Tried And Tested _ western

Nice food, a little pricey as it seems like a casual dining location . Small place.

I thought the food was not bad, especially the grilled octopus, nicely grilled with a hint of smokiness. Salad was enjoyable too.

But my family didn’t enjoy the meal. Grilled kebab platter is kinda disappointing and overpriced.

I like places that sell delicious starters/sides and I love to have a taste of everything. Nothing really blew my mind but they were all pretty tasty and dishes were fairly well executed

Had oysters craving, so got a few to try, namely Mary point, fine de Claire no. 3, Gillardeau no. 3, Ostra Regal, Sentinelles speciale. It was fun exploring the different flavor profiles of the oysters. The two standout ones for me were the Mary point, plump in size, super creamy and milky! Very rich and satisfying. I also enjoyed the Gillardeau no. 3 for its unique chewy and crunchy texture and it has scent of the sea and a soft nutty taste. Grilled squid is a winner, easily the best one I’ve had so far (way better than the izakayas I’ve been). They are grilled to such perfection, there is an unmistakably crunch to the tentacles and the squid rings are extremely soft and tender. Went for the whole char grilled sea bream instead of the fillets. No regrets at all! Very juicy and moist flesh, overall light texture with delicate crispy skin!

A no-brainer choice thanks to the plenty of raves online. Was surprised to find smooth, flaky Haddock beneath the crispy batter. Nice combination of subtle sweetness and savoury crunchy batter. Squeeze some lime to cut through the greasiness of the fried batter and you’re good to go. I’m not a fan of peas, so the mushy peas didn’t appeal much to me but I did find it fresh and sweet. Worth every single buck and definitely on the top of my list for favourite fish and chips.

For $10, you get pillowly soft broiche buns, a delicious shortrib x brisket patty topped with housemade pickles and slices of melted cheddar. This is honestly how i love my burgers. Simple, no frills, nothing too crazy that distracts from the beef and the crust. Do note to eat it quickly cause it tends to get soggy towards the end. However, considering how good it is, it usually gets eaten pretty swiftly.

Loved the texture of the freshly made pappardelle! Especially the parts that clump together and refuse to separate 😝

The sauce was mind-blowing, vaguely familiar yet strangely unique in its own way.

So, “Boscaiola" comes from the word for a woodsman. The sauce will remind you of such complex, earthy flavors of the forest you can almost picture a woodsman getting through a forest with a satchel collecting mushrooms as you savor the dish. In modern day context, it is a dish of Tuscan origins made mainly in the fall when mushrooms are in season.

This earthy creamy sauce is made from a porcini mushrooms, bacon, Italian sausage, parmesan, a dash of white wine, a touch of tomato and a rich splash of cream (hence the pink sauce). So good, I’m definitely coming back for this!

An awesome stay home comfort food, NUDE Seafood’s ‘Bouillabaisse’ Seafood Stew ($25.60) was such a treat! Chockfull of seafood-y goodness, it was loaded with tiger prawn, clams, cuttlefish, rouille, watercress, baby corn, desiree potato and a delightful hunk of fish (which i believe is barramundi). The fillet as well as the cuttlefish were tender and fresh-tasting. What I liked most was that the broth was richly textured yet delicately flavoured - getting the natural flavours of the ingredients, both sweet and tangy. The vegetables also provided a nice crunch and the crusty sourdough that came with the stew made the meal more hearty.

*Islandwide delivery is available and they are having 10% off storewide till 1 June, order from them directly to enjoy the deal.

Made a few wrong choices in terms of dinner places to celebrate an occasion this year but I’m happy this wasn’t one of them and we chose Tess on a Friday night.

Besides being known for their cocktails I have to credit the chefs and kitchen team for dishing out on-par food items. Out of all our orders the pan roasted cauliflower was a star. The miso cheese sauce worked wonders on a large head of the carb-veg; and to add some crunch there are chunks of cashew nut, a full experience on the palate.

My friend loves the calamari & zucchini here that had a crispy flour batter, yummy yum yum. She requested 2 portions which I could completely understand why, 1 would be simply insufficient to go around our table of 4.

For the mains you can trust the chefs to deliver tender and flavourful meat cuts as evident in our Angus Beef Tagliatelle, Grilled Lamb Short Ribs.

Tess is now on my radar next time when I need good dinner and drinks.

Waited an hour for this flounder fish cause the kitchen messed up our order. Thankfully the food was good. Enjoyed the oysters 🦪 and fresh shrimp 🦐

negitoro, crabmeat, ikura, avocado. what would go wrong? Just give us more bread ha. Would order again.

Uni egg is also good. Mains were quite average in comparison to the starters.

I didn’t have high expectations of this place as I was quite disappointed with the quality of food at Collin’s. However, this dish is a pleasant surprise. I have not tried toothfish prior to this and found out that it actually tastes like cod fish, in a good way. I also like the mash with the salted cod. Would visit again to try out their other dishes.