First day of the year, nothing is better than a sumptuous meal to satisfy our palate as well as our mind!

I still remember we came here to have our CNY meal many years ago, that was before they changed into The Line concept, we were paying S$30s++ for quality food, my mom said it worth every dollar.

We came here again on CNY’s Sunday champagne brunch last year. It was an impressive brunch with reasonable price.

This round, we tried their international lunch on the first day of CNY. I like their cold dishes very much, such as crab, prawn, clam and freshly open oysters. Oyster is creamy, full of ocean taste, the after taste linger for awhile, I thought there is an ocean in my mouth. Having said that their sashimi is OK.

I was looking forward to having their individual Lo Hei at the salad counter, it wasn’t available, could it be after 7th day of CNY than their serve such dish? Anyway, lobster salad is a good replacement for me.

I couldn’t spare spaces for their warm dishes, like Indian, Chinese + dim sum, satay, laksa, roasted pork, duck, etc, therefore, I didn’t know how did they taste like.

As I have sweet tooth, dessert counter will compliment my meal of the day. Their variety of cakes, ice cream, chocolate fountain, sweet and juicy fresh cut fruits, sure there is something for everyone.

We were very happy to come back for our first day of CNY meal.

My mom was here in visiting me. As she doesn’t eat much meat nowadays, she prefers seafood and vegetable more. So chilli crab was our best option and I wanted her to try this local dish.

After reading so many reviews for chilli crab, this one was getting the most positive reviews, furthermore it was near my place and didn’t need to travel to East Coast area.

We didn’t make reservation and reached there around 12 noon. The restaurant was quite packed already. The captain who served us was really polite, he brought us to our table and apologies for it was near the toilet, he said if there was table available, he could move us. Anyway, we were pleased for his thoughtfulness.

I ordered chilli crab, no doubt and checked on the captain for any recommendation. Actually, my eyes are bigger than my mouth, I want to order cold crab dish as well but the captain advises try it next time as the chilli crab is a big dish, it is well enough for the 2 of us. It seems popiah is one of their signature dish and I like popiah, why not have a try.

This popiah size is the biggest I have tried and of course charges are steep too. It has so many ingredients. Taste wise, it isn’t my type of popiah. I prefer kopitam or hawker’s popiahs, humble and yet flavouring.

We were impressed for the chilli crab dish. It was such a huge dish! The weight of the crab stated 1.5~1.8kg. We added 6 mini steamed buns to go with the chilli sauce. We liked the sauce, it wasn’t too spicy or too thick, the sauce itself was a winner already. We have our giant pincer first, it was so satisfying, the meat was bouncy and tasteful, it could tell that the crab was live before cook! When my mom took the crab shell and started eating the crab roe, I starred at her….then she ate half and gave the other half to me to enjoy! We all know crab roe is high in cholesterol, we should limit our consumption. Nevertheless, we managed to finish the whole crab. Half way through the meal, the captain came and asked us about the dishes, it was such a warm greet.

If it wasn’t the positive reviews, I wouldn't think that we could have chilli crab in a traditional Chinese restaurant, moreover, this restaurant is one of the oldest and famous in Chinese cuisine in Singapore.

We enjoyed our meal so much and gratify for our choice. We should try the cold crab dish on our next visit.

This is a great find from TV program, ever since I have seen it presented on food and infotainment program. I longed for visiting them. It was nestled in an industrial/HDB area. This is definitely a gem in that area.

It was a rainy Monday, I managed to have the afternoon free from work. My friend and I decided to have a relaxing high tea there. We reached there around 3+pm, there were already few tables filled. We were led to a 2-seater table, chairs are really comfy. As this was my first visit, I couldn’t help but marvel at the opulent Parisian essence setting, it gave out a grandeur décor theme.
I was really impressed with the exquisite furnishing and the conscientiously-designed layout of Antoinette, seemingly inspired by a typical French patisserie. The lay-out is segregated into different corners for the various groups of customers, which might probably denote the respective individual private corners or personal spaces for each duo or group.

We combined lunch and high tea into one meal. First we ordered Club Antoinette because of the type of bread Pain de Mie they used. If one who is careful with the calorie count, Brioche is being used for most of their bread dishes, eg, French toast. Both of us liked specially the real crab mayonnaise, the sweetness of crab meat still attained, the rest of the ingredients were fresh and crisp. The sandwich was still lukewarm when served.

