Our favourite italian place! & Leaving for Sydney...

Can't believe it's finally time to fly off for my student exchange. I'll still update this blog regularly and still have quite a few posts about some of the nice cafes/restaurants that Gabriel and I have been visiting though.

I'll be flying off in about 8 hours? I'm so excited and yet nervous at the same time. I'll really miss my family, Bethany and Cutie. I pray that God will keep my loved ones safe and also guide me during this new phase! Other than that, i'm excited to experience what studying in a new country is like. I'm excited to soak in the culture and of course, celebrating my birthday and Chinese New Year overseas!

Anyways, on the last day of the year, Gabriel brought me to my favourite italian place– Bruno's! The food here is really fantastic and after having italian food here, i can't seem to find any place comparable to this! We've been going here quite regularly until the manager recognizes us. We've been here for valentine's day and so many other occasions.

Here's a picture of me while waiting for the food. The place was so crowded on new year's eve so i don't really recommend going there on a public holiday. Since it was a public holiday, we had to wait a little longer for our food but don't worry, they serve a complimentary bread basket in case you're too hungry!

Awww <3

This was our first time ordering an appetizer at Bruno's. Since it was new year's eve, we thought we should do something different and we decided to be more adventurous? We ordered their parma ham platter… but we were disappointed.

I think you should give their appetizers a miss at this place. Our parma ham platter did not look appetizing at all, and it was too much ham for two people. We had to eat this with the complimentary bread we were given too. We actually thought that the parma ham platter would be accompanied with some rockets? Sadly, we were literally served with only parma ham.

Parma Ham Platter

I can't remember the price for this? I think it was 23+ for it.

We ordered this vegetable pizza. It has cucumbers, zucchini, peppers and mozzarella cheese. Just looking at the pictures here is making me hungry! This pizza looks simple but its surprisingly good! We saw that the bunch of girls sitting beside us had ordered this too. The pizza was not moist and wet even though the toppings consisted of vegetables. I'll definitely order this again. It's one of the cheaper items too. It costs us $22.

Lobster and Crayfish Pasta 

This costs us $25. It was the best pasta i ever had in my entire life! I'm not even kidding. The lobsters were so fresh and sweet and they were so generous with their crayfish too! If you're a seafood fan, this is a must get! The sauce had a tinge of smokey flavor to it and yet it was slightly tangy at the same time. Overall, this was a sweet tomato based creams sauce. You can't get it on the menu but they have this dish on their menu boards so do look out for it!

Their crabmeat pasta is perfect too. I don't have a picture of it because we didn't order it that day but we usually get their crabmeat pasta as well. I prefer the lobster and crayfish pasta just by a little bit though. I think they're pretty comparable and probably the best pastas i've ever had.

Seafood risotto

This costs $26. This had a slightly more tangy sauce than the lobster and crayfish pasta. This had fresh tomatoes in it as well as an assortment of seafood like squid, cockles, crayfish, prawns, fried fish. They were so generous with their seafood i felt like i was just eating a bowl of seafood. There wasn't too much risotto as well (which is good since i don't like too much of carbs.) The consistency and texture of the risotto was just right. This dish is good as well, but can't be compared with the above two pastas i mentioned.

Look at all the remains of all the seafood we had that day. This probably gives you an idea how generous Bruno's is with their ingredients!

This is a perfect place to go for excellent italian food. I thought it wasn't too pricey for the quality and taste you're getting. Remember to call to make reservations as this place is sometimes quite crowded!

Bruno's Pizzeria & Grill
344 Tanjong Katong Road
Singapore 437113
Tel: 64404525

So this marks the last post before i leave for Sydney. I'll definitely update this space as soon as i get wifi over there. Goodbye Singapore!

Yesterday's happenings

Went to try the original Thunder Tea Rice outlet at Joo Chiat yesterday! Gab and i are fans of Thunder Tea Rice. Initially i didn't really like it but i think it's an acquired taste and i'm really starting to like it now.

I thought it was really worth it because it was $4.50 for white rice and $5.00 for brown rice! We got the set meal though which costs us $7 and it came with two sides.

The ingredients were so freshly prepared! Raffles City Shopping Mall has Thunder Tea Rice too but this is so much better! It tasted really homemade and even the tofu was prepared by them. I like how they are so thoughtful to pluck out the heads of the ikan billis too!

