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.
Who the hell comes up with these names? Afghan biscuits? Why? Was Iraqi cookie taken?
Apparently Afghan Biscuits are a Kiwi favorite. Made from cocoa powder, butter, flour and cornflakes, topped with chocolate icing and walnut. I just wish the name wasn’t so racist.
Quite possibly one of the world’s best macarons. These tiny cakes are simply delicious! They aren’t just pastries, it’s essentially art pieces of colors, taste, aesthetics and perfection. So much so that the macarons in the patisseries around the world are imported from Paris. Yes, so that you don’t get to use the excuse - the chefs made it better in Paris. Every macaron you put in your mouth anywhere in the world is made the same, from the same people, at the same place.
The macarons are nice and lightly crisp on the outside, airy soft in the middle. Sandwiching a delightful whisper of luxuriously flavored ganache. A far cry from what your Singapore and Malaysian dessert places would be offering. Also really good! Try the millefeuille while you’re there.
Interesting Factoid: Laduree is known as the inventor of the double-decker macaron. With 15,000 sold every day.
Verdict: This is an institution. Laduree is a must-go for any visitor to Paris. (And now available in London, Tokyo, Istanbul and various cities in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, UAE, Luxembourg, Kuwait, Monaco, Switzerland, Italy, Ireland and the USA). Delicate, delicious and delightful to the palate. I dislike overly sweet desserts, and I love these macarons. Great for kids and adults. (And as souvenirs).
To Singaporeans looking for a good meal in JB via second link (because Woodlands is so crowded and jammed up). You can look up Claytisfy. Pardon the silly name but the clay pot rice is one hot delicious meal. I arrived in Johor Bahru when it was a cool rainy evening. And clay pot seemed like the perfect thing to have.
The restaurant only has 3 main varieties to offer. Clay pot chicken rice or clay pot sliced pork with salted fish or the claytisfy’s own signature chicken in clay pot. And flip the menu over you’ll see about 4 different vegetables to help your digestion of those carbs.
The food takes 15-20 minutes to prepare, so don’t arrive hungry and grumpily impatient. The food is relatively good for JB standard, where coffee shops and restaurants thrive on Sg inbound very non-discerning taste buds. A lot of the bullshit JB restaurants put out there is utter crap. Seriously.
So if you’re passing by JB or Bukit Indah area next time. Do check out Claytisfy. Address: no 24, Jalan Indah 8/15, 81200 Johor Bahru, Johor Malaysia.
Verdict: They do one thing, and do it well. Everything is well flavored and clay pot rice is grainy and technically ‘al dente’ (the way claypot cooked rice should be. Ask them to throw in the salted fish when they help you mix the rice (before serving). It needs that bit of saltiness and strong flavor, IMHO. Generous helping of chicken in the rice. And they say the medium pot serves 2 person. But these 2 persons had better be really hungry big-eaters.
Must TRY in Kuala Lumpur! Ben’s at Pavilion. The red velvet cake. The banoffee sundae. And the delectable salads (for those watching their waistline). Ben’s (Another Bright Idea by BIG), Level 6, Pavilion Shopping Mall, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
