Good & Value Wine Dinner @ Greenwood Fish Bistro on 19Nov2015

Posted on November 25, 2015 by chefquak

smoked canapes

a friend arranged a wine dinner at Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro on 19.11.2015. 8 of us attended. ^^

the same friend arranged fun wine dinners at (1) zaffereno & (2) halia previously

greenwood fish bistro

i’ve been to greenwood fish bistro some years back (before i started blogging) and had the S$39.95 whole lobster promotion twice before (they still have that). it was quite good.

wine dinner menu

this evening we had a S$69pax 5-course eqwines dinner w/o dessert & coffee.

as i don’t drink i look only at the food menu whether i want to pay that just for the food.

for those who don’t drink, the restaurant was kind enough to offer juice etc, very good of them since wine was sponsored by the wine merchant but i guess, not the other drinks. 🙂

prosecco

i decided to take the wine. prosecco was good. i liked the white after this best. 🙂

red wines

reds were quite good too. the restaurant gave me a cranberry juice afterwards too, a great gesture.

smoked canapes

first course were some smoked canapes. these were very good!

smoked canapes

the smoked salmon & mussels were excellent…how to describe? smokey i guess, very flavourful.

the smoked trout (the server said cold smoked) was so-so, not so tasty.

cured salmon with avocado

the second course cured salmon with avocado also very nice. it was though nothing special.

barramundi & pea puree

the 3rd course barramundi was excellent!

not sure if barramundi is farmed in singapore like the smaller local seabass. this one the meat is firmer, not so “hu” liek falling apart.

barramundi & pea puree

however 2 of my friends complained that the meat was soft. the rest of us were ok…maybe they got the local seabass instead? just kidding. 🙂

duck confit – this a disaster

the 4th course was a duck confit?

it was a huge disaster! meat was tough & not edible!

actually the server said it was sous vide then cooked in oven (mayeb the server got it wrong, just don’t sound right!)..

firstly of course duck confit is cooked in duck fat..while the word confit is used loosely to mean slow braise like say pineapple confit or belly pork confit, for duck confit it usually mean strictly duck confit. & i’m not sure you can roast in oven after sous vide.

my own 5hr sous vide crispy skin canard a l’orange

i would think a cold pan method of rendering out the fat & crisping the skin w/o overcooking the meat makes a lot more sense (above photo)…notice the fat had rendered out..

octopus confit

restaurant was great to do a service recovery.

they replaced the dish with a octopus confit.

it was competent dish, not the best but i guess good enough. 🙂

octopus confit

you could say a fish bistro would do an octopus dish better than a duck dish?

belly pork & grilled pineapples

but then for the last course they served a really “kick-ass” belly pork.

belly pork & grilled pineapples

this was one of the best i have taken! ^^

belly pork & grilled pineapples

not really smoked but just a hint of a flavourful ham, very tender & delicious.

i have a tea brined belly pork in the fridge now. planning to sous vide then pan-charred the skin. see if i can get anywhere close or similar to this excellent piece. 🙂

thanks to our friend, we had many fun evenings trying out different wine dinners & spending great time together.

i am not sure how their service is on normal days but for this evening, i think service was really quite exemplary & they really tried their best (from offering non alcoholic drinks to replacing the 4th course – even though they did not have much choice with the duck being such a quite monumental failure).

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro
No. 34 & 38 Greenwood Ave S289236
Tel: 6467 4950
Fax: 6467 4965
email: greenwoodbistro@yahoo.com.sgOPENING HOURS: Mon – Sat: 12:00 – 22:30, Sun & PH: 11:00 – 22:30

Worst Barachirashi Don & Chilli Crab Linguine in Singapore @ Babette on 18Sep2015

Posted on September 18, 2015 by chefquak

octopus tempura & cauliflower

daughter bought dinner @ babette on 18.9.2015 to celebrate an important occasion for her. ^^

babette

ambience was quite cool i guess, though a much lower level of decor c/w say foc. the table & chairs were like canteen sitting.

service was really poor because of shortage of staff. we waited very long to be served even after signalling to the servers several times. 😦

octopus tempura

octopus tempura was poor. octopus was tough, batter was not tempura standard.

octopus tempura

but perhaps that is to be expected. octopus are usually sous vide (eg our favourite tako kakiage at mikuni) or slow braised & grilled. octopus done by this preparation will almost certainly be tough. 😦

cauliflower

cauliflower was ok i guess but non-descript.

