OpenRice Food Tasting @ Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar, Anchorvale CC

I attended my first OpenRice Food Tasting session at Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar (managed by JP Pepperdine), together with my friend, Sam.  Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar had just revamped their whole menu, incorporating both Western and Japanese dishes.  Residents nearby can now get to enjoy Japanese cuisine at this location, away from the hustle and bustle of the city.  

How to get here by public transport?  Recommended Route:

- From Sengkang MRT Station, transfer to Sengkang LRT Line.

- Board the Sengkang West Loop LRT and alight at Farmway Station.

- Take a 5 minutes’ walk over to Anchorvale Community Club

We walked down a flight of steep staircase to the basement, nearer to the sports complex side, and saw the restaurant at the end corner.

Exterior of the restaurant.

You may dine alfresco or in their main dining room indoor.  For us, we tried both!  Read on to find out more!  :)

We were seated near to the entrance of the restaurant and on our table:  The OpenRice signature smiley fan, a notepad, tissue pack, pen and a feedback form.

We introduced ourselves and this was our host - Calvin (on far right), from OpenRice doing some introduction and standing next to him, is the chef for the restaurant.

Sashimi Caesar Salad 

($12.80)

Tossed assorted lettuce with caesar dressing, topped with garlic-herb croutons and raw fish.  Wasabi sauce was served in a small dipping bowl and you pour the amount of sauce according to your liking.  This was quite a refreshing appetizer with all the crunchy lettuce, blended with the raw fish cubes and wasabi sauce.  

Atsuage Tofu

($5.50) 

Grilled Japanese home-made Tofu topped with fish flakes. The tofu could taste quite bland when eaten on its own. The chef recommended us to dip it with soya sauce and sprinkled some chili flakes on it to give it more flavour.

Carbonara Udon 

($12.60)

The chef explained to us that this was a fusion dish.  The home-made udon was also very different from the thick ones that we normally have.  Their vesion of udon was long and much thinner, but still maintained the springy texture.  Served in a rich creamy sauce with crispy ham bits and an onsen egg, this was really "oishii"!

Kinoko Pizza

Japanese Styled Mushroom Pizza

($12.60)

The pizza texture was like that of soft bread. Eating this pizza, was like eating a piece of bread topped with mushroom, mayo and fish flakes. Would give this a miss the next time.

Unagi Roll 

(3 pieces for $12.80)

My friend, Sam requested for unagi roll as during the tasting session, there were a number of beef dishes she couldn't take.  I didn't try this but Sam said it was very good.  Could tell from the presentation, it looked quite tasty with thick slice of unagi wrapped over avocado/ crabstick and omelette sushi.

N.Z Beef Rib

($21.00)

I think this dish should be meant for those with huge appetite.  The beef rib was huge and I took a small slice, it was quite tender but the taste was a bit overwhelmed by the sweet BBQ sauce.

Beef Shabu Shabu (2 paxs) 

($28.60)

This was one of my favourite dishes for the night.  I love to swish the meat back and forth in the boiling broth.  Do not throw the meat inside the soup for too long otherwise it would become tough and spoil the taste.  I took 2 pieces of the sliced beef and cooked them just right, very juicy!

Matsu Sushi Moriawase

6 types of sushi ($31)

I tried a salmon roe sushi and a sweet shrimp sushi. The sushi were fresh.

After we were done with the above main courses, we proceeded to the outdoor seating for Yakiniku!  Why outdoor?  The main reason was to prevent the restaurant interior from having the smokey smell and also, to enjoy better ambience doing our grilling outside.  We all had fun "BBQ"ing alfesco in the cooling weather.

Pork Belly Yakiniku - Pork belly on Charcoal grill 

($12.80 for 1 pax)

Our table got a plate of sliced pork belly.  They were thinly sliced and would get overcooked quite easily.  I took a few slices of the pork belly and they were rather tough.  We were worried that the pork slices were not cooked totally and grilled them for too long and sometimes, we were busy taking photos and forgot to flip them over. 

Ribeye Yakiniku (BBQ) ($32.80)

The other table had a plate of beef slices and I took one cooked slice from them to try. It was quite a thick slice but the meat was tender and juicy. I would recommend this!

Marble Cheesecake in a chocolate cup - Served with mixed fresh fruits and chocolate sauce 

($6.50)

The cheesecake was uniquely presented inside a chocolate cup and it was wiped off by the four of us very fast.  The texture of the cheesecake was soft and not too dense.  I tried to break the chocolate cup with my fork and spoon but failed.  It was very hard and thus, we didn't eat the chocolate cup.  I suppose it was meant to just hold the cheesecake inside nicely.

Thank you OpenRice for the invitation and looking forward to more food tasting sessions with them in future!

