Oriole Cafe & Bar- Back with Satisfaction!

Oriole Café & Bar, situated at a quiet corner in Pan Pacific Service Suit, is a hidden gem in Orchard road! The cozy and quiet ambience is definitely a place to chill out and relax in the noisy and bustling city.

This was the second time we patronized the café. There was a slight disappointment the first time we went, which we will talk about it later. Nonetheless, we decided to give it another chance to prove its worth. This time we’re back with satisfaction!

We made a reservation for dinner tonight as we knew the café will be quite packed at night.

We like the ambience in the café. The lightings and music in the café make us feel so comfortable and relaxed. It was a great place for date, chilling out, and gatherings! The staffs here were pretty efficient except that it was a little difficulty in getting their attention when they’re busy. Our drinks were refilled quickly and our dishes were served swiftly after placing the order.

Beef Cheek Tagliatelle ($15)

Melt-in-the-mouth tender beef cheek slices, it was exquisite and heavenly! Red wine braised beef cheek rendered both of us speechless. It surpassed our expectations on the beef slices and we did not even need to cut them! They simply dissolve in our mouth.

A & J’s rating: 4.75/5

Fish and Chips ($15)

The snapper loin was firm and the batter was light, thin and crispy. We thought the tartar sauce was pretty good, with a slight combination of sweetness and sourness. The wedges could be better as it tasted a little bland on its own. However, we must point out that the tartar sauce with the fish and chips was so palatable that we actually requested for more!

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5

Chocolate Fudge Cake ($6)

Being one of Oriole’s signature cakes, this definitely enthralls chocolate lovers. The warm, rich chocolate cake was moist with oozy molten chocolate in the centre. We love the fact that it was not overly sweet but it could be too rich to be finished by a person.

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5

Chocolate Brownie with Vanilla Ice-cream ($5.50)

Being chocolate lovers, we wanted for more and ordered an additional chocolate brownie. The brownie was more of a fudge brownie, the texture was gooey rather than cakey. The rich, creamy vanilla ice-cream with the brownie was pretty pleasant.

A & J’s rating: 4/5

We were very satisfied with the food this time round and will definitely be back again especially for the beef cheek tagliatelle! We spent $48.85 (after GST and service charge) in total for 2 mains and desserts. Reasonable price for such exquisite food and excellent attentive service in Orchard road!

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Now we will tell you about our slight disappointment we experienced on our previous visit.

We went in the afternoon for brunch a few weeks ago. These were what we ordered:

The coffee in Oriole Café was fantastic.

Starbuck’s coffee was incomparable to Oriole’s coffee. For the price you pay at Starbuck, you could get a better coffee here. We read up a review on http://www.photoblog.visitors.sg/ stating that Oriole had two of the best baristas in Singapore! That explains their unqiue creation of coffee in Oriole Cafe.

Piccolo Latte ($5)

A rich espresso latte that does not leave an acidic taste in the mouth. The full-bodied aroma lingered in our mouths. The presentation was absolutely lovely~

A’s rating: 4/5, J’s rating: 4.5/5

Mint Mocha ($6)

Sipped slowly and you could taste the subtle mint flavor in the latte. Quite a unique latte actually except that the mint flavor was not distinct enough.

A & J’s rating: 4.25/5

And these were the 3 dishes that left us in bitter pit.

Mushroom Toast ($11.50)

Smoked Salmon Toast with Poached Eggs ($14)

The toast was overly toasted and the poached eggs were SUPER SOUR! The vinegar taste was so strong!

(A: I could make better poached eggs than them! haha!) Waitress said it could be because the chef wasn't in a good mood that day. What a reason -___- The mushroom was normal, nothing special to mention about. The smoked salmon was too salty, saltier than an average normal smoked salmon. Salty salmon, super sour poached eggs with hard toast. It was disastrous! Deeply regretted what we ordered. (J: With my toothache tt day, this meal simply worsened my condition *faint*)

A & J’s rating: 2.5/5 for both toasts

Last but not least, Bread Pudding ($8)

The texture of the bread pudding was too firm and dense for our liking. It was similar to the texture of agar agar. We expected it to be softer, soggier and warmer. Though we requested it to be warmer, it was still not up to our expectation. Perhaps you may have a different view on this. But for us, the taste was just not right.

