Mish Mash - Fantastic Food and Cocktails

This restaurant is no longer in operation.

A look at striking fuchsia pink Logo of Mish Mash and then a scan through the menu with interesting, unique, appetising looking food items, I know I got to come here for a gastro-bar experience, where the food is as much as the focus as the cocktails. And just like its logo, the feel of this place is sassy, cool and stylish, with high tables and chairs beside the whole stretch of full height windows on one side, plush sofas on another side and at the front, a bar counter decked with bottles of concoctions ready to be mixed into a storm of flavours.

To keep up with the ambience, the presentation and taste of the food is an eclectic, awesome mix of European sensibility and sprinkling of Asian intricacies. It actually works wonderfully. I like how unique the taste and texture of the food here is while pleasing or ... teasing the palates.

And this is one of the few places where the cocktails are as much as the stars of the place as the food is. The cocktails taste exciting and intoxicating, yet at the same time, sweet, refreshing and soothing. It's a must to try the cocktails if here.

The service is fantastic. I'm so well taken care of by the service manager, Alex and the bartender. They are amazingly friendly, managing to strike up natural conversations with me, which is a feat in itself lol And very good food and cocktail recommendations made by Alex.

Kurobuta Pork is tender, moist and sweet, with a good measure of firmness for a good, hearty bite. Caramelised king trumpet adds the extra earthy sweetness and bouncy texture.  Dirty rice with charred pineapple is also delicious. It has the top notes of spiciness, and then middle notes of the fragrance of starchy fried rice develops along with the nuanced flavours of fried onion and spring onion.

An interesting assortment of cutleries to choose from. I decide to get the chopper-like knife to "hack" at my kurobuta pork 😜

Lovely Lusty Lemon cocktail made up of möet, chandon champagne, lychee and yuzu. This is so good! So refreshing, so floral, so exciting.

Spanish Manchego is goat's cheese tempura that comes with Italian truffle honey. This is one interesting, addictive bar snack. The tempura is very crispy, whose texture juxtaposes very well with the gooey, stretchy texture of machego cheese.

Squid Ink Totellini is lovingly handmade to be stuffed with diced crunchy, succulent prawns. The magic hiding within the tortellini is the zesty lemongrass for doses of simulating flavours. Lobster emulsion is full of subtle umami that beautifully softens the simulating taste in the dumplings for a more rounded taste. Highly recommend. By the way, the emulsion will taste richer when paired with Lusty Lemon.

Watch the blossoms in the cup turn blue.

Adam & Eve cocktail is interestingly served in a cloud of dry ice. And more interestingly, it is a junmai daiginjo sake cocktail, completed with tomato essence and seedlip garden to make this concoction sweeter and smoother than sake by itself. I love this too.

Strawberry Sensations features strawberries prepared in five ways: snow, mousse, gel, mochi, wedges. This is such a beautiful dessert in terms of taste. The mousse, gel and mochi combined to yield an ice-cream-like texture, without the coldness, that really brings out the aroma of the strawberries. The wedges, with a bit of toasty flavour, add dimension to the overall taste.

Just push open the wooden door located at the back of this counter to get into the restaurant.

I really enjoy my time here due to the fabulous food, drinks and service. It's an awesome place to chill and have fun due to the upbeat vibe here. Reservations is recommended for night time.

Thoughts: Great Time here!

198 South Bridge Road

Nearest MRT: Chinatown

Ginett Restaurant & Wine Bar - Nice Cosmopolitan Place

French food, impressive cosmopolitan decor and value-for-money set lunches at 18 bucks only, with all these factors, Ginett sure attracts quite a crowd during lunch time. The food is actually good. Just that while the service here meets the minimum standard of being quite efficient, I do expect more from the service given that this restaurant is of minimum mid level. Besides the front counter lady who is friendly, the rest look very stressed, to the point that I think I smile more at them more than they do to me.

Setting aside this, this restaurant is good for a nice meal at pretty good price. By the way, one needs to request the service crew to show the set lunch menu since it is written on a blackboard instead of being printed on a paper. 

Despite the attractively priced set lunch, I order Olio Scampi from the ala carte menu instead. And I love my choice. Three huge succulent fresh prawns, smooth, springy house-made linguine tossed with chilli, garlic and bacon, this dish is full of flavours. As mentioned in my posts before, I prefer linguine over spaghetti since smoothness of the surface of linguine is more evident than that of spaghetti. So yes, I like this a lot.

Complimentary bread is pretty okay though not warm and nice. By the way, the staff didn't serve me the bread, which made me wonder at first if the bread is only for set lunch order. So I asked if the bread only comes with the set meal and here it is. Mystery solved. So request for it if it is not served by the time the first dish is up.

Mille-Feuille "Grands Augustins" hits all the right spots in terms of sweetness and texture. The puff pastry is vey crispy and flaky, which is excellent. The Bourdon vanilla cream is light, smooth and creamy. This is one good dessert.

