My frens wanna celeb my bday for me and let me choose my preferred dinner venue. And so I opted for here, as I had always wanted to check it out every since I noted this new outlet with its woody, jap style exterior decor. :P

After a bout of shopping, shuttling between Taka and Isetan, we finally trooped down for dinner at 630pm sharp. Lucky we made reservations in the afternoon as the place was sorta fully reserved. Walk-ins were guided to the counter.

The dinner crowd on a Saturday evening comprises of caucasians, japanese and locals where some were family dinners. Wine adorned the tables of caucasians and sake adorned the tables of the japanese. As we settled down in our seats, menus were provided and a plate of endame ($4.00) was served for starters. After poring through the menu, enquiring seasonal prices and making mental calculations, our orders were as follows:

A dim sum lunch, kindly organised by the elusive SC. Thanks, SC! It was great catching up with you. :)

I shall go straight to the dim sum orders since I had already reviewed this place for ala-carte dinner previously.

It was my bday and as per usual practice, a bday treat from my colleagues was the order of the day. Since we had not patronized this place before, it was decided to have the bday celebration here.

On a weekday afternoon, at around 1230pm, I stepped into a quiet and empty restaurant. Really, we were the ONLY customers that afternoon. Perhaps the evenings would be more crowded, I guess. Decor wise, cheery blue and yellow walls adorned with some fish decorations. One of my colleagues commented that her kids would like the place.

As I laid my eyes on the ever so colourful menu, I was a little intimidated by the extensive menu. In fact, not just me, my colleagues too. Comments that went round the table were :"Wah! So many choices ah?" "Erm..dunno choose what, too many choices." "Aiyoh, think I just stick to the set lunches." All of us spent a good half an hour poring through the menu. Finally, orders were made as follows:

After a bout of shopping, mn and I needed re-fuelling and so settled for dinner here. Its generally Chinese food but halal certified. Taste wise, its pretty acceptable. Maybe cos the one cooking is a Chinese so the style is typically Chinese.

I won't say its super fantastic (hits and misses) but hey if one is not fussy, I think its not bad for a simple value for money meal in town.

For example, I had beef claypot noodles. Normally what comes to mind is just fresh beef slices with some veg cooked with the noodles in the claypot. For the version here, I was a tad surprised when served. I see chunks (really meant chunks) of chicken meat as well. So in essence, I get chicken meat chunks, beef slices (braised type of flavour), veg (greens and cauliflower), mushroom slices and an egg. All for only $4!

I think its value for money cos the Chinese stall that I usually patronize (diagonally opp) doesn't have this much ingredients and will cost me $3.50.

Total damage is $26.90, for all that we ordered:
- beef claypot noodles
- chicken noodle
- salad youtiao
- deep fried thai chilli fish slices
- (take away) fried beef kway teow
- (take away) deep fried wantons
- 2 soft drinks

Check out the photos, courtesy from mn. :)

Cousin wanna celeb my bday with me and so suggested to have dinner here. Pity no more indoor seats and we had to make do with alfresco dining in a humid evening.

Being undecided on what to eat and slightly perspiring in the humid weather, we both ordered a beer each to cool down first.
Hoegarden White ($10.90)
Erdinger Dunkel ($11.90)

We continued chatting whilst drinking and wait staff prompted us couple of times to make our orders. Hmm. Its not really done in an intrusive way but I think if they ever gonna prompt further, its going to get irritating.

Finally we made our orders after looking through a simple menu. No huge variety but I guess sometimes simple is good. :)

My cousin opted for the Norwegian Salmon in Pesto sauce ($16.90). I did not try so I don't know if its any good. No complaints from her though. The salmon portion was relatively big and looked good.

I opted for a Pan-Seared Tenderloin ($24.90), to be done medium rare. It was done nicely. Meat was tender and easy to chew. No hard edges etc that is a pain in chewing. A steak knife was provided and my fish knife removed. The down side of this dish was the side vegetables. It was just simply blanched and bit undercooked.

Prior to the meal, 3 pieces of foccacia bread were served warm and accompanied with a chopped olives dip. Warm bread tend to get into my good books, as opposed to cold bread. btw, the bread and dip were complimentary, I assume.

Overall, the meal was pleasant and I liked my main course. Although I did not try any desserts, the chillout ambience was commendable to R&R with friends. Indoor seating could get quite chilly though as the aircon was pretty strong when we passed through the indoor area.

One suggestion though, they could try to place more fans in strategic positions in the alfresco area to simulate wind on humid days.

P.S.: UOB cardholders are entitled to 15% discount. Minus point, no PUB water served.

After collecting our race bibs and tee, MN and I shopped around a bit before settling down for a tiny break.

I was feeling bit peckish, so ordered a Mushroom and Cheese Wrap ($6.90) and a Crosstalk Ice Coffee ($4.50) at the counter before returning to my seat to wait for the food.

