Forest 森 is owned by local celebrity chef Sam Leong (formerly from Tung Lok group) and one of four restaurants (and the only Chinese restaurant) within Resorts World Sentosa to receive Michelin stars but as with Osia, the decision wasn't without controversy.

The Place

Tucked in a corner of Equarius Hotel, Forest's interior seemingly revolves around a rainforest theme; earthen colours with alot of wood and pillars that soar towards the high ceiling and branch out to resemble foliage.

As it was a Sunday, the wife and I decided to partake in their Sunday set lunch menu ($68++/pax) which, I quote, is "An 8-course lunch comprising 13 dishes in tasting portions will be served, showcasing the sheer breadth of Celebrity Chef Sam Leong’s culinary invention."

Double Boiled Soup Of The Day

The soup of the day got things off to a decent start; light yet appetising but would have appreciated a more robust soup.

(top) Chilled Pork Shoulder Marinated with Hot & Sour Five Spice Powder, (bottom) Pan Seared Foie Gras Marinated in Red Wine Sauce Served with Baked Bread

The chilled pork shoulder was rather chewy and lightly sweet (from the apple and carrot salad beneath) with a touch of spiciness (hot & sour five spice powder). A tad too porky for my liking.

The foie gras wasn't quite up to scratch in my humble opinion. Though smooth and coated with black sesame seeds to accentuate the taste and texture, the mousse was literally drowning in the taste of the red wine.

(top) Steamed Egg Chawanmushi with Crab Meat, (bottom) Pan Seared Wagyu Beef Roll with Enoki Mushroom Served in Black Pepper Sauce

I thought the chawanmushi was quite good; smooth and silky without coming across as overly eggy and topped with shreds of crab meat, crisped rice and roe for that extra crunch and pop.

A slice of less than tender, lightly sweet beef wrapped around crunchy enoki mushroom; drenched in black pepper sauce that killed off every other taste.

(top) Deep Fried Hokkaido Scallop Coated in Salted Egg Yolk Mayo, (bottom) Deep Fried Prawn Coated in Crispy Cereal

Although I really liked the salted egg yolk mayo coating and the crisp flour shell, the scallop itself was way too soft for my liking; almost mushy in fact. A pity really.

A singular, fresh tiger prawn coated with rather dry and tasteless cereal. Another shame and honestly, some of the cze char stalls do it better.

Deep Fried New Zealand Cod Fillet with Thai Style Sauce

On to the deep fried cod fillet with minimal but very crisp batter; rich, mildly sweet and spicy from the Thai style sauce. Coupled with mango slices providing a sweet yet tangy tinge. Pretty good in my humble opinion.

Oven Baked Chicken Chop with Sand Ginger Sauce

Unfortunately the chicken chop didn't quite do it for me. I appreciated the crisp layer of chicken skin but the taste of the galangal was a little too strong for my liking. Not quite my cup of tea but definitely palatable.

(top) Japanese Pearl Rice Topped with Abalone, (bottom) Braised Ee-Fu Noodle with Crab Meat

I liked the texture of the pearl rice but found it very bland with only the faintest hint of egg and ginger. The tender abalone couldn't make up for it and the end result was half a bowl of leftover rice.

Shreds of crab meat floating atop a semi viscous broth filled with limp Ee Fu Noodles that had a nauseating effect after a few mouthfuls.

Forest Delight

A small cube of smooth New York Cheesecake sprinkled with cookie crumble paired with rather refreshing lemongrass jelly with mango and coconut chunks for extra sweetness and texture. Not a big fan of lemongrass but this was pretty decent.

Bill

At $68++/pax, I personally found the lunch big on variety but relatively small on quality. The only thing I liked about the lunch was the environment (quiet and largely void of customers) and the decent service. How Forest can be awarded a Michelin star seriously befuddles me.

Final Verdict:

Ambience: 7.5/10

Service: 7/10

Food: 6/10

Price: 5.5/10

Overall: 6.5/10

Address: Equarius Hotel™, Lobby

Contact: 6577 7788 or 6577 6688

Opening Hours:

Breakfast:

7.30am - 10.30am

(Daily, walk-ins only)

Lunch (Mon - Sat):

12pm – 2.30pm

(Last order at 2.15pm)

Dinner:

6pm – 10.30pm

(Last order at 10pm)

Sunday Lunch:

12pm – 3pm

(Last order 2.30pm)

Website: http://www.rwsentosa.com/Homepage/Restaurants/CelebrityChefs/Forest

Met up with some friends for dinner at Benjamin Browns for dinner one weekday evening after seeing how over the top shakes seem to be the rage nowadays.

Benjamin Browns, or BB for short, sits on the first floor of the relatively quiet Forum The Shopping Mall and by virtue of an earlier reservation, we managed to snag a corner table. Seating is rather limited (probably ~ 20-30 pax) and there was a queue to get in after we were done with dinner.Carbonara - This wasn't my first choice but since they were apparently out of their "Benjamin Burger", I had to make do with this. And it wasn't a great choice; less than al dente pasta coupled with creamy but a tad watery base. Only consolation was the generous serving of bacon slices. Nothing like La Strada's (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/la-strada-excellent-carbonara.html).Nutella Banana Milkshake - And the primary reason behind our choice to dine at BB, their over the top milkshakes. Honestly it was no great shakes (pun intended) and definitely didn't look as pretty in real life as in those instagram photos (presentation came across as a little slip shod). It was essentially diluted banana milkshake topped with layer upon layer (3 to be exact) of sliced bananas, whipped cream and sugar crackers (which looked and tasted suspiciously like they were from Khong Guan), finished off with a brownie as the crowning glory and a chocolate wafer wedged by the side. Pretzels adorned the side of the glass, held together by a layer of gooey nutella. Overall this was a giant sugar rush and too much of it made me a little sick. Lesson learnt - share it, hence the 2 straws provided. Definitely not worth the $16++ though.

