Yup yup, I've celebrated my birthday some time ago this month. :) I shall not disclose my (old) age, but I have to admit that I've started to dread birthdays. Signs of an old woman, yikes! Nevertheless, all the text messages and initiations to meet up, be it even for a quick brunch (yes, this is for you to see, Sa!), still warms my heart and it makes this birthday thingy a lot more enjoyable. <3
I have to say the best part of my birthday is that J will take great effort to bring me to a new place, which I've never heard of, to try out the food. And all these years, she was never wrong with her recommendations.
And this year, she brought me to a buffet lunch/high-tea at Museo: Art on the Isle, located at Quayside Isle, Sentosa. They're just next to W Hotel and opposite W Residences, near Sentosa Cove.
Arteastiq’s signature concept of combining the tea lounge cum social
painting studio is given a brand new packaging in MUSEO at Sentosa
Quayside. Together with the painting studio, MUSEO will be celebrating
the spirit of art and creativity with its dining-in-a-cup concept, as
well as its range of more than 30 specialty cocktails.
MUSEO has embraced the bold move of combining a luxury
afternoon high tea salon which undergoes a smooth transition into an
artistic bar and exquisite dining restaurant as the sun sets. Through
this, customers get the best of both worlds – not only would they be
able to enjoy the classic range of brunch and signature teas popularized
by Arteastiq, but also relish in trying out the newly concocted
cocktail range and exquisite dinner items at a refreshingly new
location, Sentosa Cove, where they can dress down and relax with their
friends and colleagues.
The magnificent sea view, coupled with the chill-out
holiday-making atmosphere and friendly staff, all plays important roles
in crafting MUSEO as the perfect haven for city dwellers to retreat from
the hustle and bustle of urban life.
-Credits to MUSEO-
And yes, I do agree that it's a pretty pricey choice at $48++ for a high tea buffet, even with FREE FLOW Coffee and Tea for a Coffee/Tea junkie like myself. But, look at the scenery you get to enjoy with your meal!
J has specially requested for a corner window seat so I was literally facing the window and looking out at the dock as I sat at the table.
And on top of that, apart from people (ang moh) watch, I could also dog-watch for the entire day! :)
I didn't manage to snap much pictures of the restaurant interior, but that's the dessert bar and couch seats by the window that overlook the dock.
Upon seated, I was welcomed by this really pretty "plate-holder". It's the pretty feature plate, upon which we place our food plates.
J and I didn't waste time on ordering our coffees for the day. I got for myself a Salted Caramel Latte (yes, I'm still on a salted caramel craze) and J got a Chocolate Coffee. Both the coffees were great! However, my latte somehow pales in comparison to J's coffee. I think the caramel was slightly overdone and the sweetness overpowered the coffee taste. Whereas for hers, the chocolate complimented the coffee extremely well to give an awesome chocolate richness with strong coffee fragrance. Simply divine for a chocoholic coffee addict like me.
And then J decided to grab a bit of the Iced Pear Tea in this cute teacup to try out. They're surprisingly good as compared to the lychee tea that she also took, coming from someone like me who really isn't a big fan of pears and would have preferred lychee anytime. I thought the lychee tea was too bland and tasted rather diluted. The pear tea, on the other hand, was definitely sweeter with a pear fragrance.
I shall not do any detailed review of the food, since this is a buffet (and they're pretty 'buffet-standards', if you get what I'm implying). However, I shall pinpoint on their vongole and cream of asparagus as the best and worst dish. I shall not touch on their roasted potatoes because I'm horribly biased towards potatoes (evident from the ratio of potatoes to the rest on my plate).
The vongole was divine! It's a pity there wasn't any pasta in it, if not it'll make a brilliant pasta zuppa. The clams were relatively big and fleshy (don't compare them to overseas clams, keep it Singapore standards please) and cooked to perfection, neither the sliminess of being undercooked nor rubbery of being overcooked, but extremely chewy in a generous amount of savoury stew soup with the fresh sweetness of the clams.
It's like, ZOMG YOU GOTTA PILE YOUR PLATE WITH THIS! (pardon my bimbotic ah-lian moment)
But of course, the frustration sets in when you keep hauling up empty clam shells from the serving bowl and the vongole-hungry stranger up in queue behind you was literally breathing down your neck. Okay, I exaggerated. But I did get cheated quite a bit by all the empty shells. The trick, I realised, was to 'dig deep'. Most of the clams would have separated from their shells and went down to the bottom of the serving bowl. So if you're a vongole lover, get working with the ladle and dig deeper!
Next up, the cream of asparagus, which earned the top position on the worst list. I guess both J's and my expectation of it was high due to some raves about it online, as according to J. But the soup was just bland. Way too bland to be good, and it even brought out the raw-green taste of the asparagus inside. Quite a cringe-worthy taste. I vaguely remembered having my first taste of Cream of Asparagus at V8 Cafe located at Bugis Junction almost 10 years ago. V8 has done it better in my humble opinion. Sorry there, Museo.
And after gorging ourselves with all the food, we ordered some tea to chill and laze the rest of our afternoon away. I got for myself Chamomile Mint Tea and J opted for the French Rose Tea.
This is the first time I've tried a Chamomile tea with mint added and it's actually a pretty good combination. Next would have expected the addition of a couple mint leaves will make the entire cup of tea so much more refreshing and rejuvenating. :)
And finally, at 5pm we bid Museo goodbye and decided to make our way to a place that holds some special memories for J. It was also the place she initially wanted to bring me to for high-tea but got to change her plans because dim sum was served that day instead.
Yes, we went for a casual stroll at Capella! It's really a piece of heaven on its own down here. The entire hotel premise was so calm and tranquil, and look who came to welcome us as we walked towards the restaurant/pool.
A pair of peacocks! Yes, they are a pair of free-roam peacocks.
They were roaming around at the cafe area before coming up the stairs to 'welcome' us. :)
And beyond the restaurant outdoor seating area, was the pool. It's a pretty small pool, but the view was awesome. My samsung note 2 camera didn't do the scenery justice, I got to admit.
After which, we did a bit of exploring and left the hotel premise via the stretch of Garden Villa. And made our way back to Vivo City.
And then we finally got to end my amazing day with a slice of chocolate berries tart from Fruit Paradise and a birthday song from J. :)
And I wanted to rush this blog post out by today (I would have taken longer if I could) because I'm flying to Melbourne (alone, on the flight) tomorrow!
So excited! :)
Till I'm back from Melbourne,
Mia
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