Wednesday 29 June 2011

Lunch at the Garden

You must know by now how much I love nature, food and my friends. Well, I was in Seventh Heaven when a few of us gathered for lunch at Halia Restaurant in The Botanic Gardens!

Even though the restaurant is tucked away in the lush Ginger Garden, walking there in the light drizzle was a most pleasant experience.

How can one not enjoy the beauty of the plants and flowers along the way?


When the trickle turned into a downpour, I made a quick dash into Halia Restaurant. In case you're wondering, Halia is the Malay word for ginger.

Dining in a glass house situated amongst greenery is so relaxing, especially when it's pouring outside.

Two of my friends were already seated. Another one was stranded at the bus stop. Luckily the rain stopped just as quickly as it started and she arrived before our tummies started to growl.

The lunch menu looked so good, we wanted to order everything! According to my friends, the tuna tataki (below) did not disappoint.

My appetiser - prawn cakes with mango salsa - turned out to be surprisingly succulent and flavourful. The lightly pan-fried patties went very well with the tangy mango cubes.

For the main course, they had grilled beef sandwich and chilli crab spaghetti.

My choice of seafood skewers was a good one. The scallop, prawn, mussel and cuttlefish were tender and delicious. The couscous that came together was also very nicely done. I would order this again if I return.

The portions here aren't too big, leaving us with enough room for dessert. The Cappuccino Dunking Pit was slightly bitter but the crunchy and sweet brownies made the dessert complete.

We also tried the restaurant's signature dessert- ginger nougat ice cream with roasted pineapple. Its unique sweet and gingery flavour made it an instant hit with my friends.

Our fun-filled afternoon was suddenly interrupted by phone calls and all too soon, we had to part ways to return to the real world. Spending an afternoon with good friends is such an indulgence for busy women like us. If only we could do this on a more regular basis.

5 comments:

Wen-ai said...

Nice! Halia is also one of my fav restaurants! ;)

Blur Ting said...

Wen-ai - It's now one of my favorite restaurants too!

Open Kitchen Concept said...

I really enjoyed myself too! It's nice to catch up. I agree... we had to part too soon!

Malar said...

Look good!

charlie hotel said...

Fwah!

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