Oriole Coffee & Bar at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites in Somerset
Here's some Monday musing: Moving to a new country is like having a new life.
Oriole Coffee and Bar is located at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard (it's near the entrance of 313 Somerset), 96 Somerset Rd, Singapore. Call them at 6238-8348
It's definitely a big leap of faith as you pack your suitcases and temporarily say good bye to your old life. The kind that you've grown to be so familiar and comfortable with. Then you land in a new, unfamiliar place with perhaps a few acquaintances here and there. They're definitely not the same old gang whom you've been hanging with every single day but then that means giving you the chance to build a better relationship with them and to find new friends too. It's normal that for someone who used to be so socially active, your social life in this new place can drop to zero for the first few weeks or months. Here's my advice, embrace the change with a smile. It will make adjusting so much more easier. Personally, I enjoyed my new peaceful and quiet life where I finally found the time to focus on myself for a change. It has been a year of learning new things, being more independent and loads of self-improvement too. ♥
When Paul and I moved to the Lion City, we were introduced to a new group of friends by our cousin J. They're such a fun bunch who loves to eat out, try new things and we're just so lucky that they have warmly welcomed us into the group. Recently, we got together to celebrate bride-to-be D's birthday at Oriole Coffee & Bar. I was so excited for this as Oriole has been part of my list for the longest time.
Serving size per dish is pretty much good for one but since we wanted to try more, we agreed to just share our individual orders among ourselves. Clever huh? ;) Check out what we all had:
Warm Portobello Mushroom Salad (S$20)
A delicious straight-forward salad of fresh arugula greens, pine nuts, tomato salad and a huge piece of roasted portobello mushroom. It was really tasty and good! Next time, I'm definitely getting this.
Garlic Prawn Risotto (S$25)
My order. It has everything I love -- prawns and risotto. The risotto was well cooked and I was surprised that they were very generous with the amount of prawns included. It's a great comfort dish to enjoy after a busy day at work or in our case, on a manic Monday.
Crabmeat Capellini (S$26)
If you want something light then you can try this. Angel hair pasta cooked aglio olio style with chunky pieces of crabmeat. It has a bit of spicy kick but just hot enough to give this pasta dish more personality and not the kind that would forever numb your tastebuds.
Beef Cheek Tagliatelle (S$22)
I can't event remember who ordered this. Whoever it was, I'm glad he/she went for this! Melt-in-your-mouth beef cheek with really savory mushroom sauce. It reminded me of the Beef Stroganoff that I used to have back when I was a kid. Which reminds me, must learn to cook Beef Stroganoff at home.
Fish & Chips (S$20)
As I was doing my "research" about Oriole Coffee & Bar with the help of a number of local food blogs, one thing was constant. The fact that Oriole serves one of the best Fish & Chips in Singapore. Whether or not this is true will have to come years after as I haven't been around that much to try all the fish & chips in town, but what I can say is that their Fish & Chips were indeed delicious. Must be the tender snapper which was coated with a crunchy batter or the hand-cut fries (chips) or the creamy tartar sauce. This is definitely a must-try.
Buttermilk Fried Chicken (S$26)
If fish is not your thing, then you can go for the Buttermilk Fried Chicken instead. I was only able to try a small piece and personally I still prefer the other dishes that we had. However, the guys seem to love this sweet-tasting fried chicken popcorn which were covered with coffee bourbon gravy sitting top of a crunchy waffle. Well, as they say -- different strokes for different folks.
St. Louis' Pork Ribs (S$32)
This is a very local take on the good ol' baby back ribs. Tender pork ribs marinated in kecap manis and chili giving it a sweet and salty taste with a faint (almost non-existent) spicy kick. Served with sambal, sweet potato fries and side salad. This was a big serving and can probably be shared by two.
It was a fun birthday dinner with lots of food going around the table. I can't believe it took me more than a year to finally try Oriole Coffee & Bar and while it's undergoing restaurant renovation at the moment, trust that I will definitely be back for more by next year! The best news is that it's also one of the 1-for-1 merchants of The Entertainer app so we ended up just paying half the price of everything that we ordered that night.
Serving size per dish is pretty much good for one but since we wanted to try more, we agreed to just share our individual orders among ourselves. Clever huh? ;) Check out what we all had:
A delicious straight-forward salad of fresh arugula greens, pine nuts, tomato salad and a huge piece of roasted portobello mushroom. It was really tasty and good! Next time, I'm definitely getting this.
My order. It has everything I love -- prawns and risotto. The risotto was well cooked and I was surprised that they were very generous with the amount of prawns included. It's a great comfort dish to enjoy after a busy day at work or in our case, on a manic Monday.
If you want something light then you can try this. Angel hair pasta cooked aglio olio style with chunky pieces of crabmeat. It has a bit of spicy kick but just hot enough to give this pasta dish more personality and not the kind that would forever numb your tastebuds.
I can't event remember who ordered this. Whoever it was, I'm glad he/she went for this! Melt-in-your-mouth beef cheek with really savory mushroom sauce. It reminded me of the Beef Stroganoff that I used to have back when I was a kid. Which reminds me, must learn to cook Beef Stroganoff at home.
As I was doing my "research" about Oriole Coffee & Bar with the help of a number of local food blogs, one thing was constant. The fact that Oriole serves one of the best Fish & Chips in Singapore. Whether or not this is true will have to come years after as I haven't been around that much to try all the fish & chips in town, but what I can say is that their Fish & Chips were indeed delicious. Must be the tender snapper which was coated with a crunchy batter or the hand-cut fries (chips) or the creamy tartar sauce. This is definitely a must-try.
If fish is not your thing, then you can go for the Buttermilk Fried Chicken instead. I was only able to try a small piece and personally I still prefer the other dishes that we had. However, the guys seem to love this sweet-tasting fried chicken popcorn which were covered with coffee bourbon gravy sitting top of a crunchy waffle. Well, as they say -- different strokes for different folks.
This is a very local take on the good ol' baby back ribs. Tender pork ribs marinated in kecap manis and chili giving it a sweet and salty taste with a faint (almost non-existent) spicy kick. Served with sambal, sweet potato fries and side salad. This was a big serving and can probably be shared by two.
It was a fun birthday dinner with lots of food going around the table. I can't believe it took me more than a year to finally try Oriole Coffee & Bar and while it's undergoing restaurant renovation at the moment, trust that I will definitely be back for more by next year! The best news is that it's also one of the 1-for-1 merchants of The Entertainer app so we ended up just paying half the price of everything that we ordered that night.
Happy birthday dear D! Can't wait to see you and A on your big day :)
Oriole Coffee and Bar is located at Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Orchard (it's near the entrance of 313 Somerset), 96 Somerset Rd, Singapore. Call them at 6238-8348
