Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2015/01/lunch-at-jamies-italian-singapore.html

We've been wanting to try this most talked about restaurant in town since its opening, and only got around to doing it when the hype has finally died down. We made advanced reservations just in case. The busy restaurant was not 100% full at lunch hour on a Sunday. Small groups can be seated immediately if all in the party are present.The eatery is positioned as a casual diner with rustic bistro-like interiors. There is a small retail corner selling merchandise and Jamie's cookbooks.We were seated at the 'Singapura' corner with a nicely painted backdrop of our iconic Merlion and national flowers. Table settings are kept simple.In line with Jamie's beliefs, only the freshest, carefully sourced sustainable produce are used in their dishes. All pasta are made inhouse daily with organic ingredients.

Some drinks for starters before the food arrives...Berry Blast $8.50++ and Apple Mojito $8.50++

As usual, we ordered sides for sharing on top of our main courses. Crab & Avocado Bruschetta $14.50++, Crispy Squid w/ garlicky mayo & lemon $11.50++ and Baked Mushrooms w/ smoked buffalo mozzarella $12.50++.The cheesy baked mushroom is not for me. I had the other two dishes which were both delicious and well made.

For my main course, I picked the Grilled Pork Chop $35.00++, marinated & cooked under a brick with parsley bagna cauda, apple, kohlrabi, lemon & crispy crackling (fried pig skin). The chunky pork chop was almost an inch thick, but was evenly cooked and did not lose its tenderness accept for some parts that was all lean meat which tasted slightly dry. It had the smokey BBQ aroma and tasted fab with the crunchy apple slaw. The crackling pig skin was great, like the ones we ate in Bali. I was pretty happy with my choice.Some other main dishes ordered were Lamb chop lollipops $32.00++, 220g Rump Steak $28.50++, Crab Spaghettini $16.00 / 24.50++ and Burger Italiano $27.50++. Most dishes were well received probably due to the quality ingredients used and fine execution.They also have kids menu for the kiddos, with cute names like Chicken Lollipops and Puppy Dogs. Free range chicken and organic sausages were used to make these mini set meals. None of the kids like the mini salad that comes with the meals, though they all gladly finished the main courses.We had an enjoyable meal at Jamie's, food and service was up to our expectations of a Celeb chef 's diner. Prices may be a little steep for some but food is hearty portioned, and made with fresh and healthy organic ingredients that don't come cheap. We thought it was well worth the money spent to dine at a restaurant where its owner is one of the most influential chefs in the world.

Full review & more food photos - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/12/dim-sum-brunch-at-hai-tien-lo-pan.html

This was the last birthday celebration of the year for our evil sista, the grand finale took place at the Cantonese fine dining restaurant, Hai Tien Lo 海天樓, at Pan Pacific hotel. The semi open concept eatery is located at level 3 with some tables overlooking the uber chic lobby and bar below.Contemporary oriental decor theme and table settings...The Weekend Dim Sum Brunch menu ($68++ per adult, $38++ per child, exclude drinks) is Ala Carte buffet style with limited selection of premium dishes and unlimited offering of dim sum and Cantonese delights.

For the premium dishes under the Chef’s Signatures section, everybody gets a serving of Mini Buddha Jumps over the Wall and Braised Abalone w/ Beancurd in Conpoy sauce, and also 2 choices (out of 5 dishes) of the restaurant's signature creations.

The Buddha jumps over the wall soup was loaded with huge chunks of dried scallops, a whole abalone, bamboo pith and cordyceps flower. Every scoop of this delicious soup was bursting with flavors. The Braised abalone with beancurd was another luxurious crowd pleaser.虫草菌炖迷你佛跳墙干贝汁扒鲍鱼豆腐

As for the 2 choices of chef's creations, we picked the Hokkaido Scallops & Coral Clams in Homemade XO sauce and Deep-fried Sea Fish w/ Mushrooms in Supreme stock. Both dishes were well executed and really tasty.极品酱爆带子珊瑚蚌松菇金汤炸海上鲜

We ordered two servings of Cantonese Roasted Combination Platters with almost everything that's available under the BBQ dishes section. The platters were wiped out in a jiffy!烟薰鸭胸, 烧鸭, 蜜汁叉烧, 脆皮烧腩肉 & 青葱姜酱醉鸡片

There is only about a dozen items under the dim sum menu but we certainly found some hidden gems in there. Staple dishes such as Har Gao and Siew Mai were expertly done. And, new creations such as Sesame Purple Potato Balls w/ Minced Chicken & Mushrooms and Fried Prawn Rolls w/ Mixed Fruit Salad were pretty impressive as well. The Fried Carrot Cake in XO sauce was quite disappointing though, the rest were passable.白玉鲜虾饺鲜肉烧卖皇芝麻蕃薯球Purple Potato Balls w/ Minced Chicken & Mushrooms什果沙律虾筒樱花酱皇萝卜糕肉酱炸豆腐

Some picks from the Appetizers menu, all 3 dishes were delectable.青芒果鱼皮沙律七味椒盐白饭鱼小墨鱼海蜇沙律

The myriad of Main courses we had were all great dishes made with good quality fresh ingredients, we have no complains at all.咸蛋金沙鲜中虾沙丹芥未明虾球镇江香醋排骨皇白灼海中虾鱼子鲜虾仁炒饭

And last but not least, dessert and complimentary birthday cake for the birthday girl. We managed to have a small bowl of yummy Mango Sago dessert despite having 24 dishes prior to this!

