

 Braised Beef Cheeks ($26)

The Parma Ham, Aragula with Truffle Oil Pizza ($17) has one of the thinnest and crispiest crust ever. The truffle oil's generous. We could smell the rich aroma when the dish reached our table. But the generosity stops there for this dish. The Aragula seemed kind of dead. The Parma Ham was thinly sliced into six strips, on top of the six pieces of cut-pizza. As the crust is thin and there are not much fillings, the pizza seemed more a starter for sharing than a main dish. If you're feeling super hungry, I'd suggest you to go for the mains.

The  Hand-crafted Wagyu Burger ($21) was much better in terms of presentation. The plate was filled with fries, salad, and the decently-sized 200grams Wagyu beef patty burger. We requested medium rare, and it was to the right doneness. Being requested for doneness of a beef patty is a good thing. It probably means the patty is freshly-made, and not some supplier or overnight stock. The beef patty was juicy, but the flavours could be amped up further. The rest of the fillings was alright, but we had some qualms about the cheese, as we thought a different kind could have been used, and it could be melted even further.

Next up, the Braised Beef Cheeks ($26) was also an average dish. The meat was tender, the sauce goes well with the dish, and the mash potatoes provided the extra starch to fill you. Among all the three dishes, we thought this one is the best... but we wouldn't come back here as there are other establishments nearby offering similar food...


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Verdict:

Food: 3/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Total Score: 2/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups
Price for mains: $15++

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About it:

Level 2 at Killiney

Address: 117A Killiney Road, Singapore 239554
Menu: http://www.1-altitude.com/#!Stellar/Menu 
Price Range: Starting from $30++ (Mains) Tasting Menu available.
Diners have free entry to the rooftop bar. 

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Palio @Resorts World Sentosa

The posters at Palio's entrance reminds me of how Resorts World Genting do their promotional displays. For a moment, I felt like I was in Genting, going to redeem a free meal with my points... The inner decor is nothing like L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon just next door, of course. It's slightly classy, but nothing that requires formal wear. There are alot of families, as kids get to dine free. If you're a couple wanting an intimate moment, do request for your table to be in a quieter area.

Well, as today is Tuesday, one person gets to dine free, as there is a one-for-one promotion on Thrifty Tuesdays only on the month of November (2014). The set dinner is at only $55++ per set. With RWS Invites dining rebates of 20%, it only adds up to $54.40 for 2 sets of 4 course meal (nope, coffee and tea is not the last course) after taxes and dining rebates! Another promotion is Starz Restaurant at RWS Hard Rock Hotel, which we have visited before, and will visit again next week for a review. which you can read the full review here!

Slices of bread with tomato sauce is served to your table. Alternatively you can ask for butter, or mix your own balsamic vinegar with olive oil provided on the table as dipping if you feel like it. Very quickly, the emptied plates were cleared for our first course, Caprese salad. Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese, vine ripened tomatoes & basil, you could see the effort put into the presentation, especially the olive oil spheres. Don't be so hungry and stuff all that cheese in one go! Slowly savour the little balls and feel the 'pop' of olive oil oozing onto your tongue.

ANTIPASTO

Caprese

Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese, vine ripened tomatoes & basil

ZUPPA

Porcini

Tuscan Porcini Mushrooms soup, herbed ciabatta bread croutons

SECONDI

Risotto alla salsiccia

Classic carnaroli risotto with sea Tuscan pork sausage in light tomato sauce, Roman pecorino cheese

Maccheroni alle Cappesante e Tartufo

Maccheroni pasta served with sea scallops in truffle cream sauce

Sparda ($28)

Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Smoked Swordfish, Rucola Salad and Balsamic Reduction

DESSERT

Palio Signature’s Venetian Tiramisu’ Cake

Next up, a pretty decent bowl of Tuscan Porcini Mushrooms soup. Nope, the black shavings on top are not truffles. (If they were, the menu would be of a different price...) They are Porcini soil. You can smell the truffle oil which meant that the chef has been very generous with it :) The soup warmed our bellies from the cold Caprese and once the bowls were clean, we were served our main dishes in one go.

