Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison, Mandarin Gallery

2012-01-07T10:04:00.003+08:00

Deep fried cauliflowers from Gandhi's Vegetarian Restaurant

2012-01-05T20:59:00.004+08:00

It's been a few years since my first visit to this place (No.28 Jalan Scott, ground floor of Scott Sentral Serviced Apartment, Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur 50470). It was certainly quite a change in location considering that it used to be just a lot on an open parking space. This time round, we ordered up some deep fried cauliflower amongst other stuff and those turned out to be really good. How should I describe this? The flavor of the crispy batter tasted pretty much like the ones on the curly fries that McD has. All that tasty savory crisp enveloped around hot juicy cauliflowers flavored with some fried curry leaves and a squeeze of lemon. So much better than those at Pizzaria Mozza.

Backstreet breakfast in KL......

2012-01-03T20:56:00.002+08:00

Al-Amar Lebanese Cuisine, Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

2012-01-02T10:00:00.006+08:00

Ben's, Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur

2012-01-01T09:54:00.010+08:00

A note to myself that cafes/bistros aren't always a place for lousy food. Sometimes, they pleasantly surprise me.

What did I like about here? Let see...the warm mushroom salad certainly rocked with the rockets that were wilted nicely and slightly beneath the pan roasted mushrooms. I could have been bias since there were a handful of crumbled Roquefort and caramelized walnuts, but that'll just be me. The red duck curry certainly brought back memories of Baan Khanita. Deep fried ducks and lychee aren't too bad together in curry. Certainly loved the awesome sour and spicy mango salad on the side which was perennially appetizing throughout.

Must say that the moist coconut cake was pretty enjoyable as well. I guess KLCC isn't that boring after all.

Latteria Mozzarella Bar, Duxton Hill

2011-12-11T09:55:00.008+08:00

Quietly and unbeknownst by many, The Jackson Plan fell apart and was replaced by Latteria Mozzarella Bar (40 Duxton Hill, tel : +65 6866 1988). Run by Beppe de Vito of Forlino and Il Lido. This new restaurant which was barely 2 weeks old had kept intact, the decor and even the land line from the previous establishment.

We were served some hard and crusy bread at the start. It would have been tough for my poor teeth and rather bland if not for the accompanying olive oil and vinegar.

We hit up a pan of their garlic prawns, chick peas and pesto. The prawns were fresh and crunchy and the flavors were surprisingly quite moderated. The garlic didn't dominate the palate like how most garlic prawns tend to taste and one could even taste the natural flavors of the chick peas.

This came from the specialty section of the menu which contains mostly mozzarella based cheeses in various forms. This was known as a stracciatella, which consisted of "rags" of mozzarella with burrata cream. Heaped on top of roasted zucchini and topped with bottarga. I liked the idea of serving the cheese in this manner, but the actual dish fell a little short as there was vinegar in the zucchini and the flavors of the creamy cheese was outstanding. This really just relegated the "moderated" portions of bottarga to second or third place. I could hardly taste them.

We ordered the Latteria mac and cheese pretty much for the novelty of having mac and cheese baked and served in a squash. The fact that it has four cheese in them helped, but the flavors of the cheeses were actually very subdued to the point that it tasted just milky. I could only positively identify the mozzarella on top. Lol.

Portions were extremely generous. I do mean extremely. What really shone for this particular bake, was actually the pumpkin which was nice and naturally sweet.

As usual, we were bought in by their smoked mozzarella risotto with black truffle puree. No prices for guessing what made us order this. The risotto turned out to be the better of the mains which we ordered. I guess it was because this was simply a nice savoury blend of flavors that were buffed by the truffle puree and smokey accents of the mozzarella. Said flavors were saved from being overly monotonous by the rockets.

At this point, were already quite stuffed. We couldn't even finish the mac and cheese. It was quite a testimony to their lemon panna cotta that we still managed to finish most of the dessert in spite of the huge portions. The texture of the panna cotta wasn't so wobbly, but rather heavy and creamy. The flavor in contrast was milky and light and very much aided by those balsamic vinegar strawberries.

Wouldn't mind coming back to try more of their cheeses.

This happened on 20th November

2011-11-22T11:05:00.001+08:00

Yeap, I just got married. Thank you all that turned up. I'll be busy for a while with more activities so......

CoCo Ichibanya, 313 Somerset

2011-11-16T22:06:00.001+08:00

Tenderloin and oyster set from Saboten

2011-11-14T21:29:00.003+08:00

It seems that this wasn't the first time that Saboten had these seasonal oyster promotions where one could order sets of their tonkatsu paired with oysters. And pretty large oysters they served here, expertly breaded and deep fried to the point where it wasn't excessively greasy and the crust maintained crisp throughout. These large oysters that are on their seasonal menu now were large, fat, creamy and juicy. These must be Hiroshima oysters right?

Itacho, itacho, itacho.......

2011-11-11T22:36:00.013+08:00

I've to admit that Itacho Sushi makes a very good quick fix for Japanese food. It wouldn't be the type of place where one gets top notch items, but we do get what we pay for. That being said, one also does get some of the fun stuff that might not be altogether a traditional item from Japanese foodlore, but is probably very much contemporary menu items tempered from a loose basis of the rich history of Japanese cuisine.

My ususal/boring selection of ankimo again. I love this stuff.

Smoked duck croquettes which wasn't too spectacular for me. Lacked much of the smoked duck flavors.

This is one of the fun stuff that I was mentioning above. Deep fried oysters with udon. I was initially quite apprehensive since it was fried oysters and I haven't had much that was really worthy of mentions. These ones were surprisingly decent. The oysters were coated in a light batter, fat and not dried out. Not tempura styled. But still tasty. The second surprise came from the udon which looked to me like a bore. I mean, tomato sauce?

The tomato sauce, which wasn't of any pre-made variety was actually pretty damned good. It was honestly, a very surprising enjoyable blend of tart, garlic, sweetness from the onions and a healthy dash of accompanying heat. I liked it even though the noodles weren't as QQ. I think what mattered was that the sauce tasted fresh.

The tempura ebi sushi with curry powder was served literally. But I was glad that they tempura-ed the shrimp much better than I was expecting out of a crowded main street joint like this.

Engawa. Cheap, greasy and not too bad.

I'm not sure what kind of wagyu Itacho uses, but it was definitely a passably decent aburied sushi. One notices the nice fatty marbling.

Inari pouchs are a guilty pleasure for me. This spicy sakura ebi variety that Itacho did didn't really taste spicy at all. In fact, the dominant flavors came from the sweetness of the beancurd skin. The unexpected burst of flavor, came from the dried or toasted sakura ebi. That was nice.

Their aburi foe gras sushi wasn't what I had in mind. The slice of foie gras was a little too thin. Any possibility of a creamy innard was lost. To be fair, the torched crust was nicely done.

Another of those fun stuff were their stuffed tamago. These ones were stuffed with curry mayo lobster. It wasn't a particularly spicy curry actually. It tasted more creamy and the textures from the bites did unveil little chunks of lobster. Maybe it was crayfish. I couldn't tell.

Another fun sushi of mayo lobster on a sake roll.

Next fun stuff, tobiko and cream cheese. This was quite nice.

Another guilty pleasure. Figuratively. Though there really isn't any of that guilt element in there.

Morton's this year

2011-11-03T21:48:00.004+08:00

mystery diner "A"

Whole pork fillet tonkatsu and tempura asari from Tampopo

2011-10-29T10:23:00.005+08:00

It seems that every time I get to visit Tampopo, these guys would come up with something new on their tonkatsu menu. The foie gras stuffed rendition which I had from the last time seemed to have become a permanent item on menu now. There's been so much of items on the menu that I believe haven't actually ordered anything twice from their selection of fried pork cutlets. This time round, they seem to have come up with one for what looked to be the whole tenderloin for a small pig!

The nicely golden brown breaded fillet was pretty much how I expected to taste like and I must say that it was quite a bit of pork there. The lean meat didn't resonate with much flavors, but was decided quite tender and juicy. Sauces and dips on the side compensated for the minimal flavors, which was really the only thing lacking about this item. Nothing that a little squeeze of lemon or a dip of shoyu or ponzu dressing couldn't fix.

We got an order of the asari tempura for novelty's sake. They tasted pretty much like how they looked and the tempura batter was nothing to write home about. For those few clams that arrived, didn't represent any value from what the restaurant charged for them.

Lee Kui (Ah Hoi) Restaurant, Mosque Street

2011-10-26T22:27:00.010+08:00

This restaurant (8/9/10 Mosque Street, tel : +65 6222 3654) is an institution for rustic Teochew food.

pork aspic

We started off with an order of pork in aspic. Little chunks of pig trapped in a chilled gelatinous stock. This would be considered an Asian cold cut of sorts which is unfortunately, not commonly found anymore. I was glad to discover that the flavors of the stock could be found in the jelly surrounding the meat.

liver rolls and prawn balls (hae cho)

The next dish that was to quickly follow were assorted deep fried rolls of liver and chestnut along with prawn balls. I was expecting more liver-y flavors from the liver rolls, but the balance of flavors turned out quite moderated. Both the rolls and balls were pretty tasty and weren't excessively greasy.

Teochew styled braised duck

There was also a plate of braised duck in dark sauce which is one of the hallmarks of Teochew cuisine. It was fairly tasty, but I wouldn't say that it's any of the better duck that I've had.

oyster omelette

The oyster omelette was a winner here. Unlike the common variety that one can find in hawker centres, there isn't any flour involved in the omelette. It was just a hundred percent slab of fried beaten egg topped with semi-cooked small fat oysters and spring onion leaves.

sea cucumber stuffed with minced pork patty

The texture of the sea cucumber was a little chewy, but no real complains here about this dish. At what the restaurant charged, I am guessing that they aren't of the top tier quality.

cold crab

Cold crabs were pretty good. The flesh was a little stiff from the cold, but tasted sweet. The bodies were filled with heady tasting crab fat.

orh nee

Dessert was another trad item of yam paste with sweetened pumpkin and ginko nuts. I think there was a lack of lard and fried shallots in there for the aroma, but I guess it was still one of the better ones outside of a pricey Chinese restaurant.

A second take on Ikkousha

2011-10-24T07:17:00.003+08:00

The pictures on the menu of Ikkousha's charshu ramen seemed to suggest large sheets of ham like charshu similar to what they have at Keisuke's Tonkotsu King rather than these thicker sliced pieces of meat that they had actually served. Even though I am not complaining, I need to admit that they didn't do as nicely in the department of pork in comparison with Gantetsu (which had excellent soft sliced charshu by the way) or even Tetsu. Still the volume of meat was almost on par with the servings of the not so chewy noodle in a bowl that was laden to the brim.

Yes, I think their Hakata styled noodles here was a little of a let down as they weren't as chewy as I would have liked. The broth tasted thicker than I remember it from the first time and to expand on my thoughts on their particular brand of tonkotsu broth, was really tastier right at the start as soon as you had your first mouthful. The strength of this stronger and smoky tasting rendition however, might not have held out in a test of time against a more regular broth that feels almost "clearer". This particular strength of theirs in terms of a robust flavor wore off pretty fast if one ate too slowly once the weight and the singular dimensions kicked in.

The ajitama today tasted like plain boiled eggs!

Tetsu from Ramen Champion

2011-10-23T11:21:00.003+08:00

I've been hearing quite a bit of mention on the Very Rich Special Paitan Tsukemen from Ramen Champion and curiosity got the better of me. What is suppose to be special from this stall is a rich viscous broth that was made from pork, chicken and seafood. I really couldn't identify any of the former two flavors as the dominant one was a smoky bonito base that wasn't really very different from the uobushi tonkotsu from the defunct Kusabi. Tetsu just created a richer version in tsukemen style.

I did enjoy this more nonetheless, even if the thick firm noodles felt a little sparse with only a single slice of charshu and tiny strips of menma. The dispenser with the light dashi stock that could be added to the remaining dipping broth would have been a better idea for me if not for those blazing spotlights.

Jellyfish in my ramen

2011-10-22T12:26:00.005+08:00

Here's the hiyashi chuka from Baikohken. And what I didn't expect to find in the cold ramen today were chilled jellyfish. I suppose it made a lot of sense to put them in since they certainly enhanced to some extent, the textures of the already springy cold noodles together with the crunch from the shreds of cucumbers. It was certainly fun to eat for that and their unassuming agi tama tasted much more flavorful of the soy sauce that the looks might suggest. The generous slices of almost tuna like charshu were enjoyable as well.

