Nicolas Le Restaurant

Appetisers

Smoked Salmon


Pork Shoulder

Mains

Roasted Rack of Lamb..Yummy!!




Roasted French Quail

Desserts

Selection of Cheese from Cheese Wagon ($24)


Warm Chocolate Cake with Mango Ice


Warm Pear Tart



Interior of the Small Intimate Restuarant of 8 tables with a Bar where diners can interact with the Chef.



A nice quaint French restaurant which serves very tasty food. The lamb was really good!
Chef Nicolas was a delight to watch behind the cooking counter. He personally apologised for the long wait for my lamb as he redid one for me before serving as he felt the first try was overdone! Very personalized service!

Will definitely return again to try their dinner menu and perhaps the Bistro which is 2 doors away.

Total Damage: $130 ($42++ for Set Lunch of 3 courses)

Food: 8.5/10
Ambience: 8.0/10
Service: 8.25/10
Overall Rating: 8.25/10

Nicolas Le Restaurant
31 Keong Saik Road
Singapore 089138

JAAN

Complimentary Appetiser



Salad of Forgotten Greens with Bale Leave Smoke




Half bottle of 1st Growth Wine from Burgundy..Nice.. $98



Mains


Lamb ($50+)


Grade 9 Wagyu Beef with Truffles on Potatoes ($128)


Desserts


Chocolate Bars with Ice Cream




Complimentary Dessert



Complimentary Dark and White Chocolates Lollies!

Our favourite French Restaurant to Date!! Tasty, Fresh Ingredients and Fantastic Service.

TOtal Bill: $280 (with use of Feed at Raffles Card)
$480 (without the use of Feed of Raffles)
Food: 9.25/10
Ambience: 8.5/10
Service: 8.5/10
Overall Rating: 9.25/10

JAAN

Hakata Nihon Ryori

We are not out of the Japanese food crave yet. In long run, we may never be out of it either.

Anyway, one fine Saturday, while spoiled for choice at Robertson Quay, we remembered out of our sources citing quality Japanese food at a corner of Mohd Sultan. We decided to venture forth and the rest is history as tabulated here.

This nice, cozy Japanese restaurant actually resides among a row of Japanese restaurants. All of them look cozy and yummy actually and we were unable to confirm which is the "quality" restaurant among them. So, we picked Hakata Nihon Ryori. We never regretted.

This restaurant is a small restaurant with fewer than ten or twelves tables within and 2 private rooms for those that want the "Japanese party-touch".

The photographic evidence of our rendevous follows:


Sake with peas for starters, Sake(3 cups) - $7, Peas - Complimentary


Sashimi Teishoku - $22.00


Ten Zaru Soba - $13.00

Nothing we can fault and looking at the price tag($42 before GST/Service, $49 after), we can say that it is a very decent pricing for a very nice, satisfying meal.


Food: 8.0/10
Ambience: 8.0/10
Service: 7.5/10

Overall Rating: 8.0/10


Hakata Nihon Ryori
33, Mohd Sultan Road
#01-03
Singapore 238977
(T: 6836-1039)

Inagiku

For people who have just gotten into Japanese food, the greatest barrier to raising your bar from cater-4-mass-market joints of the likes of Sakae Sushi, has to be pricing.

After all, to the un-enlightened, what kinda food or experience can justify paying up to S$60 for a plate of assorted sashimi(averaging S$3.00 per thin slice)? How much fresher or satisfying can that $3.00 per slice be over a mass-market $1 per slice? And not to mention that sashimi almost always never filling.

As fans of Japanese cuisine however, it is almost certain or later, that next step to seek higher pleasures will be taken. That apply to the Boogies.

So here we are, at Inagiku for a dining session. Upon entry, you may find the restaurant dim but cozy, very suitable for a quiet chat over meals. It would take awhile to get used to the lightning(lack of), after which, you would ponder why you find it so dim in the first place.


Assorted sashimi, $60

The sashimi was the first item that we tried. If the benchmark of a good Japanese restaurant is the sashimi, then Inagiku would have been graded with an A on the spot. Lovers of sashimi would understand that the pleasure of such indulgence(when you sample a really fresh piece) is beyond words, hence I shall stop here. ;p


Grilled King Prawn, S$60

The grilled king prawn was really really tasty. The texture of the prawn was just nice and the way the topping was prepared(presumably mayonnaise and butter) was was heavenly as much as we knew it was sinful.


Tepanyaki Tenderloin, S$60

Ok, the above picture does not do justice to the actual serving size. Its actually a very decent serving. The tenderloin at medium-done, was juicy and easily chewable. Nothing we can fault here.


Charcoal grill Eel

The charcoal grill eel on the other hand, was one dish that we felt we could do without. There was absolutely no impression that we could form, after tasting those 6 pieces of eel. Period.


Green-tea ice-cream with red-bean paste.

This dessert's nice with generous serving of red-bean paste. But then again, few restaurants can go wrong with this item.

The above meal set us(two) back by approximately $270. It wasn't cheap, but we felt that it was value for our money.

To conclude, the quality of food, ambience and the very attentive service all made for a great dining experience. We will definitely be back.

Food: 8.5/10
Ambience: 8.0/10
Service: 8.5/10

Overall Rating: 8.5/10


Inagiku
Raffles The Plaza Hotel
Level 3
80 Bras Basah Road
Singapore 189560
(T: 6339-7777)

Red Dot Brewery @Dempsey!!!

One of us stumbled across this microbrewery with our friends earlier this year. Having had a good impression the last round, we decided to head down to Red Dot Brewery for some Beer and Food!

