W39 Bistro & Bakery

Decided on a casual diner to end the weekend. W39 Bistro & Bakery is a home-styled bistro located along West Coast Road (*gasp* So far away! We're Easties!). The place is really cozy, with lots of knick knacks and sorts used to decorate the walls. 

1. Seared Tuna, Avocado Salsa, Soy Glaze, Wasabi Mayo | 2.Braised Lamb Shank, Fried Man Tou | 3. Home Made Crab Cakes

4. Sweet Norwegian Shrimps, Lemon Mayo | 5. Parma Ham Toast, Mozzarella, Tomato | 6. Crispy Chicken Winglets, Chilli Dip 


The Seared Tuna comes sliced and drizzled with a mixture of soya and wasabi mayo sauce.It's refreshing taste makes this dish a great appetiser. The Home Made Crab cakes were really well made! The crab cake were sweet and soft on the inside. Very savoury! We were a little disappointed with the Norwegian Shrimps as they tasted slightly fishy. Thankfully the Parma Ham Toast and Crispy Winglets made up for it. Both were really good, in particular the golden brown winglets dipped with Thai sweet chilli sauce.


The food was pretty decent and we liked the decor. This place will probably see many repeat customers coming in to enjoy the nice cafe/bistro environment and for a simple meal. It's nice that they provide magazines. It would be nice to spend a lazy afternoon with a cup of coffee and just enjoying some reads.

W39 Bistro & Bakery. 39 Jalan Mas Puteh Singapore 128637
Reservations: +65 9646-5372
Tue-Fri 11am-10pm
Sat, Sun & P.H 9am-10:30pm

Teo Heng Teochew Porridge @ Amoy Street

1. Steamed Fish | 2. Braised Duck | 3. Fishcake and Sotong

4. Pork Belly | 5. Happy Uncle | 6. Teo Heng Stall

glutTAN Gong Gong and Po Po have been patronizing this stall for more than 20 years. As Teochews, we really enjoy the Teochew fare here, which while simple, is really authentic and tasty. A definite favourite for warm home style comfort food. The stall is now helmed by the 2nd generation - the friendly uncle & wife team who always asks why we haven't been there in so long whenever they see us.

The fish is freshly bought everyday and cleaned thoroughly before being steamed. Even the stomach is cleaned, ensuring that there is no fishiness. The fish is steamed perfectly and the meat is really soft and fresh! The chye buay or kut chye (as grandpa Tan calls is, I can't figure out what he's really saying) on top, is really yummy too! They also pour some soup over the fish to keep it warm when served. The Braised Duck and Pork Belly, are cooked in a braised lou (sauce), a recipe that has been perfected over the years. A must try at the stall is the braised egg - which has a perfect watery yolk (no pictures as they ran out by lunch time).

Most of the items are usually sold out by 1pm, especially with the huge lunch crowd. If you're able to, go in the morning as they serve breakfast too! There are less people so you can 1. get a seat, 2. have a full menu to choose from, 3. chat with the uncle and enjoy your leisurely breakfast.

Bill for 4 of us came up to SGD$60-$70, including the fresh steamed fish.

Teo Heng Teochew Porridge

7 Maxwell Road, #01-27 Amoy Street Food Centre Singapore 069111

Chopsuey Cafe @ Dempsey

1. Crispy Duck Pow! Pockets | 2. Yam Truffle Ball | 3. Prawn Toasties

4. Chop Chop Crispy Seafood Noodle | 5. Chopsuey | 6. Sticky Crunchy Baby Squid

Nestled in an old house with a colonial charm, and with a nice outdoor area overlooking the trees outside. The weather was a little chilly from the slight drizzle and was just the perfect temperature to enjoy our meal outdoors.

Food wise, it was pretty interesting. The Duck Pow! Pockets comes with finely shredded duck meat wrapped in a soft white bun. Be sure to drizzle the sweet duck sauce over to enjoy this dish! The Yam Balls with Truffle, a remake of the Wu Kok - a popular dim sum dish. Grandpa Tan's complaint is that the yam taste is too weak. Prawn Toasties were cutely presented like a sweet sesame snack pasty. The description mentioned prawn paste and I was expecting something with a richer taste, but the dish alone was a little bland.

As a staple, we had the Crispy Seafood Noodles, which while was ok, had a SGD$36 price tag that clearly didn't sit to well with grandpa and grandma Tan. The fried Baby Squids had a sweetness to it and would have been great paired with rice. 

The food here is, as stated on their website, the anglicized form of a chinese dish (i.e overpriced Chinese food). Nonetheless, the overall experience and ambiance, plus the pretty good food, definitely makes this place worth a try. The chic decor and the tranquility of the place will surely see us heading back there pretty often just to get away from other over-crowded brunch places, and to enjoy some comfort food.

Chopsuey Cafe. # 01 - 23. Block 10. Dempsey Rd. Singapore.

