See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/16/good-but-expensive-dinner-stellar-at-1-altitude-on-9nov2015/
celebrating an occasion & went with wife for dinner at stellar at 1-altitude on 9.11.2015. ^^
there was a roof top bar like at me @ oue & also at zafferano (1-altitude is much higher floor).
marina skyline, the panoramic view were of course fabulous.
we were deciding between the regular S$95++ 3-course menu (full portion) or the 6,7,8-course autumn gastronomic (1/2 portions). wife decided to have the 3-course & i was advised that if i took the S$120++ 6-course menu alone i would have 2 desserts.
so we both took the 3-course. wife had 2 appetizers & i ordered a dessert.
we were served only 1 amuse bouche. so we missed the mushroom tea which other reviewers raved about.
this amuse bouche was ok but forgettable.
how i missed the incredible mushroom tea amuse bouche we enjoyed at jaan previously.
wife ordered the oysters. there were 4 in 1 order.
again it was ok but not those very creamy ones. we had better S$3 oysters at tess bar & of course the superb ones at prime society (only S$2.50ea after palate 50% discounts).
i ordered the diver scallops carbonara style.
the scallops were wonderful, large, plump, tasty, & still have the slightly gummy sashimi bite. i loved the scallops.
but as an entire dish with the carbonara sauce, it was simply outclassed by the excellent scallops at the disgruntled chef 100gourmet dinner we had recently (above photo).
i decided to create a dish myself with my usual pan-seared scallops using a prawn vegetable veloute. my scallops were very good but not really comparable, however my veloute was excellent & the overall experience was much better, though just as outclassed by the scallop dish at the disgruntled chef 100gourmet.
wife ordered the gazpacho in 2 styles.
the cold soup was light, refreshing, tasty.
this was such a wonderful soup, i went home & recreate one myself, and a pretty good one at that. not quite stellar’s top standard, but pretty good la.
we ordered the king crab, uni, sakura ebi pasta & the rack of lamb.
the pasta was tasty & i liked it.
wife though was not impressed. somehow the uni sauce tasted cheesy (same saltiness?). it was good but not great.
i went back & recreated a very tasty prawn capellini myself in the same style.
the lamb rack was i guess above average.
there was a nice array of sauces & dips, mustard, bearnaise etc& a butter which was very nice with the lamb.
the sides were good.
but actually for the lamb, though it was ok, it was also quite mediocre. there are countless restaurants here that does this better, and much better!
i would prefer my own pistachi crusted lamb to this.
overall, food was good, ambience was fabulous.
the dinner though was quite underwhelming for the price, quite below our expectations. purely on the matter of food enjoyment, we had much better at cheaper places like foc & tess bar.
wife was saying basically we were paying for the view. i guess we were.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/14/nice-quick-dinner-bk-forture-seafood-old-holland-roa-don-14nov2015/
wife wanted to have dinner at bk forture seafood at old holland road this evening on 14.11.2015.^^
i was worried that the place would be crowded on a saturday evening & hard to park. this place is quite popular with foreigners,
the last time we came with our daughter & basically ordered the same food.
we waited quite a while for the food as there were a few tables of foreigners having their weekend family food outing.
this evening though the corner coffeeshop smok’inn frogz kitchen & bar bar black sheep were quite empty. i found parking along the road. we ordered the thai style fish head & a small hor fun & waited only 5mins for food to be served.
the hor fun this evening was very good!
very good wok hae (aroma). the hor fun itself had very good flavours. there were not much ingredients & the prawns were not the freshest but was good overall. there were couple times i ta pao (take out) home but the hor fun was not great. tonight it was good.
the thai style curry fish head here is the best!
fish head was very fresh. the curry was slight tangy & very tasty.
it’s certainly much better than the similar priced nonya fish head at keng eng kee.
this is a curry fish head i really enjoy. for this evening it was easy & quick & shiok!

