Jones the Grocer @ Dempsey

First time here. The place was bright and spacious, with in-house products lined all around the sides.

Shared this muscato wine from Australia. First time having this wine, and I kinda like it. A little sweet, fruity and sparkling. Alcohol content was only at 5%. This is probably the last time I can drink on a working day.

Had the lamb meatballs which came with flatbread and a yoghurt dip. The yoghurt dip was cold and had zucchini in it, which was rather refreshing. The lamb meatballs were covered with tomato-based sauce and was juicy on the inside. This whole dish had a very Moroccan feel to it.

Ended the meal with tiramisu. Expresso taste was strong, but I think there was no alcohol in this as I could not detect any.

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Mad for Garlic

Came to this Italian bistro which supposedly originated from Korea. They serve pasta, pizzas and steaks, and has a garlic theme for almost all its dishes.

They seemed to have a large collection of wines. Ordered a glass of red wine at $10.50.

Tried this Garlic Tower Bread, so named because when it was served it came standing upright with a heap of minced garlic. The waiter will then cut it into fours, after stuffing the garlic into the bread.

The bread was warm and crispy. The garlic had a texture like that of preserved radish sans the garlic taste. However, I'll take the usual garlic butter bread any time over this.

"Tenderloin Steak topped with Special Balsamic Sauce and Fresh Rucola." Sounds interesting, eh? Which was why I ordered this dish called Cacciattore as my main. For $32.90, I thought this was pretty small, as the tenderloin was half the height of what you get at Jack's Place.

What's worse is that even though I ordered a medium doneness, the tenderloin was still rather rubber-y in texture. Definitely not tender at all.

Although I am not sure about their pastas and pizzas, I will definitely not be coming back here again. I think I can get way better quality food at these prices.

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PS Cafe @ Dempsey

First time here, and there was a healthy crowd even on a weekday lunchtime.

I had the PS Burger consisting of grilled wagyu + US chuck patty topped with camembert cheese, wilted spinach, bacon, tomato & caramelized onion on toasted sesame bun. The meat was quite juicy and succulent. Fries were broad and not over-fried. The dip was pretty unique; tasted like a mayonnaise base with hints of lemongrass and garlic.

For desserts, we had flourless orange cake with vanilla ice cream. Cake was not sweet and balanced well with the sweet ice cream. However, I found the butterscotch sauce tasted a little bitter to me. The cake tasted more marmalade than orange-y, but overall, it was something not usually seen.

We also had the Ultimate Fudgy Brownie with vanilla ice cream. The brownie was on the outside, while the fudge and marshmallows were on the inner end. The marshmallows were very soft, and again the brownie was not too sweet so it went well with the ice cream.

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Nando's

After a few unsuccessful attempts to dine here due to the crowds, I finally got the chance.

Packed inside on a weekend. Probably due to the crowds and the long queue outside, I thought the service was a little lacking.

Each table has 4 bottles of sauces - Tomato, Hot Peri-Peri, Extra Hot Peri-Peri and Garlic Peri-Peri. So if you think your order is not spicy enough, you can actually add more on your own. The garlic version tasted like the garlic chilli sauce from Macdonald's.

Ordered the skewered chicken, which had 4 pieces of thigh meat and 2 sides.

Maybe because the chicken are smaller pieces here, the slightly charred edges gave it flavour.

The sides were nothing to shout about. The baby potatoes only had a slight hint of the lime leaves, while the roasted vegetables were pretty tasteless.

The half chicken was rather big - enough to make me full. The breast was still tender and juicy, but I think the overall flavour came only from the sauce, and not the meat itself. I hated the taste of their coleslaw, as it seemed too sour for me. The fries weren't too bad, and were the fatty kind that I liked.

Overall, an ok meal. This place is not one I would come too often.

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Fremantle Seafood Market

Had supper at Fremantle Seafood Market over at Clarke Quay. We chose the indoor seats, although there were outdoor seats where you can indulge in alcohol. Do note that indoor area may not open till late; we were told it closes at 10pm, but we still saw people streaming indoors around 10pm.

We ordered our drinks - I had the Mai Tai which was basically a rum cocktail, while SparklingOrStill had his ginger beer.

We ordered the Frolic platter for 2. This was huge and took up almost all the space on our little table. It consisted of shrimps, mussels, jellyfish, oysters, sashimi, squid, smoked salmon, smoked trout, olives, mozarella-stuffed tomatoes. All the seafood were very fresh, although SparklingOrStill thinks the oysters weren't that good. I seldom eat oysters, so am no expert here.

We ordered the grilled fish to share. Herein lies the problem - we have no idea if this fish is barramundi or white hamachi. We had a pretty blur waiter who recommended barramundi, but we chose hamachi in the end. But when the bill came, it stated barramundi instead. Nonetheless, we loved this dish. The fish was succulent, tender and sweet. It came on a bed of mashed potatoes and sauteed lotus roots and carrots. The lotus roots were crunchy and a unique side you seldom see.

I love escargots, so we ordered one. I would prefer it to be served in its shell, but here, they served it on toast with butter, herbs and pine nuts. It was still good and very buttery. The escargot did feel a little small, though.

We heard the fish and chips were good too, so we ordered to share. Indeed, the fish was also very fresh and flaky. The batter did not have any 'oily' smell to it. The chips were good; they were not over-fried and you can taste the potato within each chip.

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Contemporary Melting-Pot Bar

Although I had read about this place, it was my first time coming here since it's pretty inaccessible without a car.

