A for Arbite (Closed)

Don't be mistaken with Arbite @ Serangoon Gardens, though they are sister company, they have different concept of food as well as layout. Over at A for Arbite, the classroom inspired atmosphere just gives it a more casual, back-to-school feel. One thing I love about A for Arbite is their generous portion of food! The dishes are all created by adding fusion to local delights, such as Salted Egg Crab Pasta. A photo worthy dish, the name itself draws our anticipation! The ideal way of having this is to mess it up in order to get a good proportion of salted egg in each bite. Somehow I would prefer penne paste added to this dish, probably because the length of zita pasta is longer and it gets too much.If you are looking for something out of the norm, you can try A for Arbite for a change Click for the full review, http://nkikichua.blogspot.sg/2014/12/a-for-arbite-aliwal-street-singapore.html continue reading

I'm glad to have the privilege to attend's A for arbite tasting session. A for Arbite has a big dining area with up to 64 seating capacity at Aliwal Street. Great place to grab some awesome small bites to share and big bites for feasting. We tasted 9 dishes, will list the signature's here.Salted Egg Crab Pasta ($24) - Zita pasta, salted egg, crab meat, chilli, deep fried soft shell crab and curry leave oil. One of my favorite mains here, very successful fusion of local and western fare. It would be even better if the salted egg flavor could be richer. The soft shell crab on the other hand was the bomb, crispy, moist and flavorful. It got me 'Wow' at my first bite.XO Lobster Pasta ($34) - Squid ink tagliolinni, half Boston lobster, mushrooms, goma sauce and 'xo' chilli. This is A for Arbite signature and most popular dish. I was impressed at how well the xo work together with the pasta, simply amazing.Salmon Florentine ($16) - Smoked salmon, poached eggs, cream spinach, burnt butter hollandaise and fresh greens. And your choice of Thosai (rice and semolina crepe) or herbed foccacia. Interesting dish while pairing egg Benny in the crepe.Indeed a hidden gem with many innovative dishes I won't be able to find in other cafes. Coffee isn't too bad, they are using Tiong Hoe coffee beans. desserts are not too bad either, pretty good Full review: http://jacqsowhat.blogspot.sg/2014/10/a-for-arbite-28-aliwal-street-singapore.html continue reading

A for Arbite is the second restaurant / bistro opened by Chef Marc Wee and his team. A for Arbite featured a Western-Asian fusion menu which will be rotated every quarter to introduce new ingredients and showcase the creativity of the team in Arbite. Located in Aliwal Arts Centre in Aliwal Street, this bistro provide a very casual atmosphere dining environment. Diners will have a choice of communal table for group dining or couple table for intimate setting with the special someone. For the dinner menu, A for Arbite introduce a new concept. Each dish is designed in a small bites (or entrée) size portions. Diners are encourage try different variety of dishes in the menu paired with their unusual Belgian Craft Beers, on the tap or by the bottles. On the menu, every dish has a suggested pairing of beer, cocktails or tea. However like any other food pairing, everyone taste buds is different, so feel free to decide on your own. Based on my judgement, 4 to 5 small bites is equivalent in size to a 3-course meal. As Chubby Botak Koala is abstaining from alcohol due to medical reasons, he brought his friend M as the beer tester. From 10 small bites that we tried, our top picks are:Jar of Duck (duck rillettes, black truffle, foie gras, smoked duck breast, roasted grapes and crackers) – $19.50. The most of expensive dish on the menu, however the most yummyy dish in the menu. Explosion of flavour in your mouth, purely on taste base on the wonderful ingredients especially the truffle and foie gras. The most amazing thing is when you add the grape into the bite, it just turn to something different and sweet. Two thumbs up !!!Tri Pepper Spaghettini (Green, pink, and black pepper pasta with swimmer crab meat, chilli, spring onion and tempura battered soft shell crab) - $10.50. A tasty, springy and chewy pasta. The pepper is very subtle. If you want me compare, the texture is similar to Kolo Mee noodle. The batter on the crab is thin and light, so it is crunchy and juicy. Watch out for the shuddered chilli that gave the kick in the dish. Delicious!!Beef Onglet Tataki (Beef Onglet or Hanger Steak, shoyu, sesame oil, onion soil and shiso) - $6. Using the not so popular cut of the beef, it is grilled to rare. The beef is tender, well seasoned but light. The mushroom flavour is quite strong, however combines well with the beef. Lobster Thermidor (Maine lobster, crabmeat, mushrooms, cream, mustard, brandy and parmesan cheese) - $12. The closest thing that you can get to a soup here. It is robust, think, creamy and you can feel the dash of brandy. A couple of crispy bread to give a contrasting texture to the dish. During the tasting, M had Palm ($12 / glass) at the start and Steenbrugge Triple ($14/glass). Palm is a light version of a beer and easy to drink. Good with something light tasting small bites. Steenbrugge Triple has a stronger flavour, it has a dark gold colour and tasted similar to stout. Goes well with more meaty small bites or those with strong flavour. Moving on to the sweet stuff, Cookies and Cream Cheese Cake is our pick. To put it nicely, it is a de-constructed or blended version of the cake. The cream cheese mascapone and milk espuma mix is quite light, it is the opposite of the normally condensed cheese cake. The dark chocolate on it create a contrasting flavour to the mix. Seriously, you can finish up the desserts without feeling guilty. Another dessert that I need to mention specially is the Ginseng Panna Cotta (cooked cream pudding, ginseng, wolf berries, chrysanthemum sorbet) - $7. This is either you love it or you hate it desserts. For me, it fall under the weird categories. I just can't get used to the ginseng with Panna Cotta flavour. However, I applaud their creativity. The beer of choice for the desserts are Lindemans Pecheresse (Peach) Beer. It is sweet and light. When we first heard of the name Lindemans, we thought it was brewed by the renowned Lindemans winery in Australia. After doing a little research, apparently this come from a Belgium brewery named Lindemans. Wow, this really surprised me. The beer itself is suitable for desserts, as it is light at 2.5% alcohol and fresh and sweet. Totally compatible for desserts or someone that like a sweet beer. The service here is good. The service staff are attentive and knowledgeable, and don't hesitate to ask them if you are not sure what beer you want to order. Overall, we personally like the new dining concept by A for Arbite. The modern presentation of the food is just refreshing and we definitely enjoy the different variety of small bites they served. The price is very attractive, as it is really a value for money. We'll definitely be back for more. Cheers!!Thank you to Chef Marc Wee and A for Arbite team for the invitation to this food tasting. For full review and more photos, please visit:http://www.chubbybotakkoala.com/2013/10/a-for-arbite-small-bites-and-unusual.html continue reading