I have a pot of Earl Grey tea to go with the food as it could clear the savoury and sweetness tastes with a long lasting tea fragrance afterwards. Whereas my friend chose Rose tea, I have tried a cup, Rose flavour was mildly released.

Here came our favourite meticulously crafted cakes, mine was Antoinette, a pretty little chocolate cake, make up of milk chocolate mousse infused with earl grey and dark chocolate cremeux, a base of chocolate biscuit gave crunchiness to overall texture. The raspberry coulis in the form of a sour tang neutralised the sweetness of it, burst it and let it flow over the whole cake, one mouthful of it one would know what is called chocolate heaven!

My friend has Saint Honore L’Amour, she is so kind to let me have a taste of the rose petal and mini choux pastry. The edible rose petal was slight bitter as it should be, it has mini syrupy dots on it so it could defuse the bitterness. Choux pastry was just alright.

The waitstaff was politely and patiently serving customers. They would not ban customers for photo shooting, probably the more photos we took the merrier the own would. We were very happy to have a relaxing afternoon there, it was a memorable experience though, dining at a French patisserie without flying over to France.

We chose this restaurant because it’s convenience location, we could have a full meal before sending my mom back to Hongkong. I have read the reviews of it, it was average rating. Psychologically we would think the location isn’t a popular place for buffet and so does the buffet isn’t popular to public! I made a phone call booking, they would inform me for credit cards promotion. Too bad, none of the credit I have for their promotional price, so we have to pay the full amount.

We reached there around 12:30 noon, there were 2 tables of diners only. They greeted us when we stepped in then led us to our seats. I like their food setting in long counter, they are easy to reach. Probably there aren’t too many diners, they would not display too much of food in each item, they are nicely arranged in rows, clear and neat, they would refill once it has taken, therefore no worry in supply. Having said that we could taste that their cold seafood were really fresh, especially oyster, lobster pincers and prawns, the natural sweetness was still attached. Chefs from pasta and noodle counters were eagerly to serve diners, when I passed by they would call me for it. We ate lobster pincers the most as it was rare in buffet scene! I hardly drank soup in buffet, here I have an exception, their Chinese style and western style soup were hot and taste good, I have both for small bowls.

At the dessert counter, we found the giant blackberry tart with dusted gold powder or sugar powder, it was really fresh, we loved it so much and majority of them were eaten by 3 of us! To our surprise they would fill up when there were empty. If we buy this fresh blackberry from supermarket, it is one of the highest price in berries, 250g easily prices at $7~8. Fresh cut fruits were really nice too, especial the cantaloupe, so sweet and fresh, couldn’t stop eating it.

Cooked dishes were just average, it was fine to us as the cold dishes were our main attack! We like raw fish too, they only serve salmon and semi-cooked tuna, it is fine to us though.

Although the location and price are not particularly popular to public, we are happy with the buffet for their quality of food. We may come back if we have the time to spare for travelling down to the airport.

I would like to mention about the lobby of the hotel, they have the direct link way to Terminal 3, it is conveniently for people who travel by MRT. When we first stepped in the lobby, the light was dim, then we looked up, they were using natural light from ceiling, the centre ceiling was made of glass with running water, so it kept cool during hot days! Thumbs up for their energy saving as it is important nowadays.

I like to come here for executive lunch, I have no doubt on their quality on food and service. This time round, I was alone and wanted to have something good. The worse was I didn’t have big appetite, I wanted to have more but I didn’t want to waste food. Therefore, I ordered just one plate of deep fried bean curd with mix mushrooms. A very simple vegetarian dish went with plain rice.

I am really choosy on gravy. If a dish can go without it, I am more delighted. I would say this was the only gravy I would love. The rich taste would bring out the mushrooms and bean curd taste a level higher. A deep fried bean curd, what does it expect normally? Nothing much, right? This one isn’t the same, you have to try it then you will know. My guess, it was slow fry till golden brown, the technique is difficult, the flame and oil temperature are precisely to be correctly set.

This is a place worth to spend for quality Chinese dishes.