Ms Skinnyfat

A secret dining venue hiding in plain sight, The Dragon Chamber is a modern Chinese restaurant hidden behind a beer vending machine in a kopitiam front.

Stepping through the secret entrance and down a neon-lit alleyway, i felt like i was starring in a Hong Kong triad movie. At the end of the dark path, a door opens into a chic dining space that is a cross between a mahjong club and a Shanghainese bar.

Cocktails are served alongside modern Chinese dishes. I had the Sake Mojito ($19), a minty infusion of longan with sake, elderflower and lime juice to start.

The drink was helpful in alleviating the spice in the Firecracker Chicken and Maple Fritters ($16/$30). This is the perfect bar snack with the spicy and savory crunch of fried chicken cubes and cashew nuts. While i first proclaimed that the spice level was just right, i realised that it kicks in slowly. If you're wondering why maple fritters (you tiao), this dish is a twist on Chicken & Waffles.

If you were following me on IG, you may have noticed that sometime back my cruise getaway was cancelled last minute due to a positive COVID-19 case on board. I was desperate for a holiday and immediately started searching for a suitable staycation. Unfortunately the suites at Raffles Hotel Singapore and Goodwood Park Hotel were both unavailable at the last minute (mind you it was mid-week). We finally landed on Sofitel Singapore Sentosa since it is the most resort-like without breaking the bank. I had previously stayed at the property before and remembered it to be decent. There are a few staycation packages to choose from and we went with a 3d2n stay with full-board option (without knowing what it really entailed because the t&cs were not clear).

Sofitel Singapore Sentosa is a 5-star resort by the French Accor Group. The location is away from the hustle and bustle, so you get to enjoy the lush greenery with wildlife (the peacocks are free-roaming) and lots of privacy. Once we stepped onto the hotel grounds, we immediately felt relaxed with the expansive space, and breeze from the South China Sea. However, if you are more into the island life action, you should note that it is a bit of a hassle getting around if you don't drive as the shuttle bus service is quite slow, and it'll take you a while to get to the beach clubs or the integrated resorts. The hotel's own complimentary shuttle service to Vivocity is more reliable imo (every 30mins) and you could easily head out for a better meal, or for some shopping if you wish.

Accommodation

Our bedroom for 2 nights was in the Luxury Garden Room and this was our view.

Our room is quite sizeable at 36sqm and features a king-sized bed. A LED Smart TV, digital newspaper and magazines and WiFi access are also provided. There are several powerpoints and USB port for easy charging of your digital devices located next to the writing desk.

While there is also a pillow menu that you can choose your pillows from, their firm options were too flimsy for us. Our twin towers of pillows were absolutely useless in providing any decent neck support.

Stay with a peace of mind knowing that everything is sanitized and wrapped. The standard coffee and tea making facilities are still available, with TWG tea bags and Nespresso capsules wrapped in a package. You could ask for more when you have finished this. The mini bar cabinet has been emptied and sanitised but you could request for it. Orders, requests, and bookings are all made through the hotel app, which i found extremely frustrating as it was either very laggy or didn't work. It was just much easier to call housekeeping/ front desk directly for assistance.

My favorite part of the room was the bathroom. Just check out the spacious bathtub for the perfect bubble bath! I was in a rush and forget to bring my bubbles but that was easily solved with an order from LUSH. There's also a separate rainshower area if you need a quick rinse.

The bath amenities.

Dining

We were informed that dinners are served at Kwee Zeen and it is buffet style. Unfortunately, buffets only work if there were sufficient diners (and there weren't) and it was a terribly water-down version and a shadow of what i remembered Kwee Zeen to be. We were terribly disappointed with the variety and quality of dishes available- no live stations and the food wasn't fresh or piping hot and tasted really mediocre. The roast beef and soup were probably the more decent dishes and we only ate for sustenance. The a la carte menu certainly looked more appealing as we saw our neighboring diners polished their pizzas. Honestly that's all we needed, a simple pizza or burger instead of a sub-par buffet.

Breakfast was a lot better in comparison since it caters to more diners. My recommendations are the congee and laksa station. The nasi lemak is also quite satisfying with the crunchy ikan bilis and peanuts and a fragrant sambal.

