CZEŚĆ ("Hello" in Polish)! It has been about a week since I arrived here in Kraków, Poland. Overall it has been great and I am glad that everything has pretty much ran smoothly - I moved into an apartment which I would call "Home" for the next one year, set up a bank account, bought a local SIM card, checked into the office - attended the general onboarding and met my new team, visited Old Town & Jewish Quarter, and went for my first piano lesson. All that in a week, is quite an accomplishment! However, I shall leave the details of my settling in for another post. 

Today's focus will be on my recent business trip to Seoul, South Korea, where I managed to squeeze in some small bits of city exploration. I have not visited South Korea before but have heard aplenty from girlfriends who absolutely love this country. Hence, most of what I did on this 4D 3N trip were based on recommendations from a close girlfriend.

"Hanbok" (traditional Korean costume) experience is one not to be missed.

I arrived in the late afternoon on Day 1 and decided do a little roaming around near the area where the hotel was located (Myeongdong) to check out the area and search for some snacks. O'sulloc (a girlfriend's highly raved recommendation) was round the corner from this area and so I decided to pop by for their Green Tea o Fredo (Matcha latte ice blended, topped with matcha ice cream), and a swiss roll. I would recommend this drink (image below) and their charcoal green tea swiss roll in their Myeongdong outlet! However according to a colleague, the Jeju version is apparently better. Perhaps because the green tea is sourced from Jeju!

O'sulloc - A must try for matcha lovers.

A simple Korean dinner rounded up Day 1 where we randomly picked a restaurant along the busy Myeongdong streets. Roaming around Myeongdong, I could see why this was more a place for girls / women - with the streets lined full of cosmetic stores. Take this example as an analogy, you walk down the street, spot an Innisfree store, walk 5 stores down and will you see another Innisfree, another 5 stores down, you will see the Innisfree flagship store. This place is cosmetic shopping paradise!

The busy streets of Myeongdong

Each store may offer a slightly different discount so buyers' beware. I recall the Innisfree flagship store offering a better discount if you paid by credit card, which may result in one ending up buying more than one normally would have - I, for one, fell victim to this marketing ploy. Other great shopping paradise destinations for skin care or cosmetics are Lotte Duty Free, Shinsaegae Duty Free and Olive Young. Do remember that free samples are also given for each purchase! I felt instantaneously educated and more knowledgeable on the subject of skincare post this trip.
Tourist tip: Shinsagae occassionally distributes 10,000 Korean Won vouchers for tourists, which you can use without any minimum spending!

Day 2 was mainly spent on business-related activities. We had a team dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant which specialised in beef and pork. It is typical here that the service staff barbecue the beef, pork and vegetables on the charcoal grill for you, so that you can enjoy the food, see the freshness of the food, and continue to enjoy conversations with the people on your table.

Team dinner on Day 2 at a Korean BBQ spot.

After dinner, we went for a really entertaining local show - Nanta. Set in a restaurant kitchen, it is a non-verbal comedy show which incorporates beats and rhythms from the beating of pots and pans, exuberating the high stress environment in a chef's kitchen.

Day 3 started with a great breakfast view of the city! 

Lotte Hotel Seoul - Breakfast with a view!

This day was mainly spent on a team-based event: an amazing race with the theme of exploring local cultures and sampling local foods. We were first led to a street market which specialises in raw octopus (no, we did not try that!), but we did manage to try some local snacks - Korean pancake, rice cakes (Tteokbokki), Korean sushi (baby gimbap) etc.

Korean Pancake.

Korean rice cake. Korean sushi roll. "Ingots".

Lunch was served at a Bibimbap specialty restaurant - Gogung. I would recommend a visit if you enjoy bibimbap! Post lunch was another series of street food hunts before we got a chance to experience the traditional "Hanbok" costume. As good round-off to a food coma - we ended the amazing race segment with some pretty legit Korean Fried Chicken and Beers along a street which only serves fried chicken.

Creative "rose" ice cream.

