Enjoyable Dinner at Il Lido on 12Apr2015

Posted on April 18, 2015 by chefquak

grilled octopus

had delightful 2pax dinner with wife at il lido on 12.4.2015.^^

had not been to il lido like 5yrs maybe? recently daughter was here & shared photos on family whatsapp, so we decided to come try ourselves after so long. 🙂

il lido terrace

il lido view

we came just before sundown & sat outdoor. not so humid this evening & really pleasant terrace ambience & wonderful dinner.^^

amuse bouche 1= mushroom cappuccino

we were served 2 amuse bouche.

first was a mushroom cappuccino/foam. there were mushroom bits at the bottom & some balsamic cream & some barley etc on top. taste was intense, fabulous. texture combination excellent too.

wife said what the server liked to hear, that this was better than jaan’s.

for me though, nothing beats jaan’s cepes mushroom tea amuse bouche. but since jaan’s was taken out of feed at raffles, and i am never going to pay full price for the degustation dinner at jaan, this would be the next best thing, i guess! & its close too!^^

amuse bouche 2

second amuse bouche – crispy cheese risotto…quite ok i guess, but no impressions vs the mushroom foam.

bread basket

quite good bread basket.

grilled octopus

we ordered a grilled octopus to share.

it’s pretty good really. octopus was tender (like sous vide). there were some sausages.

prawn & uni tagliolini

for the mains, we basically go with the restaurant favourites & there server’s recommendations, and ordered the scampi & sea urchin taglioni & the black cod, asparagus & sea urchin. both were featured in the degustation set menu. 🙂

prawn & uni tagliolini

the scampi & uni tagliolini was tasty, not intense but subtle & pleasing. tagliolini though was too soft NOT al dente.

it had expensive ingredients like uni but overall taste & experience wise, i would not consider it better than most pastas i do myself.

black cod

black cod was great!

will try the other signature dish, the bone marrow crusted angus beef tenderloin next time.

gelato & sorbet

coconut gelato

passion fruit sorbet

we had a passionfruit sorbet & a coconut gelato to share. sorbet was tangy & excellent, gelato no coconut flavours nothing like the delicious coconut ice cream on 雪中情怀mango pomelo dessert we had at tunglok.

dinner cost S$100nett include 1 glass of white.

it’s really quite excellent ambience & food for a couples dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Most Unforgettable Dinner @ Miky at Monterosso on 18 & 20Apr2014

Posted on July 29, 2014 by chefquak

monterosso restaurant miky’s famous flamed seafood risotto

had been lazy to continue my posting on the cinque terre trip in apr2014.

did a number of posts on amsterdam and lake como after the trip & ran out of steam after a while..haha. time to pick up & write about the best restaurant & the best meals we had in italy. the best meal we had at amsterdam was at beulings. 🙂

we picked monterosso as our base for cinque terre (the “five lands” -comprising 5 towns – italian riviera along the lingurian coast) as it is the largest town, has a nice beach front, and of course good gathering of restaurants & shops. we managed to do the very nice trekking from monterosso to vernazza & also monterosso to levanto, both with incredible views.

monterosso restaurant miky

miky is located near monterosso station, at fegina in the new part of town.

i read a bit about restaurant miky at monterosso & their famous flamed pasta dishes, and i made a prior booking on 18.4.2014. we enjoyed the dinner so much we decided to go again on 20.4.2014.

anchovies seafood platter 1

we had wonderful pickled herrings in the streets of amsterdam & also nice lake fishes platter at lake como restaurants. so we thought we would start with the fantasia of anchovies.

anchovies seafood platter 2

anchovies seafood platter 3

it looked wonderful & came with the 2 smaller platters i.e. 3 platters in a single order.

i would say it was something worth ordering for the first time. it was competent above average i guess but by comparison with alle darsene 7-lake fish platter or even street herrings in amsterdam, it was not as tasty & flavourful. for me the left & bottom 2 cured ones in anchovies seafood platter 1 though salty were the more flavourful.

roasted octopus tentacles

the roasted octopus with asparagus was good! very tender.

it was a different preparation but quite comparable with alle darsene octopus appetiser. both i considered very good dishes. 🙂

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stuffed mussles

the stuffed mussels not my thing, but wife & daughter liked it. i preferred sweet fresh & plentiful pot of mussels like the ones we had at la scogliera at manarola the next day, not 4 stuffed one..lol. the tomato base soup was very good though. 🙂

the flamed pasta covered pot of seafood risotto was the best outstanding dish. minimum order was 2pax @ 18euros pax so 36euros. the portions were good for 4pax & more seafood than risotto almost. the stock base i figured was chicken stock with prawn shells & heads & very flavourful.

