New Restaurant: Lollapalooza

Lolla reallyyyy impressed us when we went when they first opened but they've become so popular since then that we have yet to go back so when I heard a sister outlet was opening, I was very excited! I knew the food would be good and when they finally announced their opening, I told N that we would go asap! So we went and it was already full on a weekday night! (not Friday) so I guess they do have many fans :) rightly so since their food is great!

It is situated near the end of Keong Saik road but I suggest you park at whatever lot you find cos parking is crazy and so difficult to get! 

The following photos are the menus for the night and it changes daily according to their website. N and I both agreed that their menu is one of the most interesting ones we've seen and the dishes are all very original! There are safer choices and more adventurous choices for different palates and I suggest you try to push your limit cos you will never know if you don't try! 

The ambience of this restaurant is very different from Lolla. Lolla's main concept is a bar concept where you sit at the bar and watch them prepare your food. But Lollapalooza, is all sit down with a few bar seats but similarly its an open kitchen concept with a huge stone oven catching with my eye. It is not a big restaurant so expect seats to be full and it can get rather noisy but not deafening.

Now on to the food:

Dog Cockle Tartare

$30

Okay so we didn't know what dog cockles were initially haha but after the dish was served, we were like "ohhhhhhhhh" basically its the kind that you find in some Chinese restaurants, sometimes they cook w vegetables and they come canned from the supermarket. I don't really like them usually because they're quite chewy and sometimes there's still sand inside but they cleaned it really well and the marinade was great because it didn't mask the taste of the cockle but gave sort of a "fresh" taste to it which made you okay with eating it continuously! Also like the presentation of this dish :) 3.9/5

Braised Tuna Eye with Salsa Verde 

$48

I saw this on the menu and I told N, we are definitely ordering this!!! I thought only the eye would be served but actually it was more like tuna cheek/half of tuna head kind of thing haha which I love because the meat there is so full of fat and the texture is so soft and unlike the other parts of the fish! So if you love fish head then please get this :) the texture and the aroma is great and the salsa does a great job of balancing the fattiness! The eye itself you don't eat because its kinda hard but they do cook the parts behind the eyeball but don't worry, there's no strong fishy taste or weird smells. Don't be afraid to order this dish! You won't regret it :) 4.5/5

Wagyu Ribeye Cap

Prefecture, Grade A4, 180g, served rare only

$55

The boy ate this on his own as I don't take beef. He said that this had a very interesting texture - crusty/crispy on the outside and the inside is very soft and kind of melt-in-your-mouth type of texture kinda like otoro he said haha. He thinks its really a v good dish and its v worth the money! The first few pieces were heavenly for him but because there were other dishes on the table and he kinda rotated amongst them so coming back to this dish, was a bit jialat cos he did have to finish all of those by himself haha but I imagine most people would share it so not much problem there! 4.3/5

Flatbread

With fennel and cured anchovies 

$15

Please be prepared that cured anchovies is rather salty and the taste is quite intense so if you are not okay with that, don't order this. Because in some bites you'll get anchovies and flat bread, the taste is quite strong. Couldn't really taste the fennel tho :/ different parts of the flatbread had different textures, the first piece I got was chewy but then the 2nd slice I took was more crispy and fragrant. 3.4/5

Lamb shoulder and oyster stew

$39

I LOVED THIS! :) It was a great marriage of tastes and I think its a really really great idea!!! Super creative to think of adding oysters to lamb stew! I thought it would taste weird but surprisingly the gravy went well with the oyster and the oysters were super plump!! Tons better than those at the hotel buffets omg love these :) the lamb was not super tender such that you don't really need to chew but theres still some bite to it which is the type of texture I like :) the gravy is super addictive and I used the flatbread to mop up the gravy :) also scooped up spoonfuls of the gravy to eat with the carrots inside! There's no raw/oyster-ish taste in the gravy, it tastes purely like a lamb stew kind of gravy 4.6/5

Dark chocolate roll

$16

I haven't actually been to a restaurant that serves roll cake for dessert! This was very very fluffy and light! The cream in between though occupying about 80% of the dessert (look at photo below) doesn't feel heavy/cloying, there's a fairly strong taste of alcohol but doesn't overpower the chocolate! The chocolate cake itself, though it looks like it is super crispy, it is not actually crispy haha its just really soft and fluffy. Its a light dessert to end with! 3.9/5

