The Tavern @ Tanglin Club

And wow, place does pretty good prime ribs at less than half the price that you pay for at Lawry's. Seriously speaking, the standards of the meat here here are quite comparable and at a significantly less cost. I'm thinking that this place could've been some serious competition that would wipe the latter location off the map of this country. We're talking I repeat, comparable standards and prices like they have it at Hog's Breath. If not for the fact that this Tavern is located at Tanglin Club (5 Stevens Road) and that you'll probably never be able to visit unless you know someone who's a member that's bringing you in. At 380g, the Gentleman's Cut for about $38 brings you very decently sized prime rib with sides of carrot sticks, steamed brussels sprouts, baked cauliflower with cheese, yorkshire pudding and a baked potato with the works (if you need to know, butter, sour cream, spring onions and bacon bits). There's also the option of a strong English mustard for the tender fatty meat. I have really nothing to complain about the food with the exception that the Yorkshire pudding from Lawry's is probably fluffier and the medium rare that I asked for was really more of medium. I'm going to be forgiving on this one.


The Lady's Cut which weighs at approximately 280g or really puts comparison into place since it weights similarly to the Lawry's cut, provides a very fair portions of similar sides as mentioned above, costs less than half of what the above mentioned expensive place charge and comes accompanied with much better service.

The interesting thing here which I have not seen elsewhere are the spreads which accompany the breads served in this place. A small selection of sliced breads, loaves and crackers are placed on a table where one can freely help themselves to. What really got my attention was the yummy and as usual, heart clogging spreads. If you're already guessing from the picture above, it's actually beef lard, herb butter and pork lard. The lards are fragrant without being overpowering in flavor and textured like kaya with bits of the fried versions mixed it. The herb butter tasted unexpectedly of honey. It's the first time I've had something like this and I've got to say that it's wonderful. I'm going to try to come back here again if possible just for the lard spreads and prime rib.

The Tapas Tree, Clark Quay

The enduring memory of this place apart from the paella (which I was recommended by a friend) is the blotchy service which makes me undecided about how to feel about this place. My impression of tapas definitely didn't come out that well after having tried some of them over two consecutive nights. I did have some impression of what to expect after having read about them. Somehow I'm not too close to being impressed. Perhaps I didn't order what's good on the menu, but then again, I am too thinking that, shouldn't it all be of similar standards? Allow me to go into what I didn't quite agree with on the service of the place. I called to make reservations at approximately 3.45 pm on a Friday afternoon and I was told that reservations is filled up and subsequent probing confirmed that there is no more seats to be had for the night. However, I did decide to try my luck and sure enough to my guess, there were seats available. What's with that? On the first night, the recommendations which we asked for sounded with a lack of interest on the part of the service staff. On the second, a waiter was quite helpful in getting the seats and the recommending of dining areas based on customer preference. The place needs better air conditioning for sure. Indoors.

The tapas on menu to be honest, does have a very decent selection. Some of which, are actually pretty tasty while the others come across as decent, or downright boring. That's probably my preference in there speaking too but the bottom line didn't quite make me feel too enthusiastic about the idea of ever coming back again.

chorizo fritos

trio de pinchos (marinated pork, beef and chicken skewers)

berenjena y tomate con queso parmasano (baked stuffed aubergine and tomato with parmesan cheese)

solomillo al jerez (tenderloin cubes in dry sherry)

The chorizos are fried in olive oil and comes across as sourish and salty sausages which was savoury, but otherwise nothing really exceptional. The tenderloin cubes in dry sherry are actually rather juicy and not cooked to death. I must admit that I had very little hopes for them until the actual tasting. The accompanying gravy actually taste like something you can get from tze char stores. In fact the entire thing taste like a Chinese stir fried beef with bell peppers and mushrooms with a hint of wine. It certainly didn't quite come as I had expected, but it was pretty good. One can certainly imagine having that with rice which would have been pretty good. But for $15, I really did expect more meat. Likewise with the trio de pinchos, it featured juicy grilled meat. To my dismay, the baked vegetables are really not worth talking about. I thought it could have been very much better, but it was not the case. Avoid them.

paella valenciana

paella negra

I thought the paella here was pretty good. I've not much basis for comparison apart from the pasta version from Esmirada which I didn't feel is the real deal. The valenciana features seafood like mussels, squid with additional of chicken compared to the regular paella. And to my surprise, there is pork belly. The slightly mushy dish comes piping hot and loaded with meat and crispy rice bits at the bottom which reminds one of claypot rice. I didn't really taste any saffron in it and most of the flavoring leans towards tangy. The negra which is the squid ink varient of their paella on the other hand is very much filled with squid ink flavor (and squids too) and it's probably the blackest rice dish I've ever come across. The rice here comes more thickly coated than the squid ink risotto at Pasta Brava. It's something to watch out for to avoid if you're out on a first date.

