jar'd by sarnies, one raffles place.

was in raffles place on a saturday afternoon, and needed a quick lunch. it seemed that only shops in one raffles place were open, so we headed over and chanced upon jar'd by sarnies, where their mason jar salads were going for half the usual price! seemed like a good deal, so we quickly picked up two jars.

admittedly the tuna tataki salad (usual price $16) was not something that i'd usually choose, not being a fan of tuna, but choices were limited. J got the tuna tataki as well, but in a smaller size (usual price $12.50). it was a takeaway only concept, so we found a quiet spot elsewhere to eat.

i'd read comments previously that jar'd's mason jar salad idea was a good one conceptually, but not practically sound. the reviewers had almost unanimously commented that they found it difficult to mix up the salad by shaking the jar, because there were too many ingredients in the jar (sounds like a happy problem to me). they'd had to resort to taking everything out of the jar and mixing it in a separate bowl, which kind of defeats the purpose of a mason jar salad.



having no access to an extra bowl, luckily enough, we had no problems shaking the jar to mix up everything. J was happily shaking hers and mine away. i found everything to be mixed up quite satisfactorily once she was done. not sure if jar'd had considered the comments and reduced the amount of ingredients, or was it that the components of the tuna tataki that made it easier to shake up. still, i actually quite enjoyed my salad. the addition of the bonito flakes and seaweed made it a really interesting eat. i especially loved the soy and mirin dressing combined with the spiralized radish and shredded purple cabbage. J didn't like the tuna though, and gave some of hers to mine. it wasn't my favourite, but i was okay with it.



i enjoyed the salad enough that i would come back and have it, but only if it was half priced. at $16, it was priced too steeply for my liking, and i would rather have omnivore.


jar'd
one raffles place
#b1-38
http://www.jar-d.co

botanist, neil road.

pacamara being one of my go-to cafés, i was understandably excited to hear that they'd opened botanist over at neil road, which is much more accessible for me. i made a trip over with J, who loves pacamara as much as i do. the first time we were there, it was a rainy weekday afternoon. we were initially seated indoors, but it got too cold, so we requested to be seated outdoors instead, under the canopy.

the first thing that caught my eye was the corned beef hash ($19), so naturally i went with that. J is equally predictable, so of course she chose the salmon & egg ($23).



our food came really prettily presented- the flowers added a pop of colour to the plates. i guess it kind of links back to their name. the taste, however, fell a bit flat. i was expecting my shredded corned beef to be juicy, but it leant towards the dry side. the poached egg and hollandaise did make it better; in fact it was not bad when combined together, but coming with high expectations, i expected more, i suppose. still, portions were generous and i was full.



J quite liked her salmon, but commented that she still likes the food at pacamara more.

we came back in a big group sometime later, and this time, it was really hot out! it was a weekend, so the place was packed, and we didn't manage to get indoor seating. there were fans, but we were basically sweltering in the heat. alfresco dining really doesn't work in singapore.



this time i decided to try the slow cooked beef cheek ($24). it was nice, but didn't leave too much of an impression.



i got slight food envy when i saw J's chicken & quinoa salad ($17), especially after she added two poached eggs to it. my food envy subsided after J commented that the chicken breast was dry- i took a bite, and had to agree.

still, no gst and service charge makes botanist a good place to head to for well priced café food. they do a mean coffee, too! J doesn't seem enamoured with botanist, but i wouldn't mind coming back to try their other stuff, given that their all-day brunch offerings are not the usual ones.


botanist
74 neil road
https://www.botanist.sg

arôme french bistro, wild market.

i have a fondness for atas food courts like pasarbella, because interesting food is offered at more down to earth prices. and yay to no service charge! found out that wild market had just opened at shaw towers, so i brought C along for dinner.

there weren't a lot of stalls; probably about six, but it was a good mix of western and local. maybe because they'd just opened, the whole place was quiet, even for a weeknight, especially if you compare it to pasarbella over at suntec.

the stall that caught our attention was arôme, which was offering a two-course set for a really good price. i got the duck confit (of course) for $15.90. C's black angus bavette cost slightly more at $21.90. we both got soups as our starters.



we were given a buzzer to collect our food once it rang, but they were nice enough to serve it to us. our soups came after a brief wait. i got the french onion soup, while C got the spiced pumpkin velouté. both were served with baguettes. my french onion soup was pretty good! C wasn't used to her spiced pumpkin, and we ended up swapping soups in the end. i liked both well enough, so i didn't mind.



our mains came only after we were done with our soup. i was impressed by how prettily plated both of our dishes were! and happily enough, the food measured up, too. my duck confit had the requisite crisp skin.



it was accompanied by a slice of grilled pear, lentils and braised purple cabbage. all in all, it was a satisfying eat. i tried a bite of C's black angus bavette. while it was pretty good, i still preferred the duck.

