[Media Invite] Dinner at Fumée by Habanos Restaurant @ Millenia Walk

9 Raffles Boulevard #01-53 Millenia Walk, Singapore 039596

Tel: 6835 7339

Website: https://goo.gl/maps/hK1Goh3pmxS2

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Fum%C3%A9e-1401657106810994

Reservation: http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/fumee-suntec-city-hall/

Fumée by Habanos is a gastropub, a deli and a restaurant all at once, spanning over 6,000 square feet at Millenia Walk, taking over the now-defunct Medz. Founded by Natalie and Helen, with a team of 11 chefs / bakerss, Fumée seeks to be the chillout destination in town, serving a huge variety of creative European-Asian fusion dishes and providing excellent service.

From fresh bakes to tapas to main courses, Fumée ensures that every dish is of quality ingredients and presentation. Prices are reasonable and setting is comfortable, chic and the perfect spot for chilling out. Racks of wines and whiskeys are available for those looking for the perfect chillout spot after dinner as well, and there's live band on certain nights.

If you enter from within the mall, you would be greeted by shelves of deli items such as pastries, pasta and varieties of cheese. If you pass by the huge alfresco area and enter from outside, you would be greeted by the bar counter with this tall, hexagon-shaped shalf filled with water glasses.

This was a media invite hosted by Natalie and Helen themselves, attended by representatives from Hungrygowhere and other familiar reviewers / bloggers.

It happened to be Saint Patrick's Night so they started us with Kronenbourg and Asahi Beer. There were so many interesting items on the menu, it got us excited and wondering what would be on the night's menu - foie gras fries, chilli crab fries, beetroot tisotto etc.

We started with Winglets (SGD$10.00) complete with Cajun spice and prawn crackers (keropok), a flavourful delight taking the lalate through crackling skin into succulent flesh, what a perfect start to the meal.

Next, Garlic Prawns (SGD$12.00) - grilled tiger prawns with garlic oil, served with crispy bread on the side. One of my favorite starters because of the fresh, bouncy texture of the saccharine prawns tinged heavily with garlic's fragrance.

Chicken Hearts (SGD$7.00) was up next, by request. These small little chewy grilled chicken hearts were glazed with honey soy - peals of sweetness breaking through she smokey charm of the skewered hearts.

NZ Little Neck Clams (SGD$12.00) in white wine sauce laced with herbs and garlic and served with crispy baguette on the side - was another welcomed delight. These little clams were juicy and springy, filled with delicious broth we could not help drinking up.

Mains began with Burgers - the Muah Otah Burger (price unavailable) - think crispy toasted sesame buns clasping huge slab of Muah fish otah (otah is minced spicy fish paste put to grill) - spicy, moistened and utterly tasty. Included in the burger is also lettuce to add a balanced touch. Otah lovers like me will go wild over this burger.

Fumée Burger (SGD$16.00) - crispy sesame brioche enclosing Wagyu beef patty, emmental cheese, bacon, tomato, onion, shaved cabbage, and served with a side of crispy fries. Needless to describe that the wagyu patty was juicy and succulent, making for an utterly satisfying meal.

Moving on, pasta - we began with Red Dot Noodle (SGD$26.00) - springy pasta tossed with a myriad variety of quality seafood comprising tiger prawns, Hokkaido scallops, squids and clams, cooked in shellfish broth that engaged the palate scrumptiously.

Next, Chilli Crab Noodle (SGD$19.00) - pasta tossed with blue swimmer crab and soft shell crab tossed in chilli crab sauce - crab lovers alert! This dish was flaming spicy with the tastiness of chilli crab gravy, definitely a dish to reckon with.

The final pasta dish of the night was Mushroom Risotto (SGD$16.00) - grainy rice cooked to a soft pulp together with roasted mushrooms, roasted mushroom puree, parmesan cheese and truffle oil - the porridge-like dish was aromatic and easy to eat, lots of earthly goodness but nothing too overwhelming.

