Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts

6 June 2014

The Bank Bar & Bistro @ One Shenton

Met up with some of the fdgm people for a meal as well as to surprise WL at her new work place! :)
We checked out The Bank Bar + Bistro nearby some of our offices, at One Shenton.

 The Bank Bar + Bistro 

 #01-01, One Shenton, 1 Shenton Way 

 Hours Daily: 
11:00 - 00:00 

 Tel:
66362188 

Website
http://www.thebankbar.com




 The Bank Bar + Bistro has an all-day dining and bar concept with premium quality western cuisine and wine for business entertainment. The spacious, lofty and chic ambience works well for after-work unwinding or weekend brunches.





With a beautifully designed, seamless space that houses the bar and dining areas, the sophisticated all-in-one drinking and dining venue is ideal for corporate events besides catering to the different drinking and dining crowd.



Sports aficionados can also gather at this hot spot to catch major sports leagues, and bond over great food and beers/wines.
As stated above, The Bank Bar opens til midnight on both weekdays and weekends, so patrons don't have to worry about searching for another place to hang out after dinner hours.



Service was kind of slow and the waitress had this annoyed look on her face throughout. Overworked?
Seems like the disappointing service affected my friend a lil.
(He sure needs that beer huh.)




As if making up for the (lack of) service though, the food served was very palatable and one will be spoiled for choices with the extensive menu.

The seafood aglio olio I had was extremely favourful, with seafood all so fresh and succulent. The squid especially, was cooked just nice and juicy. We also order barbecued baby ribs that were full of meat and so tender to the point it almost fell off the rib as soon as we touched it. The BBQ sauce was perfect with a smokey and tangy taste. Serving of the pizza was huge and thus very good for sharing.

Here are some pictures of the awesome food we had:

Seafood Aglio Olio $24.50
Comes with succulent prawns, fresh squid, fresh black mussels, garlic, chilli flakes, olive oil and parsley.








Braised Lamb Shank $33.00
with roasted potatoes, asparagus, vine tomato and rosemary sauce



With #laopengyou lol :D




Barbeque Baby Back Ribs $26.00
with mesclun salad and potato wedges




Fungi $23.50
Pizza topped with a generous blend of jalapeno, white button mushroom, mozzarella, onions, capsicum, dry thyme and creamy white sauce



The bunch of us before hopping over to WL's place!



xoxo

31 March 2014

Extra Virgin Pizza x The Entertainer Singapore 2014

Have you caught on the recent café-hopping bug? Or living the high life at the prime of your youth but find that dining out and other enjoyments are getting more and more expensive? :( We all have to agree that Singapore can be quite an expensive city to live in, especially dining at a decent restaurant which can easily cost $40-$60 per pax. 

But recently I’ve managed to visit new restaurants and bars at ONLY HALF THE PRICE, all thanks to The Entertainer App! Yayyy! 


The Entertainer, an international Dubai-based company offering a portfolio of ‘buy one get one free’ incentive vouchers has launched a state-of-the-art app following its success of the voucher book which landed in Singapore in 2013.

The Entertainer Singapore is packed with over 1,150 buy one get one free offers for Singapore's hottest restaurants, bars, informal dining, spas, activities, attractions and more. With 3 vouchers per merchant, you can visit our partners more than just once or include your family and friends in the 1 for 1 fun. Also included is the Entertainer Travel Asia & Indian Ocean edition, which features over 380 free night offers for hotels and resorts throughout Asia & the Indian Ocean. The Entertainer Singapore 2014 could Save you more than SGD 150,000 this year!

For those who enjoy luxurious dining places such as the Prime Society, Michelangelo’s, b@Rochester, Moonstone, The White Rabbit, Au Petite Salut, Marriott Cafe, The Disgruntled Chef, Balaclava, Fat Cow, and etc, at only half the price! 
For café-hoppers, some popular hunts which you may be familiar with - the Department of Caffeine, Habitat Coffee, Lola;s Café, Toby’s Estate, Windowsill Pies, Canopy are all on the app!

Not only these fine dining restaurants, nightspots, and modern & contemporary dining, The Entertainer Singapore app gives you vouchers for daily quick snacks and drinks at places like ShareTea, Ben & Jerry’s, Cupcakes with Love, The Yogurt Place, Dunkin Donuts, Maggie Moo’s, just to name a few.

