I have always been attracted to Arteastiq because of their pretty décor and finally managed to convince Hubby to bring me there because there was a promotion. Hubby only thinks of Ippudo when he is at Mandarin Gallery.

We tried 2 mains from breakfast menu, which is available on weekdays 11am-2pm and on weekends 9am-2pm. We had drinks as well and find that Arteastiq excelled in their beverages, but not their breakfast fare.

The placed was rather packed and the lovely window seats were all taken up…..

I had my favorite Iced Pomelo tea ($11), which I first chanced upon at Tea Bone China and have been addicted to ever since. Every time I visit any dining establishment by Arteastiq (another one is Museo), I will definitely order this.

Hubby had a Hot Cioccolata ($9). We both agree that the Roasted Hazelnut Hot Cioccolata is superior to the former.

The confectionery that came with the drinks tastes so fine!

Ante Meridiem ($20.80): Cheesy Potato Gratin with Salmon, topped with rockets. I like that the sliced potatoes are coated generously with rich creamy cheese sauce. Salmon portion is huge too

Prima Dawn ($19.80) Pan-fried potato-broccoli medallion, scrambled eggs and cheesy roasted tomato , with a choice of sausage or bacon. A heart breakfast for anyone with a big appetite!
All in all, the dishes we tried were not outstanding. Having been impressed by Museo and Tea Bone China’s afternoon tea, I expect Arteastiq’s afternoon tea to excite my taste buds. I shall be back again! And I have got to remember make a reservation for the window seats.

For pictures and full review, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2013/10/30/breakfast-at-arteastiq/

For pictures and full review, pls visit:

http://madamechewy.com/2013/08/04/antoinette-afternoon-tea-set/

Antoinette has been around for quite some time, tantalizing diners’ taste buds with their extensive menu. In December 2011, Antoinette finally launched an afternoon tea set menu, served only at Penhas and Palais branches from 2-5pm on weekdays.

As with the all the other branches, Antoinette Palais décor encompasses strong Parisian influences, and is sophisticated and elegant.

High Tea Set Menu is priced at $60++ for 2 persons, which includes a sumptuous variety of savories and sweets, along with 2 servings of coffee, tea (refillable), hot chocolate or juices. This works out to about $35/pax after GST and service charge, which I felt was a tad pricy for the slightly above average quality of the food, and inattentive service.

Osmanthus tea: A beautifully crafted sencha that has enchanting scent of summer-fresh flowers and the taste of ripe nectarines. Maofeng green tea is used as a base for this osmanthus flower blend. The tea had a light a delicate aroma.

The bottom tier comprises of sweet pastries and delectable savories:
-Petit finger sandwich of yuzu crab mimosa
-Foie gras terrine on toasted brioche with peach chutney
-Petit seafood bouchees
-Almond croissant
-Petit Pain au chocolate
-Hazelnut swirl

More delightful savories on the middle tier:
- Croissant filled with Serrano ham and Swiss Gruyere cheese
- Petit pain au lait with pink shrimp cocktail
-Smoke salmon profiterole with dill Chantilly
-Pita Pockets filled with smoke duck breast with pommery mustard

Dainty cakes and pastries on the top tier:
-Assorted petit macaron
-Petit Versailles (flourless chocolate sponge with 55% dark chocolate)
-Pear tart amandine
-Praline profiterole

The savories fared much better than the sweets, which came as a surprised to me as Antoinette bakes superb cakes. Overall the food was decent, but it certainly didn’t wow. On a positive note, the set was filling and everything came in pairs (some places only have 1 serving of a certain items), so there was no need to trouble ourselves to cut anything into half.
M wasn’t too hungry so she had a Nougatine Sundae($9): Praline ice cream with hazelnut nougatine, salty caramel and caramelized filo pastry. I nipped a little from her and it sent me straight to heaven. I will definitely visit Antoinette again just to have one whole cup to myself!

For full reviews and pictures of all the food+ desserts, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2013/08/26/chihuly-lounge-afternoon-tea-buffet-summer-2013/

Ritz Carlton’s Chihuly Lounge is undeniably one of Singapore’s top enticing afternoon tea destination. The grandeur of the surroundings is matched by the glamor of the afternoon tea offerings. Chihuly Lounge never fails to amaze with their unusual and creative spread, which are sensationally executed. New varieties are presented with every change in season. In Summer 2013, one can look forward to inspiring savories and gorgeous cakes.

The buffet cost $52++ per pax which includes one beverage. You can have unlimited servings of teas, coffees and chocolate drinks with a $10 top up. I had strawberry yoghurt tea, which was pleasantly tart.

This is 2 in one review, first on their superb mooncakes and average dinner buffet

For full review and pictures, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2013/08/30/peony-jade-mooncakes/

http://madamechewy.com/2013/08/25/peony-jade-buffet-dinner/

Mooncake review

I always knew that Peony Jade is famous for their Flaky pastry Teochew Yam mooncakes. Today, I am pleasantly surprised that their other creations are superb as well.

Mini Snowskin Salted Gula Melaka and Coconut with Valrhona Dark Chocolate Pearl Mooncake ($48 for 8 pieces). Wow, this is so adventurous and exotic! Absolutely mind-blowing!

