The fried rice from Pasta Mania

I got this packed for lunch just out of curiosity. I'm not picking on a low cost pasta place and  then complaining excessively because I prefer the original dish, but this was definitely fried rice. I don't know how I could have been convinced that it wasn't, unless in the context of Pasta Mania, Riso = fried rice. The name attempts to suggest risotto, but this doesn't look or taste remotely like it. For fried rice, it's actually not too bad. Lol. There's a fair bit of mixed mushrooms and wow, even pine nuts. And the rice tasted garlicky enough. If it had been a tad less oily with fluffier rice, Crystal Jade should watch out.

More from Brussels Sprouts...

I have been down dinnering and drinking at this place for a couple of consecutive evenings. I know I mentioned repeated visits previously. But these were totally unplanned and I'm digging this place more than I expected. I swear it's the excellent selection of Belgian beer, Hoegaarden and Leffe Blond on tap and it gives me the excuse to try their other mains and mussels. Not the waitresses. For one, this is probably one of the drinking places that does at least passable food instead of the regular overpriced and overfried pub grub or what is passed off as drinking snacks.

Vin Blanc ( onion, parsley, celery, butter & white wine)

Cream (onion, parsley, celery, cream & white wine)

Gratinee (gratinated with breadcrumbs, butter, nutmeg & cheese)

The mussels pretty much taste the same since it doesn't really absorb the broth in the pot. You need to be scooping up the broth to eat with the mussels to really appreciate any differences. I end up drinking it after I'm done with the mussels mostly. With the exception of the Gratinee, I think it would be true for most of the broth varieties. And I'm getting the hang out of scraping out the nice chewy flesh that glues the rest of the meat to the shells. Cheese lovers ought to try the Gratinee....it's cheesy enough and with the butter, it's really quite mouth watering.

Braised Meatballs with dark beer, onions and mustard

These meatballs are larger than the usual variety expected and are more lumpy than ball like. Meat's hearty as minced ones get, but there's really nothing much to the sauce. The menu omits the mentioning of mushrooms there.

Braised beef cheek infused in Belgian beer with Pommes croquettes

un-crepe like crepe stuffed with wild mushrooms, ham and cheese

Leffe Blond

the Grand Cru

The Forbidden Fruit

A foot in the Subway

No I didn't find someone or something's feet lying in the subway. What I did was to uncharacteristically order a foot of double meat Subway Club in Parmesan Oregano for lunch, not realising that double + foot = much more enormous than usual of solids I had to ingest. I think I can skip dinner today already.

Sun Maid raisins in Vanilla Yoghurt

I saw these for the first time and never realised that Sun Maid's raisins came "flavoured". These vanilla yoghurt actually don't taste anything like yoghurt. In fact, they were more like white chocolate coated raisins. Not too bad though.

Senso, 21 Club Street

Elegant looking restaurant piqued my curiosity from some time back with their colonial styled decor decked out at the front with all white. I've been told that the food is pretty good. This first visit left a positive impression that exceeded my expectations in terms of service. From the sommeliers to the waiters, the staff at Senso indeed made more than visible effort to provide a pleasant dining experience. The restaurant itself also featured a small (and subjectively romantic) courtyard in the middle - a dining sanctuary of a totally different ambience from the rest of the restaurant. And it seems that Senso has seen more than its fair share accolades from various local presses and media.

bread basket

chickpea puree dip for the bread

amuse bouche of tuna on a square of beetroot

carpaccio

mozzarella

We had carpaccio with shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. Their mozzarella (Pan-Fried Buffalo Mozzarella Wrapped In Parma Ham, With Marinated Raisins And Pine Kernels In Balsamico), a supposed signature antipasti of their's was delicious as well. The texture of the cheese was light with almost of a soft fungi like texture and a light chewiness. The accompanying Parma ham was had a nice deep flavour. Both cheese and ham paired nicely with the marinated raisins and balsamic vinegar. Mouth watering would be a good word to describe them.

ossobuco

The ossobuco (braised veal shank with mashed potatoes, rosemary and lemon Gremolata) here was delicious stuff. Even though I thought it could have been as good without the gremolata, this was a well done veal shank with flavourful meat that fell off the bone. The prize of this dish was the marrow in the centre of the bone which was heart clogging delicious. It was almost like eating foie gras.

