See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/05/19/excellent-5pax-birthday-dinner-sun-with-moon-wheelock-on-16may2014/

daughter booked 5pax dinner at sun with moon @ wheelock to celebrate the birthday of our domestic help on 16.5.2014. 
i really enjoyed the excellent lunch here on 7.5.2014. this the first time i came for dinner.
the chirashi don was very tasty, both the fresh sashimi & rice. i supposed in terms of quality of ingredients, it’s hard to beat the S$20 chirashi don lunch set at ginza kuroson, but that was lunch, this dinner. 
wife & another daughter did not want a heavy set, so ordered a dobin mushi plus a okonomiyaki & salmon maki to share. 
dobin mushi was ok, competent.
okonomiyaki was very good.
& salmon maki was good.
i ordered a unagi kebayaki set for myself. we shared the food of course. 
it was very good. the chicken nabe came with a ball of collagen, made the soup very tasty.
the unagi kebayaki was fresh eel. i had not taken unagi for a while & this one was good! 
the salmon sashimi side dish here is always good. i always add that to my lunch set for S$3.
our domestic help ordered a teriyaki cod & tempura set. i did no try. the cod looked great & the tempura had 3 large prawns, really good set! 
we were attracted by the tofu cheese cake so ordered take-out to bring home as birthday cake for our domestic helper.
after eating this tofu cheese cake, i googled & found an excellent internet recipe & made my own very good tofu cheese cake. that was really fun. 
for me, both lunch & dinner sets here were excellent value for money. the 5pax dinner cost S$150 though we only ordered 3 dinner sets plus some ala carte to share.

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/05/09/good-ala-carte-buffet-peach-garden-miramar-on-8may2014/

went with sis, b-i-l & a friend to peach garden miramar on 8.5.2014. they were having a 3paying 1 free promotion for 4pax at S$30.80 weekdays. 
#1 the drunken chicken was 1/2 frozen & did not look great (my one looked better..haha) but the taste was good! much better than mine. 
#2 we all liked the pork floss & also the light battered egg plant, very nice dish! 
#3 deep-fried soon hock was ok, above average, perhaps a little better than the recent one at ban heng on 25.4.2014, but not the best.
#4 the pork ribs were flavourful. meat not the most tender, just slightly chewy, taste was good.
#5 crab sauce & tofu were good. look-wise seems something missing in this dish..maybe some garnish or greens.
#6 pating my favourite fish. this method of preparation not the best. the minced ginger or HK steamed style much better.
#7 it seemed really odd that a roast pork dish in such a restaurant could be bad, but it was, much below par!
#8 we were already very full when i spotted the char siew later & had to order it. this was very good! almost imperial treasure standard. 
#9 each diner was only allowed 1 order of soup. i had the lobster claw sharksfin soup. it was very average soup (not even as good as any lie tong aka soup of the day from tonglok restaurants or imperial treasure), and the sea cucumber sharksfin seemed no better.
#10 venison was very average, like any zi char stall.
#11 kurobuta itself was tender & tasty. this chinese way of preparation though not my favourite.
#12 fried rice was good, fragrant! 
#13 these were very nice, much better than wasabi mayo prawns preparation. :-) may try these at home.
#14 this was like a joke. the scallops turned out to be like 1 medium scallop (or maybe 1/2) sliced into 10 pieces. you need real skills to slice it so thinly. a case of disappearing scallop dish. 
#15 surprisingly, the indonesian prawn dish was very good. prawn was good & fresh & the curry sauce was very good.
#16 this was ok, pretty standard.
overall food was quite good for an ala carte buffet, a lot better certainly c/w ban heng.
the service was good, efficient & friendly throughout except when paying the bill. we were charged a cry hefty S$1.50pax for ice water & S$1pax for towels, so there was an extra S$10++ tab on the bill. it was a bit high but ok except that we asked specifically at the beginning when deciding whether to order tea & was told by the server that water was FREE, and tea was S$2.50pax. i told the girl closing the bill. she said water was as charged (next time i need to record the conversation. haha!). anyway, the total bill after 1pax free came to $120nett=S$30nett per pax so i was quite ok to just pay it.
i would come back again but buffets were very heavy & not ideal for me to do too often.

