The Marmalade Pantry Experience

I filed a leave from work today. I’m feeling like I’m on the down side, I needed a break. I asked Sari, my secretary, that I won’t be around and have the leave filed for me.

I was thinking. What to do today to help boost my serotonin level?

After tapping on my Android, I figured out that what I really need is to dine out. It’s been six days since the last time Mia and I hang out, so maybe I just need to get some fresh vegetarian pizza and pasta in Italian restaurants Singapore. I guess by now you know that I’m a fan of Italian delis and Singapore Italian food is one of my favorites.

I spent the whole day watching movie at my pad, as I waited for 3 o’clock to arrive. After taking a quick shower, I got dressed and prepared for my solo food hunt. Destination: The Marmalade Pantry.

So the place is quite small, but I love it. Fewer crowds is always the best bet for me. I can enjoy my meal this way better.

I ordered for myself some greens as my starters - Spicy Oriental Roast Beef Salad with green mango, mint, basil, and glass noodles. Quite tangy, I love the green mango. For my mains, I got myself Pork and Fennel Seed Sausage Lasagna, with mushrooms and parmesan. I haven’t tried cooking lasagna with fennel seeds, and I found out that it does wonder to the dish and quite a palette-stimulant. This one I will surely try to cook at home!

Driving back to my pad, I realized that eating is my form of therapy. I’m happy because my tummy is happy. Chain reaction, I guess. J

The Marmalade Pantry Experience

I filed a leave from work today. I’m feeling like I’m on the down side, I needed a break. I asked Sari, my secretary, that I won’t be around and have the leave filed for me.

I was thinking. What to do today to help boost my serotonin level?

After tapping on my Android, I figured out that what I really need is to dine out. It’s been six days since the last time Mia and I hang out, so maybe I just need to get some fresh vegetarian pizza and pasta in Italian restaurants Singapore. I guess by now you know that I’m a fan of Italian delis and Singapore Italian food is one of my favorites.

I spent the whole day watching movie at my pad, as I waited for 3 o’clock to arrive. After taking a quick shower, I got dressed and prepared for my solo food hunt. Destination: The Marmalade Pantry.

So the place is quite small, but I love it. Fewer crowds is always the best bet for me. I can enjoy my meal this way better.

I ordered for myself some greens as my starters - Spicy Oriental Roast Beef Salad with green mango, mint, basil, and glass noodles. Quite tangy, I love the green mango. For my mains, I got myself Pork and Fennel Seed Sausage Lasagna, with mushrooms and parmesan. I haven’t tried cooking lasagna with fennel seeds, and I found out that it does wonder to the dish and quite a palette-stimulant. This one I will surely try to cook at home! Driving back to my pad, I realized that eating is my form of therapy. I’m happy because my tummy is happy. Chain reaction, I guess.

The Galbiati Gourmet Deli Experience

I really enjoy that lovely dinner date with my dad. Even after he drove me home to my flat, he called and said that The Lighthouse is definitely a good place to hang out with. He told me he will recommend it to his friends. I told her to take Mom with her, one time.

Anyways.

Today is a busy day for me. I was on the lax side lately, so today I decided to just drop the procrastination off and get working. Told myself I had enough of my laziness. Haha!

En route to the office, I noticed this restaurant named Galbiati Gourmet Deli, near The Rail Mall. It sounds fancy to me. I mentally added the resto’s name to the list of my “must-see” places to eat in the metro.

Being away from the office for a couple of days, I was filled to the brim with workloads! I spent the whole day in the office – attending a long-overdue meeting with the board, another meeting with the marketing team, as well as a personal meeting with one of the managers. See, this is the life of a full-time foodie, part-time CEO!

With no time to order for my lunch, I ask my secretary, Sari, to grab me some lunch. I don’t have anything in mind to order, I told her to just get me anything, as long as it’s filling and healthy.

After a couple of minutes, she came back with some take-away food and to my surprise, it’s from Galbiati Gourmet Deli! She got me Vongole (clams with tomato sauce and herbs cooked in white wine) for my starters, Penne al Salmone (penne pasta with smoked salmon, asparagus, and cream) for my mains, Nepolitana pizza (made with capers, anchovies, tomato and mozzarella), and Affogato al Caffé (vanilla ice cream with espresso coffee) for my dessert.

I was amazed! Italian food, for a pasta lover like me, in a take-away counter? That is really something!

And oh, thanks for that lovely lunch, Sari.

The Lighthouse at One Fullerton – Italian Pasta Dining at Its Finest

After that lovely visit at Joan Bowen Café, I decided to try their pasta at The Lighthouse Restaurant, situated at the lush One Fullerton. This is just the perfect place to take the greatest man in my life.

I chose this place for a reason – their intimate ambience plus the gorgeous views. Oh, I don’t to bother mentioning about the quality of the food, because I think it’s obvious – The Lighthouse Restaurant is one of THE best fine dining restaurants in the metro.

Since I made a reservation some three days ago, I was able to choose the best seat for my date and me. As I look at my date, I can tell that he is pretty amazed himself.

I ordered for us a couple of great tasting meals, including Il Carpaccio (Angus Beef with forest mushrooms and arugula in mustard dressing) and Le CApesante (baked scallops in citrus garlic butter and tomato with black summer truffle) for our starters. Since both of us love pasta, I ordered for our Mains Spaghetti Primograno (Aglio Olio with Tiger prawns, chili, and parsley in grated Sardinian grey mullet roe plus extra virgin olive oil) and Le Linguine Primograno (linguine tossed in Ligurian sweet basil pesto with potatoes and fine beans). First taste of the pasta delis and we both agreed – we raised our thumbs almost in unison.

