Marche Christmas

Holaa! Feliz Navidad!

So last weekend, me, my sister – @noviabenny and her fiance – @yondythong had a Christmas Dinner at Marche, and it’s awesomeeee! Heard about it a few times and looking at the location and the always-there crowd, I always have the impression this place is one of those fancy restaurants with ceiling-high price, definitely not my everyday eatery! But hey, It’s Christmas!

Being a first-timer, I was pleasantly surprised by the restaurant concept. Turns out it’s somewhat like a European food-court where each person will be given a card upon entering [forget to take a snap of this card] and there are lots of stalls selling different kinds of European delis: Pastas, Pizzas, Paellas [their Seafood paella was AMAZING!], Steaks, Pork Knuckle, Rosti [apparently their rosti is quite ell-known], Salads, Soups, Drinks, Cakes, etc!

Take a peek at what’s inside:

THE famous Swiss Rosti

THE star of the night, Seafood Paella

DAT SEAFOOD PAELLA THOOO….!!
That’s arguably the best paella in town, but legit the best one I’ve had! By default, it came with prawns, chicken and mussel, then the guy asked if we want to add pan-fried calamari for $2.5. YAAAASSS OF COURSE!! and I’m happy we did! Very flavorful and rice was nice & plump. Not the kind where the rice is mostly dry and stick to the pan.

Now you might or might not have heard [or read] people talking about their Rosti, and some even went to the extent of saying it’s like a compulsory thing, it feels like there’s something missing if you go to marche without ordering their famous rosti. so, of course, we got Ourself one too! With sausages! IMHO, I’d say it’s not worth the hype. I mean it’s okay, eatable. Not horrible but not amazing either. How did it taste like? Pan-fried small-cut potato. That’s about it.

Other than these two, we had Salmon Steak, Mushroom Soup, Garlic Bread, and the Tiramisu Cake as well as the lemon tea too! Most of them are – as expected – not bad. These things feed the three of us well. We're tempted to get the pork knuckle as well, but I’m glad we didn’t, or else it’ll be such a burden to finish.

If I am to come back, I will definitely say it’s the Paella!

OH! one more thing, despite having a nice ambiance, it was quite hard to take a well-lit picture in there. Perhaps it’s for you to enjoy the moment – be there, talk, catch up – instead of being busy taking pics.

Here’s a little video of our visit:

Merry Christmas!! Have a Blessed one!

Marché Mövenpick 313@somerset

313 Orchard Rd, Level 1, Discovery Walk,
313@somerset, 313@Somerset

Open until 11:00 PM

Average/Pax S$30-40

Follow me on Instagram @anthony.ali for more recent updates!

Merry Medley at Flower Dome

MERRY CHRISTMAAAASSSSS EVERYONEEEE....
YASSS... we're in the most wonderful time of the yeaaaarrrrrrr...
when Starbucks Redcup is everywhere, roads and shopping malls are ssssoo pretty full of Christmas decorations and lights, and of course, Christmas carols everywhere...

Have you visited Merry Medley at Flower dome by Gardens by The Bay???
I DID! and it was pretty...! [Hurry, it's only until 5Jan]

Here's the thing about Christmas decoration [or in this case, installations] they're pretty in bright day-light, but prettier by folds when the night comes -- talking about the magical feeling when those fairy lights shining in the dark. [Not to mention in a full air-conditioned dome, with christmas carols playing non-stop.

Now if you're like me -- love them both, but find it hard to take nice pics with the lights behind. I'd usually opt to take 'em while the sky's bright, and take some of the decorations itself when the sun's out. With this in mind, If you're planning to visit, i would strongly recommend you to come at around 4 or 5pm [like we did]. This way, you'll get to see the installation in bright day and night condition.