cauliflower

passable i guess.

bara chirashi don

this barachirashi don must go down as the worst ever!

bara chirashi don

yes!! the worst barachirashi don in Singapore! they have pickled carrots & radish mixed in the barachirashi don??? made the don overly sour unlike a sweet vinegared don. never had such preparation before.

even the photos may look quite pretty, but in terms of taste, this would be 1 if sumiya’s is 7 & sun with moon@wheelock’s is 8.

chilli crab linguine

the chilli crab linguine was also the worst i ever had.

chilli crab linguine

chilli crab sauce was overly sweet. crabmeat had not much taste probably the very cheap frozen stuff.

it’s the standard of any fast food or cheap pasta joints. 😦

duck confit don

the duck confit was very good though. may not be better than saveur or concetto but it had good crispy skin & the meat was very flavourful & not very sinewy.

duck confit don

the don was not much taste also, but at least the duck confit was a saving grace. it was very expensive though at S$28 c/w saveur & concetto!

afterall, duck confit at saveur & concetto were just S$13.90! ie 1/2 the price!

steak & foie gras don

the steak & foie gras don was the best of the lot!

steak & foie gras don

the steak was very good.

steak & foie gras don

think the steak was an average cut so the preparation was really quite good to give it nice bbq flavours & not tough texture.

my own steak miso salmon belly scallop don

i made my own steak don the next day. my steak was very good but a better cut, 150D grain-fed black angus striploin, so quite commendable for the steak don here.

chicken wings

chicken wings was surprisingly good. better than what my helper makes, which is a very good chicken wing. we added the order at the end & it took forever (like another 20mins) to arrive. 😦

chope's promotion - does not honour chope's offer of complimentary lava cake for every S$50 spent frown emoticon

babette does not honour chope’s offer of complimentary lava cake for every S$50 spent!

we had a bad experience though-

restuarant did not honour the chope’s black & white offer of a complimentary macha cake for every S$50 spent!

the bill

we spent S$257 & got only 1 complimentary macha lava cake! 😦

i asked for just a second macha lava cake (afterall we spent 5x the every S$50) but the restuarant refused.

i guess the management & staff are not properly schooled in service recovery. 😦

macha lava cake

i did not like the macha lava cake either. macha was very sweet & very strange combination of flavours unlike the macha parfait kind of flavours which i like (say) at sun with moon. one good thing though was that my youngest daughter liked it. just as well we only had 1 complimentary cake.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Food at Saveurs @ Purvis on 1Mar2015

Posted on March 5, 2015 by chefquak

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

capellini, minced pork sauce, sakura ebi

wife was away skiing in hokkaido. SKI=Spending Kid’s Inheritance.^^

eldest daughter organised a 3pax family dinner at saver @ purvis on 1.3.2015. 🙂

we had very good family dinner recently at concetto (another saver restaurant) on 18.1.2015.

& this place was just as fun.

the next day i came with my godsis & a good friend’s daughter for the set lunch at S$22.90, & it was just as good. the set lunch menu here is more attractive than that at concetto, which really had very limited choice (they really should review that!).

saveur @ purvis

the restuarant had 2 adjacent dining area. this one was absolutely packed. we were not able to get sitting at the other side where the sitting was more spacious even though we booked beforehand. i booked the next day lunch, making sure i could get the other, but that turned out to be unnecessary as we were the only table. what a difference lunch & dinner!

chef preparing cold capellini

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

this saveur pasta was different from concetto pasta. that had crab bisque & ikura, this one minced pork sauce & sakura ebi & priced cheaper at $4.90 (vs S$6.90). i liked both (& was quite happy to take it again the next day).

capellini, minced prok sauce, sakura ebi

one reviewer said it tasted like bakchormee? it didn’t to me, but it was nice, very al dente & flavourful.^^

belly pork, lentils, poached egg

the belly pork was excellent, very tender, moist & still having the texture, excellent low temperature cooking. the crackling skin was not crackling like the chinese roast pork, but totally edible. love the lentils.

pan-seared seabass, potato, crabmeat

the seabass was excellent too! this was really a very good pan seared seabass! liked the potatoes too. 🙂

duck confit, mashed potato, shitake

the duck confit was very good, just like that at concetto.

cookie dough ice cream, cherry kirsch, peanut butter

the cookies & milk ice cream was good, but no wow factor for me, & it was more expensive.

