Located in a nondescript corner of the 3rd floor of Robinsons, The Heeren (btw, the new Robinsons at Heeren remind me of Selfridges in London...but that's a separate topic), that's only highlighted with this thin sign, the family and I went to Luke's Oyster Bar & Chop House for a special post-Christmas dinner.

This particular branch at Heeren is very small and it has a bar seating as well as about 6 four-seaters and 4 two-seaters. This means that in order to be assured of a table, please reserve in advance. The decor of this branch is a classy black and reminds me a little of the art-Deco era or a throwback to the 60's Hollywood glam.

Love the signboard at the bar which is flanked by shelves filled with lots of whiskey/whisky bottles. As it's in a corner, the restaurant has 2 wall-to-ceiling windows that overlook Orchard Road. When making your reservation, do request to be seated near the window and then you can pretend that you're in Manhattan while dining. You'll impress your date immediately with the ambience.

Instead of normal bread rolls, Luke's serves mini corn bread served with a dollop of homemade butter that's sprinkled with paprika. The corn bread reminds me of my brioche, where it was super crumbly but delicious. I'm not sure why but the butter tasted better than store bought ones. Perhaps it tasted a little...creamier?

Since it's an oyster bar, we ordered half a dozen of assorted oysters (S$45++) and they are all from the 'specials'. We didn't get the Moonstone variety though. So these yummy morsels were flown all the way from the US and interestingly enough, each variety had very subtle differences. I only managed to try the Rome Point and Mantunuck oysters and the differences were that the Mantunuck oysters tasted a little more briny while the Rome Point oysters had a stronger after taste. All were freshly shucked and super delicious! I didn't try the champagne vinegar that came in the middle of the bowl. I like my oysters neat with maybe a squeeze of lemon.

My family loves veg so we ordered a classic Caesar salad (S$26++) to share and you can have the option to add fried oysters for an additional S$3++ but we chose the one without. I liked that the dressing wasn't over powering the salad and that the croutons were slightly chewy rather than crunchy. The Parmesan was generously sprinkled on the salad too but again, surprisingly, this did not over power the whole plate. However, the best Caesar Salad that I've ever eaten still goes to Bridge Cafe.

Dad had his own starter of Lobster & Corn Chowder (S$22++) which was thick enough for my brother to get a taste of it using a fork. It was very thick and tasty but you could tell that there was quite a bit of butter in there so if butter isn't your thing, this is not the soup for you.

I ordered another salad - Kale Salad (S$26++) which came with peanuts and a peanut dressing. One mouthful of this and I declare this Kale with non-spicy satay sauce. Yup, that's how it tastes like to me. Not peanut butter but satay sauce. Minus the chilli. It's interesting and quite yummy and it tastes better with the squeeze of lime to cut back on the thick peanut dressing after a full mouthfuls.

Then came our mains! Dad, bro and I ordered the Bone-in Tenderloin Au Poivre (S$74++) which is a 300g steak that's encrusted with crushed peppercorns and in a mustard cognac jus. The steak was perfectly cooked to your requested doneness and it was very tender. I also really liked the cognac jus as it complimented the steak perfectly. I wished there was less peppercorn though. I had to scrape away the whole lot because biting into the peppercorns caused my mouth to only taste pepper and not the beef nor the jus. The steak was also very lean, which is great for people who just want to load up on the protein and not have to worry about fats. This is really one of the best tenderloins that I've eaten in Singapore.

I spied my little eye on the table next to ours and they ordered the Ribeye with confit garlic (S$88++) and it looked really dry. It was a 400g steak that came either 'Naked' or 'Luau' style but I just saw some glaze on the top of their steaks with a whole head of garlic that's sliced off at the top and fried/roasted. Hmm...I'll stick to my tenderloin that comes with jus.

As a side to our mains, we ordered the Lobster Mac & Cheese (S$26++) and this was soooo good. Don't expect a layer of cheese at the top but do expect macaroni that's still al dente, swimming in a cheesy creamy sauce that has bits of lobster inside.

Mum went for the Georges Bank Scallops as her mains (S$47++) and it was pan seared to perfection. You can't really go wrong with scallops unless you undercook/over cook these tasty medallions of seafood.

Now...we did indulge in dessert afterwards...

Mum ordered the Coconut Cake (S$16++, if I remember correctly) and it's a massive slice so I suggest sharing this one. The cake itself was very moist and flavourful so those who love anything to do with coconut (like my mum) will adore this cake. The coconut shavings on the outside of the cake is not dessicated coconut but rather dried coconut flakes, adding to the coconut flavour subtly. 

