I had been to Cafe Oliv abt a year ago. I can still remember that I had their soft shell crab with salted egg yolk ($6.90). The soft shell crab was very crispy and coated with the sinful salted egg yolk…. it was truly an indulgence!

I decided to head back to try some of their other dishes .

The Menu

They offer a 3 course weekday set lunch priced at $10.90+ and a ”premium” set lunch (Mon-Sun) . The Premium set lunch comes with a soup, main course, dessert and a drink.

I am trying to cut down sugar in my diet and hence I decided to go ala-carte.



Caesar Salad ( $8.90+)

Served with Herb foccacia croutons , romaine lettuce and crispy bacon in caesar cream. I find the caesar cream too rich & cloying for my tastebuds. The bacon strips were very crispy and had a smoky flavour. I like their bacon strips , which taste quite different from the bacon bits normally found in Caesar salad.


Chilean Cod with Citrus and vegetables ($21.90+)

They were very generous with the serving portions. The chilean cod comes with 2 slices , fatty and generous slab of oily fish for omega boost! The cod fillets were well seared , retain its natural flavour.Notice the shredded carrots strips garnish on top of the cod? I thought it was ginger strips but when I nibble , it leaves a sweet aftertaste and I was assured it was carrot. Sometimes little things can be used to garnish food to enhance the overall presentation and taste.The vegetables served alongside – Brocolli, cauliflowers and carrots were soft but not mushy. There were times where I tried a few version which were either too mushy or raw.

Verdict: Other than the caesar cream which was a little too heavy , the cod was well-prepared. I’m glad that I made a re-visit to Cafe Oliv to try their mains. I must say that their prices are pretty reasonable and the service was attentive.

The dining area is very spacious and I like the tables being spread far apart from each other, keeping small talks ”enclosed”. The decor is modern and elegant, furbished with real trees and flowers placed on every table.

Ladies are being pampered on WEDNESDAY, the chef offers a complimentary Seasonal Salad to go along with the set lunch specially created for Ladies. From my observation, the dishes are very light and healthy, emphasising more on vegetables and steaming. The special set lunch is only meant for ladies on Wednesday, Men don’t get it!

Domvs also offer a 2/3 course business set lunch which is wallet friendly, priced at $28++ and $ 36++ respectively.


Smoked ocean trout with mixed green salad

A simple mixed green salad topped with smoked ocean trout to start. The chef has kindly included more salad leaves for me.The smoked ocean trout was sliced thinly and topped it on the mixed salad leaves. I was curious to find out what was the red coloured thing that was sprinkled on the ocean trout. Was it red capers?


Pan seared garouper, black olives & capers

My mains was a Garouper fish was is a firm and meaty fish. The chef served the seared fish in a spicy tomato stew with some mixed vegetables( zucchini, carrots and bell peppers). The tomato stew is very ”home-made” and has a hint of spiciness. The fish was also served with carrot sticks, asparagus and snow peas which I requested for more greens. I like the spicy tomato stew with lots of vegetables and I love anything with tomatoes!On the other hand, I felt that the fish tasted a little fishy and does not have the sweetness of fish. This was a slight disappointment though. At least, the fish has a crispy skin and the tomato stew compensated for the slight imperfection.


Mango Charlotte with raspberry coulis & sorbet

Dessert was a choice of mango charlotte or the Earl grey chocolate fondant which I didn’t pick. The waiter reccommended something lighter, the mango mousse to end my meal . I was also told that that the mango charlotte was quite popular here , it is also available for purchase.Soft vanilla sponge with mango mousse in between the layers. The mango mousse is ok, I would prefer the mango flavour to be stronger( mangoe-y). The vanilla sponge is very soft but I felt it was a little on the sweet side.The sorbet has a mild raspberry flavour. It is advised to consume the mango mousse before reaching for the sorbet as the latter has a slight sourish taste. Not too bad, I like the berries with passionfruit puree.

Petit 4

2 chocolate cookies and peanut butter cookies. The waitress was unsure of the latter and had to double check with the kitchen. The chocolate cookies were just passable, probably it was the texture was too hard and chocolate taste was mild. I prefer Famous Amos / Amoy cookies! I didn’t try the peanut butter cookies as I am sensitive to the peanuts.

