Osteria Art

Visiting Osteria Art for Restaurant Week dining was a last minute arrangement from my pal. I have not heard of her name till last week when I was introduced to this elegant Italian restaurant and bar by Beppe De Vito.

Osteria Art

It threw me a surprise as I did not expect the environment being upscale and immediately I felt as though I'm in a foreign country with most of their staff being Caucasians. The outer part of the dining place is a Alfresco area installed with ceiling fans and laid with beautiful furnishings and Italian Marble. And since its located in a strategic location among the CBD offices, do check out their exquisite bar lounge right next to its entrance.

Before Entering Osteria Art

As you walked deeper into the restaurant,  feel the ambiance while you enjoy a good passion for Italian Cuisine with quality and freshness of ingredients. The 80 Seater Osteria environment lays a comfortable European feel with dining table neatly spread with white table cloth and bright red leather chairs.

Dining Environment

Let's start off the Italian gastronomic heritage with our Restaurant Week Dinner Menu at $58++ per pax...

Starters

Besides dipping the warm buns into balsamic vinegar oil, what I like best was these 2 soft sponge starters that contains cheese in them!

Cheese Balls

Plain water for the teetotalers...

Quench Your Thirst

The overlapping of scallops was topped with fava beans and elegantly decorated with flowers and the halves of Quail Egg. Paring the starter with raspberry balsmico gave a different taste to the plain sweet scallop. If you love sashimi, you will love the texture of this dish!

Scallop Carpaccio with Fava Beans, Quail Egg and Raspberry Balsamico

Pappardelle was our additional order on top of the restaurant week menu. These large, board flat pasta noodles were perfectly cooked and was really delicious in its red wine sauce and shredded cheese topping. I enjoyed their softness of pork cheek which literally melts in your mouth. Crispy pork lards / belly meats had not only added another texture to the dish but also gave a good aroma to it.

Pappardelle with Pork Cheek & Red Wine - $28

The miniature size of ravioli had immediately caught my attention with its green foam and brown lobster bisque that was generously spread on top of the pasta. These Ravioli contained shredded crabs meat in its bag. As a whole, its a dish proportionately spread out and their sauce left my lips wanting for more.

Crab Ravioli with Lobster Bisque and Basil Foam

Colors of the dish is interestingly match among 3 colours here and ravioli within a size of a table spoon.

The Size of Ravioli on a Table Spoon

Here comes the main with a large cube of Atlantic Cod sitting on Sea Urchin Zabaglione with Sunchoke paste underneath and Romanesco Broccoli as sides. Other than the Cod on this main dish, all the rest was my very first try out. Initially, I'm not very use to the taste of Zabaglione and sea urchin but after a few mouthful of it, I got addicted. Though I'm someone who enjoys the freshness of consuming cod fish, the style of its preparation was not to my liking

Atlantic Cod with Sea Urchin Zabaglione, Sunchoke and Romanesco

 Amazing ending to the meal with a good dessert that kind of act as a palate cleanser to the seafood dish earlier on. A mixture of black, rasp and strawberry fruits on its top layer with some matcha sponge cake while in the second layer it was well done with white chocolate that was not too sweet. What I like about the middle layer was the little crunchy chocolate balls surprises in between the bites.

Amalfi Lemon & White Chocolate Lingotto with Red Berries

 And finally, a good closing up to the meal with our tea and coffee in place accompanied by some sugar coated peanuts.

Tea / Coffee

To be frank, it was a great opportunity to have visited Osteria Art. I love how my dining was without any hurry to rush us off even after we completed our meals. Waiters will still continue to top up our glasses of plain water. Praises to their service and not only that, waiter that served us was well trained , knowledgeable and knows the menu well.

Osteria Art

Bearing the mind of its ambiance and budget, it is best recommended for special occasion.

Rating: 3.25 / 5

Osteria Art
Location: 55 Market Street Singapore 048941
Website

Clifford

Located in a historic landmark in Singapore, Clifford Restaurant is surrounded with a relaxing environment along the Marina Bay. By words of mouths we learn of this restaurant for its fantastic ambiance and its delicious food.