A & J’s rating: 3/5

Though the first visit was not a pleasant one, but we were glad that the second visit make up for it.

Oriole Café is a great coffee place in the day and a fantastic chill out place at night! We highly recommend Oriole Café to all our readers.

Oriole Café & Bar

96 Somerset Road #01-01

Pan Pacific Serviced Suites

Tel: 6238 8348

Call to make reservation especially on weekends

Bistro 103 - A roller coaster ride through dinner~

After a series of hiccups which made our Saturday an unlucky and disappointing one, we decided to choose some place for dinner to end our day perfectly. We remembered Bistro 103 which received excellent reviews and was highly rated in hungrygowhere.com. Determined to make our day a better one, we decided to take a risk & headed there!

It was a very cosy place and we were greeted by a friendly guy in the restaurant. He looked very busy but nonetheless, he led us to our table and recommended some of the popular dishes to us.

For starters, we ordered

Bruschetta (toasted foccacia bread with tomatoes and onions), $4.20

The bruschetta was slightly different from what we had in Italy. The bruschetta in Italy tend to be sweeter because of the tomatoes! The tomatoes there were super sweet and juicy! On the other hand, the bruschetta here are more sour and refreshing because of the onions and herbs added. Also, the garlic taste was more overpowering but dont worry, it wont give u bad breaths after your mains, we promise! Very appetising indeed!

J's & A's rating: 4.25/5

Next we had, escargot in white wine sauce, $8.90!
Omg! This was incredible! The sauce complemented very well with the foccacia bread. The infusion of white wine and cheese after dipping the bread into the sauce simply exploded an array of flavors into our mouths. The white wine wasn't too strong to intoxicate our tastebuds and the addition of cheese (which we guess is mozzarella) added a tinge of saltiness to the sauce. (Cafe Oliv's rendition of escargot is more salty due to the addition of pesto.)

First bite of the escargot shocked us! It tasted more like a mushroom rather than the usual chewy escargot! It was so fat and juicy! We adore it so much that we almost wanted to order a second one! But wait...we still got our main course coming up!

J & A's rating: 4.5/5

Salmon & Crab Pasta ($15.90)

We had a choice between tomato or cream as the pasta sauce. Had wanted to try out the highly raved red pesto sauce but the friendly staff told us that it had been removed from the menu 2 weeks ago! Instead, he recommended us a mix, which is tomato cream sauce! We never knew how wonderful it tasted like until the dish was served! The spaghetti and the sauce left a lingering sweetness on our tongues! The spaghetti was very well done, just of the right firmness. Not too hard and not too soft. In fact, it was even a little springy! (A: I never like pasta in my whole life but this was the first time that I actually finished it all! I enjoyed every mouthful of it!) This spaghetti was even better than many others that we tried in Italy! Seriously, just the spaghetti alone deserves full marks.

Are we missing out something??

Yes..the salmon. Erm, it just tasted like any normal salmon to us. Although there it was marinated with some herbs, but we could not taste any of the herbs and was rather bland. It just tasted like ‘panfried salmon’ nothing much to comment about. Haha.. However we do have a little complaint about the crabmeat. There was too little crabmeat! Haha.. but anyway, the pasta and the sauce was the highlight of the dish. Not the crabmeat or the salmon. Next time we will just order the pasta & sauce alone! *Wonder we are able to do that. Heex*

J's & A's rating: 4.8/5 pasta & sauce, 3/5 for salmon

It was a roller coaster ride going uphill so far, with the 2nd dish overwhelming the 1st and the 3rd made us forget the 2nd. We were literally brought to heaven after happily lapping the entire spaghetti with tomato cream sauce off our plate. Here comes our MAJOR displeasure of the night. The big BOOM!

