Wine Network - Gibbston Valley Sauvignon Blanc

Date: 30 July 2007 17:30 (Monday)

Another one of those days...... All of us have it but some of us have it worse than others...

And so at 4pm, i sent a quick message to the wife and told her that i know it's a Monday and we've been discussing about how we should cut down on our food and alcohol intakes but i'm having it really bad today and i could do well with a little alcohol just after work and before going back to Mum's place for dinner.

And so we proceeded to Wine Network and got a table outside (Table T4). The weather was awesome cos it has been raining in Singapore for the past whole week and temperature was about 26 degrees Celsius making it perfect for Al Fresco dinning.

Both Wen and I are not as alcoholic as most would like to believe and we did try to limit our alcohol intake this time round to the obligatory glass or two each BUT we did our maths first... If you order a glass of wine at Wine Network, it costs $12 each. If both of us had 2 glasses, it would have cost us a total of $48. You got to be silly not to order a bottle instead right?

And hence, we were recommended a bottle of Gibbston Valley 2006 Sauvignon Blanc from Malborough New Zealand and at $48, I personally thought this bottle was a steal. It's really very good and i am beginning to realise that if you want to drink a white.... you simply cannot go wrong with a 2006 Australian or New Zealand White. It would have been made perfect if we had a plate of Whitebait and Kale's Crabmeat Capellini to accompany the wine. Mmmmm....

That wine certainly made my day....

Wine Network
Blk 13, Demsey Road,
#01-03A
Singapore 249674
Tel: 64792280

Grappe Wine and Bistro

Date: 28 July 2007 20:15 (Saturday)

Formerly known as Zuko! This cosy and unassuming little restaurant along Upper East Coast Road has been one of our favourite restaurants for awhile now. It's not that the decor of the restaurant is elaborate nor is it because the food is outstandingly fabulous but ever so often, we just want a nice little restaurant where we can chill out, have good food and not pay through our noses for the dining experience. You know what i mean right? And because the restaurant is really small, it allows much interaction with the staff there. We have become quite well acquainted with both Roy and Muriel who have never once disappointed us with their service levels.

Just a little background about this little restaurant. It used to be called Zuko! and was originally helmed by Chef Reifaie Kee who has since left to start up his nice posh little restaurant Reif + James over at The Pier. Back then, this was really our favourite restaurant cos Reifaie is such a great cook and we were always amazed at how we could get such quality food at such wonderful prices. Things didn't work out internally and they underwent some changes and had to rebrand themselves and call it Grappe Wine and Bistro. Food Menu remains largely the same, quality has gone down a little, wine choices have increased tremendously but prices continue to remain fabulously decent.














First off was the wine we selected. A Chalker's Crossing 2004 Chardonnay from Tumbarumba Australia. We selected this wine cos it was mentioned on the menu that James Halliday gave this wine 94 points. And at S$68 for a bottle, we thought it was a pretty good deal :) And it didn't disappoint. I'm not going to go into specifics as to how the wine tasted cos i'm just not at that level but it was really quite good and if i had to give a rating to this wine, i would give it a 94 too! Guess that means i agree with James Halliday doesn't it? :p


Next up was the Poached Egg Caesar Salad. This was really quite awesome. Basically fresh lettuce tossed with crotons and chicken bacon mixed with Caesar dressing sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and topped with a poached egg. Very balanced taste... Yummm!














For our mains, Wendy had the Beef Bolognaise Spaghetti while I had the Crabmeat and Pinenuts Linguine. Got to say that Wen wasn't particularly happy with her Beef Bolognaise as she felt it tasted a tad too artificially sweetened. Mind you, if Wen says so, it's got to be so... Wen is the best Italian Chef i have ever known and no one can ever change my mind about that. She knows her stuff and her grouse with the spaghetti was that the sweetness tasted like sugared sweetness rather than one that occurs as a result of adding tomatoes and spices. Personally, i thought it wasn't too bad but what do i really know... Haha..

My Crab meat pine nuts linguine was awesome. I was a little wary at first cos this is the first time i have had this dish served to me with so much soup base but i basically slurped up every single bit of that by the time we completed our mains. I had requested for 3 chilli padis to be added to my linguine and that made the spiciness perfect for me. Texture of the pasta was immaculate, amount of crab meat was generous and if i had to come up with a complain, it would have been that there just wasn't enough pine nuts. A small setback to a great dish though...

We ended our dinner with the Apple Crumble Pie topped with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream. Unfortunately, the dessert looked so good we sunk our teeth right into it only to realise that we forgot to take a picture of it! Having said that, the dessert looked better than it tasted. Not that it was bad but just very ordinary. Completed our dinner the French way by having a shot of Espresso each... Awesome!

Final Bill Amount ... S$133.83 inclusive Service Charge and Amex Discount. Now you understand why this is one of our favourite restaurants... :)


Grappe Wine and Bistro
17 Upper East Coast Road
Singapore 455208
Tel: 62415669