If you're a Singapore resident -- Singaporean, PR, and long-term pass holders -- you are entitled to buy the tickets at a local price [check the prices here]. Better yet, use your OCBC Card and enjoy a good 15% off of your ticket(s). In Our case, we choose to go to Flower Dome only -- cause they don't have any christmas installation in the cloud dome, and i've been there -- and the local price for single dome is S$12. with 15% OCBC discount, it's S$10.20 ONLY! #lovestruck

Here are our tickets:

However, for tourists, I wouldn't recommend buying the tickets on the spot. Take time and contact a travel agency, like seawheel here -- located at Chinatown. More likely than not you'll get better offer. Last time I checked, they sell a two-dome ticket at S$18 each [u.p. S$28 on the counter]. That's a direct S$10 off there..!

Here's some peeks:

sssooo pretty, yeah? 😍

Them reflections 🌌

PS: If you're going by MRT, make sure you alight at Bayfront station [not Marina Bay -- I know it's behind Marina Bay Hotel, but trust me. Bayfront.]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Follow me on Instagram @anthony.ali for more recent updates!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

HAMBAOBAO..!

Hi There..
Been yet-another while, hasn't it?

So i went to the newly-famous Hambaobao the other day, and here's how it went!

Located at the hawker centre on top of Beauty World Centre, this place can easily reached using MRT. Make your move and conveniently alight at Beauty World station [Downtown Line - Blue Line], walk under the sheltered walkway to the building, and take the escalator all the way to the top!

Surprisingly this stall has been around for quite a while, got famous recently -- mostly thanks to Night Owl Cinematic, Dee Kosh, The Smart Local [and EatBook SG], also tons of bloggers, intagrammers, and of course people who watch them. [Talkin' bout the power of SocMed].

I reached at around 12.46pm and here's how it looked like

Waited for around 40mins to GET MY ORDERS TAKEN, Here's the menu:

i mean, just look at the prices!!!!

My orders was taken around 1.40pm, upon taking my order i was informed that it'll be ready at 2.50pm! that's another 1hr+. Well.. being crazy hungry, it was too late for me to back off -- yet too long for me to wait, so i went and stuffed myself a good plate of pan-fried dumplings AND a few Xiao Long Bao from another stall.

Finally the wait was over, and here are our order:

Star of the day a.k.a their best seller -- Roasted Pork Burger.

Now about this one, they're slayin roasted pork game STRONG. Like let's not talk about this being a fusion food or sth, the roasted pork itself was winning compared to other roasted pork from most hawker centres [and possibly restaurants]. SO Crispy yet juicy, and flavourful! What interesting is, they make it on the spot. like literally, legit roasting it from raw meat.

Here's a closer look of the roasted pork:

Here's a short video on where to find them! :)

Do visit them on weekdays if you can, cause one of my friend told me he visited them on weekday lunch and there were NO QUEUE! Also take note of their opening hours and days below:

HamBaoBao
144 Upper Bukit Timah #04-49 Beauty World Centre
Singapore 588177

Open Wed-Sun 12-8 PM
Closed on Mon and Tue.


Lastbutnotleast, do follow me on instagram @anthony.ali for more recent updates and quick reviews! :)
Thankssss

WWIM13 x Singapore [with @ExploreSingapore]

How's your weekend??

Mine? Touristy..!

So last sunday, I went to my very first World-Wide Insta Meet [WWIM] hosted by @exploreSingapore at The Fullerton Heritage.

Together with my friend, we unexpectedly came early -- good for us, we were entitled a free Heritage Trail Tour!

Never knew that Fullerton was such a powerful building that served as post office, and several important ministries simultaneously. Even before that, during British colonial time, it was an important building for the government. Fun fact: during this time -- even as a government property -- it has a private club, billiard room, and several suites! cool, huh?!

Now that! Was a touristy weekend.

Honestly, the first half of the tour was proven not-so-exciting for a lot of participants -- as around 2/3 of them gone before we reached the 'woaaaaahhh' part. It was quite fascinating to me tho! [a foreigner who never really learnt about Singapore's history -- perhaps.]

