The French Stall

Chivalry isn't dead. At least it is still alive in D.

He treats me like a princess.

We had dinner at The French Stall, and he let me order Foie Gras (+$16) for starters because the Duck Confit I wanted was sold out.

We had the Formule for 3 set.

For starters we had Escargot in butter garlic sauce and Foie Gras with Spinach.

Main was Lamb Shank and Oxtail Stew.

Dessert was Tiramisu and Thin Apple Tart in Caramel.

I had a glass of Riesling that was tart. Not very nice.

Half way through the dinner, LTA came by to complete their monthly quotas. Most men stood up to shift their cars almost in unison. For that moment, I though chivalry was present. Until the reality of escaping the LTA to avoid a fine as the cause hit me.

Daryl was pretty angry. For he had to drive in circles in search of a parking lot and he was really hungry by then.

As they say, a hungry man is an angry man. But the delicious lamb shank I had ordered for him, calmed him down soon enough.

The Thin Apple Tart vanquished the last bit of anger and a kiss sealed it away. :)

He surprised me by bringing me out to Sunset Bay, a beach bar at East Coast.

I had a lychee martini and him, a long island tea. The lychee martini was strong enough, and he liked the long island tea. Though I felt the long island was too Limey for my liking.

The drive home was soothing, and I guess his ploy to make me stop thinking too much worked.

I wish my life was simpler. With enough money and less stress for me to build a family with him.

La Fondue

Was craving for cheese fondue the other day, and did a quick search online for Cheese Fondue places. Chanced upon La Fondue located at Dempsey Hill.

Upon entering the premise, the smell of fermentation and cheese hit us. A really strong pong of odorous cheese. The Pinoy wait staff allocated us to a seat at a corner behind a bunch of very loud and obnoxious Chinese ladies that screamed a potential destruction of a quiet night out with Daryl.

I asked for a seat change to the other corner near the bar counter, but was denied the choice of seats. Instead, the waitress insisted that we sit diagonally across from the bunch of cackling females with little space to shift our seats.

We were hungry, so decided not to push too much of a fuss since we've already travelled so far just for cheese fondue.

But our disappointment wasn't ending just there.

The seat, which we sat on, was very, very old. The leather and upholstery was cracked and our butt sunk right in the middle, made seating really really uncomfortable. I wanted a change of seat, but the chairs were all the same.

I wondered if it was just me or are the other diners feeling the same way, because there were other fatter diners around me shifting in their seats.

So it couldn't just be me.

The ambiance was designed cosily. It reminded me of visits to an auntie's house for tea. I liked that. 

But the ventilation was really poor. The air was choking.

I looked up at the ceiling and there was an air con vent but no smoke vent or hood. And when you're doing odorous fondue and grills, you can't operate without a vent or hood over the grill stove to facilitate ventilation!

We were choking to death by then. Even before ordering food.

BUT! I HAD TO HAVE CHEESE.

And the food was the last redeeming factor to save this place.

Given the experience thus far, I would never want to step back in again.

I ordered for us, an Indulge set for 2, at $40 per head.

The menu was misleading. At the bottom of the menu, it wrote. 

(Served with Corn on cob, Mashed Potatoes & Coleslaw.)

I couldn't get a proper picture of the menu. The lighting in the restaurant was too cosy for my iPhone Camera.

SO anyone would have thought that the food came with all three items served with. BUT NO!

The Pinoy waitress, whom I suspect was NEW, told us that they had run out of corn on cob, and we were to choose between Mashed Potatoes OR Coleslaw, EACH.

WTFBBQ.

Did I fail English or is Pinoy English different from Singaporean English?!

I thought if we had to choose, it should be worded, "(Served with EITHER Corn on Cob, Mashed Potatoes OR Coleslaw.)"

I chided the waitress and suggested that she get the management to change the wordings on their menu before deluding more customers since she had insisted that we had to choose from either three and not all.

I was quite fed up.

BUT I STILL WANT CHEESE.

I tolerated.

Picked the Caesar Salad and Potato Salad for us as starters for the Indulge Set.

We had a choice of cheeses and she recommended Swiss Cheese.

Although I suspect it's because she doesn't know what the other cheese is. LOL.

We waited for half an hour before we were served any food.

The only thing that came quickly was two $5 bottle of Evians that eventually came free.

 ( I think because I made a lot of noise.)

The food finally came after about 45 minutes or so.

The food was really NOT OMFGBBQFONDUE FANTASTIC. And the portions were really really tiny for even Daryl, who has a tiny stomach.

And when we eventually started grilling and dipping, the bad ventilation got so bad, even the waitresses were choking and had to open the windows for more air flow.

$80 for two. 

Not going back ever again.

(Pictures, if you're still interested, below.)

Mehs.

Potato Salad

Swiss Cheese Fondue

Platter for Swiss Cheese Fondue

Pork Liver, Loin and Beef Striploin for 2.

Dearest Grand,

It has been 5 years since you left us, but it feels like yesterday that you were still around.