These were our sides. Our Thunder Tea Rice came with a fried omelette and fried tofu. I love their tofu so much! It was fried with some meat and water chestnut inside. And it's super homemade. I love how they made everything themselves instead of just buying them wholesale and then frying the ingredients.

Thunder Tea Rice
328 Joo Chiat Road #01-04
Tel: 63420223

After that we headed home to spend a bit of time with Cutie (Gabriel's dog). We won't be seeing Cutie for 5 months because of exchange and everytime we tell him that, he sort of knows that we're leaving. :( We brought Cutie to a nearby park yesterday and he was so happy.

We also discovered that he loves us to scratch his head. Hahaha. He gives this shiok expression everytime we do that.

After a while Cutie got really sleepy because of the long walk.

Gabriel took a close up shot of Cutie because he was just too cute sticking out his tongue like that!

True enough, after a while, Cutie fell asleep.

Really can't believe i won't be seeing Cutie for so long and me and Gab are planning on buying him some nice treats to have while we're away.

Review at Kilo at PACT

Went to Kilo at PACT pretty long ago but haven't got the chance to post my review on this. I think the food is pretty decent and really fusion. Everything they serve is so interesting! We were there super early?

We reached there about 5.30pm so we ended up taking a lot of photos of the place… and of us too. It was quite paiseh actually because we were like two tourists in the restaurant.

There's this area where they display books you can read. But i doubt anyone reads them though.

Pretending to read a book

The interior is so pretty too! There's this really edgy modern feel to it. It was empty when we reached so it was pretty quiet! I think this is one of the most interesting restaurants we've been too because it's both a retail and food outlet at the same time and the decorations are just too pretty.

We were given seats right next to the window. The view you get is of Killiney Road. Quite interesting because you get to people watch. And the natural lighting was fabulous! I love being seated right next to the window. It's a very very private place too.

We were looking at their menu and deciding what was good to eat based on other reviews. We finally decided to settle for their pan-seared salmon and angel hair pasta in ebiko cream.

Pan-seared salmon

It's a very interesting mix of flavors in this dish. I really enjoyed it! It's really fusion food. This had a wasabi mash which was really good. This came with grilled vegetables as well like cucumbers and peppers. They were also really generous with their serving of mushrooms in white wine. Overall, i thought this was a good dish, but not so value for money because it was a little pricey for the food they were serving.

Angel Hair Pasta ($22)

Their angel hair pasta is pretty popular and we've seen it on instagram quite a bit. So we've decided to try it! This was described in the menu to be angel hair pasta with sautéed prawns in ebiko cream. I like the consistency of angel hair pasta. It doesn't quite taste like italian pasta though and is prepared more like a japanese dish. I thought that the presentation was fantastic and overall a satisfying dish. However, the cream sauce tasted pretty much like Pastamania's? Just that it was slightly less creamy and had a more smooth consistency. So overall, i was a little disappointed with this dish.

If you're looking for good fusion food, this is it. The only thing about the food at this place was that it wasn't extremely mind blowing good, just perhaps slightly above average. The ambience however, was perfect and really nice for a quiet date.

Kilo at PACT

Orchard Central

181 Orchard Road #02-16/17/18/19

Tel: 68847560

Back with another review at Dim Dim! (CLOSED)

Sometimes just posting all these food reviews reminds me of how much i've been eating! I can't believe i've not only spent so much money on food, i've also gained so many calories. It's alright, because food has this amazing ability to make me happy.

So i'm back with another food review. I always head here during school time because it's just one MRT stop away. It's Dim Dim- The Hong Kong Pantry at Marina Square. This isn't a place that many people would stop by to have a meal and i suspect that most of their customers are returning. Anyway, i love the Dim Sum here! It's affordable (for the price in town) and definitely satisfying! Their congee is so good too and i like it because it's healthy.

For a good deal, it's best to go between 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm because you can get 1 Dim Sums, a bowl of congee and soy milk for just $6.80! Otherwise, if you don't go during those times, the Dim Sums usually costs about $3-$4. Still pretty affordable in my opinion.

A display of some of their baked pork buns

You can see that the interior is rather cosy and located just right opposite llao llao. It's pretty comfortable and great for gatherings and catch ups with friends.

