Birthday celebration @ Garibaldi

This week, Gayle celebrated my birthday by treating me to a wonderful fine dining experience at Garibaldi Italian Restaurant located at 36 Purvis Street. The atmosphere is really cozy and it's best to come early at 6.30pm where it's really very quiet and you can have the whole area to yourself before the crowd comes in after work. Arriving early also means one should be able to get a parking lot just outside the restaurant.

The service was a warm and wonderful experience with the waiters engaging you with a courteous, friendly yet discrete tone. We were never for want of their attention. Drinks were filled, table was cleaned after each course and dining experience was enquired upon. We chose to order ala carte so that we could pick and choose what we wanted although you can ask the waiters for their recommendations which they will readily offer or the chef's special.


While we waited for the starter, we were served goat cheese wrapped in zuchinni(above) and warm soft freshly baked bread cuts dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar(below).


For the starter - Antipasti E Insalate, Gayle ordered Lumache(below) which is a starter course comprising of garden snails stewed till soft and tender dressed with saute baby spinach and chick peas puree.



I ordered Capesante(below) which is a starter featuring juicy and sweet Hokkaido scallops with Green asparagus dressed in truffles emulsion.



Next, the main course arrived. Gayle's main course - Anatra(below) comprised of vanilla scented Challon duck breast accompanied with foie gras which simply melts in your mouth.



My main course - Agnello(below)starred roasted premium juicy and tender Australian Lamb tenderloin with Polenta(Hour long boiled corn grain which has a texture between fine porridge and fine mashed potato) and Porcini mushroom.



Porcini mushroom is a rich, heady, meaty mushroom that is complements and adds to the flavorful taste of grilled steak accompanied. It has been described by the Italians as one of God's gift to humanity.

The serving was substantial and made for a very full meal, beyond our expectations. To celebrate the end of a wonderful meal, we ordered the Chef's dessert special for this season - Bianco(below) which is a sinful masterful artpiece of white chocolate


heaped on crisp honey meringue topped with raspberry sorbet sprinkled with decadent nougats and icing sugar. It was by far one of the most impressive dessert we have tasted. Definitely a must try.

Drinks are the most pricey items with free flow still water priced at $9. We also ordered juices, of which the lemon juice provided a refreshing drink after the meaty main course. In all, the whole meal cost $211 after GST and UOB and Citibank credit card holders are entitled to 10% discount for ala carte orders. We felt that this splurge was well justified and redeemed by the qualitative and valued , flavorful and exquisite dining taste and experience.

Home Dining with Couscous

(Above) My dardar cooking while the greedy girl(Shayna) looks on with a smile.

Over the weekend, my dearest wife cooked Italian style couscous for dinner. Couscous is derived from semolina wheat that is coated with wheat flour. When cooked, it becomes a serving of very fine grains of fragrant rice. Intially introduced by the Middle East, it has become a mainstay in Italian cooking.



We bought a packet of San Remo's packaged couscous from Cold Storage. Chopped Bacon strips were first fried and put aside.


(Above) Bacon in the pan

The bacon would provide some light meaty flavoring. Chicken broth was then heated to boiling point whereby the couscous was then added in. The pot was then covered and the fire turned off.

After about 3-4 min of simmering, butter was added into the couscous and mixed in over low heat. Then the couscous was left to simmer with the heat off. Finally, all the seasoning comprising of ground pepper, sea salt, dried mixed herbs was added in together with the other main ingredients such as bacon for meat and vegetables like capsicum and chervil. All these brought the flavors together within the couscous.





The ingredients for the couscous(above) appears to be quite light but do not be deceived as couscous,being wheat makes for a full meal even with a small serving. Simple yet delicious.