Quince Galette

$18

Quince is a fruit that is in the same family as the apple and pear. Its texture is more of a pear and when cooked it looks kinda like pumpkin haha but the taste and texture is like stewed pear! I really really loved the crust of the galette! It was sooo crispy on top and there were quite a few layers in the dough although it looks deceivingly thin, and the strong buttery fragrance just makes me love it even more! There is enough quince for it to be evenly spread out with the dough and the cream at the side went quite well with the buttery dough giving it some vanilla fragrance. The quince itself were cooked with vanilla too I think 'cos I saw the vanilla specks! 4.2/5

The service was really really good there! Everyone was super friendly and light-hearted, very smiley :) I love restaurants that provide a jug of iced water to those who want cos its so much easier for everyone! At Lollapalooza, they don't just leave you with the jug, if they pass by and your cup is empty, they'll pour it for you. There were quite a lot of staff for a restaurant this size which is applaudable since restaurants now have shortage of staff! Wish there could be some seats in front of the kitchen so we can see them in action. 

Our food came super quickly, one after the other and our table barely had space to fit everything. I think it was cos we gave our order when the other tables didn't so our food came super fast. Cos when the tables next to us ordered, theirs came at a more spaced out pace. 

I would definitely go back to try more dishes, especially since their menu changes daily! I also love the fact that they don't stay with the usual tapas dishes and really put their minds into creating new dishes. I also like the fact that they have adventurous options for those who want to try. For example, the veal tongue, according to the server, you are really served the tongue and you have to peel off the outer tough skin and then eat the inside. Then the fig dish is super interesting I feel haha, its stuffed with merguez which is a spicy mutton or beef sausage and wrapped w bacon! We didn't order that cos I don't really like sausages/bacon but both tables next to us ordered and it did look good :) 

They have a selection of red and white wines and some dessert wines but I didn't take a photo of that menu.

Be back soon Lollapalooza!

1A Keong Saik Road

Facebook

Mon-Sat 6-11pm

Lunch and Sunday brunch coming soon

Closed Sunday

Website

Can reserve online at Chope!

New Restaurant: Boca Restaurant (Portugese food)

So Singapore doesn't really have restaurants serving purely Portuguese food and this hole is now filled with Boca Restaurant! 

Boca Restaurant has taken over the space of Oca Grassa and has totally transformed the interior! I have not been to the upper floors as they were not opened to public yet, the first floor has this relaxed bar vibe that seems to be the in thing now and I'm definitely not complaining! I love watching how food is being prepared and watching cocktails being mixed. But that night, N and I had lots to catch up on so we opted for a table instead! 

Being the first two customers of the night, we were very warmly welcomed into the restaurant and were given recommendations as well as notified of the daily specials by the chef herself who was very amiable. The two waiters were also very nice and helpful! More on that later.

Here is the menu:

It starts off with an explanation of the decor of the place, and what black swallows mean to the Portugese, then explains Boca and its concept, then the next page (which is not pictured) tells you about Portugal and its influence on the world!! 

For example, I totally didn't know that 

1) TEMPURA was introduced by Portuguese to the Japanese

2) Tulips, diamonds were introduced by Portugese to the Netherlands

3) Spices/curry to India

When we saw the number of desserts our eyes totally lit up and we were so excited to have dessert! I love a restaurant with a wide range of desserts to choose from that steers away from the usual but comes up with flavours that work and are interesting :)

We ordered white sangria as our meal consists of mainly seafood. I must say this was really refreshing :)

Complimentary Bread

We were served Portuguese olive oil along with the bread and I must say the olive oil is really different from those I've been having. Firstly its more viscous and secondly the taste is a little bit stronger and has a fragrance to it. Sorry my descriptive powers aren't very strong.

This bread was amazing, crispy crust with a chewy to soft consistency inside. N liked it so much that he ate everything haha. The bread is also made by the chef herself.

