Wine Connection - French Food and Alsace Wine in Singapore

Problem
Where is Wine Connection? They have several branches. We had a jolly evening experiencing an Alsace 5 course wine dinner with six wines. The restaurant manager wanted us to be photographed with these funny props.

HillV2
One branch of Wine Connection is on the upper floor of HillV2 shopping mall a few steps from Hillview MRT on the Downtown line. The shopping area is so small that you can't miss Wine Connection, on the right as you walk from the up escalators to the supermarket. The supermarket is pricey Market Place (another upmarket branch in Tanglin, part of the Cold Storage group, different brand). We had passed the Wine Connection branch in HillV2 many times but not gone in because we are great fans of IO Italian restaurant next door. However, we were lured to their branch in the downtown area by an Alsace wine dinner featuring a 1998 vintage to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

Wine Connection

The Wine Connection branch we went to is near Telok Ayer MRT station, exit B.

After walking along a street surrounded by skyscrapers, we turned into a short cosy, romantic little pedestrian mall lit by fairy lights.

Wine Connection was at the far corner.

Passing the outside tables, we went to the air-conditioned restaurant at the back. Earlier in the day, we had emailed to warn them that I was allergic to shellfish.  I was relieved to find, on arrival that they knew all about that and were prepared.

If I were to go there again, I would ask for a seat on one of the banquettes along the wall, in order to have my bag beside me, conveniently, when I needed a pen or business card, instead of on the dirty floor.

Bar Stools With Backs
The dining chairs are squared high bar stools with backs, surprisingly comfortable once you manoeuvre yourself onto them. There's even a horizontal metal bar under the high table on which you can rest your feet, making you feel more secure.

I must admit that I do not understand the modern trend for perching tipsy people on bar stools which are likely to tip over, or tip the tipsy people off. I sat musing on the fact, bar stools for bars seem an idea which should have been stopped at the planning era by health and safety, here and worldwide.

However, perhaps I was being over cautious or pessimistic. Well into the 5-course meal, and seven assorted matched drinks, I congratulated myself on getting up onto the stool, and off it, and on again. Then we heard an alarming crash! A gentleman had fallen off his perch in the next room.

But what if he was not on a bar stool, just an ordinary low chair? If that's the case, how much worse if he had fallen from a height!

Although we knew nobody, we struck lucky with finding friends. We always do. I will chat about anything and everything, and after mesmerising somebody else, have the presence of mind to realise it is time to shut up and let them talk. My husband, having just got his diploma in wine, can talk or answer any question about wine, relentlessly.

I could not hear the lady at the next table so I got off my stool to stand nearer her and all four of got the same idea simultaneously. Push together the two tables for two. The result was a jolly evening.

The Water and The Wines


My Favourites Of The Food
The starter was tasty but fatty pork.












The second course was shellfish.
One big prawn each.

Sausage
I had two large sausages which I shared. They contained herbs. I think that's the mark of a superior sausage, like Cumberland sausage, something extra added, more plant life and less meat, fat or cereal. Our new Chinese friend was shocked to find herbs in the sausage. Not sure whether she disliked the taste or thought it was strange and inferior.

Potato Gratin
The main course contained potato gratin. I love potato gratin. Any meal or restaurant containing potato shoots up the list in my estimation. Anybody can boil up rice or spaghetti. Just add water. I suppose you can say the same of new potatoes. But potato gratin - that takes a cook.

Cheese
Finally cheese. The smelliest soft cheese you've ever met. Stronger than Camembert. Munster cheese  comes from the German city of Munster (known for bicycles tracks and a Picasso graphics museum).

Smiling Service
The restaurant manager was informative, the lady from Alsace came round to speak to us. The staff were to hand whenever you looked up. If you wanted another glass, a pen, a toothpick, whatever, you got it.

The starter of rillette of pork was not to my taste. I had filled up on bread so as not to be drinking on an empty stomach and four more courses to go. So I asked for half of it to be wrapped up to go.

At the end of the evening I received my leftovers in a paper tote bag. Next day we discovered the bag  contained the food, plus plastic knife and fork and paper napkins with the restaurant name. Excellent.

Wonderful Wines
My favourite wine was the Wolfberger "Signature" Pinot Gris equivalent of the grape called pino grigio in Italian) 2016. The usual retail price in Singapore was listed as $38 (Singapore dollars), with a promotional price of $29.

In Thailand, where Wine Connection started, you would be paying more, £26.80.

If you could get to France, you can get it for a bargain 7.7 Euros, showing as £6.47. But that's always the way. If you can afford the fare to France, or the country of origin of any wine, it's much cheaper than what you are charged when it has been flown half way around the world.

