Tag Archive for Boat Quay

Enoteco L’Operetta Boat Quay Dinner

The May Day Bank Holiday was on Thursday, and this coincidently was the day I returned from my Phuket holiday, so I decided that I should ‘try’ to go back to work on the Friday…yes it did feel weird, and of course was ‘tough going’ – haha! But at least I could catch-up with my colleagues, and clear through my email box…

Relaxing at Enoteco L'Operetta

Relaxing at Enoteco L’Operetta

Friday afternoon came very quickly, and I had arranged a nice drinks and dinner gathering with a few work colleagues and a friend. We ventured down Boat Quay (the tourist trap), and got to the end, where we found an intriguing but very interesting place called Enoteco L’Operetta – it looked very formal and up-market, but seemed very a delightful Italian restaurant, so we decided to give it a go. It had a nice ambience, and we sure got to relax and chill…and for me reminisce the nice holiday break away. It also gave me an opportunity to start thinking where to go for the next one 🙂 hehe!

Anyway, the food was good, service was superb, and it wasn’t too pricey, for this type of upmarket place this turned out to be.  I certainly would suggest venturing towards the end of Boat Quay and give this place a go – you will be pleasantly surprised how good it is!  5 stars indeed!

Enoteca L’Operetta
78-79 Boat Quay
Singapore 049866
Telephone: +65 6438 2482
URL: http://www.operetta.sg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Enoteca.LOperetta

St Paddy’s Weekend

Well having just arrived back from the UK, it was fortunate that the timing was just perfect for St Paddy’s Day.  The partying was extended from the Friday, 14th March through to the Monday, 17th March – which was the official St Patrick’s Day.

I was planning to take it easy, but I knew it was going to be a mad one – and it certainly was.  It started on the Saturday, with a nice session down Boat Quay at the traditional and infamous Irish Pub, Molly Malone’s (the original/first and oldest Irish Pub in Singapore), with an ex-colleague.  He had to leave after a few drinks, so I then caught up with another ex-colleague and his group of friends who were arriving in Boat Quay, and the Guinness just flowed all night – yes it was quite messy.  It involved a McD towards the end of the night to help solidify the Guinness that was mixing around in my stomach.  For some reason (maybe because I didn’t mix drinks), I was quite tired the next morning, but I did not have a hangover or headache (phew!).  I took it easy on the Sunday, relaxed and chilled – to try to recovery.

On the Monday, I met up with a few colleagues from work, and another lass that I met at a previous pub quiz – we stayed around the Blarney’s Irish Pub at the Marina Bay Sail, drinking throughout the evening and night.  We continued drinking and then we decided to pop along to Boat Quay to play some pool at a Public House, another British-themed park just off Circular Road, we ate some food (again to help line the stomach – or should be cap the stomach) and then we called it a night after a few more drinks.  

Wow, what a way to spend St Paddy’s day…!!

Internations Event – Professionals @ Hombre, Boat Quay

I joined Internations about 3 months ago as part of my aim to network in Singapore – and it’s a great forum of interests and general gatherings.

This particular one was called “Professional”, so it was a good way to get into the more business-related network scene. The location was ‘Hombre Cantina’, a new Mexican Bar in Boat Quay. It was located about 3/4 of the way down, an stretch I never usually go to, so it was good to take this opportunity to see what is in and out of Boat Quay.

I went quite early, and got chatting to the boss of the new bar, and they had yet to accept Amex, so decided to do my sales pitch – well anything for the blue box. I then went to a table with my drink, as the other Internations folks arrived. It was a huge event, but the right number of people turned up…possibly about 50 in all.

The table I was on became one of the bigger groups with about 8-10 people gathering to together – from all backgrounds. I spoke with a Jamican guy, a lady who recently joined Ethiopian Airlines, and other folks – all very interesting people, and it was an enjoyable night.

Hombre Cantina
53 Boat Quay
Singapore, 049842
URL: http://www.hombrecantina.com
Phone: +65 6438 6708

Molly Malone – Drinks and Freebies

Last time I went to Molly Malone, they were offering free Guinness T-shirts as part of a 3-day promotion. Unfortunately, they ran out on the evening of the first day – which was a slightly poor show.

After I complained to them, they admitted that they didn’t plan the promotion that well, although stating they were on a first come, first serve basis. Either way, they invited me to join their 18th anniversary drinks, and offered to have a few drinks on the house – wow that’s amazing to celebrate the success of another Irish pub that has been in Singapore for that long! Although 1995 felt like yesterday, it was certainly a life-time ago now 🙂 haha!

Anyway, I went to Molly with a mate, and we enjoyed a few round of drinks on the house – as a way of apologising over the offer glitch.

It was quite a nice session, a great location, I just wish it was slightly closer to the office – haha!

Molly Malone Irish Pub
56 Circular Road
Singapore 049411
Tel: +65 6536 2029
URL: http://www.molly-malone.com

Mad Men Attic Bar – Circular Road

A group of us previously aimed to visit Mad Men Attic Bar a few weeks back – having just opened earlier this year, but our visit was postponed due to various timing challenges, so we managed to get another date sorted.

The bar is located at North Canal Road, near to Boat Quay and Circular Road, but it is tucked away from the main street – so you definitely need to know where to go before you go 🙂 It is actually quite a nice place – mainly due being positioned as a roof-top bar, above some shop houses. It has a great buzz up there, but it is quite an intimate place, so the main outside sitting area is very popular.

We cocktails were pretty good, although the food is quite ‘interesting’ – they are trying to ‘posh’ up the food, which in my opinion is not needed.  I just wanted ordinary fries, not one soaked with truffle oil – whilst it’s ‘nice’, it is simply a bit too over-powering for me (personally)…especially when you are just after the classic ‘fries’ taste.   The life music was pretty good too, with some great tunes sounding out, however I would say due to the limited space, it was probably a bit too loud to really ‘enjoy’, as you struggled to hold a conversation above the music.

Service is also a bit hit and miss too – I think they need more staff, and the issue is also that you can’t tell who is a staff member and who is joe-public – sometimes they serve you at the table, other times you have to go to the bar to order – it’s just a bit too hit and miss for my liking…especially when you also try to identify the bar staff – haha!  In fact, two of us tried to get the attention of passing guests, rather than staff, who looked at us blankly – whoops 🙂

Anyway, it’s worth to pay a visit, but I think it’s a one hit wonder.

The Mad Men Attic Bar
11 North Canal Road #03-02
Singapore 048826
Tel: +65 6222 3529
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Mad-Men-Attic-Bar/468047046574709

Pub Lunch Plus Cycling Along East Coast Park

I decided to spend a day contemplating a few things in my head, so decided to leave my apartment and have a nice Sunday Roast – something that “feels like home”, whilst allowing me to watch the world go by and think things clearly in my head. With some recent challenges at work, I felt it was good to just have a bit of ‘me time’. Oh and 2 pints of Guinness helped too – haha!

After experiencing the East Coast Park cycle way during my secondment in 2011, I wanted to make it a more regular thing. It’s another nice way to keep fit, and also sweat the stress out of the system…and the scenery is quite nice too! 🙂

It costs something like $8, $12 or $14 dollars (for 1hr, 2hr or 3hr durations), so I decided to do a ride as far eastward I could get for 2 hours. It was perfect, because you actually go eastward and go along the cycle way until you reach the Changi area – and it’s just sooo relaxing and out of the busy city life, so you really just open your mind. I almost forgot about the time though, as what goes east, must go west – for a cycle loop – ha! Luckily I made it back, and it took just shy of 2 hours – perfect!

Very enjoyable…am keen to get a few others along too, as it is better with company!

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