Had a good lunch on last Friday with my lady boss and colleague. We had Italian cuisine for lunch. It has been a hectic week with tender submissions and issues going on in works. I am so glad it’s over for the week.

My lady boss recommended us La Pizzaiola restaurant located at Jalan Riang. The restaurant is a homely Italian pizzeria that located in the Braddell Height Estates and an approximately 10-15minutes walk from NEX shopping mall. It is quite inconvenient for those who are taking public transport as it is not accessible.

Nevertheless, it does not stop people for coming in for dining. Based on some reviews from several blogs, the restaurant is owned by the same guys who run Pietrasanta at Portsdown Road (which I haven’t tried before). La Pizzaiola offers great foods and a great price for 12” pizzas for S$14 - 17, pastas for S$13 - 15 and house wine for just S$8 a glass. The price is quite decent and affordable too. No wonder, the night dinning was overflowing of customers.

This time round we went for lunch so the restaurant was quite empty. The staffs are friendly and knowledgeable as well. They are well-trained and know the dishes listed in the menu well. Risotto Allozafferano consists of the Italian Risotto with Saffron - $14.90. We have additional ingredients which is the prawn into the risotto which cost few additional dollars. The risotto was well prepared with generous topping of saffron which makes the whole meal taste delicious. Ham Mushroom & Cream with Green Spaghetti - $12.90. The spaghetti wasn’t too hard or soggy. It blends well with the sauce. The sauce is very rich and it taste creamy even by looking at it.We had Torta Pistocchi all the way from Italy. Florence Dark Chocolate Dessert - $8.90/slice: Thumbs up for this! Awesome taste of rich chocolate! The cake has the smooth taste and it just melts into your mouth.

The pizzas is a must-try list if you are dropping by. It serves the thin crusted slices of pizzas with different flavors. I would definitely visit the restaurant again for dining. However, if you are going down as a big group for dinners, I would suggest to make a reservation before dropping by to avoid disappointment as dinner time is quite crowded.

Platypus Test Kitchen first started out in 2010 by Nicholas Lin. He is such a young entrepreneur that has a concept to serve the dishes below S$20.00. He also shared with us that the menu illustration will be the same as what actual serving. Here is his restaurant philosophy ” We believe gourmet foods should be affordable”. It is shown in the menu as well.

Foods that we had on that day:-

Truffle Fries ($6.90). Thick-cut french fries seasoned with white truffle oil and topped with shaved truffles. Truly taste like heaven!Superb rich truffles with the fried made our appertizer grows bigger.Crabcakes ($12.90) where it is served with large crab claw meat, served with lemon.Risotto Balls ($8.90).Mozzarella stuffed balls of risotto, breaded in panko and deepfried, served over pumpkin puree. Loving the taste of the pumpkin puree and it mixed well with the risotto balls.Squid Ink Tagiolini, Scallop Ragout ($15.50).The squid ink pasta is specially made not to stick to your teeth.Squid Ink Tagiolini, Scallop Ragout ($15.50).The squid ink pasta is specially made not to stick to your teeth.Saffron & Caviar Risotto ($19.90).Served with saffron infused risotto with char-grilled prawns and scallops. They are generous with the caviar portion that contribute to the perfection of risotto.Spicy ‘Diablo’ Crab & Prawn ($18.50).Served with egg taglioni with prawns and crab claws tossed in spicy egg sauce. The fusion mixed creation with the generous size of the prawns really does attract me at the first sight. True enough the taste does not disappoint me as well.Pressed Pork Belly ($19.90).Served with braised apples, carrots, tomatoes in honey & clove apple glaze. The sauce comes in a small jug and the staff will pour the sauce over the pressed pork belly when it is served. Overall taste sweet and the pork belly was chewy and firm.Overall, it was a satisfying dining experience with good foods with affordable price. The interior design of the restaurant made us feel comfortable. The design of the comfortable bench seats and the layout of the overall restaurant is more of the modern living style which suits for occassion celebrations.

Platypus Kitchen is running 12 weeks promotion that desserts are served FOC when you dine in their main course. It was third week last week so be sure to pop by when you are shopping at Bugis Junction.They also offers monthly set promotions for both lunch (from $10.90++) and dinner (from $16.90++).

For more details, check out my blog: http://hazeldiary.com/?p=1342

I had a date with my ex-colleague for dinner today at Tampines 1 shopping mall. We decided to go for chinese cuisine for dinner and Dian Xiao Er was our choice. It was almost 8pm and there is no queue outside the restaurant and we were being seated immediately. The interior design is furnished with traditional Chinese inn style design which we often can visual them in Chinese drama.We ordered Duck Roasted with Angelica Herb @S$12.90 (small portion). It was just nice for 3 of us. Based on the menu explanation, this dish served as the purpose to nourishes the blood, promote blood circulation and remove blood stagnation and treats blood deficiencies and habitual constipation. The duck was nicely roasted and the skin was glowy when it was served and crispy when you bite. The meat texture was not dry at all and it taste good with the angelica herb sauce.Lastly we also ordered chinese spinach in superior stock @S$12.30 where chinese spinach served with wolfberries and conpoy sweetened stock. It is a combination of healthy dish where you can enjoy the green vegetables and drink the rich flavoring of the stock. We enjoyed till every last bits.Lastly,we had hotplate beancurd with minced meat and pickled vegetables @S$10.90 (Small portion).It was serving piping hot with the hotplate. The japanese beancurd was very smooth and silky. The sizzling beancurd with the layer of eggs and minced meat goes very well. It is definitely a dish to go with plain white rice. The servings are served within 15minutes and the staffs will say out the name of the dish when they served. This proved that they are knowledgeable to the foods that are served. One thing to compliment about is their attitude to customers. They are friendly and take initiative to fill up our drinks promptly. They will ensure that all dishes are served one after another so that we can have them together with plain white rice.

