We dropped by Adrift @ Marina Bay Sands one weekday afternoon for a much needed reprieve from our hectic schedules. Overseen by one Michelin star Chef David Myers but run by executive Dong Choi, who had worked with Myers at the now defunct Sona (1 Michelin star in 2007) and Comme Ca.Playing neighbour to Rise (MBS's buffet restaurant) at the hotel lobby of tower 2, Adrift comes across as cosy and a little playful (bench made to look like swings) without all the airs of a celebrity restaurant (no loud music playing in the background like Bread Street Kitchen as well!). Floor to ceiling windows ensure plenty of light but a pity there is no view, except for a sculpture of sorts.Amuse Bouche - This was 3 varieties of rice crackers served with a dollop of aioli; pretty interesting with slightly varying degrees of crisp and tastes. The purple one for example, tasted similar to keropok but with a tinge of rice wine.Warm Duck Salad - Very Thai styled salad with sweet mango, generous slices of not too gamy (and delicious!) smoked duck and fresh greens, all drizzled with a sourish, mildly spicy dressing. Appetising and a great way to kick start the meal.

Baby Spinach - Boasting fresh greens, hazelnuts, shimeji mushrooms and truffle pecorino (raw sheep's milk cheese with truffle), what's not to like? Especially with the generous servings.

Pork Tonkatsu Sandwich - Apparently one of Adrift's signature dishes, the pork tonkatsu sandwich was, as the name suggested, juicily tender, deep fried (but not greasy) breaded pork sandwiched between two slices of soft, fluffy white bread not dissimilar to the loaves sold in old neighbourhood bakeries. Served with shredded cabbage salad on the side. Pretty good but can't say I was blown away.Wagyu Cheeseburger - Adrift's wagyu cheeseburger lived up to it's signature dish billing; a seemingly hand chopped (uneven texuture) and juicy beef patty layered with melted cheese, sitting on a beautifully crisp and buttered bun. The other bun was slathered with tomato jam and buried under a mountain of cheese shavings - personally preferred the butter variant. A worthy rival to Suprette's (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/09/suprette-ii-still-my-favourite-burger.html) beef burger in my humble opinion.

We opted for a side of Pak Choy to go with the burger and it turned out rather average honestly. So much for choosing greens over more carbs.

Yuzu Cheesecake - I'm not a huge fan of yuzu but the cheesecake turned out surprisingly good. The yuzu taste was rather dominant but didn't overwhelm the taste of the cheese and paired well with the black sesame ice cream and the wickedly delicious sesame tuile - sweet and crisp with a lingering sesame taste.

Caramel French Toast - Now this was interesting given that coffee or kopi syrup was used as a drizzle instead of the usual flavours. I'm not too sure it worked in this case as the flavour didn't quite seem a natural fit with the coconut sorbet and the french toast (which tasted similar to bread and butter pudding - a tad crisp on the outside yet soft on the inside). Nonetheless I did enjoy this dessert quite a fair bit.

Our lunch cost ~ $113 for 2 pax, which was relatively reasonable considering the competent quality of food and the friendly service. I could definitely envision a revisit, with reservations for the corner swing seats of course.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2016/03/adrift-by-david-myers-where-west-meets.html

I had heard good things about The Butchers Club (TBC for short) in Hong Kong and its famed dry aged beef. So when it opened up a branch in Singapore late last year, I dropped by one weekday afternoon to have a go at the burgers.Occupying a decently sized unit at Clarke Quay, TBC was decked out in an industrial themed setting; cement screed floor, high table tops with metallic bar stools, downlights and "graffiti" art adorning part of the walls.Duck Fat Fries - At $8+ a pop, this was one rather expensive packet of fat wedges with a sprinkling of salt. Deep frying in duck fat was suppose to make the wedges more fragrant but it didn't seem to have much of an effect, to me at least. Decent but no great shakes.Signature Burger - As the name suggested, this was TBC's signature burger. The beef patty came across as tender and pink in the center, smothered with a layer of melted cheese, topped with a crisp bacon and wedged between two buns; the top one was soft but a tad dry whilst the bottom bun was so crisp that I almost punctured a hole in my mouth when I got ambitious and tried to stuff in a sizable piece. That aside, I felt the overall flavour leaning towards the salty side and the beefiness of the patty did seem a little overwhelmed by the cheese. Final verdict? Overall flavour was pretty good but bordering on expensive and Suprette still does a better burger in my humble opinion.

$60 for two (after a 15% credit card discount) isn't exactly cheap especially with the smallish sizes. Service is decent but I guess if I'm craving for a burger, Suprette would be still be my go to place.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2016/03/the-butchers-club-famous-burgers-all.html

Met up with friends for dinner @ Stuttgart Blackforest Cafe, a cafe smack in the middle of town apparently specialising in pork knuckles and Blackforest cake.Housed within Hotel Rendezvous along one of the walkways, Stuttgart invokes a very comfortable feeling from its cottage like decorations; plenty of wooden fixtures, life sized wooden nutcrackers amidst a cottage facade backdrop.Pork Schnitzel - 2 large fillets of pork schnitzel; coated with bread crumbs and coming across as a tad dry. Palatable but average at best.Pork Knuckles - I went with the single portion of pork knuckles and it proved to be rather sizeable. Sporting a crackling crisp skin but a tad dry and chewy meat with bits of fat, this dish could do with a wee bit more salt in my humble opinion. It didn't quite help that the meat came across as rather porky as well.Blackforest Cake - And Stuttgart's claim to fame, it's blackforest cake. Moist with a significant taste of kirsch and plump cherries at the bottom; topped generously with chocolate shavings but didn't come across as overly sweet. Pretty good and one of the best I've had in a while.