The rest of us had a very adult version of cookies and milk. It's actually Warm Chocolate Chip Cookies with Stout Milkshake (S$16++). This picture is actually a 'split' version because I shared with my brother and the wait staff helped us to split it into 2 servings! So the usual one will have 2 chocolate cookies and 1 full glass of the Stout Milkshake. The warm cookie was full of chocolate chips and the gooey sweetness was contrasted nicely with the stout milkshake which was creamy but still retained that slight hops flavour from the stout. Thus, it was a nice balance between sweet and bitter but it was all good and super satisfying. Can they just sell the milkshake separately? In a larger glass? Please?

For cocktails, my bro had previously tried their Rock & Rye (S$21++) which he said was very good and he was very intrigued with the square ice that was clear and bubble-free. It's details like this that make you feel that it's worth paying the prices on the menu, I guess.

Yes, it's not the cheapest place in Singapore for a piece of good steak. However, the ambience is a lot nicer and less false compared to Lawry's. The view is a lot better than Morton's (what view?) thanks to the windows while the service staff were all super friendly. Thus, this is one of the ideal places to impress your date if you feel like splurging and the best part is that you'll walk away feeling that the money was well spent because of the whole package!

Luke's Oyster Bar & Chop House
20 Gemhill Lane
Singapore 069256
Tel: +65 6221 4468

260 Orchard Road
#03-02, The Heeren
Singapore 238855
Tel: +65 6733 4813

Website: http://www.lukes.com.sg/chophouse

I had a craving for beef. I think it's because it's the time of the month and I need more iron. Plus, I haven't had a good piece of steak for ages. Thus, the family got dragged along with my craving to The Chop House, a restaurant under the Wooloomooloo group, where they serve up quality Australian beef at lower prices compared to their mother restaurant. Strangely, when we called, they said that they don't take reservations but their website states otherwise.

Anyway, I like the decor of The Chop House, which is modern with a rustic twist and has a semi-communal feel with the large tables that remind me a little of park benches. There are quite a lot of details to take in like the lights on the ceiling that spell out "The Chop House", which I absolutely love.

Actual view from where I was seated

Flipped it for easy reading ;)

Now, that's a proper steak knife! But of course, if you don't order steak, they do have chicken and pasta as well. Oh...if you like your beef between 2 slices of bread, they've got a wide array of sandwiches and burgers too.

Onto the food. My bro ordered Caesar Salad (I forgot the price) to share and 3 of us ordered the same thing: Beef Tenderloin (200gm at S$25.90++).

That's my mum attacking the Caesar Salad while I was taking a photo of the food. I was really impressed that their dressing had actual anchovies in it. It was pureed smoothly but the taste of it was a real treat for those of you who can stand the stronger stuff. All Caesar salad dressings contain anchovies but The Chop House's dressing has a stronger taste of it.

Here's my steak in all its glory on top of sauteed spinach, a potato sweetcorn cake and topped with their signature caper peppercorn sauce.

I was very pleased with my steak. It was cooked exactly how I ordered it - Medium Rare and it was juicy as well as tender. The sauce was ok but I wasn't thrilled with the potato cake. It was slightly sour, which I think didn't go well with the steak. My bro and I finished the onion jam that was given to us as a condiment instead. May I suggest just serving this with a whole side of onion jam? :D

Overall, I enjoyed my steak and I think I will go back again to fulfil more beef cravings. Nonetheless, I do wish that they gave us the freedom to choose the sides (no more potato cakes) and more onion jam!

The Chop House
1 Harbourfront Walk
#01-161-162 VivoCity
Singapore 098585

Tel:  +65 6376 9262
Website:  http://www.wooloo-mooloo.com/sg/the-chop-house.aspx

If you've followed by blog regularly, you would've read how I fell in love with l'entrecote steak in London.  I was so thrilled when I read that the restaurant L'entrecote opened in Singapore and guess what they serve?  Muahaha...the entrecote steak of course!

Popularised in Paris, this steak is famous for coming sliced and topped with their signature butter sauce as well as with free flow of shoe string fries.  Meat and potatoes...perfect combination!

So, I went to the recently opened L'Entrecote restaurant at Suntec City.  I was there at 6pm and was the first customer.  I liked how they tried to mimic the tight, small Parisian cafe feel by placing tables really close to each other and they're normally meant for 2 pax and they'll only join them up if you have a larger party.

