Temasek Restaurant - revisited

After having "boycotted" this restaurant for a number of years due to the fact that I think the staff is quite snobbish and hard to get any service, I decided to check it out again one Saturday afternoon.

The decor itself hasn't changed but somehow the mustard coloured walls was a stand out.  I must say the service has improved, maybe because we were still early.  The crowds slowly started to trickle in with families coming in for their regular Singaporean fix.

Anyway, decided to order their Nasi Lemak and the Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee.

The Nasi Lemak was nice, the chicken curry itself was rich but not too overbearing and the sambal was a good complement to the dish.  The rice was aromatic and all in all, it was quite an authentic Nasi Lemak.

The Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee arrived next.  It smelt nice and had ample prawns and calamari.  Not only did it smell nice, it tasted wonderful too.  Full of that "prawn" stock.... definitely for the seafood lover! 
What can I say... I enjoyed my two dishes.

 Judging from what we had and what the other tables ordered, I think their portion size is slightly "bigger" compared to the other restaurants and we left with a full tummy.

Ok, Ok... would be worthwhile to visit again...and it is off my boycott list... 

Caffe e Cucina

One of my colleagues suggested I try Caffe e Cucina, located along Chapel Street, South Yarra and he advised that the pasta baked in parchment paper was good.

So, on a cool autumn night, we took the tram and headed to this restaurant which has won some awards.  We were seated quite close to the door which meant that we could feel the draft.  This place is quite small and the table for 4 was quite squishy too... I guess they wanted us to warm each other with our body heat!

Nevertheless, the service was good and friendly and they had a great selection of vino.

We decided to share the lightly battered zucchini flowers (one each).  The flowers were lightly battered and tasted good with the ricotta cheese.

For main, I ordered the pasta with parchment paper.  It was delicious and I think the parchment paper contained the taste well and the seafood was not overcooked.

My friend ordered the pesto - Orecchiette con Pesto alla Genovese.  Alas, she did not really enjoy the pasta as she felt it was too heavy for her.

 
Mum had the fish of the day / special of the day served with broad beans.  It tasted nice and moist and went very well with my seafood pasta.

We decided to pass on the desserts as we were not too keen on the menu.


Verdict:  Not one of the best Italian restaurants I've been to, tables were small and squishy and one feels as if you are not encouraged to sit around.  Not going to visit in a hurry.

Ahh... Bellissimo!

Prior to my trip to Melbourne a few weeks ago, my cousin had told me to check out Brunetti's.  Then my friend, Kevin also told me that he had visited Brunetti's in Lygon Street.  I've never heard of Brunetti's before and all of a sudden two people had told me about this place. Upon checking I realised that Brumetti's had recenly opened an outlet in Myer Central... whoppee doo!

Well, I definitely had to see what the fuss was about and to use the opportunity to check out the newly renovated Myer Central.  There were a lot of people that weekend ...and, of course, Brunetti's was chockers... not a seat in sight.

Not to be deterred, I headed there again the next day and was not disappointed.  There were sandwiches, rolls, homemade gelatos, macarons, dainty cakes (bite sized and normal sized)... oohh... Bellissimo... all the desserts that you could be craving for, too much to choose and a feast to the eyes.  Great addition to Myer!  I'm definitely not complaining!

ps... if the Brunetti Myer is too full and busy they also have another city outlet in City Square, round the corner from Myer.