Monday, May 27, 2013

Restaurant Week, 2012 edition: Stellar @ 1-Altitude

Long weekend is over & Monday seemed extra blue today :( Gotten my laptop back 3 weeks ago & my hard disk was replaced (yet again!). So, I spent my weekend re-installing all my applications to get the laptop functional again. I hate having to deal with technical issues on a personal level, even though I have to deal with these all the time during work, haha! I've been blogging using Leecher's laptop and it certainly felt GREAT to have my own laptop back :) Frantically did a backup of all my pictures and transferred them to another ext HDD - so now I have copies of them on the laptop & 2 ext HDDs #kiasu.
Another edition of Restaurant Week 2012 with the BFF @ Stellar. This was taken eons ago when BFF was still working in the city and we met up for restaurant week over lunch :) Miss those impromptu lunches! 
 
The dark world before you can see light on the other side #cheesyline, lol! 
 
We sat smack in the middle of the restaurant without a city view. That was akin to giving the kid his favourite candy, only to let him find out that it was the wrong flavour. Well, nothing beats the wonderful company I have! 
The usuals - warm water + bread to kick start any meal.
Since BFF is much better with food description than me, hop over to her review here :) The best way to "leech", gosh ~ the negative traits that I'm picking up from the hubby.
 
Till the next entry & Monday will be over soon! Hang in there :)
 Stellar @ 1-Altitude
1 Raffles Place 
Singapore 048616
Tel: 6438 0410
Opening Hours: 11.30am till 2.30pm, 6pm till 12am (Mon-Fri) & 6pm till 12am (Weekends & PH)

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Baby Bro's Birthday 2013

 
Celebrated baby bro's birthday on Labour Day :) Bought a lovely chocolate fudge cake from choc.a.bloc for the celebration. 
My lil darling bro with his birthday cake :) We sang happy birthday song and he kept looking around. We also let him ate a tiny mouth of the birthday cream & he gave a smile. He nv fail to melt my heart (^^)

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Sunday Brunch: Cafe Melba

 
With the recent rekindled interest in cafes, Leecher labelled me as a "banana" as I have a special liking towards English angmoh brunch rather than chinese food. I will kick up a fuss if I don't get my dosage of brunch for the week #truestory. A couple of weeks back, we brought parents-in-laws for Sunday brunch @ Cafe Melba.
Dressed in matching colours. Many a times, we just picked our outfits w/o realising that we wore the same colours till we saw our reflections in the lift.
Located at the recently opened Goodman Art's Centre, this is a kids & dog friendly cafe, with a big park for them to run around in. There is also a bouncy castle for the kids to bounce and jump around outdoors. Parking is a breeze as well :)
 Cafe Melba don't take in any reservations on weekends and public holidays for breakfast & lunch. So join the queue and wait for the next table. You will only be offered the table once the entire party has arrived.
The name derived from the combined letters of Melbourne (MELB) and Asia (A) with is what Cafe Melba is all about. A blend of influences from both regions to provide a casual all-day dining experience, with interpretations of Australasian dishes. 
 
I love how fresh blossoms light up the table settings :) 
 
Don't they look pretty? 
 
Us with Parents-in-laws :) Wanted to let them try something different from the usual chinese fix & I needed my weekly fix of angmoh brunch. Killing 2 birds with one stone, lol!
** Brunch menu is only available on weekends & public holidays only.
 Truffles fries ($13), mega love! The aroma of truffle is enough to send me to heaven and back, haha! While my personal favourite still goes to PS Cafe, this is a strong contender to rival the throne.
 
 Braised Lamb Shank with mashed potato & minted peas ($30). Meat was tender and full of flavour with every bite. Daddy-in-law let me try and I was really sold on this dish!
Crayfish linguini, with roasted crayfish, red peppers, rocket with crayfish bisque ($27).
Happy faces, seemed to be pleased with Leecher's selections for them.
 
Free range eggs benedicts for Leecher ($18) - with poached eggs, toasted english muffins, home-cured bacon, roasted cherry-vine tomatoes and topped with lemon hollandaise sauce. Option is available to replace bacon with parma ham or smoked salmon. 
 
The egg yolk was overcooked #epicfail, much to Leecher's disappointment.
  
As for me, the usual smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast with salad ($18) :)
Ordered their freshly baked cakes for desserts - carrot cake & toufle cake ($8 each). Toufle cake was extremely sweet, as if they emptied the whole packet of sugar into the mixing. Carrot cake, on the other hand was dense in texture. The bits of pistachio nuts added a nice crunch. 
 