First, you can taste the mild flavor of the snowskin, followed by decadent sweetness from the Gula Meleka, perfectly balanced by salt to prevent cloying. Finally, chew on the crunchy Valrhona Dark Chocolate Pearl!

Durian lovers cannot miss this highly sought-after moon cake! Even Durian-haters like me can’t deny that Peony Jade Mao Shan Wang Moon Cake in Organic Pandan Snow Skin is ethereal.

Yes, it’s absolutely divine! Made with 100% premium Mao Shan Wang durian pulp, this rich moon cake will definitely tantalize your taste buds. It’s no surprise that this creation has won awards; The Sunday Times Lifestyle top choice award in 2010 and Her World Plus Moon cake award in 2012.

Price: $74 for 4 pieces and $42 for 2 pieces. Its rather pricy but its sooo worth it.

Traditionalists-at-heart will love Baked Moon Cake with Sugar-free Premium Mother of Pearl White Lotus Paste and Melon Seeds. The lotus paste is very fine and melts in the mouth. Health conscious folks will enjoy this guilt-free, scrumptious option.

Price: $54 for 4 pieces and $29 for 2 pieces

Dinner Buffet

Peony jade specializes in traditional Szechuan and Cantonese cuisines. Décor is very traditional Chinese while service is politely brisk.

Location is rather inconvenient to get to via public transport. If you drive, do remember to ask for the parking rebate if you spend more than $80.

3 years ago, I had dim sum ala carte buffet at this branch. The food was delicious and I left with positive impression. However, today’s dinner was rather disappointing. Certain dishes do stand out, but the rest were sadly, quite mediocre. Perhaps it’s because this was a 1 for 1 buffet, hence the food standards and quality were lower.

Deep fried Live Soon Hock with soya sauce. I enjoyed the crispy skin as well as the delicious sauce; it could have been better if more soya sauce was added.

Pan-seared pork chop with Homemade Frutti sauce-Extremely soft and tender meat, accompanied by savory gravy with a hint of sweetness.

Wok tossed crabs with white pepper was decent

Poached fresh prawns with Chinese wine was one of the highlights of the night.

Marinated smoked duck omelet- competently done.

Fish sliced “Thai” style was boring. Perhaps it was not in line of what I expected; I would have preferred spicy-sweet Thai sauce, not cloying sweet sauce.

Szechuan hot and sour soup rich and savory, and quite spicy (yeah, I like). It could have been better there were more bamboo shoots though.

Deep fried prawn paste chicken was poorly executed-prawn paste flavor is non-existent in both the skin and meat.

Soup of the day was Fen Ge soup which was heart-warming and tasted “homely”. Fen Ge is a root vegetable with heat-dispersing properties and is great for the complexion. It is known as Kudze root in English. On the first mouthful, it immediately brought me back to my childhood days *think skinny food critic who ate Ratatouille cooked by the mouse in the movie Ratatouille* My Grandma used to cook this humble vegetable soup frequently, before she left us

One of my favorite dishes of the day: Poached spinach in Superior stock. These healthy green were done just right, complimented by prominent flavors from the superior stock.

For desserts, we had chilled almond longan bean curd, hot cream of red bean, chilled sea coconut and sweet dumpling coated with peanuts. Haphazard presentation of the dumplings was a tad annoying…

For full review and pictures, pls visit:
http://madamechewy.com/2013/06/15/watami-at-star-vista/#more-4425

Had a gathering with Uni friends who moved to Singapore. R just finished a test so this dinner was also a celebration for him. We went to Star Vista mall, because it was close to R and J’s workplace…and landed up in Watami. I was rather skeptical about dining in Watami, because of the not-so-great reviews on the net. Glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food by this casual dining joint.

The set meal for 4 ($129++) looked like a feast, so we ordered with glee. Some of the dishes on the menu are fixed while we can choose from a list of options for the other items. The portions were generous and all of us were stuffed.

Watami @ Star vista really needs to improve on the service standards though. We sat the back of the restaurant and it was terribly difficult of us to catch the attention of any staff because they were all looking towards the front.

Anyways, back to the food. The fixed dishes were:

Fresh Caesars Salad
Irodori chirashi sushi- Assorted sashimi sushi rice bowl
Sashimi Mori-Assorted Sashimi
Wafu Touban Steak- Self grilled short ribs.
Tempura Moriwase- Deep fried prawns and assorted vegetables

The items whereby we had options were:

We chose Konbu dashi sumo nabe (Konbu sumo wrestler hot pot); the light broth lets the palate taste the freshness of the ingredients.

Other hotpot options were Sukiyaki Nabe (Beef Sukiyami) or Doenjang Chige (Spicy Korean pot with pork)

We chose Udon over rice, as we felt it would complement the hotpot dish better.

The first side dish we had was chicken katsu tamago toji (chicken cutlet with scrambled egg sauce). This is really good fried chicken, and the scrambled egg with stock is super yummy. It was the sizzling favorite of the night.

The next side dish was mentai potato pizza. The roe tastes savory, slightly fishy and slightly spicy. The bacon and mayonnaise overpowered the roe though.

Desserts were nothing to shout about. The milk pudding had a very soft, silky texture but the flavor lacked a punch. These were not part of set meal, but if you order the set meal, there is a discount of up to 50% for desserts.