Dozo

After hearing raves about Dozo, we decided to have our Valentine's Day dinner at this restaurant.

Dinner came with a 7 course meal, you may think like: "Wow! 7 course?!?! Am I able to finish it?" In fact after the end of the meal, it didn't made our stomachs explode. The portions are small and we felt merely full. Well, maybe that's the whole idea of "fine dining", People will burn the restaurant down if they were to offer monsterous portions?

 

This is how the menu looks like and that's all you can choose. 5-6 dishes to chose from for each course. Let's see what we chose!

 

 Starter: Chef's Selection of Assorted Platter

From left to right: Salmon - Scallop - Foie gras

All came in small bites that you feel even hungrier after it! It came in just right sizes for mouthful bites.

Refreshing drinks
This is a complimentary drink and its supposed to clear our palates. I guess it's a mixture of pineapple and orange juice with crushed ice. Its a very good idea for them to present in such a creative way with a lavender decorative as they could have just served us 2 glasses of juice instead.


Cold Dish: King Crab Claw Salad drizzled with Sesame Vinaigrette
It's like Japanese cold salad (duh!) with a little taste of wafu sauce. I love Japanese salad because it's very fragant! It has fruit bits, lettuce, cherry tomato and of course king crab claw! The crab claw meat came in one piece, unlike those with just a few shredded crab meat in it. Worth to try!

Cold Dish: Beef Tataki with Shaved Parmesan and Truffle Mayo Mosaic

This is a unique dish that we hardly see outside (or maybe we hardly have fine dining). When we order this, the waiter told us that it was quite raw(or maybe its really raw) to ensure that  we could accept it. Good service! I think the waiter could have just took the order and walked away but he took an effort to remind us.

Let's talk about beef tataki. From the first taste, it's wow! Perfect match with parmesan and the mayo. Must be wondering how it could make it stand like a cone in the center? There's something crispy wrapped inside and covered with the beef tataki. Great presentation, great taste!

Side Dish: Chimichanga serve with Beurre Blanc sauce

When the waiter serve us this dish, it says that it resembles the Singapore Marina Bay Sands. Does it look like? It's like a deep-fried burrito filled with mushroom and prawn. Match it with the garlic at the side and it taste superb. Absolutely beautiful.

Side Dish: Gratinated Escargots topped with Yuzu Butter

There were only 3 escargots in it, The shell on the left was empty and its meant for decorative purpose only.What tasted yummy was the "Yuzu" butter. It was good but it seems that other choices that was in this course could have been more worthwhile to try.

 

Soup: Crab Bisque Cappuccino style

Decided to order this because I think it's rather different from what we can have normally. Don't be mistaken by the crab beside, it's just a display. The soup is quite thick and I personally like it a lot!

Soup: Infusion of Cèpes Mushroom with Truffle

Nothing special about the mushroom. Strong mushroom flavours and it tasted just like "Soup Spoon". But what made it special I think was the tiny mini truffle by the side.

Close up of the tiny mini truffle. Looks like an Oreo crumb.

Main: Kurubuta Pork Cheek with Onion Jam

Yes, pork cheek. Might sound eeeeeeww, but I think is woooooo. I don't quite like it because of the generous amount of toppings on it which made me feel sick after a few mouthfuls. Well, I guess majority will say its very "flavourful" rather than "sickening". This is based on personal opinion as my other one loves it quite a lot.

Main: Beef Tenderloin on Pu-Ye and Granite Hot Stone

This was what I highly recommended him but he doesn't seem to like as much as I anticipated. It tasted nothing special to him but I felt it was tender and good. As the dish name stated, it's on a hot stone so be careful while you have it. Is the "fan" on top of the beef interesting?  It's edible. Tasted like some fried spaghetti (not sure if it's cheese stick or spaghetti).

 

Dessert: Espresso Crème Brulee

Dessert time! Dessert means end of last dish. Must be wondering where is Crème Brulee?! Didn't I type the name wrongly? Nope I didn't. It's under the bubble foam. Nothing special to comment about their dessert.

Dessert: Dozo's Freshly Baked Warm Chocolate

I love chocolate lava cake! I will order soemthing like this whenever I see chocolate cakes in the desert section of the menu! But this.... It's not awful but it's just plain "normal", nothing really special. It looked just like how it tasted.

