Well, or so it seems.

I finally managed to catch the long awaited movie Julie & Julia, and due to the gourmet genre of the film, my tummy was rumbling impatiently away when we left the theatres. I had originally planned a “french” themed evening (visiting Le Bistrot for dinner) with a friend but it was probably one of those days when mummy nature was throwing her tantrums at us.

You see, Le Bistrot was located at the Indoor Stadium, and the only available carparks were open-aired ones. Not a wise idea since it was pouring cats and dogs. The persistent lightning and thunder didn’t make things any easier either.

So french gourmet movie – check!
French gourmet dinner – uncheck!

After much deliberation we decided to head to the nearest TCC for dinner since my friend had a $50 voucher which had to be used up by that night. As I haven’t been back to the east in awhile, the only TCC outlet that could register in my mind was the one at Terminal 3, Changi Airport. Anyway theoretically its a good idea since the carpark there is sheltered, and its also being an option to get away from the crowd.

Lesson learnt. Singaporeans love chilling out at the airport.

The carpark was pretty packed, and all (I really mean all), the restaurants were packed with long queues. Whether it was Lerk Thai, Crystal Jade, Sake Sushi, Hong Kong Cafe, etc, every single food outlet there is had a queue. Quite amazing isn’t it? Definitely not the impression I had of Changi Airport when I was growing up.

Right, n’uff said. Lets dig in to the food.

We finally decided to just stick with the original plan, and queued for TCC. Luckily by then it was pretty late so crowd started to disperse a little. There wasn’t much to choose from with regards to the soup, as out of the 5 – 6 options only 2 of them were available. That day being Halloween, we decided to join in the “festivity” and ordered the Minty Pumpkin Soup.

Minty Pumpkin Soup

Maybe I was hungry, but seriously I thought the soup was quite good. You could taste the fresh pumpkin puree from within, and diced up mint leaves sprinkled on top, gave the soup a very creamy yet refreshing feel. The after-taste of the mint leaves and the pumpkin gelled quite well too. Definitely worth a try.

Prawn Cheese-a-Toast

Another appetizer that we tried was the Prawn Cheese-a-Toast. Funny name, but to put it simply it was with some minced prawn spread on top of a slice of toasted bread, covered with melted cheese. I like deep fried stuff, so it was pretty decent for me, though I couldn’t really taste the prawn.

Next up was the Beef D’luxe. Somehow I was very intrigued with the name, probably because of how how they spelt the word “deluxe”. Though the main ingredient was the beef patty, it didn’t give the “meat overdose” feeling at the end of the day. If you’ve been to Carl’s Jr, you’ll probably know what I mean.

Beef D'luxe

Having said that, I thought ironically, the star of the show wasn’t the beef. Rather it was the “nectarous braised apples” that stole the show. The apples were soft, lightly sweetened, and kinda fell apart once inside the mouth. I think its partly because of this that’s why the dish didn’t feel too meaty.

At this point, I have to make it known that the service was a little bit of a disappointment that day. It was very obvious the restaurant was under-staffed and waiters being inexperienced didn’t make things any better. Our bills got mixed up with another table’s, and they forgot our other main course: Sea Perch with Wasabi Vinaigrette

Sea Perch with Wasabi Vinaigrette

Back to the “latecomer”, I thought the wasabi sauce was quite an impact on the taste buds on first taste. Kinda like “wow, that SURE is wasabi sauce, no doubt about it”. The fish was well grilled, such that the meat was pretty soft, and a little crispy on the outside. Though its still a far cry compared to the one we had at Restaurant Ember, that one really melted in your mouth. But hey, I’m not complaining. This is half the price of Ember, and we getting close to fine dining food standard.

Last but not least, I think one cannot say that you’ve actually been to TCC, if you didn’t try their desserts! I was a little bit filled up by then, hence it was one of the rare occasions where I skipped the Tiramisu. After much consideration the “Oh Kabocha!!” photo stood out from the rest in the desserts section of the menu.

