(Just between you and me though, Royce’ is my preferred choice when it comes to chocolate. The calories are totally worth it!)

Now, here’s something that is quite different. Have you ever seen a Christmas tree made out of Ferrero Rochers?

This golden chocolate tree can be admired (but not eaten) just outside Ngee Ann City. It’s certainly a show-stopper!

Amongst the golden balls are small disco balls, arranged in the shape of snowflakes.

Source

What a great product placement! It comes at just the right time of the year, too! German brand Braun Büffel did it one Christmas. So did Mercedes-Benz the year before that.

Update: The Ferrero Rocher chocolate tree is back in Christmas 2010. You can find it at The Heeren.

For more Christmas trees, check out the Sparklette Christmas Tree of the Day series.

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I remember there was once when a dozen of us crowded into the restaurant at Plaza Singapura. Shortly after sitting down to look at the menu, we had to make a rather embarrassing escape when we realised that we couldn’t afford the food! Yes, back then a Fish & Co meal seemed unattainable for us.

So, I think it’s great news that they are making their food extremely affordable now! From Sundays to Thursdays between now and October 31, they are reeling in customers with the fabulous Autumn Seafood Sensation promotion. Four seafood dishes are now priced at just $9 each!

Their fish and chips is rumoured to be the best in town. With this attractive promotion, it’s a great opportunity for everyone to put it to the test!

I did. So have they passed with flying colours?

Swiss fish & chips
S$9++
Rating:

The restaurant chain is famous for their seafood-in-a pan concept, where the dishes are served in little pans (though I’m pretty sure they don’t cook the food in them). Deep-fried to a lovely golden brown and topped with the signature garlic lemon butter sauce, the Swiss fish and chips certainly pass the initial looks test. The ample slab of dory fish helps a lot, too.

Still, none of that can prepare me for how awesome the batter is. It is one of the lightest, crispiest batter I have tasted, comparable to Japanese tempura! As for the flesh, it is tender, lightly salted and savoury throughout.

Look, it is even stuffed with Gruyere cheese!

This is, without a doubt, one of the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. (Hmm… I find that I have been using that phrase a lot lately.)

Another place that claims to have the best fish and chips is The Manhattan Fish Market. I haven’t had theirs before, but if it’s similar to the deep-fried fish fillet that they serve in their Flaming seafood platter, then it pales in comparison to Fish & Co’s.

Well, what do you think? Does Fish & Co have the best fish & chips?

Thai’s Deluxe Catch
S$9++
Rating:

One very flavourful dish included in the promotion is the Thai’s Deluxe Catch. It comprises of grilled dory fish, served with paella rice and a pile of fresh clams cooked in succulent tomato sauce.

The thing that “Thais” it together is the red curry ladled over the fish. The curry sauce is thick and sour, a very different rendition from your typical sweet Thai curry. I guess this is the tom yam edition. It goes well with the rice, and every bite is bursting with flavour!

With the promotion, both dishes cost just $9++!

Click to enlarge

Terms & Conditions:
- Promotion is not valid at the Paragon and Ion Orchard outlets.
- Seafood baked rice is not available at the Jurong Point outlet.
- Promotion is valid from Sundays to Thursdays excluding eve and day of public holidays.
- Promotion is valid for all day dine-in only.
- Promotion is not valid in conjunction with any other promotions, discounts, privileges, vouchers, and/or offers.

I really like the fact that the promotion is valid on Sundays, too. For your next meal, take advantage of these $9 Autumn Seafood Sensations! You can pick from:

• Swiss fish & chips
• Seafood baked rice
• Captain’s Catch (barbecue sauce)
• Thai’s Deluxe Catch (red curry sauce)

Aside from the food, I also notice that a copy of the restaurant’s newsletter is placed on every table. The quarterly publication contains the latest happenings and promotions at all the restaurants operated by the same company (that includes Giraffe Bar, too). This way, customers have something to read whilst waiting for their food. That’s a very cheap and clever marketing method! Another place that provides such light reads is tcc.

The newspaper-style design and the cute name really appeal to me. Can you catch what the name is?

