Vansh at The Stadium

I was watching Laputa, Castle In The Sky, by Hayao Miyazaki when hubby excitedly said that we're eating out for dinner. Naturally, I was happy as I don't have to prepare our meal for the night. Yey! After  watching the movie we headed out to the stadium.

Hubby is fascinated by the architecture of this terminal.

 

There were several restaurants at the side of the Stadium. While we were contemplating where and what to eat we strolled along Kallang river.

After much thought we chose Vansh among others. Vansh, which means a new generation within the family, is an award-winning Indian dining spot that offers a unique cuisine combining traditional Indian culture with modern touch of elegance. It is part of the Rang Mahal Group, a consortium of fine-dining Indian restaurants in Singapore. Vansh's interior is washed with romantic soft lighting, comfortable couch in bold colors with contrasting fluffy throw pillows which makes it excellent for long chit chat over food.

source

Our food has arrived. Appetizer with three dips, yoghurt with fruits (this is love!), chutney and mint. These last two are spicy for me. You have to eat this crunchy bread with these three dips and be surprised with the bursts of flavors.

 

This sampler is the best option if you are not familiar with Indian food. Vegetarian Kebab Sampler gives you an excellent taste of mushroom tandoori (one with cheese on top), paneer tika (square one) and aloo. I love the mushroom tandoori. It is succulent and the salty taste of cheese makes it more appetizing.

For our main dish we had fish masala paired with garlic naan instead of rice. Foodgasm! It was the perfect combination. We initially ordered one set of naan but had to have another because we both couldn't stop devouring the fish masala. A masala can either be a combination of dried (and usually dry roasted) spices, or a paste (such as vindaloo masala) made from a mixture of spices and other ingredients—often garlic, ginger, onions and chilli paste - Wiki.

Indian cuisines don't appeal to me. I always stay away from it whenever hubby plans for an eat out. To have this date a little different and since most of the reviews are excellent I have let myself loose to try out Vansh. I am glad I did! It totally changed my palates toward Indian dishes. And, somebody is so happy!

We were hoping to have some dessert but we were so full that we just chilled out to let the food go down for a while. We ended the night with a nice walk along the bridge.

Vansh

2 Stadium Walk, Stadium Waterfront
Singapore Indoor Stadium #01-04
Singapore 397691
Tel: 65 6345 4466
Fax: 65 6344 5344
Email: vansh@rangmahal.com.sg
Opening Hours
Lunch 12.00pm – 2.30pm (daily)
Dinner 6.00pm – 10.30pm (daily)

The Carousel

I am so glad that hubby's work is able to make him work from home. He was able to squeeze in the Valentine Lunch Date during the weekday. Celebrating V-day used to make me cringe. It still does but a little so I am glad we had it on lunch. But I still have this girly thing in me. Flowers would really make my day. I may not show it but deep inside it does. Sadly, he hadn't had any for me the other day and had given me roses the other day. It didn't made so much impact in me but I still appreciate it. I wish he'd be more romantic, though.

Anyway, this entry is about our lunch at the Carousel. I have mentioned here that it was one of the options we had for our Christmas dinner. So last Feb 14 we were able to try it out. Carousel is a buffet restaurant at Royal Plaza on Scotts Road. It offers a wide array of cuisines from Meditteranean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese - which what they boast for, three stations of mouth watering deserts and a delectable cold seafood section.



I so wanted to eat more of the clams but twice I bit something hard like stones. Grr! I hate it when I hit something like that.

Hubby all too excited to eat. Did you notice Carousel's signature silverware holder? Unique isn't it?

The dessert stations.


My freshly cooked pesto pasta! I love seeing my food being cooked before my eyes.

And what's more, they also offer unlimited coffee and tea. Yey!

I took the lowest intensity but I still am not bale to finish the strong kick of the coffee after two sips.


