La Strada has been around for quite a while but after our rather uninspiring lunch at Les Amis (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/02/les-amis-past-its-prime.html - sister restaurant under the same umbrella) a few months back, I wasn't too keen on dining at La Strada. But as fate would have it, I had an errand to run in the vicinity so decided to drop by for a quick lunch, seeing that the place was relatively empty on a Monday afternoon.Located just next to Bistro Du Vin (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2013/07/bistro-du-vin.html - which serves great set lunches by the way), La Strada sports a compact, cosy interior with red tiled floors, wooden tables and chairs against a yellow backdrop. I opted for one of the 3 small tables by the window for a view of the adjourning walkway but do note that means the passersby see you as well.Carbonara - La Strada's signature Carbonara; didn't look like much but every bit an excellent dish. Beneath the thin, al dente, homemade guitar string pasta lay a confit of egg yolk which added to the creaminess of the dish when the yolk broke. Sprinkled with crisp but a touch overly salty lardo crumble (salumi, an Italian cold cut made by curing strips of pork with herbs and spices) for that extra crunch, this dish also boasted a rich fragrance and earthiness courtesy of the truffle butter sauce. Delicious without coming across as nauseating. But to be fair, I guess that in part has to do with the portion size, which was really quite small. I would probably need at least 2 bowls to fill myself up but at $28++ a pop, it's definitely not that affordable. One of the best Carbonara I've had to date.

Tiramisu - Served up in a bowl and dusted with chocolate flakes (not the usual cocoa powder), the mascarpone cheese to sponge ratio was pretty good but unfortunately, the bottom of the sponge came across as very soggy from soaking in too much of the Kahlua. Topped with coffee lookalike, chocolate beans. Decent but not outstanding.

Lunch cost me about $54 and prices are undeniably on the high side for a relatively casual restaurant and the small portions. In this aspect, the set lunch @ $35++ does seem like a more viable alternative, just that you won't find the signature Carbonara listed as one of the options. Service came across as rather friendly and good. I'll definitely be happy to return for the Carbonara when the craving hits.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/la-strada-excellent-carbonara.html

I was craving a good burger and the wife happened to be on leave so we headed down to Suprette for lunch one weekday afternoon. Our last visit there (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/05/suprette-awesome-burger-in-heritage.html) was absolutely delicious so it was the natural choice for a burger fix.Chunky Chicken Chowder - This was part of the set lunch that the wife had and it came across as creamy but a wee bit too salty. However the chicken chunks were plentiful which was rather unexpected.

Chipotle Chicken Sandwich - I had a bite of the chipotle chicken sandwich and it proved to be very decent; a tad creamy with a tinge of spiciness and sandwiched between two crisp bread halves. Served with shoe string fries and salad - all for $15 nett inclusive of a soup and a drink. A pretty decent deal if you ask me.Suprette Burger - And my sole reason for coming to Suprette, the namesake Suprette Burger ($20 for lunch, $25 for dinner), topped with bacon (+$3) and mushrooms (+$3). The hand chopped patty was done to medium well even though I had requested for medium rare but still came across as flavourful and juicy with bits of fat for texture. Add plentiful mushrooms, crisp bacon strips, a layer of gruyere cheese and two wonderfully buttery and crisp buns for the ultimate enjoyment. Oh and let's not forget the mountain of crisp shoestring fries (free flow if you visit during dinner but a single serving is more than enough for me).

Lunch cost the both of us to the tune of $42.54, which was well worth the money in my humble opinion. A pity there is no option to have the burger as part of the set lunch (even with a top up) but in itself, the set lunch does represent decent value for money. But the draw (to me at least) is still undeniably the burger.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/suprette-ii-still-my-favourite-burger.html

Back in 2009, we were contemplating between dining at Joël Robuchon (currently the chef with the most Michelin stars to his name - 25 stars) or Guy Savoy (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2009/12/guy-savoy-paris.html) in Paris and ended up choosing the latter. 6 years on, we finally stepped foot into Joël Robuchon's first foray into Singapore, the eponymous Joël Robuchon Restaurant (opened in April 2011), for lunch. Gosh, what a long time coming.If you enter by the main entrance, turning right after the door will bring you to Joël Robuchon Restaurant (left brings you to L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, the more casual outfit). The main dining area strikes one as posh and sombre, with a beautiful chandelier as the centerpiece. The adjourning indoor winter garden strikes a stark contrast with a classy yet cheery appeal, sporting a glass roof to allow plenty of natural light in.