Reservations +65 9224 6611

Jin Shan Lou @ MBS Hotel Lobby 2

1. San Bei Ji 三杯鸡 | 2. Deep Fried Prawns in Blackberry Honey Mayonnaise | 3. Seafood Soup Served in Pumpkin

Jin Shan Lou serves a mixture of authentic Catonese, Hunan and Sichuan dishes, and is a restaurant that is usually overlooked unless you're a guest at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel.  They have a good variety of dishes, including soup, for those looking for a dose of comfort food. 

We had 2 of their signature dishes and they were both indeed very savoury! We really liked the Deep fried prawns in  blackberry honey mayonnaise sauce topped with almond - very interesting, and the sweetness of the sauce was not overpowering. The pumpkin seafood soup came with a generous serving of chopped seafood bits (prawns, sliced abalone, fish maw, dried and fresh scallops) that added to the sweetness of the pumpkin. Very yummy! It really does whet your appetite. The chicken in the San Bei Ji, or 3 cup chicken, was very soft as well. If you're a garlic lover, you wouldn't want to miss the whole garlic that has been simmered and infused with the taste of the 3 different types of sauces in this dish.

Other dishes worth a try: Cod Fish in Jin Shan Special Sauce, Siew Mai with Abalone and Pork Slices with Garlic.

Verandah Contemporary Asian Bistro

Verandah is very conveniently located at the arrival square of Gardens by the Bay. I especially liked how they took inspiration from the many colonial bungalows of Singapore and dressed the place up in black & white, and with very earthly tones. They had 4 clocks on the wall showing time in Singapore, Jurong Island, Sentosa and Pulau Tekong, which had it's time set earlier than the other 3 because time always passes more slowly for an army boy in Tekong.

Soup of the day - Pumpkin Soup - SGD$7

The pumpkin soup was nicely cooked and was very refreshing.  It did not have a smokey taste, and was smooth and sweet. 

Bacon "Wok-Hei" Aglio Olio - SGD$14.80

Linguine with farm fresh mushrooms, bacon,garlic and olive oil with a serious touch of "Wok Hei"

This asian take on the Aglio Olio was a little too oily. Wok Hei it definitely had though and came with a slight charred taste.

Parma Ham with Avocado - SGD$13.80

Italian parma ham, tomatoes, guacamole, arugula, feta cheese with black pepper & sea salt

The parma ham didn't quite appeal to us. 

Singapore Laksa - SGD$8.80

Rice noodles, prawn, shredded chicken, fishcake, in spicy coconut curry broth

This dish was surprisingly good! The broth was really fragrant and sweet. It wasn't  oily as well and I kept wanting to have more.

Smoked Salmon & Avocado Salad - SGD$15.60

Smoked salmon, avocado, apple, watermelon and salad greens with citrus dressing

This came in a big bowl with 2 very miserable strips of smoked salmon. While it tasted ok, I think my initial disappointment at the lack of salmon kinda killed any excitement for this dish. At $15 bucks, I was definitely expecting more salmon and apples. The citrus flavour did help work up an appetite though.

 Tom Yam Seafood Linguine - SGD$16.80

Linguine with prawns, squid, clams in a dry-style spicy Tom Yam sauce

This dish was pretty neutral. It was a little salty and had a slight powdery texture, but the tom yam flavour was an interesting twist to the dish. The portions of seafood was quite generous also. The noodles were probably cooked a little longer than usual so that it would resemble asian noodles better in terms of softness, without being soggy.

Fried Hokkien Prawn Noodles - SGD$9.80

Rice vermicelli, egg noodles, fish cake, squid & prawns (contains pork)

If you're expecting the usual Fried Hokkien Mee you find at your usual hawker stall, you're going to be disappointed. This dish was very ordinary and lacked any sort of fragrance you usually get from those cooked in the chinese wok. It was very watery and could easily be mistaken for a different dish.  

Kid's Fish & Chippy Box - SGD$12.80

Fish fingers, french fries, fresh fruit and jello

While the fish was forgettable, the fries were actually very nicely fried. The perfect nibble size and we were all stealing B's fries because they were so tasty.

Overall we liked the the ambiance very much and the fact that it's in a garden makes it very relaxing. The large french windows allows for an unblocked view of the trees and lets lots of light in as well. Greenery is always a plus for us and the big space means the kid's get to run about without us having the keep such a close eye on them. The weather that day was really nice as well. I would definitely return for the Laksa. Just to note, the waffles (not pictured) is not worth trying as well.

Verandah

Gardens by the Bay

Singapore

Le Cuisson @ Holland Drive

UPDATE: They have since shifted to
44 Prinsep Street, Prinsep Place, Singapore 188673


French cuisine in an unassuming coffee shop at Holland Drive. It's pretty easy to miss actually.

The price of French food always seems to put people off, so it's always great to be able to find affordable French food that's catered to the masses.

