To celebrate my dad's birthday, I booked a table at Halia at the Raffles Hotel!
I had a hard time deciding where to have his birthday celebration because my dad LOVES exotic food, like moroccan, north indian, mexican, vietnamese, etc. Not your typical dad.
I love my dad very much because he is so special in his own way! He might not be the most muscular guy (with his tummy) or the conventional father figure who is always stern-looking, but I LOVE HIM. He is tech-savvy, he collects toys, his idea of relaxing is shopping all day long.
Back to Halia, I knew they had fusion food and decided to give it a try!
I arrived at 6.30pm and the place was mostly empty except for three tables (including ours). I like the ambience and that how the waiters are not hovering around your table to pressurise you into placing orders.
My brother and my mom.
(Please tell me that I look better than my brother. HAHA)
My dad and I =)
We ordered two pre-theatre sets (3-course at $33++ each) and another small plate and big plate to share.
Starters:
1) Home-made saffron panner Toasted cashew, dried olive, tomato, cucumber, mesclun
My take: Not nice. Maybe I am not accustomed to the taste of mesclun. The dressing tastes weird and mesclun makes things worse. LOL
2) Soup of potato and lentil
My take: first mouthful is okay.. Second mouthful onwards, weird…..
Small plate to share:
Chicken breast salad ($14) Radish, chili, hazelnut, ginger flower dressing
My take: I like the sauce! The radish gives a very crunchy taste and the chicken breast is very tender. I'd eat this again anytime!
Sides to share:
Potato fries, truffle aioli & piquant mayo ($8)
My take: Everyone was like "huh? you come here and order fries?" But the truffle sauce is soooo good and everyone said that it was one of the best out of everything that we ordered that night! Even the fries stayed crispy after it turned cold. See??
*proves you wrong*
Mains (part of the set)
1) Sous vide Chicken Breast Pignolina pasta, herb cream, pea shoots, toasted hazelnuts
My take: this dish was a tad too bland and you'd get sick of it easily. The chicken breast was a huge piece and given that I am not a fan of chicken breast, I got a bit sian already...
Yellowfin tuna loin Avocado, sweet corn, red pepper, onion
My take: I like the seared yellowfin tuna because I like my food semi-cooked, semi-raw. And the sauce was not over-powering, without overwhelming the tuna's original taste. The veggies by the side is good and sweet!
Big plate to share:
Halia Chili Crab ($25) Spaghettini, spring onion, egg
My take: Sweet and spicy sauce sure adds a little spice to the pasta dish! But the spaghetti was a bit overcooked beyond perfection. So it didn't make me go for second helpings. Bleah….
Desserts:
1) Ginger nougat parfait Caramelised pineapple, puff pastry crisp, anise, almond, cinnamon
My take: The ice cream was exquisite, nicely flavored with a faint taste of ginger. There were almond bits in the ice cream if you are a fan of chunky ice cream. Otherwise, the portion was a bit too small eh?
You know how people always have a separate compartment in the stomach for desserts!
2) Sticky toffee pudding Date, butterscotch sauce, sea salt, vanilla ice cream
Please scroll back to the top of this blog post for a clearer picture of the pudding.
My take: I like this dessert a lot! Because warm and cold, savory and sweet are the best combinations in the world! The sea salt complements the vanilla ice cream perfectly. And the pudding was not overly sweet, totally appealing to my tastebuds! I hate desserts that are just SWEET and nothing else.
The waiters sang a really loud Happy Birthday song for my dad and he got so embarrassed! Lol… Tit for tat, daddy! He did the same thing to me last year, so now it's payback time! Wahahahaha...
And of course, we had a birthday cake on his actual day! Look at how happy he was!
My lovely parents! How come they never seem to age one ah? Forever so youthful-looking!
To celebrate my dad's birthday, I booked a table at Halia at the Raffles Hotel!
I had a hard time deciding where to have his birthday celebration because my dad LOVES exotic food, like moroccan, north indian, mexican, vietnamese, etc. Not your typical dad.
I love my dad very much because he is so special in his own way! He might not be the most muscular guy (with his tummy) or the conventional father figure who is always stern-looking, but I LOVE HIM. He is tech-savvy, he collects toys, his idea of relaxing is shopping all day long.
Back to Halia, I knew they had fusion food and decided to give it a try!
I arrived at 6.30pm and the place was mostly empty except for three tables (including ours). I like the ambience and that how the waiters are not hovering around your table to pressurise you into placing orders.
My brother and my mom.
(Please tell me that I look better than my brother. HAHA)
My dad and I =)
We ordered two pre-theatre sets (3-course at $33++ each) and another small plate and big plate to share.
Starters:
1) Home-made saffron panner Toasted cashew, dried olive, tomato, cucumber, mesclun
My take: Not nice. Maybe I am not accustomed to the taste of mesclun. The dressing tastes weird and mesclun makes things worse. LOL
2) Soup of potato and lentil
My take: first mouthful is okay.. Second mouthful onwards, weird…..
Small plate to share:
Chicken breast salad ($14) Radish, chili, hazelnut, ginger flower dressing
My take: I like the sauce! The radish gives a very crunchy taste and the chicken breast is very tender. I'd eat this again anytime!
Sides to share:
Potato fries, truffle aioli & piquant mayo ($8)
My take: Everyone was like "huh? you come here and order fries?" But the truffle sauce is soooo good and everyone said that it was one of the best out of everything that we ordered that night! Even the fries stayed crispy after it turned cold. See??
*proves you wrong*
Mains (part of the set)
1) Sous vide Chicken Breast Pignolina pasta, herb cream, pea shoots, toasted hazelnuts
My take: this dish was a tad too bland and you'd get sick of it easily. The chicken breast was a huge piece and given that I am not a fan of chicken breast, I got a bit sian already...
