Bacchanalia

So I've been hearing many good things about this restaurant and previously I tried to make a reservation but was told it was already full! Luckily this time I managed to score a reservation, so does the food live up to the hype & wait?

The decor of the restaurant! I would say seats are quite nicely spaced and the low-lit, red surroundings give a romantic/sexy feel. 

Their menu seen below, is based on the idea of sharing (as with all other restaurants now) and so I think one dish is good for sharing btwn 2 people cos portions aren't that big. Gauge for yourself by looking at the pics below!

This is taken off their fb page (link at the bottom of this post) and is correct as of May 28 2013

Aubergine Assam

$16

Tamarind glazed aubergine, charred aubergine puree, salted kombu crumb

Honestly, this dish was bland and not yummy for our tastes (but I have seen reviewers saying they love this dish so it really is VERY subjective so dont just take my word for it!) I felt that I couldnt tell I was eating eggplant and the assam flavour did not shine through at all. 2.4/5

HD Scallops

$36

Norwegian hand dived scallops, borlotti beans, tobiko, cocoa

This is goooood! If you can spare the $36, I suggest you spend it on this! Plump juicy scallops in a sauce that's slightly creamy but rich in taste, accompanied by the crunchy tobiko, mmmm it was bliss! The boy agreed too. The beans are a nice addition to this dish and I liked them! 4.6/5

Sorry just had to show you guys this :)

Duck Confit

$28

Spinach wrapped confit duck & cucumber

Corn cucmber dashi

Now this is a great rendition of deconstructed peking duck. That is all you'll think of when you eat this dish haha so if you're looking for some Western duck confit flavours here, I suggest you dont order this! But if you want a new way of presenting peking duck which bears about 90% semblance, I suggest you order this. 

I forgot whether you're supposed to drink the dashi first or eat the roll first but dont worry, your server will tell you that. I think eat first then cleanse the strong flavours with the soup?

So for the roll - basically its tender pieces of duck meat, with hoisin sauce (like the peking duck sauce) and some small cucumber strips wrapped in spinach. For us, the sauce was too sweet for our liking and got cloying after awhile. Would have been much nicer if it were a little less sweet!

The dashi was light and clean, tastes of cucumber mostly and did a good job of cleansing your palette! 3.9/5

How the interior looks! Sorry it looks uh kinda gross haha. 

Prawn Risotto

$28

Garlic oiled poached prawn, compressed radicchio di treviso, strawberries, burrata

This was superb!!!!! Please order this. I really love the creativity here ie the radicchio + strawberries! The tartness they add to this dish brings it to a whole new level. The boy and I loved this dish! Prawns were done nicely too. This wonderful dish we finished in no time :) 4.8/5

Steak & Eggs

$38

Brandt beef family reserve rib eye cap, pickled onions, "eggs", chips

The boy really loved their fries! It was wonderfully crisp and seasoned with kombu salt instead of the usual truffle oil nowadays. "Eggs" is actually a ring of yam puree with an egg confit in the middle! He also said that the beef was v tender and flavourful + the onions were sweet too!

Foie Gras Satay

$30

Sous vide foie gras with lemongrass with tamarind fluid gel, grated chestnuts, peanut satay

I felt that this dish didnt remind me of satay! But the foie gras was beautifully done, melts in your mouth kinda literally. Would have liked a bit more sauce to go w it. Cant really taste the chestnuts/peanut sauce so I think this dish, while creative, falls a little short on execution and taste? 3.8/5

Pre-dessert: Strawberry meringues with hazelnut & fromage frais

(credits to TanHsuehYun for the description!)

Super light and strawberry taste is q strong!

Tiramisu

$14 (should be! Not too sure)

Marsala mousse, coffee ganache, coco gel, blackcurrant ice cream

Now the servers are cheeky about this dish when they serve it to you and describe the dish, they purposely miss out a "secret" ingredient (the menu leaves it out too). So after you've tried it, they then come back and ask if you've eaten that part haha. Well its an ingredient q a few restaurants are using in their desserts now, that taste of nostalgia. 

