eevon.sg

Thanks to Carlyn, I was invited to the exclusive launch party of the first Restaurant Week in Asia/Singapore at The Tower Club! Ah Jacelyn my lady, has fast fingers! She booked a romantic dinner at Il Lido right after she caught me micro-blogging during the event.

Organised by DiningCity.com Singapore, Restaurant Week is actually a highly successful event, a culinary event in countries such as The Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and USA. Thus, the launch of Restaurant Week in Singapore instead of anywhere else in Asia sorta amplifies and establishes Singapore’s position as the food capital of Asia. Gotta give credit to this tiny island for beating Shanghai for winning this launch.

After the event, I am officially a fan of Veuve Clicquot! It was lively, delicate yet powerful. Moet & Chandon, Cape Mentelle and Terrazas was also served to my pleasure.

Photo credit to Glenn!

Not to mention those exquisite canapés I sampled from four of the participating restaurants: Julien BOMPARD, Garibaldi Italian Restaurant & Bar, The Song of India and Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant. The event was tastefully done.

This one-week culinary event is a darling for lucky peeps who managed to book limited seats! They can enjoy a special three-course meal at affordable fixed prices of S$35++ for a three-course dinner and S$25++ for a three-course lunch during the Singapore Restaurant Week from 22 to 28 March 2010. Just the perfect opportunity to taste a varied range of unique dining experiences at a wide selection of choice restaurants.

That’s the guys from Tatsuya. Oh when you book your reservations, do check if the particular restaurant is a DiningCity Star Awarded restaurant. If yes, you may be charged a fixed supplement of S$15 for lunch and S$20 for dinner. Also check the menu to see if you like the offerings.

(:

Bookings can ONLY be made online via www.restaurantweek.sg. You gotta hurry if you are interested because the last time I checked, empty tables are fast filling up. There are in total 58 participating restaurants. Unfortunately, Julien BOMPARD and Tatsuya Japanese Restaurant have NO MORE SEATS! 18,000 seats gone so fast! It’s just been a day! Must be those American Express Cardmembers. Yup American Express actually offers early booking privileges to their Cardmembers! Jealous.

):

Not that I’m going to sign up for an American Express card anytime soon. So next year, I shall set my alarm clocks to be the first to reserve some Restaurant Week tables!

*Pete was resting at home so I had to grab pictures from Kyle. Thanks Kyle!*

Attended Esmirada’s 15th Anniversary Party with Ken. Thanks Carlyn!

The celebration was held at the new Esmirada At The Pier located in the thriving dining hub of Robertson Quay. Warm lights illuminated the interior of Esmirada At The Pier and the combination of rustic brick walls with blue accents brought an easy-going allure. Seemed like the perfect place to idle away a lazy Saturday evening with girlfriends!

Esmirada At The Pier is a really cosy and casual restaurant with a rustic charm! We spent the evening at the al fresco seating. Good thing that the courtyard was breezy and when dusk arrived, pretty candles tea lights evoked a romantic feel! Nice.

Ken and I enjoyed a glass of Sangria with Esmirada’s Famous Garlic Bread (S$6) – a towering crusty baguette loaf fragrant with garlic and butter – before digging in to the selection of appetizing antipasti, salads, soups and tapas!

My favourite starter would be the refreshing Greek Salad (S$16)! The cheese was awesome and it gave the salad enough flavor that salad dressing isn’t needed. The sharp taste of onion went really well with the red peppers and sun-dried tomatoes. Tasty! Would be perfect if I could add a bit of garlic, a dash of oregano and a teaspoon of white wine vinegar! Hehe I like my salad to be fancy.

Tossed a couple of cold prawns on our plates too to go with the wine. Fresh goodness.

Of course, Mediterranean food is not Mediterranean without some grilled meats, pita bread, and falafel. It was nearly impossible to decide what to taste first considering the selection dishes displayed on the counter.

That’s the roasted pork. I love the few unique starters especially the delectable Balkan dish, Cevapcici (S$18) – grilled meat fingers made from minced beef and lamb and served with a homemade mustard ragoo dip.

Another tasty entrée was this. Make a guess what this is.

Smoked ham! Totally scrummy! Look at the size of that humongous piece of meat!

The chef was there the entire evening making sure that each slices of smoked ham was cut to perfection. These delicate paper-thin slices of smoked ham were so well-flavoured.

Our appetite was further satiated by main courses such as the Esmirada Skewers (from S$28) – perfectly grilled quality ribeye steaks, lamp chops, chicken kebabs, king prawns, swordfish and vegetables served on a custom-made iron frame and accompanied by bell pepper relish, tzatziki sauce and oven baked potatoes.

