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

It’s a yearly affair to have CNY dinner with seniors (secondary school mates). Justin was the organizer for this event. He did a great job this time round with the selection venue but slightly pricey for a dinner though. We went to Luk Yu restaurant which is located at Chinatown Point Mall for dinner. Reservation was made and we had the Lunar New Year Set Menu of 10 Pax @ S$488++. The total bill comes out to be S$600 which includes the appertizer and wet towels.
Prosperous Salmon “Yu Sheng” which tasted differently from the ones that I had before. The Yu Sheng has include the shredded yam which makes the dish taste differently. More of crunchy and crispy bites than usual yu sheng.Signature Crispy chicken that taste absolutely awesome!The skin was crispy and the meat texture was smooth and tender.It’s not too hard nor too soft. It was just nice to enjoy it.

Braised Shark’s Fin with Crab Meat. It taste good as it looks. The crab meat was seen obviously in the soup. I prefer to have it original taste. Sorry no photo for this.Steamed Grouper Fillet with XO sauce. Loving this dish with the soft silken tofu as the below topping of the fish fillet. There is no fishy smell and one of us who do not take fish also tried that night. It’s definitely thumbs up.Stew Seasonal Vegetable in superior stock. The green vegetables with red dates and superior stock washed away the greasiness and oiliness we had earlier. The soup does not have the vegetables taste and the vegetables are fresh as well.Combination of Roasted Duck. Roasted Pork and Pork Belly. We were quite surprise with the presentation and portion given. It was served small for 10 pax and we went around taking one piece at one time to make sure everyone has a taste of it.Wok Fried Prawns with asparagus and leeks. The size of the prawns was quite big and everyone seems happy with the size. The taste wise is ok.Wok fried fragrant glutinuous rice with assorted preserved meat which taste ok for me only. The presentation looks small for us. We don’t really enjoyed it as the glutinuous rice is slightly harder to consume when it becomes cold. So, it will be best to served hot condition and consume immediately to enjoy the fragrance and smoothness.Braised whole 6 head abalone with Chinese mushroom and sea moss. Definitely a beautiful presentation. Everyone gets a slice of the head abalone and the sauce prepared blends well with the dish.

Dinner ended with glutinuous dumpling with red bean pasta. The sesame paste flowed out immediately after a bite and I love having it with the red bean pasta. Not too sweet and just perfect to end my wonderful Friday night dinner.

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.

It was our food hunting night after a whole day work. We decided to try Food for Thought which located at Botanical Garden. It is one of the best places to enjoy dinning as you can take a long stroll through the park after dinner.

This cafeteria is located at the basement right next to the car park which is not easily being seen. We had difficulties finding the place once we reach as there is no signage telling us where the location is. Once we found the place, we were quite surprise and delighted to explore the spacious cafeteria.It is an ideal place for family bonding time and group gathering.

There is a self-service kiosk where you have to place order for the food,pay directly at the counter and wait for your food to be served.

We ordered Aglio Olio @S$8.00 which is the plain linguine with garlic, olive oil and chili peppers. The taste is a bit bland for me but the serving portion is just nice. We also ordered Chinese Chicken Caesar @S$10.00 which consists of soft-boiled eggs, roasted red capsicums. We enjoyed the salad as you can taste the freshness of the lettuce and also the tender chicken meat texture.Next we have Slow Roasted BBQ Baby Pork Ribs @S$20.00. The portion was quite generous and we shared among 2 of us. The pork ribs are well-roasted and the meat is not too hard to chew. The BBQ sauce goes well with the roasted pork ribs.As for the dessert, we ordered red velvet cake. This old fashioned style of red velvet cake was refine and sensational. The taste wasn’t too sweet at all.Dinner was pleasant with the cosy ambience and environment. We loved the desserts displayed counter. It was nicely filled up with varieties choices of desserts for customers’ to choose.

One good thing dinning here is that you get to enjoy bonding session after dinner and nobody will come clearing your tables and hinting you to leave. The café is spacious enough to accommodate a certain amount of people. Be it in indoor or outdoor environment.