I suppose our displeasure with the food didn't go unnoticed by the restaurant manager but the service recovery was very spotty as well, which we realized that evening. The manager shared that for our package, dinner is only served at Kwee Zeen (which we swore never to eat dinner there again), and offered to make arrangements for us to dine at The Cliff instead. While we were not really enthused about it, since we had a super meh dinner there not too long ago, we reckon it could not be worse than another lousy dinner so we agreed. That said, when we finally went to dinner that night, we realised that no reservations were made whatsoever, and we ended up being forced to order from the set menu and paid extra as it was considered a top up. Thankfully the food was better than expected and we saw no need to kick up a fuss.

So back to lunch. As part of our dining entitlement, we could either have the set lunch at Kwee Zen or The Cliff. We went with the Kwee Zeen since they offered the a la carte menu and had more variety and honestly the food was a lot better than the buffet. We enjoyed the Hainanese Chicken Rice with poached chicken, which was smooth and the rice was very fragrant as well.

I was also very pleased with the beef burger. Just check out the size of the massive stack layered with ground beef patty, tomatoes, bacon, gherkin, an oozy fried egg & cheese and toasted sesame bun. The fries were fresh and crispy and exactly what was needed for a holiday.

So The Cliff has been regarded as one of Singapore’s most romantic dining destinations but on this visit we noticed that the dress code wasn't strictly enforced and there were diners in shorts and slippers. Imagine you brought a date to what you thought was a fancy dinner and this happens? I guess they were just trying to fill the tables.

We were made to order a 3 course dinner though we only had faith in their pizzas and pastas. Thankfully the starters delivered as described, though i can't imagine the combination of Heirloom tomatoes with burrata and basil pesto going wrong.

For mains, we had the fennel sausage pizza with Mozzarella, panna, spring onion, fennel sausage, and fennel pollen; and the Linguine and clams with pancetta, chilli & white wine. Both dishes were seasoned and cooked well and we had no complains. Either we set a super low benchmark, or was really hungry, or it was actually not bad. Desserts did nothing for us, which we wouldn't even have ordered it if we weren't made to.

Amenities & Activities

You would not miss the 33-metre pool at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa and if possible, i'm sure everyone would spend their entire day here. Unfortunately, each room is limited to one booking per day with a maximum of two hours per visit (which you could extend if it wasn't crowded).

There's also a gym which is housed in a little shack. We didn't bother with this and headed to our own gyms in town instead.

We took the opportunity to explore Sentosa on bike since Sofitel offers free bike rentals for 2 hours. Their bike was obviously too big for me to handle but i had to make to. We checked out the Fort Siloso exhibition and also went up the Imbiah Nature Trail (i meant to walk here but Jr convinced me that we should just cycle and it was just crazy with the rocks and roots). This was possibly the most exciting part of our stay because we've not experienced these before.

We also discovered a shortcut to Tanjong Beach from the pool area! It's about 130 steps down to the beach, which we found rather convenient. This makes for easier suntanning at this less crowded beach.

From my review, it's quite clear that the stay was rather lacklustre for a 5 star resort. Skip the full-board package at any opportunity, it's really not worth it. The facilities and rooms are also little worn and not particularly comfortable but a night's stay is still manageable. As for us, i doubt we'd visit Sofitel Singapore Sentosa again.

Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa

2 Bukit Manis Road

Sentosa 099891

We're always finding new restaurants to check out when out having dinner in Joo Chiat (which is all the time). The name Asador jumped out at us because we thought it is an Argentinean steakhouse (like Asado) but it turned out to be a Spanish restaurant instead. We were lucky to score a last minute table by the bar on a Friday night (i called 15 mins before we headed down) because the place was packed after we started eating.

The bar counter in front of the wood-fired oven gave us a vantage point of the kitchen and direct access to the chefs and their recommendations (as well as the heat from the oven). Don't go expecting the usual Spanish tapas and paellas, Asador is a proper Spanish restaurant which is quite grill-forward. Many of their dishes are prepared on a Basque-style parilla grill using different types of wood for different flavors.

The Huevos Rotos ($16) called out to me because i can never resist a breakfast dish. Fries, chorizo and egg may sound super simple but the combo at Asador certainly was not. The hand cut fries were the perfect starchy sort with a thin layer of crisp, flavored by the salty chorizo. If i can, i'll only have my eggs done this way- a fried fluffy cloud of egg whites, topped with a runny sticky yolk that brought the ingredients together.

The Santoña anchovies were also recommended as a starter and Asador does theirs with some homemade smoked butter and toasted bread. While i know it's a delicacy, i'm just not that much of a fan of canned food? Plus i've yet to eat any of the tinned sardines that we brought back from Spain. Hurhur.

