eevon.sg

Whimsical deco, impeccable service and fabulous waterfront scenary. That’s Forlino.

The fanciful deco along the way before we entered the posh dining hall was almost dreamlike. I felt like Alice in Wonderland as I walked through the corridors with checkered floorings, robin’s egg blue panels and gold highlights.

That evening, we had items from the ‘Traditional’ Menu, a four course meal with amuse bouche, petit fours and coffee/tea. Thanks Fulvia for the lovely arrangement.

(:

Kicking off with the amuse bouche, our mouth was definitely amused. The amuse bouche we had that day was sliced duck breast with vegetable mousse and beetroot sauce.

Nope amuse bouche is not an appetizer because we don’t even have to order it and it is offered for free! Apparently, this dish which was meant to be finished in one or two bites is something extra that showcases the artistry and showmanship of the chef.

Our small bite before the meal was accompanied by the home-baked focaccia bread which looked like a chubby pancake.

Although the pancake were free flow throughout dinner, we only ate a quarter of ours. Not that it is so bad, just that it is nice to munch on only when it is warm. However, I’m not sure if it was suppose to be served without any olive oil & balsamic vinegar. I didn’t bother to ask. Was busy checking out the wine list.

Praba, the manager was recommended Laurent-Perrier Cuvee Rose Brut Champagne for me and Prosecco Brut Bubbly for Cablenazi. Good choice. His was dry, crisp with a slightly spicy finish while mine had a sweet aroma and was wonderfully refreshing!

As for the mains, we went nuts over the Pan Roasted King Scallops with French Beans and Hazelnuts.  Amazing. This tasted better than the scallops I had at Pierside.

The scallops were cooked to the right texture and degree of done-ness. The sides of the scallops were beautifully panfriend with cocoa butter and were served with a light tasty sauce made by homemade fishstock with white wines, spices and hazelnut oil. I enjoyed this very very much! Being a big fan of light dishes, this dish was excellent!

The Homemade Spaghetti with Black Cod, Baby Artichokes and Mint was commendably al dente. The black cod tasted a little like Chilean sea bass but had salmon-like texture. The pasta was dressed with aunique artichoke sauce. According to Genevieve from Forlino, the sauce was prepared by sauteeing the artichokes with shallots, garlic, white wine, peppermint, italian parsley and spices before blending all to get a smooth cream! No wonder the dressing was so flavoursome.

The dish was also topped with a garnish of deepfried baby artichokes! Er I find this richly flavoured pasta dish a little too dense probably because it is spaghetti egg noodles. Personally, I prefer lighter tasting noodles. Right now, my current favourite would be chilled capellinni!

The only course which disappointed me was the Roasted Pigeon with Goose Liver Sauce, Chanterelle Mushrooms and Wild Chicory. Though it was fresh ‘Bresse’ pigeon all the way from France, we didn’t finished it.

The meat was a little tough and cablenazi complained that the wild chicory was too bitter. But I think it was pleasantly bitter. Our difference in taste explains why I adore bittergourds and he hates them.

Ah we were kinda surprised by dessert. It was Saffron Jelly with Strawberries and Balsamic Vinegar Ice Cream. Yeah balsamic vinegar ice cream? Sounds weird right? Obviously I don’t dine at Italian/French restaurants often.

Anyway I never expected strawberries and balsamic vinegar ice cream to taste so good! Was told that the fresh strawberries were marinated with mint, lemon and sugar for this dish. Oh my the addition of balsamic vinegar actually tempered the richness of the milky ice cream and added a nice little zing to the sweet marinated strawberries. I also liked the chewy texture of the saffron jelly. What a great way to serve strawberries!

Our romantic dinner date at Forlino ended daintily with the delicate looking Petit Fours which comprise of sweet chocolate biscuits, baked meringues and tarts.

Well petit four means mini dessert or confections. It can be cakes, macaroons, éclairs, tarts; basically anything sweet and cute.

