On Saturday, I hung out with friends and we ended up in Vivo City after much deliberation (you have no idea...). More specifically, we ended up at White Dog Cafe, because a sign that read $3.50 Tiger Beer, $5 Heineken and Kilkenny caught the boys' eyes. Figures!
The ambience in the place was great (although our little group probably spoilt it for everyone else during our more boisterous periods), the food extremely reasonably priced and quite delicious. It wa clearly very popular when we couldn't get window seats overlooking the harbour at 5.30pm because of they had been reserved, and there were quite a few people queueing up for tables from about 7pm onwards. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera at the time, so I'll have to wait for my mate Garry to send me his photos.
We then played Pictionary til the weeee hours of the morning at Viv's house. So much fun!
On Sunday, my friends and I went on a small adventure in search of some tau sar (bean paste) pastries which we'd read about in a street food guide. There is an outlet in Vivo City, but since we'd been there the previous day, the boys suggested instead to head to Sembawang Shopping Centre where the other shop is located. Each bun is handmade in their shop. And I tell you, it was worth every minute of our time to travel out and locate the mall.
Dinner Sunday was with my folks, brother and aunt, in a 2-month old Brazilian churrascaria (steakhouse) in Katong Village. The salad is served at the salad bar, the mains, well, that's where it gets interesting. They grill the meats, fish and some vegetables (like pineapple!) over a fire, on a great big skewer, and bring the meats, on the skewer to your table! You tell the waiter how much you want, and he either shaves the meat off a larger piece, or in the case of something like chicken, ribs or fish, just slides off a chunk for you. The meat is supposed to keep coming until you have had enough.
I went to a similar restaurant in Melbourne last year. There they had coasters beside each person, with one side in blue with the word 'GO', and the other (red) side read 'STOP'. However, in Melbourne, the restaurant adopts a more rustic feel. Here, the owner created an ambience with a posher feel, though prices remain quite reasonable for a restaurant with beautiful light fittings and crisp linen.From this...
...to this!
We started off with caipirinha (excluding yours truly, as usual) and cheesy bread balls, then took our tentative first steps towards the salad bar. Because this style of dining is eat-all-you-can, we didn't want to stuff ourselves full with veges! So we kept eating and eating, not just the meat, but had second rounds of salad as well. There were 12 different skewers, from butter fish, topside, rump, pork and beef ribs, lamb, and a spiced pineapple (think it was cinnamon). Some of the meats came well done, others on the rare side.We were incredibly full at the end of it all, but managed to squeeze in desserts of Pave (nicknamed the Brazilian tiramizu) and Bolo de chocolate (a.k.a. chocolate lava cake)!! The chocolate lava cake was as it should be - hot, slighty crusty on the outside and oozing chocolate on the inside. MMmmm.
First round of salad with some of the meats, including beef with garlic and ribs
Second round of salad, after lots and lots of meat between salads...
The Pave had all of us talking. Apart from being a new dish to us, it scored brownie points for being rich without overwhelming us, especially after a big meal. Personally prepared by the owner of the restaurant (whom we met), it is a heavenly combination of coconut milk, kahlua, chocolate and grated coconut, served on a plate with tiny cubes of orange peel, which somehow manage to transfer a citrusy tinge onto the tiramisu. This helped cut through the richness of the dessert.
How good do they look?! I'm sure I don't have to tell you what's what!
Casa do Churrasco Brazil is located at 86 East Coast Road, #01-37/39, Katong Village Singapore 428788. For more details, click on the link.P.s. Dinner was under $300 for 5 people including at least 6 caipirinhas ($12 each), Pave was $9, $12 for the bolo, and eat-all-you-can was $30 each, if I remember correctly. They charge for water, but it's just $2 for a 1.5litre bottle of mineral water. Singapore tax is 10% + 7%
No comments:
Post a Comment