YUMS: Beauty In A Pot

Getting our collagen

I forget sometimes how long we have known each other so I'm always gobsmacked by the number when we finally do the math. Always happy to have good food and good company especially when the company you keep knows all the good places to dine! 

YUMS: French Fold

Had a really nice belated breakfast treat from Weyyean at French Fold this morning. We split a sweet and savoury crepe between us. These thin little things are deceptively filling so while I harboured ideas of ordering a third just after we gave the waitress our order, I was glad I didn't.

YUMS: Pura Brasa

 

I think the Christmas lunch delivery we received as a treat from his boss struck a cord or perhaps it's just that Spanish food brings back memories of our time in Barcelona. It was easily agreed that we needed to go check out Pura Brasa on one of our Friday date nights.

We may have over-ordered and underestimated the potency of the pitcher of sangria but there were no regrets. My fingers were too busy feeding my face to take photos (as evidenced by the lack there of).

Not-A-Surprise Birthday Breakfast at Bacha

 

Every year, around the time we each have a birthday, we know for certain we're going to be taken to a lovely place for a special breakfast. I really loved my birthday breakfast at the beautifully decked out Bacha just because sipping fancy coffee from fancy china served up in gilded pots makes the experience that much more special. My friends had me choose my birthday present - Sweet Nocciola coffee beans ground for my French press and a pretty Tiffany blue gift tin to keep it fresh.

Happy 17th Anniversary to Us!

After being married for 17 years, we know that it's less important to celebrate the day but every day that follows. On that note, we ended up celebrating our wedding anniversary 2 weeks after the actual day with a themed fine dining dinner at Preludio called "Chapter 2: Time".

This was definitely one of the most memorable dinners particularly because the theme was so appropriate for us that it gave me goosebumps. Having dinner at 6.30PM certainly helped since it was early enough that we were the only ones in the restaurant for the first half of our meal. The food courses were a visual feast that made you internally ooh and aah like a nerd while you try to match what the waitress explained with what your palate was sampling.

The "Time Machine" was hands-down our favourite part of the meal with all the different textures and flavours packed into such a tiny bite.

Not your ordinary bread and butter

"Time Machine"

Chestnut themed dessert box to round off the meal

11 Years and Counting!

Beer, sausage, pork knuckle, lovely ambiance and a good-looking date to boot!

What a happy way to kick off 2015! Though technically, our anniversary falls on the the 31st of December, we typically spend it with family then have our date night on the evening of January 1st. This evening, we checked out a quaint German restaurant called Stuttgart Blackforest Cafe serving traditional German fair. Len's been driving past this place almost every weekday and he's been dying to try it out.

Since we were coming off a whole season of binge eating, I thought it would be sensible for us to share. Of course, Len had his doubts but decided there would be no harm in yielding since we could always order more! We had tomato soup, pork knuckle with additional sides of sausage and potato salad. Of course, no German meal would be complete without beer.

He looks so pleased!

 We rounded it off with a slice of Blackforest cake which came with cherries that were extra boozey!

Even though we weren't in any particular rush, we somehow managed to have a leisurely meal, nice conversation, and be home by 9ish! (Perhaps I was subconsciously preparing for an early start the next morning since it was a school day.. first day of school for Zac no less!)

Happy Birthday Christina

Birthday blessings to my dear friend Chris (the Baker/the mummy/ the wife/ the cook/ the homemaker and lots of / more) who turns the bare necessities into magic!

Also, thanks to her husband Chernwei who surprised her and us to a delicious mid-week lunch at Burnt Ends @ Keong Saik St. Cheers!

Early Celebration

On our way to dinner at Pete's Place at the Hyatt Hotel. It's an early birthday treat from my parents (Christmas vouchers for any restaurant at the Hyatt) who are babysitting tonight. WHOOPEEE!!

We are celebrating early because Len leaves for Hanoi on Monday and he'll be away all week missing BOTH our birthdays. Bummer.

Update: We love Italian food and Pete's Place is a definite "must go back" kind of place. The house wine was delicious too. Next time, I get to have a glass and Len drives home!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Bernie!

We took Dad to the Straits Kitchen at The Grand Hyatt for his birthday. As usual, we ate too much and practically rolled out of the restaurant! (This was possible because my parents babysat the boys at home so we I could eat!)

YUMS: Paraguayo

If you like your meat, specifically beef, Paraguayo is worth a look-see (and eat). (Thank you to Moto and Grania for the recommendation!) We went there for lunch with Alberto (Uncle Ulbetteto as Zac calls him) who we haven't seen in a while.

They started with some really delicious tidbits looked like bingka ubi but where the latter is sweet, the former is savoury and tasted like quiche. The lady who served us evidently lost her voice so I didn't catch what it was called. Pity. The bread bowl was next and among the rolls and breadsticks there were these incredibly chewy and very tasty cheesy breads that looked like cream puffs but without the cream..

Alberto had a skirt steak and Len had a sirloin. I had one of the specialties which was seasoned beef bashed to paper-thinless and fried with light batter. Sinful. Next time I'll take more photos of the food.

Birthday Dinner with GUA

We celebrated our birthdays again with GUA (Len's 1st MBA work group) at Rosa Negra on Via Laietana. It was a super wet evening but the good company made up for it. PLUS Mexican food. YUM. 3.50EUR mojitos and margaritas all night. DOUBLE YUM.

Happy Birthday Uncle Aziz!

It's Aziz's birthday in a week but we celebrated early at a Chinese restaurant on Passage de Sant Joan called Yue Lai. The food was pretty good and cheap too! (Ordered about 10 dishes to share and it came to 9Euros a person) I made the tiramisu (which is Italian for pick-me-up) but had to substitute dark cocoa powder with ColaCao but it worked out in the end.

Zac got to blow out the candles.

From L to R: Len, me, Zac, Aziz, Evelyn, Nancy,
Vicky, Christoph (seated), Alberto (standing), Shailesh

YUMS: Fishop

We went to Fishop for Len and my birthday lunch. It's a pescateria/sushi bar/ take-out joint/ gourmet food store that we walked by a few times on Bulevard Rosa but neer had the chance to try until today. It's by no means cheap but the food is fresh and it's a pleasant place to dine. Not terribly stroller-friendly since we had to go down stairs into the basement where the restaurant is located.

The menu has a pretty strong Japanese influence but that was fine by me since I'd been craving miso soup for a while now. The food is cooked the way you want it minus the sauces and toppings that could detract from the freshness of the seafood. Naturally, there would be sashimi on the menu so we had the mixed platter. I don't eat anyhing raw but from what I was told, it was pretty darn good.

Still, I think I might opt to have my seafood at the port next time. For what we paid, we could probably get more bang for our buck there.

WHERE: Passeig de Gracia 53, Bulevard Rosa
GETTING THERE: Metro - Passeig de Gracia
CALL THEM: 934 877 208