Goat's cheese salad, Irish stew and Fish & chips

Well, that was dinner and the subject is probably as obvious as it can get. Except for the part that it's Molly Malone's again. I thought the goat's cheese salad on toast here was pretty good if you're into pungent cheeses. This one had just enough kick to knock on the taste buds and was subsequently more of a rich and slightly creamy cheese in subsequence. One of the positive indicators of it come in the form of the warm-ish crispy toasts which says that it was definitely toasted when the salad was being made. The salad comes with a sourish (vinegar I venture) walnut dressing which was tossed into the greens with just enough of them to nicely dress up without being excessive at all. This is one lean and clean dressing despite it appearing like an oiler Thousand Island and you can hardly see it coated over the vegetables.

I don't really know what's definitive about Irish stews, but I'm guessing it's the lamb and root vegetables like onions, potatos and carrots. That's the impression I have of them anyway and it's actually not bad, especially for the cooler nights when something hot is always preferable. The lamb chunks are pretty tender and the rest is basically what you see and can imagine of it. Nothing hiding subtly beneath there. The stew does come with a bowl of real mashed potatoes which are rather good. By real, I meant that it did not come from powder and does not contain fillers. It's just pure and finely mashed potatoes with some butter where the earthy taste of the vegetable is still detectable.

It's kinda tough to find good fish and chips here and the ones at Molly Malone's are probably one of the better ones I've had around. Some other memorable mentions include Fisherman's Wharf and the next better other is actually Fish & Co already. The latter does do a decent one though the gimmick in having cheese on the fish always draws me. I'll probably have to try it at the Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro to draw another line of comparison. The menu here states pacific dory and it's really just a nice fish and chips with crispy battered skin that is served hot and comes in pretty good portions. For $16, I would say that it is a very decent deal for anything else that's comparable in taste. Doesn't the golden brown beckon to you?

Woah...

Good friend of mine enjoys cooking on the occasion and one of the things that he has done to his satisfaction after numerous trials and errors is prawn noodles. I was invited to dinner on one of the recent times so this is pretty much what this entry is about if anyone has been guessing and re-visiting to see updates. Being one of the many numerous ubiquitous dishes locally, prawn noodles is something that is judged by varying standards, which is very much like other local favourites like laksa and chicken rice. Various visible ingredients are measured across different yardsticks, subjected to differing preferences of individuals that eat or enjoy them. The prawns, the soup and possibly the noodles being the key items. These large prawns that you see in the picture, courtesy by my very lovely hand model (I know you can't tell) are however not for the noodles. They're actually river prawns from Thailand, cost about $8 a pop and were grilled with the very simple condiments of salt, pepper, and not forgetting - the ever wonderfully useful and tasty butter.

The highlight of the dinner was originally the prawn noodles despite the appearance of this entry, knowing now that the huge prawns are actually not part to it. In retrospect, both were well done and definitely made it a difficult choice as to which was the star of the table at dinner. If you are wondering why is that, behold the hay mee!


I must admit that it does look like ba kut mee (pork rib noodles) instead of prawn noodles since the pork ribs are clearly the only other visible item in the bowl apart from the noodles. And no, the prawns are not hidden at the bottom. There is no prawns in the noodles. Which brings me to the ingredients which I will divulge the most of with the exception of a few key items which must remain secret or this would be the last entry that anyone will ever read from me. The key items that were used to create the sweet stock of this particular rendition of prawn noodles includes obviously prawns (or shrimps if you would), flower crab, pork ribs (I presume that you might have guessed easily), pig tails, cloves of garlic, onions, some ginger, belachan, kang kong and a couple of other items which are easily available everywhere to everyone. As my friend would say it as it learnt it from his grandmother, there is no unit of measurement for the various items that are used. It's a trial of estimation until you get the proportions of the ingredients right.