Brewbaker's Kitchen & Bar
Address: Anchorvale Community Club,

59 Anchorvale Road #01-06
Phone: 6886 1811

Website:  http://brewbakers.com.sg/

Opening Hours:
Mon to Thu: 1100 - 1530, 1730 - 2230
Fri - Sat & eve of PH: 1100 - 0000
Sun & PH: 0730 - 2200

Au Chocolat @ Marina Bay Sands

This was my first time here at Au Chocolat.  Heard my friends raving about this place and finally, I got the chance to try out this place with them.  :)

 We were excited when we saw this promotion of the foie gras.

 The bistro...

We were seated at this section.  Most of the tables here were small.

The menu was quite extensive.

 Hubby helped my friend to buy a Loewe bag from Spain and I finally passed her this beloved bag during this meet-up.

I had the mango magic, a concoction of white chocolates and mango puree.

 Mango Magic and Banana Boost  ($12 per glass)

 2 of my friends ordered the Taiwanese Lychee Beer and both of them were very happy with the beer as they said it was really refreshing and nice.

 Au Chocolat Hot Fudge ($10)

 Sweet Potatos Fries

 Mushroom Bites

 Foie gras at $5 per plate.  Guess how many plates of foie gras did we order?

 5!!!

 2 of my friends had the California Smoked Salmon Sandwich ($20) and I saw thick slices of avocado in it.  

 My friends who had been here before, all claimed that the Beef Bourguignon ($26) was one of the best entrees here but I decided to try something different.

 This was my order - Handmade Pacific Crabcake!  ($32)

 Look at the huge chunks of crab meat inside!  It was also served with some salads at the side to balance up the meal.  I was happy with my order.

 We had wanted to order their waffles as there was a "50% off the 2nd waffles" promotion every Wednesday.  However, to our disappointment, the waffles were not served at Au Chocolat bistro!  We were told that the waffles were only served at Au Chocolat Confiserie which is located just next to the bistro.  Thus, we decided to only the Kalamansi Meringue Tart ($9) and a Brownie ($5) to share amongst us instead in order to enjoy the comfortable seats at the bistro.  The seats at the confiserie side are mostly high seats and we couldn't find a table big enough to accomodate 7 pax. 

 I love the tart but the crust was as hard as rock.  No joke!  Haha... Took me quite a lot of effort to break the crust!  But overall, the taste of the sweet egg whites (meringue) went well with the tangy and sourish kalamansi curd. 

Cookies and Cream Brownie ($5)

 Why my friend (on the extreme right) looked so sad?  Haha.... First, she was disappointed that the waffles could not be served at the bistro.  Secondly, the staff told us that the "OO" plush toy was out of stock and if she wanted another one for $10, she could take only the one on display.

However, after dinner, we walked over the Au Chocolat merchandise section, we saw lots of "OO" plush toys!  We were puzzled why the bistro and the other sections of Au Chocolat have to work independently even they are all under the same name. 

 This plush toy is sold at the merchandise section at $15 each. 

 OO

 Yu Fa

We also enquired about the membership application but it seemed that they had stopped the scheme for the time being.  I would still love go to Au Chocolat to try the other savouries and dessert!

Au Chocolat
Bay Level L1-03
The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands
2 Bayfront Avenue, Singapore 018956

Bistro Tel: (65) 6688 7227
Confiserie Tel: (65) 6688 7557

Bakerzin @ Tampines One

  Meet-up with a friend who came back to Singapore for just two days from Beijing.  We decided to have our dinner at Bakerzin which is located within Tampines One.  We chose the open-concept dining area as the other area inside the restaurant was almost occupied and the tables were quite close together.  We prefer to have more "space".  However, I felt awkward as we were seated next to the escalator and I didn't like to face the people who were coming down from the escalator.  As such, I swapped seat with my friend who sat opposite me.  :P

The menu for the mains was rather limited but enough for us to make different choices.  I ordered the Linguini Vongole ($16.90) which came with generous servings of the clams.  It was quite satisfying but I would prefer it to be more spicy to get a bit more kick!

The friend who came back from Beijing, had high-tea at Max Brenner Chocolate bar before meeting us, so she couldn't quite finish the Cabonara that she had ordered.  ($15.50)

The other friend ordered Aglio Olio ($10.90).  She topped up her dish with Prawns at an additional cost of $5 and also Mushroom, Ham & Bacon at $5.00 too.  She was very satisfied with what she had ordered.  The prawns were big and fresh.

All the left-over shells from my clams!

Mango Freeze ($5.90)

Lychee Soda ($6.30)

Coupé Cheesecake Verrine ($12.50).  My friend shared this with me as it was too much to consume 3 scoops of cheesecake on my own!  The cheese flavour was very strong and I felt that it would be just right if it could be served in a single scoop for 1 pax.  Both of us couldn't finish up this dessert.

Coupé Black Forest Verrine  ($12.50)

Bailey’s Irish Cream Soufflé ($11.50)

All prices stated above are before GST and Service Charge.  Ice water was chargeable at $0.30 per glass.

Bakerzin

#01-39/40 Tampines 1

10 Tampines Central 1, Singapore 529536