Gordon Grill - White Truffle 2011

The boy and I had a hard time choosing which white truffle restaurant to go to for our lunch (break from the stupid A levels) and we decided on Gordon Grill after choosing between Senso/Bonta and here. But we were in for a disappointment, THEY DID NOT HAVE FRESHLY SHAVED TRUFFLES because it was OUT OF STOCK.

Can you believe it? A restaurant, in a hotel, a top restaurant, says on the menu it has freshly shaved truffles at $24 for 2grams and they DID NOT HAVE IT. Why? The waiter told us because the truffles got sold out the day before due to popular demand. I mean c'mon, you're a restaurant, you KNOW this is truffle period and ppl will be ordering + eating it and you dont have it?

I knew there was something amiss when we sat down at the table and the waitress removed the white truffle menu from our table (initially I felt a little insulted when she did that). After being sorely disappointed that they did not have freshly shaved truffles (because their truffle dishes doesnt come with shaved truffles at all) the waitress + waiters kept encouraging us to take the set menu instead saying its worth the money, or just recommending it instead to us. 

I felt a little irritated? Like there was a sought of an aversion against us ordering the truffle menu. But nonetheless, the boy and I ordered 2 items from the truffle menu and 1 lunch set.

I must say their lunch set is really value for money! One of the few places with many many choices for appetisers, soup, and desserts! Cos you pick like 3 out of the list there and they do a combi of all 3 for you in small portions! 

Complimentary amuse boche

The salmon sashimi was a thick slab and was quite refreshing with the light drizzle of citrus and some herbs. 

Bread basket

The bread came cold though, a pity! The boy tried the focaccia and said it was not bad

Set menu - appetisers

L-R: foie gras, cold angel hair pasta, grilled scallops with iberico ham

Pardon the bad picture, I was initially not in the mood to take any pictures or in any mood to eat actually. But somehow I felt responsible to take a picture and document my eats! So yup, pardon the picture okay!

The boy ate this and said they were average dishes done well. Nothing too spectacular about them! Heard much about their angel-hair pasta though! So was a little surprised the boy wasn't wowed by them though I think it would be quite hard to find a restaurant that can beat Gunther's awesome rendition. There were about 7-9 choices for appetisers!

Set menu: Trio of soup - Lobster Bisque, Mushroom soup, French Onion Soup

(Pic credits: Expatliving.sg)

Sorry for the lack of picture for the soup! Basically there were served in 3 small cups as shown above. All 3 soups were slightly above average? Nothing much to shout about.

Set menu - Lamb Rack with Cous Cous and Spinach

The lamb was really thick! Think the most huge chunk of meat I saw on a lamb rack before haha. It was cooked perfectly medium rare, and had parts of the fats accompanying this cut which made it more enjoyable! Not to worry, the fats werent overwhelming and the 2 slabs largely consisted of the meat sans fat!

White truffle risotto with autumn mushrooms and parmesan shavings $32

When it first came, the boy and I tried it and felt the rice was a tad if not too undercooked because out of ALL the years and times we've eaten risotto, never once was the risotto so hard and stuck to our teeth each time we put a spoonful into our mouths. We told the waitress and she it sent it back to the kitchen, came out and told us that's what its supposed to be like cos that's what al dente means. I just googled it and it says "till the tooth finds a little bit of resistance" but woah, this is a little too much resistance??

After it came out the 2nd time and spent a little longer being cooked, the risotto was softer but definitely still firm (my idea of it being al dente) and was a much more enjoyable dish as the rice no longer got stuck in our teeth! The truffle smell was strong, though I couldnt really find any mushrooms in the risotto (think they got mashed up or sth?) but the earthy tastes of mushrooms + truffle was there. 

White truffle honey ice cream $8

The ice cream had a rather strong truffle taste + smell and it was creamy, not jia lat. There were berries at the bottom, quite a lot actually. I assume they were afraid people will get sick/feel a bit jia lat after such a huge scoop of truffle ice cream? Not bad an ice cream I'd say!

Dessert (set menu): Poached rhubarb, vanilla creme and strawberry granite

The boy didnt really enjoy this haha. Thought it was okay only?

Pear chocolate tart with vanilla bean ice cream

The vanilla bean ice cream was quite good but got a little too sweet towards the end. The tart, I only ate a small slice but felt that the tart crust wasn't thick enough?

