(CLOSED)L'etoile

L'etoile which means The Star in French sits right at a cross junction. It catches your eye immediately with the huge words painted on the pillars. We decided to head to L'etoile for brunch on a Sunday, with stomachs empty of food but full of expectations.





L'etoile has two levels. Here's the first!

Cozy area with a strange guy...













Selection of cakes and sandwiches









The first level was more minimalistic and simple. Quiet and calming to the soul.


The toilet


Up to the second level




LOVED THE DESIGN OF THE ENTIRE SECOND LEVEL.


Cute vintage decorations and furniture


Isn't it beautiful?










So pretty


A corner for kids


That's the sewing table, used as a dining table here.

When I stepped into the second level, I went "WOW" It was amazing. The whole place was so delightfully pieced together with carefully selected furniture and decorations. I really liked the wall decals. A whimsically beautiful place it sure was.

Now, to the food.
We were utterly disappointed at the few options we had. There were around 5 types of sandwiches on the menu. And that was it. We were hoping for some delicious pasta or eggs or any other breakfasty items. But nah.

Looking for more? Desserts and drinks are just about everything else that is available.

We sure had a difficult time choosing from the limited options we were presented with.


Raisin Scone - $2.90
X said that the taste of raisins was too strong and you could hardly taste the scone. 


Ciabatta with apricot roast chicken. - $6.90
X didn't like it but I thought that the apricot roast chicken had an interesting taste. It was too dry though.


Ciabatta with smoked duck -$6.90


Oh smoked duck, how can smoked duck go wrong?
Yes it can, when it's engulfed by extremely strong pepper. I couldn't even taste the duck..

Needless to say, X wasn't happy with my choice of brunch location. And I wasn't happy either. The sandwiches are all pre-packed and wrapped up in cling wrap. They just lay in the fridge waiting for someone to order them and they are warmed up and served. I thought we should have left the place when we saw the menu but I wanted to give them a chance. Guess the only saving grace is the pretty second level and the absence of gst and service charge.

160 Owen Road
Tue–Sun: 9am – 8pm

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Love, K

K's rating of L'etoile's food : 3/10
rating of the place : 8/10

15% off total bill at Jimmy Monkey!

Hi fans! You guys should know how much we adore Jimmy Monkey by now. To share our love for Jimmy Monkey with you guys, we're proud and thrilled to present to you, our dear readers, a 15% discount at Jimmy Monkey on weekday nights! Awesome coffee, great food, unique setting and a 15% discount! How much better can it get? (:

Here's how our discount voucher looks like!



To be entitled to the discount, all you have to do is complete a few simple steps!

1)   Like Strictly Ours on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Strictly-Ours/12116944463932

2)   Like and share our post about this discount on your facebook page with the caption "Jimmy Monkey!" 

3)   Take a screenshot of the newsfeed as it appears on your facebook page and email it to strictlyours@hotmail.com (so we know that you've completed the simple steps and have your email address to send the discount voucher to!)

4) You'll receive a discount voucher with an unique discount code from us

5) Print it out

6) Head to Jimmy Monkey for an awesome night!

Trust us, Jimmy Monkey will make your weekday nights SO MUCH BETTER!

With all the love, 

X and K

Pizzeria L'Operetta

I planned a birthday dinner for one of our friends at Pizzeria L'Operetta awhile ago. Having heard of their Vera Napoletana Pizza which is a first in Singapore, I was excited to bring my friends to this place. There were 7 of us and we shared 3 pizzas.

VPN pizzas aren't your normal pizzas. There are many criteria to meet before they receive certification to be VPN pizzas. I was particularly excited about the pizza base which was supposed to be soft and elastic.

We had calamari fritti - $12++ (no picture!) which was just a basket of a few calamari rings which were not impressive at all. I mean, if your calamari is so ordinary, maybe you can serve dips that are unique?

Bismark  - $28 ++
Tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushroom, ham, poached egg, parmesan

Being a meat lover, i managed to convince my friends to order this. I felt that it was okay


Pescatora - $30 ++
Tomato sauce, garlic, prawn, squid, octopus, oregano, basil

Sadly, this seafood pizza did not meet our expectations.


Panna e Prosciutto -$28 ++
Cream sauce, mozzarella, cooked ham, basil, parmesan

This was our favourite pizza out of the three. We adored the cream base which is something different from the usual tomato base. Pretty interesting. But we wouldn't say that it's really good. Slightly above average maybe.

I was disappointed with the design of the place as I'd expected it to be prettier and maybe to look more like a pizzeria. Or maybe I just didn't like how open the place was. As for the pizzas, they were alright. The crust wasn't really outstanding to us. I guess the pizzas were a tad too expensive for their portion. And for the price that we were paying, we were expecting tastier pizzas of better quality. Although my friends were still hungry, they felt that the price wasn't justified for what they were getting and we went for more food elsewhere.

Well, you can guess I sure was embarrassed. Being the supposed "foodie" of the group, I brought my friends to a place that is not really worth a mention.. I will not recommend this pizzeria but I guess the pizzas are worth a try if you're interested to taste VPN pizzas. But there are definitely better pizzas you can get at such prices.

