Baja Fresh

Pre night festival weekend 2 and Post flea market at chijmes, where I bought a cheerful pair of gold flowers -.-

We ended up at Baja Fresh at Hotel rendezvous, where we had lamb tacos and a white fish salad. It's a really immensely popular fast food joint, but we were prob spoilt by the tacos at lucha loco. We are on this Mexican streak, will check out señor taco next !

The public can shift these cubes around !

Across the waters at smu 

A blue print of our future dining table !

Holland Village - El Patio Mexican Restaurant, Frolick, Coffee Club

Met up with E and Jas at El Patio Mexican Restaurant (34 Lorong Mambong Holland Village)- slept the entire day only for E to be my alarm clock! Zoomed down stat to meet them at Ya Kun and handing her two matching shoes and apt Garfield late-ness card before moving down to the restaurant.

Sat at the al fresco area with red lighting so its terrible photos, and worse still, the dark shadown on the bottom right corner. Ugh, lurking everywhere! I refuse to photoshop.

This place is one up against Cha cha cha for its complimentary chips and salsa!

The sizzling smoked chicken fajitas is the house favourite and everyone seems to be having it (you hear the sound almost every other minute) and yes you might end up smelling like smokin meat too. I thought it was pretty average actually, tender chicken chunks to wrap in the soft tortilla wraps.
We didnt have enough of the chips so had a Nachos Grande to share - this has chicken, cheese, guacomole. The nachos at Cafe Iguana is much missed!

Salmon and Prawn Burrito - this is my favourite for the night. Rich in creamy sauces and meat, this was a real delight. Portion's a tad small though.

Cheese Quesidillas - it tastes exactly like a cheese prata foldover. EXACTLY. The oily, crisp flour especially.

The original plan was to go to Mykii for desserts but the dessert menu looked limited and wasn't tempting enough so we decided to walk out. Couldnt resist a trip to Frolick (Holland Village) despite NOT BRINGING THE ZOUK CARD!!! (I think I lost it actually.....) And this time its cos there is a new blue berry flavour that I haven't tried! Only tried the peach and original. This one is real sweet.

Had round 2 of desserts at Coffee Club (Holland Village). Mudpie - this looks huge but perfectly conquerable. The best part is the dense oreo base amidst oreo crumbs and the sinfully rich chocolate sauce. The icecream actually had icicles within so not the dense creamy ones at Udders.

Walnut Nougat Parfait - my bad for ordering this for it tasted like fluff after the mudpie.

Somehow the Holland V area lacks good desserts...... 2 am dessert bar is just too inaccessible for a big sugar rush..probably just a ripple in my bid for hyperglycemia.

Oriole, Cafe Iguana, Nectarie Patisserie

Today is Mag's birthday! Happy birthday Mag (okay technically its not today but it was the day we had supper eventually at Cafe Iguana). Met her, Violet, Jacob at Kopitiam for abit before Xue and I indecisively went to Oriole Cafe and Bar (Level 1, Pan Pacific Suites) to have dinner with Cel, Fly and Michelle before joining the birthday bunch for supper later. We missed out on the ladies night free flow champagne but turns out it was no loss (except for the company!) cos we were gonna meet them again at Cafe Iguana later.

Xue, Nat and I kinda receed this place before some weeks back - and there was nobody in sight. Pan Pacific Suites are the new service apartments along Somerset Road - its next to the public car-park opposite Cineleisure. Oriole is opened by the people behind Whitebait and Kale (which has now closed) and Aerins at Raffles City. Today the restaurant was packed to the max - the central tables were booked by big groups - but we were comfortable in our semicircular booth.

We ordered 5 to share (sorry Michelle for the overwhelming beef orders), and the top 3 are the ones that M didn't touch - but were our favourites! (the beef ones are in order of favourites)

Beef Cheek Tagliatelle $15

Red wine braised beef cheek, mushroom, shallot oil

The beef cheeks were superbly tender, and the pasta was tastily tossed in the meat juices, this was everyone's favourite.

Patty Melt, $11.50 Beef patty, grilled toast, caramelized onions, swiss

We preferred this over the Philly steak&Cheese (below) simply because the beef : bread ratio was more balanced. We asked if we could choose the done-ness of our beef but the waiter said the meat was a thin slab so there was no such option. But I liked this buttery hot toast paired with the minced beef and yummy sweet onions- it feels more like a sandwich than a burger.

