We chose to eat early and not have to struggle with reservations on a Friday night. Especially since we had been turned away once. The expectation hanging over the place was inevitable. We sat down to efficient and professional service from who we guessed is probably the lady owner. If not, they probably have some great incentive scheme going for their employees. Iced water was poured promptly and drinks orders taken while she left us alone for a little while to pore the menu.

A typical menu of a casual Italian eatery, offering up appetizers, pastas, pizzas and a small selection of meats/seafood.

Amuse Bouche
Our amuse bouche of a tomato crostini drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and topped with a solitary Parmesan shaving was good. The tomatoes were sweet and the Parmesan a decent quality.

Caprese alla Bufala
Buffalo Mozzarella with vine ripe tomatoes
The Caprese was actually very good. Fresh tomatoes and Arugula (with the right amount of spiciness) matched with a creamy Bufala and it all came together with the aged Balsamic, which provided a sticky sweet finish.

Cartoccio di Mare
Seafood wrapped in tin foil
I was a little puzzled by this one. The spaghetti was perfectly cooked, with just the right touch of bite. However, the seafood was a big letdown. It just wasn't the freshest and as a result, there was no sea taste at all in the tomato-based sauce. I came away with the feeling that the seafood was separately cooked from the pasta and sauce inside the foil, which misses the point of a Cartoccio. It probably wasn't the case, but it tasted like so. Such a shame.

Wagyu Beef Cheek braised in a red wine sauce
The beef cheek was a little better and infused with the goodness of the red wine it was braised in. End result: a melt-in-the-mouth piece of meat. However, for non-beef lovers, don't order this since it is rather gamey since there wasn't enough done to cover that off. My other complaint was that the chef was a little heavy handed with the salt and you couldn't take as much sauce as you want without feeling a little dehydrated afterwards.

I didn't have dessert since I was distracted by the durian mooncakes available 2 shops away. Overall, it's a comfy laid back joint, and I might go back. If I do, I would try the other items on the menu since what we ordered didn't really blow us away. Bruno's is still my choice Italian joint in the East but Osteria has some potential. The chefs are really quite good, as long as the produce they have to work with improves.

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Ladies who lunch are fab. It's been so busy that I've forgotten how to enjoy a leisurely lunch. And so on the eve of a holiday, it doesn't get better.

Daniel Boulud, one of the celebrity chefs who've set up shop in Singapore, has his bistro in the newish Sands integrated resort down in Marina Bay. It's a comfortable place to dine in, with warm lighting, dark wood interiors, reminiscent of a old-style Parisian bistro but with modern fittings.

I ordered a home-made lemonade, which was overly sweet. And cloyingly so. I don't know why I didn't send it back since it was almost like drinking undiluted cordial. Must have been the holiday mood..

Bread Basket
No complaints with the bread basket, which eased the hunger pangs of a late lunch. Soft, with a nice chewy texture. If only they used better butter..

Tarte Fine Provencal
I wasn't quite sure about this one. My favorite bit was the smoked Mozarella melted over the top. The chewiness of the cheese allowed the savory smokiness to linger and bring what was otherwise lacking in flavor to the tart. The chopped up tomato and eggplant under the cheese was ratatouille like and while you could tell the 2 ingredients, didn't taste of much more. Maybe it's just me, but the combination of the 2 just wasn't enough. The squirt tail of Sauce Vierge on the side didn't add anything either. Pleasant enough but very person-next-door. Wouldn't order it again.

The Frenchie Burger
The burger on the other hand was total Yums. A good quality beef patty topped with a confit pork belly (like bacon but thicker and better)! The other condiments of caramelised onions, Morbier cheese (a French Mozarella) and cornichons added to the experience but did not distract. It was really about the 2 meats. I was a little apprehensive about the black pepper bun at first but happy it did not add too much spice. And of course the fries were nothing short of good. Even towards the end of the meal, they retained their crispiness and were extremely full flavored. Probably deep fried in fat, but that's how you get that quality, so really can't argue with that.

Gourmet burgers are the way to go here so next time I want my fix, I know where to go. Will I be a lady who lunches again soon enough?

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I finally stepped into the behemoth structure known now as Marina Bay Sands. Not without being first unimpressed by parking facilities though. The fact that there is insufficient parking underground in a facility of this size is just bewildering. And it didn't even seem like a night where much was going on, except the much touted show, The Lion King. And the fact that you have to pay double ERP charges over a 100 meter stretch to double back to parking beyond the worker dormitories just made the driving experience there frustrating to say the least. Good thing I wasn't at the wheel..