Okay so this does not remind you of tiramisu at all in summary BUT it is a good dessert so dont order if you're looking for classic tiramisu cos the only thing reminiscent of it is the marsala mousse (ie the white parts at the side). In the middle, well it says coffee ganache but it tastes more like chocolate to me but the different textures in this case - mousse, ganache, crunchy bits + secret ingredient below, makes this a rather good dessert. The blackcurrant ice cream was sour and went rather well with the cake though I'm not sure why its there w a supposed tiramisu. 4/5

Avocado & Lime

$15

Black hokkaido sugar, goat cheese cream, lime sorbet

The goat cheese cream is stuffed into the avocado which is coated w black sugar. Now the avocado taste IS strong even w the goat cheese so if you do not like avocado, please dont order this dish! It is a savory dessert so bear that in mind if you wanna order this. I'd say that the pairing of goat cheese w avocado doesnt really resonate with me. The lime sorbet was really refreshing and I like the soil beneath it! I've read many reviews online abt how this dessert's really good, so I guess its really up to you! Do give it a try if your curiosity demands so. 3.6/5

Service was very good there, prompt, friendly, helpful. Ambience is good for a romantic meal! They also have bigger tables to accommodate large groups. They hold themed brunches which includes lotsa alcohol! Do check their fb page if you wanna know more. I think this is a good place to splurge on with creative dishes! Also the menu I showed above is a new version with 5 added dishes since April 21! I liked that there are new dishes to try which'll entice customers to go back. I'd definitely be back for more prawn risotto though! 

Bacchanalia

23A Coleman Street (once you pass MICA, the building w colourful windows, look out for the turn into this historic building! Dont miss it!)

65091453 (please make reservations in advance!)

Tues-Sat 6pm-1am

Sun 11am-3pm

Facebook

Burlamacco Restaurant

Hello everyone!

Today I'm gonna talk about this understated restaurant. My friends and I chose this restaurant to celebrate a birthday and my friend told them beforehand that we're celebrating a birthday (more about this later). So upon arriving, I was kinda shocked to see that we were the only other table! Maybe cos its in the CBD and it was a weekday. I certainly hope it has more people during other times!

We placed our orders with very friendly and helpful wait staff and were presented with mini baguettes as seen below. 

Given olive oil & balsamic vinegar as a dip. Didnt try the bread though but my 2 friends finished it! So I assume it should be quite good :)

The decor! Quite homely this part. There's a comfy sofa to the left when you enter as well

Brodo d'aragosta e granchio

Lobster bisque with crab meat

$18

This one was not a bad rendition, it was kinda sweet for me but very rich in terms of flavours. 3.6/5

Battuta di tonno e avocado

Chopped red tuna & ripe avocado

$22

This was highly recommended by the waiter and my friend J really loved it. I dont usually order this because I find that the avocado and tuna flavours kinda cross each other out so you cant really tell what you're eating. So I'm sorry but no comments on this one as I will give a biased opinion cos I already do not like the dish, nothing to do with the restaurant and the chef! 

Fegato d' anatra arrosto

Duck foie gras, caramelized onion & aged balsamic

$28

This foie was not bad, but I would have liked a bit more seasoning? The piece is actually bigger than it seems here haha. 3.5/5

Risotto al nero di seppia

Traditional florentine black squid ink risotto

$26

I have tried many many squid ink risottos in Singapore and I have to say this comes out as tops! Even though there's only squid in this risotto, you WILL NOT get sick of it cos the sauce is just SO DAMN GOOD. Its of the right consistency and has the right amount of squid ink taste in it so you know you're eating squid ink but its not overly salty! Wonderful stuff. I let my friends try it and they loved it too! I totally didnt mind that I only had squid as accompaniment. Loved this! Would surely go back for this. Must try if you're squid ink lover! 4.9/5

Merluzzo con patate e olive verdi 

Roasted cod fish with potato & green olives

$36

J had this and I thought the portion was kinda small for the price but then again cod is always expensive. It was done nicely and she liked it! 4.2/5

Linguine all'aragosta

Linguine with lobster in spicy "arrabbiata" sauce

$28

V had this and we all tried it. It was served piping hot with lots of smoke haha so it was certainly a signal for us to dig in!! I thought the sauce was a little watery, so didnt really coat the linguine well. Its spicy level is mild (I dont take spicy stuff) and well this was recommended to us but I dont think its that special! The sauce is flavourful though. 4/5

Crostata di cioccolato con gelato alla vaniglia

Chocolate tart with vanilla ice cream

$14

This was what came out for us! Okay so in the end the restaurant didnt manage to get a bday cake for us even though they said they would and then they told us to order something from the menu and they'll put a happy bday thing on it for us which was what they did as seen above. We thought it would be with compliments, but no, they charged us for it. 

Anyhow, the choc tart was super good! We loved the thick yummy rich sinful ganache with the tart shell that was a little, just a little thin for me but I loved it nonetheless cos it was buttery crisp and good. All of us wanted to order somemore (okay 2 more) but we finished this and were too stuffed! The ice cream goes well with the tart, well it has been a timeless pair. Good to end off the meal if you dont mind something chocolatey! 4.5/5

Service: everyone was really friendly and funny, even the chef! 

Ambience: you've seen the pics! Tables arent that close either so its good

Overall: rather good food with good service, what more do you want!

