Alfero Gelato

<Durian and Hazelnut gelato>

Simply Delicious! Voted the best gelato cafe in Singapore and South East Asia for 2012. If you are at Marina Square or around the area, you've got to try it! The gelato is so creamy, soft, "chewy" and velvety. The best gelato quality I've had in years. For what it lacked in variety, I suppose it made up with quality. Taste-wise, I think the durian gelato is good but the Mao Shan Wang from Udders still triumphs.

Verdict
Ambience - Average
Food - Great
Cost - $4 to $10
Overall - Must try!

Address
6 Raffles Boulevard, 02-226A/B Marina Square, Singapore 039594
http://www.alferogelato.com

Opening Hours
10am to 10pm daily

Ruth's Chris Steak House

Ruth's Chris Steak House! One of the top, if not the top steak house from USA. Been wanting to try it since it first opened at Marina Mandarin Hotel about 6 months ago. Today, I finally got to try it. A treat from my wife for Christmas! Ho Ho Ho ^^

<Complimentary Bread & Butter> 

As do most other steak houses I've been to so far, Ruth's Chris also serves its own version of hot bread and soft butter. It was pretty mediocre though, nothing much to rave about.

 <Sizzlin' Blue Crab Cakes>

The jumbo lump crab cakes came in a pair and were served with hot lemon butter sauce. Both my wife and I thought it was really good. You could taste the sweetness of the crab and the savoury aroma of the herbs and lemon butter. You also have a choice of squeezing fresh lemon juice on top of it to balance the flavour.

 <Crabtini>

If you want huge chunks of crab meat, this is the dish to order. The chunks of crab meat are huge, fresh and succulent! The creole remoulade sauce (a type of tartar sauce) overpowered some of the smaller chunks of crab. But for the really huge chunks, I think it matches very well. The freshly cut lettuce provided a good balance of texture and lightness to the dish.

 <Barbecued Shrimp - Entree>

Not to be confused with the barbecued shrimp from the appetizer section. This signature shrimp dish is served New Orleans style in reduced white wine, butter, garlic and spices with mashed potato. My wife found the dish very typical - the shrimps were nicely cooked to perfection but gravy aside, shrimps tasted like those we normally have in our local cuisine. For me, I liked the sauce quite a fair bit. It tasted almost like a variation of hollandaise sauce.

 <12-ounce USDA Ribeye>

Some of the reviews I read mentioned that the ribeye was quite bland. But I decided to take a chance. On the contrary, I found the steak to be really tasty and tender. Definitely one of the better steaks I've had. However, I would love my steak to have a little more charred spots on the outside. Usually those are the bits that contains bags of intense flavour.

<Caramelized Banana Cream Pie>

This was a disappointment in my opinion. Maybe I should have gone for their signature cheesecake, but seeing how full we might be, we decided to go for this.Texture wise, it was good with crunchy sugar on top, soft bananas and velvety cream in the center. So why do I say it was a disappointment? For me, the focus of  a pie or tart is not just in the filling itself but also the pastry. The pastry was dry and bland to be very honest. It just needed a little more butter to lift it up to the next level.

Verdict
Ambience - Good
Food - Great
Cost - $100 to $150
Overall - Worth a try

Address
6 Raffles Boulevard, 4th Level, Marina Mandarin Hotel, Singapore 39594
http://www.ruthschris.com/Restaurant-Locations/singapore

Opening Hours
Lunch: 11:30am-3pm
Dinner: 5:30pm-11pm

Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant

Recently got invited to my very first food tasting event courtesy of a good friend, Nadia. The venue, Majestic Bay Seafood Restaurant that recently opened at Gardens by the Bay directly below Flower Dome. The Head Chef hails from Guang Zhou and bases his style of cooking as cantonese. I was excited, eager to try out the dishes. But at the same time, unsure of how to react or act in an unfamiliar setting. Well, let's get to the food!

 <Steamed Shanghai Pork Dumpling>

I was quite impressed with the freshness of of the ingredients used. The broth inside of the dumpling was light and not too porky. Maybe the dumpling skin could have been a little thinner which would have made it perfect. But overall, thumbs up! I rate this as one of my top 3 Pork Dumplings I've had so far.

 <Steamed Siew Mai>

It is light, fresh, tasty and it contains more prawns than pork. I would say this is typically a good Siew Mai. You can taste mushrooms and water chestnuts in it too. But overall, I wouldn't rate it as spectacular.

<Seared Chilli Crab Meat Bun> 

One of their signature and more unique dish of the night. And boy, was it good! The white sesame seeds and spring onion on the buns accentuated the taste to the next level. Inside it, the chilli crab meat was sweet, spicy and fresh. If I were to strictly pick on it, I think it could have done with more filling inside. I will definitely order this again the second time I visit this place.

 <Soup of the day>

They have daily soup as well as a fixed menu of soup. Today, we were served a soup combination of pork ribs, corn, green, red and white carrots boiled for 6 hours. (A.k.a ABC soup) At one glance, the soup looks very thick. But it is actually very light and heart-warming. Feels like home-cooked goodness. And the soup is really sweet too!

