Banana Gelato Pie with chocolate almonds and hot fudge at Pizzeria Mozza. A side restaurant by famed chef Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich (you know, that bitchy/acid spitting judge on US Masterchef), is one of the few decent places to eat at Singapore’a Marina Bay Sands integrate resort.
The mains are pretty good. Of course, as the name of the establishment goes, the pizza is pretty decent. A real gourmet wood fire oven taste with delicious quality ingredients. But if you’re looking for one of those cheese oozing, New York slice type, forget about it. It’s pretty scant on cheese and looks pleasantly imperfect in a home-made sort of way.
But the real stunners of this place is the dessert. And this is my favorite. The banana gelato pie. Not overly sweet, and the almonds and thick fudge gives the dessert something to bite into. Crazy good, this.
If you’re looking for well priced, hearty and tasty Australian portions, look no further than Robert Timms. The pasta on the menu beats those pseudo-Italian bistro chains that keeps multiplying in malls (ahem, spageddies and pasta mania).
The mussels are lovely in the wine sauce, when they are available. It’s only ever on the menu about twice in all of the six times I’ve been to this place.
When I am here. I tend to over order. The photo you see is our order for two persons.
Robert Timms. Singapore. Wheelock Place.
I’d give it a 6.5 / 10 (comparing to those in its price point and genre).
The must order at Spago’s. As loved by Hollywood movie stars, glitterati, celebrities and debutants. Wolfgang Puck, Hollywood loved him so much, they made him the official caterer for the Academy Awards. This culinary genius and charming entrepreneur makes American flavors and European cuisines explode in a hegemony of orgasms in your mouth. Ok, that sounded wrong. But you get my drift. Spago’s. Hollywood.
Ku De Ta. Yes, now that this Bali chill out institution has opened a bar and restaurant of the same name atop Singapore’a building a la mod, the Marina Bay Sands, it’s time to revisit its roots and what made the place so well-known in the first place.
Kudeta Bali located in the Seminyak district has much to offer - An astounding view of the sun setting into the ocean, amidst an amber glow arising from the horizon, sexy house music blaring around the compound filled with beautiful people grazing on trendy light bites on sun beds at the deck. They’ve been open since 2000 and it’s changed quite a bit since then. Even my from my first visit in 2005 until now, Ku DeTa has reinvented itself oh so slightly to keep up with the times. And as a trendy hangout, it really fits the brief.
Mimosas and cocktails for the trendy set, completes the experience at the so hip it hurts lounge and beach club.
Noticed how I never mentioned the food? There’s a reason. They are BAD. The sushi/handrolls can take ages. Which is a puzzle. Since they don’t have to cook anything. The pizza is sloppy.
The actual sit down dining area serves better food. But somewhat overpriced for its quality. Something that also rings true for its Singapore counterpart. Well, at least we can say they are consistent?
There’s this steak, pasta, salad, everything “western” restaurant (a very common concept in Malaysia), called George & Dragon that’s really popular in Johor Bahru.
The first time I ate there wasn’t too bad an experience. But today, while at the Johor Premium Outlet, I saw a George & Dragon restaurant and decided to give it another shot.
What a mistake. Stay away from this place. The mushroom soup is runny. And would make Heinz look like it’s a gourmet experience. The grilled black pepper sirloin and chicken combo I had which costs RM68, was really disgusting. The sirloin was really dry and lean. The waiter didn’t even ask me about the done-ness.
The sauce was just starchy tasteless goo. I’ve tasted better snot.
Never coming back here. To top off the experience, the service was pretty clueless.
The saving grace? Hmm. Well they have plain water. And wifi.
We all know Jamie Oliver by now. Perhaps maybe some remember him better as The Naked Chef. (I would rather not). He is a charismatic personality on screen. But he is also an English chef, restauranteur and media personality, known for his easy-to-prepare cookbooks.
I happened to be in Brighton (UK) last year, on a side trip from visiting the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championship. Since Brighton is only an hour something away from London I thought a visit to this picturesque seaside town would be a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city.
And as I was walking around Brighton’s charming streets, I came across Jamie’s Italian! And since Jamie Oliver’s specialty is actually Italian food, I felt this would be the perfect opportunity to sample some of his heart-warming food. Yes, Italian food is like comfort food for me. Italian food portions brings a smile to your face. The colors of tomato/meat and the carbs like pasta and risotto just begs for you to dig in!
BUT not at Jamie’s Italian. The fettucini that I ordered came swimming in half a bowl of watery thing I am not sure passes off as sauce. It actually looks like someone couldn’t make enough of the sauce and decided to water it down. Jamie’s Italian is supposedly the authentic, affordable Italian food place. Well, I am not sure which part of Italy watery sauce pasta is from, but I’ve been to some parts of Italy and I have never had pasta like this, ever. The other dish we ordered didn’t fare any better. The black angel spaghetti was equally tasteless.
Only very rarely, I ever not finish my Italian meal. And with this meal, I just kept making a sad face for a terrible waste of pasta and ingredients. The dessert of creamy pannacotta served with a compote of seasonal fruits was a little more pleasant. But you can’t help but feel very disappointed and underwhelmed with the food here. He may be championing healthy eating and quality ingredients but this restaurant has taught me that things that don’t taste good, doesn’t get to plead its nutritious case. Jamie, sorry. I am not a fan. You may be able to cook a good looking meal on TV, but I’ll find it hard to believe they actually taste as good as it looks.
Verdict: Go for the desserts and appetizer. Leave some space in your tummy for the mains elsewhere. I am finding it harder to believe the Brits know good food. Truly disappointing.
