The Clan Restaurant

When it comes to restaurants, K likes nice ambience while I’m more into the food.

So we agree to disagree on The Clan Restaurant.

Beyond the classy setting, there’s really nothing spectacular about this place. Most people go for the 6-course set menu at $63.80++, supposedly of good value, but I’d rather pay the same for a 3-course (or even 2-) meal of higher quality and gratification. Our pickings off the ala carte menu were decent at best, mostly forgettable dishes.

You’d think that a combination of tuna, earl grey, lavender and basil will taste weird, but it turned out bland so that was okie. Poached salmon was awesome but it was not my dish, sadness. My cod fish was quite pathetic, the size of my palm (I have very small hands) and way way overcooked. Chocolate lava was clearly a misrepresentation, we didn’t get a cake that has that oozing runny chocolate that I want, tsk!

Complimentary Strawberry Shooter

Chef’s Starter ($18++)
duck rillettes, scallop with truffle foam, deconstructed prawn sushi

Earl Grey Cured Tuna, Lavender Scented Fruit Salsa with Orange Basil Emulsion ($20++)

Cepes Mushroom with Truffle Paste Soup ($11++)

48deg Poached Salmon with Japanese Broth, Dehydrated Wakame & Leek Confit ($27++)

Pan Seared Cod Fish with Horseradish Sauce, Roasted Garlic & Olive Crisp ($29++)

Chocolate Lava with Homemade Gelato ($10++)

The Clan Restaurant
18/20 Bukit Pasoh Road
6222 2084

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Kilo at PACT

We stand divided over Pact, the sister restaurant of Kilo.

He thinks the Japanese-Vietnamese inspired menu was sparse and limited; I think it’s comprehensive and compact enough to pack a wallop.

He thinks the food was so-so and under-sized; I think the dishes we had were interesting and creatively flavourful.

He thinks Kilo has a winsome offbeat venue; I think it’s great that Pact is so much more accessible.

He thinks the world of Kilo’s perfectly secluded ambience; I think Pact is wonderfully casual yet chic.

Conclusion: He likes Kilo. I like Pact.

And I think we shouldn’t think so much over a meal, haha.

Baby Eggplant Donburi ($12)
mascarpone cheese, tempura flakes

Prawn Summer Rolls ($8)
rice paper, rocket, carrot, avocado, mint

12 Hrs Pork Belly Rice Bowl ($15)
sweet corn, radishes, sugar peas, wasabi sprouts

Adobo Chicken Banh Mi ($12)
seared chicken, pate, pickled carrots, tomato, coriander, soy flaxseed chips

Avocado Salmon Banh Mi ($15)
seared salmon, Japanese cucumber, shaved parmesan, coriander, soy flaxseed chips

Prawn Tempura Sushiro ($13)
ebiko, Niigata rice, cream cheese, cucumber, shredded carrots, avocado, soy flaxseed chips

Kilo at Pact
#02-16/17/18/19, Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road
6884 7560

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Mad Nest

I’m at a loss as to which category Mad Nest falls into.

Can’t merely pass it off as a Western restaurant since there’s sushi and sashimi. Not entirely Japanese either as Northern Indian naan and curries are featured too. Oh ya, not forgetting “Italian-Asian” dishes like seafood laksa and chilli crab pasta. Then there’s also a section on all-day brunch. Confusing much? Hmmm..

We only tried maybe 1% (or less?) of the offerings on the very extensive menu so a proper review is impossible. Totally didn’t like the oishii maki, a mayo-overdose disaster but other than that, the curries were pretty good, especially the kadai fish curry! Fish so soft it literally melted in the mouth, though more pieces of fish would be greatly appreciated. Still prefer Zaffron Kitchen down the road for generous authentic Indian cuisine!

Top left, clockwise: assorted naan basket ($9+); kadai fish cubes cooked in garlic and ginger paste ($13+); mango lassi and mint cumin lassi ($5+ each); dhal tadka, mixture of yellow lentils and cumin ($8+); oishii maki, grilled eel and roasted salmon with avocado and homemade mayo ($16+).

Mad Nest
378-380 East Coast Road
6348 6861

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The Dunearn

Though it’s part of NUSS (The Graduate Club), I’m glad that The Dunearn is open to the public since I’m not a graduate of NUS and to be denied entry just cuz I was from the other “rival” university would be pretty mortifying *gasp* (just kidding, I’m sure they won’t do that haha)

Anyway, I was very happy to receive an invitation to sample The Dunearn’s ala carte menu cuz I’ve been wanting to drop by for a meal ever since reading Harris’s review on the restaurant. The cuisine is defined as “modern contemporary fusion“, and in the email sent to me, it was mentioned that the award-winning chef, Alan Koh, has worked in Les Amis and Marriot Hotel before. I’m a fan of Les Amis so this sounds promising

The restaurant itself is small, so do make a reservation first. You wouldn’t want to be turned away at the door after coming all the way to the Botanic Gardens. To an eastie like me, the location is not exactly the most convenient and accessible place around. But hey, “have food, will travel”, aye?