Following that, the US Angus Short Rib (SGD$68.00) - this portion serves around 3 persons. So, it a massive-looking 700g of USDA certified Angus bone-in short ribs, served with salad and fries on the side. At first glance, the beef looked a little intimidating, but after they sliced up nicely for us, our views changed immediately after the first bite. This darling was so, so, so tender, like a dream melting in the mouth upon the tongue's contact, and had the most delicious taste. I could gladly not eat anything at all, and order one of these all for myself as dinner.

Well, good food always have to come to an end - and here's where desserts took over to tantalise our palate further.

Framboisier (SGD$9.00) - smooth and creamy mascarpone mousse with raspberries - sweet but not cloying, highlighted by raspberry's touch of tart.

 Guinness Cake (SGD$5.50) - chocolate stout cake with Bailey's cream cheese frost - tinges of alcohol was strong enough to entice but not overwhelm.

Love Apple (SGD$9.00) - creamy green apple mousse and cream cheese on a crunchy spiced biscuit crumb - seducing my palate with its fruity goodness, well I love apple too.

Bailey's Tiramisu (SGD$9.00) - comprising creamy mascarpone mousse, Bailey's, Irish Whiskey and Cafe Aurora - a lovely, silken smooth touch of coolness.

Opera Cake (SGD$9.00) - layers of coffee cream, dark chocolate cream and soaked soft almond sponge layers - loved the cotton softness of this pastry with its choco-nutty flavours.

Passion Fruit Panna Cotta (SGD$7.00) - vanilla panna cotta with passion fruit cream, tropical fruit sauce and soft sponge payers. Loved the refreshing sweet and sour flavour of this dessert.

Chocolate Praline Cube (SGD$8.00) - a chocolate dream made up of chocolate mousse, chocolate sponge and praline cream.

Finally, Red Fruit Shortcake (SGD$7.00) - creamy and light diplomat with soft fluffy sponge and spiced balsamic jelly topped with red fruits such as strawberries and raspberries.

To be frank, I haven't had such a hearty meal for a while - consisting of so many favorites all at once. This is definitely a place I would love to be back at, and recommend friends to visit. Thank you Natalie, Helen and team at Fumée for hosting us, and thank you Hungrygowhere for the invite!

Dinner at 1933 Cafe @ Capitol Piazza [Revisit]

15 Stamford Road #01-83 Capitol Piazza, Singapore 178906

Tel: 6384 3680

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1933.SG

This is a revisit, because I was raving about the tasty Nanyang Curry Bread Bowl to The Beau, so we headed there for dinner and he could try it. Read about my previous visit here.

I started with a glass of Rosé Wine (SGD$10.00, at promotional price), while we browsed the menu for food. I really liked how the menu came in two languages - English and Mandarin. Service was excellent and I was rather surprised that the cafe restaurant was rather empty for a Saturday night. Where did the dinner crowd go?

The Beau had the Nanyang Curry Chicken (SGD$14.90), served piping hot in a crispy bread bowl. While the taste of the curry was still substantial and spicy, with tender chicken meat within, we were disappointed to note that the curry itself was rather diluted, watery. During my last visit with *Charmaine and she had this, it was much thicker. As a result of tonight's watery curry, the bread bowl became soft easily as well.

I had the Grilled Pork Loin (SGD$28.90), comprising succulent pork loin dipped in thyme, bay leaves, honey and brine served on a rack and accompanied by sautéed potato in olive oil, as well as some seasonal vegetables. We had a choice of black pepper sauce, mushroom sauce and Nanyang sauce (the latter being sweet and sour) so I chose the black pepper. The pork loin was grilled to a crispy deep brown, with rather tender flesh within its well-marinated, flavourful rack of meat. The veggies were a refreshing touch, giving a balance to the meal.

Finally, we shared a dessert of Lemon Tart (SGD$9.00) served with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The crust was beautiful - it was solid but melted readily in the mouth. The curd itself was fluffy and had a delicious hint of citrusy deliciousness to it.  It was the perfect finish to the meal.

