A typical lunch/ dinner at Gunther’s does not come cheap, it can easily cost you $100 without even having wines but it all depends what you order, especially the seasonal items that would be showcased to you on a trolley.
However, a $38 ++ 3 course set lunch (menu changes weekly) doesn’t hurt the pockets!


Warm and extremely crusty mini baguette

I was having a bad flu and cough for the past week and it doesn’t get any better even after taking medication and thus I stay away from the cold dessert. The restaurant manager, Alexander kindly obliged to subsitute a light salad in replacement of the dessert offered .
Dessert of the day: Panna Cotta / Profiterols


A lovely Salad….

The salad looks pleasing to the eye and couldn’t bear to even eat it! When we hear the word ” salad’‘, some of us would start to groan and thought it was just salad leaves, tomatoes and perhaps some olives tossed in balsamic vinaigrette, so borrring…! But this salad may change your perspective. The use of different colours managed to catch my attention and whet my appetite.The platter of mixed grilled vegetables consist of grilled corn, mushrooms, segments of grapefruit, Scamorza cheese with some salad leaves .
Everything was well-executed but in particular, I like the Momotaro tomato ( in the center ) which was super sweet and juicy. The grilled corn also has a smoky flavour which is my second favourite .


Scrambled eggs, smoked salmon

This looks like baby food or porridge? The scrambled eggs were mixed with minimal cheese and milk. There were generous smoked salmon which has a smoked flavour to it but some may find it a little fishy .I ate it together with the crispy slices of baguette and I must admit that the baguette has a nice crunch to it! It’s the season of summer truffles and I’m sure it goes pretty well with the scrambled eggs.


Seafood pasta ( Capellini)
The seafood pasta came recommended by Alexander (The restaurant manager) . He assured that the seafood just arrived this morning and was very fresh.
When the pasta was presented , the fragrant aroma of the seafood stock stimulated my appetite . There were generous little neck clams, a fresh prawn and a small cod fish fillet that was well seasoned.The capellini was smooth and Chef Gunther loves to use Chives and chilli in his capellini pasta ( Check out one of the dish- Capellini with kombu, chives, dried shrimps ,chilli). The capellini pasta has a hint of spiciness but not too overpowering. Next time I shall try the version with dried shrimps to compare.


Verdict: No doubt it is one of the top French restaurant in Singapore ( other than Les Amis ). The 3 course lunch menu is reasonably-priced and would tempt you to visit them again!

North Border Bar & grill is ”housed” in a colonial style and lush bungalow, serving Southwest American Cuisine. Expect foods like jalapeno peppers, pico de gallo in your food… you get what I mean?
Sitting are alfresco, you get to choose smoking/ non-smoking area. The place gets pretty packed especially on friday and Saturday nights. Thus, a reservation is highly recommended, even for lunch!

The Set lunch menu

I had the 3 course set lunch ( 2 appetitzer and 1 mains )- $24 .90++. Skipped desserts as I am having a bad cold the past week.
Mixed green salad, marinated choyte, pecan chile dressing

Due to my allergy, they changed the pecan chile dressing to Balsamic dressing. The only special thing about this mixed salad is the Stuffed Jalapeno peppers with cream cheese which is slightly pungent and the cream cheese is not too heavy.


Achiote coated Ahi Tuna Salad

Did a goggle search and found out that Achiote refers to the seed of the Aploppas ( tree found in America). The seeds are extracted and made in a dye for colouring food. As you can see from the picture, the slices of tuna are coloured red.
When the Ahi tuna is served to me, I thought that the portion of the tuna was sort of miserable…. merely a few slices of tuna. But, the is well- coated with the Achiote dye, which leaves a very slight hint of spiciness. The tangy margarita dressing goes very well with the tuna. Well, they were generous with the spinach leaves though.


Bacon wrapped spring chicken, mashed potatoes, sauteed veg & pico de gallo

The ribeye steak and Salmon was recommended by the waitress but I had the spring chicken instead. Well, it depends what you crave that day. For me, since I had a salad and fish as starters, I would have the poultry as my mains.Drumsticks were served and they were wrapped around a thin slice of bacon. I would prefer the chicken to be roasted ( the bacon would be crispy then). The drumsticks were served cool and not warm. Perhaps it is the Western style of the Bai zhan zi ( chilled chicken). The meat was tender but a little dry .The corn looks sort of unfresh . Pico de Gallo added a tangy finish to the meal.

Verdict: Cool and relaxing ambience. The set lunch is priced reasonably and no wonder it was 90% full even on a weekday afternoon! The service is attentive even when the restaurant gets busy.

Some new dishes offered in the ''updated'' menu


Quick seared Tuna salad ($13++)


The tuna is served middle rare. The fish was fresh and melts in my mouth. Tangy mustard sauce and bits of chives to go along with the tuna. The mesclun salad was sprinkled with some crispy ” keropok” (the chinese version of the indian mee keropok). I enjoyed nibbling the keropok and I think it adds a nice crunch to the mesclun salad leaves.


Vegetable Tian ( $17.80++)

What is a ”Tian”? Did a goggle search and found out it was a dish layered with different ingredients, topped with chinese and baked in the oven. In this case, it was Vegetable Tian and the ingredients were vegetables. It looks very much like a gratin (French style).
The Vegetable Tian resembles a gratin(French style) and a Lasagne ( Italian style). It consists of several layers of vegetables:

Top layer: King Oyster mushrooms and Asparagus
Middle: Sweet pieces of pumpkin, Slices of potatoes, cheese
Base: Tofu ( but I felt it taste more like fried soy bean cake)
If you are looking for a healthy vegetarian ”lasagne”, give this Vegetable Tian a try.