pistachio panna cotta

pistachio panna cottaEx

the pistachio panna cotta was lovely. my doughtier liked it very much. maybe i will try this at home.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Set Lunch @ Concetto by Saveur on 10Feb2015

Posted on February 11, 2015 by chefquak

concetto pasta

had lunch with a friend at concetto by saveur at the cathay on 10.2.2015. 🙂

i had a nice 4pax family dinner here recently on 18.1.2015.

she ordered the concetto pasta & the kurobuta pork cheek, plus a ice lemon tea.

i ordered the S$20.90 3-course set lunch + S$1.50 for ice lemon tea. i picked the concetto pasta, beef oyster blade & as the server recommended, the pistachio panna cotta.

concetto pasta

the concetto pasta was a chilled capellini with crab & prawn tartare (tiny morsels) tossed in lobster oil & topped with lobster foam & ikura (salmon roe). it’s a very tasty appetiser though i was less blown away as the last time.

perhaps some truffle oil? but maybe cannot mix too many ingredients. the lobster bisque made it very flavourful already.^^

beef oyster blade

i had the 36hr sous vide beef oyster blade.

beef was tender & consistent. it was not sinewy like a braised beef dish. still i thought taste was bland & lacking, and still basically a braised item c/w very flavourful grilled steaks. i am not sure if the beef was charred first before sous vide-that should add some flavours. there was french mustard with seeds layered on top, and the coffee soil provided some taste when taken together.

overall i would think the kurobuta or the duck confit would be better.

kurobuta pork cheek

my friend had the braised kurobuta pork cheek with gnocchi.

i had this the least time. the kurobuta was flavourful & tender, very good. between duck confit (which was also very good) and kurobuta i would take kurobuta.^^

pistachio panna cotta

the last time we had the dark chocolate tart. i asked the younger server (she just finished A levels & waiting for results). she recommended the pistachio panna cotta. good recommendations!

i thought this was a very good dessert. it was not the flavourful panna cotta we had at tremezzo lake como, but it was a very good one, & the plus over the plain one (even a very good one at tremezzo) was that this came with pistachio crumble & salted pistachio. i also tasted strong black pepper flavours which strangely made the whole combination really nice!

i would order this panna cotta again if i dine here next time!^^

c.h.e.f andy

Far Surpassing Expectations @ The Movies Restaurant Amsterdam on 15Apr2014

Posted on April 29, 2014 by chefquak

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venison with herb cream & beetroots

my very good dutch friend, hugo, knowing that we were in amsterdam, took a train from rotterdam where he was living to have dinner with the 3 of us on 15.4.2014. 🙂

he met us at our haarlemmerdijke apartment and took us across the street, about 30m, to the movies restuarant. that suited us fine as we were taking the first flight the next day to milan on way to lake como at leaving at 6am.

we had walked past the movie theatre several times to go to haarlemmerplein to take the trams and did not notice from across the road that it had a restaurant.

it had a pub like pleasant cosy atmosphere & we could be forgiven to think the food would be like average. how pleasantly wrong we were! 🙂 i realised that it was quite a place to go to for art house movies afterwards.

the service was also excellent, very warm, friendly & helpful! not sure they could smell the baron-ness in my aristocratic looking friend. lol. 🙂

10154562_10152325852834494_4459793439470392742_n

green pea risotto

we ordered 4 appetisers & 3 mains.

#1 we did not try hugo’s venison (top photo) but it sure looked good!

#2 the green pea risotto was competent, the risotto done just right, al dente. nothing much to criticise, taste-wise i guess it was good (as could be good for a plain no ingredient risotto), nothing exceptional.

1781889_10152325852904494_1154807320495409383_n

carrot soup with croutons

#3 my carrot soup was good, well above average. it was though not as good as the carrot & coconut soup we had at a cafeteria during a cycle stop earlier in the day (that soup was truly excellent & i intend to try out myself at home).

10006587_10152325852979494_7985078250161989342_n

tuna rillette salad

#4 the tuna rillette was quite ok.salad was good.

65382_10152325853094494_378105697178164661_n

duck confit & slow braised belly port

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duck confit & slow braised belly port

#5 the duck confit & the slow braised belly pork were excellent, flavourful, moist (not dry & very sinewy like some were) and tender. duck confit not my favourite but this was 1 duck confit i would be quite happy to have, though the helping was too large & i would still prefer to share than to have one all by myself.