5 years, and not a single day passes by without me missing you. I wonder how would you feel about my achievements thus far. You were always the only one who believed in me and my potential to excel and achieve.

I wonder if you would be proud of me. Life has been tough without your encouragement. You were my only cheerleader. Your belief in my potential is the only push to keep me going.

I've made mistakes along the way, but I've learnt from them.

I miss talking to you. I've dreamt of you but you didn't speak to me in my dreams. I wish I knew what you were thinking.

Grandma hasn't been feeling well. I hope she stays alive for as long as she can. At least till she gets to carry her great grand child and see me get married. I couldn't grow up fast enough for you to carry one.

I miss you dearly.

Menya Musashi

Went to Menya after work on Monday for dinner and arrived an hour earlier to get a seat as they don't allow reservations.

Ordered Fried Gyoza, Salad and Ramen. Food was really good, and I loved the salad.

Service was lacking, but overall the food was good. Just that I got really thirsty after that cuz the food was saltier and I suspect had more MSG than usual.

Heng Long Teochew Porridge 2.0!

Went back to Heng Long again the other day, and the food was off standard.

UGH.

Wanted to order the same food, but Daryl wanted me to mix it up. SO I anyhow ordered and the Cai Xin was VERY SALTY. I could feel my tongue shrivel.

The Braised Pig Tail (猪尾) was incredibly salty. The sweet and sour pork was too hard and over cooked, leaving the Tofu and steamed egg to save my taste buds.

I'm sticking to my traditional orders next time.

King Louis @ Vivocity

Was feeling really hungry and wanted meat.

Saw some skinny model's review of the restaurant and thought to myself, "the food probably might not be as good as claimed." but I gave it the benefit of the doubt and decided to risk it for we were too hungry to search for another place. (We wanted Ishiki, but it was full.)

Bumped into my Auntie and Uncle there and shared a table.

They were just about to leave so we took over their table. I saw that their plate was clean, so I had assumed that the food must be good.

They warned me that the portions are huge and to share a meal if possible.

As you know, old people eat less. So we each ordered a main course and opted for an $8 Top Up each that came with a drink, soup of the day, and dessert.

We waited for 10 minutes for the soup to be served.

The Soup was Mushroom Chowder. Served hot and yummy with a big piece of bread. I liked it but the portion was tiny. Served in a silver stainless steel teacup.

For main course, we ordered Red Wine Steak and Pork loin. The servers did not ask for the done-ness of the steak and both sets came to my table slightly warm after another 30 minute wait.

The roasted potatoes were COLD. The Pork just slightly warmer. As if it had been reheated for 10 seconds in the microwave before serving.

Red wine steak was COLD. The only thing that was warm on the plate was the bread pudding.

It was very obvious that the dishes were either rejected or made wrongly and left in the kitchen awaiting an innocent victim to order. OR the meats were cooked too soon while they prepared the bread pudding.

Disappointing.

Our drinks came separately because the server got the order wrong.

We did not get to choose our dessert and it was a scoop of pre scooped, melted and refrozen scoop of oatmeal raspberry ice cream.

Salty. I had to dunk it into my root beer to make it somewhat more palatable.

The total bill came to $65ish and I have to say one of the few regrettable meals I've had in ages. For $65, I could have had a nice meal in Sushi Tei or Shin Kushinya served APPROPRIATELY COLD.

Pfft.

Even after giving a feedback to the server about the cold dishes, NOTHING WAS DONE.

Just a torn pathetic piece of feedback form.

Doubt I would return for cold meals anytime soon.

Istanbul Gourmet

Had dinner at Istanbul Gourmet located at Eastpoint Mall, level 1, beside Umi Sushi, 2 stalks away from 18 Chefs!

Daryl has been craving Turkish since forever. And I had found this place on HungryGoWhere. They had fairly good reviews, so I thought to give it a try.

We ordered a Donna Kebab, Beef Bomb, and 2 drinks for $20.

Beef Bomb

The Donna Kebab was pretty disappointing, cuz the mutton was minced and instead of an artisan roll, as Daryl calls it, it was served with bread buns instead.

Donna Kebab

It was not up to his expectation. I bit into croutons while taking a few bite out of his 'mutton burger' and found it an interesting addition to kebabs. The croutons gave it extra crunch.

Beef bomb was really fun to eat! It's an egg wrapped in a beef patty! It tasted of just hamburger beef wrapped around a big hard boiled egg. The texture was interesting. But I found the vegetables for the side salad too bitter. But the cucumber in the salad was pretty generous. (I like cucumber!)

I had a wolf berry with pear drink. It wasn't too sweet and it quenches my thirst perfectly. Plus the pear and wolf berry bits in the drink gave it something extra to bite and play with while drinking. Much like bubble tea. But way healthier.

With bits of Wolfberry in it!

I saw that they serve Istanbul Laksa too! I suppose it is fusion. Perhaps one day I'll get Daryl to try.

It's a tiny shop. So either take away or be ready to queue for Bar Stool seats.