Mentaiko pasta from Ma Maison

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

Ichibantei Hamburg & Steak, Liang Court

This was a relatively new place opened by Ichibantei right next to themselves at the basement of Liang Court. From their name, one can easily surmise what is the specialty. 

The hamburgs were pretty decent even though they were a little more charred than I was expecting. That charred exterior appeared to have sealed all the juices of the meat within. Even though the meat was well done. The hamburgs come in a few size options and are served with unlimited rice and bread with butter. 

I wasn't a fan of the demiglace sauce. Preferred the onion sauce since it didn't overwhelm the flavour of the hamburg. Now there's one more hamburg options beside Ma Maison.

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food, Concorde Hotel

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

Today was a different experience altogether. Perhaps it was the hour that I was there. The stall did look a little washed out from what I remember but was still drawing Korean customers. The food was certainly not wow-ing as I was hoping for but I guess that for their price point, they were above the run of the mill "Korean" stalls in food courts. I couldn't help but feel that it tasted much more localized than I was hoping for. Especially that jab che which reminded me of char kuey teow. The spicy beef soup was passably decent.

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

Fried oyster and curry rice

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

A delicious roast chicken lunch at Spottiswoode Park...

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

Taking a Big Bite...

We were making our way to Chella's for some of the old favourites of their kesari bath and masala milk when we realized that the management had changed and the place is now known as Big Bites. To our relief, our dessert and hot masala milk still tasted the same and nothing very much had changed in the menu.

Anjappar Authentic Chenttinaad Restaurant, Syed Alwi Road

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

Without being sure of what to expect, we ordered what looked like might be interesting from the menu. Ended up with some really spicy and peppery mutton sukka varuval which tasted similarly to the coconut mutton fry which we've had from Spice Junction and a kaadai (quail) briyani. The briyani came with a bird that seemed to be overly cooked. The meat was little tough. I'm probably not going to try these again since it was too much hassle getting the meat out of the bones of such a small bird. The taste just didn't justifying the effort. What I didn't like were the chopped bits of coriander that marred the pretty decent paneer kuruma.

Still, I thought that the food wasn't too shabby. Wouldn't mind coming back.

mutton sukka varuval

cheese naan

paneer kuruma

kaadai briyani

Duck macaroni from Kwee Heng

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

Green tea dough fritters from Bread Bar Cafe

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

Sawagani from Tampopo

Tampopo often has affordable seasonal items on their menu. So far, they've been doing a pretty good job of luring us back again and again. Lately, it seems that they have brought in some sawagani and so there we were again!

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

Seeing numerous orders of their tonkatsu ramen from various neighbouring tables, we decided to give it a go. The tonkotsu broth was heavily masked by the chilli oil. Wasn't bad at all if rather non indicative of tonkotsu broths. The fried tonkatsu however was disappointing. The battered surface was laden with oil. It was a greasy fried piece of pork but not in a way that I would have liked.

We had cake. Their matcha chiffon cake wasn't bad. I guess the appeal for me was the light milky cream that they use. That same cream that makes me want to get their scoop cake every time.