For detail review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/02/cny-louhei-at-paradise-dynasty-ion.html

One of our many impromptu dinner dates with evil sistas. As the ION outlet doesn't accept reservations, we have to take a queue number and waited for everyone to arrive before they can seat us.

The restaurant decor is of a modern and sleek style with dark undertone and contrasted with bright colored and glitzy furnishing. The ceiling is adorned with a golden dragon, lined with gold chandeliers on both sides, exuding opulence of a bygone era.There were 5 of us so we ordered the Happiness Set Dinner $238++ from the CNY menu (serves 5-6pax).

First dish was the Prosperity Salmon Yusheng platter. The waitress helped us to get ready for the louhei, saying auspicious words for the new year while pouring the condiments onto the yusheng. We proceeded to toss the yusheng high high for good fortune in the Horse year!The salmon yusheng was very delicious, the level of sweetness and sourness was just right. The crispy pok chui bits gave the dish a nice crispy bite...a delight to eat.

The 2nd dish was the Shark fin soup w/ assorted seafood. The broth was extremely flavorful and has a nice mix of fresh seafood ingredients in it, slurp!Deep fried salad prawn, fresh and succulent battered jumbo prawns covered in creamy salad sauce. A well executed dish.Steamed marble goby w/ supreme soy sauce, fish was fresh and meat was tender and sweet. The soy sauce was yummy too.Shanghainese crispy duck (half), served with pretty looking steamed buns. The duck meat was fragrant but the skin wasn't as crispy as we had hoped. There were some leftover by the end of the meal.Poached chinese spinach w/ trio eggs in superior stock, one of my fave veggie dishes. It was nicely prepared with flavorful broth and generous serving of salted egg yolks & century eggs. Wolfberries were added to boost the sweetness of the stock...thumbs up.I caught a whiff of the wok hei aroma as the waitress served up the Yang Zhou fried rice. Fragrantly fried rice with diced chicken, chopped prawns, egg & greens. Needless to say, this dish was another crowd favorite, earning praises from us all.Last but not least, dessert was served. Chilled aloe vera w/ osmanthus in honey lemon juice, a delightful end to a satisfying meal.Paradise Dynasty serves very good food! Although not very cheaply priced, I feel that the food quality is worth every penny we spent. Service was good as expected of a reputable chinese restaurant. Coupled with a lavish ambiance, it was an extremely enjoyable dining experience for us. We will definitely be back for more!

The year is coming to an end and we had celebrated the last birthday of the year with fellow evil sistas. The venue of choice was Sumiya, or rather the second choice cos The White Rabbit was reserved for a wedding event.

Sumiya, literally means 'charcoal house' in Japanese, is a casual dining style Japanese beer house that serves up premium charcoal grilled dishes to go with beer and/or sake. This place was formally a Japanese fine dining restaurant Kuriya Penthouse. The newly revamped establishment has an obvious retro vibe that transports the patrons back to the 50s - 70s with old school zinc cladded walls adorned with retro posters and ads. This place is dotted with vintage accessories such as the rotary dial telephones, copper crockery, plastic Coca Cola crates, shave ice makers etc. There is a traditional drum hanging on the wall by the entrance where the staffs would sound a round of drum for every visitor stepping into the restaurant.The menu is presented in a roll-up newspaper style with clear description of food in pictures and elaborate text. They also have All-in-one set meals for groups of 2pax to 4pax, set lunches and other ala carte items. And, a separate menu for everything alcoholic.We ordered the All-in-one set meal to share among the adults. The kids had set lunches to share.

Yokozuna set (serves 3-4pax) $168++
Includes assorted kushiyaki items, a grand looking sashimi moriawase platter, kani tempura, age dashi tofu, bikkuri chawanmushi, mini tonkatsu ramen, garlic rice, Singapore maki, assorted dried seafood w/ grill, soft shell crab spring rolls, pumpkin salad and desserts.

Assorted kushiyaki
Squid, cod fish & prawn, pork belly & chicken on skewer, saba fish & mixed veggies.The ingredients used here is of superb quality and freshness. The chefs had made sure that every item is perfectly grilled with eye pleasing charred exterior and retaining the succulent juices in the food at the same time. Oiishi desu ne!