This is a nice place to dine and wine (the wines are of very good price too) on a budget or to have a quick gathering with friends or colleagues. And the good part is water is really complimentary instead of going the still or sparkling water route that lots of restaurants do. The food is good and comes at a pretty good price. Just don't expect stellar service here.

Thoughts: Pretty nice place

200 Middle Road

Nearest MRT: Dhoby Ghaut or Rocher or Bencoolen

Bistro Du Vin - Rustic yet Impressive

Chanced upon Les Amis street, you know, where the entire row of restaurants are under Les Amis group, when hanging around Shaw Centre and decided to try the food at one of the restaurants. Since I had not tried the food at Bistro du Vin and Mui Kee only, my choice is obvious.

Complimentary warm fluffy bread is delicious when paired with the creamy butter. Would be even better if the rind is crispy. And wine is interestingly served in a flask.

Pan seared Foie Gras, strawberries,  dragées, aged balsamic gets the thumbs up from me. The foie gras is juicy, smooth and custard-like in texture when biting into it. And the light sweetness of strawberries and chocolate add an interesting kick to the overall taste. The nutty flavour of the dragées enhances the unique, rich taste of foie gras.

Chilled Leek & Potato soup is light yet creamy and full of flavours. Soup served chilled is pretty interesting, and it works in this case.

Seafood Fricassee with cream & baby carrots, pilaf rice should be called Salmon Fricassee with cream & pilaf rice. Yes, the light fluffy rice grains taste so delicious, soaked with the goodness of cream and herbs. But I was expecting seafood such as prawns or clams, not chucks of salmon and nothing else. Okay, there is one piece of octopus to make it non-salmon exclusive.

And there is a top-up of $8 for this dish! If I know the seafood here is consisted of 80% salmon, I will not even take one look at it. I actually dislike cooked salmon, but thank goodness that the salmon here is decent due to the rich sauce it is drenched in. Yes, my fault too for assuming that since the dish needs top-up, it must be filled with prawns, clams or scallops.

This dish is delicious but I don’t think salmon is worth the top-up price.

Snapper “en papillote” fennel tomatoes potatoes is a very hearty meal. The snapper flesh is fresh, juicy and pliable, enhanced in taste by the zest from the lemons. The tomatoes are sweet. Highly recommend.

Vanuatu vanilla créme brulèe is full of pure authentic vanilla goodness and the burnt sugar at top introduces a hint of bitterness for complexity in taste. The brittle nature of the burnt sugar also enhances the smoothness of the vanilla custard below. A well-executed dessert.

Venezuela 72% dark chocolate mousse is definitely for chocolate lovers. Very intense in taste.

The place is like an authentic French bistro full of French posters hanging over the walls. The mood is definitely there. A great place to enjoy an idyllic mealtime while watching the world passes by through the full-panel windows lining the entire side of the wall facing Claymore Hill Road. Thr service is very good and professional.

This place is almost perfect for a relaxing time to enjoy good food. I definitely love to go back, but I will take note not to order Salmon Seafood Fricassee again.

Thought: Awesome!

1 Scotts Road

#01-14

Nearest car park: Shaw Centre’s car park

Nearest MRT: Orchard

Mag’s Wine Kitchen - Exquisite and Amazing

Spoiled for choices, it is hard to decide which quaint restaurant should I visit. Looking at my wish list of restaurants in heritage area, I finally decide on Mag’s Wine Kitchen because the food looks really good and there are lots of choices for each section.

The Starters of Crab takes my breath away at first bite. It is so amazingly good. And I’m amazed by the generous portion of crab. The dollop of crab meat mixed with light mayonnaise is made up of at least eighty percent fresh, umami rich, succulent crab meat. The mustard added within introduces hints of sharp hot flavour for complexity in taste and to accentuate the rich briny flavour of the crab. Truffle vinaigrette adds a splash of earthy luxe to the taste. Trout roe are pops of sea essence that goes perfectly with the crab meat. The lightly salted, roasted cabbage is surprisingly good too.

Served warm and fresh, with super soft fluffy centre and crunchy rind, this bread, which is full of wholesome flavours of wheat, gets the thumbs-up from me. Good when eaten with butter, and still good when eaten on its own. And I like the cute sack it is served in.

Jamon Serrano is packed with smoky, salty and nutty flavours. And the gherkins refresh the palates to better enjoy the dry-cured ham. Best enjoyed with good company.

I had written in lots of my previous posts that lobster is usually bland and tough.

Well, I take back my words the moment I bite into a piece of lobster meat here.

It is unbelievably good, and should be the golden standard on how lobster should be prepared. The semi rare lobster is succulent, juicy, bouncy yet easy to bite on. Each nicely cut pieces is packed with flavours of the sea. Best to eat together with the creamy saffron risotto with butter to appreciate the complexity in taste and texture.