The result was a very delicious prawn soup noodle. The shrimps that were put into boil for the stock were mostly used for the flavor, along with the disintegrated meat from the flower crabs. As you may have surmised, the soup was sweetish from the use of the ingredients. The pork ribs however, survived the cooking process turning delicately soft and sliding off the bone with ease. The meat at this point breaks apart quite easily in the mouth. Which takes us to the large grilled prawns.


These prawns spend about 15 minutes or so in the oven to bake. After which, the essense and roe ooze out onto the tray and was summarily scraped clean by the spoons of almost everyone at the table. I can only say that it was foie gras good. Heart clogging richness coupled with a fragrant char in every mouthful would be quite accurate. The flesh of the prawns are firm with crunch from each bite and slightly sweetish. I'm normally not in favor of bones and shells, but this was one of those exceptions when I discarded my utensils in favor of better tools. My fingers of course.

Ohsho, Cuppage Plaza

I've been to this place Ohsho (5 Koek Road, #01-10 Cuppage Plaza) once some years back for ramen and having noticed the food that was being served in this little counter styled eatery which features Japanese food and cooking that reminds more more than a little of tze char, I have asked myself if that is Japanese styled Chinese or Chinese styled Japanese? I'm don't know if it's which or if any of it matters, but I would guess that this place is a fusion of both if I had to put a label onto it. Well, it's probably more Japanese than Chinese though. Run by a bunch of Chinese guys that does the cooking and overseen by one other Japanese person that is probably the one in charge of the eatery. Tucked in a little corner by the entrance of Cuppage Plaza, this cosy place sees a regular share of hungry customers during the meal hours as far as I remember it, everytime I pass by.


The menu features a bunch of stir fried dishes and a selection of ramen and fried rice and various set combinations of the a la carte items. There is a set dinner which always seem to be available for $16 which consists of a very delicious fried rice, omelet with chopped vegetables and crabsticks, stir fried pork with onions and bell peppers, breaded fried prawn, mashed potatos, some shredded cabbage with mayo dressing and a bunch of gyoza. The portions of that set is pretty substantial and the fried rice with minced pork here is pretty good stuff. There is a noticeable char fragrance from the wok on the rice itself and that's something that's to me, really more Chinese than Japanese.

The gyozas here are pretty decent, if unexceptional. The skins are nicely browned, a little oily and the insides stay hot and juicy. The condiments that are available for them includes a clear vinegar, a chilli paste and something that's labelled as gyoza sauce which I didn't try. The vinegar however, works well with the dumplings especially when paired with the chilli paste which by itsself carries a noticeable kick and really puts more zest into those gyozas. I would prefer the Chinese pot stickers (guo tie) over them almost any day since there is more meat in the former. Maybe, I just haven't had really good gyozas. The char siew ramen isn't very noteable apart from the tasty char siew slices which are rather fragrant. The noodle used here isn't of the type that I prefer and the clear broth doesn't really come across as outstanding in any means.

Chocolate and banana prata from Spize

I've passed by this place (409, River Valley Road) on several occasions, but never really stopped in until today. And I realised that this location is probably really good for the post-clubbing crowd in the vicinity. The menu at Spize essentially features commonly found local Muslim food like mee gorengs, pratas and et cetera. There is a variety of pratas based on the menu which includes some of the common renditions, specialties and dessert pratas. I decided to try out the chocolate and banana prata which turned out to be pretty much how I thought it might have been - since I'm having this for the first time. This is actually not too bad. Semi melted banana slices and chocolate sauce drizzled generously over the top of a freshly made prata. The crispy surface doesn't retain for long from the chocolate sauce unless you eat it in very short manner. I'm sure you can imagine how it tastes without further description.

One cool evening with three Hot Bitches

That's what Wild Oats (Emily Hill, 11 Upper Wilkie road) calls their hot dogs and in the face of perspective, according to a friend whom was present, "These aren't hot bitches, they are just bitches". Really, I have reasonably expected more out of the poor show from Buffy, Dizzi and Sassi. The bitches arrived barely lukewarm and the buns weren't even toasted at all. Now remove all sexual connotations to whatever you've just read. This is a food blog if you remember. The toppings are really, not much to speak of apart from the novelty of having things like creamed peas which really doesn't do much to the dog apart from aesthetic color contrast for the toppings. Peas aren't exactly the strongest tasting of things and having them on sausages with spicey beef sauce already isn't exactly going to add much of a dimension if at all to the flavor. The caramelized onions and mustard were pretty regular tasting and I thought that it would probably be easier if the regular chopped variety were used instead. I must also mention the $6.50 plate of miserable looking and overfried crickle cut fries which looks like the frozen variety that can be purchased from any supermarket. Yikes, and to think that Wild Rocket and this place are related? Who's da boss in the kitchen?

