One-Ninety - No Souffle!

My first brush with 4-Seasons Sunday Brunch was about a decade ago when I was still in colleage. We were on our way to Mezza 9 (if my memory serves me right) and I was told that 4-seasons serves the best Sunday brunch with a fabulous souffle station in Singapore. That sentence has been etched in my mind ever since.

So 10 years later, I finally have the oppotunity to validate this statement. Naturally, it was a visit with very high expectations.
The 1st spolier came when I called to make reservations, I was told that the brunch runs from 1115 to 3pm but divided into 2 seatings meaning we have to keep check on time as each seating is limited to about 2 hours. Dang....

So came sunday and we were all ready to feast ourselves silly within the limited 2 hour span.
The brunch spills out of the restaurant into the walkway and the corridor lining the lift from the carpark mainly consisting of the following stations: -

1. Chinese
There is a roast meat station with some dim sum items along side the laksa station. I did not bother with the chinese station at all but Mr HB reported that the laksa is pretty good.

2. Japanese and seafood
The japanese offering is really limited with only sushi and sahimi. The sashimi variety is also lacking with only 3-4 types of cuts. In front of the japanese station is the oyster spread. There are 2 types - canadian and irish. I tried the canadian oysters, there are fresh and delicious. Also in the seafood station is the prawns on ice which was skipped by me. I would expect that the seafood spread be more "extravagent" for the big price tag that it commanded.

3. Salad and Wrap station
Skipped this also.

4. Risotto stationYou have a choice between parmesan cheese and white truffle oil for your risotto rice. We ordered both to share amongst us. The parmesan version is more flavourful and the white truffle version rather lacking in taste, both pretty forgettable.

5. Pasta station
We had a pesto fettucine with garlic from this station. It is not bad but again not something that had us going for seconds.

6. Egg station
How can anyone miss out eggs in a sunday brunch? This was actually the first station that I headed to. You can have your eggs done anyway you wished. I had 2 egg benedicts that day. This was one of the more impressionable dish I had for the entire brunch. The egg is served on top of a piece of ham piled onto a english muffin bread with lots of cheese on top, this is simply delicious.

7. Grill station
This is the only other station that had me gg for seconds other than the egg station. There is a range of meats from ribeye, lamb, chicken breast, salmon, pork loin to choose from and you can have it according to your prefernce of doneness. I had a piece of salmon and ribeye of which the salmon is overcooked and dry and the ribeye is erm...I think I can get better ribeye steaks at a fraction of the price.
BUT, the saving grace is the foi gras. This is very juicy and tender, I helped myself to 2 servings of this before it became too jer lat to down anymore.

8. Cheese, bread and cracker station.
Skipped this as well.

9. Dessert station
Now, I had really really HIGH expectation of the dessert station and was expecting to see different types of souffle available for my selection but alas was missing! I hate to repeat myself but there is NO souffle station.
Looking around somemore, hoping to find something that will help to redeem the letdown due to the mysterious absence of the souffle only to discover that the spread of dessert is sorely limited, out of which I only find the sacher torte and strawberry cheese cake lived up to my classification of "good", the tiramisu and hazelnut praline just did not leave any impression.
After just 2 rounds from the dessert station, I gave up.

10. Martini and Juice Bar
Nope, the ice machine where u pour in your martini and collect it from the other end is gone, instead u have a bartender shaking it up for u. You get to choose from a list of 5 flavours.

There is also a variety of juices to choose from.I was expecting more, a lot more for the price of this sunday brunch, so needless to say, I was very disappointed by the lack of variety and quality find for this sunday brunch.
The only thing I find that justifies the hefty price tag is prbly the fact that there is a child care room that looks after ur kids while u kick back and enjoy a very time-limited sunday brunch (and the martini if u drink).

So I guess, this is a place I won't be coming back for in a long long time.

P.S. Melt stays at the #1 spot, unchallenged on my list of best buffets in Singapore. If anyone feels that there is a better place for buffet do let me know.

