For pictures and full review, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2014/05/05/platypus-kitchen/
Fresh pasta, premium ingredients, wallet-friendly prices, spacious seating, convenient location. You really can’t ask for anything more, can you? Fresh handmade pasta prepared every morning is the pride of Platypus Kitchen and the folks here believe in gourmet dining at everyday prices.
Here, one can find the largest selection of pasta in Asia. Those who need help in deciding on that to order will find this algorithm useful.
I visited 3 times, twice for set lunch and once for dinner. Set lunch is very value for money; pasta and risotto sets from $12.90 includes a choice of soup or side salad, a cold beverage and pasta. For pastas with premium ingredients eg crabs, prawns, scallops and truffle, an add-on of $0.90-$1.90 is required. Service was attentive and efficient. Food-wise, hits and misses. I don’t see myself coming here regularly in the near future for the pasta but the mains, sides and risottos look tempting.
Healthy-tasting Elderflower Iced Tea and velvety Mushroom Soup.
Pumpkin soup was smooth and flavoursome, with just the right amount of cream. Love the sour crunch from the seeds in this Iced Passion Fruit Tea.
Lemon Prawn Parppadelle (add $0.90). Doesn’t look like a lot on the plate, but you’ll be surprised how filling it is. The combination of flavours and texture is marvellous. Pleasantly tart zesty lemon pomodoro sauce, sweet tomatoes, grilled prawns, chewy pasta and thinly sliced garlic which added another flavour dimension and delightful crunch.
Spicy Diablo Crab and Prawn (add $1.90) looks impressive. But looks can be deceiving. While I must commend on the generous portion of succulent crab claw meat and fresh prawns, the spicy egg sauce in addition to the chilli strands was overwhelming. I was startled by the spiciness and immediately regretted mixing in the chilli strands into the pasta.
Mushroom Aglio Olio ($13.50) was a disaster. Imagine my dismay when a plate of soggy pasta arrived in front of me. I even questioned the waiter if the pasta was meant to be sitting in a puddle of oily water. Ah boy gave a sheepish smile and nodded. Garlic flavour was severely lacking too.
Sea salt caramel ($6.90) was passable, although I could not detect much saltiness. Apart from being moist, the cake itself was mediocre. The unique part was the popping candy- quite fun to have the crystals sizzling in the mouth. The chopped peanuts married well with the chocolate sauce.
 

M was in town so I had an accomplice to satisfy my curiosity on much-raved-about Iggy’s. Named after its founder, award-winning Sommelier and restaurateur Ignatius Chan, Iggy’s is ranked 14 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2014. We arrived with high expectations.
The entrance is somewhat like “Aladdin’s cave”. Upon entering, the staff welcomed us warmly. Service was attentive, without being over-zealous. I must commend that the staff were genuinely helpful. After ordering our set lunches ($65++ for 2 courses, $85++ for 3 courses and $105++ for 4 courses), my camera battery went flat *horrors*. Thankfully, the waitress found a charger and lead us to another table near a power point. 2 thumbs up!
The cooking-style is modern fusion. Flavours were subtle and never over-powering. Creative presentation, top-notch ingredients, but dishes lack an element of surprise. We came anticipating to be charmed but went home feeling “meh”. I mean… it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t mind blowing as I expected it to be.
Sundried Tomato Foccacia and Wholemeal Sourdough
Chilled Gazpacho sorbet with Tomato Salad Amuse Bouche provided a much needed relief from the sweltering heat outdoors.
Wagyu beef appetizer with red bell pepper “pappardelle” and pomegranate.
M’s luxurious appetiser-generous portion of Foie gras with artichoke, white asparagus and Alba Black truffle
For the second course, we both selected Iggy’s signature Cappellini with crunchy Sakura Ebi and Konbu. Tossed in Shellfish oil, each strand of pasta had an intense crustacean flavour.
For the mains, 70 °C Wagyu cheek with Pinot Noir and Hearts of palm fared much better compared to Pork Belly with Gobo, yam and kinkan. While the Waguy cheek main was flavoursome and melts in the mouth, the Pork Belly dish tasted flat and dull.
Inspired by Singapore’s popular breakfast , Iggy’s Kaya and Teh Tarik dessert is a creative spin on the well-loved staple. The soft brioche French toast had a beautifully caramelised exterior. Served with a thickened custard-textured kaya and bittersweet teh tarick ice cream. Lip smackingly yummy!
Vanilla ice cream on a bed of banana, served with Araguani chocolate, espresso, hazelnut. Not the most innovative dessert, but nevertheless satisfied my sweet-tooth
The waitress asked what coffee/tea would like to have, so we mistakenly assumed that hot beverage was part of the set lunch. The $10 tip I intended to give the waitress for her fantastic service went into paying for this exorbitantly priced small cup of Cappuccino ($11.70 after GST and service charge).
We were lukewarm towards the set lunch. Perhaps dinner will enchant? We’ll try, maybe, someday.

For pictures and full review, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2014/04/24/iggys/
 

For pictures and full review, pls visit:

http://madamechewy.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/hokkaido-sushi-restaurant/

Bought a groupon for Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant at M hotel. The original price of the food is exorbitant and I don’t think its worth it to dine here paying full price. By using the groupon the savings was about 50-60%.

Service was decent, the food was served very quickly. Everything must have been well prepared in advance. The food was fantastic! I enjoyed this meal every much, Hubby even told me he wishes to dine here again. It was very quiet at on a Saturday afternoon, only 2 other tables were occupied, I enjoyed the peaceful ambience.

Sashimi: I don’t eat Sashimi, Hubby felt it was fresh and delicious. Wafu salad: mixed salad with seaweed in vinegar sauce, balanced taste and refreshing. Home made pitan tofu: delicate dish, I felt healthy eating it. Grilled salmon with spicy cod roe sauce: flavoursome but a tad too salty.