Brownie with French vanilla ice-cream, $6

Doesn't this look familiar? Deja vu? Yes, it closely resembled Cafe Oliv's warm chocolate brownie and it was actually this dessert which enticed us to Bistro 103. Read many reviews that their brownie was fantastic and so hot that it could even burn your tongue. Dying to try out better ones after Cafe Oliv, we dared ourselves and ordered 2 brownies which we deeply regretted.
When the brownie was served, it was not warm at all. So, we requested for it to be warmer. The waitress reheated it and brought back the same brownie which we ate! BIG NO NO! Although the service they provided earlier was excellent, one wrong move for serving us the same brownie which we had eaten earlier brought the entire service level down! (Cafe Oliv would have changed the entire brownie for a new one ever since we made a complaint to them.) Nevertheless, we still ate the brownie which was softer than Cafe Oliv and contained walnuts and chocolate chips. The French vanilla ice-cream contained no vanilla taste at all! It just tasted like ice + cream. It was a sticky ice-cream which we find it tasteless. The brownie, being not warm enough eventually brought the otherwise satisfactory dinner downhill immediately. The guy who served us earlier came to us and explained that because too many customers complained that their brownie was too hot, tts y they dared not make the brownie too hot. BUT we want it hot! Guess Cafe Oliv still serves the best brownie afterall. We were really disappointed and dismayed because we feel that desserts are supposed to uplift one's spirits but it totally ruined our entire dinner. Yes, we're desserts ppl and really cannot tolerate when they fail to meet our expectations. Not wanting to waste the $12, we rushed through desserts and just want to get out of Bistro 103 asap.

J's & A's rating: 2.75/5

Bistro One Zero Three
103 Pasir Panjang 118531
Tel: 6476 6373

Cafe OIive III- Service improved?

J: After our 3rd visit to cafe oliv which left us feeling disappointed & unhappy over the food & service, we were invited to cafe oliv by kevin as a gesture of apology. Seriously for me, just the service alone determines my mood for tt meal. Last week's service totally turned me off n im glad tt kevin took our complaint seriously. Not only did he reprimand his staff, he even went as far as to install CCTV to keep a tab on them to make sure tt they dont slack n provide decent service to customers. This time round, u can really tell e vast difference in service. We were promptly attended to upon entering. Water was constantly refilled n they even changed our utensils & serviette after each course which never ever happened before! I must really applaud kevin for this major improvement in service but i certainly hope tt this is not just a one off kind of excellent service. Well, we shall see if we do continue to enjoy this kind of service n i would be glad to pay tt 10% service charge willingly.

Back to the food, everything is on the house today. Thanks Kevin!

Gratin Oliv Herb Butter Yolk Cheese Monray Escargot $9.90

1st mouth of this sauce intrigued me as I've totally no idea what it was. It smelled fragrant & light initially. The escargots were topped with mozzarella n their signature fried sweet potato strips which r present in all dishes. The fushion of this french dish with chinese spinach makes it really unique. Upon chatting with kevin, I found out tt e sauce is actually made from white wine, pesto, mushroom n lots of butter. He came up with this fushion as he thought spinach can go well with everything n y not escargots? His creativity amazed me. However, this dish failed to impress me for long. I felt satiated after a while n e mozzarella was too chewy for me. Sis felt tt e sauce was tad too salty due to e presence of pesto & mozzarella. The stems of the spinach also added a tinge of bitterness to it. I must agree with kevin tt e escargots if presented on its own may be too ordinary but i rmb eating escargots in paris on its own too! They were seasoned well n we had to use toothpicks to get e meat out from e shells. The flavors of e Paris escargots were definitely much more intense than what we had in cafe oliv. In my opinion, I thought perhaps it would go better with scallops, but its just me :)

J's ratings: 4/5, A's rating: 3.75/5

 Char-Grilled Honey Glazed Pork Belly Ribs with Barbeque Sauce $16.90 (half slab)

BBQ pork ribs coated with thick rich bbq sauce accompanied with daily greens and starch.

