French

FOOD TASTING: SUNRISE BISTRO & BAR

September 24, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 1,527 Comments

I was happy to tagged along with Lunarrive to a food tasting at East Coast Park area. I was up for a great night of yummy food and drinks with fellow foodies in spite of my bad case of contact lens irritation in my right eye earlier in the day. (I will spare you with the unfortunate details. But I have to get a quick eye appointment before the food tasting and rushed to East Coast Park).

I found the Sunrise Bistro & Bar near Big Splash. It gives off a very chill and unpretentious vibe. I was greeted by these yummy appetizers and drinks spread out in the table.

Truffle Fries ($8.00) and Spam Chips ($9.00)

The appetizers are addicting. The truffle in the fries is not overpowering unlike some of the truffle fries I have tasted. It is just right. And I am amazed at how thin they cut the spam chips. It was so crisp. If I ever attempt to make my own Sapm chips I am sure I won’t be able to cut as thinly like that. I believe there is a special slicer or knife for that. I enjoy dipping the appetizers in their dips. But I prefer the truffle fries from the Spam chips.

I had a chance to scan the whole restaurant before the starters arrived. It was spacious with dark wood furnitures and dim lightings. There is a bar for drinks on the side of the restaurant. And in the front corner, I see a mini stage with a covered organ which I learned later that some nights, there is a band that plays in the bistro. That sounds like fun. But I didn’t mind that there was no band that night because I enjoyed the music playing in the background. There is also some comfortable tables and chairs outside if customers prefer to dine al-fresco and enjoy the cool breeze outside.

It was nice to meet Chef Vincent Teng, owner and chef of Sunrise Bistro & Bar. He is one of the renowned chef in Singapore with years of experience in his belt as an executive chef in well-known hotels & restaurants and in 2014, he opened Sunrise Bistro & Bar and introduced to Singaporean the sous-vide style of cooking. Sous vide or also known as low temperature cooking is a process of cooking food at a very controlled temperature which was introduced in France in the 1970s. It is very interesting for me to learn that. It is definitely a new concept of cooking for me. Chef Vincent was so gracious and explained to us every meal that was served before us.

STARTERS

Seafood Chowder Soup ($12.00)

It is a tomato-based soup with fresh seafoods like mussels, shrimps and squids with chopped chives and olive oil. I like that there was a balance of sourness and sweetness in the soup. I am not much of a soup person but I particularly love this soup. I enjoy dipping the multi-grain bun that came with it.

Seared Foie Gras ($19.00)

I have never tried foie gras before. I know that foie gras is a luxury French food and I am privileged to be tasting on that night. I was told that foie gras is usually using duck liver but Chef Vincent opted to use goose liver. I have tried chicken liver before and it usually tasted a bit bitter and has this leathery texture. But the goose liver was buttery and soft. It felt like a delicate mousse that melted in my mouth. I was so surprised that I enjoyed it a lot. It was on top of a brioche bread & sweet mango and the combination was perfect. It complimented a lot with sweetness of mango and the texture of the bread. On the side are berries and jam to give it a hint of citrusy taste.

MAIN COURSE

Sunrise Fish & Chips ($26.00)

Chef Vincent stayed away from the overly battered fish in most fish & chips instead he made an original take on fish & chips but giving it enough batter without masking away the taste of the fish. The fish is the star on the dish and not the coating. He used red snapper fish with lemon myrtle pepper drizzled with mango salsa. It comes with french fires and tartar sauce. The mango salsa reminds me of Thai chilli sauce which make me feel this dish to more of a sweet & sour fish rather than fish & chips.

Cereal Crusted Cod Fish ($28.00)

When this dish was placed in front of us, the wonderful aroma of the food was playing with my olfactory senses and teasing my taste buds to salivate. This is a baked cod fish with cereal toppings with vegetables swimming in sesame oil and ginger shout broth. The fish was very tender but what makes it special is the cereal crust on top that gives the fish a playful texture.

Asian Five Spice Duck Leg Confit ($28.00)

This a crispy duck leg sous vide for 8 hours with five spices that is often used in Asian cuisine. It comes with a citrus salad and passion fruit sauce. I love a crispy chicken/duck skin. My husband is aware of my love-affair with crispy poultry skin that he would willingly give me his share of chicken/duck skin. So I am so happy with the crispy duck leg. The five spices were perfectly infused into the duck with just the right amount. I particularly love the citrus salad that came with it. I like how Chef Vincent knows how to balance off the foods by achieving a perfect combination of foods. I must say he is like a matchmaker of foods. He knows instinctively how to pair what with what.

