After Mr Tuna’s wedding, I met Bell and we went to the Games Convention Asia at Suntec. It was quite a small convention and looks somewhat sad as that is a big empty space at the back, as if they couldn’t fill up the exhibition hall. The EA booth made the most impression as it showcased a few good-looking games that are currently in development. Bell and I checked out that games and added them to a list games we want to buy after we finally get a Playstation 3.

There was also an auction going on and people were bidding for rare items found in an online game. The proceeds will be given to charity but it was still amazing that people are willing to fork out that much money to pay for a virtual item. We lingered on for a while, checking out all the games and then left.

Next, we went to Boat Quay to buy mooncakes and then walked along the river to The Central at Clark Quay. Since I was still full and Bell was also not very hungry, we shared a USA Kobe steak at Fine Cuts. It was nice but quite expensive so we were glad that we shared.

We asked for medium and it was grilled just right. The steak was very juicy because of all the marbled fats. It was also full of flavour and there was no need for any sauce.

It was dark when we left The Central. We wandered around Clark Quay, looking at all the interesting restaurants. We came across Nectarie le’Dessert Patisserie, a dainty little dessert place. Bell had heard good reviews about it so we decided to give it a try. There were many pretty little cakes on display at the counter but we did not feel like eating them. Instead, we ordered from their menu.

We had their signature caramelized banana with white chocolate cake. The cake was firm and dense with several different layers. There was a layer of white chocolate, a layer of caramelized bananas, a layer of cake and a crispy, crunchy layer. There was also a bitter tinge which felt like hard liquor so I didn’t quite like it. The funny thing was Bell felt the liquor taste was quite subtle while I could taste the liquor quite strongly.

We also had a pear in red wine strudel. I like this and would gladly finish the whole plate by myself. The pears were sweet and the strudel was very light and crisp. This time, Bell felt the alcohol taste was quite strong while I couldn’t taste it.

I also ordered a hot chocolate drink. While they added a lot of cocoa powder, it was nothing like the hot chocolate drink I had at Koko Black in Melbourne, which was made with real chocolate rather than cocoa powder. I’m quite disappointed. It seemed that nowhere else makes hot chocolate like Koko Black.

Fine Cuts
6 Eu Tong Sen St
#B1-44/45 The Central @ Clarke Quay
Tel: 62242101

Nectarie le’Dessert Patisserie
3C River Valley Road
#01-05 The Cannery, Clarke Quay
Tel: 63056728

I attended a wedding of my colleague, Mr Tuna, at Raffles Hotel. In his wedding invitation, the attire was listed as casual. Curious, some of us asked him when he gave out the cards, what was meant by casual. Mr Tuna told us that we could wear jeans and basically, just dress as if we are going to work. It was very nice of him.

It seemed that weddings nowadays followed a certain format. First, photos of the groom from baby to adult were shown, then photos of the bride from baby to adult and finally photos of both of them together. For Mr Tuna’s wedding, after the photos of childhood to adult were shown, there was a video clip of how the two of them met. Someone used The Sims 3 to create the video. I was a little thrilled to see it because I wanted to play the game ever since I heard about it but my pc is not powerful enough.

More on the food after the jump

Lunch was a 3 course meal and we had our pick of either chicken or fish.

Sliced roasted veal saddle with anchovies dressing, braised onions and poached quail egg

For appetizer, we had sliced roasted veal saddle with anchovies dressing, braised onions and poached quail egg. It was a pretty small portion but 2 other people on my table do not eat beef so I had 3 plates of it. Joy (^_^)

Veloute of butternut pumpkin with crabmeat, green pea custard and truffle oil emulsion

The soup was veloute of butternut pumpkin with crabmeat, green pea custard and truffle oil emulsion. It came with a layer of foam on it, making it looked like a cappuccino. At the bottom of the bowl, hidden by the pumpkin soup was a layer of green pea paste. The pumpkin soup was sweet and the green pea custard was sweet too, making this soup more sweet than savoury. There was also a generous amount of crabmeat. All in all, this was a rich dish and my neighbour could not finish her share so I had hers too. Double joy.