Sashimi moriawase platter
This impressive looking platter has fresh premium king prawns, seared Hokkaido scallops and 3 kinds of thick cut fish slices. Everything in the platter was intricately presented and utterly fresh to eat. Thumbs up!Kani tempura
Nice, sweet and fresh with slight crisp batter...good.Bikkuri chawanmushi
This is very special, it is a Japanese style steamed egg with udon as one of its main ingredients. Topped with king prawns, assorted mushrooms and greens, this dish was luxurious and surprisingly delish!Tonkatsu ramen
Simple looking but big in flavor. The broth was divinely flavored and the ramen was perfectly springy...yums.Singapore maki
Localized version of the popular California maki...nice.Assorted dried seafood w/ grill
Several types of dried fish, squid and cuttlefish served with a hot charcoal grill for patrons to DIY their own 'beer snacks'. Its fun and yummy at the same time.Soft shell crab spring rolls
Refreshing cabbage rolls loaded with crispy soft shell crab, mildly sweet crab stick, crunchy cucumber and tobiko roe. A perfect dish to freshen up the palates inbetween courses. Pumpkin salad
The mushy Japanese pumpkin is oh so sweet and creamy...such a delight to eat!Desserts
This set comes with 3 kinds of desserts, Kuzumochi, pudding & matcha ice cream. We liked the kuzumochi very much, its lightly fragrant and chewy in texture...quite addictive to eat. The pudding and ice cream were not too bad as well.Overall dining experience was pretty good, service has been toned down from the fine dining kind of attentiveness to a more casual and friendly approach. Food quality did maintained its high standards and so are the prices. This is still a recommended place for good food and great service, definitely worthy of repeated visits.

For full review & more photos, please visit http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/12/birthday-lunch-at-sumiya-orchard-central.html

I've been wanting to try this Japanese franchise cafe for some time already but there's always a long queue during weekends. The wait is finally over when I managed to beat the queue on a Friday evening at 6pm. Queue only started to form up from around 6.30pm onwards...phew.

An array of food replicas are on display at the entrance to help patrons decide on what to order while waiting for their seats.The cafe has a polished european style decor with refined looking leather sofas, antique style chandeliers and copper/brass colored lamp shades, coupled with dark wood tables and flooring. A subtle hint of Japanese influence coming from a handful of zen style lanterns hanging from the ceiling. There is a magazine corner with a comprehensive lineup of Japanese lifestyle reads at the patron's disposal.The menu with selections of signature hand drip coffee and other beverages, their famed souffle pancakes and other sweet treats and main courses.I ordered a pasta for main course and a souffle pancake for dessert. For drinks, I had the Hand-Drip Ice Coffee $6++.Rich roasted Hoshino blended coffee with full bodied flavor and a pleasant sourness, served in a specially designed 'Copper high thermal conductivity' cup to retain the icy temperature longer than normal cups. I really love the attention that the Japanese gave to subtle details like this...their mission is to serve us great coffee, not just nice coffee!

Hoshino Spaghetti $14++, prepared in aglio olio style with savory bacon, sausages, shimeiji mushroom and fresh veggies, topped with a perfectly poached egg and sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds. They were generous with the ingredients and the pasta was perfectly al dente, faultless.Souffle pancake with chocolate banana $13.50++, choice of softee or whip cream as topping. The pancake is light as air and very fluffy. I had it with the vanilla softee, sliced bananas and Hershey kisses...can't go wrong with this combi. A word of caution though, the pancake itself is already sweet enough, do not pour the supplied maple syrup unless you have extreme sweet tooth!Overall dining experience here was pleasant, waiting staffs were trained to be attentive and responsive. Ice water was constantly being topped up and dishes were cleared in a speedy manner. Food quality is definitely superb with reasonable price points to boot. The souffle pancakes are not to be missed for fans of Japanese desserts!

For full review & more photos - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/11/dinner-at-hoshino-coffee.html

Hubby has gone for night cycling again, I'm free to eat whatever I fancy for the night. I chose to find my dinner venue at Nex which has an extensive list of F&B outlets on offer.

My choice, Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐, a world renowned Michelin stared Taiwanese franchise selling top quality 小籠包. This restaurant is always crowded and queues are crazy during meal times. I was there before 6:30pm which was slightly ahead of their usual weekday crowd. The smiley Taiwanese-accent waitress ushered me promptly to my seat.

