Prego @ Fairmont Hotel

Recently, KopiKosongGirl and I have been revisiting places we have not gone for a long time. We both used to have the Feed at Raffles card, but now since we are one, we only need one! (sounds cheesy eh?)

We used to come here often before we got married. We suddenly thought of this place, so we are back!

The deco seems to have changed, this place has become more "wooden contemporary", if there's such a term. No more white table cloth, it's now unvarnished table. Near the entrance there's also an antipasti bar. We remember when the restaurant used to be packed, we sat there at the counter.

Oh the menu seems to have shrunk too! Just a single sheet now. Simple.



The previous big round bread they had with the tomato-ish dip is gone too!
They now served this bagel like herb bread that's a nice replacement too. The bread's no longer warm like it was previously, but it was addictive though. It's probably the salty crust that makes you want to eat all of it up.



I think the bread's good on its own, but if you like, you can spread this aubergine like pesto with cream cheese on it.


It reminded us of the breakfast youghurt jars at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong!




We ordered 2 antipasti from the antipasti bar near the entrance. They are $4 each.

We saw these mushroom and could not resist them. If you like mushroom, try this. Cold, garlic taste, almost like pickled mushrooms.

KopiKosongGirl can eat a whole lot of this, I think because it's cold, I stopped at 3. Though I like it, the brain tells me to stop. Do you have that kind of feeling sometimes?



We also had the seafood salad. This was even nicer than the mushrooms. It's oily, but does not give you a 'jelak' feel to it. It's probably because of the citrus juice in it. It's cold too. The prawns were crunchy too.




I had the pizza. This is the Prego. ($35)
The toppings are Prosciutto di Parma, Buffalo Mozzarella, Arugula and Tomato Sauce.

Creature of habit, I am still ordering the same thing. Still loving it.




KopiKosongGirl had the Beef Lasagna. $35.
She said it's one of the best lasagna she had for a long time. I kind of agree with her.

Doesn't lasagna remind you of an Italian 'gao teng kuay'. Layer after layer of pasta sheets, meat and tomato paste. No, we did not peel each layer to eat. I want to try out the best way to make the tomato paste. Should start researching about them ;-)

It was a nice dinner. Still glad we kept a Feed for Raffles privileges, there's 50% off the bill.

There was a nice surprise too. Halfway through dinner, the next table next to us was a friend that we have not met for a long time. He left Singapore to study at the Royal College of Music and is now back! He is a composer, and if you probably have heard his compositions on film without knowing it! If you want to listen to his sample music, visit http://www.johncgh.com/

Prego Fairmont Singapore Level 1 80 Bras Basah Road Singapore 189560 Tel: +65 6431 6156 http://www.prego.com.sg

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Maison Ikkoku @ 20 Kandahar Street, Kampung Glam

There's a new coffee place called Maison Ikkoku and it's at Kandahar Street, in the Kampung Glam conservation area.

This whole place is quite big at 4000 sq ft. What they have done is to have 3 different concepts on the same venue. On Level 1 - an artisanal coffee place, Level 2 - a multi-label menswear boutique and Level 3 - a soon to be opened (mid Nov) semi-alfresco cocktail bar.



I should bring KopiKosongGirl to try this coffee out and see what she thinks.
I am not very much a coffee person.



I was told the baristas here had been trained by Japanese celebrity barista and latte art specialist, Hiroshi Sawada.




The menu here is presented on an iPad too.
It's opened by 2 couples, Thomas Ho and Janice Ong with Franz Chua and Shanie Teoh.



This is Level 1, the artisanal cafe.
It has white walls and copper pipes as lighting. It's chic-retro I would say.

Notice the bottom half of a cupboard hanging on the wall?




This is the MI Pork Bun or what we usually call the Kong Bak Pau ($3.90). I had a chat with Janice Ong and she said it's a recipe passed down to her from her grandmother. She makes it daily.




Another interesting food, is the MI Musubi. It's sticky Japanese rice with seasoning and a slice of SPAM luncheon meat.

A chat with Franz Chua said this was actually his packed lunch when he was studying overseas. His wife (then girlfriend to be) would be making this and it's a convenient to bring to classes! So this food brings back memories for him!




This made me laugh. A carrot cake with a carrot  on top!



The sample sized carrot cake that we tried was delicious. I asked Franz if they made it as well. The carrot cake is made by one of their friends. They love this friend's carrot cake, so they are ordering from them to have it sold here.




