the cafe was buzzingly busy on a Sunday afternoon and the indoor seating area was totally filled. I'd totally opt for an al fresco in this gorgeously picturesque marina.

picture this. a brilliantly blue sky forms a back drop for numerous pristine white yatches of different shapes and sizes docked at the marina reflecting off the sunlight into the distance.

pictured? perfect.

we were immediately shown to their available tables in the far end of the cafe. I liked being able to choose my tables.
and my view of course.nice big fans that don't blow off your wig (!) but keeps diners cool while taking in the great outdoors. the silhouette of trees of the clear blue skies as you ponder over your meal choices. almost too surreal in the usual hustle and bustle of daily life.Let's indulge a little shall we? Thick cut fries served with truffle mayonnaise. $10.
There's something really attractive about truffle. Truffle in anything except in its original form. Trust me, I've had a whole truffle stuffed under my nose and what happened after was not a sight for sore eyes. This dip was delicious. The bits of truffle were visible and tasted like mushrooms. Nary enough to share. We had to ration it. There's no seconds. But there was mayonnaise and chilli sauce available. Settling for second best.They serve all-day breakfast and the menu runs from 930am-5pm daily.
And Eggs Royale. $16.
Traditional English Muffins with savoury Norwegian smoked salmon slices and two gently poached eggs. Drizzled with creamy hollandaise sauce with a side of rocket. Mmm. Eggs. It's a skill to cook these easy ingredients well.
If you didn't already know, Prive runs their own bakery so these soft and fluffy English muffins are are made in house. And these muffins are what I would come all the way here for.

The staff are also quietly attentive, topping up the glasses of water and clearing plates once we were done. It was a pleasure to dine here.

Ending Sunday with a quiet stroll along keppel marina. Every Sunday should be like this.

This was at the end of Smith Street on the second floor.
I wouldn't have stumbled on this place except on a friend's recommendation.
It was a lazy Saturday afternoon and the sweltering heat outside was just forcing us indoors.I decided to get myself a fish and chips.
The batter was well, oily. But in spite of that, it was a nice crisp shell with creamy dory fillet encased within. The wedges were thick cut and addictive but only good when hot. while he got the house burger. done medium. the caramelized onions were yum! but because the patty was well done instead of what we wanted, it was a little dry. The patty was thick though and I could taste the meat juices. The bun was nicely toasted. Soft on the inside. Perfect with melty cheese.

and i happened to drop my knife midway into my meal. I was all prepared to continue eating without the help of a knife but in just moments, the attentive waitress brought me a replacement. boy, was i impressed!

The former exec chef at Alkaff Mansion has left to set up his own cosy restaurant in the Chinatown area.

It was quiet on a Friday night and there was time to talk to the chef himself. So what's good to be ordered?This is an antipasti from the chef's own hometown in Tuscany. Trippa alla burlamacco. A signature of the restaurant and aptly so. This was my first time having beef tripe and it was just a happy burst of flavours. Stewed in tomato paste and an assortment of carrots and celery, this was savoury rich and simply perfect to start the dinner with. He also mentions that the beef tripe has been washed 5 times and cooked for 5 hours. I'm amazed it keeps a certain bite.
I also had the pacherri nero di seppia. Basically pasta in black squid ink. The squid ink didn't have that strange earthy flavour nor pungent smell. In fact, there was nary a trace of the sea. The texture of the squid ink was grainy and I found out it was because there was a large amount of chopped leeks that have been reduced in this ink to make the base. The pasta was al dente and good to the bite. They have a risotto in squid ink that I bet would be stellar as well, judging by the taste of this.

Just in case you fell in love with squid ink, Chef Piegela also sells squid ink here in his restaurant. He's happy to share his easier cooking methods.

It wasn't exorbitant but it was a relatively expensive dinner albeit worth the price tag.

Hello uncle!

It's been hard trying to get him before everything's sold out.

And today was no different.

After queueing behind 7 others, I was told that he had just one portion of beef horfun left to sell.