Fellow food bloggers must have heard / had been to Oomphatico’s . I have heard of it long long time ago but I always missed the chance to visit the restaurant. I am sort of Mountain tortoise, calling myself a food blogger and yet to try their food till now! Anyway, Oomphatico’s is quite popular in Tanglin Mall as well as Caffe Beviemo (the strawberry shortcake is damn cute !)

Oomphatico’s is a sort of cafe, serving from breakfast all the way to dinner. It is a favourite place for caucasian to sit around, chit-chat , having breakfast and enjoying high-tea. Thus, you can see that at least 70% of the diners here are Caucasians.


The cafe/restaurant adopts a pinkish decor and it looks elegant and resembles a fairyland! Once you step in, you can see the dessert counter with a variety of colourful cupcakes, pastries and cakes. The waiter/ waitress would then ask you for outdoor/indoor seating. Most Caucasians would prefer outdoor seating and it is just opposite Ah Hoi’s Kitchen!

They offer 3 different types of set lunch- a soup/salad, 2 course or 3 course set lunch and prices are nett.They offer quite a variety of cuisine and those dishes that are vegetarian are being highlighted. There is a mixture of different cuisines— Mediterranean, Western and European .. to cater to a larger group of people.


Mixed Leaf Salad ($5 ++)

Being a ”salad lover”, I would always try to have a simple salad to start. This mixed leaf salad was ordered as an extra side dish but it came together with my mains.The mixed leaf salad has mixed salad leaves, Avacado,kalamanta black olives, cubes of cucumbers and Real juicy cherry tomatoes. I highlighted the word Real juicy as the juice of the tomato burst out immediately when I took a bite and I created a mess!

Roasted Black Pomfret, served with butter, veg, tossed with olive oil & Lemon ($19++)

Initially I wanted to get the vegetable steak but I saw the red snapper being offered in the set lunch as well. They do not allow me to change the soup. Thus, I had to choose between the vegetable steak or the Snapper. When I asked the waitress the ”Fresh catch of the day”, she told me it was Black Pomfret . I confirmed with her that it was 1 fillet of black pomfret & I want it being roasted.I waited for about 15 mins for this dish and when it appeared in front of me, I was completely stunned! It was not a fillet but a WHOLE FISH! OMG, I thought it was rather huge and I probably could not finish it. Anyway, I began to dissect the fish and enjoyed the fish head (my fav!) but found the front portion was a little under-cooked. I could see some red coloured blood in the gills part and I had it sent back to the kitchen. They apologised for the mistake and promised to prepare a new dish for me thus I waited… again for another 10 mins.They just reheated the under-cooked fish and serve it back to me. As I had already ” enjoyed the fishhead”, the reheated fish was ‘‘headless”. I thought they would prepare a ”new dish” for me but was just talking through the hat (bullshit!).

Back to the fish, it was well-roasted and the skin was very crispy and the meat is very tender and juicy. Being a fish lover, I would definitely enjoy the fish especially the chin, belly and the fishhead. It was a little unglam when I actually used my hands to dissect the different parts and spitting out the fish bones. However, I did not care and enjoyed the fish because it delicious!

The accompaniments- Maittake mushrooms, asparagus brocolli and tomatoes were well roasted as well.

Overall verdict : The cafe is provides a relaxing and comfortable setting and I would love to spend my leisure time having high tea here or simply chit-chatting with some friends. It deserves another return , perhaps for the desserts or the pomfret fish again. I would have given a high score if the fish were not served undercooked as the fish is really delicious !

Strategically located at a corner facing the yet-to-be opened Genting Integrated Resort over at Sentosa, the Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant is an oasis of ‘cool’ in bustling VivoCity.

A place for yuppies and families to wine and dine in air-conditioned comfort or alfresco, facing the Sentosa harbour, we are the only outlet in VivoCity to have a full bar with loads of house and international cocktails at affordable pricing. Other than great food and drinks, there is a live band playing from 7pm to 11pm daily & a flamenco dance performance every thursday night 8pm to 10 pm – a sure way to enliven any weary soul.

