Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger

as sung by Gandalf the Grey

Andrew, an English food writer and also the co-author of the blog called Very Good Taste has come up with a list of food that he feels all omnivores should at least try once in their life. He calls this list The Omnivore's Hundred. Apparently the response to this list was quite good so I'm going to do this just for the heck of it. To join in the fun, one simply just has to...

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

Here's mine with some commentary in italics where applicable.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros - I'm gonna count this in
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht - not the traditional beetroot kind though
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - I've always gotten the sweet one
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - ...but not together
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat's milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - assuming it's just the sashimi version
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV - Amsterdam's Maximator!
59. Poutine - this has got to qualify
60. Carob chips
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads - I'm not too sure of this but...
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - I've had churros
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain - goreng pisang!!
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini - not together
73. Louche absinthe - not tried this version, only a less potent one
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

63/100

Awesomeness! The recent less than satisfactory experience in "thosaimediocrity" has been pushed away to be forgotten by this redemptive egg & ghee thosai and its onion counterpart from Sri Kamala Vilas. Needless to say, there was certainly a whole world of difference to be found in this freshly made crepe with a crisp exterior and warm insides. The buttery flavor of that ghee did occur to me to become quite cheesy tasting when taken with the mildly sourish thosai. Not to mention, that those lightly cooked onions were sweet as well. Need I also mention the tastier accompanying sambar and coconut chutneys. This meal felt so good that I followed up with a vadai. Despite them being a little cold at the end of the day, the vadai remained soft and dense. I shall quest for some fresh vadai someday.

It's been a while since I last ate here and I usually don't often find myself around this vicinity very often. But since I am, there wouldn't be any reason not to grab a bowl of that famous Sungei Road Laksa sans the "hum" (Blk 31 Kelantan Lane, #01-12 Seng Chuan Eating House, tel: 9690 8184) and refresh my memory of how it actually tastes. And that turned out to be one of those good things for the recent cool and rainy weather that's been around these couple of days, slurping thick rice vermicelli with that laksa gravy. However, I noticed that this laksa gravy doesn't quite match up to the richess and viscosity of the various (clones of) Katong Laksa that's popping up everywhere these days. A more generous inclusion of bean sprouts would have made it better as well. The side of mackerel otah that the stall was also selling wasn't very special neither.

Since I was there taking advantage of the cooler weather and eating stuff that I tend to avoid in the usual heat, I thought why not a steaming bowl of that Sin Min Rd Bak Kut Teh as well from the neighbouring stall. This bunch of bai kut wasn't too cheap coming at $9, but I guess it was worth it while tearing the soft meat dipped in the chilli padi soy sauce, off the bone. These are the moments I enjoy using my hands and getting them dirty. I was enjoying this hot peppery and garlicky broth so much that I asked for refills.

My faith in Vietnamese food has been somewhat restored by this fortunate decision to head down to Madam Saigon (30 Liang Seah Street, tel: 6333 9798). There was certainly very little that I could find myself disagreeing with this restaurant. Also, I'm not too sure about whether some of the stuff here are actually part of Vietnamese cuisine, but I've to say that I'm pretty pleased with what I've had so far and a re-visit is definitely in order since I didn't fulfill my original intention to try out their pho after getting distracted by the rest of the menu.


We started off with some light and crunchy Vietnamese summer spring rolls which was accompanied by a sweet brown dip with crushed peanuts. I've always known these rice rolls of noodles, basil, mint and prawn as their regular spring rolls and didn't expect the variety which was available. Certainly, I hadn't expect to see fried ones which were on the menu.


These are known as bolalot skewers and are basically sticks of shredded beef in betel leaves. Unfortunately, I couldn't really make anything out of those betel leaves which came across like some kind of tasteless seaweed. Does anyone know how these are supposed to be like? Interesting on a superficial level, and actually tastes great with the chilli/vinegar dips. But at $10 a pop, these weren't cheap neither.


This chicken and sweet potato curry was something that I didn't expect seeing on the menu. I didn't associate chicken curry with Vietnamese food in the first place and that it was actually sweet potatoes that were used instead of regular ones. This turned out to be interesting enough that I wouldn't mind ordering them again, given the opportunity. The use of sweet potatoes must have imparted a gauze of sweetness into the only mildly spicy, and coconut laden curry. And for some moments, I had believed to have tasted that subtle sweetness in the meat of the chicken as well. That certainly made short work of the accompanying rice.


Being fairly light on the taste and mostly crunchy on the texture beneath the slightly crisp skin, I found the Vietnamese pancake which was loaded with beans sprouts, spring onions, shreds of chicken and some prawns to be a rather good call. That means that this is something I could see myself ordering again if I make my way back. It actually reminds me of some kind of poh piah. Any concerns about this stuff being too bland can be simply vanquished by the chilli/vinegar dips that seems to be served with most of their dishes. The said dips are truly appetizing.

