Need a place to bring a date? Craving pasta? Try this cozy and intimate eatery at Goldhill Centre which serves very good pasta. (By `very good' I mean better than I can ever cook on my own, for example, I like Pastamania but it isn't `very good' because I can reproduce their pasta in my kitchen.)
Over two visits, I've tried the Pasta alla Carbonara (rich and creamy), Lasagna Emiliana (yum!), Pappardelle alla Venexiana (my first pasta in a saffron sauce; won't be the last), a tomato cream pasta with bacon and mushroom (very rich and filling; it was served with a flat and fat homemade pasta that filled the belly) and a penne pasta with crabmeat and tomato sauce (this one didn't have as much wow! factor as the others but it was a lighter pasta, and good for offsetting the richness of the others).
Wholly satisfying.
This yahoo user thinks Al Forno Trattoria is snotty. I thought it was very nice actually. Dim Sum Dolly recommends the Tiramisu. I'm not a dessert person so I wouldn't know. Al Forno Trattoria also specialises in traditional thin-crust pizzas baked over a wood-fire oven. According to this source, it was the first restaurant to introduce thin-crust pizzas to Singapore in 1992.
Cost: about $25-30 per person without wine, appetizer or desert.
Al Forno Trattoria (map)
203 Thomson Road, Goldhill Centre
(S) 307638
Tel: 6256 2838
Opens: 12 - 2pm; 6.30pm - 10.30pm.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Al Forno Trattoria
Friday, February 02, 2007
I need a place for lunch
Right now, I have three possible posts in my head. One starts with the line: "Gone are the days of the wind-up clock, where time moved languid and slow." The other is about gadgets. And the third, is this:
I'm taking my boss and department out for lunch next week. There will be six of us in total. Any suggestions on where to take them? Right now, these are the options:
1. Pete's Place ($26+++)
2. Tang Court (cost?)
3. Jack's Place
4. Seah Street Deli
I'm thinking of a set lunch place that is nicer than Jack's Place, maybe $15-$20pax.
Update:
Leaning towards Foster's set lunch. ($15.90+++)
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Possibly the best Tom Yam Soup
you can find in Singapore is at Tyrwhitt Road.
The soup is spicy with the slightest tinge of sweet. The broth is somewhat milky -- it isn't one of those clear watery soups with bits of chili floating on the top -- and it fills a belly in a wholly satisfying way.
For $3.30, you get two prawns, two pieces of silken soft tofu, one large piece of fried fish, and many pieces of fresh fish and mushrooms. The whole thing is topped with succulent onions and lime leaves that gives the dish that extra bit of oomph.
Alternating between spoonfuls of soup, large mouthfuls of steamed rice, and nibbly bites of ngoh hiang (fried meat roll), there was no room for conversation.
Be warned, this soup will make you want to come back for more. But as with all good things, it is not easy to get. The location is practically inaccessible by public transport, and the stall is open only between 10:30am and 4:30pm (closed on Sundays).
Northern Thai Restaurant
1 Tyrwhitt Road (S) 207522
10:30am - 4:30pm (closed on Sundays)
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
A very good prata at tekka market
I'm stuffed with prata and teh tarik and I'm absolutely brimming with the pleasure of discovering a VERY GOOD prata stall at tekka market.
I used to patronise a stall facing the Chinese side of the market because it was the most convenient, but after they served me a really lousy and chewy kosong (plain) prata, I decided enough was enough, and ventured to find a different stall the next time. And this is what I found:
Muhd Ani Rafi
#01-301
(My camera battery is kapooted so I won't be posting pictures for a while.)
Nestled behind the row facing the Chinese side of the market is a narrow corridor of Malay food and nestled in the middle of that, is this store that sells heavenly prata. The 60 cents kosong is crisp, soft and hot. The $1 egg prata is tasty, light yet substantial. $1 is a rockin' good price! I even had a piece of potato in my curry.
The prata man chopped up my prata for me, handed it to the server, looked at me and said, "Bagus" (`good') with his thumb stuck out and the widest grin plastered on his face. And, you know what, it was lagi bagus! (very good)
I'm hooked.
Technorati tag: Prata
Friday, March 10, 2006
(: Smiling like an idiot :)
Han's is my favourite restaurant in Singapore!