Tallest ice cream (32cm) spotted!

Ending the "work" element for this trip, we also managed to explore Namsan Seoul Tower. I would recommend a trip to this spot! We took the cable car up because this was situated atop a mountain and it would have been too cold during winter to trek up, although we did see some ambitious people embarking on treks!

Namsan Seoul Tower - Love locks that line the rails whilst walking a short distance to the peak.

Namsan Seoul Tower - a nicely lit pavilion at the top.

Namsan Seoul Tower

On our final day, we visited a palace - Gyeongbokgung. This is the main royal palace during the Joseon Dynasty. As the palace was not well furnished with information narrating the various sectors in the palace, I would highly recommend tagging on to a local english guide (it is free anyway). The tour is about an hour long and will leave you much enriched compared to exploring the area yourself! In addition, Gyeongbokgung has a daily change of guards ceremony which you might not want to miss. Check online for the timeslots and make sure you get a good spot to view this ceremony.

Gyeongbokgung.

Finally ending the trip with a nice hot pot of Korean Army Stew. Surprisingly, I was still not sick of Korean food at the end of this trip, even though it was largely centred on a "bean" paste marinade. Perhaps this was due to the variety of food that we had tried - Ginseng Chicken, Tofu Stew, Bibimbap, Army Stew, Korean Fried Chicken, you name it!

Budae Jigae (Korean Army Stew) - A hot pot of comfort food is the best during winter!

This trip, albeit short, was a pretty amazing one. I can finally put a memory to this place which has been highly raved by quite a number of my girlfriends. Would I visit Korea again? I would! Though I would much love to venture out of Seoul and Myeongdong, to perhaps Jeju, Busan, and the very intriguing DMZ area.

xx,

L

With my move to Poland happening in less than a week, time seems to be whizzing by so quickly. As a couple, it feels like the more we plan for exciting weekend dates, the faster they come, and the faster they go by. I would like to share a surprise Satur-date that D meticulously planned just over two weekends ago.

It came out of nowhere one day when D said to me: "Next Saturday, you are mine for the whole day, are you able to keep it free for me?" Being fond of surprises, I was more exhilarated by the idea of having a surprise date that D put great effort into, than the activities we were actually going to do (D had apparently been spending quite some time conceptualising and planning for this "surprise" date). <3

It is also funny how we often like to spoil our own surprises. When I was told that it was a surprise, my natural instinct was to find out more about it. Which from a conversation with D subsequently, he inadvertantly gave on that we will end the night with a musical. I decided not to further spoil my surprise and refrained from checking Sistic's website to identify the musical we would be catching. That said, we had both talked about our love for musicals and that one day, we will together watch a musical in West End in London, Broadway in New York etc.

I recall how the preceding week went by really quickly, given the Chinese New Year long weekend and the resultant short three-day work week; and Saturday (4th February) was finally here. D, being secretive about the day's plans, revealed our first pitstop was a Hearty Brunch at The White Rabbit.

Brunch at The White Rabbit.

We decided to go for a mix of a hearty Fry-Up and a healthy salad to accompany. For the Fry-Up,  we  both enjoyed the creamy scrambled eggs and D particularly enjoyed the thick-cut bacon. The Endive & Frisee Salad is a dish unique to The White Rabbit, and I loved it for its refreshing twist. The highlight of our brunch, however, went to the freshly baked Madeleines which were served warm and infused with a pleasant citrus flavour, a perfect sweet note to end our meal.

L - R: The White Rabbit Fry-Up topped with Snail Sausage. Endive & Frisee Salad.

One of our favourites for this meal, the freshly baked citrus Madeleines served with Orange Curd.

Post-brunch stroll at The Rabbit Hole, an outdoor garden / dining area, which doubles up as a watering hole. 

Coincidentally, we bumped into one of D's close friends, who came here for a pre-staycation birthday date with her plus one!

Stealing a photo from our neighbour, a coincidental encounter with D's close friends!