Must Tries: Egg benedict, foi gras

Tapas Wine Bistro - A great place to eat, drink and be merry!

I was very priviledged to be able to join a group of very nice and fun people for this food tasting session at Tapas Wine Bistro on this day.
Many thanks to Kenneth, HGW for this wonderful dinner and the group of other reviews that made this evening a very pleasant and enjoyable one.

1. Spanish Olives
First up was a "cupful" of green and black olives for our eager taste-buds. The olives were very fresh and serves as a good start to whet our already big appetities.

2. Cream Of Tomato
Nicely laid out on a smallish plate, the soup is served in a "cappucino-ish" cup accompanied by a heap of tomato cubes on the side. The soup is creamy and decimated by bits of tomato puree. I enjoy the soup quite a bit.

3. Pimentos, Seafood Gazpacho and Salmon Salad (3 types)
Salads...hmm...Salad is just salad so unless u are a health freak or on a veggie diet, I suggest u go for the other stuff as Taps Wine have lots more to offer u.

4. Garlic Bread
This is one finger-licking garlic bread. Thickly cut pieces of grilled bread, dosed with generous amount of garlic is really addictive. This came with some spicy, sweet dip that u can eat ur bread with but I prefer it just as it is.

5. Tuna Tataki
Pan-seared tuna served with raddish. The lightly seared tuna is melt-in-ur-mouth tender and even for a non-tuna fan, I find this very enjoyable and cannot stop myself to 2nd helpings of this.

6. Prosciutto di Parma wrapped Cantaloupe
This received many praises from the table but I find this rather normal. Essentially rock melon wrapped in parma ham.

7. Oyster Shooters
Now, this is a really innovative dish. Served in 2 shot glasses are oysters topped with a tomato sauce in 1 and vodka lined with tabasco at the bottom in another. They are meant to be downed in 2 mouthfuls - 1 shot glass each mouth. The oysters were fresh and the tomato did the trick for this tomato lover. However, only order this if u are a oyster lover or vodka addict. The vodka proved to be too strong for me and I only took a small sip.

8. Stir Fried Wild Mushroom
This is served together with sourdough bread and quail eggs. Simply grab a piece of sourdough bread, top it with lots of mushroom and quail egg and pop it into ur mouth. Fantastic combination! I did find myself enjoying this dish.

9. Escargot Champignon
Escargot lined with mushroom. Order this only if u r an escargot person.

10. Tortilla Espanola - with smoked salmon
This is another dish that I like. Fried onion adds fragrance and potato adds bite to the omelette. Slapped with lots of sour cream and pieces of smoked salmon, it is an explosive mixture of flavours - all of which I enjoy very much.

11. Angus Beef Cubes
This is one of the signature dish of Tapas Wine. Little cubes of premium grade beef competently grilled resulted in very tender pieces of good tasting meat.

12. Tiger Prawn - Bacon-ed
This is one of my favourite dish for the night. Imagine big pieces of tiger prawns wrapped with bacon, grilled to perfection. Each bite is bursting with flavours from the juicy prawn and crispy streaky bacon. Do try this one if u are in Tapas Wine.

After all this food, one would have thought that we are done. But we were then told by Kenneth that we are now ready to move onto our Main Course.
Can u believe that all that we ate are just "apetizers"?
Most of us are too full by now to eat more than a few mouthful of each of the main course which is really a shame as they have some really nice food esp pastas.

Arroz Ala Marinera & Arroz Negro - these 2 are spanish rice entrees, one cooked with seafood based stock and the other squid ink. I find that the flavours of rice somewhat lacking and a little tough to chew on. They were however both served with very generous amount of seafood - mussels, prawns and scallops.
The pastas are generally quite good. My favourites include the carbonara(I am quite based when it comes to cream based pasta) and surprisingly bolognese, something that I usually dismissed as a commonly found pasta dish. To be honest, if not for this tasting session I don't think i'll ever order this. The bolognese sauce is very flavouful and packed a punch together with the plentiful chunks of delicious beef, pure enjoyment. Spicy Cho1zo Pasta leave little impression on me though.