As a fine dining restaurant, service, ambience and the presentation of food was quite right though I was a little surprised that the dining room got really noisy when it was 3/4 full with guests. Anyway I am quite impressed at the attention that the waiting staff lavished on every diner. Ladies will definitely be pleased with the mushroom stools available just for our handbags!

Forlino
1 Fullerton Road
#02-06 One Fullerton
Tel: +65 6877 6995
Mon–Sun
12pm–2.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm

Pa insisted to grab lunch here when we were at Malacca 2 weeks ago. Well, he and ma dined here once with a few of their friends. But all they could remember was how yummy the food was. Yeah they even forgot the name of the restaurant! The only clue we had was roughly how the shop front looked like. Nevertheless, pa’s persistence to hunt down this restaurant tells me that lunch is going to be very good.

Thank goodness Bro got one of his university mate who happened to be around the area to help. His task was to bring us to an unidentified nyonya restaurant located next to a half-shop selling cendol and local snacks. He’s a very smart lad. He found Restoran Nyonya Suan in less than 10 minutes.

Everyone was HUNGRY! Our orders were taken to the kitchen even before our seats turned warm. Our first dish, the Assam Fish (RM30) was served in less than 15 minutes. Goodness. Spicy tamarind fish never tasted so good. I love my white rice with dishes like this! The fish was very fresh and was accompanied ladies fingers, eggplants, onions and tomatoes. I really love the tangy spicy gravy that had a slight creamy taste of coconut milk. It was more sourish than spicy and that really perks up the dish. It went so well with the steamed white rice that all of us got extra serving of rice.

Then we had the Ayam Rendang (RM9) which was awesome! This Nyonya flavoured chicken was hot, spicy, sweet and had a distinct coconut flavour! This dish was so good my tastebuds are still dancing with joy. Do you now that Rendang is a dish which originated from the Minangkabau ethnic group of Indonesia ? Apparently Nyonya cooking in the South (Malacca and Singapore) has an Indonesian influence. Thus, the Nyonya food is generally sweeter, richer with liberal use of coconut milk and traditional Malay spices. That explains the richly pep up chicken chunks that had thoroughly absorbed the spicy condiments. Ah fusion food at its best.

Ma loovess sotong/squid so we got the Sotong Kunyit (RM10). Other than the kunyit/tumeric, the dish was laced with lots of fresh aromatic herbs that made the scrumptious dry sauce. My guess, the sotong was stir fried with a blend of chilies, shallots, lemongrass and belachan (dried shrimp paste). Nonetheless, the main ingredient, turmeric did gave an essential earthiness to the dish and I can taste a tinge of lime which left a pleasing soft citrus tang. Mm delicious!

The Telur Dadar Cincalok (RM8) was probably the only dish there I couldn’t appreciate. Though the addition of Cincalok (fermented small shrimps usually served as a condiment together with chillis, shallots and lime juice) gave the typical omelette an exotic twist, I thought that it was a tad too salty.

My favourite! Brinjals! That’s the Terung Sambal Cili (RM8). Mouthwatering. I love the combination of sambal prawn on top of brinjals. These purple delights carried a peculiar pungent-spicy taste when accompanied by fragrant curry and fiery sambal. Am really puzzled why Cablenazi hates this tasty vegetable so much. Tsk Tsk Tsk

Oh one thing you must must must get here is the nyonya cendol, shaved ice with tiny green starch noodles, red beans and syrup! Mmm the taste of fresh coconut and gula Melaka/palm sugar charmed me and by the way a bowl cost RM2 only!

A trip to Malacca is nothing without a bowl of cendol. It’s a excellent choice to quench your thirst after all that well-seasoned Nyonya food.

Pss you know, thanks to MediaCorp mass advertisement of peranakan culture, I used to secretly thought that Peranakan cuisine is overrated. Not anymore. The peranakan lunch I had at Restoran Nyonya Suan has exceeded my expectation.

Dear Gilbert Nyam, I will be back.