Philly Steak and Cheese, $14

Onions, peppers, baguette

The bread had this taste of herbs so I suspected it might be focaccia - again i wished the steak was chunkier cos it neither feels like a burger nor a sandwich. The meat was similar to that of the Patty melt.

Riosotto - crabmeat, asparagus $18.50

This must be one of the driest risottos I've eaten - yet I really liked it cos each grain of the rice was bursting with crabmeat flavour and there were some slivers of crabmeat I managed to find. Too much cream and I might not have enjoyed it as much.

Fish and Chips -Lightly battered snapper loin, home made chips, tartare $15

The fish and chips is highly recommended and no doubt why - the snapper was fresh and the meat was smooth in a batter that was not cloyingly greasy - it is on par with Molly Malone's fish and chips.

Bread and Butter Pudding with warm vanilla sauce $8.50

Cel, Fly and Xueling really liked this dessert - this must be one of the neatest bread and butter pudding I've eaten. I am a fan of the messier, creamier, buttery, sauce- laden version though - there was way too much flour in this one - but its a personal preference cos everyone loved it

Honey crumble affogato - vanilla ice-cream, expresso, honeycomb crunch $7

I LOVE THIS! A twist to the usual affogato - the honeycrumb crunch added an extra sweetness to the usual expresso-vanilla icecream concoction. The expresso was all smooth and rich bitterness, an excellent blend. It is as huge as it looks!

And everyone concluded the desserts were the highlight of this place... and I will be back to try the coffee here - the baristas here topped the local baristas championships - one of whom owns this place. The affogato was fantastic - the expresso will be even greater, neat. I will try the Oriole specials - the double ristretto - the next time I come here.

Whilst Cel whisked off to a cooking lesson (hehe), Fiona and Mich attempted some late night shopping, Xue and I headed off to Cafe Iguana (Riverside point) to join the birthday bunch - met some med people there - Saus, Hons, Kok etc and Mags own friends, some netballers whom I met in rj. Kok booked a table for 7 but the turnout for the ever-popular woman was tremendous and Xue and I managed to squeeze in by the corridor to share the many many jugs of magaritas - and of cos I ordered my Large Nachos!

After the med people left, the love club descended and Xue and I departed for some desserts (cos I really wanted to eat icecream) so we romped around Clarke Quay to find THE ice-cream (other than the default Haagan Daaz)

Do you know that Nectarie le'Dessert Patisserie (3C River Valley Road #01-05 The Cannery, Clarke Quay) offers scoops of icecream but better still - samplers of darn good icecream?

Its called Three Little Treats.

Treats indeed and little they are not.

Chocolate, Wild Strawberry, Jack Daniels, $8

I thought they were gonna be puny (like the size of Seventh Heaven's sampler portions) but no they were quite your regular scoops! I really wanted to have ice cream so this was perfect - I really wanted to try the Jack Daniels icecream but Xueling strictly didn't wanted to eat anymore after her 2 shots of Mars and a Baileys on the rocks at Cafe Iguana so I was almost left alone with my one scoop until I discovered the Three Little Treats!

I love it!

The chocolate was really dense and had bits of chocolate chip in it....

And oh the Jack Daniels...where should I start..this was alcoholic icecream goodness! It was smooth and creamy and tasted similar to a Baileys and Kahlua (I cant really tell them apart) but it was a darn good alcoholic icecream.

If I could get drunk on icecream, I would.. Never on that awful neat alcohol. Give me a Baileys milkshake (ooh Prive....) anytime!

Margarita's (Dempsey)

Fly, Cel, Chong and I met at Margarita's ( Blk 11 Dempsey Road #01-19 Tanglin Village) for dinner, and our original plan was to catch He's not that into you after that (which we didn't cos we chatted all the way till after 11pm!!). I've been wanting to check out this place (and made many many unfulfilled bookings cos somehow the dinners always got cancelled) and finally I made it here! It is always very full, and a reservation is a must.