I ordered this dish with high anticipations as it was highly raved by many reviewers online. No doubt this was the most tender pork ribs I had in sg n u can easily separate e meat from e bones, but personally I felt tt it can be a little dry. The honey glaze added a tinge of sweetness to e ribs which was not too overpowering n i certainly enjoy eating it with their homemade BBQ sauce. However being a lazy person, I find eating this pork ribs too much of a hassle as there were many bones n separating e meat was a chore for me haha =X

A: This dish is kind of disappointing. I was expecting more from the sauce but it's just BBQ sauce. Nth really special. But I must say the pork ribs were really tender! Don't you think this looks a bit like char siew?? LOL

J's ratings: 4.25/5, A's rating: 4/5

Traditional Braised Lamb Shank 18.90
Tender herb braised lamb shank served with daily greens and starch.

Needless to say more about this baby? Click here for the review on our previous visit! This is simply heavenly & I just cant stop raving on how T-E-N-D-E-R this lamb shank is tt u can separate e meat from bones easily just using a fork & it literally melts in ur mouth! My top entree in cafe oliv!!! I must rmb to ask kevin whats e sauce used in my next visit~ I simply adore how mushy e mashed potatoes were tt went well w e greens n lamb shank :)

J & A's ratings: 4.8/5

Warm brownie with mocha chip ice cream $5.90

If u have read our previous posts on cafe oliv, u would have noticed tt this is our no 1 heavenly dessert not only in cafe oliv, but in sg! We love u sooooo much, baby. Today's scoop of ice cream was much bigger than e previous ones tt we had... soo big tt there were left over ice cream even when i finished my warm brownie! I was glad tt e waitress rmbed we enjoy this baby being served warm n specifically inform e chef. Unlike last week's brownie which was sooo dense tt tasted like choc pound cake or even being close to a kueh, today's brownie tasted e best among all e visits. It was much softer, warmer n choked FULL of big chunky walnuts inside! I would never get sick of eating this~ Kevin told us tt e brownie was actually bought from outside n sometimes e supplier will change e chocolate used for e brownie. However, a change in choc shouldnt change e texture of e brownie too much right? Last week's brownie was a total disaster. Seriously even if u give it to me for free i wouldnt want it. They usually freeze e brownie n warm it when there's order n they keep e brownie for 2-3 days. I suspect tt last wk's brownie was kept longer than its shelf life but well, who knows? I hope e standard can be maintained this way soo tt i will go back for more =P

J & A's ratings: 4.9/5

Click here for our 2nd visit and here for our 1st vist!

Cafe Oliv II - We're back for more!

After craving for a week & raving how heavenly the cafe oliv's brownie was, we finally went back again to satisfy our sweet tooth. Having read the good reviews on their soft shell crabs and lamb shank, we decided to give them a try!

Salty Egg Soft Shell Crabs Biscuit Fritter $6.90

Soft shell crabs marinated and stuffed with salty eggs breaded with biscuit fritter.

J: I was simply bowled over when the softshell crab hits my tastebuds. This is e only soft shell crab I tried where I can find crab meat in its tiny legs & pincers. Normally for e legs, I can only taste e fried leg shell. There r also lotsa crab roe inside this softshell crab! It is also slightly saltier than ur usual softshell crab which may be due to e salty egg but not tt salty to turn u off. The biscuit crumbs make this dish absolutely crunchy & I really love their shredded sweet potato! Another surprise comes from Kevin's homemade thai mayonaise where they added thai chilli in it! I cant really taste any spicyness but this mayo is simply amazing! It's slightly sour which really whets my appetite & is my 2nd fav sauce after North Sea Fish Restaurant's homemade tartar sauce. :)

A: Well, what else can I say? GOT TO TRY IT! Soft shell crab full of crab meat & roe!

J's rating: 4.6/5, A's rating: 4.5/5

Black Pepper Pesto Chicken Rosemary Sauce

Today we had a friend along with us! Annie ordered this dish & our 1st thought was gosh, this tastes like chicken satay! The chicken is really tender & e serving is soooo BIG tt it definitely make ur money worth. Annie mentioned that it tasted better towards the end!

Annie's rating: 4.2/5


Traditional Braised Lamb Shank $18.90 *MUST TRY!!*

Tender herb braised lamb shank served with daily greens and starch.

