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.

Canele @ Robertson Quay

I've heard a lot about Canele, it being a Les Amis restaurant and all... but I have never been there...

So, since we were in the vicinity, I made DH promise to take me there for dessert... after our lunch at Chiara... My rationale was, I didn't know how long we would have to wait for our next date... with 2 kids, it is a little hard to find time for ourselves.. so we better take this opportunity. My reasoning proved correct, as we have not gone out for another date since then.

DH ordered the Canele specialty Le Royale. It was rich and chocolatey... Very very decadent.



Doesn't he look pleased with his order?


I was still hungry... (what can I say, I am eating for 2 now!) so I ordered their recommended baked rice (with bolognese and egg).



It was ok, but not fantastic. I don't think I would order it again.

After that, I was in a rush to go home... cos I missed the little ones...

Cutie is getting more mature, as you can tell from this photo. He is now an elder brother... so he carries himself with more dignity, I would say. This was during the F1 racing week... and there were some bumper cars for children to ride, and be F1 drivers too. Yes, my Cutie is growing up!


And... here is Sweetie, at 2 months... She is growing well, and see, she can sit up already.. At the risk of sounding trite.. doesn't Sweetie look sweet? :)

Chiara @ Robertson Quay

DH and I had our first real date about 2 months after Sweetie was born... Thanks to Por Por who kindly agreed to babysit on short notice!

We went to Chiara at Robertson Quay, and it was a newly opened restaurant, without much hype... I was surprised to find that, after I ate there, many reviews of this restaurant then popped up... in the Straits Times, Business Times etc... So Funny! That day, I bumped into fellow foodblogger, The Skinny Epicurean after my meal... and later, when I went home and read her latest blog post, realised that she had also just eaten at Chiara! Super coincidence!

Our complimentary bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I liked the little olives that they also provided... DH loves olives...


As you can tell, we are really glad to have some couple time to ourselves!


The food here is really nice and affordable, we both went for the set lunch, which had very nice stuff, and it cost us only about 28 each.

DH had to top up a bit more for his starter of foie gras... but it was still very affordable. The foie gras was nice.. and I stole quite a bit of his portion. I dont know how come there are bubbles on the dish though, don't ask me why.




My starter of beef carpaccio came with mushrooms, shaved parmesan cheese and rocket - all my favourites - with a very refreshing dressing (I think it was tangy yet slightly sweet). I was very happy.


I had a main of gnocchi with veal ragout... a tad salty but nice nevertheless. The gnocchi had a nice chewy texture and wasn't too floury. My only gripe was that the portion was too small.. I am sure it wouldnt have been enough for a guy with a normal appetite...


DH had the tagliatelle carbonara. The cream sauce was nice, but the pasta was overdone and not al dente. DH didnt mind though and didnt send it back.

DH chose their typical Italian dessert of tiramisu, which was nice too, not too sweet or heavy, but with a lingering coffee fragrance. Portion again a little small.


My dessert of panna cotta came topped with refreshing berries and other fruit. This panna cotta's texture was just right, not stodgy, not too light. The fruit were a perfect complement to the panna cotta. I gobbled this up very quickly, and wished there was more.

All in all, I was very happy to be here, and I really enjoyed my short date with DH. I am looking forward to the next one... which hasn't happened yet!

Shunjuu @ Robertson Quay

I am craving kushiyaki (grilled skewers)... ever since I stumbled on Ice's food blog (Skinnier than the Original), which focusses quite a fair bit on Japanese food... which I love.

So, when my dear friend Mr L suggested lunch, I asked to try Shunjuu Izakaya, which serves kushiyaki. He initially suggested Nicolas, which he says serves a very nice and reasonable set lunch... but it was in any event booked for a private function that day.

Mr L had cold sake... usually cold sake is served in a glass nestled in a bed of ice... but this one, they poured the sake into the glass... and then let it overflow into the wooden box... they explained that it was an auspicious thing to do... and then they wished us overflowing and abundant happiness. Hmmm.. maybe it is just a gimmick? I have never seen this done anywhere else.

The foie gras... It was a little overdone, especially the pieces at the end, as you can see. The last piece is definitely shrivelled up.

The karubi beef. Chewy and nice.

We liked it so much, we ordered it twice.

This is the ox tongue... not chewy enough... I think it should be more thinly sliced?

pork and gizzard. both nice.
enoki mushroom wrapped in beef and pork belly.

chicken skin and quail's egg. the chicken skin was very crispy, the way i like it.

salmon belly. nice.
grilled mentaiko. Salty. Mr L didn't care much for it i think, cos he only had 1 slice. I didnt think it was nice cos it was rather dry.

PL, who recommended this place, had asked me to try the century egg tofu starter, but I forgot to order it... when we had our 2nd round of skewers, I remembered her suggestion, so I ordered 1 portion.

