The Tipling club, Singapore.

This is a tricky one. I will not do the food justice by describing it. However, if we rely on pictures alone some of the creations from head Chef, Ryan Clift (Wilkshire, UK, born), will not make sense because of the creative presentation, innovative ways of delivering the food and the varying drinking vessels.  

So apologies for my attempt. I hope I have captured what a truly fantastic experience I had at the Tipling club.

Menu and interior

We had the 5 course tasting menu, plus the drinks pairing. The interior revolves around the kitchen, it's as if the kitchen is the stage and you have front row seats. All equipment is on display, the ingredients stacked high, the drinks bottles precariously dangling from the ceiling. 

Entrees and Course 1
Soups in test tubes and glass straws.
The yoghurt pot contained a curry like mousse, topped with finely chopped coriander and freeze dried yoghurt.
Course 2 is the Smoke Trout, with apples, both fresh and freeze dried, powdered horseradish and a sorbet.




Course 3
Rach and I order two different things.
One was a carrot Gnocchi another a salted cod, both served with different cocktails.

Course 3, Garden Vegetables, which was served with a beetroot liquor 

Course 4, Pigeon and a black truffle paste.

Desserts!
Depsey Hill Dessert is designed around the restaurants local surroundings. A mixture of different chocolates, creams, ice-cream, mousse and a green tea sponge.
Followed by Hand-made chocolates
And a very special treat for the birthday boy (ME!), Champagne and a extra special additional dessert!

Thank you to the Tipling Club and of course, Rachel for my birthday present!

The Boat House, Stanley, Hong Kong

A Beautiful setting. 30min from Hong Kong islands centre you can be sitting on the top floor of the boat house, at Stanley, enjoying views like this. 

We ordered a mixed shell fish bucket with Thai green curry sauce and Fish and Chips. I was fantastic, the muscles were huge and really soft, massive and meaty clams and prawns. The fish and chips was also huge, the fish was a really soft and succulent Sole, with home made chunky chips.

Crystal Jade, Hong Kong

My favourite was definitely the hand pulled noodles, in a chili and peanut sauce. You must also try their speciality too, the pork dumplings.

The Hyatt Sunday Brunch

The Hyatt Sunday Brunch was recommended to me several times, so for Rachels 30th birthday celebration, we gave it a go.

They did not disappoint, we were spoilt with the normal selection of seafood, roast meats, cheese boards etc, but they had a few unique touches to their brunch. A satay station was a welcome introduction, there was actually quite a lot of open fires/bbq in the open kitchens, which gave the whole restaurant a great aroma. They also had a live fish station and a extensive sushi station.

We opted for the free flow option, (what else!) and the champagne on offer was Perrier-Jouet.

I have seen slightly better dessert stations at other brunches, however again the Hyatt put their own twist of things by offering something different, liquid nitrogen meringues!

Smokeys, Joo Chiat Place

I can not describe this place any better than their website.

"We prepare, smoke and slow roast the smoked selections using our secret blend of seasoning and wood chips, making the flavors unique to Smokey’s .  Using traditional American methods to smoke and roast the meats at very low temperatures, the cooking process can take several hours, 20+ hours in some cases! leaving the meat tender and bursting with flavor."

It's true the Beef rib I had was cooked for over 20 hours and it was so tender and very tasty.

We also, tried the soft shell crab, thats right, a whole crab deep fried. Soft shell crab is a crab that has recently shed it's hard shell for a their new one.  The new shell is soft and edible, perfect!

Muscles and Guinness @ The Fellow

Kings Cross, York way. Great Pub. The Muscles were in a White Wine, Leek and Bacon sauce.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, London

Next door to the Ivy in London you will find one of my favourite London Restaurants. 

On my recent trip back to London we visited L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon for a 3 course pre-theatre dinner. I took a snap of other dishes that looked particularly interesting, however, my dishes were the Mushroom soup, with poached egg and the slow cooked beef stew, topped with creamy mash potato. Obviously Joel Robuchon would describe them with a lot more pizazz, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the menu.

Rick Steins Seafood Restaurant

On the evening of the London leg of my Design Bridge Food and Wine trail we visited Rick Steins Seafood Restaurant. We had the sample menu and it was fantastic. Fish overload, but what do you expect. My favorite was the Fillet of Sea Bass ‘A La Plancha’. With roasted fennel seeds and sauce vierge. The best fish course I have ever tasted.

Hot Shell Fish Demo

After we polished off all the dishes we had cooked and a few glasses of white wine, the Head Chef demonstrated how to cook several types of shell fish. 1 live Crab, 1 live Lobster, Scallops, Clams, Razor Clams, Muscles and Oysters. All doused in a sauce made from all the shell fish juices and a generous helping of white wine.

