Before this bar’s existence in 2010, ‘KPO’ to most people probably referred to the Killiney Post Office that is located next to this bar today within the same building. KPO Cafe Bar is however not named after the post office. It’s located on the junction of Killiney, Penang and Orchard Road, hence the name.
A popular hangout place for the office crowd at dusk, the bar is very strategically located in the heart of town (next to Orchard Central). It not only serves up affordable drinks and the usual pub grub but some Singaporean favourites as well as Western classics.Thinly sliced luncheon meat chips that were deep fried to crisp. What’s not to like? The moment this was placed on our table, a whiff of this household classic was almost impossible to resist. Perfect grub to go with the ice cold beer. Salty, oily and tasted meaty. Totally addictive!Home made potato chips were the best compared to packet ones. These were served fresh, hot and crispy with the right amount of seasoning but this wasn’t all.I loved the wide array of dipping sauces that came with the chips – tomato salsa, chilli sauce, nacho cheese, mustard, mayo and ketchup – so we could experience different flavours within one dish. This would be ideal for sharing in a group especially if everyone has a different preference for dipping sauce – spicy, non-spicy, etc. Kudos!Crispy fried chicken wings that were slightly over cooked and tasted a little bland. I still prefer the ones from Ice Cold Beer and Muddy Murphy’s.Sir Roti John that looked pretty much like our standard hawker fare but this was apparently made with ground wagyu beef. There wasn’t a lot of meat in the egg mixture so I really couldn’t tell the difference in meat quality but it still tasted good nonetheless. “Better than pasar malam’s standard”, said the husband. I would have enjoyed it more if the baguette was toasted longer.

While KPO Cafe Bar is an ideal place to chill out after work over beers and chips, the food are probably not on par with their price tags. Will I return again? Probably not.

I can never resist warm, moist bread and I must say this basket is filled with fresh assorted breads and delightful bread sticks. Here, being an Italian restaurant, only serves premium olive oil which you can dip the bread in. The husband loved the olive oil but I really preferred butter instead which was obviously not available here. Eat my bread the French way, that’s my preferred style. Nevertheless, these carbs still tasted good and fresh on their own.This was some scallop tartare on the house. Serving size was too small to properly gauge the taste but it was a nice gesture from the chef. The amuse-bouche varies every night depending on what the chef comes up with.Mozzarella and Parma Ham. What could go wrong? The sharpness and the saltiness all married together in this. However, pan-frying the parma ham had made it a little chewy because this was way done yet not to the crispy stage. Not doing justice to the ham.A perfectly pan-seared piece of foie gras that was creamy and flavoursome but we didn’t think it went well with the poached pear that tasted flat in texture. The balsamic dressing, bitter greens and caramelized pears just didn’t complement the lovely liver.This was too fishy for our liking and the husband thought it tasted a little weird but we couldn’t tell what it was. I loved the grissini though.

For full review and pictures, please go to http://www.springtomorrow.com/2014/01/12/senso-ristorante-bar-club-street/

Palais Renaissance in Orchard Road is probably on one of the less busy stretches of the area. I only frequented this particular place during my school days in the 90s when I was working part time at a Brit company located in Orchard Towers and the office manager would sometimes treat me to lunch at Fosters that was located in Palais (pronounced ‘pa-lay’) then.

It’s nice to just come by Palais again after it has been revamped with new shops and dining establishments. It’s away from the hustle and bustle of the prime shopping scene so it’s really a nice place to dine in peace.This was like a non-alcoholic version of a mojito which was really refreshing with a citrusy punch from the lime and a slightly menthol taste from the mint leaves. However I found the drink a tad too sweet for me after mixing it up as the sugar syrup sat right at the bottom. The husband had to help me gulp down a big mouthful of it (his tolerance of sugar was way high!) so I could mix in some ice water just to dilute it.I liked the texture of this thick and creamy mushroom soup which didn’t taste too starchy and heavy. I wished it was more mushroomy as there was heavy usage of cream that kind of masked the lovely earthy aroma of portobellos. It was still a decent mushroom soup as compared to many other places but I’d still prefer the one from Muddy Murphy’s which was to die for.This was probably one of the best crab cakes I’d ever eaten. Not just the crab cake alone but the sauce was pretty good too. One bite of this perfectly fried crab cake and I was sold. It was full of sweet and juicy crab meat, so fresh and so delicate. The breaded crust exterior was crispy but not overly greasy. And the tomato chilli sauce really resembled the sauce from seafood restaurant’s chilli crabs which was more on the sweet than spicy side. Nicely executed.While I thought the earlier mushroom soup was mediocre, this mushroom sauce was slightly more palatable than expected and went well with the bland beef which was also a little dry. The meat was done medium (but some parts were rare which I didn’t appreciate) and somehow it was just more chewy than tender. It could do with a darker crust too. It was as though this steak had been cooked on a pan that wasn’t hot enough, that’s why juices were not sealed in as the sides were not seared quickly. Anyway this is really not a place for steak frites. For the same price or cheaper, I could easily get a better one at Les Bouchons or L’Entrecôte.The husband ordered their signature burger which looked quite impressive. Chargrilled Wagyu and US Chuck Patty topped with gruyere and mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, mesclun greens, sauteed mushrooms and spiced crispy onions. I took a bite of the burger and really liked it because of the different dimensions of the various ingredients. In the end, the husband gave me half of his burger and he ate my steak as he loved his meat anyway. I loved how thick and juicy the beef patty was. Full of meaty goodness. And the gooey cheese on top was just tantalizing. I wasn’t a big fan of the heavily battered onion rings though as they oozed oil when I bit into them. Comparing with the steak, this was definitely the better of the two.

