Smok'in Frogz

I brought J to Smok'in Frogz at last! Last Saturday, he asked me to drive and just go anywhere I want for dinner, so I automatically drove us to Smok'in Frogz without getting lost! Ha! My memory is the best GPS around :)

My poison - iced tea in a Hoegaarden glass!

I like the quaint, rustic feel of Smok'in Frogz. It is a 'kopitiam' nestled along Bukit Timah Road - you won't notice it unless you are looking for it. They have high wooden chairs and tables where you can sit back, relax and enjoy a pint of beer. I feel like I'm on a lazy holiday in Bali when I'm there, especially in the evenings, when the sun is setting. The best reason to go there though, is their beef burgers! Check out the burgers.

Beef Burger - with cheese, caramelized onion, pickles, etc!

The burger is huge! And more importantly it tastes great! The patty has flavour to it other than good beefi-ness...you can actually taste the herbs they use in their handmade patty. Delicious! And I just love caramelized onions in my burgers, but unfortunately not a lot of places do that in Singapore.

Smok'in Frogz serves really good fries, but today, they lacklustre. They seemed to have not been defrosted properly before they are fried? Are they supposed to be defrosted? I don't know, but they don't taste as good as the last time I was there. They tasted undercooked :(

Beer Battered Fish & Chips - one of the best in Singapore...

I was trying to decide which is the lesser of the two evils: the beef burger or the fish and chips? Ended up ordering both the fish and the burger so that I can share them with J :) The batter on the fish was really light, not sure if it's the beer :) But it does not taste as greasy as it looks, one of the better fish and chips around.

I wanted to try other dishes on their menu, but somehow just can't get past these two items. I don't really fancy paying $14 for a plate of pasta in Smok'in Frogz, but maybe I will try it someday. But for now, I think I will still stick to the beef burger and/or fish and chips.

There is also an Indian Tandoori stall, as well as a Thai Food stall. I have tried the tandoori the last time I was there with PS & G, and they are quite good. We like the fish tandoori the best. Guess, we have to gather more people to go Smok'in Frogz, so that we can try more dishes.

Anyone interested, give me a ring :)

Singapore F1 Grand Prix - 26 Sept 2008

I can see the F1 race track from my office! I can even hear the cars roaring past!!! I'm just so excited. Couldn't concentrate on work when the cars start warming up at about 3pm.

For the record, I'm a Kimi Raikkonen fan! Go Team Ferrari!! Who cares about Hamilton? Wuahaha...

Parv actually convinced me to go down to City Hall to watch the cars "up close and personal" - well, this is as near as I can get to them! I rushed down at 5.30pm on the dot with my camera, and the camera battery died on me as I was getting ready to snap the action on video! Aaarrggghh....so I quickly took out my mobile phone, and caught some of the noise only...duh.

After a few glimpses of the top of the cars, I had to leave Parv and went over to Jenn's place for steamboat dinner! Yum yum...Mr Pang made some really nice "wanton", I like!

After dinner, we stayed on to watch the F1 action on TV and I was cheering Kimi all the way! I think the red Ferrari cars look the best! McLaren used to look better when it was red and white, with the word "Marlborough" on the "wings", or whatever you call that thing on top of the car! Now it's red and silver, not so striking.

Anyway, Alonso stole the show and overtook Hamilton for the practice round. Qualifying rounds will be tomorrow, and the actual race on Sunday!

I've not been following F1 eversince Ayrton Senna - God bless his soul - died in a fatal accident on 1 May 1994 in the San Marino Grand Prix. He was only 34yrs old, and driving for Williams-Renault then. After that horrific scene on TV, I just couldn't make myself watch Grand Prix anymore without having flashbacks of the crash.

Until today, I still feel sad that we have lost a great racer. May he rest in peace...

Poseur week...

The past week has been busy busy busy...with work, as well as socializing! I'm going to take a break from all the eating & drinking and just go to the gym for the rest of next week! I've been going to "Poseur" places and I think I've had enough to last me until, well...next month? :)

On Tuesday, I went 'Running Amock' @ Loof with Bea! Glad to see her back, and as usual, she is full of funny stories! In case you are clueless about 'Running Amock' - it is a non-alcoholic cocktail. I have no idea what is inside it, except it comes chockful of basil leaves, organge bits and lychee. Seems like only Bea and I appreciate this drink though :) And of course we had to order a serve of their Loofalicious wings!

Ok, this post will have not pictures because I am just plain lazy to lug my Lumix around recently. Oops...I've neglected my beloved digicam :( Anyway, on Wednesday, met up with PS and G for dinner at Mimolette to celebrate G's birthday belatedly. I wanted to take pictures but they do not allow picture taking!

Mimolette is situated at the Saddle Club, which is like really secluded and far from the maddening crowd. Nice ambience - check, cool decor with rabbits! - check, good food - hmmm...nothing made me go 'wow'!

Service was too "obvious"? There is no sincerity, and there was a lot of "upselling" of wine, desserts, etc. We ordered a side of Mac & Cheese, and the Roast Pork Rack, and the Pork Belly. It was porky night indeed :) And the waitress "suggested" we have some vegetables to go with our meal. I ordered the Mushrooms to avoid being seen as "cheapo" customers as we did not order wine, and that we only ordered 2 main dishes to share amongst the 3 of us! But the mushrooms are good, so it was ok. Overall, the food was decent, but portion was small and of course pricey. Ok, now I know why the waitress kept asking us to order more food! But thank goodness the mac and cheese was filling.

Nonetheless, the three of us had an enjoyable time. Oh well, it was worth experiencing the restaurant, and just so that I could tell people I've been to Mimolette! Ha! Poseur enough?