The inside of the mall is massive, and thanks to the young man at concierge who could not discern left from right, we ended up taking a tour of the mall, or was that on purpose??

Caffe B's restaurant entrance is in the basement, a little odd but I guess that's to make room for their bar at promenade level which overlooks the water out to where the Fullerton Hotel is, which I have to admit is rather pretty. Service was very professional and efficient with our waiter refilling our water glasses ever so often, and the serving staff dropping a "bon appetit" when each course is served. Professional but stoic and impassioned - they seem to be low in energy, and overworked...

The food was decent and competent but really nothing to write home about. The Japanese chef ensured there were spots of the crossover coming through but overall, it wasn't spectacular.

Bread for the table
Fluffy bread although toasting it made it crumbly and not the chewy kind I like. But decent and went well with the quality olive oil and balsamic.

To start, we had the Caffe B Antipasto Selection to save us the trouble of choosing an appetiser. And we thought it would be a good representation of what they have to offer since it was our first time.

Wagyu Beef Carpaccio
Starting with the carpaccio, this was actually a pretty good slice of beef. Although thin, it was very beefy and melts in the mouth. The use of an onion aioli was an interesting deviation from the norm and for those who like onions, they will like this, but I thought it might have stolen a bit of thunder from the beef itself.

Millefeuille Eggplant
This was deceptively blah looking but turned out to be quite tasty. A stack of thinly sliced eggplant infused with what we thought was bits of eel or fish of some sort was good. Topped off with a little raw fish in soy marinade, the bite-sized portion was a burst of different flavours and textures.

Iberico Ham
Interestingly, for an Italian place, the Chef decides to use Spanish Iberico. Though a tad salty, each piece went well with the 3 different fruit of melon, kiwi and grape in each roll-up. And balanced off with a good piece of Parmiggiano Reggiano.

Stuffed Tomatoes
This was a bit blah for me. One was stuffed with a Ratatouille - not my favouritest way to do vegetables. The other was a crab meat mayo - tasty enough.

Spaghetti with Iberico Ham in Tomato Herb Sauce
Going into the main event, the spaghetti was very well done - good quality pasta with bite and stained appropriately with a pretty robust tomato based sauce. The use of Rosemary was a little overpowering but acceptably so since the Iberico was man-enough to match it.

Fish of the Day in Clams and Mussels Broth
Catch of the day was Garouper. Interesting since it's more associated with Chinese style steamed fish dishes, but it went pretty well since I do like Garouper anyway. The sweet, cottony flesh was fairly good in taking up the broth made with our shellfish friends. White wine and butter made the broth a little more rounded but not greasy. Would have drunk a few more spoonfuls if it wasn't a tad salty. The shellfish was fresh but not ultra so since they didn't come off the shells so easily and were overcooked. But one can overlook it since the main event was the fish, and there was a lot of it even between 2.

Gelato
To end, 3 ginormous scoops of ice cream. Each scoop was the equivalent of about one and a half normal scoops, so even between 2 people it was a bit much, after a 3 course meal. The vanilla and sesame were ok but I really digged the green tea one since the Matcha came through very well, with a hint of what I think is honey. Sign of the Japanese chef's roots coming through.

The overall experience at Caffe B was enjoyable enough although it won't be one of the places people rave about. Perhaps a pit stop for ladies who shop and do lunch.

For the original post with photos, visit edeats.blogspot.com

A year ago, my first visit to Taste Paradise wasn't bad at all. Close to a year later, I thought it would be a great place to take M & R who had been wonderful in helping with various things for me in the last few months. Unfortunately, the repeat visit didn't live up to expectations.

What we thought was a great corner table turned out to be awkward and caused more discomfort than anyone would have thought, with servers crossing over our heads to serve and clear. Personal space is so underrated these days that's it's a pet peeve of mine, and all the more so at a restaurant touted to be more exclusive than the others. You can take the girl out of public housing but you can't....

Jellyfish with a spicy sauce
Starters began uneventfully, with a chilled and crunchy jellyfish dressed in a tangy spicy sauce. Ordinary but in a pleasant way, and a nice way to cool down from the humidity out there.

