It was a last minute and impromptu dinner for me with the Openrice and 1 Rochester peeps at 1-TwentySix at East Coast.

Before dinner commenced, the bar presented us with 7 cocktails named 'The 7 Desirable Sins'. 1-TwentySix takes pride in using only fresh fruits for the cocktails, shaking them into unique concoctions to satiate the senses. There was even 1 drink where the bartender blended chili padi into it!

My favourite has got to be 'Antoinette's Vanity', the drink on the utmost left with a cupcake placed on top. Sweet and subtle, it feels like a ladies' drink.

Our dinner consisted of:
Nibble Platter, $32
Seafood Platter, $85
Seared King scallops with smoked sea urchin risotto, $18 / $28
Grilled King prawns, $24/$32
Classic fish pie, $35
Roast Baby Chicken, $38
Valrhona dark and white chocolate fondant, $14
Strawberry shortcake, $14
Grande Assiette, $28

The risotto was my favourite dish for the dinner. I like the texture of the sticky rice, and how the taste of the sea urchin and scallops were not overpowering.

Next up for me was the roast chicken with its crispy skin. The chicken was tender and soft, and went well with the apple sauce provided.

For cream lovers, you may want to try the fish pie which has a strong taste of cream and seafood. As I am a 'safe' eater at most times, this was the first time I came across this dish and was very much fascinated by it.

What's a dinner without desserts?

The strawberry shortcake was Awesome. I didn't know strawberry shortcakes taste like this! Addicted to the crunchiness of the biscuits in it, I kept stealing bites of it. *cough*

The chocolate fondant did not fail to please me either. It was demolished by the 5 of us in record time.

Set up near the beach, 1-TwentySix provides a very chillout experience for people who need a break from the concrete city. Noise is minimal and thus allows for easy conversations with my friends without having to raise my voice to compete with others. I don't know how the Openrice people so appropriately match me with my favourite kind of restaurants, but they sure know how to!

This [the Liang Court branch] is the ramen place which topped every other Japanese ramen joint I have tried in Singapore. And I have been to quite a lot.

Tampopo has a wide variety of food. I was recommended some crab porridge by a friend but since I’m allergic to crabs [yeah, I know, the tragedy], I have never tried it. Do let me know if it is really as good as it sounds should any of you readers try it!

I love the codfish. It is creamy goodness. Soft melt-in-the-mouth meat coupled with crispy, a-lil-fat skin.

The ramen in the last picture is the dish which I am addicted to. The combination of chili and the almost creamy soup with the ramen is flavourful in every mouthful. I always ask for an egg to accompany my bowl of noodles.

90% of the people I have introduced to Tampopo like the food there! As for the 10%, they found it alright. Not spectacular, but not horrible either. Taste is subjective afterall.

The first picture. Is Paella.

It is a lip-smacking good dish which reminds me of the very awesome and addictive risotto I kept stealing from my friend’s plate in Melbourne two years back.

Paella is a Spanish dish of rice cooked with onion, tomato, garlic, saffron, vegetables, and various meats, including chicken, chorizo, and/or shellfish.

I love the smoked duck and orange salad, which will never fall into my category of ‘rabbit food’ [ie; raw, sometimes unappetizing vegetables that make people hungry after 30 minutes of eating them] because it is zesty and tangy and so un-rabbit-food-like. Thumbs up for this dish!

The bill came up to $107 inclusive of GST, which was reasonable [to me], considering that the four of us ordered enough to feed an army the following:

1 glass of summer peach tea [which has real peaches in it]
2 glasses of hoegarden
1 bowl of clam chowder soup
Garlic bread
1 large plate of salad
Meatballs in brown sauce, with chips
1 large bucket of clams in white wine sauce, and more chips
3 woks of paella

A fresh-looking restaurant with a whimsical feel, friendly non-intrusive staff, affordable tasty food… What’s there not to like? I have been there twice and both were good experiences. I will definitely go back to try their other stuff.

Tucked in Upper Bukit Timah road, this lovely place offers a cooling chillout experience for people who are in want of a cosy restaurant where conversation can be held comfortably without having to compete with other people's vocal chords. There is a choice of an air-conditioned indoor area, or al fresco dining.

Service is great where the owners of Firestation add the personal touch by mingling with the customers. The chefs also take the effort to introduce dishes to our interested bunch of people. There was also an incident where they, on an impromptu note, concorted up a new drink for us to try, much to our delight.

Prices are surprisingly reasonable [I was expecting the dishes to cost at least a third more than the current prices].

In terms of food, I very much enjoyed the rack of lamb, striploin steak and braised duck pizza. The steak was FAB. I had my fair share of overcooked / undercooked steak and more often than not, I went away disappointed. The striploin was perfectly medium-rare and came piping-hot, juicy and tender. I’m almost drooling just remembering how orgasmic it tasted.

I'm not particularly a fan of pizza, but the unassuming braised duck pizza won me over. The taste of the rocket leaf in other pizzas that I have eaten before tend to overpower the other ingredients in the pizza. The combination for Firestation’s braised duck pizza with cheese, truffle mayo and duck with a thin crust was just right!

Relaxed and laid-back, Firestation is a charming place to chill at the end of a gruelling workweek. Cosy place, gastronomical delight, affordable prices will continue to bring me in as a happy repeat customer.