Based on my somewhat limited experience with hiyashi chuka, I'm going to rate this as my second favorite because the number one spot sealed the deal with a sesame based sauce which I prefer over the shoyu variety that this was.

Dry ba chor mee sua from Yan Kee

2011-10-15T12:02:00.004+08:00

The specialty from this stall (21 South Bridge Road, BK Eating House) apparently, is their minced meat noodles that uses mee sua rather than the commonly served options of mee kia or mee pok. That was really the main difference there apart from the fact that there wasn't any sliced pig liver and the default portions were definitely small for a hungry person at $3.50 a bowl.

So how did that went? It turned out to be pretty good and I liked it. Having used mee sua instead of the other noodles seemed to allow the flavors of their brand of mixed sauce to be absorbed rather than just being coated over the surface of the noodles. The flavors that stood out were the vinegar and some heat from the chilli. Excellent post drinking snack it made too. Certainly wouldn't mind eating them again if I were round the corner, but I still think they're a little pricey for such puny portions. The fish balls that they're selling look pretty big, so it'll probably be that for the next time.

Oso revisited

2011-10-02T09:21:00.009+08:00

This was an overdue visit back to Oso. Have been wanting to come back for quite a while. Strangely, the service was almost exactly like how it was in the previous visit. A little splotchy, but not enough that I would make a fuss over. It was as if they wanted to not get just that little bit right.

Their servings of bread hasn't changed. I still like their cake-y textured foccacia and like the previous visit, I asked for seconds.

Italian mixed cold cut “affettati” served with shallot, onion and gherkin

We started off with a nice savory platter of cold cuts which included prosciutto di Parma, bresaola and some mortadella ham.

Pan fried eggs “tegamino” with black truffle purée and mixed cheese fondue

This was quickly followed up by a rather hearty combination of eggs and cheese with truffle puree and thin slices of crispy bread. I wouldn't have minded if it were regular non toasted bread as well. This would truly make a very awesome breakfast. But too bad Oso doesn't do breakfast.

With black truffle “tartufo” puree and mascarpone cheese

The flavors of the black truffle puree risotto and mascarpone cheese were very good in a simple and direct way. There was really nothing much but the savory factor apart from three prominent flavors of truffle, the cheese and pepper. This was marred by the fact that the rice was slightly under done and that the "splotch" of the service staff insisted that it was done just right and was suppose to be al dente. I suppose he either couldn't care less about a feedback or thought we didn't know anything.

Pan roasted sea bass with fennel and coffee and thick potato sauce

I made an uncommon decision to order fish off their daily menu. And I really liked this. The thick potato sauce was really a finely mashed potato puree and the coffee that went into this dish was barely registered. But the fish tasted fresh and juicy beneath the crisp of the charred skin.

Oven baked almond “Amaretto” liquor cake, Amaretti ice cream

Almond-ish dessert. Not too bad there.

Rumah Makan Minang, Kandahar Street

2011-09-28T21:08:00.007+08:00

Wow, this (18 & 18A Kandahar Street, tel: + 65 6294 4805) was another great find located right behind Sultan Mosque. I've no idea how long this place has been around since I don't often wander into this vicinity, but I think I will be heading back again pretty soon for their great nasi padang. What was good here? Let's see....there was a good telur dadar (chilli filled omelette), crispy chewy paru goreng, a great squid in squid ink stew and mackerel in a coconut gravy. Sweet shaven coconut toppings for the rice? Checked as well.

I think this place has a bit more going on in terms of variety than Sabar Menati right down the corridor. It seems that they're related by extended family. It's going to be difficult to determine which one of them I would like better since the both of them has so much that looked good that I was really spoilt for choice. But for now, this place is calling me back.

Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice, Tiong Bahru

2011-09-24T12:07:00.006+08:00

The flavors here (Blk 57 Eng Hoon Street, #01-88 Tai Kwang Huat Coffee Shop) were a trip down memory lane for me even though my hazy memory told me that it used to taste much better in the past. There's a number of these Hainanese curry rice joints over the island and most of them couldn't capture the memories of what I had when I was young. But I was probably far too young to remember which particular stall it was, though it might have been once located at Telok Blangah where I once stayed.

This particular stall probably came closest because of their pork chops which had a batter that was different from what's being sold in other places. I believe it includes the use of biscuit crumbs and that these pork chops weren't sliver thin and were really how I remember them as a kid. Was this the best representative of Hainanese curry rice? I couldn't say, but I think it's pretty good. Love the over simmered eggs that were packed with the flavors of the dark sauce they've been in. The simmered cabbages weren't as nice as I remember them though. Sure didn't beat Tai Dong at that.

Lontong goreng from Mas-Ayu Restaurant

2011-09-23T08:26:00.005+08:00

This lontong goreng from Mas-Ayu (55 Upper East Coast Road, tel : +65 6449 2844) was certainly not what I had in mind initially when I had first heard of the dish. I was imagining that it would be literally stir fried lontong with the vegetables and possibly a dried out the sayur lodeh gravy from the stir frying. Instead, it looked and tasted much like Chinese chai tau kuey and it was basically stir fried ketupat with eggs and fried chicken in a sweet and savory sauce. Sans the garlicky flavors.

The flavors of this greasy stir fried dish weren't as intense as radish cake with a noticeably lesser amount of sweetness and saltiness. Apart from the lack of garlic and char aroma, it did taste like chai tau kuey. Which made for a pretty decent comfort food item that I wouldn't mind eating again. I think it would have been great if it were spicier.

Donna Carmela, Greenwood Avenue

2011-09-17T09:43:00.007+08:00

So I've heard that this place (2 Greenwood Avenue, Hillcrest Park, tel : +65 6463 4206) is essentially run by the people that used to do Mama Lucia, which would explain the similar theme of having both Italian food and churrascaria under the same roof. The dinner had started off quite promising with their rich and creamy burrata cheese that was topped off with truffle oil and some shaven black summer truffles. They had both of them mutually accentuated the flavors of each other resulting in a heady and creamy concoction.

Their Gorgonzola risotto was actually pretty disappointing as I was expecting some unadulterated pungent flavors coming from such a straight forward dish. While it tasted cheesy, it lacked the stinky factor of blue cheese and it was actually saved by the serving of grated cheese and pepper on the side. I would think that for $28, one could be much more generous with the Gorgonzola. Sigh......

This was the bombette which was really strips of tenderloin rolled with Scarmoza cheese and then probably pan roasted. The result were tubes of flat salty medium rare meat which I had though to be something more suited in their churrascaria offerings rather than the Italian menu. While it wasn't bad tasting, it didn't come across as spectacular neither. And tad overpriced for what they had charged if I was asked.

We picked the white profiteroles (the other option was black) and the choux pastry turned out to be blanketed under a thick coat of cream which tasted suspiciously like melted marshmallows. The pastry underneath which was a little soggy, housed a rich chocolate cream in the middle. I actually liked this even though it was a little too sweet for my usual preferences.

Gindara teriyaki and others from Chikuwa Tei...

2011-09-16T07:41:00.004+08:00

I've been craving for grilled teriyaiki cod of late and remembered that it used to be pretty good down at the old Wasabi Tei. So this was the update of what they used to do down in Chikuwa Tei these days. Things didn't change very much for that. It still appeared as burnt as I remember them, but I think they might have overdone it a little this time round. The application of the sauce was a little spare this time round, but the meat was still pretty juicy and oily. The skin was remarkably crispy even though it was a little bitter from all that char.

I suppose the grilled cod wasn't too bad, but it didn't quite satisfy my craving.

Meanwhile, we had a bunch of other items on the side which included some very juicy and breaded deep fried kaki, their signature laden chawanmushi and an ugly looking favourite of mine, ankimo. The creamy textured fish liver drenched in ponzu and flavored with scallions were nicely chilled and tasted exceptional this time round. Good stuff.

Tong Kee Chicken Rice, Commonwealth Drive Food Centre

2011-09-12T21:38:00.006+08:00

I've been eating from this chicken rice stall (Commonwealth Drive Food Centre or is it Tanglin Halt Food Centre?, #01-25) for quite a number of times over the past months this year and it was only not too long back that I realised that they only do roasted chicken. To be more accurate, there wasn't any boiled/steamed chicken to be had. Talk about being oblivious.

The initial impression was that it was pretty decent and the portions are really generous. It wasn't fancy and didn't have anything in particular that was outstanding, but it served well as a generic chicken rice option that wasn't the least shabby. There was also the option of roast pork belly to be had too. If I might add, their sweet sauce which they use for their roast pork and eggs is good. It was all fine here until Sin Kee which had pretty much ruined most of the other options out there for me.

Etna Italian Restaurant & Pizzaria, Duxton Road

2011-09-11T01:09:00.011+08:00

We dropped by Etna (49/50 Duxton Road, tel : +65 6220 5513) previously for dessert when we visited Inaho's Kitchen Bar and decided that we would come back for the food another time. The place looked sharp and fuss free. Very much like the old Al Forno Trattoria or Da Luca. With a focus on Sicilian styled cooking and pistachios on the menu.

Their focaccia with sun dried tomatoes were actually pretty good. The bread had a light layer of oil and was warm and moist. It was definitely better than the dried out husks that are used very often elsewhere.

Starters was their frittura mista. This tasted better than it looked for the prawns as most of the fried ends were so crispy that they could be eaten. The seafood wasn't over fried or over greasy. Their accompanying tartar sauce didn't taste cheap.

Margherite al Pistacchio di Bronte

We picked their home made ravioli stuffed with four cheeses and walnut stuffings because it sounded interesting with some pistachio pesto sauce. For the lack of a better description at this point, it tasted creamy and walnut-ty. I know the latter is not a word, but I think it conveys quite accurately, how the taste is. The stuffings of the pasta was very robust in flavor. To the point that I didn't quite remember how the sauce tasted like beyond the walnut and a generic creamy salted cheese. Like.

Risotto Siciliano

This was a very nicely timed risotto. I could smell the Parmigiano Reggiano wafting from the rice as they served it. The flavors were a interesting and refreshing blend of orange and the cheese which were truly balanced in a manner that neither overwhelmed the other. The rice was beady, defined, cooked and well coated in the flavors of the stock that made the dish. Enjoyed the slices of oranges and the generous amounts of fresh tasting and crunchy prawns. Like.

Dessert was a caramel cream. Very disappointing stuff which was sweet and boring. The drizzles of the chocolate sauce didn't quite rescue anything at all.

I don't think I'll be deterred by the dessert. I like this place enough to consider coming back again for sure.

A musical interlude

2011-09-09T08:09:00.001+08:00

A briyani poori set

2011-09-06T07:16:00.006+08:00

It's been a little while since my last Indian meal so yet again, I've hit the rather convenient Komala's for their oil heavy vegetarian meals. This time round, it was their briyani poori set which basically consisted of their vegetarian briyani and a couple of the air filled puri. Nothing very unexpected in terms of what I've gotten here, but I wished that they were more generous with their raita which really makes the rice go down a lot faster. That's not to say that the briyani was no good at all. In fact, the old Gardenia tagline on TV advertisements applied more appropriately to them rather than those generic and boring white loaves.

My papadum was not crispy again today.

Black spicy ramen from Keisuke's Tonkotsu King

2011-09-05T07:21:00.002+08:00

I think I much prefer the original. This black spicy rendition tasted peppery, but it didn't quite enhance the experience or flavors for me. This time round, there seems to be more oil floating at the top too.

L'Occitane Cafe, Peninsular Plaza, Bangkok

2011-09-04T21:16:00.002+08:00

We started the first meal of this trip at a cafe and coincidentally ended in a last meal with one as well just before we made our way to the airport. It partially out of convenience and also that I've heard that the beef noodles here were good that we landed up at this place (153 Rachadamri Rd, Lumphini, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330) for lunch after dropping our belongings at the concierge.

But I ended up with a braised ox tongue with butter rice.

This was actually not too bad. The chewy ox tongue was came with a light tomato sauce which tasted slightly beefy. It made a sufficient meal that wasn't too heavy since that butter rice didn't quite taste of butter and light was something I was really looking for before the return flight.