As for the price wise, i personally feel that it's affordable and decent if you are sharing with friends or families members. You will have more choice to choose dishes and shared among one another. Our total spending for 3 persons inclusive of chinese tea and also plain white rice is S$53.45. The bill does include 10% service charge and 7% GST.

The weekend is slightly different from the usual ones as i spent my weekend in Singapore. After several of attempts to meet up for a dinner and obviously failed badly due to my inconsistency work timing. So, we ended up having our breakfast brunch together on this beautiful Sunday

Ardent's Cafe Bar which located at 80 Neil Road and a walking distance from Outram Park MRT was our choice for the day. If you wish to give it a try, do exit from Exit H and it is about 300++ m away.

The cafe is actually a shop house renovated to be a cafe on the day time and bar at night time. The design was cosy and the ambiance is quite soft and relax. The lightings played a part too as it is not glaring and the lights are dimmer so you totally can't feel the outdoor brightness. However, the design out from the cafe door is a space of green garden with the swings and white garden chairs and bench around it. The interior design and the exterior design gave me a different kind of feeling.Below are our choice of the day:-

A pot of passionfruit tea S$6.80.
The fragance smell of the passionfruit which smells very sweet but when i drank, it doesn't taste sweet at all. By the way, it's refillable Ardent's Breakfast Free Style S$20.00
You can choose 5 items from the menu lists given.
Snail Sausage, sauteed mushroom, smoked salmon, bacon, turkey ham.
The snail sausage is a cheese sausage as I cut into smaller size, the cheese flows out from the sausage. The smoked salmon taste good as well. The portion is decent enough and the varieties are pleasant as well. However, i would prefer to have scrambled eggs on my plate We ordered plain rosti S$7.80 with add-on honey baked ham S$3.50.
The plain rosti is quite disappointing though.I still prefer Marche rosti as this one a bit hard and taste like not well-cookedOverall the services are acceptable. The service staff has a pleasant smile and very approachable.
I would review as 3 out of 5 and it's a nice place to hang out as well.

This is my Christmas Eve dinner post which taken a year ago. Swaying just by the river with gorgeous evening view with historic buildings view enhance the mood of the day. We needed to the recommended place called Timbre @ Arts House. There are other branches of Timbre in Singapore.

Timbre provides nice and cosy ambience for dinning in customers and provides the feeling of relaxation when you step into the restaurant. The music rhythm which is smoothing to your hearing makes the whole dinning experience pleasant.Roasted Tomato with Crabmeat Mayo S$13
Tomato halves roasted with seasoning topped with fresh crabmeat in creamy mayonnaise. Super delicious and finger licking. I love the taste of the roasted tomato consume together with the crabmeat in creamy mayonnaise. I definitely will order this when i visit again.Spicy Cajun Chicken & Basil Pizza S$18
Cajun spiced chicken with basil and tomato concasse on thin crusted pizza and mozzarella cheese. Thin crusted pizza truly bring out the fragrance of the ingredients on it and the cajun chicken and basil are all covered well with mozzarella cheese. Thin crusted pizza truly crispy.Timbre Seafood Pizza S$20
Close up shot of the pizza. The pizza is covered with shrimps, squid rings,mussels and sliced chilli, tomato concasse on thin crust pizza and mozzarella cheese. The ingredients are evenly spread all over the thin crusted pizza. The taste of seafoods are fresh and yummy.Roasted Duck Pizza S$20
Roasted duck breast,sauteed shiitake mushroom with Hoisin sauce, topped with crispy popiah skin and mozzarella cheese. This is the recommendation from one of the friend. Truly is true enough as you can have unexpected delicious taste of it. The crispiness popiah skin with the crack-crack sound and also the thin crusted pizza make the pizza more interesting. The roasted duck breast meat was just nice and not too hard to chew. However, i cannot taste the shiitake mushroom when i had it. Overall is thumbs up!Address:-
The Arts House
1 Old Parliament Lane
#01-04
Singapore 179429
Tel: 6336 3386

It will be best to make reservation during weekend as it's party weekend and many people are out for enjoyment. The nearest MRT would be Raffles Place Station. Exit H and you will need to walk approximately 6minutes to reach the destination. Alternatively, you can take Bus 75, 100, 107, 130, 131 and 167. You will need a walking distance of 1 min from bus stop B02011.