Salt Grill and Sky Bar

For restaurant week this time (7-13 Oct 2013), i visited Salt Grill and Sky Bar. This is not my first visit to the restaurant and I keep returning because the restaurant is really superb! I brought my friends along this time and all gave the THUMBS UP! (Y) ^-^

Food:

For the restaurant week, a 3 course meal is served - starters, mains, and desserts (all with 2 choices for selection). The 3 course meal also comes with a complimentary cup of tea/coffee.

The salmon sashimi (above) is my favourite starters! They are fresh and taste really fantastic! 

Another favourite starter of mine - crab omelete (above). This dish is more on a blend of the different flavours derived from its garnish and seasoning, which includes coriander, veggies, and the warm miso soup.

The egg omelete was fully packed with a whole lot goodness of crab meat (genuine crab meat!). As the mayonaise from the crab fillings gets mixed with the miso soup, it's a new taste to try again! 

The mains was a pan-seared fish with char-siu mushroom (above). The fish from this dish tasted a bit bland, probably because it was supposed to go with the very salty char-siu mushroom beside it. My favourite part of the dish is the fish skin, which is slightly crispy and a bit jellish.

My favourite dessert! - warm hazelnut cake with biscotti and praline ice cream (above). The cake was very fragrant and melts in the mouth like the icing sugar on top. The ice cream was of hazelnut flavour, one that is not commonly seen and offered by other restaurants which usually only offer the common chocolate or vanilla flavours. 

The surprise of this dessert dish actually came from the sugared peanut powder hidden below the ice cream! Imagine the pleasant surprise when you scoop the ice cream and discovers the golden sand below! I remember turning around and exclaiming it to my friends and they were all pleasantly wowed when they find it in their own respective plates!

This is a dessert dish that i would STRONGLY RECOMMEND! And definitely one that satisfes your sweet tooth with the overflowing goodness of sweetness from the ice cream, sugared peanut powder, and caramel!

The other dessert dish offered in the 3 course meal is this fruits and ginger-flavoured sorbet (above). Yes, ginger-flavoured! The flavour tasted really refreshing with cool sorbet, especially in the tropical climates of Singapore! 

Service:

Excellent! Attentive and professional. Enough said.

Ambience:

Located at the 55th/ 56th storey of ION Orchard, the restaurant offers spectacular view of the city. So, be sure to ask for a seat by the windows! (May be a little warm in the day though). 

The walk up to the restaurant is also an experience itself, an exclusive one. You have to go to the restaurant's concierge located at Level 4 before taking another lift to get to the restaurant.

As there is more people coming during the restaurant week, the ambience may be a bit dampened because of greater crowd and noise (at acceptable level). Come during the normal weekdays for a greater peace of mind and more sophisticated ambience.

Price:

The 3 course meal at Salt Grill and Sky Bar was $40++ during the restaurant week. It's a price that is affordable and very worth the value, though portion of the food may shrink a little compared to normal days. However, it is not always easy to book for this restaurant during the restaurant week, as it is very popular and gets snapped up within a day after the restaurant week is open for reservations.

On other occasions, you can try the weekday executive lunch set which is priced at $45++. Check out their menu and the meal sets they offer here http://www.saltgrill.com.

Salt grill & Sky bar

2 Orchard Turn

ION Orchard #55-01 & #56-01 

Singapore 238801

Tsukada Nojo

This Japanese style hotpot is one of the new restaurants located in the new extension of Plaza Singapura.


Tsukada Nojo Fb

The soup base is said to be made of collagen, which is especially beneficial to achieve good-looking smooth skin.


loves-jing.blogspot.com

The set menu for the hotpot which tells you what is included. They require to have at least 2 person sharing a hotpot, but at a price for 2 person ($25 each).

Tsukada Nojo Fb

Here comes the soup! (above)

Being first time customer to the restaurant, I was initially puzzled to see just layers of beancurd-looking things in the pot, which was supposedly the soup. Out of curiosity, I asked and was told that that was the collagen!

