The Hungry Bunny

I was invited for a tasting of Yan Ting 's newly-launched Exquisite Set Menu by new hire Chef Mak Kip Fu who hails from the much lauded Lung King Heen. The charmingly humble and unassuming chef brings with him the Michelin-starred experience all the way from Hongkong, injecting a breath of modernity into Yan Ting's repertoire of classic Cantonese cuisine. Dining at Yan Ting is par excellence, exactly what you'd expect from a St Regis. The glamourous but tasteful opulence of the restaurant belies the refined elegance of the food here.  Service is discreet, attentive and pampering. As per post-invited tasting S.O.P., I was back with the Hubs for a revisit a week later for a quality control check of sorts. While the food was exquisite (with a couple of courses possibly being even better than at the tasting) and the 8 courses were indeed substantial, I couldn't quite reconcile its $138++ per head pricetag (that, by the way, after including taxes and service charges,

We love Violet Oon's Kitchen . The fact that we've been back here 3 times in a week alone will attest to our love for Vio's modern Peranakan fare. It's about the only consolation to our delayed move to our new place. For the more regular of my readers, you'd be aware that we were supposed to move over the Hari Raya Haji public holiday, but our move was not to be. Substantive works have yet to be completed, and so, we have had to scramble to rearrange all of our movers and deliveries. So anyways, we'll be here out west for the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, we'll get good news from our contractor soon. *crossing our fingers and toes real hard* The Ngo Hiang ($14) is a must-try, and possibly the best appetizer of the lot. Crab meat lends sweetness to the prawn and pork mince, with a good crunch from diced water chestnuts. The entire mixture is swathed in beancurd skin and then battered lightly before frying so it's extra crunchy. An awesome tea-time

For a long time, Alkaff Mansion, which used to house a Peranakan restaurant in the 90's, was abandoned and slowly fell into disrepair. After a hefty injection of gold from new management, the historic colonial mansion has gotten an Italian facelift. The date-night worthy spot is now rebranded as Alkaff Mansion Ristorante , and it's owned by the same people behind Spruce , so you know the food's gonna be pretty good. I was there for an invited tasting, and really enjoyed the hosted dinner. The food was elegant and masterfully executed, with an artistic flair for plating. Service at the invited tasting was impeccable, unintrusive but attentive and warm. We later found out that our server was an ex-SIA stewardess, so her SQ training clearly came in handy. We returned for a revisit, unfortunately, right dab smack in the middle of Restaurant Week, so the restaurant was swarming with diners. Even so, the food was still excellent. Service, however, suffered due to the full-ho

There are a lot of parallels to be drawn between Morganfield's and Chili's. Both are family-friendly, American-chain restaurants that serve Southwestern American cuisine. But that's where the similarities end. Where Chili's excels in almost every cheese-laden, carb-centric or meaty protein dish on their menu, Morganfield's is more than a little disappointing in comparison. Service is also tighter at Chili's. Although Morganfield's has had more than a year to iron out any servicing kinks, and the hordes and snaking queues have dissipated, the staff still seemed choppy and blur. Plus, Morganfield's is a lot more out of the way than the very centralised Chili's. It's not to say that Morganfield's was awful. It's just that it wasn't as good as Chili's.  We didn't quite take to the Chili Concarne ($3.90), which was more like a mix of pulled pork, mince and kidney beans stewed in Tex-Mex chili spices. The addition of shredded p

Violet Oon's Kitchen along Bukit Timah Road marks the eponymous local cookbook author's first foray return into the world of F&B. We'd been wanting to try this ever since we moved into the area, but never really got down to it until our last week here. As it turns out, with the benefit of hindsight, our procrastination is totally regrettable. The food is an homage to the restauranteur's Peranakan roots, with a smattering of localised western fare such as pastas and pizzas. While the appetizers were a little shaky, the mains were excellent. Coupled with the memorably personable service and elegant yet homey ambience, we thoroughly enjoyed the 2 dinners we had here. I think, even after we've moved back into the city, we'll be back for more of Vio's stuff. The Kuay Pie Tee ($18) with turnip strips and bamboo shoots braised in a prawn stock filling was delectable, especially with that freshly pounded sambal, but the half prawn topping was too cold and