Now about this woaah part. So as the tour nearing to end, we were brought up to lv. 4, where the billiard room was [now it's a private dining hall], lv. 8 where we have access to Lighthouse -- a luxurious Italian restaurant with wonderful view of Marina Bay area. AND this rooftop wine bar where the wind breeze, and you get a wonderful no-boundaries view of marina bay area.

Marina Bay from The Fullerton Hotel rooftop -- The Lighthouse wine bar.

I'm grateful we came early that day. I mean we made a few new friends there, but to me, the highlight of the event was really the tour. Learnt new things, get the access to such restaurant [not sure when else i can get these kind of opportunity -- honestly].

The Lighthouse

Taking candle-light dinner to a whole new level. [esp. if she loves italian food]

View from the former "Billiard Room"

Free snacks at the end of the event.

Lastly, do check out and follow my instagram @anthony.ali for more -- mostly food -- updates. :)

The Cold Pantry

Go black never go back. they say..

Today I'll be talking about my lil experience visiting this small-highly popular ice cream cafe at rangoon road [yes! Highly popular -- even with Indonesian food bloggers]. Guessed it right? The Cold Pantry. [that's what the title say, isn't it? #lol]

You can see some of their posts here and here.

I planned to write about this after my 1st visit [cause honestly i didn't know if i i will ever come back] but now, I'm glad that i haven't.

Why? cause if i did, i'll only have 1 menu to write about! [at least i have 2 now] XD

This was the reason i first visited the cafe:

Chocolate Root Beer [S$12.50]
Chocolate flavoured waffle with cake like texture, served with charcoal vanilla ice cream, drizzled with -- the amazing -- homemade chocolate root beer sauce.

Plus, I like how the cashier explained to me -- in advance -- my order to make sure i know what am i ordering. In this case, she told me that the chocolate waffle was the cake-is kind, not the very crispy kind. I personally find that this kind of little things MATTERS. It gets you thinking "they're not trying to trick you".

Taste wise, it's AAAAWEEESSSSOOOOMEEEE!!! that root beer sauce was brilliant!! Unexpectedly compliments the whole thing very well.

Indeed, that very menu was also the one that brought me back.

This time, they've added some more interesting creations, they're so good, why bother question their new babies? BUT we only wanted to order 2, so we asked about her -- the cashier -- opinion regarding Pink Velvet and Lavender, she told us that their lavender soft serve is kinda a bit too flower-ish for guys, but it's highly popular with girls. Then she kindly gave us a bit of the lavender soft serve, and again -- she knows what she's selling. #yourawk!

so we decided to order the signature,

And this:

Pink Velvet [S$14.00]
Rose infused crispy waffle, served with luscious [charcoal] Lychee Ice Cream, topped with lychee and fruit loops

Pretty, isn't it?

Honestly when i read the description, i didn't expect the lychee soft serve will appears in black as well..

here's some more pics of us enjoying both of our orders.

"aiyaaahh... no time for pretty shot lah... melting already!!" x_x

Told ya it's pink!

If you notice, they have replaced their old waffle machine with the new -- rectangle -- one. [personally, i like the round one better tho, but.. nobigdeal, ya?]

As expected, the Pink Velvet was beautiful -- for both your camera, and tastebuds. Lychee soft serve was light, refreshing, not overly sweet, texture was sssoooo smooth... lychee and fruit loops? Yes please!

Now i have 2 reasons to come back.

Honestly, I would say the price range wasn't exactly budget-friendly, but if you just like to try something nice, and have somebody who love the idea of sharing dessert [cause..you know, share the calories thing.] this would be a great place to visit.

Here are some other snaps i took during the visit:

interior

Menu as per March 2016

Opening Hours

Bonus:

Since it's not exactly very noticeable, here's how the outside look like. download, capture, anything. just don't miss it! :)

==========================

The Cold Pantry

131 Rangoon Road, Singapore

Instagram @TheColdPantry

==========================

If you enjoy this, you might want to check my instagram at @anthony.ali for more updated reviews and eatery! [as i'm waaaayyy more active there] :D THANKSS...