We actually wanted to try Brown Sugar (cos of the consistently good reviews, and on Julie's recommendation) but then unfortunately, it was fully booked the day before. So next in line was Epicurious. Fortunately, or I'd wouldn't have the opportunity to try affordable and good food.
It's a pretty hard to find (for 1st timers) location, but it's wedged between 2 japanese restaurants, along the river, and quite near to butter factory.
Soup of the day - Mushroom Soup $5. Though the soup wasn't the memorable kind, the best part of it was the cheesy garlic bread. The delicious freshly baked bubbly cheese smell made everyone salivate. The mushroom soup itself was pretty creamy, with lots of mushroom bits and onions, worth the $5 since it's a good sized portion.
Beef Carpaccio with Truffle Oil, Rocket and Shaved Parmesan, whcih was an affordable $12.50.
Vietnamese Bolognaise ($16), spaghetti with minced chicken, chillies and lemongrass. It's a pretty refreshing change for normal spaghetti, the lemongrass, chillies and fish sauce (? not sure if it's fish sauce since fish sauce is thai?) went really well with shaved parmesan. At $16, it's a good sized portion with lots of minced chicken. 
The famed Epicurious Beef Burger ($18) whcih comes with a special house made beef patty, sauteed onions, mushrooms and fries. It was an unanimous agreement (amongst the 4 people who ate it) that it was very delicious and completely worth the price. You can also top up the burger with cheese, bacon or egg for $2 each or $4 for all 3. It's highly recommended that you top up your burger with cheese. 
French Country-style beef stew ($18) was the next hot favourite - tender cubes of beef simmered with herbs, vegetables in a robust red wine sauce.
This is the grilled king salmon fillet ($20) which comes with a choice of side (sauteed potatoes, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, french fries, garlic bread, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms, grilled vegetables, ratatouille or garden salad) Out of these mind-boggling choices, we ended up with the ratatouilee (since nearly everyone watched the show and wanted to try it) but it was not really to our liking cos it was pretty soggy. The salmon didn't dissappoint - it was juicy and tender, and completely not dry ( I hate having dry salmon fillets).
Apple Crumble, topped with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's a steal at $7, and the portion will put other dessert stores to shame. Though the crumble layer is pretty thin, the whole bowl is full of delicious chopped green apples, for a refreshing finish to the meal.
Chocolate mousse ($7)
Soup of the day - Mushroom Soup $5. Though the soup wasn't the memorable kind, the best part of it was the cheesy garlic bread. The delicious freshly baked bubbly cheese smell made everyone salivate. The mushroom soup itself was pretty creamy, with lots of mushroom bits and onions, worth the $5 since it's a good sized portion.
Beef Carpaccio with Truffle Oil, Rocket and Shaved Parmesan, whcih was an affordable $12.50.Vietnamese Bolognaise ($16), spaghetti with minced chicken, chillies and lemongrass. It's a pretty refreshing change for normal spaghetti, the lemongrass, chillies and fish sauce (? not sure if it's fish sauce since fish sauce is thai?) went really well with shaved parmesan. At $16, it's a good sized portion with lots of minced chicken. The famed Epicurious Beef Burger ($18) whcih comes with a special house made beef patty, sauteed onions, mushrooms and fries. It was an unanimous agreement (amongst the 4 people who ate it) that it was very delicious and completely worth the price. You can also top up the burger with cheese, bacon or egg for $2 each or $4 for all 3. It's highly recommended that you top up your burger with cheese. 
French Country-style beef stew ($18) was the next hot favourite - tender cubes of beef simmered with herbs, vegetables in a robust red wine sauce.
This is the grilled king salmon fillet ($20) which comes with a choice of side (sauteed potatoes, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, french fries, garlic bread, creamed spinach, sauteed mushrooms, grilled vegetables, ratatouille or garden salad) Out of these mind-boggling choices, we ended up with the ratatouilee (since nearly everyone watched the show and wanted to try it) but it was not really to our liking cos it was pretty soggy. The salmon didn't dissappoint - it was juicy and tender, and completely not dry ( I hate having dry salmon fillets).