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/03/29/excellent-lunch-company-clifford-on-27mar2014/

had a most enjoyable lunch at clifford, fullerton bay hotel, on 27.3.2014, in the company of good friends – hugo, a close dutch friend was visiting singapore, & PL, who had helped me a lot in my earlier ventures, and who insisted on buying lunch. 

we were served bread – baguette & multi-grain roll. both were good, and especially so as they were served with duck rillettes in addition to the usual butter. 
i had lunch at clifford maybe 1.5 years ago with my dining quartet which has now discontinued. food & ambience were truly excellent, especially as we had the uob 1 for 1 at S$68 (so S$34pax) 3-course lunch then. :-)
the price is a lot more now, 2-course for S$48, and 3-course for S$58, coffee included. we took the 2-course. the appetizer choices included a salmon tartar, a mushroom veloute & i think a salad (cannot quite recall). the mains choices included a herb crusted lamb loin, a dory fillet, and a pasta (can’t recall what). there were a lot more appetizer & mains choices but they came with supplements.
PL ordered the lobster salad (top photo – looked just fabulous) – S$12 supplement, and the 220g beef entrecot (a ribeye or scotch fillet steak) – S$25 supplement. i ordered the salmon tartar & lamb loin & Hugo ordered same salmon & the dory. the salmon tartar was a good-size helping.
the suave, efficient & polite restaurant manager prakash came by to ask about the food, so i gave him some feedback. i thought the salmon tartar was very fresh & sweet but the sour cream distracted & did not quite enhance the flavour (this part of course is subjective taste…). personally i like it with just sea salt & pepper & olive oil. those might already have been incorporated so perhaps just some additional fresh ground black peppers.
i thought the prices were really too high, though fortunately the regular appetiser & mains (i.e. w/o supplements) were quite excellent. compare this with les amis’ 4-course S$45pax set lunch, which included choice of patagonia toothfish (the excellent chilean seabass my favourite fish) or quail. to be fair, i have not tried the les amis set lunch yet (will do soon enough!), but you know it’s les amis! 
likewise the excellent S$45pax set lunch we had at au jar din! & au jardin’s plating was also somewhat more artisan by comparison!
prakash was very receptive & accommodating. he offered us a complementary citrus lychee drink. PL declined so we had 2 glasses.
my herb crusted lamb loin was excellent, nicely medium rare & flavourful with hardly any gamey taste. the dory looked great. my friends were asking what was the crust (breadcrumbs with spinach, basil etc) as c/w my own pistachio crusted rack of lamb.
the beef entrecot looked perfectly charred. PL like it well done. somehow it did not quite look like 220g, not sure if it was dry aged for more intense flavours & so had some weight loss.
we had coffee & petit four (which means small oven & not 4 items!). macarons were too sweet. nutty chocolates were ok. i did not try the cake but it should be good.
overall, the service was efficient & responsive, the ambience was just super, and the food quality quite excellent. i can’t say food was better than au jardin though (in fact i thought au jardin’s was better) & of course the price was not just marginally but significantly higher than les amis (S$48 2-course vs S$45 4-course set lunch) or au jardin. i will come here for its great ambience, service & food, but sparingly.

see my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/03/23/excellent-dinner-petite-menu-aqueen-hotel-on-22mar2014/