This branch is spacious, with a large seating capacity. The interior is well lit and had a modern contemporary style decor. On the right, there is a large open-concept kitchen with busy chefs working hard on their job. The dining area is divided into sections with larger tables for bigger groups of diners and areas with smaller tables catering for petit parties of 2-4pax.The menu is well categorized with quite a huge list of their steamed meat dumplings being the main focus among the other dishes. I picked a dumpling dish as appetizer, a noodle dish and a meat dish as mains.Shrimp siew mai (6pcs) $9.80++, this is essentially a slimmer version of the 小籠包 with a mid size prawn topping. The prawn was very fresh and crunchy, pairs well with the juicy minced pork swimming in flavorful broth beneath. The dumpling skin was excellently done, smooth and thin and doesn't fall apart when picked up with chopsticks. A superbly executed dish!For main course, I had the Mushroom & minced pork noodle $8.80++ and a Fried pork chop $7.50++.

The noodle was handmade 手工面 with a soft and springy texture. It was covered with generous amount of braised mushrooms and minced pork with a thick gravy. The gravy has a strong mushroom aroma, is not too salty but utterly flavorful, very delish.My all time fave Fried pork chop, was well marinated, deep fried juicy & tender porky goodness, as usual. It has been my Must Order on every visit for the longest time. Highly recommended!Service here was of high standard as usual, waitresses were forever energetic and full of smiles. The management made sure that they can all speak in Taiwanese accent and served in the friendly Taiwanese way. The free flow of Jasmine tea $1.00++ was always topped up promptly even if it is 3/4 full. Empty dishes were cleared off speedily too. Food wise, was almost always above expectations and reasonably priced. That pretty much explains the crazy queues at the doors during meal times. This is one restaurant I will always return in a heartbeat.

For full review & more photos - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/09/dinner-at-din-tai-fung-nex.html

We are back at Chef d' Table again for birthday celebration. Several of us dined there 7 months ago and liked the food and service there a lot, one of our July babies was a fan too so it became our venue for July celebration.This place is located near to the Chijmes church's main entrance. They are one of the official caterer for Chijmes. They recently hosted former President Mr. SR Nathan for lunch here.

The restaurant has a simple, no frills and functional decor. We had the private room located at the back of the restaurant.Warm bread was served upon guest arrival with a yummy pesto spread. The bread is free and refillable. Ask for more if you are hungry between courses.The bread was very very soft and fluffy with a crispy crust, you'll know right away that they were freshly baked inhouse just before they open for dinner.

Two of my friends ordered a 4 course Chef's menu set $68++, includes an entree, a mini soup, choice of main course and dessert of the day. For myself, I ordered ala carte entree & a main course which were my fave dishes from my previous visit.

My Entree choice, pan seared Foie Gras with lobster omelette served on a bed of sauteed spinach & mushrooms $32++. This one literally melts in my mouth the second it touches my tongue, perfect! The lobster balls were cooked with herb butter, tasted fresh and crunchy...goes well with the creamy foie gras. Thumbs up!

My choice for main course, Chilean Seabass $34++. Needless to say the seabass is again very fresh and prepared with such precision that it is cooked inside out and not overcooked at the sides. It takes some skill to do that with such a thick piece of fish...kudos to the Chef!

My friends' 4 course Chef menu...

First up, Mushroom tofu entree...crispy homemade tofu drizzled with truffle oil and mushroom mirin sauce. Everything was polished off quickly so I reckon it was delish.Lobster bisque soup in an espresso cup. Again, gone in 60 seconds, well almost!Main courses, one of my friends had the Chilean Seabass (above) and the other had the Ribeye Angus beef steak. Done medium rare, it was cooked to perfection...soft and tender on the inside and slightly charred and smoky on the outside...truly satisfying.One of my busy girl friends only had a main course as she needs to rush off for 'second round'. She picked the Pink Dory with lemon butter sauce and sweet potato $24++. This one was a crowd pleaser, the fish was fresh and lemon butter was uber creamy.Last but not least, its desserts time...the presentation was awesome!

Orange Creme Brulee with Valrhona chocolate ganache & Valrhona chocolate fondant (a.k.a. the Lava cake) with vanilla ice cream.The Creme Brulee was delicious, creamy with a hint of fresh orange aroma, pairs extremely well with the dark valrhona chocolate base.

The 'Lava' cake here was to die for! It has a minimum preparation time of 20mins so that the Chef could make it from scratch. Check out the flowy 'lava'!The premium dark chocolate was smooth and intense! All of us agreed that this was the best lava cake in town.

And, presenting last, the complimentary birthday cake nicely decorated with chocolate sauce! It was Hazelnut brownie with vanilla ice cream. The brownie was loaded with hazelnut bits but was made a tad too hard though.There you are, this ends the night with a sweet note! The food and service here was extraordinary...we will definitely be back again for more indulgence.

For full review and more photos please visit - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2013/07/dinner-at-chef-d-table-again.html