Nachos

with Guacomole, Cheese, Chiles, Sour Cream, Refried Beans

Its one of the most colourful looking nachos I have eaten, but the tortilla chips were rather soggy, unfortunately!! I'd much prefer the ones at Cafe Iguana.

Quesadillas with Beef

Cheese Turnovers with Light Sour Cream and Guacomole

The quesadillas were nothing much to shout about - its a classic, simple, thin tortilla wrap with cheese and beef stuffing.

Baked Crab Enchilidas $34

topped with Chile Chipotle and cheese

This was our favourite dish of the night- the roll was rather small though (compared to the kitchen sink burrito) but was chokeful of real crab meat. The cheese topping was divine, when eaten with the sauce the enchilidas was fantastic.

And everyone liked it also partly cos...

The beans sauce was served with the rice on another plate! No one was a fan of the beans, except me.

Kitchen Sink Burrito

Chicken, Beef, Refried beans, Rice in Large Flour Tortillas

Topped with Salsa, Guacomole, Cheese and Sour Cream

I liked this - quite a carbo overload cos of the tortillas and the rice stuffing inside but there was a generous serving of chicken and beef inside the roll also.. This was really rich and hearty cos of all the sauces and it was a HUGE roll. But I liked it enough to also eat Cel's share. And I like my food in big portions.

After awhile, we realise Mexican food revolves around the same makings: the rice inside the roll is similar to the one served with the crab enchilidas, the beef in the kitchen sink burrito was similar to the one in the quesadillas. And there's cheese, salsa, guacomole, sour cream and (to everyone's horror) refried beans in almost every dish. I prefer Cafe Iguana over Magarita's though.

Kahlau Tiramisu $12

Don't order the overtly dry tiramisu. We should have gone for the Mexican bread and butter pudding instead.And the talk during dinner all about arcade games led to Chong and I having a sudden craving to go play air hockey - I beat her FLAT! Her reflexes are sho shlow! Haha. But the ergonomics of that air hockey table was terrible - it was too low for us tall creatures and the table was not smooth and the ?saucer always got stuck halfway in the hole.

We then went to watch Let The Right One In...It is actually a Swedish romantic horror film adapted from a novel and was highly acclaimed in last year's film festivals. It was a rather creepy show though- the child actors were brilliant. The movie explores how the young boy and girl (vampire) seek solace in their friendship and eventual relationship as they were alienated and lonely from their peers - human-human (in the case of the boy who was bullied) and human-vampire (for obvious reasons). The violence and the survival instincts of vampire hunting was juxtaposed with the equal instinct for companionship and acceptance. The cinematography was gorgeous.

The amazing thing was that I went to read Wiki about the movie and they cut off some subplots from the show - spoiler alert - that the girl was actually a boy castrated (hinted extremely subtly when she repeatedly said she was not a girl and we all thought she meant she was a vampire and in a brief dressing scene), and the part about she eventually killing the older man who collected blood for her and he becoming undead and evil, and his sick attraction to her from the start. Yes you can sense the disturbing nature of this show - the horror is not the full-fledged gruesome kind you'd expect in a horor film, but was beautifully depicted and relished on afterthought.

The most interesting part of the movie though, was that for the first time, we got popcorn delivered to us. Why? Cos we had their new Shaker Popcorn ($4.80 - only one size its a small packet) - there were different shaker seasoning - Cajun, Pizza, and Nacho Cheese. We chose the latter. What truly puzzled us was why they took SO LONG to deliver our Shaker Popcorn, and the queer thing was, it arrived unshaken - the shaker seasoning cheese powder was in a ziplock packet - they took so long and they did not even bother to shake it up for us???? Couldnt they anticipate the STARES we would get, shaking our popcorn in that paper bag in the middle of a movie?? We had to wait for a vampire attack for our vigorous shaking - but of cos we didn't get much of a chance (remember its a CHILDHOOD SWEETHEART ROMANCE, even the vampire attacks were sudden, short and sweet) so there was too much seasoning on the top most popcorn - even the savoury fan Chong couldnt take it.

Thank god we ordered another Large sweet popcorn combo ($7.80) with drinks. I ate so much popcorn (esp the shaker one it got quite addictive like Mammie can be) I was really thirsty later on.