For full review and pictures, please go to http://www.springtomorrow.com/2014/01/19/ps-cafe-palais-renaissance/

The husband and I were scouting around Upper Thomson Road for dinner options when we came across this Chinese steamboat place at a corner. What beats having hot, piping steamboat to warm our tummies on a cool, rainy day!Besides, the husband had not tried such Chinese style steamboat before as I had only brought him to Imperial Treasure Steamboat Restaurant once and that already set a high benchmark for him.

Dinner buffet is priced at $23.80++ per pax and is served a la carte style. Drinks are not included. You just need to tick off your selections on their menu sheet and hand over to any of their service staff. The menu consists of 77 items that include chilled appetisers, seafood, meat, vegetables and carbs (only noodle & dumpling) for the steamboat as well as various hot items on a buffet line. One glance of the menu, I was already disappointed as it doesn’t serve my favourite crispy fish skin.We ordered 5 out of the 6 available selections of appetisers. From top left in clockwise direction – dried beancurd, garlic pork, spicy beancurd, chilled cucumbers and pig’s ear. We skipped the beef tripe as the husband wasn’t fond of it. The only item that I like is the garlic pork that is thinly sliced, perfectly blanched and comes with a chewy crunch. I think the beancurd tastes weird because of its seasoning. Something that I just aren’t familiar with. Skip them if you can.You can have a choice of two soup bases for the dual-pot so we picked the fish head soup and herbal chicken soup. Both are decent but I prefer the fish head soup to the chicken one. It is light and fragrant with a lovely flavour of seafood in it. And the more you dunk ingredients in to cook, the more tasty the soup becomes.

The husband is sorely disappointed with the meal because the ingredients are mediocre and the soup bases are not fantastic too. I really don’t think there’s much to rave about. It’s just like a home-style steamboat we can do at home except that we’d buy better and fresher ingredients than these.

If you could have the best of both worlds, what would it be? How about a croissant-cum-doughnut? Or a Crodo?

This unique pastry first came to light in the US this year and is famously known as the ‘Cronut’ whose name has been trademarked by its original creator, Dominique Ansel Bakery, both in the US and worldwide. In Singapore, Da Paolo has also come up with a similar pastry called the Crodo that looks exactly like a donut on the outside but tastes like a croissant on the inside.I had enjoyed dining at Da Paolo Ristorante (same group as the Gastronomia) before and the food execution and delivery were of pretty high standards so I presumed the same standards would be applied on its pastries too. Unfortunately, the Crodos clearly fell short of my expectations.

The original flavour (or Cream) is my best choice (among the worse) out of the 3 flavours. The custard cream filling is very rich and creamy and that is probably the only tantalising ingredient in the entire ring that is of interest to me.

For chocolate lovers, you might just fall in love with the Chocolate Crodo as you’d see a load of chocolate ganache oozing out of the centre after you take a bite. It looks delish but unfortunately, it lacks that chocolatey punch as I have tasted better chocolate ganache than that.

The Salted Caramel is the husband’s favourite since he’s always biased towards anything caramel. Seriously, it could do with a little more salt to further bring out the flavour of the caramel. It just doesn’t work for me.

For full review and pictures, please visit http://springtomorrow.com/2013/10/26/crodos-croissant-donut-hybrid-from-da-paolo-gastronomia-great-world-city/