Treasure Resort Sentosa

Just returned from a lovely retreat at Treasure Resort Sentosa enjoying the sun and carefree weekend.

And because this is 'her food journal', here's an obligatory photo of ermm....food...



I am starting to have a feeling that this holiday will be a tad too short...

Flauta (La) Bar & Restaurant - Barcelona

Finally this shall be the last of my Barcelona series. There are a lot more fantastic restaurants that we've tried during the trip since we basically had 4 meals a day including supper but both of us agree that this is the only one we will visit again if we ever return to Barcelona.

Flauta is recommended by Lonelyplanet and a few other travel websites as an often packed restaurant being one of the best place to try a variety of tapas in the Catalunya area. We arrived slightly early to avoid the 9pm dinner crowd which is the Spanish's usual dinner time with the restaurant being more than half empty (this caused slight panick as I thought my nagivation skills went wrong and we were stuck in a wrong restaurant).

Service was prompt and we were served by a waiting staff from Philippines who asked if we were from Sout East Asia moments after we requested for an English Menu (it's easy to spot a Singaporean trust me!) Went on to have a nice chat with the lad and he recommended me to go to the bar where all the fresh seafood and cold tapas were displayed and take my pick from there since the English menu was not too extensive on the selection available. It was fun to order via the pointing method and most of the food came way better than expectations.

A bottle of sparkling wine to mark the last night of our trip.



The razor clams (also known as bamboo clams), with a nice touch of mere olive oil and parsley, was a nice change from the usually garlic loaded ones we get from Singapore. Cooked just tender enough without being over rubbery, this is my favourite dish so far!



There's grilled salmon with white raisin sauce and grilled cod fish with prawn.





Fried cheese coated with nuts and topped with cranberry sauce which remsembles deep fried camberet without the layer of nuts.



Deep fried anchovies



Deep fried squid (calamari)



More clams



For greens we ordered asparagus which was overcooked and way too limpy as can be seen from the picture.



And lastly...a slice of chocolate mousse cake with whipped cream for a sweet finish...



The bill came up to a little under 100 euros for 2 pax which I find reasonable given the overall standard of the place but it certainly showed not much mercy towards my student's pocket. Service was great, attentive and all, althought GQ felt they were all directed at the fairer sex but I bet he enjoyed himself just as much.

Flauta (La) Bar & Restaurant
Aribau 23,
Barcelona, CT 08011

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When choosing the hotel for this trip, we made a mental note to avoid international chains and landed ourselves in Hotel Montecarlo.

As quoted from their website: "The Hotel Montecarlo, an old nineteenth-century palace which used to be the home of the Royal Artistic Circle of Barcelona, opened its doors on one of the world's most famous avenues, Las Ramblas, next to Plaça Catalunya, in the centre of Barcelona, in 1945."

I have but only raves for this hotel...strategic location, personalised service, huge in-room jacuzzi with Champange's campange, automated bed with remote control to adjust the inclining level, balcony facing Las Ramblas (ours is the balcony on the third level towards the left from the picture) and chocolates were given thoughtfully everyday after room service.









All in all, this has been a great trip (discounting the pickpocket experience of course) and if given a chance someday, I'll definitely do a stopover just for its tapas!

*Finally touched down in Singapore last night and am up now with barely 3 hours of sleep...jet lag...jet lag...*

Paris - Dec 06 - Latin Quarter - Part IV

Latin Quarter, located on the left bank in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, is known for its many reasonably priced bistros due to it proximity to the Sorbonne University.

Come night time, the atmosphere is lively with lots of souvenir shops scattered around and bistro owners touting for business along the street.



Conveniently located right across Notre Dame.



Hmmm...I needed a toilet pretty badly then and so I believed I must have hopped into the second or third bistro in sight since almost all look very much the same offering similar seafood fare.

We ordered a fresh prawns salad as starter, crab roe and salmon as mains and a chocolate muffin as dessert. Food is good especially taking into account how difficult it is for me to find fresh seafood in UK and it's also the cheapest dinner in Paris so far costing us slightly less than 40 euros for a meal for two.









Ended the cold night with a warm and sinful nutella banana crepe.



The hotel for this trip is the conveniently located Paris Hilton, right across the street from Effiel Tower. Service is particularly good especially when on the day of our scheduled departure, alot of flights to UK were cancelled due to very bad weather and the staff went to extra mile to print out the details of my flight to assure me that the flights cancellation would not affect me (although the flight was delayed for 6 hours due to the weather after we reached the airport).



