Food Tasting III

The latest soft opening and hopefully not the last ;) It was Monday noon I got a call from Eric, a colleague I used to work together in the previous project. He said he was invited to this Italian restaurant for food & service testing and one of his team mates couldn't make it. So I became the replacement! What a good way to start my week ;)

We were at this place named Italiannies situated at Triple One Somerset (also known as PUB Building). There were 6 of us. Service started off slow but the efficiency quickly stepped up. Before we made the order, we were served slices of bread with olive oil & vinegar. Then we were given a pile of papers, again, a limited menu. We have to order one from each sheet of paper, all 6 of us had to have different beverages, ranging from hot tea to coke to passion fruit cooler. We were to share a starter and 3 main courses, the portions were fairly large so it fed us all very well.

I had the passion fruit cooler, I didn't enjoy it because it was full of ice and I finished it very quickly because there was not much "water"!!!!! The starter was stuffed mushrooms (with mixed beef meatballs), very well made. The cream cheese sauce on the bottom is a must to go with them, else they do taste a bit salty themselves.

We were made to order a pizza from the two choices given. Both had pepperoni, but this one we chose had a few other meats on it. It was quite oily and I am not a big fan of pepperoni as the smell of beef is overly strong! We didn't manage to finish it either as some of us do not take beef as well.

We had a course of pasta, it was cooked salmon in creamy sauce with linguine and it's the best out of the 3 main courses. It's light, creamy, a little salty but it has blended very well with the salmon and we just wiped out the whole plate :)

The last course was roasted chicken with roast potatoes, one of us commented it tasted like chinese herbal chicken. There were lots of chillies and spices. The meat was tender and well cooked, however the spices were a bit too overwhelming. It didn't seem very italian to us but I guess the other option, grilled chicken, might have been a better choice.

The prices aren't cheap, but I have to admit the quality is there and can be improved! Portion is big and they are meant for sharing, possibly can't lunch alone! I wish they will have lunch promotion and bundled with some good wine to go with the food! The service was also very attentive throughout the lunch. Thanks Italiannies!

Mummy's book

Finally... Sorry for being tad lazy, 'cos I've been wanting to tell you guys about this book. Procrastination got me lately especially when it comes to writing reviews (same goes for the movies.. bugger!).

YES.
APPLES FOR JAM by Tessa Kiros. Big kid cookbook for the adults. I call it "big kid" because this lovely mummy author created lots of recipes for her babies in this cookbook. It's such a lovely thought, very considerate and loving mum to have! Reminds me of mine, aww!

And so, I decided to test out one of her easier recipes which turned out to be not so easy. I guess the easiest thing still requires a bit of skills! LOL. But she did make it sound like a lot of things are actually a breeze to make! A must-have for mummies whom love their kids to bits, because it's full of little things you can even do for kids' parties... It's rated 5 stars out of 5 on Amazon, isn't it amazing ;) I know I'm not a mummy yet, but I love things made of LOVE :))

JAM SHORTBREAD. My Friday experiment, it started off pretty easy and quick, I managed to put the dough in the fridge within 30 minutes of starting. But the hardest part came when I had to lay the dough, roll it flat, apply the jam and add another layer on top. That was really tough, because that dough was sticky like hell! After putting heap and heap of flour, I managed to cover it nicely and placed it in the oven! I laid one side with orange marmalade, the other with champagne strawberry... mmm does it already sound yummy?

It does look pretty okay, but I'm not satisfied with the result. Part of it turned out pretty okay, part of the shortbread was too moist (I reckon it wasn't thin enough... mmm could it be something else?). My sister and mum sampled it and told me it tastes pretty good except for the fact that it's kinda moist! Argh! A 2nd try next time I guess... I've yet to eat the "dry" portion of it though.

Overdue #2

And without forgetting my all-time-favourite pasta place, Sketches.

They allow you to custom make your own yummy pasta with plentiful of ingredients. Actually, they have also started to allow us custom make our own pizza!! Affordable place to have a good "italian" meal!

Abundant sauce, lots of pine nuts and my favourite must have - mushrooms... tomatoes.. oooo... hungry thinking of it now!

Craving to bake is back

Besides Tiramisu, this is our 2nd italian dessert creation... pretty happy with it. Simple, tasty and doesn't cost a bomb to make - Meringues!

Caution: For people with sweet tooth.
(We already reduced the sugar by about 25%, and it's still sweet as ever!)

Pictures tell a thousand words, and I'm feeling a little creative with Photoshop... so here's a comic strip!

Sucker for sweets, go to Menotti

Menotti, an italian restaurant in Singapore... well, we tried it out for you;)

They do have marvellous desserts, even the dessert wine will suit someone who loves sweet wine! Okay, in all fairness, sweet stuff we don't need a lot. I do like them after the first, second or even third bite. But I didn't finish it because they are really a bit too much after a while, especially having it altogether with a "sweet wine", "sweet mango float"... I got a bit satiated!!


I would love to go back and try the main course. Start with a starter and end with a nice sweet dessert to share, that will be perfect;))

dodici

Another book I've got great interest in but not going to get it in SG (even after Borders' discount, it can't be compared to the discounted price in UK). I have browsed it in Borders, and it's such a colorful, attractive cookbook!! Even though I don't think I'm going to even try cooking italian yet, maybe it's worth a keep? Or best, get it as a gift... hehe. Guess what, this book got even the best rating (5 out of 5) in Amazon!! Guess it really rocks.... yummm.... I think I've a soft spot for cookbooks!