by thywhaleliciousfay

Dinner @ Fordham & Grand // CLOSED

July 1, 2014 in European by thywhaleliciousfay

It was one of those impromptu dinners where my friend and I decided to meet up at the very last minute. Unsure of where to head to, I suggested Fordham & Grand after remembering a recent Facebook post by another friend. And with that, we came unannounced (without making any reservation), but were able to secure a table for 2. In fact, only one-third of the tables were taken up on the weekday evening.

Looking for the entrance can be a little tricky if you don’t have their unit number. The only tell-tale sign of the restaurant is an inconspicuous metal plate placed just beside the door. When my friend and I reached, we noticed a couple walking up and down along the stretch while trying to locate restaurant entrance. Of course they only realised where the entrance was after my friend and I entered the place.

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Salmon tartar, kaiso salad & ponzu dressing, $17 (above) – This was refreshing good! The slightly tangy flavour of the dish definitely whetted our appetite!

2) Lobster linguini, ginger, chili, coriander & olive oil, $32 (above) – The pasta was cooked al-dente. It’s a very average dish. I cant quite put my finger to it, but there’s just something missing from the dish. Maybe the portion of lobster meat was insufficient? The only lobster meat we had in our dish was the lobster claw. Or was it the sauce?

3) Roasted spring chicken, foie gras & ratte potatoes, $28 (above) – Plating wise, this definitely fails big time. Will have preferred the chef to put in a little more effort rather than just merely scooping and placing everything onto the plate. The chicken meat was tender, but really… Roasted chicken is not exactly a very difficult dish to pull off for a restaurant of Fordham & Grand’s caliber. Taste wise, I din quite see how the foie gras complimented the chicken. I enjoyed my chicken and foie gras separately.

4) Grilled kurobuta pork collar, grapes & sucrine lettuce, $34 (above) – The meat is slightly tender, albeit leaning towards the firm side. Definitely not the melt-in-your-mouth type of tenderness. As for the lettuce that came along with the meat… Give it any fancy name, but at a restaurant that aims to be fine dining, I certainly don’t accept my lettuce served raw.


5) Orange martini, $15 (above) – Confit, granite & jelly with sesame tuile. If one is full and is insistent on wanting to try the desserts, this will be a very light-on-the-stomach dessert. The jelly is at the centre, towards the bottom of the martini glass.

It was a disappointing dining experience. We tried 3 of the 8 available choices for main course, and all 3 dishes fell short of our expectations. I mean, that’s almost 50% of the menu for mains. What are the odds! Many had recommended the french toast, but Fordham & Grand has unfortunately removed that from their desserts menu since March 14.

FORDHAM & GRAND
43 Craig Road, Singapore
6221 3088, Website
Overall: 6
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 6
Mon – Sun : 18:00 – 03:00
Ambience: 6
Value: 6
Service: 6

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by thywhaleliciousfay

Brunch @ Whale & Cloud

June 29, 2014 in European (cafe) by thywhaleliciousfay

“Many will seek but not all shall find.” That is exactly what’s written on their instagram profile. And I must say, it’s true. For one, they have no website. Just an instagram account. It was by sheer chance that I learnt of them while I did my usual instagram-profile-hopping.

Two, it’s not easy locating their entrance! Their entrance is in fact the back door of unit 48. If you managed to park along Niven Road, please walk towards Rex Cinema (Merchant Road) to get to the back alley. We took off in the wrong direction and ended up taking a big detour. Alternatively, if you are taking the public transport (bus / cab), you can alight in front of Hotel 81 Selegie, cut across Hotel 81 (Oh yes, go through Hotel 81) and enter the (shared) back alley to see the blue door of Whale & Cloud immediately.

Uh huh, my friend and I cleverly thought of cutting through Hotel 81. It was by luck that Whale & Cloud is just behind Hotel 81. Keke.

Trying to enter Whale & Cloud is an experience in itself too. Their door is kept locked. Upon reaching, we had to knock, wait for a while before the door was opened for us. Thinking back, it was kinda funny cause when the staff opened the door for my friend and I, she had a surprised look. Well… A hidden gem like Whale & Cloud wouldn be kept long as a secret.

And the whole secrecy of their existence, together with their address having a ¾ , I couldn help but think of Harry Potter and the Platform 9¾.


There’s no menu. Instead, smacked in the centre of the space is a table where baked goodies offered for the day are placed. There was only one staff on duty, who was also the barista that took our coffee orders.

And we ordered:-

1) Carrot cake, $4 (above) – Cake was moist, not overly dense with generous amount of chopped walnuts. My friend felt the cake was a little sweet, but I liked it as it is.

2) Latte (above) – Comes with complimentary old school biscuits!

Our carrot cake was priced at $4, while payment for coffee is by tipping.

I will definitely recommend checking out Whale & Cloud for the experience of trying to locate them, ambience of the cafe and yummy baked goodies. I liked how it felt like we were entering a green house which effect was achieved with the exposed red bricks for the earth-soil feel (haha), potted plants hanging from the ceiling and most importantly, the place being lit with natural light entering through the glass ceiling.

Whale & Cloud makes an ideal place to sip coffee, enjoy a slice of cake while reading a book. Do come with a friend, although I wont encourage coming in a big group as the layout does not allow big groups to huddle. And with word getting round (fast), I am expecting them to get pretty crowded soon (we were told they are into their 2nd month of operation) which would not be a good thing because the very small cafe’s charm lies in its serenity.