Nest, Cambodia

With reference to a previous post:

http://singforyadinner.blogspot.com/2011/06/watch-this-space.html

As a designer at Design Bridge Asia, I was invited on their 25th Anniversary Holiday to Cambodia to take part in a Food Trail. Perfect blog material. 

Nest, was our first destination. A 3 course lunch, with a few accompanying local beverages, Angkor Beer.

Level 33 Sunday Roast

Simply... Amazing! I can not recommend this place enough, for a good old Sunday Roast.

Great food, coupled with micro-brewed beer and incredible views over the Marina Bay.

Next up, I need to sample the rest of the dinner menu.

Marché 313@Somerset

We visited Marche Restaurant on a Friday evening, 7pm, and we had to queue for 30min to get in! 

Expectations were high after waiting so long and if you just ignore the strange cliché swiss decor as you proceed to the basement restaurant, then the rest of it did not disappoint.

 I think its success lies in the concept. It is setup like a Market Place. On arrival you are given a credit card, that you hand over to the staff behind the different food stands and they charge for the individual order. You can choose from a wide variety of dishes, loosely based around Swiss cuisine. 

We went for a Swiss classic of a Rösti, with Smoked Salmon and creme fresh, plus a Ham, Mushroom, and swiss cheese crepe. Washed down with a couple of glasses of wine of course! 

They also do a great selection of fresh breads and pastries, which is quite difficult to find in Singapore, so if you can't face the queue then the deli is a reasonable substitute.

The Longest Table in the World!

On July 25th, 2011, we visited Little India, Singapore to be part of a World Record attempt. The worlds longest table, seating 550 diners, and spanning 160m down Racecourse Road.

The novelty of sitting on a massive table with loads of random people diminished and my focused turned to the food! There was about 30 dishes, all coming from different Singaporean Indian Restaurants. The food was fantastic, all your favorite Indian dishes. The most interesting dish was Quails egg Masala, although it wasn't my favorite curry, it was at least a different take on a classic.

The Devonshire Arms - Middle Handley

On a recent trip back to the UK I visited the Devonshire Arms, Middle Handley, Derbyshire.

I strongly recommend you go visit if you are in the area, (I know, that is unlikely for the majority of the people that read this! It's a long way from Singapore) however the food is fantastic and even though it has gone through a modern refurb they have managed to keep hold of that traditional UK pub feel.

I had Scallops, Lamb Shank and Treacle Tart, all top notch.

All washed down with a local ale and a glass of Rioja!

Thanying Restaurant Amara Hotel

Great Thai food.

Reasonable price.

Particularly recommend the dried stingray and the Beef Gang Panang.

New Graze Restaurant, Martin Road, Robinson Quay

Great breakfast/brunch, all in one hot iron pan. Top Breakfast! Must return to explore the menu a bit further...

Quán Ăn Ngon, Vietnam

On a recent visit to Ho Chi Minh City, we stopped off for lunch at Quán Ăn Ngon. Great setting, a tree covered garden square, with a surrounding kitchen and BBQ. The menu was great value, with a large variety of dishes. The dishes we ordered tasted fantastic, full of fresh Vietnamese ingredients. I had the Bun Bo Xao Xa. We managed to get a table at Lunch time, however, a local told us we were lucky to get in, so be sure to book in advance.

Hard Rock Cafe, Las Vegas

Whilst on a recent trip to Las Vegas, in between drinking, I managed to squeeze in a meal at a classic American venue, Hard Rock Cafe. It did not disappoint, loud rock music, over enthusiastic staff, massive portions and your RDA on a plate!

I went for the BBQ pulled Pork and BBQ spare ribs combo, with fries and coleslaw obviously.

It tasted great, but I had to turn down a trip to the Cheese Cake Factory after such as feast.

Cafe On Kohi, Kohimarama, Auckland

This place was amazing! I was so impressed.

We stubbled across Cafe on Kohi whilst on a design trip to New Zealand. The Cafe/Restaurant is located in Mission Bay.

We were there for Brunch and the large variety of food on offer was only bettered by the excellent quality of ingredients and impeccable service.

I had the Eggs Benedict, with spinach and grilled portobello mushrooms.

If you are ever in Auckland it is a must!

Not a bad view too!

Pasta Brava, Tanjong Pagar

I had heard mixed reviews about Pasta Brava, Craig Street, Tanjong Pagar.

It didn't get off to a great start as I was reminded of the dress code as I sat down. I was wearing shorts (strange that in 34 degree heat!) they are not allowed in Pasta Brava, so take note. They did kindly make an exception.

Thankfully they did, because we had a great meal, I thought the food was excellent.

Classic Italain Food, with not a Pizza in sight.

I went quite classic with my choices apart from the main. I chose the home made large Tagliatelle pasta, with King Prawn and Scallops, in a Saffron cream sauce.