Octopus salad w red onions, capsicum, cilantro, extra virgin olive oil and vinegar

$21

I thought this was fairly average, similar to octopus salads I've eaten here. This was refreshing, octopus wasn't super chewy, was just the right texture, and the mixture of onions/capsicums/cilantro proved to be a good taste contrast to the octopus. Couldn't really taste any vinegar though 3/5

Grilled sardines with smoke olive oil and roasted peppers

We were recommended to order this dish and were told the bones could be eaten as well. Some parts I really chomped the bones down but it was a little difficult 'cos its only grilled fish not deep fried so the bones aren't really super chewable. Next I thought the sardines were a little too salty for my liking. However the sardine was fresh which made grilling it the best way to enjoy it 3/5

Bread "porridge" with choice of cod/shrimp (chose shrimp), olive oil, fish stock and coriander

$22

We were super intrigued by "bread porridge" and we're so glad we tried!!! This reminded us of mui fan cos everything was so gooey in a perfect way! The bread was extremely soft and there was egg and pieces of crunchy shrimp as well as that stack of coriander! Very flavourful and very comforting dish. Super homey feeling when eating this!!! Esp nowadays when the weather is so cooling, eating this just warms your soul seriously, not exaggerating. 4.4/5

Special of the day: cod w egg/chorizo/potatoes/olives (I think)

Now I don't really know the exact ingredients in this dish and I forgot the price haha but the chef only told us cod + eggs and its a special and we won't regret haha and we really didn't! This was certainly a very interesting dish and something we've never tried before even in our travels! The mash was nicely peppered with the fragrance from fried egg + potatoes, saltiness from the chorizo (I think its chorizo, i'm not 100% sure) and the sweetness from the cod! Oh! And onions too. So this was a really nice combi mixed into one pot :) 4.4/5

Quail Confit with Port wine and grapes

$19

Now we were recommended to order this and told that there was only 1 portion per night!! (D:) since it sounded interesting and being the first customers of the night, we managed to try it! Subsequently another group of guests wanted to order and the waiter told them they only have 1 portion per day :/

The quail wasn't really confit texture to me haha it felt more like a braised quail? The sauce was super super good omg with the plump huge grapes and mushroom (I think!) and the port wine! And knowing that the sauce is great and customers would wanna mop it up, bread comes along for this dish!! The boy finished the bread as well haha. Even though it looks like a small jar, the amount of meat is quite substantial especially after eating so many dishes! I love that they were generous with the plump grapes and mushrooms. 4.4/5

The Real Portugese egg tart

$3.90

Now this was heavennnnnnnn so different from Tong heng egg tarts which are my to-go egg tarts whenever I'm having a craving. I've never been to Portugal so I can't compare and tell you if its really the real Portugese egg tart but I must say this is pretty darn good!!! Pity that 1) its rather expensive 2) it wasn't hot when it arrived :/ we weren't sure whether it was meant to be served at this temperature but we didn't bother asking them to heat it up because we didn't wanna trouble them. Even without heating it up, it was already amazing, I imagine it must be better when heated up! It had quite a few layers in its pastry but not those flakey bite and drop all over kind of layers, somehow the layers stay together and are distinct and nicely crisp. The custard is not too eggy and there's a layer of crispy caramelisation atop that brings this to a new level :) 4.5/5

Chocolate Mousse with hazelnut praline

$10

Now I've seen some photos on instagram of this dessert and it definitely did not look like this. The versions on instagram had more stuff in it and even on the same night when this dessert was served to the other tables, it had blackberries inside which we didn't have :/ wonder what happened?

Anyhow, I thought this was rather normal, majority of it is the mousse. Cant really figure out whats in the white layer tho! We broke the praline into smaller bits so that we can have some in every bite. 3.2/5

Vanilla custard with egg white "clouds" in caramel

$14

We were recommended to get this dessert but again I thought it was average but it was certainly a show to see the chef make the caramel! This had an eggy taste to it that was quite distinct so stay away if you do not like it. Couldn't really taste the caramel under the egg though. 3/5

Chef Lola's apple tart with cheese mousse

$11

This can't really be considered a tart because there wasn't really a tart shell per se and I assume the crumbs in front are to be considered the shell. The cheese was very bland and you virtually only have  a slight bit of saltiness when you eat it with the apple. Nonetheless it was an interesting combi 3/5

In the future I would try the almond egg pudding! 

Overall - N and I both agreed that we really liked the food there because all the dishes were good even though not all stood out! But well its kinda hard to make all dishes stand out primarily because people have different tastes.

Service: the waiters are really polite, especially the Asian guy. And really helpful overall as well! So good service is a good thing!

