Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria @ Upper East Coast Road

About 10 years ago, when people talked about having Italian food in East Coast, there would be few choices. The most popular one being Pasta Fresca. Fast forward to 2012, the "Easterners" are now spoilt for choice with so much restaurants along the entire East Coast and Siglap area.



Etna is one of the growing number of Italian eateries located in the east. It also has 2 more outlets: One in Duxton, and the other is a stall at Lau Pa Sat in CBD. Today, we are visiting its branch here in Upper East Coast Road, located below an apartment block. The atmosphere is really laid back and cozy. Service was good too.



Started our dinner with some complimentary home baked bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The bread was tasty.



Since we know we will be having pizza and risotto later, we thought we should balance it off with a Salad Siciliana (S$16.50) - Mixed salad with shaved pecorino cheese (from Sicily), cherry tomatoes and farmhouse olives, dressed with extra virgin olive oil.



It's not often that we see the Risotto Siciliano (S$25) in Singapore. Italian rice with prawns and oranges. For diners who feel that risotto is too heavy and creamy, order this version! The cream is mixed with citrus juice, and you get a well balanced taste of cream and tangy oranges together with the rice and crunchy prawns.



Another recommended item here is the Pizza Frutti de Mare (S$26). There is no fruits here, only Tomato, Mozzarella cheese and mixed seafood. Very tasty and we like the black olives too.


Etna Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria
110 Upper East Coast Road

{Bangkok} Vanilla Garden

During a short trip to Bangkok last week, despite our 'busy' schedule, we managed to take some time off to visit Vanilla Garden which was first introduced to me by Yen (of Vanilla Minuet).



At Vanilla Garden, there are three concept stores sharing a sprawling landscape covered in lush greenery - a cookbook library called Sauce, a Chinese dim sum tearoom named Royal Vanilla. And of course there is this Vanilla Café, the one which we went all the way there for.





Housed inside a two-storey building, the café is tastefully furnished, complete with vintage toys and Japanese comic books that filled the shelves, high and low.

Don't you agree that the café does share some striking similarities with the Vanilla Bar & Café on our shores?



Loved that gorgeous arch marble lamp.



My Vanilla Frappé with Strawberry Jelly was the perfect remedy to the killer 40oC outside.



Salmon Sashimi in Shoyuu Vinegar (฿190)

The unique taste of the vinegar sauce just whetted the appetite even more.



Decided to go for Shoyu Ramen (฿250) on a whim.





They liked their Rice in Omelette w/ Pork (฿320) a lot and lauded that the skin of the omelette was even smoother than theirs. Ehh, you mean your face? Or....



















I will be back. Definitely.


Vanilla Garden
53 Ekkamai Soi 12
Sukhumvit Soi 63,
Bangkok 10110
+02-381-6120/-22

Brasserie Gavroche @ Tras Street

I am always amazed at what lies inside the rows of shophouses along Tanjong Pagar area. Bridal shops, pubs, restaurants and more restaurants.



From the photograph above, you would think that this is taken in France. But guess what? This restaurant is actually housed in this little shophouse below along Tras Street in Singapore.



I guess it's the mixture of East meets West that attracts diners to experience this uniqueness in Singapore.



Brasserie Gavroche is opened and helmed by former St Regis chef Frederic Colin. The restaurants transport diners back to old time Paris, and I must say that the service here is warm, friendly and cheerful. But the restaurant is a bit small and narrow, so seats are places quite near to one another.



Had Badoit Water (S$8 per bottle) and some red wine to go with our dinner.



Amuse Bouche to start off our dinner.



Warmed breads with french butter are served to us before our appetizers. I always prefer having my breads with butter as it is more fragrant that olive oil.



One of their signature appetizer is the Bone marrow on toasted Poilane bread with garlic confit (S$19). Bone marrow has been the "in" thing to eat in recent months, and everyone is boarding this wagon. The bone marrow here is creamy and had a nice texture when served together with the bread.



A hearty serving of Grandpa Henri’s traditional onion soup (S$15). Not too salty, just the way we like. Would recommend 2 to share 1 serving.



Also good was the Poached eggs on toast with bacon and red wine reduction (S$16). Comfort food at its best - Runny yolks with crispy bacon.



We were quite surprised at how tender and juicy the Stuffed quail with foie gras and mushroom (S$31). Something you don't always see in Singapore. But quite a lot of tiny bones from the bird.



The Grandpa Henri’s pork hotpot with cabbage and garden vegetables (S$35), which is their signature too, was not up to expectation. Find the broth too bland. Perhaps more flavours could be infused in the stew. Pork was fork tender.



The Paris Brest (S$14), which is praline cream in choux pastry, was a special off-menu dessert on that day. Enjoyed it a lot.



The Puff pastry layered with vanilla cream and strawberries (S$14) was good, but prefer the choux.



We opened a bottle of Chateau Potensac Medoc 2006 (S$118 per bottle) for our dinner. This is a medium bodied medoc.


Brasserie Gavroche
66 Tras Street

Tong Le Private Dining @ OUE Tower

Since the Lunar New Year this year, Tong Le Private Dining has been attracting good reviews for the food, service and of course the view. Recently, there is a change in their menu, and we decided to try out their Saturday lunch there.



As the restaurant is rotating, whenever you step into the restaurant, the view of the Marina Bay Sands will always greet you. Take a seat and enjoy the ride.



A view of the rotating restaurant right in Marina Bay.



Entrance. It's 2 restaurants in 1. Tong Le and a sub section for Shinji sushi restaurant from Raffles Hotel.



We ordered the Lunch set (S$80 per person).



First was the Trilogy of Dim Sum. Each of these item was carefully made, such as the siew mai and the pan friend dumpling.



We also ordered a separate serving of Kaede Sushi Set by Shinji (S$130). They are indeed one of the best sushi we had in Singapore. Fresh sashimi top on fluffy soft yet firm Japanese rice.



Freshly grated wasabi and pickled ginger to go with the sushi.



Next is the Boiled Shark's Fin Dumpling Soup with Alaskan Crab Meat. Soup has been boiled for hours, and generous servings of shark's fins are added to this soup. The dumpling was good too, with crab meat fillings.



To go with our lunch, we had the bartender to make us a Fruit Mocktail with Fresh Mango (S$12 per glass)



One of my favourite dish here is the Pan Fried Giant "Soon Hock" (Marble Goby) Fillet in Spring Onion Sauce. The fish was fresh and meaty, but what I enjoyed the most was the brown sauce made from spring onion. Brought the fish to another level.



A view of the Marina Bay as the restaurant rotates. Noticed that floating sphere at the bottom right corner? Well that is the Fullerton Pavilion, and it will house the elBulli team from Spain when they open in July this year. Looking forward to that!



Another of my favourite dish is this Steamed Chicken with Golden Mushroom and Black Fungus wrapped with Lotus Leaf. It may look like your ordinary Lor Mai Gai, but it's not. Very juicy and the chicken has been steamed till tender.



Braised Crystal Prawn in Superior Stock combined with Glutinous Rice with Dried Conpoy. So why is the crystal prawn white? It's because the chef has meticulously removed the "red" skin from the cooked prawns. Hence the all white prawn. It's really crunchy, and went well with the glutinous rice.



Ended our lunch with the classic combination of Cream of Hand-Ground Almond and Homemade Sesame Dumpling with Bird's Nest Tart. The bird's nest tart was really yummy.



Throughout our lunch, we were served Sparkling Water (S$18 for 3). We will be back for more!


Tong Le Private Dining
OUE Tower,
Level 4 and 5
60 Collyer Quay
TEL: 6634 3233