Monday 24 September 2012

The White Rabbit....a place for TWO

 

Fridays are usually ME time spent with hubby for a peaceful and romantic dinner for just the two of us. Although we love spending time with the kids, but we also cherish the bonding time like we used to date each other more than 10 years back! LOL...Hence, I put in effort to source out for a casual yet chic place to dine in...which was The White Rabbit.

The White Rabbit serves classic European food, with a bar conveniently adjacents to it. This place is housed in a beautifully restored chapel located in a secluded Dempsey Hill. The night view of the chapel is trully awe-inspiring.

The first look of the chapel, from the carpark area.


The mediocre view of the main entrance of The White Rabbit.


The mysterious peep from outside.

It surely is grand and stunning, looking from the inside dining area.


The stained glass was used to decorate the window, mimicking many chapels and churches found in the European countries.




Booking was made at 8.45 late evening, as the earlier slots were all occupied. Despite of that, hubby and me reached early. As there's a bar serving classic cocktails, and wines, we had some drinks at the bar area...Check out the expansive wines and beverage menu.

At the indoor bar area.

 
We didn't wait for too long. A friendly waitress showed us to our table 20 minutes later.
 
A table set for 2.


After taking our order, we were served with complimentary breads of our choice. To the left was the normal baguette-like bread and the right which was my favourite, made with tomato and basil. These breads were best eaten with salted butter while they were still hot from the oven. There is nothing quite like the whiff of freshly baked warm bread aroma.

Had 2 glasses of Tyrell's Moores Creek Shiraz....$36

First, we had seasonal oysters to share. There were 5 medium sized fresh oysters....served on bed of salt, topped with some peppercorn.....$32

Couldn't start our mains without soup. Lobster Bisque is always the soup of our choice....$38. It was served as individual serving, in a nicely polished golden pot. The butternut squash puree was thick and creamy with heavenly taste, and a generous huge chunk of half poached lobster.




Third starter: Seared Foie Gras Duet with caramelised french toast with roasted apples, raisin sauce, and petite mesclun....$29. To the left: a thinly sliced crispy toast lined with Granny Smith roasted apple, topped with quickly seared foie gras: and to the right: Soft and tender bite of thick foie gras, with whole sweetened berries and raisin sauce. The sweetness with hint of sourness from the raisin sauce brings out the divine taste of the seared foie gras without feeling greasy.






Here comes my main: Pan fried pigeon with king oyster mushroom, mashed pumpkin, and couscous....$45. Definitely love this dish. The crispy pigeon's skin which still retained its juiciness, with wholesome bite of mushroom and marvellous sweet pumpkin mash...and tiny grains of couscous....speechless. Try your own, and you will get what I mean!
 

Didn't know that cooked pigeon meat was actually red...hmmm? Pigeon is supposed categorized as white meat right? Correct me if I'm wrong..:(


Hubby had pasta dish: Taglatielle Alaska Crab Marnier, pasta was done al dente with chunky Alaska crab meat tossed in olive oil....$16. Seriously, I am not a fan of pasta dish. For me, there's nothing fancy about this pasta...

Initially, hubby wanted to try their Grilled Wagyu Cote de Boeuf, $198...but the serving was for two. And I already made up my mind to stick to my order (the pigeon dish), hence he gave up the idea. He felt a bit disappointed when the waiter relayed that they do not serve single serving wagyu. We were just wondering deep and hard WHY??



 Last but not least, our long awaited dessert: Baked Alaska which is actually vanilla ice cream cake and torched meringue ...........$16. Cool vanilla flavoured ice-cream sandwiched in between a layer of sponge cake and topped with torched meringue. Meringue is an European dessert made from whipped egg whites and sugar, light and not overly sweet, with portion which was just perfect for us.


 
Baked Alaska served with blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry.

We completed our dinner with R&B and hip hop songs, sipping wine and coffee in their al fresco bar, The Rabbit Hole. You can see that there's a DJ playing nice tunes for the night. Personally, I very much love the ambience, gazing into stars, with soothing night breeze, and wine glass in hand..oh, not forgetting with my loved one definitely :)....what a life!


