Gunther's @ 36 Purvis Street

The foodblogger community had a lunch here not too long ago. Being stuck in Australia meant that I wasnt able to attend.

Nevertheless, a trip here was necessary seeing how well-reviewed the cold angelhair pasta with oscietra caviar was.

The complimentary amuse bouche of prawn tempura.


So, we came here and ordered the pasta as a starter to share ($60).

It was very fragrant, dressed in an obviously very good quality olive oil, and topped with a generous mound of caviar. This caviar (well it's only the 2nd time I
have tried it) is very different from say, ebiko (flying fish roe). It's not fishy and it doesn't "pop" in your mouth. The taste is rich yet very subtle, very smooth.




Then we shared a roasted rack of black pig (2 person serving at $75pp). It was tender, so melt in your mouth tender. It also had a richness to the meat. And, funnily enough, there were different parts to the meat, one side was more "white" meat, and the other side was more "dark" meat. Sort of like chicken where there is breast and thigh portions, but in the same piece of meat. I know the description sounds odd and probably not very appetising, but it was good!


Complimentary petit fours, which were generous and delicious too.


And a pic of Sweetie.


She's really grown up huh?


Playing hide and seek, and she is always so thrilled when she is found. haha.


And here is Cutie, being well, cute.


Yep, Cute.

The French Kitchen @ Central Mall

The French Kitchen @ 7 Magazine Road #01-03, Central Mall.

I will come right out and say it: I LOVED my dining experience at the French Kitchen.

Maybe because it is a new restaurant opening in the bleak times of recession, maybe because it is located in an area which is getting really quiet, maybe because we were lucky they really liked us. Whatever it was, I have to say, we enjoyed everything about our lunch - the food, the service, everything.

First there was complimentary bread (we had wholegrain and raisin when we were there) served with butter and with pork rillette. The bread was warm and fresh and constantly replenished.



Then our complimentary amuse bouche of salmon rillette, served with a crispy parmesan cheese cracker. Which was tasty and had a nice aroma and texture.

The set lunch ($36) had a choice of 3 different entrees and mains, and a choice of 2 desserts. Between the 3 of us, we ordered everything. And tried each other's plates. All for the sake of good journalism.


My fantastic starter of terrine de foie gras et cochon - kurobuta pork cheek and duck liver terrine. It was creamy and smooth, yet with some contrasting meaty texture from the pork. It was perfectly executed. And it was a thick and generous serving too.


PL's starter of bisque de homard - traditional lobster bisque with tiger prawn beignet and leek custard was a visual delight. Crispy battered prawns with soup served separately. It was rich and velvety smooth and fragrant. Yums.

PC ordered Macedoine de legumes aux truffes - mixed organic winter vegetables with poached egg and black truffle essence. It was nice, crunchy fresh and sweet vegetables with a poached (but not runny) egg. No photo, but you can imagine.


PL's main of sea bass and scallop. She liked it best of all the 3 mains. I thought it was nice and fresh.


But my fave main was PC's chargrilled agnus beef with boulangere potato. It was delicious. Just delicious. The potatoes came separately, bubbling in a small pot, covered with a creamy sauce.


My main of crispy duck breast with cocobean mijote and sun dried tomatoes. I thought it was just a tad heavy on the sauce and the salt. But the sundried tomatoes helped a lot in cutting through it all. I think it is just me though, because I am sure DH would have loved the tasty flavours.


Both PC and PL ordered the citron - organic lemon with melon granita and creme chantilly and home made madeleine . They both enjoyed it a lot and PL said she liked her dessert best.


I liked my order of dark chocolate creme brulee with vanilla ice cream. It was excellent. Served warm, with a crispy torched crust and smooth creamy interior, contrasting nicely with my vanilla ice cream, I was in dessert heaven.


Can you see, from our happy faces, how we enjoyed our meal? I love my girlfriends... I always enjoy lunching with these 2 sweeties.

I have to add, that the service was excellent, and truly memorable. Chef Jean-Charles (formerly from Raffles Grill) personally came over to our table to greet us and ask us whether we enjoyed our food. He even made time to say goodbye to us as we left. Restaurant Manager Jan was affable and friendly and made us feel very at home. When he realised we were trying to get a cab, he spontaneously went to the road and tried to flag us one!! How's that??

And, guess what, we just received a thank you email from Jan and Jean-Charles! Have you ever received a follow up email from a restaurant before? This is certainly the first time for PL and I. Kudos to the French Kitchen team. I am sure we will be back!


Kids at CNY

On the home front, Cutie has settled very well into school and loves school days. He is always clamouring to go to school and even when we want to keep him home (because of a slight runny nose) he refused.


This was the CNY celebration at school. They got to do a lo hei, a traditional salad, that is tossed for good luck.


They got to play with bubbles outdoors...


Can you see him enjoying himself?


And the children performed a Chinese New Year song for parents.


