7th Storey Restaurant, Rochor Road

I don't remember how I came to learn of this place (New 7th Storey Hotel, 228/229 Rochor Road, S188451) down in Bugis but I'm guessing that I must have read it off somewhere that there's chicken rice to be had at the restaurant and that it was suppose to be good or at least better than the usual. I do recall having had a disappointing steamboat at the back of the building once a long time back but little did I realise that there was actually a restaurant located in the same place. Does anyone know why is there the mention of Honjin on the paper sheaths on their chopsticks here?

There was only the steamed variety of chicken to be had. As well as a bunch of other dishes that can be ordered from the menu. We got ourselves a small portion of the chicken, sambal kangkong and marmite pork ribs along with the chicken rice.


The chicken wasn't very special. Sure the meat was tender, slightly chilled and had a nice thin skin that didn't have excessive fat. It was in the end something that I didn't think I'll be looking forward to coming back for. Their rice was more heavily accented with ginger than garlic - which wasn't exactly something that I'm fond of. The same can be said for the chilli which was moderately spicy but just a tad too much ginger for me to like. The sambal kangkong was crunchy and was otherwise unremarkable. I had expected the marmite chicken to taste of marmite but it was just some sweet pork ribs. Flavours aside, it was far from the better stir fried pork ribs which I've had. I guess I won't be re-visiting anytime soon.

Porta Porta, Upper Changi Road North

Eclectic would be the word to describe the setting of this little restaurant (971 Upper Changi North Road, Changi Garden, tel : 65453108) with a bohemian charm, located at a remote spot beside a coffeeshop just across the road from Changi Prison. Homely would probably be the the best word to describe the food served. The dishes were in short tasty and as unostentatious they can come. If you're looking for Italian food with minimal to no frills involved, Porta Porta would be a very good bet.


I wasn't sure what was good from the menu, so we opted for what was describe as the "faite" set at $48 which comprised of what the chef could bring out from the kitchen for the day. The set which looked like a sampler of various dishes consisted of a four course - of which the first were starters and soup followed by a tasting of two pastas. The third course would be the meats along with calamari and prawns and then two desserts. The variety that this set offer looked pretty astounding as the dishes were brought out from the kitchen in quick order.

Starters & soup

Beside the bread basket that featured a hard, olive oil flavoured and dense crusty loaf, there was a wooden platter of marinated vegetable antipasti. Followed by caprese with some smoked cheese instead of the usual mozzarella, some cold unexciting pizza, marinated eggplant, freshly toasted bruschetta, deep fried risotto balls with cheese, some fresh tasting plump mussels cooked in a spicy tomato and garlic broth and a rich savoury fish bisque.

I hardly know how to begin with this much food. The soup and mussels stood out pretty well in terms of flavour. The shellfish on the first serving had a weird smell so we requested for a change. A new bowl of freshly cooked mussels was brought back and was soft yet firm with a good bite. The densely flavoured brown fish bisque they brought was better fish soups I've ever tasted. I didn't even mind the mild coriander taste in it.

Two tastings of pasta

The pastas were a pesto ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach and a very tasty tagliatelle with prawn cream sauce. Both pastas were had good textures even though they weren't the best we've had. The savoury prawn cream sauce was rich and good that I didn't mind the mild coriander taste in them. Something I'd look forward to if I ever return to Porta Porta.

The meats

The meats was for me we the least interesting. There was a braised beef (no beefiness) that was sweet with the onions it was cooked with and a stringy piece of chicken in some cream sauce.

The fried seafood deserved mention. The batter on the squids were tissue paper thin that they almost weren't there. All there appeared to be was a light dusting of batter over the piping hot and fresh tasting squids. Despite appearances, the prawns were also delicious. They were unseasoned and tasted like the steamed variety from Chinese restaurants with sweetness in the crunchy meat. The shells were a tad difficult to remove though as they were a slightly stuck to the meat.

Desserts

Dessert was a lemon sorbet and a tiramisu. With the myriads of standards in tiramisu these days, I kept expecations low. This one served in a Chinese tea cup turned out very robust with the expresso. On top, a very light and well beaten mascarpone cream.

On the whole, I thought that the seafood scored better than the meats. The bill included just a service charge, no GST. This place is definitely worth re-visiting. I'll probably head for the one at Stanley Street the next time to see what's up with that branch.

