Beanstro @ Ngee Ann City

2013 has been such a mad crazy year (especially Term 3) that I can count on ONE hand the number of times we went to town.

For 2 persons who love to shop and window-shop, this is rather pathetic.

Thus,that one super short trip to Orchard Road was a good relief and break from our busy routine. Furthermore we decided to take public transport... that made the whole Orchard experience even shorter as it takes us about an hour to get there by bus and train.

We had passed BEANSTRO (Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Bistro) a few times before but never really ventured in. Since we were only able to spend a few hours there that evening, we decided to have dinner there to avoid travelling to Far East plaza for our usual Halal food fix.

Beanstro is located at B1, Ngee Ann City .. near Sephora.

It has the typical CBTL setting, dark wood with mod orange lights. We sat outside as inside was pretty much a full-house.

Service was a little slow that day though . The place is quite small so I would not say that there was an overwhelming number of customers. We had to wave more than a few times to get the waiter's attention ....somehow all of them were swift at clearing tables but never seemed to look up and look out for any waving hands. A guy in a corner even had to stand up to make his presence felt after his frantic waving failed miserably.

But we are very patient people...hahahhaa.... food came about 15 minutes after we placed our order. Just enough time for me to convince him that I absolutely NEED that third pair of MELISSA heels  (which was gorgeous anyway. Another entry ok?) !

The menu was quite impressive, I should admit. Everything sounded so good and I told husby we must eat here again so that we can try out the rest. I was very hungry though so decision was snappy snap.

His earl grey tea. I got excited with the sugar cubes...hahahha. Cheap thrill but I find it really fascinating to watch the cube slowly dissolve into the tea.

With my hot chocolate and marshmallows :)

Beanstro's Steak Sandwich 

His order, from the Open-Faced Sandwiches menu.
It is Aussie sirloin with mesclun and gherkins, topped with caramelised onions, roasted pepper and horseradish mayonnaise. It was actually listed as the chef's recommendation. I guess he liked it since he finished it but it was just not to my liking. Or maybe the onions pissed me off . Haahaahaa..... I hate onions, even with caramel!

Salmon Skewer

Mine , mine! This was absolutely delicious! Another chef's recommendation : Salmon marinated with ginger and soya, skewered and grilled! Oh yum yum yum.... I was very sad when I reached the last of the salmon. I have always loved salmon but this takes it to the next level.

Deep Fried Calamari with Dill Honey Mustard

This was o-kay. I have tasted better calamari

I ended up dipping the calamari in this & chilli sauce. Just cannot live without chilli :P 

A meal is never complete without dessert . Since we did not want to over fill our stomachs and in our feeble attempt to save money, we decided to just share the  Warm Molten Cake .

I love it! This cost about $10 and in my opinion , had a  perfect sweet-but-not-too-sweet taste to it. I also like the peach sauce that came with it. My only complaint is that I wished the centre of the cake was more pudding-like and chocolatey. 

Our whole dinner cost approximately $80, with taxes. Maybe a little expensive for a dinner for two at a cafe but I will definitely want to try the other dishes so there will be a second (or third) time .

:)