Brasserie Astoria @ Victoria Theater & Concert Hall

When it comes to celebratory dinner, as with birthdays and anniversaries, we usually spend some thoughts on where to go. We want something unique, higher end with great ambience, but won't break the bank. Fantastic cocktails are definite plus as Lady M and I are suckers for this. This year, she brought me to Brasserie Astoria, located at Victoria Theater and Concert Hall. Just six years ago, in the spring of 2018 (ok, summer in Singapore), we were lining up in front of this place taking our actual-day wedding photoshoot. As we walked past, we savoured a sweet memory.

Brasserie Astoria had huge doors. Thank God they are automatic. And as they opened, an inviting space with high ceilings lined with chandeliers, albeit dimly lighted, welcomed us. The friendly service staff guided us to our seats and introduced their menu to us. The menu was concise, but we took awhile to choose our orders, mainly because we wanted to try everything.

For starters, we had their Oyster au Naturelle (SGD$8/each), and trust me on this, it was one of the best. Hands-down. The size wasn't overwhelming but it was plump and juicy. Paired with the shallot vinaigrette and a nice squeeze of the lemon, we joked we could just had the oysters as mains next time.

Not long after, the Snails (SGD$18) came. It was a crude but apt name. Drenched in roasted garlic butter, lavender and a hint of thyme and parsley, this was again finger-licking good. I never thought lavender in such a buttery dish would work, but it was SUPERB. We found ourselves dipping the bread in it and literally spooning the sauce into our mouths. If you're here, please do yourselves a huge favour and order this. 

Hamanoya @ Marina Square, Singapore

The newly-revamped "Dining Edition" wing in Marina Square features more than a dozen international offerings, including Hamanoya - a casual and affordable Japanese restaurant which specialises in robata, a slow charcoal-grilling method originating from the Northern Japan. At Hamanoya, expect a wide range of these grilled delicacies, alongside with fresh seafood and sashimi cuts that are imported from Japan itself to ensure freshness and quality.

Featuring a chic, modern design and open-concept kitchen, diners can feast their eyes while the chefs prepare and grill their skewers to perfection. As expected of any other Japanese eateries, the staff would echo signifying your arrival. In short, their value-added service is superb and holds a high level of hospitality.

Tony Roma's @ Suntec City, Singapore

The snaking, long queue at Tony Roma's always put me off when I was hunting for dinner at Suntec City. Despite recommendations and ravings from most of my friends, I never really knew what was so good about their famed baby back ribs. Paradoxically, being a true blue Singaporean, long queues never fail to repel me away (and that is probably why I haven't tried out Dim Ho Wan and Krispy Kreme yet.) Anyway, it was my friend's birthday.. and Tony Roma's was selected.

With more than 150 outlets worldwide and two locally, Tony Roma's take pride in their baby back ribs which are marinated with home-made sauces and then, slow-smoked to mouth-watering perfection. Other signatures include char-grilled black angus steaks, seafood and other varieties of entrees and salads. After the long wait, looking at the menu already calls for some serious drooling to start.

Food Tasting at PODI @ Raffles City, Singapore

Set up by The Bakery Depot which brings you familiar brand names, like Cedele and P.L.T Sandwiches, PODI is a new venture to introduce pure-offbeat-delicious-infusions through adventurous combinations of flavours and ingredients. Just before the grand opening on the 25th October 2013, a lucky group of foodie-bloggers were invited to their pre-launch event at Raffles City. What happened subsequently was a gastronomical journey which lasted for about 3 hours.

Check out their signature Duck Berry Waffle - a brilliant creation featuring gourmet duck confit, blueberry compote, egg and maple syrup vinaigrette set upon freshly baked waffles. Verdict: Waffles were a tad dry, but surprisingly, flavours and textures complement one another. But seriously, who in the right mind would have thought about throwing duck, blueberries, eggs and waffles together? Well, definitely not me. I really gotta award points for their creativeness and boldness.

