Thosai and more prata from Ya-Mahyuddin Al-Jailani

Back at Ya-Mahyuddin Al-Jailani. Got ourselves a masala cheese thosai. Or was that cheese masala thosai. Whichever. They used the cheap plastic wrapped cheeses which I thought was ideal from the sharper saltiness and gooey meltiness which asserted itself in the potatoes.

I upgraded from the cheese banana prata to a cheese egg banana prata today. What I took away from today's prata was that these guys don't stick to one type of banana. They one they used was of a different variety today - unlike the tangy sweet ones from the last time. 😢 These were more like plantains. Low sweetness and tasted potato-y. 

Twelve Hainanese Chicken Rice, Kukoh 21 Food Centre

Noticed the chicken rice from Twelve Hainanese Chicken Rice (#01-04 Kukoh 21 Food Centre, 1 Jalan Kukoh) the previous time we were here from a neighbouring table. Not a bad one. There's a light but discernible flavouring in the rice which allowed me to go all out with their lime-y chilli. Will not mind coming back. 

Kit Kat chocolate toast from Toast Box

I am sometimes a sucker for punishment limited edition toast from Toast Box. This one has chocolate fillings made with Kit Kat. Not nice.

Revisiting Holy Crab

A dinner at Holy Crab. To get the cost to quality thoughts out of the way, I didn't think their food was worth what they were charging and my opinion of them dips further from the last time. I accept that it's not cheap in a location like theirs, but pairing that with mediocrity irks me.

This dish was cornily called CapriCorn - corn kernels with salted yolk and curry leaves. I kinda enjoyed this but it's one with those dishes where the enjoyment is subjected pretty quick diminishing returns. At least for me.

Crabtree & Evelyn, I don't know how Evelyn came into the picture. Menu described the broccoli as torched and it was supposed to have chai poh. I didn't even know there was chai poh in it and nothing about the actual broccoli indicated that it had been torched.

Picture on the menu could lead one to believe that there's loads of chunky crab meat in the sauce. Said picture was obviously for illustration only. Not so much crab in there and those chunks didn't taste like freshly steamed crab meat. Sauce was starchy. Couldn't tell what the flavour of it was.

Nemo in Hot Soup. It's a soup with oddly, barramundi belly hanging on a skewer. I thought it would be served in the stone bowl depicted in the menu. This tasted pretty good though. I attribute that partially to the Bistrol Cream Sherry. Honestly, I don't know what else went into the broth because it sure as hell tasted like there was more than fish in it.

Asian Angel Hair. Kinda like xing zhou mi fen (星洲米粉) with bits of chicken. Okay-ish.

Their claypot chicken rice called Smoking Pot has foie gras. The foie gras was dried out and not nice. Otherwise, it's just a $58 claypot chicken rice.

Their sweet and sour pork is stir fried with balsamic vinegar. Meat had a crusty surface from the deep frying and wasn't so tender. Menu mentioned rambutans and pineapple. It's true - it's pineapple stuffed in rambutans like those canned Hosen branded ones that can be found supermarkets.

Their Lamb-orghini was disappointing. Not to mince words, it's a poor showcase of lamb ribs preparation. Meat doneness ranged from almost getting to medium rare to well done. It's obvious they don't have the skills to manage a rack this size. Dry rub flavouring had a sweetness that irritated me. I don't know what's their cooking process here but the fat had already hardened by the time it was served. At $160, it was criminal.

Ri Tao Fu Teochew Pig's Organ Soup (日饕福潮洲猪什湯), Kukoh 21 Food Centre

Ri Tao Fu Teochew Pig's Organ Soup (#01-11 Kukoh 21 Food Centre, 1 Jalan Kukoh) is a coin's toss away from Tiong Bahru Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker. They do pig's organ soup and some dark soya braised stuff.

Straightforward bowls of generously portioned porcine bits in a piping hot broth flavoured with pickled mustard greens (kiam chye). 

Loads of scraps in the bowl like tripe, kidney, liver, sliced pork and meatballs.

Got some tau pok and hard braised eggs. Their dark soya sauce stew had a robust flavour and those tau pork totally soaked them up. One can also tell from the colour that those braised egg served their time in the pot. 

Beast & Butterflies, Robertson Quay

First time eating at Beast & Butterflies (Level 1, M Social Singapore, 90 Robertson Quay). They describe themselves as Mediterranean and Asian but there're also European influences.

I was upsold some tequila based cocktail. Pricey and it tasted just like a margarita.

Calamari. Not bad tasting. The menu described scallions so that's all the scallions they have in there. The quantity can barely even qualify as decorative.

We were recommended their Caesar salad. Something I don't order much.

Tasted not bad. What made this was their a la minute dressing which was nicely flavoured with anchovies. The kitchen seemed proud of it and extra portions of that dressing is chargeable.

This was called Breast & Butterflies - sous vide and seared chicken breast with morel and truffle cream sauce. And butterfly shaped pastries on the side. Chicken's pretty tender. What rounded up everything and made this dish for me was the rich velvety sauce with mushrooms.

A wagyu beef cheek rigatoni which they had inconspicuously named beef pasta on the menu. Sauce tasted tomato-y so it's not exactly my thing. The beef cheek texture was spongy which I didn't like. Something about that texture was off. No wagyu-ish taste if anyone was even wondering.

Their crispy pork knuckle was delicious. Crackling was crackling 😂 and the knuckle had enough fat to back up all that meat beneath the crispiness. I love the namjim which packed a invigorating sour and heat - even though there was coriander in it.

What's this? Blue cheese cream sauce made with a sweet white wine. First time having a blue cheese sauce that had a noticeable sweetness in it. Not that I didn't like it but I prefer them without. But what was this for?

I decided that it worked with the pork knuckle too.

Oven baked Mao Tai spring chicken. The bird was stuffed with glutinous rice which had hae bee, mushrooms and lup cheong. They brought it over wrapped in opeh leaf, unwrapped it and flamed the chicken. This was nice on the account that I could taste the wine and the bird was tender through the 4 hour sous vide. 

So Beast & Butterflies has this unlimited tiramisu deal at $6++ on Friday evenings only. We took advantage of it. It's not exactly unlimited serving per se though. You get a plate and there's no limit how much tiramisu you can scoop off their tray as long as you can fit them into said plate.

Round one was a decent pile. Which wasn't enough because there were a few people at the table.

So we got ambitious and scored a second plate. It was messy but I've to admit that their tiramisu was delicious.