Me and Gabriel both opted for their sets at $6.80 each. We got their soy milk and we love it! We're fans of soy milk and we've tried all the famous soy milks like the one at selegie, lao ban etc. This is pretty comparable to our surprise.

"Why are you taking my picture?!"

We chose their Har Gow and Siew Mai. I like their Har Gow! They were very generous with their prawn filling. I think it's worth getting but their Siew Mai was pretty ordinary.

This is a must get! Their Chee Cheong Fun with Char Siew is really comparable to places like Tim Ho Wan? The rice noodle of this was so smooth and the Char Siew was very lean! The soy sauce was nice too. It's a little oily but not too oily for my preference.

I love their congee too. I always get the chicken and mushroom one. The porridge is so so smooth. You can hardly taste the rice bits at all and it's super creamy. I have no idea how they manage to get such a great consistency of the porridge.

This place is nothing fancy and really casual. I would recommend that this restaurant is definitely worth a visit if you're on a tight budget.

Dim Dim- The Hong Kong Pantry
#B1-16 Marina Square Shopping Centre
6 Raffles Boulevard
Tel: 63369088

Healthy Organic Food at Real Food

I haven't blogged for a super long time. I have instead either been lazing around too much at home or spending too much time shopping that i've somewhat neglected this blog. Oops. But i'll make a constant effort to keep posting from now onwards!

Also, i got myself a new camera!!!! Gabriel got the exact same model too so he could take photos of me and i could take him too. Hahaha. And we got matching new balance sneakers lately too! We're really converging aren't we? Everything we get also must be the same.

During one of the weeks last December, i headed to Real Food at Central and ever since, i've been visiting this place a lot! The interior looks so homely and cosy.

Stuffed Veggie ($13.80)

This was fantastic. The beetroot patty was really too good. And this salad is so healthy too! I've ordered it twice already thus far! The patty consisted of a grilled organic capsicum filled with grated beetroot, carrots, mashed potatoes, onions, millet and coriander. It was also served with greens, avocado, cherry tomatoes, radish. The dressing is vinaigrette. You have to have this on your order because the patty was so good. Healthy and good, and i absolutely love it!

Dumpling noodles dry ($8.80)

This consisted of their homemade dumplings (same as the one above) and wholegrain ramen. The ramen tasted a lot like fettuccine?  I guess there was nothing super fantastic about this dish, but if you are looking for a healthy option this would be a good bet. It's pretty affordable too and the serving size was just right.

Rise-n-Shine Breakfast ($8.80)

This wasn't as good as it sounded. It was really plain and simple. I've took many shots of it from different angles so you could see all the ingredients that goes into this. This is nothing fantastic though so i don't think it's worth ordering. This consisted of a sunny side egg, salad with balsamic vinegar and lemon, avocado, tomatoes, roasted mushrooms and a slice of bread.

Beetroot (millet) burger ($12.80)

This was so fantastic. It's so worth ordering and pretty much the star dish at Real Food! This beetroot patty is slightly different from the one in the stuffed veggie salad. This consisted of beetroot, carrots, onions, zucchini. This is also served with grilled onions, tomatoes, guacamole. It also came with a side dish of salad and sweet potato fries. You will not regret ordering this for sure!

Genovese Pesto Pasta ($11.80)

This consisted of spaghetti tossed in pesto sauce. This came with grilled cucumbers, potatoes and feta cheese and olives as well. I like how they also included that fresh basil leaf at the top! You can add mushrooms to this for an additional cost of $2 too! Taste wise, this really tasted healthy. It's not salty at all and the taste of the pesto sauce felt really home made. It can't be compared to those pesto pastas at Italian restaurants because this tasted like it was a different dish of its own. It's a really healthy yet tasty pasta.

I really love the food here. Everything is vegan and organic and especially for someone health conscious like me, this is a rare gem. I hardly find food that tastes so good and yet is so healthy at the same time. During my meal, i felt i was eating clean? I didn't feel so full and bloated after that too. What's more, the price is really affordable!

They have a few outlets! It's interesting that they have one outlet at Somerset. I rarely find such good food at such an affordable price in town because most of the restaurants price their food above $17.

Central

6 Eu Tong Sen St

The Central #B1-52/53

Tel: 62233392