If anyone's wondering about the coffee, I've got to say that the brew is fairly thick (not Turkish coffee thick though), but lacks much of any uplifting fragrance that would have made it great. I'll definitely be back for the pho another day.

I had once enquired of a friend who had spent 6 years in Canada about the possible availability of poutine here. To which, he texted me back in reply and said that I should inform him if I ever find out. A lesson in lateral thinking here for those of us who subscribe to the train of "ask and thou shalt receive". Hi Stan. This endeavor bore no fruit until recently, when I came across Yella Fellas (#B1-K6 Bugis Junction, 230 Victoria Street, tel: 9863 1404) doing a "poutine" version of their fries.

To be realistic, one cannot expect the version that the Canadians make since this place is very obviously, a fries and topping place rather than a joint that specializes in poutine. They have substituted the curd cheese topping with cream cheese instead, citing reasons of the more expensive cost for the former which is also more difficult to procure. Which to me means that it would outprice their market if they would do it and have to charge us more. Nonetheless, this was the best (or only) I could find, which was better than nothing indeed.

I would say that this poutine was not too bad for taste, but no comparisons will be made since I've never had the original versions. There was some generosity with the cream cheese toppings, however, the beef gravy was kinda flat and mostly just salty. The fries were just decent and these guys apparently weigh each serving on an electronic scale. The potatoes must be expensive.

This almost would have been a satisfying cheese and egg masala thosai from Casuarina Curry (136-138 Casuarina Road, tel: 6455 9093) but for a couple of gripes. The first glaring issue was that the thosai arrived barely lukewarm which I do not feel should be the case. These are suppose to be made upon order and there is absolutely no reason for them not to be warm. The same can be said for the vegetable masala fillings and further evidented by the barely melted (though generously portioned) cheese on the inside. Have I been served something that's already pre-fabricated to be tossed into the pan for a half hearted attempt at heating? I guess it's fortunate that there are plenty of other options around since they've fallen this far.

The queue borders almost on crazy. If not for the fact that I had come specially to eat at Tian Tian (12 Murray Street, #01-10 Maxwell Food Centre), a queue like theirs is a close guarantee that I wouldn't bother. I personally found it hard to believe that I have no recollection of having eaten at this store before, but aye, such is apparently the case. The christening of this store by a certain celebrated executive chef of Les Halles Brasserie on his visit some years back, as a shrine of chook and grains did much to cement their reputation up notches for certain.

Honestly, this was pretty good on a satisfaction level. But deep inside I had guessed for a fact that a significant measure of the reputation at Tian Tian was overblown by the media. The chicken was rather ordinary and the grease soaked grainy rice was quite hearty I must say. It possessed none of the fluff factor like of certain Hainanese chicken rice store in Yishun but I guess that in their very own ways is their appeal. What was arousingly refreshing was the lime flavored chilli sauce that was bodyful with its spiciness and citrus. I smell a winning formula here.

The side of blanched bean sprouts was expertly done with no indication of rawness while retaining a nice crunch. Would I come back for this again? I couldn't say no, but there are options aplenty and many of which, offers a similar satisfaction value.

I had the distinct impression that the retro styled Monster Mash Cafe from Edinburgh (26A Lorong Mambong, Holland Village, tel: 6463 4610) was British, but apparently from what I saw over at the place on a little bit of their history, the owners hail from Scotland. Nonetheless, the idea of the "cafe" seems to be of straight forward food with minimal frills and elaboration as evident from the menu. They even mention the Bird's Custard and Wall's ice cream that they use. Generally, the main draw of this place is their sausages and mash amongst a bunch of other fare like pies, burgers and British styled breakfast. I saw some vegetarian haggis on the menu which I didn't think to try since it was vegetarian.

One basically just chooses from the list of available sausage, mashed potatoes (real mealy mashed potatoes) and gravy from the menu and whatever's up on the specials on the blackboard. Unexpectedly, the accompanying gravy tasted a little bland. I was thinking that the flavor would be robust or at least, more salty. The onion gravy option did differ from the regular monster gravy by being noticeable sweeter from the onions, but that was pretty much it. The sausages were quite decent with the morrocan lamb being more flavorful than the other.

The bread pudding was frankly, very enjoyable with the piping hot custard that came on the side. The afternoon rain probably contributed to that, but I was quite surprised that nothing was excessively sweet. There wasn't the usual feeling of sugar overload at the end which was a good thing for me. That goes for the Baileys caramel shake which while wasn't the coldest or creamiest shakes around, was quite enjoyable with the flavor of the namesake liquor.

