Dinner @ House of AnLi Bistro

August 21, 2017 in European (cafe)

It has been a while since I last met up with my girlfriends from college. And with their preference to meet in town, I suggested House of AnLi in Tanglin Mall. And from their Facebook page, it’s learnt that the person behind House of AnLi is Belgian designer Anne-Jean Liétaer. The bistro was set up as an extension to the store, and has a Belgian-inspired menu that’s based on Anne-Jean’s family recipes.

As per our 5pm reservation time, we arrived punctually at the bistro. Reservation is definitely required for big groups, and for groups which require high chair for children; The restaurant only had 3 high chairs, and the bistro was popular wth families.

As we weren’t too hungry, we satisfied ourselves with drinks and waited till 6pm where a different menu was offered for dinner. And from the dinner menu (pages 1, 2, 3, 4), we ordered:-

1) Panfried octopus, $22 (above) – With herbs & paprika, garbanzo & tomato salsa.

2) Carbonnade stew, $28 (above) – Beef cheek cooked in chimay trappiste beer, baby carrots, fondant potato, unsweetened apple mousse.

3) Moussaka, $28 (above) – Layered eggplant, fondant potato, minced beef.

4) Mushroom & truffle risotto, $32 (above) – Mixed wild mushrooms, shaved black truffles.

5) Pasta of the day, $28 (above) – And we added salmon at $8 to our noodles.

6) Cheese tart, $14 (above) – Fromage blanc on speculoos base.

7) Apple tart with cinnamon & whipped cream, $14 (above) – Give this a miss.

8) Chocolate tart & whipped cream, $12 (above) – Tasted similar to a flourless chocolate cake, this was pretty good. It was a hot favourite among the children.

9) Tea, $8 (1 pot) (above)

10) Latte, $6 (above)

11) Flat white, $6 (above)

We loved the space of House of AnLi. It was cosy and beautiful. I loved how natural light entered through the ceiling-to-floor Windows and brightened up the place. Though I wouldn’t say there’s much view since the bistro was only located on level 2.

The bistro was not too packed despite it being a Saturday evening. I guess not many would walk 15 to 18 minutes (like me) from Orchard MRT station. But we were also glad not many would take that long walk because my girlfriends and I agreed the space was best enjoyed when it’s not too busy.

Would I recommend House of AnLi Bistro? Definitely. But having seen the brunch menu, I would say the dinner menu looked better in terms of food offering. So probably head down in the late afternoon for a cup of coffee before enjoying mains from the dinner menu.

HOUSE OF ANLI BISTRO
163 Tanglin Road, Tanglin Mall, #03-17, Singapore
6235 3851, Website, Facebook
Overall: 7
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Mon – Sun : 09:00 – 21:00
Ambience: 8
Value: 7
Service: 6

Lunch @ Mizuki Tempura and Sushi

August 10, 2017 in Japanese

It was through sheer luck and pure randomness that I got to know about Mizuki from instagram. And it being Japanese cuisine, the first person that came into my mind was my IGGF (InstaGram GirlFriend). Not surprising. Keke. And reservation was made for a Saturday lunch. And between sushi and tempura, we went with sushi first because I know my IGGF loves her sushi.

And yes, when there’s a first, it means there’s a second. My IGGF and I headed back for their tempura too. Keke.

Mizuki was conveniently located in Ngee Ann City (or better known as Takashimaya to some). It’s a 8 to 10 minutes walk from Orchard MRT station. A cool walk too since it’s air-conditioned throughout. Keke. And if one is familiar with Ngee Ann City’s layout, one should take the lift that’s facing Takashimaya Square, from the Food Village side. By exiting the lift on level 5, Mizuki would be on one’s immediate left.


Sushi counter

And from the sushi lunch menu (pages 1, 2, 3), my IGGF and I ordered:-

1) Matsuba, $250 comprised of:-

(A) Seasonal appetizer (above)

(B) Sashimi #1 (above) – Sea urchin from Kyushu.

(C) Sashimi #2 (above) – Japanese spotted prawn (botan ebi).

(D) Sashimi #3 (above) – Flounder (hirame) served with its liver.

(E) Sashimi #4 (above) – Yellowtail.