The menu is extensive and there’s quite a few choices for appetisers, soups, mains and desserts. Since it’s my first time there, I played it safe and went for the signature dishes.

Even before the salmon carpaccio ($12.80++) was placed on the table, I could catch the heady scent of the truffle salsa. I’ve had lots of carpaccio before but I believe that this is the first time I see a salmon carpaccio on a restaurant’s menu. This is quite good, very clean and simple.

When I was served the tuna tempera roulade ($16.80++) next, the tai-tai seated at the table next to mine smiled and congratulated me on making the right choice. And she’s right! The chef enlivened the boring tuna up by wrapping it in seaweed, searing it perfectly, and pairing it with a duo of wasabi mayo and teriyaki salsa.

I guess I was expecting some sort of stuffing in the fish from the description of “seared roulade of salmon” ($28++) on the menu but this was basically salmon with ginger broth and fish flakes, and though I requested for it to be medium done, it definitely came out well done. This was the only dish that I didn’t enjoy~

The second main course of oven baked Chilean cod ($33.80++) was so much better! I love how crispy the skin was and while I’m almost positive that the fish used was of the frozen variety (I may be wrong though), the fish was still soft and flaky enough. 

By this time, I noticed that the chef likes to infuse Asian flavours into each dish, a move I applaud. In this case, it’s blue ginger in a red wine sauce and the side of al dente almond and raisin rice ball.

I was feeling nicely stuffed by this time but oh, desserts beckoned!

First, I had the coconut custard with black glutinous rice ($10++) topped with rose espuma and coconut ice cream. Top marks to how fragrant, smooth, and markedly coconut-y this was! And the awesome coconut sponge cakes on the side were clearly more than an afterthought by the chef *kudos* 

Only gripe is that the there’s too much espuma (half the glass!) and not enough custard. And frankly speaking, I could do without the espuma, which was too heavy and creamy.

Then came the second dessert which I absolutely LOVE. It’s a very me dessert: red bean custard with coconut sago broth and soya milk ice cream ($10++), yums. The texture is great, from the smooth custard to the toothy beans, and overall, it’s so refreshing and light that I bet I could finish another one right away!

In short, I love the desserts here, like the starters, and don’t particularly care for the mains. Nevertheless, I think The Dunearn offers great bang for your buck as the portions are generous, prices are reasonable and presentations are excellent. It’s like going to a fine dining restaurant but paying half the price! If that’s not good value for money, I don’t know what is.

Many thanks to Ikram for the kind invitation! I had a lovely lunch

The Dunearn
1F Cluny Road
Bukit Timah Guild House (NUSS Graduate Club)
6586 3260

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Cafe Indulge

Are you a fast eater? If so, head on down to Cafe Indulge! It’s holding a pasta eating competition, “Take it On!”, from 19th November to 17th December where walk-in challengers compete to finish a pasta dish within 90 seconds.

Well, I certainly wasn’t there to compete in the challenge. No way can I (or do I want to) finish a meal within 90 sec. I’m a self-proclaimed slow eater, haha. An hour or so for dinner is just about right =) Anyway, I digress. Back to Cafe Indulge. It’s a bistro that serves reasonably priced European cuisine with an Asian twist, i.e. fusion food~

For lunch, any main course comes with a glass of iced tea, soup of the day, 2 choices of sides and dessert. Quite a good deal!

All of us had the tomato soup which was tangy and appetising.

The signature pan-seared salmon with Kung Pao sauce ($17.90+) was decent enough. It’s actually just salmon drizzled with the Chinese Sichuan spicy sauce. Nothing bad, just nothing special~

I was the only one who had fish; the friends chose different versions of chicken! There’s black pepper chicken chop ($9.90+)..

.. chicken with mushroom sauce ($12.90+)..

.. and grilled chicken with BBQ sauce ($11.90+).

As you can see, portions are generous and it’s great value for money!

Dessert was a scoop of chocolate ice cream, probably from Wall’s or something.

Cafe Indulge
2 Handy Road
#B1-25/26, The Cathay
6732 3952

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Matsu

Matsu (formerly Shibaken) has a good concept — a pretty neat combination of Japanese Kaiseki and French cuisine. It’s not fusion per se, but classic French served the Japanese way. Even before going there, I thought I’d like the food but somehow it didn’t live up to expectations.

