the garden slug.

I've decided to turn this into a flog as well after realising that baking posts alone won't be able to keep this place alive, considering that I don't bake as often as I eat. Well, I've got a good place to recommend for this virgin food entry!

Introducing our friendly neighbourhood slug residing in a quaint little building called Bright Centre in Telok Kurau, which is somewhere in JooChiat/Katong if you're wondering. I was brought here for my advance (very advanced) birthday dinner by the boyfriend. We've been wanting to visit this place since eons but never did it because of the arduous long journey (we're not East people). But I guess just once in a while, it's worthwhile to venture out of your comfort zone for a good dining experience!

Ripped the photos of their place from their website - I must say they did a wonderful job of photography cos the photos, unfortunately, looked better than the real place. Nevertheless, one can understand why the owners chose this place for the slug to reside. Seems to me they were trying to mimic the scene of a little roadside cafe in a quiet town. Gotta give them credit for that!

And so after about an hour of travelling by bus and foot, we finally got to the place, all hoping that the long journey was worth it. The decor, though simple, was tastefully done up, giving it a nice and comfortable ambience that was not at all intimidating. You know how sometimes those posh restaurants give a very uneasy intimidating feeling. Well anyway, our server came over and asked if I would like to know about the menu for the night (which has already been preplanned :D). I declined the offer just for the fun of getting surprised!

First up was our drinks - free flow of Lemongrass Tea - one of their 3 Asian exotic iced teas. Sorry no pics for that - but it kinda looks like Iced Lemon Tea - except that instead of lemon wedges floating around, there were lemongrass shoots sticking out. Surprisingly I really liked the tea! Wasn't too sweet and was refreshing and cooling. The lemongrass scent was just right without being too overpowering.

Next up was our bowl of hearty soup of the day. Don't know exactly what it's called or what it is. But it tasted like really good minestrone without the artificial flavourings intended to make the taste sour and salty. You can almost picture them laboriously brewing the soup from 342 kinds of herbs and vegetables for like 10 hours, stirring the humongous aluminium pot resembling a witch's brew. And who can resist the slabs of crusty bread?!

Appetiser was a delightful plate of hand-crafted hors d'oeuvres. Reminded me of canapes that we saw at Raffles City. This is the sort of thing I would never order from the menu. But it was a pretty interesting experience devouring these little cute bite-sized thingies. There were the grilled tomato halves, grape and feta combi, prawns and avocado and some tasty beef strips. Looks almost too pretty to be eaten!

Then we had the Yukon Mash! Potato food is always boyfriend food. Not to mention a huge serving of it, topped with yummilicious brown gravy and flavoured with Danish butter. My only complaint was it was a tad too buttery for me. Pity we didnt have to digestive capacity to finish it all!

By the time main course was served, we were already kinda full ): I think this was something custom-made cos even after reading the menu a zillion times, I couldn't seem to match the dish to any description on the menu. So i figured it had to be a combination of The Steak(Juicy Ribeye grilled to your desired doneness, with a light brown sauce) and some seafood pasta. The steak was a hit with the boyfriend (who's a sucker for beef). Apparently, it's so well seasoned and done so nicely you can taste the sweetness of the meet! Well, guess I can't contradict that statement in any way. Pasta was tossed with olive oil and butter, topped with cherry tomatoes and a whole load of seafood!

Here comes the best part of dinner - dessert! And by far this was my favourite dish of the night. I actually got a heart-shaped tiramisu cake made just for me! Yay! I mean, it not only looks pretty, it tasted pretty damn good as well! Certainly one of the best tiramisus I've had :)

I've already thought of what I'm gonna order the next time I'm there. Wasuga Wings and Bangers&Mash!