<Steamed Prawns with Garlic> 

Generally, I found the dish was typical. It was nice, garlic wasn't too overpowering and the prawns were fresh too. The best part about the dish is that the chef already split the prawns into half and there isn't any fuss about peeling the prawns at all.

 <Bay’s signature “Kopi” sauce Crab>

This was the highlight of the meal. Everyone was eagerly waiting for this unique combination of seafood and coffee. The chef actually took months to tried out various combinations of coffee before he finally perfected it using 3 different types of coffee beans. So how did it taste? The coffee taste was intensed, almost like caramelized popcorn. But we were still able to taste the sweetness and freshness of the crab. I think the chef did well with the combination as I initially feared that the taste of the crab will be lost. A must order if you decide to dine here!

 <Baked Seafood Rice>

Another of their signature dishes. It is sumptuous,divine and a die die must order if you dine here! The taste was perfect. Fresh seafood paired with slightly curried, cheesy rice. Mmm Mmmm! A pity the smallest size of the dish serves 4 to 6 people already. For the dish, you have mussels, scallops, prawns and mushrooms in there. But I think the chef can do away with the potatoes though. Haha I just feel that there is enough of carbs in the dish already. ^^

 <Wok-fried Radish Cake with XO chilli sauce>

Although this wasn't part of their signature dish, my first bite into it took my breath away. It is by far the best radish cake I've had in my life. The radish cake was soft and smooth, with bits of radish still present. Most importantly, you can still taste the real sweetness of the radish! Pair it off with the XO chilli sauce that packs a punch, it is dish that tickles your sense.

 <Sweet’s temptation>

To finish off the wonderful dinner, we were treated to a combination of sweet blessings. From left, you have red bean paste pancake, steam custard bun followed by glutinous rice dumpling with yam paste stuffing and finally glutinous rice dumpling with fresh cream stuffing. I personally liked the steam custard bun best followed by the rice dumpling with fresh cream stuffing. The one I liked least was the rice dumpling with yam paste as I found it too heavy to have as a dessert at the end. For me, I'll probably skip desserts and focus more on the main dishes if I decide to dine here a second time. ^^

Verdict

Ambience - Good

Food - Great

Cost - $20 to $40 per pax

Overall - Must try!

Address

Flower Dome, Gardens By The Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive #01-10, Singapore 018953

http://majesticbay.sg/

Opening Hours

Lunch (Mon-Fri) 11:45 am – 2:30pm

Lunch (Sat, Sun & PH) 11:30 am – 2:30pm

Dinner 5:45pm – 9:30pm

Au Chocolat

This is my second review of Au Chocolat. But it is the first time I had any main course from it. And boy... why did I miss it previously?

 <Duck Confit>

This pan-roasted duck thigh is served with potato mash, a white wine poached pear & topped off with a tangy chocolate orange sauce. Oh my oh my oh my~! Was it goooood! This is on-par with the duck confit I've had from Bistro Du Vin. The duck was crispy on the outside, moist on the inside and the meat literally falls of the bone. Some people may find the chocolate orange sauce a bit overpowering, but I think it gives the dish a nice twist of flavour. Use sparingly if you still want to taste the duck though. What I don't like most would probably be the white wine poached pear. Don't get me wrong, its delicious on its on. But I just don't feel that it belongs on the dish.

 <Praline Au Chocolat>

Their top selling cake! Its milk chocolate praline mousse with a layer of crispy praline layer enrobed in dark chocolate. I got this cake for me and my wife's 3 year marriage anniversary. ^^

<A slice of the cake>

It looks messy cos it was cut by me I suppose? Haha! The taste is good with different texture that you get from the 3 different layers. However for me, I felt that the taste was pretty one-sided. If it had incorporated some tangy twist to lighten up some of the heaviness, it would have been perfect. But again, I doubt my wife would like my suggestion as she prefers something 100% sweet. LOL

Verdict
Ambience - Good
Food - Great
Cost - $15 to $30
Overall - Must try!

Address
L1-03, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956
http://www.auchocolat.com/bistro

Opening Hours
11am to 10pm

Rive Gauche Patisserie

Rive Gauche Patisserie has been around since the day when Tampines 1 was first built. This is my first time purchasing anything from them. From the second picture clockwise, we have at the top left Guanaja followed by Strawberry Shortcake and finally Passion. All the cakes were pleasantly tasty and they look gorgeous. But I would like to focus on Passion as it has a good balance of texture and taste. Inside it lies a thick layer of chocolate mousse, a small layer of cake along with another layer biscuit. And the reason why they named the cake Passion is because it has an aftertaste of passion fruit! *Yums*

Verdict
Ambience - N.A
Food - Good
Cost - $6 to $10
Overall - Try it.

Address
10 Tampines Central 1, #B1-13 Tampines 1, Singapore 529536
http://www.pokkafood.com.sg/gauche/

Opening Hours
11am to 9.30pm