We went on to Zouk after that and the dj was awesome and he was so whacky he had this funky gigantic panda-faced, blinking multi coloured eyed- headgear, giving us ideas for Halloween. A fellow wannabe too, with rainbow coloured stripesy shirt and rice-bowl hairdo, Chong will remember this.

Cafe Iguana

Nachos
Crispy, individual tortilla chips layered with black
beans, rice, roasted jalapeño chiles, sour cream,
guacamole and melted cheese $16.99,$ 21.99

Cafe Iguana really made me such a Mexican food convert! the first time I ate here was actually with the surgery team (can you imagine the consultants actually suggesting this place??!! and eventually turning red on magaritas??) and the second time round i had a late dinner here with the mountains and both meals were equally memorable...because of the nachos! oh my, im getting so hungry looking at this photo cos every bit of it was so yummy..the salty and crispy nachos with the soft and mushy guacomole and sour cream and salty cheese..oh im such a carbo junkie lapping everything from the rice to the black beans! the jalapenos tops it all with the spiciness. i could finish the whole $21.99 version for my dinner man..but of cos we shared all our dishes cos everything came in super big portions..we ordered 2 mains and 2 appetisers for 4 (very big) girls and it was just about right...downing the meal with only 2 magaritas..yup u got that, 2 drinks for 4 people proving we're really not much of a drinker

Soft Tacos
Handmade corn tortillas, traditional shredded
cabbage garnish, lime cream and pico de gallo
and side dishes of beans and lime-scented
cilantro rice
Smoked Salmon $21.99

We found this a bit too floury..the soft corn tortillas was sooo thick (can u see the many many layers of it?)and there was so little smoked salmon and cabbage garnish (yeah maybe its called garnish for a reason) in comparison..but i really like the cilantro rice and beans alot..see its really a huge portion

Left: Ancho Dusted Fried Calamari - Tender fried squid with mole verde $12.99

Right: Quesadillas -Flour tortillas filled with cheese or cheese &
mushroom or cheese & poblano chiles $11.99

I always thought that quesadillas are like super thin pizzas folded in.. (and calzones are like giant curry puffs instead of folded pizzas) and these quesadillas are really thin indeed..we ordered the cheese and mushroom one and i must say 2 of my friends voted this as their favourite for the night (i still stand by my nachos) because this dish was simple and done well, the tortilla being crisp and complementing the cheese. Didn't really use the tangy dip much though, the quesadillas tasted good on its own.

On the other hand the calamari was so soggy! isnt fried calamari supposed to be crispy..it was really sogged up by the mole verde.. the dish should be renamed tender squid with mole verde instead..i should have noted the TENDER adjective as a warning rather than get all excited by the calamari word..

Mexican food has all these exotic names for its dishes (just like japanese food it takes a while to learn the new food language) .. i'd wanna try these the next time when i come back (in addition to my nachos):

Chimichangas=Deep fried flour tortilla filled with grilled vegetables and cheese and served with
lime-scented cilantro rice (sounds like Mexican spring roll to me)
Grilled Prawns 21.99
Shredded Steak 19.99
Grilled Chicken 18.99
Grilled Vegetables 17.99

Burrito(In Cafe Iguana this is served with lime-scented cilantro rice,b0rracho beans and cheddar mozzarella)= flour tortilla wrapped around one of the following fillings:
Red Snapper 20.99
Shredded Steak 19.99
Grilled Chicken 18.99
Grilled Vegetables 16.99

(sounds like Mexican popiah right?)

Fajitas= Sizzling platter served with flour tortillas,sautéed onions and peppers, sour cream and
guacamole
Grilled Prawns 24.99
Flank Steak 23.99
Grilled Chicken 21.99
Portobello Fajitas 20.99
Grilled Vegetables 19.99

This looks like hotplate and looks rather dramatic with the sizzling meats..i think i had the grilled prawns one on my previous visit..

with these new additions to my mexican food dictionary, i shall check out Magaritas at Dempsey(highly recommended by some people) and Cha cha cha at Holland Village (recommended by the Hongkong elective students) very soon!

30 Merchant Road

#01-03 Riverside Point

Tel: 6236 1275

Mon-Thu: 6pm - 1am

Fri & Eve of PH: 6pm - 3am

Sat: 12noon - 3am

Sun: 12noon - 1am