Cafe Oliv trips

18/7 - I suggested Jia to have dinner at Cafe Oliv. Instead of the usual recommends (like pork ribs / lamb / beer battered fish), we settled for what we deemed as 'safe' i.e 1) Pink Sauce Linguine with Grilled Salmon 2) Thai cream sauce with Seafood. Oh yes, and Battered Softshell Crab with Salted egg.

The crab (one and only) was nicely presented in entirety, crispy, not oily and very well crusted. Quite the Yum. Then I thought, "what a good start, hope it stays this way".

Somhow or rather, it just didn't. The pasta dishes were a huge disappointment - one of the 'blah-est' ones ever tasted, worse than some western stalls found in neighbourhood coffeeshops.

The Three Trips for me (in order of importance)

1) The Basics of cooking pasta til "Al Dente" weren't met : Linguine noodles was really soggy/soft, a clear indication of it being overcooked.

2) Sauces (Pink Cream & Thai Cream) - Both types lacked flavour, no traces of herbs, black pepper, so we ended up dumping loads of clumpy parmesan cheese into our pastas for flavouring. Jia asked for blackpepper and was even tempted to ask for herbs! The unusually semi-translucent cream sauces weren't close to being called 'creamy'. Sigh.

3) Portions can almost be considered 'stingy' but should be just enough for females if there were other sides to accompany along . Value for money...NOT! For about the same price, I could get more 1.5 times the servings and way better tasting cream pastas @ New York New York.

Having low tolerance for crap food, Jia gave up on her pasta after a short while. She actually insisted I blog about this so everyone knows. Ok now you guys know - if you ever decide to go there, order something else. It was an unsatisfying meal but I do feel that this cafe has immense potential. Not too sure if I'll give this place ever a second chance..maybe one day when I feel forgiving enough.

*Cafe Oliv
220 East Coast Road
Singapore 428917
63443114

Ciao, Al Forno Trattoria

Our initial plan to bowl somehow turned to yet another food hunt; this time - to satisfy our pasta craving. Jia found this one place, Al Forno Trattoria, recommended by a blog so we decided to go with that instead of the usual. Lucky I made reservations in advance; the restaurant was easily filled up because of its size. Ambience wasn't cosy or homely as it claimed to be and nothing like what one website described it to be - quaint / rustic. Instead it was bright with a tinge of modernism.

Allow me to walk through the dishes we had last night.

A complimentary appetiser which is common among many Italian restaurants - Bread. Not bad, tasted like sour dough bread which is denser than the usual.

Insalate Tricolore
Green Lettuce, cheese, avacado, tomato and mamma's dressing - $12
Some of the lettuce leaves had holes and didn't look fresh. The avocado was unriped. "The cheese tasted cowy", quoted Jia. Indeed. The cheese had a strong beefy after-taste to it. Weird. Mamma's dressing - nothing more than olive oil with a pinch of salt & black pepper. I don't like my salad salty so this is a no no for me. Yeeks.

Penne Polpa Di Granchio
Pasta with cherry tomato, garlic, olive oil and crabmeat - $18.50

The description "CRABMEAT" was calling out for me aloud. Ever since I've tasted the delectable Tornarelli all granchio (Squid Ink Spaghetti tossed with Crabmeat Sauce) @ Ristorante Da Valentino, I fell in love with the heavenly combi. I requested the waitress to do a tomato cream base and would have asked her to change the pasta too if I hadn't been so blind! How could I have missed the huge bold word "penne" on the menu? ^$#!@ Gimme linguine anytime! The penne in my opinion was undercooked, Jia thought it was okay though. Tomato cream sauce was tasty but Valentino's still better.

Pappardelle alla Venexiana
Home-made pasta in saffron sauce, prawns & scallops - $22
Looks yummy! Taste wise - Its was okay but not fantastic. The cream based saffron sauce was delicious on its own and the homemade pasta though thick, had an interesting texture and extremely filling. But when combined, the pasta dish was unable to produce the wow factor and we got 'jur-lat' in no time. The prawns were also super tiny, not worth a hefty $22.

I would have been extremely delighted if these dishes were served @ pastamania or a cafe. But this being an authentic italian restaurant, I had really high hopes for it. For such prices, I rather visit Ristorante Da Valentino - the restaurant with the whole package: Fantastic food, ambience & service! Sorry but its unlikely I will ever revisit this place.