Pan seared sea bass fillet with basil tapenade and lemon butter sauce

I chose fish and found it pretty nice. The skin was cooked until crispy but the meat was still tender and juicy. I don’t really like the sauce as it is a bit sourish. I prefer creamy sauces. All the main courses came with potato-celeriac gratin, belgian endive and fava beans. I like the potato-celeriac gratin which tasted like a layered potato pie. After googling, I discovered that celeriac is actually the root of a type of celery. But when I ate it at the wedding, it felt like it was all potato.

Roasted garlic cajun chicken breast with thyme jus

My neighbour chose chicken for her main course and as she is a small eater, I helped her to finish the chicken. Triple joy.

Balsamico marincated strawberries with almond sable and formage blanc sorbet

I don’t like the dessert. Mainly because I don’t like sorbet. I would enjoy it more if it was vanilla ice-cream instead of sorbet.

I was very full after lunch but then, I did have more than my share of food.

Mao Mao, Pooh Bear, Spider and I took half-day leave and met One Red for buffet lunch at AquaMarine inside Marina Mandarin Hotel. Spider had eaten at Aquamarine before and she immediately led us to the sashimi counter. Each of us took a plate of salmon sashimi and went back to our table and gobbled them down. Then we went back for seconds and maybe thirds. Then we started on the cooked food. All of us had a bowl of the creamy mushroom soup which was thick and good. There was also quite a variety of salad, cooked food and desserts.

We had a lot of fun trying out all the different dishes. Some dishes were quite good while others were ordinary. The cold cuts section had 3 types of mustard and Pooh Bear and I took a bit of each to try. We concluded that the mustard we liked best was the innermost bottle but we forgot the name, so clever. Mao Mao enjoyed the caesar salad and took two helpings of that. She also found the raw oysters so tasty that she ate 3 of them even though she was allergic to shellfish. We all joked that she will be full of energy tonight. Pooh Bear liked the teriyaki chicken which was tender and juicy. I liked the beef stew for the tomatoy soup and the soft meat.

We enjoyed the desserts very much, especially the chocolate mousse cake, the bread and butter pudding and the mua chee. The chocolate mousse cake was very chocolatey and and soft because it was 90% mousse and 10% cake. The bread and butter was nice and warm and I poured a lot of the vanilla cream sauce on it. Yummy! We had some fun making the mua chee, snipping away and mixing it in the peanuts at the same time. However Aquamarine failed in the ice-cream section. Ice-cream was either sweet corn, yam or the potong ice-cream sticks. Not very appetizing. There was none of the all-time favourites, vanilla or chocolate ice-cream.

We ate until 3pm and had a good time. There was a 1-for-1 promotion for UOB card so in the end we paid $30 each.

AquaMarine
6 Raffles Boulevard
4F Marina Mandarin
Tel: 68451111

The place we ate lunch at was called Fine Cuts, located at the basement of The Central. It looked like a butcher shop, with a counter displaying raw slabs of meat and a big picture of a cow displaying the names of the different cuts. However a few plastic tables and chairs by the side were clues that Fine Cuts was also an eating place. It was a no-frills kind of place.

Fine Cuts was having a promotion at the moment; 3 set meals for $28, including soup and drink. For the meat, there was a choice of US chuck roll, pork loin, pork collar and lamb. We decided to take get the US chuck roll, lamb and one of the pork. I forgot which pork it was. Then for the 4th dish, we decided to get the one of the meats displayed in the counter, plus another $8 for the staff to grill it for us. We decided to get the US Kobe chuck roll which was one of the more expensive cuts of meat.

The soup and drink that came with the set meals were passable. Well, we didn’t have high expectations for the soup since the place’s focus was on the meat. It was pretty good meat too. We asked for the meat to be cooked to medium and they really came out medium so at least the person doing the grilling got standard. The meats were simply seasoned with black pepper and salt so you could really taste the meat. The meats were served with gravy which was either pour on top or in a separate dish. I liked the US Kobe chuck roll best as it was so tender that it almost melt in the mouth. There were also potatoes and coleslaw with the meat. I liked the potatoes and Redhead commented that the coleslaw was not bad either. Altogether we spent around $66.