Ken tried the famous Spanish saffron rice dish, Paella Espanola (S$30), that is brimming with fresh mussels, squid, prawns, chicken and vegetables. That was a hearty dish.

Always have space for dessert when it is chocolate fondue and fresh strawberries!

I’m sure no one could resist creamy smooth chocolate cascading down a chocolate fountain. Sinful.

Craving for some Mediterranean goodies? Well there’s something going on now. You can enjoy 15% discount off Total Bill from now to 31 March 2010 (not applicable with other promos) at all three Esmirada outlets.

Esmirada At The Pier
80 Mohamed Sultan Road
#01-03 The Pier at Robertson

Abandon ship! Bloggers on board the Uniquely Singapore Clipper!

Photo credit to Huishan

Last Saturday morning was not put to waste as I went under the sunny weather and got a healthy dose of Vitamin D. Good thing we did not chanced upon any ox-eye/a cloud or other weather phenomenon that may be indicative of an upcoming storm. Marina at Keppel Bay is a very pretty place. Was here exactly a month ago for the NYE yacht party.

Huge red Keppel logo on the clipper as it was the main sponsor of the Uniquely Singapore yacht in the 09-10 Clipper Round the World Yacht Race! Very amusing how I keep running into stuff affiliated with this company. First, it was Ken. We were quite into Keppel Nights for a period of time. Then there’s the very interesting oil rig tour. And now I’m going sailing! Woo hoo!

It was blazing hot! Wanted to get a healthy tan but freaked out during breakfast. Don’t want to look like Ken. He went sun tan and became an ugly brownie after peeling for a week. So bought the mini Mentholatum Sunplay SPF130 sun block from Guardian. $1.95 only! Woah good stuff. It worked like magic.

The crew on board were very friendly and I got a feel of their enthusiasm to be sailing around the world! Singapore is actually the 4th leg of the race and up next is Qing Dao, China. Would you want to be an ocean racer too?

Fyi The Clipper Race is the only round the world yacht race for non-professional sailors and takes place every two years. This means people from all walks of life can sign up to be ocean racers! Apparently many of those who took part had no sailing experience before they began their pre-race Clipper Training. But be prepared to leave everything behind for at least a year to pursue this extraordinary aspiration.

Uniquely Singapore is helmed by Singapore-born Skipper Jim Dobie, whose present crew includes female Keppel Ambassador Karan Teo as well as Nicole Ho, who is circumnavigating round the world. In just ten months, the race will see the international Clipper Race fleet cross five continents and visit 14 ports, including Brazil, Qingdao and California. So cool! Around the world! I also wanna go! But on second thoughts.. maybe not. I don’t want to end up looking like a sun-dried tomato.

Despite the scorching UV-rays, I enjoyed the breeze and awesome sea view as the Uniquely Singapore Clipper sailed across the waves. It was generally a smooth ride.

Briefly pondered if I am up to the challenge of becoming an ocean racer but my hopes were dashed shortly. Though the Uniquely Singapore Clipper was easily sailed and maneuvered, I freaked out minutes after I steered the clipper when it tilted precariously to one side! SCARY. I think the girls screamed in horror or maybe it was just me.

Ben attempted to do some tacking/zig-zagging so as to sail directly towards the wind. Not bad. Lester and Lionel was pretty good at steering too. As you can see, the clipper is quite narrow. It’s an amazing feat for such a compact vessel to house a team of ocean racers.

Didn’t really dared to move around the clipper. But my fear of falling overboard gave way to photo opportunities! Haha. Stole Vic’s bright yellow sunnies.

Photo credit to Huishan

Just when I thought the clipper is stable enough for me to move around, I was wrong. Huishan caught my panic-stricken expression.

Photo credit to Huishan

Big thank you to Ben and Lionel of Singapore Tourism Board for the invite to be onboard the Uniquely Singapore Clipper! Though we were all pooped after sailing across the wind for 3 hours, this outing was extremely enjoyable! Most of us went home with uneven tan but Victor acquired a really strange tan because he only smeared a streak of sunblock on his arm. Lol.

Last but not least, wanna thank Huishan for the lovely pictures! Lucky girl! No sun block but unly her eyelids were burnt! Can you believe it? Anyway the rest of the pictures were taken by me using Hipstamatic for iPhone. Nice?

If you noticed, the few italic words in this post are all commonly used nautical terms. More at wiki.