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Senso Ristorante & Bar, Club Street’s favorite Italian restaurant turns 14 this year and i must say it's a feat in our dynamic food scene! To celebrate this milestone, a Best of Senso’s Signatures menu is put together for this occasion. From 1 to 31 July only, sample popular dishes from over the years and also taste exclusive dishes from Senso’s international outlets.
The Manzo ($32), Beef Tartare, Roquette & Parmesan, Olive Oil, Chervil and Roasted Potatoes, was a sell-out dish in Crans Montana when it was introduced in 2010. Love the tender and well flavored meat.
The menu also features the Sogliola From Mediterranean, Dover Sole Meuniere with Orange Zest, Rucola and Ripened Tomatoes, a special dish from Senso’s outpost in Geneva. Only the Dover Sole is used, the preferred fish for an authentic Sole Meuniere and also the use of oranges from Sicily for that added authenticity.
We also had a mini olive oil tasting during the meal and that wonderfully aged (12 years) Balsamic vinegar that tasted like honey. It was amazing with the freshly baked breads.
The other dishes are from the Singapore menu. The Green Asparagus and Morels Soup (Singapore 2005) $24 was a light and refined soup, perhaps a little too delicate for my liking.
The Risotto (Singapore, 2006) $36, was probably the favorite dish of the night. The salty and creamy risotto paired simply with sweet and succulent grilled tiger prawns. While fresh zucchini flowers from Italy were used in the dish, i found it doing little to complement the already perfect combination. In fact, the fried flowers tasted oily and a little stale.
Premium NZ Lamb Rack (Singapore, 2011) $44. The lamb was cooked to perfection with a nice pink center and was good on its own. The olive crust came served as a disk by the side instead and was a little too dry and crumbly.
We ended our meal with a deconstructed Tiramisu Revisito (Singapore, 2011) $22. This was specially created by Executive Chef Yves Schmid in 2011. So there's coffee mousse, homemade mascarpone ice-cream with Savoiardi biscotto and coffee milkshake. Good flavors but give me a traditional tiramisu with all that richness anytime.
All dishes on the menu are available a la carte, but diners looking for a heartier meal can opt for the three, four or five course menus that start from $88. Wine pairing is also available.
The Senso experience was lovely as usual and i really love the atrium section where you get to dine under the stars but in comfort. Great place for a romantic date with your significant other.

Do not be deceived by the crowded 1st level, i was deterred once but decided head on back to check them out. The cafe spans 2 storeys so head on upstairs to escape the oily food smells as cooking and brewing are all done in that little space. Oh but do note that you gotta come down to place your orders still.

It was a terribly hot day and we headed up to level 2 as W had already gotten us a reservation. I was hoping for a cool reprieve from the crazy heat but there was none. The AC was super weak and hardly cooled the heated 2nd storey of the shophouse. It was obvious that they have issues with the power rating as well because we had 2 blackouts in the short span of an hour. It was also impossible to hear each other because the acoustics were terrible. Throw in 20 other people and it's just deafening. Not a good place for a date certainly.

So i had the Iced Mocha because it was simply too hot to have a hot drink. The drink was pretty good imo with melted chocolate instead of bottled syrup and it didn't overpower the mellow coffee.

We had one of the specials which is the Garlic toast with sausage patties, sauteed mushrooms, spinach and truffle scrambled eggs ($18). This was the best savory dish out of the lot due to the garlic spread i guess. Scrambled eggs were too runny in my opinion and that sausage patty was just a joke with its bland flavor and dry nature. Eeks. For $18, it's not quite worth it. I've just had the pulled duck with apricot croissant at Symmetry and it was way better than this at the same price.
DO NOT EAT the Sausage Baked Eggs ($12) with spinach, homemade baked beans and cheese. We saw that familiar cardboardish sausage patty. Well this pot of food is terribly bland and pedestrian. I'm sure i make better stuff than this. I thought the baked beans were more canned than homemade though.

Well, would I go back to Drury Lane? Not for the food certainly. But the desserts were quite divine. Not to sure about the 'Pay as you wish' muffins but the Banana Bread with Espresso Butter ($2.50) had W and i takeaway a portion each.

The moist bread with chunks of banana was naturally sweetened and i'm glad they didn't add more sugar. The espresso butter wasn't that good because it was oily (not the good kinda butter way) and lacked espresso flavor.

The Carrot cake was also one of the best I've had as well. It's of medium density but very well flavored with spice. We liked that there wasn't too much cream cheese because they didn't ice the sides but those between the layers were just sufficient for the added flavors and moisture.

Verdict of Drury Lane- I may drop by again for the sweets and a quick drink but certainly not for the food.

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Finally checked out The Fabulous Baker Boys at the foothills of Fort Canning. I've been meaning to pop by for a while but the lack of air conditioning was a put off and when i finally decided to go, they were closed for a long renovation! Well but guess what, The Fabulous Baker Boys are back, WITH AC! And DAILY BRUNCH! And they take reservations now too (we were chided for not making reservations when we went)! Is that FAB or what?

TFBB Champion Breakfast is a massive plate of food for the hungry. 2 perfectly poached eggs served on a toasted brioche, roasted rosemary potatoes, garlicky mushrooms, swirly sage chicken sausage and a side of beef bacon. Honestly how do you finish this?! What i was more curious about was they perfect such nice egg spheres. The sauce was not explosive to be honest but the whole combination was very comforting. Nice starchy potato cubes that are crispy at the skin. The beef bacon taste like savory bak kwa.