The Mushroom and Cheese Wrap was served with a salad (with thousand island dressing) and chips. Chopped mushrooms (not tasty), cheese and lettuce were wrapped with egg crepe. The cheese in the wrap was not melted enough and as I cut into the wrap, 'marbling' cheese pieces 'presented' themselves. The chips were yummy though. :P

The ice coffee was alright. No sugar was added by default, so a bottle of sugar syrup was provided for the diner to add the appropriate amount desired.

Interesting experience dining in the Supreme Court. Before the meal, one had to go through a stringent security check (similar to airport checks) upon entering the Supreme Court. And of cos, this being the Supreme Court, photography is prohibited. Cameras or any prohibited item will have to be surrendered (will be detected even if one 'forgot' to surrender) and kept in a locker at the security area. One will have to register and be given the key to the locker. Even with camera phones, take at your own risk. Flip-flops, overly casual attire is also frowned upon, kindly highlighted to me when I called to enquire about the no-photography rule.

Thanks to Contrarian for organising a lovely meal here and allowing me to get to know new HGW reviewers too. Great knowing you, Gaz and Julie.

The bistro is part of the large lobby area with the business-like feel and high ceiling. Inside the bistro, about 10 odd tables lined with beige and white table cloths. Contemporary look with an open kitchen concept. Ambience very suited for muted and serious discussions of legal cases over good food. The bistro is only opened for lunch from Monday to Friday and dinner is only served on Friday evenings. Friday dinners are when the chef is free to experiment and hence the 3-course dinner menu varied every Friday.

Normally, reservations are required to get a table for the Friday dinner. However, on the Friday evening that we were there, it was unusually quiet as there was a Law & Society D&D at Fullerton Hotel. So most lawyers and legal staff were all at the D&D. :) A plus point will be to patronize the bistro with a member of the Singapore Law Academy (SAL), as members get a 20% discount.

Dinner Menu Options for 10th October 2008, Friday $40 + GST
*****Appetizers*****

The Changi Civil Service Club, nestled in Changi Village, houses this new zi char restaurant. Hence, the interior of the restaurant follows this black-white colonial-looking building somewhat, with high ceilings and the likes. Typical of any seafood/chinese/zi char restaurant, aquariums lined one side of the wall near the entrance with lobsters and fishes.

For a start, the few of us who were early (Ratatouille, yeocw, stardevilz and me) decided to get a drink first and we were recommended the fresh coconut drink. Its essentially a small clinged wrapped young coconut that is chilled.

When all dining companions had arrived, Paul, the manager kindly went through the dinner course for the evening so that we at least know what we would be eating.

1st item:Poached Fresh Prawns in Chinese Herbs
Fresh, lovely red-orangey prawns served in a claypot with bubbling clear chinese herbs soup. Usual herbs like wolfberries, dates, huai shan, etc were sighted and the soup had a hint of all the herbs and had this herby sweetness but not strong. My personal preference is to have it stronger but I understand that most ppl prefer not to. So its actually good enough. Prawns were fresh ('toing toing') and pretty big. Love the prawn heads too, despite the cholesterol content. (Like I care at that point in time? :P)

2nd item:Braised Trotter with Steamed Buns
When the giant plate of braised trotter was placed on the table, my eyes opened wide with huge interest. 'Cos despite the dark colour of the dish due to the gravy,etc, my sharp eyes spied the glistening, wobbly skin and fats and could imagine the lovely tendons and tender meat underneath. True enough, I was happily enjoying the lovely skin, fats and tendons (health consciousness went outta the window into the sea!) Pity that not all the skin were cleared. I really wanted to but I was stuffed by that time. :( Wasted man. The gravy was the sweet kind and will go very well with rice. Collagen-lovers, this dish is a must. Really.

3rd item:Thaipan Special Butter Squid
Another cholesterol level bursting dish. Oh so sinful and yet so addictive. Very tempting to mop up the entire dish, could understood why hoongy! loved this. The butter sauce was done in the relatively similar way as many places but yet there is something slightly different that I cant place where. Very dairy and strong on the buttery taste but butter lovers will love this.

4th item:SeaBass in Assam Curry
Steamed fish with assam curry where the gravy had this hint of assam yet not the usual watery kind of gravy. Its more of a curry texture instead. Understood from Paul that the gravy comprises of skimmed milk, bit of assam and fish head curry powder. Its alright generally if one prefers curry like texture and more of the fish head curry taste. But when it comes to assam, I prefer more of the sourness from the assam more than anything else. :)

5th item:Stir-Fried French Beans with Dried Shrimps
Simple dish that was done pretty well. Love the french beans that still retained that nice crunch and very well complemented with the fragrant hae bi, pork lard and chilli padi. Yum!