Marmite Canadian Pork Shoulder ($26.00)

What I noticed about the food in Sunrise is that it doesn’t only play with your visual senses due to its careful food presentation but it’s also includes your sense of smell to complete your gastronomic experience. No one realise that your nose plays a big part in the art of eating because it also entices your desire to eat when you smell something delicious. This pork shoulder is another dish that was placed in front of us and we were drawn in by its smell. It is sous vide for 12 hours, marinated in Marmite, a food spread quite similar to the Australian Vegemite. I have tried Vegemite before and I didn’t really enjoy it very much but I must say I love the Marmite on this dish. It was very juicy and tender. It was sweet and tasty.

BBQ Beef Short Ribs ($32.00)

BBQ Beef Short Ribs (Sliced)

Chef Vincent did the donors of cutting the short ribs for us. This beef short ribs was sous vide for 24 hours! It is glazed with homemade BBQ sauce and seasonal vegetables. This was my favourite dish of all. I love the taste so much. It was juicy and tender which is surprising considering this is made of beef which can be tough. I love the homemade bbq sauce.

DRINKS

We had our meals with wide range selection of drinks.

Tropic Thunder ($11.00)

This contains pineapple juice,orange juice, fresh lime, guava syrup, basil & mint leaves and soda. It is a very refreshing drink. I love citrusy drink and is a good cocktail if you can’t have a mojito.

Green Mary ($11.00)

This is another refreshing citrusy mocktail with contain lime juice, grapefruit juice, cucumber syrup, fish cucumber, rosemary and ginger ale.

Charlie Browns

One of these three drinks is nonalcoholic. It taste like liquid dessert. It has chocolate syrup with a taste of peanuts and there are floating peanut-coated marshmallows. If you like Baileys and like something sweet, this is the drink for you.

DESSERTS

Tiramisu Semi Fredo ($12.00)

It is very different from all the other tiramisu. It is a semi-frozen mascarapone cheese layered with coffee liqueur jelly sponge with milo crunch & tuile biscuit. It looks very interesting but I didn’t try this one since it contains alcohol.

Salted Egg Yolk Custard Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream ($14.00)

Salted Egg Yolk Custard Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream (Sliced)

Chef Vincent definitely saved the best for last. This was absolutely perfection. We have tried chocolate lava cakes but this one has salted egg yolk in it. It tasted absolutely divine. The warm chocolate cake has the right consistency with creamy salted egg yolk custard.

It was a great night to spend with fellow foodies who enjoy delicious dishes just like me that we didn’t realise it was almost late at night. Visit this wonderful innovative restaurant if you visit East Coast area, I promise you, it will not disappoint you.

Sunrise Bistro & Bar

902 East Coast Parkway, Playground @ Big Splash, Block B #01-05
Singapore 6440 9090

Website: http://www.sunrisebistrobar.com/

Facebook: Sunrise Bistro & Bar

Disclaimer: This was a food tasting event invited by Lunarrive and Christine Tan on behalf of Sunrise Bistro & Bar. The food tasting was free. No monetary compensation is involved. All thoughts and opinions are 100% mine.

VALENTINES STAYCATION AT WANDERLUST HOTEL

February 24, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 1,317 Comments

Valentines was slightly postponed because of my eye infection and because Naj got sick. But my hubby and I manage to still have our mini Valentines celebration. We opted out on the dinner, wine, dance and flowers but instead we decided to have a mini- staycation in one of the quirky boutique hotels here in Singapore. It was a much needed time to be alone, just the two of us, which we don’t get much these days. But I realized the importance of going back to the essence of that twosome that you were before you were a threesome. You get what I mean? Married couples tend to neglect each other as they bury themselves with domestic necessities of a growing family. It’s essential that you and your partners should have a strong foundation to withstand life’s obstacles and challenges. It is helpful to keep the romance still alive in our marriages.

I heard of WANDERLUST HOTEL in Little India and we picked it for our Valentines staycation.

We had a late checked-in because we still got work. The place is a bit hard to find if you are coming from Bugis MRT. It is in a slightly hidden alley in Dickson Road.

We got the Pantone Room. They are capsule-like rooms that comes different colors: red, white, orange, pink, purple, red, grey, green, blue and black. They gave us the BLUE room.

But I asked for another room because it reminds me of the room taken by Ryan Gosling’s character and Michelle Williams’ character in Blue Valentines. I don’t want to jinx our marriage but staying in that room and making our marriage resemble their depressing marriage. ( I know I am being silly but I don’t to take any chances, hehe)

So we transferred to the PURPLE room.