I've no qualms coming back again for more of their food. The cheese burger from the kid's menu on the neighboring table looked pretty good too. Lol.

Apparently, this is an old school looking joint (65 Serangoon Garden Way, tel: 6282 7972 / 6286 4813) that serves, and is somewhat famed for their Peranakan food and Hainanese styled chicken rice. Part of the reason I was drawn to this place was because of the way it looked and the array of dishes that were displayed on the front of this old restaurant. Besides, the crowd density showed the place to be pretty healthy and that indication alone meant that things cannot be that bad. I hoped. In the end, this turned out to be a good call (a revisit in order!) as the food was indeed rather tasty and prices were very affordable.

Another reason that drew me into Pow Sing was the chicken rice which looked good already from the front of the store. Behind the glass screen where the chef was carving the birds onto platters for serving. The squashing of the chicken meat with the cleaver was never a good practice in my books and this place didn't do just that. As it turns out, the portions of the chicken breast which was ordered was quite tender and dare I say, succulent for that cut. Paired with a none too heavy rice that held a prerequisite greasiness and what I felt to be sufficient aroma, I was pretty much already sold by the offerings.

Still we were compelled to pick some items off the menu.


The Nonya deep fried tofu was pretty much deep fried egg tofu. But it was good. If there was additional flavoring added to the exterior of the fried skins, it was lost to me. This dish was recommended by the server as a popular item and I could guess why after having the first bite.


This was indicated as a sweet and sour duck on the menu. That alone gave justification to pause for a short moment wonder at what the dish was about, so we ordered a portion of it. The dish didn't turn out far from the simply described name, but the sauces wasn't the sweet and sour variety that was commonly served with pork and sliced fish that I had in mind. This was some sort of braised duck in an broth of some spices and shredded onions that were boiled to a pulp. The onions were the main give of the sweetish taste, though I couldn't identify what made the dish slightly tangy. Now this wasn't too bad, the meat was just a little tough.


These deep fried crispy squid are generally a no brainer and I don't think that much can go wrong with them. Pow Sing's rendition was quite good. In fact, it was very appetizing after the a squeeze of that juicy lime.

Two servings of their chicken rice was a very good indication of how much I enjoyed the food and I can definitely see myself making plans to return some time.

I've been up to the newest outlet of Astons Specialties (2 Handy Road, #04-03 The Cathay, tel: 6887 5889) a couple of times in the past few days for their steaks and I have to say that they represented good value for their cost. Still. Reliving the extra cut prime ribeye gave me a better experience this time round with a fatter looking cut and darker char markings. I also decided opted for their New York Strip which unexpectedly arrived at a 250g for an affordable $14.90. It was leaner meat than the ribeye and had a very enjoyable strip of fragrant charred fat on the sides. Thumbs up to them for their good work. This is the kind of entry steak places that we all need. Service was a little spotty, and the meat was a little more cooked than requested, but I guess there was little else to fault at all.

I happened to be wandering in Serangoon Gardens looking for dinner and came across RK Eating House (1 Kensington Park Road, Serangoon Garden Estate, tel : 6289 5379) and I thought to myself "cool, this could be someplace good". Almost subconsciously in my head, I felt that I must have seen or heard of this place before and after deciding that nothing was really of interest for the moment, I made the call to step in for some bee hoon goreng and mutton murtabak.


Quite unfortunately, my instincts led me to someplace very unremarkable this time. The bee hoon goreng didn't quite look like the deeper orange I had expected and the portions were a little small. It packed very little of the expected spiciness I was hoping for and the ground mutton was simply such a token handful that it probably would not have made much of a difference if they hadn't put them in. And I really didn't like those root end pieces of cabbage they threw in. The mildly soggy in the centre murtabak appeared quite generic and felt flat for some reasons. There wasn't any additional pan frying to bring out those ground mutton inside and the onions too, didn't quite uplift anything. And there's a equally flat teh tarik which was made from basically a weak tea that didn't taste milky. Definitely the dampener here, but I guess I could cross this place out for the future.

This was certainly a rich and creamy lunch that I didn't expect to find myself ordering in the late morning. It was also my first visit to Tandoori Restaurant (320 Serangoon Road, #01-26 Serangoon Plaza, tel: 6294 2232) which has been around as long as I can remember seeing it down in Little India. Hence I suppose, warrants a visit since by virtue of it's long standing presense, it ought to be at least pretty decent. The vibes however didn't feel quite the same as some of the other places as they prompted me for orders of drinks right at the start instead of the end that most places does. This place feels a tad westernized if you know what I mean. Despite appearances.