A breakfast of duck kuey teow at Otoko market

2011-09-04T10:21:00.008+08:00

Yes, this was a real breakfast of braised duck rice noodles that we got in the morning. Not the type that we normally grab during lunch because we didn't wake up early enough for a real one. For 50 baht, it was a relatively cheap bowl of noodles. The portions were rather small as well. But, it was also quite good. It came with cubes of duck blood too. This was one of those things we saw people eating around at the market and it didn't take us too long to decide to get us a bowl.

Their kuey teow was a little chewy that I had initially mistaken them for a thinner version of mee pok. The accompanying broth was a mix of sweet and savory with a umami depth. If that makes sense. All in all, a comforting breakfast that we didn't expect to find. This market will be locationmarked for returns.

Fireplace Grill, InterContinental Bangkok, Bangkok

2011-09-03T19:41:00.012+08:00

There were definitely encouraging signs that this place (InterContinental Bangkok, 973 Ploenchit Road, Bangkok 10330, tel : + 660 2656 0444 ) could be good from the start. For one, it was located conveniently within strolling distance from where we were staying. The ambiance was pleasant and the menu looked like that of a serious steakhouse that didn't attempt to confuse with variety. Service was pretty sharp. They even had some superlative award on display right near the front door by Thailand Tatler for 2011. All encouraging omens right until the moment the food arrived.

Truthfully, the bread was ok. There was a small variety for selection and they came with unsalted butter. I would definitely have preferred the salted ones.

Amuse bouche was a shrimp with salsa. This was ok as well. Nothing much to talk about here.

Some of us tried the caramelised onion soup with cognac because it was listed as a signature item and there were even little symbols on the menu indicating that it was a food item that contains alcohol. And also possibly that there was Emmenthal cheese croutons. When the soup arrived, all that fanciful description on menu was reduced into a pretty singular dimensional French onion soup with toasted cheese topped baguette. And it's not even the best one I've had.

The biggest bummer came in the form their prime rib. The meat was a little to close to rare for a medium rare, suffered from poor distribution of fat and lacked flavor. Even on the caps and the edges where most of the salt and rubbings went, this one tasted pretty bland. The meat in the middle was a little sinewy and could not even be redeemed by the jus they had provided. Their crispy shelled Yorkshire pudding and vine ripen tomatoes were safe to say, the best tasting items on the plate. This is possibly the first time ever, I've left my prime rib unfinished.

Wait, there's more....the creamed spinach they had one the side were merely boiled spinach in a cream sauce. Nothing like I imagined and tasted lousier than the microwaved stuff I had on plane. In response, I'm giving this place a pass for ever. I cannot imagine this to be a quality beef restaurant and certainly, expected much better for what they charged. I've had much better tasting roast beef at Javier's.

Greyhound Cafe, Siam Centre, Bangkok

2011-09-03T14:19:00.009+08:00

the hangover view

Greyhound Cafe (Siam Centre, ground floor, +66 2 6581129 30) is pretty much like PS Cafe. Reasonably convenient from where we were staying after a late night and casual enough to grab the first meal of the day with much hassle. Which was really lunch.

We hit up a bunch of finger food for starters which included plates of nicely browned and deep fried half mid wings which were very good by the way, and some corn and crab fritters which was also very nicely done. All the latter just needed a little salt that would have gotten along very very nicely with the sweetness from the corn and crab meat.

The main reason for us to hit this place was to have their recommended Complicated Kuey Teow. What might that be? I actually hadn't a clue until it was served and I had always imagined it to be some stir fried or soup kuey teow with a fancy name. It turned out to be a board of lettuces with a stack of kuey teow, some green chilli condiment with coriander and a thick minced pork gravy on the side.

If I needed still to really go on, one places a thin slice of the kuey teow on the lettuce, adds the sauce and minced meat which will be folded into a vegetable wrap and eats it. That's really how complicated it all is. And it was really quite good with the play of textures and spicy flavors.

Came back the next day for more of the same stuff up there.

Phaiboon Seafood, Bangrak, Bangkok

2011-09-02T02:53:00.005+08:00

More Thai Chinese food again here in Bangkok and this time round, it's the localized home styled restaurant (598/3 near Soi Jomsomboon, Rama 4 Road, Bangrak, Bangkok 10500, tel : + 66 0 2234 9568, 0 8504 70330) down a street near the old Mandarin Hotel.

The oyster omelette they served was a little different from the local variety. We get bigger oysters and a more sticky and almost viscous flour batter along with the crunch of beansprouts in a sizzling hot plate. This was quite delicious.

Phaiboon's tom yum goong contains coconut milk, but wasn't done in excess like the rendition served at Baan Khanitha. The flavors from this prawn laden soup were still relatively clear in spite of that addition. It was also a tad spicier.

We had a deep fried prawn spring rolls that married savory, crispy and not excessively greasy.

One of the signature dishes at Phaiboon is apparently their curry crab. This wasn't the conventional curry as many people know of it outside of Thailand. The viscous "curry" tasted only slightly spicy, noticeably sweet and was also quite eggy. Amidst other flavorings. After it cooled, the "sauce" congealed and became what I thought looked like otah. While I couldn't say that I didn't like it, the taste was quite singular in dimensions and did become cloying after a while.

The crab however, was fantastically fresh with the sweetness of the meat that shone in the mash of all the other flavors.

The stir fried kang kong appeared to be quite ordinary and I suppose in the style of the cooking here, doesn't come with sambal or belachan. It seemed at the start to be a tame plate of vegetables in garlic until we all hit upon the small camouflaged slices of green chilli (very similarly colored as the kang kong there) that exploded with a powerful kick. Pretty good stuff.

Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger : Year Five

2011-09-01T23:23:00.003+08:00

This marker post might have been a little later than usual, but it's been 5 years! :)

Scala Shark's Fin Restaurant, Siam Square, Bangkok

2011-09-01T07:09:00.020+08:00

This retro looking Chinese restaurant (218-218/1 Siam Square 1, opp. Scala Theatre, Bangkok, tel : +66 02-252-0322, 02-251-8899, 02-251 4799) has been around a little longer than I have and on the authority of someone who had been a customer for about three decades and is clinically allergic to MSG, the food here was good and recommended for its quality.

It seemed that the wait staff in this place were in a similar position as the ones from Shaslik. Most of them had been part of the crew from the early days of the restaurant and that they had been around forever. Apparently there are a few other similarly named restaurants that use the name of Scala and this one is the original. They even indicated that they do not have any other branches on their business card.

The restaurant was an altogether not unfamiliar facade where the main stay dishes consisted of abalone, shark's fin, crabs and prawns. Traditional fruits of the sea for the wealthy Chinese. I was told that the food here hasn't changed much since the beginning.

Not to fill the shoes of Captain Obvious here but, the specialty of the restaurant is shark's fin soup. These things come in a claypot and comes in portions from 800 - 5000 baht. The price of course, commensurates the amount of fin that one gets in the serving. The quality of the fin I hear, is all the same. Only the good ones are served. The accompanying brown soup, was wicked with a healthy dose of powdered white pepper and sloshes of vinegar.

I couldn't really comment much on the fins since I'm not really in much know of them in spite of having had them for numerous times in my life. I actually do not even consider ordering them under usual circumstances.

The restaurant also serves stir fried fish maw which was awesome. The texture of the maw was expectedly sponge like and lightly chewy, flavored by a certain savory seasoning which I couldn't identify. It might have been a soy sauce based mixture and it was to say the least, mouthwatering. I'm probably going to remember this place for the fish maw rather than the shark's fin.

We ordered a pot of collagen rich braised goose web. In retrospect, there was a little much to much soup going on in this lunch. After the shark's fin, none of us in particular were really interested in having more fluids.

Our obligatory greens for the lunch today was boiled kale with oyster sauce. The stems of these greens retained quite a bit of crunch and sweetness, almost akin to water chestnuts. I must say that they were pretty good.

The option of carbs came in the form of crab fried rice. This was nicely done with the rice well tossed in the wok with eggs and came with very generous portions of chunky crab meat. It was also light enough that I had seconds.

I'm marking this place for returns the next time I visit Bangkok.

Baan Khanitha & Gallery, Sathorn District, Bangkok

2011-08-31T13:21:00.018+08:00

This restaurant (69 South Sathorn Road, Thungmahamek, Sathorn District, Bangkok 10120, tel : +66 0 2675 4200 1) came by a recommendation of a friend, who was also our unofficial day itinerary manager for this trip. In his words, eating Thai food at Baan Khanitha would be very similar to having local food in Long Beach or maybe Tung Lok. One generally gets a superficial representation of what people eat in Thailand, but the said representatives are reflective of the cuisine and are also well prepared.

The location of the restaurant in the night was actually pretty charming. It looked almost like a wooden furnished beach resort of sorts in the middle of the city with art pieces on display.

miang kham

We were first served with some miang kham, which was an appetizer. Or a Thai styled amuse bouche of sorts if you will. How this works is basically, one picks a betel leaf and wraps the accompanying items on the side which included dried shrimp, peanuts, diced lime, shallots, ginger, chillis and dried coconut along with a fish sauce and tamarind based dip. Of course, I did the wrap without the ginger. This was surprisingly very good for most of us that we ordered seconds. The ingredients that were provided worked very well together for me in an explosive blend of sweet, salty, sour and spiciness with a nutty element.

rice crackers

Another appetizer which we ordered up was crispy rice crackers with a sweet, sour and spicy paste.

pandan leaf chicken

The pandan chicken was decent, if not mindblowing in any ways. The nicely browned chicken was well cooked and tasted juicy.

deep fried prawn cakes

Another deep fried starter were prawn paste cakes. I think they would have made pretty good bar snacks and certainly did their part in keeping our mouths busy while waiting for the other dishes to be served. What I appreciated about them were that none of the fried stuff we had were overly greasy.

grilled seafood

Here's a grilled seafood platter which featured their gigantic river prawns, regular prawns, squid and crayfish. I'm kinda enjoying the fact that the common crustaceans here are generally bigger than the ones back home which tends to be smaller and more expensive. Nothing very exciting here except for the river prawns and crayfish which I liked better than the squid which suffered from the lack of char aroma and grill marks.

stir fried broccoli

This was the plate of obligatory greens for the evening which tasted pretty much like how they looked.

tom yam goong with coconut milk

We had opted for two renditions of their tom yam goong. This white version was amazingly very good. The sour and spicy flavors were heavily bolstered by a rich coconut flavor which resulted in a slightly more viscous consistency and reminded us more than a little of Thai green curry. Each of their tom yam goong came with two river prawns as well. Would definitely love to come back for this again.

tom yam goong

The red rendition of the tom yam goong tasted clearer, but it also brought forth a more identifiable, but almost subtle flavor of the prawn heads. Nicely done here.

roasted duck curry

The sweetish, hint of sour and spicy duck curry from Baan Khanitha was interesting because it contained certain things which I hadn't had in curries before. Apart from pieces of duck, there were grapes, pineapple, eggplant and the curious looking baby eggplants which looked like green peas. The texture of those little green balls were crunchier with a hint of bitter.

omelette with minced sausage

Their non-excessively greasy omelette come fried with a nice chewy crust. I guess it was that nice browned crust that elevated this from the usual fried egg.

mango with sticky rice

I've seldom, if ever, have had this Thai dessert. So I just had to just order them since I was here and I guess it was pretty good. The coconut infused glutinous rice was soft and sticky, textured with crispy rice over the top and the mango was juicy and sweet. It probably would have been better with a stronger citrus, but hey, I'm not complaining.

You & Mee, Grand Hyatt, Bangkok

2011-08-31T10:31:00.005+08:00

This was a casual cafe (494 Rajdamri Road, Grand Hyatt Erawan Lower Lobby, 10330 Bangkok, Thailand, tel : +66 2 254 1234) that we hit for a quick lunch after we've checked into our hotels. As some may surmise from the name of the place, it does noodles and quite a lot of it judging from the menu. That was mostly what was available.

I got a bowl of their beef kuey teow in thick soup. I suppose it was pretty decent bowl of beef rice noodles with salty meatballs and a savory sweetish broth which perked up from the dried chilli powder condiment that they had provided on each table. What made this regular bowl of beef noodles noticeably more enjoyable was the little dishes of deep fried pork rinds which they had provided. These fried bits were crispy and surprisingly light tasting and made good add on to soak up the broth for extra flavor and texture.

I probably wouldn't mind coming back again if I'm in the vicinity. Even if it's just for their thick and pulpy cantaloupe juice.