"buffy"

"dizzi"

"sassy"

.

more of my home made pizzas...

One of the random things I made at home. If you recall on the previous occasions, I don't actually make them from scratch. This time round, it's the same brand of frozen pizza with spinach topping....AND additional stuff which I thought would be good to have. I'm talking about shaven breakfast ham, sundried tomatoes, generous sprinkles of grated parmesan & mozzarella and an egg. I was actually pretty surprised that the egg was still runny when the pizza was done, having spent the same amount of time spread out on the top in the oven.

Da Paolo Il Giardino, Cluny Court

I'm quite taken in by the location of this place (501 Bukit Timah Road,#01-05, Cluny Court) which is actually secluded in the back of the row of shop houses just beside Serene Centre along the junction of Bukit Timah and Adam Road. The funny thing is that the huge sign stood just beside the bamboo lined and stone pathed walkway, which was so obvious that I had actually overlooked it for some moments before realising that the innocuous path had actually lead to a shaded sanctuary which was the restaurant.

The starter for lunch was the portobello al forno which is are grilled portobello mushroom caps topped with mozzarella cheese, basil and rosemary on some greens and cherry tomatoes. The mushroom tasted pretty much like how it looks and apart from being rather juicy which can't be seen from the picture, it's a regular and decent rendition of its kind. After having had the magic mushroom from the Original Sin, I found it hard to really consider portobellos from anywhere else, exceptional. I know it's not a very fair comparison here.



I didn't make note of the pasta names, but the ingredients would pretty much speak out for themselves. This duck liver tagliatelle I found, was quite the outstanding pasta which was very well flavored in the oils of the pan fried liver tossed in cherry tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. This isn't the regular quivery foie gras but it comes a distant close, being not overcooked and seeped in their fragrance. I didn't expect anything less than al dente there for the noodles and it definitely didn't disappoint in that department, being firm and of sufficient bite.


This other tagliatelle comes tossed in a tomato cream sauce with vodka, and not to any surprise, I couldn't actually taste any of the liquor in the sauce. I was actually hoping for a noticeable hint of it. Still, it comes with that rich and flavorful sauce that is loaded with minced crab meat that permeates the dish and that makes it very memorable for its taste. This item definitely looks to be something that I could return for again.


Da Paolo is one of the places that you shouldn't pass up on tiramisu because it's just so much better than most of the other places. I'll be lazy here and skip the description because I've already done it previously, but suffice it is to say that the ones here are just good.

A return to Yoshida

So, I came back again for lunch because the chiraishizushi was so memorable and enjoyable. I think I got some fish liver today which wasn't in the box the last time I was here and the chutoro seemed to melt more smoothly in the mouth. I'm wondering if that was just something psychological for the latter. Apart from that little add on, everything else was as good as I remember it. I can see myself being hard pressed to want to pick anything else off the lunch menu if I come back again and I'm wondering if this is a good thing or not. Lol. If I really had to find a fault here, it'll probably be the pickled ginger which I was quite willing to overlook, despite it's flavor having seeped into the rice. The sashimi moriawase (I believe there was salmon, hamachi, maguro and a juicy scallop) turned up smaller than I had expected. I didn't get to taste it but it looked as good, if not as impressive as the chiraishizushi box. And not to forget, the nameless and wonderful chilled poached egg starter in yuzu infused soy sauce. Mouthwatering, is god damned right!

Dinner @ Sage

I took a step into the time machine and realised that it's been almost a year since I have first dropped into Sage for a very nice lunch. So I have finally got to come for the dinner that I've been wanting to do for quite some time, courtesy of fatpig, whom has had in diligence, made the effort to organize a monthly eveningfest in the past many moons.

