DaPaolo Bistro Bar, SINGAPORE

Finally found the time to sneak in this review on "Dapaolo Bistro Bar". Have been working an average of 15 hours a day the past three days. Now i understand what they mean by "peak period". But work aside, let me waltz you through this place. Dapaolo is situated at 3, Rochester Park. Most of the restaurants there are converted from bungalow houses. Which of course did a really good job in making you feel welcomed and away from the hustle and bustle of the city. It is about a 12 mins taxi ride from Orchard. It is near dover and commenwealth area.

I think the trees and the old school feel of the bungalow makes this place really inviting and homely. As the name suggest, "Rochester Park" this area is surrounded by lots of trees and plants. So really there is a sense of calmness and serenity when you dine here.

I took this picture when we left which was quite late in the night. That is why it is empty, there were definitely patrons sitting at those empty seats seen in the picture below. Doesn't it feel like you are dining at your garden chilling on your garden dining chair =) ? Well, at least that's how i felt.

You can also chill out at the chill out room, which looks like this. Very nice and cosy. I love the long wooden table in the middle. I think it is definitely an art on its own. A piece that i definitely want in my own home too.

We started the night with a bottle of white wine which i failed to take the name of but thats a glimpse of the bottle. I guess it starts with the letter "W".
Remember, everytime you drink a glass of wine or any alcoholic beverages be sure to drink plenty of water so that you do not dehydrate! Alcohol has this tendency to cause dehydration and sometimes lead to lousy headaches or hangovers.

"Grilled rack of lamb with parsley bread crust served with grilled asparagus $36"

We wanted the lamb done "medium" but it came almost "medium done"! Otherwise this dish would have been delicious. I am not a lamb lover but i thought the taste of the lamb was not overpowering and the sauce complemented the dish pretty well.

A little fact that i would love to share with you about aspargus. It is low in calories and contains no cholesterol. It is also a diuretic (which means, makes you go to toilet and pee pee). It is low in sodium and a very good source of folic acid(vitamin B9) which is important in the production of red blood cells and prevention of anemia. It also contains a good source of potassium.

"Home made egg pasta tossed with crayfish, garlic, cherry tomatoes, white wine and herbs $27 "
The home made egg pasta was delcious. Perhaps anything eggy and anything home made always tickle my fancy. The noodles was al dante and taste wise, i think it did a good enough job to make the dish looking presentable and palatable.

The most important thing about eating pasta is having every strand of noodles coated with the sauce! The crayfish was nice and juicy and i still think it lacks in some flavour but i cant point it out. You know that oomph factor that makes you go ... yes this is super delicious. This was good but it lacks the oomph ! Yet to find the oomph pasta!

We were trying to be adventerous with the dessert therefore we decided to order the

"Bitter caramel mousse, a layer of chocolate pudding on olive oil cake $12"

Well it is definitely an interesting taste to the taste bud. The bitter caramel is probably something that i am not used to and also i am not a big fan of caramel but the whole cake complemented each flavor reasonably well. The sweetness of the chocolate pudding bites through the bitterness which somewhat neautralizes the flavour and brings out the olive cake.
I really don't know how to judge this dessert!

Not satisfied with this dessert, we decided to order another one. Can't posibbly go wrong with a chocolate cake right ?

"Valrhona Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream $12"

The cake was served to us warm with the chocolate sauce drizzling and melting through the cake. The cold ice cream gave a very contrasting feel to this dish. The mixture of the warm cake and cold ice cream somewhat blended well together. It was a decent enough cake but definitely tasted way better chocolate cake. But essentially, I am a tiramisu lover. Was tempted to order it but decided to have a change!

By the way if you are a tiramisu lover like i am, do give "Alexis Tiramisu Cake a try" or "The Library at Curve Damansara". But i think the are both supplied by the same Tiramisu cake supplier!

Okay before i end this post, would love to wish all the readers of this blog a very happy new year and may the year 2010 bring you to greater heights in all aspects of your life. Do continue to support this blog. I think both angeline and monica has done a great job in regularly updating this blog a few times a day on their foodie adventure! It definitely takes time and patient and dedication to do so.

" Happy New Year "

Restaurant Salim @ Lintas

It was our late dinner after movie. Since Lawrence suggested to go Salim, we just tagged along. I never like Restaurant Salim as the food tastes were just average. I ordered a Roti Sayur dan Telur while Jack ordered a Mee Goreng.

 

The Mee Goreng was too salty and is nothing to shout about. I can find a better one elsewhere.

 

My Roti Sayur dan Telur ended up become Roti Sayur Lupa Telur. It was suppose to be vegetables and egg paratha but it was too bad that the chef forgot to add-in egg. I waited long enough for my food to arrive but it was full with disappointment. The taste is very bland even though it was dipped with curry's gravy. It was because the Roti wasn't crispy and it still have a very doughy taste. Anyway, I couldn't had expected much because it only costs RM9.80 in total including a Sirap Ice and Bandung Ice.

Rating:

Food: 2/5

Service: 3/5

Cleanliness: 3/5

OLDTOWN WHITE COFFEE @ Citymall

Since I have no class in the morning, I'm quite lazy to go out but as a bread's lover, I suddenly craving for Oldtown's toast. Hence, I send a message to my sister and asked her to get some take-away from Oldtown.

She bought French Toast and Butter and Kaya Toast. Honestly, the packaging are really appealing. The French Toast was pretty good. However, the kaya was lack of fragrant and was a little bit too sweet to my liking. The Butter and Kaya Toast was crispy but tasted nothing more than an ordinary toast.