(F) Steamed egg (above)

  
  
  
  
  

(G) Nigiri sushi (10 pieces) (above) – Assortment of baby white shrimp (shiro-ebi), giant clam (ishigakigai), big eye snapper (kinmedai), medium fatty tuna (chutoro), aburi premium fatty tuna (otoro), striped jack (shima-aji), marinated tuna (maguro zuke), violet sea urchin (murasaki uni), short spine sea urchin (bafun uni) and scallop (hotate). For the striped jack, Taiwanese chef Angus wrapped it (together with ginger, shiso leaf and chives) with thinly sliced cucumber instead of seaweed. And it was my first having the scallop of my sushi soaked in hot soya sauce before it was pressed flat. Nice! I really enjoyed it.

(H) Roll sushi (above) – This was awesome; Thick maki roll with various cuts of tuna (otoro, chutoro, akamiand negitoro), pickled radish and chive. I really liked that it was so big that a piece would fill up my entire mouth. It was an explosion of flavours in my mouth. Really good.

(I) Miso soup (above)

(J) Dessert

Because my IGGF and I truly enjoyed our lunch at the sushi counter, we were unanimous about returning to Mizuki for their tempura. So right after we finished our sushi lunch, my IGGF and I made reservation for our next meal at the reception. Keke.


Tempura counter

Similar to our first meal at Mizuki, my IGGF and I arrived on a Saturday. However, instead of meeting at our usual 12pm, we arrived at 1pm as I had an appointment prior. Which unfortunately caused us to miss out on the abalone tempura (only available on the a-la carte menu) as it was sold out when we reached. Sob.

And from the tempura lunch menu (pages 1, 2, 3), my IGGF and I ordered:-

1) Sea urchin tempura, $40 (above)

2) Koubai, $100 comprised of:-

(A) Seasonal appetizer (above)

(B) Seasonal vegetable (above) – Lotus, fish cake, sweet potato, yam and egg plant.

(C) Seafood tempura #1, #2 (above) – Prawn.

(D) Seafood tempura #3 (above) – Flathead (megochi).


  

(E) Seafood tempura #4 (above) – Crayfish (zarigani).

(F) Seafood tempura #5 (above, left) – Squid.

(G) Seafood tempura #6 (above, right) – Scallop. We were a little bummed when ours were served a little overcooked. Our neighbours’ scallops were served raw in the middle.

(H) Seafood tempura #7 (above) – Sea eel.

(I) Vegetable tempura #1 (above, left) – Pumpkin.

(J) Vegetable tempura #2 (above, right) – Lotus.

(K) Vegetable tempura #3 (above, foreground) – Corn.

(L) Vegetable tempura #4 (above, background) – Green chili


  

(M) Kakiage with rice and miso soup (above)

(N) Dessert

And for dessert, we were allowed to choose between ice cream and pudding. And it’s only natural that my IGGF and I ordered different items in order to try more. Keke.

  
  

So yes, we managed to try (clockwise) pumpkin jelly, yam ice cream, tomato jelly and houjicha ice cream.

Would I recommend Mizuki? A big yes from me. And if I really must choose, I would say their tempura fared better than the sushi. The tempura batter was thin, crispy and not greasy. Definitely one of the better tempura restaurants in Singapore.

But don’t get my wrong. We enjoyed our sushi meal too. Although the only grip I had was that the sushi was only served individually for the $250 course. My IGGF ordered the Midori set ($48) and her 8 nigiri sushi were served together on a plate. Though it may not be much of a deal to others.

Nonetheless, I highly recommend Mizuki!

MIZUKI TEMPURA AND SUSHI
391 Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City Podium Block, #05-32, Singapore
6734 6308, Website, Facebook
Overall: 7.5
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 8
Tues – Sun : 11:30 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 7
Tues – Sun : 18:00 – 23:00 (Dinner)
Value: 8
Service: 7
* Closed on Mon

Dinner @ Iggy’s [Revisit]

July 24, 2017 in European

Having seen many food posts of Iggy’s bar menu on instagram (yes, the power of social media), reservation was made for a Friday evening. And we gave 3 weeks’ notice, but that’s only because my IGGF (InstaGram GirlFriend)’s and my schedules kept clashing. To secure our reservation, the restaurant requested for my credit card details.

And it was very timely that my IGGF and I were to have dinner on the immediate night after Michelin Guide Singapore announced Iggy’s was awarded 1 Michelin star for 2017. Hee.