I knew that the Pulpo Char-grilled octopus with Spanish pork belly ($34) was a sure-order by Jr (that's his weakness). The was the perfect surf-and-turf featuring an adeptly cooked tender and fresh octopus plus a smoky bacon-like pork belly. The meats were served atop patatas revolconas, a paprika mashed potatoes flavored with pancetta, pimentón, garlic, olive oil and sherry vinegar.

We may not be able to fly to the French Riviera but Mandala Club has brought its best to us, Michelin three-star and current World's Best on the 50 Best list- Mirazur from Menton. The pop-up has extended its run till 12 Sep 2021 no thanks to the dining restrictions in Singapore earlier but that also led me to scoring a table at this exclusive.

This is the first time that diners outside of Menton get to experience Mirazur's reimagined concept which is based on the lunar calendar and its influence on the gardens. The menu revolves around the four "universes"- Root, Leaf, Flower, and Fruit, and the harmony of the position of the Moon in the sky with the energy concentrated in each part of the plant. The ingredients used as local and seasonal, in line with this philosophy and the team is working with local suppliers like Edible Garden City, Kok Fah Technology Farm, Toh Thye San and Nutrinest for the menu in Singapore.

The Mirazur team is lead by head chef of the residency Luca Mattioli, who has worked with chef-patron Mauro Colagreco for over five years, and restaurant director Geoffrey Le Mer.

The 6-course lunch ($388) was a 3 hour affair and we started off with a series of snacks. The 50-layer potato with butter and horseradish was a delightful crunchy popsicle on a twig, and we also enjoyed the burst of jammy flavors in the caramelized onion with Comte cheese. The radish cups were a tad too chunky for us and we thought the combination with trout eggs wasn't complementary. Last of the snacks was the sweet potato cone with pink garlic espuma.

Then we had a flower-shaped bread loaf (which texture was more of a biscuit), served with Mirazur's special infused olive oil, with ingredients from the Mirazur garden. The ginger-citrus flavors were absolutely refreshing and stunning with the bread. I also enjoyed the carrot-shaped Brittany butter infused with carrot jus.

Radish, Sea Bream, and Citrus- a lovely rose made with layers of radish (red, green and daikon), vegetable jelly (grapefruit, orange and spirulina) with slices of Japanese marinated Sea Bream. This dish is rather Japanese inspired, with a smoky and citrusy dashi to bring the ingredients together.

Beetroot and Caviar- A signature of Mirazur. The beet is salt-baked till soft and tender and served with the high end caviar. You'd be surprised at how the beet outshine the caviar in this dish. I couldn't get enough of the sweetness of the beet, which dances with the silky cream and ocean flavors of the caviar.

New Potato and Smoked Eel- little starchy potatoes with Spanish smoked eel and smoked eel emulsion. You know it's delicious when there's a harmony of salt, fat, and acidity in the dish. And how adorable is the ice plant (i really love them).

The Dark Side of The Moon is a love or hate dish and unfortunately i'm just not a fan of licorice and you get the full-on artificial sweet and bitter flavor. The aged monkfish was fabulous on its own (i scraped away most of the black coating which i wasn't sure was black garlic or licorice), with a cuttlefish flavor and tight meaty flesh.

Our main was the Celeriac and Guineafowl- the pillars of root vegetables was a visual delight with columns of carrot, sweet potato, celeriac and also Granny Smith apples. The bird was first sous vide then pan roasted and served with an impressive Albufera sauce made with Guineafowl stock with truffle, cream, balsamic vinegar, and 3 types of alcohol- Madeira, Port and Cognac.

The second serving of the bird was a consommé with ravioli, and a rich confit with espuma which i polished despite all the dishes i've eaten.

For dessert, the Purple Vitello Potato and Coffee- a visually stunning dessert with the most unique combination of ingredients. I definitely did not expect coffee to go well with potatoes but it did. It was also surprisingly light, thanks to the coffee mousse which helped with our food coma.

Finally the Mignardises- purple carrot sorbet; chewy ginger Financier; and peanut chocolate (just like Reeses but better).

We left with a souvenir of macarons which are specially created by Janice Wong, extending our Mirazur experience featuring the Moon and four universes of Mirazur.

It has been a while since my last fine-dining experience. While the service wasn't as attentive, the staff were very friendly and we felt super comfortable to simply be ourselves and enjoy our food and conversation. That said, the food and experience would probably land itself in the 1.5- 2 star category.