D then revealed our next activity for the day - S.EA. Aquarium at Sentosa. Even though I had been here before, my recollection of the marine animals exhibited here were vague. More importantly, I was excited to experience this with D given that it is his first time here. D is a huge animal person and I particularly enjoyed watching the dolphins perform underwater, preparing for their leaps / somersaults.

S.E.A. Aquarium - One of our favourite photos captured here. 

At the Touch Pool, getting up close and personal with a Starfish and Sea Cucumber.

Eel spotted!

A slight change of our dinner plans given that we were slightly tight on time with the Musical start time being a limiter. D insisted I stock up on emergency medical supplies / first aid kit in lieu of Poland and we spent some time at the pharmacy for this. Hence, in place of a romantic dinner overlooking the sea along the beach at Tanjong Beach Club, we headed to Singapore Seafood Republic for a fine dose of chilli crabs!

A seafood dinner spread at Singapore Seafood Republic.

Surprise Satur-date ended with Mulan the Musical at RWS, which incorporated elements of local twists and humour. The highlight of any musical and the yardstick that you have been to a good one is when the cast members boast amazing voices. This was nonetheless true for Mulan and its lead cast members.

Mulan the Musical hosted in RWS.

Thank you love for this amazing Satur-date! You have just made my upcoming departure all the more difficult :'(

xx,
L

Wished you had a go-to place in a neighboring shopping mall you could head to whenever you are too lazy to cook? An affordable place with no need for pretense or a spot for casual communal gatherings? MEET Dining might just be that place for you if you happen to be in the Farrer Park vicinity!

We were recently invited to a media tasting event at MEET Dining in City Square Mall. "Meet" is a Japanese-French fusion restaurant which aims to serve quality food at an affordable price. From my understanding, this is a play on the actual word "meet" - a place where people gather, and a phonetical play on the owners' focus on "meat" specialties.

MEET Dining shared two of its specialties from their menu for this tasting event.

MEET's menu boasts a wide selection of seafood, meat cuts and craft beers. On this occasion, the team specially prepared two of their specialties, the Mussel, Prawn, Garlic Pan and Beef Tenderloin. For now, alcohol is served in bottles, but the owners have plans to bring in wines by the barrel and draught beer in the near term.

MEET Dining's Mussel, Prawn and Garlic Pan (S$20) is accompanied with a mushroom risotto.

My favourite dish goes to the Mussel, Prawn and Garlic Pan, accompanied with a mushroom risotto. This was nicely cooked with white wine and garlic cloves, bringing out the good fresh flavours from the mussels and prawns. Served on a metal skillet, this dish remained warm throughout dinner. The mushroom risotto was moist with generous servings.

MEET Dining's Beef Tenderloin (S$28) served medium rare.

The beef tenderloin was well seared and true to its medium rare preparation, served with a pinkish-red core. However, a good cut of steak should always be served on a hot plate to best retain heat, with due planning and consideration given to not overcooking the meats.

Be sure to check MEET Dining out the next time you are in the area and let us know what you think!

xx,
L

2017 New Year's Countdown over drinks and live music in Snail Bar, Bangkok, Thailand 

With the passing of the new year and the lunar new year just round the corner, L and I thought it would be good to pen down some thoughts while 2017 was still fresh in our minds.

Looking back on 2016
2016 has been a fruitful year for the both of us. It marked a year which saw us begin building our shared experiences together, be it through travels or activities. The year saw us both exploring two Southeast Asian countries together, surviving through an extended period of being apart, and generally building that much needed understanding and respect for each other.

For L, on the work front, this was a year where she was exposed to new horizons. Spending an extended period of time in the Philippines working on a capital markets transaction gave her insight into new cultures and ways of life. This spurred that fervour in her to further put herself out there, and again she was rewarded by being selected for a 2017 placement in Europe. It is not every day that an opportunity like this comes knocking – as such, she will be off for this year long placement at the end of February, which she is extremely excited about.