The complimentary chocolate fudge cake was chocolaty but too sweet for our liking.杨枝甘露Our dining experience at Hai Tien Lo was a magnificent one, food quality was exceptional and so was the service rendered. However, we felt that they should arrange additional staffs to cater to more patrons during the weekends, getting the staffs to attend to us was taking longer than it should have been for a fine dining establishment like this one. That being said, this is still a fine restaurant worthy of an occasional splurge for those special occasions.

Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/12/heritage-afternoon-tea-at-clifford-pier.html

Finally got to try the recently introduced Heritage Afternoon Tea menu created by Shermay Lee, owner of Shermay's Cooking School, and also author of Peranakan Cookbooks capturing traditional nonya recipes past down from her grandma. This menu is available at the newly renovated upmarket restaurant, Clifford Pier, at the Fullerton Bay hotel. 

The first thing that struck us was the imposing X'mas tree beautifully dressed in classy Tiffany blue theme, with a huge Tiffany gift box at the base.We arrived a little early and got to hang around the posh lobby taking photos while waiting for the restaurant to start sitting guests for afternoon tea.I took a dozen photos of the stunning Clifford Pier, with iconic colonial style ceilings and stylishly designed decor and furnishings. This restaurant has the best hi tea ambiance so far among the 5 stars hotels I've been to.At exactly 3.30pm, the restaurant opens for afternoon tea, and we were ushered swiftly to our seats. Check out the simple and chic table settings and condiments.Cream cheese, Pandan kaya, Pineapple jam, Fruit jam, Chilli sauce & Butter.

The Afternoon Tea menu ($43++) consists of 8 savory treats and 8 sweet treats that has distinct Peranakan influences, and a selection of local (Teh Tarik, Kopi Kosong & Air Bandung) and western favorite beverages to go with the food. Both food and drinks are free flow.

For starters, I ordered the Teh Tarik while hubby had the Cafe Latte. The Teh Tarik was not too bad but a tad sweet. I'm more impressed with the ice Bandung drink which was really fragrant and refreshing.In the midst of sipping tea, the restaurant suddenly came alive when a pianist started playing at the grand piano in the middle of the restaurant and singing live for the patrons. And, he sang quite well too.The first dish arrived after a short wait, and it was served on a plate. A pair of Kurobuta Pork Kong Ba Bao & Chilli Crab Mantou. Both were delicious, the braised pork belly was soft and well infused with flavor, and the chilli crab filling has got chunky crabmeat with tasty tomato sauce. A nice start to the meal!When we're done with the starter dish, the waiting staffs served up a 3-Tier afternoon tea goodies. On the top tier was scones, Buttermilk scones & Tropical fruits scones. They were not too buttery and taste good with the pandan kaya and pineapple jam. Some scone lovers may find them not buttery enough though.The middle tier contains the savory snacks and sandwiches. Handcrafted Kueh Pie Tee, Mini Po Piah Wrapped in Nonya Egg Skin, Nonya Chicken Curry & Roti Jala Wrap, Bak Kwa Finger Sandwich, Hae Bee Hiam Sandwich & Otak Sandwich.

The savories were my favorite, we ordered second helping of the Chilli Crab mantou and the Kueh Pie Tee. The Chicken Curry & Roti Jala Wrap, Bak Kwa & Hae Bee Hiam sandwiches were commendable too. The only disappointment is the Otak sandwich, the otak is low quality and chewy, not nice.At the bottom tier were the sweet treats. As it was X'mas month, they replaced some of the original pastries with Christmas pastries. We have Roselle Jam Linzer Cookie, Bandung Macaron, Red Velvet Swiss Roll, Mixed Fruit Cake, Christmas Fruit Cake & Pear Tart.

The sweets were not very impressive, I only liked the Red velvet swiss roll and the Pear tart cookie, the Bandung macaron was overly sweet and '漏风'! The rest were forgettable.Despite having some minor misses with food quality, the afternoon tea experience was pretty awesome and we really adored the gorgeous ambiance of this elegant establishment. Service rendered here was good, I would gladly return to try the original menu after the festive seasons.

Full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/12/dinner-at-east-8-new-york-fusion-tapas.html

A mini birthday celebration with evil sista for those who cannot make it to the grand celebration on the weekend. Birthday girl suggested East8 as she has 2 for 2 Tapas vouchers from The Entertainer App. The tiny eatery is located at a corner of the Grand Park City Hall Hotel on Coleman street.Simple table settings and the menu.East8 serves fusion style food that marries the oriental elements with NY style preparation and presentation. Food is served tapas style which are smallish in portion meant to compliment a drinking session.