SIN -> BKK and BKK -> SIN on SQ Economy

2011-08-30T23:51:00.002+08:00

I'm guessing by logical deduction that airplane food must have gotten better over the years, but they still don't taste very good. In fact, the poached eggs that they served over on the flight to Bangkok was just weird. But I guess I shouldn't expect too much over massed packed microwaved food. Stay tuned for eats at Bangkok.

Gantetsu from Ramen Champion

2011-08-25T23:44:00.005+08:00

Here's a bowl of special miso ramen sans ginger from Gantetsu, the guys who're representing Hokkaido styled ramen down at Ramen Champion. For some reasons, I had always had the impression that I never liked miso based ramen and hence, seldom if ever ordered them. With this experience, my perceptions of them have changed a little and the fact is, I do not dislike them. In fact, the thick and savory miso broth which was mixed with that knob of butter turned out to be quite good for me. It's now probably more of the fact that I prefer tonkotsu over these.

Yes, there was definitely the tender charshu that featured stratas of fat that disintegrated as you chewed them. There were some menma, negi and a healthy portion of corn as well along with an unimpressive ajitama. The noodles were chewy the way I liked as well. I wouldn't say that I've become a convert to a fan of this particular style, but at least I'll be more receptive the next time an option presents itself.

A blue swimmer crab burger from De Burg

2011-08-24T22:01:00.003+08:00

Well, this turned out to be some kind of crab rendition of a sloppy joe from De Burg. I think there was suppose to be salted egg yolk in there, but the minced crab meat fillings which came in a pleasant creamy dressing with a hint of pepper had only the slightest bit of salted egg flavor. I must admit that I couldn't really identify what else went in there and while this burger of theirs didn't quite suck, it didn't exactly make me want to come rushing back for more again soon. There was actually quite a bit of minced crab meat in there and the whole thing was so light that it went down in short minutes.

Inaho's Kitchen Bar, Duxton Road

2011-08-20T09:46:00.009+08:00

I've been meaning to update this post for a while, but have been caught up in the past few days with work and the blood soaked feud between the Lannisters and the Starks.

Inaho's Kitchen Bar (60A Duxton Road, tel : +65 9090 6948) is run by a disarmingly curious/friendly proprietress Miho, whom has been living here for the past sixteen years. Curiosity got the better hold of me and I asked about the establishment's clientele and it was mentioned that about 5% at an approximate, wasn't Japanese. When I asked what was the English in the menu for, her three words were 'sometimes ang moh'.

We ordered up a bunch of dishes to try and I'd have to say that the home styled preparation was definitely up my alley. Being both a kitchen and a bar, the food that they served did go pretty well with drinks.

cod roe cream omelette

First up was an almost scramble egg light omelette that was doused in a cream mixed with cod roe. The flavors of the roe were robust in that ethereal cream and we pretty much wiped the plate clean with an extra portion of their freshly toasted sliced baguette.

gyu tan

I couldn't resist having a shot at their slightly chewy pan fried cow tongue which arrived thinly sliced and beefy tasting. The portions were rather small though. Of course I wished there were more.

grilled squid with ponzu & mayo

I really couldn't taste any grill off the squid. In fact, the mollusc tasted like it was braised. To which I really didn't have any complains. The pairing of grated daikon along with their ponzu dressing and heavy drizzle of mayo certainly perk flavors up a couple of notches.

black pepper Hiroshima oysters with bamboo shoots

Miho mentioned that these fat oysters were from her place of birth. These were pretty much the largest Hiroshima oysters I've had. Even after they were cooked, the thick flesh of these shellfish were a literal mouthful for me. Good enough for returns for sure.

sauteed pork with kimchi

The sliced pieces sauteed pork actually packed more sodium than spice, but I guess this was really just bar food here. Or maybe Japanese kimchi wasn't meant to pack as much punch as the Korean ones. Apart from the lack of weigh in the flavors, this was actually pretty enjoyable and would have been great to eat with rice.

I'm certainly favorably disposed towards this joint. Am going to consider coming back again.

Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice, Mei Ling Food Centre

2011-08-18T13:15:00.010+08:00

I had only recently learned about the presence of this particular Sin Kee chicken rice (Mei Lin Food Centre #02-22, Blk 159 Mei Chin Road) stall after having eaten a number of times at the "other" one down at Queenstown which I had thought to be the old stall relocated from the old hawker at Margaret Drive. Whew, that was a long one.

This place turned out to be noticeably better than the previously mentioned location. The chilled meat from the boiled chook was probably slightly more tender, easier to suck off the bone and the savory sesame and soy sauces were probably tastier than the other. The rice however was good that one could simply eat them without the chilli. It had one of the rare winning combination of being greasy enough and yet, light at the same time while being infused with sufficient flavor. It wouldn't be difficult to find an excuse to come back.

Update: 19/08/2011

We returned for a second consecutive day of lunch and this time round, we topped the order up with a side of boiled greens (nai bai). Crunchy stemmed greens with leafy tops that held up their delicious sauce that it was drenched with. This time round, I managed two plates of their rice with nary a drop of chilli and not to any big surprise, it was still all good for me. I guess the broth that was used for cooking must have gone through the painstaking removal of excess grease for the rice to be so well flavored without being heavy. None of that garlic scented burps after lunch as well.

Yes, it's been a while since I've been excited over a chicken rice stall. This one is just gonna be tough to beat.

Basilico, Regent Hotel

2011-08-15T22:00:00.006+08:00

We first noticed Basilico (1 Cuscaden Road, Level 2 The Regent Singapore, tel : +65 6725 3232) more than three years ago when we first visited Tenshin. At that time, the place was boarded up for renovations. It has taken us quite a long time to come to this place and I'm actually quite glad we made it.

Weekday dinners come in the form of semi buffet. One gets an order of a main and the antipasti along with desserts are there for you to gorge yourself with.

I don't eat as much as I used to, so I am generally more selective these days. It was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And I gorged myself in quite a few pieces of Gorgonzola blanketed with generous portions of truffle honey. And yes, I enjoyed myself while at that. The vine ripened cherry tomatoes were flavorful, it's nice to help myself with as much asparagus wrapped in Parma ham as I felt like eating and they had a pretty good Bailey's creme brulee at the dessert section.

We ordered the grilled Angus tenderloin with shaven truffles from the menu. The beef, was excellent and nicely timed medium rare. The truffles, were wasted on it. If I had to gripe, I only wished that the surface was a little more charred for texture and aroma, but I'm really not complaining here. The meat was accompanied by a triangle of polenta which I really liked. Beats old boring small potatoes....haha.

The pan seared foie gras was excellent, came accompanied with Amarena cherries and what was described as Riesling wine gelatine. The latter didn't really appear so gelatinous to me and tasted quite amazing with on the crispy toast and truffles. I'll be damned if I don't order this again the next time I come. But then again, it'll be a damned if I do and damned if I don't situation since I would love to try something else on the menu.

Taste Paradise, ION Orchard

2011-08-14T22:36:00.008+08:00

I've finally got to visit the much talked about Taste Paradise (2 Orchard Turn, #04-07 ION Orchard, tel : +65 6509 966) , the flagship restaurant of the Paradise Group. This place was a little pricier than I had expected, even for dim sum. While the food was quite tasty, the cost of eating here didn't quite commensurate against the taste for regular visits. Not when there are plenty of other more affordable options around.

century egg with lime sherbet

These spoonfuls of chopped century eggs came with coarse bits of ice and were more like granitas rather than sherbet. It was also quite sour and tasted much less interesting than I had imagined. I'm positive that they're something I will not be ordering again. The execution was just poorly thought out.

har gou

The har gous from this place were decent, but I really couldn't say much more about them. Somehow, I was expecting better from a place like this.

steamed prawns and golden mushrooms wrapped in seaweed

The steamed prawns wrapped in seaweed were quite good. The prawns were fresh and crunchy and the pairing of the savory superior sauce with seaweed simply clicked. The bonus for me here was that I like golden mushrooms as well.

steamed chicken claws with black bean

Not a mediocre rendition of steamed chicken claws here, but I know I've had better. The flavor of the black beans were sadly lacking. They looked and tasted like there were there for decoration rather than flavor.

siew mai

The dainty siew mai was again like others, pretty decent. I can never help but to compare these dumplings against the memorable ones.

foie gras

I like foie gras. These were pretty okay. I can understand that since this item is probably not their forte.

la mian with truffle oil and bacon bits

Yes, I've been reading on how truffle oil are brewed through food alchemy. That doesn't stop me from liking the aromas and the truth is, their noodles were firm and provided very nice texture for both chewing and slurping. And there's truffle oil and bits of crispy bacon in there.

char siew sou

I think here lies a decent rendition of char siew sou. The pastry was soft and packed a generous portion of the hot and sweet roasted pork and sauce. The true masters of this light and delicate skinned pastry, at least in ION, are however found seven floors below.

steamed pork ribs with black bean

Again, the black bean in the steamed pork ribs seemed more for presentation than flavor. These were okay, but I would not consider ordering them again if I came back.

duo of roasted pork belly and duck

Not bad, but didn't blow me away there.

X.O. sauce stir fried chee chong fun

These rice rolls took a very long time to arrive after repeated reminders. They were actually not bad, but the sauce a little too damp than I'm used to.

salted yolk custard buns

Everyone creates a rendition of these buns these days. I've to admit that the ones here in Taste Paradise are pretty good with a nice balance of custard and yolk.

Ramen Keisuke Tonkotsu King, Orchid Hotel

2011-08-13T21:40:00.005+08:00

I only managed to get in here (1 Tras Link, #01-19 Orchid Hotel, tel : +65 6636 0855) on the second try. The first time round, we were turned away with the reason that they had run out of broth at 2pm and had to close early for the day. To be honest, I wasn't really impressed by Keisuke's first joint at Parco with their prawn based broth. But this was a specialized tonkotsu joint so I toed the line and joined the queue because I simply had to find out.

Here's a serving of the "special" option of their ramen which included shoyu egg with semi molten yolk and wood ear fungus. The most obvious element of the tonkotsu broth served in this establishment are the little chunks of lard floating in them. The flavors were clean and creamy and didn't taste excessively heavy in spite of the fat that was in the broth. There was the option for the level oiliness and how hard the noodles are to be done. Their hard noodles were chewy and right up my alley in terms of texture.

So what else was happening here? I find myself liking their large and more thinly sliced than usual sheets of charshu. Having a free flow serving of the bean sprouts which made good munching while waiting for the noodles to be served and those chilled hard boiled eggs are definitely an appreciated attraction there. Will definitely be back to check out the black and red options they have for the ramen.

Hinoki, Cross Street

2011-08-12T23:16:00.017+08:00

This was a first visit at Hinoki (22 Cross Street, #01-50/53 China Square Central, South Bridge Court, tel : +65 6536 7746) based on a recommendation from a friend and I think the food is pretty good. Not that I'm an expert with all that stuff that the friendly men behind the counter with sharp knives and blowtorches are trying to stuff me with. One of whom was Lawrence Chia, sibling to Ronnie Chia of Tatsuya at Goodwood Park Hotel.

As usual, I have difficulty identifying some of the fishes that I've had over the course of the omakase, but I've labelled those that I have been able to tell. There's really too many things which I've been pushing into my face and from memory the outstanding items that really lingered were the fresh tasting chilled oysters, a rather fatty grilled tuna collar, the awesome skewer of beef which name is lost to me, the nicely torched foie gras over amaebi and the mekajiki toro from both the sashimi platter and the sushi with yuzu salt.

Was it all perfect for me? I suppose I would have enjoyed it more if there was uni. I've to admit that I didn't quite enjoy the bits of ginger on the aji sushi too. But hey, that was something I should have indicated at the start so I only have myself to blame. In retrospect, I think impressions have been made to the point that I wouldn't mind a return trip here.

I just wish these things were more affordable.

some spicy octopus thingy

oysters in ponzu

fugu mirin boshi

sashimi platter

grilled tuna collar

lobster mentaiko yaki

some beef, I forgot the name....sublime stuff

daikon with white miso

shima aji

hotate with spicy mayo

mekajiki toro with yuzu wasabi salt

foie gras with amaebi

akagai

aji

aburi toro

saba

anago

miso soup with lobster head

amaebi with bonito flakes

hirame

champagne grape and yuzu sorbet

Fi53fty Three, Armenian Street

2011-08-11T00:25:00.018+08:00

The "white" yoghurt and potato bread tasted quite ordinary. The surface was crusty while the insides were warm and soft.

