Wheeler's Yard

A quaint and comfortable place for brunch, Wheeler's Yard offers you an interesting ambience full of bicycles that an avid cyclist would definitely appreciate. 

We arrived for brunch at 11am and the place was pretty quiet, good for us, as we got to beat the queue. However as the time ticked closer to noon, the crowd grew and soon the place was bustling with conversations and chatter. 

Whether you prefer an indoors air con or alfresco setting, you'll be surrounded by bicycles of all colours and types. 

I ordered the egg in bread bowl which was a refreshing idea to cook eggs, as compared to the usual eggs benny. The bread bowl was light and fluffy and the egg oozed with goodness with the cut of a knife. Yummy!!

Paul ordered the breakfast platter which was good as well. The eggs were nicely scrambled - you can hardly go wrong with a hearty breakfast platter :)

Lastly, the coffee was good and aromatic. 

This place is definitely one for the foodie and avid cyclist. Mark this as your stop to get a cuppa before continuing your morning cycle route. 

Wheeler's Yard

Toa Payoh

28 Lor Ampas

Singapore 328781

Opening hours:

11 am to 7pm (till 8pm on weekends)

Savour Festival 2014

This year's Savour Gourmet Festival 2014 continues its alfresco concept at The Promontory @ Marina Bay to feature 16 participating restaurants with over 50 signature dishes. Michelin Star and award winning chefs from Singapore and around the world grace this event to showcase their expertise during masterclasses and workshops where you can pick up cooking tips. 

Since it's held just below my office, Paul and I experienced it on Friday night. We initially wanted to have dinner there, but with just 60 Savour dollars in hand and judging from the portions of the dishes, we figured it would be our appetiser beore a hearty dinner elsewhere. 

My colleagues recommended some dishes which they thought were good, so we tried them out. 

First dish we ordered was from Mikuni, Singapore that my colleague raved about. It was the 72hr Miso Braised Corn-fed Beef Short Rib, Kyoto Onion, Fresh Wasabi. 

Paul tried it and it was just alright. It was good but it did not taste as good as my colleague described. Plus the portion was too small. Each piece was smaller than a mahjong tile. But I guess that's what you get for 18 Savour dollars. 

Next, from the same restaurant, I got the Kanpachi Truffle Soya (yellow tail). Another dish highly recommended by my colleague. The dish was served in a tin can (much like a sardine can) with a half opened lid - interesting presentation. This dish was pretty good. The fish was fresh and you can't go wrong with truffled-anything =p

We were deciding what to order next when I bumped into another colleague who again highly recommended the Linguine, Crab & Nduja from &SONS, Singapore. 

To be honest, it's nothing special. It tasted quite normal but at least it filled our bellies a bit. 

Lastly, Paul decided to spend our last 18 Savour dollars on Homemade Foie Gras Terrine Tempura, Lobster Mayonnaise, Apple Salt from Saint Pierre. 

Now this was good! It's something different and not like the usual pan fried foie gras you order from other restaurants. It's tempura fried but the foie gras within is still amazingly soft and melts in your mouth. Definitely worth trying. The lobster mayo also went really well with it. Yum!

After a half hour of shoving, standing while eating and constant walking in search of an empty standing table (all other cosy tables were taken), we got tired and left for a proper dinner. 

For those keen on heading down, today's the last day of the festival. Don't forget to use your Standard Chartered Card to purchase Savour dollars, where you get 10 free Savour dollars with every 100 Savour dollars purchased :)

Savour 2014 is held in conjunction with iLight Marina Bay 2014. Here are some of the artwork we walked past:

Savour 2014

5 to 9 March 2014

savour.sg

Miam Miam (Westgate)

Had dinner at Miam Miam today. It was my 3rd time to the restaurant which, translated from French, reads "Yum Yum". This casual artisanal French cafe serves French food with a Japanese twist. 

View their menu here: http://miam.sg/menu/

Had the Miam Miam Spaghetti ($15.80) the last time and that was quite good. Paul ordered it again today. I really like the sunny side up in the centre that is meant to be mixed into the spaghetti. 

This time, I decided to try something different and ordered the Riz Noir ($17.80), which is actually squid ink seafood rice topped with an egg. It was very tasty and I would totally recommend this dish to order apart from the Miam Miam Spaghetti. 

Paul's friend, Howard, ordered the Riz Au Curry ($14.80). He said that it was above average and he liked that the sauce was more than sufficient to complement the rice. His girlfriend, Jamie, tried both of the rice dishes and concluded that the Riz Noir tasted better though. 

