Dolce Vita

was supposed to meet meina for mortons but last minute her work came up so we decided to do dinner instead. and since her bday is kind of round the corner and i kind of promised her a treat at Dolce Vita so we decided to do it today.

she said Dolce Vita is highly recommended by her brother. According to her brother, its even better than Les Amis.

i did some brief reading about the place and realised it has a michelin one star chef. so excited coz i think its my first visit to a michelin chef place!



i arrived first and i was amazed by the setting!



the pool is simply gorgeous!



reminds me of one of the hollywood movies where they have one of those poolside parties...





indoor seats...



while i was waiting for meina and aloy to arrive, service was pretty good, they asked if i wanted some bread or some reading materials while i wait.

also, i told the manager it was my friend's birthday celebration hence later when i order desserts, i hope they can probably add a candle for me. the manager kindly told me if its a birthday, they in fact will give a complimentary cake for it. that's really nice. all was good (till now).

but i was still full from the ice cream so i told them to hold the bread till aloy and meina arrived.

when aloy and meina arrived, the server took our orders. we decided to order one set menu (5 course, $138) and some la carte order of the rest. It all went wrong starting from here.

for starters, the lady who took our orders appeared SHOCKED to hear that we are sharing the food. immediately we felt a strong sense of hostilities from her tone, her expression.. " oh mdm.. u mean.. u want to share? u want to share everything? "

YES WE DO. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT?

its not like we are ordering just ONE set menu to share. even if we were, got wrong meh? WE JUST LIKE TO SHARE AND HAVE A TASTE OF EVERYTHING. CANNOT MEH?

what was more annoying was that meina later told me at the end of the meal that as we were eating, the server was standing by the side looking like she was sneering at us as we shared some of the food. i cannot believe this came from a restaurant of such standards.

the bread, took a short while to arrive...



they also gave tomato cream, pesto and olive oil to go with the bread...



the tomato cream was nice. the pesto was yummy! and as always, i will like the olive oil. usually i wont take the bread but i took it today coz i wanted to try the pesto and tomato cream.

the first course of the set meal was the foie gras terrine...



it was not bad. portion was ok. although it was pate, the foie gras taste was good. quite liked it.

we also ordered a side starter of pan fried foie gras (not on the menu)...



the portion was good, nicely pan fried. sadly, just like the foie gras i had in Oso yesterday, the taste was not strong. whats wrong with the foie gras lately?

we also ordered a steak tartar to share...



the steak tartar was nice but not wow-ing. steak tartar is meina's favourite so she was very eager and excited that we order it. while it was not bad, it wasnt impressive.

the second course on the set was a lobster minestrone soup...



it was a little like lobster bisque, seems to have a bit of leek.. overall was ok .. the scallop was YUMMY!! it was big and fresh!

and after the starters, the mains took quite a while to arrive.. (just checked my camera, it took like 30 minutes).


the third course on the set menu was so sea bream (i think)...



didnt try the fish but i tried the peas and potato. it was not bad.

for myself, my mains was the tris di pasta whereby its the chef's choice of 3 pasta for the day. works wonders for me coz i happen to be the kind who likes a taste of everything....



the three pastas for today was the tortellini....



the tortellini was not bad with cheese fillings.

another of the pasta was the cannelloni...



its fillings was oxtail and foie gras. it tasted fine. the foie gras taste was mild.

den was the lobster ravioli..



this was so good! the lobster was a thick chunk and the sauce just went very well with it....



in fact, it was so good we ordered another separate order of it.

aloy ordered the king prawn linguine ($34)...



the linguine was quite disappointing.. too bland in taste for my liking. the king prawn also didnt feel very king-ish. aloy joked and said it looks like hokkein mee.

the lobster ravioli ($36) we ordered...