There is a smart elegant dress code but I guess it's not strictly enforced (I spotted some guys wearing t shirts and shorts).

Amuse Bouche - A calamansi jelly flavoured with vanilla, topped with anisette cream; a little too tart for my liking.Complimentary Homemade Bread - All the bread is homemade and pretty good in my humble opinion, especially the viennoiserie; buttery yet light rolls that reminded me of croissant sans the flakiness. The baguette came across as crusty and went very well with the smooth butter. We were so enamoured with the bread that we jumped at the chance for a second helping. And thankfully we did.

Le King Crabe - Seasoned king crab meat, avocado and crunchy vegetables on tomato coulis. A very well thought out dish with the avocado providing a nice smoothness to the crunchy vegetables and the lightly tart tomato coulis and green apple cubes playing counterpoint to the delightful crustacean sweetness of the king crab. Excellent!

Le Thé de Crevette - "Botan" shrimp in fresh coriander and turmeric infusion. I'm usually adverse to turmeric (or any plant in the ginger family for that matter) but this soup was surprisingly light, mildly sweet yet spicy at the same time and accentuated the sweetness of the crunchy botan shrimp chunks.La Noix de Saint-Jacques - Pan-fried Hokkaido scallop with spelt risotto and coral emulsion. Undoubtedly the pièce de résistance of the afternoon; a lightly spicy, savoury, creamy sauce base coupled with al dente spelt and a huge, perfectly cooked scallop that was oh so sweet. A pity portion sizes were oh so small.

Le Boeuf "Wagyu" - Wagyu beef hanging tender grilled with medley of aromates and shallots marmalade. Done to a perfect medium rare - tender and juicy. Topped with caramalised shallots for a rather strong sweetness. Good but portions are really small and I personally prefer huge slabs of steak of the salted variant. Served with JR's famous mashed potatoes. Incredibly delicious; silky smooth without coming across as overly dry or moist and with a buttery aftertaste to boot. One of the best "traditional" mashed potatoes I've eaten to date.

Le Minty - And on to desserts. Flowing chocolate Araguani with icy mint sorbet. First impression, it looked more like a layer of cream twirl decorated with a chocolate ring than a molten chocolate cake. But looks can be deceiving because dig beneath that layer of cream to find a scoop of light mint sorbet and a layer of chocolate fondant, complete with a mildly crisp shell and oozing chocolate. Although I don't quite fancy mint but this was quite a treat!

La Pavlova - Lychee lightness, lemongrass mousseline and "Mara de Bois" strawberry. The pavlova was crisp on the outside yet soft and gooey on the inside (like a marshmallow) and carried a pleasantly light lychee flavour and sweetness. Generously adorned with an assortment of berries, including the "Mara de Bois" strawberry (apparently very highly sought after for its flavour and fragrance) to juxtapose the sweetness of the meringue. Very good.

Petit Fours - We ended off with petit fours, which provided an additional sweet ending to our meal. Nothing was memorable here and I did find the raspberry macaron a little lacking in tartness and its shell a wee bit too moist.

Our wonderful lunch for two cost ~ $254 which is definitely at the higher end of the pricing spectrum. However food quality is undeniable and we enjoyed it quite a bit. Service could be a little more personable though.

Remember the mention about being thankful for the second serving of bread earlier on? I kid you not but we had to rely on the bread to fill our tummies because of the tiny portions (my set had an appetiser, a soup, two mains and a dessert by the way). French haute cuisine indeed but very unlike my experience at Guy Savoy Paris. However, having said that, we have already made plans for a return trip in the coming weeks ;)

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/07/joel-robuchon-restaurant-singapore.html

We often drove/walked past Hatter Street Bakehouse & Cafe and the place used to be rather quiet until it got featured in a few publications as well as The Straits Times. Intrigued by the hype, we popped by one weekend afternoon for a dessert fix. And even at about 3pm, the place was still pretty full (it's actually pretty small and cramp) but we were lucky to snag two counter seats facing the pedestrian walkway.Chocolate Hazelnut Tart ($6) - I love a good chocolate hazelnut tart and this was actually pretty good; Chilled, smooth richly yet not too sweet chocolate encased within a crumbly tart shell and topped with a hazelnut. Only gripe I had was that the shell was a tad too moist and could do with a little more stiffness.

