Shuutravels

Curious Palette just opened along Prinsep Street a few months ago. Having seen a few lovely photos of their waffles and upon knowing of the fact that they stock truffle sweet potato fries, I decided to visit this curious establishment to check out their food and catch up with some friends.


We ordered some mains & sides to share but ufortunately, their waffles seems to be the best part of the menu despite spending more than $30 per pax there today. Pricey, definitely. I also ordered a glass of Gewurztraminer ($9), usually a lovely wine with an addictively fragrant bouquet but the one they had was only meh. On the bright side, $9 for wine is relatively cheap, but unfortunately not the most value-for-money.

Hello! Having started work in the East of Singapore, I now rarely have the time to explore new food places in town. So every weekend now I have a mission to try as many out-of-the-way food places as possible. Last Saturday brought me to FYR Cycene Ond Drinc (old english for Fire Kitchen & Drink) along Boon Tat Street around Telok Ayer/Raffles Place.


This establishment serves a wide range of modern European dishes infused with the herbs and spices of South East Asia. The interior is spacious and rustic with a touch of the prehistoric - cute stone-age style murals on the back walls and walls lined with wooden logs. Mains here are grilled over a Josper grill - an indoor grill with a door to ensure that moisture/flavour doesn't escape - with lychee wood that makes the meat so very fragrant and succulent. Here's what we tried:




All in all we definitely had a good time here. I'd go back in a heartbeat to try their other dishes. That lamb rack sounds so delicious! Hope my review helped! Do give this place a visit if you're in the area and are craving a good meal to unwind over the weekend or after work ;)

The star of this cafe for me though was the yuan yang cheesecake as pictured below. This is much heavier in texture and taste, and I have such the weakness for teh & kopi (& of course both together).
Unfortunately I didn't try the coffee here, but I had the salted caramel drink (1st picture) that looked really charming in that retro glass mug. Unfortunately again, though not unpleasant, it too looked better than it tasted...


Verdict? 6/10
Lots of thought has been put into the look and feel of the cafe and the food/drink, but unfortunately the food/drink didn't wow me taste-wise. That being said, this cafe at the corner of Dakota Crescent wins for its nostalgic ambience and chill-out, almost kampung, vibes. I'm devastated they're demolishing the estate there for redevelopment! :( I would have loved to stay there despite the apparently deteriorating conditions. (also, what is going to happen to the families of cats there!) Moral of the story, pay this neighbourhood & Tian Kee & Co a visit before end 2016, after which this plot of land will only become boring looking BTOs/ condos. Meh.

Greece was undoubtedly the star of my 2015 summer vacation - Santorini mesmerised with its insane Mediterranean views while Athens fascinated with its endless stories. Unsurprisingly however, being the piggy I am, the amazing food I had over my week stay in Greece is going to be number 1 reason why I would definitely want to revisit Greece again.

Everyday, I pretty much ate with wanton disregard for the fact that I'd be spending the rest of the day at the beach in a skimpy bikini. I don't think I would be exaggerating if I had the most value-for-money dishes ever in Greece. However, I did find that my best experiences were at restaurants in Imerovigli and other smaller towns like Perissa and Kamari - I would avoid eating at Oia and Fira if I were to visit Santorini again. Food is more expensive, service is less courteous and these two towns are too crowded for you to experience Greek Island bliss. So, here's my top 5 places you definitely need to try eating the next time you visit Santorini and Athens.

1 MEZZO Imeroviglii, +30 22860 21874
Top choice for a lovely caldera view and innovative hearty food - I've heard the sunset view from Mezzo's terrace is pretty amazing too. I loved the complimentary bread basket (olives and tirokafteri - spicy cheese dip ftw!) and the linguine with rock gruyere cheese, beef and wild mushrooms. The tenderloin with vinsanto sauce atop sweet potato mash (last photo) was also noteworthy :)

2 ANOGI Imerovigli, +30 2286 021285
This restaurant wins the award for serving me the best meal I've had in Santorini. I'm very much in love with their fried feta cheese with honey and sesame (craving it right now...), and the pork shoulder (3rd photo) was juicy, soft and cooked to perfection. I also had the grilled sea bass and vinsanto poached pears, both of which were yummeh.
P.S. This restaurant is packed every night - please book in advance!
P.P.S. You have to try vinsanto, the local dessert wine when you're here, I think it can rival ice wine hehe.

 3 KAPARI WINE RESTAURANT Imerovigli, +30 22860 21120
The most expensive restaurant on this list, but the views of the sea are breathtaking and the food was (Y). I don't know how Greek food manages taste so fresh and clean yet indulgent at the same time. The ice chocolate also surprised us by being very thick (I think they must have used chocolate ice cream!) and yummy. We didn't manage to make a reservation in time for dinner so we only managed to dine from a less extensive lunch menu, but their dinner menu looks really good so do give it a try! 



