The Pump Room, one of the popular microbrewery is offering a Sunday Brunch. The main bar and bistro is at the Riverside Point and they opened the second one at Great World City.

The Pump Room offers a Sunday Brunch which caught my attention

The Sunday brunch is priced at $28++ with free flow of soft drinks and $38++ with 2 pints of microbrewery beers. Help yourself to the various antipasti,bread soup , salads, cheese and more on the buffet table. Choose a main freshly made to order and a choice of weekly 2 desserts.

The 2 desserts being offered are The Lemon Cake and Plum Ice-cream.
There were several choices for mains and I had the Beer Battered Dory fillet served with Tartar sauce.



Apparently they only offered 3 types of tapas and I tried all 3. IMHO, they were not bad and in fact, I enjoy little Tapas like this.

The Quail Egg: The yolk is scopped off and being replaced by mayonnaise and some caviar… crunchy!

Salmon Roll: Smoked salmon wrapped with little spears of asparagus. The smoked salmon was a little salty.

Mushroom Tartlet: I adore thse little tartlets filled with cheese(not custard) and mushroom. The tart shell was crunchy .



Beer Battered Pacific Dory Fillet with Tartar sauce

I had the beer battered F&C as mains and the staff kindly asked me whether I would like to change the mesclun salad leaves to spinach/ refried beans as the mesclun salad is being offered in the buffet. I was gald to hear that but it was kinda weird to serve spinach with F& C?When the F& C was being served to me, I tried a little of the spinach and it was wayyyyyyy tooo salty! Second and third try, confirmed the extreme saltiness.

The beer battered fish fillets were crispy and I can taste the mild flavour of beer in it. Though the dory itself is rather bland on it’s own, it was acceptable when I dipped in the Tartar sauce.

I left the spinach leaves untouched and they kindly replaced a new serving of spinach leaves to me. The second serving of spinach leaves was ok but this time, toooo oily..!


Fruits with chocolate sauce

I helped myself with the fruit available- Strawberries, honeydow, rock melon and dragonfruit to dip with the chocolate fondue. The chocolate fondue may look somehow impressive but it was a major disappointment.

The chocolate was way too diluted and it was like sugar overdose. The mashmellows doesn’t even coat well with the chocolate sauce.(the colour of the chocolate sauce is very pale)

A scoop of plum ice-cream served on a flaky pastry tartlet. I think the ice-cream was from Wall’s?

Some hits & misses here. I like the ambience, very simple and comfortable. The service is quite efficient and friendly too. I guess this is the place meant more for having beer but I was glad I made a wise choice to choose the beer-battered fish fillet as the crispy fish fillets has a mild flavour of beer.

A re-visit to Pontini, this time round with my dining partner, Oyster Diaries (Rachel). We planned this lunch date a few weeks back as I recieved the 30% discount voucher from my previous dining and thus I decided to use it to off-set for this lunch.

I was having high anticipation for the Italian National Day but was disappointed when the promotion menu ended on the 12 June, we just missed it by 2 days!

Even though the antipasti buffet looks interesting, OD decided not to have the buffet. Both of us decided to get the set. While OD got the 3 course set lunch priced at $45 ++ and I went for The Italian 3 course set lunch priced at $68++.



Warm vegetable salad, red endives, beetroot jelly and foam

My starter was the warm vegetable salad served in a small glass. I thought it was kinda interesting to serve a small serving of salad in a glass. The salad comes with edamme beans, green peas, asparagus, zucchini, squash, asparagus, endives… they were all diced into small cubes . The dressing has a tangy flavour and the beetroot jelly ” coloured” the vegetables into slightly purplish and gave a sweet after-taste. The salad serves as a great starter for the proper meal.



Gorgonzola & Walnut Salad

OD had the Rocket Salad with gorgonzola & walnuts. She was not informed that it was actually a rocket salad as she personally dislike the peppery taste of Rocket salad leaves. Well, she offered a little for me to try.

The salad comes with some sliced pears, candied walnuts which OD loves it and gorgonzola cheese which the cheese is a little too strong for her.



Linguine with smoked lobster, white wine, fresh tomatoes


This linguine with lobster pasta is one of their signature pasta dish and I was glad I had this as my middle course. I thought that the linguine pasta looks more like spaghetti but it is cooked al-dente, the way I liked it. The lobster meat was a little firm and I do like the fresh tomatoes being used as the pasta base.



Salmon with roasted potatoes

OD had the salmon as her mains but she was not too pleased with her salmon as the sides were a little hard and rough but the middle part of the salmon was alright. However, she loves the lemon caper sauce which has a tangy flavour . Bth of us were not fan of potatoes but she actually likes this roasted potatoes which was slightly sweet, probably caramelised and reminds her of sweet potatoes.



Cod wrapped in parma ham, kale, caramelised onion, ham stock

The cod wrapped parma ham is also another Pontini’s signature dish but it failed to impress me.