We ordered a total of 12 tapas for a party of 4pax!A.L.T (Avocado, Lemon & Tuna) $16++Garlic Tiger Prawn $14++Yuzu Miso Scallops $16++Hamachi & Caviar $16++Sake Mussles $19++Wings & Kicks $13++Portobello Fries $16++Lime Buttered Crispy Crab $18++Miso Chilean Seabass $24++Land + Sea $27++ (Bacon wrapped Hokkaido scallops w/ quail eggs)Cream Drunken Chicken $18++Ham & Cheese $19++

Most of the 12 dishes were really delish, I especially liked the Chilean Seabass, Portobello Fries & A.L.T. The seabass was uber fresh and cooked just right retaining its moist and tender texture, and well flavored with miso sauce. The breaded mushroom fries were crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, a delight to munch on. The unassuming ALT was extremely flavorful and perfectly complimented by the creamy avocado paste...yums.

We also ordered some drinks to go with our tapas, I had the Manhattan Ice Tea $7.5++ which was very nice. My friends were all quite satisfied with their choices too.Vodka w/ Lime $6++ (Happy hour)East Village (a pair) $18++

East8 is a nice place to chill, sipping drinks and munching on snacks and tapas while catching up with friends. However, we find it a tad pricey as a proper dinner place due to the size of the dishes, so it is best to have your dinner somewhere else before hanging out at East8 till late.

Some shots after sundown...

For full review - http://midas400.blogspot.sg/2014/12/afternoon-tea-at-antidote-fairmont-hotel.html

It has been a while since we last had hi tea on a leisurely afternoon like this, sipping tea/coffee and catching up with sistas over delicious nibbles. So here we are at Antidote, Fairmont's new snazzy cocktail bar by the lobby to enjoy their new Afternoon Tea menu.They have beautiful crockery sets for afternoon tea, perfect for the ladies! The Afternoon Tea set $38++ ($75++ with a glass of champagne) comes with a choice of beverage (free flow), from a selection of premium TWG Tea, Gourmet Coffee and Chocolate drinks. I had the Hot Chocolate, and it was good!TWG TeaHot ChocolateCappuccino

The food menu has 3 variants, Antidote tea with Black truffle scrambled eggs & butter toasts as starters, while the Oriental tea has a 3pcs Dim sum set (Shrimp har gau, Chive dumpling & Scallop siew mai), and the Regal tea ($75++) has the Smoked salmon w/ caviar, blinis, crème fraîche for starters. The rest of the sweets and savories are the same.

Two of our sistas picked the Scrambled eggs, which comes nicely presented in an egg shaped holder with the egg shell intact. Feedback from them, the egg was very creamy and toast sticks were a tad oily if eaten alone w/o dipping into the egg mixture. Overall still quite nice when taken with the aromatic black truffle.I am not a fan of creamy buttery stuffs so my choice is the Oriental set, and the handmade dim sum morsels stuffed with premium ingredients were superb. The bamboo basket was served on a pretty Jap style tray...cool.When we're done with our starters, the waiting staffs then serves up the most anticipated Sweets and Savories tea set in an exquisite white leather jewelry chest. At the top of the chest is a reflective mirror duplicating every hand crafted item into two, an extremely genius way of presenting intricately made desserts. Hidden in the individual drawers were savory finger sandwiches & rolls, scones, pound cakes and cookies, all laid out in an eye pleasing manner. Photo taking frenzy ensues...Let's check out what's available in the chest for tea!

On the top

Strawberry gateau, raspberry, lychee pearl

Apple delight, almond crumble

Karukera chocolate mirror tart

Earl grey éclair

Antidote rum baba

Chocolate-dipped strawberries

Handmade truffles

Yuzu macaronsThe desserts are almost too pretty to eat, I personally liked the Karukera chocolate tart, Strawberry gateau cake, Apple almond crumble and Chocolate-dipped strawberries. The rest are not as impressive as they look, especially the Antidote rum baba and Yuzu macarons were way too sweet for my liking.First drawer

Smoked salmon, crème fraîche, caviar

Boston lobster roll, herb mayonnaise

Cucumber and dill salad, cream cheese

Prosciutto, onion jam, aged cheddar

Coronation curried chickenThe savories were better, other than the Cucumber sandwich with cream cheese which I don't eat, all of the rest were really delish, and my fave was the mini lobster roll.

Second drawer

Warm raisin Scones & Candied ginger Scones and Lemon basil pound cakes.The ginger scones were a nice change from the usual ones we see from regular afternoon tea, the ginger fragrance lingers on the palate a little, quite a delight to eat even though it was buttery, I musk the smell with the tangy lemon curd and yummy strawberry jam. The Lemon pound cakes were great but rather sweet though.The last drawer contains Homemade strawberry jam, Devonshire clotted cream & Lemon curd to compliment the scones, and two individually wrapped cookies for takeaway.Although the food are not replenishable, one set is enough to fill a regular lady's stomach, all of us were feeling very full at the end of the tea session. At $38++, this is one of the more wallet friendly afternoon tea in town. If you like more sweets than savory, I would highly recommend this place, else I would suggest my current fave afternoon tea place, The Landing Point (Fullerton Bay hotel) for a more balanced sweet and savory mix afternoon tea menu.