Mango Tree, East Coast Parkway

There are sometimes mixed feelings that I get from restaurants. I don't know my final verdict on it. Eventually, it gets ignored and forgotten. Other times, I'm somewhat a little more sure. Mango Tree (Marine Cove B23, 1000 East Coast Parkway, S449876, tel : 64428655) was one of them. I enjoyed some of the food and thought well of the service but the chances of returning would be minimal. Cost was also taken into consideration.

I came to know about this place by the way of a heads up from Camemberu whom has mentioned coastal Indian cuisine from Goa and Kerala. Thought it would be a good opportunity to check out what Indian coastal seafood was about since I had missed those back in Spice Junction.

murg makhani

green mango curry

mango tree garlic prawns

mango and cheese naans

I'm taking a shot in the dark here by saying this, but I am presuming that the murg makhani (or butter chicken) was less creamy because this was essentially a southern Indian rendition. The gravy was more tangy since it wasn't masked by so much cream. I like the northern versions better. The green mango curry was something we tried out of the spirit of adventure. Turned out to be quite a pleasant surprise. The curry was generally quite mild and tangy with a hint of mango citrus with a creamy texture. There were pieces of the fruit in the curry which were soft (not mushy) like boiled potatoes. Enjoyable as it was appetizing.

I thought that the green mango garlic prawns looked like a Chinese dish. I was initially disappointed by the appearance. These prawns weren't large for tiger prawns and didn't look vibrant. But the taste was pretty awesome. Belying the dull steamed prawn look was meat that was unexpectedly firm and crunchy, soaked in a buttery sauce loaded with minced garlic. Quite pricey ($27) considering that it was just three small-ish prawns.

The naans here were good. Light and fluffy. I meant freshly made kind of light and fluffy here. In fact it was so light and fluffy that we had to top up with portion of basmati rice (pretty costly at $3.80 and not much fragrance) after two naans. Speaking of naan, we tried the mango one. Apart from tasting slightly sweet, it didn't taste like it had mango. At all. I ate the most of that without any gravy so I was sure about it. Likewise, the cheese naan didn't taste like it had any cheese baked into them. At all. Bummer. The restaurant was kind enough to offer replacements but we didn't pursue that since they were insistent that it did contained cheese.

I hadn't been in this area for so long that I had forgotten that restaurants here could be expensive like it was in town. I had ordered a glass of lassi without looking from the menu and it turned out to be a small glass that set me back by $7.

Herbs & Spices the Euradian Restaurant, Upper Thomson Road

This was interesting. Herbs & Spices (207 Upper Thomson Road, Yew Lian Park, tel: 6252 9038), which was just a unit down from Miss Clarity at Upper Thomson was the first Euradian restaurant I've come across. Euradian as one of the owners explained, referred to the blend of European and Indian. One of the chefs they had apparently has experience in doing Italian food. So the result was a pretty good selection of Indian and Italian food. The options for both cuisines put together was in fact, overwhelming. They had for Italian food alone more options than some other Italian restaurants which I've been to. I went for some safe bets which I liked from the Indian section, cliche it may be. It's the usual palek paneer, butter chicken, butter and kashmiri naan, lassi, buttermilk (ice blended??) and along the way, tried the deep fried fish roe, chicken pakora (I hope I got this right), gobi manchurian and *drumroll* mushroom risotto with goat cheese.

palek paneer

The palek paneer here was quite enjoyable. The spinach puree wasn't flat tasting as I thought it might have been. Which was a good thing. My only gripe here was that the cottage cheese portions were puny.

butter chicken

The butter chicken here tasted like the one down at Jaggi's - meaning that it was rich and creamy while lacking the edges of spiciness. I liked this. Especially with the naan or rice.

fried fish roe

Fried fish eggs. Who doesn't like these? Freshly fried and still had a bit of the juices. Enough said I suppose.

chicken pakora

These fried pieces of chicken with herb and batter were quite tasty. Would make good beer snacks. The first time I've had these here, they were in much smaller minced portions. This time round, they were larger chunks and much more tender.

gobi manchurian

The gobi manchurian appeared different from what I thought it might have looked like while recalling the ones at Spice Junction. The rendition here looked like a sweet and sour cauliflower dish. Tasted spicy but I thought wasn't as tasty as the ones at Spice Junction.

mushroom risotto with goat cheese

I had expected more out of the risotto. The flavour wasn't as fragrant as I had hoped. I've had much better risotto and the goat cheese barely registered. The restaurant had mentioned that it had been adjusted to a mild level since not everyone liked the pungent taste. There's definitely room for improvement.

