FINALLY!!
I finally ate 'the' burger from Wild Rocket.
Met up with a gf for lunch on Deepavali to get some stuff from her and i die die also must drag the gf for lunch at Wild Rocket with me because she is almost the only one i know who love and will eat such a huge burger..
And she's skinny!! *pout*
We both ordered the set lunch instead of ala carte because obviously, it's more worth it ;)
Our starter..
Pan seared tuna with wild rocket
Both my companion and i agree that having only wild rocket is abit too much to take. Too bitter!! It'll be good if they had added other leaves as well, eg ; baby spinach etc!
I finished my tuna but not the leaves.
Nothing to shout about for this starter but me like the sambal on top on the tuna though :)
Then, 'the' burger!
It looked too awesome to just post only 1 photo! So 3 it is.. just for the burger :P
No fries... instead, we got this papadam? Cute. See the juice? A bit bloody.
Abit closer...
And up close and drool!
And of course, dessert.
Vanilla ice cream with black sesame.
The burger was pretty good. Juicy!
Before i could take my first bite, the juice came oozing out out of nowhere just because i grabbed the burger a little. Heh.
The juice that came out was slightly bloody but surprisingly, when i finally gotten my first bite, the pattie was just pink and no blood at all! I had mine done at medium and my gf had hers medium rare, which wasn't bloody as well.
THAT means, the next time i go again, i'll definitely get mine done at medium rare because i like it more juicy and tender!
And i like the yellowish sauce too! *lick lips*
However, i personally something is amiss when i was savouring the burger. I wonder if it's because of the lack of flavour in it? Or merely because i wasn't eating the burger in whole, as in.. not able to sink my teeth into it in its towering form due to the environment. Too embarrass to do so!
I bet if i were to do that, i'll definitely get lotsa unwanted attention / stares for opening my mouth THAT big. Grin.
Initially for my dessert, i wanted to try their famous kueh bahlu tiramisu by just paying an extra few dollars more. Then we saw the waitress carried the ice cream with black sesame to the next table and we were sold!
The black sesame with vanilla ice cream looks too good to pass. We immediately changed our initial order :P
And true to its look, the dessert didn't fail us one bit.
I tell ya, the thick thick black sesame paste was to die for and when combined with the vanilla ice cream, whoa.... totally wicked!!
I polished off every single bit for my 3 course meal except the wild rocket [for the starter] whilst the gf, didn't... now we know why the thin ones always stay thin and the thin-wanting-to-be-ones will just stay wanting-to-be!
Heh.
Besides food, i like the location of the restaurant as well. Though secluded, i like it. I like the fact that it is so close to nature and it's on a hill. Right opposite the Hangout Hotel is the National Nature Park. Because of that, it's quiet and very peaceful. It somehow reminds me of where hb and i used to go for our nightly walk back in Melbourne more than half a decade ago.. A walk that we never fail to go at around 1-2am even when it was freezing!
I like.
p.s : T, sorry for the late entry. Couldn't find the camera till today!
Everyone should not pick this up when you see it in the supermarket, be it in NTUC or Cold Storage or at some mini mart.
Because it is so darn good that i actually ate it with my noodle soup too! Something which i have never attempted and will not even think about it with other sambal.
As the name suggested, the chili is crispy and very spicy too, not to mention, very the good. Everyday, i look forward to my lunch and dinner because of it and i can eat up to twice my usual portion! *shudder* I literally eat it with e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Once, i even tried it just like that, without anything *hide*. Paiseh ah!
Now that my sambal is finished, i dare not buy it anymore. Putting on 1 kg is bad enough. I don't want another kg with another bottle!
However, the most unfortunate thing about this chili is that it contains MSG :(
But still, do give it a try. Just 1 bottle and you will understand why this entry is being posted up. Heh :D
Though the husband never did anything for me, but i still carried out my 'tiny' plan on surprising the husband with the place that i was gonna bring him that night for our Anniversary celebration.
A few emails exchanged with Kimberly and voila! Out came a 4 course menu for the husband...
Something for us to bring home...
Sage managed to live up to my expectation after all. Not only was the food excellent, the service was impeccable too. Kimberly, the restaurant manager who also happened to be the wife of Jusman So, the chef who owns Sage was very pleasant and friendly both online and in person.
Perhaps because Kimberly knows that the dinner was my treat (using hb's money though :P) for our anniversary, she threw in a complimentary starter for both of us. It was probably some puree - can't make out what and what but there was definitely tomato in it - topped with lovely caviar and a pretty small tree. It was just too bad that i didn't think of taking a photo of it at that time.
Then, there was some bread and butter, which was okay, nothing fabulous. I very much preferred Ember's and Garibaldi's which in my opinion were excellent!
