La Taperia

Went to La Taperia with gf and dj for their set lunch which is $35++ per person- Appetizer, Main and a Dessert.

Appetizers

Fried eggs with braised snails in Pedro Ximénez wine and chorizo sausage. The snails was quite similar to a mushroom in terms of taste and texture. Eggs were normal. Feels a little like breakfast.

Octopus and mussels in tomato vinaigrette with green olive and garden salad. Seen in the top left hand of the picture. I like the salad with the acidic balsamic dressing. The octopus and mussels were well cooked. There were times where I ate a flake of sea salt which made it freally salty but I still like the salad.

Red leg prawn cooked with garlic, cayenne dried chilli in Arbequina extra virgin olive oil (additional $6). It was still bubbling when they served it us. The oil had the taste of the garlic which was nice. The prawn were flavorful, sweet and juicy.

Main

Squid ink noodles paella, caramelised apple, prawn and crispy baby squid (additional $10). Angel hair noodles that had the texture similar to bee hoon. The caramelised apple were sweet and added a different feel to the savoury dish. The baby squid was really crispy, however the actual squid was like smaller then half the size of the batter. Prawn was the same. Overall it was quite nice, I like the taste of squid ink but the portion was quite small.

Grilled black angus striploin (200G) with garden salad and patatas bravas (additional $10). Steak was medium rare and well season. Salad was normal. Patatas bravas is something simliar to wedges. Served drizzled with chili sauce and something else.

Dessert

Churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce. The churros were good, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Chocolate was dark and bitter.

Crispy apple pie with almond dragée and caramel coulis (additional $2). It is super worth the additiaonal $2. Apple pie was crispy with thin crust.  The almond dragee provided a nice extra sweet crunch and the caramel coulis was good too. It all complemented each other well.

Side Order

We also ordered some extra orders. Croquetas de Jamón($15- 4 pieces)-  Croquette of suckling pig bechamel and jamón ibérico. Jamón refers to ham in spanish. The croquette was crispy on the outside and smooth on the inside like mashed potatoes. The croquette had a strong smoked taste due to the ham.

Croquetas de Pescado($15- 4 pieces)- Croquette of seafood bechamel with shrimp and scallop. Exactly the same as the previous croquette except that instead of a smooth paste inside it had chunks of seafood. Taste very similar to a sweet potato croquette.

Rollito de Jamón Relleno de Calamar ($16)- Squid wrapped with jamón ibérico a la plancha, served with fresh lime. It had a strong smoky taste with a mild chared flavor. It was a little to salty and strong for my liking. However gf liked it.

Rate:
Fried eggs with braised snails : 6/10 ☺
Octopus and mussels and garden salad: 7.5/10 ☺
Red leg prawn: 7/10 ☺
Squid ink noodles paella: 7/10 ☺
Grilled black angus striploin: 7/10 ☺
Churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate sauce: 6/10 ☺
Crispy apple pie with almond dragée and caramel coulis: 9/10 ☺
Croquetas de Jamón: 5.5/10 ☺
Croquetas de Pescado: 6/10 ☺
Rollito de Jamón Relleno de Calamar: 5/10 ☺

Supply & Demand (Esplanade)

Supply & Demand is a slightly modern Italian restaurant with their main focus on pizzas.

Went to Supply & Demand rooftop bar with my group of friends for ky's birthday celebration.

Calamari Fritto ($14)- Crunchy Squid Bites Swerved With Pizzaiolo Sauce. The squid was cruncy and went well with the sweet and tangy tomato sauce. Eat it while its hot if not it will turn soggy.

Fries with a Side of Guilt ($14)- Perennial Sinful Favourite Chunky Cut Fries Drizzled With Aged Cheddar Sauce, Shave Parmesan, Jalapeno Peppers Served With BBQ Sauce. Chunky potato-y fat fries that almost resembles wedges with a not so overpowering cheese sauce. I don't think there's any guilt eating it.

La Mattina Dopo/ The Morning After (9 inch-$20, 13 inch-$24)- Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Bacon And Mushroom, With A Soft Egg Set In The Center. Thin curst pizza with crispy crust but slightly soft in the middle where the tomato sauce was spread on to. Prominent taste of bacon and mushroom. A favourite among my friends.

Tartufo e Uovo/ Truffle and Egg (9 inch-$20, 13 inch-$24)- Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Black Truffle Paste, Rucola Leaves and A Soft Egg Set In The Center. I love the taste of truffle so when I saw this on the menu I knew I had to order it. Pizza was slightly more crispy then the previous pizza. Truffle taste was present but I wished they placed more truffle paste. The slightly bitter rucola leaves and milky and salty parmesan was a nice addition to the pizza.

Salmone Affumicate/ Smoked Salmon (9 inch-$20, 13 inch-$24)- Tomato Sauce, Mozzarella, Mixed Salad, Topped With Smoked Salmon And Sahved Parmesan Cheese Drizzled With Olive Oil. The smoked salmon was not as salty as the ones you usually buy from outside which was really good. The mixed salad added a refreshing touch to the pizza which I liked. My Favourite pizza for the night.

Overall we enjoyed ourself with the good food. However, there were times when we could not get the service staff attention. Maybe they were busy.