As a whole, I quite liked this place. The location is a bonus and now I know that I know that there is an alternative to Race Course Road for me.

Pho24, Upper Thomson Road

I haven't much experience with pho bo beside a store that used to be at Novena and Va Va Vroom down at Seah Street which served a bowl filled with herbs that killed beef flavour in the soup. I was told by someone who's had pho in Vietnam that the broth was more oily and served very hot so as to help blanch the vegetables/herbs that accompany them. Pho24 (215M Upper Thomson Road, tel:6451-6811) was a fairly new establishment. They did a pretty tasty broth for their rice noodles. Was not able to comment on the authenticity of the cooking but it tasted pretty good to me because the broth was pretty beefy. That was from a bowl I tried with meat and offal. Adding sliced chilli and onions kinda enhanced it. For $12.90, it wasn't cheap but it was enjoyable.

6" in the Subway

I've always wondered at the slogan of 'Eat Fresh' at Subway. What do those two words really mean and what are the layers of meaning behind the the thoughts of the people who came out with that tagline and the ones who approved it for the marketing. Does it just mean that it's just freshly made? If so, many fast food places could "Eat Fresh" themselves too. A number of the ingredients are anything but fresh.

This 6 inch, double meat-ed cold cut trio was just basically ham which is essentially salted and preserved meat. What's so fresh about ham? The roast beef on the counter would probably appear fresh to a blind man. Cheese options are plasticky and cheap for even sandwiches. The vegetables aren't too bad, but I really don't know about having label them as fresh. Sure their sandwiches are probably healthier than the whole slew of other fast food joints, but a double meat-ed sandwich would cost at least around the region of $7, which isn't exactly cheap for food like this. Anything without double meat is simply sandwich fillings travesty because the default fillings are just pathetic. With the cookies and chips and sugar laden drinks, I suppose "Eat Healthy" isn't such an appropriate option for advertisement. That being said, I wouldn't mind eating them once in a while.

Eat fresh everyone!

More from Muthu's Curry

I've had cravings for Indian food these couple of weeks. After the recent trips to Race Course Road, the options at Muthu's Curry (#B1-056, Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard, tel: 68357707) didn't look as attractive as before. In spite of comments I've heard about them being commercialized, I still thought that the food wasn't too far off from what's cooking in Little India. Was I mistaken about that? I found myself enjoying both the spicier butter chicken here and the subdued and creamier version down at Jaggi's. The masala prawns slathered in the spicy and nutty gravy were still crunchy though they appear to be a little smaller than I remember them. I had the navratan korma for the first time. That was a mixed vegetable dish in a cashew and cream gravy. The gravy was pretty good though I couldn't taste any flavour of cashew or even any nuttiness. Flavour from the cloves was rather strong. And now, I too recognize that the lassi over at Delhi Restaurant and Spice Junction were way better than the ones served here.

Considering how much it cost to eat here, the restaurants down at Race Course Road or anywhere else in Little India looked a lot more appealing.

chennai cabbage

butter chicken

navratan korma

marsala prawns

More fruity Kit Kats from Hokkaido

Both these Kyoho grape and the apple flavors in the chocolate wafers were very superficial and definitely pales in fruity flavored comparison with the rock melon rendition. I was thinking that since these are Japanese, they might actually be good. Apparently, not everything Japanese tastes fabulous. Ahem!

Seafood platter from Fish & Co @ Paragon

I've noticed that the prawns in the Fish & Co here (290 Orchard Rd, #B1-35/36 Paragon, S238859, tel: 6733 0938) are meatier and the seafood platter for two came with scallops instead of mussels. The portions have fortunately remained as large as I remember them and most of the time, I find it quite difficult to want to order anything else than this. The wok was laden with the usual suspects of the grilled prawns, very generous portions of salty peppered grilled squid, four scallops, a forgettable fish fillet, the delicious orange raisin rice and fries. All good to go into the gut with the tangy spicy chilli and dragon breath inducing chopped garlic. Prices seem to have gone up from what I recall last by about $7 or so. I'm not sure if it's just this particular outlet or has it gone up across the board for all the other outlets as well.


Another regular item on their menu which I've only started ordering recently are the mussels in garlic butter. More than a half dozen mussels swimming in a garlicky butter broth which makes good a dip for bread. Yep, even the uninteresting focaccia at this place become tasty after a couple of dunks in that creamy and heart clogging broth which happens to be also pretty awesome when slathered over the rice in the seafood platter too. It's been around for ages and I've only started noticing them last year.