We are definitely coming back to try the slightly more upmarket food on the first floor when it opens to the public! We really liked the change of cuisine and were glad we got introduced to Portuguese food :) I would say this restaurant definitely has much prospects and is a fresh addition to the global cuisine we already have in Singapore!

Now who thinks there's gonna be a crop of Portuguese restaurants opening soon? ;)

Boca Restaurant

6 Bukit Pasoh Road (parking is a bitch, either go early or ask for valet from the other restaurants nearby) note that it is at the start of Bukit Pasoh road when you turn in from Neil road

Mon-Sat 6pm-12am

 62210132

Facebook

New Restaurant: La Taperia (ex Terry's Singapore)

I love Spanish food and when I heard a new Spanish restaurant was opening in Singapore under the Les Amis group and by an established Spanish chef, I knew I was visiting this restaurant for dinner next. So on Tuesday, N and I had dinner at this beautiful place. 

Its located in the "new wing" of Shaw Centre which houses new shops and restaurants and Terry's was one of them. The decor was homely, chill, and rather romantic with the dark walls and dim lights. What's a plus point is that they have a room for smokers! A stand-up table area where they can drink and smoke. Great idea we think! 

Terry's is jointly opened by Mr Terry, a Spaniard who opened a chain of highly acclaimed Terry's in Manila and they aim to bring true authentic Spanish food to us without having to pay for airfare or accommodation!   

[Update: Mr Terry is no longer part of this partnership and the restaurant is renamed La Taperia]

We were very warmly greeted by an extremely polite staff and seated and handed menus. We knew dinner was off to a very good start! Immediately it was - service checked!

The menu is huge! Probably the only minus point cos its a little hard to hold over the table haha. Anyway for tapas they've portioned it into "regular" and "large". The former is for 2-3 people and the latter 4-6 people. So for today's review, unless otherwise stated, all portions and prices are for regular sized.

Part of the restaurant interior

Pre-dinner snacks - pitted olives!

La Elegancia Heca Sopa de Ostras

An elegant soup made of a melange of freshly shucked oysters and baby artichokes

$20 (one size)

We were deciding between this and the seafood soup w pumpkin puree however we decided on this in the end as we seemed the opinion of our waiter and he recommended this + told us this was a signature dish! We were apprehensive initially as we weren't sure what kind of soup it'll be i.e. clear soup or creamy or wtv and how does oyster soup w baby artichokes taste like?!

Am glad we ordered this because it was truly a surprise! The soup is a little like those sour Chinese soup but this only had a tinge of sourness, mostly sweet tasting, slightly thick soup which had carrots, lots of oysters and some artichoke slices! I would say its rather refreshing to start off with this and would order this again to let others try. Kudos for creativity :) 4.3/5

The soup came with this delicious grilled baguette that was super crispy and was hot, earning points in both our books and tummies. Went really well with the soup as well as a snack on its own. You can order this ala carte from the menu as well for about $4 I think?

Capricho De Santona

Piquillo pepper stuffed with tuna, bound with anchovy remoulade

$16

Whenever I see piquillo peppers, its a must order for me so this time was no different and we were both very satisfied with this dish! Firstly the peppers were very sweet and fragrant. Secondly the stuffed tuna was super smooth, not like those canned tuna, but you could tell it was tuna you were eating and it went really well with the peppers! I love the smooth texture of the tuna as well as the remoulade "capping" it along with the slight crunch of the pepper. However I couldn't taste anchovies though. That orange sauce tasted like bell peppers as well but a more concentrated taste and reminded me of gazpachos. I really like the combi of this dish and would definitely reorder! 4.5/5

Croquetas de Cochinillo Confitado

Crisp-tender suckling pig bechamel croquettes. A daring culinary concept

$16

Another creative take! However this did not work so well. The suckling pig was barely discernible as the sauce totally overpowered its taste and it was minced too finely that there was no crispy sucking pig texture at all. There were bits of I think chinese sausage (not sure haha) inside as well. It was very crispy and well fried though. 2.8/5

Champinones con jamon al Ajillo

Fresh mushroom and garlic silvers sauteed in extra olive oil with Jamon Serrano crowned with an organic egg yolk

$14

This was also recommended to us and being mushroom junkies we ordered it. However it was just an average dish I mean what could go wrong with mushrooms and gooey yolk porn? But this also means its difficult to make this dish memorable. It was definitely well executed so if you're craving for some nice earthy mushrooms with a flowing egg yolk - this will surely satisfy you. 3/5

