the random plate

Le Bistrot in the morning after the Wedding

2008-02-04T05:06:00.000-08:00

MOST EXCITING

An old friend (observe, first on the right), visits from Melbourne for Part 2 of Epic Wedding Proceedings and partakes in Brunch with us. So this week, we decide to look to the East and brunch with some fresh faces.

Alex is not in the photo as at this point in time, he was still.... asleep.

Jas and Alex and Company were at: Le Bistrot, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The Verdict: If well-timed, service is most excellent (this time round we were the only diners till about 12.30pm). A very nice reminder at about 10.30am was made (much appreciated, post Prive, Mimolette etc. it's nice not to to be forgotten). Food is good, especially where a rather limited brunch menu is concerned but we were not disappointed.

So. On to the menu.

It's a Set Menu at $22++ so if you don't dig it, leave it. This of course, speeds up ordering infinitely and most definitely has something to do with the very prompt delivery.

To Start: COFFEE with chocolat noir Varlhona stick. We like. Also, fresh breads and pain au chocolat for the kids present. good. bread actually arrived warm. also, a "truly impressive spread of jam" for the bread basket.

To Munch: Marinated Artichoke Salad and Passionfruit Sorbet with Rock Melon

jas thought: the artichoke is a refreshing (literally) change from the run-of-the-mill affairs (rocket salad etc.) very tangy verging on pickled but not overpowering. however, only for artichoke lovers as it really has quite a bit of a kick, especially on an empty stomach and caffeine. erika left hers pretty much unmolested. passionfruit sorbet is also reasonable for cleansing of palatte though the addition of rock melon was unwelcome. passionfruit and rockmelon in combination..... hmmmm. it's a little bit like eating perfume. also sorbet at 11am is possible not quite an asian thing, we observe brunchers (save cher) left sorbet half-done.

To Crunch: Plain Omelette with home-cured gravlax and creme fraiche

jas thought: plain omelette was decent though a little on the runny side, despite the deceptively browned exterior. However, still folded over nicely and goes well with the gravlax, which is nothing to shout about. A little lacking in punch, if i may. rocket in this case was bland, lacking the usual peppery body. but overall not frown-inducing.

jas and alex thought: for the price and location, we're not grumbling. we are considering lunch. we hear nice things about the duck confit. we also observe that cereal is available for children, so it looks altogether family-friendly. altogether a very good experience (and this has largely something to do with the company).

jas recommends: coming if you can't decide what to have and would like somebody to decide for you. not for the very hungry. park in Carpark E of the Stadium.

Mimolette & the banana-eating rabbit

2008-02-04T04:01:00.000-08:00

Hello.

Yes. This comes extremely extremely late - as Alex reminded me, but I will attempt to make up for this very very delayed entry. To cut a long meandering tale short, I've missed one disastrous brunch at Oosh! (thankfully) and instead make the 2nd round of the Mimolette experience.

jas & alex were at: Mimolette, 55 Fairways Drive (where the horses live)

Verdict: Quaint little place with disconcerting wallpaper, good food and puzzled though helpful staff.

the story: to start with, we arrived on time only to find that there was no reservation in our name(s). Not to worry (oh alex, if only you had been an Alice, like the Prive experience), we stand our ground and manage to get a table for our gang in the private room on the 2nd floor. Only problem is, this took almost and hour. For once, I applaud the Sunday Crumbs club's ability to make an 11am reservation a lunch date. BUT i have to give it to the staff, they really did try to keep their hair on and squash us all in; there was another group of irate diners who ALSO had their reservation vanish. Much drama, raised voices and stomping from white-trouser wearing woman with the Gucci shades. *shrug*

if only they had left Tamm's juice off the bill (which was ordered from the bar while waiting...).

decor is amusing - french/victorian goth with some humour. we like. observe, the banana-eating rabbit above.

jas had: blueberry hotcake coin-things

which was: really rather tasty though the wholemealness of it removes fluffiness

other thoughts: portion-size for creatures such as pancake-guzzling jas leaves something to be desired, but oh well. it's ok. there's always cedele.

friends had: an impressive range of fillings for omelettes

friends also had: eggs and beans and bangers (i thought they said they were french. but i blame globalization).

friends also had: pretty cupcakes

friends continued to devour: white truffle omelette

friends all thought: NICE. Also, promptly served, despite it being a definite full-house. We applaud.

jas thinks: an experience worth having if you like (or at least don't mind) black-on-black fleur de lis wallpaper and the rather sharp light through narrow windows. the food is good, while a little confused (the baked beans and wagu burgers had me there for a while).

expect to pay: $30 and upwards per head. so.

jas recommends: make reservations early, by wednesday if possible.

