Singapore - To Eat (22June2018 The Summer House)

Singapore - To Stay
Singapore - To Eat
Singapore - To Do

Singapore - To Eat
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The Summer House

*The smaller hall which leads to the larger alfresco dining with the view on the left*

 *Yeap. Ex U.S. president Obama was here.*

The Summer House is located over at the growing Seletar Aerospace Hub.
You might also be interested in,
Wheeler's Estate (the more famous, pretty but very pricey)
Wildseed (New management, fun creative with great food in a quaint location)
Both of which are around the corner. Click for the full reviews.
Click here for ABBA location of The Summer House 3 Park Ln, Singapore 798387

Ordered On:
22June2018
Baked Smoked Camembert, Truffle, Endives SGD30

*Simple yet nicely executed. This is especially so with the endives which were lightly dressed with the addition of micro chives and edible flower for that extra layer of texture and beauty. The cheese and truffle goes without saying went beautifully with the bread. A plus for service as wait staff served up another stack of toasts on request to finish that beautiful wheel of cheese. Worth a try to replicate at home next time!*

Sea Bass, Assam, Crispy Eggplant, Okra, Cameron Highland Cherry Tomato SGD32

*This was probably the least favorite dish. Though a very beautiful and modern take of traditional Assam. The Assam sauce lacked its punch and I'd personally feel that the original Assam fish is the purer way to enjoy it in all of its glory. A creative interpretation that may not go down with traditionalist.*
US Prime Marinated Short Rib, Roasted Caultiflower and Tahini, Pickled Mushroom, Mustard Caviar SGD36

 *Apart from the pickled mushroom component, everything was perfect to a T. The roasted cauliflower puree was a fragrant, flavorful pedestal which on top sat tender short rib slices. The unique caviar mustard were an interesting texture and offered a refreshing burst of flavors that melded everything together. Excellent!*
Slow Cooked Iberico Fermin Pork Collar, Soubise,
Broad Beans, Sage Brown Butter SGD34
*A thing of beauty. The cook was a beautifully tender medium rare. Great fat distribution around the protein and the sauce was exquisite. The broad beans gave the textural component and freshness for the dish. The star dish for the night and a must order. 
Kurobuta Sausage Ragout, Tagliatelle Pasta,
Conchiglie, porcini, slow cooked egg SGD26

*As portion sizes were a tad on the light side, we ordered this additional main to top of the end of the meal. They were generous on the meat and the presentation like the previous dishes were beautiful. The slow cooked egg gave that added richness and sauce for the dish.*

Brandy Marinated Orange, Mandarin Ice Cream, Honeycomb, Bleu Pea Flower SGD14
 *Pretty but over priced. Probably because of the brandy marinated oranges which jacked up the pricing. Simple enough to replicate at home. The sweet bitterness of the oranges, the crunch of the sunflower seed and creaminess of the ice cream work well together for a colorful medley of flavors on your pallet. An enjoyable dessert to end of the meal*
Total 223.65SGD Fed 4

The Summer House was a delightful meal experience among the greenery in a retrofitted black and white house. The atmosphere was nice and the food, though serving a slither small, but the presentation emaculate and the taste to match, makes up for it.

Great location for first dates, semi casual dining and meetups with good friends. Worth a visit another time assuming menu changes with the season.

Food 4/5
Value 3.5/5
(Portion sizes are a little small and especially so for the dessert)
Ambience 4/5(Good enough for ex president Obama, good enough for me :D. Pleasant interior decor and really the building sells itself)
Service 4/5
(Extra toasted bread was given f.o.c on request. They were quick with water and beer order refills as well as clearing of used plates without being over bearing.)

Click here for ABBA location of The Summer House 3 Park Ln, Singapore 798387

Singapore - To Eat (16June2018 Wild Seed, Spices Cafe at Concord Hotel)

Singapore - To Stay
Singapore - To Eat
Singapore - To Do

Singapore - To Eat
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Wildseed Cafe
Opens Daily from 9am - 6pm
8.30am on weekends.

 

You might also be interested in
Wheeler's Estate.
The Summer House.
Wild seed is located beside Wheeler's Estate in the revitalized Seletar Aerospace. Amongst the many other eateries in the retro fitted black and white housing, is this relatively small and quaint cafe which in recent times after new management was a finalist under best cafe.