After stuffing in all this food, we have finally arrived at desserts. I can't believe I am saying this - we are actually at the point of rejecting food. We pleaded with Kenneth to reduce the desserts in an attempt to prevent our shirts from bursting. LOL

1. Lemon Gelato - the tanginess of the lemon came through, interwined with sweetness is very refreshing change after all the heavy duty meats and flavours. It is served in an empty lemon zest.

2. Coppa Tartufo - I missed this as I had to visit the toilet (too much drinks) and by the time I got back, it is gone so I guess this must have been pretty good?

3. Double Chocolate Shots - A sinful concoction of white and dark chocolate in liquid form. A sweet end to the fantastic fare this evening.

In short, Tapas Wine Bistro have some really good food to offer, together with a chic environment and extensive drink list. A good choice for chilling out with friends after a long day of work.

Must Tries: Grilled Bread with Garlic Infused Butter, Tortilla Espanola, Tiger Prawn - Bacon-ed, Bolognese, Carbonara, Tuna Tataki, Angus Beef Tenderloin Cubes

Dragon i - Decent Shanghainese Fare at reasonable prices

The first thought that struck me is the uncanning resemblance to Crystal Jade and Din Tai Fung in it's Concept.
Decked in black, the layout of the restaurant is both modern and chic.

Mr HB and I decided to have (one of) our lunch here during our most recent visit to Sunway Pyramid. We were seated at the full length glass panel over looking sunway lagoon (read: hot). While my daughter was having fun looking at what everyone is doing in the lagoon X metres below us, we were struggling a little under the hot sun rays penetrating thru the glass panels.

After browsing thru the menu, we decided to order 1 entree to share and some dim sum items as it was quite early for lunch (before 12). The reason why we had to eat so early was because my son was sleeping and it is ONLY during his nap time that we can eat in peace. I keep wishing that this period would fast forward itself as eating at odd hours is not exactly fun.

But anyway, we ordered the "lion head" (giant meat ball) claypot noodles, steamed custurd buns, shanghainese pan fried meat bun. Unfortunately, one of my favourite dessert dim sum item - the "gao li duo sha" (red bean paste in some egg/banana bun) that I wanted to order was not available.
We were informed that there is a waiting time of 20min for the "lion head", since we are in no hurry we told her that we are ok with that.
The custurd buns are the first to arrive. Mr HB made the mistake of braking up the buns into half in 1 swift motion as the contents of the custurd buns are in liquid form.

But that did served as a good warning to me as I cautiously poked holes to cool the custurd. The custurd bun was delicious with creamy, sweet and salty fluid flowing into your mouth with every bite. The pan fried meat buns were the next to arrive. It looks quite big but the meat to bun ratio is quite low which drastically reduced the shiok factor.
The last to be served the the "lion head" claypot noodles. Piping hot, the meat ball was indeed huge embedded in a claypot full of yellow noodles and a sea of braised gravy/soup(?). The well marinated meat ball tasted really good and the noodles was smooth. I guess I'll be visiting this eatery again when I can.

Must Tries: Lion head claypot noodles, custurd bun

Equinox - Snobbish Staff

Mr HB and I made our way to their hi-tea buffet on a weekday.
The way up to equinox was to go thru the bar to a lift that will take u up 70 storeys high.

We were then met by a staff manning a counter telling us rather curtly that hi-tea only starts at 3.30pm. The attitude of the lady was what I would classfiy as snobbish and it did dampen my spirits a little.
Honestly, they need to update their website as it says 3pm and in the end we had to sit around and wait for 30min before we can appease our growling stomachs.

Anyway after what seems like forever, we were allowed to take the lift up to equinox.
The view as mentioned by many previous reviewers is magnificent. The entire skyline of singapore is within ur view and it is an interesting to eat at such high altitude.