Jamie had the Seafood Tomato Cream Spaghetti ($18.80), which she did not enjoy. 

For drinks, I had the Iced Matcha Latte with Matcha Softee ($8.80). It felt more like a dessert though. My only complaint is that there could have been more to drink as the ice and softee took up most of the space in the cup. 

For dessert, Howard and Jamie tried the Matcha Parfait ($12.80) and the Chocolate Molleaux ($9.80). 

Red bean, coffee and matcha jelly and rice crispies drizzled with brown sugar syrup. Pretty good. 

Dark chocolate cake with a molten centre. Would have been better if the cake was a lava cake. But not too bad. 

The best dessert to me is still the French Toast ($15.80) with a dollop of fresh cream with maple syrup. 

Miam Miam

Westgate

3 Gateway Drive

#01-21/22 

Singapore 608532

Bugis Junction

#02-14

200 Victoria Street

Singapore 188021

Opening Hours

Monday to Sunday   11.30am to 10pm

6837 0301   

SOI 55 (Pop up stall)

I was checking instagram this morning and saw that our friend Becky had a pop up stall at Loewen Gardens Farmer's Market. Was very excited for her, told Paul about it and we headed down to give our support. 

Paul has always been telling me how good a cook & baker Becky is, and today would be my first time trying one of her creations. 

We got both the sweet and savoury crepes and the normal iced tea. 

The savoury crepe had eggs, pork or chicken (not sure) floss, mayonnaise, ham; at least these were the ingredients that we could identify. The crepe was crispy and it tasted really good! Paul felt that it was tasty comfort food too. We ordered 2 of the savoury crepes cos they were so yummy. 

The sweet crepe had nutella and banana. Anything with nutella is already awesome, and this combination totally hit the spot. 

Their iced tea was good and very filling as well. We initially intended to just have a snack before lunch but that turned out to be our lunch instead. :)

Call SOI 55 for your events and you will get to see chef Becky at work. 

Great stuff Becky! Congrats on your debut :)

SOI 55

Coming to a place near you

Facebook.com/SoiFiftyFive

Instagram @SoiFiftyFive

9060 4594

SKIRT (W Singapore, Sentosa)

We actually wanted to eat at Skirt a week earlier but I was in sandals and the guys were in bermudas. It was after our swim at W Singapore and we thought to try the restaurant out. However, we did not meet their dress code, but the restaurant was fully booked for the night anyhow. I remember that it was the night of ZoukOut. Paul made a reservation there and then for dinner next week with his family. 

Fast forward one week later and we're at Skirt again. This time appropriately dressed for dinner to dine at a fancy restaurant. The ambience of the place was more casual than I expected. The waitresses were all dressed in leather skirts and the kitchen was an open concept where you could see the chefs prepare our meal. In front of the restaurant was where the ageing cabinets stood. While we were waiting for the rest to arrive, I couldn't help but notice the interesting decor. 

Overhead hung a chandelier of cutlery that made me imagine what would happen if the fork above me came loose. When they set the table, the intricate carving on our cutlery also caught my eye. Must be rather tough getting dirt out of those carved lines. 

My random personal thoughts aside, did you know that "skirt" is a part of beef steak from the plate of a cow? I believe that's where they got the name from since this restaurant is known for their beef. According to the waiter, the skirt's not as tender as other popular parts of beef. 

You may view their menu here: http://assets.wsingaporesentosacove.com/lps/assets/u/SkirtRestaurantMenuSingaporeSentosaCove.pdf

First up came the bread. The bread was amazing! It was piping hot and really soft. It definitely tastes better than it looked and exceeded expectations. Didn't know bread could taste so good. 

For starters, we had the Seared Scallops and Tiger Prawns. Seared Scallops were researched by Paul to be very good, and they were good indeed. Well cooked and juicy. The Tiger Prawns were good as well but they weren't much better than other tiger prawns that I've tried. 

Paul and his bro ordered 2 of their steaks to share. They got the "Shiro Kin Full Blood" Tenderloin 250g and the Tenderloin Tasting Plate. 

Interestingly, when they served up the beef, there were 2 tiny bottles. One was alcohol that was meant to clear your palette and the other was sauce for the beef. 

We felt that the portions were too small though. The beef was definitely good but it wasn't mindblowing given the price. 