Prive

2008-01-28T00:29:00.000-08:00

In the words of a good friend of mine "I thought you vowed never to go again". We endured over a span of 2 weeks the Prive dining experience.

The Verdict: Beautiful place, terrible terrible service.

The first experience we encountered was an incomprehensible description of the layout of Prive. The importance is that Prive consists of the Bar, Bakery and the Restaurant, that much is evident from the website, but what constitute each and how we were to participate in the dining experience was not.

Both times when we arrived at the venue, we were told that we could either sit at the restaurant or the bakery. These directions were accompanied by handsignals pointing to our right and further to the right. The assumption seems to be that though the area looks identical, it has been divided between the bakery and restaurant. We were also given number of choices between the food served at different areas (we subsequenly discovered that choice was merely an illusion). Then we were asked where we preferred to sit.

Now how does that help me? I'm immediately told that i have to choose and my choices restrict what I can have for brunch, even though the whole area is conspicuously identical and run by the same people. Obviously, we reply with blank stares that were promptly returned to us by the staff but doubly blank. So we inquire further about these choices. To cut a long story short... it took a good 5 minutes of explanation before certain things became clear.

1. Bakery serves breakfast food
2. Gastropub serves alcohol but has fingerfood
3. They will be able to provide us with both menus whereever we sit

However, it was not until the second week that we headed down did more insidious arrangements came to our attention.

1. On the first week, we were told that the marinated feta was no available on the menu. I promptly ordered some other item from that menu but was told that I would have to wait 30 minutes for the food to be served. On the second week, the situation takes a dramatic turn of events. In fact, there was never any fingerfood at brunch because the chefs are all still asleep. The gastropub only serves fingerfood at 6pm. If so, what in the world were they intending to serve me on the first week? Or do the chefs come and go as they please?

2. As a consequence of not having fingerfood available from the gastropub, why were we produced that menu when we were asking for brunch? It would have surely been less complicated to inform us that we there is in fact no choice for brunch save the bakery.

3. There is also the restaurant. This was only evident on our 2nd trip down that in fact, all that initial gesticulation was meant to signal that the indoor area has restaurant fine dining and the outdoors was the bakery.

All would have been solved if we were told
1. there's indoor and outdoor seating
2. The indoor area serves fine dining, the outdoor serves bistro food.

I say this with reserving my urge to gesticulate, similarly or otherwise.

After all of this, we're left with the only real choice amongst the haze, the bakery. Now adding insult to injury - I am told, after struggling with the wait staff, that no bread is available, much to our incredulity. "No bread at a bakery during brunch?" flashed through all our heads. In additiona, and you must have guessed by now, that this information was only revealed after we've set our minds on trying out some very delicious sounding black olive foccacia and champagne sourdough. Only as our orders were taken were we informed that what is in name a bakery is in fact a storehouse for one type of bread only, farmers multi-grain. Furious juggling of orders ensued.

I'm not one to be particularly picky over service. I would like witty service, an encyclopedic knowledge of the items on the menu and well meaning and sincere smiles, I've stopped hoping. However, I do expect a certain amount of promptitude in the manner by which they conduct themselves. My friend got it just about right when she told them "I don't expect you to catwalk around". Food took a long time to arrive and raised hands took some time to be attended to.

This would be acceptable at a busy or understaffed joint. Neither was the case, in fact they had just as many staff as customers. As far as I could tell, when there were something to do, a number of them would be either standing around chatting or with their hands behind their backs, paying close attention to the seats without customers. As far as effective staff concerned, less than half were really working. So kudos to those few. This all keeping in mind the fact that on the first week, we were told that food would take at least half an hour to serve and by the time we left an hour after ordering and finishing up our coffees, no food was in sight.