Pulpo a Feira con pimenton De la Vera

The quintessential way of cooking octopus in Galicia

$18

The boy liked this dish! However I felt that we've had better octopus elsewhere. This was quite nicely done though! No tough chewy difficult to bite octopus. But I thought it was slightly bland. 3/5

Rabo de Toro en chilindron

The distinctive characteristics of this dish are rooted in the flavours released by slowly stewing oxtail with Jamon Serrano, fresh and sundried bell peppers, red Spanish wine reduction and grated dark chocolate

$28

Now this we ordered cos we were intrigued! The sauce described captured our attention - peppers, red wine, and dark chocolate?! I told him that this was a must order haha. And true enough the sauce was heaven. So full of flavour, so sweet from the carrots and the peppers I suppose + whatever else they added, but at the same time savoury cos of the beef. It was slightly thickened and we finished all of the sauce cos it was that good. Couldn't really taste the chocolate but we did find lots of chocolate bits on the beef itself! Dark chocolate mmmm :) The beef was fork tender and of course, was well perfumed by the sauce! 4.5/5

Paella Negra de marisco

A squid ink seafood paella inspired by the Siete Puertas restaurant in Barcelona

$32

This paella is much drier than the one we had at FOC and I guess this is where personal tastes takes over. Its like how you like your clay pot rice - wetter or drier. I like mine wetter but with charred bits, the boy likes drier. So he preferred this version of paella to that of FOC's but I liked FOC's better! This was a good rendition though I must say! Very well perfumed with squid ink, rather generous with the seafood as well and the rice was not overly cooked. There were a bit of charred bits too. So if you like drier paella, this is definitely a must order for you! 4/5

Helado de aceitunas Negras Confitadas

Black olive confit ice cream bathed in raisin cream showered with albarino syrup

$10

We ordered this because of the black olive confit ice cream however the ice cream did not taste like black olives although it had black olive bits in it as well. The raisin cream tasted faintly of raisin. The scoop of ice cream was quite big though so if you want ice cream to end your meal, this is a good choice. 3.5/5

Marquesa de Chocolate

Chocolate marquise topped with baked almond praline. Best seller at Terry's Philippines

$14

Now this I would say is best to be shared amongst 4 people or more. Because that chocolate marquise is basically chocolate ganache! One big chunk of it and honestly I was a little sick of it as it was shared between the 2 of us and we had quite a lot for dinner already. The almond praline really helped a lot and I loved the praline! Reminded us of popcorn and was really yummy :) 3.6/5

Overall - I really liked the food here except for desserts which weren't that satisfactory. And would definitely be back for Spanish food if I'm in the vicinity! Also, the service here is DAMN good haha there was this particular guy who was super professional, very friendly, polite and very smiley. I didn't manage to catch his name but kudos to you! You made a lasting impression on me and my boyfriend :) its really not easy to be so cheerful when work is long hours and its dreary but thanks for making people's day better with good service :)

La Taperia

Shaw Centre #02-10/11 (its at the "new" side of shaw centre so go to level 2 of isetan and then walk towards the toilet and the new Mango - standalone shop, then you'll find this new part of Shaw with new shops like SK II boutique, a hair salon and what not)

6737 8336

Daily Lunch 12-3pm

Sun-Thurs dinner 6.30pm-12am

Fri-Sat 6.30pm-1am

Website

They used to have their menu on the website when it was Terry's but now they've taken it off so I'm not sure if there're any changes to the menu

1 Week Old: FOC Restaurant by 1 Michelin Star Chef Nandu Jubany

Hello!

Another new restaurant opened officially in Singapore recently! What's more interesting is that we've got another Michelin-star chef opened restaurant on our shores! Nandu Jubany's the 1-Michelin star chef from Spain and Chef Jordi Noguera is the executive chef who was previously helmed the kitchen at FoodbarDada. The mixologist here is Dario Knox.

This restaurant was on my radar for weeks ever since I first read about when it was still in its pre-opening phase. And finally when information was uploaded on the WWW, I immediately told N we were going for dinner that very week. 

So we went last Thursday and it totally felt like Friday to me! Because the bar was bustling, the restaurant was bustling, the atmosphere was so lively! Then I realised after I was home that it was actually a Thursday. Barely few days old and its already so crowded! 