Century egg with a lime sorbet
Then, this one got me. 5 diners, 4 servings. Despite repeated instructions and Q&As, we were finally told, after being served, that each order only has 4 servings and the kitchen cannot add one more measly spoon on the plate. I have heard that you cannot size down a standard order, but surely you can size up based on the number of diners. For an establishment of this supposed calibre, quite appalling. Their solution was to bring us another order with 4 servings, to which I said "forget it". While we were being polite waiting for the 5th spoon which never came, the sorbet had melted away to a watery slush, making this a non-event.

Classic sharks' fin in superior broth
As some say: Saved by the bell. We were distracted by the next course, which is their signature specialty. A wholesome bowl of non P.C. sharks fin soup served in a stone pot. Still good after a year and a generous serving of fins (even if not the top notch dorsal kind), the broth is really the winner. Perhaps I thought it a tad less impressive than the first time around since I was sub-consciously seething from the previous non-event.

Braised beef cheek with Foie Gras
This is a tried and tested combo. It's hard to go wrong especially if you have a good piece each of the cheek and the foie. While they were both admittedly pretty decent cuts, I thought the accompanying glace was a tad too glazed, almost oily, but without the undertones of a good reduced stock. So you leave this with a sense that there were shortcuts involved.

Seafood and black truffle noodles
This sounded awesome on the menu. And when it came, I thought "wow", that certainly looks like something even a good Italian restaurant would have to seriously contend with. Alas, a bite and all is given away. It was greasy, indicating a much lesser grade than extra virgin oil was used. Truffles were underwhelming and was the bits of seafood. While I was grateful for the small portion since I was getting full, I thought that neither the quality nor the quantity merited the price tag. Disappointing.

Jelly cubes in Calamansi and sour plum
This is a nice finish but again, if you compare to presentation from a year ago, you can see the lack of effort in even trying to dress this up. A bland looking dessert although they left the tacky dry ice effect intact. Ah well, since we are meant to go beyond skin deep, perhaps we might forgive the fact that this girl came out for a date looking her worst but thankfully was smart enough to be able to allure with enticing conversation. But, really?

We were pretty well fed for the price, but would I go again? Well, it really depends. I think they have to up their game to be able to compete in an increasingly tight market of improving Chinese cuisines in Singapore. If I know I have better options of service and food, the location alone is certainly not enough to entice.

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20 years later and I'm walking into the same institution that's weathered massive change in Singapore's Little India landscape. Same old decor (maybe the mural is new) but the tables, chairs are the same. The metal-rimmed, vinyl-lined seats. The waiters are older but still cheerful as long as you visit off-peak. There's no rush and no pressure as you pore through the menu. Baffling if you never had Indian Vegetarian but you get the gist fairly quickly.

Idly Set
The staples are the lentil sambar or stew (in bowl), the coconut chutney (white) and the tomato chutney (reddish brown). The various forms of carbohydrates carry the staples, but ingeniously delivering a different experience with each. Idlys are steamed cakes made from rice/lentil, broken down by fermentation, and supposedly better for the body since it's much easier to digest. No chewing required especially if you eat it with the condiments, since it breaks down easily and is a healthy snack, typically eaten by Indians for breakfast or at tea.

Rava Thosai Set
The Thosai family is actually also made with the same batter mix as the Idly but probably in different proportions, and then ladled onto a hot greased griddle and left until it forms a crispy almost wafer-thin pancake that takes the size and shape of the griddle ie. a pretty sizable circumference. The Rava Thosai, however, is made from semolina which has little to no trace of fermentation. Here, it is laced with cumin seeds and sliced green chili for added heat and kick. This is a favorite especially with kids who are typically averse to the aftertaste of the fermentation.

The food here is not posh by any means, especially since it's got the prison-feel with the steel, compartmentalized platters, but for me, it's a nice break from the rich meats and other proteins we consume too much of. It is no wonder that this is the stuff served at Indian temples, and often for nothing except a voluntary donation. If you steer clear from the deep fried breads, these snacks are a good way to put the body right on track. And it tastes a lot better than most health foods out there. With more than 5000 years of history, the Indians must know a thing or 2 about how to get this right.

And if you want to complete your Indian experience, walk across the street to Madras' sister shop which offers Ayurvedic treatments and offers Shiro Dhara, the ancient treatment of dripping oil onto the brow chackra (the third eye) located on your forehead. It is supposed to give you a glow and take years (read lines, crows' feet and other wrinkles) off!

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