The apple and rosemary worked themselves out with my palate as dessert. It was what was described as an apple risotto of minced apples cooked in its own juices topped with a rosemary flavored foam. This dessert in my opinion had one of the better balanced application of rosemary I've had in any food. It tasted pretty good to me and reminded me more than a little of apple pies.

The dessert portions were rather substantial. It felt like the portions of a main here and was certainly so for their pineapple with Chinese five spice, coconut and Brie. I'm not too sure how I still feel about this dessert, but the flavors to me were decidedly oriental and yet not so because of the dill and cheese and coconut cream. And it didn't appear very dessert like because of the five spice infusion along with the bits of coriander which have no place in desserts. The pungent brie ice cream was certainly interesting if unusual and I'm still wondering what made those crumbs grey. They tasted like cookie crumbs if anyone was wondering.

As novelty, I was held captivated for one serving.

After meal sweets were apple gums.

The wagyu beef cheek and alliums, asian pear and wood sorrel was apparently a signature and was pretty damn good. This is my first experience eating something done sous vide. The wagyu beef cheek that had been cooked for 40 hours was very tender, retained texture and was very flavorful. It was all well accompanied by the robust beefy consomme that they poured upon serving along with blossoms of citrus like flavors from the wood sorrels and little balls of what tasted like Chinese pear and tiny onion bulbs.

There was also a cold starter of scallop and passionfruit, tea and herbs. I didn't think it was too spectacular there as the taste was fairly predictable. And predictable isn't really a word I would like to use for a first time eating here.

Some of the items served here are pretty unusual. This was a spelt porridge with winter truffle. As much as I could smell the truffles, I couldn't find any in the porridge. The black disc in the middle tasted to me like a concentrated squid ink jelly. The accompanying brown crumbles over the top are suppose to be chestnuts, but had the texture of minced fried garlic and the taste of neither chestnuts nor garlic. I did find the this starter very comforting and tasty though.

Their charcoal infused bread looked pretty interesting. It didn't however, taste very different from regular bread.

This dish was called pork belly and red cabbage, lardo di Colonnata. The red smudges being red cabbage puree and the lardo, I haven't a clue where. There were little blobs of translucent gel like things which bursted with the flavors of apple in the mouth. The crackling of the pork belly was crispy while the fat and meat were soft.

Bread was served in a warm clay pot and kept warm with some heated seeds. These bread were apparently described as yoghurt and potato bread and the black ones were infused with charcoal. Accompanying them was small stone bowl of what we were told is Danish butter with toasted barley and buckwheat.

We were served with an amuse bouche of some crackers on a black tile and a spoonful of carrot emulsion with walnut shavings. I do not remember what are these crackers made of, but they tasted like a crispy and airy keropok to me.

I couldn't really identify the carrot emulsion nor walnut shavings neither. The former tasted creamy and the latter was like sawdust that dissolved in the mouth.

I've decided to let Blogger determine the sequence of this particular post as for some reason, I wasn't willing to rearrange the photos after uploading.

Fi53fty Three (53 Armenian Street, tel : +65 6334 5535) was carved out of a venture between Michael Han, an ex-lawyer that has as reported stinted at The Fat Duck - and Les Amis. The restaurant is well past its second year in business and has been serving food that has at some point or another, been talked about because of the origins of the helm and their showcase of a fusion-ish modern European cooking that the kitchen produces. All with as much locally sourced ingredients as possible.

The salted Danish butter was creamy and served at a temperature where it was cool and very soft. Those toasted barley and buckwheat added aroma and texture to the usual butter and bread.

Enoteca L'Operetta, Boat Quay

2011-08-10T09:23:00.011+08:00

This place (78 Boat Quay, tel : +65 6438 2482) fell in my radar because I had learnt that it was the first and only place locally, that had achieved the Vera Pizza Napoletana certification. In plain speak and summary, it meant that L'Operetta had gotten themselves a stamp of approval for making wood fired pizza through the traditional and accepted method that Naples considers authentic.

The interesting thing of it all is that in spite of the numerous Italian joints that have set up shop in this country, it was the Japanese (I'm still refering to L'Operetta here in case you got lost) that got this certification. Perhaps it might have been because the other Italian chefs think that the trouble was not worth the the results and that locals probably will not know the difference in any case. Perhaps, perhaps....

Going against the usual grain (pun unintended) I've decided to start with what I felt to be the most enjoyable item which we had instead of the usual starter to end items. The Mantecato al Minuto nella Forma di Parmigiano which was a parmigiano reggiano risotto made a la minute. The grains of rice was coated with the rich flavors of the creamy and salty cheese and this was probably the first of risottos which I've had that I pondered on seconds. That I did not have.

The pizzas were not mind blowing in any way. In fact, it was all was quite ordinary if decently done up. The tomatoes tasted fresh, but the mozzarella didn't taste like it was anything apart from the ordinary and the crust was a little more chewy than I had expected. Maybe I'm not missing that much out from Naples after all. Their Gorgonzola e miele turned out to be another bummer. The aroma was surprisingly good when the pizza was served, but the toppings turned up to be a mixture of Gorgonzola and mozzarella and wasn't even half as satisfying as the one in Benten Cafe. The spread of the cheeses were poor and the stingy drizzles of honey were plain sweet without the associated aromas of the nectar.

L'Operetta's signature starter is apparently an oven baked Hokkaido scallop which is described to be flavored by aromatized butter. Not that I could taste anything that I could have even remotely associate with butter. The cheese blanketed shellfish was cooked medium rare, pretty juicy, but I couldn't say I was overly impressed. The accompanying mushrooms stood out more in terms of flavors.

Lucky Wanton Noodle, Tanjong Pagar

2011-08-09T09:12:00.006+08:00

It's actually be quite a number of years since I've last stepped into this hawker centre and I was quite bowled over by options. We were in fact coming on a very out of the way lunch trip to try a recommended nasi lemak, but the mentioned stall was closed. I ended up giving Lucky Wanton Noodles (Blk 6 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, #02-33) a try. And no, it wasn't wanton noodles but a plate of their shui kao noodles with additions of char siew.

I think I liked it. They noodles weren't as chewy as I preferred, but the mix of dark soy sauce, chilli and pickled green chilli certainly went some ways with the flavors. The char siew wasn't fantastic by any stretch. It tasted very old school to me. Much like how many char siew from wanton noodles stalls tasted when i was a kid. It was a pleasant kind of familiarity there. The dumplings were however pretty good. I'm talking pink minced pork, crunchy shrimps and bits of water chestnut.

Beef tendon soup noodles from Noodle Place Restaurant

2011-08-08T22:50:00.004+08:00

This could possibly be one of my favorite noodles in the vicinity for a while. That being said, the beef tendon noodles wasn't something that one should expect to be mind blowingly fantastic. In fact, the noodles from this place ranks second place in my opinion versus the ones down at Canton-i. The beef tendons were just beef tendons and while they were nothing out of the ordinary, I liked them so. Something uncomplicated and comforting in the moments I feel like having something that way. I couldn't deny that their brand of soup mixed with a little beef broth helped sway me towards enjoying this.

Roadhouse, Dempsey Road

2011-08-06T23:52:00.007+08:00

Roadhouse (13 Dempsey Road, #01-07, tel : +65 6476 2922) it seems is another venture by the Privé Group that's mushroomed out at Dempsey. The characteristic element of Roadhouse as with the current profile of Privé seems to be food powered by the Josper Grill. We dropped by over the week end without reservations and managed to get seats.

To be honest, we were a little spoilt for choice because quite a number of items on the menu sounded like they might be good. We ended up with their Shrimps in a Blanket which was basically bacon wrapped prawns roasted in the oven with a coat of maple syrup. Yeap, those were a little too large for me to call them shrimps. Large and succulent prawns they were, flavored by the smokiness of the bacon and sweetened by maple syrup. I would come back just for these again.

The Roadhouse Ultimate Breakfast was ultimately a disappointment. The portions were hardly what one could consider hearty and the hash browns were the frozen variety that one could have bought anywhere. The poached eggs did look unusual and the butter they had provided for the toast was tasty, but on hindsight, I should have saved myself the $22 and spent it on something else.

Coming from the flaming depths of their Josper Grill, was the Juicy Lucy. Basically a cheese burger with more cheese stuffed in the wagyu patty. While it looked ordinary, this was really one of the better burgers I've had in a while. Living up to it's namesake, Lucy was juicy even though it was cooked way beyond my request and the house recommendation for medium rare. The fragrance of the char was evident in each bite and what I liked about them was that there wasn't unnecessary complication of sauces or spreads. Just lettuce and tomato. And very soft toasted bun. Will come back here for the burgers!

We had a warm salted triple nut tart for dessert. What made the good to great was the luscious caramel that accompanied the tart. It was the old salt and caramel that they pulled here, but it was pulled off pretty well. The scoop on the top was vanilla bean ice cream and not mashed potatoes.

Didn't have too much comments about their drinks, but I'm certainly agreeable to coming back just for more of their menu.

Nagomi, Cuppage Plaza

2011-08-03T07:12:00.007+08:00

This was a first visit for me down at Nagomi (5 Koek Road, #02-22 Cuppage Plaza, tel : +65 6732 4300). I was initially a little excited about the place because, well.....it was Nagomi and I wasn't too sure what to expect. What threw me a little off about about the visit was that I ended up undecided about how I felt about the place as it was ultimately for me, a bunch of mixed feelings.

In their food, one could taste the savory depth of shoyu and the sweetness of mirin. That might have been a one liner summary of things apart from the sashimi where each slice of fish had the clarity of its own flavors. The grilled wagyu wasn't as buttery as I had expected but the steamed sole (I think that's what he said) was piping hot and was faultless. I enjoyed the tofu with the nutty ponzu tossed salad, the soft braised nasu which was part of the otoshi I believe and the tempura of freshwater smelt was one of the better if not the best I've had. The serving of uni was especially aromatic. And in it all, very unintrusive attention from the proprietor.

Oh, the savory chicken porridge was really good as well.

But I left the place satisfied with the food and feeling a little hollow about the entire experience.

Perhaps it was the subconscious expectation that I might have been bowled over by the dinner. There was nothing I could fault, yet there was a nagging echo at the back of my head that seemed to indicate that expectations fell short somehow, somewhere.

Wong Chiew Dim Sum, Sembawang Road

2011-08-02T20:59:00.012+08:00

Another great find here (19 Sembawang Road, tel : +65 6456 683) for some local and rustic dim sum. I've been passing by this place for years and I've always noticed the stall at the corner shop house that sells roast meat. It's been always out of sight and out of mind until recently, I had realized that they're selling dim sum as well as a pretty wide variety of other cooked food.

What would be the deal from this place? I thought that the char siew bao was nicely done with fillings that could rival the ones found in restaurants. Their century egg siew mai was exactly that, with a chunk of century egg stuffed beneath the meat fillings. I couldn't say that I've ever had something done that way or even thought of it, but I liked this. The plate of pork ribs was filled with that golden porky grease which made the perfect douse for their porridge filled with minced meat and chunky century eggs. I guess down to earth would be a good description for all the food here.

No, there wasn't the lump of ebiko/tobiko on their siew mai or even crab roe that could be seen in their more refined cousins. It was just a daub of what could have been sweet chilli sauce and the radish cake certainly certainly wasn't smooth and creamy. I could also gripe about how slightly less easy it was to slurp the skin off the steamed chicken claws, but i wouldn't. I guess these things didn't have to be. I'm enjoying them all without the frills.

Definitely coming back another time.

chee cheong fun with prawns

char siew bao

innards

fish meat ball

pan fried radish cake

steamed chicken claws with black bean sauce

century egg dumplings

pei dan chok (that's minced meat and century egg porridge for you)

siew mai

deep fried prawn and mango fritters

har gao

fu pei qun (bean curd skin rolls)

steamed pork ribs with black bean

JoLogs, Lucky Plaza

2011-08-01T07:37:00.007+08:00

This place was a good recommendation. I'm already wondering when I'm coming back again. Even though the referral had came originally for me to try their crispy pata (which I didn't get a chance to, yet!) and that I had deviated from that intention by giving the other items on menu a go. JoLogs (304 Orchard Road, #04-03 Lucky Plaza, tel : +65 6887 5724) is apparently a place for rice meals where meats are paired with sinagag (rice) and itlog (sunny side up egg). The menu offers the eggs three ways which one can choose between scrambled, sunny side up or salted. Yes, the last option was the salted egg which most of us are familiar with.