I was quite fascinated by all these old furniture!
I remember our home had similar ones when I was young!

See more cut off or topless furniture on Level 1?
You will find out why on Level 2!



Level 2 is the menswear section. The labels here are from Japan, UK, France and USA.

They get mostly Japanese label and Janice says she goes to Japan regular to source for the latest fashion and bring them back to their shop.

Notice where the bags and shoes are placed?
It's the "top part" of the cut off cupboards on Level 1! How clever!



I am not the usual fashion catch up guy, but it was interesting to browse around.
I got kind of tempted. Hmm...

The brands they carry:
    Japan: Deluxe, Discovered, Hobo, Kuro, Lad Musician
    USA : Industry of All Nations, MIANSAI by Michel Andrew Saiger, Publish
    France: Lucien, Teddyfish, Twins for Peace
    UK: Orlebar Brown

Chatting with Janice, she said her husband Thomas was a total fashion nerd when they were younger. Janice has slowly but surely transform him.  If you are at this place and see a clean shaven guy, that's Thomas. Janice showed a photo of Thomas on his iPhone when he was younger and it was really a transformation!



This is probably the only place where the husband or boyfriend can shop while the other half can sit at the cafe downstairs. If you need their opinions you can call or text them to walk up!



This raw canvas bag by Parisian brand Teddyfish bag caught my attention. 
Ahem my friends, get the hint? ;-)

Maison Ikkoku 20 Kandahar Street Singapore 198885 Tel: +65 6294 0078 Hours: Mon-Thu, Sun: 9 am - 7 pm / Fri-Sat: 9 am to 11 pm  http://www.maison-ikkoku.net/

Alfero Artisan Gelato @ Marina Square

This was such an interesting discovery! I love ice cream, and KopiKosongGirl love coffee and also ice cream too! We are happy we 'bumped' into this place.

We celebrated a friend's birthday at a restaurant at Marina Square and after dinner we decided to have tea. We walked past Alfero Artisan Gelato and we saw a sign "Hand Made Italian Gelato"... even the Godfather loves it!



I 'instagram' it and when I got home, I realized many instagram buddies know about this place and said which flavours we should try!




The moment you walk into this shop, you will be wondering if you have just walked into a gelato shop. You don't see a whole range of colourful array of gelato on display. All you see are metal containers. 

The gelato are all inside these "Pozzetto". ( I googled and found that pozzetto means little wells in Italian).

Had a short chat with Chef Marco Alfero. He said the gelato are stored inside these containers so that it is not exposed to light and air. This will preserve the gelato the way it was when it was made.

Also when you get into the shop, they will insist you try the different flavour. The customer service here was really good!



Father in law tried the 'durian' flavour and he said it was good. We did not get that because her KopiKosongGirl does not take durian. LOL

The flavour we had above was the "Nocciola" (Hazelnut) and Marroni (Chestnut).

When you try the hazelnut, you will immediately think of Kinder Bueno! I said Kinder Bueno and Marco said yes, they import the same hazelnut from Italy! I like this flavour.

Chestnut was a bit sweet, that's all I can remember.



These were the Cioccolato (Chocolate) and Vaniglia (Vanilla) flavours.
The chocolate was I remember chocolate with high cocoa content and it was nice.

I always try Vanilla to test how they fare. The Vanilla was nice. Vanilla pods can be seen and it goes well with the chocolate.

Don't dilly dally, the gelato melts rather quickly. Hurry and eat it!
Medium (2 Flavour) in a cup costs $6.50.




The macchiato ($4).
KopiKosongGirl said it was normal.



The Cappucino ($5).
In the words of KopiKosongGirl, nicer than Starbucks, proportion of froth, coffee and milk was good.

The Long Black ($4) was more intense and deeper in fragrance and stronger in taste.

An interesting place for gelato and their gelato is quite good too.
Reminds me of gelato I had in Rome. I am suddenly thinking of the little gelato stall just outside the Vatican City walls!

Alfero Artisan Gelato 6 Raffles Boulevard #02-226A/B Marina Square,  Singapore 039594

Anar @ Resorts World Sentosa

It was a Saturday noon time and the weather's sweltering! It was so bright, sunny and humid plus the warm winds blowing was making me very uncomfortable.

I have not been to the Middle East but I am imagining that I was! I was going to try the food at Anar, a Middle Eastern Restaurant that hails from United Arab Emirates (UAE). According to Kelvin of Touch Communications and Toufik of Anar who hosted TheHungryCow and I, this might be the only place where Middle Eastern food is served as it is in the Middle East in Singapore.