J: I flew to heaven immediately when I had the 1st taste of this lamb shank. It was my 3rd surprise after the softshell crab & thai mayo. This lamb shank is sooooooo T-E-N-D-E-R that it literally falls off when u poke ur fork into it! U dont even need a knife for this dish, i swear! Just look at its pink flesh. OMG ahhhHHHhhhHHH this is H-E-A-V-E-N-L-Y!!! It's very well braised and I particularly enjoy eating it together with the oh-so-soft mashed potatoes. I just wish e lamb is much much bigger lol. more moRE, i want MORE!

A: How i wished i could give this dish a 5/5! BUT, there's definitely room for perfectionism!

J & A's ratings: 4.9/5

Brownie with Ice-cream $5.90

J: We came all the way for this & obviously it failed to disappoint. Just look! The ice cream was actually melting & wobbling on top of e brownie when e waitress brought it to our tables. We had a brownie each & my 1st brownie wasnt warm enough to make me go wow. However, as usual, e brownie is choked full of crunchy walnuts & they were more generous with e cocoa powder this time round. 1 brownie was definitely not enough to satisfy our cravings & I shared another with sis. This time round we specifically requested for e brownie to be made really warm & this is it! WOW im loving it~ =D As u would know by now tt I have actually qt a low sweetness tolerance. The reason y i really love this brownie is tt e sweetness is just right for me & i never feel sick of eating it. Their mocha ice cream really complements well with this choc walnut brownie which at e same time, satisfy my love for coffee. Had wanted to sample their black sesame & red bean ice cream but unfortunately, Kevin told us tt they were removed from the menu cos they were not popular. Oh well, im satisfied with my mocha ice cream. :)

A: Damage for today??? 3 brownies for Janelle and I!!! Annie wanted to finish her brownie but she was just to full to finish it up! You can imagine how good it was!

J & A's ratings: 4.8/5 for WARM brownie with mocha chip ice cream

Cafe Oliv fails to disappoint once again & gave us many surprises during this visit. Will be back for more & I really hope Kevin can come up with some loyalty programme cos I can foresee tt we will be his regular customers soon. However, at this rate im eating, its gonna burn a HUGE hole in my wallet! :(

Refer here for our previous visit to Cafe Oliv!

Next on my to-try-list: Chargrilled Honey Glazed Pork Ribs with BBQ Sauce

Cafe Oliv
220, East Coast Road
6-344-3114
Open daily from 11:30am - 11pm

Cafe Oliv- Found my desserts heaven in sg~!

Janelle and I had a long day of interview today. We decided to head off to Cafe Oliv for a big treat! The restaurant was empty when we entered. It was already like 7.30pm and there was no one there?? Don't be deceived by it! People only start streaming in after 8pm. Why does people at east coast road have their dinner so late? haha

We ordered Chargrilled Bratwurst Snail & Spicy Italian Sausages with Rosti Potato $14.90

A's rating: 4.25/5, J's rating: 4.3/5

A: I like the rosti in Cafe Oliv! It was different from what I've tasted in Lauterbrunnen (Switz). Rosti is actually a national dish of Switzerland, usually served with sour cream. Rosti in Cafe Oliv was made using shredded potato and they pan-fried it, topping it with bacon, adding additional crisp to the rosti! It was not overly seasoned and it tasted great with the bacon and sour cream. Both of us find the spicy italian sausage must tastier than the bratwurst snail sausage. This would have been a perfect dish if not of the snail sausage. Oh, they also add final touch to the dish by adding fried shredded sweet potato! We had to ask the owner to find out what it was! Janelle even thought that it was "cuttlefish" initially. haha

J: This rosti is one of the best ive tasted so far. Sometimes e rosti can be too oily, nua n salty. I love the crispiness of the top layer of rosti with bacons and e lighter, softer texture of the bottom layers of rosti with the sour cream. The taste of the spicy italian sausage was so overpowering tt it rendered the snail sausage almost tasteless. But the snail sausage was bland on its own too.

We also ordered Oliv Tradtional Beef Stew with Fennel, Potato and Pilaf Rice $12.90. We ordered the dinner set menu which includes a soup+main+drink+dessert ($16.90).

