Restaurant Week Review: Montreux Jazz Café

I suggested this place as one of our choices for this installment of Restaurant Week coz the BF loves jazz! Only when we were about to head there did we realise that it was actually located at Pan Pacific Orchard.

Their menu was very creative; resembling a concert schedule.

The Soup of the Day was Spiced Carrot, which didn’t sound very enticing, so I had the Fried Calamari while he had the Apple, Walnut and Brie Salad.

 Fried Calamari

Apple, Walnut and Brie Salad

The calamari was tasty and not too oily; I just didn’t like the little bits of chilli flakes on it. But it wasn’t really spicy so it was alright. He liked his salad though the sauce was abit too tangy for my liking. They gave two slices of brie, which I felt was pretty generous.

Herbie

Their cocktail names are also related to jazz and he ordered a Herbie ($18) for the whisky base, but it was unremarkable. 

Braised Wagyu Beef Boneless Short Rib

We both had the Braised Wagyu Beef Boneless Short Rib and the beef was to-die-for! It was served in the form of 3 chunky pieces and was so tender that it fell apart perfectly upon chewing. Thinking about it now just makes me salivate!

 Mango Passion Fruit Cremeux 

Spicy Dark Chocolate

I was tempted to take the Spicy Dark Chocolate for dessert, but I was afraid the spiciness might be too much for me so I took the Mango Passion Fruit Cremeux instead. The coconut ice cream fused well with the mango passion fruit mousse and it was very refreshing, a good end to the meal! The shape of the dark chocolate mousse made it look quite unappealing, however the small scoop I tried was actually quite rich and wasn't spicy at all! He did say some portions were spicy though.

The jazz band started to play at 8pm and he got so cutely excited when he realised the drummer was Erik Hargrove (apparently some famous drummer lol). So for those of you who like jazz, I'm sure you will appreciate the food and music here.

The Restaurant Week menu items were not listed in their normal menu, but a 3-course meal would cost about $54 using the cheapest items in their menu so I’d say that coming here for Restaurant Week is definitely worth it if you wanna check the place out. If you can’t wait for the next Restaurant Week, you can make a booking via Chope and earn $$$ while you dine!

Montreux Jazz Café 
10 Claymore Road, #01-02, Pan Pacific Orchard, Pan Pacific Orchard, 229540 
6733 0091
Mon - Fri: 12pm - 3pm, 6pm - 11pm

Restaurant Week Review: Privé Grill

I actually prepared this post very long ago (almost a year to be exact), but it was so overdue that I decided not to post it. However, I think this is a fitting time to post it since Restaurant Week is here again and Privé Grill is a participating restaurant again.

***

As luck would have it, one of the days of Restaurant Week coincided with our first month and we went to Privé Grill to celebrate! J

They served warm bread, always a delight to have, accompanied with olive oil.

Appetisers

Blue Swimmer Crab Ravioli

Burnt Leek and Potato Soup

I loved both of them! The crab ravioli was flavorful and check out the chunky pieces of crab they gave! The soup was not too bad but made wayyy better by the poached egg sitting in it. Lovely.

Grilled “Silver Ferns Farm” Ribeye

We both had the same main because STEAK! He had it medium and I, medium-well. His was nicer and I vowed to always order medium from then on.

Paris Brest

These were like some kinda mini chocolate profiteroles and the praline was mixed well with the chocolate cream. I liked the thin crunchy caramel biscuit on top too! If only it was a little bigger..

Strawberry Semifreddo

This was a light dessert and tasted like frozen yoghurt with strawberries! Not bad but I still preferred the Paris Brest!

I didn't check the individual pricing but their current 3-course dinner set is $58++, so this was definitely a steal at $28++! I kinda regret not booking the place again this time around!

Privé Grill 
Keppel Bay Vista, Marina at Keppel Bay, Marina At Keppel Bay, 098382
6776 0777
Mon - Fri: 11.30am - 3pm, 6.30pm - 11.30pm
Sat - Sun: 6.30pm - 11.30pm

When the Phone Dies..

As most of you already know, I'm quite heavily reliant on my mobile phone. This evening, my hp battery died and my life came crashing down as well.