We chose one of each mains, Risotto alla salsiccia and Maccheroni alle Cappesante e Tartufo. Seems like the main dishes are extensions of the first two courses. The Risotto alla salsiccia, a very rich reddish dish due to the tomatoes being its main ingredients. It's seems like an extension of the Caprese. More tomatoes and cheese! Luckily, it has a different taste altogether in a very positive way.

Also one of our mains, the Maccheroni alle Cappesante e Tartufo, of Maccheroni pasta served with sea scallops in truffle cream sauce. This is an extension of the Tuscan Porcini Mushrooms soup. If you are a fan of Truffle, then go for this. Likewise, the chefs have been generous with their Truffle and the rich aroma of it is heavenly. Don't be turned off by the pasta, in this case, macaroni, though. Although macaroni has been used, the texture and cream is just nice.

Feelign adventurous, we also ordered another pizza, their Sparda ($28). Great for 2-3 persons, if you're using your RWS Invites card, this is a steal. With the Invites card, you get 50% Invites rebates for every main dish and the rebates can be used towards other dining places in RWS such as Joël Robuchon, Ocean Restaurant, etc. The pizza's crust is slightly crispy, but the Aragula looked sad. On the whole, the pizza is average. The swordfish, though interesting, did not provide any edge to the pizza.

Finally, we had our Palio Signature’s Venetian Tiramisu’ Cake. It's good. Soft and creamy. Not very alcoholic. Slightly small, but just a perfect ending for a four course set meal.

The service staff are extremely patient and friendly, as you can see, they've explained the promotions to me so clearly, that I seem like their ambassador already!

Psst, all parents! Kids dine free! Up to 2 kids aged 12 and below dine free with every 2 paying adults.

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Verdict:

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Ambiance: 3/5

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups, Family

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About it:

Palio

Address: Level 2, Hotel Michael,Resorts World Sentosa, 8 Sentosa Gateway

Prices:
Adult:
Hi-Tea (Sat-Sun): $28.00++
Buffet Dinner (Mon- Sun): $45.00++

Child:
Hi-Tea (Sat-Sun): $14.00++
Buffet Dinner (Mon- Sun) :$22.50++

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Hard Rock Cafe Sentosa @Resorts World Sentosa

Comparing this outlet versus the one at Cuscaden, I'd rather much prefer this place. It seemed cosier perhaps because it is smaller, and the way the stage is positioned to the audience. Cuscaden's is more like a concert stage, whereas you can get a close-up of the band playing at Sentosa's. The staff are extremely friendly too, perhaps because it's a more touristy area.

The burgers are quite average at both places though. Although this time we tried their Mushroom & Swiss Burger ($27), the meat was not really marinated like the previous time we had. Comes with sautéed mushrooms and swiss cheese, topped with crisp lettuce, vine-ripened tomato and red onion, it just didn't taste as delicious as a few years back. Perhaps they'll be relegated to just legends...

Nonetheless, the Famous Fajitas (with Grilled Chicken) ($28) did not fail. There were 4 pieces of soft and warm tortillas in a paper bag, together with rich sour cream in a metal bowl, and ample scoops of cheese, fresh guacamole and veggies. Came separately on a hot plate was their sizzling Grilled Chicken atop capsicums and onions. You get to choose beef, chicken or combo ($32). It's quite a hands-on dish, i.e. you have to wrap the chicken and wrap like a Popiah yourself, but I felt it was just nice, not too messy if you don't get greedy stuffing too much ingredients into your tortilla. Plus, it seems much less "sinful" than the 10 oz. burger and fries. If you think Chilis do their Fajitas well, then check out Hard Rock Cafe's. This is as good too.