There is currently a 20% off for the full version of the Entertainer app if you use the discount code @oyhz Meaning, it costs ONLY $76 instead of $95, which is a pretty small price to pay for near $150,000 of Buy-One-Get-One-Free savings available in it!

Discount code @oyhz is valid til end of April, so hurry to get your entertainment deals soon. The earlier you get the app, the more you save ;)




How to get the full version

To use The Entertainer Singapore 2014 simply
1. Download & install The Entertainer app from your app store
Apple | Android


2. Register your details, and set a 4 digit passcode for your redemption usage in future (so, do remember the code :p)

3. Go to 'Buy' and select Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2014 and click on 'Buy now'



4. At the shopping cart, enter the promo code @oyhz and select 'Apply coupon'





5. Proceed to checkout and you'll see that final price of the app is only $76!



6. Enter credit card details and The Entertainer Singapore Mobile 2014 will be unlocked in your app after a few minutes.

7. Enjoy redeeming your Buy-One-Get-One-Free offers~!!

In less than two weeks, I've managed to save $124 for my dine-outs. 
(Which means more $$ for shopping, whee~!)

Utilized a few vouchers at the following:
Extra Virgin Pizza
Tony's Estate
The Bank Bar Bistro
Laksania
ShareTea
(Will do reviews separately soon!)


First tried this amazing app at Extra Virgin Pizza.
Here's a review plus a step-by-step usage of the app :)

Extra Virgin Pizza

United Square Shopping Mall #01-14

Opening hours:
Sun-Thu: 11am - 10pm

Fri-Sat: 11am - 11pm

Contact for delivery:
62475757

http://www.extravirginpizza.com/

https://www.facebook.com/extravirginpizza








How to use

View offers in app by location and category.



You will see the list of participating restaurants under the first icon (bottom) :)




If you're already at the place, click on the search icon (2nd at the bottom) to search for your restaurant vouchers.







Click on redeem and you'll be asked to confirm your outlet and prompted for that 4-digit passcode set when you downloaded the app.


Next, the staff will key in the merchant's code and ta-dahhh~!
Successful redemption!


The app automatically track your savings each time you use an offer – After every redemption, you’ll see your estimated savings. The Savings Calculator function allows you to see just how quickly you redeem the cost of your Entertainer product, and how much you save throughout the year.


***

The Extra Virgin Pizza outlet has a warm and casual ambience and the new branch at the United Square is spacious enough for long tables - great for large groups gatherings!
We were told that the pizzas are the mains available for Buy-One-Get-One-Free.
So it was PURE PIZZA night!

All pizzas are hand-made and baked to order at Extra Virgin Pizza. And as the name suggests, Extra Virgin Pizza uses quality and pure extra virgin olive oil, and only globally sourced premium ingredients such as Italian double-zero flour, california organic Saporito tomatoes and premium imported cheeses and toppings.


With more than 10 unique flavours for pizzas, we spent quite a bit of time making our choices!
There were two chef recommendation/favourites ordered - Spotted Pig and Pistachio Pesto.

Spotted Pig Pizza $26
with tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, pork sausage, applewood smoked bacon, parmigiano reggiano





Pistachio Pesto $24
with pistachio pesto, mozzarella, baby arugula, lemon vinaigrette, pecorino, provolone



While the two recommendations above were delightful, my personal favourites are actually Mushroom Bianco and Seafood Pizza!


Mushroom Bianco $22
with mozzarella, roasted mushrooms and onions, fontina, rosemary, pecorino, truffle oil


This was sooo good even though it's basically just cheese and mushrooms! (okay, with a drizzle of truffle oil)
There wasn't any pizza sauce used, which allows the natural flavour of the mushrooms to ooze out as you bite into the pizza.
Do try this if you're a mushroom lover like me! :D


Seafood $26
with bechamel, prawns, clams, squid, cherry tomatoes, chili flakes, parmigiano reggiano, pecorino, lemon juice, shaved garlic



This came as a surprise favourite for myself as I don't usually take spiciness well. The seafood pizza came with some chili flakes which was considered mild and adds on to the flavour perfectly.
Ingredients used were very fresh. I like especially the squid which was Q and springy!


Yummy homemade sodas to wash the palate. The raspberry mint is a must-try!



