Prego @ Fairmont Singapore

Prego has always been one of the default restaurant on days where I am clueless on where or what to have for dinner.

The once brightly lit restaurant with clean defined furnishing aimed at executive diners has been recently revamped to a more cosy italian rustic settings. I understand from the staff that the revamp is primarily due to a change of its master chef which explains a total change of menu.


The new menu consist of a a more limited choices of its pastas, pizzas, mains and desserts. Likewise, the service crew now adopts a more causal serving approach from its 'choose-it-yourself' anti-pasti corner to the complimentary choices of bread brought around in a basket for a more personal touch.

Gone also is the 'Sparkling or Still?' the moment you are seated.

To kick start the meal, we ordered 2 variety of anti-pasti at the anti-pasti corner.

Smoked Salmon Bruschetta (S$4.00 each)

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Seafood Salad (S$4.00 each)



The Bruschetta was nicely toasted with a parlsey and cream cheese (I guess) spread while the seafood salad, the portion of at most 3 spoonfuls, was well mixed with a right amount of olive oil and lemon dressing to whet your appetite.

Now, the mains.

We ordered a set dinner (S$55.00) and a seafood linguine (S$27.00).

The set dinner consists of a hearty bowl of chunky mushroom soup, arrabiata penne, grilled cod fish and tiramisu.

Dishes worth a mention are its wholesome mushroom soup and very tender grilled cod fish with fresh and juicy tomatoes on vines.

However, I personally feel that the penne was a tad overcooked and its tiramisu not as light and concentrated as its previous version offered before the revamp.

The arrabiata penne

 

Cod fish



Seafood Linguine



Tiramisu

 


Prego
80 Bras Basah Road
1F Fairmont Singapore
Tel: 6431 6156

Empire Cafe @ Raffles Hotel

Nestled in a quiet corner of Raffles Hotel, Empire Cafe appeared to be a welcoming venue on a Friday evening when one needs some personal space from a busy weekend crowd.



Specialising in local fare, it is (at least in my opinion) a pricy alternative to your authentic hawker food in a local hawker centre where you can find local food at its best, both in price and quality.

But well, we don't have too much of a choice when it's nearing 10 p.m. and we want to settle dinner fast and in a comfortable environment.

We ordered an iced lemon tea, a nasi goreng and a prawn mee soup. The food came in hearty portions but I guess they better do, considering the exorbitant pricing.

Here's the Nasi Goreng with ikan goreng (I had it replaced from chicken), sunny side up, prawn crackers, archar, fish floss and fish balls. (S$29.00)

I like how the archar is coated with a generous amount of peanuts and how the fish was very tender and well marinated despite it being deep fried.



And here's the prawn noodle soup (S$24.00). It was comforting to have some soupy food at this time of the night and although the soup itself somewhat lacks in favour, it redemned itself by a good offering of fresh prawn and ingredients.



Here's the shocking part. The iced lemon tea was a whopping S$14.00, no joke.

What is only comforting is that you get a 50% with a Feed at Raffles card (although the same don't apply to drinks so don't be ripped off unnecessarily).

Empire Cafe
1 Beach Road
1F Raffles Hotel
Singapore
Tel: 6412 1101

Gandhi Restaurant @ Chander Road

I first chanced upon Gandhi when my boss suggested an impromtu department lunch at what he described as one of the best of its kind in Singapore. Curiously, I followed along and was met with the hustle and bustle of activities during the lunch crowd and the colourful variety of indian dishes offered.

The dining experience intrigued a first-timer like myself.

You first find yourself a seat and a staff would follow to 'lay the table' with banana leaf, rice, curry, lentil and the likes. Thereafter, you have the option of choosing dishes you fancy before you tucked into the food with the very bare essential, your right hand (fingers to be exact).

Not long after, I made a trip back on a Sunday evening for a quick dinner. Bad decision to travel to little India on a Sunday. Full stop.

And so, after several months, I finally made it back to Gandhi again. This time round with a very satisfying dinner, no less.

Here's dinner!


And for the side dishes, we had the flower crab which was definitely the highlight of the meal.


Very savoury and well marinated Fish cutlets.


Sambal eggs.


And curry fish. The same fish curry drizzled onto my banana leaf that goes very well with the rice and papadum.


Dinner for two came up to approximately S$22.00 inclusive of drinks and the above.

Definitely worth a visit =)