My good friends & mei mei arranged a dinner for my wife & i at imperial court restaurant at the grassroots club on 5.11.2015. ^^
i have wanted to try the gimtim group of restaurants but have not done yet, so this suited.
they have a 1/2 suckling pig set for 6. we had 7pax so my friend ordered 2 additional dishes.
the #1 half suckling pig was a large helping. it was much larger than what i had at ah yat & other places like hung kang & summer gardens.
i thought ah yat’s suckling pig was very good but this was equal or better & much bigger portions by comparison.
it was extremely good, very crispy skin & very flavourful, tasty meat. it seemed to be a combination of the 片皮 & 南乳 styles. usually the 片皮 style came with wraps & the 南乳 comes with the meat. my wife & i prefer the 南乳 style.
the next dish #2 (quite poor) fish maw soup though was quite poor.
no comparison like the one at beng thin.
my friend ordered 2 additional dishes=#9 addition sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 dish & ＃10 additional beef dish.
sanpei chicken 三杯鸡 was so-so, maybe below par. the beef was pretty ok, not the very tenderised chinese style beef which i don’t like.
the #3deepfried seabass in thai sauce was very good.
the sauce was not the usual thai sweet sauce (best for deep-fried chicken wings) but a bit tangy.
a very good fish dish by my reckoning.
the #4 abalones with broccoli dish was the usual good standard, with nice broccoli & mushrooms.
i love #5 the steamed scallops. i think they were the best! ^^
usually i prefer steamed razor clams to steamed scallops because usually steamed scallops get overdone (i don’t know why?).
these ones were very tender & sweet & tasty. excellent is the word!
the #6 prawns were nicely done, fresh, tasty & crisp.
i don’t like the sauce though, just overly sweet.
the #7 braised seafood beehoon was very tasty.
& with good ingredients.
reminded me of my own crabless beehoon!
the simple dessert of the day = #8 fruit cocktail dessert with ice shavings was very refreshing.
overall an excellent dinner. i liked the suckling pig & the steamed scallops.
i estimate the dinner to cost about S$350nett, so about S$50nett.
service was very good. the servers took several photos for us & also went digging up a knife & candles for the cake.
it was a really fun evening.a truly wonderful time with close friends & great dinner.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/12/wonderful-dinner-treat-by-our-good-friends-imperial-court-on-5nov2015/

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/10/very-nice-coffee-coffee-now-here-on-2nov2015/

a friend organised a makan & coffee eat-drink together on 2.11.2015. ^^
first we had the recently buzzing ah hoe meepok at blk 710, clementi west street 2 bu the japanese 18yr old girl & her father.
after a very satisfying bowl of meepok dry & soup, we proceeded to coffee nowhere (or pronounced coffee now here) at west coast plaza.
it’s the singapore outlet of a cafe that started in johore only 2 years back in dec2013. the name is supposed to evoke like when you are lost (nowehre) & then you are found (now here), i guess discovery of a place you have a connection with?? whatever!
they have 4 different ways of brewing coffee etc, and also sells coffee beans, coffee related products & offer barista training.
we were just coming here to relax & chill la! :-)
& the coffee was good! so we make a great find by accident.
it happens to be a monday, and monday happens to be the day with 1 for 1 promotion. we ended up ordering 9 coffees for about S$35, not bad! 

(btw i think the normal price is too ex w/o the one for one & i would not come here as there are so many good cafe places)
i am quite surprised the coffee was really good. my flat white was very smooth & coffee had rich aroma. i had a very good flat white at habitat in upper thomson (my family favourite but just first time for me). we were rushing & bought takeaway so i did not take photos. i thought coffee nowhere was about the same.
the other great coffee place i had good coffee –
chye seng huat hardware coffee bar (CSH)
dutch colony @ pasarbella
carpenter & cook
assembly coffee
of course aeiou &
wheeler’s yard

carpenter & cook has great pastries & assembly coffee has a great lemon meringue pie.
 

See my full review & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/11/06/s6-50-salted-egg-chicken-rice-mini-wok-zi-char-迷你锅煮炒-shaw-basement-food-republic-on-6nov2015/

went to watch “The Intern” at shaw lido with a friend today on 6.11.2015. ^^
i really enjoyed the movie. super! :-)
after movie, it was 2.30pm – ish.
we decided just to get a bite at the food republic at basement of shaw house. :-)
i had previously –
tried the brisket king 牛腩大王. it was quite good but expensive. well so are the other stalls. also ex.
& the quite below par toa payoh lor 7 teochew fishball noodles.
was going to settle for either roast chicken rice or roast duck noodles stall, but saw this mini wok zi char 迷你锅煮炒.
there were many dishes on the photo menu. i would not mind the pepper beef or the pork onion rice.
anyhow we saw this salted egg chicken rice = no.1 seller! must try!
so try we did.
& it was good leh.
this is a very professional planned instant dish delivery, very quick turnover & consistent good standard.
deep-fried chicken pieces were pro-done, fried egg too.
the instant “chef” put the chicken pieces into the hot oil, the helper placed the rice, fried egg & some pickles on the aluminium serving wok on a tray for easy handling. then the chef fried the heated deep-fried chicken pieces with the salted egg sauce, probably took 1 min & then placed on top of the rice. voila!
S$6.50 was ok. quite enjoyable! ^^
very enjoyable movie, meal & chat with friend.