We had two 1 for 1 main course vouchers which brought down our bill to ~ $82 for 4pax (~ $126 without the vouchers). Food was average at best but I did fancy the blackforest cake quite a bit and will definitely be back - but only to do a takeaway on the cake.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2016/02/stuttgart-blackforest-boutique-s-cafe.html

We finally made it back to our favourite Imperial Treasure Cantonese @ Crowne Plaza for our CNY eve reunion dinner by virtue of an early reservation (~ 2 months prior and before the CNY menu was made available). And even then, only the second seating was available but thankfully, we managed to snag a private room (watch out for the dripping air-condition vent though!).Fatt Choy Salmon Fish Yu Sheng - After "lao-ing" quite a few yu sheng over the years, I've found the offering at Imperial Treasure Cantonese to be one of the best and most consistent; Not overly sweet with a mild crunchiness from the radish strips. The crackers also came across as fresh (no reused oil taste) and crispy, which was definitely a huge plus.

Double Boiled Superior Shark's Fin with Chicken - Slivers of gelatin sharks fin coupled with a huge chunk of chicken meat, all immersed in a flavourful yet light broth that was good to the last drop. The chicken did come across as dry though.

BBQ Combination - Now this wasn't quite as good as what I had about a week back at the very same place. The duck seemed a tad dry while the roasted pork could do with a wee bit more salt. Not too impressed with the rather salty soy chicken as well.We usually have lobster together with Imperial Treasure's truffle mee pok but decided to just have it solo this time round (an add on of $168++). Crunchy, sweet crustacean flesh coupled with a mildly savoury garlic sauce. Good but would have been better with the mee pok in my humble opinion.

Sauteed Canadian Empress Clam with Vegetable & XO Sauce - The snow peas were excellent; crunchy and sweet with a savoury, spicy kick from the XO sauce. Ditto the clams, which were crunchy and equally tasty.

Deep Fried Soon Hock Fish with Soya Sauce - Perfectly crisp on the outside and lying on a bed of soya sauce, the soon hock unfortunately came across as fine but bland. Not something I would have expected from soon hock honestly. Rather disappointing.Braised Goose Web, Dried Oyster & Mushroom with Black Moss - We were shocked when this dish arrived. It was ridiculously huge (I don't remember previous years' renditions to be that big!) and filled with dried oysters (not my cup of tea), gigantic goose webs, mushrooms and vegetables. Pretty tasty without coming across as too starchy.

Fried Glutinous Rice with Wax Meat & Sausage - Lacking in fragrance and taste, the fried glutinous rice was rather disappointing. Nothing like the offering from Peony Jade. Too bad PJ only offers it on request (advance order) and for 10 pax only.Steamed Glutinous Rice Cake - I personally prefer the pan fried version of nian gao (年糕) so this steamed version didn't quite do it for me, especially with the grated coconut.

Red Bean Cream with Lotus Seed - And to end things off, the humble red bean soup. Boasting huge and distinct azuki beans (not boiled to a mash), the soup wasn't cloyingly sweet and coupled with tender lotus seeds, made for a wonderful dessert.

Dinner for 6 cost about $1155, which is around our norm for reunion dinners. However, quality seems to have dipped a fair bit since our last CNY eve visit but I expect things to normalise after the festive period, given that the food we had just a week prior was still of a certain standard. Looking forward to returning, just not for our next CNY eve dinner.

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2016/02/imperial-treasure-cantonese-part-x.html

After my disappointing sandwich at Melt Bar (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/12/melt-bar-nothing-like-toastface-grillah.html), I had all but given up hopes of finding something similar to that of Toastface Grillah (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/11/toastface-grillah-perth-wa-interesting.html) in Perth. But as luck would have it, I chanced upon Park Bench Deli one weekday evening.Occupying a small shop along Telok Ayer Street, Park Bench Deli's industrial themed interior gives off a hip vibe, with the day's offerings pasted on a huge board on the wall. Seating is rather limited and you have to order and make payment at the counter.Patty Melt On Rye - Pink in the middle and a perfect medium rare, the beef patty came across as tender and well seasoned (a tad overly salty though), topped with gooey melted American cheese and sweet grilled onions, all layered between two slices of crackling crisp rye bread. Pretty delicious but Toastface Grillah's (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/11/toastface-grillah-perth-wa-interesting.html) sandwiches still take the cake.

PB & J - PBD's take on the classic PB & J was pretty interesting. Crusted with cornflakes for that extra crunch, the first thing that hits you is the peanut butter, with the sweetness of the jelly helping to cut through the smooth richness. However I would have appreciated a little more peanut butter and jelly for a more robust flavour. It was also a little annoying to have the cornflakes stick to my teeth at times. Not as good as the one from Artistry (http://www.timelessfacade.com/2015/03/artistry-go-for-pb-french-toast.html) in my humble opinion but good enough!

My stomach threatened to explode after consuming both sandwiches but it was worth it, especially since the food was reasonably priced at $24 nett. I'll definitely be back to try their grilled cheese and cheese steak sandwich!

See all my pictures at http://www.timelessfacade.com/2016/02/park-bench-deli-pretty-good-grilled.html