Tangerine is a spa-cafe at ESPA, a building dedicated to luxurious spa treatments which has a spectacular tranquil-leisure environment designed for some serious pampering. It is also a restaurant headed by celebrity chef Sam Leong and wife, Forest Leong.

Tangerine has a rather small and intimate space that boasts ceiling-to-floor glass windows, overlooking a lush foliage. The atmosphere is one that is refined, with a warm crowd of service staff. As a spa-cafe, Tangerine offers contemporary dishes created from carefully curated ingredients to ensure that our bodies are receiving maximum nutrients from the lowest cholesterol and calories possible. Under each dish description, there are comprehensive notes and calorie counts to let you understand the different effects or elements you can benefit from having a dish. For instance, many dishes contained ingredients with high levels of anti-oxidants.Main Course: Chef Forest’s Sous Vide Salmon Fillet w Red Capsicum Puree & Tamarind Sauce - This may possibly be the best salmon dish I’ve had ever. I love salmon sashimi and baked salmon that is not overdone – this dish is a culmination of both. Sous vide is a method of cooking by sealing the ingredient in a plastic air-tight bag and cooking it for very long hours at lower-than-usual temperatures, such as 55 °C to 60 °C. The result is an extraordinarily smooth and silky texture of the fish. The red capsicum coulis is packed with anti-oxidants – a great way of incorporating this ingredient into the dish instead of leaving them in cubes as I don’t take them normally. The tamarind sauce was slightly tart and spicy, yet not overpowering in any way. The fried fish skin was crispy and not greasy at all. A perfect dish which I’ll give full marks to!

For full review and more photos, please visit http://foodiepink.wordpress.com/2013/07/29/tangerine-espa-resorts-world-sentosa/

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I’ve read Sarah’s blog in the past and drooled over all her wonderful cakes and pastries from behind my laptop screen. For my birthday last year, I tried getting a cake from her but to no avail (yes, she’s very popular). The good news is, she has opened up her very own bakery shop near me! Just 2 months old, Maple & Market has gained lots of great reviews and shot to fame overnight. The old, monotonous neighbourhood is suddenly injected with youthful vibes and lots of sugar. Indeed, the cafe is everything I wanted of if I ever opened one of my own (but nah, I don’t bake).

Maple & Market offers very affordable pastries and all of them look too good to be missed. Though not all cakes may please my tastebuds, the charm and allure of this little cafe really draws me to come back here again.

For full review and more photos, please visit http://foodiepink.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/maple-market-cassia-crescent/

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Keong Saik Snacks is the brainchild of the man behind Pollen and Esquina restaurants - Chef Jason Atherton, a Michelin-Star Chef. Created to emulate the British cafe culture, the small space makes use of much raw and organic materials and features an open kitchen. Menu changes occasionally, similar to Pollen. Seared scallop. Crispy pig cheek. Apple. Hazelnuts. ($28) – Perfect in portion for ladies, everything on this plate was bite-sized. The scallops were very fresh and seared to the right timing, they were tender with a chew. The fried pig cheeks were unexpected as I had the Chinese-style of preparing crispy roasted pork in mind but instead, the meat was crusted with bread crumbs before landing in hot oil. There were not fats in the cheeks, and the meat tore very easily. The apple compote and hazelnuts however were not very helpful in elevating the flavours of the meat and seafood.

For full review and more photos, please visit visit:http://foodiepink.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/keong-saik-snacks-keong-saik-road/

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I was lucky that I managed to get a table without any reservation on a Sunday afternoon. However, I was offered al-fresco seating as the very narrow sushi bar was full. Hence, no photos of the restaurant itself! If you haven’t heard, Tatsuya boasts an excellent reputation in Japanese food. All ingredients are freshly imported from Tsukiji and Fukuoka fish markets. Each month, they come up with new seasonal dishes to make use of the season’s finest ingredients and their value-for-money bento set lunches are served, even on weekends. Ladies Lunch ($26.80) – I’m definitely not joking when I say Tatsuya offers value-for-money bento sets! This set includes a potato sald, cold udon, mixed vegetable tempuras, 4 slices of sushi, 2 california maki pieces and a personalised tamago with the branding of the restaurant! I was impressed with the spread, and more so with the quality and taste. Everything tasted excellent. The sushis were fresh, with an adequate amount of sushi rice under the fish in order for diners to maximize their appreciation of the fish itself. The tempuras were crispy and aromatic too!

For full review and more photos, please visit http://foodiepink.wordpress.com/2013/07/22/tatsuya-japanese-restaurant-goodwood-park-hotel/

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Jamie’s Italian has finally landed in Singapore after months of anticipation! After my dining experience at Jamie’s Italian in Oxford, I was more than delighted that his beautiful creations will be available locally. Not wanting to brave the (‘Singaporean’) queue, I called in advance only to find out in dismay that the next available booking was 3 weeks later, in August. Desperate times call for desperate measures – start queuing at 5.30pm and you’ll definitely get a table by dinnertime.Vongole Tagliolini [Steamed Manila clams, garlic, chilli, white wine, parsley, butter & lemon] (Small: $17) – My favourite pasta of all that I’ve tried that night. All pastas come in 2 sizes and my table opted for small throughout so as to taste their variants. If you haven’t known, all pastas at Jamie’s Italian are freshly handmade with love daily. The clams in this dish were huge, fresh and juicy! I especially liked the gravy which was very flavourful and light, full of seafood freshness.Birxham Bay Crab Risotto [Creamy risotto made w incredible acquerello rice topped w lemony crab, samphire & chilli] (Small: $19) – Yet another outstanding risotto! The flavour of the crab was strong. My only qualm would be the addition of the breadcrumbs which I thought was rather redundant. The breadcrumbs kept making me think that I was biting onto crab shells – a psychological thing I know. Creamy Panna Cotta [Lovely wobbly panna cotta served w fruit compote] ($9) – Another hot favourite among diners, recommended by the service staff. Indeed, the panna cotta was very wobbly – a perfect description to it! One of the best panna cottas I’ve tried, the pudding was firm but extremely soft at the same time. The vanilla flavour is strong on its own and the fruit compote added some sourness and sweetness to it. Yumyum!

For full review and more photos, please visit http://foodiepink.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/jamies-italian-singapore-vivocity/

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