*Al Forno Trattoria
203 Thomson Road
Goldhill Centre
Singapore 307638
62562838

New York New York

This is an overdue post and because I am lazy, I'm gg cut short it and let the pictures do the talking instead, yak yak yak. All received stamps of approval from me except the cheeseballs which tasted rather potatoish rather than cheesy. (bottom left)

Special thanks to Mr Conan Foo, the manager of New York New York, for hand picking the three of us to sample pure hot chocolate on the house! Instant sugar rush I tell ya! This is exclusive to only us and no other customers! *Proud look* Mr Thoughtful Foo does the hot chocolate personally and makes sure each of us get our drinks piping hot! I'm pleased I chose this over queuing for donuts last Friday. Above average food, more-than-I-can-ask-for service plus CLEAN sofa seats, trust me I will be back again.

*New York New York
1 Raffles Link Citylink Mall
#B1-47A
11.30am – 11pm

Also available at AMK Hub now

Astonished? Read on

My mind was filled of Aston's Specialties since the day I chanced upon Leslie Tay's blog. The photos he took made every item at Astons look exceptionally tempting. You know me lar- glutton, garbage hound, greedy pig (triple Gs!) Hehe, so I went to ask every possible easterner friend/colleague of mind, including my dearest mum to go with Astons (with me of cos!). I failed TWICE because my dining 'partners' were put off by the looong queue.

Applying my common sense theory, it worked for the third attempt! Early Weekday Lunch = No queue! Yippie! Thanks to my equally excited colleagues who readily agreed to lunch at Astons. 4 out of 6 of 'em had chicken, it could have been 5 if not for neoneo's sore gum. Boring bunch? Maybe, maybe not. Two of them who initially thought of pepper fish were told that the supply of fish had run out. (Half an hour after its opening?? Hmm)

Anyway, first up was mushroom soup with garlic bread. Neoneo's had only one slice while mine had two slices, probably they liked me better haha. Delightful soup I say - It had finely chopped mushroom bits; definitely not the campbell soup and add water kind. Accompaniment was the lovely, crusty, garlic buttery infused.. garlic bread. A great deal at only $2.20!

Then came the mains - Four chicken mains with varied sauces & side dishes ($5.90 each with two sides). From baked beans, pasta salad, coleslaw, mashed potato, potato salad, fries and a whole load of others to choose from; the choices are way more interesting than the standards you often get at western food stalls @ kopitiam, hawkers or food court. Most of the sides were pretty appetizing, even the baked beans incorporated a barbeque-like taste in the sauce. The mashed potato was a slight letdown, just wasn't smooth enough for me. Unanimously, we couldn't help but compare it with Popeye's. Neo commented the gravy had a nice mushroomy taste to it tho. The chicken was good enough for the rest I think because all of them finished their share. I 'kopped' a little from Miss Lim (she had Hickory BBQ Chicken) and i thought the BBQ sauce was devine!! (smooooky, aromatic & tangy). Can't really comment on the pasta ($5.90 including soup) cos I didn't try it.. why not let neo review it herself? lol.

Presenting the much in demand ieatSuper Burger ($12.50)!! Named after Leslie Tay - the blogger who first instigated the owner, Aston to create this over-the-top burger. You can read more about the 'birth' of the burger here. This jumbo-wumbo burger also happens to be my order. What I liked - 1) Fresh, crisp veggies (romaine lettuce & tomato) 2) Streaky bacon grilled to perfection (salivating already!) 3) Out-of-this-world crispy-licious onion frost! 4) Cheese which melted nicely on the pattie. What I did not quite like - 1) A miniscule amount of onion frosts as compared to this!! Sigh 2) Not so soft and fresh tasting large sesame bun. 3) No sides 4) Almost non-existent BBQ sauce on the pattie. Verdict: A little disappointed and overrated but decent enough experience. That's what usually happens when you go there with extremely high expectations.

Nevermind about some imperfections, I'll still be be back again for more (Prob after it reopens on 1st May, hopefully the queue situation betters). Totally value for money, efficient service and a whole load of stuff still untried. Oh. Another thing to note, they do not accept NETs or credit cards, so remember to bring CASH!

*Astons Specialties
119 East Coast Road
(Opposite Katong Mall)