I love Orchard Central cus it's quieter than the rest of town, especially on weekends!
and they've got quirky shops to browse at!
So for appetisers I had Mozzarella cheese sticks that were basically sticks of mozzarella,
covered in batter and FRIED! yums, comes with salsa to dip =)
Surf and turf! this is Steak and Crayfish, with pasta on the side, covered in creamy alfredo sauce. The crayfish was really sweet! =)
I ordered the chef's special, black pepper soft shell crab with pasta in olive oil sauce. There was definitely a generous serving of ingredients! lots of crispy soft shell crab pieces, mustve been a few crabs in there, I had trouble finishing my food because there was so much of it, but it was so good! and the mushroom are really soft, squishy and it's got that nice strong wild mushroom taste i love, which went well with the pasta, cooked al dente, just the way i love it! the tomato sauce was not that strong, although the flavor was very full, so the whole dish was REALLY yums. and the plate was bigger than my face! haha! very delicious!
The best part was that there was no queue and I got a booth seat! on a Saturday night YAY! =) I'd definitely recommend this for a nice outing with friends (it's quiet enough to have a conversation! i detest how some restaurants are so loud I end up having to speak uber loudly!)
In Folklore, Bloody Mary was the name of a witch who could tell you your future. Now, it's just a yummy drink, great as a pre-drinks drink, even better as a post-drinks drink. It's rich in vitamins! so it's great for a hangover cus it's got all the vitamins you need to replenish, or if you're feeling peckish on a hot day. Good for brunch too!
esp since tmw's a holiday, this is gona come in handy HAHA
Some love it, some hate it, so here's how you make a glass.
Ingredients:
150ml or a glass of Tomato juice
lemon juice (squeeze 1/2 of a lemon)
a pinch of salt
a dash of ground black pepper
3 dashes of tabasco to make it spicy!
6 dashes of worcestershire sauce (i use Lee and Perin's sauce)
1 or 2 shots of vodka (to make it bloody, if not it's just a Virgin Mary)
a stalk of celery
Place a few ice cubes into a tall glass and add the vodka.
Add the lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce and tomato juice. Stir well with the celery stalk ;) that way you don't have to wash an extra spoon.
Adjust the seasoning, to taste, with salt and pepper and serve straightaway.
I like to use celery as a garnish cus it's nice to munch on, the lightness of the celery contrasts the thickness of the tomato juice well ;) and i like extra tabasco for the extra punch. Girls would like this drink cus it has less carbs, calories, and sugar than normal sweet cocktails, and masks the sharpness of alcohol =)
Other ideas: use beef jerky as garnish.
To make a Jappie-Mary, aka wasab-Mary (whatsup mary) geddid.. uses wasabi instead of tabasco, sashimi soy sauce instead of salt, and add Mirin, rice wine.
SUPER YUMMY! but the queue is super long, like everything else that is super nice. On the bright side, you can order and sit down and they'll serve it to you.
Their noodles are really delicious and tasty, with quite alot of ingredients liao, including juicy, succulent prawns that have got that 'cruchyness', bouncy fishballs that have quite alot of fish in it (not just starch) and tender slices of pork. I suppose to cook the awesome meepok must take quite long! but the chilli sauce is really good, very spicy, but really good. On a hot day, it makes you even hotter, but totally worth it! And I'm a big fishball fan. Their noodles aren't soggy, and every bit is flavourful, and dry! and the soup they give may look clear and plain, but its really tasty! with pork bits floating in it =)
Awesome yellow noodles!
If you are a small-lunch eater, the smallest portion is good enough! though it's rather small, it's enough shiok-ness in a bowl =D ($3.50)
WHAT: St Jerome's Laneway Festival -An annual music festival that began in Melbourne, it features unique indie bands. for hipsters, featuring hipster bands. WHEN: Saturday, 26 January WHERE: The Meadow at Gardens by the Bay, Singapore *YES, HERE! -I would totally die if someone asked me to sing there. I haven't been but i hear it's amazing. got like a greenhouse and a cloud dome or something. WHO: 14 specially chosen acts.. Here's a little intro to each of 'em, and what i think. I haven't heard some of them before so i've been youtubing their stuff hurhur. in-ter-rest-ting.