Apple Crumble, topped with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream. It's a steal at $7, and the portion will put other dessert stores to shame. Though the crumble layer is pretty thin, the whole bowl is full of delicious chopped green apples, for a refreshing finish to the meal.
Chocolate mousse ($7)This is intensely chocolatey, and has a slightly powdery/grainy texture. It's very delicious - and it's like eating a whole bar of delicious cold chocolate, but minus the sore throat after that, since it doesn't leave that sticky, gross sensation you get after eating too much chocolate bars.
I will definitely return for more chocolate mousse - I suppose I can use this as my dessert substitute for the Chocolate Factory.
Epicurious is a good place if you're looking for above average food with decent and affordable prices. It proves that good food doesn't have to come with a hefty price tag. The restaurant has a relaxed environment and the service is good - the staff are knowledgable and willing to help you if you can't decide what to eat. If you want to sit in the aircon area (the kitchen is an open concept so do note that you'll have a food smell after eating inside) the seats are pretty limited. The al fresco area is much bigger. They serve water too. Last orders are 93opm, and they will try to close the restaurant by 10pm.
After Epicurious, I've decided to try cheaper places which has good and affordable food. There's so many new restaurants and cafes around to try, AND julie has such a long list of new things to eat I doubt I'll be able to try even half of those on her list.
Epicurious
#01-02 The Quayside,
#01-02 The Quayside,
60 Robertson Quay
Singapore 238252
t 65 67347720
Opening Hours:
Tuesday - Friday 11.30am - 2.30pm , 5.30pm - 9.30pm
Saturday & Sunday 9.00am - 9.30pm
Grilled Chicken Burger ($12) - lots of chicken (the real thing, not the processed patty) in a tangy slightly spicy thai dressing. There's alot of chicken so I'll be willing to pay the $12 bucks. Of course, if you're comparing this to Astons, I think Astons is cheaper. The sesame bun is lightly toasted, buttered, and the burger is complete with tomatoes, lettuce and raw onion rings. The mashed potatoes are creamy and buttery, and the daily salad is tossed in vinaigrette dressing.
Do note that if you see this place as a coffeeshop, you will find the prices very steep, and if you think of it as an al fresco cafe, it'll be cheap. In my opinion, it's slanting towards the coffeeshop side. But then again, cofffeeshops don't have cloth and wooden chairs... I would definitely go back to eat the burger, but I won't recommend you trudging across half of Singapore. It's great tasting for convenience and free 
It's 3 stars but I'll definitely go back again (some time when I'm free-er) since it's so near my house. It's like Astons(the 1st branch in Katong)- the food's good but then not deserving enough for me to trudge halfway across the island.
Look at all the yummy foie gras inside! I like warm foie gras so wobbly and oozey... I'm going to get fatty liver... It's amazing how duck liver tastes so good when pig liver has this weird biley taste.
Au Petit has never dissappointed me, taste and service wise. This is my first time having dinner at Au Petit, but I'm very sure it'll remain an occasional affair. Menu 
Went to Central (last week I think) and had 
Of course, since lunch trips are a 
The ramen base comes in 4 different flavours: Shio (salt flavour), shoyu (soy sauce), Miso (soybean paste flavour) and kara-miso (spicy soybean paste flavour). I tried the miso flavour, it's not too salty, very milky and robust and incredibly satisfying.
The special basket from Japan that was featured in life! sometime back... its not my bag though.
Broccoli with Mushrooms and Fish Maw ($30) - I think it's completely 
Braised Young Goat ($32). I thought for the price, it was much more worth it than the broccoli dish. There's lots of soft tender meat and the soup is robust and bursting with flavour. It's pretty similar to those Chinese mutton soup you get outside.
The dessert I tried was the Mango Sago, Black 
Complimentary Mango Fruit Platter
Complimentary Special Daily Dessert (some lotus thing) and Malay Cake. Of course, free dessert is always good :)