We made reservations and were shown to our seats and given the menu by another staff. Here's photos of the menu which I couldn't find online and thought would be helpful to y'all :)

However I realised only much later when we asked for the menu again after our 1st round of food that the boy's menu had an extra page of dishes while mine did not have that page (its the page with the more Asian flavours, I think it was titled "BCN -> ASIA" or sth along those lines) anyway so we asked the staff about one of the dishes on that menu and she told us that wasn't updated so brought us a piece of paper with "Today's Specials" on it which was essentially the same stuff in that "asia" menu but I think the prices were different. Also this "today's special" menu (its a separate one that looks like a brochure, seen below) was given to the table next to us when they arrived but it wasn't given to us till we enquired. Hmm.

Anyway what I liked about the menu is that they have items traditional to Spain, and they have fusion items that are super creative as well! And there are so many dishes that we were spoilt for choice! Kudos for dishes like the ramen, pomfret fritter, sweet sour pork etc 

There's also an extensive drinks menu with at least 15 types of cocktails and I love their cocktail menu! Didn't manage to take shots of the menu but I love how the information was presented.

1) You get the ingredients of the cocktail

2) You get a drawing - 4 quadrants (bitter, sweet, sour, refreshing) and they'll mark on the quadrant what this drink is more of

3) You get a list of descriptors e.g. spicy, refreshing etc and they'll mark out what characterises the drink 

4) They'll mark out which of the spirits/soda etc were made on their own with "H.M." aka homemade 

If you have troubles ordering, you can always tell the head mixologist Dario, who's very nice and willing to help, what flavours you're looking for, what kind of base you want and he'll create something for you

Update: found the cocktail menu on chope.co have a look here but there are no markings on this one as the markings are done by hand

*

Here are some photos of the layout (its so empty because this was at 645pm):

Whimsical decor!

And here's the food we ordered!

Watermelon Gazpacho with charcoal smoked olive oil ice cream

$12

Now this is very very very similar to a dish we had at FoodbarDada previously and some of the food on the menu were from FoodbarDada as well (click here to visit my FoodbarDada post) 

The difference here is that there're no fried onion bits, but replaced by croutons instead. Also the plating is very different! 

I prefer the FoodbarDada's version because of the fried onion bits which added a sweetness and savoury tinge to this meal. However the gazpacho is still amazing and the ice cream goes extremely well with the gazpacho :) great refreshing start! 4/5

Octopus Galician style, prepared with paprika, olive oil and potatoes

$22

This dish was a little bit of a letdown for me. The texture of the octopus was great don't get me wrong, soft but with a little chewiness. However I felt it wasn't well seasoned enough. The potatoes were good though! There were chunky bits amidst creamy potato and the flavour of the mash was great. 3.5/5

Smoking Geisha

I can't really remember how much this was so sorry! But it served 7 cups no actually more than that about 8-9 cups! N and I shared this pot of "tea". Which was basically made out of sake, green tea powder and about 4 more ingredients I can't remember haha. It was refreshing which was what I was looking for.

Extremely smooth and easy to drink. Dangerous because you can literally just keep drinking and it doesn't feel like you're drinking alcohol. Wonderful creation 4.2/5

Scallops "Ceviche" with guacamole 

$20

Scallops were plump and well marinated, guacamole made us think of wasabi haha. Surprisingly the avocado goes quite well with the scallops! Scallops were rather sweet. This ceviche was alright for me in terms of flavours. I'm not sure whether the chef wanted the scallops' natural sweetness to shine through so the seasoning wasn't that strong but taste wise, this was pretty normal for me. 3.6/5

Black Mediterranean "Paella" with seafood and garlic mayonnaise 

$22

This was DEFINITELY the highlight of the night!!!!!!!

Our paella came piping hot with 2 spoons and instructions for us to mix the paella up so that the garlic mayo is well mixed. The boy did it for us and as he was mixing, the aroma made our mouths water~~~ it was the fragrance of the squid ink, and the seafood, thick and rich, no words can describe. You gotta smell it yourself to know it. 

I eagerly awaited for him to finish and then ate my very first spoonful of heaven. I know this sounds exaggerated but honestly I've been searching in vain for far too long for yummy squid ink paella/risotto/pasta and here I've finally found THE ONE. The sides were slightly charred and N knows I love those parts so he scrapped it and mixed it in as well so there was the crispy bits inside and they added a new dimension to this already amazing dish.