Brussels Sprouts, The Pier @ Robertson

Themed by the peroxide blond Chef in Black, Emmanuel Stroobant of Saint Pierre, this is a relatively new place located along the river at Robertson Quay just within sighting distance from the courtyard at Frasier Place. Brussels Sprouts in its sparse and minimalist decor appears to be a bar cum restaurant establishment whipping up "Belgian food" and importantly Norwegian mussels that gets served by the pot. 

The mussels were for me the highlight of the place. I came here decidedly on trying them if not anything else. Said Norwegian mussels were smaller than the regular ones that are found locally, but were also more tender and sweet. Because of their size, eating them by the pot isn't really as intimidating as it sounds. A starter portion comes with 300 grams of them mollusks and a main portion ups it to 700 grams. Minus the shells, it's not that hefty. Plus it was all really good with the large selection of Belgian beer on their menu. Hoegaarden white ($11.50 for the Magnum, $9.50 during happy hours. Yay!) and Leffe Blonde is on tap at this place too! This combination means that I will be back....and possibly back again....and again. Lol. This was actually my third visit here, but it is the first time I'm ordering food.

   

The mussels here are served in a variety of broths. I've only tried the Brussels Sprouts Special they're cooked in a buttery broth with celery and pepper. Broth was so tasty with the mussels that I was drinking it from the pot after the shellfish were done. Each order of the mussels comes with a free flow of Belgian fries. Totally hearty and heart clogging with the accompanied mayonnaise. Besides the mussels, Brussels Sprouts has a small menu of mains (ranging from $20-$30) and a variety of sides on menu. The mains are supposedly Belgian styled, but I'm not exactly familiar with what's the signature of Belgian food apart from a mentioning of horse steak (which isn't in the menu by the way) from someone. We managed an order of the pork belly and unexciting chicken.

 

Pork belly glazed with Juniper Berry Honey and Braised Red Cabbage with Apple ($20)

Poached Chicken Waterzooi with leek, carrot, baby potatoes, parsley and lemon juice ($20)

I didn't think much of the mains. Generally not a big a fan of non roasted fatty pork but to be fair, they didn't taste bad. Could have been the beer affecting my tongue but I could have sworn a hint of ginseng in there. The side of red cabbage tasted a lot like raisins and the little lump of orange was sweet grated carrot. The poached chicken drenched in the creamy sauce felt like chicken carbonara... which is about as direct as I can describe it. This turned out to be a great place to hang out for dinner and drinks. Also discovered another good label based on recommendation by a friend. Kwak!

 

Creation Cafe, Shaw Leisure Gallery

I've been recommended this place which I've passed numerous times by a colleague. The bustling lunch crowd here looked promising as there hasn't been a time that I recall seeing empty seats. The food here was.....well, edible stuff. While I have not serious gripes, I'm not likely to come back again. Feel free to disagree with me. Creation Cafe hass set lunches at from $10.90 which includes soup, pasta and a drink. A top up of $4 gets one a dessert of choice from their menu. The choices of pasta are limited to fuscilli, linguine, spaghetti and mushroom ravioli.

Today's soup of the day was a carrot cream soup that had a cheesy taste to it. Immediately the cheese scored with me. I liked it. I'm was actually surprised that it wasn't another cream of mushroom number which seems so rampant. The side of fried calamari (an extra order for sharing) was mundane. Not the worst of fried calamari I've eaten, but I didn't think much of it. Maybe I'm not so much into deep fried things. Just can't shake off the oily feel after too much of them.




The linguine vongole aglio looked a lot better in the picture than real life. It tasted a tad "stir fried oily" with little garlic flavour to speak of. Which triggered memories of a couple of places that did pasta that way which I've sworn off. Lol. Really dissatisfied with the clams. Tiny shrivelled looking pieces of meat that when put together doesn't make a half mouthful. The mushroom succeeded in making the pasta look more clam filled than it really is.

Beppu, Suntec City Basement

I've decided that after today, I won't be back here for the ramen again. I first visited this place years ago at the branch at Far East Square when they were fairly new and the idea of sprucing up the ramen with chilli count was a novelty. Thought they weren't bad. That was then. 

