I'd been wanting to have some good steak, and i read about how W Singapore has steaks that are pretty reasonably priced (: they have a really wide range in fact. from $35 all the way to $100+. not "affordable", as some blogs described it to be. but they do have quite a number in the $40-$50 range, which i suppose is still alright (:

we started off on a high note with this complimentary serving of warm, fluffy bread ^^ it was really nice and soft and i would have kept taking more, if only i didn't have to save my stomach for the main courses haha oh btw they don't serve tap water here, so i think one bottle of san pellegrino is $10. haha kinda exorbitant if you ask me.

if you order the steaks, you will be served these two bottles before your main course: the clear bottle is apple bourbon, which helps to cleanse your palate, while the other is bbq sauce to go with your meat (:

we also had three different kinds of salt to choose from. so cool!! although i can't remember what the different salts were there was a rosemary one, another that was spicy and i can't rmb the last one. honestly, i couldnt realllly taste the difference between them haha (except the spicy one), but they definitely added flavour to the meat when necessary! (:

to start with, we ordered an appetizer, king prawns split and peppered ($25). it was sooo good! huge, fat, juicy prawns with springy fresh meat that tasted so succulent! (: it was a little hard peeling the meat from the shells (hmm haha actually means that it's not so fresh, no? but it tasted alright!), but we enjoyed them thoroughly anyway ;)the blackness of the steak is actually because they are all dry-aged steaks! felt really lucky to be able to speak to one of the waiters after our meal, and he described the aging process to us. it actually results in a very different flavour when the steak is grilled, compared to non dry-aged steaks, and for these steaks, even if you order it rare, it'll be red, but not bloody definitely good for squeamish people haha.

we ordered two steaks - this was the Skirt steak ($55) which is a blackmore australian full blood 9+ wagyu. it had a delicious flavour and barely required additional seasoning from the salt/bbq sauce. i still feel that such a high grade wagyu would actually taste better lightly seared (like when i ate it in hokkaido years ago...omg that was of an unmatchable standard!) rather than grilled this way.

For more photos and the full review, check out http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.sg/2013/12/skirt-w-singapore-sentosa-cove.html

At $29.90 for a weekday dinner, this is quite a steal! though i would say that the meat could have been better, but for this price, i'd still say it was worth a try (:

salad bars are always one of my first stops at a buffet! LOVE all the colours, and i really liked how they provided pretty interesting veggie varieties that aren't usually available in other salad bars e.g. alfalfa sprouts and beetroot! (not that i really like beetroot, but the colour is loveee)

the seafood section was pretty small, and i suggest skipping it because i felt it wasn't very fresh.

to be honest, the variety for the grilled options was a tad disappointing. while i didn't expect it to be as extensive as the original Carnivore restaurants, but having only four meats to choose from was rather sad there were other cooked dishes as well, and we particularly liked the braised beef! it was pretty tender and tasty

probably one of our most interesting discoveries was two adorable bottles of condiments, which served a purpose that was more practical than expected. each containing special ingredients to counter excess salt or grease, all you have to do is drizzle some onto the meat and voila, it fits to your desired tolerance level ;)

dessert was again a disappointing section with just ice cream and a bunch of cakes. i guess i can't complain because i didn't really expect there to be a dessert section in the first place! and we were already quite full by then anyway

Overall, i feel that having reasonable expectations for this buffet helps! it is definitely one of the more affordable ones around (especially when compared to its predecessor), and this is reflected in the variety that you get. we were still VERY full at the end of the buffet though! so shows that you don't need that much food to stuff yourself with ;)


For photos and more reviews, visit http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.sg/

For photos and more reviews, visit http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.sg

I love this adorable cupcake shop just around the corner from toby's estate! ^^ it is soooo adorable! i was so excited to see it, and their flavours sound so interesting (: besides their typical flavours available daily, they also have specials that change on a daily basis i think. and i absolutely love how they have super-mini cupcake sizes!!!! they are little bite sized ones, which just seem much less sinful hehe i tried the lavendar mini cupcake ($2.80) and i loooved the light floral aroma that it had. the icing was light and fluffy, which was nice.

