Miss Clarity Café @ Purvis Street

It was ages ago since we went back to Miss Clarity Café which was located near to the National Library at Bugis. The shop has been there for quite some time and I remembered how long my girlfriend and I had to wait to get a table; it wasn’t the same as before though. For a weekend evening, it was rather quiet and we immediately got a table.

Interior of the Café

This place is good for gatherings and the crowds are mostly youngsters or working adults. The pricing of the menu is still considered affordable and you won’t have to crack your head thinking since the prices are inclusive of GST.

Premium Set Menu

The menu had been through several changes: some names, prices and set menu. I used to order either the chicken/fish cordon bleu or their ‘Old Macdonald have a farm’ which had been renamed to Palette of Cuts (Mixed Grill). We ordered the fish cordon bleu and the mixed grill to share so that we can have a taste of different varieties of meat.

The barley drink which tasted bland


The Amuse Bouche (Pre-Starter) – inclusive in the set

I am not sure if the pre-starter changes everyday but you might want to avoid having too much of it. The amuse bouche we had was a base of onions that has gone through the process of sweating (but still a bit raw) and topped with what we think is egg white. My fiancée and I didn’t fancy it too much due to the onions.

The Lobster Bisque – inclusive in the set

Not too bad, but maybe only to an average soup standard. A bit too salty and slightly sour, there isn’t much of a thing to tell that it is lobster bisque. There is a hint of fragrance of cream in the aftertaste and the cheese crostini is slightly warmed up. I find it a rather fresh taste comparing to have garlic bread over and over again. Overall, I think Jack’s Place Lobster Bisque will win this anytime.

Palette of Cuts (Mixed Grill) – S$18.80/-

My fiancée and I used to order this and share it as the portion can be too much for a single person to finish. This time we ordered another main just in case it has shrink in size. The portion no doubt has shrunk by a small fraction but it can still be a challenge for a lady to handle alone. Use to be named ‘Old Macdonald have a farm’, it contains sunny-side egg, potato wedges, grilled steak, lamb, pork, chicken, ham, bacon and chipolata.

This time it was not as well executed as before. The chicken was discovered to be raw in the center when we cut it. The staff whom we alerted about this took my plate and went off into the kitchen. He didn’t have the courtesy of giving me another plate and I ended up plateless until I could ask for it from another staff. About 5 minutes later, the same guy came back with my plate and the same pieces of chicken on it. The pieces of chicken went through a make-over course in the grill and came back drenched with more sauce. Now that the chicken was fully cooked, the skin became charred and it caused the taste to turn bitter. They never even apologized or say anything about it. The medium rare steak also came out to be rather raw but it was still acceptable and we wouldn’t want to risk it to end up like the chicken.

Fish Cordon Bleu – S$11.80/-

A sandwich of breaded fish fillet sandwiched with ham and cheese, the fish cordon bleu suffered less criticism compared to the mixed grill. Then again, I’m not saying that it doesn’t have its flaws too. This dish used to be one of our favourite as I think they were more generous with the cheese back then. Maybe we had set the expectation too high but I think it would have worked for me if there is more cheese in the center.

Mud Ooz – inclusive in the set

Warm and Creamy Center of Valrhona Chocolate

Hot chocolate dessert with vanilla ice-cream, this dessert works wonders for me. I like the warm and creamy texture of the Valrhona chocolate and it went well with the ice-cream as it is not too sweet. Just ordering this dessert cost S$5.00/- and I think that it is justified.

Overall, I think this place will deserve a second chance from us considering we had visited several times before and this was the only time we aren’t that satisfied. The total bill for this dinner came to a total of S$36.60/- for one premium set and one ala carte main. Hopefully they won’t do so badly the next time we come back.

Blue Mountain Café (B.M.C.) @ Iluma

On another weekend where we did not know what to eat, we were at Iluma @ Bugis when we came across a newly opened restaurant called Blue Mountain Café. As it was the month of National Day, they were having a promotion of 44% off total bill with a purchase of any main course, in celebration of Singapore’s 44th birthday. It will last for the whole month of August and with such an offer, we decided to give it a try.