I was actually kind of disappointed that their paneer tikka wasn't available for order so I had to settle for the closest substitute, which was paneer butter masala. Along with the butter chicken, cheese naan, kashmiri pilau, and some refreshing raita. After a glass of overly sweet lassi and very bland cup of masala tea.

The chicken and cottage cheese arrived and tasted pretty much as expected with a few points of note. The creamy and rich butter chicken wasn't "not spicy" as they had claimed. I was actually looking towards something along the lines of Jaggi's (yes them again!) in their mild, yet creamy gravy. But I guess this, which was still quite tasty, wasn't that case. The pieces of chicken glaringly lacked the smoky aroma of the tandoor as well.


This lightly spiced basmati rice with fruits turned out quite different from what I had in mind. I was thinking along the lines of dried fruits and nuts which are commonly used; but apart from the regular raisins, there were also bits of pineapple, little round balls which tasted like papaya and even nata de coco (aka sea coconut). And in the end, I found myself really enjoying this fragrant fruit rice to the point that I could just eat it all without any gravy. Portions were sadly, quite small.



The raita came with onions on the side instead of inside and had barely any trace of cucumbers. This wasn't quite what I had in mind when I ordered it, thinking it to be the crunchy salad of cucumbers and onions in yoghurt. Instead, I got mostly a refreshing watery yoghurt. The cheese naans looked deceptively like a boring stale pizza, not like a naan as I know it. Fortunately, it was quite tasty and the curd like cheese that was used flavored pretty well.

Still, it'll be a tough call to consider this place again seeing that this lunch set me back by $55. I know there are more economic options around, many of which I've yet to explore.

I was made known to a $2 chicken rice down at the Lobby Cafe at Toa Payoh Central, so seeing that it wasn't something that turned up to often, I gave it a go. This place only does take away and you'll have to find your own place to eat. Now this wasn't close to any of the better chicken rice which I've had, but certainly, I must say that it wasn't too shabby for the cost. With flavors being thin here on the rice, the store was rather generous on the chilli. The portions likewise were a little too skimpy for me that I had to look for something else to fill me up.

Which drove me to Mooi Kee (Blk 183, Toa Payoh Central) for another plate that turned out much more satisfying. This sure didn't look like the factory roasted variety of chicken and was much more tender and glisteningly greasy in a good way. The likewise greasy rice wasn't of the fluffy variety and sat heavily, but it was still all good. Strangely, the chilli was mostly just salty.

The general rule of behavior for broth in steamboats is that it tends to get better towards the end. The simple explaination behind that is due to the enrichment of the soup flavors from the "essence" of all the bits and ends of meats and vegetables that has been cooking in it. This results in the broth becoming more deeply flavorsome or "sweet". That's when it gets tasty. This however didn't quite turn out to be the case for me here at Chuang Yang Ji Mutton Steamboat (432 Balestier Road, #01-434 Public Mansion, tel: 90033244). And I didn't mean it in a bad way.


The broth in this steamboat here was a milky looking concoction of a mutton based soup with some herbs which restaurant had explained, takes around 6 hours of preparation. We were all requested to enjoy the soup right at the start before cooking anything to experience the flavor which turned out to be moderately light on the sweetish herbs and balanced on the other end with the flavor of mutton. I thought that this was quite enjoyable. The food menu was relatively simple; which consisted mostly of lamb (thin sliced meat, ribs, tendon, spare parts and mutton wanton), vegetable options for steamboat and some spicy Szechuan based dishes which we ordered a couple as starters.


There was a chilled saliva chicken and another dish that was described as mixed sliced meats, but the latter was basically thinly sliced beef and tripe. Both are dressed in some spicy and savory sauces that includes chilli oil and neither was really numbing for the palate. Apart from these side order options for the dishes, the only other spicy thing from the restaurant seems to be the dried chilli condiment which looked like a mixture of dried chilli flakes, sesame seed, salt which I used for the meats from the steamboat. It was initially spicy and quite aromatic, but progressively got quite saltish that I had to ignore it in favor of eating without condiments instead.

I must say that I like this place enough to seriously consider coming back another day. The next time, I'll probably do with less of the vegetables which made the soup much too sweetish for my likings. I'll definitely forgo the mutton dumplings which had thick starchy skin, was filled with meat that I couldn't quite identify as lamb and had some chopped herb that I didn't personally enjoy. All in all, it was a pretty good steamboat and at this point of time, quite the unique place since I don't know of any other mutton hotpots around.

This lamb kebab from Charco's is really not too bad, but I don't recall seeing those vertical spits of roasting meat down in the store. It's about a dollar more than Sultan Kebab (which only has beef and chicken) but the fillings of meat are pretty generous. Something that I liked about them here is that there's actually cheese apart from the sauces that's drizzled over the insides and they don't pull the vegetable filler on you. Despite the meats being a little on the dry side, the sauces actually makes up for the lack of "juices". I see that there seems to be a briyani option too so something tells me I may be back.

