I treated kh to dinner at Forlino. It was our first time at an Italian fine dining restaurant and it was a lovely experience.
After browsing through the menu, kh and I decided to opt for Chef Mario Classics Set Menu.
"Mario Caramella, Chef Patron, who hails from Milano, Italy, brings to Forlino over 30 years of culinary experience as head of several award-winning Italian restaurants in Asia, where he has honed his signature style of cuisine marrying classical Italian flavours and ingredients with contemporary presentation and cooking techniques. Expressed through his signature dishes such as Spaghetti 'alla Chitarra' with Lobster, Roasted Quail with Goose Liver, Pancetta and Truffle Sauce and Boston Lobster with Sicilian Eggplant ‘Caponata’, Chef Mario's approach to quality Modern Italian cuisine is marked by culinary integrity and honesty as well as a lifelong passion for bringing the timeless appeal of his homeland's cooking to the world." -- forlino.com
Apertura
This cheese and ham combi wasn't on the set menu. It was an appetizer recommended by the waiter.
Blue Fin Tuna with Sicilian Cous Cous, Fennel and Orange
Two thumbs up for this!
Spaghetti ‘alla Chitarra' with Lobster
The spaghetti somehow tasted a little Asian. I love my Asian and Chinese noodles but I wasn't quite expecting such Asian taste so it caught me by surprise. Of course the lobster was sweet and succulent and that's more important right?
Roasted Quail with Goose Liver, Pancetta and Truffle Sauce
I'm not particularly fond of quails as I find quail meat too tender for my liking. I always love to chew my food more. If you don't already know, I'm a fan of foie gras. I sin a great deal by having goose liver at the top of my list of favourite foods.
Before our dessert arrived, the affably cute waiter presented kh with a birthday cake and wished him "happy 21st birthday".
Molten Lava Chocolate Cake with Banana Gelato and Rum Sauce
Chocolate and banana... chocolate and alcohol... These combinations could never go wrong. However, I would have enjoyed the dessert a lot more if not for the fact that kh's complimentary chocolate birthday cake was served before it. It was indeed too much chocolate at one go.
I forgot to snap a picture of the coffee and Petit Fours which were on the set menu.
After dinner, we strolled along Esplanade Drive to soak in the beautiful night scenery.
Singapore's many icons all in one picture -- Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, Merlion Park.
Esplanade Theatres on the Bay and the many hotels in the background
There was some art on display at the Esplanade foyer. I'm not sure about the symbolic representation but it sure looked like something related to impalement.
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On kh's actual birthday, we had family dinner at Paradise Inn.
Pardon kh's kiam-pa's face.
Food spread for 7
I really love dishes from Chinese restaurants.
Back at home, we had a mini cake cutting.
Judging from the number of big and small candles given, the staff at the cake shop obviously thought the birthday person was very old.
I will end off this post with the 30-year-old BOY who still loves acting young.
Both dinners look wonderful and both included great company. But which was better? =)
ReplyDeleteRYC: Since I've neve hidden food before, my kids aren't trained ot look for it. I'll try hiding things I want to get rid of, but I'm afraid it will rot instead of getting snatched by the kids.
how fun, Jo! happy belated 21st to kh lol. I will need to stop by Esplanade Drive when I go to SG! I know I kept talking about it and ran out of time (and money) to actually go there but soon I will be hk again (working this time, bam!) and SG will be so many miles closer :) And when I do go, Im going to go to that restaurant where you have a table full of food as well as that italian restaurant because everything looks so good. Its about dinner time and im drooling!!!! xo
ReplyDeleteWhat a sweet post!! Happy birthday to your husband! xoxo
ReplyDeleteHey Jo, I was going to leave a response to your comment just under my blog but I wasn't sure if you'd see it or not. When it comes to the Blogger changes everything is just more awkward. You can access everything such as your statistics or comments by a drop down toolbar thing but it's kind of irritating to have to open the bar then open what you want then go back multiple times.