i'm definitely coming back (probably with J in tow). they have a couple of promising items on their menu that i'm interested in trying. they seem to be open till at least nine in the evening, which is good, given our penchant for late dinners. i'll be back!


arôme french bistro
shaw towers
#01-27/37

ash & char, mccallum street.

debated internally for a while between trying ash & char and having salad for lunch (i honestly stood there pondering, and someone i know walked by and asked me what i was doing there *awkward*). decided on ash & char in the end, since the menu looked suitably tempting. plus, they had a set lunch as well (just $5 extra for a soup and drink with any mains).



soup of the week happened to be roasted butternut, served with toasted sourdough. it seemed to be the one on their christmas special menu, which came with chestnuts and spiced crème fraîche. it came piping hot, like all soups should be, but the crème fraîche was mysteriously missing, replaced by what seemed like truffle oil. hmm... i'm not the biggest fan of truffle oil. the soup was also more watery than i'd expected, but it tasted alright. what i didn't like was the grilled sourdough- it seemed to have been brushed with truffle oil, and its taste was overpowering.



for my main i got the grilled chicken leg ($17), which came with charred broccolini, sweet potato crumble and king oyster mushroom. i was curious as to what was a sweet potato crumble, but it turned out to be just sweet potato mash. everything on the plate was spot on, though! the chicken leg was juicy and tender, with an almost crispy skin.



but my favourite of the plate was probably the king oyster mushroom, which had been grilled (?) until its exterior was almost crackly. the dish was finished off with a truffle chicken jus (!) but thankfully the truffle taste was nonexistent. the jus was pretty good, actually- it tied the dish together.



i finished off my meal with a coffee. strangely enough they don't do things like lattes or flat whites- the only option is espresso, with milk or without. i got a 7oz espresso with milk, which bordered on the bitter side. it was drinkable, but not something that i'd get again.

i liked my food enough that i'd return. they're having a christmas special of chicken roulade stuffed with sticky rice, and that sounds like it's worth a try. hopefully i can squeeze in a trip back before they take it off the menu.


ash & char
21 mccallum street
https://www.facebook.com/AshandChar/

bottles & bones, raffles place.

salads are abound in raffles place, which is why i love eating there. the fact that there's no shortage of options means that it's hard to choose sometimes, and i end up going back to my default. bottles & bones has been open for a while, but i've never tried it. i got tempted into trying it mainly because they had polenta cakes on their daily specials menu- i'm a sucker for savoury cakes, like cornbread.



their daily specials are quite interesting, actually. the thursday specials were mediterranean lamb kofka (kofta?) with cucumber mint tzatziki sauce and parmesan herb polenta cake. i decided to get both. as the polenta cake was considered as a vegetarian main, i had to add on an extra $2, so my box was $16.90.



ordering was straightforward, as with most salad places. i filled in the order chit, handed it to them and made payment. i was given a buzzer, and once it was ready for collection, i went over to collect it.



i liked that the sides were not just the usual ones. to add a crunch to the box, they had a variety of different crumbles, instead of just the usual nuts. they could've been more generous with the crumble, though- it was barely a dusting, and i could hardly discern the parmesan flavour.

the lamb kofta, sadly, was saltier than i would've liked. it was overpoweringly so, and it was probably the only part of the box i didn't like. if i return i'll skip the lamb and go for their other proteins.



the main thing that i came for, though, was the polenta cake. it delivered on so many counts, and fulfilled all my polenta cake dreams. i could really taste the parmesan, and the texture of the cake itself was spot on. in fact, i'd return just to have the polenta cake alone- i'm tempted to ask if they sell it by itself.

on first receiving my box, i thought it might not be enough to fill me up, but it was surprisingly filling. i was super satisfied after finishing the cornbread. yeah, i'd come back on thursdays.


bottles & bones
chevron house
#01-42
http://bnb.sg

garçons, upper thomson.

we were on our way to pacamara, walking along upper thomson road, when i spotted garçons' christmas special menu that they'd displayed at the entrance. the turkey roulade caught my attention, and i decided that i wanted to try it. besides, having tried by the fire at alibabar, which is by the same people, and quite liked it, it seemed reasonable to assume that food at garçons would be of a similar standard.

the place was quiet for a weeknight dinner. the only other occupied table was by a caucasian guy drinking wine, but he left after a while.

it's mostly self service. we had to go up to the counter to order and pay, and were given a buzzer to collect our food. utensils and water were at a separate counter for us to help ourselves to. not that i minded, though- it's great that they don't charge for service. even though they gave us a buzzer, in the end, they served us the food at our table anyway.



i got the roasted turkey roulade ($15.90), which was basically turkey breast stuffed with bacon and apricots, mashed potato and mesclun salad. sadly the turkey breast was on the dry side, and strangely enough i could barely taste the apricots and bacon. what i tasted was actually pistachio. the mashed potato was also nothing to shout about, especially when i compare it to pacamara's smooth and creamy one.



but for the price, i was reasonably satisfied, though if i came back, i would probably order something else.



we also shared a tuna tataki salad ($12.50). it's awesome that J is as into salads as i am! the salad was pretty good, actually. i especially liked the balsamic vinagrette.