The view from the room's window



People say the French are arrogant...but I say they definitely know how to indulge in their way of life...

I like Paris...so much that I am planning for a trip again next summer...

Till then...

Hong Kong 2007 - Part III

Finally, after endless nights of getting my essays done, here is the final part of my Hongkong trip. The last day of the trip was dedicated solely for dim sum since my taste buds have recovered from the fever and this is one day filled with massive load of good food I must say. If I can only choose one cuisine to last me for the rest of my life, then it'll definitely be dim sum for it's huge variety available.

Started off with a chinese restaurant right next to Tin Hau MTR because we were starving by the time of the check-out and that is the nearest dim sum joint recommended by the concerige.

Fish porridge



Steamed fish head



Fried beancurd roll and egg tarts



Chive and scallop dumpling, garlic squid with tofu, custard bun, har kau



Spent the afternoon exploring Kowloon area and had more mango dessert from Xu Liu Shan.



Krispy Kreme



Back to Causeway to get some local products from Kee Wah Bakery at the basement of SOGO.



And finally a late lunch before leaving for the airport.

Tao Heung Super 88, centrally located at Winsor House along Gloucester Road in Casueway Bay, is one of the restaurants by the well known Tao Heung Enterprise. The dim sum is surprisingly economical for the standard of dim sum served. My only regret is discovering this gem this late into my trip!

(The address is 6/F, Windsor House, 311 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, H.K.)



Very busy despite it being half three in the afternoon.



Fried beancurd roll



Fish porridge



Har Kau, Char Siew Bun, Custard Bun



Garlic Prawn with Tofu



Abalone Dumpling Soup



Steamed Beancurd Roll



Chilli and Salt Toufu



After looking at all these pictures, I am having a craving for dim sum now despite just having it yesterday and despite it being 4.30 in the morning now!

For this trip, the hotel chosen was Metropark Causeway Bay Hotel located at Causeway Way. It is not bad generally although we were given a smoking room despite repeat emails to the hotel that we require a non-smoking one. The MTR is a mere 3 minutes walk away and there are a couple of Cha Chan Ting in the vincity too.

That is the hotel on the right set in a residential area.



We got the habour-view room (if not then it will be a room with window facing the apartments right behind the hotel) and the picture belows shows the view from the full-length window that overlooks Victoria Park and even Kowloon in a clear day. Amazing view.



This trip was an okay trip partially because I am sick for most part of the trip and also bacuse other than the food (dim sum in particular which I enjoy very much), it is just too similar to Singapore.

London - December 2006

Another short stay in London for a getaway from Sheffield last December before Christmas.

My must-have lunch again in the noodle stall mentioned in my previous post. Same dishes ordered just that this time round, lots of vinegar in the sweetcorn soup.



A lot of people swear by this restaurant as serving the best roast duck in London and if you are a frequent visitor to London, then perhaps by now you should already know which restaurant I am talking about. Despite the ridiculously long waiting time, with or without booking, it is hard to miss the hustle and bustle of this place.

People come from everywhere just to try its roast duck and this is also the place that won my mum over and as quoted from her one of the best roast duck she's tried. Although I have not personally tried it before, perfect scores from basically everyone who's been here cannot be wrong ya?

For those visiting London, give this a try and I am sure you will not be disappointed. It's located in Bayswater and once you are there, just keep a lookout for 'Four Seasons' restaurant or just go towards where there is a long queue forming along the street.

Fish maw soup



Sweetcorn with crabmeat soup



Salt and pepper squid



Kai lan with cuttlefish cake



Seafood bee hoon



The highlight of the night - the house speciality roast duck (half)




All of the abovementioned dishes are only for 2 pax and as most of you are aware, I do not eat meat meaning my fellow diner actually finish half the roast duck by himself and still craving for more after the meal despite him not being a big eater most of the time.

The hotel chosen for this trip is Hilton Olympia London.

In short, this is way below the normal expectations I would expect from a Hilton branch. The location despite being next to a tube station is out of the way and the room is plastered with gloomy wallpaper with dull dirty green bedsheets to match. Further, the lock in the room couldn't work and it took the maintenance people 2-3 hours before they got back to us. Talk about service.



Crossing my fingers that my next stay in Hilton in a few more weeks will not bring disrepute to the name again...