The maitre’d would pour the ham stock in front me and I can literally smell the aroma of ham stock. The cod was wrapped like a rolade with parma ham . The parma ham was chewy and does not have the smoked flavour, probably due to ”soaking” in the ham stock and thus it went slightly soft. The cod was alright but certain parts were a little overdone.The essence lies in the ham stock which is a savoury and rich broth. The ”mui cai” would probably refer to the kale. Indeed, it looks and taste like ”mui cai”(salted veggies) which has a slight sourish and salty flavour and I adore those cute little balls of shallots!



Apple Tart

OD had the apple tart which comes along with her set lunch. She had too much ice-cream for the past few days thus she had the apple tart instead of the cassata.

OD is a fan of desserts and this rendition of apple tart reminds her of an orange-flavoured tart instead of an apple tart. I tried a little and I could taste a strong flavour of orange rather than apple. I think the tart is called an apple tart probably due to the few slices of apples topped on it.We thought that the apple tart would probably comes with a scoop of ice-cream but a dollop of fresh cream was served on the side. OD didn’t like cream thus she didn’t had it.

She carefully explained the tart to me, frangipane tart, orange taste, the middle part uses good butter, slices of apple… so detailed. I guess she is another dessert connoisseur!

You would probably heard of Corriander Leaf Cooking School but Screening Room Bistro might be the first time you heard of it’s name. It is a posh bistro as well as movie threatre on the second floor. The restaurant is a Mediterrean sequel to owner local Celebrity Chef, Samia Ahad’s blockbuster Persian-Asian Original, Corriander Leaf in Clarke Quay. It is just opposite Kki sweets and beside ”The Patissier”, perhaps you might want to have lunch here before grabbing some desserts.

‘

Screeing Room has 5 floors:

1. The Roof top: The Terrace

Fantastic position to overlook Chinatown, with alfresco area for gatherings and probably have some wines.

2. The Film Theatre:

Film and private bars showing films from all over the world. Private screeings can be organized by making bookings.

3. The Studio

It’s highly customizable facilities and mini-studio allows you to hold a conference, private cocktails and dinners and even fashion shows!

4. The Restaurant

Modern Asian menu is served by Culinary Director of Corriander Leaf Group, Samia Ahad.

5. Malt Vault (bar)

Showcases some of the world’s sought-after single malts and place for Whiskey lovers.


Expect Fusion food to be served here and the menu is 70% similar to the Corriander Leaf Bistro. Screening Room offers a 3 course set lunch priced at $28.50++ and menu changes weekly. Ala-carte available as well because on the pricey side. They offer ”bar-bites” where they serve some of the appetizers in small portion which allows you to sample various dishes.




Chilled prawn with quail egg, cucumber & herb mayo

The amuse bouche was a chilled prawn topped with a quail egg with some fish caviar. The prawn was really fresh and sweet. I like the herb mayo which goes well with the small slice of cucumber and prawn.


Mesclun salad ($8++)


A simple mesclun salad to start off. The radish (in pink) taste like wasabi which has a slight bitter taste.



Crabcakes in homemade tomato chutney – bar-bites portion ($12++)


They offers quite a variety of bar-bites items which I faced some difficulties in choosing what to order. I narrowed down the choices from the hummus to the lamb-kebabs. The staff recommended the Crab-cakes to be one of the popular bar-bites item.

They offer 3 pieces of crabcakes for bar-bites portion and 5 pieces for ala-carte. The crabcakes coquettes were very crispy and filled with generous crabmeat, onions, capsicums, corriander leaves and some other stuff which I am unsure and of course , a dash of Indian spice.

The Tomato chutney that is served along with the crabcakes has a strong aroma of Indian spices and it was a little spicy . The chef added some black mustard seeds, indian spices together along with tomatoes. Those who are not used to spicy and indian food should are advised to drink more water!



Roasted cod with tomato & red pepper fondue & flamed roasted provence vegatable skewer ($33++)



Surprisingly, the roasted cod is the only fish item being offered as the Mains. The roasted cod is served in a tomato-based fondue, alongside with a vegetable skewer.

The cod is roasted and has a crispy skin and silken and fish meat. The cod is topped with red capsicum relish that has the soft texture of Jelly. Every bite melts in my mouth and it is that delicious.

The tomato fondue has a tangy taste and the taste reminds me of tomato-based food in Indian cuisine due to the addition of onions and herbs.


The vegetables - Zucchini, squash, eggplants and tomatoes are lightly sprinkled with some sea-salt and roasted. Just look at the burnt edges, I probably had to skip that. The roasted vegetables were slightly burnt, resulting in a bitter taste.

Overall verdict: The restaurant is very quiet and ideal for a quiet and relaxed lunch. The food served here focuses more on fusion thus some of us might not be able to get used to the taste eg. Pakistan and Indian food. Screening Room is popular for it’s movie screening and now it is another excuse for me to go back again for food!

