the canopy@Aramsa

I can't believe it took me this long to come to this gem of a restaurant. It's nestled in the heart of Bishan Park II and so very convenient. I read a few bad reviews of this place online but I've also heard some good stuff about this place from friends who have been here so it was with mixed feelings that I came here. I loved it.

For one, the ambience is amazing. Stashed away from the glaring street lights, shrouded beneath the lush green foliage of the park, all within the vicinity of your own home. From the moment you step out of your car, you're greeted by the warm light that beckons you towards the restaurant. You're in the heartlands but it feels nothing like it.

It's so peaceful and quaint; and not in the least bit pretentious that many restaurants in Singapore are like. Even in the restaurant, people were joking and laughing merrily, clinking of glasses and hearty guffaws could be heard from tables all around us. It was very comfortable and yet very elegant. No forced hushed whispers or anything like that. I see joggers and dog-walkers ending their day off here, it is such a fantastic whimsical joint.
Grilled Snapper Fillet with Moroccan flavours served with rice pilaf. The fish was way way way too overdone. It was hard. Normally when I eat fish, I can cut the fillet using just a fork. I had to use my knife for this fish. It was so tough it was more like chicken. Snapper tends to be tougher but this was obviously way too overcooked.

The moroccan sauce was unusual. I quite liked it. It was a very intense tomato-based sauce with roasted red peppers undertones. I liked how tangy it was and the slight spicy punch the peppers gave. It was not fantastic but it was unique. Sharon HATED it. She wanted to gag because she hates hates hates roasted peppers. I guess that means no moroccan food for her in future.

Now, the star of the meal is not the fish, not the sauce but the rice. The rice is amazing. I don't know why but it tastes like chicken rice. It's probably cooked in chicken broth. It is amazingly fragrant and gorgeously savoury. Raisins were sprinkled into the rice and anything with raisins works for me. The raisins gave a nice burst of sweetness when bitten into and that complemented the rice very nicely. It was very refreshing, to say the least. I also liked that they added toasted almond slices to it. The rice was fluffy; the raisins were plump; and the almond's crunch really pepped things up. It brought a fascinating contrast to the already differring textures. The rice is the thing to go for here.

We also ordered Duck Meatballs with Fettucine and fresh herbs.

The pasta was overdone but it was very tasty. It was engaging and sapid, with a faint aftertaste of the duck.

I thought that the meatballs tasted of duck but Sharon thought that they tasted like normal meatballs. I could smell the distinct aroma of duck as I bit into the meatballs. I think this dish is not bad at all. The only thing is that it was a bit oily.

The serving is small and I think deliberately so, because one gets very jelat of the taste after a while.

We wanted to order the flourless chocolate cake but they were out of it so we opted for strawberry shortcake as recommended instead. It's more like apple pie than strawberry shortcake, except that in place of apples they used strawberries. I wouldn't say that it is spectacularly good but it is pretty good. It tastes very homemade, old-fashioned and is exceedinly comforting. The vanilla added a wonderful warm touch to this dessert and I was properly satisfied by it.

All in all, I enjoyed my dinner very much. I guess the bad reviews stemmed from people ordering the wrong dishes (as is the usual case) because the food was really not bad! So the trick, is to order what the restaurant is known to be good for, and not hazard a guess from the descriptions. That's why food reviews are important, so you know what to order and what not to.

The Canopy @ Aramsa
1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave 1

Bishan Park II

the wild rocket experience

I admit that I am biased towards the Wilin-Low empire. I was disappointed, very actually, to see that the reviews for Wild Rocket and Relish have not been so rosy for a while now. Truth be told, I find that very perplexing because I really do enjoy those places.

I was asked to choose a dinner place today, either Giraffe or Wild Rocket. I was tempted to go to Giraffe because

1. I’ve heard that it has improved since last year when I last went
2. Wild Rocket has been reviewed to death; it’s quite unexciting to review a restaurant everyone has tried right?
3. I was afraid the reviews were true.

However, my loyalties took over and I chose Wild Rocket. And I am glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed dinner.

Let me start by saying what a gorgeous place Wild Rocket is. It’s nestled away from the hustle and bustle of Orchard Road all while still being in extremely close proximity to town. The restaurant’s capacity is very small and thus very cosy. The decor is immaculate; it’s simple and graceful. It’s the perfect place for a perfect date. Trust me.

The pretty pretty flower. :)

When we arrived at Wild Rocket, they promptly ushered us to a table that they had specially chosen for us “because it was more private”. (Although I’m not sure why we needed privacy for, are we very unpresentable?) Somehow Sam, the manager of the Wilin-Low empire, caught wind that we were going to be there. (He knows us because we go to Relish so often) He was not there but he made sure that we got a message that he said hi. I love how the people at Wild Rocket make the effort to ensure that their patrons are well taken care of. It was all so sweet and charming.