10246254_10152325853274494_7263316854447281574_n

EXCELLENT slow braised lamb loin

#6 hugo’s slow braised lamb turned out to be the best dish, superbly tender & without the very strong gamey taste (the “hiang”=reason many could not take lamb) despite retaining lots of fat. there were 2 large pieces. once hugo started sharing, we ate so fast & polished off 1 of his 2 pieces in a blink! 🙂 i am working on how i can reproduce this dish or with variation, likely using miso marinade or vegetable ratatouille. 🙂

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grilled skate wings

#7 the skate wing my wife had was probably the poorer of the dishes. i guess it was still an ok dish, but this method of preparation would probably render a bland tasteless fish, unlike singapore’s intense chilli bbq preparation which brings out the flavours of the fish with great texture lots of edible cartilage. even the very chinese style of frying with black beans would enhance the flavour a lot more.

overall, i guess this was not quite at the level of zazas though i would rate both mains as better than what we had at zazas. i guess that actually says a lot!

i did not know the total price, but the lamb i think was like euro 22 or euro24 & the duck was like euro18, so it was excellent value by comparison. this would be a very top comfort food restuarant i would be quite happy to return to in amsterdam if i am not specifically trying out other restaurants hoping to find another beulings.

c.h.e.f andy

Superdeal Maybank 1 for 1 Set Lunch @ Bistro du vin Zion Road on 20Dec2013

Posted on December 21, 2013 by chefquak

grilled lamb ribs with lentils

maybank repeated the 1 for 1 set super lunch deal with les amis group’s bistro du vin. 4 of us had lunch at the zion road branch on 20.12.2013. it was an excellent 3-course lunch plus coffee normally priced at S$26pax. with maybank 1 for 1 we paid S$61 for 4pax lunch including 2 reds (1 glass of wine for 2pax). 🙂 this was even better than the great lunch we had at bistro du vin shaw branch on 18.11.2013.

bistro du vin zion road was located at the previous coffee shop next to nasi padang river valley & split the space with their sister restaurant peperoni pizzeria. it was small & cosy with added al fresco sitting, quite a wine bistro ambience i guess.

we met another friend who was there for lunch also on a 4pax table. soon afterwards, another friend arrived with her family also a 4pax table. 🙂

leek & potato soup with breaded oysters

endives salad in french dressing

red wine escargot, fried egg & crispy bacon

there were wide choices for appetisers, mains & dessert. i had the rabbit terrine (good too) last time at shaw branch, so picked the leek & potato soup with breaded oysters. i always like cream of leek & potato. this was certainly competent, and the breaded oysters (kaki furai) were excellent, very tasty & good batter. my friend liked the endives salad with some blue cheese. another friend picked the escargot in red wine with crispy bacon. it was good too. 🙂

duck leg confit

seafood boullabaise

beer beef short ribs with mash

i ordered grilled lamb ribs on a bed of lentils (top photo) for main. it was excellent. lamb was flavourful & fork tender. another friend ordered beer beef short ribs with mash. i had that at shaw branch, it was competent but not my favourite. 2 other friends ordered the duck leg confit & seafood bouillabaisse, both were popular diners’ choices. 🙂 i would probably try the bouillabaisse next time.

apple crumble, roasted apple ice cream

pear tart pastry with slated caramel ice cream

chocolate with madaleine

2 friends had the apple crumble (i had that at shaw branch & it was good!). i had the pear tart on puff pastry with salted caramel. i liked it, though i would probably go back to apple crumble next time. the madaleine this time was good, unlike that at shaw branch which was dense & not fresh.

a friend on the another table who had tried the lamb ribs at shaw felt that the food at zion road was better than shaw, & another friend had said previously that the service was a lot better. i agreed with both. i thought the ambience was more cosy & the service was significantly better. every server was responsive & communicated well to our queries on menu, & even agreed to let us extend the maybank discounts to another 2 friends (there was a limit of 3 redemptions each time) at the next table who came w/o knowing about the promotion though in the end that was not needed as they also had the maybank card themselves (& were allowed to use it) only that they did not know about the promotion.

so my 2 thumbs up for the really excellent service. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Very Cheap French Fare @ Bistro Du Vin on 18Nov2013

Posted on November 19, 2013 by chefquak

200g 200-day australian grain-fed char-grilled ribeye

3-course set lunch menu include coffee

update = wow, had even better deal at bistro du vin zion road on 20.12.2013!