For
A risotto of Burgundy escargot and tiger prawns flambéed with pastis, Parmesan crusted poached egg and Italian parsley foam
and i had :
Pickled North Brittany Fines De Claires oysters topped with avruga caviar and cave aged Kaltbach Le Gruyère on a bed of leek & potato vichyssoise
No pics for both too unfortunately. A real pity because the presentation was beautiful!
I love both appetizers. They were so so good. I normally get sick of risotto pretty fast but not hb's! It was so full of flavour. Very delicious.
For mine, it was abit out of what i had expected. Mainly because it was served cold. The oysters were fresh, not smoked or grilled, minus shell, served on a bed of creamy soup made from leek and potato. One would be quite sceptical initially but trust me, one bite and that's it. You will be sold. I totally finished off everything, not a single drop of vichyssoise was visible on my plate. Heh.
For the soup, we only had 1, which was "Cappuccino of wild mushrooms". When they mentioned cappuccino in the description, i never thought much of it until i saw the soup.
Now we know why it is Cappuccino aye? It does look like Cappuccino, and we drank it as though it was one too! :P
Hb's main :
Charcoal grilled U.S. beef tenderloin resting on potato aligo scented with white truffle oil, glazed asparagus and white pearl onions with smoked bacon and natural jus
Usually, people say a picture says a thousand words but but.. not for this case though. All the photos on this entry were taken with hb's N95. I didn't bring my camera that day. But come to think of it, even if i did bring my camera, i doubt the photos that are taken with it will be any better anyway...
The beef was purrrfeect. There isn't any other word to describe it.
I really dig the potato. The truffle oil was the winner of the day. It was my first time tasting it - the truffle oil - and i'm totally blown away [yes, i'm very outdated!]. I cannot imagine eating the real stuff! Heh.
I can just envision the husband ordering the same beef dish again and again when we do go back to Sage in the future and honestly, so will i!
My main :
Australian grain fed lamb short loin with a cassoulet of summer beans scented with garlic, rosemary and lardons, crispy Parmigiano Reggiano and Roma tomato coulis
Guess what's the honeycomb lookalike biscuit?
It's crispy Parmigiano Reggiano. Simply brilliant!
I like the loin quite a bit. It was smoked and grilled i was told. The combination of the lamb and beans were abit fancy which is something that i have yet comprehend. When it comes to food, i am still a conservative idiot. This, has a lot to do with the husband for being a purist and not experimental enough. Hehe.
Perhaps if we do eat out more often at such places, my appreciation will soon come very naturally *hint*hint*. Lol.
So yeah, i am still not that used to eating Azuki bean with lamb in a savoury dish. I'm more used to it in dessert. But all in all, it was worth trying it out. Something different and it was rather nicely put together :)
By now, i was filled up to the throat hence, it was dessert sharing with the husband.
Mascarpone, ricotta, cream cheese and Meyer lemon Bavarian with peanut butter ice-cream and baked honeyed-lemon filo
Even though we didn't comment much, both of us know that the dessert was nothing spectacular. The only thing we liked was the peanut butter ice cream which rocks! I am so gonna experiment this myself, making peanut butter ice cream using my brand new ice cream maker machine. Yay!
The Mascarpone, ricotta, cream cheese and Meyer lemon Bavarian with biscuit base.
The food was so good that i requested to be put on their list for the coming Christmas eve dinner!
Now i truly understand why it was Sage Sage Sage here there and everywhere. They are worth mentioning. I simply cannot wait for Christmas to come.. *greedy eyes* ;)
The girls were raving about how good the steaks are here. Not once but again and again.
So this carnivore here die die also dragged the husband down to try even though the husband was abit sceptical when it comes to restaurants that i wanna bring him these days. Haha..
The first time we went, we were blown away by its steaks. But still, i didn't wanna do a write up on it coz it was our first time after all. What if it was simply a coincidence that the chef happened to do the steaks nicely that night? ^.^
The second time when hb went with his sister + bf [i wasn't around then], it was all raves again. That was the time when we got pretty confident about the steaks there so we took the parents down.
Unfortunately, the branch we went wasn't the same one as our first's and second's. We went to a different branch and let's just put it this way [the verdict]. Fil - father in law's tooth dropped out whilst chewing the beef!! :O
The last visit was our 5th visit and i dare say this now, go and try their steaks soon!
Photos.. during our last visit there.
The soup :
It's chicken and vegetable soup. We dislike it. The only soup we like from Hog is their mushroom soup which is really really creamy. Perhaps, a tad too creamy for the fatty me but not for the skinny husband though.
The steak :
Close up shot :
Check that pink! 'nuff said! *wink*
My chicken wrap :
Wanted to try something different on our 5th visit. The wrap isn't too bad. Ok-lah. U know, not too bad and not too fab kind. Something that i will order again when i don't feel like 'steak-ing' :)
A close up shot :
Lotsa cheese in it!