My feelings about Gordon Grill:

1. The ambience is really pretty, nice decor, classic and classy!
2. Serving staff were polite and friendly, helpful too
3. Set menu - 4 courses $58, 3 courses $48 really quite value for money in light of the dishes you can choose from and the "Try a variety in small portions" concept works well I think
4. Though the food is slightly above average and nothing much to shout about (perhaps its because we didnt eat their famed beef? Saw them pushing out the cart, slicing and weighing the slab of beef in front of the guests)
5. How can they tell us the truffles are SOLD OUT during their truffle promotion? Sorely disappointed about this. My face literally fell when I found out

Gordon Grill

Goodwood Park Hotel

Hong Kong - Jean-Paul Hevin Macarons

The boy bought macarons for me from Hong Kong! Asked him to buy cos heard the macarons here are good! They arent very cheap, 10 for S$40! But I think they're well worth the money! 

The type of macaron is very different from those found in Singapore (at least those I've tried - Canele, Bakerzin, Muffinry, Hilton, L'Operetta) because their shells are really chewy and the interior's ganache not like the buttercream that we have here. I prefer this type, chewy shells with ganache. The ones I've tried in Singapore are generally crispy and quite light with buttercream filling. But this is all individual taste! (:

Assorted flavours!

Love how they have different coloured shells and they DO taste different! And the taste of each macaron is very distinct such that you can tell exactly what the flavour of the macaron is! The boy forgot what flavours he bought but we guessed the flavours and we went to their website to double check (he remembered after that) and we were correct!! 

Particular memorable flavours are (in no order):

1. Praline-Hazelnut (this tasted like an awesomely rich kinder bueno!)
2. Amer-Bitter Dark Chocolate (this wasnt sweet AT ALL, hows that for a macaron? :D)
3. Passion fruit - much welcomed sourness amongst the sweet!
4. Mango coriander - v strong mango taste!
5. Creme Brulee - very unique! (special flavour this month!)
6. Raspberry - like eating raspberry jam!

Coffee lovers will delight in the coffee flavoured one because the coffee's really strong and distinct!!

Cant wait to try more macarons that are of this style! Do you know of anywhere that sells such macarons in Singapore? If you do, please comment! Thank you! (:

Jean-Paul Hevin

Shop 212 Ocean Centre, Habour City

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Keyaki

After reading quite a few good reviews online, my family decided to go for dinner at Keyaki.

Entering the restaurant brought me back to the time when I was in Japan at this hot spring area! Really reminiscent of Japan! I thought dinner was off to a good start.

Amuse boche - seaweed

This was quite thick, a little sour, not bad

Seared sushi

I'm not exactly sure what fish this is because the waitress recommended this fish to be served as seared sushi. This was not bad but they didnt press the rice tightly enough together so it was crumbly when we picked it up and dipped it into the soy sauce. The fish was seared nicely though 3.5/5

Sashimi Platter

We went to the sashimi counter to choose the fish. Rather disappointed at their service because we told them we wanted otoro but they didnt include it in the platter AND the worst thing is? The uni wasnt fresh at all, there was this very smelly and yucky smell when we put it in our mouth. The salmon belly was quite good (though what can go wrong with salmon?) the rest of the fish + ark shell were just average. The tamago didnt have much taste either. We sent the uni back to the chefs. 3/5

Fugu - fried puffer fish

Now this was not bad, but then again, what could go wrong with something being fried? Haha. Anyway, this was like eating hmm, bak kwa but much less salty and nicer (imo). It was soft but not totally because there's still some bite to it and its slightly salty! I'd say its quite a good appetiser 4/5

Assorted tempura

Think this was not bad too. There was a huge-ass onion tempura though haha. Smelly breath!! 3.8/5

Otoro sashimi

This seriously was A HUGE LETDOWN. There was SO much tendon and it was SO tough and so hard to chew! The 3 of us spat it out together at the same time after putting it into our mouths. Really bad pieces of otoro. When we told the waitress, she said its inevitable, cos sometimes the otoro comes like that. But really, shouldnt the chef be able to tell while slicing the toro? I've had otoro/chutoro/kamatoro at so many places before and I've never once had such a bad slice. Really, do not order this. Not worth your money at ALL. 0/5