4 HELLAS RESTAURANT Perissa, +30 22860 81658


4B ACROPOLIS RESTAURANT (& BEACH) Perissa
Okay, this isn't really a restaurant recommendation, but Santorini's beaches are lined with bars that offer free usage of their sunbeds and even free wifi at the beach! Fabulous deal, and we spent a couple of hours chilling at Kamari beach (very picturesque set against the imposing hill!) with cold drinks in our hands. Bliss.




5 MELILOTOS Kalamiotou 19, Monastiraki, Athens
 And we're finally in Athens. We went to this tiny restaurant on the recommendation of our super hip AirBNB host and I had one of the best pork steaks I've ever had in my life. Hear this: smoked Cretan pork steak in rosemary oil served with spicy feta and marjoram potatoes. Need to eat this again!! The best part - only EUR12! Seriously affordable. Also enjoyed their beef steak with lemon flavoured baby rocket salad, but the pork steak still steals the show for me...
 


That's it from me! Hope this guide was of some help and I am seriously salivating after writing this post. Unfortunately, I'm starting work for real next week so I won't be able to do that much galivanting anymore. Still, I'm looking forward to my next vacation - somewhere in South East Asia please! Till next time! xx

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My Santorini vacay provided me the perfect excuse to unabashedly wear blues and whites together all day - my dream, considering how half my wardrobe is surely white, and another quarter is probably blue. So here I showcase some ways in which I tried to blend in with the (very spectacular) blue and white Greek landscape hahaha

I've recently concluded my second ever trip to Australia, and this time my wanderlust has brought me to Sydney, one of Australia's biggest cities. There are, honestly, very few 'tourist-y' things to do in downtown Sydney besides hanging out at the bay areas, but I would seriously rank spending time exploring Sydney's amazing food high up in 'things you must do in Sydney' list. Quaint cafes, posh restaurants and busy Asian food joints stand side by side all over Sydney, which made for an exhilarating food trail.



So, I'll try to keep this short... but here's my guide (in no order of preference) on food you should NOT miss if you ever find yourself down under... in Sydney :)

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1. The Grounds of Alexandria
7A, 2 Huntley St, Alexandria NSW 2015

You must have heard of this one by now. Set in a former industrial ground, this massive premise packs a cafe, restaurant, florist, dry food market all in one. While this is a 20min bus ride from downtown, trust me when I say the travel is worth it.

Featuring brick walls, sunny outdoor seating, a lush kitchen garden and even a farm (hello piggy), this cafe boasts an unbeatable ambience. I spent a good 3 hours wandering around the premise and helped myself to some delicious brunch - the rose inflused lemonade (while pricey at $5) is lovely, and the Picnic set I ordered at the cafe (grilled veg and feta sandwich, gruyere cheese, hummus, smoked salmon) tasted all fresh and yummy. Also, do not miss the pastry stand - just look at the display!!! #drool

I also spent a significant amount of time exploring the Salts Meat Cheese dried food market. The truffled mushroom sauce pictured below is heavenly. I wish I bought more than a bottle. They also stock a huge variety of flavoured pasta - I got the basil one, but honestly it looks better than it tastes (it pretty much tastes like normal wheat pasta to me...)


2. Hurricane Grill @ Darling Harbour


 3. Reuben Hills
61 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010

Reuben Hills sure knows how to stand out from the mass of generic brunch serving cafes by offering South American inspired breakfast food. This must be one of the cutest and yummiest brunch cafes I've ever visited. We tried the Albondingas bowl (Mexican meatballs, fried egg, jalapeno mojo atop a tortilla) and the scrambled eggs on rye with bacon and lime & cumin salt, both of which were amazing. The people beside us kept raving about the porridge (with raisin syrup and banana milo crumbs) too, so I guess that too is worth a try!


4. The Little Kitchen
275 Arden St, Coogee NSW 2034

This isn't really in Sydney, but who goes to Sydney without hitting the beach! We stopped by the Little Kitchen for lunch on the way to Bondi (we did the very lovely Coogee-Bondi hike) and had a great time. It is a tiny rustic cafe serving modern Australian food, and while the buckwheat pancakes with raspberries and pistachio shavings didn't quite do it for me (it was a little on the dry side), the kedgeree with smoked cod and a soft boiled egg (bottom picture) was marvelous.



5. Chur Burger
48 Albion Street, Surry Hills

A funky burger chain serving AMAZING sweet potato fries with garlic and lime,  AMAZING milkshakes (I tried the salted caramel, YUMMEH), mindblowingly loud retro indie music, and decent burgers. But I would go back in a heartbeat for their SALTED POTATO FRIES AND SALTED CARAMEL MILKSHAKE. #dreaming #mademypoint



That's it from me folks! Hope you enjoyed my take on the best places to eat in Sydney in my humble opinion. Of course this list is not exhaustive and I'm hoping I get a chance to revisit Sydney and add on to this list hehe (and go back for my sweet potato fries and milkshake. Oh Chur Burger, you have my heart...)

Till the next update xx