Dropped by Hillman Restaurant for dinner with my family after a rather good experience there more than a year back. Contrary to the quiet scene we had witnessed on our previous visit, the restaurant was brimming with people this time round so reservations are recommended.

Chicken in Paper Bag - Still as good as I remember it to be. Well seasoned boneless chicken with flavourful juices seeping through with every bite. The same gripe still exists though. Its a chore to try and seperate the chicken from the paper bag. Even more so when I'm already salivating from the prospect of popping one chunky piece of chicken into my mouth.

Kailan with Fish Slices - A most common dish but well executed. The kailan had a nice smokey taste but did come across as a little limp probably due to being soaked in the gravy for too long. The fish slices were fresh and firm but weren't too sweet. Certainly not the best fish around.

Claypot Roasted Pork with Sea Cucumber - As mentioned in my previous post, one of Hillman's specialties is its claypot dishes. However this one failed to shine. True, the gravy was flavourful but the roasted pork was way too fatty. The sea cucumber came across as average.

Claypot Beef - Another claypot dish but this one fared slightly better than the roasted pork with sea cucumber. Soft and chewy, the beef proved quite a pleasure to consume but the gravy could have been a little weaker, especially when it threated to overwhelm the taste of the beef at times.

Happy Beancurd - This quirky sounding beancurd came highly recommended. Home made and crispy on the outside yet soft, quivery on the inside. Topped with copious amounts of minced meat gravy, the beancurd is more of comfort food then anything else. I would have liked it to have a stronger smoky aftertaste though.

Prices have gone up about 10-20% but still falls within the reasonable range for the quality and quantity of food, standing at about $76 for the 5 of us. Service is still almost non existent except for the occasional serving of dishes.

Popped by Tampopo (タンポポ) for dinner one evening since I was in the vicinity. Tampopo, which means dandelion(a kind of flower) in English, shares the same name with a popular culinary movie in Japan in the mid eighties. The movie focuses on Ramen, which incidentally, is what Tampopo is known for.
Located within Liang Court, Tampopo portrays itself as a casual Japanese diner and shares the premises with Tomton, its sister restaurant which specialises in Kurobuta pork.

Shabu Ramen - Billed as THE ramen to try, as featured in the Straits Times, the shabu ramen had a flavourful soup base with a strong hint of pork yet didn't come across as too overwhelming. According to the menu, the soup is made by boiling pork bones for 2 days, which I guess explains its rich flavour. The ramen was springy with lots of bite while the thinly sliced pork was tender and a tad chewy.

Omelette Rice - The omelette rice, or Omurice, was quite well done in my humble opinion (not that I've tried alot though). Moist and fluffy Japanese rice with a few token pieces of chicken wrapped up in a nice thick layer of soft and milky scrambled eggs.

Special Loin - This is Tomton's specialty and I am most inclined to agree. The meat was lightly breaded and very crispy on the outside yet retaining its tenderness and moisture inside. It tasted fresh with not a bit of the oily residue taste that tends to plague deep fried pork cutlets. Really excellent piece of pork but rather small.

Cheese Chiffon - I ordered this dessert because the other chiffons were sold out. And I actually regretted it as it spoilt what would have been a satisfying meal. The chiffon, though light, was practically tasteless and I certainly didn't appreciate sporadic gratings of cheese which did nothing more than allow the chiffon to live up to its name Maybe it just didn't do it for me.

I liked the food and pricing falls along the reasonable range. There is a wee bit of a ventilation problem there so you might walk out faintly smelling of food. The place can get crowded so going early especially on weekends is recommended.

Had been itching to try out Spruce, after seeing quite a few reviews of it online as well as in various publications. Apparently their chef was from Wine Garage, which made really good burgers. Reservations were a pain though as the place was almost always full, till I got lucky one evening and managed to squeeze in a reservation for an outdoor table.

Outdoor seating probably isn't the best idea especially when Spruce is located just up a tiny hill next to lush greenery along Tanglin Road. But hey, if bugs are your best pals, then by means go ahead. Read. The bugs are suicidal. They do kamikaze stunts like crashing into your drinks, table and food. After a couple of minutes, we surrendered and requested for a seat indoors, which was promptly given to us (Whatever happened to the reservations).