Located in Hilton Hotel, it’s a 8 to 10 minutes walk from Orchard MRT station. It being a revisit, I noticed Iggy’s has changed their entrance from being centre of the wall to the side with their recent renovation. And in my opinion, I felt that was a good move because with their old entrance, it was difficult to locate the door when there’re events in the ballrooms as people would crowd in the lobby and block the view of Iggy’s entrance. Yes, Iggy’s shared the floor with a few ballrooms.

My IGGF and I arrived punctually at 7pm. However, the staff accidentally seated us at the main dining area although I mentioned in my email that we were making reservation for their gastro-bar menu. As the dinner menu (pages 1, 2) differed from the bar menu, we were re-led to the bar counter.

And from the bar menu, my IGGF and I ordered:-


1) Eggs & eggs (2 pcs), $39 (above) – 63C egg, truffle potato “espuma” and kaluga queen caviar.


  

2) Pintoxos, (4 pcs), $26 (above) – Pickled kohada “escalivada” on toast.


  

3) Sardine on ohba leaf, Complimentary (above) – Sardine from Scotland, topped with ponzu sauce and salmon roe (ikura). We were surprised when head chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive personally presented this. “On the house,” he said. Awww. Such a lovely gesture! And this was so good. My IGGF and I agreed this should be put on the menu.


  

4) Croquette (4 pcs), Complimentary (above) – And it’s stated on the menu that the croquette, which cost $16, were made with jamon iberico filling. As we really wanted to try this, my IGGF and I enquired if it was possible to do 2 pieces without the jamon iberico since my IGGF don’t take pork. Unfortunately, the waiting staff checked with the kitchen and informed us that it was not possible as the filling were pre-made. However, imagine our confused but happy faces when the staff came up with croquette and informed us that the kitchen had specially prepared 2 pieces with mushroom filling and 2 pieces with shrimp filling. We were further surprised to learn that it was (again) on the house when we were making payment. Although we didn’t get to try the original flavour, I certainly recommend ordering this! Fried to perfection; Crisp exterior with creamy interior.


5) Ceviche, $28 (above) – Oyster, finger lime, shallots and lemon snow.

6) Tomato Garden, $18 (above) – Heirloom tomato, cucumber and basil.

  

7) Fish tacos, $22 (above) – Mackerel, chipotle emulsion, avocado mousse, skate and sambal, red onions.

8) 2017 Iggy’s burger (2 pcs) (above) – Toriyama wagyu, onion & epoisse, amelia tomato. Now… It’s probably a known fact that I don’t take beef. But having heard much about their burger, I really wanted to try. And we were definitely 2 very happy and satisfied diners because we were informed the kitchen could do 1 pork burger (above, left) and 1 beef burger (above, right) for us. Yeah! And this was so good. We were each raving about our burgers. The pork fillet was thick and juicy. But what I really loved about it was the steamed brioche bun used. So soft and fluffy!

9) Capellini, $34 (above) – Sakura ebi, lobster oil and kombu, sorrel. In 2 serving sizes ($26 and $34), we went with the bigger portion of course. Keke.

10) Watermelon, $10 (above) – Palette of scented compressed watermelon. I won’t deny we were a little disappointed to see a very simple plating of 4 watermelon cubes on our respective plates. But it become an interesting experience when we were told the pieces were flavoured with mint, shiso, basil and gin lime respectively and my IGGF and I tried to identify the flavour to each piece.

11) French toast, $14 (above) – Bourbon ice cream.


12) Petit fours, Complimentary (above) – Green tea macaron, coconut truffle, kiwi bon bon and white-chocolate-soursop popsicle.

My IGGF and I were very impressed with dinner. Although we were only having the bar menu, our dining experience certainly wasn’t any less stellar than the dinner menu’s. Every dish was so good! If it wasn’t for our dietary restriction (of no beef and pork), we probably would have gone on to try every dish on the menu!

Iggy’s? I would definitely recommend them. And if one can’t make it in the evening, one could consider their lunch menu (pages 1, 2) instead!

IGGY’S
581 Orchard Road, The Hilton Hotel, Level 3, Singapore
6732 2234, Website
Overall: 8
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 8
Tues – Sat : 12:00 – 13:30 (Lunch Seating)
Ambience: 7
Tues – Sat : 19:00 – 21:30 (Dinner Seating)
Value: 8
* Closed on Mon, Sun
Service: 8

UPDATE: Restaurant was awarded 1 Michelin star by Michelin Guide Singapore 2018.