Dinner at Mak's Noodles @ Centrepoint

176 Orchard Road #01-63/64 Centrepoint, Singapore

Tel: 6235 5778

Website: http://www.maksnoodle.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maksnoodle.sg

Mak's Noodles is one of Hong Kong-s famous wanton and dumpling noodles establishments. I absolutely loved my wanton and beef brisket noodles whenever I visit Hong Kong - must travel up to Victoria's Peak for bowls of these delicacies.

Therefore, when Mak's Noodles made its appearance in Singapore, I was excited (albeit saddened that it has replaced my favorite laksa shop). However, due to the long queues, I refrained myself from giving it a try, choosing instead to monitor from the media to ensure that the fad has died, before finally making my way to Mak's.

Decor was nothing commendable - simple and efficient, atypical of casual Chinese dining cafes. The friendly and polite service of all the service staff impressed us though.

Anyway, we got a seat and browsed through the menu. It was created in a very adorable bowl shape, and items comprised mainly of wanton noodles (dry / soup), prawn dumpling noodles (dry / soup), beef brisket noodles, beef tendon noodles etc.

Mon Beau decided to go for the Dry Combination Noodles (SGD$10.00) , made up of a bowl of mixed dumplings soup and plate of dry noodles tossed in oyster sauce.

I chose the Soup Combination Noodles (SGD$8.90) where two different types of dumplingd were tossed into clear broth together with fine noodles.

Verdict? Both dry and soup were good - springy noodles with the right amout of "mouth feel" (aka "kou gan"). The fresh shrimp dumplings were bouncy and sweet whereas the wantons (minced pork dumplings) were succulent. The dumplings were good -sized, and overall taste was light. The only issue is that portion of noodles might be considered too little, especially for males or bigger eaters.

Other than that, we were pleased with our wanton noodles and would definitely like to return for more - perhaps try the beef ones as well.

Review: Body Whitening Treatment at BeautyHope @ Bugis [Sponsored]

261 Waterloo Street #02-42 Waterloo Centre, Singapore 180261

Tel: 6883 2293

Website: http://www.beautyhope.com.sg

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beautyhope.sg

I was honoured to be invited for a Body Whitening Treatment (SGD$180.00) at Beauty Hope. They have two outlets - Waterloo Street and Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8; I chose to visit the Waterloo outlet because it is closer for me.

To share a little about Beauty Hope, they were established in 2007, inspiring to instill the confidence in beauty for their customers.  The founder Ms Cherry Lok has more than 20 years of experience in the beauty industry, and uses only 100% natural, wholesome and botanical extracts in her products.

Beauty Hope is a unisex beauty centre and  also provides a wide range of services ranging from facial treatments, spa sessions, massages, slimming, hair removal etc. The knowledgeable and affable crew provides personable service and the setting is comfortable but not pretentious.

Thanks to Joselyn of Gotideas and Beauty Hope,    I was pampered with a Body Whitening Treatment (worth SGD$180.00). The treatment took around 40 minutes, and I shall describe the treatment process here in greater detail.

The therapist taking care of me was Celine. When I entered the room and changed, I was asked to lie on top of the Hot Blanket. The temperature can be adjusted so do inform the therapist if the heat is too much for you.

After that, Celine did the Goat Milk Scrub on my body - a gentle and enjoyable exfoliating process that took around 10 minutes.

Finally, the Black Sea Mud Mask was smothered over me, soothing and cooling. Black sea mud is very beneficial on alot of levels, one of the main functions being able to detox.

The Hot Blanket was wrapped around me after that, tight and snug like a warm hug. I was then left alone to take a short nap during the duration of the wrap. The warmth felt really welcoming in the cool, air-conditioned room. I also felt healthier when I was sweating gallons in the wrap - reduction of water retention (same reasoning as my hot yoga).