The spread of the hi-tea is not too bad. There is a row of cooked food displayed among which the best would have to be their lamb rack. It is pink in the middle and very tender. I had 4 servings of this alone!
Others include mussles, roasted chicken, duck, ee-fu noodles and fried rice which are all not too bad but just not mind-blowing. There is also a station serving teriyaki chicken, peking duck style. Think peking duck in a crepe but with chicken and teriyaki sauce instead. This comes across tasteless so after the first bite there was no sequel....
There is a section with ingredients for you to make ur own prawn soup noodle but this again failed to ignite any sparks as Mr HB dismissed it as bland, so I did not bother myself with this.
At one corner, there is also a live station featuring pasta where they serve ur choice of pasta with either cream or tomato based sauce. It was again relatively tasteless.

There is also a variety of salad in the salad section for you to start with which was entirely skipped by me, so not much information to offer.

The bread basket was plentiful with quite a no. of different variety. I only managed to squeeze in 1/2 a foccacia bun which was soft on the inside and crusty on the outside, would be fantastic to go with some creamy pumpkin soup which was unfortunately missing.

Being hi-tea, there are lots of snacks like sandwiches, scones, doughnuts, mini-quiche, baos, mini pies and also not forgetting the cakes and puddings. There are hits and misses here but I would say more misses than hits.
Worthy of mention is the mini smoked salmon bagel where the bagel is soft and chewy complemented by the slight "mushiness" of the smoked salmon. The rest of the sandwiches (that I tried) came across a tad dry and tough.
The cake offering is sorely limited with only mini chocolate fudge and mini cheese cake which is a huge disappointment to me which luckily proved to be decent enough.
There is also an ice-cream section with 4 different favours for u to choose from, and a variety of toppings to garnish including melted chocolate and vanilla to create ur own version of choco-cones.

Overall, the variety is commendable but all the station need to work on the taste factor of the food.
With the Feed@Raffles Card, we only paid $45 for 2 pax.

Tis the Season - Durian Galore

It's durian season again. I am surrounded by durian lovers - my father and my father0in-law (FIL) are avid durian lovers.
So chances of multiple durian sessions are inevitable during this period of time.

My dad picked up durian picking off some forrest in the vicinity last couple of years and during the season of the spikey fruit, he will have a bountiful harvest.
However, as these durians are not farmed, there is a high chance that these durians pulps are not that great, meaning to say they may be not too ripe and lack the creamy and rich taste. When this happens we try to make some derivatives from these pulps.

Since I have recently developed a love for baking, I decide to make a durian quickbread to "get rid" of them. I used the Banana Quickbread recipe and replace the banana with durian. But alas, the mashed durian pulp proved to be too much and I used too much in the 20cm square pan that the whole cake ended up too dense. There were still leftover durian so I baked another with a tube pan.

Surprisingly, there was a lack of durian fragrance during the baking which I anticipated. But overall, this durian quickbread was very dense and moist and tasted like almost like those brown durian paste (in stick form) pple get from the stores. And this is a taste that I do not take to. So I guess I will not be in a hurry to bake this again.

Another baking failure......

Banana Quickbread

The same day I made the healthful muffins, I proceeded to make this loaf of Banana Quickbread.

I got the recipe from Happy Home Baking, a baking site that I frequent due to the detail instructions from the author.

This was really quick and simple to make. I could not get any over-ripe bananas so I just went to NTUC and bough some ripe looking bananas. My MIL later told me that I shoulg get those that are small in size as those will taste better and have a strong aroma to the baked products.

Mr HB says that these tasted very bland and that the texture of the loaf is really coarse. But I think the taste is ok, packed with banana flavour and moist enough though the texture is really full of holes.

Blueberry Muffin

Unduanted by my last baking failure, I went ahead and tried a different recipe for muffin.

I came across a recipe for this blueberry muffins that are really heathy, no butter nor oil is used and in replcement, it uses yogurt.

I decided to give this a shot. The preparation and baking process was quite smooth this time and in about 30mins time, the muffins were in the tray and into the oven for baking.

I had 1 muffin the following morning and it tasted OK but lacks the usual buttery richness found in "normal" muffins.

Something to keep when one is on a diet.