J, as usual, got salmon, this time in the form of a herb crusted salmon ($16.20). i didn't try it, but she didn't like the herb crust, and ended up scraping it off.

incongruously they were playing tom and jerry on a TV screen on mute. i didn't quite get why, but it entertained me for a bit. the food, given its nett pricing, was not too bad, though i think i was more impressed with by the fire. perhaps i just didn't order the right thing...? i wouldn't mind coming back, but there are so many other things along upper thomson that i think i'll be distracted away.


garçons
215r upper thomson road
http://www.garcons.sg

paddy hills, south buona vista.

J was driving and we had to be in the west, so paddy hills, which i've been meaning to try for a while now, seemed like a good choice.



the place was quiet when we got there, with only a few tables occupied, so it was really nice for a quiet lunch.

they have all-day brunch, right up to 5pm, so it was right up our alley. i zeroed in on the potato & fish ($24) straight away, because i can never say no to rostï. they had christmas specials as well, but the item i was interested in from that menu happened to be unavailable. J wanted the green scramble & bacon ($23), but without the bacon (much to the waiter's bewilderment). he told us that it would be silly to have it without the bacon, since it was kind of the point of the dish. i then asked if they could change the bacon to smoked salmon, but after consulting the kitchen, we were told that it wouldn't be possible. in the end J settled for the naked english muffin ($16), adding on the house cured salmon ($5). i don't understand why they couldn't have been more flexible about it, though!



both our dishes came prettily plated.



the rostï wasn't quite what i expected, though. the potato strips were cut more finely than usual, so it resembled fried vermicelli more than regular rostï. it was yummy just the same, though a bit on the oily side. the sea bass was generously portioned and super well-cooked, especially the super crisp skin. the bagna cauda sauce was interesting- not like anything i have ever had before, but it went well with the fish and rostï, though being placed on the bottom meant that it made the rostï slightly soggy. on googling i realised it was made from garlic and anchovy, both of which i don't exactly have a fondness for, but i couldn't really discern what it was when i was eating it. i quite liked my plate, but it leant towards the greasy side. i also found myself getting hungry quite soon after the meal, which meant that the portion wasn't quite enough- it would've been nice to have a more generous portion of carbs.



J's naked english muffin was basically in-house stewed beans, guacamole, poached eggs and greens stacked atop english muffins. she quite liked it, but i found it on the pricey side. still, food was obviously well cooked, and i wouldn't mind returning to try their other items (on a day when i'm not famished).



service was not too bad, but they took forever to serve J's side order of smoked salmon. we were halfway through our meal before we decided to ask about the salmon again, and were told that they'd check with the kitchen. but... we still had to ask them yet another time before it finally appeared. given that it was pretty much empty... it makes me wonder how they manage when it's full house.


paddy hills
38 south buona vista road
https://www.facebook.com/paddyhills.sg/

luxe, keong saik, 2.0.

come to think of it, it's been almost a year since i was last at luxe. i've always wanted to return to try more of their stuff. happily enough J was suitably intrigued by their menu, so we made a trip down.

i did make a reservation, but it wasn't necessary. we reached at 2 pm on a monday, and the place was quiet. and yes, they're open on mondays now!



their menu has changed quite a bit since i was last there. more brunch items seem to have been added, which suits us just fine. they have quite a number of interesting sounding salads (braised lamb! roasted aubergine!), which caught my attention, but eventually i went with the tijuana ($26) off the breakfast menu.



i was taken aback by the amount of pulled pork that appeared on my plate. when they said pulled pork, i was expecting a token amount, as with most brunch plates, but i was given two generous mounds. and when they said potato hash, i was expecting quite a bit of potato, but it was just a token amount- i finished it in a couple of bites. so proportion-wise, i found it oddly skewed towards protein, what with the poached eggs as well. i found i needed more of the potato hash and corn salsa to go with the generous amount of pulled pork.



odd proportions aside, the food was pretty good. the pulled pork was packed full of flavour- super delicious, especially with the perfectly poached eggs. also loved the potato hash, which was super crisp (part of the reason why i wanted more of it). i just didn't quite get the chipotle cream. to me, it was one dimensionally hot, even with the tiny amount that i tried. not sure how it worked with the entire dish, given that it was so overpowering and the pulled pork was already so flavoursome anyway. i left most of it alone.



J had no complaints about her luxe bowl ($20, additional $4 for smoked salmon). they were similarly generous with the smoked salmon, and i got to hoover some up because J was too full (sometimes it's good to eat with people with less stomach space than i do).

prices were admittedly on the high side, given that they do charge for service and gst, but portions and quality did match up, so i didn't mind. enjoyed our quiet weekday brunch there, and wouldn't mind returning.


luxe
1 keong saik road
#01-04
http://luxesydney.sg