Tag Archive for Brunch

My Birthday Celebration at Equinox

26 October 2014 Family and Friends, Food No comments

Well we had decided to schedule a family birthday dinner (with my mum and dad) at a nice restaurant in Singapore – so we decided to do a brunch at Equinox within the Swissôtel The Stamford (City Hall) – which also allows me to utilise my Far Card discount card – which results in 20% of food (as we had 5-10 adults), and 25% of drinks. My aunt and cousin also decided to come across, and I invited my girlfriend too – so there was 6 of us in total.

The Sunday Brunch at the Equinox was pretty good – a great location at the 74th floor of the Swissôtel The Stamford, and we did certainly enjoy the Singapore views from up above.

As it was the last Sunday of the month, there was a Pink theme to the brunch – so the usual Brunch price of $158++ per person was increased to $178++ per person – but with unlimited Moët & Chandon Rosé Impérial, house red or white wines, specialty cocktails and a selection of beers (instead of the classic Moët & Chandon Impérial). Anyway, I tried to get the normal price, as I wasn’t really keen to go pink for my birthday, but they said there was no choice as it was a special pink theme. Anyway, at least I would get a discount about 1/5 off (with the Far Card), so it wasn’t all bad.

The food was pretty good – however, the selection was as good as a couple of hour brunch places (St Regis and Mandarin Oriental seemed to be better), but it was still very tasty and very enjoyable!

What was a dampener was the Roast Beef, a couple of us got a couple of slices and we tucked in, however, there was this really funny taste too – as if it the meat was rotten or gone off. I am not sure why, but never smelt or tasted beef as bad as this. Anyway, I went to speak to the chef servicing the hot meat table, and he summounded the head chef, whilst we waited, we enjoyed the rest of the meal. After a few minutes, we noticed that head chef came, tasted the meet, and then took the whole slab of meet away back to the kitchen, whilst they replaced it with another (which tasted far better). The Equinox restaurant manager then came to speak with us, and apologised for this and stated it must have been the supplier etc. I explained that unfortunately it doesn’t matter, as it is the Swissôtel was the one cooking and serving it to the public. Anyway, we relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the meal and then we requested the bill.

After a few minutes, the bill arrived, but there was nothing provided as a gesture due to the off meat. I asked to speak to the restaurant manager and asked him that they should offer something as a way of apologising, he asked me what I wanted, and I told him that it was for him to determine. He agreed and I left for them to consider the offer. After a while the he came back and returned my Amex credit card and stated that the meal was on him – wow! That was not what I was expecting, but I felt it was a great gesture, albeit too much to accept. He apologised again for the issues with the meat, and the F&B also turned up to offer an explanation and also apologised – I did state that all it required was for one customer to complain to the NEA, and they would come and shut down the place – so I sense they realised the severity of it. I just hope no one gets ill because of this – as I know there was other tables eating the meat.

I accepted the offer, but did give about $200 tip for the servicing staff, as I know it wasn’t there fault and they would not receive any service tip from our table otherwise. He accepted it, and said he will make sure the staff received it.

It was a bit of a weird birthday meal – but unfortunately, these things do happen. At least they did the honourable thing and accepted the issue – at the same time, we made quite a saving off the whole meal – wow! What a birthday meal that was!

Swissôtel The Stamford
Equinox Restaurant
2 Stamford Road
Singapore 178882
Tel: +65 6338 8585
Reservations: +65 6837 3322
URL: http://www.equinoxrestaurant.com.sg

The Reading Room Cafe – Brunch (6th Oct)

7 October 2014 Food No comments
The Reading Room

The Reading Room

Another nice find – after going for a stroll around Tiong Bahru, we stumbled upon a nice reading-room-turn-cafe, along Bukit Pasoh Road.

It was a nice setting, and as we tucked into our Sunday Brunch and Tea, we grabbed a book or two to read away and enjoy the peaceful setting that it is.

Food quality was good, although the service was a bit slow. But overall it was a nice experience in a different but relaxing environment.

 

The Reading Room
19 Bukit Pasoh Road
Singapore 089833
Tel: +65 6220 9019
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thereadingroom.com.sg

Alkaff Mansion Summer Black Truffle Prosecco Brunch (3rd Aug)

3 August 2014 Food No comments

A friend of us noticed that there was a special Black Truffle brunch at Alkaff Mansion, so we decided to book and give it a go – it sounds soooooooo delightful, so we just hoped it was going to be a great setting and selection of food.

The place is located at Telok Blangah Green and it was easy to get too. Once we arrived, we were slightly early, so we ventured around the delightful house and it’s grounds, very relaxing indeed, away from the hustle and bustle of Singapore life. We met-up with the other guests and we were then led up to our table.

The selection of appetizers, main course, salads, desserts, and cheese was just scrumptious – not bad for S$108++.

We ate, we ate and we ate – and of course this was all topped up with considerable amounts of Prosecco.