6th item:Thaipan Beehoon Crab
Its slightly dry style fried beehoon here although the beehoon still retained certain moisture and had wok hei to it. Crab meat was firm and the texture bit different from what I am used to. Checked with Paul, only to learn that Philippine crabs were used instead of Sri Lankan crabs, hence the difference. I am no expert on crabs but to me I find it ok.

7th item:Thai Olive Fried Rice
Rice fried with olive and raisins, accompanied with tasty minced pork, raw sliced onions, cucumbers and chilli padi (紫天椒). The rice on its own was pretty light. Its best to mix the rice with the minced pork, raw sliced onions and cucumbers and eat it together. Its much better that way. To eat the olive rice on its own without those condiments, I would prefer the rice to have more of the olive fragrance.

8th item:Yam Paste with Gingko Nuts (Essentially orh nee)
The yam paste on its own was not bad, as its not sickeningly sweet like some places and had a dense texture. Gingko nuts were soft enough. The thing to mention is the slight saltiness and the tiny bubbles of oil from the paste in the 'milk'. Its actually my first time tasting orh nee like that and I think its an acquired taste.

Overall, the meal was alright and decent where the seafood used was pretty fresh. Understood from Paul too that the entire meal above for 7 pax will cost around SGD$130 to SGD$140, this means one will be looking at around SGD$20 per pax for the above meal.

A chat with Paul revealed more additional info that I think will be useful for all to know:

Upon recommendations from ice, I was led here to try out the gelato ice-creams here.

A hawker stall in a food centre hawking gelato ice-creams, ironically the stall is just diagonally opposite the Ah Balling stall. :P Interestingly done up, ala chalkboard style with coloured chalk used to pen the shop name and other information.

A myraid of flavours lined the counter, such as, Peanut, Black Sesame, Mocha, Durian, Rum & Raisin, Sour Plum, etc.

Bought a medium cup with 2 flavours (black sesame and mocha) for only $3.20. Auntie was pretty generous with the gelato and really packed it in. :)
Now, its hard for me to rave about black sesame ice cream in SG, solely cos I tasted much better ones overseas. But generally the black sesame here is not so bad and cheap to boot. Of cos it can be slightly stronger in taste and fragrance (personal preference). Anyways, out of the 2 flavours that I bought, I like the mocha most! Really. Its essentially a relatively strong brew of mocha packed into gelato form. Yums.

Taste tested durian and peanut flavours, which I find the durian gelato unsatisfying for me. I love a stronger taste and smell of durian in my ice-creams. Peanut flavour is not bad, good for peanut lovers really. :)

So patrons of Golden Mile food centre now have one more option for desserts after their meals. :P

I love good chocolates (read: definitely not cadbury and the likes)!! But have sorta stopped taking them since Uni days, 'cos I seemed to reach a plateau of sorts in my interest for good chocolates. Partly also I don't fancy very sweet stuff as I age. :P

But ever since I saw this tv program featuring the finest chocs (Amedei, Michel Cluizel...) in the world, I was piqued! Was telling myself at that moment that if I have the opportunity, I must try those chocs. The opportunity presented itself in the form of the previous review.

And so on my bday, I trooped down here to check out the chocs. Boy, I sure did have a huge lesson on chocolate appreciation and the knowledge of chocolates. Blended, region and single-estate choc..Plantation names...Initial notes, middle notes and end-notes...Vintage choc, just like wine, has the year of the harvest labelled on the packaging...Information on how to keep choc properly..

Finally, I succumbed to buying the full series of vintage choc (3 bars in total) and also another bar of Michel Cluizel dark choc. Although its a freaking $49 in total but its the price for really fine choc. So its so worth it. :)

HSBC and DBS card holders will be entitled to 10% discount off the chocolates. Just need to show the card upon payment and the 10% will be given. Note that ONLY cash payment accepted here (so rem to withdraw sufficient $$ :P) and no GST levied.

**Note: The following description is purely based on my own personal prefences and love for the choc. Not necessary will b the same for anyone else as everyone's palate for choc is different.
*psst..tried the Michel Cluizel dark choc and its yummy! The smell of choc is intoxicating and I love it as I ate the choc. Can't wait to start on the vintage choc. mmmmm....

Oh man...I will be back and I think possibly gonna be a regular customer here. Esp to buy the most coveted Porcelana when stock finally arrives. :)

btw, Phyllis and her partner actually conducts Chocolate Appreciation workshops at the corporate level and apparently there will be one next month at Safra (Mt Faber). Think the public can attend for a fee. If interest, do check out the safra website for more info I guess. :)

Disclaimer: My first perfect 10 rating for Food/Beverage is all due to the wonderful finest choc. High rating for service is for the vast knowledge and passion that Phyllis has as well as her patience in sharing the know-how with me as I bombard her with queries. High rating for value is primarily cos I am very willing to fork out the $$ for the fine choc.