Oh Kabocha!! - Japanese Pumpkin Mousse

The “Oh Kabocha!!” is actually a Japanese pumpkin mousse. Not the really the soft creamy kind like what you get in chocolate mousse, but somewhere in between a very light cake texture and cheese mix. One good thing I liked about this is that it isn’t filling, and neither is it too sweet. Probably just the right dessert choice after a hefty meal.

However be warned that the raspberries on the side are EXTREMELY sour!

To be honest, I really enjoyed the meal. For starters I changed my perception towards TCC after that day. The ambience was very cosy, and the food was pretty decent. Not as good as fine dining meals, but close enough. You can tell that every dish was carefully prepared from cooking, all the way to presentation. Big thumbs up to that. The minor drawback though was the inexperienced staff. But I have to give them credit for readily apologising for the mistakes that they made.

The Coffee Connoisseur
65 Airport Boulevard
#03-23 Terminal 3 Departure Hall
Tel: (65) 6214 1693
Website: www.thecoffeeconnoisseur.com

Kabocha actually means “winter squash” or pumpkin in Japanese. According to wiki, this breed of pumpkins was originally grown in America, but later almost the entire crop was being imported to Japan.

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The restaurant setting gives diners a very cosy feeling to it. Candles were lit all around the place, and the service staff was extra attentive, and maybe just maybe a little too friendly. Its the kind of place you’ll bring your date for a nice meal that probably won’t burn your pocket. The only draw back is that the tables are packed quite closed together, and when the restaurant is full, it may get a little too noisy.

Dimly Lit Surroundings with Candles, I thought it gave a little bit of Phantom Of The Opera feel

Before we get to the food, let me explain what the restaurant’s speciality is. The bosses of Oriole Cafe & Bar were both winners and 1st runner up of the recent Singapore National Barista Championships 2009. (i.e. They are expert coffee brewers)

The menu boasts a wide selection of coffee, ranging fom the usual latte, to espresso, machiatto and many more. For gutsy diners, you may want to try a special concoction that contains chilli inside. For me I had the Oriole Cappuccino, without the chilli. This is how it looked like:

Note the foam art on top. I thought was quite good, but too bad the award winners didn't make mine personally

The coffee scent was really aromatic, and I personally thought the coffee wasn’t too acidic either. The Oriole Cappuccino consisted a shot of espresso below, some milk, and foam on top. I’ve seen a number of photos on the internet before, but to have a handmade coffee art in front of you just made my day.

Here’s a link on wiki if you’re keen to find out more on coffee art

Peach Mojo

My friend had the Peach Mojo cocktail. Darn I just remembered I didn’t ask to try it, so can’t really give any comments here. But it sure looks refreshing!

Next we tried a starter dish called Chicken Tikka. Its sorta like those grilled / baked tandoori chicken bits, but not spicy. There’s a dipping sauce by the side that has some mint leaves. Chicken itself is so, so, but tastes quite good with the dip.

Chicken Tikka

For mains, I tried the Wagyu Steak. The serving was a little small, and if memory serves me right the weight was about 150g. Quite a conservative portion I’d say. To me it was a pretty decent cut, but don’t expect any celebrity steak or marbalised meat texture.

The meat was thinly sliced, pretty soft and tender too. I liked the gravy though, ample spread of chunky mushrooms. You can also taste a number of herbs and spices, but I can’t tell them apart for nuts. Definitely a good combination though.

Wagyu Beef, served with stir fried veges and mashed potatoes

My friend had a Beef Cheek with Fettuccine. From first looks, it didn’t look extremely appetizing. Just the usual slices of beef, pasta, and mushroom sauce. Not much garnishing involved. But you know the saying, looks can be deceiving…

I was quite surprised at the tenderness of the meat. Probably because its from the cheek of the cow? Hmmm… not too sure about that, but the meat was very thinly sliced, very lean, and yet soft and tender. The mushroom gravy was again filled with herbs of all sorts. I think I tasted some coriander?