1. Alt-J: exciting new UK quartet, a group of rockers/fineart students met in school. Best known for their hit single "Tessellate", the video is a twist on Italian Renaissance painter Raphael's 'the school of Athens' with a ganstah theme and the vocals are soft and sexy. I personally like Fitzpleasure, it's soothing, gets me swaying. great guitar tones, and the riffs are really playful.
2. Bat For Lashes:
Natasha Khan, half Pakistani and half English is definitely one to look out for, after having writer's block, she's finally got out "The Haunted Man". A music and visual arts student, her music videos are definitely spooky, and her cooing voice and catchy tunes definitely keep you dancing. Think everyone-sobering-up-on-halloween-after-getting-high.
3. Cloud Nothings: Cleveland rocks! this american rock band is more rock, loud screaming vocals. very angst. This is for tha haters out there. This band is for you. morbid and strange videos they have. *head bang.. =S
4. Divine Fits: Post-punks to minimalist electro, this american rock band is less angsty, a lil' more raw, kinda got the tones similar to "Foster the people" but slightly more rock. Their song "would that not be nice" has nice lights in their videos. more happy, more dancey. but i'm not into their stuff..
5. Gotye : (i'm expecting the famous heart-break duet with Kimbra, Somebody that I used to know)
This Belgium-Aussie's name is actually Wouter "Wally" De Backer. HAHA. anyway, checkout his song "eyes wide open", it's definitely catchy, and the echoes of violins are a nice touch to the rhythmic beats. "everything we had, everything we did is buried in dust" is my favourite line. plus his vocals sound so persuasive. Definitely cant miss this. (kiss)(ya know, like the Carly song, *bobs up and down)
6. Japandroids: This Canadian rock duo (I thought they'd be japanitos from the band name) definitely has a high energy level. I imagine it'd be great to watch live, and their live performances on youtube seem pretty energy popping too! I guess thats the jappy-part, the high ROCKROCKROCK-ness of it.
7. Kimbra: Checkout my review for more, but she's definitely gona put on a great show, she's got amazingly meticulous vocals. Think vintage-electrosynth. if you can't, just get you're butt down, i promise you'll be impressed.
8. Kings Of Convenience: Norwegian acoustic indie-pop duo, I really like their stuff.
I like "Manhatten Skyline" and "Cayman island". The music is softer, more sensitive, the kind you'd want to picnic to and eat icecream to. The kind that'd be perfect for you to tell a girl you love her *awww, but yah lah it's romanteek! I think they do alota soundtracks.
9. Nicolas Jaar:
Born in NY, bred in Chile, this DJ's husky voice, trippy loops and dreamscape mixes are definitely gona put you in a mood for lounging, dancing in slow-mo, and enjoying the moments get whirled up by his beats. very strange.
10. Of Monsters And Men:
This 6 piece folky Icelandic group has very atmospheric, room-filling echoes, definitely dancey, sing-along kinda songs. I'd imagine it'd be very uplifting and joyful! I like "little Talks" and "mountain sound" by them. It's set a nice mood in a cafe to drink coffee to on a nice cool afternoon.
11. Polica: Polish for Policy, this is an American indie band from Minneapolis that uses ALOTA auto-tune. It's a peculiar, robotic yet emoted, soulful sound.
I can't decide whether I like this but I guess it's definitely different, keeps me listening. I think i'd like it without the autotune, but Channy's got a nice voice. but it reminds me of Justin Bieber's auto-tune. hmm. =S
12. Real Estate:
This band's from Jersey, and seems like a band from the past, using guitar tones like the oldies, mixed with nice vocals that are very ambient. Makes me think of a car-wash on a hot summer day and the kind of music you'd sit in a lawn chair and sip on lemonade to. Makes me feel like its the holidays.
