Not everything goes according to plan. After my last blog entry, I lost discipline and went on a three night eating spree. It wasn't my fault I swear!
On friday night, I had dinner with my dear friend Lynn, to celebrate her birthday which had just passed. Its amazing how hard it is to get a table at a good restaurant these days. I was feeling italian, and thought she might enjoy it, so I called up three separate restaurants, in the afternoon, and ALL said they were full for the night. I was actually quite eager to try out this place called OSO Ristorante, which I had heard rave reviews about, and my eagerness was enhanced by the italian accent that greeted me when I called up. It was the boss himself!!! "Yesss mistreee tonng, I am afraid we can only give you a table at seven thirrrty." That's a picture of Mr OSO below. Funny guy.
Lynn is the operations manager of a spa chain. I checked back to see if we could make it in time, and I thought it would be cutting it a little fine, so I called back with my mock italian accent, all ready. You can imagine my dissapointment then, when a singaporean picked up instead, "Hullo mr tong ah ... orrhh ok ... will tell my boss" truly anti climatic.
Running out of ideas, I called up my brother for recommendations. My brother is officially the food guru of Singapore. He has set up what is undoubtedly Singapore's premier restaurant resource on the web. It's called blurbme. Its a site that mixes peer reviews and social networking. So the reviews that you get off the site are real people talking about real experiences. It's a brilliant idea really, and one that I'm sure will take off.
He recommended this place called il-lido to me, citing the ambience as being top notch and food comparable to OSO. If you go to Il-Lido, try to get a slot just when dusk is settling in, and get a table on the outside.
We were relegated to the inside. Which is also quite nice lah huh.
The prices at il lido are actually quite reasonable. A main goes for between 30-50 sing, and an appetiser between 15-25. If you're famished though, you might want to try the 250 bucks set menu. Hehehe, lucky lynn wasnt feeling that hungry! Otherwise, I would have lost alot of weight (from the sweat) ... Anyway, we had an order of clamari for starters, and for the main course Lynn chose a mushroom rissotto, while I chose a lobster linguini. Yes, I know, we are boring people!
It was a good meal. Lynn loved her risotto, the creamier the better according to her (She eats alot, and she loves fried chicken wings). My lobster linguni hit the right notes too. They say the trick to a great pasta is in the tomato base, and this was pretty decent.
Its funny how we've all grown up and matured. Not too long ago, the only question we'd ask ourselves was "How are we going to have fun today?" Literally, every day passed and I would call Lynn out and say, want to do this? Or that? 9 out of 10 times, she would be game, and we'd set off on our little adventure together. Nowadays, busy bee lynn is always on the phone when we go out! And her little black organiser follows her everywhere! Tonight was no exception, but I found myself, smiling at the thought of it, and when I got a phone call from my business partner tiam amidst dinner, I realised I had grown too.
One of our past adventures I remember, was sampling every Tiramisu singapore had to offer. We'd go EVERWHERE, walk into random cafes and say, do you have tiramisu, all in a bid to find the best. We thought we'd keep a little tradition alive and so it was a straight forward choice what desert we were sharing (We were absoloutely stuffed).
The verdict? Pretty darnnn good! The dark chocolate shavings on top were glorious (I lurvee dark chocolate). Overall, I've got to give the thumbs up to this place. The food from start to end was close to flawless (although we had been very safe in our choices). The service was attentive although not overly so, even though we practically had our own waiter! And the ambience is settling.
When I got the bill, I also found out about another service the restaurant was promoting. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner on the high seas, on board a luxury yacht! For 800 bucks, you get the yacht for 6 hours, and of course, you'd have to pay for the cost of your meal too. Both lynn and I were pretty excited about the prospect, and since we've matured, perhaps our adventures should mature too ... hehehe. Tiam, I say we charge it to the netccentric corporate card!!! Letss gooo!!! Sun tan, caviar, and dom!
The evening was capped off, with drinks with ben and gen, at the RC hotel. I'd chosen the place wanting some jazz. Instead we were treated to an old man band and a hotel guest who decided to indulge us ... ... hehe. A consolation though was that the last song of the evening was my favourite song of all time. Save the last dance for me. This song is theee bommbbb! Definitely on my wedding song playlist!
Oh I know that the music's fine Like sparklin' wine,go and have your fun Laugh and sing,but while we're apart Don't give your heart to anyone But don't forget who's takin' you home And in whose arms you're gonna be So darlin' save the last dance for me
When you are so confident that you can let the one you love go, and she'll return to you for the last dance (The only one that truly matters), thats when you know. So don't forget who's taking you home and in who's arms you're gonna be, so darling save the last dance for me!
: 9:17 PM