The hot favorite was the 3 Cheese Pancake made using Cheddar, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. This was cheesy and mushy in an awesome way and even had a slightly crispy exterior. The combination with the sweet maple was a match made in heaven. Who knew.

Chili Crab Mac & Cheese ($18) made with mini elbow macaroni tossed in a cheesy béchamel, with lumps of chilli crab meat and topped with herbed Panko (japanese breadcrumbs). The flavors were not spectacularly robust but anything more would have worked in its disadvantage. Great savory dish that was devoured within minutes. I would have preferred a bigger macaroni though.
Ju's Prawn Pasta ($20) is a tiger prawn pappardelle cooked in a secret crustacean cream. I thought the sauce was heavy on cream but too light on the seasoning so there was an oily mouthful without the appropriate flavors.
Now back to the cakes! We were sufficiently stuffed but couldn't resist these sweet treats. Prices are $8 upwards.
We settled for the Apple Cider Cake which was deliciously moist and light tasting. The Red Velvet Cake with Valrhona chocolate frosting ($9) was just so so for me, so was the Iced Latte ($5.40).

We enjoyed the food at The Fabulous Baker Boy. Fab food but the service was no where near fab. They had problems with our big group (we also had 2 kids with us), my additional side order of eggs and even with the kids. I only discounted the bad service because i was too engrossed with my pancakes but honestly they really need to work on their service. The young girl (probably a part timer) was way more helpful to us than the men.

So yea, decent brunch spot but snotty service by the dudes. Head there if you can take that attitude.

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Kimchi is a brand new Korean restaurant offering authentic flavors along with regional favourites from Busan and Andong. It's guaranteed authentic because Executive Chef Choi Minchul and his all-Korean team of chefs are behind the delicious creations.
Do not expect free side dishes at Kimchi because the cute boss Hayden doesn't want to hide the cost in the price of your meal. The portions are also healthier sized and more affordable than the usual Korean restaurants.
The Andong Jjimdak ($15) was a satisfying hot pot of braised boneless chicken thighs marinated in Korean light soy sauce. This dish is inspired by Chef Choi’s own family recipe. Be careful not to inhale any of the sauce! The fresh green chilli pepper called cheongyang gochu (청양고추) has a ghost chili kinda silent burn that will get to you if you're not careful. The dish also had a nice smoky sesame oil taste as well. Diners can also enjoy this unique dish in the form of a chicken dolsot bap or as a marinated option for Korean barbeque. Must order!
I rather enjoyed the Pork Dolsot Bap ($12), which had a well balanced flavor as they did not add those cloying red sauce to the rice.
The Kimchi Soup ($9.80) was prepared as a jigae instead of a guk which is a thicker broth with a rich, deep flavour. Stir-fried with pork, the kimchi is left to simmer and enrich the accompanying broth. The spicy concoction is very addictive and reminded me of the one i had in Korea.
For a lighter and healthier option, i highly recommend the Ginseng Chicken Juk ($12). Chef Choi prepares chicken stock the day before and selects premium Korean ginseng and Chinese herbs such as dang gui, kamcho (Korean licorice), and red dates to simmer with Korean rice. I love how there is a light sweetness from the dates. S promised to buy this for me every time i fall sick. Yay! Super comfort food i must say.
Kimchi also offers Korean barbeque where built-in electric grills allow diners to grill their food without smelling of smoke. Choose from a selection of premium meats which include the delicious Wagyu short ribs [$29 non-marinated; $29.50 marinated. I'm definitely coming back for this.
From the dessert menu, Kimchi offers a native Busan street snack called Hodduk ($9), a light, fluffy and slightly crisp hotcake stuffed with red bean paste and topped with nuts and Korean black sugar syrup. I couldn't ask for a better end to the meal. Kimchi also serves an afternoon tea set ($16.80) daily from 2 to 5.30pm and it comes together with tea and handmade Korean ice cream.
Kimchi Korean Restaurant is easily my favorite Korean restaurant in Singapore at this point. Yes it has overtaken Togi as my favorite now. Head on down for some really awesome Korean food now.

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OZ is a really (really) small outfit but it provides a wide variety of beans from Brazil, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Thailand etc. Pacamara Coffee Roaster beans are used here.
You know they are serious about their coffee with the arsenal of brewing products on sale. Japanese Kalita home brewing products are available here and other commercial coffee equipment as well.
I had the House Blend latte which had notes of milk chocolate, ripe fruits, roasted nuts with mild floral hints. It's mellow and smooth. Go for this if you want something strong.
Light bites are also on offer, including waffles (from $7) and sandwiches (from $8.50). Their breakfast dishes look run-of-the-mill though. I spied on the next table's scrambled eggs, which seemed runny enough but everything else was just heated/pan friend and thrown in I guess.
What you must definitely have is OZ's Belgium waffles! I swear it was actually a compressed croissant masquerading as a waffle. I died and went to waffle heaven when I bit into the dense buttery pastry (yes I can call it that!). The browned parts had a puff pastry exterior while the inside had the pull of a well made croissant. And that salted caramel was rich and thick without being cloying. Commercially produced New Zealand Natural vanilla ice cream was paired with it but even that didn't take its shine away. Ok NZ Natural isn't that bad I guess (there could be worse).
So go forth and have the insanely delicious waffles with a cuppa. It's the best Belgian waffles I've had so far.

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