the above photo was 1 of 3 servings for 3pax, and there was enough left in the pot for 2 more similar size servings including the seafood. 🙂

monterosso restaurant miky’s famous flamed seafood risotto

we went back again on 20.4.2014, the evening before our departure to milan the following day, and ordered the same risotto. just could not have enough! 🙂

this inspired me so much i came back & recreated the seafood risotto dish, and served it to my buddies for my lake como, cinque terre, milan grand tour tasting menu on 2.7.2014. they all absolutely loved it, though of course it was no comparison with the real thing at miky! lol! 🙂

monterosso restaurant miky

lobster, langoustine, prawns seafood platter

lobster, scampis, prawns seafood platter

the other excellent dish not to be missed was the 35euros lobster, scampis, prawns seafood platter. 🙂

the 1/2lobster was a large 1kg size not the usual 600g maine lobster in singapore, very sweet & tasty, but the scampis were even better. & the prawns were large & very good.

grilled seafood platter

when we returned there on 20.4.2014, we decided to try the grilled seafood platter instead. this was good too with grilled scampi, prawn, razor clams, scallop & fish on a bed of mesclun salad. in a way it was kind of different dish to the cold seafood platter but really in terms of quantity, taste, value the cold platter was lots better. 🙂

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monterosso restaurant miky

they were truly unforgettable meals we had, 2 times in a space of just 3 days. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Sumptuous Semi-buffet @ One Ninety at Four Seasons Hotel on 30May2013

Posted on June 9, 2013 by chefquak

roast suckling pig with stuffing was sooooooooo good!

It’s my turn to buy the monthly dining quartet meal. I had not been to One Ninety @ Four Seasons Hotel for years but I recalled they had a good semi-buffet. & there was a 1 free for 3 paying promotion using DBS card ending May2013, so we went there for lunch on 30.5.2013, in time for the promotion. 🙂

& it was a super, super lunch. I would go again w/o the promotion. 🙂

the appetizer & dessert buffet was priced at $38pax, and $48pax if we added a main course on the menu, which we did. & on saturdays & sundays, they throw in a Moet champagne buffet at $58pax.

The suckling pig with stuffing (top photo) was nothing short of fabulous – sooooooooooo good! it was so flavourful, tasty. I always felt nothing beat chinese roast suckling pig. still do. but this was as good as it gets, perhaps different (as the focus was not just on the crispy skin but overall flavours) but on par. 🙂

langoustine or scampi – sweet, quite good

snow crab legs

the langoustine or scampi was sweet, quite good but I actually thought the snow crab legs were better. though not the very best but still very good quality, and a few of us had a few helpings. it was sweet & not so salty as what Kuisinbo & some poorer buffets served.

the pork terrine in above left photo was the poorer one- could skip as there were so many good dishes. there was a better one with pig ears, which I had forgotten to take picture.

sushi – most sushi in buffet were a waste of time! this one I only took the aburi mayo prawn & smoked duck (twice I took meaning quite good..haha..). 🙂

pork pate below & pressed foie gras on top

the pork pate was extremely good – I took 3 pieces. 🙂 I did not take the pressed foie gras which according to my friends were even better.

excellent roast duck & stuffing

the excellent roast duck was almost as good as the suckling pig – both the duck & stuffing – & yet tasted different. 🙂

1st of my 3.5 plates haha!

nobody would believe me after this if I tell people I generally do not go for buffets. haha! 🙂

we didn’t really need to take the main course. we tried to cancel the main course but to be fair to the restaurant they said they already prepared the items once the order was placed. and the waiting staff here were really exemplary – they even “ta pao” for one of us the main course as we really could not finish. we would really not expect to ta pao for a buffet but it was a great gesture so we accepted happily! 🙂

we thought the main courses might be 1/2 portions like the French servings, but here they came in full portions. 🙂

I had a medium rare rack of lamb (above left) – it was very good. I thought it didn’t look great – my first impression was that the sauce might kill it -but it turned out to be quite complementary. the medium rare tenderloin was very good too.

glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared

WH had the glazed beef ribs – kind of braised then pan seared. I guessed it was good too but braised items were usually too heavy even for normal-sized meals. 🙂

my dining companions were thrilled with the dessert spread..they seemed quite average to me though. i was told the chocolate mousse was very good. the macarons were a bit too sweet for me. I did enjoy the cheese spread & condiments though. 🙂

I certainly plan to come back for this again (w/o the main course), with or without the promotion. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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Tag Archives: scampi

Enjoyable Dinner at Il Lido on 12Apr2015

Most Unforgettable Dinner @ Miky at Monterosso on 18 & 20Apr2014

Sumptuous Semi-buffet @ One Ninety at Four Seasons Hotel on 30May2013

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