On my end, 2016 was a generally smooth sailing year in both my personal life and career. It saw me stepping out of my usual social circle, reconnecting with previously lost acquaintances and meeting new people from all walks of life. As usual, work saw me constantly travelling to the usual suspects like Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, but also saw me venturing to Tokyo and Hong Kong which were refreshing breaths of new scenery. Being more senior at work also required me to take on new hats, mentoring and guiding the juniors and interns, along with maintaining and developing client relationships.

Looking ahead
2017 will be a year of excitement and challenges for us, both separately and as a couple. With L heading off to Europe in a month’s time, we will be reverting back to a long distance relationship state, this time more pronounced due to the time difference and for a more extended period of time. However, I trust that the foundations we have built and the understanding that we have established between ourselves, will prevail and even strengthen the bonds between us. On the flipside, it also offers the opportunity for me to again explore Europe when I eventually make the journey west to visit!

We will both be spending time developing our careers and related skillsets, at the same time each seeking out new experiences at our different sides of the globe whilst looking forward to our planned holidays together.

As tough as it may seem from a relationship standpoint to be apart for such an extended period, I have no doubt that the year will go by in a blink of an eye and that we will always look back on this period with fond memories.

Overview of our 2017 resolutions
D
Setting resolutions have never been a thing of habit for me. I don’t believe I have ever penned down resolutions ever! I guess there always is a first for everything and I honestly do not think that it is a bad thing afterall.

I have coincidentally and very nicely categorised what I would like to achieve musically – Do-Re-Mi(e)-Fa. Well “Fa” doesn’t quite work, but we shall give it some oversight and stick with the flow here. It may appear that these goals are rather difficult to quantify, but the end of the day and in my opinion, these are guidelines which I intend to stick to, to the extent reasonably possible. The real test would be looking back a year later to assess these goals for what they were initially conceptualised upon. So here goes:

Resolution 1: Do

First experience surfing at Wavehouse Sentosa in December 2016

Doing more through sports and participating in outdoor activities – L has been incredibly encouraging in this over the past few months and we have together explored many new and exciting activities together. With her departure to Europe imminent, I am rather determined to maintain the active lifestyle by taking part in sport clubs and exercising solo

Resolution 2: Re

Reading more and widely – L has a penchant for books and whilst she has been breezing through multiple titles over the past months, I have been languishing behind on the same philosophy book since October. Hence some impetus to accelerate my reading pace would be most welcome, as is the desire to be more well read in other aspects outside of my pre-existing interests 

Resolution 3: Me

Random jumpshot whilst relaxing on the beach in Vietnam

Meeting more people either through work or by expanding my social circle – my take on this is that there are always positives to take away from others, selectively, and you will never know where your paths will cross again in the future. To this, there is no harm in knowing more people given how small Singapore is in general 

Resolution 4: Fa

Beautiful scenery of Halong Bay from our cruise during our Vietnam trip

Explore more by trying new things as incorporated, in part, above. However, this point expands from simply outdoor activities – be it food, travel, work, I believe it is important to step out the box from time to time. From past experience, such situations are the ones which we would all approach with trepidation due to various forms of uncertainty. Very often, being able to achieve the desired results despite the great unknowns always give the greatest learning opportunities and sense of satisfaction, and this is what I am aiming for with this resolution

L
New year’s resolutions are a funny thing. You either set out on a high note, ambitious with what the new year and abundant time presents, or go into a new year without one and leave with no disappointments at the end of the year. I am a believer of the former and in fact, enjoy creating plans and seeing them materialize.

This year, my five resolutions are largely shaped by two aspects: (i) Longer term lifestyle goals that I had started in previous years, and (ii) The 1 year international assignment that I had chosen to take up in Poland, which will happen in approximately a month’s time.