Happy brunching :) 
Cafe Melba
90 Goodman Road, Goodman Arts Centre,
 Block N #01-56
Singapore 439053
Tel:  6446068
Opening Hours: 10am till 10pm (Mon-Fri), 8.30am till 10pm (Sat, Sun & Public Holidays) 

Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Pelican Seafood Bar & Grill

 
Yeah, another Public Holiday tomorrow, cheers to a long weekend! Wanted to do a short trip initially, but lazy bum bum Leecher (what a mouthful!) was too lazy to plan for anything. Hence, we are staying in Singapore to enjoy the long weekend .... clearing the house! The woes of staying away from the parents :( Already made plans to check out a couple of cafes, but hopefully we can wake up in time, lol!
The usual gossip catchup session with the BFF. This time, we headed over to The Pelican, located at One Fullerton. Perfect for me, as it was just located opposite my office :P 
 
Outdoor & indoor seatings are available, but we tend to pick indoors to avoid the heat. Recommended to sit outdoors to enjoy the night view. 
Love the round tables - the girls headed straight for the comfy cushions while the guys got delegated to sitting at the hard chairs.
 
Sitting by the bar made a totally new experience, only recommended for 2 pax. 
 
The Pelican has long been a symbol that holds great affinity to sea travellers who would find their way back to land after a long voyage to celebrate their homecoming. Since this is a seafood bar & grill, most of the items are from the sea. They do have some items that cater to the vegetarian crowd.
Leecher heading straight for the wine promotion menu, lol! One-for-one on selected house pour wines, beers and spirits on weekdays, 5pm till 8pm.
 
The guys had red wine, while the girls decided to stay with warm water. 
Seaweed bread to kick off the evening. We got really excited once this was placed on the table. Interesting rendition, but it was as hard as rock. Disappointment. 
 
Old Bays Fries ($12). We ordered this for sharing, only to realize that all our mains came with this fries. Nothing fantastic to shout about, though it taste better with a dab of chilli/tomato sauce. 
Old Fashioned Crab Cakes served with quick pickle slaw ($22). This was a tad too pricey for 2 small crab-cakes to be shared amongst 4 pax. Decent enough, though I wished the size could be slightly bigger.
 
Our +1 for the evening. 
Cornflake Crusted Scallops, with sweet & sour shallots ($48). This was placed under the section "Others" on the menu, along with Baked Snapper Pie. Before the dish was served, Minqian jokingly said that maybe it will come with 4 scallops @ $12 bucks each. True enough, it came in 4 puny scallops, enough just for 2 bites, lol! A pricey $6 bucks for each bite. The cornflake was just a crust covering the scallop, though it would be better if they put in cornflakes to go with the dish as well.
 
"Koped" some pictures from BFF's facebook (those w/o watermarks) for this entry :) She has a new toy now, which I'm really tempted to get one too *bad influence*
Baked Snapper Pie, contains fish stew, vegetables served in puff pastry ($36). This required a 20 min preparation time, so advisable to order this early.
Totally worth the waiting time. Always trust the foodie in food recommendations!
 
A fluffy pie filled with goodies inside! The pie was baked to perfection. When sliced open, be greeted with a fish stew served with generous chunks of snapper. This was certainly the highlight of the meal. A must-order! Like fireworks, you only get the climax once. The remaining dishes were lackluster, in terms of presentation & taste.
Skate Wing Chop with burnt lemon butter ($32). I ordered this, thinking that it must be chicken-related (pardon me for my ignorance about fish parts)! We nearly die of fish overdose that night. This was just like grilled stingray without belachan and once again, a pricey tag to boost. The flesh was overcooked, seasoning was mild. Lemon was just for garnish instead of adding to the flavour. Skip this dish.
 
 Line-caught swordfish steak, with fresh herb vinaigrette ($36). I was first introduced to the phrase "line-caught" from a friend whose sister deals with purchasing of seafood for a supermaket. Basically, line-caught denotes that a fish that has been caught with a rod & fishing line instead of trawling with a net. This act of fishing is more environmentally friendly too. My first experience with swordfish! The flesh was rubbery and firm. Not my cup of tea, as I prefer it to be tender. 
Red Bream Fillet with anchovy jam ($42). Ordinary at its best.
 
Star dish of the night :) 
 
Say "cheese" :)  
 
Desserts time! 
 
Double Chocolate Whoopie Pie ($16). Once again, as recommended by Minqian. She was willing to face a breakout to taste this. Whoopie pie is also commonly known as "BFO" (Big-Fat Oreo). Unlike the normal way of eating oreo (eating it layer by layer or slam-dunking it into milk), this can be consumed the way you would eat a cake. 
Lemon Meringue "Mess" with fresh graham cracker ($14). Leecher ordered this to balance out the sweetness from Whoopie Pie. An interesting presentation of the dessert that steal a couple more shots as compared to the rest, lol! While Whoopie Pie wowed us in taste, this scored more points in presentation.
The lovely skyline of One Fullerton.
Such enticing skyline, must take pictures right?
Shortie couple VS Tallie couple, lol!
with the dearest BFF :) Thank you for accommodating to my height, lol! 
The Pelican Seafood Bar & Grill
1 Fullerton Road, #01-01
One Fullerton 
Singapore 049213
Tel: 65368229
Email: enquiry@thepelican.com.sg
Opening Hours: 12pm till 3pm (Lunch), 5pm till 11pm (Dinner)
Closed on Sundays
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