Many of us might have heard of Culina, which is the Singapore leading purveyor of gourmet foods and wine. Culina has it’s very own restaurant, Enoteca, which means ” wine library” in Italian. Enoteca is ‘‘housed’‘ at Dempsey Hill Green, one of the food paradise in Singapore. They used to have another outlet along Bukit Timah but was closed down. Enoteca and Culina work hand in hand, using the quality products from Culina to bring out the freshest and quality assured food to the diners.

The menu is simple, with few selections of mains, appetizers, sides and desserts. They have an extensive collection of wines and a wine library in the restaurant. They serve many wines by the glass , thus wine-lovers would have the opportunity to savour many prestigious wine from all over the world.

I was interested in only the mains, the Pertuna Ocean Trout which is quite uncommon to be served in restaurants ( although I have tried it some time back). Many people thought that Salmon and Ocean Trout are the same but they are different! especially in terms of taste and texture. Ocean Trout belongs to the Salmonid family but have a fine and slightly less oily meat and the taste is less mild compared to Salmon. Ever the ”over-indulgence” in Salmon many years ago, I developed a phobia in Salmon but definitely not Ocean Trout!


Look out for the daily Chef’s special which are dishes not available on the menu. The dishes changes daily and according to availability.Enoteca introduced a Weekly 3 course set lunch priced at $30 nett/ pax. The menu changes weekly so you wouldn’t get bored having the same food. Prices here are in nett, they do not charge GST & Service charge!



Pertuna Ocean Trout with mixed seasonal vegetables and baby potatoes ($28)

The fillet of ocean was quite small but was enough to satisfy my craving. Since I didn’t want the baby potatoes, the chef kindly replaced it with rocket leaves and the portion of salad leaves and the grilled vegetables filled the plate, leaving a small fillet of ocean trout in sight.

The Ocean Trout was well-grilled with a tinge of salt, a crispy skin and soft texture. I just wished that they would serve a slightly large fillet of the Ocean Trout. ( Greedy )

The Grilled seasonal vegetables consist of my favourite vegetables such as brocolli, zucchini, squash and tomatoes, lightly grilled with tinge of salt . I particluarly like the salsa that was served on top of the fish as it has a tangy and appetising flavour.

The rocket leaves were lightly tossed in some plum dressing & cracked black pepper.




Sauteed mushrooms ($6)

I ordered the sauteed msuhrooms as a side dish but the portion was huge, enough to feed 2 pax. I could actually do a TA if I could not finish.

The sauted mushrooms were button mushrooms sliced in halve, sauteed in white wine, whole clove garlic and mugworts ( type of herb). The sauteed mushrooms were a little on the greasy side. I would prefer the garlic to be minced garlic and sauteed with the mushrooms, minced garlic produced much more fragrance and aroma. I could hardly finish the sauteed mushrooms, probably finished 1/3 of it.

Fancy a ” sky garden dining ” experience? Suntec City has a Sky Garden which housed many restaurants, sample Turkish, Thai, Vietnamese or even Swiss cuisine here. I happened to walked past Swiss culture resturant and the friendly waitress introduced the Swiss cuisine to me. I looked at the menu board and was interested to try their food.

Sits are available outside the restaurant as there isn’t any tables in the small restaurant interior.

Upon seated, the friendly waitress handed me the oven. She further explained the signature dishes and her recommendations.

Swiss culture restaurant offers award-wining cuisine at affordable prices. The must-trys are the Cheese Fondue, Chocololate Fondue and the Swiss Sausage. These 3 dishes are award-wining and has received commendations and awards.


Caesar salad topped with seared prawns ($11.90+)

I had the Caesar salad through the recommendation and chose the seared prawns as toppings (extra $4 charge). The waitress recommended the caesar salad as The Green Salad was a little boring and their caesar salad is quite popular too.The Caesar salad comes in a huge bowl of ice-berg and romaine lettuce, lots of bacon bits, mashed eggs,topped with 5 seared prawns and separate caesar dressing at the side . The lettuce were crisp and I like the bacon bits, which is made from real bacon. The Casear dressing is home-made, I can taste the strong flavour of anchovies and bits of bacon in the dressing.The prawns were lightly seasoned with some black pepper and lightly seared, the texture was bouncy and not tough.



Chilean Codfish with cajun spice & mixed herbs ($28.80+)

The codfish is supposed to be seasoned witth cajun spice & mixed herbs but I couldn’t see or detect any spice or herbs in the fish . The chilean cod is served with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables and they kindly replaced the mashed potatoes with lots of vegetables for me.
The chilean cod was over-cooked, resulting the texture to be firm, rubbery and chewy. It reminds me of eating dried scallops. The fish was not properly de-scaled and there were some fins remaining on the skin. The fish is then served with a creamy sweet butter sauce.

They were really generous with the vegetables, serving a huge portion of carrots, brocolli and tomatoes.