The Hungry Bunny

Now that we're well into the monsoon season, dining at The Lookout , which is completely open-air, is an immensely pleasurable experience. We met up with the family at the club for our last dinner of the year. We wanted something intimate and quiet, away from the crowds and revellers.  The boys opted for the Nasi Padang ($7.80), which was pretty commendable. Aromatic flavoursome rice, a tasty albeit overfried drumstick, sunny side egg, crisp fried ikan bilis, piquant achar and a sweet but headily spicy dried shrimp-based sambal. I got a festive promotional item, the Honey Glazed Boneless Ham ($16.90) with mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, green beans, grilled pineapples and a tangy apple sauce. I liked that the ham was meaty, and not that smooth generic picnic ham crap. Hated the straight-out-of-a-box-in-powder-form mash and sprouts. The Fried Chicken Wings ($9) was delicious, with a crisp outer skin and juicy succulent insides. Not the best, but memorably good.

The last of the posts on Zafferano , starring the Dolci Buffet spread. The Fruit Platter , with cut watermelons, honeydew and pineapples, all fresh and sweet. The Fruit Salad , with diced green apples, honeydew and watermelon tossed in a tangy fruity dressing, and Marshmallows . Mango Pudding and Lemon Cream , both were a little bleh and forgettable. The Tiramisu was a surprising hit, it was pretty good. Moist and rich and creamy. I actually went back for seconds. The Hazelnut Mousse Cake , despite the pleasantly crunchy feutille bottom, was pedestrian. The Pineapple Turnover Cake was dry, insipid and not particularly appetizing. The Walnut Tart , a space filler, was compact but not very memorable. The Cream Caramel was too saccharine. It got cloying very quickly. I also liked the ginormous block of Parmesan , with accompanying honey, walnuts and raisins. Blue Cheese , with dried apricots and walnuts. I also loved the Taleggio a

Following from the previous post featuring the main courses in Zafferano's Semi-Buffet Lunch , these were the antipasti selections.  The Pan Seared Tuna encrusted with black pepper was pleasantly fresh and meaty, with just the right balance of pepper crust to provide flavour. The Salad Station with mesclun greens, capers, croutons and pickles, generic stuff but fresh enough. Clockwise from top left: Boiled Broccoli florets, Marinated Artichokes (urgh, I hate those), Boiled Beetroot (also hate that), and Julienned Carrots The Pickled Section clockwise from top left: Borretane Onions, Sundried Tomatoes, Marinated Black Olives, Marinated Mushrooms, and Marinated Green Onions The Liver Pate , while creamy, smooth and rich, isn't something I like. The Hard Boiled Egg , filled with salmon mousse and topped with fish roe, was an acquired taste. The salmon mousse was very very rich and very fishy. I didn't quite take to this. The Seafood Cous Cou

I'd heard good things about Zafferano , the new-ish Italian ristorante perched atop the equally new-ish Ocean Financial Centre. The expansive view of the CBD and Marina Bay waterfront were purportedly splendid (for the record, it is!). And the Semi-Buffet Lunch was a steal at $38++ per person . So that was where we had our December L.A. Lunch . Despite a substantial number of us being on holiday leave, the troops rallied, resulting in a fairly large turnout for the lunch. As it turns out, the food was pretty alright. No major grouses but no sparkling reviews either. The mains were pleasantly generous and I found them hearty and rustic. As for the buffet, the appetizers generally fared better than the desserts. We favoured and went back for seconds (and thirds!) of the appetizers, rather than the sweets. Service, though polite, was noticeably choppy and flustered. It was more than an hour before our mains arrived. The service pace totally needs to be kicked up a notch. While it

We had our pre-Christmas brunch at The White Rabbit over the weekend. We love their truffle mac & cheese ! Which was why we were so incredibly disappointed when we discovered that they'd changed their menu, AND took the much beloved truffle mac & cheese off their brunch offerings! That was such a mood dampener, really. We were really looking forward to having a huge fix of that. While I get that restaurants regularly rehaul their menu to 'keep things fresh', I never understood why they would remove bestseller items off their menu. These popular dishes are precisely what set these restaurants apart and make repeat customers out of their diners. Take those away and you're bound to lose some of your customer base. I think it's just bad business sense. Apparently, we aren't the only ones who feel the pinch of losing the truffle mac & cheese. A quick chat with the manager revealed that many diners lament the loss as well. The truffle mac & cheese

We brought an out-of-towner friend out for dinner at No Signboard Seafood at Geylang , one of my all-time favourite cze char/seafood joints. This is one of those places that's guaranteed to leave a good impression of our local cuisine. The seafood's swimmingly fresh and the dishes are executed with flair and finesse. Although there are branches of this hugely popular seafood chain located conveniently in town, any foodie worth his salt will tell you that this Geylang branch is the best outlet of them all. It's little wonder that despite its far-away-from-town location, it's a full house every night. Many tourists can be seen chomping down on the fare here, alongside the locals. Service, despite the prevalence of PRC wait staff, is efficient and polite (well, as polite as can get at a cze char joint). Even with a full-house, you don't have to wait very long for your dishes to arrive. We've noticed one thing though, they don't serve beef here. Methinks it

Growing up, I used to love those trips to Swensen's at Thomson Plaza (or Yaohan as it was known then) for their giant Earthquake sundaes. Swensen's, to me, evokes happy childhood memories of dry-iced, pseudo volcanic eruptions, creamy sweet treats and luscious chocolate fudge. Now with competition from other big-name commercial ice-cream brands such as Haagen Daaz and Ben & Jerry's, Swensen's has been relegated to those glory days of yore. If not for Jal asking to have our monthly lunch meet-up at United Square's Swensen's , I wouldn't even know it's there at all. But, since Jal was hankering for some ice-cream and because of its halal certification, we met up at the extremely-populated-with-kids United Square. The ice-cream sundaes are still decadently good, but the food pales in comparison with the main attraction of this old-school American-styled diner. My take is to stick to the ice-cream section of the menu and ditch the savouries. The Me