SADLY, this ravioli did not taste like the one in the tris di pasta. the fillings for this ravioli was very mashed up unlike the one we had earlier.


the fourth course of the set meal was the tenderloin with foie gras...



the foie gras we had here was much better than the starter we had. taste was better. the steak was not bad. nicely done to medium rare as we requested.

the final course of the set meal was the dessert which was apple taste pastry...



the apple topping was warm and some pastry bottom. the ice cream was so strong rum flavoured ice cream which does go very well with the warm apple fillings. overall it was nice.

aloy ordered a salted caramel dark chocolate tart thingy...



which was not to my liking.

i had the tiramisu...



which isnt ur typical tiramisu...



its like moose.. with some chocolate pearls inside. not my kind of tiramisu.


and right till we finished our dessert AND ASKED FOR THE BILL, the surprise i arranged for meina did not arrive. and with her seated beside me, it was impossible to ask anyone and i decided to FORGET ABOUT IT, told meina about it and we asked for a feedback form.

its only when we asked for the feedback form, they probably realised what they had forgotten that they suddenly showed up with the surprise.... WHICH BY NOW IS NO LONGER A SURPRISE....and it very much did not feel genuine.




but i must say, their complimentary cake was the nicest dessert for tonight (in my view).


we asked for two feedback form which their feedback form was terribly small, barely enuff for us to even relate how unhappy we were with the service.

the damage for tonight, was $395.

and no, i dont think i will want to be back here. the food was ok but nothing impressive enough for me to say i must go back. the bad service made it worse!

Oso Ristorante

was supposed to bring cynthia for Sage for her birthday celebration only to realise it has closed down. So it was Oso we went.



complimentary bread...



didnt really try the other bread but i really like their sun dried tomato one.


for starters, we ordered a foie gras each...



i was so excited when i saw the foie gras coz they gave 2 pieces!!! hehe... taste wise, while it was decent, it did not have that very strong foie gras taste. it was soft from inside out. would prefer it a little better if it was more of the crispy on the outside and soft inside kind. but thumbs up for the 2 pieces of foie gras!



we also shared another starter which was the tegamino. its pan fried eggs with black truffle puree and mixed cheese fondue. the person was kind enough to separate it for us.



generous portions of black truffles puree... tasted fine but would prefer if the truffle taste was stronger. my own perception of the cheese fondue before it arrived was a generous or thick cheese fondue but it turned out to be a small swirl... but overall it was nice. they gave some bread for us to dip it.


for mains, cynthia had the Stracci. its whole wheat stracci with braised wild boar in red wine....



cynthia prefers this wild boar dish better to the ravioli. the red wine sauce was very good but i recall it tasted better when i was here the last time with the seafoodies...

our other main is the Ravioli. its ravioli filled with veal in mixed cheese fondue and mushroom sauce...



we both love the cheese cream sauce.. its the pungent kind.. would be better if the ravioli has a little more filling (in my view)... the sauce was so good i almost want to lick off the plate. we finished all the sauce!


for desserts, we had the 70% hot dark chocolate tart with milk ice cream...



cynthia said its nice. i didnt really like it .. not coz its not nice but more coz i generally dont go for white chocolate.

we also shared three scoops of ice cream...



flavours were milk, white and dark chocolate and another was.. hehe.. i cannot remember. but all i remember was liking the milk flavoured one. its quite special in my view.

also ordered an extra vanilla parfait semifreddo with caramelised strawberries...





been meaning to try this since my previous visit here. but my last visit here was a business lunch hence i didnt order it. this was not bad particularly the biscuit like thingy.

overall, service for this place was also really good.

328 Katong Laksa

a wrong bus trip got us to katong and we ended up with katong laksa...




overall it was not bad.

4 Season Taiwanese Cuisine

After the laksa, we took a little stroll further down to search for desserts. we ended up at 4 Season Taiwanese Cuisine coz i was craving for their black brick milk tea!

we end up sharing a crispy fried chicken...



what i like about their crispy fried chicken is they use drum meat instead of breast meat.

neo ordered a cucumber aloe vera juice....



pretty refreshing.

my black brick milk tea...



the black brick seems to be much softer than before.. i kind of prefer it to be harder in texture so its more chewy.