This was quite an impromptu decision to head down to da Mario's (60 Robertson Quay, #01-10 The Quayside, tel: 6235 7623). The case with a place that gets media attention is that it inadvertently gets inside your head once in a while from its mentions and that constant reminder sometimes just makes you give pause and give it another thought.

This little restaurant turned out to be quite agreeable from the food (with their reasonable pricings) to the attentive service and I must say that this first enjoyable visit encouraged me to seriously consider returning. Though I was a little amused at seeing my name on the reservation tag and that the mouth stopper was grissini instead of bread? We decided on some of the chef's creations since it was a likely indicator of how we'd like the place. Dinner started with their insalata Mario, followed by a pizza that goes by dolce vita, their capellini regina and a tiramisu.


My original intention was go light for a starter and I certainly didn't expect the salad to be a warm one. This is basically a bunch of sauteed button mushrooms, sliced garlic, black olives and sundried tomatoes on a bed of semi wilted greens, cherry tomatoes and some mozzarella cheese. There was a noticeable dose of pepper on the sauteed portions and all turned out to be quite enjoyable. The portions was rather generous as well.


Pizza bianca is a type of pizza that excludes the use of the common tomato sauce for the base on the bread and has olive oil (or pesto) instead. It's probably not common here since I do not recall having anything like that apart from a cheese and garlic pizza in Brewerkz which was actually not good. Back on track, this dolce vita is one of a few pizza biancas available for selection and I think I find myself liking this variety quite a bit. For one, the toppings of the spinach and gorgonzola were noticeably more pronounced compared to a tomato based variety which for me, tends to murk the flavors. The crust wasn't the thinnest I've had, but that's not really not about having the thinnest crust since this is quite good.


The picture that you see is actually a half portion of the pasta. da Mario's cappelini regina is basically another of the crab meat pastas which seems to be everywhere. The crab here however comes in small chunks instead of being finely shredded. This is on top of button mushrooms, artichoke hearts and some sliced garlic done in a spicy white wine and olive oil sauce. The spiciness was quite noticeable, but not overwhelming in any means. The crab meat was pretty decent, but it wasn't fresh sweetness we're looking in there. It'll probably be difficult to tell with the spiciness. In the end I still find myself prefering this crab pasta over the one at La Strada.


To quell the curiosity on the tiramisu, we decided that we'll just have to try it to get it out of us. It was okay, but it wouldn't be something that I'm looking forward to again. I personally found the sponge fingers a little dry for my likings and I've had better for sure. Like the one from Da Paolo.

An old friend of mine which I hadn't met up with for a while gave me a call one morning and pulled me down to the vicinity of Arab Street for an early lunch. I didn't have any idea where we would be going to until we reached the place (11 & 15 Jalan Pisang, S199078, tel : 62917248) and for a momentary couple of seconds, the place rang small bells of familiarity even though I was quite sure I haven't been there. And no, it wasn't from a strange dream that led to this déjà vu. Lol. It was YouTube and I remembered it from an episode of Anthony Bourdain in A Cook's Tour when he was here back in 03 and was eating nasi padang. And I believe that I sat on the table just next to the one that he did back then.

Even though this is something that I've eaten since a child, I've never really given it much though to its origins until today when I was told that the origins of nasi padang came largely from the people in the city of Padang in Sumatra. But I'm not going to dig into that here.


I haven't eaten tauhu telur that often. So I'm likening this to be one of the best ones I've had since it wasn't over fried into a shriveled lump and the eggs that cover the bean curd weren't excessively chewy. This was certainly better than the ones served in the Riverside Indonesian Restaurant or Sanur as I can recall.


Now this was quite good. Tender chunks of mutton in a nutty spicy gravy. I understand that it might not be an apples to apples comparison, but the rendang mutton here is definitely much more worthy of praise than a certain beef rendang which many people claim to be very good. There's no way the latter location matches this one in the tenderness of the meat or for this matter, the rendang. Personal preferences aside, I think this tops the other hands down.


This is something that I'm mentioning for the first time here and it is also something that I've rather enjoyed over the years since I was introduced to it. The paru, or beef lungs are often seen in Malay food stores, fried to death resulting in dry chewy pieces of jerky like meat which can be a trial to eat sometimes. This other rendition (which can also be found in other places) is instead soft and chewy that I very much prefer over the other.


Deep fried potato patties flavored with pepper. Yummy!


I don't know the name of this dish, but it's not an otah. It's some fish with curried paste cooked in banana leaf and there was a tad too much lemongrass in the curry paste than I like. The fish too came with quite a bit of bones which made it tedious to eat.