Drinks: Iced Mallow Apple Melody (Blend of mallow flowers, apple and guava juice)

It's refreshing and nice! No regrets after ordering this drink. It's light and fruity but not too sweet.

Drinks: Infusion of fruit juice (Healthy blend of fresh fruit juice)

Too sweet! Nearly got my legs cut off after drinking this.

Complimentary Valentines cupcake 

Dozo asked me if it was for any particular special occassion when I called them to make my reservation. So I said it was for Valentine's Day. They offered this complimentary at the end. Simple flour cake with nice wordings on the plate.

 

7 course meal $59.80++ per pax, so the bill came up to be about $140. Overall it's an affordable fine dining for young couples to celebrate their special ocassions. The staff were very patient and meticulous. They were very nice and knowledgable to explain each dish and how they were cooked. Two thumbs up for their service.

 

Website: http://www.dozo.com.sg/index.html 

Add: 491 River Valley Road,

        #02-02/03 Valley Point
        Shopping Centre, S 248371

Tel: +65 6838 6966

 

Lawry's Prime Rib

We like beef a lot, so if there is a place where they offer good quality steaks, we will make it a point to give it a try. There is this restaurant called the “Lawry’s Prime Rib”, and after doing some research and finding that their prices are not too crazy, we decided to give it a shot!

(source: http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/lawry_s_the_prime_rib_singapore_mandarin_gallery/review-photos/#d4c40000)

This place was initially recommended by a colleague. He said he went there once and thought that they offer very nice beef cuts. Looking at its name which says “Prime Rib”, we thought that the experience there will at least be a rather pleasant one since we love prime rib cuts. Well, who doesn’t?

The restaurant has a very classy look. Walking into it makes you feel like Bruce Wayne heading back to his huge mansion. The restaurant is impressively decorated but kinda intimidating. The waitresses wore “classic maid’s dress”, quite an eyesore, hmmm.. doesn’t really matter.

We both ordered The Lawry's Cut which include:

• The Famous Original Spinning Bowl Salad
• Yorkshire Pudding
• Idaho Mashed Potatoes
• Whipped Cream Horseradish

This is what we had for appetizer. Basically its some salad, but you get to see a waitress wearing an awful outfit to perform some spinning maneuver to the salad. Basically they are just mixing it by spinning it. The salad was good! When it was just being served in front of you, you’ll get the adrenaline, that “feeling” that “hmmm.. this must be quite a thing”. Presentation is good, taste is distributed nicely and evenly, vegetables were fresh and crunchy. Simply refreshing, it kinda tickles your palates making you think that the main course must be good.

Tada~

The salad: crisp romaine and iceberg lettuce, watercress, shredded beets, chopped eggs and croutons, tomato, tossed with their exclusive Lawry's vintage dressing. 

That's the guy cutting our prime rib. A waiter will ask you about the doneness of your steak. We personally think prime rib is best eaten rare! :)

Whipped Cream Horseradish! One is spicy and the other non-spicy. It taste like wasabi to me though. :o

Here comes the show! Just look at it, stare it for 5 seconds, and you’ll begin to wonder if this was a dream. Look at that steak! It’s just simply GORGEOUS. (Some people may find this disgusting because of the doneness but we prefer it rare) So how did it tasted like? How should it be described? Very very very good! It was just awesome. We liked it so much that even when we were writing about this made us salivate over it. You know? You get that hearty nice warm feeling of a good prime rib cut. The steak was beautifully prepared. Upon serving they will “bathe” the steak with their tasty soupy steak sauce. When you marry these 2 elements together, you’ll understand why it is called a “prime cut”. Because it is simply the best! A prime time from eating a prime cut!

Of course they will offer some side dishes. As you can see, we ordered creamed corn. Nothing much to say about it because we were all too distracted by how good the beef was. The rest just doesn't matter. Haha. NICE! WILL DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT! Suddenly..... some James Bond walked out of the blue with this. A complimentary Birthday Cake! (It was the month of my birthdate and we get to enjoy discount... and this! haha).

That "James Bond" that I mentioned was the restaurant's manager. His name was William.