One day we hope to take a trip to Alsace. Then we will be able to visit to try and buy wines at local prices.

Can you visit 'the Wolfberger vineyard'? They are a co-op with 400 growers.

Useful Websites
visitsingapore.com
https://www.wolfberger.com/en/alsace-wines/
wineconnection.com.sg

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author ans speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.

More On IO Italian Osteria Restaurant and Etna

What's Osteria? Hostelry, same word.


Etna - what's mount Etna? A Volcano. A friend tells me: "Sicily wouldn't exist without Etna. It's a volcano island." That explain a lot.

Service
Everybody rushes around. A bit confusing as two people may try to take your order and you want to be careful not to order twice. Another confusion was that we wanted a quarter bottle and one glass, not two glasses of wine but one empty glasses, and one glass of white wine.

Anna Borrasi a jolly lady, is Partner / Chief Operations Officer.
IO
#02-01-hillV2
Hillview Rise
website: io-osteria.com
IO Osteria@Hillview
Phone: 671071050
Two other restaurants on one of their business cards:
Etnaitalianrestaurant.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

IO Italian Restaurant in Singapore for pasta and great desserts

IO Italian restaurant in Singapore still serves a huge range of Italian food and glasses of wine, especially desserts. Where is it? The IO Italian restaurant is on the upper level at HILLV2 near Hillview MRT station. You need to book a couple of days in advance to get a booking at the early sitting or late sitting on a Saturday night. But they do accept walk ins at the cross over point if they've got a table.

If you don't get in, you can buy the away food and drink and the upper level has Chinese and Indian restaurants with more down the escalators.

What's the decor? Wooden,

Atmosphere? Crammed with tables close together. But glass picture windows at the back. Huge, echoing, crowded on a Saturday night and humming.

We chose two pasta dishes.

DRINKS
The prosecco was so-so but they have a large range of drinks.

DESSERTS
Alas my favourite dessert (Cassata Siciliana - here made as a huge cake) was not on display. My dessert however had lots of ingredients. Take your choice of fruits or nuts or chocolate. The tiramisu in a lidded jar looked interesting but was mostly cream. I think the solid cheesecakes are a better bet. However, if you like your desserts moist, you might like to mix a creamy dessert with a dry solid one.

This place seems to suit everybody, groups, couples, families with children. Like many restaurants in malls in Singapore, you are expected to use the shared toilets outside in the mall on both levels.

Not much fresh fruit nor vegetables to be seen in what we chose. Next time I'll have a piece of fruit before leaving home. Nonetheless, a very pleasant evening.

IO Italian Osteria
4 Hillview Roade, 02-01HillV2 Singapore 5667979
Tel: +65 6710 7150
www.io-osteria.com

etnaitalianrestaurant.com

Singapore's new train lines - downtown line

My new year's resolution: to try all the new stations, underground and around the station and any nearby landmark or museum. Cashew Road is one of the new stations on the next extended line, opened on Dec 27 2015 with free travel until Jan 4th. A few delays in the early days, but it should be sorted soon. More photos later this month (January 2016). What a great start to the year. You can see the official MRT site with all the plans and a few local bloggers.

See my previous post about the train with windows which go white mist and block out the view when you pass the windows of homes overlooking the station and vice versa.

New line connects suburbs with the centre:
Starting from the north going south into the centre:

Bukit Panjang (The Terminus or end of line)
Cashew
Hillview - for HillV2 shopping centre with Market Place and IO Italian Osteria restaurant.
Beauty World
King Albert Park
Sixth Avenue
Tan Kah Kee -(See later post)
Botanic Gardens
Stevens
Newton - for Sheraton Hotel
Little India - for Indian shops and restaurants
Rochor
Bugis - big shopping area with Starbucks and many more shops and jumping fountains outside

Pick up the latest map from one of the larger central stations, the ticket offices open in rush hour at the bigger stations, and free maps at Changi airport.

MRT maps:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MRT_Map_as_of_2021.png - an old map but comes up large enough to read on a small 11 inch laptop.
http://skywoods-dairyfarm.officialnewlaunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Hillview-MRT-01.png

Angela Lansbury, Singapore resident.

Rainbow Cake in Singapore, Rainbow Cocktails in London, or make your own cake and juices

Rainbow cake, Singapore.
More details of restaurant and recipe later. It's in the HillV2 complex ground floor.

This is a great treat for a holiday, birthday or special occasion. Also a centrepiece for a party.

