July 24, 2011

I chose to celebrate my birthday at Emerald Garden. A place we often visited while I was growing up.
The whole day was dedicated to my favorite people in the whole wide world - my family!

We ordered the live suahe.

And the green soup that I like.

Birthday noodles for long life. With the pink quail eggs that I love!

What this?

Oh! spareribs.

For four pax. We're a family of big eaters.

Hieng din tsun gwan! Minced pork which you need to wrap with crisp lettuce + hoisin sauce. Yum!

Mango sago. I looooove sago! =) And I love Philippine mangoes!

All in all, it was an okay meal. We've tasted better though. but we were told later on that there was a change in ownership - and apparently, a change in quality. Too bad, because Emerald has made a name for themselved as a good chinese restaurant.. and now, they've turned mediocre.

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For dinner, I decided to have it at Sala Bistro.

My RMs often take our private banking clients there..so I thought it might mean something.

It did mean something.. which I'll reveal later.

Ambience-wise, you get the cozy formal thing going on. Perfect for dates I suppose.

The menu

The complimentary bread and knick knacks were okay.

My fruit shake. Forgot what it was.

I think this was my brother's order. Or was it mine. Honestly it was so forgettable that it's just barely a month since our dinner there and and I really couldn't recall anymore.

My mom's order. Some pie.

Oh! it is my order. Cos I see my shake.
So this is the veal shoulder. No, it's the lamb shoulder. Or lamb shank. Whatever.

Take pictures. Take take take.

Some parts were tender, but some weren't. So consistency wasn't there. And I hate chewing on tough food!

Huh? I only have these photos? (sorry, I'm literally typing my thoughts as I see these pictures).

Anyway, I spent about almost PHP2K for the dinner for four people. If you convert that to SGD, that's about 60-70. What I pay for my own meal on those splurge nights.

But in the Philippines, this is already considered atas.

I felt the presentation was okay, taste so-so, but overall, I wouldn't go back. There are so many other restos to choose from. Why go back to a place where you can't even talk properly (because your voice just booms and echos) and where the food taste just okay?

Now I know why my RM brings his clients there - for the ambience alone, to create that feeling of poshness.

On the other hand, maybe my expectations were just too high.