Last but not least, the husband, my no-frills husband!! Lol
Bet he's gonna so freaked out when he sees this. Don't think hb will ever guess that i am gonna put up his photo on my blog! *ngek*ngek*ngek*
Anyway, if you are really keen to try...
1. go to the one at Chjimes.
2. order blackened steaks. their original ones are pretty tasteless, to me that is.
3. order medium rare. it's a must! medium rare isn't bloody at all. medium cooked ones are a bit tough.
4. don't bother trying their chicken and vege soup. if they've got mushroom soup, order it! :P
5. other than their blackened medium rare steaks, their other stuff are pretty average if not bad. Lol.
There are a few things which i like about Hog's Breath. Firstly, it doesn't burn a huge hole in our pocket. Also, we don't have to dress up to go. I once went in my shorts [after my flea market the other day] and no one gave a damn. The peeps there don't scan you up and down, down and up like other places do. Best of all, i'm so comfortable there that i actually sat with my legs crossed [was a tad too tired after flea-ing]! Heh.
I know, ah lian right! :P
But if you're someone who is more 'atas', then this place isn't really for you ah.. Not chick/class/chi chi enough. Ambience? What's that?!
Apart from Donuts Factory, there are Missy Donuts, this donut and that donut.
From what i read in 8 Days ( local magazine), it seems that Missy Donuts was supposed to be better than Donuts Factory and i'm keen to try! :P
Firstly, the q isn't that long in the morning or rather, no q at all, around 11ish when i go pick the boys up nearby.
Secondly, i wanted to buy some for Celest too ever since i read from her comment here and mostly because i feel Celest is a very nice person + generous as well! I like buying/ giving things to nice and generous people. They really make life more wonderful and meaningful :)
Note : nice + generous and nice + calculative + stingy are 2 entirely different story all together.
So yesterday when i was bringing the boys to ICA to update their passport photos, i made a detour just to deliver the donuts for Celest at her workplace after buying them from Bukit Panjang Plaza but no biggie since she is just at Holland V.
I did inform her that i was gonna pass her something but i didn't say what. I wonder what she thought i was gonna pass her before she received the package from me :P
Missy Donuts
Oh, if you do not know by now, next week - 31st August is the last time u can ever update your photos in the passport. The new passport uses Biopass that has got a chip in it and the down side is that u can not do photo updating with it ( i didn't know about it until my beepbeep's passport was ready for collection and beepbeep's photo was taken when he was 1 day old! Am pretty sure he'll need a new passport very soon..).
So if your passport/ your children's photo in the passport is abit outdated, go update now!
When we were there yesterday, the crowd was terrible. Towards the late afternoon, it got so so much worst. I can't imagine next week's! The total hours we spent there was 3! o.O
Tips : if you are planning to drive there, make sure you display enough parking coupons on the dashboard. The number of the people in white summoning is more than 5 and they are there prowling almost every half hour! I know because we returned to the car to wait instead of waiting at the super crowded waiting area.
Because of the long hours we spent there, the supposedly go-home-then-eat-donuts were all gobbled up by us, but mostly me actually *hide*. Mouth itchy + nothing to do + hungry. No choice ah.. :P
Initially wanted to take a photo of the donuts, wanting to show the diff between Missy Donuts and Donuts Factory but all i have when we reached in the evening was this..
Paiseh ah! *blush*
Verdict : I prefer Donuts Factory better. Their topping is more generously put and i feel the quality is slightly better too.
Hopefully Celest will enjoy hers, and girl.. no more saying thank you ok! :)
To my Old Navy Spree organiser : you are always on my mind too! Just that no chance to do anything y.e.t *wink*
This chocolate is simply to die for!!
I hardly do review for chocolates but this is an exception because they are really so, so good.
What's more, they are easy on your pocket too. Sometimes, good chocolates don't just have to be Goddiva etc. Cheaper ones do taste pretty good too, like this one *wink*
According to my sil (she's the one who bought this for us from the US), the dark chocolate version is only available there in US but in Sg, we can get the milk chocolates -- the red ones-- for this version pretty easily.
How different is Lindt Lindor Truffles?
I don't know about you but this is the first time i've ever eaten a chocolate that is this creamy, not too sweet and it has got creamy liquid chocolate in the center! Very mountain-tortoise-me i know! Grin.
When you put the whole chocolate in your mouth, it simply burst and you'll feel the creamy liquid chocolate start flooding your mouth. It's like eating the lava chocolate cake but this is better because it bursts and flows out in your mouth instead of watching it flowing out onto your plate. Almost everyone who eats this sure to have that 'mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, this is so good' expression on their face as i observed. Lol.
Really, the chocolates are simply divine.
It's so worth getting fat because of them. Haha :P
Pan seared tuna with wild rocket
No fries... instead, we got this papadam? Cute. See the juice? A bit bloody.
Abit closer...
And up close and drool!