Mushroom & Swiss Burger ($27)

Smothered With Sautéed Mushrooms And Swiss Cheese, Topped With Crisp Lettuce, Vine-ripened Tomato And Red Onion

Famous Fajitas (with Grilled Chicken) ($28)

Choice of grilled chicken or beef served with pico de gallo (aka Salsa Fresca, a fresh, uncooked salad made from chopped tomato, onion, coriander leaves, fresh serranos), Montery Jack and Cheddar cheese, fresh guacamole, sour cream and warm tortillas

Famous Fajitas (with Grilled Chicken) ($28)

The highlight of this post would be the performers. I loved the performers. Usually, if I know there's a live band up at 9pm, I will try to finish my food before that. I would rather prefer drinks with music. But this time round, I was pleasantly surprised. The live band was the reason why I stayed for a much longer time in the restaurant, even though I was long done with my late dinner. They weren't the usual females with extremely Mariah Carey-like kind of voice in flamboyant clothing or just denims and heels- they were a group of middle aged men and a very Bob Marley-looking kind of lead singer with shades, looking very cool in the dark. Almost everyone in the band could sing and play wonderfully! There wasn't much of a crowd at 12 midnight on a Saturday which was kind of sad, because the performers were really great.

If you're looking for proper food late at night, this is the place. As for me, I'd be back again!

Read here for Cuscaden outlet's review.

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Verdict:

Food: 3/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 4/5 

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Groups

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About it:

Hard Rock Cafe Sentosa

Address: 26 Sentosa Gateway, #01-209 to 214 The Forum, Singapore 098138
Menu: http://www.hardrock.com.sg/cafes/sentosa/menu/ 

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The Beast @Bugis, Jalan Klapa

Parking was abit of a trouble around here, but when the shisha ban comes into place, I hope this area will not lose it vibrance... On a positive note, parking is free in the evenings! The branding of this place is very conspicuous. You can't miss it even though you may be driving!

Have always wanted to visit this place, and finally we did, with Amex's 30licious dinner menu at S$30++ promotion! We were given a pretty much either-or choice, so we chose:

Georgia Salad ($16)

Grilled Peach, Blue Cheese, Mesclun Salad, Red Onion, Toasted Pecans, Cherry Tomatoes, Orange Vinegrette

Roasted Tomato Soup ($10)

Grilled Cheese on the side

Chicken & Waffles ($20)

24 Hour Buttermilk Chicken, Waffles, Bourbon Maple Butter Sauce

Before the sauce...

Chicken & Waffles ($20)

24 Hour Buttermilk Chicken, Waffles, Bourbon Maple Butter Sauce

After the sauce!

Blackened Pork Collar ($24)

Fine Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Thyme & Garlic Cream Sauce

Fig & Honey and Double Chocolate Ice Cream

The Georgia Salad ($16) is quite a girly starter, in the sense that it's quite sweet due to the peaches, but at the same time, the Blue Cheese wasn't too strong, which may not be good news for Blue Cheese lovers.

We were delighted that the Roasted Tomato Soup ($10) came with 2 traignles of Grilled Cheese laid nicely between breads, a good dip for the soup. Though the soup is average, the presentation is good.

Then came the main dishes, which we ordered Chicken & Waffles ($20) and Blackened Pork Collar ($24), with the server's recommendation.  The Chicken & Waffles ($20) seemed to be lacking something to gel the well-fried chicken and the crispy waffle together. But they were quite good on its own. In fact, the waffles were abit too much, we saved it for the ice-cream. And guess what, even after drowning it in ice cream, it still remained crispy! We are wondering what went into the batter!

The Blackened Pork Collar ($24) easily outshined the former dish though. It's more of a "real food" kind of dish, with mashed potatoes and beans. The pork is marinated well and is very juicy, tender to the fork. We loved it.

Finally came the Fig & Honey and Double Chocolate Ice Creams, which well, could have better been a proper dessert... Anyway, they're tasted like, well, ice creams!