Mirazur at the Mandala Club

31 Bukit Pasoh Road, Singapore 089845

MoboMoga welcomes all you modern boys and modern girls (the name actually means that) at its dark and eclectic sake-bar/izakaya with a speakeasy vibe. Located along the main Mohamed Sultan road side of UE square, you would probably miss this sake bar if you do not spot the red lantern hanging outside. Duck in through the door within a door (note it's the smaller one) and scoot onto a seat around the bar counter for your Japan experience in Singapore (since we can't travel).

You may feel a little out of place, just like you would at a local Japanese bar where no one speaks English. We were told by friends that we should ask the pretty Japanese service staff for recommendations for food and sake and we dutifully heeded the advice. It would otherwise be daunting to pick something from the vast collection of sakes here.

Not fans of innards, we skipped the recommended sweet shrimp shiokara ($12) and low temperature cooked chicken liver ($14) and went straight for the izakaya defining tsukune ($12), which sadly lacked the crunch of the cartilage. Instead, you get some nutty bites (probably from some form of nuts like gingko or peanut). The grilled chicken meatball is doused with a sweet tare and topped with a whole creamy egg yolk.

You already know that SIRI HOUSE is my favorite restaurant in Dempsey (read my earlier review here) and i must have sampled most of the items off the menu. This time, Jr and i headed back for their not-quite-new weekend brunch menu (our earlier plans were thwarted by COVID-19).

A recap on the food SIRI House serves- it says Modern Asian family table, which actually meant a medley of flavors and dishes that a modern well-traveled and savvy family would be accustomed too. The international influences draw from Japanese, Korean, Thai, Italian and Spanish cuisine.

But of course, brunch is not run-of-the-mill here. A simple Lobster Scramble ($21) blew our minds with the refreshing mix of a Middle Eastern Za’taar sour cream flavoring the delectably soft scrambled eggs with Boston lobster. The sour cream was a burst of mint, flower, wood, and nut, which cut through the richness of the eggs. While the suggest is to share this small plate, i advise that you add on some sourdough, a long with another other sides, and keep it for yourself.

SIRI HOUSE's Arancini ($21) changed my mind on fried rice balls. Theirs is served like a takoyaki, with the familiar presentation of mayonnaise, furikake and bonito flakes. Looks aside, each bite was greeted with a big crusty crunch, which breaks away to reveal a creamy mozzarella ooze. I enjoyed the starchy rice in place of flour, peppered with bits of octopus and chorizo. There's a twist on the typical Kewpie too, with Chef Leo giving it a spicy Thai chili upgrade.

We also had one of the weekly specials which is perfect for this scorching summer. Summer Tings ($18) is a garden on a plate, created with Hierloom tomatoes, apricot, a slightly sweet corn mousse, starchy chewy heritage corn kernel for texture and lacto-fermented calamansi peel.

The Cheeseburger ($29) has the longest list of ingredients on the menu with each element layering on a distinct dimension to the overall bite. Here goes- juicy beef patty, salty crunch from fried Parma ham, oozy Cheddar, nutty Gouda, acidic bread and butter pickles, piquant shishito relish, jammy caramelized onions, sharp Dijon mustard, smoky harissa mayo, all sandwiched between a slightly springy milk bun. This is not your usual cheeseburger and is one that i'll remember from time to time. The double-fried fries were perfection too; they were crunchy all around and fluffy within.

After such a heavy meal, you simply have to go with the pretty terrarium inspired Cherry Sundae ($18) to bring you out of slumber. I loved the tanginess of the yogurt ice cream adorned with a balanced cherry compote (it's not as sweet as i imagined it to be) with really nice juicy cherry halves. The fruits used in this sundae are seasonal and we had apricot in ours. Crushed dark chocolate feuilletine provided a contrasting crunch.

Given that we ate some much, the Bomboloni ($16), Italian style fried bready doughnuts filled with cashew chocolate ganache and mixed berry jam, was too much for us. I thought they were a bit oily and dense and the sugar granules coating didn't help with the greasy bite.

What's brunch without some cocktails right and we know SIRI HOUSE makes some mean ones. While they claimed that their Brunch cocktails ($12) are low ABV and focuses more on flavors than alcohol, i was flushed after my first glass of Jasmine Sake Bellini. No complains though! Jr's Mary Nagano is a spicy wasabi and chili twist on Bloody Mary which would go very well with burger and fries. For those wanting a caffeinated kick, the Caffeinated Martini with dark rum, kopi O and espresso will provide that high.

If you require some sobering up, check out the retail space at the front of house or pick up some toys curated by multidisciplinary creative studio, FLABSLAB- they are currently doing a Fifty Shades of Black collection.