Resolution 1: Explore Central Eastern Europe (CEE) through its cultures

Greece in August 2016

Travelling, for me, has been a major perk of adulthood. I do enjoy the excitement of exploring new places, especially since my mum is not a big fan of travelling. Hence, I had not visited many countries until I entered University. I had stepped into Europe only 1.5 years ago, and since visited Croatia, Greece and Spain. The CEE region is an underrated travel destination, as compared to its more developed Western European brothers. However, it is deeply enriched with historical war remnants, and this is one thing that I would love to learn more about.


Resolution 2: Attain ABRSM Grade 2 on the piano
Learning a musical instrument and being good at it had been a childhood dream. I recall watching in envy my primary school friends who could play the piano fluently in the school canteen. D had once sent me a video of him playing a beautiful jazz piece on the piano, and I could not stop replaying that. He is amazingly talented in the musical field, having learnt the piano at a young age and picking up the er-hu when he was in secondary school, which he attained a diploma in just a short span of three years - inspiration indeed. I had been exposed to the keyboard, recorder and violin in different phases of my education, but nothing really extended beyond one semester of learning that instrument as part of the school curriculum. The piano is an elegant instrument, and I feel this is something I can pursue for a long time and in my free time in Poland. Besides, Chopin came from Poland right?

Resolution 3: Run (or do a workout) 3 times a week (and work towards a sprint triathlon in 2018)

First major cycling event (OCBC cycle) which D enrolled both of us in last year

Sports have been a big part of my life since my teenage years. I enjoy trying out a variety of sports / workouts and have been playing tennis for more than half my life now. But a sport / workout that I really cannot live without is running. The thoughts of completing a triathlon first came up last year, and I should really start working towards it, with the aim of a sprint triathlon when I return to Singapore next year!

Resolution 4: Read a variety of books, ranging from fiction, work-related/investments and self-help

One of the major titles that I had read last year. A birthday gift from D.

I enjoy reading because it increases your perspective on things. It makes you reflect on issues that you normally would not have thought about. This year, the challenge would be to increase my perspective on issues but still retain the joy of reading. Hence, I will be picking my book read genres as follows: (i) Fiction, (ii) Work-related / Investments, (iii) Self Help. The plan would be to complete 1 book a month, which should allow me to go through four from each of the above genres by year end. Status Check: For the month of January, I have completed “Plain Truth” by Jodi Picoult and am currently halfway through “The Green and the Black – The Complete Story of the Shale Revolution, the Fight over Fracking, and the Future of Energy”. Looks like I am still in good shape to maintain this goal!


Resolution 5: Be happy and contented with what I have

This resolution was initially along the lines of “adopt a healthier lifestyle” or “learn to cook and eat healthier”. But considering how 24 hours a day, seven days a week is pretty limited time, and how much I want to achieve above, this final resolution for 2017 might do good for my overall well-being! This extends to working hard to achieving work related goals, and the above resolutions set out and being appreciative with what I have in tangibles and intangibles – building and maintaining relationships with people who matter and I hold dear to.

Now begs the question on how one should go about adhering to these resolutions. Typically set out early into a new year, we have all experiences or heard stories of how such aspirational goals then to fade away. In part this blog post serves as a yardstick for ourselves – a year later, we can both look back and ascertain how much we have achieved or the extent to which we have deviated from our goals. Beyond that, it serves as a constant reminder of what we set out for ourselves.

Here’s wishing a fruitful, healthy and peaceful 2017 to everyone from the both of us!

Love,
D & L

In a blink of an eye, we bode 2016 farewell and welcomed 2017! Looking at our archives in this space, I realised that it had been exactly a month since we updated our blog. Incredibly, so many events, experiences and memories have been forged between D and myself in this short span of time. In summary, there was our first Christmas celebrated together as a couple, our first holiday getaway (Vietnam), our first New Year's countdown and our second holiday getaway (Thailand). As this blog was founded on documenting our stories on travels, food and lifestyle, that in itself creates quite a backlog for our blogposts. Breathe L...Slowly, we will get there. On the bright side, I am really proud of how we have been consistent on sharing about our lives, travels and favourites on Instagram. :)

For all things important that happen for the first time, there is often the process of seeking an understanding of how it used to be done, and subsequently, establishing your own rules and boundaries. This is nonetheless true for our first Christmas celebration. Christmas 2016 was celebrated amongst our friends, coordinating schedules so that we could attend our respective gatherings together. D cooked up a feast for his family, and not forgetting our own mini celebration as a couple. All in all, it was a 4-day affair, which I am glad that we had so much good fun, created bonds with each others' friends and now have fond memories of.