Blue Mountain Café

The National Day Promotion (The Chinese proverbs written on the menu which did not really went well with the whole theme of the restaurant but that’s just an opinion)

The design of the restaurant is cozy and the lightings are dim to create a relaxing ambience. Unlike some restaurants where the waiters or waitresses who will keep coming to you to pester you to order your drinks first, the staff served us ice water even without being told and that’s service. But being a very observant person I am, I can’t help to realize that there are some water marks on the utensils which seriously isn’t that much of a problem for me since I can easily clean if off.

The Utensils (From the picture you can probably on see the water marks on the knife)



Rib Eye Steak – S$22.90/-

The medium-rare rib-eye steak that my fiancée ordered came first. Initially the steak seems like it was done exactly to medium rare and the choice of mushroom sauce went well with the steak. But slowly towards the center of the meat, the steak seems to be a tad towards the rare colour of redness and the taste also started to become a bit on the bland side. Towards the end, she started finding it a bit too bloody for her liking and there also seemed to be a lot of tough vein making it too chewy.

BBQ Back Ribs – S$16.90/-

Surprisingly this time, I’m not the one with the steak as I seldom forgo the choice of beef for anything else. The back ribs were served to me piping hot and I could hear a lady from the table beside us, telling her friend that why she didn’t get her back ribs served this hot. The ribs were serving was just nice and it was tender. But I think I still preferred the ribs from Café Cartel where it is honey-glazed instead of BBQ sauce. Both main courses come with the side dish of mashed potato and some poached vegetables but there is nothing to comment about it.

Overall, I think that it might be a good place to relax and have a drink but for meal wise I don’t think I would want to try again. The total bill came to S$26.24/- after the 44% discount for the two main courses. We were given a 30% discount return voucher which states for dinner only (530pm to 930pm) but maybe we’ll only use it if we can have a drink and eat desserts. If not… too bad cause too many good food awaits us =p

The Coffee Connoisseur (TCC) @ Shaw House

Another weekend outing and finally we decided to dine at TCC to fulfil my craving and curiosity to the taste of the scallops of their Seafood Aglio Olio. I had been curious at how would it taste as I’ve been seeing their posters a couple of times showing that.

The Coffee Connoisseur a.k.a. TCC

Naturally, I decided what I wanted almost immediately and even though my fiancée was thinking of trying other dishes, I ended up convincing her to eat the Seafood Aglio Olio with me.

Seafood Aglio Olio – S$18.80/-

The pasta was very well-done; it was sufficiently moist by the olive oil and there is a slight spicy taste which gives it the flavour. But it’s definitely not suitable for people who do not really like garlic as there was loads of minced garlic. We didn’t add the lemon as we prefer to have it the original taste of the seafood. There were three prawns and two scallops. The prawns are crunchy and tasty. The scallops failed my expectation by a bit as maybe I was a bit too harsh on it to compare it to the ones we had at Equinox. Overall, it the Seafood Aglio Oglio was worth it.

Lychee Jazz – S$6.20/-

This is the drink I ordered. Although it tasted not too bad, but I think I would not order this drink again. The drink has thick syrup at the bottom which I couldn’t dilute it too well with the soda. There is also a minty flavour which my fiancée thinks that it made the drink tasted like chewing gum. Towards the end of the drink, the ice cubes melted and causes the drink to taste a bit bland. It has only one lychee at the bottom.

Hazelnutella Milkshake – S$7.90/-

Now this is a new drink on the menu which my fiancée ordered. Now this is the drink that made mine looks pale in comparison. It is a must try for chocolate lovers. The milkshake have a very notable taste of hazelnuts and Nutella. This combination goes very well and it strongly reminds me of eating Ferraro Rocher chocolate. Even she agreed with me about the taste.

This TCC is located at level 2 of Shaw House, Isetan Scotts. The ambience is the same as every other TCC outlets from my observation. The only difference is the view of this outlet can see the new ION Orchard. The staffs are very polite and every one of them made sure they greet you. With membership card and some point redemption, this meal cost a total of S$49.95/-.