He sang so well! Every word in the song was perfectly enunciated, every action was perfectly timed. I am so so proud of him. *beam*


And this is Cutie taking Sweetie on a ride on his motor scooter. I think Sweetie had fun. She laughed a lot.

Oh, and in other news, DH and I have instituted a time out corner. Where Cutie is made to stand and reflect on the things that he shouldnt have done.


So there he is. He is being timed out for doing something naughty. He does look rather morose, doesn't he?

Sage @ Mohd Sultan Rd

Of course, I have heard quite a bit about Sage, about chef Jusman So and his restaurant manager wife Kimberly. Most food bloggers know this place, since a bloggers dinner was organised here a few years back when Jusman was just starting the restaurant. Now he has clearly perfected his art, honed his skills, and opened a bigger place to cater to the growing crowds.

Well, I have always liked Husband and Wife restaurant pairings (think Emmanuel and Edina of St Pierre, Julien and Edith of St Julien) so, I decided to give this place a shot for lunch (open only Wed to Fri for lunch, every day for dinner).

There were many choices for their very affordable lunch set (SGD38 for 3 courses, SGD45 for 4 courses), and all looked so yummy that I really had a tough time deciding.


My starter of veal rillette and sauteed onion. It was delicious, and a very ample serving. I loved it. What a good way to start a meal... and it was a precursor to more delicious offerings.


The other starter that tempted me was the crab salad in tomato consomme. SK kindly agreed to order it so that I could sample some of it. Very very delicious. It was a little crunchy, very savoury, yums.


My main of duck confit. It came in a pool of gravy and I didnt know what to think of that, since a good duck confit should have a crispy skin, and a murky pool of soup isnt going to help right? Well, the gravy was a mustard dressing, which was super delicious and goes very very well with the duck. The duck itself was done perfectly, with crispy skin and tender meat. I was waiting to find a piece of dry meat, but it was so perfectly cooked!


My yummy dessert - a cheese platter. Most places would ask for an additional sum for cheese to be served, but over here it was part of the set. I loved everything that was served. My favourite was the 1st and the 2nd. Forgot what they were called. But the last 2 were quite strong though.

I wanna come here again! If only they serve lunch on weekends, then I can bring DH here.

Weekend Eatings

Lunch on Friday - Frens(c)h @ Vivocity



I had a late lunch, and wanted something quick and light. This was from the French Cafe, and their tagline is Fresh and French - that's why they have that witty name.



I always go for the Avergnate, as it has everything I like - mesclun, mushrooms, ham, blue cheese and croutons.




Lunch on Saturday



I've been saying that I want to eat crab for some time... but there was just no chance for us to hit a crab joint..





Anyway, DH goes to work on Saturday morning and then calls home to ask what our lunch plans were. As it turned out, I hadn't made any lunch plans, so his options were to buy lunch home for both of us, or I could run out and buy something from the nearby eateries.





DH promises to buy something home. "Nothing too spicy!" I reminded him... I felt like I had a sore throat coming on.





DH returns with: Crab Bee Hoon Soup from a famous shop in Balestier and Herbal Jelly (Gui Lin Gao) from Original Herbal Shop in Balestier.





They were super yummy! The crab bee hoon was full of umami sweetness and the herbal jelly slid down my throat smooth as silk. I didn't take any photos because I was too busy gobbling the food up.





He bought crab bee hoon soup because he knew I'd been craving crab, but shouldn't eat anything with pepper or chilli because of my sore throat... and then bought herbal jelly to soothe the throat... Isn't DH such a sweetie?





He does the sweetest things when I least expect it... :)

Dinner on Sunday - Roland's Restaurant - Marine Parade Central

Anyway, the lunch was fantastic... so much so I wanted more of this crab bee hoon... so the following day, for dinner, we went to Roland's Restaurant @ Marine Parade Central #06-750. It's pretty old school and the furniture is garish, but the food is consistently good, and I have always liked it very much.

Signature Honey BBQ Pork Ribs (SGD8.80) - It's rather expensive, but it's very meaty and smoky tasting.

See, it's not fatty at all.. it's just tender meat.

Home-Made Tofu (SGD12) - Super Good, it's wobbly and tasty and slippery. I can taste the soya beans. Loves.

My small bowl of crab bee hoon (SGD28 for 1 claypot with 1 crab, good enough for 3) - it's full of roe and is oh so sweet. Loves.

And then, to replicate my sweet lunch of the day before - Gui Lin Gao (Herbal Jelly). Not as good as the one that DH bought for me from Balestier... not as herbal tasting. But it costs only SGD5, whereas the Balestier one cost SGD10!

Monday Dessert - Donut Factory

DH is super sweet these days. Look, he bought donuts home for dessert. I like the ones with nuts and chocolate.

DH wonders how a donut can be called a donut if there is no hole in the middle.

