Paradise pavilion

Last weekend of the year with grams, post extremely cheem sermon ending early we headed down to Paradise Pavilion at Marina bay financial centre for a Chinese lunch ( in a long long time ) to wrap up the year .

Between us we don't think we could have finished their famous apple wood Peking duck, and we weren't much of a dim sum mood - started off with fire swordfish with salt and pepper ( which is her favourite dish of the day), our usual trio of eggs with poached spinach and finally the braised seafood bee hon with egg( the last of which I really wanted to check out after I saw Yi xiao's pic of it !) The last dish is also my favourite and the best thing about bringing grandma along to check ur Chinese food is that she can replicate it at home ! She says she can ! Lots of scallop in the vermicelli.. Somehow I think a dallop of truffle oil will elevate it to new heights .. So grandma when are u acquiring the bottle of truffle oil ? Haha!

Symmetry

Thanks to the reg for a weekend off I got to meet Pek and zj at symmetry - pity about short post call and xuan on call ! Parking was non existent on this end of the road and was ridiculously side slammed by another car passing by... Blindness..

Symmetry was very homely and cosy, was a nice hideout esp when the rain started... And for zj to capture us by the windowsill:p rock with johns and he geometrical arrangements of the utensil s makes it über personal.

We started with the truffles fries and the crab cakes but never got to the eggs- Pek had to go for a wedding( day of double weddings). The truffle fries were really good stuff, crisp and airy with truffle scented +++. There were two crab cakes - one in batter and one not. The diced apple slices were an interesting touch.

Had the coconut and brioche for desserts. Must say the coconut was interesting -the coconut was in the ice cream and was good with the cake base, and the barley some distance away. Having the brioche makes me miss deans or spruce's French toast somehow! The cuteness of the wooden forks were a highlight;)

'twas nice catching up, and thanks for the ride Pek to collect my pics ;) note to self: societe canteen at Cluny for a quiet brunch soon.

Taratata

Pre zouk out when chongs ended at 8 ( and I slept till 630 pm post avicii... Zzz) picked up chongs and headed over to initially planned Esquina but no luck with that and again more ill luck at keong saik snacks so we landed at the relatively emptier Taratata ( cos she was game for some steak)

Started with a lobster bisque. This has gotta be the most crustacean smelling thing I've had... With chunks of lobster. Tastes lovely soaked with the baguette.

I had the veal which was in a creamy broth as well it was almost like a stew. Rice resembled that of our local chicken rice!

And we both loved the steak ! Medium well and it's smokiness went well with the caramelised onions. Good stuff.

Great service helping us charge up her phone... And we at least had some luck with the parking ( though it was mighty hefty at the beach car park later 15 bucks gosh !!). The double digit rest served me well that night ! Missed the Jill though.. Above and beyond rocks and man they really appreciated the crowd. Love the group therapy to bits. They were doing a south East Asian tour and due to spin at KL on sunday.. I wish I can tag along being a groupie ;)

Los Primos

After the secondary school gathering, had some time to kill pre hobbit (at 1am!!) so we ended up at Los primos (Club street) - we were 5 min too late for the last order 11.15pm at Lollas.

Los primos is opened by the cousins behind Cugini(cousins in Italian). Yes Los primos is cousins in Spanish, opened just a few doors down heir Italian counterpart and they do bar food/hot tapas and cold tapas till late. Too bad no paella for us! The paella we saw at La cicala their neighbor looked so good too!

We started with a cold Tuna and egg pie( brings back some memories of that cold pie in the London market). It's a cold Ang Moh curry puff minus the spice.. A bit fishy and some getting used to but I guess it grows on you..

Things got better when the wonderful tortilla came by, possibly the best rendition I've had.. Layers of potato with egg and some onions and the sauce to top it all. Love the layers of texture and taste.

The cold grilled veggies too! A favourite. And the cheese with (extremely hard) baguette to go along,. We liked the middle row, plenty of character ;)

Watching hobbit in 3d IMAX in lido makes us feel like we are in a set - not really scenic and surreal per se. Too real for its own good! But still was quite an experience. Missed the downpour and timid us escaped the bawl. 2nd weekend off feels awesome possum!

1st two pictures courtesy of j's flashy cam and the yellow ones mine. Tortilla, veggies, Tuna pie and Cheese platter