To get to this place, the easiest way is to go in via the Sentosa Boardwalk. At the end of boardwalk on the Sentosa side, you will see this tent like building. This is Anar. (Anar means Pomegranate)



It was such a hot day, that the moment you get into this 'tent', you would feel so comfortable!
It's a modern and luxurious tent with air-conditioning.



When you get in, you would be wowed by this huge chandelier.

Brought into Singapore from the Middle East, this thing weights about half a tonne! Even the locals can't figure out how to hand this up and they had to fly the craftsmen in to hang it up.




The huge chandelier is hung where the private dining area is.
Look at those chairs, it's so King Arthur!

See the tiles on the walls? These are all hand crafted and brought in from Iran.
This place is interesting even before having the food!

Now for the food and drinks:



On such a warm day, we were so glad for these cool refreshing drinks.

If you are looking for something more alcoholic, Anar Guru ($20) is Fresh Anar Juice shaken with  Vodka and topped with Moet and Chandon Brut Champagne


For mocktails, I was recommended this by Kelvin. Jasmine Belle ($12) It's fresh lime & honey syrup shaken with cranberry juice and lime served tall with chilled jasmine tea.





Shortly after, we were served flat breads that's hot from the clay oven that you can see.
These are complimentary and it's really addictive. It comes with platter of pickles and cheese.

These bread goes best with these dips that you can order.



Hummus with Minced Beef ($14)
A healty dip of pureed chickpeas with sesame seed paste, fresh garlic, lemon juice and extra virgin oil topped with grilled ground beef.

We were told people in the Middle East don't eat spicy food! These are the usual stuff they have their breads with. They love sesame seed paste and it is used in most dishes. Most of the ingredients in the dips are made from food grown abundantly in the Middle East.




Moutabbal ($12)
A smoky and rich salad of roasted fresh eggplant, with sesame seed paste, crushed garlic & lemon juice, topped with chopped parsley, pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Eggplants and grown in abundance in the middle east and they mix it with sesame seed paste again and this was really interesting. The eggplants are roasted and it has a what we call a 'chao tar' (burnt) smell to it, but the whole paste is whitish and has hints of sesame seeds fragrance.




Mohammarah ($12)
A passionate, red Levantine dip of walnuts, tangy tart pomegranate, red fleshy peppers and spices.

Of all the dips, I liked this best. Maybe it's because I love red capsicums. It's not really spicy, but Toufik (the 'boss' here) said this is spicy to him. Middle Easterners don't take spicy food. Toufik's  very frank and good communicator and company.

He saw we were too delicate trying to eat the bread with us slowly peeling some bread and using our knives to spread the dips on our bread. He asked if we want to know how they eat this in the Middle East. Yes of course!

See the quartered slides of flat bread in the photo above? Take a piece of it and start to roll it. After rolling it, scoop a huge amount of spread with it. With the 4 of us guys starting to use our hands, suddenly the meal was turned into a much relaxed atmosphere! It's like a barrier just broke down!




Dejaj Salad ($14)
A Mediterranean delight,  this refreshing salad boasts grilled chicken strips,  feta cheese,  thyme, black olives drizzled with fresh lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil.

Want to try a Middle Eastern salad? This was nice and refreshing. I did not notice the chicken cubes and thought they were feta cheese until I had them in my mouth.






Riz Be Lahem Ala Djaij ($35)
Traditional and regal Ottoman feast for special occasions. Egyptian long grain rice with minced meat and a Arabic spices, topped with a succulent chicken breast and roasted nuts, served with a cool yoghurt dressing.

This is just a sampling portion. People in the Middle East eat huge portions and when they first opened, guests said the portions here are too big! They have reduced the portions now.

This dish was interesting. Rice with minced meat and spices it not really my type of food.
Maybe our taste buds just needs getting used to this. Probably Middle Easterners in Singapore would be craving for this!

The way to eat it apparently is to have the yoghurt soaked over the rice and eat it.





Lamb Kubideh Kebab ($38)
Minced lamb served with Persian saffron rice

When this plate of rice was served, it was just so fragrant and fluffy!
The yellow rice on top if Saffron rice. Saffron is expensive here in Singapore but in Iran it seems it is so cheap! They grow it there and it's used in most of their dishes!