Foie Gras Salad - The apple bits were the most memorable actually. The foie gras was a little salty, but the salad dressing was quite good. For the price you're paying, the portion was very reasonable. Mushroom Pasta + Truffle Oil (add SGD$1 for truffle oil)- This was pretty tasty and I liked how it was a little creamy. Would order this again.  Australian Barramudi (SGD$13) - Not a fan of fish but this was pretty decent as well. The base mash was smooth and creamy, with corn and cherry compote. If you're a fish fan, do give this a try.

 The bill was less than SGD$30 but we both agreed that we probably will not be make a special effort to go there for a meal, unless we're in the area. Otherwise the food was decent and we liked the area very much. The fact that it's set in in a Kopitiam is pretty interesting as well (self service). Walkable from both Holland V and Buona Vista.

La Cuisson

40 Holland Drive

44 Prinsep Street, Prinsep Place, Singapore 188673
Tue - Fri: 5:30pm - 11:00pm
Sat: 10:00am - 2:30pm, 5:30pm - 11:00pm
Sun: 10:11am - 2:30pm

Broth @ Duxton Hill

Broth - Bar Restaurant On The Hill. An interesting name i guess, since they are at the top of Duxton Hill, nicely nestled at the quieter end. Called for a reservation around 5, and was surprised they managed to seat all 7 of us on a Friday night, although only outside. Nonetheless, we decided to give it a try. It's on the right side should you be walking from the public carpark, just opposite L'entrecote.

Named Broth, but really has nothing much to do with broth. Housed in a old shophouse, the high celings  and bookshelves remind more of a New York cafe. The interior is pretty bar/bistro like and definitely very cozy.

Here's the menu that I got off their website.

Appetizers

  Third of a Dozen Oyster Fritters w Wasabi mayo & Lemon Wedge - SGD$19

 The sauce was quite refreshing, and the oysters were fresh too.

Baby Spinach & Portobello Mushroom Salad w Shallots & Raspberry Dressing - SGD$19

The mushrooms were a little too dry for our liking. Other than that, the shallots were a great accompaniment to the baby spinach. The raspberry sauce also went very well with the mushrooms, making this a great appetizer.

 

Asparagus & Spring Pea Risotto w Melting Smoked Cheddar & Truffled Egg - SGD$19

 Undisputedly the best dish that night. It had a slight smoky taste, and the semi-cooked egg was really good also. Wish they had this as a main.

 

Duck, Hazelnut, Prune & Ham Terrine, w Liver Dressing, Cress Salad & Lavoche - SGD$19

Pretty normal. Nothing memorable.

Pan Fried Foie Gras w Salted Caramel Apple, Toasted Almonds & Croissant - SGD$29

 Had high hopes for this one since we like foie gras. Slightly disappointed as the foie gras was overcooked, with a slight charred taste and didn't really really melt in your mouth. The caramel apple instead was the highlight of this dish.

Main Course

Molasses Glazed Pork Ribs, Pumpkin, Sesame & Coriander Slice, Spring Salad - SGD$39

As unappealing as this looks, it was actually not bad. The meat was soft and nicely flavoured by the sauce.

Garoupa Fillet w Carrot Chutney, Cameron Green Veg & Mandarine Oil - SGD$39

 The fish was nicely grilled with a hint of sweetness. It was fresh and appetizing, but tasted a little more Chinese than Australian though.

Prawn & Salmon Pie w Mashed Potato, Spring Vegetable & Crisp Puff Pastry - SGD$39

 A disappointment as it tasted really fishy. I can imagine this dish being quite delicious if the seafood was done right. Not too sure why since they pride themselves on using the freshest ingredients.

Lamb Loin in A Green Coat On Fine Beans, Rosemary Potatoes & Mint Jus - SGD$45

This was a highly recommended dish from all the reviews that I had read. Chose for this to be medium done and the texture of the lamb was good. However, taste wise it didn't live up to our expectations.  The mint was also a little overpowering even though mutton is know to have a strong taste.

  

Pasta of the Day - Aglio Olio w Seafood & Spinach - SGD$38

The portion was huge, enough to feed 2 or more people. The cheese in the pasta probably made this a little strong tasting. Seafood included prawns, fish and crab meat. Again, was pretty normal.

Desserts

L: Omfg Chocolate, R: Sticky Date Pudding w Butterscotch Sauce & Ice Cream

 The biscuit like chocolate/sugar  of the Omfg chocolate went well with the ice cream, but was clearly lacking in the chocolate department. I was expecting a really rich chocolaty moist cake, but both cakes were a little too dry.

Overall the food was a little disappointing and mediocre, but the ambiance and decor made up for it.  It was nice being seated outside, along the pebbled street in the midst of old restored shophouses. A little nostalgic for my parents, who started talking about how it looked exactly like my mother's old house. If the weather were cooler, it would have been a perfect dining spot. One off the list for Duxton.