The colors are very vibrant in all the rooms and there is a neon light in each room. We need to climbed to two tiled steps to our bed. The bed, pillows and linens were super-duper soft. There were more space for the toilet and bath that is divided separately by frosted class.

The cabinet is small and not ideal for those travellers who wants to stay longer and have bigger luggages. They have small refrigerators with free water, soad drinks and juices. They have available hairdryer also. They have nespresso for us to use.

The second level where our room is located has the outside jacuzzi. I love their outdoor space.

by night

by day

I like that the hotel is walking distance to Bugis+, Bugis Junction, Mustafa and City Square Mall. My hubby and I had steak dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The next morning, being a morning person (and my hubby is the opposite, prefers to sleep in), I got to enjoy the much needed me-time in the outdoor space. I got to do some journal-ing and planning. I tried the Nespresso machine too. I love the coffee! Two creamer please!

When my hubby woke up, we had our breakfast at their restaurant, THE COCOTTE. Cocotte is a French word which means a small fireproof dish in which individual portions are cooked and served. It also mean a prostitute or a promiscuous woman. Hmmm… Interesting.

The restaurant was colorfully decorated which fit the vibe of the hotel. I love the light coming in the restaurant.

The bread basket, the cereals and juice are served buffet-style. And we have a check list of what we want for our breakfast. My hubby got the cranberry pancakes while I got the bacon, omelette and mashed potato. (This comes with the hotel accommodation package we got).

The hotel lobby is just as quirky as the restaurant and room with a lot of eclectic designs. You can also play foosball or just hang out in the colourful sofas and barber chairs.

Or like us, we just lounge in our room watching TV.

It was wonderful to have little pseudovacation in Singapore and get to go home to our baby boy the next day. I would to try staying in other rooms Wanderlust has to offer like the Pantone Deluxe, Mono or Whimsical. Maybe on our second wedding anniversary perhaps…

Wanderlust Hotel

2 Dickson Road
Singapore 209494

*Recommended Parking: Open air car park across the road from Jalan Besar, next to Sim Lim Tower, and Weld Road – one street behind Dickson Road.

Tel: +65 6396 3322
Fax: +65 6298 2211
Email: WLH-Res@unlistedcollection.com

POULET: FRENCH DINING

June 28, 2014 by Little Miss Honey 2,082 Comments

There is something about the French that I like. My favourite movie is the cute French film Amelie; I always wanted to travel to Paris; In my trip to Australia, I discovered this lovely book written by a French lady Mireille Guillano : French Women Don’t Get Fat. But one thing I haven’t tried yet are their food….

In Singapore, there a lot of choices for French restaurants. I was looking for a casual-dining French restaurant without causing a big tear on your wallet. Poulet offers just that. My Singaporean doctor-friends tried out this restaurant in one of our midweek de-stressing sessions. And I took my hubby there a few months after to try it too. French cuisine are know for its rich tastes and thick creamy sauces. Poulet in French means chicken. So Poulet’s signature dish is their amazing roasted chicken.

We ordered:

SAUTEED WILD MUSHROOMS

This simple dish is surprisingly good. It has this intriguing yummy sauce that is just right. This is an appetiser but my friend prefer to take it as his main dish for the evening.

POULET ROTI

This is Poulet’s signature dish. It comes in Half ($15.80) or Whole (28.80). But the half chicken can easily be shared by two. It is in good portion size.The chicken is brined in full day and placed in rotisserie for a slow roast. It comes with a thick flavourful mushroom chardonnay sauce. I wouldn’t wonder why this is Poulet’s star dish because it is definitely a hit to our tastebuds. My hubby and I, being a true-blooded Pinoys, wish they have a rice for side dish for use to fully enjoy this dish.

IBERICO PORK BELLY

This is a braised Spanish pork belly ($15.80). It comes with mashed potato, leek confit and double mustard. The pork was amazingly soft and tender. It almost melts in our mouths. The mustard sauce’s tanginess blends perfectly with the pork. Again, my hubby & I would say, ‘pls bring in the rice. burp!’

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE

We wanted something sweet after the satisfying heavy meal. We ordered the chocolate mousse ($7.80). It comes in a cute glass container. This is velvety smooth rich dessert with real chocolate chips inside and whip cream on top. It is perfect ending to our perfect dinner.

We will definitely come back here if we would be craving for some French cuisine that is pocket-friendly and tummy-filling.

Poulet Restaurant
201 Victoria Street
Level 4 Bugis+, Singapore
Tel: +65 6509 9411
Daily: 11.30am – 9.30pm