DM didn't fancy these donuts, she thinks its full of processed sugars and preservatives and bicarbonates. Donuts in her time didn't use to have such a soft texture, so she is very suspicious. She reckons that they add bicarbonates to the donut flour and then have to mask the taste with lots of extra sugars and cream. She said her tongue was stinging after a few bites, which confirms her suspicions. DM is a kitchen sleuth.

Typical Activities

Usually, after dinner, DH, Cutie and I go for a walk. We used to walk to the petrol station nearby or to the community centre across the road. But since Cutie really loves buses and all other large vehicles like garbage trucks and fire engines, we now take a bus (must be double-decker!) to the shopping centre nearby (3 bus stops) and then walk around the supermarket, and buy some groceries.

We then end our excursion with a short stop at McDonald's with an ice cream cone for Cutie. Once, Cutie accidentally knocked his cone over, and DH said, uh oh no more. too bad. You should have seen poor Cutie! His eyes turned red, the corners of his mouth drooped and his heartbroken wail was so sad... DH can be so tough on Cutie sometimes. He cried and cried... Anyway I told Cutie, it was an accident right, so you have to be more careful... let's see if daddy will get you another one. Daddy did, in the end... but sigh, I wish it could have been less traumatic.

here are my 2 favourite boys, waiting for the bus!


Cutie at home, he's still in his pajamas, so I think he must have just got up.









And here is video of Cutie, taken maybe just after he turned 2. He can spell lots of words now. Here are some of them.

Le Tonkin @ Mohammed Sultan

Le Tonkin is a small restaurant along the Mohammed Sultan stretch, which serves elegant french vietnamese cuisine.


Our fried spring roll starter came in this impressive display. It was quite nice too. Not too oily, with a crispy crunchy skin and fresh filling of meat and veg.

I didnt have a good impression of this spring roll; but I can't remember why. I think it may be because it was full of vegetables, and was rather tasteless. The dip wasn't tangy enough so it didnt help.

My main of crab claws with glutinous rice. It was tasty. The sauce had a bit of vinegar in it so it helped to cut through the richness. The glutinous rice was not a mound of stuff, it was a delicate little cake. So classy.

All in all, the prices were not exorbitant, and it was quite a nice cosy place for a meal.

Les Amis Restaurant @ Shaw Centre

My lovely and very charming friend took me to lunch at the newly renovated Les Amis.



Les Amis is such an institution that it's always a treat to be dining there. A gastromical feast with such wonderful company elevates this meal to my hall of fame.



Since Gunther has left the kitchens of Les Amis, Thomas has taken over the helm.



Their styles, as I understand from my learned friend who dines there so frequently that the staff refer to the restaurant as his "canteen", is rather different, with Chef Thomas leaning towards the lighter flavours.



I cannot be sure if I prefer either style, but I do think that Chef Thomas tries very hard to incorporate lots of different flavours and textures into each dish.



This was my chosen starter - truffle ravioli. The ravioli was stuffed with different kinds of mushroom, and fragrant black truffles were shaved over it. It was served with wilted spinach and some reduction.

We both had the same main - turbot with lobster foam. Our waiter described it as very delicate fish cakes. I quite agree. It was very light, like eating air.

We both had the same dessert - pear sorbet with apple canelloni. The apple pastry had a tinge of cinnamon in it, which made me feel very Christmassy.

Au Jardin Les Amis

For a quiet, unintrusive lunch with a lovely view, I would recommend that you come to Au Jardin Les Amis in the Singapore Botanic Gardens.



Housed in a charming black and white colonial bungalow, Au Jardin Les Amis offers a cool respite in the middle of a concrete jungle.



Au Jardin only serves lunch on Fridays and Sundays (dinner is served everyday), so I would suggest that you make a reservation. The set lunch was SGD45 for 4 courses, with at least 2 options for each course.



The amuse bouche was an interesting medley of tastes and textures. The top was a creamy foam and the bottom was caramelised onions. It was a great start, and I eagerly anticipated the next course.



My starter of mushroom with black truffles and cheese shavings was sublime. The mushroom was earthy, meaty, fragrant, and paired really well with the aged cheese.





We all had the main of wagyu beef - braised wagyu cheek and seared wagyu beef. Served with crisp potato patty and grilled baby corn, it was just right. Every mouthful was a delightful burst of flavour and texture, sending me into pure transcendental bliss. I have to add that we also had a bottle of very fine French wine (circa 1992) with this so you can just imagine how this meal was elevated from sublime to unbelievable.
My dessert of chocolate mousse, served in a martini glass was a multi layered affair with creamy white chocolate foam on top, sprinkled with chocolate flakes, and thick dark chocolate at the bottom.

The pear millefeuille that KP had looked and tasted great too.

My usual chamomile tea, with the petit fours that they serve.

I love caneles.

I would give this place extra points for great service - it is polite, discreet, always obliging (honey for my tea, extra caneles for my sweet tooth).