The famed Wooloomooloo Steak House and their Weekend Brunch

Wooloomooloo Steakhouse and their Weekend Brunch

Address: 2 Stamford Road Level 3 Swissotel The Stamford

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 12.00 pm to 2.30pm and 6.30pm to 10.00 pm, Sat-Sun 11.30am to 2.30pm and 6.30pm to 10.00pm

Introduction

Wooloomooloo is a Hong Kong based, Australian-inspired steakhouse that is situated at level 3 of Raffles City. It has enjoyed quite a good reputation in Singapore and some even branded them as one of the best steakhouses since they opened their door for business in Singapore in Year 2012.

I visited during lunch time on a Saturday (for my birthday meal =D) and they are offering this weekend brunch menu which i find the pricing quite reasonable. At $68++, the diner can enjoy a 5-course lunch that includes a breakfast item, soup/salad, appetizer, a main course with a side, and a dessert.

Weekend Brunch Menu: Click to Enlarge

You can see their ala-carte menu from here 

Their pricing for a steakhouse is considered as mid-range, but they have Wagyu beef on their menu that cost $298.00++.

Egg Benedict & Fried Hen’s Egg (Breakfast dish)

The egg benedict is pretty decent, with a beautifully poached egg that comes with slices of lightly-smoked salmon and with a slice of muffin toasted to crisp. I particularly like their creamy hollandaise sauce.

The Fried Hen’s Egg is actually sunny side up and there’s nothing fancy about it but it’s a bit different for the stack of tomatoes cubes, avocado and crispy potato sticks. It has different layers of texture when eat together, such as the creamy (avacado), cripsy (potatoes) and juicy (tomatoes) and has a balanced taste of sweet, salty and sour. A very interesting dish.

Lobster Bisque & Classic Caesar Salad (Soup and Salad)

At first mouthful, it’s a little salty but it gets better with every mouthful. This dish don’t exactly has a creamy texture but the soup is very rich, and comes with a piece of Lobster pincer. I like the soup for having a pleasant but not overly strong seafood sweetness.

The Classic Caesar Salad is pretty much standard, except the part where there’s sliced Gruyère cheese. This cheese manages to add savouriness without overpowering the entire salad. No complain for the crispy bacon too. Ok, maybe the bacon’s a little too salty.

Wild Mushroom Risotto & Jumbo Lump Crab Cake (Appetizer)

In fact, both appetizers are among my favourites of the day. The wild mushroom risotto is quite well-portioned and the texture is something that i like very much – with a soft exterior and a moderately firm center. There’s also a robust mushroom taste and the already strong-tasting blue Stilton cheese completes this dish.

They are rather generous with the amount of crab meat used in this Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, although it’s not exactly Jumbo in size. The crab meat taste very sweet and fresh, with a little crisp on the exterior.

Beef Wellington and Tasmanian Salmon Fillet (Wooloomooloo Classic)

For those that watched Gordon Ramsay ‘s Hell Kitchen, the dish beef wellington will not be unfamiliar to you. It is a steak, coated with Pâté (Foie Gras for this case) and minced mixture of mushroom and baked in a layer of pastry. Comparing to a typical steak, in has an additional punch of fragrance from the mushrooms and savoury taste from the Foie Gras.

And of course , the steak is quite well done alone. Just look at the succulent texture!  This is my first time trying a beef wellington and i like Wooloomooloo’s pretty much. However, it’s not that I am against anything,  but I swear that the Pastry layer is made of instant roti prata that we got from the supermarket.  Interesting.

For the Tasmanian Salmon Fillet, the salmon is prepared in a Western style while the sauce has a Chinese soy sauce base. i like how the skin of the Salmon is pan fried to crisp but with zero burnt taste and the soft succulent salmon steak goes pretty good with the oriental taste.

Wooloomooloo Cheesecake and Bread and Butter Pudding (Dessert)

Both desserts are quite to my delight and both of them are not overly sweet. The cheesecake is not exactly a cake but more of a cheese cream topped on a layer of cookie base and also comes with a scoop of Yogurt Sorbet. The cheese layer is very light and balanced, which is not overly heavy after a 4-course meal.

As for the butter pudding, it didn’t have the expected egg custard taste so initially i was a little taken aback. However, the cream base made up is able to complement the butter pudding pretty well and the scoop of vanilla ice-cream made me forget about the egg custard. The portion of the pudding is just right to complete the 5-course meal.

Conclusion

Out of all the dishes that i had, the only one complain is that the side dish, Sauteed Mushroom, is too salty and i didn’t exactly finish it. As for the rest, they are all pretty good for my liking considering the price of $80 nett for a five course meal. The portion of the course are also bigger than expected and it’s definitely filling if one of the courses is a pasta.

During my visit on a Saturday afternoon, the place is rather quiet, without the usual hustle and bustle of a crowded restaurant. It has a very inviting ambiance, with a spacious dining area with ample natural light coming in from the full-height glass window.

I very much enjoyed my meal here and i do recommend this place if you are finding a place to celebrate a special occasion with your loved ones (in the afternoon).