ReplyDeleteI shouldn't be making it sound too bad though, unfortunately like Timeline it's going to change for everyone and we just have to get used to it. As for this post itself, your husband's 30th birthday sounds like a seriously fun time, I love the photos of him in that car thing haha!
Yummy food. Specially the gourmet food looks really good. Very soon your hubby will be 31 lol. Better late than never.
ReplyDeletewww.thoughtsofpaps.com
Happy birthday to your husband! The dinner looked absolutely amazing!! So glad you two had the chance to celebrate :)
ReplyDeletemmmMm the food looks so good! I had Italian today.. except it was pizza and not as fancy as this! I'm drooling :)
ReplyDeleteLove the last picture of your hubby! So cute.. boys will be boys!
Haha your hubby is so funny Jo. I think it's awesome that he's got a good sense of humor and isn't afraid to act a bit silly in public. I don't know if the waiter who wished him Happy 21st was serious or just joking, but if he was serious I can see why - KH doesn't look 30 at all. I have a feeling your kids are going to have really superior genes :D
ReplyDeleteHappy belated to your hubby!! So many spring babies around here - mine is coming up in May as well.
ReplyDeleteWow...I am so hungry now!! :)
Rick,
ReplyDeleteBoth dinners are very different. Once in a while, we love to indulge in fine dining. Chinese food is more of like comfort food to me. So I would welcome Chinese food anytime.
You can start to train your kids in searching for food!
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Winnie,
You would be working in HK? For how long? Cool! We'll be much closer in miles. Singapore has so many good food but I kinda miss the food in HK too.
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Melissa Blake,
Thank you and welcome here. I love seeing newcomers. =D
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YeamieWaffles,
Thank you for taking the time to reply me. I really appreciate it. =) I'm still a little hesitant in clicking the upgrade button though.
I personally haven't upgraded my FB to timeline yet as I really find the whole layout very untidy. I'm so glad they decided not to enforce timeline on everyone contrary to what they declared when it first came up.
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PAPS,
Haha yup, very soon! And I'll be older too. lol...
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Bravoe Runway,
Thank you! =)
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littlemissandrea,
Thank you for stopping by to leave your footprint. Pizza is great too! Now I feel like eating pizza. Indeed, boys will be boys.
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Rinny,
The waiter was SERIOUSly joking. Lol... I agree that kh doesn't look his age at all. Sometimes he would go to this affordable Indian barber place to have his hair cut and the barber would charge him students rates.
While people think it's cool he is not afraid to act silly in public, I sometimes wished he wouldn't, especially when we are all dressed up for a dinner date. However, when we are clad in our casual wear, I could be as silly as him too. lol
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Amy,
Mine is in May too! May babies are cool!
aww happy belated birthday to your hubs jo!! you and your husband are such a good looking couple!!
ReplyDeleteomgosh both your italian and chinese dinners looked DIVINE! i also love foie gras it's soooo yummy!
i'm kinda drooling over all the yummy chinese food your had as it is SOO difficult to find asian food at all in germany.. ugh.. especially good chinese food :( ugh seriously i want to lick my computer screen hahaha.. i miss the US.. at least it was easy to get good asian food whenever i wanted to!
haha yes my hubs is in the US armed forces.. i think he would be a terrible businessman hahaha although to be fair.. i wouldn't consider him a real soldier like your husband.. haha sometimes i like to poke fun at my husband and tell him he's a play soldier (which he hates btw when i do that haha) because he's actually a doctor for the US military.. and he works in the hospital.. so he's never seen combat or anything like that haha.. my husband would actually LOVE to be a pilot like your husband he thinks it is very cool!!
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to get good asian food in Europe especially countries which are not so touristy.
Ah, your hubby is a doctor! That is so noble. I wouldn't mind it if my wife calls me a play soldier coz I'll be smirking thinking that I'm really saving lives out there!
Thank you for sharing with me more about your hubby. I like to get to know my blogger friends more. Do you sometimes share with your hubby what's on your computer screen? I do, so he knows a little about some of my common blog friends. I think I would share with him more about you and your hubs when he's back from overseas (yet again).