 Stewed Kurobuta pork

My parents said this was quite nice! Like the pork was really soft and quite fragrant! Haha my dad was quite appalled at the layer of fat though. 4.3/5

Grilled eel

I quite like their version! Much softer than what I've eaten at other places, almost like anago? And the amount of sauce isnt overpowering the dish either so yea, I like that fact! 4.3/5

Grilled Foie Gras

This was not bad considering its $25 and there were like 7 pieces? Haha just that it got a little uh sick eating it all on its own! Cos foie gras v rich so eating it on its own without anything can get a little too much! Oh and it was a tad overcooked as well. But still, okay considering its $25! 3.7/5

Mango ice cream, ume jelly, mixed fruits

This was average only, mango ice cream quite nice, ume jelly - Aoki still wins hands down. 3.6/5

Black sesame ice cream, white sesame with chestnut ice cream

The black sesame one was okay, not very strong black sesame taste (so far, Triple Three's still the best!). The white sesame one had no taste of chestnuts at all, the white sesame had a subtle fragrance that was quite yummy. 3.5/5

We also ordered yuzu ice cream that tasted nothing like yuzu, or more accurately had no taste. Ordered red bean ice cream with red beans, and this had the strongest flavour. Also ordered another ice cream but I forgot what, also didnt have much taste! 

Overall, I wouldnt recommend you to order dessert! At least not their ice creams.

I think Keyaki is an average Japanese restaurant, with some average dishes but the sashimi... I really wouldnt recommend it. The ambience outside is v Jap-ish but the inside isnt that Japanese I feel. My parents and I agreed that we would rather stick to our tried-and-tested Jap restaurants.

As for the service, the waitress was quite funny. After we went to the sashimi counter with her and ordered the sashimi, when we came back to the table, she kept all our menus except my Mom's cos my Mom was still browsing through hers. Like what? You think we're just gonna eat those few pieces of sashimi only for dinner? Then Mom and I shared the menu, and the waitresses walked past and saw but didnt bother to offer to bring another one for me/my Dad. We had to ask them to bring. Wasnt very satisfied with the service either. Wouldnt be coming back, that's for sure.

Keyaki

Pan Pacific Hotel

Sweets @ Garibaldi - 7 cakes!

With a 15% voucher from Sweets @ Garibaldi, the boy went down to Mandarin Gallery and got 7 mini cakes/tarts for us to share & sample (:

Here's a description of what we had!

(L-R)

Back: Lemon Lime White Charm, Crunchy Heaven

Front: Fruit Tart, Fromage Blanc

Crunchy Heaven: Chocolate & hazelnut cream on chocolate sponge spread with crunchy praline

This was the lowest on our list because of a number of reasons:

1) The "crunchy" praline wasnt crunchy at all, it was soggy in fact. Perhaps an overnight cake? Or one that has been left on the shelf for too long?

2) The hazelnut cream tasted VERYYYY weird and didnt go well with the cake at all. I couldnt make myself eat anymore of the cream so the boy had to finish it. Sorry, not a good rendition of a classic cake. 1.5/5

Fruit tart: this was a really normal one, the tart's very thin, seems as if its non-existent when you eat the "tart", the pastry cream isnt v nice either, this was ranked 2nd lowest among all 2/5

Lemon Lime White Charm

White chocolate mousse with vanilla sponge & fruit jelly on sable biscuit

This one's crust was thicker and crispier. We really liked how fresh this tasted! The slight sour twang of the mousse with the surprise find of 2 types of jellies inside! One was really sour, the other not as sour. Would recommend this to those who like a little bit of sour-y taste in their desserts! We certainly loved this! 4/5

Fromage Blanc

Orange centre surrounded by light cream cheese mousse and vanilla sponge

First bite - ewww quite sick but after a few bites, the taste grows on you! The mousse is quite lightly whipped, and the orange centre is a welcomed change in flavours. 3.8/5

Strawberry cheesecake, Tiramisu, Coffee Toffee

Strawberry Cheesecake: The boy thought there'd be strawberries mixed into the cheesecake batter hence he bought this but actually its just normal cheesecake with a strawberry on top! So he felt slightly cheated haha. Anyway, this was okay, average, again, a too thin crust (for us) but a rather light cheesecake I'd say 3.4/5

Tiramisu

An absolute must-try! (Quote their catalogue)