The incident of the spilled latte

This incident occurred on our first trip to Prive. A latte was toppled and some split over the table, the chair and onto the floor. An incident common in food establishments. The response from the staff on the other hand left us stunned.

First, we had to get someone to come clean things up. They reacted with some urgency in running off somewhere, which i presumed at first to be in the direction of obtaining paper towels or a cloth to wipe up the mess. Somehow, they were always gone for too long and returned to serve other customers without tending to the situation. Yes, I did intend the sentence above in plural because we requested about 3 times before someone finally showed the initiative to show up holding something useful other than nonchalant looks and order pads.

As you would have guessed this was not the end of it. The table was wiped but the seat and floor had coffee all over. By the time we realised that the job was incomplete, the chap was no where to be seen. We went again to ask for assistance, but were told once that we should have told have reported the extent of the situation properly to the staff, who by then I had concluded obviously did not possess the power of sight to see for themselves. A second time, I was informed of the company's policy by a particularly rude waiter with a curly yellow fringe, that he doesn't do cleaning and he'll be getting some other person (queue in him pointing away in some vague direction) to come and clean it up. All in all, it took us other 4 trips to pull the waiters, who by now were gravitating further and further from our table, and to get someone to clean the area. It took a good 20 minutes before someone eventually arrived. By then, we were so frustrated by the sheer disregard that we had taken care of the situation with serviettes obtained from the bar.

The Food
Honestly, at a decent establishment as Prive, when service is that bad, there is no longer a necessity to talk about food. The trade off between food and service is something a person excepts at hawker centers and the like, where they do not charge for service at least. Expectations and standards are surely higher at Prive and even more when its predecessor restaurants and bars have been well mannered, well staffed and successful.

In any case, please view the pictures below

Salmon and chutney wrap was decent and well presented. I thought that the chutney overpowered the salmon rather than complimented it. This is mainly due to the sheer amount of it in the wrap. Less chutney and more salmon would have balanced the wrap much better.

The blue swimmer crab was beautifully presented by lacked excitement on the palate. The flavours were mild and the strongest tasting element was strangely the wrap.

The best part was the ham and leek quiche, though served ice cold, which was surely not the chef's intent.

Curiously, I met a friend today who went independently of us to Prive with her family. suffice to say they won't be going back again in the foreseeable future.

Oosh

2007-12-16T07:21:00.000-08:00

Not to worry Jas. We're all guilty of putting up these posts way later than they should be.

Last week was a challenging brunch to organise. Zouk Out being the night before, even I found it difficult to arrive for brunch. Nonetheless, I was eventually undeterred.

Even before the menu arrived, I ordered a cappuccino.
Verdict:lackluster and impersonal. It came in a boring generic cup and saucer. The type one finds so often waiting for you in a hotel room beside that white plastic electric kettle. It sat there staring at me as I did at it, nonchalant and blank.

Atmosphere: Lets just say that cheesy piped music of waves and babbling brooks just doesn't cut it.

I ordered a plate of scrambled eggs on toast with sides of salad, mushrooms and a grilled tomato.

Verdict: Most of the items on the plate melded nicely into one another. The best item on my plate was the grilled tomato. It was sweet and tangy, which promptly woke up my senses immediately. Clearly someone had put in the effort to procure fresh produce.

The scrambled eggs came delightfully milky, but at times teetered close to runny. What seemed silky and smooth at first soon clashed with thick layered eggs. I could only imagine as a result of negligence. It had the texture of folded over eggs rather than scrambled, each layer solid to the bite. It was as if someone carelessly left the eggs to cook and harden on the stove and came to chop it up before serving. Lacked the mixed and fluffed texture of eggs scrambled without leaving its side.

The one item that was in shocking conflict were the mushrooms. The cook had a generous hand for garlic but a stingy one for the flame. I was left with an overwelming taste of garlic green and peeled on my mushrooms. Where that may have worked with a stronger tasting dinner menu. On the breakfast plate, it stood up and bashed the subtle flavours of the other items. Not to mention it left a very bad after taste in my mouth.

I next ordered Siew Mai and Har Kow.
Verdict: I don't believe I've ever tasted Dim Sum as bad.

The Siew Mai was mediocre at best. Interestingly, they paired it with a black bean sauce that worked. The filling tasted cheap and with an unpleasant porkish after taste. I could only best describe it was mooshed up pork paste.