The meal, the service and of course the company – was just fabulous. I would recommend a visit to Alkaff for their usual Prosecco Brunch (at S$88++) because their food selection is very good, and I would definitely recommend a visit, if you are lucky enough to visit when they have the Black Truffles – do give it a go 🙂

Alkaff Mansion Ristorante
10 Telok Blangah Green
Singapore 109178
Tel: +65 6510 3068
URL: http://www.alkaff.com.sg
E-mail: enquiry@alkaff.com.sg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AlkaffMansion

Aaron acts as a tour guide

20 January 2014 Entertainment, Exercise, Exhibition, Family and Friends, Gardens, Marina Bay No comments

Well what an interesting start of the year, an ex-colleague from the UK office was in town, as she was now working on a project that related to Singapore. It was great that she was able to come out and meet her team, whilst at the same time, we managed to enjoy the sights and sounds of Singapore over the weekend – Aaron became the tour guide for the weekend 🙂

She was in town for about a week, and it was good to see an familiar face and catch-up on the latest happenings from the UK and my old team – it sounded like a lot of change since I left over a year ago. I do kinda miss the UK and Brighton teams, but actually I don’t really miss the work.

So on Saturday, I commenced the tour from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the north side of Marina Bay, we then walked along the promenade towards Boat Quay and the Fullerton hotel, we headed across towards China Town, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Year of the Horse – as we headed into the Chinese New Year festive period. After that, we took the MRT and went across to Marina Bay Sands, taking the sights and sounds of this landmark. We had a bite to eat at the MBS food court – like any tourist does these days. I then noticed that there was this Ice exhibition on, called 2 Degree Ice Art – in an area just outside of the main MBS facilities. So we went in here, the tickets were a bit pricey at S$32 a ticket, but at least my mum (who was joining us for the tour) was able to register with a Senior ticket (at S$26). The exhibition centre then had the audacity to ask whether we wanted coat and gloves…we asked what temperature was inside, and they said -15oC. I don’t think we had much choice as we were wearing summer-ware!! Anyway, they charged us another S$5 each…making the whole session a total of S$105. Ouch! It was fun inside, and a nice way to see the various monuments of the world calved into Ice Sculptures. We then headed back into MBS, and we decided to do a bit of retail therapy. I got a nice pair of Hush Puppies shoes – very comfortable and reasonable, and a nice selection.

We then had a couple of options, head towards the original Botanic Gardens, or visit the Gardens By the Bay. I decided that we should do this, so we headed there, which is a short walk from the MBS complex. There was a nice Dragon dance within the gardens which was very entertaining (I do wonder what these guys do for the rest of the year!!). We then continued our walk around the gardens until we arrived at the 2 domes, we went to the ticket line. I had my ‘free’ pass, and I then tried to see if there was any ‘senior’ tickets, they said only for local residents, which was a shame. Anyway, I then had this brainwave, and as local / EP-visa holders was slightly cheaper, I pretended to buy one for myself (even though I already had an annual pass entitling me free access), so I got one expensive (S$28), one cheap (S20) and I had my own annual pass …haha! a bit crafty – but that’s me 🙂 If no one tells, I won’t!!

We went into the two domes, I do feel that the flower one is better, as they change the displays to the current themes etc. The first time I went, they had a tulips display, previously it was the horse display, similar to this time. But still nice all the same. The Cloud dome was a bit boring, but was refreshing inside at least.

After this, we headed back towards the hotel across the Helix bridge, just as they were doing some sort of art projection on the ArtsScience museum monument. Very nice indeed, it was like they were throwing paint across it in time with the music. A great show! We then went to the hotel, and relaxed at the bar, and then said our farewells.

On the Sunday, it was more of an Orchard Road tour, so we met up for Brunch at the Wild Honey at Scotts Square location – very nice and tasty indeed. We did a relaxing walk down Orchard Road, being part of the hustle and bustle of the Sunday afternoon. A bit of window shopping and retail therapy throughout the sprawling malls and shops along the road, before we ended up at an interesting wine bar just off Orchard Road – the House of Robert Timms – an interesting spot, as you can watch the world go by and enjoy coffee (or wine, in our case) and chill and relax. We then made on our way, a nice way to end the Singapore tour and the busy weekend 🙂

Brunch at Toby Estate

22 April 2013 Food No comments

A Sunday is not the same without eating a Roast or Brunch – so I decided for the Brunch on Sunday.

I heard a lot of about Toby’s Estate along Robertson Quay, so I open an invite to get a group of friends from work to come along.  In the end, only 3 of us decided to go – but I think it was a good number, as it is a busy place, and large groups are a bit manic to organise.

Toby has a reputation for its coffee – so we definitely ensure we enjoyed that, as well as the food.  I opted for the Toby Special – basically a light fry up with a bit of everything – very tasty.  We ended with a delicious cheesecake.  I am so glad we decided to sit inside, as during our brunch, the heavens opened and the rain continued for a good hour and a half.  We decided to walk along to enjoy a nice alcoholic beverage, before we called it a day and headed back to Clarke Quay and the MRT.

What a delightful session – definitely up for more brunching soon 🙂

Toby’s Estate Café
8 Rodyk Street #01-03/04
Singapore 238216
Tel:      +65 6636 7629
Email:  rodykst@tobysestate.com.sg
URL:    http://www.tobysestate.com.sg

 

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