My share came up to about $42 which wasn't quite worth the money in my humble opinion. Food was average at best and even the much vaunted shake fell flat. Service was also found wanting. One of the wait staff was obviously unsure about the menu and had to repeatedly come back to us about the food we ordered. Conclusion? Yet another run of the mill place hyped up and glorified by social media.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/12/benjamin-browns-bistro-bakery-whats-all.html

Met up with some friends for dinner at Benjamin Browns for dinner one weekday evening after seeing how over the top shakes seem to be the rage nowadays.

Benjamin Browns, or BB for short, sits on the first floor of the relatively quiet Forum The Shopping Mall and by virtue of an earlier reservation, we managed to snag a corner table. Seating is rather limited (probably ~ 20-30 pax) and there was a queue to get in after we were done with dinner.Carbonara - This wasn't my first choice but since they were apparently out of their "Benjamin Burger", I had to make do with this. And it wasn't a great choice; less than al dente pasta coupled with creamy but a tad watery base. Only consolation was the generous serving of bacon slices. Nothing like La Strada's (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/la-strada-excellent-carbonara.html).Nutella Banana Milkshake - And the primary reason behind our choice to dine at BB, their over the top milkshakes. Honestly it was no great shakes (pun intended) and definitely didn't look as pretty in real life as in those instagram photos (presentation came across as a little slip shod). It was essentially diluted banana milkshake topped with layer upon layer (3 to be exact) of sliced bananas, whipped cream and sugar crackers (which looked and tasted suspiciously like they were from Khong Guan), finished off with a brownie as the crowning glory and a chocolate wafer wedged by the side. Pretzels adorned the side of the glass, held together by a layer of gooey nutella. Overall this was a giant sugar rush and too much of it made me a little sick. Lesson learnt - share it, hence the 2 straws provided. Definitely not worth the $16++ though.

My share came up to about $42 which wasn't quite worth the money in my humble opinion. Food was average at best and even the much vaunted shake fell flat. Service was also found wanting. One of the wait staff was obviously unsure about the menu and had to repeatedly come back to us about the food we ordered. Conclusion? Yet another run of the mill place hyped up and glorified by social media.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/12/benjamin-browns-bistro-bakery-whats-all.html

We were craving toasties a couple of weeks after our trip to Toastface Grillah in Perth (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/11/toastface-grillah-perth-wa-interesting.html) and had heard that Melt Bar @ PasarBella purportedly served and I quote, "Singapore's best grilled sandwich". So off to Turf City it was, on a humid Saturday morning.

One of the many dining areas littered around PasarBella but the biggest and the only one on the second floor with a bird's eye view of the various stalls below. But regardless of where you sit, the fumes will get to you so be prepared to smell of food when you leave the place.Classic ($10) + Fried Chicken ($5) - This grilled sandwich evidently didn't live up to the hype. For starters, the bread, though sporting a slight crisp on the surface, came across as a tad too thick and dry. The gooey mozzarella and sharp cheddar had a nice gooey texture but failed to make much of an impact with a less than generous serving and muted tastes; which was overshadowed by the taste of the ordinary tasting fried chicken. Overall still a palatable grilled sandwich but definitely not in the league of Toastface Grillah, at least in terms of taste and price.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/12/melt-bar-nothing-like-toastface-grillah.html

Yes, yet another burger joint. While I'm happy about the variety and competition the various eateries offer, I'm honestly a little jaded by the "famous" or "must try" places that serve middling burgers. But I digress. We were at Carvers & Co for a taste of their much touted beef burger on a sweltering weekend afternoon.Occupying one of the small shophouse units along East Coast Road, just opposite Roxy Square, Carvers sports an industrial chic interior complete with overhanging halogen lamps and heavy steel chairs. One gripe I had about the place. We were seated next to the fold-able doors with the glass panels and could make out second hand cigarette smoke seeping in from outside (we later found out that there was a "designated" cigarette disposal tin just outside and folks from adjourning units were disposing of their cigarettes there as well).Pork Get In My Bellay! - As amusing as this dished sounded, it was average at very best. The pork belly came across as very crisp and way too dry; on a bed of crisp bread with a splattering of siracha mayonnaise for that spicy but less than useful kick. Finishing this proved quite a chore and we gave up after a while.The (AWOL) Sergeant - Grilled to a medium rare with a mildly salty bovine taste, the beef patty came topped with melted cheddar and a layer of caramelised onions for a dollop of sweetness; sandwiched between two mildly crisp burger buns spread with a thin layer of butter and mustard. Overall pretty decent but I personally would have preferred the buns without the mustard. The additional streaky bacon (+$3) came extremely crisp but was way too dry for my liking (it felt like I was eating a cracker instead of bacon).

Truffle Fries - Crisp and topped with grated cheese, served with mayonnaise but where's the truffle oil?

At $44 for the both of us, it wasn't expensive but the food was rather disappointing. The beef burger was the only thing that was decent (but nowhere as good as Suprette's - http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/suprette-ii-still-my-favourite-burger.html) and I don't foresee myself ever returning again. Once again, so much for the hype...

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/11/carvers-co-yet-another-burger-joint.html