The previous visit to Halia restaurant was a blogger’s brunch outing. This time round, I came for lunch. Halia- means Ginger in Malay ( Teh Halia – Ginger tea) nestled in the Ginger Garden of The Singapore Botanical Gardens.

The Set lunch menu
The Menu changed recently and they changed 80% of the brunch, lunch & dinner menu. However, the favourites still remains in the new menu.
I would STRONGLY RECOMMEND to order food from the set lunch menu. If you going ala-carte, be prepared to spend. Individual dishes cost around $20-$30 for appetizers, $40 & above for mains and $10 & above for desserts. I felt that prices are set on the pricey side .
The set lunch, $28++ for 2 course and $32++ for 3 course is much worth it. A few of the dishes are selected from the ala-carte menu, offered during lunch time.

Mesclun salad, avocado, orange, radish, corn chips, cucumbers in tangy citrus dressing.

Light citrus dressing provides a refreshing salad. I was not a fan of avocado & they were generous with the avocado and served 2 large slices in the salad.

Focaccia sandwich with Tandoori spiced chicken fillet
A warm & crusty focaccia bun is served instead of bread slices. The chicken fillet is marinated with tandoori spices and grilled. I felt that the chicken fillet was rather dry and lacked in flavour. The cubes of mangoes and pickles laid on top of the chicken fillet was good though.

Cappuccino ” dunkin pit” without brownies
Even though I was already 80% full, I wouldn’t want to miss out the desserts ( ha… only $4++ difference). The Cappuccino ”dunkin pit” is supposedly to serve along with 2 chocolate brownies but since the brownies contain walnuts, I had ” dunkin pit” without the brownies .This is a sinful indulgence and best to be shared. This small glass of dessert contains layers of warm chocolate, cool vanilla cream & coffee iced shavings. The chef recommended me to eat it in 1 whole scoop ( from top to bottom) since I didn’t had any brownies to ”dip” with. I followed his recommendation and eat it in 1 whole spoonful and it was indeed rich and shiok! The chocolate was very rich and gooey and it’s like a chocolate milkshake . I felt jerlat after finishing the dessert but was worth every calorie.

Verdict: Recommended to come for lunch / brunch ( set lunch/ brunch menu ). The service was attentive but prices are on the higher side.

The Menu
They offer a range of appetitizers and salads.
The crepes are classified under different sections(savoury)- Vegetarian, Poultry, Fish& Seafood and Meat.
Sweet: Chocolate filled with bananas, tiramisu ….
For the crepes, choose from White, wholewheat or sun-dried tomato .

Fish Marsala ($16++)
” braised groper meat with marsala spices”
The crepes were soft and warm. It was filled with generously chunks of marsala groper meat & shredded lettuce. The only complain is that the fish smells fishy .

Asian Spice chicken breast salad ($12.50++)
Mum’s Asian Spice chicken breast was well-marinated with spices. The chicken meat was tender & juicy. They serve along some mango with lime dressing to go along with the chicken . However, I felt that the chicken breast was already well-marinated thus the dressing is a little unnecessary.
Verdict: It was rather difficult to get the attention of the staff due to the the crowd. Many are seen queueing up , waiting for a table. Business was good yet they are understaffed. The crepes were innovative but the fish marsala crepe that I had DID NOT passed.

Jules Cafe is well-hidden at a corner of Jalan Riang ( near to Nanyang JC) , I took a 5* mins walk in from Wolskel Road , perspiring under the scorching sun but that is worth every effort! When Dad told me he was going to Serangoon area, I thought of Jules immediately ( an Australian Cafe which I’ve been wanting to visit) .

* Duration may differ as I’m used to walking fast.

Jules Cafe is owned by Jules, who specialises in Contemporary Australian Cuisine. Jules is the only chef here and he makes this cafe like his own apartment ( his lovely daughters are there too).

Menu
The menu is a piece of paper placed on every table. Although there wasn’t much selection of starters & desserts, the mains look interesting. Having read reviews from HGW, I already made up my mind of what to have for lunch .

Green Salad with lots of veggies ($8)
The simple mesclun salad has cubes of baked pumpkin & chickpeas and finished off with a very light lemon vinaigrette.