I am hoping in the near future, Whale & Cloud will consider opening during weekdays.

WHALE AND CLOUD
48¾ Niven Road, Singapore
Email, Instagram
Overall: 7
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Selected weekends
Ambience: 7
Value: 7
* Follow their instagram for updates
Service: 6

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by thywhaleliciousfay

Dinner @ The Sushi Bar

June 26, 2014 in Japanese by thywhaleliciousfay

And so I heard of a Japanese restaurant in Far East Plaza that has a snaking queue. Curious, I decided to google it up and realised I am again many steps behind. The Sushi Bar has since shifted from level 3 to level 4. But the queue still remains snaking long although they have shifted to a bigger outlet. Wow.

Upon checking their Facebook page, I realised they’ve since set up a reservation system on 22 May 14. They only take reservation one week in advanced, and I do recommend making the reservation 7 days ahead. I tried to make a reservation on Tuesday for lunch the following day (Wednesday), only to learn that they were fully booked for weekday lunch too. Wow.

A little more onto their reservation policy:-
  1. Reservation is through SMS only. No WhatsApp text (To include name, date, time and no. of people)
  2. Reservation one week in advanced
  3. No same day reservation
  4. No reservation on weekend and public holidays
  5. Upon confirmation of reservation, a reply will be sent via SMS
  6. Last reservation is at 2pm for lunch and 7.30pm for dinner
  7. Table will be held for 10 minutes from reservation time and everyone has to be present to be seated.

And with that, after having successfully made a reservation (7 days aheaad, of course), my friend and I headed down to The Sushi Bar on a Wednesday night.

And from the menu, we ordered:-

1) Wafu spaghetti, $10.90 (above) – Or more commonly known as mentaiko pasta. This is so addictively good! The portion was good for 2 to share. A must try.

2) 7 kinds sashimi (chef’s selection), $148.90 (above) – There’re 3 choices of sashimi platter to choose from. The first being 3 kinds (salmon tuna, hamachi) at $14.90, 5 kinds (salmon, tuna, tako, Hamachi, mekajiki) at $26.90 and 7 kinds which you’ll need to enquire with the staff for the price. Our 7 kinds comprised of otoro, chutoro, akami, hamachi belly, kanpachi, hotate gai, kimedai and uni. The slices from the blue fin tuna were so good! Yum. However, we had a little issue with the uni served. Good uni is of vibrant orange colour, soft yet steady such that they don’t easily disintegrate when you pick it up with your chopsticks. However, those uni which were placed at the bottom layer of our sashimi platter, had turned hard and brown. What a shame in terms of consistency.


3) Hotate salmon aburi, $18.90 (above) – From the ‘sushi roll’ section of the menu, this was not too bad. However, I prefer the other variation which we ordered.


4) Soft shell crab salmon aburi, $16.90 (above) – Similarly, from the menu’s ‘sushi roll’ section, this was so good! I liked how there’s an explosion of flavours and textures with each bite. From the crunch of the crispy soft shell crab, to the popping of the salmon roe, and to the firmness of the half-done salmon.

5) Anago sushi, $7 (above)


6) Taiyaki ice cream, $4.90 (above) – Fish shaped vanilla ice cream waffle. I always like how the waffle sticks to the top of our mouths. Do try! Not many restaurants offer this dessert.

7) Sake, $19.90 (above) – 3 choices of sake are offered. Prices range from $19.90 to $59.90. We went for the cheapest one, in a (weak) attempt to spend slightly less since we splurged on our sashimi. Keke.

Frankly, if you are not very strict about the ambience (Ie, you do not need the traditional setting of a Japanese restaurant), The Sushi Bar is a good place for quality food at affordable prices. Of course, the ‘price’ to pay for this deal is that you got to queue (if you did not manage to make a reservation).

Layout wise, the shop is somewhat divided into two. For the front half, the space is taken up by 2 rows of tables along the length of the space. I actually felt the space was slightly under utilised. On the other hand, the back half is closely packed with tables. And that is also where you get to see the chefs in action since the chef counter is located at the back half. I am not sure if you can state your preference in terms of where you want to sit, but the front half will be ideal for a ‘quieter catch up’ while the back half is noisier.

I will also like to mention a particular incident. Upon reaching home, I decided to ‘study’ the receipt. And that’s when I realised they overcharged us for the sake. Now, I am fully aware that they can choose not to refund us, cause after all, we are supposed to check our receipt upon payment. But nonetheless, I dropped them a text with the photo of the sake (thank goodness for the habit of taking picture of everthing we eat and drink. I think that helped to clarify lots too) and receipt and asked if they are able to assist. And it’s great that they replied back saying that they will refund us accordingly for the overcharge. So yeah to them for being so understanding and honest! Keke.

And do bring sufficient cash as they accept cash payment only. If not, you can leave something (valuable) with them as you withdraw cash from the ATMs located at basement before returning to make payment.

THE SUSHI BAR
14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza, #04-28, Singapore
9653 6464, Facebook
Overall: 6.5
Opening hours:-
Food/Beverage: 7
Mon – Fri : 12:30 – 15:00 (Lunch)
Ambience: 6
Mon – Fri : 17:30 – 21:00 (Dinner)
Value: 7
Sat : 12:30 – 21:00
Service: 6
* Closed on Sun
  

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