Both the chocolate cake and ice-cream are very rich in taste and smooth in texture. The foamy mango espuma makes a difference to add flowery aroma and hints of tangy flavour to balance the richness of the chocolate. A nice extra touch to the dessert.

The place is very posh but cozy at the same time. Yes, it’s possible. I was greeted by a modern open kitchen the moment I stepped into the restaurant, and then I was led to the hidden classy dining area at the back. I like this layout, it feels intimate. The service is very good and professional. Despite me sort of hiding at a corner, the service staff makes it a point to check every now and then if I need anything.

This is one of the best restaurants I have patronized in recent times. The food is really, really good. Given that premium ingredients are used in the dishes, the price is well worth it. Not only will I go back, I will recommend this restaurant to my friends.

Thoughts: Amazingly Awesome!

Nearest car park: Along Keong Saik Road

Nearest MRT: Outram Park or Chinatown

55 Keong Saik Road #01-06

Singapore

Umi + Vino Seafood Wine Bar - Chic Hangout Place + Awesome Seafood Dishes

Closed

If we talk about ambience, Umi + Vino is considered to be the best among the restaurants under Emporium Shokuhin's umbrella. Full glass panel walls and a bar counter with fresh seafood displayed on it, this place is definitely a great venue for dates. It is hard to fault this restaurant on settings. Service is a mixed bag, ranging from very good to okay.

As for the food, well, on the first visit, I only get to try the set lunch (there is update below on subsequent visits), so the fresh seafood may send me over the moon, but for now, I am not totally wooed by the offerings of the set meals. The oysters are without a doubt exceedingly fresh, but the raspberry vinaigrette is too sweet and not tangy enough to go well with the briny flavours of the oysters. Takujo gets it so right with the ponzu sauce for the oysters, so I am surprised that this restaurant, whose focus is on seafood, does not hit the sweet spot with the accompaniment condiments. My suggestion: skip the raspberry vinaigrette and add the lemon only to enjoy the freshness of the oysters.

The Clam Chowder looks very good, but the taste seems muted, with nary the taste of the sea. While the Mushroom Soup looks messy, to the point that I did not take a photo of it, but is bursting with the woody aroma of mushrooms.

The Roasted Chicken suffers from the same problem as similar chicken main courses of other establishments, and the problem is that the breast meat is too dry and tasteless. Few restaurants can get this right, and Umi + Vino is not one of them.

The Spaghetti with Hokkaido Scallops is done right. The scallops are fresh and succulent, being lightly grilled to imbue the springy meat with a hint of charred flavour. Well, it is hard to go wrong with quality scallops. The spaghetti is prepared to the style favoured by Asians: thoroughly cooked instead of al dente. So take note.

When dessert time comes, a tray of a beautiful array of cakes will be brought out for the patrons' pickings. I recognize those to be from Kohi-Koji. No complaints here since the cakes from this cafe are of great quality. Soft, moist texture paired with very creamy cream, they get thumbs-up from me.

Actually, given that the set lunches are only $26, they are value-for-money and worth a try. Though I cannot say I love this place to the bits. Maybe the seafood platter may convert me into a fan, until then, I say I prefer the other restaurants of Emporium Shokuhin.

Update: I visit this place for the second time, and I see huge improvements made, to the point that I tag this restaurant as one of the "Highly Recommend". In fact, this restaurant is my favourite, along with Burosu Honten, among Emporium Shokuhin's offerings.

Now this place have toned down the sweetness of the raspberry shallot sauce, so it tastes just right now.

Umi salad features crunchy fresh vegetables topped with tangy sauce and pine nuts, which make this a pleasant bite.

The grilled spring chicken is what surprises me the most. Tender, succulent chicken grilled to perfection, I don't expect the chicken to be so well-prepared in such restaurants, since the chicken dishes tend to be on the dry side in European themed restaurants.

Grilled silver cod is packed with fresh omega goodness. The smooth, oily flesh of the fish, peppered with the aroma of grilled meat, is a joy to savour.

One of the big highlights of menu is the lobster, prawn and scallop burger. The charcoal black bun is fresh and fluffy, which serves as a great complement to the super fresh seafood. Lobster is perfectly grilled to retain the delightful flavours of the sea and that slightly chewy texture. Scallop, as with the ones I have in the set lunch, is a hit. Prawn patty is more nuanced in flavour as compared to the lobster and scallop, but in its form, it makes for big hearty bites, which I enjoy. And I like the very flavourful sauce drizzled onto of the fresh raw vegetables.

I am impressed. Loving this place more. Definitely going back!

My Thoughts: It is one of my Favourite Haunts!

Well, cannot go there any more since this restaurant is currently not in operation. And there is not much reason to visit Marina Square anymore.