Because we're Asian, the steak comes in 3 sizes:

• Light       S$19.90++
• Regular   S$29.90++
• Large      S$36++

I went for the regular serving, which comes with a salad.  I was so worried that it'll come with some horse radish dressing like the one in London but thank goodness that it was just a simple vinaigrette.  The steak then came, in 1 serving, unlike in London where they split it into 2 servings so that your meat is always warm.  That's the thing.  My steak towards the end of the meal was cold.  And I didn't really like the steak sauce.  It was too sour.  Thank goodness there are fries to eat, which got cold pretty fast too.  But at least they have chilli and ketchup!

My friend ordered the salted caramel lava cake with vanilla ice cream (S$16++) and it was soooo good.  Sorry, no photos because I was too busy eating.  The sad thing is that if we had ordered it 10 minutes earlier, it would have only been S$8++ as per the promotion (all desserts at S$8 from 3-6pm).  On the upside, we each got a free glass of wine as is what each patron gets when they dine from 6pm onwards.  Funnily, we had to ask for the wine because we saw everyone getting a glass but we didn't!

I'm half-hearted towards L'Entrecote.  I miss Le Relais de Venise in London despite the curt French attitude and long queue. The food there is better to a certain extent.  Don't get me wrong.  The steak in L'Entrecote was done very well.  Just that the sauce was a bit lacking and I would've preferred if the steak was served twice so that half of my plate was not cold.  Ditto the fries. 

L'Entrecote
Suntec City Mall, #B1-128/9 (Next to Food Republic)

36 Duxton Hill

L'Entrecote Express
Pacific Plaza, #01-04/05/06

Website: www.lentrecote.sg

Greedy friends and I went to Saveur again after dinner at Jai Thai, Purvis Street, for dessert (and dinner round 2 for a super greedy friend).  Note that we originally wanted to have dinner at Saveur but when I arrived at 6.50pm, the waiting list was so long that we would have to wait 1.5 hours before we could get a table.

Nonetheless, friend did leave his number behind and we did have a nice Thai meal in that 1.5 hours.  However, this post is on the yumminess of Saveur...let me proceed:

Looks like a simple salad?  Do not let it fool you.  Their salad has a quail egg that's cooked just right, with the yolk slightly runny.  What's the MOST spectacular part of this is the salad dressing! At first, I thought that it was uber oily but when I tasted it, I was pleasantly surprised and how NOT oily it was! The dressing was the perfect blend of tangy citrus and olive oil.  In fact, it seemed as if there was a perfume of citrus fruits.

Anyway, super glutton friend had a duck confit and angel hair pasta too but you can read about that in my previous post.  This time round, I managed to try the angel hair pasta and well, I wasn't too wowed by it.  It's a very simple pasta tossed with olive oil and pepper and topped with the sakura ebi.

We were there mainly for dessert and I ordered the "Cookie Milk ($9.90++)" off their special menu.  It has been a LONG time I've been served froth.  Last time I saw so much edible froth was in 2009 at Tom Aiken's in London.

Ah...what treasures lie beneath?  It's ice cream with peanut butter and milk froth.  Wait.  There's a surprise in it.  They have sprinkles of honey pops or whatever and it's like fireworks in your mouth!  Super fun dessert!! Will definitely bring out the kid in you.

My friend ordered another dessert from the special menu which was Strawberries with a basil sorbet and mini meringue biscuits.  Basil sorbet? Yup...I frowned when I read that initially but I tried it and it was very very refreshing.  Amazing how everything just came together and was the perfect mix of sour, sweet, cold, soft and slightly crunchy.  Wow.

The week after that, I just HAD to go to Saveur for lunch with my colleagues.  I ordered their Beef ribs ($14.90++) and the Cookie Milk again.

The beef was cooked wonderfully.  Each piece was so tender that no knife was necessary.  You will use the knife to halve the slices so that you get to savour each morsel of beefy goodness twice as many slices as there are.  The potato gratin was also cooked perfectly.  My only complaint was the horseradish dressing in the mesclun salad that accompanied the dish.  I hate wasabi and horseradish.  But if you like them, it is a very nice pairing with the meat and potatoes.

Colleagues and I have fixed Saveur as a weekly lunch destination.  'Nuff said.  Are you sure you're not going to try the food there once?

I went to the flagship Cafe & Bar of Oriole Coffee at the Pan Pacific service suites, which is right smack between Somerset 313 and my fave shopping haunt - H&M.  It was raining and my friend was hungry (I was a bit peckish too) so we headed to Oriole as she loves their coffee.