After we finished our meal, we asked Blackhole if she still wanted to eat ramen. Blackhole paused for 10 seconds before she answered, “No, I think I better save my stomach for dinner.” Then Blackhole turned to me and said, “Remember to call me along the next you come here.”

Fine Cuts
6 Eu Tong Sen St
#B1-44/45 The Central @ Clarke Quay
Tel: 62242101

Photos of the food after the jump

Pork

Lamb

US chuck roll

US Kobe chuck roll

After we had bathed and changed into clean clothes after the walk, we went to Vivocity for dinner. It was pretty late by then and the original restaurant we wanted to go to had closed its kitchen. So we went to The Queen and Mangosteen Gourmet British Pub instead. Most of the tables were filled and we were given one of the empty tables near the entrance. It was a small alcove off the side and separated from the main dining area. It wasn’t that bad as we were away from the crowd and noise. The waitresses also came frequently to see if we needed anything.

The waitress informed us (well, me actually since I was the only one with a camera) that we were not allowed to take photos of the food in the restaurant. I managed to take 2 photos before she told us. But since she was very nice about it, I will be obedient and not post any photos of the food.

Since this is a pub, there was no lack of alcoholic drinks. There were Archipelago beers which were always interesting and nice. All of us ordered the beer. Sayang, TK and I order Samui while Blackhole ordered Apsara Lager. For those who do not like beers, there were also wines and cocktails.

Food was divided into nibblers and main courses. Even though the nibblers were finger foods, they were also quite filling. We ordered 1 side, 4 nibblers and 2 main courses. I ordered a yorkshire pudding with gravy ($5) because I wanted to see what it tasted like. I kept reading about it in books but I didn’t had the chance to eat it. There were 3 yorkshire puddings in one serving so it’s too much for 1 person. The yorkshire pudding was pretty nice on its own but it tasted even better when paired with the oniony gravy.

It seemed that all nibblers came with their own sauce:

• Fish and chips came with curry tartare sauce ($14)
• Mini hamburgers and chips came with ketchup ($18)
• Fried chicken wings with Hoi Sin sauce came with chilli sauce ($12)
• Samui beer battered onion rings came with Thai chilli sauce ($9)

I liked all the nibblers except for the onion rings. The fish was nice and still moist on the inside. All of us liked the curry tartare sauce. I liked the mini hamburgers which were simple but tasty. The chips (or fries, as I preferred to call them) that accompanied the fish and mini hamburgers were fluffy and nice It came in a small bucket and there was so much that 4 of us couldn’t finish them. The chicken wings were not bad either although there was so much flavour from the Hoi Sin sauce that there was no need for the chilli sauce. I wasn’t impressed with the onion rings and Blackhole and Sayang also felt the same way. Sayang felt that there was too much batter.

There was a small debate between TK and the rest of us about which sauce came with the mini hamburgers. TK tried it first and said it was BBQ sauce. Then the rest of us tried it one by one and all of us told TK, “It’s ketchup!” We were all like, “How could you mistake ketchup for BBQ sauce?” TK didn’t believe us and thought we ganged up together to bluff him. So he called the waitress over and she confirmed that it was ketchup while giving him a puzzled look. It was pretty funny.

For the main courses, we ordered:

• Wild mushroom risotto with asparagus and oven-dried tomatoes ($22)
• Roasted rack of lamb with rosemary potatoes, grilled asparagus and mint yoghurt ($29)

We had the lamb cooked to a medium well and it was nice and tender. I liked it as it was cooked to just the right amount, neither too cooked nor too raw. Blackhole and Sayang liked the risotto which they said was very nice. I still preferred the lamb though. Maybe it was because there was no meat in the risotto, so it was just okay to me, ha ha ha!

I think the service at the pub was good. The waitresses were all friendly and attentive. When we finished our beer, the waitress came over and asked if we would like to order more beer. After we declined, she offered to get us some water and came back with two bottles of cold water. I thought it was a nice gesture.