Strangely enough, the first starter of the 5-course Bamboo set ($48++) wasn’t congruous to what’s shown on the menu (a fact that I discovered only after the meal, talk about delayed reaction haha).

On the menu:
Mushroom marinere, escabeche (deep fried seafood), avocado tofu, grilled vegetables, duck breast with honey sauce.

On my plate:
Mushroom marinere, escabeche (deep fried seafood) smoked salmon, avocado tofu fish cake, grilled vegetables, duck breast with honey sauce marinated squid (my bad, for not letting the staff know that I don’t like those chewy white stuff).

A cold appetiser of capellini tossed in pesto next. Too plain for my liking…

I like the cream of burdock for its novelty. Beats the ubiquitous cream of mushroom anytime!

My main of Norwegian salmon in a potato coil with mushroom sauce was disappointing, to say the least. Many parts of the poor fish were charred, leaving a most unpleasant bitter burnt taste. Plus, it was so oily =(

I’m glad that I changed the dessert from default dacquoise to Tarte Tatin, a cute mini upside-down apple tart with homemade chocolate ice cream! Nicely done, a little tangy and nothing too sweet or heavy~

Matsu
Gallery Hotel
1 Nanson Road 
6836 1613

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Vanilla Bar & Cafe

Vanilla Bar & Cafe is one of those cozy places where you can just sit back and relax for hours with friends. That’s exactly what we did. And it helps that the cafe smells so nice! The sweet heavenly scent of vanilla in the air makes me wanna stay, haha~

The menu is a medley of simple Japanese fusion comfort food, like the gyoza ($5.90++)..

.. and the pumpkin croquette ($5.90++). I like these a lot, though they are not homemade (I asked) but outsourced (from where, I do not know cuz I stopped asking, LOL). Super thin batter (meaning more pumpkin, yay!), crispy on the outside and so gooey soft on the inside~

I thought that the Norwegian smoked salmon and egg mayo sandwich ($8.90++) was just so-so. Still loving the one from Freshly Baked!

There’s an option to add $2.50++ for soup of the day to “complete your meal”. I was surprised that all the friends in attendance didn’t like the French onion soup! They thought it was weird, I thought it was ok -shrug-

It’s a good thing that the creamy parmesan prawn linguine ($12.90++) came in a small portion. Otherwise, it’s bound to get too heavy and filling after some time. I found it on the dry side but the prawns were incredibly fresh and crunchy!

Fans of the signature vanilla dirt cake ($8.50++), don’t stone me when I say I didn’t like it at all. Sure, it’s creative (layers of crumbled Oreo “soil” and mascarpone cheese, complete with gummy worms for the visual effect) and it makes such a pretty birthday cake (happy birthday again, Ms Noo!) to pose with, but it’s too creamy and monotonous, so much so that I wish there’s some real sponge cake in it to spice things up haha.

Now this, I like. Molten chocolate cake with French vanilla ice cream ($11.50++). It’s not a lava cake (no flow of molten choc detected), more like an upsized version of the mini cakes from 3 Inch Sin with a pudding-like center that’s so rich, dense and moist! Lovely.

Coincidentally, another table was celebrating a birthday like us and they generously shared their birthday cake from Awfully Chocolate with us =)

This is my first time trying AC’s original whole All Chocolate cake and well, the sponge cake is disappointingly dry. AC’s hei ice cream I still love lots, but not the cakes!

 

Vanilla Bar & Cafe
3 Boon Tat Street 
6423 0366

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Wild Rocket at Mount Emily

After a two-year hiatus, a sudden whim brought me back to Wild Rocket at Mount Emily. The cuisine is coined “Mod Sin” (modern Singaporean) by chef-owner Willin Low and most of the dishes are inspired by the flavours of hawker food or what’s familiar to our taste buds since young. I remember having a delicious meal here once when the fusion hype was going on. But this time, though the ideas sound great and really yummy on paper (you’ll see as you read on), the execution fell short of expectations sadly.

My starter of stir-fried shiitake “noodles” on grilled polenta ($13.80++) was pretty bland and heavy cuz of the creamy gorgonzola truffle sauce. And the truffle fragrance was totally masked by the strong cheesy seasoning.

The savoury tang yuan consommé ($12.80++) was über salty and the stuffed rice ball with mixed seafood had a very thick and chewy skin.

Without trying too hard, the chilean seabass with winged bean and chin cha lok fermented shrimp salsa ($33.80++) was the best dish of the night. The hint of heat was just right and the fish was roasted nicely. 

On the other hand, the duck confit with mom’s yam cake and plum mustard sauce ($35++) didn’t pass muster. Too dry and the skin ain’t crispy. I like yam cakes that have solid and dense texture rather than soft and sticky ones, and these are good! Nothing unlike the ones found in hawker centres though.