The first visit to this establishment some time back was disappointing, but after the new management take over and revised menu, this place is a definite contender for 

Wild Seed 3 Park Ln, level 1 Seletar Aerospace Park, Singapore 798387

 *Some of their changing specials*

Ordered On:
11June2018
Mushroom Soup

*Creamy and a decent serving*
Waygu and Pork Ragout

*Good serving size and a little tangy*

Mac and Cheese

*Great for sharing and home favorite*
Waygu Beef Burger

*Waygu burger only available on the weekdays. Succulent beef patties with a juicy burger. A strong showing*
Prawn and Scallop Pizza

*Hand stretched, thin crispy dough with fresh ingredients. Great pizza!*
Belgium Waffles

*The lightest waffles had to date. Usually waffles ordered are really dense and heavy but surprisingly, this one is so light and fluffy. The choice of toppings which was the caramelized apples and addition of dried cranberry went surprisingly well. I'd include cranberry in my future toppings as well!*
Blue Berry Cheese Cake

*A good normal standard. Nothing over the top to shout about.*Fed 5 and 1 Kid at about SGD30/head
Ordered On:
17June2018
Grilled Chicken with smoked rice and egg

 *To be honest, this dish is under-seasoned. The chicken though nicely grilled was under-seasoned as was the lacked smoke flavor from the rice (as advertised). With a dash of sea salt table side, it was much better*
CoCoNut and Churros

 *Beautifully presented and equally delicious! The blue ice cream is full of coconut flavor and the churros are crispy, not overly sweet and goes surprisingly well with everything. Both a treat for the eyes and pallet.*
Atas Kaya

*As described. ATAS. Pretty alright with a bit dense sour dough bread
with pretty okay Kaya.*

Gave Wild Seed another try after a bad experience some two years back. To my surprise and probably because of the new management, Wild seed offers creative eats at affordable pricing. Only charging GST without the service charge, that's not to say this place lacked in service. On the contrary, it has excellent service and much more so than other places.

The indoor sitting space is a bit limited. The food selection and especially cakes and pastry are interesting and good enough to warrants returns to try their other options. Its unfortunate that the place does not operate for dinner dines and is primarily a nice cafe bistro.

Food 3.5/5
(Their food had some hits and some misses. Most were of average standing, but some were really good and stole the show. Some of those tried were their Belgium waffles and coconut special which I'd highly recommend and to go for again!)

Ambience 3.5/5
(There's a flower shop attached inside, and the flora, rustic look works beautifully with the food and cafe vibe they are going for.)

Value 4/5
Service 4/5
(Staff were knowledgeable on their dishes and marketed them well. When asking for additional truffle sauce for the fries or any other requests, they were both generous and quick to assist anyway possible. A nice homely and warm interaction. It the people and atmosphere that makes the dining experience*)

A combination of the atmosphere, vibe and creative pastries and eats, this place is a great chill out location for meetups and food variety. The google reviews may have been marred by its previous management, so do give this place a chance and give Wild Seed a visit whilst next in the Seletar Park Area.
You might also be interested in the more Instagram/popular Wheelers Estate located next door. Click here for full review.
Wild Seed 3 Park Ln, level 1 Seletar Aerospace Park, Singapore 798387

Spices Cafe(Conrad Hotel)
450m walk from Somerset MRT
Seafood Weekend Buffett

Spices Cafe 100 Orchard Road, Concorde Hotel, Singapore 238840

Pretty standard buffet spread with an exception:
Choice of half a lobster or braised abalone 

*These were an enjoyable starter which were unfortunately only allowed for a single order*and a free flow supply of crab prepared 4 different ways.

*Sounds good to have all you can eat, but the 'made to order' crabs took such a long time to come out that second orders were unlikely. Worse still, the meat of most of them were not fresh. Sounds good on paper, but poor in execution and delivery.* 
Adults: SGD60++
Seniors: SGD35nett

 

*Probably a rare to be seen selection is that of frog legs which was quite interesting*

The buffet was average. The cold food section was relatively fresh, but to be honest some of the gong-gongs were on the verge of bad or had gone bad. The desserts were pretty good, but the durian and cempedak paste lack punch. With more filler ingredients than the fruit itself. The free flow crab was slow to service, and worse yet, not fresh.
Okay for the asking price and together with card discounts of 15%, pretty alright considering the rising prices of buffets now.