13. Tame Impala:
I know this one! I heard them before tons of times.This Australian band is a psychedelic rock project! I like "runaway, Houses, city clouds, It's got the most plays on my itunes, and "elephant" is one of their more popular one. Very hippie, very dreamy, very boogie in vibe, sounds old-school with REALLY good production. confusing. haha
14. Yeasayer: Psychedelic pop too! from NY! Been used on some tv shows! Theyve got a new album, "Fragrant World" which has totally bizarre beats, synced with effects of sounds, like those from nature, or from folky instrumentals. every song seems to surprise. I like their effects.
Yup so that's my brief description, I think the day's gona be super fun, especially in such an amazing place that I can't wait to visit. =D TIME PASS FASTER PLEASE, EXAMS GO AWAY!! Overall, very eclectic, indeed.
BUY TICKETS: here or sistic Standard – $145 4 Ticket Bundle – $493 VIP – $350
somewhere on the small streets near Cityhall/Bugis.
no reservations
Went to Saveur for dinner with a couple of friends the other day and were told to wait half an hour. i'm quite sure we waited for more than an hour! but we were busy chatting so waiting was alright. but yes, be prepared to wait!
Saveur serves cheap french food! pretty good for it's price and very yummy.
from a small hawker stall, it's now a really big restaurant!
checkout the menu below!
So I had the angel hair pasta, which was very tightly wound in a round, with tiger prawns and lumpfish caviar. Very tastey, the caviar flavoured the tiger prawns well, while the pasta wasen't too oily, and very savoury and flavourful. salty! which hit the spot just right because i was hungry =) the portion isin't too big, but i guess for the price of $6.90 I could've ordered two servings! haha!
Then my friend had the Mesclun salad with lemon vinaigratte and crispy duck, which smelled really nice! but looked palatte cleansing!
Beef bourguignon with root vegetables and mixed greens and potato gratin, and my friend had an extra side of basmati rice.
confit of duck with orange segments and saute shittake
pan fried monk fish with bacon bits and leek fondue
Chicken roulade stuffed with foie gras, and basmati rice
DESSERTS!
the portions were kinda small (whatya expect, it's french!) but really pretty, really colorful and kind of interesting!
Textures of citrus
the odd name suggests you're supposed to feel it? but yes, it was a blood orange jelly with oranges and grapefruit and syrups. soury. tangy.
Next was Chocolate and Hazelnuts, a chocolate mousse decorated with dried berries and some nuts. The thick, sweet, chocolatey mousse is thick, yet fluffy, and the berries are crunchy and soft, the sourness complementing the heavyness of the chocolate.
Then was one of the specials for the night,
Apple pie.
which was some chopped up bits of apple that tasted like caramel, decorated with apple bits and pie crust crumbs, with tea jellies, rounds of apple sorbet, and a fluffy-poof of yoghurt that was salty, but very fluffy, like salty air! definitely a peculiar mix =)
Another special, was an assortment of tarts with rasberry sorbet icecream sitting on chocolate cookie crumbs. you were supposed to eat towar the sorbet, starting with the lemon custard tart, then the coconut tart with gula melaka oozing out (this was my favourite) and lastly, a dark chocolate tart, with white meringue drops to 'cleanse' your palatte in between, and ending of with the sour sorbet. very yummy. but very tiny! "-_- *greedy
So yeah, the bill came out to about 25 per pax, after sharing a bajillion desserts. there were two servings of tarts. The ambience isin't somewhere for a hot date, and it's kind of cramped, and gets abit claustrophobic. the waiters take awhile, but the wait for the food isin't too bad, and the noisy ambience means you can chat comfortably with your friends, and not worry about breaking the silence! =D
