Morsels Restaurant & Private Dining at Dempsey Hill - Lovely Meal at a Lovely Cottage House

Going down to lush greenery surrounded Dempsey Hill, I'm just looking to try Morsels' latest set lunch that looks promising, and in the midst of a nice ambience. But when I slide open the door of a barn-like building and then step inside, I go, "Wow!" So homely, so quaint, so lovely, the place's interior is so different from those of other restaurants in Singapore. This is like a rustic cottage house, filled with pretty handmade crafts, cute ornaments, lots of real fresh blooms (I love fresh flowers ...), seashells, glowing soft lights and solid wooden furniture. This is like the ultimate place to get that feel of being in countryside, with all the comforts. So yes, I end up taking lots of pictures.

Awesome ambience aside, what matters most is still the food here, and it definitely matches up to the ambience, delivering subtle surprises with a myriad of clean and unique flavours. Various techniques of curing and fermentation are employed to extract different kinds of flavours for use in the French dishes, and it works beautifully. I love every course of the set lunch.

Service is outstanding: being very friendly, patient, thoughtful and knowledgeable about the food. Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoy myself here.

The pretty trio of appetisers are:

Fresh Seasonal Oyster soaked in citron green tea kombucha vinaigrette and olive gel. Refreshing in taste, with loads of umami and hints of zest. This oyster packs so many harmonised flavours. A very good start.

Second appetiser is Sanchoku Corned Vegetable Cream. Original version is beef, they nicely changed it to vegetarian version due to  my dietary preferences. Within the crispy pani puri contains a delicious lava-like, creamy, savoury custard, perked up by the tanginess of cornichon, a small pickled cucumber.

Mushroom Garum Broth is so comforting to sip on. It is made from extract the essence of fermented mushrooms, resulting in a clear broth that tastes so meaty and earthy. The puff pastry twisty, spinkled with powdered herbs, is a nice crispy accompaniment to the broth.

The Multi-Grain Bread here is filled with the aroma and goodness of grains. The texture is so great, being crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside. The taste of grains is instantly perked up by the simulating flavours of fermented green chilli butter spread. I love the novelty of the spread here.

Cured Stolt Farm Turbot Carpaccio is clean in taste, highlighted by the array of subtle flavours of smoked zucchini dashi, fermented cucumber gel and 8Gems Caviar. The crunchy texture of iceberg vegetable is such a nice contrast to the carpaccio.

Tender Jeju Abalone with light briny sweetness & also tender Sakura Chicken goes very well with the lightly flavoured multigrain risotto (Japanese rice, California Shortgrain, Bali Rice ...). Puffed rice scattered on top gives a nice crunch to the texture. When trying the risotto on its own, I can fully appreciate the deep flavours of Morsels 4YO doenjang and pickled beets.

Primrose Farm Pork Tenderloin is unbelievably sweet and tender! It goes so well with sauce Rockerfeller, and especially so with kumquat red pepper kosho that lifts up the whole taste. The baby gem is crunchy and delicious too.

Classic French hospitality with sightly sour, nice palate cleanser served.

Apple is one of the best Panna Cotta I ever have. The rice whipped panna cotta is creamy yet light at the same time due to the addition of apple lemon balm kombucha. And the shiso granita is what makes this dessert simply amazing. The refreshing flavour of shiso cuts through the creaminess to elevate the entire taste.

Yummy Petit Fours, and I especially love the creamy and slight chewy nougat with cherry and raisins packed within.

Nice French wine recommended to go with the set lunch.

A very special barn-like door as the entrance to this quaint restaurant. Take note of the sign hanging off the door handle to know if the restaurant is open for business already.

Actually I had heard of Morsels a long time, but didn’t got around to come here. The new set menu introduces a fresh breath that makes me sit up and take note of this hidden gem. Chef Petrina Loh’s unique and creative take on preparation of the food really impresses me. I look forward to savour more.

Thoughts: Wonderful Experience like no Others

25 Dempsey Road #01-04

Nearest MRT: Napier

Izakaya Yoppi - Very Good Japanese Food

There is a new hidden gem right in the middle of the shopping complex Wilkie Edge. which is the shiner neighbour of the good old Peace Centre. I wouldn't have known about this cool new find if I didn't pass by the perimeter of Wilkie Edge to go to a nearby cafe. The upmarket, clean and zen furnishings instantly caught my attention and I changed my plans right on spot to dine at Izakaya Yoppi instead.

I actually go into the restaurant via the backdoor since I was walking along outside of the shopping complex. The main entrance is accessible through the interior of Wilkie Edge. Anyway, due to how I got in, I got to walk through the entire length of restaurant to get to the main dining area. So I got to see the several impressive partitioned-off areas furnished in traditional Japanese style, where patrons sit on the floor to dine at the low table, with a nice hollow-out space beneath the table to stretch the legs.

