Planned a last minute Valentine’s Day dinner with my wife. She suggested we have a simple dinner where we can dress up. No frills so I don’t overspend since we’re looking forward to sharing a nice bottle of champagne at home and while the night away. Fortunately I chanced upon a promo announcement on Clickthecity.com saying that The Oakroom at the Oakwood Joy-Nostalg Center had a Valentine’s Set Dinner; it said four-course dinner at 1688 for TWO (Yes for two persons).

I quickly made a last minute reservation the morning of February 14, and was advised that the only table they had was for the second seating at 9pm. I asked them if they could find a way to get me a table for the first seating, and they said they’d get back to me. Well, thinking that there wasn’t any table for me, I made a call to check again and luckily I was already booked for the first seating. So the night would go as planned after all. Nice dinner followed by champagne, caviar, smoked salmon, and priceless quality time at home.

Nice dinner was unfortunately an understatement. Not only was it nice, but it was a fantastic three-course dinner (not four as stated in Clickthecity).

You start with either Tomato and Watercress Soup or Shrimp Caesar Salad. I chose the salad, which was more of an Asian infused twist which tasted sweet and tangy. B decided to try the soup, which was well presented and tasted pretty good and refreshing as well.

Main dish of either Baked Salmon Steak or Braised Lamb Shank. I tried the lamb, which was so tender the meat would fall off the bone. It was masterfully done and the sauce was excellent! Served on the side was mashed potatoes.

B had the salmon which was nicely seasoned by was unfortunately overcooked bordering dry already. It was topped on a nice wild rice pilaf.

Finished off with a nice dessert of heart shaped cookies and brownies with homemade cookies and cream ice cream in the middle followed by truffles and white chocolate pistachio.

And to top it all off, we were given a complimentary bottle of Robert Mondavi Woodbridge Shiraz Rose, two dining vouchers for their executive lunch and filled up a raffle ticket to win a trip for two to Palawan.