our dining quartet decided to take advantage of maybank 1 for 1 set lunch promotion & dined at bistro du vin on 18.11.2013. the usual price for a 3-course set lunch including coffee was S$30pax. the menu had quite wide choices. there were couple items like pan-seared foie gras & 200day grain fed ribeye that required supplement – quite reasonable unlike some places where 1 in 2 items required supplement, however the supplement were separately billed & not entitled to the 50% discount. 🙂

baked camembert with apples, bacon, sourdough

foie gras ravioli

leek & potato soup with deep fried oysters

rabbit terrine

seafood bouillabaise

duck confit & lamb sausage

beef short ribs stewed in beer

i love leek & potato soup (& especially this one came with 2 kaki furai – japanese breaded oysters). however i was distracted by the rabbit terrine & ordered that. it was good, tasty, competent. i was happy with it. 🙂

1 friend ordered the leek & potato soup which came with 2 deep-fried oysters & was good as expected.

1 friend ordered the foie gras ravioli (the pink sauce didn’t look great or very appetizing to me like the beautiful pumpkin ravioli at al borgo did, but i think it tasted fine). the other ordered the baked camembert with sour dough. it looked ok but my friend said it was not as good as the other bistro du vin outlet at great world city.

for the main course, i ordered the beef ribs stewed in beer. again it was competent & the mash too, though in comparison my own spanish beef ribs was better because i had a very sweet & tasty vegetable ratatouille to match/balance the fork tender beef ribs whereas this one was very beefy & robust.

1 friend had the duck confit. he thought the black sheep cafe’s was better. 1 had the seafood bouillabaise with fish, clams, mussels, prawns. she said the fish was not great. anyway, bouillabaise & duck confit not my favourite. the smartest among us ordered the 200g 200-day australian grain-fed char-grilled ribeye – a S$10 supplement with no discount.it was ok really for the quality meat. i could smell the steak when it was served, & i had a small piece & it was excellent. 🙂

petit pot chocolate with magdaleine

creme brulee

caramelised apple crumble, roasted apple ice cream

for dessert, i & another friend had the caramelised apple & raisin crumble with roasted apple ice cream. it was good, though it would please the eye better served on a dessert plate or long dessert dish. 1 friend had creme brulee which was recommended by the waiter & which she obviously enjoyed. the other had chocolate madaleine. the madaleine texture looked dense. i was about to say the ones at esso station looked better but my friend beat me to it. so this dessert was not good. 🙂 i had cuppaccino & my other friends had coffee.

overall, at normal S$30pax for 3-course set lunch including coffee, the food was competent enough & i didn’t consider it expensive. with maybank 1 for 1 discounts, the lunch was S$15pax (excluding the supplement) with 2 free wine for 4pax, well you could not get that at a hawker centre or coffee shop. so it was very cheap & great value.

c/w au jardin which served a S$45pax 3-course set lunch include coffee (there was also a S$65pax menu), which was also having the maybank 1 for 1 promotion including wine, i would return to au jardin (which i was to happy to pay full price at other time) rather than bistro du vin. the latter was competent & average whereas au jardin was fine dining in both food & presentation (& of course quite different ambience). eg my lamb saddle was exquisite, even better than many good lamb racks i had before.

on the service, bistro du vin was ok. the young male server was quite knowledgeable & responsive & answered my several questions on menu items & selection. 1 of my dining companion had poor opinion of the service though because he did not offer the wine to us automatically but only when asked & he replied that most people did not take wine during lunch. the attitude i think was ok, but maybe the training on managing customers was lacking here. but overall, the service again was competent & in my opinion rather better than many similar places.

au jardin’s service was of course much better. the staff were much better trained & professional, but then it was a different class restaurant so not apt comparison. 1 younger au jardin male staff though appeared to be not so great in his service attitude.

c.h.e.f andy

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Tag Archives: duck confit

Good & Value Wine Dinner @ Greenwood Fish Bistro on 19Nov2015

Worst Barachirashi Don & Chilli Crab Linguine in Singapore @ Babette on 18Sep2015

Excellent Food at Saveurs @ Purvis on 1Mar2015

Good Set Lunch @ Concetto by Saveur on 10Feb2015

Far Surpassing Expectations @ The Movies Restaurant Amsterdam on 15Apr2014

Superdeal Maybank 1 for 1 Set Lunch @ Bistro du vin Zion Road on 20Dec2013

Very Cheap French Fare @ Bistro Du Vin on 18Nov2013

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