Slightly disappointed.. That’s what I felt upon leaving the newly opened Clifford Restaurant in Fullerton Bay Hotel. I was expecting lunch to be better than good but well, it left me rather underwhelmed. The setting is top-notch though. High ceiling, modern grandeur decor and a great waterfront view~

My starter of compressed watermelon with lobster tail and basil tomato-avocado salad ($22++) turned out to be my favourite dish that day. So clean tasting and refreshing, I love the simplicity of this!

The duo Hokkaido sea scallop and Boston lobster carpaccio with black truffles vinaigrette ($28++) was normal-nice, just nothing to write home about.

Sigh, I had high hopes for the roasted cod with saffron risotto and parmesan emulsion ($36++) but alas, it was not meant to be. I can handle light dishes but this was far too bland and under-seasoned.

Cakes and pastries, step aside. I’m so in the mood for ice cream these days! Made in house daily, 8 flavours were available that day and insanely enough, I tested all 8~

Ice cream: vanilla, creme fraiche, mascapone and chocolate.

Sorbet: yogurt, coconut, mango lime and apricot.

A couple of unfortunate ice crystals detected, and while there’s none that I didn’t like, no particular flavour stood out from the pack either. But if I’ve really got to choose, I’d pick the coconut sorbet again cuz I like its tropical intensity =)

At $14++ for 4 small scoops of icy delights, these are not exactly cheap. Then again, premium ambience can be pretty pricey these days.

Vanilla Bar & Cafe is one of those cozy places where you can just sit back and relax for hours with friends. That’s exactly what we did. And it helps that the cafe smells so nice! The sweet heavenly scent of vanilla in the air makes me wanna stay, haha~

pumpkin croquette ($5.90++). I like these a lot, though they are not homemade (I asked) but outsourced (from where, I do not know cuz I stopped asking, LOL). Super thin batter (meaning more pumpkin, yay!), crispy on the outside and so gooey soft on the inside~

It’s a good thing that the creamy parmesan prawn linguine ($12.90++) came in a small portion. Otherwise, it’s bound to get too heavy and filling after some time. I found it on the dry side but the prawns were incredibly fresh and crunchy!

Fans of the signature vanilla dirt cake ($8.50++), don’t stone me when I say I didn’t like it at all. Sure, it’s creative (layers of crumbled Oreo “soil” and mascarpone cheese, complete with gummy worms for the visual effect) and it makes such a pretty birthday cake to pose with, but it’s too creamy and monotonous, so much so that I wish there’s some real sponge cake in it to spice things up haha.

Now this, I like. Molten chocolate cake with French vanilla ice cream ($11.50++). It’s not a lava cake (no flow of molten choc detected), more like an upsized version of the mini cakes from 3 Inch Sin with a pudding-like center that’s so rich, dense and moist! Lovely.

I always manage to find a new flavour I like at Tom’s Palette. This time, it’s Mocha Mac Nuts! Almonds and macadamia nuts are painstakingly roasted, then coated with white chocolate, before adding in the aromatic coffee mixture. I really love how nutty this is!

As usual, I tried all the flavours available for the day! Outstanding flavours include:

Salty Yuzu (above and below), I like for the tangy-salty flavour tease on the taste buds;

Salted Egg Yolk is literally like eating frozen mooncake;

Summer Berries tastes ribena-y.

The 4 Christmas flavours at Tom’s Palette are out, folks!

I was excited about Chestnut Brandy (above) previously and rightly so! Though I couldn’t taste much of the brandy, the pure chestnut goodness was love at first taste!

Chocolate pudding (fruit cake with marshmallows) was already sold out by the time I reached but the friendly staff gave me a really generous sample. It’s like a nutty old-fashioned chocolate ice-cream, I like!

White Chocolate Cranberries and White Christmas (below, candy cane with mint) didn’t catch my fancy cuz I don’t like white choc and the latter was soooo minty, kinda like toothpaste!

And this is also the first time I came across Longan Red Dates (in both pics above). According to 8 Days, this is “ideal for auntie types too lazy to brew liang teh” (herbal tea). Heh, so now I’m an auntie! But who cares, what a great way to soothe the sore throat I’ve been having lately, haha.

Chikuwa Tei used to be Wasabi Tei at Far East Plaza. Though I’ve never been to the old premises, I’ve heard of the “good” old days when the restaurant was helmed by the infamous ”nazi chef”. With a much bigger restaurant to control now, the chef is no longer as grumpy as before, phew. Otherwise, how can grumpy people cook good food?

Service was very brisk and efficient. Seats were shown, orders were taken, and a small bowl of crunchy renkon (lotus roots) was given as appetiser within minutes.

Call it a moment of insanity. Till now, I’ve still had no idea why we had the Jumbo Roll ($5++). I dislike anything with those awful frozen crabsticks so this was no better.

On the other end of the spectrum, these sheets of mini dried sardines ($8++) were super delicious! So crispy and addictive~ Portion was small so it’s best to get one for yourself! =)

Another star dish of the night was these fried salmon wrapped with seaweed ($12++)! Love the texture of this. What made it even more tasty was this homemade Japanese curry! It’s on the sweet side so it’s perfect as a dip for those savoury salmon rolls.

The cod fish in claypot ($24++) had a nice sweet broth, plenty of tender oily fish and assorted vegetables, but it’s definitely not as memorable as the salmon rolls and sardine sheets.