Loved the decor of the place which rustic with the wood but yet modern with the metal shelves behind the bar.  Ok...food!

 I ordered their prawn bruschetta (please pronounce this as brus-ketta...it's Italian so 'ch' is pronounced like a 'k' while 'c' in Italian is pronounced like 'sh'). I like that the bread was toasted but yet soft and not chewy.  I also liked the garlic flavour from the prawns all the way down to the tomatoes.  However, as a bruschetta, it was severely lacking that yummy olive oil flavour and basil.  Made me wonder whether they used virgin olive oil instead of the extra virgin olive oil as claimed on their menu. Another thing that I didn't quite like was that the prawns were unnaturally crunchy (hello sodium bicarbonate). Hmm...for $10++, I was a tad disappointed although I can't really put it on my 'never-eat-again' list.

My friend ordered their Philly cheese steak sandwich ($17++).  Ok...this is a keeper! You can't go wrong with beef, sauteed onions, roasted peppers and cheese between two slices of soft buns.  Yums.  It comes with a side of wedges and salad.  They even garnished the wedges with slivers of parmesan cheese.  How sinful can you get?

To end the full meal, my friend ordered her favourite Citrus Sin ($6++) coffee which is sweetened with orange juice, apparently.  I took a sip and I couldn't taste the orange.  Was she supposed to squeeze that wedge of orange into the coffee?? *Shrugs*  Love the coffee art though.  I'm really not willing to pay $6 for a cuppa coffee or tea so...that's the part that has me going "eeks".

What I really like about Oriole is the charm of the place.  It's what a cafe is - chic but yet casual without any pretentiousness.  I might visit again at night when there's live music but I suspect that it will be packed with like-minded people.

Oriole Cafe & Bar
96 Somerset Road
Pan Pacific Services Suites
#01-01
Singapore 238163
Tel: 6238 8348
www.oriolecoffee.com

Celebrated my parents' wedding anniversary last night and we went to Shashlik Restaurant (located at Far East Shopping Centre, 6F). My gosh. The place hasn't changed at all. How nostalgic it was for me!!

My parents used to bring my bro and I there when we were kids and I can still recognise the faces of some of the wait staff. Yes! They're still there!! Amazing, isn't it?


As this is a Russian restaurant, my dad ordered his favourite (and their signature) Borsch soup. Tastes the same - according to my dad.


We also ordered a starter of egg topped with caviar (I know...it seems as if I'm eating eggs everyday), smoked salmon, assorted slices of ham, crab meat and prawn. We were so hungry, we didn't even leave any cabbage leaf on the plate!


That, my friends, is the wait staff (one of the oldies) placing my wonderful shashlik of beef on a hotplate. The beef was tender and juicy. Seared to perfection and marinated with enough garlic to add flavour but not chase away vampires (and humans) 10 miles away.


Mum's Fillet Steak - she made the mistake of ordering it Medium Well. She then complained that it was too dry and she was expecting some kind of sauce. Mmm...firstly, the steak comes on a hotplate, so you should order it one level below the usual done-ness that you prefer. Secondly, good steaks do not need sauces to mask its flavour. Anyway, I ended up eating a quarter of her steak 'cos she was "full" from eating dry meat. She complained that its too cooked. Uh...Medium Well is just one level away from Well Done. -__-;

Dad's massive T-bone steak. I'm not sure if you can see it. Apologies for the bad quality pictures. My Sony camera decided to go kaputz on me and I had no choice other than my iPhone. :(

And for dessert.......hang on....


hang on....




BAKED ALASKA!!! *huge grin* Gosh...I'm a kid again! I haven't eaten this in ages and I simply love the burnt bits of cream together with the cake that's soaked with alcohol. Mmm...yummmmmmm......

This dinner has everything I enjoy: good food, good company, nostalgia....only bad thing was that I had to pay for it. Haha....just kidding.

Happy Birthday Alex!

We planed a surprise birthday party for Alex (he actually 'complained' to his gf that we probably had forgotten about his birthday...HAHAHA) on Fri @ Miss Clarity Cafe, Purvis Street. The whole concept of the cafe kinda reminds me of the cafe version of Surfer Girl where there were bright colours and cutesy cartoons.