Left: A pathway lined with bamboo grove...which leads your way out from The Rabbit Hole to carpark area.
Right: Lets do some swing on the swing. It helps flashing back my childhood memory!

Dining at The White Rabbit costs us $297.19, including 10% service charge and 7% GST.

The verdict: The White Rabbit is a nice place to hang out for either a romantic dinner, or for a dining with bunch of friends. After which simply hop to the al-fresco bar The Rabbit Hole for some drinks and classic cocktails with DJ playing sentimental R&B pieces. (Hubby grabbed their business card before leaving, he agreed with me that it is indeed a nice spot to bring his customers for a dinner and business talk later over drinks in the yard)

To make reservation:

The White Rabbit
Tel: 64739965
Add.: 39C Harding Road, Singapore 249541

Operating Hour:
Brunch Sat-Sun 10.30am - 2.30pm
Lunch Tue-Fri 12pm - 2.30pm
Dinner Tue-Sun 6.30pm - 10.30pm
Closed every Mondays

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Shiraishi, Ritz-Carlton

 
 

It's always a pleasure for a family-get-together over meals. Even though Singapore cuisine is expansive due to its ethnic food and cultural diversity, but somehow its a brain cracking moment each time choosing a place to dine out.

But one thing for sure, my family loves Japanese cuisine. So, there's always a tendency we will end up dining in a Japanese restaurant, very much frequently.

Recently, we headed down to Shiraishi, an authentic Japanese restaurant, located in Ritz Carlton Hotel. Shiraishi boasts traditional Japanese cuisine serving specialities like sushi, sashimi and kaiseki menus created by Chef Shiraishi Shinji. Hubby managed to reserve a private room although it's a Saturday which is normally packed.
 
 
 
The simple menu...mainly serving high quality imported sashimis and ingredients, air-flown from Japan. There's hardly noodle and rice dishes, not even bento sets. This also means that you will probably spend a bomb when dining in Shiraishi, as you will mostly feed on 1st-grade sashimi, and others to fill you up.
 

Let's toast on special chilled sake...$65

 
Otoshi (starter) of potato salad....$60 for 4 pax.

It's good to have a private room to ourselves. We could snap some pictures while dining.
 
 
 Fresh sashimi..comprising of otoro (tuna belly), tuna, scallop, sweet prawns, salmon, and kampachi....$130 for a mixed platter, chef's selection.

While waiting for food...Son's complaining his growling tummy after swimming lesson!

Kids had one each of yakimono (grilled cod fish in teriyaki) served with sushi rice....$22 per plate.


 Kids' favourite...chawan mushi..$12 each

 Seasonal Hokkaido hairy crab...$50..simply steamed and the meat was separated from the shell before serving. It tasted sweet and the meat was firm. There's a vinegar-like dipping sauce to go along.

Seasonal pumpkin steamed with chopped fresh shrimp, with crunchy flat-podded green beans...this whole dish was refreshing with pumpkin sweetness. But the small potion was a tad pricey....$56 for 2 small servings.

Yakimono fish...just a sprinkle of sea salt, it brings out the robust sweetness of the fish meat...$38..served with pickled ginger stem, grated raddish and slice of lemon.

 
 Towards the end of the meal, we had imported Asahi beer... $14 per bottle.

Tempted to get some maki...fresh tuna, uni (sea urchin), and tamago (egg) maki...$64. One uni piece costs $20...but worth the price..its very fresh, and sweet, no fishy stale aftertaste. I normally savour the tastiness of fresh uni, followed by the sushi rice...to sample the authentic ocean fresh uni to the fullest.
 
 
 
 
 
 


 Our Japanese dinner ended with some single scoop ice-cream....$5 per scoop.




*The bill totals up to $700.32*. The verdict: Dining in Shiraishi is a bit costly looking at the impeccable food served, though it's no doubt the ingredients used are fresh and of high quality. But we rather choose Akashi, with more creative sushi/sashimi...of course omakase style....which averagely fetch around $500 for 2 pax.

To make reservation in Shiraishi Japanese Restaurant
Tel: 63383788
The Ritz-Calton, Millenia Singapore
7 Raffles Avenue
Singapore, 039799

*Appropriate dress code is required*