Yellowfin tuna loin Avocado, sweet corn, red pepper, onion
My take: I like the seared yellowfin tuna because I like my food semi-cooked, semi-raw. And the sauce was not over-powering, without overwhelming the tuna's original taste. The veggies by the side is good and sweet!
Big plate to share:
Halia Chili Crab ($25) Spaghettini, spring onion, egg
My take: Sweet and spicy sauce sure adds a little spice to the pasta dish! But the spaghetti was a bit overcooked beyond perfection. So it didn't make me go for second helpings. Bleah….
Desserts:
1) Ginger nougat parfait Caramelised pineapple, puff pastry crisp, anise, almond, cinnamon
My take: The ice cream was exquisite, nicely flavored with a faint taste of ginger. There were almond bits in the ice cream if you are a fan of chunky ice cream. Otherwise, the portion was a bit too small eh?
You know how people always have a separate compartment in the stomach for desserts!
2) Sticky toffee pudding Date, butterscotch sauce, sea salt, vanilla ice cream
Please scroll back to the top of this blog post for a clearer picture of the pudding.
My take: I like this dessert a lot! Because warm and cold, savory and sweet are the best combinations in the world! The sea salt complements the vanilla ice cream perfectly. And the pudding was not overly sweet, totally appealing to my tastebuds! I hate desserts that are just SWEET and nothing else.
The waiters sang a really loud Happy Birthday song for my dad and he got so embarrassed! Lol… Tit for tat, daddy! He did the same thing to me last year, so now it's payback time! Wahahahaha...
And of course, we had a birthday cake on his actual day! Look at how happy he was!
My lovely parents! How come they never seem to age one ah? Forever so youthful-looking!
- read my previous posts at michellechiang.livejournal.com
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To celebrate my dad's birthday, I booked a table at Halia at the Raffles Hotel!
I had a hard time deciding where to have his birthday celebration because my dad LOVES exotic food, like moroccan, north indian, mexican, vietnamese, etc. Not your typical dad.
I love my dad very much because he is so special in his own way! He might not be the most muscular guy (with his tummy) or the conventional father figure who is always stern-looking, but I LOVE HIM. He is tech-savvy, he collects toys, his idea of relaxing is shopping all day long.
Back to Halia, I knew they had fusion food and decided to give it a try!
I arrived at 6.30pm and the place was mostly empty except for three tables (including ours). I like the ambience and that how the waiters are not hovering around your table to pressurise you into placing orders.
My brother and my mom.
(Please tell me that I look better than my brother. HAHA)
My dad and I =)
We ordered two pre-theatre sets (3-course at $33++ each) and another small plate and big plate to share.
Starters:
1) Home-made saffron panner Toasted cashew, dried olive, tomato, cucumber, mesclun
My take: Not nice. Maybe I am not accustomed to the taste of mesclun. The dressing tastes weird and mesclun makes things worse. LOL
2) Soup of potato and lentil
My take: first mouthful is okay.. Second mouthful onwards, weird…..
Small plate to share:
Chicken breast salad ($14) Radish, chili, hazelnut, ginger flower dressing
My take: I like the sauce! The radish gives a very crunchy taste and the chicken breast is very tender. I'd eat this again anytime!
Sides to share:
Potato fries, truffle aioli & piquant mayo ($8)
My take: Everyone was like "huh? you come here and order fries?" But the truffle sauce is soooo good and everyone said that it was one of the best out of everything that we ordered that night! Even the fries stayed crispy after it turned cold. See??
*proves you wrong*
Mains (part of the set)
1) Sous vide Chicken Breast Pignolina pasta, herb cream, pea shoots, toasted hazelnuts
My take: this dish was a tad too bland and you'd get sick of it easily. The chicken breast was a huge piece and given that I am not a fan of chicken breast, I got a bit sian already...
Yellowfin tuna loin Avocado, sweet corn, red pepper, onion
My take: I like the seared yellowfin tuna because I like my food semi-cooked, semi-raw. And the sauce was not over-powering, without overwhelming the tuna's original taste. The veggies by the side is good and sweet!
Big plate to share:
Halia Chili Crab ($25) Spaghettini, spring onion, egg
My take: Sweet and spicy sauce sure adds a little spice to the pasta dish! But the spaghetti was a bit overcooked beyond perfection. So it didn't make me go for second helpings. Bleah….
Desserts:
1) Ginger nougat parfait Caramelised pineapple, puff pastry crisp, anise, almond, cinnamon
My take: The ice cream was exquisite, nicely flavored with a faint taste of ginger. There were almond bits in the ice cream if you are a fan of chunky ice cream. Otherwise, the portion was a bit too small eh?
You know how people always have a separate compartment in the stomach for desserts!
2) Sticky toffee pudding Date, butterscotch sauce, sea salt, vanilla ice cream
Please scroll back to the top of this blog post for a clearer picture of the pudding.
My take: I like this dessert a lot! Because warm and cold, savory and sweet are the best combinations in the world! The sea salt complements the vanilla ice cream perfectly. And the pudding was not overly sweet, totally appealing to my tastebuds! I hate desserts that are just SWEET and nothing else.
The waiters sang a really loud Happy Birthday song for my dad and he got so embarrassed! Lol… Tit for tat, daddy! He did the same thing to me last year, so now it's payback time! Wahahahaha...
And of course, we had a birthday cake on his actual day! Look at how happy he was!
My lovely parents! How come they never seem to age one ah? Forever so youthful-looking!
Dad's Birthday at Halia (Raffles Hotel)
Dad's Birthday at Halia (Raffles Hotel)