First up - we ordered a bucket of Rose beer. Now, there's supposed to be a line above the 'e'...so its not the flower but rather a reference to the hue of the beer. It is a beer that I'd actually drink because its fruity, sweet and doesn't have that characteristic bitter after taste of the usual beer. Not bad considering that we only paid $40 for 5 bottles. :) Xan found it too acidic or gassy, which caused him to be unable to finish up his mains. Such a waste. Ah well...

Anyway, most of us ordered their sets (very reasonable!!) and the sets come with a pre-starter (a.k.a. amuse bouche. Say..amuz bush).

The amuse bouche is a mousse of probably some chicken or tuna and topped with beetroot cubes.

Traditionally, the amuse bouche is supposed to tingle the taste buds and to prepare guests for the upcoming meal. Moreover, it is supposed to showcase the chef's showmanship and artistry. Mm...in this case, I'd say - kindly spare me the fancy schmancy.

Look at Xan! He's clearly not amused! Hahhaa... =P Pardon my pun. Couldn't help it.

Alex, Chowchow, Sing and I shared a dozen escargots, which surprisingly came with a twist - they were spicy! Interesting. Having to dig them out with a satay stick kinda ruined that "ooh...we're eating fancy stuff" mood.

Sing happily ordered the foie gras (say: fwa gra) as a starter to share as well. I loooooove foie gras despite the whole hoopla about the geese and ducks being forced fed (they're gonna get killed anyways...so what's so cruel about fattening them up?). The slightly caramelised onions that were served with the foie gras was excellent and made a good combination. However, I still feel that Garibaldi's and some other upmarket restaurants still do it better. How so? Well, these other restaurants that I've eaten foie gras at manage to pan fry the liver till its slightly crispy on the outside but oh so tender and soft on the inside. That takes skill man!! I doubt I'd be able to do the same. I'd prolly burn the outside to a crisp.

I ordered a duck salad and it was good! Although I wished that they had given me a knife to cut the really large leaves. Oh, and I had asked for the dressing on the side but they had forgotten. Ah well, at least they're not like other places where they drown the salads in dressing. So, its forgivable.

Xan was trying to avoid me taking a pic of him! Ah well...that's him with his fish cordon bleu (say: core don bleuh...NOT core don blue). I pronounced it correctly and the rest of the table thought I was making a joke that Xan was 'blur' as he didn't hear the waiter asking who was having the fish cordon bleu.

If this is the first time you're hearing about a fish cordon bleu, you're not alone. Normally, its two pork schnitzels with cheese and ham in between. In this case, its two pieces of fried fish with cheese and ham on top of one of them. Hmm...didn't try it as I was trying to finish up my steak.

Tada....my Black Angus steak - supposedly Medium rare. Hmms....I miss my Stuart Anderson's Black Angus steak already. BUT I must say that Miss Clarity's Cafe's steak is value for money. Where else can you get a Black Angus steak for $18.80? This is even cheaper than Botak Jones' Sirloin steak (going for over $20 if I remember correctly.) All they need to do is improve on the grilling of the steak and they'd really make this dish 'WOW'. Oh...more caramelised onions too! :)

Alex ordered the palette cuts (a.k.a meat platter). It even comes with an egg (didn't notice this until Alex pointed it out)!! There were potato wedges, sausages, ham, bacon, steak, chicken and lamb. If you love meats - this is it! Alex actually had trouble finishing this up. Maybe they can start some contest about finishing this up in 10 mins....hahaha....

For dessert, I ordered the Banana Tart and this is the single dish that I WOULD NOT recommend to you. The vanilla ice cream was the only thing that I finished.

Some how, the tart itself tasted a little sour and odd. It didn't go well with the ice cream either. I thought it was just me but Alex the monkey (haha...he loves bananas la) took a bite and he too stopped at that bite.

Their mud-watever (sorry, forgot the name) and their mocha dessert (oops...didn't get pics) were much much much better for sure. Must be fate that I ordered the banana tart - curb my dessert intake!! LOL.

I didn't manage to take a pic of the cheesecake that we ordered because I arrived late. Technically speaking, I had arrived at Purvis Street at 7.10pm but I spent a good 20 mins circling around the area for a carpark lot and ended up parking at Raffles Hospital. Some of you must be gasping and saying, "But that's so far!" Umm...its only about 10 mins walk away? Not that far. Same distance from my place to Queenstown MRT. The parking after 5pm is cheap too - $1.83!

Conclusion: we had a swell time talking and catching up on Fri night. Best thing is that Alex was happy that we didn't forget his birthday and we even surprised him!! :) Cheers Alex! Have fun!!