After spending a fun-filled morning visiting the various interesting services/activities catered for children during our Kids' Day out at The Grandstand, our final stop is a food tasting session (as well as our lunch) at the Treehouse Cafe.

The warm ambiance and decor makes me feel very welcoming as I stepped into the cafe. The indoor play area however, was the center of attraction for my little girl. We love to dine together as a family but usually the kids gets restless while waiting or after their meals, and its hard to enjoy a cup of coffee/tea thereafter. Seeing a mini 'playground' inside the cafe definitely is a delight for Gladys.

Treehouse Cafe is one of the few restaurants that has an indoor treehouse and play area to keep the children occupied while daddies and mummies sit down and watch their little ones as they dine and chat.

There are Lego blocks, some small toys and books at the play area on the ground floor and a small kitchen playset on level 2. While older kids can play on their own, parents taking younger children should accompany their child particularly if they are on the stairways and level 2. Personally, I find there can be a wider selection and availability of toys, especially on second floor as it was pretty empty and dark. Gladys looked a bit disappointed after making her way up.

Apart from child-friendly facilities, Treehouse Cafe also serves a variety of European and Asian dishes to suit the taste buds of both adults and children. Starting with the Breakfast menu, they serve bread, pancake, Eggs Benedict and more.

Eggs Benedict with Jamon ($18)

I love their Tapas selection, particularly the Sauteed Spicy Mushrooms. It is not too spicy nor oily and I love the sweetness and softness of the mushrooms. The aftertaste was splendid, and I could not resist finishing the entire bowl.

Sauteed Spicy Mushrooms with Chilli & Garlic ($9)

Pork Meatball in Spicy Tomato Sauce ($12)

Nicely marinated and I like it to go with my rice.

Sizzling Prawns with Garlic, Chili & Olive Oil ($14)

Normally I do not order Lasagna as I find it a bit too heavy and over-whelming for my liking after a few spoonful. Found it refreshing and enjoying to take this dish once again. The Beef Lasagna is cheesy and nicely done.

Beef Lasagna ($20)

Gladys is a great fan of Pizzas and Cheese and selecting Cheesy Pizza from the Children Menu isn't that hard. All kids meal (for children below 12 years) at Treehouse Cafe is at $15 that includes a main course, a drink and a scoop of Movenpick Ice-cream. 

Cheesy Pizza - portion was just nice for Gladys and she finishes them in a swift. Apart from pizza, other kids meal selection includes nuggets, pasta, chicken sausage and fish soupy soup. 

Now for our Main course! 

Rosemary Chicken ($18) - served with tomato basil sauce, mashed potato and salad

Chicken meat is tender and nicely cooked. I would however prefer the portion to be slightly bigger. ^_^

Asian cuisine - Claypot Curry Chicken ($15) served with rice or baguette.

Gourment Steak Burger ($22) - served with chili tartar and cheese

I love this dish! The steak is juicy and tender which goes well with the soft bread, cheesy cheese, fresh onions, tomato and lettuce making the burger exceptionally yummylicious. No wonder this is one of the popular item on the menu.

Braised Lamb Shank ($26) - with spices & herbs accompanied with mashed potato and vegetables

Although I do not detest, I do not have a liking of mutton especially if the scent is too strong. Thank goodness this serving of Lamb Shank does not have a strong smell and it's meat is soft and tender.

My overall dining experience at the Treehouse Cafe has been pleasant, and I enjoyed most of the food. Pricing of the dishes is at the middle-range and I would prefer the portion of the food to be slightly bigger. I love the owner's concept of having a play area within the cafe which makes it very welcoming for families with children, giving parents a peace of their mind as the kiddos engage themselves in play time.

Treehouse Cafe

Address: 200 Turf Club Road, #01-17, Singapore 287994

Telephone: 6469 0282

Website: http://www.treehousecafe.com.sg

Disclosure: Sponsored Review - All comments and opinions are personal. Thank you OpenRice for inviting us for the food tasting session @ The Grandstand.

12th May 2013 - To celebrate Mother's Day, Hubby bought 3 breakfast buffet tickets from IKEA Tampines some weeks ago. (Adult - $10, Child - $5). Why three? Cos Mommy gets to dine for FREE! ^_^

From 9am - 11am, IKEA restaurant was closed to the public for the Breakfast Buffet Event and only ticket holders can enter. Seating was previously allocated during the purchase of the tickets and we managed to secure the table nearer to the buffet line.

The buffet spread looked really tempting. All sorts of bread, cakes, fruits and spread was neatly laid out. There is also a variety of free flow drinks to select. Milk, orange juice, coffee, tea as well as soft drinks are available at the drinks counter.

The main dish counter - Pancakes, eggs, beehoon, spaghetti, eggs, hot dogs, potatoes as well as IKEA's signature meatballs!

The salad counter was a hot favourite! There aren't enough seafood platter to go around for all! 

Halal Breakfast Buffet Counter - Strictly only for diners who wish to take the Halal meals. There is Nasi Lemak, curry, dim sum, fried chicken, potatoes and meatballs to satisfy the diners appetite.

The queue along the salad and main dish counter was tremendously long. To avoid re-queuing, we went full force filling up our plates as much as we can. The crowd at the toast and cakes section was much better probably because it was not restricted by the queue line.

For $20, our family definitely had a sumptuous breakfast. Although we are frequent patrons of the megastore, it was the first time we had breakfast at IKEA.

It was sweet and nice to spend the morning together in admist of the examination fever. Hopefully, we will get to see more of such events at IKEA. 

After indulging in a sumptuous, Japanese lunch buffet with Hubby earlier, we took the children out for movies  in the evening and decided to settle for a light dinner. It has been ages since I last visited Fig & Olive. We were attracted by its 1 for 1 promotion which means 2 meals for the price of 1.

Probably it was way past dinner hours, there were no customers in the restaurant and it was rather quiet. We sat down, browsed through the menu and chose mainly pastas. Our orders didn't take too long to arrive and the service was satisfactory.

Sicilian Tuna Penne - $10.50

Spicy tuna on penne mixed with tomato sauce. Personally, I felt the spiciness was a little over-whelming and I could not appreciate the flavour of the tomato sauce. It would also be nice to add a bit of green to this dish.

Figo Fish Oglio - $15.90

Breaded dory fish with vegetables and choice of pasta and tomato sauce or olive rice. The tomato sauce tasted the same as the one on Tuna Penne. I was hoping it would be a little different to add to its variety and flavour. I would also recommend the restaurant to be a little generous with their serving of vegetables.

Aglio Olio Pasta - $9.80

Spaghetti pasta with garlic, olive oil and capsicum. A pinch of pepper on the pasta but the overall combination tasted alright on the whole.

After sampling, I realised all our orders were a little spicy. Nevertheless, we 'cleared' our plates. We did not have the "WOW" experience but it was a rather good deal with the 1 for 1 promotion (nett price). Most importantly, we enjoyed dining together.