Here's a sample of The Entertainer Singapore and Travel vouchers in hardcopies.
Imagine having to lug the heavy books around just in case you pass by any places to use the vouchers *sweats*



The app is SO MUCH MORE convenient with the exact same offers!
Besides, with the app, you can view your offers by location – all your offers load in proximity to you or you can view the Entertainer map which features individual pins for every available Entertainer offer!

Also, for additional Members Offers (additional buy one get one free brunches, activities, massages and more), you just have to load directly onto your phone, instead of having to print from the website!

As mentioned earlier, the app not only provides dining deals, it also features a Hotel Supplement which is available for redemption on the App. Ideal for staycations or exotic breaks, the Supplement includes 4 and 5* hotels in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Indian Ocean.

On top on these, it also contains other local entertainment and activities eg:





There is currently a 20% off for the full version of the Entertainer app if you use the discount code @oyhz Meaning, it costs ONLY $76 instead of $95, which is a pretty small price to pay for near $150,000 of Buy-One-Get-One-Free savings available in it!

Discount code @oyhz is valid til end of April, so hurry to get your entertainment deals soon. The earlier you get the app, the more you save ;)

The Entertainer app from your respective app store
Apple | Android

xoxo

22 March 2014

Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar

Visited Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar – one of Singapore’s finest and respected Italian cuisine icons. Located along Purvis street which has no short of dining options, Garibaldi Italian stands out with its emphasis on authentic Italian cuisine prepared with the best ingredients mainly imported directly from Italy. The elegant and stylish design of the restaurant adds on to its strong identity and enhances the contemporary atmosphere – capturing Italian fine dining culture to perfection.



Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar is managed under the Garibaldi Group of Restaurants. The group is operated by a well-known face in Singapore's fine dining circle, Executive Chef and Managing Director, Roberto Galetti and his team of young Italian, European and local talents.



Established in 2003, the group owns and manages Gattopardo Bar, one of Singapore's most respected and stylish restaurant serving authentic Italian cuisine and Ricciotti. Its other impressive portfolio also includes associated joint ventures such as Gunther’s Modern French Cuisine and Brotzeit German Bier Bar & Restaurant.



The Group offers to its customers a number of services and products, all based on uncompromising quality, consistency over time and a comforting reliability. The aim is to represent the best of Italy's and Europe's culinary tradition within a modern and energetic environment; a place capable of offering a unique and exclusive entertaining experience to all our guests.

http://www.garibaldi.com.sg/

















Marinated razor clams with shallot confit, citrus fruit salad and sweet corn sauce









The dining experience was great, with impeccable service from the Garibaldi. We both love the antipasta - razor clams which were perfect with the shallot confit, absolutely delicious! Highly recommended.

Pan-roasted duck breast with caramel apple puree and duck liver mousse





Casereccia pasta with seafood ragout, olives, basil and fresh tomato sauce



For mains, the seafood pasta was served with generous portions of seafood, especially the crabmeat! The sauce was made from fresh tomatoes, which stands out from other run-of-the-mile tomato base pastas. Duck breast was slightly chewy (overdone?), but it tasted heavenly with the caramel apple puree. We left a large portion of the duck liver mousse untouched though as it didn’t go well with our palates.



Raspberry semi-freddo, meringue and red fruit sauce





The dessert was raspberry semi freddo (not the cadbury freddo frogs! lol), an Italian dessert that is pretty close to ice cream - half frozen and hence melting at half the speed. Each slice was sweet and creamy yet not overwhelming. With the contrasting crispy meringue bits, it was easy to finish the entire dessert in a second.

***





The bread served at the beginning of the meal was so good that we requested for more at the end of the meal. Gluttony us :p Later on as we were chit-chatting with the manager while sipping on coffee, we found out that the bread was taking a while due to the fact that they had to bake a new loaf of bread specially for us - we were one of the last few diners in the restaurant and nobody’s having bread anymore. Oops. That is one of the reasons why I mentioned that service standard was almost unimpeachable. Another restaurant
might have cited that there is no more serving of bread as they are closing or etc.. :|

Would definitely love to go back again.
Here's their menu if you're interested.


Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar
36 Purvis Street #01-02 Singapore 188613
Opening Hours
Daily 12:00 - 15:00, 18:30 - 23:00

Tel: (65) 6837 1468