Equinox Restaurant @ Swissôtel the Stamford

The first time we dine at Equinox Restaurant was a few years back for my fiancée’s birthday, she really enjoyed herself and it was rated as her favourite restaurant. So this time on our 5 years anniversary and a very special day, 11.07.2009, we decided to revisit this place to pamper ourselves with nice food and ambience.

Equinox Restaurant

Located at the 70th floor of the Swissôtel, the lift from the 1st floor will bring up all the way up and you will feel the pressure working into your ears. The Equinox Restaurant is side-by-side with the New Asia Bar entrance, serves both Asian and Western cuisines. The decoration of the restaurant is more towards the Asian style with the ceiling and design of wooden interior. The very high glass window panels provide the breath-taking view of Singapore’s landscape and city lights.

The view of the evening sky, there was no sunset as it was cloudy

As I made the reservation for dinner at 06:30pm, the sky was still bright and we were able to view a totally different scenery from the previous time. Having the window seating allowed us to see the changes of the sky colour and the city lights slowly lit up the night. As it was July and National Day was getting near, we were able to see the rehearsal at the Marina Bay Floating Platform.

The table decorations (The energy-saving candlelight)

The French Baguette and the Olive Bread

The bread spread (from left to right): Salted Butter, Olive Oil and Cream Cheese with Pumpkin and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Prior to the main course, the restaurant provides complimentary bread to sustain your hunger. The previous time we were given a basket of breads of different variety and it was served with salted butter. This time the waiter came to us with a plate of different varieties of bread and you get to choose (Though the variety was lesser). We chose the French Baguette and the Olive Bread; I preferred my baguette as it was crispy on the crust and my fiancée said her Olive Bread tasted very special. The spread for the bread was nicely served on a plate; there was Salted Butter, Olive Oil and Cream Cheese with Pumpkin and Sun-dried Tomatoes. I like the creamy texture of the cheese and the sweetness of the tomatoes. The waiter came back time to time to check if we would like more bread.

Moroccan spiced Rack of Lamb with Feta Crust, Potato and Eggplant Bistilla with Pomegranate Molasses – S$52/-

Being a meat-lover, I ordered the Rack of Lamb dish and how it was served was a piece of art; it was so nice that I almost didn’t know where to start. The lamb was cooked to medium rare and it was so tender and juicy. It does not have an overpowering taste of herbs to season the piece of meat and it was probably the best piece of lamb I ever ate. Initially I was pretty turned-off by the eggplant dish from the menu but the Potato and Eggplant side exceeded both me and my fiancée’s expectation. Even though we did not like eggplants, the almond crispy crust wrapped on the outer surface of the mashed eggplant and potato was so good that I finished it without any difficulty.

Pan-Fried Japanese King Scallops with a Cod Fish Brandade, Served with Garlic Aioli, Persillade and Roasted Organic Plum Tomatoes – S$46/-

My fiancée was extremely delighted with her Japanese King Scallops, this dish made her decide that scallop will be her 2nd favourite food below Foie Gras. It came with four pieces of scallops on a base of Cod Fish Brandade and topped with a salad. The scallops tasted so fresh that it doesn’t taste that it was frozen. It was well-done on the surface yet the mid section was done to the medium so that the succulent and taste of freshness is sealed within. I like how the cod fish is prepare; it was a creamy paste that has a smooth and buttery texture to the tongue. Towards the end, she likes the scallop without the sauce to taste the original sweetness

The view of the night sky, the romantic scene of the city lights was superb

Chocolate Mousse Cake with Strawberries to celebrate our Anniversary

During the first visit, I made reservation online for her birthday and they gave her a complimentary birthday cake. This time I made the reservation online again for anniversary, seriously even I was caught off-guard when the waiter served us the cake (We though it would be the table behind us as they had a super grand dinner). At this point of time, the National Day rehearsal came to an end and the night sky was filled with fireworks (Even though it had begun to rain). It was a very romantic moment with the fireworks and the anniversary cake in front of us.

The fireworks embraced the rainy night sky

There is however, a change in their window seating policy, we paid additional S$20/- per person for the seats. The overall bill came to a total of S$162.34/- inclusive of GST for two of us. But I have to admit, it has the best ambience, service and food. It is a definitely romantic place and therefore it is highly recommended to bring your loved one for dinner on a special occasion.

Ps: On this special day, I proposed to her at another location later in the night. But dining at Equinox Restaurant set the mood and atmosphere right for it. =D

Major Update of my Life

On 11.07.2009, the 5 years anniversary of me and my girlfriend, Joanne. I proposed my love to her at 165 metres above ground level. Henceforth, she will now be known as my fiancée. =D

Fisherios @ Bugis

This was my 2nd visit with my girlfriend to the outlet at Bugis. It was recommended by my friend for the taste and the affordable pricing. From my knowledge, they have another outlet at the basement of Takashimaya but I had never tried there. We had tried the normal Fish N Chips and we remembered the desert was good. So that was what made us decided to come back.

Fisherios – Fish N Chips

This time we ordered the beer-battered Fish N Chips which was recommended by the staff as it was their trademark dish. I took the set of Fish N Chips (with chicken nuggets and prawn) which came with soup and drink. My girlfriend ordered the ala carte beer-battered Fish N Chips. The soup was clam chowder soup and drinks I chose iced peach tea.

For a soupy person like me, the soup was rather disappointing. It was rather too flourish and I seriously did not see a single tiny piece of clam. Taste was so-so and it came with a piece of garlic bread which at least they took the effort to warm up. I don’t recommend ordering if it does not come with the set.

Beer-battered Fish N Chips Set – S$10.90/-

Beer-battered Fish N Chips – S$8.90/-

The beer-batter Fish N Chips was pretty nice. Though I cannot compare it to the previous time I visited as it was quite some time back (but I find it nice too). The quantity was more compared to the previous time I went to Mad Jack Fish N Chips at Bukit Timah. There was a faint taste of beer in the batter and it was not over-powering for both me and my girlfriend as we are not fans of beer. However, I think it would have tasted better if there was more flavour of saltiness or marinate in the fish.

Fried Brownies with Vanilla Ice Cream – S$2.90/-

The dessert was one of the main reasons we came back. There were only two desserts which are the fried brownies and the fried cheesecakes. We previously tried the fried brownies and were thinking of trying the fried cheesecakes for this time, but in the end we still go for the fried brownies as it was delicious. Different from the normal brownies with ice cream where they will warm up the brownies in a microwave oven, they fry the brownies and it gave it a crispy surface to the brownies. Chocolate desserts with vanilla ice cream are a fabulous combo. I just hope that they could have gave more brownies as they were rather stingy, giving the three small pieces.

The price is inclusive of GST and the dinner for both of us cost S$22.70/- in total. I think I would prefer Fisherios to Mad Jack for Fish N Chips but I could have given Mad Jack another chance. The dessert is a must-try and I think I would try the fried cheesecakes with comes with the vanilla ice cream as well.