Restoran Nyonya Suan
No G12 & G14, Jalan PM 3,
Plaza Mahkota, Bandar Hilir,
75000 Melaka.
Tel: 06- 286 4252

Next time you’re around Plaza Pelangi area, look out for this particular hawker stall called Sin Hock Guan Permas Jaya (Tangkak) Beef Noodles in Kakilang Food Court Centre. Well Tangkak is a little town in Johor known for its beef noodles. If I’m not mistaken Tangkak is along the way to Muar where I managed to grab some Bak Kut Teh and Thai seafood previously when I was there.

Look how gorgeous the bowl of beef goodness is. I always order the dry version because I prefer having my thick white rice noodles drenched in thick beefy gravy. The QQ rice noodles is accompanied by tender morsels of braised beef brisket, beef tendons, slices of beef tenderloin, bits of salted vegetables, some peanuts and lots of spring onions! In my opinion, this tasted better than the pricey Hock Lam Beef Noodle I had in Singapore.

Are you a huge fan of chewy beef tendon? I am! I love that piece of gelatinous, transparent, soft yet chewy morsel to bits. The texture of the beef tendon here texture is similar to boiled pig’s ear but it is bouncier and does not taste as funky. Nonetheless, it’ll taste bland if not for the yummy beefy saucy. Thumbs up for the tangy flavoursome sauce.

Every bowl of beef noodles comes with special homemade chilli sauce and a steaming bowl of beef soup. The chili sauce is strangely appetising. Must be the dollop of extra spicy green chilli the auntie mixed with the usual red one. I suspect she used those tiny chilli padi! By the way the chilli sauce is slightly thicker than what you get when you order chicken rice. It is perfect for dipping the beef.

(:

Oh before digging into this dish, do remember to add a sprinkle of fresh lime juice on the noodles and chilli sauce to enhance the flavour. Mix well! If you like more lime, just request from the friendly auntie at the stall. It’s free. I always get extra lime because I like my beef and noodles to have a zestier taste.

It cost just RM6 for a small bowl of beef noodles and RM8 for the larger serving. Unless you’re really hungry, I think the small serving is perfectly fine for a hearty lunch. I always drop by when I’m in Pelangi area and craving for BEEF.

Don’t worry you can’t miss Kakilang because it is a corner lot coffeeshop. Ah it’s very near Restoran Mei Sin that sells Mee Hoon Kueh. Mom likes it alot too and most of the time, I’ll be here with her after shopping at Plaza Pelangi. Yup that mall is actually of walkable distance to this food centre. Just 2-3 minutes drive away?

Actually there’re a few places that sells beef noodles in JB, I know of another stall at Ang Kim Chwee Coffee Shop which sells this scrumptious delight somewhere near the CIQ. Will cover that next round! Watch this space!

Kakilang Food Court Centre
Jalan Abiad 1
Taman Maju Jaya
80400 Johor Bahru

Was wondering where to bring JB pig-outers for dinner after a heavy brunch at Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh and mid-afternoon dessert at La Gourmet. Want to get something that can tempt our pampered taste buds that were kept busy all day. Thus, decided to get some sweet and sour asam fish and soupy drunken chicken from Jie Sheng. This place was recommended by dad.

We were there on a Saturday evening and it was almost full house; prepare to wait if there’s a crowd. Over here, the chef take his own sweet time to prepare his goodies. But it is worth the wait. Anyway time passes quickly when we were chatting about what to eat next and if we should go for durian ice cream dessert after dinner. Gluttons!

After about 20 minutes, we could smell our first dish coming. Behold, the Chinese drunken chicken! We ordered the medium sized one that cost RM14.

As we ladled the chicken pieces and soup we were enthralled by the extremely fragrant smell of Chinese rice wine but guess what. It tasted even better. The chicken meat was tender, moist and We could taste the rice wine and a slight hint of Chinese herbs, ginger and sesame oil which really gets the taste buds going. I particularly like the sweet wolf berries.

Absolutely superb. I could have this for dinner everyday. It was rich and really delicious. Ah no wonder this dish is considered a health-building soup. We felt so ‘strong’ after slurping the soup that we can stomach anything and continue the food hunt!

