Friday, October 19, 2012

Forlino

Restaurant Week 

X and I made a reservation at Forlino for lunch to kick start the second Restaurant Week of the year. I was really excited because I've been wanting to go to Forlino for a long time! And I guess my excitement rubbed off on X and he was quite excited too haha

Route to the restaurant

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The staff took quite a long time to get our orders and we noticed that the utensils looked really old and were dirty.

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Bread
The bread was fragrant and nicely warmed. It was a little too oily though

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Raspadura cheese
I'm not a fan of cheese but X took a liking to the combination of the cheese and bread

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Orrecchiette Pasta with Broccolini Sauce
To be honest, this looks grossly cheap and unappetizing.
The pasta was too hard and it wasn't very good.
It was quite a huge portion and we both did not finish it

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Seabass Filet with Potatoes 'Novelle' and Pesto Genovese
The fish was fresh and this was pretty decent

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Roasted Beef Flank with Polenta and Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
The three beef slices were tender but they were really thin. The polenta was also too buttery.

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White Chocolate Pannacotta with Melon Coulis
The taste of white chocolate was lacking in the sturdy panna cotta.

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Caffe e Chiacchere
Coffee.

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Served with savory crackers
We would have liked something sweet to go along with our coffee instead of the savory crackers.

X and I were really disappointed with our lunch. Not only was the food a borderline average, service was quite terrible. They did not clean our tables until before our dessert arrived. Also, the waitress didn't do a good job as she left quite a huge amount of crumbs lying on the table. It was as if she was just doing it for the sake of it. Also, there was no differentiation in the utensils for main course or dessert. Lastly, they took what seemed like a million years to pass us our bill even though we were one of the only two tables occupied.

I guess we just expected better.

Total cost: $94+


#02-06 One Fullerton
Daily :
Lunch: 12pm-2:30pm
Dinner: 6:30pm-10:30pm


---
Love, K

K's rating of Forlino: 5.5/10

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Pierre Gagnaire à Séoul @ Lotte Hotel

7th August 2012:

It's the day I turned 22! After a surprise celebration at 12 midnight and afternoon dessert at Peony, X took me out for dinner. He kept telling me that we were going to a food fair and as much as I did not believe him at first, I eventually was convinced haha. Even when we walked into Lotte Hotel, I was still thinking that we were going to the food fair since he said it's at Lotte Mart or something. Haha

So here we were! Going to Pierre Gagnaire! A restaurant by a Three-Michelin starred chef! [:
Pierre Gagnaire A Seoul is one of the World's Best 50 restaurants!!! 
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On the highest level, 35th storey

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Window seat [:

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35th storey is considered pretty high in Seoul! Our seats overlooked many buildings and even mountains

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Degustation menu

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They were really appetizing and whetted our appetites

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Cute butter

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Assortment of bread which were fragrant and delicious!

Before the meal started, the waiter asked if I had any preference for my food so because I don't take vegetables and berries, they made adjustments to the menu and tried their best to substitute the veggies and berries away

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Tomato/watermelon granite, provencale ratatouille
I skipped this haha. Watermelon is number one on my hate list haha

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Cod petals, avruga, leek vinaigrette
The cod was fresh, and soft and definitely a delight!

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Red pepper veloute, sweetcorn icecream
This was so unique and as weird as it sounds, or might look, it's actually really awesome!

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Prawn paste with cracker in substitution of Mortadelle ham, crunchy vegetables with dijon mustard
This was pretty average

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Mortadelle ham, crunchy vegetables with dijon mustard

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Pan-fried frog legs coated in a fine polenta with chives
SO DAMN GOOD. The frog legs were tender and they were extremely tasty and delectable! Wish I could have this again!

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As night falls.
The right piece of glass is a mirror

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Pan-fried foie gras with turnips, gingerbread powder
LIFE-CHANGING. A Little crisp on the outside and delicately soft on the inside. X and I were both beaming with delight upon the first taste of it. The taste of the foie gras lingers on and on. This was so so good. I'd kill to have this again!

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Cherries jelly with Pondicherry Red pepper, pink duck filet
I didn't really like it because of the strong cherry taste

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Foie gras terrine, redcurrant and red beet syrup
I love foie gras terrine! Pretty good too but can't be compared to the pan-fried foie gras

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Rilettes, raw foie gras and salt flower
This was not too bad! Kinda liked the rawness


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Champagne mousse
Not a fan of champagne so I gave this to X haha

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Almond cream tartlet, nougatine
Light hint of nuttiness

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Vanilla souffle, summer fruits marmalade

Wasn't very impressed by their desserts


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Yay birthday cake!
The little TT sign on the plate is actually a table!


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Earl grey with orange jelly cake
Love the earl grey parts! And the orange jelly was SUPER SOUR. But it really spiced up the otherwise mellow, aromatic and sweet earl grey!

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Coffee 

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Rum praline
The waiter came to us with a huge wooden box and offered us pieces of their pralines! Yummers

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Petits Fours
Definitely one of the best petits fours ever! Also, the small glass of drink is a special concoction with mint to cleanse your palate. It's very refreshing!

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The entire 35th level belongs to Pierre Gagnaire!

The dishes at Pierre Gagnaire are nothing but unconventional and revolutionary. They are a fusion of contrasting flavours and are combinations that you would probably never expect. These twists are definitely intriguing and although they may not suit the tastebuds of everyone, they're definitely worth a try!

My birthday was complete.
A dinner at a restauant owned by a Three-Michelin starred chef. What more could I ask for? [:

The meal cost more than $400 SGD and I'm really really thankful for this birthday gift [:
Thanks X!

Lotte Hotel
1 Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
 


Love, K

Peony @ Hongdae (Seoul)

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Peony is a famous cake shop located in Hongdae. It's about ten minutes walk away from our apartment. We headed there on my birthday, in the afternoon, after X got back from class.

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Array of cakes

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Pretty crowded for a weekday

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Strawberry shortcake
X ordered this and he really liked it!

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Chocolate cheesecake
This was rich, soft and melts in your mouth!

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Iced chocolate 
Sadly, this tasted more like chocolate milk


The staff were friendly and helpful and the cakes were good! This will definitely be one of my favourite haunts if I stay in Hongdae!

We spent only about 30 minutes here as X was kinda rushing to get home to change because he was taking me out for my dinner celebration. Coming up in the next post! [:

408-8 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Daily : 1230pm - 1030pm


Love, K