Fish & Co ( Halal certified)
- AMK Hub
- Bugis Junction
- Changi Airport Terminal 2
- The Glass House, Park Mall
- Great World City
- The Heeren
- IMM
- ION Orchard
- Jurong Point
- NEX Mall
- Novena Square
- Paragon
- Sembawang Shopping Centre
- Suntec City Mall
- Tampines Mall
- The Waterfall at Parkway Parade
- West Coast Plaza
Website

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The Vila’ge is pronounced “vee-lah-jey”. Until very recently, I had thought it was simply pronounced and spelled “the village”!

But firstly, here’s a bit of history behind these two restaurants. Marché opened its first restaurant at the Heeren in 1997, boasting a European village dining concept, and a second one at Suntec City Mall some time after.

7 years later, The Vila’ge opened its first restaurant at China square with an identical concept. It became Marché’s direct competitor.

In 2006, Marché closed its flagship restaurant at the Heeren, and The Vila’ge took over the same floorspace.

So, how different from Marché would The Vila’ge be?

As it turns out, not too different! Both restaurants employ a similar “cashless” system where every diner is given a bar coded card. When we order our food and drinks from any of the twenty-ish stations, our purchase is recorded onto the card. Payment is made only upon leaving.

The similarities do not end there. I had dined at Marché (the Heeren branch) a number of times when it was still in business. The Vila’ge sports almost the exact same layout! The drinks section is laid out in the exact same fashion, with bottles and cans sticking out of barrels. The dining area does not look any different from before. Heck, even the make-your-own-pizza station is still located at the exact same spot!

So basically, everything looks the same as Marché. My only clue that this place is actually a different restaurant is that it now has a new name! Very different, indeed.

This is why I’m a little perturbed that photography is banned here. Why do restaurants ban photography anyway? The only reason I can think of is that they do not want competitors mimicking their design, food, whatever. But hello, this isn’t even a unique concept that The Vila’ge came up with on its own. Even its bull (or cow) mascot is the same as Marché’s! And so, “click”, “click”, “click”, my camera went.

Even though The Vila’ge gets zero points for creativity and originality, the food may fare better. Marché, as I recall, did not have any food that was particularly memorable. I had the pizza each time I went. This time round, we went for the catch of the day, which was stingray.

Sambal Stingray with Rice
S$6.80+ + 1% CESS
Rating:

Served with rice, the stingray was surprisingly good! I thought that the best sambal stingray would usually be found in hawker centres. I was wrong. The sambal chilli, in particular, was awesome. It made the dish what it is. And at just $6.80, this dish was no doubt very satisfying.

Black & White Chocolate Cake
S$4.80+ + 1% CESS
Rating:

The desserts selection was scarcely limited. I had the black and white chocolate cake, which was filled with both dark and white chocolate mousse. I love mousse, and this certainly looked very pretty. But in the end it didn’t really do much for me.

For such a huge restaurant I would have liked to see more dessert choices other than just the few cakes and breads. But they do get some brownie points for having a $14 chocolate fondue set available. Whether it’s any good remains to be seen.

Erdinger Beer
S$10.20+ (a pint) + 1% CESS
Rating:

Free beer tomorrow? Boy, wouldn’t that be sweet? The beer of choice here is the German Erdinger. Very smooth and rich!

At the end of the day, I did like what I had, but there could have been more choices available. I also liked the overall look and dining concept of this place, although I am well aware of the fact that Marché takes most, if not all, of the credit for that.

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I was awed by the decor at the Heeren. At the heart of the mall you would notice string after string of cherry blossoms (I think they are but I can’t be sure) raining down from the ceiling like a fountain. It had colourful peonies and dainty little lights, not unlike those in Christmas!

I thought it’s all very beautifully done, and very elegant! The red veils are a very nice touch. Check out that cluster of peonies too. I love the purple ones!

Normally I wouldn’t pay much attention to Chinese New Year decor, well not as much as I would for Christmas anyway. But the decor at the Heeren impressed me so much it sparked off this new series of blog entries.

Oh I won’t be doing this everyday though. There’s still a long way to go before it’s Chinese New Year!

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