Roasted Mycofarm Mushrooms with Herbs - We initially wondered if mycofarm was some special type of mushrooms but after googling, it turned out to be the name of a farm in Singapore. On hindsight we probably shouldn't have ordered this side dish. The mushrooms tasted very normal but were literally drenched in oil. And it was definitely not olive oil.

Creamy Macaroni and Cheese - Now this side dish fared much better. Simple comfort food for the masses. Small macaroni shells evenly coated with a nice smooth creamy and cheesey layer. Not too overwhelming. The bits of burnt mozzarella cheese on top provided a nice crisp texture.

Seared Tuna with Steamed Bok Choy, Carrot and Ginger Broth - Make no mistake. This was a main. 5 slices of tuna tataki with a clump of bok choy going for $22. The tuna was disappointing to the say the least. Not pan seared till lightly charred on the outside while uncomfortably limp on the inside. Being less then generous on the salt didn't exactly help matters as well.

The Spruce Burger with Hand Cut Chips - The burger was good though a tad small. The beef patty crumbled with ease when I poked my fork into it, leading to us coin it "burger crumble". Corny I know. The patty was probably one of the best I've had in a long while. A little moist without the beefy taste overwhelming. Simple and unadulterated. I thought the buns could do with a little more toasting though. There is an option of topping up $2 for a slice of bacon to go along with the patty.

Cranberry, Blueberry and Coconut Tart Ala Mode - I thought this tart sounded really interesting and healthy with all the berries so I had a go at it. Well I wouldn't say it was fantastic but at least it was decent. I could make out the taste of blueberries and cranberries and strands of coconut in between. Lightly sweet. Unfortunately, the accompanying scoop of ice cream melted really fast and was your run off the mill vanilla ice cream.

Yogurt and Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Seasonal Fruit - This dessert was actually more yogurt then panna cotta, smooth and semi liquid. The layer of blueberry was sweet and complemented the yogurt quite well. It was topped with this brownish looking muesli bars that stuck to my teeth when I chewed on it. Nice but majorly irritating.

Generally speaking, prices aren't really over the top but food quality could be improved quite a bit in general. Service in general was good but there was this young waiter that stood out with his earnest attitude and attentiveness. Pity I didn't catch his name. Spruce is worth a try, just for the burger, but probably not worth a return. By the way, parking is free.

I've always meant to try out Chinese Box, a Chinese restaurant owned and operated by the same folks who holds the rights to Black Angus in Singapore. So when an opportunity to try out their food came knocking, I jumped at it.

Chinese Box is hidden in the far reaches of the NUS law campus at Cluny Road. Getting there can be quite a headache as there are no clear signs as to how to reach the restaurant even within the compounds of the school itself. Housed on the first level of an old restored colonial bungalow (Black Angus takes the second level), Chinese Box boasts a classical chinese interior with a dash of colonial grandeur. Think white washed pillars, overhanging oriental lamps and and red translucent curtains.

Soft Shell Crab Roll & Vietnamese Mango and Duck Roll - The soft shell crab roll was crisp with a fleeting taste of sourish mango. I couldn't quite make out any taste of soft shell crab though, as it was overwhelmed by the leafy taste of the greens. The mango and duck roll fared slightly better. Drizzled with sweet sauce, it wasn't as leafy as the crab roll and I could still make out a faint fowl taste and texture. Not exactly the best way to start of the meal in my humble opinion.

Poet Drunken Chicken & Taro Strings - Honestly its the first time I'm having taro strings so its quite a refreshing change from the norm. Soaked in Szechuan chilli oil, the strings tasted a little like vermicelli, albeit a little firmer and thicker, making for a nice chewy and fiery sensation. The drunken chicken was well marinated in Chinese wine but came across as a little too salty.

Chinese Box Signature Beijing Duck - Apparently, this is a signature dish of Chinese Box but I honestly thought that though palatable, it was no big deal. The skin was a wee bit crisp and served with meat, all wrapped up in a thin egg crepe, with some cucumber slices thrown in for the works. I have definitely eaten much better ones before.