"What am I gonna do on the bus?" (I thought of ways to revive my phone during the bus journey.)
"I can't reflect on my life, that's what I do just when I decide I'm gonna try to sleep."
"How am I going to listen to music when I run?" (I said the rosary while running. Yeah, you read that right. It actually kinda helped me to focus.)
"I should call an Uber, but wait, I can't.."
"How am I supposed to tell the time???" (Somewhere along the way I realized I actually had a watch in my bag. Lol.)

I almost wanted to take a cab home just to charge my phone, but I decided not to let a little gadget take over my life and head to the gym, as originally planned. The moment I reached the gym, I asked the nice people at the True Fitness counter to help me charge my phone with my cable. Ask and you shall receive, right?

An hour later, I excitedly went to retrieve my phone from the counter and was DEVASTATED when I realized it did not charge AT ALL. (Lesson learnt; do not buy fake cables.) I went to Coffee Bean and they reluctantly lent me a cable head to charge my phone but it STILL didn't work thanks to the damn cable! It was 3 hours without my phone and I was on the verge of having an anxiety attack.

I looked up in desperation, saw 2 girls afew tables away keeping their cables and felt a glimmer of hope. After I squinted for awhile and received confirmation that they were using iPhones, I went over and explained my pitiful situation to them and they kindly lent me a cable.

After ten minutes, my phone was still not starting up and I started to say my prayers. I wondered who the patron saint of technology was. Just when I was about to give up, I saw the bright light shine and can I just say I've never been so happy to see an apple before?

So here I am now. And that, my friends, is the story of how I survived 4 waking hours without using my phone.

P.S. This was actually a very long fb post of mine, but I took so long to write it that I decided it deserved a spot in this blog. Plus, I've been kinda busy lazy to update so this is to compensate!

Ultra Singapore 2016

It is assumed that everyone who enjoys clubbing would like Zoukout. Let me tell you that this is not the case. While I love dancing (I call it dancing, some may call it hysteria) in a club, I absolutely HATED Zoukout the one time I went.

The main reason was the sand. I HATE sand. I don’t find joy in having sand get between your toes while dancing, having to walk cautiously in case of any broken bottles/vomit and trying to avoid stepping on the unconscious bodies that would be scattered on the beach by daybreak. 

So I was kinda excited when Hui Li so generously offered me her Day 2 Ultra tickets. It was Ultra’s debut in Singapore and I thought it’d be like Zoukout without the sand.. Perfect! Then I went to check it out on the website and didn’t find any familiar acts other than Above and Beyond (who I didn’t like), Sam Willows and Axwell. I was also kinda bummed when I found out it ended at 10.30pm (what kinda music festival ends so early?!). It was only after I realized who Kygo was that I got kinda hyped again. 

Another reason why I was a little hesitant to go was, this is gonna sound dumb, I was afraid there would be a terrorist attack. Before you scoff, let me just say that terrorism is very real nowadays ok! And I had good reason to be afraid! Firstly, it is an event where many people from overseas would be attending. Secondly, the date of the event was Sep 11. And also, the location was just next to MBS, the rumoured spot that those terrorists from Batam wanted to bomb! But because I didn’t want to let my paranoia control my life, I decided to go ahead. And I’m alive! Thank God. Now please brace yourselves for shaky and low-quality videos.

Apparently there were alot of complaints about Day 1, which the organisers heard and corrected so Day 2 was wayyy better. We went about 6pm and the queue was short and quick, unlike what people who went for Day 1 experienced.

We went for Kygo first, but the crowd didn't seem that hyped and were not really dancing much, probably coz most of his mixes were downtempo. I loved it when he spun the more popular songs like Bulletproof, No Money and Firestone and everyone suddenly got more excited and alive. The emcee came out at the end of his set and made us sing Happy Birthday to him, which was kinda cool, because it was his birthday and he was actually born in Singapore! #SGftw

Jas was initially kinda enthu about Above and Beyond, who came out next, but after 2 songs we decided that a drink and the opportunity to rest our aching legs were far more appealing.

It was a downer when they told us the cider was still not cold, 2 hours after we first asked them. So we had to settle for beer at $12/cup.

We went back for Axwell and it was really a pleasant surprise because prior to Ultra we didn't really know what songs he produced/remixed. My two favourite moments of the night were both during the Axwell set; once when he played Satisfaction/Good Feeling and the last part where he spun Sun is Shining, which is now my new favourite song of his. He asked everyone to take out their phones and shine the flashlights so the whole atmosphere was really harmonious and warm.