for photos and more reviews, visit http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.sg/

this place has been around for quite some time and i keep hearing of people going there for brunch! but it took awhile before i finally set foot in this place, because of its location at robertson quay, which is really quite inaccessible by public transport. i realised though, that this is exactly the charm of this place! (: being relatively hard-to-get-to, it is a quieter part of our bustling Singapore where there are less people, more space to chillax, and a higher possibility of spotting some eyecandy (read: cute angmohs ). i used to think of robertson quay as a night-life kind of place, with a more laid-back bar/pub feel compared to its neighbour across the river, clarke quay. but i've come to realise that it's a lovely place to be at in the daytime as well! i really enjoyed the peace and quiet in this area, and the out-of-singapore vibe i get when i'm here.

toby's estate is a lovely warehouse-inspired cafe that is spacious (there is an outdoor dining area as well) with a huge common table in the middle and also smaller tables along the sides. the brunch menu had dishes other than the common breakfast items found everywhere, which i really appreciated! time to eat things other than eggs benny haha. the toby's breakfast ($18) was awesome! i have to say that this full breakfast is one of the best i've seen so far! there was a generous portion of everything - eggs (scrambled/poached), espresso maple bacon, cherry tomato confit, sauteed mixed mushrooms and brioche toast. i loved how they put effort into the little touches that made items on this dish stand out! for example, the bacon had a lovely tinge of sweetness thanks to the maple syrup, and the mushrooms were simply orgasmic!!!!!! they were the BEST mushrooms i've ever eaten, not kidding at all. they had a delicious perfume of truffles that bathed our senses. it was so good, better than most truffle fries that you can find in other places. a.m.a.z.i.n.g!! the cherry tomatoes were delicious too! surprisingly sweet for singapore standards, and they were roasted to perfection.

i really enjoyed my breakfast taco ($12) for its unique-ness. although the portion looked so much sadder when placed next to the big breakfast, it definitely made up in terms of taste! and this is one dish that you wouldn't typically find in brunch places, so thumbs up for that! ^^ the taco shell was lightly toasted such that it was nice and crisp, and it was filled with a generous portion of chili con carne (beef) and scrambled eggs that went wonderfully together! this sat atop a bed of greens drizzled with balsamic, and it was a very nicely balanced dish (:

My experience at Cocotte was somewhat of a hit-and-miss situation. we started off with appetizers that were alright, the mains were terribly disappointing (when they should typically be the highlight of a meal!), but thankfully they were redeemed by their desserts

i went for the herb green salad as my appetizer, which was a no-frills item with leafy greens dressed in herbs and a sherry mustard vinaigrette. one thing to note is that in lots of dishes we ordered (i think like at least half the savoury items), they had a taste of this herb, which was a little strange haha. i can't figure out what it is, although it tasted kinda familiar!

the soup du jour that day was a deliciously creamy mushroom soup which i absolutely loved! it was luscious and super tasty, but also quite heavy. i don't think i could have finished it myself, even though i loved it's full-bodied flavour.

my main dish, which was the pan seared seabass, actually wasn't too bad. but it wasn't outstanding either. it was a lovely slab of fish that was cooked to perfection and sat atop a bed of grilled vegetables - eggplant, peppers, courgettes and provencal tomatoes. the eggplant was REALLY strange though it was pretty uncooked i think, which was why it tasted a little odd.

the shredded pork confit sandwich sounded really promising, but turned out to be the strangest of the lot :/ i imagined shredded pork to be something like pulled pork, or at least real meat? but it turned out to be something that looked like it came out of a tin. and there was again the strange-tasting herb that i found in my salad.the good thing was that their desserts were really yummy! (: i loved my chocolate mousse, which was 72% valrhona chocolate! ^^ while those i had previously were more mousse-like, being fluffier in texture in a sense, this was a denser, more like a chocolate cream, perhaps. but no less delicious (: i especially liked the whipped cream on top, which took a huge dollop of self-restraint not to gobble up, because i thought the pot of chocolate was sinful enough. VERY good ;)

and while i'm not a huge fan of creme brulee, i have to say that Cocotte's version was quite palatable it was rich and creamy, as this dessert always is, but it was easier to digest.

overall, i would say that the unsatisfying mains probably wouldn't have me coming back anytime soon, but i might just come back if i crave some chocolate mousse ;)

for photos and more reviews, visit http://thelittlemomentsofmylife.blogspot.sg