Food 3/5
Ambience 3/5
Service 4/5
(Service gets a good rating as staff attentive to alter the bill with 2 seniors and 2 adults paying over 4 adults paying (with 25% discount) as the former would be a saving for the guests. Further more the attention to clearing plates and keeping the water filled were prompt and attentive.)
Value 3/5

Okay but not great. For seafood and especially lobster galore, the vote still goes to Hotel Jen J65. 

Spices Cafe 100 Orchard Road, Concorde Hotel, Singapore 238840

Osaka - To Eat (KimuKatsu 10June2018)

Japan Osaka - To Stay
Japan Osaka - To Do
Japan Osaka - To Eat 

Osaka - To Eat

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10June2018

KimuKatsu

Located at basement 1 of the building. Entrance is from main Dotonburi walking street.
Recommended by others said to be better than Narita’s Tonzen pork cutlet joint.

Click here for ABBA location of Kimikatsu Japan, 〒542-0071 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Dōtonbori, 1 Chome−9−19 大阪松竹座

Ordered On:
10June2018
Kimukatsu Set ¥1980 (Cheese flavor)
Unique selling point is its 25pieces of overlapped pork!
15min prep time. Comes with free flow salad.

*At first glance the portion is small relative to the pork cutlet served at Tonzen Narita. Texturally its very soft and tender due to using multiple pork slices to layer up to a pork cutlet. A nice fry and the filling is decent. Their free flow salad is always welcoming together with choices of sesame and Japanese dressing. A unique take on the usual pork cutlet but preference and still top awards goes to Narita’s Tonzen. Tonzen wins over Kimikatsu due to their amazingly portioned, juicy , tender, fatty pork cutlet and unique carrot dressing for their free flow salad as well.*
Food 3/5
Value 3/5
Atmosphere 3.5/5
Service 3.5/5

Good but as a personal preference have had better over at Narita’s Tonzen.

Click here for ABBA location of Kimikatsu Japan, 〒542-0071 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Chūō-ku, Dōtonbori, 1 Chome−9−19 大阪松竹座

Osaka - To Do (10June2018Osaka Museum of House and Living, Tenjinbashi Shopping Street)

Japan Osaka - To Stay
Japan Osaka - To Do
Japan Osaka - To Eat 

Osaka - To Do

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10June2018
Osaka Museum of House and Living

Click here for ABBA location of OSaka Museum Of House and Living Japan, 〒530-0041 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Kita, Tenjinbashi, 6丁目4−20 住まい情報センタービル
Photos are allowed in this single floor exhibit located on the 9th floor. Although the exhibition is small, the place was surprisingly popular with a decent queue before doors open.
Audio guides come at ¥100rental.

The whole exhibition is pretty decent. The audio guide gives a little bit more in-depth info over the paper information slips with English translations.

Probably the main draw is the cheap kimono rental at ¥500 per pax and instagram worthy picture opportunities. Blocked timings and limited slots are available. Long queues were seen under an hour after doors open.

Overall the museum is a great deal for kimono rental and picture taking. Plus it provides a small glimpse into "Edo period Osaka". Try to stay at least an hour to catch the digital fire works and changing “sky line”.

 *Models of motor homes post war period and what life was like in Osaka*

Click here for ABBA location of Osaka Museum Of House and Living Japan, 〒530-0041 Osaka Prefecture, Osaka, Kita, Tenjinbashi, 6丁目4−20 住まい情報センタービル

Tenjinbashi Shopping Street

Click here for ABBA location of Tenjinbashi Shopping Street, Japan, 〒532-0011 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Kita-ku, Tenjinbashi, 6 Chome−4

Claiming to be the longest shopping street in Osaka, Tenjinbashi stretches for over 2km. The place has a very local atmosphere selling neighborhood goods and offering plenty of dining options along the way.

 *Local barber shop*

*Some of the eats, and elderly care shop*

There’s really nothing much to scream about. One can give it a miss contrary to a must visit place as stated online. Really average and not great. (The street is located right beside the Osaka Museum Of House and Living reviewed above.)

Click here for ABBA location of Tenjinbashi Shopping Street, Japan, 〒532-0011 Ōsaka-fu, Ōsaka-shi, Kita-ku, Tenjinbashi, 6 Chome−4