As the pot slowly gets heated up, the collagen melted and became the soup ^^
While waiting for it to fully melt, the soup looked and smelled like those rich tonkotsu soup and made people really craving for it~



Once, the collagen has fully melted, it's time to get started! This is a 2 people portion (above).
Remember to have a taste of the soup's original taste before putting in the ingredients as it tasted quite by itself too.

Put in the item that looks like yellow strips last because it alters the taste of the soup. But if you don't mind, you can put it in at the start together with the other ingredients too. Just that I thought it is good to keep it till you get tired of the taste of the soup (too much richness makes people sick after a while...).


Tsukada Nojo Fb

The rich collagen soup does make me crave for ramen! :D If you have finished your soup, feel free to ask for refills. It's free!



If you get tired of the soup again after a while, you can ask the manager for this (below). Not sure what this is because the manager initiated to offer it to us. The cheerful and humorous manager also said this was her "heart" (see the heart shape).



Besides hotpot, they have side dishes too and these cute little yummy-looking bacon ball caught my eyes (below)!





You get to choose the different flavours of these bacon ball and I feel that the difference is just the different toppings on it (eg, cheese, mayonaise, etc). The inside were simply plain rice. If they could also include some of the toppings inside the rice, i believe it would have been better and not so bland.



Overall, I think this restaurant is good for gathering with friends and family, as everybody slowly eat and chit-chat over a meal of hotpot. The spectacular sight of the melting collagen would also become an interesting topic to talk about. Service was excellent and the manager/staff there were doing great customer relationship (the humorous manager who offered her "heart" to us). Price wise, I think it's a little on the high side though, at $25 per person sharing a share of food and soup. However, as it is more on the experience side of dining at this restaurant, I don't mind bringing friends who have never been there before to try it out next time! :)

• Address:
• Plaza Singapura #03-81 
• 68 Orchard Road Singapore 238839

Taipei!

A friend of mine who was planning to go on a trip to Taiwan this year end approached me for the itinerary of my self-planned trip to Taiwan which I went a year ago. While consolidating all the info for her, I'm reminded of all the nice places and food of Taiwan. In this post, I will be recommending some fantastic accommodation and food that are the MUST TRYS!

Shangrila Hanging Garden & Resort (香格里拉空中花园)


www.cingjing.com.tw


cingjing.fun-taiwan.com

The cozy dining area

They have many different types of room, specially catered for the number of people you are travelling with. The room we booked was for 4 people, and the structure resembled that of a 2-storey bungalow. We had fun running up and down the staircase! 

Exterior dining area (above). See the white clouds in the foreground? And notice that the image is little blurry? That's not a special effect.. shows how high up in the mountain this place is. Therefore, air is VERY FRESH, and weather is cooling/cold all year round.

Service:
Service was excellent! They help with arranging for taxi transport too.

They also have free shuttle service to Cingjing farm (a nearby tourist attraction, and a great place to visit too!). Check it out from the counter.

Food:

Another compelling reason you should stay here is because their food was simply delicious!

 

Our dinner! (above) Choice of main dish of fried chicken or pan-fried cod fish, with buffet-style side dishes.

 

This chicken is a MUST TRY! Succulent and tender. Skin was jelly-like. Really good~

BREAKFAST~

Address: 546 南投縣仁愛鄉大同村榮光巷 8 號

Contact number: 049-2802166

Carton King Restaurant (纸箱王)

The whole restaurant circles around the theme of cardboard and all their chairs, tables, cups, decors are completely made of cardboard!

www.bitrebels.com

Like what you are thinking right now, I had my doubts on whether the chair would give way halfway through my meal, and the staff politely explained of its durability and reassured me that it is safe to sit on.

Cardboard tissue holder

Babysits

Because it was so cool-looking, I purposely didn't finish it so that I can hold it around outside :D

Of all the food I tried, I liked the steamboat dishes the most ^^

The service staff were all very polite and were always smiling, making the customers feel really welcomed. Overall, I would recommend this restaurant as the special cardboard theme makes dining an interesting and fun experience.