We started our night with the bread that is served at Wild Rocket. It comes with a dip of olive oil. We're both huge carb fans and especially fond of bread. I have to admit that I don't really fancy this one though.

We were presented with two glasses of wine on the house, apparently sent from Sam. It was a perfect surprise. I thought that he was very sweet, and I appreciated that he was so thoughtful towards us, even when he wasn't around. TWO thumbs up to him!

I ordered my spicy crabmeat linguine with tomato cream. I have to admit that it's not always ambrosial. There are times when I have had it and it was merely aight and I start to wonder whether I really like it. Some nights it is spicier, some nights it is more creamy.. I like this dish, I like Wild Rocket but I have to say that it's not very consistent. But when it is good, it just blows you away.

It was gorgeous tonight. Somehow it was creamier than I remembered it to be and it was slightly spicier. I suspected that they cut down on the crabmeat since the last time too. Nonetheless, it was still marvellously coated in that spectacular flavour I have grown to love. I still think this one beats Marmalade Pantry.

It is extremely lush, but not so rich that it becomes very jelat. That balance was splendid tonight. And I like that it's not drowning in cream like carbonara. The linguine is tenderly swathed in the orange-red cream without overpowering the other flavours. You can still taste the tang from the tomato paste, the sweetness of the crab and just a tinge of heat from the spice.

Look at that. No touch-ups, nothing! Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I'm hungry again.

The servings are a bit small, I'd have to say. Even Sharon felt that she was just having an appetiser. But then again, you're not in an All-American diners cafe.

Sharon had the seafood crustacean oil spaghetti, but she changed the spaghetti to linguine. This is Sharon's first oil-based pasta. She was particulary impressed by the fact that it was not cloying at all.

At first instance, her pasta tasted a bit like prawn noodles because it has a certain Asian twist to it that made it especially piquant. I quite liked this actually. I know Sharon was not wowed at first but she said that the taste grew on her and that she would order this again.

I thought that this was a very inviting dish. Truth be told, it wasn't something very unique but it had that satiating element and the seafood distillate was flawlessly infused through the dish. In Sharon's own words, "they weren't kidding when they called it crustacean oil man."

The scallops weren't great. They weren't very fresh. But the prawns were fwahlaueh-damn-shiok. So fresh, so firm, so Q. We adored the prawns.

We ordered coconut ice-cream. It came with a grated coconut wafer and coconut jelly nestled below the ice-cream. This is Sharon's favourite. It tastes like bubor chacha to me. It's super coconutty. It is really really really bubor chacha in ice-cream form. The coconut taste is extremely 'gao', I'm honestly quite amazed by how authentic it tastes. This is something you can bring your ah-ma to try and she will love it. SOMPA.

Ah now we come to this red date ice-cream with longan. This was given to us with compliments from Sam, Sam's assistant. The former is Sam Tan, the assistant to Sam Lim as we later learned. It was our first time meeting him but already he displayed such warmness towards us. Need I say more why Wild Rocket really rocks?

Well, I am honestly struggling with this dessert. I do like it and I think it is an extremely interesting dish. Tastewise, the coconut ice-cream is a lot easier to fall in love with. But there is something about this dish. I call it the elusive dessert.

Let me explain. When it first dissolved on my tongue, I tasted red bean. I know it's red date but I swear I tasted red bean. And it's the cheapo Potong brand red bean ice-cream that we used to eat as kids, that comes on an ice-cream stick. WAIT. If that was all I tasted, I wouldn't like this dessert so much. After the Potong ice-cream taste, I taste the dulcet longans. And then I taste this elusive aftertaste.

Sharon didn't taste it, but I did. I can't put my finger on exactly what that taste is. It reminded me a bit of coffee, maybe it's because it's aromatic? I'm really not sure. I spent a really long time grappling with this aftertaste. It's not a distinct taste that I can capture and remember. It was so fragile, like bubbles that burst when you try to touch them. I find that extremely intrigueing.

So while Sharon loved the coconut ice-cream she didn't really take to the red date ice-cream. I liked the red date ice-cream because it was (I'm going to say the word again) elusive. It's mind-boggling, seriously. The coconut ice-cream was delectable, no doubt, but it was just one flavour, one taste, sweet. If I were critical, I would say this ice-cream was one-dimensional. But the red date one, there were layers to it.

I think the coconut ice-cream is definitely more tasty, but the red date one is interesting. I'm not sure if I would try it again though.

All in all, a lovely evening. I still adore this place, even though they need to be more consistent with their quality of food. Other than that, what a place man, what a place.

Wild Rocket
Hangout Hotel
10a Upper Wilkie Road
Singapore 228119