So what can I say about my trip here at Carousel. Uhmm... I like the modern touch of the furniture. The Japanese section was good. I like the sweetness of their California maki. The cold seafood is good. But, the tables are not wide apart enough for you to have some privacy. You could actually hear what the next table is talking about. There are not much choices and special dishes served at each stations. The roast beef is a little tough and the sauce is bland. Refills of some of the food will not be made until you call the attention of the staff.


If you'd ask me if I'd go back? My answer is, not in the very near future. There are better dining places that is worth the money. Come to think of it I can't exactly tell you what is the best dish that made me ooh in Carousel because there seemed to be none.

Nevertheless, I am still happy that my beau took me to a date. Eating while chatting will never be a bore if it's with him.

I hope you all had a great V-day!


Carousel
25 Scotts Road, Singapore 228220
Tel: (65) 6737 7966
Fax: (65) 6737 6646
Email: royal@royalplaza.co.sg

Melt The World Cafe

Hubby took me to a date last Christmas. We had a dinner at Melt The World Cafe! It was supposed to be at Carousel but we are in the waiting list so he booked us at the former. 

Melt The World Cafe is one of the dining places in The Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It offers  a variety of international cuisines from local dishes to Thai, Indian to Italian. From salads to bread to fresh sushi to cold seafood.

Table for two, please.


I like the interior of the place. It is simple and not too busy in the eyes. They could do better with the carpet, though.


Let's have our appetizers! (Sorry, I forgot what dressings and etc we had that night. Next time I'll take down notes. Hehe.)




Yes we had two servings of appetizers. Sarap, eh!

The cold seafood. This is the first time I had this. The prawns are fresh and there are so many sauces to chose from.



My main dish. Ohhh, I so love the grilled beef and most specially the crayfish! I think I had this again after our dessert. *wink*


And this one, too. The pasta is so simple. Just pure tomato sauce and some parsley as a garnish.


The dessert area. The.Best.Place.in any buffet.
Local desserts.

Chocolate fondue and Belgian waffle. The waffle is what some of the diners rave about in the Melt. And I can attest to that as it has the crunchiness outside and an almost chiffon-like softness inside. I could have had this two or three more but it was sooo freaking cold to the point my finger tips got numb, purple white and constricted!


Ahhh..Chocolates!

Fresh fruits!



Super busog and so happy! Writing this makes me want to go back. Or maybe we can try Carousel instead.


Beautiful lighting in the elevator. Looks futuristic.


When we were about to leave we saw this wood carving in the lobby. So intricate and detailed!



The overall experience in this buffet is just so great. Pure happiness! The waiters and cooks are very courteous and you would be surprised to hear them say, 'Certainly' instead of a simple 'Sure'. And the best part is the food. I have nothing bad to say with what I have tasted. But, I don't recommend eating here on Christmas or New Year's or I guess even on Valentine's day because the rate is outrageous! More than twice the regular day. Hubby is joking since the food choices are the same during a regular and special day maybe the reason for the special rate is this:

We find this a bit tacky. A picture frame! Parang sa kasal lang. Hahaha!

Things Lately Before Christmas

I have been procrastinating on blogging. Things caught up on me. Days before Christmas hubby and I were a little bit busy. Aside from the usual chores and stuff we had our nine-day evening mass or Simbang Gabi. And these are the things that happened lately:

1. Happy sweating it out with hon

2. Giving in to my ultimate guilty pleasure. Peppermint choco from Awfully Chocolate




Awfully Chocolate
131 East Coast Rd.
Singapore, 428816

3. It has been raining the past days and the plants were watered abundantly. After the rain, I was amazed at how lovely they were.




4. And, because of that, hubby bought a bonsai for us to tend.

5. Discovering new guilty pleasure! Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks' fried chicken chops



Shihlin Taiwan Street Snacks
313 Somerset
Far East Plaza
Suntec City

6. Decorating the center piece for our intimate Noche Buena


7. Completing the nine-day simbang gabi despite our very petty fight on the last night. Thank God for winning over us!