I was curious to find out how they prepared the rice. How can it be so fluffy and tasty just by itself? (Nowadays I seem to be more daring in asking how things are prepared hehe). Since I asked about it, why not share it with you all? If I got it right, here's how it's done.

The long grain rice were boiled with lots of water with a tiny bit of vinegar to give the rice an extra white appearance and also prevent the rice from sticking to each other. The hot steaming rice is then drained and a little butter is added into it and it's then it's wrapped up in foil and baked in the oven for 2 hours!

The Lamb Kebab is shown in the photo below. The kebab is made from minced lamb. It seems there are different species of lamb. The lamb they use here are imported from Dubai. The species of lamb they use apparently has more fat. (don't think yuks, but think of it like Wagyu, more marbled!)

You don't get the strong gamey smell too. Just a slight smell to remind you that it's lamb!



Shish Taouk ($32)
A traditional Babylonian recipe. Chicken breast marinated in rich yoghurt, garlic and tomato puree; then grilled over smoking charcoal and served with traditional ‘toum’ (Syrian garlic paste).

That's the yellowish chicken on the right. The chicken's tender and somehow it's a joy eating it!




Mohalabieh ($12)
The famous Arabic milk pudding, simple and delicious, with sugar and rice powder.

This is to let you know that Middle Eastern desserts are super super sweet! The arabic milk pudding is so sweet and smell very floral too! The smell of it is like walking into a Crabtree and Evelyn store! It smells flowery and sweet and this is edible!

If you have a sweet tooth, try this! The red thing you see on top is pickled orange flower petals. It's something very common in the Middle East apparently.




Baklawa ($12)
The Ottomans made it famous and brought the recipes as far as South-West Asia. Layers of paper-thin phyllo pastry are filled with roasted nuts and honey syrup.

TheHungryCow and I wondered if we could try the Baklawa and we got to try it. Toufik said that good Middle Eastern baklawa does not have heavy syrup dribbled over it. The good ones like the one we see above, the sweet layer is in between the pastry layers. Perfect with a cuppa!

Come to Anar if you want to try out real Middle Eastern food without flying to Middle East. Their food is mix of Middle Eastern / Arabian. If you think the pricing is a bit high, I noticed that on group buying site, you can buy coupons to try this place out for a cheaper price. Certain credit card has offers here too. The food's here has very good quality and I enjoyed it.
 

Anar @ Resorts World Sentosa, 26 Sentosa Gateway, #01-291 Singapore 098138 Tel: 6884 6989 Hours: 12noon-3pm; 6pm-10pm http://anarsingapore.com/

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The Moluccas Room @ The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands

Talking about fine dining establishments, most people would not think of Malay or Indonesian food as the cuisine of choice. Most would probably think of French or Italian on the top of their list.

How many times have you wished that you can bring your friends to a fine dining food that serves really good Indonesian food? Somewhere classy, and when you dress up, you would not be out of place.

The folks at The Moluccas Room have done a pretty good job!



Located at Marina Bay Sands, it's at the same complex that house many celebrity chef restaurants.
I was there during the day and found the place very cosy and yet classy chic.



The deco is modern Indonesian. Clean lines with warm tones all around.
Ladies will be glad to note that their chairs have a hook for handbags too!



This place serve alcohol so it is not halal.
If you are coming, ask them about that piece of granite table top! I heard there's a story behind it.

PR firm FoodNews hosted a few of us for the lunch.



Our lunch has been prepared by Chef Alicia Tivey. She's Australian with an Indonesian mother. Her mother is where she learn all her Indonesian food and secrets.

Chef Alicia had even trained under Chef Tetsuya Wakuda in the 90s in Sydney. There she served French-Japanese food. With over 20 years of experience, she is now at The Moluccas Room, combining her classic training with the food of her heritage. Indonesian food prepared in classic French techniques.

Here's what we delighted our tongues to:

Starters and nibbling

A Nasi Ulam Amuse-bouche.
Experience different Amuse-bouche when you dine here. This was so pretty and delicious as well.




An array of dips to go with your food.
I know not many people will try them, but if you are one that loves some heat in your food, try them all!



(Click on the photo to see a bigger photo of it)




These are sampling portions of the sate. The real set comes in sticks of 5 and is about 30g each.
I like how they arranged each satay and their individual sauces for us.