I must have looked suitably crestfallen because he offered to make two portions of beef hor fun for us.

How? If we didn't mind mixing our horfun with beehoon. Of course not! )) And he tells us it's special, he wouldn't take an order like that on a normal day.So there he sets out to stir fry the beehoon before he adds in the hor fun and eventually spoons his delicious gravy over those noodles.And this was what I got. A serving of beef horfun/beehoon with generous slices of tender beef with carrots and vegetables. The gravy was starchy but not overwhelmingly so and there were no strange lumps of cornstarch that I've been accustomed to previously and because I asked for extra gravy, he gave me basically everything of what the pot had left.

With a squeeze of lime and their homemade chilli paste.

ohmyyum!

The Eastern Restaurant is obviously a case in point for locality considerations when opening a restaurant.
Tucked into the deep recesses of The Centrepoint at Orchard,
diners would not even walk there to consider it as a possible dining outlet.
It doesn't help matters when there's a chinese restaurant situated nearer to the escalators.
And this hongkong restaurant has a HK chef from Mak's Noodles at its helm.
So yes, all that contributed to its less than stellar diner count everytime I walk pass the restaurant.
Walk pass. Never into.

For a restaurant that's been around for ten years, they are still coming up with new dishes from time to time to add on to the menu.
Hits and misses, I hope the ones that don't see too many orders get removed from the menu after awhile.
The sausage salad lite bites was a miss with a tough breaded crust and terribly boring sausage.
While the tofu dish was a simple but well executed dish.
It didn't conjure up the poetic justice that should have been with its name by its looks but it did have a very pleasant surprise of a fresh shrimp encased within each tofu piece.

Fried noodles with a generous amount of bean sprouts and sliced carrots and spring onions that added the much needed colour to this otherwise brown gravy coated dish.
Solid la mian noodles of a good doneness with generous slices of fish.
It was just too bad that the sauce was a tad too salty, it overpowered everything else.
And no, I couldn't manage to finish it if I wasn't planning on drowning myself in chinese tea to quench my thirst as an aftermath.

The fried rice was a better bet. Fragrant and resplendent with fresh shrimp and ham and a smattering of floss and scallions. This was a makeover for any leftover rice to die for. And that not an exaggeration. This would actually make me choose rice over noodles anytime. At this restaurant anyway. I don't usually take rice if I had a choice. Hmm.

So this dinner was really supposed to be about the xiao long baos.
Just by coincidence, I had din tai feng just the day before for lunch.
I don't know if it's just the branch at Bishan but those had awfully thick skins and it didn't help that the air conditioner was blasting such that our steamer of xlb was cold within moments of arriving at our table.
Suffice to stay, i didn't enjoy it much.
These however, had a thinner skin by comparison but still kept the soup within safe when picked up with chopsticks and hot for a while yet.
While it could do with a bit more soup, it was well flavoured and very enjoyable xlbs indeed!
Brand name and fusion cooking aside, if you're looking for the authentic type xlb with nothing more than just the traditional pork filling, this is where it's at.

Then it was time for desserts. The design on these babies brought images of shuttlecocks and golf balls to our minds. But really, they were simply molten salted egg yolk buns. I took a bite and held it out for a picture. It's not flowing! I was disappointed and left it on the plate while I kept the camera away. The next time I checked, it WAS flowing! Not that this flowing thing is a mark of a good liu sha bao but I quickly picked it up and took another bite. This was good! A salty sweet medley that was well balanced for its savoury and sweet notes. While not comparing it with the better ones out there, this was better than the ones at Imperial Treasure at Ngee Ann City. This is a dessert of choice for me where available. Easily shared and more often than not, a crowd pleaser for most dinners. The proportions were good on this. Ample red bean filling wrapped within a layered filo pastry.

I'd be back for a few of these

For more pictures, please visit

http://monstrousappetites.blogspot.sg/2011/11/eastern-restaurant-is-obviously-case-in.html