12 Gopeng Street #01-78-81
Icon Village Singapore 078877

Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30am-3:00pm
Dinner: Mon-Sat 6:00pm-11:00pm
Last Order:10:00pm
Closed on PH and Sundays.

Love,
K

K's rating of Pizzeria L'operetta : 4.5/10

Old School Delights

Looking for a place where you can dine and relive your childhood memories? Look no further. Here it is!




Located along the busy Thomson stretch, it was no mean feat locating this gem. Parking lots are available just outside the shop.


Look at the vintage metal biscuit tins and all the cute toys and accessories!!
Oh and those Enid Blyton books, I still have like 60 of them now haha.
Memories.








I absolutely adore the whole chalkboard idea, cement floor, and how they put in so much effort to decorate every single part of the shop.


Array of cakes


Look at the fudgeeeee. It's calling out to you, isn't it?


The menu!


Every table has one of this box which contains kuti kuti, country erasers and a pack of old maid/snap/etc cards. X was quite excited and wanted to challenge me to an eraser fight. HAHAHA.


That's a list of things that act like a checklist so you can see if you're really old school! Haha.


We loved the paper table mat. May I emphasize again the amount of effort that was placed into the whole design and concept?


Barley Lime - $3.50
X LOVED it. Hahaha it was really thick and pretty good!


Chocolate teh-cino -$4.50
There was more tea than chocolate. And I was hoping for the opposite. I still liked it though! Interesting twist to your usual teh tarik.


Laksa that X said was gooood.


I was too full from a birthday party earlier and so I only ordered this.

Basket of Wings! They came with this homemade sauce that was creamy and spicy at the same time. We couldn't stop talking about how good the sauce was. So unique and what an impression it left! Thinking about it now brings me back to that moment when I was savouring the wings, with the sauce of course. I can literally taste the remarkable sauce in my mouth right now.

And there my tummy goes.. Rumbling again.

We enjoyed our late dinner at Old School Delights and would definitely go back for more! Will love to try their fudge cakes and other old school items on their menu! I know X really liked the place. He has this thing for chalkboards and cement floors. And he likes cute places that are elaborately designed. (: How do I know that he really liked OSD? He actually said "I wanna blog about OSD!" Hahaha now, that's rare.

215M Upper Thomson Road

Tue - Fri:	11:30	-	23:00
Sat - Sun:	11:00	-	23:00

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Love, K

K's rating of OSD : 7.5/10

Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak

K and I have always been envious of how the east has so much good food and the west has none. Well, that is not exactly true as we found out. Here is a rare place in the far west that is so good , the queue never ends.
Boon lay power nasi lemak. While all the other stalls in the hawker centre are closed for the day, Boon lay power nasi lemak operates into the wee hours of the night. Sounds like a superb idea for supper.


The queue that never ends. It has nothing to do with the speed of their service, in fact they are pretty quick. The crowd just keeps coming.


Stall frontage, displayed with numerous awards and newspaper cutting , true singaporean style.


And after that patient wait , you will be rewarded with a plate of delicious nasi lemak. Crispy chicken wings, fragrant rice,  tasty burgerdale ( Fried potato patty) and the most important of all, the sambal chilli. Really makes a sinful but very satisfying meal. Worth a try.

Boon lay place food centre
#01-106
Daily: 5pm - 2am

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X's rating of the food : 7.5/10

Love, X

Ah Teng's Bakery

Ah teng's bakery has been on our to-go-list for quite some time. So one fine day when we finally decided to head there for lunch, both K and i were super excited.

Ah teng's bakery shares the same premises as Empire cafe.

A quirky chinese-named bakery in Raffles hotel, doesn't that stir up your curiosity ?

Retro looking cupboards, pots and kettles

Cakes galore

The seating area of ah teng's is rather small, but i guess you dont need such a big seating area when you only serve simple food like sandwiches, cakes and pastries.

The setting of the bakery is like in a 60s coffee shop with rustic looking hardwares, retro wall paper and wooden tables and chair. I think my parents would have enjoy the ambience within the bakery.

Pain Au Chocolat

Egg Tart

Chocolate Muffin

Sandwich with smoked salmon and picnic ham - $13 for lunch set (includes a drink)

For the expectations i had for the bakery, their sandwich is pretty disappointing. The bread was too hard for my liking, the smoked salmon and picnic ham were ordinary. There wasn't any flavour packed in the sandwich, all i tasted was bland veggies and meat. Maybe it was a wrong choice to come to Ah teng's for lunch since they are better known for their cakes and desserts. However, the waitress said that their sandwiches are famous.. Well, I tried not to be too critical but, their pastries of egg tart, croissant and muffin were all mediocre. Choupinette's chocolate danish easily beats their croissant. I really thought Ah teng's would be better.

Iced Cappuccino

I would definitely go back one day to try their cakes and dessert before making my final judgement on them. Hopefully, their cakes can live up to the expectations i've always had for them.

1 Beach Road

Raffles Hotel

Breakfast: Daily - 7.30 am to 11.00 am

All-day Dining: Sunday to Thursday and Public Holiday
- 11.00 am to 10.00 pm
Friday, Saturday and eve of Public Holiday
- 11.00 am to 11.00 pm

Afternoon Tea: Daily - 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm

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X's rating of the food : 5.5/10

Love,
X