 

Overall it was very pleasurable experience. The bill was about $200++ for two mains of The Lawry's Cut and a add on of creamed corn. But there was an in-house promotion for birthday, Order 1 main course and 50% off on 2nd main course OR 25% off on main course with minimum 2 main course ordered if you pay by DBS / POSB Credit / Debit Cards. 
The staff was nice enough to calaulate which is the best deal (birthday promo or DBS promo), ended up payment by Debit card is cheaper which cost about $150 plus.

Well done, Lawry’s!

 

Located at:

333A Orchard Road #04-01/31 Mandarin Gallery,
Mandarin Orchard Singapore 238897
Tel: 6836 3333 Fax: 6235 0300
Websit: http://www.lawrys.com.sg/ 

Operating Hours
Sundays - Thursdays: 11.30am - 10.00pm
Fridays / Saturdays / Eve & Public Holidays: 11.30am - 10.30pm
(Last Order at 10.30pm)

Dim Sum: Royal China at Raffles

Well, we heard that there is this very good Dim Sum restaurant at Raffles Hotel. We decided to give it a try. We had good feelings about it because of the positive reviews and how people say that this restaurant made Dim Sum for the Chinese gods. And because it is always fully booked, we were sure that this place will certainly not let us down. We had our reservations made one week in advance. You can see how popular it is and its name, which says “ROYAL CHINA” made us awe even more. Ooooo, must be good!

 

Walking into the restaurant is like walking into a palace. Peaceful environment, soft spoken approachable staff, nice and neat table clothes and napkins, well printed HEAVY menu. In our minds, we were anticipating ultimate food pleasure that would mark our minds and souls forever!

However, it pretty much “stained” us with disappointment. Hey! What’s the big deal with this restaurant? Read on, Let me sayyyy…

To be honest, I am not satisfied with the food. There is literally nothing special about it. If you have tasted let’s say “char siew pau”, spend a moment to imagine how it tasted like… (5 sec). Yes that’s how their char siew pau tasted like. Nothing special at all! Nothing is unique about it, nothing is exciting about it. Everything tasted SO NORMAL. To be honest, quite a number of dishes are still below the “normal expected standards”.  After a few dishes, I changed this restaurant’s name in my heart to “NORMAL CHINA” instead of  “ROYAL CHINA”. You get “normal” food but paying for it at a “royal” price.

Now lets see what we’ve ordered. There’s really nothing special about anything. Looking at it is much better than tasting it.

Crab Roe Xiao Long Bao

This is not in the menu. So if you want to order it you'll have to order it from the staff. It came in just one Bao per basket, and the basket is smaller than an amoebae! It's not the usual sized basket we know that is used to contain char siew buns, so don't expect it to be big. It's just the usual xiao long bao size and it's not worth it at all! I think it's $7 or $8 for a xiao long bao, not worth it. Most of the time, when restaurants serve these small portion dishes, they will most likely be either very special or at least TASTY! (Well, they may have bought it from the food court nearby because all their cooks were on sick leave).

 Custard bun

These buns are one of those dishes that are below standard. The flour is stiff and scattered. The custard doesn't "flow" like what we've expected. When you eat it, it tasted like it has been in the refridgerator for a month and were not heated up enough. Absolute absolute disappointment.

Fried scallop with yam

The yam is at the bottom of the scallop. Taste normal to us. Nothing much to review about it. I guess many Tze Char stalls do it better.

Chee cheong fan in seseme sauce

Thick chalks that were soften by soy sauce and water.

Chicken feet

Taste a little normal.

Steam pork rib

This is bad. The best thing about this dish is the chilli toppings.

Cha siew bun

Just look at it.

Har gao

Steamed prawn dumpling. Taste: normal.

Siew mai

Doesn't taste anything special. Simply said: normal.

Apple Jelly

Taste too sweet! It taste like jam. Jelly is soft and there were some nuts and dried fruit in it. Wouldn't recommend it.

Gui Ling Gao

We were very disappointed. Initially, we thought that at least the restaurant provides good service. But in the end, when its near 3pm, the whole ambience changed. Its almost like their staff are hinting the customers that there is a fire burning down the restaurant and we had to quickly leave. After paying the "royal" bill, we quickly left this "normal" restaurant.

Address:

1 Beach Road

Raffles Hotel Arcade