At The Retreat Spa @ Changi

If you are looking for a classy massage spa where you don't want to be pushed to purchase packages and where you want professional, discrete and good service, do try out the Retreat Spa @ Changi Village hotel. It's where we go to have a good body massage. We tried their couple package for our first wedding anniversary celebration and it's really nice since you can have a bubbling jacuzzi on the rooftop with your loved one, eating chocolate fruit fondue, sipping wine and watching the planes fly by and then proceed on to a relaxing full body wrap and massage. The service there has been very good and the massage really perks you up. Although we just selected ala carte items on our recent trip there, they provided us with a couple room at no extra charge and which provided a cozy and private atmosphere for us to relax. Some pictures of the couple room we took.You can find out more about their packages and services at : http://www.theretreat.com.sg/OurSpas/TreatmentsOrig@CVH.htm


(Above - The couple room we were given , cozy and private )


(Above - The room is quite spacious with a sofa for us to enjoy some fondue)


(Above- The steambath we had before proceeding on to a shower )


(Above- The jacuzzi in our couple room )

Dinner at Cafeteria IL Lido @ Suntec

(Above) Interior of Cafeteria IL Lido

Over the weekend, we had dinner at Cafeteria IL Lido located at Suntec city since it was recommended by 8 days. We found the menu quite limited in it's choices and well, while the food was not bad, it didn't strike us as something to die for or to return to. Just try once for the the experience. Maybe expectations from us were high since it was a casual offshoot of the fine dining IL Lido Italian restaurant at Sentosa. We shared the smoked duck pizza which is thin crusted with gooey cheese and slices of smoked duck meat and the Scallopine Mushroom which is a filling beef course served with a sumptuous wine-based sauce, with ratatouille on the side.


(Above and Below - Smoked Duck pizza )



(Above - Scallopine Mushroom )

As we went at five plus, there wasn't really anyone around other than a couple at another table. Hence, service was prompt as expected since there weren't many people. It cost about nearly $30 for our orders and we left feeling somehow not quite satisfied. To be fair, just treat it as a fast food Italian food joint and you won't have your expectations let down but still we felt it could have been better.

Having fresh sashimi at Sakuraya Fish Mart

We usually go to Sakuraya Fish Mart at Parkway Parade basement #B-183D for value for money and fresh sashimi and just fail to understand why there are crowds at places like Sakae Sushi hankering after expensive, small pieces of not really good grade sashimi. Sakuraya also stocks many Japanese food items and is just a little non pretentious place that offers good food.


(Above) Our platter of sashimi


(Above) Sashimi prawns - succulent and juicy


(Above) Sashimi scallops - natural sweetness and tender to the bite

Usually, a very full and good meal at Sakuraya ranges between $30 - $40. The quality and quantity beats any reasonably or even higher priced establishments hands down in our honest opinion. You just go to the glass counter, pick your sashimi based on your liking and budget and the chef will slice for you the sashimi and prepare it with shredded turnip. Do give it a try if you have not. Don't forget to try their miso soup(below) which is much more worth than the green tea.

Past and Present - The C Class Coupe and the CLC Coupe

(Left) Our new CLC coupe and (Right) the older C Class Coupe

So happened that we saw a Merc C Class Coupe which for the non car buff is a previous incarnation of our CLC coupe parked beside us. Being the car buff that I am, I couldn't resist a photo shot to just compare the past and present. We can see that the CLC is a gradual evolution of the C Class coupe, rather than a radical change with similar bodylines but updated with 1100 new parts including a redesigned front with new projector headlights and rear to update with the new W204 C Class plus updated engine with higher output and lower fuel consumption,LED side mirror winkers, direct steer and suspension and updated Audio 20 stereo and communications set and new speed sensitive SLK based steering wheel and chrome lined dash meters plus multi function information console.7 years separate both models with the C Class Coupe launched in 2001 and the CLC launched in 2008.

At One Caramel

Over the weekend, we celebrated mom's birthday with slurrpy and delicious bowls of Hakata ramen at Yoshimaru Ramen Bar at Playground @ East Coast. Mom and brother enjoyed the ramen as did we. Highlight was finding another opportunity to try more cakes haha at One Caramel @ The Luxe off Handy Road, beside the Cathay cinema. We were wondering if we should check our weigh this month, what with our cake binge.

The cakes we tried were D'Avocat comprising of avocado and fruity connoction layed with sponge cake and topped with blueberry: the Red Velvet which is layered moist velvet sponge dressed with layers of rich dark chocolate and cherry ganache ; and the Mango Mascarpone ( which is recommended as a must try) featuring oh so sinfully rich mascarpone cheese cream coupled with coconut crumble topped with a refreshing mango compote.




(Above and below) Red Velvet coupled with a macaron at the side.



(Above and below) D'Avocat



(Above and below)Mango Mascarpone