Cuisine
Serenity Spanish Bar & Restaurant serves authentic Spanish fare.The menu has a wide range of tapas, salads, mains and other Spanish delicacies. Their specialty is paella and they dare say that they have the most authentic and best tasting paella in Singapore because they use the best and freshest of ingredients, and their chef prepares each dish to exacting standard.

I was given a sofa seat by the Window facing the Resort World. Actually I am not particular about seating but the staff kindlt offered me a wondeful seat to enjoy the ambience. I must admit that the view would be spectacular at night and when the Resort World is officially built.

There is a live stage where live bands & performances would be held. Spanish music is played. Although I do not understand, I actually felt quite relaxed. I guess those it would be great when eating spanish tapas and watching the live performances at night!

I decided to take the SET LUNCH priced at $11.90++ which I felt that it was pretty reasonable for a 3 course meal. There is a choice of salad/ soup of the day, pasta( penne/ spaghetti), type of sauce and ingredients (mixed vegetables and mushrooms, beef bolognese, etc), a choice of ice-cream and a free drink.


Fresh Green Salad

Some salad leaves mixed with olive oil vingrette, simple and light. It serves as a great appetitizer.


Fusilli with mixture vegetables and mushrooms tomato sauce

I had the fusilli with the choice of mixed vegetables and mushrooms in tomato sauce. They are quite generous with the serving and there were quite a few types of vegetables in the pasta.( Zucchini, Carrots, yellow squash and mushrooms) all tossed in tomato sauce. I love any pasta that goes with tomato sauce as cream sauce tends to be a little heavy. There were bits of fragrant garlic bits in the pasta and I sprinkled some black peppercorns to spice it up. It was not too bad.


Strawberry ice-cream

There was a choice of Chocolate/ vanilla/ Strawberry flavour. I had the strawberry flavour and it was served ina cup with some nice buttery digestive biscuits sprinkled at the top. The ice-cream is just ordinary, not much strawberry flavour.

The service here is quite friendly but a little slow. I love teh ambience here and would definately come back for the paella and probably have some tapas while watching the live performances at night!

Wild honey, it’s about beautiful breakfast. Tucked in level 3 of the newly renovated of Mandarin gallery, Wild honey serves different types of breakfast from European to Tunisian. Many people are curious why they are called wild honey. Are they lots of honey there to attract ”bees” like us?

The restaurant adopts a vintage look, it wasn’t a very big restaurant yet it is cosy enough for people to sit around. The menu is scribbled on the board and you would have to make your choice and place your order at the cashier. Too many choices? Diffcult to make decisions? Do not worry… the I phones are there to help. The pictures of the different breakfast sets are in the I phone, you are free to browse and pick your choice. I must agree that they are creative to try out this method and makes them stands out from the rest. I was stop by them from taking pictures of the menu written on the board. All breakfast sets are priced at $18++

Eurpoean Set ($18++)

Their version of Eggs benedict with Field mushrooms & prociutto. I have requested for multigrain bread instead of brioche and the hollandaise sauce to be at the side. The eggs benedict came with 2 poached eggs and grilled field mushrooms sitting on top of 2 slices of multigrain toast. One of the eggs were done pretty good, with the runny egg yolk oozing out and soaking the bread. While the other, was not sucessful, the egg yolk seemed to coagulate .
The prociutto ham was a little on the dry side. Though it was well-cured, but it fails to impress me. The hollandaise sauce is a little bland. I expect hollandaise sauce to have a little sour taste but there wasn’t, just bland butter taste.

Frankly speaking, I felt a little uneasy dining there. When they served me the food, they placed the bill on the table. The staffs kept walking around to refill water which I think is not necessary. I walked to the cashier to pay for my food and they were a little surprised. Well, they placed the bill on my table so I think they expect me to pay at the cashier right?

While I was dining there, I spotted 2 magazines editors(from appetite), they are chatting and taking about Wild honey. I think Whild honey is going to make a name for itself very soon.