What do you do when you have a successful food brand? Do you replicate it or do you change it? Well for Chef Marc Wee and his team at Arbite (read more about Arbite here), they took the 'Go bold or Go home' approach with their second outlet, A for Arbite. Instead of doing the tried and tested hearty western fare, they have developed a tapas style menu that includes drink pairing.We were advised to pick about 4-5 small dishes each and 1 or 2 bigger dishes to share. Honestly, that was a lot of food for S and me. I would say cut that by half first and then add on as you go along. Here are the dishes that i liked.The Lobster Thermidor ($12) was absolutely creamy, rich and delicious. Like the juicy lobster and crab meat chunks, I was swimming in delight of thec ream, mustard, brandy and parmesan cheese sauce. Oh and there's plenty of truffle oil too!Pan fried Scallops ($8) was one of my favorite dishes as well. The texture is pretty much like the Aburi style, with a lightly charred outside and a tender raw inside. What's special was the prune and balsamic purée which gave it a sweet and sour flavor. And the icing? Crispy Parma ham. Enough said.The Braised Smoked Pork Belly ($7) could be my sg replacement for the Momofuku Pork Buns (read about them here). Rendered fats, savory braised streaky bacon with kimchi and leaf bun; a little sweet, a little fermented, a load of yum.Something special to order would be the Deep Fried Quail ($8.50). The gaminess of the tender meat was overcome by the Moroccan spices. It was on the salty side but it would satisfy any fried food craving. The 2 mains that we had were heartier and great choices for sharing. The risotto is a hot favorite at Arbite and Chef decided to keep it on A's menu.Tri Pepper Spaghettini ($10.5). The spaghettini faired better in this cooked dish and the crunch in the handmade pasta was certainly welcomed. This dish lived up to the umami Japanese flavors with a whole load of peppers in the pasta (green, pink and black!). The spring onion and chili gave it that additional zing as well. Chef Marc was also very generous with the crab meat and i loved that crispy soft shell crab tempura.Squid Ink Risotto ($16.50). The squid ink wasn't quite smokey enough for me but the dish caught on after a few mouthfuls. Every bite was filled with prawn, squid and mussels chunks along with shreds of crab meat. The Aborio rice was done a little over al dente but still perfectly crunchy. Take note, it's a little spicy. I'm not much of a fan of the oily fried halibut though. The Cookies and Cream Cheese Cake ($8) was worth every bit of my remaining calories. The black cookies, cream cheese mascarpone and milk espuma were buttery, sweet and savory! Love love love the airy milk espuma.For full review and more photos, please visit www.ms-skinnyfat.com continue reading

Was looking for a place for some tea and dessert around Arab Street and came across this interesting cafe. It was bright, aircondition and spacious.We were served by friendly staff and ordered a Mini Citron Tarte. Buttery tart shell filled with zesty lemon curd and topped with sweet and chewy meringue. It was really visually appealing like “flames” of sweetness. Can’t wait to return here to try out the other desserts! continue reading