Har Kow almost made me quit dim sum for the rest of my life. I love Har Kow. They should be clean and fresh tasting. The skin should never interfere with the fresh prawn in its core. As pretty as it came, with a sprig of dill and some roe balanced on each piece.

The Har Kow skin was sticky and thick. It spread all over the inside of my mouth. Where the effect may have been creamy, it must have been unintended. The skin was dry on the outside and could hardly have been steamed for a minute. While dill and roe had the obvious potential of being brilliant complements the Har Kow's flavour, it could only have been done if the Har Kow tasted clean and refreshing. This dish was stuck in an identity crisis. On one hand, dill and roe should have tasted fresh. One the other, the har kow itself was thick and heavy, not to mention the prawn bits inside were not fresh.

To add insult to injury, the roe was dry and plasticky. It got in the way of every bite and in the most unpleasant manner. Like little balls of wrapper mixed into your food. It was obviously stale and might have been left out of the fridge for at least a week.

I wouldn't be surprised if the dim sum came from the instant packets in supermarkets.

All in all, Oosh was a disappointing experience. For a place with so much potential, it fails to deliver.

I give it a 2/10

2 Dec at The Turquoise Room and something on Epicurious

2007-12-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

This post comes kinda late but hey, what's new and actually, it's probably a first considering that I almost never post anything. Alex is busy cramming for exams and I'm trying to avoid a -6 degree Boston before lunch.

Many thanks to Alex for this week's peek, I'm only sorry that I missed mimolette last week (buggery pooh) - Alex says food is most excellent! But I must say I thoroughly regret epicurious last week.

Basically, the experience would best be described as... curious. Was most thrilled by description of the "Green Eggs and Ham" ( so sue me for my Seuss soft spot) but scrambled eggs with basil and pesto (while still charmingly green) were just.... pretty bland. But I'll leave this to Alex.

when jas and alex were at: Epicurious, Quayside Point

jas had: Ratatouille Omelette

which was: disappointing

because: jas is quite a fan of abovementioned French peasant dish for its rich, tomatoey, vegetably goodness. BUT when it comes trickling out of our omelette with a consistency only akin to ketchup in egg-flavoured syrup, she draws the line. Edible, but truly disappointing. also: pet peeve - sweet and savoury on the same plate. Guys, please, what's with the slice of watermelon next to my omelette and mesclun? I appreciate the move toward a balanced diet, but fruit really should come separate.

But. On to the Turquiose Room

when jas and alex were at: The Turquoise Room, Lock Road, in Gillman Village (off Alexandra Road)

jas thought: very nice!

because: stark white and bleached wood with (obviously) turquoise hints are most restful, if not punctuated by screaming baby-type noises (unfortunate, but that's not really their fault). Breezy brunch feel and it's easy to have a conversation without contending with misting fans or too-close-for-comfort fellow diners.

jas had: mushroom omelette hash with arugula salad and tasty dressing.

which was: quite heart-warming.

because: side of new potatoes was quite delightful, being warm and crunch with just enough give. eggs were lightly scrambled, quite creamy in cosistency but not stodgy.

friends in attendance also had: omelette

which was: also lovely

because: egg was warm, taut but not bouncy didn't have that pan-clinging-to-egg aftertaste, nor that of salt. very reassuring.

friends in attendance also had: bread platter

we thought: tomato tapenade v.v. good, rich and flavourful and what appears to be bread with sun-dried tomato is crispy but not brittle, quite a good rich taste. pesto is good, nothing to rave about and also nothing to complain about.

altogether, jas felt: well worth the money (brunch mains under $17 after ++) and a good chill out place to be on sunday! service is brisk, attentive but pleasantly relaxed without you feeling that you really should be on the move. (But then again, not much will move the lot of us.)

jas recommends: having your friend order the eggs with chipolata and stealing the chipolata as it's really good - melt in your mouth, unless you're a crunchy-sausage type.

how random is this plate

2007-11-18T22:38:00.000-08:00

So Alex and I are on a quest to search for the fulfulling Sunday Brunch. I guess it gives us more motivation to actually be social on Sundays (and in the mornings at that). We have't not very very far thus (nor did we remember to bring our cameras) but we do our best.