I forgot the name of the restaurant where I saw this cake. Fortunately, as usual I had taken the photo of the food with a copy of the menu (or name card) as a reminder. Dean and Deluca, in HillV2, 4 Hillview Rise, Singapore.

Here's a guide to rainbow cakes all over Singapore, with the warning that some places sell out early in the day. (Don't they have a chef on site who makes another when the cake is three quarters sold out? Don't they have a second cake in the freezer which can be brought out?)

http://www.ladyironchef.com/2014/01/rainbow-cake-cafe-singapore/

Want to make it yourself?
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3028705/rainbow-cake

I am keen on natural colours and different flavours. Why would anybody recommend food colouring? The BBC's trouble-shooting or FAQ site warns cooks that natural colours might fade during cooking. But too much food colouring can give an unpleasant flavour. Back to natural ingredients. In summer with fresh fruits abundant and cheap, a good time to make juices and flavoured cakes.

English Summer Pudding - red fruit
In England in summer many restaurants will be offering summer pudding, encased in a simple white bread outside, contrasting with the most, succulent strongly flavoured centre filling of red summer fruits such as red currants, raspberries, strawberries and blackcurrants. You could make a two or three decker summer pudding with two or three contrasting colours, red fruits, green kiwi, and another.

Australian and New Zealand Pavlova - Rainbow effect
Australia and New Zealand have as their national dish the Pavlova, a meringue with a high bowl ending and mixed fruits in the centre. At home or for a party you could create a rainbow effect in the middle simply with contrasting colours of fruits, cut into circles or semicircles, laid in lines. If you want a hotel or catering company to do a summer dessert for a party or wedding, you could ask them to create a rainbow effect Pavlova.

Another version would have concentric circles, perhaps with strawberries around the outside of the meringue. At home, or for a charity event, even a small child could create the pattern, if an adult washed and cut the fruit, and ensured the child washed their hands!

Rainbow Cake
Singapore's rainbow cake is dense, not light like a Victoria sponge, because you want the layers to hold their shape.
Good. I've always been disappointed by sponge cakes which disappear in the mouth like Candy Floss (one of the great culinary disappointments of my childhood. I must admit to liking solid foods such as suet pudding).
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-make-our-rainbow-cake-frequently-asked-questions

Contrasting Colour Cocktails
In London you can get rainbow cocktails at a Chinese restaurant in Harrow. The price of the cocktail was as much as or more than our main dish, but the highlight of the meal.

I first saw these made at a French wedding (our au pair girl Caroline nee Jouy, married name Mention. I've hunted for her all over the net). The colours settle due to the different density but you simply have to pour them in the correct order.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-Rainbow-Shots/

One recipe suggests 1/4 oz of each of
Creme de Cacao,
Creme de Violette,
Yellow Chartreuse,
Maraschino,
Benedictine,
Green Chartreuse and finally
Brandy.

Seven ingredients. If you have a well-stocked cabinet you probably have two or three already. If you don't have all the ingredients, you could make yourself a Christmas list and ask each member of the family to buy you one of the ingredients (or all buy a bottle for each other).

A simple sandwich drink of three contrasting colours could be equally amusing. (Nobody actually wants to drink all these different flavours. In my experience it's just a muddle and too much alcohol. You just want to see it.)

There's some simple scientific way of finding out which order to use the drinks you already have by looking up the number. Anybody in your family with a scientific or methodical mind could do it.
An alternative version

Rainbow Juices in Contrasting Colours
You don't like alcohol? You are driving? You want non-alcoholic drinks for health freaks or a children's party, or drivers early in the day?

You also find a mixed fruit juice will separate out into contrasting colours. This happened to my juices at The Tanglin club Tavern restaurant in Singapore.

Or just make a selection of teeny tumblers or throwaway plastic cups with juices of three different colours different colours. I saw this done at the Grove Hotel north of Watford for a Jaguar car test drive organised by Spire. Orange from oranges and carrots. Green from kiwi fruit. Red from watermelon or mixed red fruits.

Can't be bothered to make your own juices? Want a detox? Health food shops and internet suppliers can provide bottled juices. Here's just one of several I found on the net, from the USA.
http://www.rainbowjuices.com

If you are in Singapore, one of the delights is that most shopping malls in buildings with multi-storey shops have a food court in the basement or on the top storey, or both, with at least one juice bar serving juices.

Kiosks serving juices is also becoming a trend in shopping malls in London, England. You will find them in suburbs such as Harrow and Watford, as well as the big, famous malls. If you are planning a shopping trip, most shopping malls have websites so you can check the names of the restaurants and juice bars. Then check the outlet websites for their food, drinks and prices.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.