How it works is that orders are taken at the cashier counter and a number tag is then presented to the customer whom can help themselves with packets of salted peanuts with fried garlic, bottomless drinks, condiments and the plastic utensil - all on self service.

We tried a serving of their sisiglog and another of their rice sets with smoked fish known as tinapa if I recall correctly. And then, there was also their juicy golden brown lechon kawali. Deep fried pork belly.

If you were wondering what I had liked exactly out of all these, I could start by saying that the smoked fish was excellent pairing with the rice. It might have sounded like a no brainer there, but the bits of garlic along with the salted egg and toasted peanuts found me a new winning combination of textures and flavors there. Not to neglect also, the crispy skinned lechon which had one of the nicest balance of fat and meat. I couldn't say that the sisig was anything impressive though. The crispy and chewy rendition on hotplate served down at 7107 definitely tops this.

Green Pumpkin Japanese Bakery Café, Nex

2011-07-31T14:55:00.011+08:00

This place (23 Serangoon Central, #B1-K1 nex, tel : +65 6634 7990) was the cafe of the bakery of the same namesake, both of which were operating in a Japanese concept food hub down at Nex. It looked like one of those places that we would normally have walked past and not spared a second glance. As things would have it, everywhere else had snaking queues and this was the only one that did not.

We ordered an onion and bacon quiche to share while waiting for the food. It was warm, buttery and egg-y at the same time and even though it looked like it might have come from a pastry factory van, it didn't taste too bad at all.

They had a niku nanban soba on menu which was a lot better than we had imagined. The soba that was used here apparently is freshly made from one of the peer concept stalls. It was all in a light yet smoky dashi broth filled with mushrooms, shabu styled beef slices and even a poached egg that had molten yolk.

We had an order of their tagliatelle bolognese which turned out to be a lot better than I had imagined. The difference from a traditional rendition and this was a large dollop of ricotta cheese on top of the pasta. Which made very little difference if you had attempted to toss them into the rest of the pasta since it would melt away into a puddle of very little flavors. Having the ricotta on bolognese was interesting but probably not the best of ideas. There wasn't enough of the cheese to go around.

What I did really like was the sauce which didn't taste like it came from a jar with the usual atrocious herby aroma. This tasted home made and quite hearty at it.

Pork bone seafood tsukemen from Menya Shinchan

2011-07-31T00:35:00.008+08:00

I suppose all that was really interesting here these days for me was the types of broth for their ramen which I haven't really tried in entirety. This pork bone seafood broth seems to be a tonkotsu variant which reminded me a lot of a very thick fish soup with bits of braised charshu. Possibly from bonito stock. While I couldn't quite place my finger to what about it that was tonkotsu, it certainly carried enough elements of that to remind me so. On the other hand, I probably might not have identified the pork bone base in a blind taste test.

The thick noodles were firm and chewy but weren't chilled as I was expecting. It wasn't the most exciting of ramen, but it did the job of a quick dinner that also didn't make me perspire overly in the humid evening. I did finish up most of that soup there as well.

Roadside durian stall at Balestier

2011-07-30T00:31:00.005+08:00

I have seldom if ever talked about durians and this is probably the first time I've gotten them on photos. I do enjoy eating certain strains of the fruit. If that's a correct term for describing their variety. These above are mao shan wang which we've purchased off a roadside stall along Balestier Road, located just in front a temple. In truth, I do not know how can they be identified beyond the bittersweet flavored and thick custard like flesh with a certain shade of yellow. For a fruit that I've eaten countless times in my life, I usually have the tendency to usually forget how filling those rich and creamy meat can be.

Edit : I've just found out that the stall is known as Combat Durian (249 Balestier Road, Goh Chor Tua Pek Kong Temple). They even have a Facebook page!

Crisp airy kosong and cheesy pisang prata

2011-07-29T00:32:00.002+08:00

This might not look like much on picture, but they were pretty good prata there from Al Ameen. What I liked about their kosong was their lightly crisp and airy texture and that the pan fried prata wasn't soaked in excessive oil. The other slice lying just below was filled with chewy mozzarella cheese and melted bananas. It's not an overly unusual combination these days, but damn it was good. No powdered instant curry was used here as well.

Whence came this strawberry shortcake?

2011-07-26T21:41:00.005+08:00

This was, as one could term it - baked by loving hands. Freshly home baked chiffon dressed in light buttery cream with strawberries and nicely chilled in the fridge. Very little of them survived the first evening.

Da Luca Italian Restaurant, Goldhill Plaza

2011-07-25T10:32:00.015+08:00

The spores of Italian cuisine have again spread. Located not too far away from Matsuo Sushi is a relatively new joint down at Goldhill Plaza known as Da Luca Italian Restaurant (1 Goldhill Plaza, #01-19/21 Goldhill Plaza, tel : +65 6258 4846). This would be another one of those spaces with little frills but serves hearty food. The type that I would prefer. The chef Luca, as I have heard comes previously from Garibaldi and Gunther's. As a matter of coincidence, as we walked into the restaurant, we recognized the wait staff whom we've seen back in Garibaldi also and at Gattopardo. Small world it is then.

The bread served came in the form of thick sticks of olive foccacia. Crusty, porous and pretty good for soaking up dips which we dutifully did from the stewed tripe.

The stewed tripe was done in a light tomato cheese sauce and Parmesan. The sauce was both light and creamy while the tripe was soft and chewy. It was a little less tart than the one at La Braceria and less cheesy than those from Pietrasanta. We definitely enjoyed the warm heartiness of it and will probably like to order this again.

I probably shouldn't be making comparison of the stracci here with the one at Oso since they are of different sauces. As much as I would like to proclaim that the latter is the better, I really enjoyed this flavorful meaty sauced pasta as much. As much as I would like to say that I generally avoid tomato base stuff, I liked every bit of the sauce. Wouldn't mind eating these again for sure.

Da Luca's soft spinach gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce was....dang, I'm out of adjectives for the day. Hearty it is then. No complains about the Gorgonzola sauce which had the prerequisite pungent aroma of the cheese from the moment the pasta was plated. And tempered by the sweet balsamic drizzle. Couldn't get enough of them.

Dessert was a tiramisu. We just wanted to try it for comparison's sake. Not with those served in other restaurants, but with those that we've made ourselves at home.

The restaurant served a sugar dusted pastry, chiacchiere at the end that came with a zabaglione and chocolate dip. I have to be honest and say that it wasn't spectacular, but it was definitely a nice gesture. I think every table got one of these.

Here's the part where I say that I'm definitely coming back again for re-visits.

Blanco Court Prawn Mee, Beach Road

2011-07-24T22:01:00.009+08:00

I've walked by this place on several occasions, so this time round, I'm here to try the prawn noodles. Here's a look at both the soup and dry options for the 3 in 1 noodle from Blanco Court Prawn Mee (243 Beach Road, #01-01 tel : +65 6396 8464). What made the 3 in 1 option is basically the addition of boiled pork ribs and pig tails in the bowl of noodles. There were actually some pig skin in there as well.

The dry version was pretty decent and one could pack a lot of heat into the noodles by simply adding the available condiments of chilli powder and thinly sliced chilli padi. The noodles themselves do already come with the option of their chilli sauce. However, I think I enjoyed the soup version more. That's basically because the crustacean sweetness (along with lard and fried shallots too!) was robust in their broth and seemed much more so than another similar stall down at East Coast Road. I hate to think about how much MSG I might have ingested if there truly was any involved at all. But damn the soup was good. And there was refilling available for that as well.

The chor bee hoon was firm, pig skin springy and the porky tasting pig tails were pretty much like a tiny version of oxtail. Definitely good for returns.

Union Farm Eating House

2011-07-23T22:32:00.004+08:00

I had recently seen this place (435A Clementi Road) on a local food television program and it got me all curious about them. In spite of various heads up from friends telling me that the place was way over rated and not worth the time, curiosity prevailed.

The last time I had eaten here could have been two decades back and I certainly didn't have very much memories of the food here. Union Farm had once, decades ago, been an actual chicken farm that ventured into the business of selling their chicken cooked. Throughout the years, it had converted into an actual food establishment selling kampung styled food.

Here was an order of their 15 piece paper wrapped chicken. The seasoning on the meat was sweetish with a hint of ginger. If I had to put some figures into this, about a good 60% of the plate were skin, bones and paper. Chicken pieces were stuck to the paper wrappings. The above mentioned food program said that one way of eating these paper wrapped chicken was to open them over a plate of their noodle so that the juices from the meat trapped within the paper wrappings could just dribble in added flavor. The chicken was pretty dry apart from some grease. Nothing dripped.

There was very little meat in there and for what it cost, wasn't cheap at all. We certainly didn't adopt the looks of bliss like they portrayed on tv.

Our obligatory greens came in the from of kailan with oyster sauce. The serving was literally a plate of boiled kailan with a dollop of oyster sauce on the side. It didn't taste bad, but it just wasn't how I had expected it.

Previously, I had been griping over $34 noodles. This time round, my gripes are over $3 noodles. Boiled, unseasoned and garnished with a few stalks of vegetables, it certainly didn't look to me like it should cost that much. The portions weren't even close to being substantial.

I cannot in good conscience recommend this place to anyone.

Gattopardo revisited

2011-07-22T20:44:00.011+08:00

For a few moments, I was contemplating the abstinence of superfluous narratives because I was trying to decide on something and my thoughts are somewhat disjointed. One may question what's the link between the two. But I have just proven that I have failed right here at that. With honorable discredits. Oxymoron.

There I did it again.

Still I shall try.

There is no simple way that I can come to terms with this, but there were some things that I liked and definitely some that I didn't about the food at Gattopardo. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of what I liked most about the food tonight. Their grilled calamari which I have three words for. Awesome, awesome and awesome. Really.

Sweet Red Onion from Calabria with Light Saffron Ragusano Cheese Fondue

I liked the sweet onion pudding. The texture was so souffle light and creamy at the same time. Taste was sweet and wasn't overwhelmed by the Ragusano cheese.

Homemade Squid Ink Spaghetti with King Crab and Cognac Sauce

Unimpressive portions. No bloody idea what the Cognac sauce was suppose to be or tasted like. Tasted light tomato and flavors of the crab. And a savory something else that didn't remind me the slightest of Cognac. Crab meat possessed natural sweetness, meat was a little difficult to remove from the shells for some segments. Noodles were ordinary.

Angel Hair Pasta with Grey Mullet “Bottarga” Roe and Sea Urchin

I think I know bottarga and I didn't think I tasted it much. Pasta was more than a little bland. Not the uni I was thinking of neither. In fact, it tasted rather fishy, was a little stiff and little like my good memories of sea urchin. Very disappointed with this $34 bowl of noodles.

White Garlic Focaccia with Smoked Mozzarella, Italian Sausage, Onion and Potatoes

Pretty good there, but couldn't help linking my thoughts of it with northern Chinese pancakes.

Toasted Almond Panna cotta with Bitter Chocolate Mousse and Pear Confit

This was an unusual panna cotta. If I had to describe it, it would probably be almond agar agar. Pear confit was lightly tart and sweet coupling nicely with the creamy caramel sauce daubed over them.

Crispy Espresso-infused Wafer Filled with Sweet Ricotta Cheese

Not too bad there, but I ate a little more than half this and still couldn't identify what in the world is that red sauce. Enjoyed the creamy ricotta fillings. Most outstanding item in there, were the toasted and chopped pistachios. Fragrant especially when masticated. Pistachio gelato was good too.

Signature Mascarpone & Espresso Tiramisu Cake with Sicilian Bitter Cocoa

Ordinary, not lousy.

So how did I do?

Joo Siah Bak Koot Teh, Jurong East

2011-07-20T20:58:00.008+08:00

To get to the point, the bak kut teh here trumps the one at Founder (Blk 347 Jurong East Ave 1, #01-220, Yuehua Market & Hawker Centre). If not for the location, I can envision myself becoming a semi regular patron to Joo Siah.

I couldn't quite articulate what exactly about Joo Siah that made me decide with certainty that I preferred them. Perhaps it was a clearer and sharper broth that had bits of white peppercorn at the base and those morsels of tender rib meat that one could easily suck off the bone.

