Aerin’s
Raffles City Shopping Centre, is strategically located along North Bridge Road. Its silver exterior with Raffles Tower rises behind the shopping complex is hard to miss when you are around that area. I’ve been there like 8 times in my previous visit (business trip) to Singapore. I’m not sure why but I always ended up in there. I guess it is quite convenient since it is walking distant from other shopping malls such Suntec City, The Adelphi, Peninsula Plaza and Funan DigitaLife Mall.
Inside, there are plenty of branded boutiques, Marks & Spencer, Robinsons as well as eateries outlets/restaurants. One particular restaurant that I always wanted to get my hands on is Aerin’s. I’m not sure where is the restaurant’s exact location but I’m sure that it is situated somewhere inside the shopping centre. I could easily get lost in there due to the complexity of the building structure.
Since it was my last night of my business trip, I was eager to meet up with my friend, Joyce, who works in Singapore. And the only place that is suitable for both of us to meet up for dinner was at Raffles City Shopping Centre since it is reachable by walking and/or MRT.
From outside (of the restaurant), it looks posh with mini fountain within the vicinity. There is mini candle placed on each table to create a warm surrounding. As I said, there is a mini fountain in the middle of the restaurant.
Anyway, to cut things short, we ordered Caesar Salad as appetizer. It wasn’t ordinary salad like what you get from typical western restaurant. In it, there are smoked salmon, (either beef or pork) bacon, capers, a slice of lemon and lettuce (duh!!). As salad dressing, they have their homemade Caesar dressing. It was good and fresh but I find the dressing rather too creamy. It is alright if you share the dish with others like we did.
For main course, I ordered Aerin’s Tagliatelle. It is like the-ever-famous carbonara but with extra fillings in it. Fillings such as smoked salmon (again!!), roe and mushrooms. Sadly, they failed to add bacons in it!! Sauce was not toooooooooo creamy, smoked salmon was fresh and lots of sliced mushroom. It was cooked to prefection. I love it but then again, having ‘creamy’ Caesar Salad as appetizer and another cream-based dish as main course makes me feel a lil jelak (in Malay).
As for my friend, she ordered Fillet of Snapper. They managed to not overcooked yet leaving the flesh silky smooth. Originally, it came with french beans and mashed potatoes but my friend only wanted french beans due to her diet (hint : wedding *me faints*). I don’t really like to eat fish except for a few and this will definitely be in my list of fishes I will consume. It is that good.
No meals should end without desserts. Hence, I grabbed the menu again and targeted Tiramisu in Glass. Joyce, as usual, opted for tea, Jubilation, rather than sinful dessert like Warm Chocolate Pudding. Tiramisu in Glass, being the usual, but with a shot of espresso between layers of cream. Nothing special yet nothing bad about it.
Jubilation, a tea, is a combination of several tea leaves. Not too strong yet not too vague taste. All in all, it was a good dinner. Good food. Good environment. and cozy place. The cost of this dinner was claimable negligible as I get to meet up old friend of mine and most importantly, talked crap for the entire evening.
Kafei Dian
After my not-so-good lunch at The Coffee Connoisseur, I walked around near Raffles City Shopping Centre and had this photo taken. This is the memorial for those whose lives were perished during Japanese Occupation. It was very hot weather and I was wearing my working attire and hence, I simply whacked to get a so-so photo as long as It satisfies my requirements. It ain’t fun to walk around with working attire under the hot sun.
As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t drink any coffee at The Coffee Connoisseur because I’m saving my taste bud for a cheaper yet above average coffee and this is where I get my coffee dosage.
It is located a block away from The Coffee Connoisseur. The shop (or should I say coffeeshop) is simple and clean yet comfortable for a cuppa coffee. Not only they sell coffee, they serve food as well. But I didn’t manage to try their thick toast bread as my appetite was ‘damaged’ by my lunch.
It only costs SGD$0.90 for a cup of coffee which I think it is quite reasonable (please don’t go convert la!!).
It isn’t thick yet not dilute too. The ‘thickness’ is just right and best of all, it is not too sweet!! Besides, I like the way the present their coffee in white cup!!