The rice wasn't quite as fluffy as I thought might have been from appearances, but that's really very forgiveable considering the gravies and spices that serve as an accompaniment. Had to exercise some restraint here since there was quite a number of tasty looking dishes amongst many to be had. I spied lemak siput sedut (small sea snails in coconut curry) in one of the troughs so I think that's something I'll be looking forward to the next time I come here.

This tasty home cooked pasta is actually much more simple to make than the name may suggest. Well, the tasty part was largely because of the sauce that was used.

By some chance, I've recently come across a jar of Sharwood's tikka masala gravy from the British food section at Carrefour. The deep earthy orange of the sauce beckoned my attention and guided my hands to pick up the jar to look at the ingredients. I decided to give it a try. So that's basically the sauce that is used.


I've had a pack of chilli linguine lying in storage for a while. To be honest, I bought them because they were more of a novelty to me than anything else and having tasted them during the cooking process without any sauces, I can tell you that the chilli flavor was actually barely discernable. A barest hint would be it. So since this wasn't going to really to add any spice or dimensions, I'll just use them as regular noodles.

The process for doing this is quite the usual for pasta with jarred sauces. I'll just summarize it into 3 simple steps.

1. The pasta is firstly cooked in boiling water with salt and then blanched in cold water.
2. Pour the jarred sauce into a pot and heat them up.
3. Move the pasta back into the pot with sauce and toss.

That is pretty much it for this. Nothing complicated. You can top this with ground parmesan if you like.

The optional item here are the bacon like bits of ham on the top.

What I did was to shred some ham. Any kind ham is good for this actually. Throw in some brandy butter to melt in a pre heated pan on a low fire. Add the ham. Both the butter and the ham have altogether enough oil to keep thing sizzling on low for quite a while. The bits of the ham should be browned and starting to curl when you remove them.

A point to note is, the usage of the brandy butter is just for the sugar. Not the brandy. I've done this a couple of times because I have a jar of them which I couldnt' find any other uses for. It can probably be substituted. The end result would be a sort of sweet and saltish bacon bits.

I must say that the dim sum here (290 Orchard Road, #05-10 The Paragon, tel: 6734 6866) was pretty good. This would be especially so in comparison to the recent and more costly one that I had over at Shang Palace. The latter location costed a third more than this place. Even after the early bird discount of 30% off the bill. The food didn't quite pack as much omph Crystal Jade here did for the price. To be fair, there was also some creative differences as to how the dim sum dishes were interpreted.

Of note, some of the mentions include the light and crispy baked skins of the char siew pastry; soft glutinous rice; creamy carrot cake with the crispy exterior and the delicious salted yolk prawns which were actually from the a la carte menu. Those crunchy prawns with their semi crispy batter soaked in the salted yolk were much better than the ones in Xi Yan. The only let down was the goose liver pastry which while buttery, wasn't really much in the way of being delectable and had barely any taste of the goose liver at all. That'll be something I'll remember to avoid if I come back again. Still, there's quite a bit of the stuff which I haven't gotten the chance to eat from the dim sum menu alone.














There wasn't much room for desserts so we settled for a ubiquitous mango pudding and the other pan fried bunch of vegetables in sugar and ground peanuts. The latter here came in surprising large portions considering that everything else came in comfortable bite servings and it ended up feeling a tad too greasy for the finish.

This place is worth a return visit.

These were being sold at the Sky Garden level at Suntec in some temporary booths that were selling snacks for $2. It was mainly the cheese that made me curious. It turns out that, the "tofu" exterior tasted like a soft fishcake and there was enough cheese in it to make this thing rather delicious in a savory way.

I hadn't walked into any Burger King for quite some time and didn't realise that they have a triple whopper on the menu now. I guess they must be trying to reassert their position as the kings of fast food burgers by coming out with this monster which is probably one of the largest with 3 whopper sized patties. This outguns the quad deck cheeseburger that I attempt at McD but it costs almost twice as much. In comparison, I would guess that the cheeseburger tasted better because it had more cheese and BK patties seems to be quite dry. But I wouldn't say that I won't consider this whopper again if I had to eat here once more. I'll have to remember to ask for cheese then too.

Previously, this place (8 Raffles Avenue, #01-02/04 Esplanade Mall, tel: 6333 1965) was known as the V Tea Room. I've always been curious about them since then but haven't actually walked in until today. It was also quite unintentional as I was actually just sampling some interesting cookies that they had on sale and while looking around, I decided to try their Baileys Irish Cream tea cake which was something that I recall from seeing here some time back.