And on Friday, it's time to celebrate's Parv's birthday! The Birthday Gal wanted to go 1 Twenty Six, and so that was where we went. I made reservations for the four of us - Parv, C, A & myself - at 7.30pm, and as usual A is late and we reached there around 8pm. Guess what, they kept our table. Ok, it shows how "busy" they are! Parv's sister, S, joined us a bit later for dinner too.

Sad to say the food sucks! Ok, when I pay $36 for a main course of linguine with lobster, I expect a good pasta dish with decent lobster. The lobster was RAW! Eeew...you can taste the slimy texture when you eat it! Seems like Parv's Chilean seabass was also so raw that she couldn't cut through it. I don't know why we didn't make a big fuss. Are we too nice?

We ordered a bottle of nice red wine - Babich East Coast Pinot Noir 2007 - can't really remember the year. It is quite smooth and not too tannic. I don't usually like reds but this was quite good. Thanks to C for the recommendation!

After the disappointing dinner, I just felt like going over to Carl's Junior to have a really satisfying juicy burger! But we went on to "pose" and sat in the open air area, which is reminiscent of Oosh, and had a bottle of prosecco. Personally I prefer Oosh because it is more cosy and the tables are set apart from each other, so you have some privacy with your own party. 1-Twenty Six is just to "poser" for me with too loud music, and you can't have a proper conversation. Poor S had to shout and listen really hard because she was sitting right beneath the speaker!

C asked the staff to give a surprise birthday "cake" to Parv, and guess how much they charged us for it: $30 for a miserable few slices of undetectable "cake"! It tasted like creme brulee or some flan with a nut crust underneath, and honestly the nuts are not that fresh. I wonder which leftover dessert did they use to assemble this "cake". Oh well, Parv was pleasantly surprised, but we are not too happy with the $30 price tag. I mean, if it were a decent cake, we don't mind paying for it, but not this undiscernable excuse for a cake! So we disputed and got them to cut the $30 out from the bill.

This will be the first and last time that I will go to 1-Twenty Six. Oh by the way, Chef Reif is helming the kitchen there - did you have a sense of dejavu?

That sums up my "Poseur" week, and I hope to have some quite time to myself in the coming week. Breathe...exercise...and be happy :)

Oh, I just remembered, I'll be going to another Poseur place this Sunday with Saun! Yeah! She's back for a bit and we are either going to PS Cafe or Marmalade Pantry - depending on where I could get a reservation! And I will surely bring my Lumix this time!

Happy Birthday lunch at Equinox

Happy Birthday J! I took a day off work to accompany J on his 39th birthday! I guess he is a happy man, what with the new car and of course me to accompany him on this special day! Ha!

I got him a new Coach key chain to hang his new car keys...hehehe...and I got myself the prettiest pink Coach wristlet ever! Ha...whose birthday is it again?! :)

Coach Wristlet...

Since I was expected to plan the day, I booked us lunch at Equinox. Not my first choice for a nice buffet lunch! But I thought J would love the foie gras and I was right! And the free flow of crabs, oysters, prawns kept my man really satisfied with lunch.

J gorging on seafood...

I had wanted to have dinner at Triple 3 because they serve lobster gratin! But they would not allow me to enjoy the 1-for-1 promotion without the OCBC Platinum card! I mean, I'm going to get the card anyway, as it is a free "upgrade" for all existing OCBC Robinson's card holder! Such inflexibility...oh well, so off we went to Equinox instead.

Sirloin "steak"

I skipped the main course in this semi-buffet because nothing on the menu interests me. And J decided to go for the Sirloin "steak". Ok, it really doesn't qualify to be called a "steak"! 4 small slices of beef and a few strands of asparagus and a small disc of potato. The buffet consists only of appetizers and desserts - and I thought it would be enough for me.

I ended up not eating much of the food, as most of them are cold appetizers. I felt like having something warm, and the only warm stuff are the soups! The tom yum soup they served tasted alright, but there was nothing but mushrooms in it! I was in the midst of regretting the decision to lunch at Equinox, when I started to nibble on some Roquefort cheese. And I immediately went..."hmmmmmmmm.....nice!". Ok, I only know Camembert cheese and of course your ubiquitous Kraft Singles! I didn't know the Roquefort is so delicious! And I helped myself to somemore Roquefort, Garlic Borsin, and of course Camembert. Ate all of them with grapes and some bread. It was just delicious! That was the highlight of the lunch for me. The Garlic Borsin was nice too! It was crumbly with a mild garlic taste to it. The Camembert was as usual chewy and has that unique Camembert taste.

From left...grapes, Roquefort, Garlic Borsin, Camembert and a soft roll

Equinox actually look very run-down in broad daylight, and service was not so fantastic. We were greeted by a staff on the 1st floor, before the lift landing that would take us up to the 70th floor. I advised her that we have a reservation made for 12.30pm, and she checked her list and confirmed that we have a table waiting. She ushered us towards the lift and wished us a good lunch.

When we finally reached the 70th floor, we were again asked if we had a reservation. I had expected the first staff to inform the people on the 70th floor of our impending arrival? Not that I expected to be treated like royalty, but these small touches actually help to enhance the service just that little bit. I had to repeat my name twice to the staff on the 70th floor, and the waitress keep asking if I am "Karen Cheng"?! I don't think my name sounds like Karen or Cheng for that matter!? *Faint* Must be the high altitude making her hearing somewhat funny?

View from Equinox...the tallest restaurant in Singapore

I think the only redeeming factor for Equinox is the view from the 70th floor. Not the best view, but it gives you a good view of the Singapore skyline. It is now pre-dominantly a huge construction site of the IR!

I hope J had a good day today! Happy Birthday dear! We will go to Triple 3 once I get my OCBC Platinum card, and it shall be my turn to gorge on lobsters! Ha! :)