Finally, when Celine unfolded the wrap, I was asked to take a warm shower, which I did. After washing off the residue of the goat milk scrub and black sea mud mask, my skin was soft, glowing and looked a shade lighter - why I can tell it because currently, the skin tones contrast between my shoulders and the lingerie strap area is very obvious. So the lightening of the skin through this session has also been reflected rather obviously.

Thank you again Beauty Hope for this generous treat on my skin.  Coming up next will be my entry on their new Magic Skin Renewal Facial Treatment (worth SGD$280.00) - a much sought-after technology from Japan. Stay tuned!

***Special promo for my dear readers - get to enjoy this Body Whitening Treatment (U.P. SGD$180.00) at a promotional price of merely SGD$68.00 today. Simply call Beauty Hope at 6883 2293 and quote "Elle" to make an appointment today - looking forward to seeing you with great, fairer skin too!***

RE: Bloggers friends no more because of "missing" seat

I read with interest the article written by V and I was the E in question - the one who just held her wedding. A concerned friend sent me the published article and asked if I would like to stop the lunacy - yes I would.

Frankly speaking if I were V, I wouldnt humiliate myself time and again in this manner. I as the host have decided to forgive the trouble she caused but since she wishes to announce to the public her joke, allow me to assist her to enhance the true version of what entailed.

So V accepted my invite and turned up at my wedding. Her name was on the guest list alongside a few other blogger friends- and there was a non-eating child with baby chair seated there, making it a total of 10 adults plus 1 child. Note that we have individual servers at each table to portion food so all adults would get equal portion eventually.

When V got there, she claimed that the table was full. I questioned her time and again whether "full" meant the hotel only put 9 adult chairs plus one baby chair OR "full" meant someone else has sat at Table 8 when they were not supposed to - V refused to answer me. She just insisted that the table looked full.

She then went out of the banquet hall and my husband and I saw her on the phone outside the other exit door. We were waiting to march in - but we had montages lined up, so it was at least 8 minutes while we were standing outside and watching V on the phone. She did not approach me at all.

It was only when I was in the dressing room preparing for next march-in then I managed to check my phone and realised V has left. Immediately I called her a few times despite the hecticness of the evening but she rejected my calls.

Then she started attacking me with barrages of untrue accusations, saying that i did "poor planning" , "embarrassed her", "should have apologised and offered to give her a treat" etc.

This was extremely baffling for me because as the bride and also the host who invited her - i wasnt given the chance to find out what happened at the table at all. If someone else has indeed sat at the table and taken up V's seat,  I would have asked him/her to return to their assigned seat. I sent V the guest list to explain but her attacks continued. She kept using the excuse that because she wasnt very close to me, she didnt want to approach me to inform me of this.

I did not know to be baffled or to laugh. I clarified with other blogger guests at her table and the next table - a few of them claimed to have persuaded V to stay but she still chose to leave - and they agreed that a non-eating  child does NOT form part of the total no. of pax at table and that V who has been a  bride herself not too recently, should have known better. Furthermore, they also concur that she should know better than to create trouble for the bride at a moment as such.

Walking away was her choice, just like how she did not bother to inform the host of what happened . Honestly, if someone else has sat in her seat wrongfully, how is it a predictable event and how is it "poor planning" of the host? By not solving it in a more mature and rational manner, and instead expecting royal treatment such as treats,   apologies etc, really does not reflect well on her sadly.

Since she did not have the opportunity to partake of the meal at all, I offered to return her angpow but she rejected. She has also childishly blocked me on Facebook and Instagram - so I guess the only means I can inform her that I wil be donating her angpow to Heart Foundation would be through this platform here which she has chosen to humiliate herself on.

Hope the charity done on her behalf will reap her some peace and blessings and help her reflect better for future. I sincerely appreciate her turning up and feel  sad that she chose to believe she wasnt part of the table when her name was printed in black and white.

Enclosed are screenshots showing snippets of chat. Other  bloggers are aware of what happened and agree I have not been treated fairly in this regard. I will be meeting up with them for wine and high tea again soon just as how friends should, and I should have listened when I was advised to choose my guests carefully.

Thanks.


Rgds
E