Clifford

Entrance

Charmed by its 10 metres high ceiling and the elegance of the entire environment, overlooking the inspiring water at the bay, it had already won my heart over. To add on, their vintage furnishings with its solid herringbone oak flooring made the environment gorgeous. Though it may seem a little quaint but definitely a charming place presenting a homely feel to all diners, a great spot for romance as well as business.

Interior

Interior

Dining with Sparkling water Badoit (750ml) - $13

Ordered some sparkling water to quench our thirst and to prepare for the incoming meals ordered, Clifford Restaurant had lend their welcomes with a plate of complementary breads (baguette and multigrains buns), served warm with chilled duck rillette and butter.

Complementary Breads

Multigrains Buns

The start of our Gastronomic indulgence!

Kicked start with a bowl of awesome french onion soup! Authentic and packed full of the French's Traditional Onion Soup! Rich, filled with caramelized onions and melted gruyere cheese as well as croutons. Just cant help falling in love with the softened crouton with those sticky cheese.

Soup D'Onions Gratinee - $22

Served with Truffle Ravioli, Porcini Mushroom Soup was stunning in its foamy parmesan with mascarpone cheese. Tasted light of mushroom and was very smooth, a total addiction!

Porcini Mushroom Soup - $28

220g of  grilled Angus beef Entrecote (premium cut on beef) with Beurre Maitre D'Hotel (parsley butter)  and a side of Fries infused with the great truffle scent.

Steak and Frites - $58

Yummy!

Medium Well!

3 Hours Home made Duck confit is one of Clifford's signature dishes. Served with a dollop of puree black garlic with and sides like sauteed broad beans, filed greens and truffle potato mousseline. Duck confit was cooked to perfection while potato mousseline was smooth and creamy.

Signature Duck Confit - $44

Duck Confit

We had a long wait before this signature apple tart tartin appears before us (I guess they baked it from the scratch). Tart was cut into smaller pieces on the pan and served upside down. The friendly server than placed one piece of it onto our plates which were already adorn with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and dash of caramel on the plate.

Signature Apple Tart Tartin (For Two) - $32

On the plate

A cup of long black to round up the meal with the desserts and Clifford Restaurant threw in some surprises to us with a plate of petit four (In French, meaning "Small Oven") consisting of Kueh Lapis. Macarons and White Chocolates. Sweetness from petit four complimented the aromatic cup of long black.

Long Black - $10

Kueh Lapis

Macarons

Considering its price tag, perhaps many would have turn off after looking at its menu. However, I will like to emphasize that for the excellent ambiance, food quality and personalized service, its all worth the money spend for a memorable session here in Clifford.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Clifford
Location: The Fullerton Bay Hotel, 80 Collyer Quay Singapore 049326

Casual Fine Dining

Coriander Leaf features an exciting Pan-Asian menu and is quite popular among the Clarke Quay district for its well-established fine dining scene. It is one of the popular dining stylish and relaxing bistro that is highly recommended by TripAdvisor as well as my visitor's tourist guidebook. Upon hearing my visitor's request to have a dinner in Coriander Leaf, I immediately took the number from her Guidebook and punched onto my handphone, thus our reservation was made day before.

Strict dinner timing was seen and practiced as their Business Hours starts officially at 6.30pm on the day of visit. We were led into Coriander Leaf at 6.30pm sharp and was greeted by a long flight of stairs with a well crafted wooden coriander leaf on its glass door handle.

Stairways & Facade

The ending point of the stairs leads us to their bar. The coriander theme did fit well into the ambiance as the bar counters were even highlighted with coriander leafs patterns. We were then handed over to another friendly staff and he guided the way to our reserved seatings. The dining room granted a mixture of rich cultures of Greater Asia in a modern settings. The style of having ceiling plastered with assorted red wallpapers in kinds of patterns had boast an elegant interior. Doors and glass frames were well set with walnut color that blends in perfectly to the entire ambiance with its cement screed flooring.Enjoy a picturesque view through the building's glass windows with a perfect skyline where glimpse of sun rays could be seen. How beautiful! The moments of good feelings were further elaborated with a fresh red rose floating on a glass of water. How romantic!Our unique culinary journey was well begin with the Mezze (platter for 2) as the appetizers. The server had did his professional service by introducing each item on the platter and the way of consumption with his broad accent. The way how he presented had stirred up our interests in every aspect of food on that platter.