Waffle With Pandan Ice Cream & Gula Melaka Sauce ($9.80) - This was a rather unique combination and it piqued our interest quite a fair bit. Crisp waffle (I found it a tad too hard for my liking though) coupled with a scoop of smooth, mildly flavoured pandan ice cream and drizzled over with a distinctive yet not cloyingly sweet gula melaka (palm sugar) sauce. Pleasantly nice local twist to a western dessert I must say.

Will I be back? Most probably, since I don't stay too far off. However Ciel Patisserie might still be my top choice for desserts in the same area as it's cheaper, has less crowds (although seating is even more limited) and quality as a whole is rather similar. Only downside is that they don't do waffles.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/05/hatter-street-bakehouse-cafe-desserts.html

It was restaurant week again and we decided to do Chinese for once. Since neither of us had ever been to Summer Palace, we decided to give their lunch a shot.Located on the third floor of Regent Singapore, just a level above Basilico (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2008/09/basilico.html), Summer Palace houses a rather traditional Chinese interior complete with wooden chairs, golden pillars and a floor of red trim carpeting. We were lucky to be seated by the window (3 such tables available) but there was honestly no view to speak of except for the pool below and the hotel guests sunbathing by it. Still, I appreciated the serenity of the whole place.Chef's Dim Sum Selection - Deep Fried Prawn Roll with Mango - I liked the crisp, deep fried rice noodles that encapsulated bits of crunchy prawn but unfortunately, the taste of mango was almost non existent. What was interesting was that the mayonnaise that came served alongside actually had hints of mango in it. Or was I imagining things?

Barbecued Pork Bun with Pine Nuts - Boasting a crusty, not too sweet top and a generous filling of sweet, mildly gooey BBQ pork, the bun was actually pretty respectable. However, unlike my personal favourite from Lung King Heen (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2014/06/lung-king-heen-part-iii-hong-kong.html), the sweetness from the BBQ pork actually overwhelmed the nutty taste of the pine nuts and the bun itself wasn't as soft or chewy.

Steamed Prawn Dumpling with Bird's Nest -This was your typical 虾角 with a mere aesthetic upgrade aka tasteless shreds of birds nest. Throw in a relatively limp dumpling skin and you have an average prawn dumpling.

Double Boiled Ginseng with Fish Maw, Conpoy and Bamboo Piths - Although I'm personally not a fan of ginseng, this soup was quite good in my humble opinion. Tasty yet light with the mild taste of ginseng helping to keep the nausea at bay and the spongy fish maw coming across as crunchy.

Stir Fried Fish Cubes with Asparagus in Teriyaki Sauce - Flaky and smooth flesh coupled with a light sweetness from the teriyaki sauce and a mild savouriness from the stir fried garlic and ginger. Pretty good. Only issue I had was that the sweetness of the teriyaki dominated the natural sweetness of the cod fish, which I personally am quite a fan of.

Fried Glass Vermicelli with Crabmeat and Black Pepper - A tad chewy with an abundance of wok hei, crab meat shreds and black pepper for that mildly peppery kick, the glass vermicelli was pretty decent. And the beansprouts added a nice crunchiness to it.

Combination of Desserts - Osmanthus Jelly with Wolfberries - Nice and sweet with the wolfberries tasting very similar to raisins.

Mango Sago - Chilled and a tad runny but thankfully, not too sweet. Not as refreshing as I expected and could probably do with a little tartness and a little more time in the fridge.

Lemongrass Jelly - I absolutely dislike lemongrass but this turned out surprisingly acceptable. The lemongrass taste was rather faint and it tasted like your regular ice jelly dessert with crunchy bits of aloe vera. Very decent.

And so concluded our lunch, with two restaurant week lunch sets and a pot of 龙井 hitting the century mark. Pretty satisfactory lunch but I personally don't deem it wow enough for a return visit, not when the normal ala carte prices seem a tad steep for the quality of food. Service was excellent though; warm yet unintrusive.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/05/summer-palace-restaurant-week-lunch.html