Decor wise, I really love the strong zen influences of light wood, wooden fences and Japanese rectangular lamps here. The food here is surprisingly very affordable, with set lunches going from eighteen plus to under thirty. And to add it on, it's very good.

I got Tempura and California Roll set lunch, and the California roll is very tasty.

The salad is also very refreshing and tasty, with every part of the veggies slathered with the Japanese Wafu dressing.

The Pitan Tofu here is the star of the meal. I never have something like this before, and it is so surprisingly awesome. The light-tasting sauce of century egg renders the silky soft tofu to be so flavourful. And the tempura bits added introduces a delightful crunchiness to the dish that contrasts nicely with the tofu. This is the must-try of the restaurant.

The salmon sashimi here is nice, fresh and well-cut. I like it that the salmon here is of a nice deep orange hue, which is that of what upmarket Japanese restaurants typically serve.

The Tempura is of that nice crispy texture, and I love it that the prawns are very succulent and full of briny sweetness.

I decide to add on a side of Pork Belly Skewer, aka Buta Shio, since the set meal really satisfies me. This meat is juicy and has a lovely smoky aroma with light hints of salt and pepper. Now I want to try more of their skewers lol

This restaurant is most probably one of my best random, purely accidental finds of the year. And the food is suitable for most Singaporean palates (meaning you can bring your parents here too). The service is pretty good too. This is one of the places I can afford to go often to with family or friends due to the good combination of good food, good ambience and good price.

Thoughts: Very Nice Japanese Restaurant!

8 Wilkie Road, Wilkie Edge #01-22

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut, Bencoolen or Rocher

Gary's - Beautiful Place, Beautiful Food. Beautiful Taste

On a lookout for restaurants in quaint heritage architecture surrounded by lush greenery? I know I do, and I found out that besides the famous Dempsey Hill and Botanic Gardens, there is also Rochester Park, which is like a Dempsey Hill in Buona Vista. This area is like a perfect respite from the city buzz, lots of foliages and the buildings there are mainly bungalows, which are distinctive and have a certain charm to them.

Gary's is one of the 2-storey restaurants housed in these bungalows, and its interior is so beautiful, especially the mezzanine balcony that takes my breath away. With the good service and awesome food, dining at the balcony really feels like a pure enjoyment in life. And the way the staffs celebrate birthdays is absolutely impressive, eye-catching while still classy. The reveal on details will come later.

Set lunches here come at a nice price of $38 ~ $58, but I decide to go for à ala carte since quite a number of items in there are too tempting for me to skip in favour for set lunch.

Red Prawn Tartare is a luxurious treat full of umami. The diced raw red prawns is so creamy and sweet, complementing the buttery, briny goodness of the uni. The caviar and ikura introduces refreshing, intense essence of the ocean to uplift the creaminess. I love this so much.

I usually put photos of the interior at the end of the post, but this is too beautiful that I have to put it at the top of the post here. Even the scenery outside the balcony is pretty.

The homemade bread is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, with hints of the flavour of ham packed within. This tastes so good when eaten warm with the special kombu butter.

Pan Seared Foie Gras is so perfectly prepared. The thin seared crust holds within it a rich, buttery, almost jelly-like core. The taste is so sublime. It tastes even better with the onion chutney, the sweet pear, tangy aged balsamic and dashes of rock salt. 

Iberico Pork Jowl is very well-cooked, being super tender and juicy. It has a gamey flavour that will transform into a rich taste when slathered with the sweet, refreshing carrot puree. It tastes delicious when paired with the carrot puree.

The Lava Cake really holds lots of lava in its centre. The moment I scoop out a piece of the cake from the side, the lava start oozing out. This is so decadently good. And pistachio ice-cream actually goes better with lava cake than the usual vanilla one.

The main floor of the restaurant is posh and modern, and the mezzanine balcony embraces the nature while still having the comforts of an air-conditioned environment. Both are great for dates and gathering. I love the balcony so so much that I'm so glad I arrived earlier than other guests to take some great pictures of the place. The balcony area is full house a little past noon on a Friday afternoon.

The service is very meticulous, professional, warm and friendly. And the ladies are full of smiles. The way they celebrate special occasions for patrons is so unique and definitely worth a visit here just for this. I saw them serving the dessert on a very huge stylish rectangular platform to a couple nearby. And then, they light up the candle that burns like a sparkle! The sparkle looks so pretty. They even take photos and print one out for the couple. I'm really impressed.

This is definitely one place that worth a visit just to pamper oneself and the loved ones with lovely ambience and great food, or to have a special celebration. I want to go there again to submerge in the idyllic atmosphere with lots of greenery and try other food items that look very promising.

Thoughts: Beautiful Experience

41 Rochester Drive

Nearest MRT: Buona Vista