Cedele by The Bakery Depot @ Raffles City, Singapore

Embracing the motto "eat well, be well", Cedele advocates positive eating and attitute with healthy food crafted by artisans who uses only the finest ingredients. They also boast that no trans fats are involved in the making of their food and that all food are made from scratch. For myself, I have frequented Cedele more than a few times for their tantalizing tea time snacks (they have one of the best red velvet cakes) and as a matter of fact, I have only eaten their mains merely once before.

A quick browse through the menu, and I had decided on Beef Balsamic Mushrooms (S$24.50), which  was a larger version of their Beef and Mushroom salad. The supposedly "medium" Sirloin beef stripes were slightly overcooked, and were served together with pan-glazed mushroom, potato patty and garden greens. Succulent and juicy? Yes, but it would be so much better if it was doned medium. On a side note, the crusted potato patty was pretty awesome though.

Suki-Ya @ Marina Square, Singapore

With the restaurant motto of 'Eat all you can Sukiyaki and Shabu Shabu', Suki-Ya (which translates into "House of Hot Pot") aims to offer a heart-warming dining experience at affordable prices. We happened to be at Marina Square on Christmas night, and thought that a hot pot dinner was an ideallic option for a cold season like this. (Okay, not exactly cold - Singapore has no seasons other than summer.)

 

The Eat-All-You-Can/buffet prices are as such:

Mondays-Thursdays
Lunch @ $16.90++ // Dinner @ $20.90++

Fridays-Sundays, Eve of and Public Holidays
Add $2 to usual price

Children (4-9 Years Old)
Minus 25% off Adult Price

Diners get to enjoy unlimited, quality paper-thin beef and pork slices, as well as chicken, on top of the buffet bar where a wide variety of vegetables and meatballs are served. There are a total of four options for the broth - Shabu shabu, kimchi, sukiyaki and spicy miso, which is only available on weekends, eve of and public holidays. For buffet option, you get to enjoy free flow of green tea too.

 

Besides the buffet items included, you can order a la carte items, such as edamame, gyoza, ebi tempura and my personal favourite - unagi kebayaki. Alcoholic and other drink options are available as well.

 

Please do note that food wastage is heavily charged at 20% of total bill.

 

 

Prior to this, I've done some online research on Suki-Ya and found quite a handful of bloggers/diners complaining about their unsatisfactory services. However, I find no problems with the service staff (or is it because of the merry festive?), but they could definitely improve on their food variety, perhaps by including some of the a la carte items into the buffet.

 

For more information and menu, do visit their main website at:

http://www.suki-ya.com.sg/

 

 

 

 

Suki-Ya

 

Tel: 6337 9969

 

Opening Hours

Mon - Fri: 11:30 - 22:30

Sat - Sun: 11:30 - 23:00

 

6 Raffles Boulevard

#02-13F/G

Marina Square

Kkongdon Korean Barbeque @ Marina Link, Singapore

With the hallyu wave spreading like wildfire globally, Korean entertainment and culture have become readily available  practically everywhere and that of course, includes Korean restaurants specialising in the fine art of barbeque. Recently, JP Pepperdine Group which owns popular steakhouse Jack's Place and Eatzi Gourmet, has started another venture by bringing Kkongdon Barbeque into Singapore's gastronomic scene.

To date, Kkongdon Barbeque has more than 60 branches in Korea and 2 locally, which are located at Marina Link and SAFRA Toa Payoh. According to internet source, JP Pepperdine is set to open another 11 outlets within the next 3 years.

Kkongdon Barbeque (meaning "value for money") promises authentic Korean barbeque experience at a reasonable price. There is also a free-flow kimchi salad bar which is available for any order of main course. Besides the usual red chilli kimchi, Kkongdon BBQ serves an impressive array of side dishes, including fresh lettuce to wrap your barbequed meat.

There is a promotion for their group dinner set at just S$19.80++ per pax with a requirement of minimum 2 persons to order per set. Basically, it comes with a combination of two meats - pork, beef and chicken, Kimchi pancake, soup and steamed rice. Since there were 6 of us, we decided to go with two dinner sets (which was supposed to be shared among four).