The mushroom soup was very creamy and we both feel that it would be better if there were chunks of mushrooms in the soup. Definitely not ur usual campbellis mushroom soup!

Here's come our beef stew!

The Pilaf Rice

This hot steaming stew is delicious! It was a perfect combination with the pilaf rice. Actually we do not know what is pilaf rice. You could feel each individual rice grain in your mouth! The so called "Li Li Fan Xiang!" It tasted great wih the beef stew, especially when you bite each mouthful of rice with large chunks of beef. Yumm..

J: I thought the beef could be more tender. There were a couple of beef which were overdone n e tendons made it hard for me to bite off the beef. I actually feel that the pilaf rice was very good bcos each n every grain is very separated n i love the bite of e grains. I would gladly finish the rice on its own with the gravy from the beef stew lol.

A & J's rating: 4/5 beef, 4.5/5 pilaf rice

And finally our desserts! Mudpie!

The presentations of the desserts were awesome! We find this mudpie amazingly delicious! It was a combination of coffee ice-cream + chocolate bits + chocolate ice-cream drizzled with coffee sauce. We initially thought that it was chocolate sauce! The coffee taste was not overpowering and not too sweet to make u feel sick after eating a while, which we both like about. Eating the bits of chocolates with the ice-cream was simply delicious! Best mudpie I've tasted so far, even better than Island Creamery.

J's & A's rating: 4.5/5

We decided to get additional dessert as desserts were having a half-price promotion ($3, UP $5.90) on tue and thursday.We ordered the brownie with cookies & cream ice-cream. Brownie with ice-cream was the highlight of today! The brownie was heavenly! The 1st bite into the ice cream brownie blown us to heaven~ oOOompHHH aHHhhHHH this issss A-W-E-S-O-M-E!! Chunks of walnuts can be seen and the brownie was so soft that it dissolve almost immediately in your mouth! It was not too sweet and definitely v shiok when served warm with the ice-cream. Janelle and I were like snatching the brownie among ourselves n scraping the plate, not wasting every bit of brownie left! haha. It was THAT GOOD!! We couldnt't help smiling when we started eating the brownie! It's been a long time since we've experienced such a heavenly dessert, other than the bread pudding in London.

Brownie with Cookie & Cream Ice-cream

Feeling insatiable after finishing the brownie within a min, we succumbed to the growlings of our stomachs which were hankering for more brownies! We're such a glutton pigs! haha! This time we ordered Brownie with mocha chip ice-cream. We're in heaven! It's the best dessert we've eaten in Singapore. The only dessert that would make both of us come back for it again! The brownie tasted much better with the mocha chip ice-cream. Next time we will just order this combination! The mocha ice-cream was very aromatic n shiokfully delicious in combination to our warm brownie choked full of nutty chunky walnuts drizzled with choc fudge! This really gave the extra punch tonight! (J: Personally I feel that the mudpie was gd but bcos its all cold coffee & choc ice cream mudpie, it was less shiok as compared to warm brownie with cold ice cream. This brownie with mocha ice cream can definitely satisfy both ur cravings for choc & coffee!) We feel that the cookies and cream ice-cream was pretty normal, nothing fantastic.

Brownie with Mocha Chip Ice-cream

J's & A's rating: 4.8/5 for brownie with mocha chip ice cream. This brownie would have scored 5 if they can replace their ice creams with better ones like from seventh heaven or island creamery :P Btw their ice creams r not made by themselves so they're actually ordinary ice creams.

Having such a good dinner and 3 yummy desserts, we were almost too full to move! (J: I'm suffering from sore throat now bcos I had such a fabulous meal lol) I bet the owner, Kelvin was shocked that girls of our size could finish so much food! Bill for tonight totalled up to $41.60 for 1 soup, 1 drink, 2 entrees + 3 desserts! And no GST!! We will definitely come back on thursday again! Because desserts are half-priced on tue and thur! We will try out new yummylicious food again and DEFINITELY our BROWNIE not to be missed!!

Visit http://www.cafeoliv.com/ for more info.

Cafe Oliv
220, East Coast Road
(Near Church of the Holy Family, Katong)
6-344-3114
Open daily from 11:30am - 11pm