 

Cat & the Fiddle, the online Cheese Cake Shop

Cat & the Fiddle, the online Cheese Cake Shop

Web Address: http://www.catandthefiddle.com/

Cake Self-collection Address: 171 Kampong Ampat KA Foodlink #05-04

Introduction

Cat & the Fiddle is an online cake shop that’s founded by Chef Daniel Tay. He was the ex-founder of Bakerzinn and was also the Pastry Chef of French Restaurant Les Amis. Cat & the Fiddle specialises in gourmet Cheese Cakes that are very reasonably priced – starting from $19.90 for a 1kg classic New York Cheesecake to $38.90 for a Mao Shan Wang Durian Cheesecake. Thank you David for sending the lovely box of Cheesecake with 10 different flavours (named Fickle Feline) over.

Fickle Feline, as the name suggest, can be a choice for people that are unable to decide which cheesecake flavour to have because it comes with 10 slices of cheesecake of different flavours. However please note that there is only a limited 50 cakes per week and it’s opened for ordering on every Wednesday 10am.

Here are the 10 flavours – Maneki Neko (Yuzu, Lemon and Lime), Modern Duke’s Pudding (Oreo), Over the Moon (Classic New York), Queen of Hearts (Strawberry), Paws of Fury (Yuan Yang), Sweet & Smokey Taffy (Salted Caramel), Sicilian Wild Cats (Tiramisu), Caribbean Surfari (Pina Colada), Russian Whiskers (Mango and Vodka), Emperor Romance (Lychee and Martini).

Maneki Neko (Yuzu, Lemon and Lime)
It has a strong refreshing Yuzu taste which is rather interesting and is something that i’d never try before. The top layer is made up of cream infused with citrus flavor with a cheese bottom layer.

Maneki Neko (Front)

Modern Duke’s Pudding (Oreo)
I am not an Orea cheesecake fan to begin with because it’s too dry and sweet most of the time, but this is pretty well done. The orea crumble layer is rather moist and the moderately sweet Orea goes very well with the cheese and not overpowering another. One of the best Oreo cheesecake that i had.

Sicilian Wild Cats (Tiramisu)
This slice of Tiramisu has a light cheese flavour and alcohol taste. The cheese center is very creamy, sandwiching layers of Espresso infused biscuit. This is something that I will go for if i want something that’s not overly cheesy and yet satisfying.

Emperor Romance (Lychee and Martini)
This is very similar to the Tiramisu, but the cheese is mixed with Lychee meat and is infused with Lychee essence. The light Martini soaked biscuit center has almost no trace of bitter taste. This is also pretty light and it’s one of my favourites.

Emperor Romance (left) and Queen of Hearts (right)

Queen of Hearts (Strawberry)
This cheesecake reminds me of the Raspberry Ice-cream that we can get from the ice-cream paddlers, except there is an added tinge of cheese flavours. The sweetness is just right for my liking.

Caribbean Surfari (Pina Colada)
This pineapple cheesecake has a fruit cake top and the side is sprinkled with coconut shredding that adds on a delightful texture. It doesn’t exactly taste like cheesecake as the pineapple taste seems to overpower the cheese. However taste wise, I have no problem finishing this slice of cake.

Russian Whiskers (Mango and Vodka)
This cheesecake has a tinge of vodka flavour and the center has a texture of a Mango pudding.

Over the Moon (Classic New York)
The classic cheese cake is not as cloying as expected. It has a creamy texture and not too sweet and it’s to my liking. As this flavour only has cheese and the crust, naturally I will pay more attention to the crust and i thought the crust can be made better, like crispier and more buttery.

Paws of Fury (Yuan Yang)
Yuan Yang is a blend of milk tea and coffee, but this version has two separated layers of cheesy coffee and tea. I like the coffee layer but the tea layer is not to my liking. Overall i think it lacks the fragrance of a typical cup of Yuan Yang, or should i say, the tea and coffee layer didn’t mix as well as expected.

Sweet & Smokey Taffy (Salted Caramel)
I thought the sweetness is a little too overwhelming. Personally I think a sweet caramel is a norm but the bottom cheese layer is too strong to compliment the already sweet caramel.

Conclusion

Some of the flavours that Cat & The Fiddle are quite unique and interesting to try. The flavours of their cake are generally milder than the usual ones that we find outside which i think it caters to the taste of our current health conscience generation, except for those that that I mentioned earlier. Among them, my top four choices are the Yuzu, Lemon and Lime, Lychee Martini, Tiramisu and Oreo while the misses are Yuan Yang and the Salted Caramel.

I think Cat & the Fiddle’s Cheese Cake is very reasonably priced for it’s quality if you do self collection or get their normal delivery. I will not opt for the specific timing delivery that cost $26.90 and would rather they deliver the cake a day in advance because the cake can be kept for up to three days in the chiller.

The drawback is they only sell their cake as a whole and there is there is no option to mix the flavours. The Fickle Feline is a choice but there’s only a limited quantity available and it comes in ten fixed flavours. If only i can mix and match and few slices of Mao Shan Wang cheese cake.

I do understand their constrain, which they have to throw away unsold cut cakes at end of the day to keep their supply fresh. However do explore this option, or even swap the ten flavours occasionally, especially if there’s so many flavours to try.