We had another foodie indulgence at the Grapevine cafe/restaurant/bar next to the crocodile farm around Upper Serangoon Road. I'd wanted to try that for quite some time and Dearie promised not to be stinky, so off we went :) On to the food!
(From left to right) Tropical Kiwi, and Mango Smoothie! I love the kiwi, just the right amount of sweetness and tartness for me. The mango one Dearie had was a tad too sweet for my taste, and a little thick as well. Extra points for the cute mug though. Looks like a glass jar with a handle attached. I want!! :D
Taiwanese-style Fried Chicken - part of the appetisers menu. Little bite-sized (sometimes bigger) pieces of chicken freshly fried in batter. It's great for making it last haha, because there is more of it. It was a little chewy instead of crisp, but still was yummy! Chilli sauce accompanies it.
BBQ Bacon Rolls! Ooh man we both loved this so much! Chewy bacon with some crunchy veggie rolled inside, basted with BBQ sauce! Yummy! We wanted to order it again after dinner instead of the Taiwanese chicken, but decided on the chicken instead because it wouldn't be gone in a few bites and would last longer as a result.
Dearie's Oriental Chicken Thigh, served with butter rice. To me, the chicken was pretty alright, nothing too fantastic, but yummy nonetheless. I can't discern the marinade, but it was nice nonetheless. The butter rice was nothing to shout about though. We expected it to be more flavourful but there was little more than a hint of buttery fragrance, not much taste.
Oxtail stew served with butter rice (choice of rice, spaghetti or mashed potatoes) Oxtail stew done just right is lovely. The meat is firm enough that it clings to the bone yet tender enough that it absorbs the surrounding gravy, and with the little bits of fat, almost melt in your mouth. Did I mention? The gravy was yummy too :)Verdict: We both enjoyed dinner at the Grapevine (and managed to linger there for 3 hours!) The steaks look quite value for money the next time we come - as I'm pretty sure we will come again in future. P/s, I love the lighting, sofa seats and the big hanging snowflakes in the restaurant/cafe side of the establishment. The dessert menu seemed a bit sparse though, for a cafe. Only about 5 or 6 choices. But actual food-wise, and atmosphere (even on the bar side) is more than satisfactory.
I'm back with another pig-out entry. It's been some time since the last one :) Dearie and I were having an indulgence day in addition to accumulating receipts to amount to $88 to apply for the TCC membership card. So here we are: pics galore! :D
The 3 main courses! Hot and freshly made!
Smoked Salmon Linguine Thermidor. I thought it was a little dry - I'm used to pastas with more sauce. But it certainly is fragrant, and the smoked salmon is plentiful. More than needed for the pasta really :) And the shaved Parmesan (shaved!! Not powdered!!) was a nice touch too.
Beef Mozza-Tofu. We were a little hesitant about ordering this at first, but no regrets! The beef and smooth tofu mixed really well with the sukiyaki sauce, and the thick layer of mozzarella cheese on top was perfect. It tasted great with the papadums (snitched from the sandwich platter)
tcc TMH Sandwich. Really thick, crusty toast..Normally I don't like the crust all that much, but this one is done just right - crisp, yet not to the point of a scrapped palate. The sandwich contains tomato slices, mango slices and ham (and some veggie, I forgot what) Sour, sweet and salty blended together well, I thought. Plus mango, almost always good :)
Peach Melba tea. Very fragrant. After all the rich food, we could hardly discern any taste, but the hot drink was very welcome since the air-conditioner was very cold. Towards the end, as it got more concentrated, a slight fruity taste (slightly sour and acidic) could be found. Refreshing :)
Devil's Chocolate Cake. Ooh! My new favourite there (it used to be Dark Devotion)! It's rich, it's decadent, and oh-so-yummy! The rich bitter chocolate mousse blends well with the cake-y bottom layer and is offset a little by the thin layer of berries in the middle. Simply sinful, but I'm in love with it already.
And the prettiest of them all: Light Strawberry Mousseline. It was great after all the richness of the food above. It was light, fluffy and definitely not cloyingly sweet. Indeed, there was even a touch of sourness to it that I liked. Little thin slivers of strawberries in the cup to go with the bottom few mouthfuls. And enough fruit and chocolate to go with every mouthful of the mousse. And the presentation is so pretty! I'd love it even just for that. Luckily there was no need to - it tasted as good as it looked! :)*Missing from the pictures: Mint-choc frappe, which was a little dilute, with hardly any mint taste. Not something I would order again*Verdict: We enjoyed this meal a lot, truly. The pasta could have been better, as could have been the Mint-choc frappe we ordered but didn't take a photo of, but other than that, we were happy and satisfied lil' piggies :)
(From left to right) Tropical Kiwi, and Mango Smoothie! I love the kiwi, just the right amount of sweetness and tartness for me. The mango one Dearie had was a tad too sweet for my taste, and a little thick as well. Extra points for the cute mug though. Looks like a glass jar with a handle attached. I want!! :D
Taiwanese-style Fried Chicken - part of the appetisers menu. Little bite-sized (sometimes bigger) pieces of chicken freshly fried in batter. It's great for making it last haha, because there is more of it. It was a little chewy instead of crisp, but still was yummy! Chilli sauce accompanies it.
BBQ Bacon Rolls! Ooh man we both loved this so much! Chewy bacon with some crunchy veggie rolled inside, basted with BBQ sauce! Yummy! We wanted to order it again after dinner instead of the Taiwanese chicken, but decided on the chicken instead because it wouldn't be gone in a few bites and would last longer as a result.
Dearie's Oriental Chicken Thigh, served with butter rice. To me, the chicken was pretty alright, nothing too fantastic, but yummy nonetheless. I can't discern the marinade, but it was nice nonetheless. The butter rice was nothing to shout about though. We expected it to be more flavourful but there was little more than a hint of buttery fragrance, not much taste.
Oxtail stew served with butter rice (choice of rice, spaghetti or mashed potatoes) Oxtail stew done just right is lovely. The meat is firm enough that it clings to the bone yet tender enough that it absorbs the surrounding gravy, and with the little bits of fat, almost melt in your mouth. Did I mention? The gravy was yummy too :)