It was probably a combination of those and the excellent braised pork trotters in dark soy sauce. And I really do mean excellent. The medley of textures from the soft meat, fat and skin were slurp inducing and I certainly found a homely aspect to the taste of their dark soy sauce. Tasted very much like how my grandmother used to make them.

The preserved vegetables were pretty pedestrian. They had unfortunately ran out of tau kee for the day and I hear that the prime ribs are usually sold out by the afternoon. I guess it's good enough reasons for an excuse to revisit.

De Yun Bak Kut Teh, Yishun

2011-07-19T22:38:00.006+08:00

Even though this wasn't anything mind blowing, this stall had pretty good stuff going on there (Blk 417, Yishun Ave 11). For one, they were cooking a variety of stuff including boiled pig stomach and steamed fish. The bak kut teh was peppery and not shabby at all. I liked that the cai buay came with thinly sliced bits of chilli padi which added a bit of heat to the salty chopped bits of vegetables. The meat from the rib was nice and fatty even though it wasn't quite of the "fall off the bone tender" variety.

Definitely more than good enough for a quick fix there with variety to boot at this remote corner of Yishun. Like braised pork trotters in dark soy sauce!

Paradise Dynasty, ION Orchard

2011-07-18T07:31:00.014+08:00

Perhaps it had been that very recent trip down to the Ramen Champion stadium that I had felt that the la mian at Paradise Dynasty (2 Orchard Turn, #04-12A ION Orchard, tel : +65 6509 9118) lacked punch. While the flavors of the broth in the ramen had been salty and "in your face" impactful, this pork bone broth in the la mian appeared to be refined and subtle. Just like the difference between karate and taichi. If that means anything. Hiiieeeyaaah!

This was my first visit down to a restaurant by the Paradise Group. The food concept for Paradise Dynasty, is northern and southern Chinese. At least superficially it is.

The egg loaf above was made of century egg, salted egg and omelette. Apart from being egg-y, it was rather bland.

What this restaurant is well known for, are their xiao long bao. These black skinned ones above are black truffle flavored. To be honest, the flavors of the black truffle was subtle and little. One would have to be consciously tasting the dumpling instead of gobbling them down to recognize that there was actually something else lurking inside them. On the other hand, these xiao long baos did taste a lot like the original versions, not detracting much from their original porky taste.

These are the foie gras flavored versions of the xiao long bao. Like the black truffle variety, the flavors were subtle. But I have to admit that this place makes a pretty decent pork and fat dumpling.

These chilled Shaoxing marinated drunken chicken were great. The flavors of the wine were seeped into the soft flesh of the bird. Will likely to order these again if I come back.

I rather regretted ordering the mala beef innards. I suppose I didn't really enjoy the spices and that it was filled with chopped coriander. With all the spiciness, I couldn't really taste much of the beef.

In spite of the earlier comparison, I had actually enjoyed the la mian here. Sure these silky noodles weren't the chewy or al dente-like ones that I normally prefer. But these noodles were suppose to be another thing entirely. This place also did a much better job out of the molten yolked hard boiled egg. The fresh sweetness of the scallops and crab legs were also very apparent in the seafood here. Surprised and pleasantly so.

Ramen Champion at Iluma

2011-07-15T23:11:00.011+08:00

Hey, the annual Ultimate Ramen Championship has made it to our local shores down at Iluma (201 Victoria Street, ILUMA @ BUGIS, #04 – 08/09/10) and it seems that six stalls located a "stadium" will be around until this time next year vying for our votes so that the winner is able to set up a restaurant here. The above features a bowl of Bario ramen from the stall of the same name. This stall from Tokyo features semi squiggly noodles made from bread flour. What you actually see from the above picture is but, the proverbial tip of the iceberg for the amount of bean sprouts that went into the bowl of noodles. There's more of them sprouts here than a single serving of them in some chicken rice stalls!

I wisely sampled more than a few spoonfuls of the garlicky broth before mixing in that enthusiastic portion of grated garlic that one could help themselves to from the stall front. The original broth tasted very much like a hearty minced pork soup. A very decent one at that too. What I liked about this particular bowl was the play of textures from both the thick chewy noodles and the crunchy bean sprouts. The former when put in a local context, was akin to lor mee noodles - albeit with more bite and none of that yellow noodle taste. In fact, this was very much like Japanese lor mee. Guardian UK apparently put it as "50 best things to eat in the world" list. I'm not sure I would agree to that statement, but I really do not think I would mind at all giving this a second go. With much less garlic the next time. On the side, Bario does have some crispy skinned and meaty gyozas which I found to be pretty good.

By a stroke of chance, Ikkousha that does Hakata styled ramen with my favorite tonkotsu broth was just next door to Bario. Didn't have to navigate too far away through the lengthy queues and crowd. What stood out for me for their bowl of creamy broth, was a depth of porkiness and smokiness that created a rather unique flavor not yet encountered here. Their thin noodles were unfortunately overcooked and were not as firm and chewy as I liked.

I would like to give this stall my vote since I feel that this one is definitely on toe to toe with Nantsuttei, but I think I'm quite keen on giving some of the others in the competition a go before I decide on it.

What was universal for both ramen stalls were the aromatic char shu that were so tender that they fell apart easily in the mouth. The sad thing here was the aji tama from both too, did not have the molten yolk and the shoyu flavors that I was expecting to be seeped into the egg.

A seafood dinner at Greenwood

2011-07-14T20:37:00.005+08:00

This seafood platter was a deviation from an old favorite we hadn't had for a while and it all came about from a sudden craving for seafood. It was also quite a long while back since I had last visited Greenwood (34 Greenwood Avenue, Hillcrest Park, tel : +65 6467 4950) and I did not even realize that they had an extended unit for seats in their restaurant.

As things would have it, we started off with a mekajiki toro. Also known as swordfish belly.

And then, there was a lobster bisque which was really not too bad if I had to make the call. The crustacean flavors were apparent and while I wasn't close to being blown away by it, I couldn't slam the soup neither.

There was honestly mixed feelings for me on this. While I did enjoy the sweet and spicy dressing of their octopus salad on the aside and the deep fried calamari wasn't as dreadfully boring a grease bomb I was thinking, I felt far from being impressed. The lobster was a little tough and the fish skewers were in need of a little salt. We left the place thinking to ourselves that it was all just okay. Is this one of the better seafood platter offerings to be had on this island?

Saizeriya Ristorante E Caffe, City Square Mall

2011-07-12T07:24:00.009+08:00

I liked this Japanese place (180 Kitchener Road, #B2-55/56 City Square Mall, tel : +65 6834 4878) a lot better than I had expected. Perhaps it was the fact that I had came by expecting very little since I believe that one gets what one pays for. The prices at this place were very affordable for what they served and at their price point, I couldn't complain at all. There were no frills and presentation was..... well, perfunctory. But one doesn't come here for prettied up plates.

As you can see, squid ink pasta was generously inked, so to speak. I was really pleased that they did not scrimp on the squid ink and their flavors came through with every forkful of the al dente noodles. There wasn't much but pieces of squid in the pasta, but they were quite generously portioned and I'll probably want to order a plate of these again the next time I come.

The spinach with bacon was pretty much what it was. A bunch of soft wilted spinach flavored with bits of bacon. I actually enjoyed how straightforward it all was in terms of how it was served and how it tasted.

This was probably the cheapest mushroom soup I've had for as long as I could remember and it was also a lot better than most that would cost twice of it. It's not close to the better ones I've had, but hey, those cost a lot more too.

I could imagine this order of smoked salmon to be something I took off the cold food section at Ikea. In fact, it arrived so quickly that it might have probably been prepared in a similar fashion. There was nothing fancy nor exciting about it. Just a mildly smoked salmon.

Their mushroom pasta was also satisfactory costing probably half of what Pasta Mania charges, but tasting more than twice as good. The flavors of the mushrooms were definitely not found wanting. These guys here didn't use excessive cream sauce and that was definitely a one up there.

Dessert was a panna cotta. It's probably a pre-packed dessert that was imported in bulk, but it was served chilled in a chilled glass bowl and it didn't taste half bad.

Yonehachi, Takashimaya basement

2011-07-11T07:19:00.008+08:00

I had been intending to drop by this place for a while, my curiosity piqued by the attractive looking sticky steamed rice that they always have on display down at the front of their counter. Apparently, the rice that the stall is famed from are a little different from the regular short grained rice that is used for most Japanese cooking. These ones are used to make mochi.

The sansai okowa and salmon okowa rice options from the shokado okowa set from Yonehachi (391 Orchard Road, #B204-1/2 Takashimaya Food Hall, Ngee Ann City, tel : +65 6333 8227) tasted a lot lighter and healthier than I had expected. The only thing that was fried from the bento was the oysters and I've to say that to my pleasant surprise, they weren't too shabby neither. The rest of the dishes on the side had been stewed or simmered vegetables and a miso soup. Oh, and also a little dish of what appeared to be some sort of tartar sauce filled with onions and chopped eggs. That was good, especially with the oysters.

Kam Boat House, Singapore Swimming Club

2011-07-10T10:39:00.004+08:00

Here's a spread of dim sum and an order of roasted goose from Kam Boat House (45 Tanjong Rhu Road, tel : +65 6342 3659). From the menu, variety here was generally limited but the food was generally wasn't too shabby.

I'm sure I would like enjoyed a fluffier skin for the char siew bao, a creamier textured pan fried radish cake, more tender steamed pork ribs, a more distinctively defined siew mai flavors or even a lighter pastry for the char siew sou. Even the roasted goose could have been more tender. But hey, that's just me picking on little things that I would have preferred. The food here was really not too bad. I could have gotten used to the more refined quality down at Imperial Treasure, which has to me been consistently one of the better and affordable dim sum places.

Was there anything that might have stood out from the food which we ordered at Kam Boat House? I guess I had enjoyed the nice flavorful aroma from the fat underneath the roasted light and crispy skin of the goose and their siew mai was actually competently done in spite of my rambling over them.

Milk fish and crispy pata from 7107 Flavours

2011-07-07T21:12:00.005+08:00

Curiosity, was what got the better hold of us when the unsuspecting order of milk fish was served down at 7107 Flavours. What we couldn't quite figure out here, was how did all the minced fish stuffings with raisins and green peas got filled out into the unbroken skin of the fish again entirely intact! There weren't any bones in there for that matter and even the head was entirely filled with the marinated minced fish.

The crispy pata was just as the name implied, full of crispy skin from the pork. The meat leaned towards being dry and was pretty much saved by the garlic and chilli vinegar on the side there. I didn't think it was impressive enough to ever come back for that again. Their sinigang however, was still as enjoyable as I remember them.

Hippopotamus Restaurant Grill, Marina Square

2011-07-05T21:38:00.007+08:00

Frankly, I was quite the skeptic at the start. Understandably, Hippopotamus (6 Raffles Boulevard, #01-204/205 Marina Square, tel : +65 6338 5352) sounded neither the likes of a respectable restaurant nor French nor both. But apparently, this place is Parisian family styled restaurant that's been around for almost half a century.

I could say that the food is pretty decent for the most of it and I was also mostly, bought over by their XL rib eye which was large, very juicy and rather bloody. Granted that we're not looking at premium cuts from pedigreed bovines and respectable marbling here. It was still a decent hunk of meat. And I'm really glad that I picked a medium doneness over my regular option of medium rare which would probably have been a tad undercooked for my preferences. Portions are definitely generous (it might have been 340g) and the options for sides are definitely appreciated. One of the gems in this place was that they actually served a very decent blue cheese sauce! Yay for that blue cheese sauce because I know there's a dreary lack of even decent ones around.

I'm definitely coming back for the steaks and perhaps the burgers.

french onion soup

The French onion soup was passable. Love the toasted cheese, but the flavors of the soup lacked body.

300g bone marrow

A rather large bone marrow was served here, costing much less than what most restaurants would charge for it. But I suspect this was frozen and not thawed nor baked well as the marrow wasn't as quivery soft as it should have been and certain parts were almost as hard as warm wax. Eek!

squid fries

These not so chewy things were passable probably for bar snacks. It got boring after a couple of them.