booked a 4pax dinner on 22.3.2014.
parking was horrendous. it was not something unexpected though. i had called to ask for directions to the car park & was warned that there were few lots. i followed the directions & entered from tyrwhitt road behind the hotel at 7.30pm but could not find any carpark. after dropping the others, my daughter & i circled the area & finally was lucky to find a just vacated lot along a row of shophouses at king george avenue.
well, i guess it was worth the trouble. the quality of food at petite menu & artisan presentation was outstanding really for the price. 
i read a few reviews & blog posts & was looking forward to try the S$36 4-course tasting menu (bottom photo). unfortunately this was the restaurant week & the restaurant only served the S$35 3-course RW menu & ala carte. restaurant week had gone off my radar for the last 2 years. there were many good offers when it first started here but these days the RW set menus were often not as good as the regular ones.
on this occasion though, the S$35 RW menu included onglet steak (the flavourful hanger steak near the last rib which my wife & i like which we were first introduced in the early days at petite salut). so we decided to order 2 RW sets & i replaced my salmon with lavendar pumpkin soup (a lower price option) as that was an oft commented dish here.
the smoked salmon was excellent – sweet, light, not salty.
the duck salad was very good standard even though by comparison, the salmon was better. the duck was done nicely, tender & flavourful, tomatoes were sweet & plating outstanding, and it was only S$11.
the lavendar soup was strange (some might say interesting or unique). lavendar was overpowering but taste, texture combination was ok when combined with the wakami seaweed.
the hanger steak was a good helping, medium rare, tender & flavourful, i would have preferred more charred, the sauce was good & so the presentation (above & top photos). overall quite excellent. i asked the waiting staff how this stood up with the S$20 torched ribeye steak on the menu. he thought the ribeye was even better.
my daughters ordered 2 main courses, mushroom risotto & salted soft shell crab fettucine, which were popular dishes here.
both were very good. risotto was slightly wet but very tasty, texture a bit past al dente. the fusion salted egg soft shell crab pasta was very good. it reminded us of laksa pesto, one of the early fusion pasta which we first tried (like >10years ago) at willin low’s wild rockets. i will probably try making this at home.
our 2 RW sets came with dessert & coffee so we picked 2 deconstructed blackforest cakes, which was rated highly by many food bloggers. and it was indeed excellent, the chocolate, cream, pitted cherries, and the soil that came in a tiny planter to be emptied over the cake in a bibimbap stone ware bowl. pretty, delicious & fun. 
for the free dessert we thought might as well try the kaya toast. it was again very well plated, very fusion & artisan, with green kaya, toast and expresso in the middle. like the lavendar soup soup, i did not dislike the dish, it was good, ok, but not something that attracted me to order again.
overall the food was not just looking nice but actually good tasting which to me was most important, so the delightful presentation enhanced the dining experience. a S$20 ribeye (if it is same or better than the onglet steak) is good value, & the risotto & pasta dishes at S$14 & S$15 were all quite outstanding for the price. and likewise the blackforest cake. there is also a $15 pan-seared seabass which i don’t mind trying & another oft commented dish – chicken leg confit. i am not hot on duck confit so can skip this one, can try also if someone else order…haha! 
will be back.

We had lunch among the fundonate parters & decided on reddot brewhouse at dempsey. it is convenient, has ample free parking & great ambience & of course has the best value set lunch (S$18pax for 2-course & S$22pax for 3-course, and including drink or coffee as well). 
i had lunch here several times and did an earlier post great lunch with old friend @ reddot brewhouse dempsey on 19nov2013, so this would be just a quick update.
we all took the 2-course set. i had the portobello salad. 2 friends had the bruchetta & the reddot salad. another friend had a melt (lava) cake in place of appetizer. i guess 3 of us were all watching our carbo intake.
for the mains, 2 friends had the sirloin steak (which looked pretty good), 1 had the chicken breast. i was deciding between my usual halibut (very good here), the steak (which i do rather well at home) and decided on the chef’s special, the beef stroganoff linguine in the above photo. it was excellent. linguine was al dente, very good, and the sauce was excellent. the beef cut was not an expensive one, so just slightly tough, but overall it was an excellent dish, of good restaurant standard, and with nice alfafa & grape tomato garnish. this was a dish i tried at home once previously (pretty ok), so i wanted to try & get some inspiration. 
the melt cake was a beauty to behold. i had this the last time. the texture (lava) was excellent. the flavour was good too but probably no matter than my lava cake.
1 of my friend was saying he could even come here for lunch if he was dining alone – everything was quite perfect for him.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2014/03/13/s18pax-set-lunch-reddot-brewhouse-dempsey-on-12mar2014/