Review: 7Adam - Hidden gem for food and art lovers

I love quiet, stylish places where I can spend quiet meals at. At the newly-opened 7Adam seems to tick all the right boxes.

Housed at a charmingly rustic colonial house, it is one of the National University of Singapore Society's Guild Houses. 7Adam also has a bistro-meets-gallery concept where diners can also purchase contemporary paintings and sculptures from. The art works are by a mix of local and regional artists, and will change every eight to 10 weeks.

I visited the 110-seater restaurant and sampled some of their creative dishes.

You should begin your order with one of the cocktails. One of the most indulgent ones I saw on the menu is the Creamilicious Kit Kat, a concoction of Bailey's, Creme de Cacao and milk with Kit Kat flavoured ice-cream. I know, you're drooling already. It's featured in the picture below, second from left.

I ordered a Ladies' Desire for myself, which is a mix of vodka, elderflower syrup and lychee liqueur. If you're the kind who goes for Cosmopolitan or Lychee Martini at the bar, this is probably something you'd love too.

I must say that I'm particularly impressed with their appetisers. These two - Seared Tuna Loin ($16.50) and Crab Cakes ($15) - were pretty awesome.

The tuna is prepared with avocado and salsa, and you could taste a hint of wasabi too. The natural sweetness from the fresh tuna is enhanced with the caviar and avocado, and it goes especially well with a glass of sweet cocktail.

Even better is the Crab Cakes, which is lighter than it looks. Served with tomato chilli jam, I thought it'll go perfectly with a light beer.

My favourite from my tasting menu has to be the Duck Confit ($24). It features a duck leg served with Sze Chuan peppers and laced with mashed potato. I love its crispy exterior and the rich flavours that are enhanced with the peppers. The mashed potato doesn't do much for the dish, but I guess it's always good to have something to munch on while you wait for the desserts to come.

As for desserts, go for the Affogato ($10), and skip coffee after since the Espresso should probably get you going for the rest of the day.

7Adam is located at 7 Adam Park. It's opened from 11am-11pm daily. Call 6467-0777 for the restaurant and 6463-0777 for the gallery. Visit www.7adam.com for more information.

Palate membership for foodies

What if there's a card that's specially created for those who love food, where you get awesome discounts of your bill?

How much? You ask.

Say, you bring your Valentine out for dinner and it's practically 50% off?

I'm talking about Palate. Palate brings together more than 40 restaurants including Chinois at RWS, Moluccas Room at MBS, Tung Lok Classics, and also many bars such as Post BAr at Fullerton Hotel. This programme will continue to expand and plan to double the number of participating dining establishments in the coming months.

Basic and premier membership are available at $428 (plus $1000 worth of vouchers) and $598 (plus $1500 worth of vouchers) respectively.

Palate Premier

Palate Basic

The structure is such that one person always dines for free:
If you dine alone, you enjoy 15% off
50% off for two persons dining
35% off for three persons dining
25% off for four persons dining
20% off for five persons and above

Well, you get the gist.

Now good news for American Express Cardmembers. If you have The Centurion or Platinum cards, you'd receive complimentary Palate Premier Membership. Those with the Platinum Reserve Credit Card and Platinum Credit Card, will receive complimentary Basic Membership. AMEX cardholders can also look forward to cardmembers-only events, including exclusiving tasting menus and wine-pairing dinners.

Check out www.palate.sg for more information.

And check out these pictures from the Palate launch event and of the yummy food I got to sample.

Foie Gras Magnum

The above definitely require special mention because it's foie gras that taste like ice-cream and I loved it so much I had two. Pure indulgence.

We should feast every weekend: A&F hunks and Cova Pasticceria

I'm sure many of you have already seen pictures of hot guys with hot bods all over social media platforms. I had to jump on the bandwagon because... I mean, hot guys!

These guys are representing Abercrombie & Fitch (or A&F!) and are selected from A&F stores from all over the world.

So when Sam suggested that we go to Knightsbridge (270 Orchard Road), where the soon-to-open A&F store is, to ermm... welcome the guys to Singapore, I said "Sure!"

Here are the prized photos. Ah, don't be jealous...

The guys are super friendly so although I felt awkward at first, going up to them for pictures, I soon warmed up to them.

A&F will be officially opened on 15 Dec, 10am, by the way! I've been invited to the media preview on 14th... but... I'll be in Japan then, so I had to give it a miss. BOOHOO.

Anyway, after the ehem, feast... we met up with Char for another feast - at Cova Pasticceria. Not my first time there, but it still is one of the high tea places that I really like.