It is indeed very interesting and nice. Refreshing. I think I tried a similar version at Akashi, but I find that I like this better. The tofu here is more firm and more tasty.
The waitress recommended these - pork with shiso leaf and asparagus wrapped in pork. The shiso leaf pork was fragrant. I liked it.
We also ordered mushroom stuffed with marinated minced chicken - nice, I liked this one as it was juicy and tasty. We also ordered another ox tongue cos Mr L had no recollection of eating it. Here is it again. Yep, it didn;t taste like the ox tongue that we are used to. No chewy texture.

This is another beef skewer. I think it's ribeye.
Our tally.

We ended our meal with sesame ice cream which was very nice.

I am glad I came by to try this out, because I had heard a lot about it and had always wanted to come by. Robertson Quay is really a nice place to chill out, and it had a nice view of the river and everything. However, I think i much prefer the food in Kazu.

Thanks for lunch Mr L!

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.

Dinner at Brussels Sprout (Robertson Quay)

I think I look chubby in this photo... even for a 7.5 months pregnant lady :(

Date night!

DH and I went out on a date... finally! It has been quite a while... since we have both been so busy... we do spend time together... but date night really helps us to bond and share thoughts that we can't do when we are spending time with Cutie.

DH and I went to watch Sex and the City - the movie. I'd wanted to watch it since I heard it was coming to the big screen... I loved the series... I think it's very clever and funny. Although I don't think it is that accurate in real life... I don't think real women dress like that or behave like that. But DH thinks that the show has its appeal because it is well researched and that most women aspire to be like that... to dress well, and to be self reliant and to not be dependent on men.

I agree with DH to a certain extent... I admit that I sometimes wish to have the Sex and the City lifestyle - having cosmopolitan cocktails, going to fashion shows, meeting and dating new guys every week, having lots of money to spend on ultra cool labels, bags, shoes, clothes...

But, you know, I wonder if these ladies all just want to have what I have - an adorable darling Cutie, a supportive DH, a career that gives me time with my family and gives me positive daily challenges...

SPOILER ALERT: skip this paragraph if you intend to watch the movie...

Anyway go watch the movie... it's quite enjoyable, more so than the usual chick flick. I identify most with Miranda by the way... I liked her story best. She is the one who balances the most - a career, a family, a baby... and their related troubles. Samantha - i really liked Smith Jerrod, the younger guy that she ended up with at the end of the series, and i was disappointed that they broke up at the end of the movie... I mean, I really thought that they had something special together... and he saw her through chemo! and they had great chemistry. Now Samantha just seems shallow all over again. Charlotte - her life seems fine and great now, she has everything she wants - a loving husband, an adopted girl and later, her own baby. Her story in the movie wasn't well developed (no time, I imagine), but anyway in the series, it basically says that, you gotta stop looking for what you want in your pre-conceived little circles - she thought she would marry a presbyterian ivy league educated financier type, and have her own kids, but she married a balding short Jewish guy and had to adopt... but they are so happy... and she does eventually have her own baby girl too. Carrie - I think, most of her troubles are self created. I dont really like Mr Big. I dont find him attractive, I think he is rather irritating. I think she is a nice friend, but I think, she picks too much on little things, so that minor issues between her and her boyfriends escalate into breakups.

Brussels Sprout @ Robertson Quay

We initially wanted to go to Inakaya Robataya, but it was fully booked till 945 pm. So we headed to Robertson Quay / Mohammed Sultan, thinking that we would definitely find good Japanese here anyway. When we arrived, we remembered Brussels Sprout, opened by the guy behind Saint Pierre - Emmanuel Stroobant.

So we decided to check it out.

This restaurant is totally open concept - the indoor area is totally opened up with a bar in the centre of the place. I liked it... because it seemed very friendly. It wasn't the fine dining type of place that you associate Saint Pierre with.

We started with a chilled pork belly with mustard starter (SGD9). It was quite nice, but I prefer my roast pork belly from Lei Garden.

My choice of mussels (SGD18 for starter portion) - Brussels Sprout special - main ingredient that I could taste was black pepper. It was nice and a generous portion of about 15 mussels.

DH ordered mussels too, of course, since they are the specialty here. His choice was Vin Blanc (white wine) (SGD38 for a main portion). He liked this a lot and said it was a classic. I thought the wine taste too much for me. I preferred the 1st one.

OH the free flow of french fries (served with mayonnaise, not ketchup) were fantastic. They come with every order of mussels. They were crisp and yet fluffy... which is so difficult to achieve with home made fries.... I wonder how they did it.

No dessert cos we were rushing back to Por Por's to pick Cutie up, and also cos we were quite stuffed by then.