Gemelli

Pronounced as "jay-MEHL-lee", it is Italian for "twins," referring culinarily to short, 1 1/2-inch twists that resemble two strands of spaghetti twisted together. And this is indeed what it is - a shop selling pasta and pizza owned and run by a pair of twins!!!

We chanced upon this shop through word of mouth. So while in the vicinity one day, my hubby and I (plus the little one) decided to give it a shot. Tucked away at one corner of the Bedok Camp Hawker Centre, this shop was opened almost 2 months ago. It serves a farily wide selection of pastas and pizzas considering it is just a hawker stall size space, soup and salad and some desserts.

We tried the mediterranean pasta and gnocchi. Both were good. The mediterranean pasta comes with chopped tomatoes and grilled eggplant. At first we thought it looked kinda dry cos it is not the typical tomato based pasta you would find...it is almost aglio olio style in fact...but it turned out tasty and yummy. I had the gnocchi which is a dumpling made of either semolina, flour or potatoes and served in a creamy sauce. I have eaten gnocchi elsewhere in S'pore and has always been disappointed. Cos to make good gnocchi, it has to have a good bite, chewy yet "bouncy" (the so-called QQ factor) and this one certainly did not fail. It came with a creamy sauce with fresh shitake mushrooms and asparagus. However, at the end of finishing the plate of gnocchi, you will not have much space for more as it is pretty heavy.

So how was the overall experience? Good (for the pastas since we have not tried the pizzas), we will certainly go back for more, and at a price of around $7-$9, it is reasonable fare.

I don't have the exact address and I forgot to take pics of the food!

Gemelli
Hawker Centre opposite Bedok Camp
Corner stall - sign is in black and red...you can't miss it being the only Italian stall amidst the predominantly Malay stalls
Open everyday for lunch and dinner

Vansh

I was so excited yesterday, both about turing 30 and my hubby bringing me out for dinner to celebrate my birthday. We went to a restaurant that I have been wanting to try out ever since they opened a few years back - Vansh.

Eversince 2 weeks back when my girlfriend and I went to Melt at The Oriental for buffet and tasted the delicious Indian fare there, we have been yearning for more Indian food. So I told my hubby why not try out Vansh.

And my wait has not been in vain. The food is really good quality Indian food, and the balance of spices is not overpowering. For a person who doesnt really mind what he eats, my hubby actually said the food was excellent and it was the best he has ever had, speaks a lot eh?!
We ordered the vegetarian tandoori combination platter, black bean dal, deccan vegetable curry and a chickpea curry, accompanied by pilau rice and garlic naan.

As a starter, we were served pappadums served ala love letter style and accompanied by 3 dips - yogurt mint, mango chutney and a spicy chilli tomato sauce.....yummy. I love pappadums and was expecting the usual white round pieces but this one is different. It is speckled brown, rolled up like a love letter and served in a goblet! A tad salty though but the dips were yummilicious. I am salivating now as I type. *haha*

Pardon me, we were too busy enjoying the good food and forgot about taking pictures of the food *hehe* by the time I remembered, only 1 dish left. Here is the shot of the chickpea curry.

The tandoori combination platter comes with smoked cottage cheese, spiced mushroom fritters, tandoori cauliflower and a potato cum lentil croquette. All very fragrant and nicely spiced. The vegetable curry was ok but the black bean dal and chickpea curry are must tries. You know the usual dal we get outside is watery and from the yellow lentils? This is is creamy and the taste of the black beans comes through very well. A refreshing change. My hubby tried that first and kept singing its praises. *lol*

When it comes to pilau rice, I usually hate biting into a piece of star anise or cardamon pod when, but this one was free from those chunks, very fragrant. It almost reminds me of chicken rice!!! As for the naan, it was passable. Too dense for my taste.

Now comes in the interesting part. We brought a cake along to celebrate. So when we were ready for cake cutting, we waited and waited. We thought they had lost the cake. But see what they did in the pic above.

We were very pleasantly surprised. I didnt expect them to dress up the presentation of the cake, with tea lights and all. It was cool!!!

Overall, a memorable dining experience and we will return for more for sure. Thank you dear hubby for bringing us there!!!

For meat lovers, I hear their lamb kebabs and tandoori are very good. Check with the waiter or restaurant manager for recommendatios. They know their stuff well.

http://www.vansh.com.sg/

Vansh

2 Stadium Wlk

#01-04 Singapore Indoor Stadium

Singapore 397691

Tel : 6345 4466

Casa Bom Vento

Guess where I am now? At my good friend, Lingshi's house. Brought Nicole to play with her daughter today and Nicole is taking her afternoon nap *yippee* freedom at last, for a while at least.

So yes I promised to mention about my recent food find at Casa Bom Vento over the weekend. It is a simple coffeshop space that serves Peranakan, Eurasian and Portugese food.

We tried the kacang butol ( wing beans or square beans as some call it mixed with sambal belacan, served raw), telong belajo (grilled brinjal with tomato based sauce), ayam buah keluak, nonya chap chai and fish curry just to name a few.

The kacang butol is nice but lacks the bite from the chilli but I was very happy with the telong belajo. For those who love salted fish, there is a sprinkle of deep fried salted fish bits on top. I was disappointed with the ayam buah keluak though, mainly cos they do not have the buah keluak in the dish. Instead they dug out the flesh and mixed in the soup to yield a thicker broth.

Overall a pleasant experience, food ok but lack the oomph from the spices and chilli and reasonable pricing. Oh yes, try not to sit near the kitchen. It is hot!

Casa Bom Vento
32 Seah St
Singapore 188388
Tel : 6338 8859