They have many branches in Taiwan. The one I went was at Cingjing, located at the entrance of 小瑞士花园 (Swiss garden).


Website: http://www.cartonking.com.tw/index.asp

满来 温泉拉面 (Hot springs Ramen)

Located at 北投 (Bei Tou) which is famous for their hot springs. This small shop sells mouthwatering hot spring ramen (温泉拉面), fried pork ribs and a must try when you visit the shop is their hot spring egg (温泉蛋). 

Well-known among the locals and one of the locals I managed to chat with said that she made it a point to eat here once a week! The stall has a strange policy that restricts customers from taking photos within the shop (but i had to take photo of such a delicious bowl of ramen so that i can go back again next time! so...*snaps!* oops..heehee!)

The shop is located just a stone's throw away from this hotel called 水都温泉馆 (below). If I remembered correctly, upon exiting the hotel, turn left and walk up the slope to go this shop.

Grandee Hotel (官邸大饭店)

This hotel is located just opposite the 士林夜市, meaning it is super convenient to go there (just cross a road) even late at night! Hotel was clean, tidy and comfortable, will definitely be back here again the next time I visit Taiwan :D 

Address: 台北市士林区文林路102号

Tel. no: (02)2880-5599

Service: Concierge service was good and the staff were always very polite.

Food: 

The hotel has buffet breakfast with a moderate selection of food and drinks. What I liked about their buffet breakfast was about the eggs. Sunny side up, scrambled egg, pan-fried egg, omelete, spring-onion egg, you name it they have it. The staff would ask you of your preference of egg once you're seated and if you need more, you can always pop by the respective counter :)

There also a stall nearby the hotel that sells fantastic noodle soup (below), and is "heart-warming" especially during cold nights. Well...if I haven't mixed things up, upon exiting the hotel, turn left and walk along the row of stalls until you see the stall. (or simply ask around, they should be able to point you the way since it is just nearby).

西门町 (Ximending)

This place is like Singapore's Orchard Road or Seoul's Myeong dong. A shopping haven for the young people and sells fashionable apparels, bags, shoes, accessories, etc.

Shopping halfway, I felt a little hungry and so I stopped by a pushcart to buy some mo chi (sticky floury snack). It turned out to be the best decision ever! The mochi (below) was coated with a layer of fine peanut and sugar that was very fragrant with a tinge of sweetness. Inside comes with coconut powder (what the uncle tells me)  that was cooling and melted the moment it touched my tongue. It was so good beyond words and we ended up buying another 3 more packets from him (and takeaway 4 packets... yes, we love it that much :D).

Not sure if the uncle is still there today, since he's selling from his mobile pushcart.. I do hope I can still find him there when I visit him next time. If you went and did see him, let me know ok! ;D

Modern Toilet Restaurant (便所主題餐廳)

Also located at 西门町 (Ximending). Another themed restaurant, but this one as the name suggest revolves around the theme of toilet. Toilet-themed restaurant...hmm....

Visit their website here -> http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/

Seats made from actual toilet bowls.. Can you imagine seating on a toilet bowl in the public while having your meal? :S

Food comes in toilet bowl too...

Doesn't this reminds you of something you would see when you have a stomachache? XD

Squat-style toilet bowl

The actual toilet bowl in the toilet but not for use as a toilet bowl (tongue twister???). It's a hand basin... Confusing much..

Dessert time!

Super gross dessert names.. (above) HAHA!

Overall, food was so-so, slightly more expensive than the usual price outside, but an interesting experience to visit at least once in your life :D Go early to avoid long seat waiting time.

九份老街 (Jiu Fen street)

The MUST TRY food here!

Taiwan style popiah that wraps with peanut and ice cream (above). A wonderful combination <3

Located near the start of the street.

Another must try is the very famous Grandma Lai's Taro ball. This stall is located quite behind along the Jiu Fen street.

Hope all these food recommendations help and ENJOY YOUR TAIWAN TRIP!!! :D