Red Dot Brewery is situated along the new stretch of restaurants along Dempsey Hill Green. Due to the greenery and space, it immediately made us feel more relaxed. Undoubtly, a good place to unwind.



The attraction here would be the beer! We had a RedDot Lime Wheat and English Ale. And it was prety good. Their house signature beer would be the Monster Green Lager Beer. Its green in colur as it is infused with green spruillna. Its a pity we dint try it, but we will be back soon for it.



The food was pretty decent as well. Total damage was $70+.

We'll be back for the beer (burp), chill-out and relaxed feel and the decent food.


Charcoal Grilled Rib Eye ($32)

Fish and Chips ($18)

Food: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Ambience: 7.25/10

Overall: 7/10
Red Dot BrewHouse
#01-01, Blk 25A Dempsey Road

Tel: 6475 0500

Picotin

Picotin on a Sunday evening!!

Picotin" means "horse ration of oats". I must say the food tasted no where near oats. This new restaurant is the latest addition to St Pierre Group. It consists of a bar, gourmet shop and a bistro that serves European food.

Upon arriving, we were presented withe the choice of 3 seating areas. Firstly, the al fresco area facing the old stables (now shops) which was full of Ang Moh families, secondly, the air con indoor seating and lastly, a patioed al fresco area on teh other side of the indoor seating. We picked the latter.


Now on to the food. The Menu was tastefully done up horsy style! Nice touch and good overall them with name of restaurant and setting. For starters we had Assiette de canard: Smoked duck, duck rillette, duck confit spring roll, walnut salad ($18) and Moules à la Parisienne Mussels: garlic butter, emmental cheese ($14). The selection of duck was pretty tasty and interesting. The mussels was just of an expected standard.








For mains, we had a Pizza ($21), Cuisse de canard confite; Duck leg confit, potato, mixed leaf salad, raspberry vinegar dressing ($29), Fillet de fletan au vin rouge; Halibut, potato, spinach, red wine reduction ($30), Tagine d’agneau; Braised lamb shoulder, braised organic vegetable, moroccan spices, harizza ($24).

Out of the 4 dishes, we would strongly recommend the pizza. Thin, crisp, flavourful with the right proportions of cheese. One of the better ones in SG! The fish and duck was as per taste of its same league of restaurants, good, but nothing to scream about. The lamb was somewhat not to my taste. It could be due to the moroccan spices which did not go down too well with me.













On to the dessert. The desserts were pretty good! We had Nougat glace, coulis a la framboise Iced nougat, raspberry coulis ($10), Gateau aux dattes Sticky date pudding, toffee sauce, ice cream ($10) and a complimentary birthday cake for my little sister. =)

The iced nougat was a little on the sweet side but however really good. A mixture of ice cream and nougat, it was very light and refreshing on the palette. The warm sticky date pudding was also pretty good. The dessert definitely ended the dinner on a good note!






I would return to Picotin again for the appetisers, pizzas, desserts and perhaps attempt some other mains again. This restaurant set amidst the old stables makes it feel far away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd. I like the concept and the relaxed feel it gives. Will be back again!

Food: 7/10
Ambience: 7.5/10
Service: 7.5/10

Overall: 7/10

Picotin
100 Turf Club Road,
Singapore 287992.
Tel: +65 6877 1191

Halia @ Botanic Gardens

It's Mother's Day! Instead of the usual Sunday brunches. We decided something a little different this year. A nice stroll in Botanic Gardens and a lovely meal with lush greenery with chirping birds and relaxed atmosphere at Halia. After we have parked our car, we took at 10 min stroll from to Halia (next to the Orchid Garden)

As it was a Sunday, Sunday Branch (around $60) was served in Villa Halia and ala carte was served in the restaurant. We decided on ala carte as to contain our eating, or rather the over-eating that we have allowed ourselves. :P

Halia Restaurant

Villa Halia

For appetisers we had 1) Soft Shell Crab with Wasabi Sauce and 2) Avocado with Orange Salad. The taste of the soft was heightened by the Wasabi Sauce. Comparing the 2 appetisers, we preferred the Salad. The citrusy sauce couple with juicy orange slices made the salad very refreshing!






For mains we had 1) Poached egg on brioche with hollandaise sauce on bacon ($16) 2) Chilli Crab Pasta 3) Portobello Mushroom with Parma Ham Sanwhich 4) Tandoori Chicken with Mango Sandwhich. Out of the 4 dishes, we like the poached egg, chilli crab pasta and portobello mushroom with Parma Ham! The savoury dish was poached egg was done very well. Tasty, satisify and fragrant due to the bacon i supposed. The chilli crab pasta was an innovative and tasty dish. For the Portobello mushroom, it was really tender and the mixture with parma ham brought out the flavours of both the ingredients.

Besides the food, there was also a cocktail and mocktail list which used ginger as an ingredient. We had a mocktail and a ginger iced milk tea. Whoa.. the ginger taste is strong! Definitely not for the faint hearted.

Would i come back here again? I might mainly for the lovely brunch atmosphere it brings. Not to forget the chirping birds and lush greenery. I could also head back to try the dinner menu which is different from the brunch menu i've tried. The main draw here is more of the location than food to me.

We paid about $120 for 2 appetisers, 4 mains and 2 drinks.

Food: 6/10
Ambience: 7/10
Service: 6.5/10

Overall: 6.5/10

Halia Restaurant
Ginger Garden
1 Cluny Road
Singapore Botanic Gardens (enter via Tyersall Avenue)
S (259569)
Tel: 6476-6711