Celebrating our first Christmas at Monti Singapore.

Kickstarting our Christmas celebrations was a gathering with D's Cambridge University friends at Starkers' Bistro Katong on Friday evening (23 December). On our way to dinner, one of D's close college mate, T, dropped D a text asking him to drop by his place. The text sounded pretty important and needed to be talked through face-to-face, hence we took a detour to T's place, and sent our apologies for a late dinner arrival. When we arrived at T's place, we found out that T was now engaged with his longtime girlfriend, P, with whom D had been instrumental in setting up! P was flying back to London that night and the couple had wanted to ask D physically to be one of the three groomsmen for the multi-city weddings, which D can't be more excited for. 

After dinner, we celebrated T's engagement with cocktails and desserts at Baba Chews. We would recommend a visit to Baba Chews if you enjoy your cocktails strong.

Celebratory drinks at Baba Chews

On Christmas Eve, D spent the day visiting the meat grocers and prepared a beef roast feast for his family, while I joined my close friends from secondary school and their families for a homely gathering.

D's Annual Christmas roast

On Christmas Day, we visited Marina Barrage for our first picnic and kite-flying experience. We stocked up on a good variety of fruits from the supermarket, bought some Italian food takeaway, and D brought along some refreshing Pimms, adding a booze to this joyous occasion.

Marina Barrage: Our picnic spread

Our kite-flying experience was a great one! D is secretly a pro at handling kites - trust his engineering degree came in handy, even though we ended our session with some tangled strings.

Marina Barrage - Our first picnic and kite-flying experience

For dinner, we headed to my best friend's place for a gathering with the rest of the girls and their plus ones. It was jolly affair over food, drinks and the annual Christmas gift exchange!

On Boxing Day, it was finally our celebration together! A mini reservation mishap led us to a hidden gem - Monti Singapore, an Italian restaurant located at the pavilion right beside the Fullerton Bay Hotel. The restaurant can be recognised by its iconic dome and is situated along the waters of Marina Bay, making for outstanding views of the Marina Bay Sands and its surroundings. We had a fantastic dining experience, beyond satisfied with both the service and food quality. We did a fair bit of research on the food reviews and would recommend the following dishes that we had tasted. Perhaps because the restaurant is fairly new, there was only a small crowd at dinner time. The ambience makes a great hide-out from the city's hustle and bustle. We highly recommend a visit here, before this place gets popular with local foodies!

Antipasti Di Terra (Appetiser): Carpaccio Di Vitello Contartufo
Tajima wagyu beef carpaccio / Caramelised pear / Truffle / Parmigiano region / Rocket

Primi Di Terra: Invertiti
Ravioli filled with braised veal ossobuco / Cream of bone marrow / Lemon zest / Parmigiano Regiano

Il Pesce: Signor Monti
Monkfish wrapped in Italian bacon / Spring-time ratatouille / Rosemary sauce

Dolci: Rosmarino E Caffe
Pannacotta / Crunchy almond chocolate tuile / Vanilla sauce

Looking forward to our next festive celebration together!

xx,

L

This is the first year that D & I will celebrate Christmas together. In our conversations as to how each of us typically celebrates Christmas, we learnt that this period is often spent over gatherings with close friends and family meals. This period will also be a no-go for future travels, given our mums' birthdays fall right before and after Christmas.

I have been wanting to visit the light show at Gardens by the Bay ever since their debut two years ago. This however, never did materialise as the free event was often way too crowded. This year, the organisers have implemented the sale of admission tickets and I believe this has eased the crowdflow. 