I must be getting old because that 4 hours of screaming and jumping left me having a fever the next day and sore throat for a week, but that’s not gonna stop me from going to Ultra next year! Yes, it was that good. But I’ll probably just go for one of the days, if not I might end up in hospital. #oldage

P.S. I know this post came kinda late since Ultra was like more than 2 months ago, I actually started writing about it but didn’t have the time to complete it till today.. =x 

Make a Difference Race 2016 – Race Pack Collection

This was the first time I signed up for a run to support the cause instead of to challenge myself. I’m only going for the 3.5 km one though, because Harriet (who so sweetly agreed to go with me) didn’t wanna jog so far. The collection of the race pack was seamless and there was no queue when I went to collect it last weekend at Millenia Walk.

I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of things they gave, given that this is not a highly publicized run. It may not look like a lot but it’s more than what Sundown gave us (a big recyclable bag with tons of useless brochures inside).

The milk chocolate drink was meh, kinda diluted. But still, better than nothing! *looks at Sundown organisers accusingly* I like the shoe lights the most; super excited to wear them this Saturday!

Groupon Review: High Tea Semi-Buffet at Xperience Restaurant, Sofitel So

My bro brought me to Fullerton Landing Point for high tea on my last birthday and ever since then I’ve been hooked on the idea of having bite sized pieces of yumminess in between lunch and dinner. I’ve always loved Sofitel’s décor, so I was damn happy when I saw the deal on Groupon.

The deal
• Meal for 1 person for $28.50 instead of $38
• Meal for 2 people for $56.90 instead of $76

Meal includes
• 10 assortments of sweet and savory pastries
• 1 pot of tea per person

When we got there, they offered us a choice of 3 teas to choose from; Green tea, Chamomile and Mint. 

The tea was brought together with a basket of fried snacks (chicken wings, spring rolls and “money bags”) as well as a three-tier dessert stand with what was supposed to be the assortment of 10 sweet and savoury pastries per person. I say that because instead of giving us 2 of each item, they gave us 18 pieces of pastries, only some with 2 of each variety. Nothing really stood out much except for the chocolate tart which was so decadent! Unfortunately, they only served one of those so we had to share.

The funny thing about the semi-buffet was that even though they listed it in the Groupon header, there was no further mention of it anywhere else on the deal page, so we were left wondering exactly what the “semi-buffet” comprised of. 

From the buffet section

There was actually a small buffet corner and the items were mostly macarons, mini sandwiches and bite sized slices of cakes/pastries. Oh, and they had this mini lobster cornet which Landing Point served too! We liked that, but it was gone from the buffet table quite fast without any refills as they were almost closing up when we reached.

I'd say that it is pretty worth to get the Groupon, quantity wise. But if you're looking for prettier and tastier food, this wouldn't be the best bet.

Xperience Bar & Restaurant

35 Robinson Rd

Singapore 068876

6701 6800

Mon - Sun: 9am - 2am

Kdrama of the Moment: [W]

I didn't expect that I'd blog another post about a kdrama so soon after the last one, but then again I am watching 4 kdramas concurrently.

I know I say this ALOT but [W] is possibly one of the best kdramas I've ever watched! I know this because I am so focused on the show when I watch it that I don't think of anything else at all. Like, really, it's just mind-blowing. And also, there have been times when I realised my mouth was open halfway through the show. Not exaggerating.

The show is about how a daughter of a webtoon artist gets sucked into the webtoon and meets the main character of the comic named, you guessed it, [W]. I'm not a crazy fan of Lee Jong Suk, though I know many people are, but I'm starting to see his appeal in this show, even more so than in [Pinocchio] and I did like that show a lot too. His acting is totally on point here, possibly due to the awesome script as well. Han Hyo Joo [Shining Inheritance] is the female lead and I adore her for her initial empathy/humanity and the way she acts like a total fangirl sometimes!

I got hooked from the first episode and have been nail-bitingly anxious while waiting for the next episode to be out! The last time I felt so excited about a drama was [Remember] earlier this year so hopefully the writers don't disappoint with the ending!