I love everything about it: the variety of food, the outdoor seating at the Central Library branch, the happy balance between self-service and service, the price, the taste, everything. Some restaurants, in a bid to focus on their niche, cut their menu down to a few core dishes of a certain genre. Not Han's. You can find everything there, from Western set meals like Chicken Chop (better than their fish and chips) to Chinese favourites like Hor Fan to sandwiches (good deal) to hamburgers (try the yummy superburger!) to pasta (increasingly popular), and get this, it is all good.
They do all things well!
On the way to work this morning, I stopped by the Central Library to return a few books and decided to stop by Han's for breakfast. For $4.50, I bought their breakfast set called "Scrambled egg bacon". For the same price I could also have bought "Scrambled egg ham", or "Scrambled egg sausage", or "Fried egg bacon", or "Fried egg ham", or "Fried egg sausage", you get the idea. I collected my coffee with milk and sugar and sat down to wait for the food.
When the food came, it looked ordinary: a lump of egg, 4 half pieces of toast with butter, and two strips of bacon. But when I first bit into the egg, it was heavenly. I'm not sure what they put in their egg; there must be some cheese in it or something, because it melted in my mouth. The toast was perfect -- not too hard, and the bacon excellent too. I ate the bacon lock, stock and barrel, fat and all. As far as the bacon goes, it is just hard to find anywhere that would serve you real bacon (as opposed to turkey bacon like Burger King) now that a lot of restaurants are going the Halal route. This must be the first time I'm having bacon in years.
The best thing? It is served on a real plate. Needless to say, I smiled like an idiot all the way to work.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Eating out
I am quite a cheapo when it comes to eating out. My idea of a rockin' night out is dinner at Waraku Japanese Restaurant (about $20 per person). Their paper pot soup (beef, chicken or salmon), cold soba, tempura, sushi, potato mentai (potato with lovely melted cheese) is more than what is required to keep body and soul together. Their food makes me happy: the other day, the melt-in-mouth sushi and delectable udon in soup cheered me up from my grumpiness almost instantly. Yum... Waraku has a Valentine's Day Special for those looking for somewhere to bring their partners to next week.
Waraku is my bread-and-butter high-class eating place (what a contradictory statement!); I'm looking for something different this time round. Pink tutu's birthday is coming up and she has requested a buffet as her birthday present. She loves her Japanese food and so I've looked around and found a Japanese buffet at Hotel Miramar, and one called Hanabi at Bukit Timah Road. Have any of you tried these places? Any good?
Also searching for a pasta place that is more interesting than pasta mania. I hear that Pasta Fresca is not that great anymore, though their branch by the beach at East Coast is in one of the coolest locations around. The atmosphere is almost worth the not-that-great food.
Original Sin, located at Holland Village, serves
Restaurant Ember at Keong Saik Road is a trendy restaurant with "probably the best lamb loin in Singapore". It is one of debdew's favourite places to dine at. It looks sumptuous, but a little pricey at S$60 a person.
So many options, so little money, so few stomachs!
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Dinner at Dan Ryan's
The dining experience at Dan Ryan's yesterday evening was out of this world. I cannot remember the last place I've been to where the service was so friendly, prompt and helpful. It must have been still in America!
The staff took the trouble to ask how the food was and to say little things like "Enjoy". They were quick to fill up our glasses of water and bothered to check with the kitchen to answer our questions. To top it off, it was calm and quiet in the restaurant -- most stress-relieving on a Monday night.
We ordered a cup of the soup of the day (good), a cup of chilli (oh the memories of the south! the melted cheese! crackers and onions!), and half a BBQ chicken (okay, a bit dry). The food came with a warm basket of bread. There were three types of bread in the basket -- french loaf, corn bread and a walnut muffin -- so good with the whipped butter they gave! I would have been happy just having side dishes there, they were that good.
I had an excellent evening out in more ways than one. I'll definitely be going back. Meanwhile, I'm going to try to cook chilli at home. Does anyone have a recipe to share?
Friday, August 26, 2005
New working partners
This new committee I'm in is a hoot. The work is gruelling but it is worth it. Things I learnt from today's meeting:
1. The best Cold Crab can be found at Eunos Link. The second best is at the Singapura Restaurant at Siglap. When you go to Singapura Restaurant, order the cold crab, hai piah, and the foochow noodles.
2. Carl's Jr has opened in Singapore. They claim to have premium quality hamburgers (along with a premium price I assume) and free flow drinks. They have a branch at Marina Square.
3. Never blow out a candle with your hand cupped around the other side.
4. Never leave your mouth open while blowing out a candle with your hand cupped around the other side.
