Sunday, 9 May 2010

Sweet ending

We've had some pretty mediocre meals during our recent Friday outings.

One week, we were too tired to drive out to town, so we wound up at a nearby cafe with a nice ambience. Too bad that restaurant didn't leave a good impression. Not just the food but the service. The worst thing was, they refused to serve us water even after we've ordered food, dessert, beer, soda and a cafe latte.

The following week, we decided to eat at a new Japanese restaurant in Kovan. The sashimi platter didn't appeal in taste and presentation - the fish was sliced way too thick. I can't even remember what else we ate. It was that forgettable.

During our next outing, I suddenly developed a craving for Swenson's ice cream. Maybe I was feeling nostalgic because mum used to treat us to sundaes at Swenson's when we were young. We thought we could avoid the crowd by going to the new outlet at Changi Airport T3. Goodness, we were wrong.

What happened to the dimly lit (stained glass lamps) restaurants with the high-back benches? The restaurant at T3 is bright, open and busy. The tables are set very close to each other. We were seated near the entrance. People were streaming in and out the entire evening. Soon the line of hungry people waiting outside the restaurant were staring at my chicken burger and CH's steak. It was worse than eating at a foodcourt. We felt too uncomfortable to stay for ice cream.

We drove to T1 to find that the outlet has relocated to T2. We took the sky train over to witness the longest queue ever outside a restaurant. Since when did Swenson's become so popular? By then, we were so deflated, we settled for coke at Burger King.

Determined to put an end to our bad spell, we decided to brave the traffic and head to Dempsey Hill last Friday. We ate at BARRACKS, a chic cafe with a menu that reflects a modern nouveau naturelle cuisine, bringing together the freshest ingredients with a global appeal.

It's also the place where the young and beautiful congregate. There was a 21st birthday celebration going on, and we spotted several groups of fashionable ladies sipping ice wine. It's the new place to see and be seen.

The food was fabulous too. The highly acclaimed ahi taki salad, which is sauteed tuna chunks mixed in a tangy dressing of port-wine soaked raisins, pistachio, tomatoes and the freshest greens, packs quite a punch.

Picture from Barrack's menu.

Another highly recommended dish is the Jamaican jerk pork tenderloin, which is super tender pork served with peach and cranberry chutney, roasted garlic potatoes and veggies.

I particularly love the bay shrimp capellini (Rich prawn Bolognese, braised baby leeks, micro herbs, pecorino cheese shavings and chili) which is so aromatic and flavourful, I could eat it everyday if I can afford it.

When the dessert menu arrived, we were stumped. Everything looked so sinfuly good, we had to ask for recommendations. Finally, we settled for this triple chocolate concoction (below) and frozen nougat (is that what it's called?).

The desserts may be too sweet but finally, we had a sweet ending!

6 comments:

auntielucia said...

Ohhhh just the sort of food I'll die for! Will KIV Barracks for later this month!

Blur Ting said...

Auntie Lucia - Yup, I am sure you will like this place. The ambience is really nice too. High ceiling, glass walls that look out to lush greenery, artistic decor and finishing touches...

JY69 said...

That sounded lovely. Sometimes good food is worth the wait! It's too bad when you go through a bad spell of bad restaurants :(

charlie hotel said...

Iced nougat...

The Real Mother Hen said...

Oh, the pictures and your description make me hungry :)

Can't believe the one restaurant didn't want to give you a glass of water. Gee!!!

Open Kitchen Concept said...

Yummy! I have to go Dempsy one of these days!

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