TeoChew TaiPan Superior Thick Shark's Fin Soup - The broth was thick and savoury without coming across as nausea inducing. The single fin was of quite a decent size but its texture reminded me somewhat of vermicelli, which was rather unnerving. I could make out a mild ginger taste in it as well. Decent but could be better.

Pan Fried Cod Fish Fillets in Superior Soy Sauce - Well fried till crisp but lacked the natural sweetness or smoothness of cod. Probably the redeeming factor would be the sweet sauce that came drizzled atop, without which, the fish would have tasted bland.

Signature Golden Roast Duck & Teochew Five Spice Meats Roll - Another signature duck dish, this time served with a roll of wu xiang. The duck's skin was rather limp and certainly didn't impress while the wu xiang had a nice crisp exterior belying an overly soft interior that was lacking in robustness of taste.

Stir-Fried Taiwan Pea-shoots - The pea shoots aka dou miao (豆苗) was quite well fried - not too soft yet retaining enough juices and mildly salty.

Signature Golden Tofu Bar with Sauteed Mushrooms - I think the word signature is used to death already. The word raises expectations a few notches and its cruel to be brought back down to reality. I like my tofu savoury with a hint of smokiness but Chinese Box's offering, though smooth, lacked just that. I liked the topping of mushrooms and dried scallops though.

Garlic Steamed Fresh Scallop w/ Tofu - A huge steamed scallop showered with lots of deep fried garlic (a personal favourite) and fresh chopped garlic, served on a bed of steamed tofu. The garlic provided a nice crunch and aroma but covered the sweetness, if any, of the scallop. The tofu was smooth but not exactly soft while the gravy had egg white in it. All in all, I thought that the idea was there, just that the execution and proportions could have been better.

I love this effort intensive traditional Teochew dessert and have been fortunate enough to try out quite a number of renditions in Singapore and overseas. My take on Chinese Box's variation Smooth but not fragrant, probably due to the exclusion of lard in it. And the taste wasn't robust enough for my liking. On the upside, it wasn't too sweet, which was a good thing.

Had lunch at The Dining Room at Raffles Town Club, which shares the same name as a Chinese restaurant in the upclass Crockford Towers at Resort World Sentosa, though the former has been in existence long before RWS made its foray Singapore. On a side note, Sheraton Towers Hotel has a restaurant named The Dining Room as well. Is the name generic or what

Hidden in one corner of the club (the whole clubhouse is quite a maze actually), The Dining Room features a modernly styled interior with touches of classic European grandeur, giving rise to an understated luxurious yet cozy setting.

Lobster Risotto - Though this came as an appetiser (very small portions), the risotto was al dente, with a nice overall smooth and creamy feel to it. I could make out a whiff of truffle oil as well. Lobster portions were minimal of course and I thought that there was a mild overdose of salt. But other than that, it was a good starter.

Pan Fried Goose Liver - Nicely pan fried with little charred bits, the foie gras was smooth but not exactly what I would term as silky. And check out the copious amounts of oil in this tiny piece of liver. I'm not sure the 2 sticks of asparagus did any good in making this dish "healthier" so to speak.

Prime Rib of Beef - Deviating a little from my request, my prime rib was done medium well instead of medium rare and didn't carry much natural sweetness. On the upside, it was nicely grilled with a dash of salt for seasoning. Overall still quite decent.

Tiramisu - I certainly wasn't expecting a lychee in my tiramisu but I'm not complaining as I have a certain penchant for lychees, rambutans and the likes. I like the generous serving of mascarpone cheese but that's just about it. The sponge was a little hard but not dry, reminding me more of moist brownie, which isn't too bad if you can get past the psychological expectations part. If you like coffee, you will definitely appreciate the apparent coffee taste.

We had a leisurely and filling lunch in the comfort of an empty restaurant. Food in general hovered around the average to slightly above average level, which didn't quite justify the price tag ($173 for 4 pax) in my humble opinion. Still, brownie points for excellent service and professionalism. And it beats both the Japanese and Chinese restaurant at the club.