Today, they didn't seem to be as good as I remember them. Things have changed so it's either their method of preparation or it's me. And I cannot fathom why anyone who wants to enjoy their food would want to opt for the seven chilli option since it masked almost every trace of other flavour and drowned the whole bowl with chilli powder. It just didn't make sense to go that far.

They menu has expanded since I last came and now they have beef char siew ramen. I hadn't any idea what beef char siew was like. After trying, it didn't turn out to be recognizable as char siew to me. Just marinated and sliced cooked beef. On the bright side, the grilled squid was still as tasty I remember it. The slightly crispy charred surface and chewy meat. I'm not sure I'll come back here just for the grilled squid though. There're options aplenty and this place just didn't quite seem enjoyable anymore.

The Call of theMuthu

Definitely didn't plan to re-visit Muthu's Curry again so soon. It was all a result of lethargic spontaneity. Whatever it is that you made out of that description. It also meant that I liked enough of what I had here previously to want to come back again. This time round, it was even better because we've found more delicious items on menu. Apart from the much talked about fish head curry which I've mentioned previously, there were a slew of other items in the menu that featured both southern and northern Indian cuisine. Those didn't deter us from getting a serving of the fish head curry again. This time round, the fish was less meaty, but seemed to taste fresher.

fish head curry

murg pudina kebab

The murg pudina kebab reminds me of the murg malai tikka from Copper Chimney which I didn't enjoy. The initial apprehension was wiped off after the first bite. This was pretty good stuff. The only similarity with the malai tikka was the burnt chicken. It wasn't overly covered with herbs. Spicy yoghurt marinate and ground mint was good here.

marsala prawns

These marsala prawns deserved special mention because they were extraordinary. I was totally surprised by how good the prawns were. Something that one would have to try to understand. What rocked wasn't so much the masala. In fact, the sauce was unremarkable. Sadly.  It was the prawns that made this dish. Big, fat and fresh tiger prawns fully loaded with meaty crunchiness. Made me a happy man. Lol. The restaurant offered the options of having them with shells or de-shelled. We picked the de-shelled option which left us with the tail end and the heads which were easily removed. It's $6 for one prawn and judging from the menu, prices may fluctuate.

Cheese naan

And there was better cheese naan this time round. In comparison with the previous visit, the naan today had more fragrance, was served warmer and had more cheese. It looks like I could be back again.

Sum's Kitchen, 3 Jalan Legundi

Jalan Legundi runs perpendicular from the main road where Sembawang Shopping Center is. I was brought here once by a friend who told me that the owner here used to do roast duck in Hong Kong and it apparently a signature dish in this restaurant. That time, we were here at about 8pm and we just managed to get the last of their roast duck for the day. The duck was pretty good. These guys serve roast duck breast meat that's tender, so I guess it says something about how they're a cut above the norm. Besides duck, the restaurant does serve other Chinese cze char dishes. The menu is not large, but there's a bunch of other dishes that can be gotten to accompany the duck.

a serving of roast duck

three egg spinach

This three egg spinach wasn't as tasty as I've had at other places previously. It could have been a personal thing where I prefer the soup to be more robust and rich as opposed to being lightweight. Apart from this little thing with the soup, the rest of the dish was quite rather enjoyable.

sliced fish with black bean

I enjoy dishes with black beans (fermented?). Their sliced fish, although freshness were quite disappointing. Similarly to the one I had at Chin Chin Eating House (which is in sauce mode), the flavour of the black beans were underwhelming. Didn't feel that this stir fried fish was remarkable in any way.

fried bean curd with salted skin

I was expecting plain fried bean curd for this one with perhaps just salt These crispy skinned bean curd (which are served really hot by the way) were stuffed with a small variety of vegetables and some of which, made enemies with my tongue. Apart from bits of carrot and mushrooms, there was coriander. If not for the coriander, the bean curd was actually not too bad.

The cost for dinner was about $50 for four persons with rice and Chinese tea. Service was relatively snappy, albeit curt. Although this was relatively inexpensive, it can be noted that one can do with more for less at Taste of Thailand just across the main road at Sembawang Shopping Centre.