The set lunch deal at Gordon Grill is quite excellent: 3 or 4 course for $48++ and $58++ respectively, and you get to choose 3 types of starters and soups, somewhat like a mini tasting menu. With the benefit of hindsight, I’ll just get the 3 course without the soups (the three I tried were very diluted) next time. And my favourite starter is actually the marinated king crab, avocado puree and gazpacho sorbet from the child degustation menu (ask for a change!).

And because it’s the time-honoured truffle season, I had an additional order of soft-poached organic hen egg with melted onions and carbonara foam ($18++, supplement of $24++ for 2 grams of truffles)! I’m not certain the combination works well. Cuz of the onions and carbonara foam, this was more sweet than savoury. I say simplicity works best when it comes to truffles.

A generous slab of pan fried barramundi for my main. Always like a fresh fish cooked well =)

Otto has set the benchmark to beat for the perfect crème brulée. Though I’m partial towards anything chestnut, this chestnut and white truffle version ($16++) was too sweet and not as smooth.

I must admit that I quite like the whole dining experience, primarily cuz service was wonderful, attentive without being intrusive, and always one step ahead (cups were refilled promptly, plates were changed regularly etc). Well done!

Excellent service aside, the food had some hits and misses. I love the gimmicky fruit juice ($3++ per test tube), a refreshing blend of green apple, papaya, lemon and cai xin. And the really outstanding dishes to me are the deep-fried cod fillets coated with salted egg yolk ($28++) and the deep-fried prawns with wasabi-mayo sauce ($28++). Non-oily at all and flavours were spot on!

Here’s the so-so dishes: decent but not ultra smooth braised homemade beancurd with wild fungus and conpoy crisps ($20++); bland sea cucumber stuffed with “lion head” ($16.80++); tough and chewy Shanghai-style wok-fried ‘nian gao’ ($18++); and my must-order of poached vegetables with 3 kinds of eggs ($18++) was disappointingly insipid, nothing like the flavourful version from Pu Tien!

The menu is limited, only 5 types of burgers and I’ve already tried all except one. The burger set comes with a choice of juices (the diluted-by-too-many-ice-cubes wheatgrass spinach tasted anything but that) and crispy seaweed fries that’s (ironically) rather salty.

Besides burgers and fries, there’s some sides like vegan franks, soup and salad too. The potato spinach pops look good, right? But I felt slightly cheated when they were served. Only 5 small balls (expensive at $3.80!) heavily bolstered by lots of lettuce (to give the impression that the portion is not so pathetic) and they were very ordinary, think crispy fried potato balls with minimal seasoning.

The buns are organic (I like the soft rye and wholemeal best) and all the patties contain no gluten, dairy, GMO, preservatives or transfats. That sounds so healthy! Speaking of which, I find that the texture of the patties are somewhat similar to one another. After trying so many, I can safely conclude that what differentiates the burgers from each other is the sauce.

So far, char-grilled satay (below, $6.85 for burger, $10.85 for set) is my favourite! A familiar taste that’s not too overpowering. For a limited period, there’s a Christmas burger (above) that’s pretty awesome too: cracked pepper patty with a tangy sweet cranberry sauce ($7.85 for burger, $11.85 for set)~ Nice, nice.

I also like the wonderfully smokey flavour of the (you guess it) smoky BBQ ($6.85 for burger, $10.85 for set) burger!

Though the classic Hawaiian pineapple burger ($6.85 for burger, $10.85 for set) is their signature, I didn’t quite take to the sweet plum sauce.. Burgers are supposed to be savoury, aren’t they?

Even if you are a hard-core carnivore, give Vegan Burg a try! While it may not turn you into a vegetarian overnight, you may be surprised at how yummy these meatless burgers can be =)

All thanks to The Kensington Crêperie, I’ve had a massive craving for crêpes when I got back from London. Sadly though, there’s not many authentic crêperies in Singapore. In fact, that’s already an understatement since I think there’s only two in town, both owned and managed by French couples. One is Crêperie des Arts and the other is Entre-Nous Crêperie.

The crêpes here are good, nothing as fantastic as TKC, but still good enough to make me happy. I like the myriad of textures and flavours in the Entre-nous crêpe ($18.70+). Very interesting combination of mashed avocado, garlic, cream, tomatoes and prawns!

Stephanie’s Favourite ($16.80+) is one of the signatures here and worth trying if you like roasted chicken, sweet caramelised onions and tangy wholegrain mustard~

One thing I notice about the crêpes is that they are spread too thinly, hence causing lots of unsightly “porkmarks”, haha. Sometimes, being too thin is not ideal (for crêpes and ladies)!

Ok, who likes salted caramel? If you do, it’s a must (I repeat, a MUST) to try Geraldine’s Favourite ($14.90+), a sweet crêpe filled with bits of cooked apple, homemade salted butter caramel and a scoop of chocolate ice cream (vanilla by default). Seriously, the salted caramel is incredible, you must try it to believe! Just for this, I will return.

Yay, I've found the bestest-best crabcakes in Singapore (by my standard, that is). The crabcakes at Mezza9 are solid. Big round balls of shredded crabmeat fried perfectly. Not oily at all too! And there's no potato in sight anywhere, wonderful! This is the real deal. I love how tasty this is.. A little spicy, a little salty, simply delicious! Portions are big enough to be a main course too.

The tuna steak was average. It was overcooked the first time but service recovery was fast and a second one was delivered to our table within minutes. The oven dried tomatoes were lovely but the steak itself was quite dry. Not something I'd get again.