Bar Counter

The dining room granted a mixture of rich cultures of Greater Asia in a modern settings. The style of having ceiling plastered with assorted red wallpapers in kinds of patterns had boast an elegant interior. Doors and glass frames were well set with walnut color that blends in perfectly to the entire ambiance with its cement screed flooring.Enjoy a picturesque view through the building's glass windows with a perfect skyline where glimpse of sun rays could be seen. How beautiful!

Dining Interior

The moments of good feelings were further elaborated with a fresh red rose floating on a glass of water. How romantic!Our unique culinary journey was well begin with the Mezze (platter for 2) as the appetizers. The server had did his professional service by introducing each item on the platter and the way of consumption with his broad accent. The way how he presented had stirred up our interests in every aspect of food on that platter.

Beautiful Rose

From the top of the platter in clockwise, Coriander Leaf had presented Harira (a mixture of chickpea & lentil soup), a popular traditional soup originated from Morocco. To its right, the Tabouleh Salad, a traditional Arab Salad that made up of bulgar, tomatoes, parsley, mint and lemon juice. Tomatoes cubes were served chilled and the salad mixture tastes appetizing!

Mezze

Next we have another Middle East bite size Falafel on the platter. In layman terms, it looks like cookies topped off with some cream cheese to be but the fact is that Falafel is actually made up of chickpea and fava bean rissoles. Simply loves it unique taste! Ever wonder what are those 4 different balls on the platter? They are no quail eggs! In fact these are rich cheese balls that comes in Herbs - Za'artar (dried herbs with sesame seeds & others), sumac (some purple spice that add a tangy flavour), fresh mint and fresh coriander. Interesting right?Next we have 2 big bowls of dips, the Muhammara (roasted red pepper & walnut dip) & tahini (yoghurt dip) that goes well with a plate of plain Naan.What an adventuours platter we had! Our dirty plates were cleared up promptly with an exchange of new plates and we were ready for our main dishes.

Top: Tabouleh Salad, Bottom: 4 Types of Cheese Balls with Falafel

Plain Naan

Oven Baked Coriander-Miso Gratinated Cod was indeed fresh with additional crisp on its skin. Matched with sesame-togarashi onigiri and sugar snap peas lined up nicely on the plate and summed up by line decorations drawn with miso emulsion.
Cost: S$36.00

Oven Baked Cod Fish

During ordering, the professional server had actually checked with us the level of spiciness that we can handle and this dish was specially prepared based on the level. The Frontier Chicken was stirred fried with coriander seeds & minimal amount of chili flakes that sat in well in the middle of the plate in a pool of yoghurt cream topped with mizuna(a kind of japanese mastard). The dish was also accompanied by a plate of crispy plain Naan.
Cost: S$30.00

Frontier Chicken

Lamb Kerbab comes with barbecued cubes of lamb with onion relish and fresh herbs accompanied by butter naan. The cubes are fork tender with not much of lamb's smell. One can dipped the button naan or cubes into the special cooling mint sauce.
Cost: S$35.00

Lamb Kerbab

Although the causal fine dining portions may seems small, it was actually stomach filling and we had no room for any desserts.

Fish Tanks in Toilet

Let's visit Coriander's Toilet! The toilet was shared by both genders and as we swing opened the door, we were greeted by two brightly lited fish tanks by the side of the washing basins.

In conclusion, this will be one of the perfect choices with excellent service if you want to enjoy a unique mixtures of Cuisine with good scenery. Total worth what we are paying for! I bet that the entire experience will be many gastronomic thumbs up.

Total Cost: S$157.72

Coriander Leaf
Location: 3A River Valley Road, #02-03, 179020