Swensen's Ocean's Seven

On my 4th wedding anniversary~  as (good) luck would have it, was my hubby's final day at this First Aid course that he was made to attend so he was actually free after 6pm (for once)! Whee!

I had some 'grand' plans to check out Badoque Cafe or Sedap Corner at Simpang Bedok. But he ask to just head to Tampines. So I thought, maybe Fish & Co for once. Or some other restaurants in Tampines but somehow, I find myself following my hubby to level 3 of Tampines Mall.

I later find myself standing before… Swensen's. Not again!  Seems like Swensen's might just be the 'go-to' place for my every anniversaries… Huhu.

What do you know…? This food blogger has a spouse who is simply, 'unadventurous' when it comes to dining choices. Times like this, I'm just really thankful that my own family are very eager to try out food from any most restaurants/eating places that I suggested. In fact, there were times when they are the one to make suggestions.

Anyway (coming back to the anniversary dinner), the crowd was starting to pick up so we hurriedly made our order. My mood kinda' perked up when I see the 'Ocean's Seven' menu. A month or so back, I've received an email from them, when they were promoting it and I had been most eager to check the new offerings. Totally forgot about it until I held the menu for real.

This promotion was supposedly to bring a taste of San Francisco's famous Fisherman's Wharf to SG. The new dishes include:

- Spicy Seafood pasta with Grilled Scallops
- Crabmeat Baked Rice
- Baked Spicy Salmon with Squid Ink pasta
- Poached Barramundi in Oriental cream sauce

There are also 3 new beverages with blue syrup (high likely it's Curaçao and not blueberry).

I chose the combo where for an additional $9, I can either get the:
- Ocean Crunch salad or
- Butterfly Shrimps for starters and Hot Fudge Sundae for dessert.

I chose the latter. The more the merrier, right. Besides, I foresee that the salad portion might be big and that my hubby may not want to share it.

Hubby meanwhile, initially asked for the Chicken Victoria and I had to remind him that was what he ordered the year before and he didn't appear to like it (I find it to be pretty 'Euww!' too). He then settled for the Chicken Mushroom Penne.

Service was very weird, that day. Despite there being servers at every corner. My hubby's plate of pasta came fast and yet, for the next 15-20 mins, nothing else came to our table. Not even the sides.

When he was almost done with his food, he told me to ask about the other orders but I chose to keep mum and just wait. That's what I'm good at, anyway. So good at it that it's bad. I need to remember that not everyone has the capacity to be as patient as I am.

Then again, having been at the service line I know the kitchen can be pretty messed up. I don't mind waiting (albeit silently). I later noticed that the manager took a double take when she saw that my hubby was almost done with his food and yet, there's nothing else on the table.

She was aghast of course and I saw her running to the counter to check my order with the kitchen. She later came back, saying, "Sorry, please wait a bit, ya sayang? Your order's coming soon..." I didn't say a word and just smiled.

Man, the air-con was blasting above my head and I was famished, having came in from work… My hubby gotta' count himself lucky. I'm just glad my hubby got served first. A hungry man is an angry man and I sure don't wanna spoil my special evening with him.

As soon as the butterfly shrimp was served, I immediately skewered a piece and walloped it. Ahh… food glorious food!

Butterfly Shrimps

Butterflied shrimps coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried. Served with tartar sauce. Hubby also requested for the Deep Fried Mushrooms, where Shitake mushrooms are prepared similarly.

Baked Spicy Salmon with Squid Ink pasta

I was very impressed with this main. The plating was pretty something. I was jubilant to see so many ingredients on my plate.

The squid ink pasta was done 'Aglio Olio' style, with visible cuts of bird's eye chilli. There were pan-fried/roasted julienned bell peppers (all 3 colours) on the side. The crispy-looking piece of baked salmon was topped with chunky mango salsa and there were little dollops of pesto sauce on one side. Not forgetting the lone stalk of roasted asparagus and spring onion.

Wow!

The salmon was marinated or coated with some paprika-based spice. It wasn't the fiery kind or 'spicy'. More like taste-of-spices kinda' 'spicy'. The crispy skin was awesome! And the pasta was al dente (surprisingly) and flavourful.

Maybe God is being fair and reward me with such great-tasting food, after what I have to go through, earlier.

Hot Fudge Sundae

Had the dessert served when I'm almost done with my pasta. I was having a hard time choosing the flavours for the 2 scoops when I was placing the order.

Of course I had to choose 2 separate flavours for the 2 scoops in there. I'm a big fan of variety! Such a big fan that I chose 2 very diverse flavours. They're both my favourite and yet that was my 1st time choosing them. What irony.

Anyway, my chosen flavours were…

Chendol       and…
Rocky Road

I know, I know… What was I thinking, right? Beats me. I may love variety but I'm also indecisive and fickle. Guess that's bound to happen.

And in case you're wondering, those 2 flavours… they really don't complement each other. Eugh! Thank goodness for all that almonds and chocolate fudge!

Anyway, this will remind me to minimise my visits to Swensen's just so that my next anniversary meal will be a lil' more special, you know…?