What better way to live the life of my boss than having alcohol in the middle of the day? So I ordered myself a Mojito. Usual price was $14, but lunch time was happy hour so it costs only $10.

I ordered the CM-PB Burger which was wagyu beef patty, with bacon, caramelized onions, lettuce and onions. The beef patty was juicy and aromatic. Fries was not over-fried and just right. The seasoning on the fries also made it pretty tasty.

They were stacked so high the fries were covered when photographed from the side.

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Wild Honey

Back at Wild Honey again, but this time I tried something else.

I took the Tunisian breakfast, which was tomato stew with eggs and chorizo sausages and Brioche bread. The stew came with runny eggs, and overall it was pretty savoury with the tomato stew. I love the Brioche bread which was lightly toasted, yet soft on the inside, and went well when dipped into the stew.

I tried the Banoffee Brulee drink. The texture was almost like that of milkshake and made with bananas and coffee, I think. I think the top was made of meringue. Wasn't too bad, but I felt it would have been better with a little more intense flavour.

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Relax Bistro @ 313 Somerset

This bistro is hidden in one part of 313 Somerset, near the Cold Rock Creamery. Probably a little hard to find unless you thoroughly cover the floor.

We took the set lunch at $9.90++, which comes with a soup or salad, a main and coffee or tea. I took the soup which was pumpkin. This was rather thick and creamy, and you can feel the fibres from the pumpkin.

For mains, I had Aglio Olio angel hair pasta with bacon. The pasta was al dente, a little spicy and quite tasty. I do like my food with lots of ingredients though, so this was a little lacking in that department. But for $9.90++, I can't quite complain.

I had the coffee which was freshly brewed. I think this was of good quality as it was quite aromatic and intense.

My partner chose the tea, and a 3-minute hour glass was provided so that you know when to remove the tea bag.

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Funan Weng Hor Fun & Once Upon a Milk Shake

Was just trying to settle lunch as this was not the main reason we were in the area, so we went to Funan Weng at Maxwell Chambers.

I took their signature hor fun, which came with prawns and chicken. The hor fun was very thin and soft, which I rather like. The chicken was all meat, yet very tender. Prawns were succulent and fresh, although it looks a little deceiving here as they were in fact sliced in half.

Next we went round the building to our main reason coming to this area - Once Upon a Milk Shake. The decor was interesting with some lower than usual stools and tables.

Was contemplating taking the Litchi or Rum & Raisin initially. At the last minute, I changed my mind and decided to try the chocolate which was supposedly the most popular. It was indeed very creamy and chocolate-y, although somehow it tasted a little like Milo to me. My friend took the Rum & Raisin, which was pretty intense.

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Caffe Beviamo

Had lunch at Caffe Beviamo at Tanglin Mall, where my friend said there was good Sticky Date & Toffee Pudding.

The cafe serves a variety of sandwiches, pasta, salads and pizzas. I was adventurous and tried the Kumera sandwich. This basically consisted of sweet potato, lettuce, cheese and tomato pesto. It was quite a unique blend of tastes as you seldom find sweet potato in sandwiches, coupled with warm melting cheese oozing with every bite.

Finally, the reason why we were here in the first place - Sticky Date & Toffee Pudding. This was presented slightly differently, as it came in squarish slices with the vanilla ice cream sandwiched in between. The pudding was moist and soft, and in my opinion, does not lose out to Marmalade Pantry's. The vanilla ice cream however seemed pretty ordinary, and if I recall correctly, Marmalade Pantry's vanilla ice cream had a richer taste.

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Oriole's Cafe & Bar

My second visit to this place, and I decided to try some other dishes.

I went with the set lunch at $20. For appetisers, I had the smoke ocean trout salad. It was the first time I had smoked ocean trout. Essentially, it tasted like smoked salmon, however, the texture was more like that of a cooked fish.

Next was the ribeye steak. Steak was very tender and the slightly tangy sauce went well with the meat.

On the way out, we passed by Marvelous Cream and they seemed to have a new range of desserts which were soft waffles sandwiched with many different kinds of flavoured creams.

We tried the Hokkaido Caramel and Rich Milk flavour. Sorry, no pics as we devoured it quickly. However, the cream did not give me the queasy, oily feel. It was not overly sweet and the slight bitter of the caramel balanced with it overall.

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Applebee's

Applebee's is a casual dining chain from USA focusing on mainstream American dishes such as salads, shrimp, chicken, pasta, and ribs. They serve alcoholic beverages as well, and is located at Singapore Power Building at Somerset.

As their portions are huge, we decided to share 1 appetiser and 1 main dish.

For the appetiser, we chose the sampler set which consisted of buffalo wings, quesadillas, mozarella sticks, nachos and served with 2 salsas, a ranch-like dip and their signature spinach and artichoke dip.

Special mention goes out to the quesadillas which were very tasty with the minced meat and onions. The mozzarella sticks were good as well as they did not come across as being overly chewy. The dip tasted more of spinach than artichokes, but it was a unique departure from the usual dips.

We did succumb to our appetites and ordered a half-sized serving of prawn salad. The prawns were crunchy and succulent, and sprinkled with cajun spices.

Finally, our main was the Lime Chicken which was covered with cheese, served with salsa and pilaf. Chicken was rather tender and had a slight grilled taste to it. The texture of the pilaf was nice, although there was a particular unidentifiable spice in it which I did not quite like.

Overall, I think their food is rather good and their large portions can easily fill your tummy. But as these are pretty heavy stuff in terms of flavours as well, it probably will not be a place I will return to too often.

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