Paradise Dynasty

Lunch with joelle and leelin at paradise dynasty...



introduced the colourful xiao long bao to them...



realised there is actually a sequence to eat them which dar and i missed out the last time!



apparently going by this sequence will optimise the taste!

one by one they tried and they went.. " mmm.. not bad.. wah.. good leh... good leh.. " haha

generally, they liked the original, cheese and the foie gras one for the taste. the foie gras one is one of the stronger flavoured one.

the black truffle one is like what i previously felt, u cant really taste the truffle.

the crab roe, garlic and ginseng ones are ok... but the szechuan one tastes like some bandung (a bit funny). hahaha

as for myself, i ordered the foie gras (love)...



YUMMY!!

Joelle liked it so much, she watsapp pictures of it to her hubby and they made a date to come back again this weekend! She even signed up for their membership card which is a damn good bargain. You pay $38 and you get a $45 value in the card which can be used to offset the bill for today. subsequently, other visits will get a 10% off with the 10% value credited to the card to be used for next visit.

there is also a complimentary red wine, applicable for redemption at any seafood paradise branches. VERY GOOD DEAL! even leelin was tempted to get it but she was worried she may not visit it as often. But we highlighted to her that its a very good deal even if its for the first visit because you get an instant $7 off. Besides, they have many outlets from seafood paradise to paradise inn to taste paradise to paradise dynasty etc.

stewed egg...



pretty yummy stew in my view.

cong you bing....



joelle ordered this. i didnt really feel like anything fried but i did try it only to be very pleasantly surprised. the crust was SO GOOD. like joelle mentioned, it literally melts in ur mouth! the pastry was crispy in a melt in ur mouth way. haha

hong you cao shou...



also pretty good. joelle and leelin said its better than crystal jade's.

Bar Stories

after dinner, Joanne led us over to Bar Stories along Haji Lane. Ever since Joanne posted pictures of this cocktail called Strawberry Shortcake and gave good reviews, i was keen to check out the place but it kinda slipped my mind for awhile until recently i decided to put my thots into action and arranged for the girls to come along together!



as Joanne suggested, do call to reserve seats first coz its a very small cozy place....



best seats are by the bar where you get good interaction with the bartenders. They are a very funny bunch who would try to perk up your night!

for some reasons, Zack (one of the bartenders) happened to catch me looking a little gloomy and he told Joanne.. " i will prepare your order for you on one condition, that the lady on your right starts smiling ".. haha...

when i tried to ask them for a menu, Jeff (one of the bartenders) told me, " our menu is interactive ".. haha.. and true enough, they would ask each of us questions on what kind of drinks we'd like.. sour? sweet? strong? etc and each concoction is magical!




first drink is of coz, the star of today.....



strawberry shortcake ($25)! It really does taste like strawberry shortcake! u can literally taste that biscuity cake flavour at the end. It WOW-ED ALL OF US! THUMBS UP!! we have never tasted anything like this!

Joanne went for the honeydew sake ($22)....



which was a really refreshing drink.. its mildly sweet and really good too! Another good reason to sit by the bar is you get to see the bartenders perform and prepare the drinks.. even the fruits are all freshly squeezed.

Daphne requested for a sour drink and this is what Jeff prepared for her....



flamed the rosemary to bring out the flavour.

its called the rosemary cooler ($20)...



reminded me a little of bitter lemon with this apparent aftertaste of the rosemary. i like it!

ah mah pig requested for something sweet so jeff made her a kyoho grapes martini ($25)....



this was good too!

for my round 2, jeff asked me what i like.. i told him i want something special like the strawberry shortcake.. he asked if i like chocolate and ah mah pig got totally excited by the side. haha..

so jeff went on to prepare the chocolate flambe martini ($25)...



i really think it takes lots of dedication and passion....



they look like they really enjoy what they do and takes pride in each and every drink. their actions are all swift and a joy to watch.



the chocolate flambe martini wow-ed us again. I have tried chocolate martini before but not a chocolate flambe martini. its amazing coz u can slip from the side and u can feel the sensation a warm foamy top yet as u sip, its chilled martini below. the difference in texture and temperature is a joy. the girls said this drink made me look happier! haha





Joanne's round 2...



i also love the burnt pineapple martini ($22). it really tastes of burnt pineapple and reminded me of the brazilian churrascaria bbq pineapples. this is really good too.

and for daphne's round 2, she asked for something really strong from Zack











































this drink was potent as daphne requested!