I would also like to share three tips we had gathered following our visit:

1. On Admission Tickets:

• Tickets to the event are only sold online.
• Choose to visit Christmas Wonderland earlier than later. Due to the potentially lower crowdflow and cheaper tickets - tickets are sold on a tiered pricing basis and range between S$4 to S$8.
• Purchase with Visa Pay for a 25% discount.

2. On Food & Activities:

• "Snow" foam falls every hour between 8pm to 10pm.
• A moderate range of food and snacks is available on-site. We recommend the grilled meats from FYR Cycene Ond Drinc which are well worth the added expense.
• A wide range of carnival games and an iced skating rink is available (payable). The carnival games are largely by luck, however relatively easy to game. During our time there, we took home a large sized tigger, and two small Christmas bears.

3. On Attire:

• Go in comfortable walking shoes. There is a fair bit of walking required as the event is hosted on a 57,000 square metre fairground.
• Dress appropriately for summer weather given Singapore's hot and humid weather.

Themed "Christmas Wonderland", Gardens by the Bay is transformed into an area of hustle and bustle, illuminated by 240,000 multi-coloured light bulbs and 67 hand-sculpted structures.

Various attractions and a festive market are available. 

Attractions range from light decorated structures and christmas trees, Glass House by Harry's to a Hi-5 Funtastic House. Activities range from the Ice Palace, which hosts a skating rink, to Santa's Cottage where you can snap photos with a live Santa, and a whole host of carnival games, which has pretty generous giveaways.

The festive market is slightly smaller relative to the available attractions with a few food and snack stands, and christmas craft stores.

We both thoroughly enjoyed the attractions and fun & games, separated into two main clusters hence making for a nice leisurely stroll under the lights. It is well worth a visit if you are in Singapore during this period. 

Lastly, sharing a beautiful night scene of the Super Trees, with the iconic Marina Bay Sands as the backdrop - captured on a romantic stroll as we left the park.

xx,
L

Steak has been a big part of my repertoire of comfort foods. It has always been shared together with the closest of friends and family, and my likeminded friends are on the constant lookout for newer and better steakhouses, not restricted to Singapore.



As part of celebrating L's return from her work stint in the Philippines, I decided to bring L to the highly raved Fat Cow for us to experience what they have on offer.



Despite hearing more about how their lunchtime wagyu dons are of great value, we decided to go for a steak dinner that is more befitting for this occasion.

We kickstarted dinner with a round of cocktails - an out-of-the-norm whiskey-based Fat Sour for L, and an aptly named Negroni-san for myself.

The sliced bream with black truffle was a great palate opening appetizer. The fresh bream sashimi was beautifully lightly seasoned, that left us in deep anticipation for the ensuing dishes.

OHMI Grade A4 Ribeye.

MIYAZAKI Grade A4 Striploin - This is labelled as the ‘champion cow’.

The highlights of our night were our medium rare cuts of A4 Ohmi ribeye and A4 Miyazaki striploin. Prepared before us in the central charcoal grill, interspersed with rising flames spurred by the drippings of fat, we savoured these simply with sea salt and the occasional dip in the accompanying yuzu sauce.



Both cuts were excellent and had that melt-in-your-mouth characteristics one would expect of steaks of this level, with the charcoal grill providing wonderful smokey overtones to the mix. However L and I both agreed that the Ohmi was the standout of the two, providing that fine balance between flavour and richness.



Couldn't resist pairing these steaks with Kinoko - sautéed Japanese mushrooms with sake, lime and butter, which added an extra dimension of creaminess to our meal.



We concluded our meal with some carbs in the form of a wagyu dashi chazuke, which is rice topped with mince, mixed in a clear Japanese broth - this came highly recommended by the staff. Surprisingly flavourful despite its clean disposition, and a nice touch to round off the flavours of the evening.



Definitely one of the best steaks we've had in Singapore. Highly recommended for couples seeking a little sanctuary in the heart of town for celebratory occasions.



D