Signature by The Hill @ The Roof 1 First Avenue has opened its doors to patrons and diners a couple of weeks back. The grand launch however are still in the works. I had the opportunity to check out some of their signature dishes through a short review session aimed at introducing or activating the full menu. Hence the title of this post, "full menu activation".Arriving at The Roof rather early, we were warmly welcomed by the staffs, ensuring our needs were well taken care of throughout the whole night. It was to be a food and cocktail photo taking session, where we were introduced to a total of five Signature's yummy dishes, and six cocktails. To kick off the meal, Tortilla chips with the customary beef sauce and cheese were served. I will never say no to chips, hence it was a great start to the night. Now I'm a big fan of soft shell crabs, no matter how it is being presented, whether it's on a handroll, or in this case in a big bowl of salad. The Soft Shell Crab Salad by Signature came in a rather big bowl, with generous amounts of soft shell crabs thrown into the mix. Served with red radish, Kyuri, cherry tomatoes, and salad in signature wafu dressing, it served as the perfect starter dish.Up next was the Signature Grilled Salmon Pasta, served with a huge piece of grilled salmon on a bed of spaghetti with mild spicy creamed tomato sauce, topped with these leafy arugula. Served hot, straight from the kitchen, I have no complaints here on the taste. The pasta went well with my palette, and so did the grilled salmon, albeit I only had a few bites of the salmon.Signature's Grilled Caramel Oxtail was an interpretation of the "sup ekor", where the oxtails were flame grilled with herbed infused caramel. The Oxtail was served with the accompanying soup, made from beef and vegetable broth. Not a very big fan of oxtails, I do not know how to fully appreciate the meat. The camarel sauce was good though, providing a sweet flavour to the grilled meat.Served on a chopping board of sorts, the Brontosaurus Beef Ribs dish was gigantic. Being a beef rib lover, it does look very inviting, especially with the shine and sheer size of the beef ribs. Served with spicy wedges and mixed salad, I did however find the meat a tad too hard for my liking. Other than that, the sauce did more than make up for it.

Arriving at the restaurant just in time to catch their usual buffet dinner, but we were there to try out their Christmas & New Year's festive dining dishes. It was indeed a colourful affair, with an extensive range of delicious salads and fresh seafood, traditional Christmas meats and yummy desserts.

I must say, some of the dishes were too pretty to be eaten, especially the Christmas Pudding With Vanilla Sauce which came with these Christmas decorations on top which were edible too. Anyway these were a few pretty dishes which I had that night, let's move on to some of the mains, appetizers and salads.One of the main course served that evening was the really huge Traditional Christmas Roast Turkey. It was a huge serving to be shared among family and friends, with walnut stuffing accompanied with Giblet gravy and cranberry sauce. Personally I liked this dish, even though turkey isn't my favourite poultry, the meat here came off being tender and sweet.We ended the rather "healthy" Christmas meal with some really sweet desserts. Indulging in some dessert favorites such as Christmas Pudding with Vanilla Sauce, the Classic Yule Log Cake, Fruit Mince Pies, and another classic, the Christmas Stollen, we were spoilt for choices that wonderful evening

More poultry dishes, the nourishing Ginseng Chicken Soup or Samgyetang in Korean came served piping hot. Consisting of a whole young chicken stuffed with jujubes, ginseng, garlic, chestnuts and sticky rice, it was both nourishing and tasty. This traditional Korean soup, available on until January 2013, was an ideal dish to have in cold weathers as it really warms up the soul, so to say. The chicken meat literally fell off the bones, and went well with the sticky rice. If having ginseng chicken isn't your thing, then I'm sure the Beef Short Ribs soup will cater well for your tastebuds. At least that's what it did for me, tantalizing my tastebuds with really tasty homemade broth. Arduously prepared, with a 3-hour simmering time, this nutritiously rich soup made from quality short ribs and Korean herbs was just what the doctor adviced, to combat any incoming flu. Ah, finally a barbecue dish, with Bulgogi Brothers introduction of their Spicy Chicken Bulgogi. Highlighting a tantalizing dish of juicy chicken thighs marinated in signature Bulgogi sauce, this was indeed a sweet and sourish tasty dish. A meal on its own, I do like how the flavour blended into the chicken, giving out a heavenly aroma even before we digged in. Served with rice cakes and choice vegetables, go for this if you love your chicken spiced up and barbecueed. If beef is your meat, like me, I would definately recommend the signature Bulgogi Brothers Special. Explore the variety of different tastes and texture of fresh beef featuring a combination of Unyang-style Bulgogi (seasoned beef hand-pressed in heart shapes), and the Gwangyang-style Bulgogi (bulgogi in the style of the southern provinces of Korea, thinly sliced seasoned beef served with mushrooms, sweet potatoes, leeks and onions). Grilled by the waiter in front of you, the aroma of yummy barbecueed beef filled our nose while it was being cook.

For Bulgogi Brothers ala carte menu order, it will comes with 6 complimentary refillable side dishes of kimchi, spinach, radish, spiced water crest, sweet lotus root and mashed pumpkins. This seems to be the norm at any Korean restaurants, a tradition I think, ensuring every meal fills up the stomach fully. Our first dish off Bulgogi Brothers' new menu selection was the Sauteed Beef Wraps, or Sogogi Milssam in Korean. It looks colourful enough, enticing and encouraging me to make my own wrap. The dish consisted of naturally-coloured wheat flour pancake wraps to be filled with deliciously seasoned sauteed beef slices and crunchy julienned potato. I really like the taste of the sauteed beef here, as it was really savoury, bringing out the sweetness of the meat. Up next were the poultry dishes, coming in the form of the Crispy Tofu with Chicken and the
Crispy Chicken with Leeks Salad. I found it interesting that both these dishes were a combination of chicken and healthy alternatives such as tofu and salad, a healthy dish indeed. The Crispy Tofu with Chicken was essentially fried tofu squares with beautifully marinated diced chicken in teriyaki sauce. Served with bean sprouts, the teriyaki sauce really sweetened the dish, just the way I like. The Crispy Chicken with Leeks Salad features a platter of crispy chicken cubes with piquant chilli sauce atop fresh leeks in sweet fruit dressing.

Our 'appetizer' came in the form of Ribs' signature dish, the Vintry Roast Pork. In fact I was told by my fellow friend that this dish was her favourite dish at Vintry. Roasted and crackled, using their traditional home made recipe, this was indeed a yummy dish. I like the fact the meat wasn't too fat, and had all the trademarks of a good roast pork, crispy on the outside, moist and soft on the inside. My first time having the Beef Carpaccio was a couple of months back, and it hit a note with me. Here at Ribs by Vintry, the Beef Carpaccio tasted as good as it looks. Served with sliced Parmesan cheese, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, I found a taste for raw beef that I never thought I had. The Duck Rilettes was good as well, served with baguette slices, these were good cold starters to whet our appetite for more good things to come. Up next was the soup of the day, something I'm told wasn't in the menu yet, the Spicy Chilli Mussel Soup. Now I'm not a very big fan of mussels, hence I just had a try at the soup itself. It was pretty okay, with lots of garlic taste. Spicy, yet not too overbearing, I would think this dish will sit well with mussel lovers