Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Prive Bakery Cafe @ Marina at Keppel Bay

Don't you just love having a lazy weekend out at sea enjoying brunch and catching up with your friends? Ok this isn't exactly out at sea, but close enough for those like us who are not rich enough to own a yacht. I've been wanting to try this ever since.... sometime ago, and so dragged Pineapple and Miss Soprano together with me to try this place out. 

How to get there: Miss S didn't drive, so we took a cab in from Harbourfront Centre. There's supposedly a bus stop somewhere, but I didn't see any. If you want to save on the cab fare, it's easy to just walk in from Harbour Front Centre, it takes around 20 min for a stroll.

It was Saturday mid-day and there was just a short queue, we only had to wait around 15 minutes before we got seated.



I love the view of the "parking lot" of yachts.We were blessed with cool weather that day after a night of rain, though that meant cloudy and not clear skies. The array of yachts above looks like the photo below taken in Cannes, no? Minus the motorbikes and cars and roads.




Cafe Mocha $9 - A bit pricey for a cafe mocha. Nothing spectacular both for the swirl art and taste. Pineapple refused to put sugar into the drink, so it was too bitter as well.


TWG Single Estate Teas, Creme Caramel $4.80 - Priced more reasonably. It's a caffeine-free red tea with a blend of sweet french spices. Usually I go for floral or fruit teas, so I know nuts about teas with spices? This had a tinge of vanilla to it, and it does cleanse the palette after the strong flavours of our main courses.


Eggs Royale $16 - The BEST Eggs Royale I've ever had. Not that I've tried many, but this was certainly highly delectable. The Hollandaise sauce is tastier than others, and it goes so well with the smoked salmon. I always order Eggs Royale with a hint of cautiousness and apprehension, because if not done well, the smoked salmon can be fishy. Look at how the egg yolk oozes out! The arugula (rocket leaves) didn't sit too well with us though.


N. Y. Burger $26 - Description: 200g Wagyu patty, melted English cheddar, cripsy onions, aioli and served with fries. Wagyu beef, cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, onion ring - tell me, what's not to love about this burger?? Only the rocket leaves, yes. The fries are nicely done too, it could hold the fort on its own as well. So good and yet this is not a chef's recommendation? I must be back to try the chef's recommendations Ramlee Burger and other items then!


Pineapple did her research before going and announced that this, the Fluffy Pancakes $13, is highly recommended. Pancakes? I'm not going to pay $13 for 3 pieces of pancake and a few pieces of fruits!, methinks. Though of course in the end Miss S and I still gave in to her wishes. Never regretted it! The pancakes were sure fluffy, and goes extremely well with the maple syrup, pecan nuts, strawberries and caramelised bananas. We couldn't finish this as this arrived last and we were stuffed to the max, but I found myself just slicing up the pancake and popping it into my mouth every now and then in between chatter, though the stomach was already at its full capacity.


We wanted so much to order the desserts because we heard they were good as well, but poor us, 3 main courses proved to be too much for 3 ladies (I can't believe it! Our stomachs shrank!) so it took us much reluctance and will to tell to the waiter, "No, no desserts for us, thank you very much." While at the same time thinking, "Arrghhhh!" Haha.

Anyway, I like the food here and the atmosphere too. Laid-back and relaxed, when I start working soon I'm sure to be back! On a cool day of course... cannot imagine the sun shining down on me, scorching, while I enjoy my weekend brunch.


How much spent: $28 per pax
Would I come back again? Definitely!

2 Keppel Bay Vista,  Marina at Keppel Bay
Tel: +65 6776 0777
Opening hours: 9am to 12am  

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Nanbantei @ Far East Plaza

The only Japanese restaurant I used to frequent at Far East Plaza was Wasabi Tei, but we would always pass by this little Japanese eatery once you come up the escalator. You can't see the interior 'cos it's mostly covered up, and the entrance covered by the Japanese cloth. I always thought it looked rather mysterious. 
The sis and I were planning to go to Wasabi Tei, but we didn't know (or maybe we forgot) it was closed on sundays, we were too hungry and tired to hunt for another restaurant, and coincidentally this place had 2 seats left, so we decided on this.


We are always craving for sashimi, so we ordered salmon sashimi. We do know that it's not always very wise to order sashimi in a restaurant that's not known for fresh sashimi or specialises in other types of food, but we still went ahead anyway. Let's just say the taste was only as good as the picture suggests - pale oily lines, not succulent, leaves much to be desired.

 Nanbantei Yakitori Bento - This was quite value-for-money, it cost $14 if I'm not wrong. 5 skewers which included quail's eggs, chicken meatballs, some pork etc, with really delicious mushrooms and minced meat over the rice.



Mushroom with minced meat - Can't remember the price, but probably along the lines of $2 - $3 per mushroom! 0.0 But it was good.


Grilled Beef Tongue 牛タン($15) - Some parts were more tender and juicy than the rest, but in general I did enjoy this (or at least the more tender pieces). Although it got a bit "je lad" towards the end 'cos the sister didn't take to the taste and only took 2-3 pieces and I had to finish them off 0.0


Chawanmushi - Taste of the parsley was too strong, I still prefer Chikuwa Tei's version which had prawns, mushrooms and clear noodles in it. The ingredients in this one was meagre.



 Unagi Kabayaki - The sister loves this and would always want to order this in Japanese restaurants. This was an additional order and by this time I was very, very, fully already. A bit too salty and a bit over-charred, but all in all still a good choice to order. If we did away with the sashimi and the chawanmushi, I wouldn't have felt like I was going to burst any moment...


If you like yakitori, this place serves very decent fare. The food was good, easy to catch service staff's attention, and you could look at the chef at work too! 

How much was spent per pax: Not cheap, at least $30 per pax
Would I come back again? Once in a long while, not because it's not nice, but because I don't particularly fancy yakitori and as a poor student I can only afford a $30+ once in a while! :)


Address: 14 Scotts Road #05-132 Far East Plaza Singapore
Tel: +65 6733 5666

Opening Hours
Lunch 12 pm – 2.30 pm
Dinner 6 pm – 10.30 pm