Mentaiko pasta from Ma Maison

I was at Ma Maison recently and had this ordered again. This time round, the flavors of the mentaiko turned out to be much more pronounced than I remembered them. It was almost like having them for the first time again and going "wow, this stuff is pretty good".

Ichibantei Hamburg & Steak, Liang Court

This seemed to be a relatively new place opened by Ichibantei right next to themselves down in the basement of Liang Court. Very obviously from their name, one can easily surmise what is the specialty.

True to form, the hamburgs were pretty decent even though they arrived a little more charred than I was expecting. The well done factor came from the proper sealing of the charred exterior, sealing all the juices of the meat within and in spite of being well done, the meat retained juiciness. I should have requested for doneness, but hey, things worked out pretty well in the end. These things come in a few size options and are served with unlimited rice and bread with butter. But honestly, I don't think people really come here to load up with the carbs option since the hamburgs were pretty tasty.

What didn't fare too well for me were the demiglace sauce which I thought was nothing extraordinary and in fact, one of the onion sauce options turned out to be a much better choice since it didn't overwhelm the flavors of the meat. Guess there's one more of these hamburg options for me now apart from Ma Maison.

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food, Concorde Hotel

I remember having eaten at this stall (100 Orchard Road Level 1, Food Court, Concorde Hotel) many years ago when they were operating out of a food court down at Orchard Point. At that time, I had no clue what Korean food was about and that it was probably just all bulgogi and the distinct impression that was left behind from their chicken bulgogi was that these guys were pretty damn generous for portions.

Today was a different experience altogether. Perhaps it was the hour that I was there, the place did look a little washed out from what I remember, but was still drawing Korean patrons. The food was certainly not wow-ing as I was hoping for but I guess that for their price point, they were much better than the run of the mill "Korean" stalls in most of the other food courts and I couldn't really help but felt that it tasted much more localized than I was hoping for. Especially that jab che which really really reminded me of char kuey teow. The spicy beef soup I suppose was really just passable with nothing really noteworthy beyond the description of a hot spicy soup.

If you're still reading at this point, the Korean food stall down at Koufu at Toa Payoh Central does a much better kimchi than this one. Little of the fermentation process must have been undergone from ones here and it tasted a little too, washed out.

Fried oyster and curry rice

Just an updated look on these freshly battered and fried as you order them oysters that can be gotten just outside Meidi Ya. I'm still hard pressed to find better than these fat juicy ones.

A delicious roast chicken lunch at Spottiswoode Park...

Thank you again, Crystal for your always warm hospitality and amazingly delicious roast chicken that one can never find elsewhere. I had 3 servings just so that you know.

Taking a Big Bite...

We were making out way to Chella's for some old favorites of their kesari bath and masala milk when we realised just at the point when were about to be seated, that the management had changed and the place is now known as Big Bites. To our relieve, our dessert and hot masala milk still tasted the same and nothing very much had changed in the menu.

Anjappar Authentic Chenttinaad Restaurant, Syed Alwi Road

I've on numerous occasions passed by the outlet of this franchised restaurant from Chennai (102, Syed Alwi Road, tel : +65 6392 5545) down by Race Course Road numerous times and have been wanting to check them out. Today, I ended up eating at this particular outlet instead because I happened to be in the vicinity of this part of Little India.

Not knowing really what to expect, we opted for what looked like might be interesting from the menu and landed up with some really spicy and peppery mutton sukka varuval which tasted very similarly to the coconut mutton fry which we've had from Spice Junction and a kaadai briyani (quail). In the case of the latter, we got a bird that seemed to be overly cooked, resulting in meat that was a little tough. I'm probably not going to try these again since it was really a bit of trouble having to get the meat out of the bones of such a small bird and there wasn't really anything to it that I could put finger to, justifying the effort. What I didn't like too, were the chopped bits of coriander that marred for me, a pretty decent paneer kuruma.

Still, I thought that the food here was pretty decent on the whole and I don't think I would mind eating here again if the option ever presented itself.

mutton sukka varuval

cheese naan

paneer kuruma

kaadai briyani

Duck macaroni from Kwee Heng

This was a pretty good find (#01-13, Newton Hawker Centre, 500 Clemenceau Avenue North) down at Newton which I haven't been to in ages. Apart from the portions which I had thought to be a little measly, these macaroni in the mixture of their vinegary and spicy sauces turned out very appetizing indeed. On top of that, one also gets the nice textures of chopped duck and crunchy sprouts. One might not have expected from an ubiquitous looking stall facing the car park, selling ducks and chickens.

Green tea dough fritters from Bread Bar Cafe

I got these green tea flavored dough fritters out of curiosity after seeing them down at Bread Bar Cafe (10 Sinaran Drive, #02-08/09, Novena Square 2, tel : +65 6397 6076). From a distance, they looked like they were moldy but that's just the green tea coloring infused into the dough plus a dusting of sugaring on the surface. I couldn't say that there was anything particularly special about them even though it was the first time I was having flavored dough fritters. There was the expected green tea flavoring and along with the sugar, made them a sweet fried pastry rather than the savory one that we're used to. The tuna mayo wrap however, was surprisingly quite good.

Sawagani from Tampopo

Tampopo often has affordable seasonal items on their menu and so far, they've been doing a pretty good job of getting me to come back again and again. Lately, it seems that they have brought in some sawagani and so there I was again!


These little river crabs here tasted a little bit more greasy than the ones I remember having at Chikuwa Tei and apart from that, were also handled with a little less finesse from a broken claw and some legs. Otherwise, these lightly salted deep fried river crabs tastes pretty much the same everywhere. The squeeze of lemon was a good idea even though the juice pretty much flowed off the crabs.


Seeing numerous orders of their tonkatsu ramen from various neighbouring tables, we decided to give it a go. The tonkotsu soup base was pretty much masked by the chilli oils and I did think it wasn't too bad at all if rather non indicative of tonkotsu broths. The fried tonkatsu however, was a little disappointing with the battered surface quite laden with oil. It was a greasy fried piece of pork, but not in a way that I would have liked. I guess this is one out from the list of choices I have here.


And for dessert, their green tea chiffon cake wasn't too bad too. I guess the appeal for me went mostly to the light milky cream that they use which is pretty much what makes me want to order their scoop cake everytime.