(From left to right)
Sate Padang Lidah Sapi ($27)
Buttery rich Angus beef tongue sate done Padang style served with warm and thickened beef broth sauce

Sate Ayam Madura ($22)
An Eastern Java delicacy-grilled chicken tenders served with creamy roasted peanut sauce

Sate Angus ($25)
Sweet and savoury Angus beef sate with a touch of citrusy lightness served with a peanut and sweet soy sauce.



(Click on photos to view them in full glory.)

If you ask me which one I like most, I like them all! The one that I particularly like is something really different. The Sate Padang Lidah sapi. Beef Tongue can be so good. You won't know that it's tongue if no one told you. The texture is delicious and perfect for sate!

Soup

Next for us to savour was Soto Ayam Lamongan. ($15)
This is the smaller tasting portion.



I like how they pour out the chicken soup right in front of you.



The humble Soto Ayam with the aromatic herbs and spices.
When it's served fine dining style, I can't slurp it the usual way I eat this. I had to slowly enjoy it. ;-)



On the first sip of the soup, some might find it a little light. Well if you like it more sour or spicy, they have condiments for you to add. The taste of the soup really changes with these different condiments!

Entrees

Again, tasting portions of the entrees.




Udang Blado Padang ($35)
Fried king prawn topped an aromatic Western Sumatra sauteed chilli sambal.

I liked this prawn! My dining companion, found it a bit under salted. But I think it's fine for my taste.




Ayam Sakura Tangkap Aceh Selada Mangga ($19)
Tangy green mango salad and aceh styled deep fried shrimp paste marinated chicken chunks garnished with a mix of aromatic fresh herbs and crispy shallot flakes




This is an Indonesian rendition of shrimp paste chicken!

Mains

We were served three tasting portions of the main courses.



Ikan Bakar Jimbaran ($35)
Sweet and spicy grilled fresh fish fillet.

The sea bass was so soft and delicate. I wonder how they do it in the kitchen, ikan bakar never tasted so nice! Most ikan bakar we try are always dry. The sweet and spicy sauce over it goes so well with fish. It reminds me of nyonya style fish. 

I have not been to Jimbaran, Bali. Maybe I should to try out dishes like this!




Angus Steak Rendang ($35)
Tender beef steak tenderloin topped with an extremely flavourful Javanese style rendang curry sauce

I also liked this dish! If you try this dish you would be wondering how did it turn out this way? The meat just taste 'different'. Well, the beef steak was cooked using vacuum. It was done using the sous vide cooking method. Definitely not the usual beef rendang we are used to.

The rendang sauce was also different. It has been strained to give it a smooth texture. I was secretly hoping this was not the tasting portion but the full portion!

Most of us won't be able to prepare this at home. We don't have the equipment and also the time to prepare this dish! Worth every penny paid for it!





Confit Sakura Ayam Tuturaga ($33)
A light citrusy confit chicken curry from the Northern Sulawesi region

If you have bought Sakura chicken and prepare them at home, you know they already taste different. I have bought them and find that they have very little fat.  Chef Alicia says this dish was prepared using the chicken fat. I asked how on earth could you get the fat to cook it? The chicken itself has so little fat!

The chicken was firm yet tender and the curry was light citrusy. It's somehow the kind of curry that you can drink it all up! Try this for classic french technique chicken with Indonesian flavour.

Desserts

I was a bit too full for desserts after eating a little of everything. It can be quite filling!
When the dessert appeared, my heart melted and I relented. 

Sri Kaya Creme Brulee ($17)
Creamy coconut custard fragrantly flavoured with pandanus and topped with the perfect caramelised crust accompanied with a scoop of our home made Indonesian flavoured sorbet.



Creme brulee with Indonesian flavour.
It's quite good you know!



This sorbet was really really sweet! Reminds me of Indonesian desserts in Indonesia.
I like it though. Probably because it was only a bit of it. Palm Sugar sorbet.

I am sure you will get a mad sugar rush.
Probably a good idea to order tea or coffee and have it without sugar.
I think that makes a delightful ending to it.


If you can't decide what to eat, you can try their set lunches. A degustation dinner menu is also available. Call the restaurant to check out what they have. I noticed the table beside us having the set lunch and it looked quite good.

For their full menu, visit their website at: http://www.themoluccasroom.com/

The Moluccas Room 2 Bayfront Avenue #01-81 Marina Bay Sands Singapore 018956 Tel: +65 6688-7367 Hours: Daily - Lunch 11.30am to 3pm, Dinner 6.30pm to 10pm

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