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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