French Toast, RM4.90

Kaya and Butter Toast, RM2.90

Ratings:

Food: 3/5

Services: 2/5

Cleanliness: 3/5

Seremban Seafood Restaurant @ Alamesra

We used to like the Baked Crab at Seremban Seafood Restaurant but it had been quite some times since our last visits. We heard that the restaurant had been taken over by a new owner and the food standard had eventually dropped. Since we need new resources to write our blog, we decided to find out the truth for our blog viewers.

It was only me and Angeline having dinner today. We couldn't order much and have to give up on ordering crab as we doesn't have such a big appetite to finish all the dishes. Hence, we only ordered a Assam Steamed Fish(as usual), a Stir-Fry Choysum and a Hot and Sour Soup.

The Assam Steamed Fish tastes was appetizing enough. The gravy was sour with a hint of sweetness. Not to forget, the fish is fresh and cooked to perfection. My only qualm is it was a bit pricey.

The Hot and Sour Soup was pretty good but nothing to write home about. They are quite generous with the Ham Choy (preserved vegetables) but not on other ingredients such as beancurd, prawn and crab meat. They didn't soaked the Ham Choy for long enough before it was cooked as I can tasted an extremely salty taste when I bite on it.

Steamed Assam Fish, Rm40

Hot and Sour Soup, RM10

Stir-Fried Choy Sum with garlic, RM10

Other charges for dinner, Drinks RM4 + Titbit RM2 + Towel RM0.60 + Rice RM3 + 5% Serv. Charge RM3.48, Total damages: RM73.08

Ratings:

Food: 3/5

Services: 4/5

Cleanliness: 4/5

Pak Ka Lok Food Park @ Wisma Merdeka

As we were not feeling well and don't felt like having lunch at Malindo after our massage, we decided to have some porridge at Pak Ka Lok Food Park. This shop have been well-known for its Pork Porridge. It is always crowded especially during lunch time.

We were lucky enough to find some empty seats when we arrived. We ordered a Mix Pork Porridge, a Mushroom Chicken Porridge and a set of French Toast. The porridge are silky smooth and the taste is quite good. However, the Mushroom Chicken Porridge wasn't really filling as it contained only few pieces of thin sliced mushroom and some small chunks of chicken. Unlike the KL's Mix Pork Porridge, they doesn't serve fried pork intestines and instead only used the normal pork intestines which doesn't taste much appealing to me. As for the French Toast, it tasted average but I like it because it reminded me of my mom's home-cooked French Toast. Not the best but fulfilling.

Mixed Pork Porridge, RM5.00

Chicken and Mushroom Porridge, RM4.50

French Toast, RM2.00

Ratings:

Food: 4/5

Services: 3/5

Cleanliness: 3/5

GrandMama's , Pavilion KL

I am sure many of you have been to Pavilion and just get spoiled by choices. The easiest bet is to eat at the food republic located at the basement or perhaps try out the many different restaurants located within the premise. I decided to give Grandmama's a try. I was a bit skeptic about this place initially because it was supposed to be a less dearer version of Madam Kwan's. I am sure we have all heard of Madam Kwan and her famous Nasi Lemak but to be honest i still think my mom's nasi lemak is the best =) so i never did bother trying their nasi lemak. True enough, Grandmama's is opened by the daughter or grandson of Madam Kwan (my facts could be wrong but its definitely linked in some way or another).

The place is nicely put together with an option to either be seated inside the restaurant or outside the restaurant where you can enjoy your meal and "people watch" at the same time. I reckon the setting is nice and good enough to have a decent meal and catch up with your friends. The furniture that are being used really exudes a very retro looking and feel to it and do check out the tiles! Retro yet very modernized at the same time.

As you look through the menu you will definitely be spoil by choices of food from both eastern and western food. Normally, I'll go for the chef recommendations! You know that little icon or tick mark that denotes "highly recommended by the chef"!

"Sang Har Hor Fun "RM19
Well i was really expecting something that will blow me away but unfortunately this dish didn't do it for me. It lacks "oomph" and taste wise, it was mediocre. I prefer something more intense but the description did mention "light broth"?! It is definitely edible and taste reasonably good but not something I'll go back for. Portion wise, well I'd be happier to see more on my plate! Call me greedy =) Maybe they were going for the french version of chinese food ... big white plate with tiny piece of food in the middle?

"Nasi Bojari RM20.00"
Basically it consist of tri-color rice, assam prawns , beef rendang and deep fried chicken drumstick. This dish was good but could have been better with some acar / pickled vege or perhaps a fried egg?

" Beef Hor fun RM14.90"
Well this dish was pretty good and it was rather delicious.
(but then again, you can definitely get something way better at the chinese "tai chou" which probably sells it at a fraction of this price and taste way better! )

"Spaghetti Bolagnese "
This dish in my opinion was a true disappointment!
Firstly the noodles was not Al - Dante ! Ie firm but not hard!
The spaghetti noodles at that time was a tad hard.
Secondly i reckon the bolagnese was not saucy enough. It was lacking in flavour and it tasted rather bland. I guess it could have been a one off thing, or maybe just so happen my noodles were not cooked to Al Dante.

Anyways, overall my dining experience was rather good. The service was good and the ambiance was good. But the food wasnt really impressive.

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds/opinion and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. .

Yikes! It is almost almost new year!
Life goes on but do we have to start listing our new year's resolution?
Maybe one of it should include
1. To be able to eat like angeline/monica and still have their body =)