Next, the Asam fish! We loved it! The fish was so soft, silky and was slathered with asam gravy that was distinctively sweet, spicy and sour. For those who can’t take spicy stuff, you’ll be pleased to know that the spiciness was not to the extent of numbing the tongue. I would say that the asam is more sourish than spicy.

Not wanting to overeat and waste food, we ordered a small serving of the asam fish at first but we finished the entire serving in less than 10 minutes because it was damn good. So to satisfy our cravings, we ordered the asam fish again. This time, we got the medium sized serving with 3-4 large piece of fish. That’s the one you see below.

It was served with eggplants, long bean and fried tofu skin. After soaking the fried crispy fried tofu skin into the tangy gravy, you’ll get a soft and rubbery crumpled sheet. The tart sourish flavor of the asam gravy really accentuated the golden fried flavor of the tofu. Another side dish that were meant to match this dish is the papadum, a thin crispy wafer that taste like a cracker. We dipped it into the asam gravy and it’s amazingly tasty. By the way, if you have no patience to pick out fish bones, no worries. It’s 90% flesh.

By the way, it cost just RM33 for a small and medium order of the asam fish.

Besides these 2 specialty dishes, we ordered a plate of stir-fry vegetables (RM6) and claypot beancurd (RM7) with mixed vegetables as sides. These 2 dishes were fine but they were still outshone by the drunken chicken and asam fish.

Surprise surprise. Just when we were about to finish off all the dishes, there was an electric cut in the area. The entire estate was pitched black. Interesting. But we did not dined in darkness. The chef and a few of his customers/workers drove their car and positioned them strategically facing the restaurant. All headlights were turned on and the warm orangy lights lit the entire place with a cosy feel.

Despite the sudden electricity cut, dinner was a cooling and relaxing affair. We spent about RM65 for here which I find reasonable, considering the quality of the fare. Can’t believe we managed to chow down all these even after eating for the entire day.

Jie Sheng Restoran
3, Jalan Permas 10/B
Permas Jaya
81750 Masai Johor
019-7989123
3pm-12am
Closed on Thursdays

After lunch at Ah Soon Bak Kut Teh, I brought JB pig-outers here for mid-afternoon dessert/yumcha. We need a place to chill and rest our tummies. I like the dim and warm  lightings that offer the vibe of a great chill out place for urbanites looking for a place to enjoy cold dessert with friends! Not to mention, there’s plenty of parking lots for everyone!

I guess Mar was feeling pretty happy after a good lunch. It totally showed on her smiley face. Speaking about parking lots. We came to a conclusion that Malaysian loves to park head-in while Singaporeans ace in parking butt-in. What you think? True?

Anyway I love this place because I love mango and I love sago. Well I’ll only have green bean soup if there’s sago inside and do you know that sago tastes exceptionally good in bubur cha cha and dessert pastries. But the ultimate sago partner is the slushy-cushy MANGO LOO! That’s how we call this mango dessert in JB which may originate from Hong Kong. Oh I still dream of the heavenly mango dessert I had at Xu Liu Shan, Hong Kong! *drools* Anyway, finally, a decent dessert place in JB where I can head for when the occasional mango sago cravings hits me.

Theses are the mango delights JB pig-outers had that afternoon. Mar and I decided to share a dessert to save space for whatever food that’s coming next.

Out of 4 orders, 3 were mango mango mango! Kelvin was the odd one out with watermelon ice. He wanted something more refreshing. So watermelon works better for him.

Can you see the sago sticking on the ice? Hard to tell eh? Can’t remember how much we spent here but it shouldn’t be more than RM30. The price of the desserts ranges between RM5-8.

Overall, La Gourmet is not bad but it can never beat the mango goodies at Xu Liu Shan. I so wanna go Hong Kong again!! Cablenazi, heard that?

La Gourmet
No 11, Jalan Kuning Dua,
Taman Pelangi. 80400, Johor Bahru
10am – 3pm
07-3313782