Grilled Red snapper, mashed potatoes & veg salad ($23)
The cafe ran out of the ” * HARRISA CHICKEN BREAST WITH ORANGE” , thus I had the Grilled Snapper instead.
* Moroccan SpiceNO GST/ SVC charge here, all prices are nett.
The chef offers lots of veggies in replacement of the boring mashed potatoes. The Fish is fresh & well-grilled but I find it a little mild ( just add salt & pepper!!!). The roasted vegetables ( cubes of pumpkins, capsicums, mushrooms & zucchini )were bursting with flavours, I enjoyed it !

Verdict: The trip to Jules was fruitful, the food here is not exceptionally good but I can feel Jules sincerity when he prepares the dishes. The cafe is located in an ulu place , it’s so quiet & peaceful …. I can relax & enjoy a delicious meal without any disturbance. Shrrhhh….. I wanna keep this as a secret.
P.S I would be back for the ”Harrisa Chicken Breast with orange”

This is a family-run business by Koreans but thankfully there were chinese-speaking staffs to facilitate smooth communication.

Menu
The usual korean food you would expect to find – Stone pot rice, kimchi, onion pancakes, rice cakes…etc. The prices here are well-affordable. I ordered the Chicken set which comes with a bowl of rice. From the picture in the menu, the portion looks small and I went on & order a Vermicelli with mixed vegetables and before I could continue, the server looked @ me & asked me whether I could finish all the food. Well, I didn’t expect that they would serve little tapas together with the chicken set. Thankfully, I didn’t went on & order the pancakes.

Chicken Bulgogi set ($ 7+ inclusive of the tapas )
The chicken bulgogi , served in a Teppan didn’t arrive sizzling and wasn’t warm enough. Thankfully the chicken meat was well marinated and tender. I could easily finish this even without any rice to go along. I find the set very well worth as it comes with the 7 tapas which was a challenge for me to finish it. Well, there were certain tapas that I didn’t touch, wanna guess which are the ones?

Vermicelli with mixed vegetables ($15+)
I was taken aback by the generous portion and it was obvious that I couldn’t stomach so much food @ 1 go. The only choice – ”Doggy-bag” home. Before the servers pack it up for me, I tried a little and find the vermecelli exceptionally smooth and even slip off the chopsticks. There were some mushrooms, carrots and leeks to go along with the broth . IMHO, this is delectable.

The set comes with a dessert – A slice of Watermelon & a cup of ginger lime tea. I find the ginger-lime tea exceptionally sweet & didn’t have the ginger taste. In fact, it taste like honey!

Verdict: Lesson learnt, do not ”over-order” food. I should not have ordered the Vermecelli ( even though it was good ) . The chicken set is enough to satisfy my hunger pangs . Highly recommended for those who loves Korean cuisine!

Cocotte is a 2 months old French restaurant at The Wanderlust Hotel. More & more restaurants have been opening up in ulu places , waiting for us to discover them. With the presence of Cocotte, ”The Black Sheep Cafe” would certainly face a tough competitor!
Cocotte has 2 meanings to it:

1. Small casserole in which individual portions can be cooked and served.
2 .A prostitute or promiscuous woman.
I’m sure it does not refer to the latter. Anyway, Cocotte serves Rustic French cuisine by Chef Anthony Yeoh & his team.

The restaurant is located at the ground level of The Wanderlust Hotel. It has a colonial feel to it and the casual layout makes the dining experience comfortable & relaxing. The chairs were smaller than usual & the lighting would change automatically according to the ambience.

The Set Lunch Menu
Cocotte offers a 3 course set lunch menu priced at $28++. The tart of the day and soup change weekly while the menu changes monthly.
The Signature dishes: Fried Tripe, Escargot Gougeres , Roast Pork Collar
( Tart of the day : Ratatouille tart with goat’s cheese)

Pear & Rocket Salad
The rocket leaves salad has blue cheese and sweet pear. I didn’t like the blue cheese due to the pungent & salty flavour. The pears were sweet & goes well with Sherry mustard vinaigrette.

Seabass with shaved fennel, tomato provencal & baby potatoes
The seabass was well-executed, without much seasoning and marinates , it has it’s natural sweet flavour. I enjoyed the tomato provencal in particular, it has an influence of Indian cuisine – tangy and sweet.


Apple tartin
The dessert is a disappointment. While the caramelised apples were soft & sweet , the tart base was too soggy. The tart base just failed miserably….
Verdict: I like the ”colonial” feel of this restaurant, the casual & laid-back ambience makes the dining experience very relaxed. The staff were well-trained & courteous.