Catalunya

[This restaurant had closed for business as of June 2016.]

Took the man's mom out for her birthday dinner at Catalunya. His mom enjoys trying out different variations of cuisines and restaurants. But his dad's tastebuds are super conservative. Unless she's eating out with us, she never gets to check out the ahemmm hipster restaurants. Heeeheee. But taking parentals out to trendy restaurants is dicey- there's a whole checklist to go through, for each meal taken outside of the home, regardless of how casual. Gotta check the type of seats offered, the material of the seats, spacing between tables, noise level, strength of air-conditioning, grease smells, etc. It's pretty much like organizing a work event 24/7.

The fish of the day was blue cod. Giggled. Would it be better than ours? Okay, not a fair comparison because this was grilled instead of baked. A restaurant of this calibre, it would be more than decent. Served whole, the fish was filleted at the table. It was delicious. It was impossibly dark to take any decent photos. Grrrr. A little brighter would have been better. I could barely see my food, much less pick out fish bones quickly.

The lobster rice was great. Pretty much like a risotto. The lobster- two claws and bit of meat was a bit dry... The star attraction was that rice. All your S$80 for this portion for two went into the stock to boil up this plate. Wouldn't say it's the best around, but it is very decent with all the stock soaked into each grain of rice. In addition to this, we had the gambas al ajillo (Mediterranean red prawns with garlic). Those went swimmingly with the lobster rice. The red prawns were so juicy!!! Fat heads! There still isn't paella on the menu for instant gratification; apparently it takes too long to cook on a day-to-day basis. Catalunya only serves up paella if you pre-order like...two or three days in advance.

At the end of the evening, the table skipped dessert. Too stuffed. Catalunya thoughtfully produced a tiny birthday brownie with a candle. We left a note upon making our reservation, and this gesture was appreciated. We didn't even need a thick slice of cake. A dense tiny slab of brownie would do. Often, none of us need a huge slice of cake. It's a hint of a celebration that counts.