Dallas Restaurant & Bar Celebrates 10th Birthday @ Suntec City Sky Garden

Dallas Restaurant & Bar has been a popular expat and tourist haunt at Boat Quay since 2006 and as part of their 10th anniversary celebrations, they have opened a second outlet at Suntec City Sky Garden. The glass house-style restaurant is located between Tower 1 and 5 and you will save time getting there by taking the long outdoor escalator from the ground floor.

The bar is an ideal place to catch sporting events on large screen TVs, either at the island bar or al fresco area, while chilling out over drinks. With over 40 carefully curated wine labels, a variety of chilled brews on tap, followed by an extensive cocktail list, you are spoilt for choice.

Grilled Corn ($6). Perfectly roasted sweet corn topped with Chipotle mayonnaise (with a strong emphasis on the word ‘perfectly’), sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Talk about starting with a bang! I like corn, but I am not one who will obsess about it. That said, I could not get enough of this. For that reason, if you are a fan of corn, I heartily recommend that you order this.

Flavours of Hakodate at Kuishin Bo @ Suntec City (Media Tasting)

When someone asks about Japanese buffet in Singapore, Kuishin Bo will usually be the one that comes to mind. This restaurant as been a part of the Singapore food scene since 2001 and has been recognised for both its range and quality of food. The brand currently has two outlets, one at Jurong Point and the other at Suntec City.

The ongoing year-end installment of their quarterly thematic food fairs features specialties from Hakodate, a port city in Hokkaido (one I originally intended to visit for my trip later this month, but it s a eight-hours round trip from Sapporo). You will find an additional 17 seasonal food items to its existing range of food.

Some of the food items from the Hakodate collection are:

Tori Zangi, (a term exclusively used in Hokkaido) which is a type of fried chicken typically known as karaage in other parts of Japan.

Pumpkin Zenzai, highlighting the most common ingredient in Japanese traditional desserts… Red bean! Hokkaido is famous for its red beans due to its rich volcanic soil. The dessert here is paired with pumpkin and mochi.

Hokkaido Jaga Butter Cake. A fluffy cheesecake infused with potato butter. This is just one example of the many snacks and confectioneries in Hokkaido made using potatoes.

Tonyu Ishikari Nabe, which is a dish of salmon and assorted vegetables cooked in miso soymilk broth that originated centuries ago in Hokkaido. It is also named after the Ishikari-gawa River which is famous for salmon.

In addition to this, we enjoyed their usual spread of seafood, sashimi, sushi, paper hotpots, grilled and fried foods, as well as desserts.

[Newly Opened] Best Dry Aged Meat at District 10 Bar & Grill @ Suntec City (Media Tasting)

The District 10 Bar & Grill outlet at Suntec City Mall is nothing like their other outlets. Do not expect the usual tapas here, this outlet specialises in dry-aged meat. I simply adore the bone-in cuts with high content of marbling. Let me warn you beforehand that the restaurant occupies quite a small space, approximately 1,800 square-foot, including the alfresco dining area. Should you prefer to sit indoors, I recommend that you make reservations first.

Honestly, nothing beats seeing Chef Luca Pezzera, the Co-owner and Executive Chef of Bonta Group, wielding a saw and explaining the various cuts.

[Newly Opened] Tuk Tuk Cha @ Suntec City Tower 3 (Media Tasting)

The first thing you will notice about Tuk Tuk Cha is its namesake located at the front of the kiosk.The tuk tuk with its headlights on is something that will draw your eyes. The cafe/ kiosk, a sister outlet to Thai Boat Noodles at Bedok Point, serves mainly finger food and drinks, which have been specially imported from Thailand.

We tried as many cold drinks as we could! From left (medium $2.80, large $3.20):

• Homemade roselle (high Vitamin C content)
• Homemade lemongrass (refeshing)
• Thai milk coffee (thick enough)
• Thai green milk tea (a hot favourite)
• Thai milk tea (superb!)

You may add $0.50 for toppings like pearl, coconut jelly, aloe vera, etc. Some of the drinks like the Thai milk tea and coffee also come in hot versions for less than $2 each.

Golden Toast, Tuk Tuk Cha’s signature food item.

The basic Golden Toast ($3), comes in the following flavours:

• Condensed Milk
• Maple Syrup (if you want to play safe, this definitely goes well with the toast)
• Blueberry
• Pineapple
• Strawberry
• Raspberry
• Orange

You can also opt for more premium flavours for $3.80:

• Homemade pandan kaya (this is my favourite!)
• Homemade taro kaya (flavour needs to be more distinct)
• Homemade Thai tea kaya (flavour not strong enough)
• Nutella
• Condensed milk + milo (for the sweet tooth)
• Peanut Butter
• Honey

Mad for Garlic @ Suntec City

This was my first visit to Mad for Garlic @ Suntec City, even after the chain had opened in Singapore for so long. Did you know that Mad for Garlic is from Korea? I did not! I had the impression that it was from Italy.

The Korean restaurant was awarded ‘Best Performing Italian Restaurant Concept 2013’ in Korea and is actually quite unique in its extensive use of garlic in its dishes.

The original Mad for Garlic outlet in Suntec City, which opened in 2010, was the first overseas restaurant outside of Korea. However, it closed in 2011 due to mall renovations and opened its doors again in May 2013. Their other outlet in Clarke Quay opened its business in 2012 and is famous for its full service bar.

We started with Mad for Garlic Cobb Salad ($19.90). Salad served in vinegar dressing with shredded chicken breast, cheddar cheese, diced tomatoes and egg.