We indulge in the whole meal with gusto. But what made the date extra special was the conversation we had in between lovely meals.

So this is another journal entry of a pasta lover, who happens to love her dad dearly as well. I owe him the fondness for pasta dishes, because he cooked them pretty good! So how’s the Linguine, Dad?

Joan Bowen Café – Pasta Served with a Bunch of Care

I happen to see one restaurant review online in one of my places to eat in Singapore hunt that says a few good things about Joan Bowen Café. Out of curiosity of course, I browsed for more information about this resto.

After reading some more, I found out that this café is not just the usual café that serves espresso and mocha latte. It is also a culinary center that teaches culinary skills to young adults with special needs. Yes, you read it right. They are teaching these people to help them carve their own places under the sun. See, that is something!

Having learned about this. I ask a friend of mine to join me for a coffee at this resto. I told her about the great things I’ve learned about Joan Bowen, and she, too, was astounded!

The Experience

Since me and my friend both love to eat and cook pasta, we asked the attendant for the chef’s recommended pasta dish. This is what we saw in their menu:

· Spaghetti Aglio Olio with Mushrooms. A treat that is most suitable for vegetarian individuals. This pasta is a blend of garlic and olive oil, with mushrooms, basil, chili flakes, and a dash of white wine.

· Spaghetti with Mussels. This one is for seafood lovers. The pasta is loaded with mussels from New Zealand in Pomodoro sauce.

· Seafood Aglio Olio. The traditional Aglio Olio with prawns, mussels, and squid.

· Chilli Crab Pasta. This is pasta with a Singaporean twist!

· Alfredo Squid Ink Linguine with Prawns. Linguine with Alfredo sauce.

We both ordered Alfredo Squid Ink Linguine with Prawns, and boy, the pasta is amazing I must say! The Barilla is al dente, the sauce with just the perfect combination of Alfredo sauce and the squid ink. We ended up drinking their Ice Mocha which is equally lovely.

Care to pay them a visit? Here’s their address:

9 Jalan Wangi, Singapore 349354
Telephone: +(65) 6281 3629
Email: cafe@joanbowen.com

Pasta Lover in Singapore – The Bontá Experience

The art of showing love for pasta comes in three – one, love to eat; two, love to cook; and three, love to do both. As for myself, I consider myself to fall on the third category.

Being a pasta lover and a pasta “cooker-cum-experimenter” myself, I find great pleasure whenever I tasted lovely pasta dishes, even so when I cook it for my friends and family. As such, I consider dining out for pasta and Italian pizza as one of the top 10 most interesting things to do in Singapore (or maybe anywhere in the world, as long as there are places around that cooks and serves yummy pasta dishes.)

Bontá Restaurant

One of my friends from the Philippines paid me a visit here in Singapore about a week ago. She said she heard a lot about how good Singapore food is, and is very enthusiastic to try everything out. Since we both share the passion for Barilla, I suggested that we check out Bontá Italian Restaurant and Bar. She immediately said yes.

The Experience

We came at around 7:00 o’clock in the evening, so the place is filled to the brim, so to speak. But then, I had reserved us a seat al fresco, so everything was cool.

For starters, Liana (that’s my friend’s name) ordered the Selection of Traditional Italian Cold Cuts Platter (speck ham, salami feline, bresaola, Parmesan and condiments) while I chose the Pan-Fried Goose Liver. The Cold Cuts Platter was nice, the liver was good, but nothing really amazing.

As for the pasta, she ordered Home-Made Angel Hair (with lobster,extra virgin olive oil, fresh tomato sauce and basil) while I took the Home-Made Pappardelle (with wild boar ragout and Parmesan cheese). Noticed something about the dishes? Oh yes, they are home-made! Exactly the way our pasta should be!

We skipped the Main and immediately proceeded to our desserts. What’s the best way to end a lovely Italian meal? You guessed it right! We both agreed to have the Traditional Italian Tiramisu.

So in a nutshell, the dining experience was great! What made it even better was the conversation in between the meal. As they say, good food will taste even better if you have good people to share it with. Lovely. J

Pizza Hut – Why Every Pasta Lover in Singapore Should Try It

It’s the iconic red roof that spells great pizza.

The iconic red roof of Pizza Hut has somewhat become an assurance that what you are about to enjoy is a product of kitchen creativity and culinary ingenuity  that many pizza lovers from around the world crave. The company rose up from its humble beginning in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas where two college students asked their mother for $600 to put up the business. To date, Pizza Hut has hundreds of braches in 84 countries, making them the world’s most successful pizza restaurant.

Pizza Hut offers different great tasting pizzas, with choices from original pan, thin crust, and stuff crust pizza. You can also have soups and salad, perfect for those who are watching the calorie contents of what they eat. Appetizers, hot and cold beverages, and desserts are also available.

Pasta is also one of the specialties of Pizza Hut. You can choose from their wide array of Classic, Specialty and Baked Pasta.

Classic Pasta:

• Chicken Pomodoro
• Seafood Vongole
• Veggie Pomodoro
• Spicy Chicken Pomodoro
• Prawn Aglio Olio
• Traditional Bolognaise
• Turkey Bacon Carbonara

Specialty Pasta:

• Spicy Seafood Parchment
• Grilled Chicken Parchment
• Soft Shell Crabiatta
• Basil Crayfish
• Fish in Tomato Cream Sauce

Baked Pasta

• Beef Lasagne
• Chicken Royale
• Sausage Mania
• Cheesy Shrooms

As a pasta lover myself, I find these mouth-watering treats hard to resist that Pizza Hut has to offer. I cook pasta myself as a hobby, and I can say that Pizza Hut definitely got my approval. Thumbs up!