The Coffee Connoisseur
The Coffee Connoisseur, which is widely available in Singapore, is a place for coffee lovers to cave in. It is a place whereby coffees, mainly top quality ones, are brewed in proper way, like Starbucks and Coffee Bean. Apart from top quality coffees, they have dining menu too, such as sandwiches, spaghetti, salads and cakes. Their dining menu can be found here. Curious enough, I was at their Beach Centre branch during lunch time to try them out. Bare in mind that it was my first time and hence, I had no idea what to go for.
For starters, I ordered Bisque of Forest Mushroom. With ‘Bisque‘ mentioned in the name, I was expecting a thick, creamy mushroom soup.
From the photo, it looked creamy with mushrooms not in sight, right? But I was pretty disappointed by the outcome of it. Having the first scoop, it was indeed not thick nor creamy at all. However, it was not too watery too. It has a vague of mushroom which probably explains why it has no mushrooms in sight. Too little mushrooms and too much liquid. Besides, it was slightly sourish. Maybe, they added a lil vinegar for taste. It wasn’t good soup but it wasn’t a bad one either. The best mushroom soup I had so far is from Delicious restaurant (in Bangsar Village II).
For main course, the waitress recommended Beef Meatballs and Spaghetti Gratin. According to her, their customers love it. So, I decided to give it a try. It is mainly spaghetti and meatball cooked in cream sauce and then baked with cheese.
This is where I love to say ‘Nice to see, but not nice to eat‘. The beef meatballs did not taste like meatballs at all. They added too much herbs into the meatball making it tastes like herb-balls rather than meatball, if that’s if they produce the meatballs on their own from scratch. Cream sauce did not taste like one either. The taste of onions and garlic totally overpowered the sauce. The only thing that is edible was the cheese. However, I didn’t bother to finish up the dish as the more I eat, the more I get high of herbs, onions and garlic. And no.. You do not want to see the aftermath leftovers.
A silly person like me would order something else rather than coffee in a place that is famous for coffee. However, I got a reason to do so (will blog about it soon here). Thus, I ordered Mango Freeze Tea.
Safe to say, this drink is the only thing that I like coming out from the kitchen bar. It is mango cordial blended with ice cubes and tea. Probably, they added something to make it creamier.
A not-so-good experience I would say, not because of bad treatment by waiter/waitress but it was due to the food they served. I might go there again for coffee only since I missed out this time.
Weird me (Pt. 1)
Sometimes, it is hard to convince someone/colleague/friend that I’m not feeling well though I’m physically present at somewhere or at some place with them. Like last Tuesday, I had a bad headache. But I looked alright physically and smile at all times. Besides, I was ‘happily’ fooling/joking with my colleagues. Weird, isn’t it…
Parkroyal Hotel
During CommunicAsia 2008 event, Parkroyal Hotel on Beach Road became my (so-called official) accommodation. Little did I know, our company’s HQ in Singapore is located a few blocks away from our hotel.
Upon arrival (to Singapore), we checked in immediately to avoid cancellation. We (my colleague and I) were given Deluxe room each.
For Deluxe room, there is either twin bed or a king size bed. Unfortunately, I was given a twin bed room due to full bookings. Nevertheless, I’m alright with it as I’m used to sleeping on a single bed. The room is quite spacious as there is a long bench for people to sit while having conversation or having a cuppa coffee. At times, it was quite spooky.
Besides, there is a working desk with broadband internet access (have to pay for subscription though) for business personnel to do their stuff. However, I did not bring my laptop along. How pathetic was that?!! Being laptop-less as well as internet-less for 3 days 3 nights was bloody suffering.
Like any other major hotels, there is coffee/tea making facilities in the room but I didn’t bother to use that though. I could get my cuppa during breakfast or outside. Afterall, the water in the room ain’t that crystal clear.
A 32-inch (I think) LCD TV, Sharp Aquos, with cable channels installed in front of both beds for viewing pleasure.
Looks comfy, eh? Afterall, it costs SGD$310.00 per night. *My credit card still bleeding while waiting for claims*