Service was great, young adults serving us, totally a Haji Lane vibe. Do make a reservation though, because it may be a little difficult to sit and eat on the outside stools and high table, plus the smoking area doesn't really help the entire experience.


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Verdict:

Food: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 4/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups

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About it:

The Beast

Address: 17 Jalan Klapa (Very near Haji Lane)
Menu: http://thebeast.sg/pdf/dinner_menu.pdf

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T.G.I. Friday's @I12 Katong

I have heard many not-so-nice reviews about this place since its time at Heeren, nonetheless, a group of us decided to give it another try...

The decor is definitely interesting, with a life-sized Bruce Li statue, booth seats and a complete bar.

They're having a promo for set lunches set at $9.90++, which arrived much earlier, but for the value, its quite average.

Salmon Pasta ($23.90)

 Jack Daniel's Steak ($33.90)

They have Wednesday Steak Nights that apply to lunch time as well, so, order steaks and you get 50% off! We ordered the Jack Daniel's Steak ($33.90) and they took quite awhile to arrive. Hence I would not recommend it for lunch hours if you only have an hour of lunch. We were asked to check the doneness by the servers, which I thought was pretty well-thought of, and it probably also means that they are confident of their steaks' doneness.

Another main tried was the Salmon Pasta ($23.90), which got quite jelak after awhile...

In all? Try this place for once, or twice, and explore many other options!

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Verdict:

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 2/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups

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About it:

T.G.I. Friday's (TGIF)

Address: 112 East Coast Rd, #01-13, 112 Katong, Singapore 428802

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Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant @Robertson Walk

Located at Roberston Walk, in the middle of the courtyard, this Korean restaurant is not hard to miss among all the European bars and restaurants around.

The place!

We were early for our reservation, and hence was one of the few to start our meals. We were led to a room with many copper exhaust pipes, the usual ones for Korean BBQ, albeit the pipes looked quite new. Out table was already set with all sorts of food- Lettuce and cabbages for us to wrap our meats, at least 8-10 Korean side dishes (pretty average tasting), sauces (sesame, chilli paste) to go with the meats, a bottle of Dasani mineral water, and two wet-to-inflate facial wipes!

We ordered one of each kind. There were 6 dishes to choose from anyway. Seasoned Slice Beef, Pork Belly, Pork Collar, Marinated Pork, Marinated Chicken, Tiger Prawn. The dishes are quite fresh and tasty. The Pork Belly is one of the largest we've seen!

We were also allowed to choose one of Signature Main Course: Beef Rib Soup, Seafood Spicy Tofu Soup, Mixed Veg Rice in Stone Pot, Beef Soya Bean Paste Soup, Cold Noodle, Spicy Cold Noodle. We ordered the Beef Soya Bean Paste Soup and Cold Noodle. But honestly, you could have done without these 2 dishes as the meat itself is quite filling. The portions given were quite big. We felt full after the second serving of meats.

Side dishes, lettuces and sauces!

BBQ!

Huge Pork Belly!

Put them with water and watch them grow into full-sized wet tissues!

It was quite full at 8+pm, but their service was still great. I even saw some staff cooking for the customers! They changed our chao-tah-ed hot-plates at least five times for the one hour plus we were there, in a very quick and professional manner. Our meats and almost-empty sauces were served & refilled quite quickly, and they even brought us extra sauces. Also, the screen at both sides blaring with Korean music and music videos kept our eyes riveted...

At $39++ per adult, I would definitely be back here again!

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Verdict:

Food: 2.5/5

Service: 3/5

Ambiance: 4/5

Total Score: 2/5

[1- Never visit again, 2-Won't visit unless there's no other option, 3-Perhaps, 4 & 5- Yes!]

Good for? Couples, Groups

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About it:

Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ Restaurant

Address: 11 Unity Street, #01-30, Robertson Walk, Singapore 237995

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