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.

The boutique hotel is exceptionally… small . I almost couldn’t locate the hotel lobby since there is only 1entrance. Once you enter the hotel lobby, Nectar restaurant is just right beside.The restaurant is bright , colourful and cheerful. I guess the name ”Nectar” is derived from the nectar of flowers the designer made use of the bright colours to furbish the restaurant.

The menu

There aren’t many dishes in the ala-carte menu. They offer fusion cuisine- sandwiches, fried beehoon and western dishes.
Their signature starter – The warm seafood salad ( $14++) is popular with diners.

The set lunch menu

I was informed that the set lunch menu changes daily. However, I was more keen to try dishes from the ala-carte instead. There is a $12 nett promotion for main course – choice of 4 dishes
- Teriyaki chicken
- Spring chicken
- Chicken sandwich
- Turkey sanadwich
I thought that the $12 nett promotion sounds attractive and I had the spring chicken as my main course ( though I had been eating chicken leg for the past 3 days)

Warm seafood salad ($14++)

The signature starter, was certainly well-presented. I can happily indulge in seafood (scallops, prawns, soft-shell crab and squid)The soft-shell crab was very crispy but the downside : batter was slightly salty.The squids were my favourite , the scallops were well-seared and prawns were crunchy.The mango salsa served alongside was sweet and addictive !


Spring chicken, natural herbs, veg melange ($12 nett )

Wow! They actually served 2 whole chicken leg! After having the warm seafood salad ( portion rather huge ), I felt 3/4 full and the 2 chicken leg was kinda… a challenge for me.The roast chicken legs were tad too ordinary, basked with herbs & roasted. I would prefer the skin to be slightly crispier ( even though I would just nibble a little ). The chicken legs were tender but on the dry side. The sauce tasted weird… like a combination of soy sauce and oyster sauce but was rather diluted.

Verdict: I can’t complain since the the chicken leg was $12 nett and the serving was generous . The warm seafood salad was recommended. Service is prompt and friendly.

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.