Ordered Christmas tea because it's Christmas soon and I'm a sucker for trying new things.

Finally, a picture of three of us!

Club Med Night 2011 at Avalon

So much hype surrounding Avalon and so when I receive an invite from Club Med for the opportunity to party with them at Avalon at MBS.

It was a night of appreciation to the media and travel partners for Club Med. And for us guests, we got to watch fabulous performances, dine, booze, and for some of us, walk away with something from the lucky draw :)

Okay, pictures time! I was there with Leslie, as well as Ah Han and her brother.

Avalon is super beautiful. You could probably tell from the pictures. It offers the perfect view of some key landmarks of Singapore - me likey!

And... Ah Han and I both won something from the lucky draw. Hey, we were really lucky okay? There were something like six prizes in all, and at least a hundred guests there. And guess who walked away with the grand prize of the day. EHEM!

Club Med Sahoro - here I come! The resort has a unique all-inclusive concept where staff and guests are like friends in a village. I can't wait to feast on fantastic food, go for the entertainment sessions put together by the talented Club Med staff, and of course - attend ski lessons :D

P/S: I've been extremely excited about the prize for a few days. It's the first time I won something from a lucky draw! And OMG, I mean, first time I won something and I won big!

Heartland finds: nEbO the games cafe at AMK Hub!

AMK Hub may be a mall in the heartland but hey... it's very happening, okay?

I used to have to travel a long, long way to get to a games' cafe. But thanks to nEbO at AMK Hub, I don't have to commute so much anymore!

Recently they ran a promotion, where you spend $10 (can combine receipts) for one table, and you'd get to enjoy two hours of free gaming.

 I got a waffle + drink + two scoop ice-cream set ($7.50 nett) and a glass of orange juice ($2.50 nett)

It was a good way to kill time before catching a movie :)

If you don't mind it's small selection of games (but they do have the common ones like Balderdash) and don't mind that the food isn't exactly fantastic, seriously, this is a good, quiet hangout that's relatively cheap.

Haagen-Dazs "Journey of Indulgence": Hop on the bus!

I hopped on the Haagen-Dazs bus the other day! It's a glamorously-decorated open-top one that took the media party on a 45-minute ride from Esplanade, going around CBD area, down Orchard Road.

We sang carols on the bus like travelling musicians, well, except that there were more than just singing.

It's a Haagen-Dazs bus, so obviously, there were ice-cream for everyone!

And champagne to celebrate the festive joy.

Chocolates too! :)

The ride very much reminded me of the one that I took when I was in Hong Kong, where I also hopped on an open-top bus to go around the Central area. This ride around Orchard Road helped me take a closer look at the Christmas decoration this year.

You can hop onto the Haagen-Dazs bus too! All you have to do is to spend at minimum of $50 (dine-in only, before service charge and GST) at any Haagen-Dazs cafe to receive two complimentary tickets to the bus. There will be three rides a day, at 7pm, 8-m and 9pm, from now to 4 December 2011. The journey will start at Haagen Dazs Esplanade cafe just like our ride did!

While you're dining in to get your tickets, check out the new creations that Haagen-Dazs have for Christmas. I tried two of them:

This is the Christmas Cassata ($16++). It's made of Creme Brulee ice-cream - newly created flavour! - that's served on a brownie slice, topped with cocoa powder and luscious raspberries, served with scoops of Cappuccino Truffle and Belgian Chocolate ice-cream. The Belgian Chocolate is my fave flavour in Haagen-Dazs' offering, so this is an enjoyable one for me.

I also tried the Love in Paradise ($16++), which looks like an artwork. This is served with scoops of Belgian Chocolate and Creme Brulee ice-cream, with chocolate seashells and strawberries on the side. The Creme Brulee ice-cream  here is softer than the previous dessert and the taste of the creme brulee more evident.

Finally, there's also the Royal Fondue ($48++), which comes with four popular flavours (Belgian Chocolate, Caramel Biscuit & Cream, Chocolate and Vanilla coated in almond nibs), accompanied with freshly baked waffles, marshmallows, brownies, bananas, kiwis and strawberries.

If you're looking for log cakes, check out the Chocolate Colysee ($80++), which is available in Belgian Chocolate ice-cream or Macadamia Nut ice-cream, topped with chocolate curls and marshmallow stars.

The most beautiful of the creations has to be the Rainbow Log ($80+), which consists of many all-time favourite ice-cream and sorbet flavours, including Chocolate, Vanilla, Green Tea, Macadamia Nut, Mango Sorbet and Raspberry Sorbet.