Rate:
Calamari Fritto: 6/10 ☺
Fries with a Side of Guilt: 6.5/10 ☺
La Mattina Dopo/ The Morning After: 7/10 ☺
Tartufo e Uovo/ Truffle and Egg: 7.5/10 ☺
Salmone Affumicate/ Smoked Salmon: 8/10 ☺

Kokomama

Went to Kokomama for some more bingsu adventure. At there they sells a variety of cuisines: French- pastries like croissant, Japanese- rice bowls, local- eg kopi and waffle, Asian fusion- eg Tom yum pasta and also Korean- bingsu.

We ordered two bingsu in total. Mango Bingsu ($12.90)- Fine, shaved, slightly milky ice with sweet mango cubes, flavored mochi and a scoop of creamy and sweet mango ice cream. Nice and refreshing. 

Matcha Bingsu ($12.90)- Fine, shaved, slightly milky ice with bitter matcha powder, mochi, nuts, sweet red bean paste and a scoop of matcha ice cream that tasted really really weird. Quite bitter for my taste buds but if you like bitter matcha then it's perfect for you.

Rate:
Mango Bingsu: 6.5/10 ☺
Matcha Bingsu: 5/10 ☺

Babette

Went to Babette with Ed for dinner.

Babette is a gastro-bar opened by radio DJ Darren Wee. Here they serve a fusion of French traditional cooking and Japanese ingredients.

Roasted Avocado with aburi salmon and diced tomatoes ($12). Really good. Creamy avocado paste with half cooked salmon, crunchy carrot cubes and refreshing cherry tomatoes topped with seaweed strips.

Tokyo Miso Pasta ($18). Drenched in a wholesome homemade broth and topped with tofu, corn, carrots, potato, and salmon. Perfect for weight-watchers. Ed ordered. Noodles were slightly harder then desired.

Babette Chirashi Donburi ($19). Marinated assortment of fresh sashimi, tamago, and tobiko on warm rice. I ordered the chirashi donburi. Cubes of tuna, salmon, scallop, pickled carrots, pickled cucumber and tamago on a bed of plain rice topped with small bits of tobiko and sprinkled with seaweed strips. Personally I think the pickled vegetables were nice as they provided a crunchy texture but after a while the acidity was a bit too much. Overall didn't really like it because the rice was plain and there were too much pickled vegetables. This was also served with miso soup which was the plainest miso soup I have ever tasted.

Matcha Lava Cake ($12). Green tea infused white chocolate fondant served with homemade azuki red bean ice-cream. It is made a la minute so there's a 20 minutes waiting time but if you love matcha, it's worth a try. Cut into the matcha lava cake and a matcha oasis awaits you. It was quite sweet but very matcha-y. The cool vanilla ice cream went well with the cake.

Rate:
Roasted Avocado: 8/10 ☺
Tokyo Miso Pasta: 6/10 ☺
Babette Chirashi Donburi: 6/10 ☺
Matcha Lava Cake: 6.5/10 ☺

O'ma Spoon Korean Dessert Cafe (313@somerset)

After having my first bingsu at Bing Go Jung, I want to try more of this yummy dessert. Went to O'ma Spoon with zq, sy and jy.

Injeolmi and Green Tea Petit Bingsu ($4.80 each). The milk shaved ice was melt-in-your-mouth fine and plain. You could see they did some layering of ice and toppings so that it won't be bland as you dig deeper. The bingsu was not bad but since it is in a small cup they don't provide condensed milk.

Rate:
Injeolmi Petit Bingsu: 6.5/10 ☺
Green Tea Petit Bingsu: 6/10 ☺

Five & Dime

Came to Five & Dime with ger and ky because I wanted to try their Lava Cake.

Asari Clams ($10)- Japanese asari clams in our signature sake and bonito infused broth. At first glance, the broth looks quite plian so we were surprised when we took a sip. It was flavourful and had the taste of the clams. The clams were well cooked and sweet.

Mentaiko Pasta ($18)- Spaghetti tossed in creamy mentaiko, topped with more cod fish roe. I love mentaiko so if I see it on a menu, it is a must order for me. Mentaiko was indeed creamy and rich. Heaven in my mouth but I think it is a little to rich for a person to finish it.

Cajun Chicken ($18)- Boneless grilled cajun-spiced chicken thigh with creamy mash and steamed corn. Ky ordered this. Tender chicken with mashed potato underneath. The mashed potato had some lumps but tasted buttery and creamy. Dressing on the salad tasted weird, not something I would try again.

Golden Custard Lava Cake ($12)- Molten chocolate lava cake with a salted egg yolk custard center. Finally the moment I've been waiting for.... tadah! Their lava cake with salted egg yolk. The salted egg yolk custard by itself was good- sweet, salty and eggy. With the chocolate cake, the salted egg yolk taste is subdued and what you get is a balanced chocolate taste.

Rate:
Asari Clams: 6.5/10 ☺
Mentaiko Pasta: 7.5/10 ☺
Cajun Chicken: 6/10 ☺
Golden Custard Lava Cake: 7.5/10 ☺

Go Frost -CLOSED-

Go Frost is actually located in Wednesday Cafe.

At Go Frost they sell fried ice cream roll that is basically made from milk and other desired ingredients on a ice pan. They have 8 different flavors- vanilla oreo, choco-oreo, nutella, milo, strawberry, teh tarik, banella, salted caramel and banana frostroll.

Nutella FrostRoll ($6.50). My first ever fried ice cream roll. It was really milky and slightly less nutella-y. Texture is really different from your regular ice cream. This was somewhat stiffer, like thick paper ice cream. Topped with more nutella goodness.

Rate:
Nutella FrostRoll: 8/10 ☺