Wagyu tenderloin beef with mixed mushroom: I found his too salty.Steamed custard egg with Hokkaido red salmon roe. Soba: soup broth is just right, not too salty.Finished the meal with some yucky green tea and mango ice cream.

Opps, nearly missed this out; Signature Hokkaido Mai: sushi roll with deep fried seafood wrapped in seaweed, top with flying fish roe. This was divine! I love the interesting crunchy texture of the sushi.

For pictures and full review, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2015/05/27/chir-chir/
I simply can’t get enough of fried chicken! I’ve had Chir Chir before in Seoul and it was such a memorable experience. Imagine my joy when it arrived in Singapore. Chir Chir is pronounced as “chi-ruh chi-ruh”, the bubbling sound oil makes when the chicken goes into the deep fryer.
Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory is one of the largest chicken and beer chain in South Korea, with more than 100 outlets in Korea, Taiwan and China. There are 2 in Singapore- a flagship outlet in 313@Somerset and another in Bedok Point. Only fresh, not frozen, chickens are used and sauces are imported from Korea to ensure consistency.
There is a buzzer affixed to each table which you can press to alert the wait-staff. For those who don’t fancy getting your fingers dirty, use the mini tongs.
To start, we munched on Honey Grape Salad ($18.90), which we felt was unique. It’s not uncommon to see grapes as part of the salad, but at Chir Chir, it’s the main star. Sweet seedless grapes are tossed with raisins, almonds, walnuts and pine nuts, then crowned with ricotta and whipped cream, which are made in house. The appetiser comes with honey-garlic tortillas which went very well with the grapes. I could do without the whipped cream though, which dulled the refreshing properties of the salad with its richness.
Served on a hot plate, the Nest Snow ($32.90) is constructed with juicy chicken tenders seasoned with Cajun, sweet potato puree, cheese and whipped cream, sitting in a moat of creamy sauce. The combination may sound odd, but it works beautifully. It’s no wonder that Nest Snow is Chir Chir’s most popular dish. Calorie laden I know, but YOLO!
We also tried the Garlicky Wings ($28.90), which were marinated for 6 hours before deep-frying, then topped with special soy sauce, crunchy garlic flakes and fried garlic cloves. Our taste buds reveled in the flavours, which was familiar yet intriguing at the same time. Concealed beneath the wings, were roasted sweet potatoes and chewy fried Tteokbokki (Korean rice cake). I felt this could have been better if the garlic flavour was more prominent. We love mid-wings hence were annoyed when there was only 3 of them (the rest were drumettes). If you prefer boneless chicken, go for the Garlicky Tenders instead.
I’d stop short of recommending Chir Chir Cheese Fries ($9.90), which was lacklustre, despite being served with a secret sauce.
Apart from fried chicken, Chir Chir also serves beers, cocktails and mocktails. Prices are on the high side, but servings are large enough for 3-4 people. Chir Chir does not accept reservations, so if you’d like to avoid queuing, do arrive early.

For pictures and full review, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2015/03/12/salt-grill-and-sky-bar/

Located on the 55th and 56th levels of the iconic Ion Orchard, Salt Grill and Sky Bar offers an unrivalled bird’s eye view of Singapore famed shopping belt. We visited during the evening and witnessed the skies turned from blue to dark. Dusk was a magical, post-card worthy sight!

Opened by Australian Chef, restaurateur and television presenter Luke Mangan, Salt Grill serves Mod Oz cuisine, where chefs embrace different cuisines which successively lead to fusion of new ingredients an and traditional techniques. Emphasis is placed on the produce, using only the best ingredients available, prepared in an un-fussed approach.

Upon seating, the friendly staff promptly brought as basket of bread, accompanied with olive oil and an appetizing dip of herbs, nuts and spices (I believe its dukkah).

Having read many positive comments on the “Glass” Sydney Crab Omelette, we were understandable eager to sample it. Don’t be fooled by its simple demeanour, this entree is pure awesomeness. The miso mustard broth beautifully complements succulent strips of crab, enveloped in fluffy omelette. The elegant starter was completed with enoki mushrooms and herb salad. Well played in the both the taste and texture departments!

Sitting on a bed of smooth Israeli cous cous, cucumber , tomato and drill broth, the fresh Grilled Snapper was skilfully executed, maintaining fork-tender, moist flesh.

W’s Cape Grim Striplion was the more outstanding main course ,bursting with juiciness and flavour. However, we had to minus points for the uneven cooking -some parts were too raw. The steak was paired with caramelized endive, eggplant, salsa verde and a selection of 4 different mustards, namely, wasabi, whole grain, peppercorn and Dijon.

We also ordered Truffle Oil and Parmesan Fries ($14) and Roast Garlic Mushroom ($15). The shoestring fries were mostly crispy, with some soggy pieces at the bottom; however the prominent truffle flavour made up for this flaw. The latter was acceptable, nothing to shout about.

The Raspberry Cheese Cake was definitely one of the better cheesecakes I’ve had in a while-rich, soft and luscious. The berries and raspberry offers a tongue-tingling contrast to the mildly sweet cake.

You can’t go wrong with the Banana Parfait, a delightfully creamy cold dessert with peanut brittle, chocolate mousse, nuts and salted caramel sauce.

Apart from the “Glass” Sydney Omelette, none of the other dishes made deep impression. I’d recommend this venue for its stunning views rather than the food. Since we dined during Restaurant Week, this dinner was a steal at $55++ per pax for 3 courses. With the 10th edition of Restaurant Week approaching, there is no better time to check out this fine-dining establishment at a bargain.