Beef Cheek with Fettuccine

But the best part was that the pasta soaked up the sauce entirely. It was a very different taste to the usual spaghetti carborana, or bolongise. Quite good I’d say. Something like pasta with stew-like sauce.

For dessert we had the Chocolate Fudge Cake. Not too bad, but nothing spectacular. The “berry syrup dressing” by the side was quite sour. In a way was good such that then you wouldn’t get choco overdose. I was expecting some chocolate fudge to ooze out, but sadly there wasn’t any.

Chocolate Fudge Cake

Overall, quite a nice cosy environment with pretty good service. For the quality of food, I think the pricing is quite reasonable, main courses are about $20-$25 there about. Only thing to note though, is that if you’re bringing a date along, it may get a little too noisy during the peak hours.

Oriole Cafe & Bar

Oriole Cafe & Bar
96 Somerset Road
Level 1, Pan Pacific Service Suites
http://www.oriole.com.sg/

Good coffee smells like freshly ground heaven…

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Gigantic rubber ducky along Singapore River

Located just outside the GV cinema entrance was Terra Cafe. It isn’t the appealing kind to me on first look, but I was desperate to find a place sit down, and chill from the extensive heat earlier.

Grilled Lamb Rack

We had a roast Lamb Rack and Linguine Mariana for main course. Both cost roughly $20. Which I’d say is very good for that kind of pricing. The lamb was well roasted with lots of flavour. Not too dry as well.

Linguine Mariana with Ginger Apple Smith

The linguine wasn’t soggy and was topped with average sized prawns which were quite fresh and chewy.

Ah finally sweets, my favourate part of the meal. One of the meals we ordered was added to a set meal, we decided on a coffee flavoured ice-cream. Sadly though we waited for eternity before the ice-cream actually came. Think they probably forgot about out order.

Coffee Ice-Cream

Then was the Tiramisu. Now now, here’s the very delicate critic from someone who self-claims can make the best tiramisu in town. (at this point if you interested, feel free email me for recipe heeh..)

Tiramisu with overdose of cocoa powder

I felt that there was too much cocoa powder on top.. seriously… The top of the tiramisu was “flooded” with cocoa. The texture of the mascopone cheese was right for my liking. Not too creamy nor too cheesy. Its a good blend so you won’t feel too “yeek” after a few spoonfuls. The ladyfinger soaked in coffee was pretty ok. Good strong espresso taste, though lacked a little kahlua (coffee liquor)

Next we had apple fritters and ice-cream. In my mind I was thinking of Ba Si Ping Guo. Basically its apple coated with flour and malt sugar, then deep fried. They’ll soak the pieces in ice cold water upon serving so as to have the sugar hardened up. Its a very exquisite chinese dessert originated from the north I think. The only place I know that serves this is at Prima Tower.

What came out though was totally different.

Apple Fritters with Vanilla IceCream

This version is shapped like donuts and the apple (quite freshly sliced) is coated with flour. Not the crispy type, the softer kind. Eating it plain isn’t exactly to my liking, but with the frosted sugar and vanilla ice-cream as compliments, hmm quite yummy.

Last but not least was a dessert I wanted to try. And though I didn’t order it, it was mistakenly served to our table. I can’t remember the exact name of the dessert but it had these few words: “Ice-cream, espresso, vacuum”

Expresso with Vanilla IceCream

Hmm sounds interesting right? We took a shot of it. But the waiter took it away after realizing his mistake. So I guess I can only review that the next time I head down to Terra.

On the whole its a nice place for a group of people to catch up. Decent food (nothing exquisite) with reasonable pricing. Quantity and quality both strike a balance. Ample choices of variety for appetizers, main course, and desserts. Oh ye they have quite a lot of finger food too, so you don’t really have to pop in just for a meal. It can be for drinks and a light bite too.

Update: Terra Cafe has closed down. Heard Soup Spoon is taking over the place.

Terra Cafe
1 Harbourfront Walk
#02-43 Vivocity

He who distinguishes the true savor of his food can never be a glutton; he who does not cannot be otherwise

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