Another creation that appears like a must-get from the menu: salted caramel kaya banofee pie ($12++). Doesn’t that sound like a dream?

I love the combi but alas, less than midway through, the whole concoction got too creamy and left a nauseating oily mouthfeel. But that’s just me, I have a low tolerance for cream! If only the cream is replaced with ice cream.. Now, that would be a dream dessert~

The trio of flowers: osmanthus, chrysanthemum and elderflower granita and jello ($10++) is a more “atas” form of ice jelly. Frankly, I like the $2.50 version in hawker centres better cuz: 1. there’s more jelly; 2. the ice crystals are not as coarse; and 3. it’s four times cheaper! =)

Wild Rocket at Mount Emily
10A Upper Wilkie Road
6339 9448

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Chef Daniel’s Kitchen

Fancy rooftop dining without busting the budget? Head for Chef Daniel’s Kitchen then. There’s an attractively priced 3 course set menu at $10.50 nett and $28 nett for lunch and dinner respectively. Personally, I think it’s quite a steal. But then again, the prices need to be that low to attract diners since no one goes to Iluma at Bugis… It’s like a ghost mall on a weekday! The only crowd I see is always at the ground level where Koi is stationed.

The soup (ours was a very forgettable cream of carrot) and dessert of the day are fixed but when it comes to mains, there’s plenty of choices! 7, to be exact.

Chef Daniel’s award-winning wok-charred salmon with leek ragout (above) was good! I had mine with assorted beans instead of ragout. However, there was a bit of inconsistency cuz the friend’s fish was done perfectly—tender and juicy—while mine was overcooked and didn’t have that melt-in-the-mouth effect.

Other choices for main course include:

Oven-baked spring chicken with rice, sautéed cabbage and cloud ear fungus.

Prime cut of ribeye steak with caesar steak.

River prawn with black pepper and cheese gratin on flower clam linguine.

Oxtail stew with homemade onion and herbs bread.

Dessert was an underwhelming brownie with coconut ice cream. Too much sugar, too little chocolate, enough said.

Our table of 19 proved to be a challenge for the service staff. Inevitably, orders were forgotten or written down wrongly, but recovery was smooth so all ended well =)

 

Chef Daniel’s Kitchen
#07-02/03 Iluma @ Bugis 
 6509 9888

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Heart Bistro

“You are what you eat and how you choose to eat”.

That’s the basis behind Heart Bistro’s concept: nutritionally balanced dishes that don’t sacrifice on taste. While occupying the former premises of Marmalade Pantry in Palais Renaissance naturally up its chi-chi factor a notch, the atmosphere is still very casual and laid-back. And the food served here is just my kind of thing!

Initially, our intention was just to order mains from the ala carte menu. But we had a change of mind when we saw the weekend brunch ($32++ for 3 course) cuz it’s more value for money.

Small shots of lemon+honey tea were served as welcome drinks.

I’ve been craving for real, feel-good food like bircher muesli these days, so much so that I’ve been making my own quickie version at home. And that’s why I was delighted to see that Heart Bistro offers homemade bircher muesli! Definitely tasted better than mine, creamy and moist with lots of grated apple, nuts and berries~

This is my first time trying the Myanmar inspired pickled tea leaves with ripened tomatoes and mung beans and it caught me by surprise. I thought it’ll be a mild salad but no, no. It’s a mishmash of textures and strong flavours: spicy, salty and tangy all at once. Thumbs up for this.

For mains, I had the roasted black cod with baby spinach and edamame from the ala carte menu (additional $6++). The oily fish was moist and tender but the highlight was the ginger broth, incredily light and aromatic. Soba purists will probably wanna stone me when I say that I had a side of soba noodles to soak in all that pure heart-warming consommé~

Another recommendation from the ala carte menu was a claypot of steamed chicken with chinese wine, shiitake and white fungus (additional $6++). A bottle of chicken essence was generously poured over the dish when it arrived at the table. Though it sounded good on paper, the chicken was a tad bland and not as fragrant as it should be.

Considered a signature dessert here, the sticky date pudding was deliciously moist and the least sweet one I’ve tried to date. Love the combi of warm pudding with icy cold homemade vanilla ice cream!

In keeping with the theme of healthy dining, the chilled cream of double-boiled milk with berries was well, light and healthy. Very smooth and the gingery flavour hit the spot.

Tea/coffee is included as part of brunch so I had my usual chamomile tea. On a side note, the heart-shaped teacups look so pretty!

I gotta say this: I <3 Heart Bistro! =)

 

Heart Bistro
#B1-08 Palais Renaissance
6737 2148

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