This cake sure was pricey. Then again, so was everything else on menu. The fairly generous portion of single serving dessert was a squarish log of dense butter like cake filled with bits of hazelnut and the whole sitting in a pool of espresso/Baileys mixture. The cake was heated up before apply the four dollops of cream and upon serving, had a shot of Baileys poured over the top. This was actually not bad, but I guess most of what made it good was the Baileys.

Short story is, I was happening by the area a couple of weeks back and by chance, saw this stall by Jaggi's in Kopitiam (No. 51 Bras Basah Road, #01-03 Plaza By The Park, S189554). Having liked their food at their main branch at Race Course Road, I wanted to check this one out. As I had suspected, due to the limited area which the store had as a unit in a foodcourt, the variety was much lesser than the main restaurant. That didn't stop me from ordering some of my favorites of their smokey and creamy butter chicken, cheese naan, palek paneer and some chicken tikka.


I was expecting some differences since this foodcourt unit didn't look like it had the space for the facilities as the original place. The relief was, the butter chicken was still pretty good and the cheese naan still as loaded with cheese. Though the cheese didn't quite melt as well. The palek paneer wasn't too bad as well if not for the fact that it wasn't well heated like everything else and there seemed too be too little of those paneer cubes. There was even their usual salsa like sauce with chopped raw onions which one could help themselves to. Altogether, it felt like a fast food version of the original Jaggi's which had a smaller variety.

I'm still favorably disposed towards them and having such an alternative outlet is a good thing for me.

I ordered the kaisen don based on a recommendation and I thought this turned out pretty well. Thanks! Basically this was just a don (rice bowl) layered with sake, maguro, ika and generously topped with ikura and ebiko. There was also another white fish which I couldn't quite identify. Apart from some cucumbers and a couple of slices of lemon, there's the rice at the bottom and that was pretty much it. It felt almost like some sort of chirashi with a lesser variety of sashimi. I thought that the eggs alone made up enough flavorful toppings that the accompanied sesame sauce on the side and grated yam was not necessary at all. I wasn't quite sure what to do with the lemons though.


It didn't take much (or anything at all for that matter) to decide on a couple of orders of their uni gunkans which were good as I recalled from the last visit. Or also the steaming hot umaki tamago. And there I was being quite determined to try something else new while ending up getting the bunch of same stuff all over again. Now this wasn't exactly a bad thing since I found out that some of the accompanying side dishes for their chirashi bento changes so you'll not be getting the same stuff all the time.

I found myself quite unexpectedly in Dome (51 Bishan Street 13, #01-02 Bishan Community Club, tel: 6354 8939) and since I was there, I decided to grab something. And man, this place hasn't changed the way they've served coffee in those bronzed looking glass holders for over a decade. To my surprise, the blueberry apple pie was pretty good. This was one of those things with enough tart (yes, many such pies lack them) and chunky apple bits (instead of sliced) and wasn't too sweet for me. I wonder why is there a practice of serving some desserts at room temperature. Would have been quite awesome if this was served warm and the funny thing is, they actually bothered to get this out from the refrigerated display and microwave them into a state that was neither hot nor cold.


The ginger latte I must admit is something I've never had before, so I ordered it out of novelty. There was definitely some ginger flavor in there, a weak hint of coffee as with most (or is that all?) latte and that was pretty much it. So it's not sharp and flavorful of the spice like certain teh halia.

I was admittedly drawn to this place while walking behind the lanes of Race Course Road (47 Chander Road, tel : 6392 0513) because I saw that there was goat bryani on the menu. The manager of the restaurant had stepped out to explain the differences between the regular mutton bryani which he claims to use mostly Australian lamb and the goat variety which uses, well....goats from Malaysia which he also added was more expensive. I was generally sold right at the start since I wanted to try it.

We started off snacking on some onion pakora which were freshly fried while waiting for the rest of the food to arrive. These are pretty tasty and there were actually garlic chips amongst the pieces of battered onion. Would make an excellent beer snack. There was also a horrible corn soup with some pitiful bits of sliced canned mushrooms. I wouldn't have ordered them if not for being misled by the pictures on the menu. I didn't think that anything that had ingredients could taste so bland.


The malabar goat bryani which was $16 a portion didn't quite turn out to be anything very impressive. Or for that matter, the portions weren't very large neither. There are actually two versions of the goat bryani that is offered. The other one which is a Thallasseri version used a shorter grained rice from Kerala while this one uses basmati. The flavor of the meat here which had also seeped into the rice from the fat was pretty much like any mutton bryani instead of being more robust as claimed. While it was pretty decent, I wasn't close to being wowed by it in any sense. I must admit that the raita that's filled with onions made the rice really very good in an appetizing way.