I'd agree its good, wonderfully soaked sponge fingers, just right ratio of alcohol + coffee, and enought mascarpone cheese to make it light and airy~ Quite good I'd say!! 4/5

Coffee Toffee

Velvety Chocolate mousse with a coffee toffee centre and chocolate sponge

I'm saving the best for the last!!! This is truly a MUST-TRY!! Somehow everything works extremely well together and you'd be surprised that you actually like this cake! (Okay maybe not you if you're a coffee/toffee lover, but for me, someone who doesnt have a particular preference for either, loved this!) The mousse was oh-so-light and the toffee centre isnt too sweet, the coffee balances it perfectly! I hate sweet desserts, so yea, this isnt sweet, trust me. A bite of the feathery light chocolate mousse coupled with a slightly denser coffee toffee and mmmm~ the boy and I sighed with delight. So glad the boy bought this even though he wasnt sure I'd like it! Turns out to be the best cake! (: The design's quite unique too! Haha reminds me of pottery. 4.5/5

Overall - think their cakes are rather average? Wouldnt be rushing to go back and try their cakes anytime soon since there are so many other shops I've yet to try! But still, its a strike off my "To-Try List" because I've always wanted to try their cakes ever since I saw their "opening-soon" shop at Mandarin Gallery but always didnt have the chance to. 

Sweets @ Garibaldi

Mandarin Gallery

Ann Chin Popiah

Having read about how awesome Ann Chin popiah is, I made the boy drive me to buy it after tarts at Drips, ice cream @ Brownice and 4 main courses at Broun (yes I know, you're probably appalled at how much we can eat). However I was disappointed at the popiah. It was a small portion, much smaller than the ones I've been eating so far (at $1.60, I guess they have to keep the popiah small in order to sell it at that price).

The popiah skin was hard and chewy, which was what I really didnt like. The ingredients were quite okay though! Lots of crispy stuff inside which made it quite a joy.

I wouldnt go back for another piece of the popiah, sad to say. I'd rather spend $2 and get a much larger + much nicer + more value for money popiah at Longhouse or spend $2.50 at Takashimaya basement to get a superrrr awesome popiah instead of this!

Ann Chin Popiah
Blk 335 Smith Street
Chinatown Complex

Pave Chocolates

The whimsical store of Pave! Really love the decor, but the 1st level of the shop is a little small I'd say. They have a 2nd floor but it was closed off tonight! Lucky we went in earlier before the crowd came in and snapped up the remaining salted caramel tart pictured below (:

Salted Caramel Tart

Now this is reallyyyyyy sinful and ohso decadent! Layer of caramel, in between a layer of thick chocolate ganache with crunchy hazelnuts to add texture, mmmm. If you're a salted caramel fan, please get this!! The tart base is quite good, and the whole thing is served really chilled, which is a good thing! This tart, though seemingly small, packs a punch! 4/5

Scones with butter and jam (or more accurately, blueberry compote I'd say)

Ohmyyyy the scone was SO soft and crumbly!!! So fluffy and fragrant! It went really well with the compote. They'd toast the scone before serving it to you and eating the warm fluffy scone with the blueberry compote on a cold night made me so happy!!! Yum yum (: 4.3/5

Japanese Yuzu Tea

Decided to try yuzu tea because we'd never try such a tea before and turns out its quite good! Slight twang of yuzu thats not too strong but the taste of it is definitely there. Full-bodied taste that breaks through the richness of the desserts! I liked the tea! 4/5

Roasted almonds coated in almond & dark chocolate Gianduja

Decided to buy this for my Dad as he's an almond fan. Tried it but I dont think its v nice cos I felt the chocolate isnt v good quality, it has a sticky and slightly sweet aftertaste even though its supposed to be dark chocolate. The almond is fresh and crunchy though! Overall, dont think I'd buy it again. However, my Dad thinks its nice, so once again, taste is subjective!

We missed the famous chocolate souffle as they said they'll only start baking it after 9pm but we wanted to go to Wimbly Lu to try out their desserts, so we left before we could try the souffle! We would probably be back to try their souffle and other desserts they have to offer!

The serving staff are rather friendly as well and would great you with a cheery hello when you enter the shop! A good place to have desserts after a meal I'd say. They also sell jams and chocolate truffles.

Pave Chocolates

93 East Coast Road