The squid ink sauce perfumed every rice bit, coating it with some sauce leftover = not too dry and neither was it too wet. Perfect in every sense. There was chopped squid in the rice as well and they were v generous with the squid! The prawns they served were also plump, crunchy and fresh. However the clams were a letdown because most of them were smelly. BUT this did not deter me at all from enjoying my amazing paella. Both of us happy finished everything and whaddaya know, we order a SECOND one! :) 

I couldn't resist ordering another because I finally found my squid ink dish. However the 2nd one was a little bit wetter (just a little) than the first one but the flavour was stronger than the 1st paella. So which did we prefer? I preferred the 2nd for its stronger flavours, but the boy preferred 1st as it was a tad drier and had more crispy charred parts. We could tell that it was slightly wetter because it felt different when he was mixing it he said, and this was easily mixed and scooped up while the 1st one was more difficult. I could also tell that this was wetter by looking at it!

All in all, this is a MUST-TRY if you're a squid ink fanatic! 5/5

Confited pork belly and cauliflower puree (4 pieces)

$14

The boy said this was his least fav dish of the night. I didn't try this so I have no comments but the boy tried all the dishes listed here and he said this paled in comparison.

1) The skin was too thick, and q hard unlike what he was expecting. i.e. the kind of pork skin you get in spanish/chinese suckling pig 

2) The "meat' below was more of 1/2 fat and 1/2 meat or maybe 3/4 fat and 1/4 meat so it got a bit too much after the first piece

3) The cauliflower puree didn't do much in terms of flavour if you eat the skin + puree + meat as a whole

Grilled foie gras with marinated shitake and green apple (2 pieces) 

$22

I didn't know this was served with buns cos it wasn't stated on the menu so I initially thought burgers were being served to me and that they brought it to the wrong table haha

Foie gras was average, the buns tasted like mantou and the shitake is like the kind we have in barchormee! vinegar-marinated kind! The green apples were a nice welcome to the dish providing the sourness along with the mushrooms. I felt one slice of the bread was enough for each serving.

The bread was also very fragrant and buttery!! Really like the deep fried mantous we eat in chinese restaurants 3.9/5

Coca with anchovies, charcoal grilled peppers, eggplant, spherical Idiazabal cheese

$16

Coca is the bread they serve these on and when it arrived it was toasted but slightly soggy in the way that you'll be afraid the ingredients + the bread will "fall off"

We loved the cheese sphere and honestly you've gotta follow what the waitress tells you to do - eat it in one bite! The cheese kinda overpowered the anchovies and everything else but you could tell the texture of the veggies. 3.8/5

Grilled oyster in Josper oven (1 piece) 

$10

This was okay average! Plump oysters definitely and you can't really tell its grilled? More like just heated up. The sauce accompanying it was q nice but the oyster itself was a little smelly hence 3/5

FOC Chocolate Burger 

$12

We were q stuffed so we only got 1 dessert! Lemme break down the layers for you

Bread: white choc with sesame seeds

Meat patty: choc ganache

Tomato: strawberries

Cheese: Mango

Leaves: mint

This is how it looks like "inside"! Sorry its messy and all that haha

Felt like I was eating magnum when I was eating the bread haha same textures if you know what I mean. I LOVED the addition of sesame seeds!! Neutralizes (to a certain extent) the sweetness of white choc and adds savoury touch to this sweet dessert + makes it more like a real burger! Creative and novel dessert but taste wise it was quite normal although the flavours did go together! 3.6/5

Ambience: really nice atmosphere going on here and I loved being in the restaurant! Super laid back, chill, open space, music was quite good too, the bustle in the background. All's good!

Service: everyone was super friendly and professional. Good service with a smile always makes me happy! Dario is super upbeat and cheerful 

Food: definitely coming back for the paella + try out the other dishes! AND definitely coming back for drinks. Wanted to try SO many of their cocktails! That alone will draw me back

I can foresee FOC becoming one of those difficult-to-book restaurants 

FOC by Nandu Jubany

61004040

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40 Hong Kong Street
You can also reserve on chope.co here

Mon-Weds 6pm-11.45pm

Thurs-Sat: 12-2.30pm, 6-11.45pm

There's valet parking available but you gotta pay