Think The Straits Café at The Rendezvous Hotel and immediately delicious Laska comes to mind.  The DYI Laska booth along the buffet spread has been winning awards since 2002.

Senior Sous Chef Kiang is so good at it he’s perpetually being invited to lecture on the finer points of Laska making.  You can see more of him on Channel 8 when he instructs hawkers how to spruce up their lackluster versions.

Laska aside, the buffet also offers up Peppered Crayfish that is to die for; don’t let the slight smoky, pepper hot, tangy taste mislead you into thinking its barbequed, Chef Kiang has actually marinated his Crayfish with 4 different kinds of pepper to come up with that unique taste.
With Christmas beckoning the café has included turkey in the buffet, but with a difference.

Ever tried Tandoori Turkey? 
Served with a side of sweet sour tomato chutney, or; alternatively yogurt sauce to rub off any spicy edge, this local twist to a Christmas classic is a welcomed change.  Interestingly, it didn’t taste like turkey at all.

AND, what would a meal be without dessert?
The durian fudge cake is very good.  Rich creamy durian paste, not excessively sweet, sits humbly with the rest of the desserts on the buffet.  But don’t be fooled, I understand diners sometimes start with the durian cake before tackling the buffet.
Just for this Christmas, Chef Kiang has created the Lavender Log cake that is as pretty to look at with its pastel shade of lavender as it is to eat.
Pure flower essence of lavender mixed into the cream coating offers a cool light marzipan flavor that’ll work great with any pot of Earl Grey or herbal teas.
 
Call 63531771/1777 for pastry enquires and reservations, for dining reservations call 63351880 or email reservations@rendezvous.com.sg. The buffet theme coincides with festive seasons; expect more interesting options for Chinese New Year by mid January 2008 and Valentine’s Day in Feburary next year. Note: the café’s Christmas Eve buffet for the 23rd and 24th  at $68+++ if filling up fast. Christmas Brunch and Dinner are priced at $58+++ and $48+++ respectively.

One great pleasure of the weekend is having the time to idyll over meals like a nice long delicious brunch. I spent brunch last Sunday and got into the swing of some colonial throwback living a la 2007 style in one of Singapore’s trendier pockets: One Rochester. On Sundays, the chi chi Gastro-bar popular with canoodling couples and corporate high flyers during evenings, morphs into a family zone where moms and dads dally with friends over brunch and the kids are kept busy playing amongst the greenery or in the kids room on the second level. My son back for summer break broke the buffet scarfing the delicious cheese and toasted breads.  He breakfasted like a king, deciding against a kid’s meal and ordering up a breakfast platter with buffet accompaniment. Buffets aside, One Rochester also offers a la carte breakfast.  The Eggs Benedict and Pancakes get my vote.

Highlights:   On the last Sunday of every month, One Rochester serves up a giant buffet spread.   A Two piece acoustic band strumming and crooning add a nice ambience to the balmy afternoon. The bar continues to stay open throughout Brunch for cocktails, thought I’d add this in for alkies who are wondering why I haven’t mentioned alcohol so far….log onto www.onerochester.com to find out more!

If Jazz is your thing then this is definitely one of the night spots you want to check out. Located on the second floor of St James Power Station, the Bellini Room is a very nice, classy chill out joint.

Great place to bring your close friends or even someone you want to impress. The highlight of the place is the 7 piece jazz band, led by veteran musician Steven Francis. Performing standards, bossa nova, motown as well as soul music from 9.45pm onwards.

The band features beautiful and talent local singer Dawn Ho (see picture). With gorgeous looks and a powerful voice, she's Singapore's version of Natalie Cole. If you're into jazz music then Bellini room is definitely the place to be.

Check it out, you won't regret it!

Dinning by the sea has always been a must for me and my wife, Jamie.

Recently we took a trip down to the Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa and were pleasantly surprised at the all-new Barnacles restaurant! We had a choice of dining-in or out, so we intended to stay indoors although the sky that night was starlit!

First up before we began we had the wonderful company of friends from Rasa, including, Christina, Grace & Perry! Next, onto the menu and the pages were littered with Mediterranean dishes as well as Asian-inspired specialities! I kicked off my adventure with the Rock Fish Soup and boy was it tasty, tasty, right to the last drop. It was almost like curry but with extra spice ingredients in it. Next up for me was the Tuna Carpaccio¡­ and even though I am not too good with raw food, this one turned out to be quite a delicacy, cause I am a big fan of Tuna Fish! A slice for me was just nice, as the picture shows, the Tuna Carpaccio was presented with care and precision!

Both these 2 dishes... courtesy of chef Emmanuel, who was at hand to present and wait on us. Before I got onto the final and biggest dish, it was lamb cutlets which very tender even though I insisted it to be well-done¡­ they were very good, and it was as though my mum was around to cook, as she makes them that way too...

Finally I had to dig into the biggy, and that was the Wok Fried Chili Crab, it was so fresh, so good.. it felt like the chefs in the kitchen just concluded their fishing and caught these crabs from the beach just metres away from where we were sitted. The claws were huge! The meat was exquisite! Never have me and my wife tasted such sweet, yet fresh crab meet since the days of our BBQ-adventures! (now that's another story altogether).

Our trip down to Rasa-Sentosa was adventure on its own, and by the time it hit 11pm, guests of the hotel made their way to the bar and a live strolling bad played till late¡­ it was the perfect atmosphere to a perfect evening, an evening where there were two birthday celebrations and the chef (Chef Ricky) singing for us! Wow! What an experience!

If you ever need to dine by the beach with some great company, Barnacles is the place to be, lunch or dinner