Strawberry Shortcake ($5.60++)
A light dessert to finish off my lunch…. the strawberry shortcake is pretty light in texture and has custard cream in between layers. I wished there were more strawberries…..

Osvaldo is a family italian resturant, which is slightly different from the fine-dining resturants. Just like Chef Osvaldo said,” You are coming to my house“. I felt very relaxed here, just like dining in my own house. Osvaldo is located at the maxwell chambers, you would see the restaurant when you come out from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. The resturant is running full-house everyday for lunch and slightly quieter during Saturdays afternoon. MAKE A RESERVATION !

They import fresh burrata cheese from which is DIRECTLY imported from Italty, from Chef Osvaldo’s own farm. Chef Osvaldo’s sister and parents are residing in Italy and they grow vegetables, peaches, honey, …etc and import some of the Italian stuffs to Singapore.


The restaurant resembles a cottage, the interior is quite spacious for large gatherings and for intimate dinner. There is a few paintings on the wall which has a japanese influence to it….interesting. There is also a small corner that display some of the italian stuffs that are imported from Italy(honey, balsamic vingrette,olive oil…etc), well they are for sale and they are they are made by Chef Osvaldo’s family. There is also a possibility that may start a small little deli selling antipasti, salami, cured meats and fish.

Complimentary Bread

A bread basket with home-made foccacia bread. I like the bread which came warm , great to nibble on while waiting for the food. The bread is home-made and it was very crsipy but a little tad to oily. It was just like eating a deep-fried flatbread.

Mixed Salad with Raw vegetables

I love greens thus this is a great dish to start off my meal. 3 types of greens- Zucchini, french beans and Carrots. I actually requested them to omit the french beans but they still serve it to me. Well, the response was to take out the french beans by myself. The veggies were crunchy, i think they just lightly blanched/steamed it and drizzled with olive oil and salt. It was a little over-salted and other than that, it was fine.


Seabass cinque-terre style

There was only 3 seafood item on the menu. The seabass was recommended by Alex(the staff), being one of the popular dish here. What exactly is cinque-terre? From wiki: The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. The sauce actually consist of white white, olive oil and the juice from the seabass itself. The seabass fillet was a huge piece and they topped it with capers, diced tomatoes and black olives. The sauce is naturally sweet and flavourful. The fish is slightly poached and serve it under a bed of spinach leaves(salty). The fish is very tender and flavorful and I love the fish skin which was slightly crispy.

I didn’t had any desserts as it was a rainy day so it was a little ”unappropriate” for me to take chilled stuffs.

Chef Osvaldo is a very friendly guy who came over an have a chat with me. From what I know, he had been in Singapore for 6 yrs. He also explained that the temperature and climate here in singapore is quite different compared to Italy. The pasta that he made was perfect in Italy and using the same ingredients and recipe in singapore, the pasta just failed miserably.I guess it might be due to the humidity here in Singapore. I enjoyed having a chat with him, listening to his stories.

The service here is friendly and attentive. I also bought a bottle of extra virgin olive oil from them as the quality is not too bad.

The Vines Seafood & Steak Restaurant is located at Upper Thomson road, not far away from Novena Square and opposite a Church. I have long heard their name as their BBQ pork ribs are one of the best ard, their prices are also cheaper compared to the other Western Food.

Their dishes had a little Hainanese flavour to it. One must try is the Hainanese Oxtail Stew which is only available on weekends. They have set lunch and the menu changes everday! Thus, you would not get bored eating the same food. The main courses are priced at $12 & above and just add $3.50 to enjoy a soup, dessert and drink. There are only 3 types of fish available- The dory, Salmon and Ikan Kurau(Threadfin).

They would advise you not to over-order your food and please keep that in mind. The portion is here quite huge and listen to your tummy before you proceed with your orders. Initially I have sat my eyes for the Italian Gelato (menu placed on the table) but I had to skip that as I was too full for it. Luckily, I followed his words and did not order that.

Garlic Bread

2 slices of garlic bread was served immediately when I placed my order. The garlic bread was warm and fragrant with the aroma of garlic and butter. The crust was also very crispy. It’s great for nibbling while waiting for the soup to be served.


Seafood Chowder


The soup was served together with the garlic bread. I am not a fan of soup thus I wouldn’t give any comments on this seafood chowder. The only thing I felt was the soup was just ”ok”. It wasn’t too starchy and there were some prawns in it.


Pan-fried doryfish with curry cream sauce


This was my choice of mains. There was actually 1 fillet of doryfish but they cut in into 2, serving it with carrots, white carrots and long beans. Apparently the fish was served with curry cream sauce thus I pressume the carrot stew goes well with the curry sauce.

The fish is quite fresh and tender and has a crispy outer layer. The crispy layer seemed to ”soak” up the curry sauce…. shiok!The curry sauce was quite fragrant, not too spicy and rich. The vegetables were crunchy and I must admit they served a generous portion for that. They topped the dish with 2 stalks of ”dou miao”.

Sweet Potato Pie



The dessert of the day was The Sweet Potato Pie. I thought the pie was served warm but it was served chilled instead. It was not very sweet but I couldn’t taste much of the sweet potato. The base was a little too thick though.

To sum it up, The Vines Seafood & Steak Restaurant is one of the restaurant that serves the most resonable set lunch. Even their mains were not too expensive and portions are huge. You wouldn’t burn a hole in your pockets. The food here is generally good and they seemed to be full house almost everyday for lunch and dinner. The service here is friendly and efficent too. I wouldn’t mind coming back again for the other dishes on the extensive menu.