Here's the "Shiro Kin Full Blood":

Tasting plate:

They offer a variety of sauces to try the beef with. I remember Paul liked the red wine and marrow sauce. 

I had the Iberico Pork Neck infused with Apple Sauce. It was good at first, for the first few pieces, but after a while, I realised that it tasted like char siew (our usual local roast pork dish) and I got really bored chewing. In my opinion, this dish is not worth the price. 

To end off the meal, we had a Pavlova that tasted like any other Pavlova that I had (e.g. at Robert Timms). Nothing special about that. 

All in all, a good place to find good steaks (and bread, how can we forget the bread!) but we're pretty sure you can find steaks that are as good at a lower price in Singapore. Perhaps a restaurant to try out once for the experience, but I don't think we'll be going back anytime soon. 

SKIRT

W Singapore

21 Ocean Way

Singapore 098374

6808 7278

http://www.wsingaporesentosacove.com/en/skirt

Opening hours

18:00 to 00:00

Child Policy

Please note that only children above 8 years of age accompanied by an adult will be welcome to dine at SKIRT.  

Assembly Coffee

This place is near their homes and Paul's friend, Cheryl, highly recommended that he checked it out. Please note that this is one of those places that close on Mondays.

It's a very small place next to Wine & Co. along Bukit Timah. I would have missed it if not for the big "A" right outside their outlet. 

It was brunch time and I had the croissant with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon that came with side salad. Originally wanted to get scrambled eggs with ham but that was already sold out. 

It was very good! The croissant was soft on the inside yet crunchy on the outside. The smoked salmon went very well with the eggs. We cleaned off the plate. Yums!!

Paul ordered a quiche. We can't remember the filling but it was ok. He felt that the one at Carpenter & Cook was better though. 

We had a latte as well and the coffee was good! 

For dessert, we ordered sea salt caramel waffles and it was delicious! When I placed my knife down into the waffle, I was slightly disappointed that the waffles weren't the crunchy crisp kind. But it was awesome nevertheless. The first bite led to more and in a few minutes the plate was empty. 

Everyone who loves waffles and coffee should definitely try out this place!

Assembly Cafe

26 Evans Lodge

Singapore 259367

6735 5647

http://assembly.sg/

Pollen (Flower Dome at Gardens by the Bay)

It was a business lunch and my first time at this restaurant. When my colleagues and I arrived, we were pleasantly surprised that we did not have to walk any further in the scorching sun and were told by the staff at the information counter that a buggy would pick us up as we waited by the greyish totem with the word "POLLEN" written on it.

When we arrived, late, we were told that our hosts decided to visit the Flower Dome while they waited for us. Diners at Pollen get to visit the Flower Dome for free apparently. The Flower Dome had interesting decorations on the trees as it was around Xmas but it was rather chilly so we headed back to order lunch. 

We all ordered the set menu which can be found here.

I had the Cured King Fish as the appetiser. The fish was tasty, though it would be better if the slices weren't so thick. The carrot sorbet gave it a very refreshing touch.

I'm not sure if the restaurant changes their items on the menu but I was quite sure a few of my colleagues had beef. Anyway I had the barramundi. It was cooked perfectly, fresh and soft. The mash went well with it. 

Before I go on to dessert. I must say that the concept of the restaurant is very refreshing. Lined along the sides of the restaurant was an edible garden of spices. Plus they went around and offered us some tea that would be made off the leaves of some plants that were sitting in their pots in a trolley. The tea was $5 a pot. They plucked off the leaves and made the tea on the spot saying that there was no need to wash the leaves as they were grown using hydroponics. 

For dessert, I had the Strawberry. Though I would have very much preferred the JAAL.

The strawberry was ok. Light yet creamy and definitely healthy with the oats. But when I saw the chocolate dessert that my other colleagues ordered, I was so attracted by it. The chocolate was arranged so nicely atop a very cute and round smoothed rock. They mentioned that it was delicious too. 

Paul wasn't there today but I think he would like this restaurant so I'll definitely bring him there to try it soon! 

Pollen (Flower Dome)

18 Marine Gardens Drive #01-09

Singapore 018953

6604 9988
www.pollen.com.sg

Opening Hours (Tuesday to Sunday)
Lunch12.00pm to 2.30pm
Dinner6.00pm to 10.00pm
Pollen Afternoon Tea3pm to 5pm
Pollen Bistro12pm to 9pm (Daily) 

Buggy Service
Exclusively for Pollen's guests, the service runs every five minutes during lunch and dinner hours.