Burlamacco Restaurant

77A Amoy Street

6220 1763

info@burlamacco.com.sg

Mon-Fri 11.30-2.30pm, 6.30-10.30pm

Sat 6.30-10.30pm

Closed Sunday

Mouth Restaurant Dim Sum

Hello everyone!

I know Singaporeans really love dim sum (ok gross generalization) but I think we all are generally on the look out for good dim sum! Okay MOST of us.

My Mom kept telling me that the dim sim here is lackluster but that was her opinion of the food quite a few years back and I insisted on trying them out again a few months back! This post has been a draft for some time now, ooops. 

This restaurant surprised me with innovations in the dimsum scene that actually works and their dimsum is quite good! Prices are quite friendly too so I would definitely go back for their dimsum! Pardon me but I dont remember the price cos it was a few months back and the boy's parents paid for this meal! Also pardon the photos cos I dont find it nice to take photos when I'm dining w his parents!

Roasted Pork

If I'm not wrong this was okayish only cos there wasnt a mad rush to finish it and there werent mmmm or ahhh this is good kinda reactions! Didnt try this so cant give anything concrete

Egg Tart

Their shell is more of the flakey kind as you can see, not bad but not the best I've eaten! Wouldnt hurt to order if you want some egg tarts though! 3.5/5

Squid Ink Seafood Soup with Cream of Egg White

Dont worry, your teeth wouldnt become black after tasting this! Its consistency is not as "flowy" as normal soup, just a little thicker! Has quite a lot of seafood inside - prawns, scallops! Cant tell huh! I like the visual contrast, black & white. Plus the slightly salty taste of the squid ink brings a nice change to the usual seafood soup! Egg white below is ingenious really. I liked this soup! So did his family! 4.4/5 

6 colour har gow

Black - squid ink, orange - carrot, yellow - pumpkin, green - spinach, white - normal, purple - yam?

I think the flavours didnt really shine through, though I think either carrot/pumpkin did. Skin isnt too thick, prawns were crunchy and nice. More for the novelty I guess! 3.5/5

Lotus Leaf Rice

Its glutinous rice with chicken usually wrapped in lotus leaf and steamed. I didnt try this so no comments!

Siew Mai

Theirs was topped with prawns and I liked theirs! Crunchy and good, classic dish done quite well. 4.3/5

Didnt try the chicken feet or the fried thing on the right so cant comment

Spinach with 3 types of egg

century egg, salted egg and normal egg

This one was well like how it tastes in all order restaurants! Get your veggie dose people! 

Squid Ink Char Siew Bao

The bao is a little bit denser but the char siew filling was not too bad! The squid ink taste here is really really subtle, guess it was overpowered by the char siew! 3.8/5

Squid Ink Rice Roll

Accompanied with a dynamic topping of peanut butter & seafood sauce, pork floos, sesame and spring onions

MUST-TRY guys, this is a MUST-TRY!!! It sounds a like crazy weird mix, like what?? But it WORKS, I tell you it does. Its such a good mix, I'm thinking about it and craving it as I type! The peanut butter sauce my ohmy, you'd just wanna coat your cheong fun with it and with all the yummy ingredients that comes with it! The sauce is really really good and is what makes this dish so outstanding! I kept going back for more of this cos it was just so good. The squid ink taste here is totally lost though cos of the overpowering peanut butter sauce. Texture of the cheong fun is really silky smooth so you can slurp it really easily :) I'm not giving 5/5 cos some may get sick of the sauce! 4.8/5

Baked Custard Bun

MUST TRY!!!!!!!

All you custard bun fans, try this and you'll never regret. I will say, this is definitely THE BEST custard bun in Singapore thus far! What's different? Lemme tell you

1) The skin is baked not steamed and it achieves this crispy exterior that is SUCH a nice contrast to the molten lava inside. I really really like the crispy skin!!!

2) The filling omg, would you just look at that? Its totally overflowing with salty sweet goodness and you must be extremely careful when biting it cos its served really piping hot (love this abt it too) and the lava flows like mad so be careful!

PLEASE ORDER THIS! And I suggest asking them to serve this early in the meal so you have space to order more if you want! We were too stuffed by then though we really wanted more! 5/5

Service: we went on a weekend and it was kinda full but service was still rather prompt and brisk. 

Ambience: normal Chinese restaurant set up

I think if you want dimsum, this is definitely a place to try with good classic dishes and innovative dishes that WORK! Am definitely going back soon! Do make reservations though!!

Mouth Restaurant

China Square Central 

22 Cross Street #01-61

South Bridge Court Shop House (it faces the road!)

6438 5798

Plaza Singapura

#02-01 (in the old plaza sing)

6337 7446

Opening hours for both:

Weekday - 1130am to 3pm, 6pm to 10pm

PH & weekend - 10am to 10pm