A choco lamb burger from De Burg

2011-07-04T14:04:00.006+08:00

I have to admit that I had ordered this from De Burg partially out of the curiosity of having hazelnut chocolate spread paired with a grilled lamb patty. The flavors were..... interesting to say the least. I certainly hadn't had chocolate with lamb before and while it wasn't the match made in heaven, it didn't taste too bizarre neither. It was just, unusual.

There was enough of the Nutella spread in the bun for the chocolate flavors to be quite noticeable and in spite of everything else that was piled into the well constructed burger, I could still taste some of the flavor of the meat. Although, I would have preferred for that to be more robust.

Leng Kee fish soup and Seng Kee carrot cake

2011-07-03T18:48:00.007+08:00

Here's an unbeatable carrot cake (#02-182) and sliced fish soup (#02-192) combo down at Bt Timah Food Centre (116 Upper Bukit Timah Road). The former being my carbs option for lunch.

What I like about Seng Kee is the lightly crispy yet chewy skin of browned eggy crust that binds the chunky slabs of radish cake. The insides are soft and doesn't have excessive grease. All in all, something that I found to be more hearty than the usual carrot cake offering.

What draws many to Leng Kee Fish Soup, is their generous slices of fresh tasting batang and a tasty soup base that puts the ubiquitous and soulless clones in countless food courts to shame. The cost of each bowl is comparable to what can be normally found in food courts. However, with that same amount that one is paying, I get a top up option of fish roe and the portions of sliced fish are more than doubled.

Luke's Oyster Bar | Chop House, Gemmill Lane

2011-06-30T23:41:00.015+08:00

Travis Masiero, formerly of a few places has done it again apparently. This time round, it's a cleanly furbished oyster bar and grill joint (20 Gemmill Lane, tel : + 65 6221 4468) off one end of Club Street that serves seafood that I read, imported from Maine. Apparently, the oysters and the lobsters are the much talked about things that one could order around here.

Green Goblin

Clean tasting refreshing drink that I thought served well as a palate cleanser. I think there was cucumber in it though I do not remember what else went to make the drink. Enjoyable.

house made corn bread

These corn bread came with whipped butter on the side and a sprinkle of what looked to be paprika. Cutting to the kernel of it (lol!), the flavors of the corn was robust. Definitely one of the better ones if not the best in town.

tuna tartare

Excellent tuna tartare is served at Luke's. The clean flavors of the chopped tuna never got beyond a fragrant soy based dressing with a hint of citrus and chives. This was a western version of negitoro on toast if you would. It almost felt like eating sashimi here. This is definitely worth coming back for.

fried oyster po boys

The oyster po boys here are served bite sized. The crispy battered oysters were of a smaller variety and were nicely fried. I couldn't however, taste much of them as a lot of the flavors came from the delicious coleslaw dressing. I have no idea what it is made of.

MFK Fisher's oyster pan roast, sea urchin toast, smoked paprika and bottarga

Luke's oyster pan roast was in short, a smokey cream based oyster soup. Albeit one that is expertly done where the cream was rich and not excessively so while harboring a slightly more than subtle hint of the fat oysters swimming in there. I had a little difficulty identify the smoked paprika and bottarga there, but what the heck. I wished there were more oysters and for as hard as I tried, I couldn't derive any of the uni-ness from the toast. In fact, the toast contained a pungent flavor I normally associate with blue cheese. In short, I enjoyed it.

Luke's clam chowder, sage butter and little neck clams

The other shellfish soup was a little more peppery and filled quite generously with the little neck clams. Again, easily one of the better clam chowders I've had.

boned in tenderloin au poivre, mustard cognac jus

A very expertly done, medium rare tenderloin with a pepper corn crust cradled in a plateful of savory sauce that was the mustard cognac jus. Enjoyed every bit of it down to the bone.

lobster mac and cheese

The creamy portions of the mac and cheese reminded me of the soups we had earlier. Robust, thin in consistency yet not cloying. This one also inherited more than a little hint of the natural sweetness of lobster.

banana and coconut crumble, avocado ice cream

Luke's banana and coconut crumble was deceptively light in spite of appearances. One could possibly imagine the taste and texture formed by sweet and semi melted bananas along with bits of shredded coconut, warm flaky pastry and crumbles. Nothing very surprising here in terms of flavors, just an enjoyable pastry well done. Didn't think too much of the avocado ice cream though.

key lime pie

This was possibly the first time I had quite enjoyed meringue. The ones from the key lime pie were soft and definitely not excessively sweet, which I had feared. The key lime custard was robust and packed with lime zest which created a nice bitter after note. The crushed cracker base (assuming that it was that) tasted oat-y-ier rather than buttery. I think this was quite nicely done here.

I'm very tempted to drop by again really soon, but the prices here are pretty steep.

mystery diner "A"

More Indian food from Tanjong Pagar Railway

2011-06-28T21:06:00.002+08:00

The crowd and queues at the stalls were mad on a weekend, but we persisted and managed to get us some freshly baked chapati with keema and fried Indian rojak. Being freshly made and still piping hot, the chapati pieces were airy and light. All of the lightness pretty much went away with the oil drenched keema and with the assorted "deep fried from a trough" items from the Indian rojak, it both made for a greasy lunch. I couldn't say that these were the best I've eaten around, but I really couldn't complain neither.

Singapore Food Trail, Singapore Flyer

2011-06-25T08:54:00.008+08:00

The original intention was to come down here (Level 1, Singapore Flyer, 30 Raffles Avenue) to check out the promotion Guinness had with a couple of the hawker stalls. In the end, we ordered ourselves a spread from the various stalls down at the Food Trail.

What did I like about the food here? The compact poh piah was pretty decent if a little expensive ($2 a roll). Oyster omelette was competently done and I wouldn't mind eating those here again for sure. The satay bee hoon was a little different from the usual in both the flavor and viscosity of the satay sauce. The consistency felt like a watered down version of the sauce, but had an interesting seafood aroma. Portions for the smallest option was dismal.

Back to the Guinness items, those were simply disappointing. The hokkien mee contained the barest trace of malty flavors and tasted like it was doused with some sweet sauce instead. The regular savory rendition would have no doubt tasted much better. So I guess the noodles were largely saved by a very nice chilli sauce which broke the cloying monotony. The tiny flat tasting and limp textured Guinness squids (from Boon Tat BBQ Seafood) were pathetic in portions and taste for what it cost. It could have been uplifted with a bit more char. Note to myself to avoid this stall in the future. Even their frozen bbq stingrays were little to write home about.

satay bee hoon

Guinness Hokkien mee

oyster omelette

bbq stingray

poh piah

Guinness fried squid

An eggy lunch at Colbar

2011-06-24T07:17:00.002+08:00

ox liver and egg sandwich

Any doctor worth their salt would probably comment that this was an ill advised lunch. But I don't eat like this every day so I think it's going to be fine. There's enough cholesterol to raise some alarms and enough carbs to induce stupor in the afternoon.

On the positive side, the ox liver sandwich was really quite good. The thinly sliced pan fried livers were nicely browned and savory with enough texture for bite. Adding a fried egg into the the sandwich just made it richer in more ways than one. And knowing that it'll probably be insufficient, there was an order of egg curry which was really quite good as well. Nutty, savory and moderately spicy to be paired up with plain white rice. Quite worth the stupor if I might add.

egg curry

Nasi padang from Tanjong Pagar Railway

2011-06-22T21:57:00.007+08:00

Here's a satisfying plate of nasi padang from a stall beside the one that sells chapati down at Tanjong Pagar Railway. This was good stuff there with the generous portions of tasty braised squid, a side of cooked cauliflowers and their pan fried omelette that was loaded with onions and green chilli. And I don't think there would be much I could say to really put into context how comforting all the spice, rice and dishes was for a straight forward midday meal without frills.

On a side note, the chapati seller beside the stall reminded me of our Flying Dutchman. This train station seems to be crawling with people after the news of the closure. I hadn't imagined it to be so crowded in its last days.

A South Indian rice meal from Komala's

2011-06-21T23:45:00.004+08:00

I had obviously not expected the deep rooted heartiness to be found in Komala Vilas here, but on hindsight, this South Indian rice meal was not bad at all and satiated my craving for some Indian food. It was probably the combination of the best sauce in the world, the savory sambar, soft spicy vegetables, hot steaming rice (that accidently steamed the crisp out of the papadum) and yoghurt that did the trick. The relatively fast service meant that this was definitely viable for me as a quick fix without having to travel too far out of my usual routes.

What caught my interest today was the little stalk of what appeared to be dried chilli that tasted much saltier than I was expecting. Any idea what are those things?

The Jackson Plan, Duxton Hill

2011-06-18T22:05:00.011+08:00

This was a new British styled gastrobar (40 Duxton Hill, tel : +65 6866 1988) located but a few units away from L'Entrecote. Apparently, the intriguing name which this establishment carries comes from a plan which was done to engineer district distribution in this country back in 1822. Shortly after the arrival of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles. Then in recent years, an Italian man Beppe De Vito, who had brought us Il Lido and Forlino decided that it was probably a good idea to turn the name of that into one of a restaurant and watering hole.

How the reconciliation had happened, I did not know.

Westons organic cider

The bar features a bunch of ciders that I know next to nothing about. I decided on a bottle of Westons organic cider by virtue of name and then decided that it wasn't really what I had been looking forward in a cider. However, their very helpful wait staff did follow up with a recommendation of the vintage cider of the same brand. That was pretty good stuff with what I felt was a better balance of body, apple citrus and of course, more alcohol. We had seconds.

Potted smoked mackerel, rye toast

The smoked mackerel was unexpectedly good. Honestly, it probably didn't look like much to anyone and I was in fact, expecting bits of things I would recognize as fish instead of an oatmeal paste. The aroma of the smoked fish was nothing short of appetizing and we enjoyed it enough that the lemon was left untouched. But the story of the lemon doesn't end here.

Cured ox tongue, celeriac & caper coleslaw

I had little idea of what to expect for the ox tongue and certainly, didn't imagined it to be soft and velvet like on the surface - much like thick wet cardboard. Lol. Jokes aside, the flavors were a little subdued for my liking, but if you had recalled the lemon that was left behind earlier...a squeeze of it along with a sprinkle of salt did quite a bit to animate the flavors of the ox tongue.

Scallops, black pudding, smoked cheese

The scallops and blood pudding were enjoyable. Almost everything came across as slightly sweet. The pudding tasted very much like sweet corn with a meaty afternote. The light tasting mashed potatoes were creamy and addictive. What was described as smoked cheese was actually aburied (torched). I'm not even sure if it was all cheese as it was a tad too fluffy and creamy.

Beef shin, bone marrow, potato cakes

This was probably the least exciting of what we had. The beef shin was tender, but much too lean for my preferences and the bone was a little small. I think it would be fair to mention that the French guys nearby do a much better job on with that. All that capers really did nothing to help neither.

Real chips

Thick cut fried potatoes. One can even taste the natural sweetness from the tubers. Enjoyed it.

Eccles cake, rum and raisin ice cream

I had never heard of an Eccles cake until today. It was apparently a sort of fruit danish with sugar sprinkled over the top. It might have been great if it were freshly made instead of being a little chewy and cold. The scoop of ice cream which was probably made of half raisins could have done with more rum. I didn't feel that dessert was that much to get excited over.

Would I come back? Certainly.

Saboten, Parco Marina Bay

2011-06-14T10:21:00.009+08:00

I am telling myself that it is very likely that I have stumbled upon a new favorite tonkatsu joint down at Saboten (9 Raffles Boulevard, #P3-01 Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk, tel: +65 6333 3432). In this place I have found myself porky goodness encased in a crisp breaded shell with no excessive grease. While at that, it was also true that there have been other places which I had thought, provided compelling offerings. And there was also the fact that this restaurant belongs to a chain that has more than 500 outlets worldwide.

The leaner katu rosu from the set came bolstered with nice strip of fat on the side while the hire nuggets from their katsudon (which scored with molten yolk!) were expectedly tender and juicy. The former set also came with a tasty prawn cake/fritter which was made of chunks of the said crustacean chopped up, fused together and encased in a similar breaded shell. I hear that these prawn cakes will only be available until the end of July.

Each order comes with a free flow of rice, shredded cabbage and miso soup. The ponzu sauce and their exceptionally fragrant creamy sesame dressing on the side were responsible for more servings of these than I care to admit and the latter was nothing short of spectacular over a bowl of steaming hot rice. Who needs tonkatsu sauce here?