Friday, January 28, 2011

Celebrating hubby's birthday- 2011

We celebrated hubby's birthday recently, and we invited a handful of dear friends from our old bible study group over to our place. We got ready some simple fare (mainly bought)- egg mayo sandwiches, KFC, yong tau foo, yam cake, and dearest mum-in-law cooked some fried noodles.

We had a really good time; it was great to be able to catch up with friends whom we had not seen for quite a while.

Hubby's birthday cake was ordered from Fatboy- a DELICIOUS durian cake aptly named Aroma Therapy.

"Layers of lightly flavoured durian sponge sandwiching layers of durian cream lightened by a hint of whipping cream" (as described by Fatboy himself). Check out his website for more cakes!


Just thinking about this makes my mouth water... yum...

Happy birthday dear- I hope you have a great year ahead and may all your wishes come true! Love you loads.. *hug*

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Experience Italy at Favola, Le Meridien

Thanks to the heads-up we got from CP and CE (I call them the 'buffet hunters'.. haha) we heard about this lovely dining experience at Le Meridien hotel. We managed to make time to give it a try; my mum kindly agreed to watch the kids for us while we took some time off to enjoy lunch (in celebration of hubby's birthday).

The selection was not extensive, but the food was really delicious. Aside from the cold starters and the dessert, everything else was served to our table. We placed our orders from the menu, and they arrived freshly made and piping hot!

White Bean and Mushroom Ragout with Pan Seared Scallops

The scallops were incredibly delicious; plump, fresh and sweet. They went really well with the mushrooms and even though I thought the white beans would make the dish too 'heavy', it somehow gave a nice balance to the scallops. The dish came drizzled with a really tasty sauce on the side; I could not tell what it was- something containing balsamic vinegar maybe?

The next dish that I absolutely loved was the clams. The broth... oh... the broth- thinking about it just makes my mouth water. Yum. It was so delicious I was literally drinking it- oil and all! I dipped pieces of bread into the broth, and enjoyed every last bite. I would have ordered another helping, but hubby probably could not help me with it so I decided against that and saved space for something else.

Clams and Crab Cooked Vongole style with Garlic and Italian Parsley


Chicken and Spinach Crespelle with Smoked Tomato Coulis

The crespelle was really nice too. It looked like a single lasagna sheet, rolled up and stuffed with chicken and spinach. Simple and delicious.

Next up was pasta; we chose only to try the non-vegetarian ones, and this one came with smoked chicken pepperoni, giving the pasta a nice, distinct flavour.

The next dish was not great, despite the yummy-licious name. The fillings did not stand out- a shame considering it was supposed to be prawn and lobster. The edges of the ravioli were a little too thick for my liking as well.

As for dessert, there were only a few choices. The tiramisu wasn't memorable; the same went for the tiramisu-flavoured gelato. The other gelati flavours available were straciatella and rum & raisin, which were delicious, fortunately. The fresh fruit compote was light and refreshing, and the bread and fruits pudding was quite nice as well.

Spaghetti Pizzaiola

Homemade Prawn and Lobster Ravioli in Spiced Crustacean Cream

All in all, a spectacular meal! And at 98++ for two (thanks to my Starwood Privilege Card), it was a real steal!