There was definitely a need to get some sides for the dinner so here's a butter chicken which was loaded with - apart from tandoori chicken, chopped onions. This definitely wasn't how I had expected the butter chicken to look like, but it was not bad at all being moderately spicy and uplifted by those onions. Somehow, I've yet to come across another one that manages the smoky aroma in the chicken like Jaggi's does for this dish.


This gobi manchurian was not too bad as well. Apart from the moderately spicy gravy on some surprisingly firm cauliflowers in batter, there was - more chopped onions! Unfortunately, there was a little bit of ginger in there too. I think the rendition here does deserve some note for those distinguishably firm and crunchy cauliflowers since most versions of this serves the vegetable limp after all that pan frying.


This was a nice complimentary after dinner sweet that seems to be made of barley. I noted coconut and brown sugar in the dessert along with a very noticeable hint of cardamon amongst other spices.

This was a kind of a lovechild of a thought. And that thought was 'I've got so much left over bread ends and edges from making sandwiches for 50. I don't want to waste them.'. And thus the idea of these spamcakes were born. I had imagined this to be a fairly easy task, but the making of the bread bits took me a little more than 2 hours of the morning and by the time the cooking was done, it was past the usual lunch hour.

• 2 cans of Spam, mashed
  
• 6 eggs, beaten
  
• 1/4 block of butter
• 2 small onions, diced
• diced bread (I think breadcrumbs don't work)
• some coarse grain pepper
  

Allow the butter to soften or melt them in the microwave. Add them into the eggs and whisk a little. Pour in the diced bread, spam and diced onions.

The bread will start soaking up the egg mixture. So what you do next is to use your hands and knead everything together. You can add in the pepper at this point. Massage them until you feel that they are well mixed, then start shaping them in to little patties. Fry them in low heat over the pan with little or no oil.

The only thing I thought could have been better was that I might have fried the diced onions a little before mixing them into the rest of the ingredients. The low flame pan fry didn't quite brown the onions. The resultant taste was a bready spam like fritter with the texture of hash browns.

I'm sure there are numerous ways of doing these gnocchis out there. Here's how I did mine. The ingredients are relatively simple and none of them are actually made by myself. With the exception of some lovingly hand diced tomatoes.

Put the gnocchis in a pot of boiling water that has a little salt. They cook fast so don't leave them alone for too long. Approximately 2 minutes does the job. Meanwhile, spoon out the pesto and mix with 1 small heapful teaspoon of the olive pate. Mix and heat slightly. You can also dice the tomato at this point.

Drain out the gnocchis into a bowl and pour the pesto mixture in to toss gently with the diced tomatoes. Add shaven parmesan. Eat.

A kedgeree as I've learnt recently, is an Anglo Indian boiled rice dish with fish and eggs which originated from British colonials in India. This one from The Cellar Door is precisely that and probably also a variant of possibly many renditions. It does contain small chunks of smoked fish (mackerel I think) and diced tomatoes with nothing else except the mildly creamy curried rice. This curried rice had just enough of a curry aroma and associated flavor and none of the spiciness normally associated. Japanese curries would be considered fairly strong in comparison with this. Despite the mildness, was quite the comforting dish. I think there might have been yoghurt or cream mixed into the rice which tasted a little like a dry risotto. Does anyone know where else can kedgerees be found?

This I stumbled upon by chance at Takashimaya. I didn't realise that Mr Obanyaki has got strawberry flavored fillings with cream cheese and I'm not sure when did it appear. So in enthusiasm, I burnt my tongue with the hot fillings. The positive side to things is, I have been lucky so far that I've always gotten them really warm which is the best way they should be when eaten. Yeah, that hot gooey cream cheese is definitely good with the strawberry.

This as you see above, is the cumulation of a couple of decades of prawn noodle making. Doesn't look like that much does it? I cannot remember any point of my life in recent years when I've been down to Hong Lim Food Centre to eat despite the location being rather iconic for good local fare. That will be probably because, I haven't. What I do remember is eating there as a child, dragged by my mother to have lunch with my father who used to work in the vicinity and these happened on the basis of once or twice in a week. After so many years, I was wondering if I could reconnect with any of the memories from 20 years or so ago. The only thing that actually stuck was the uncomfortable heat, the crowd and the taste of the prawn noodles. None of it was particularly intimate in any sense. Though it's not necessarily a bad thing.

The prawn noodles from Ah Hui (Ah Hui Famous Hokkien Big Prawn Mee, Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street, #02-61) do taste like how I remember them to be. The noodles were surprisingly al dente which was something that didn't quite register from the past. Prawns were decent, but rather thinly sliced which isn't usually the way I like them. There's a bunch of short pork ribs which were also decent, some sliced pork and a generous helping of pork lard which I don't eat. The chilli powder was good in application and has probably got to be one of the compelling factors contributing to the taste of the prawn noodles.