A noticeable bit has changed in the past year for the dining scene at Sage. Firstly, there doesn't seem to be lunch done anymore which I think is a pity because it was enjoyable when I had mine. Dinner options seems to be available in only a la carte where there were set options previously. That aside, the food still lives up to how good I remembered it last and that's really a good thing. And remember, the photos that you see here really doesn't do justice to the actual food. The ambience of the restaurant is what you would consider to be romantic and really, my mobile phone camera can only bring out so much image quality with 2 megapixels. Thanks Adrian, for the extra lighting.

complimentary amuse bouche

I'm not too sure what this is so I can only describe it by taste. The fuschia layer at the top has a tangy ring to the flavor which reminds me of a certain berries or tomatoes. I cannot really put my finger onto what it is. At the bottom is a compact pudding of sorts in the color of oatmeal and which is made of finely minced and saltish meat akin to pate. So from there, you get a sweetish/sourish and salty tongue teaser for the pre-dinner.

Seared King Scallops on a Salad of Homemade Squid Ink Capellini, Marinated Ocean Trout and Avruga Caviar, Braised Scallop Lips and Leek & Potato Vichyssoise

I found this scallop very enjoyable. In the layers of complicated composite, the sweetness in the flesh of the seared scallop was still resonant and I thought that really scores it as a good dish. We get a saltish avruga roe with a very smoky flavored morsel of tasty scallop lips at the top and a tasty squid ink capellini at the bottom which was mostly mixed in with the warm tasting creamy base known from the menu as leek and potato vichyssoise. Which by the way was excellent to the point that most of us were rummaging the bread basked for any remnants of the herbed loaf to mop up all the remaining vichyssoise. The marinated trout unfortunately didn't really taste much more to me than something akin to salty salmon flakes.

Pan Seared Duck Foie Gras with Pistachio Crust and Fig Compote, Granny Smith Apple Puree and a dressing of Red Grape Mustard Vinegar

This foie gras probably head the most praises sung from the table and I would definitely have to agree. This is probably one of the best I've had and really, Sage did a very good one. Just recall the cliche descriptions of crispy skin and quivery soft insides that disintegrates in your mouth, diffusing its rich buttery flavors into your tongue. It's all there fellas. And there's more. I particularly enjoyed the pistachio crust which turned out to be an additional 'nuttish fragrance' in dimension for the flavored crustiness of the liver which was definitely not just window dressing on food. This is the first time I'm having the apple puree here and I decided that it too was really something worth mentioning because it's simply smooth to the point that it was almost creamy. It's a very well done citrus balancer to pair with the duck liver which is absolutely heart clogging good.

Caramelized Black Angus Beef Cheek topped with Melted Foie Gras Mousse and a Fricassee of Mushrooms, Compote of Butternut Squash and White Onions

I picked the beef over the fish for the main and that's what I would usually do in most circumstances. This time round was just an exercise of my regular options and it was almost, just almost regrettable because I had a taste of the very good cod which was one of the other option for mains and it was honestly a goodness which I've never had elsewhere. Yes, the abhorred 'melt in your mouth' description would be very appropriate there, but I hate that phrase and still I think it fair for me to say it because it simply was so. Not to digress from what I had instead, this beef cheek was unfortunately quite atypical of what I had expected of it. Simply braised beef that was well in doneness. There were some saving graces to the dish from the slight hint of bitterness over the sweet caramelized meat and to the fact that it was well done and still tender enough to be eaten with just a fork. I must also disclaim that this is not typically what I enjoy of beef and despite the fact that I had opt to use the term 'saving grace', this is not bad at all. Preference clearly comes into play for how I like my meat. The beef cheek sat in the sweetish rich jus and was made richer in flavor by the very identifiable bed of foie gras mousse on the top that really resulted in deeper flavors over a simply braised beef cheek. There isn't much to be said about the mushrooms which I thought was rather usual, but I thought the butternut squash compote was a very good touch. I like those.

Lemon & Triple Cheese Bavarian

I made a swap for the dessert and landed myself this mascarpone, ricotta, cream cheese and Meyer lemon Bavarian with peanut butter ice-cream and baked honeyed-lemon filo. I was thinking as I had the first taste of the pudding that the use of the three cheeses didn't really come into effective play of flavors as it comes across more like a curdled lemon flavored yoghurt. It was pretty enjoyable with the sweet filo pastry bar but was actually in my preference overshadowed by the creamy peanut butter ice cream which I thought was really good with bits of crushed nuts on the side.

This place would definitely be good for re-visits.