Rose Veranda, Shangri-La Singapore (Pictorial)

A leisurely and laid back high tea at the Rose Veranda. A rare indulgence and treat for the time-starved mummy, to pretend to be a tai tai when in reality one is a slave.

The Eight Month Old Baby Eats

Ethan is 8 months old today, and an absolute delight and joy to be around.

He loves his solids (although he is still not keen on milk), and I try my best to vary each of his three daily meals from day to day, so that he gets as much nutrients as possible from a wide variety of foods, powerpacked into that little stomach of his. So far, Ethan has eaten quite a large variety of foods and fruits:
Apples, pears, peaches, apricots, prunes, blueberries, grapes, mango, papaya, cherries, bananas, avocadoes, sweet potato, yam, pumpkin, quinoa, wholegrain rice, oats, barley, wheat biscuits, peas, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, wolfberries, fish (mainly local species e.g. threadfin, pomfret, seabass), pork, beef, chicken, egg yolks, black beans.

I plan to introduce him to cheese, kiwis, lentils, beans, fresh scallops, and the coldwater fish varieties (cod, salmon, sardines) soon, as well as re-introduce carrots, tofu and yogurt, which he had tried earlier but didn't like very much. He's also very much into texture nowadays, and is able to gum and swallow small bits of food, which means that I don't have to finely mash or sieve his food anymore.

Happy 8 months birthday, my little gourmand! May you grow up to have a healthy love and respect for good, wholesome food.

Hippopotamus

The hubby looked at me askance when I suggested going to Hippopotamus for lunch one weekend: "What, eat game meat?!?" Not quite! Hippopotamus, a chain restaurant from France, specialises in steaks, and in fact I had eaten there twice on my visits to Paris, with favourable impressions.

Our starter of beef carpaccio (part of a set at SGD19.50), drizzled with olive oil, served with a sprinkling of capers and basil leaves. A refreshing start to the meal, even if raw beef doesn't have any particular taste. Hippopotamus serves up more esoteric and hard to find (in Singapore) fare like bone marrow and beef tartare too, which I did not spot until we were midway through our mains. Definitely ordering the bone marrow (memories of a particularly pleasingly feral marrow abound) on our next visit!

The Hippo Classic Burger (the other part of the SGD19.50 set), was pretty decent too. A generous slab of minced beef patty, juicy and not overcooked, with minimal garnishings and sauces. I spread my choice of sauce (roquefort! I love smelly cheese!) on the patty and chomped down.

Our other main of beef skewer (SGD 21.50), with a spread of different cuts: sirloin, rump steak, skirt, and hangar steak. This was fairly good, although of course in a different league from Morton's. I liked the choice of sauces and side dishes (you get a choice of 3 sides for each main, including ratatouille and potato gratin), and we were pleasantly surprised that the green beans were actually french haricot verts.

A very value-for-money mid-range steak restaurant, and definitely trumps the experience at Aston's.

Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill
#01-204/205 Marina Square

Standing

mummeee, I can stand!

Pamplemousse

So we finally made it to Pamplemousse. Happily, I was not let down despite all the hyped up expectations that I had. First impressions were already favourable, with the striking stylish interior decor - Marie Antoinette gone gothic. I loved the big reproduction Renoir painting, as well as the feature wall with the names of different spices and herbs scribbled all over it.

The three course set lunch (SGD32) is available everyday, including weekends, and the restaurant's signature dishes are featured in the set - that's the way to make customers happy!

Salmon

Citrus marinated salmon Pamplemousse confit Saikyo miso aioli croutons

This was delectable! The salmon was moist and just the right side of salty, perfectly complemented by the saikyo miso aioli (what on earth is that? i recognise only two of the terms).

Pork Knuckle Roulade

Kataifi pastry Smoked Shiitake Spinach Grain Mustard Sauce

Duck Confit

Confit of duck leg Braised red cabbage Pommes sarladaise Lychee gastrique

Not the best that I've had, although passable - the skin certainly was not crispy enough and the meat was rather dry, but thumbs up for the excellent refreshing lychee-based sauce.

Uni Tagliolini

Crustacean cream sauce Pork Gratons Nori Chives

Extremely decadently rich and sinful, the cream sauce was redolent with the aroma of roasted prawns. I think this would have worked better as a starter, as it was wonderful in small doses, but got far too satiating midway though.

"Toast and Milo"

Brioche Dulce de leche Milo ice cream Caramelized bananas Nutella Soil

I think if I had not eaten at Iggy's and Blu prior to this, I would have been tickled by this breakfast-inspired dessert. As it was, this seemed like a tired trick by now. None of the individual elements in the dessert was outstanding enough to be memorable.

Creme Brulee

Osmanthus creme brulee Lychee sorbet

Although this was creamily rich and smooth and quivery, it was very sweet, far too sweet in fact for my tastebuds.

Altogether, a good lunch - not great because of the few misses here and there - but definitely a place that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend!

www.pamplemousse.com.sg

Tiger on the prowl

Don't you think he moves like the big cat? Overdue posts on Pamplemousse and Hippopotamus coming up soon as I've been too lazy tired and busy recently!

Style Inspiration for the Weekend

Some vicarious styling fun with Polyvore. My "outfit" for the weekend, perfect for brunch with the girls or tea and cakes.

Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine, Malacca

When in Malacca, peranakan food is a must and the Majestic Hotel highly recommended Aunty Amy's place. This turned out to be the best meal of our trip! And possibly the best Peranakan food that I've had in Singapore or Malaysia to date.

All the cooking is done personally by Aunty Amy only upon ordering, so be prepared for a long wait if you don't call and pre-order. We were lucky - we were the first customers when the restaurant opened (thanks to the need to accomodate Ethan's early bedtime) so we only waited around 20 minutes or so, before the dishes started arriving on our table.

We had the usual dishes that we would always order when having Peranakan food - the he peow soup (fish maw soup), ayam buah keluak (chicken with a special type of nut which is very difficult to prepare), as well as this very special dish below - Sambal Jantung Pisang (heart of the banana flower fried with sambal chilli paste). Apparently very rarely seen in restaurants, it was our good fortune that it was available on the day that we chose to go to Amy's! This was delish - while the jantung pisang did not have that much taste of its own - I thought it had a slight nutty hint - it took on the flavour of the sambal chilli well. The other dishes were also addictively good, nothing like fine dining or with creative noveau cooking twists of course, just good old wholesome home style cooking. No MSG is used here, so no fear of dying of thirst and headaches after you've stepped out of the restaurant.

Amy Heritage Nyonya Cuisine
75, Jalan Melaka Rayu 24
Taman Melaka Rayu