I love restaurants that let you cook yourself, although seemingly tedious, the do-it-yourself (DIY)process allows one to control how well the meat is done and not to mention that cooking is always fun, aye? Cook some meat, dip it with preferred sauce, wrap in lettuce and pop into your mouth!

On top of the meats, we had an extra portion of lightly seasoned Pork Cheek Meat (S$16.00), an under-rated and under-used portion of the pork which tasted somewhat like pork belly without the layer of fat and felt tender and chewy.

 

 

My favourite cut was the beef skirt, which speaks juicy and a burst of flavour. I like mine done medium-well with a tint of redness and lightly dipped in soy sauce.

 

Kimchi Pancake which comes together with the set (or S$10.80 w/o set) is too floury for my liking. The amount of kimchi was disappointing as well.

Ginseng Chicken (S$18.00), a Korean classic dish which is believed to cure illness, consisting of a whole chicken cooked in a broth of jujubes, ginseng and garlic with a generous portion of sticky rice.

Beef Bulgogi Stew (S$13.00) with assorted mushrooms, is a hearty soup that one would definitely wish for winter. It was a tad salty, but for someone who likes salty food, it was not half as bad.

As always, food is always good with awesome company.

(from left) ZR, me, Brother Tim, Bestie WY (with Peiyi and Pam not in picture)

Kkongdon Barbeque also comes equipped with retractable pipes that suck in the smoke, air purifiers and febreeze to make sure you don't walk out of the place with "barbeque smell". To be honest, Kkongdon is not the best Korean barbeque place, but the affordable price for these quality and quantity, it's quite worth it.



Kkongdon BBQ

Tel: 6336 2580

Opening Hours
Daily: 11am - 10.30pm

6 Raffles Boulevard
#B1-01/02
Marina Link

The Handburger @ Raffles City, Singapore

One of the restaurants that left a huge impression on me is this casual fast-food chain. Not only because of the food, but The Handburger (Somerset 313) was where I brought my first date for a simple dinner.

Their mains include the burger, a garden salad (with or without bacon) or soup of the day. The salad was refreshing and crisp, but the bacon strips were too hard and chewy for my liking. The cream of chicken with crispy crumbs (soup for that day) definitely makes a better choice.

Anyway, I ordered one of their classics, Handburger Original (S$13.80) - 150g of 100% NZ grass-fed prime beef on a bed of crispy lettuce, cheddar cheese, topped up with homemade BBQ sauce and sweet onion jam. The beef patty was exploding with juices, and I want to rave about their toasted caramelised onion bun. It is that good. Crispier than the usual boring buns, it also brings along the frangrance of onions.

One of my friends ordered the Blue Cheese Beef Burger (S$17.80) - the same juicy patty, topped with roasted pear, blue cheese, homemade BBQ sauce and sweet onion jam. I would recommend the Handburger Original over this though.

We also had their signature creation, The Works (S$17.80) - same patty, topped with battered onion rings, crispy bacon strips, sunny side-up, sauteed basil pesto mushroom, sweet onion jam, melted cheddar cheese, homemade BBQ and aioli sauce. A little of everything, this ingenious burger is the perfect choice if you are still deciding what to eat after an hour.

To complete your meal, add in their Nutella Milkshake with Marshmellow (S$4.50), a chocolatey, thick drink with soft marshmellows to go with. Just to add on, they have a loyalty program (THB Fanatics) designed to reward their diners with points, which can be redeemed to offset future bills, and other special promotions too.

Definitely one of the dining places I will frequent occasionally, for old times sake and the affordable, yet quality burgers as well.

The Handburger

Tel: +65 6334 4577

Opening Hours

Sun–Thu: 11.30am – 10pm
Fri–Sat: 11.30am – 10.30pm

252 North Bridge Rd

#B1-65/66

Raffles City Shopping Centre