Where to lunch on a rainy day

It was another one of those rainy days in Shanghai, and I was still nursing a cold from the day before. I wasn't in the mood to take a taxi to the other side of the river for lunch, so only alternative was the 100 Century Avenue restaurant on the 91st floor. I arrived early, just before noon, and was able to get a table near the window in a quieter section of the restaurant. The dining concept reminded me of Mezzanine at the Grand Hyatt Singapore, where several open kitchens specializing in regional cuisines served the diners in the restaurant. The menu was divided into Western, Chinese and Japanese sections, but there was also a set lunch for RMB180. I wasn't too hungry, so the set lunch seemed like a sensible choice.

I picked the cream of mushroom soup for my starter, and the roasted free range chicken for my main. The soup was quite nice, full of mushroom flavors, but nothing special. The free range chicken was juicy and tender, the way free range should be. Plus the skin was very crispy and nicely seasoned. The main course was accompanied by creamed spinach and roasted potatoes on the side, and a nice creamy dip for the chicken as well.

I felt oddly unsatisfied after polishing off my main course, and decided to order their tart of the day for dessert. It turned out to be a raspberry tart, with raspberry marshmallows and vanilla ice cream on the side. The tart was so-so, the marshmallow was a little on the tough side, but the ice cream was perfect. Overall, I think it was a bit of a letdown, although the view from the 91st floor did compensate for the less than spectacular dining experience.

100 Century Avenue is in the Park Hyatt Shanghai,
100 Century Avenue, Pudong, Shanghai, People's Republic of China

Making a run for the border

Remember the old Taco Bell ad in Southern Cali about running for the border? Well, we literally ran to the car today while carrying our taco lunch amidst a very heavy downpour at Phoenix Park. Well, it wasn't much of a dash, since the car was just 2 parking lots away from the Spruce Taqueria where we stood in line to buy our lunch. Our lunch was packed in plastic boxes and wrapped in plastic bag, so everything was still intact by the time we got into the car.

We had heard about Spruce opening a little taqueria in our neck of the woods and getting some rave reviews from early birds, so we had to swing by to check it out. Plus it was a bit of a nostalgic trip, having lived in California and eaten out of many taquerias over lunch time. And thanks to the weather today, we're eating our tacos in our car. It certainly brought back memories of college days gone by.

Menu selection was very limited, there were only five varieties of soft tacos, one quesadilla, cilantro rice, salsa, chips, Aboylito's mexican rice bowl. But the success of a restaurant doesn't always depend on the variety but the quality of the few standout dishes that keep customers coming back for more (something we discovered at Freemantle Seafood Market recently). And we were very pleased with the Spruce tacos, these were some of the most authentic tasting tacos we've eaten in Singapore in a long time. Ingredients were fresh and of good quality, the snapper was well marinated, pork carnitas was super tasty and watermelon fresca was a nice refreshning end to the fast food meal. The chips and salsa were pretty good, except that the salsa wasn't spicy enough for me.

There was a sign on the order counter with a telephone number for ordering food for pick-up. So if business continues to grow for this taqueria, I think I'll be doing a lot of driving across the border for my lunch.

Spruce Taqueria is at:
Phoenix Park, on top of the circular driveway, 320 Tanglin Road, Singapore
Opening hours are lunch time 12-3pm only Mon-Fri.
The owners are planning to expand the operating hours if business picks up.
Tel: +65-6836-5526