If I ever had the need for the little nudge to tip me over into the believer camp for Impossible, this might just be it. But I didn't because I'm already pretty much there thanks to the first/last try at Omakase Burger. So now this. It's been quite a while since we've been to Oriole but I saw that they had a Impossible Juicy Lucy so I thought why not. I liked it. More than I thought I would. While I'll give credit to the other ingredients like the melted cheese, sautéed mushrooms and caramelized onions that made the burger, I was mostly impressed by how much the patty resembled meat.
Authenticity seems more a matter of ranges and limitations than of outright prescriptions. - Jeffrey Steingarten, The Man Who Ate Everything
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Impossible™ Juicy Lucy quarter pounder from Oriole Coffee + Bar
Digested Pages :
between sliced bread,
burgers/sandwiches
Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Paint it Black (Tap)
While it may not be very apparent from the photo, this was a Filet Au Poivre burger that featured an 8oz prime filet mignon with crumbled blue cheese between the buns. The meat wasn't a regular minced patty. T'was a f-i-l-e-t m-i-g-n-o-n.
It was an off menu and probably limited time item which was almost the same as the Steak Au Povire that we had previously had; which been taken off the menu apparently. The only difference between this and that was an actual cut of tenderloin versus their regular beef patty and some fried onions.
Meat was so tender that it yielded with ease to the bite. With a nice hit of salty blue cheese and delicious creamy green peppercorn sauce. It all went down pretty easily.
Digested Pages :
american,
between sliced bread,
burgers/sandwiches,
steak
Monday, May 27, 2019
Trattoria Amanda, Stanley Street
Their (14 Stanley Street, tel : +65 6222 5808) bread was hard, didn't have any smell and didn't have much taste. Don't know why the restaurant felt it was suitable for bread gratis. I'm not sure that these could even be used for panzanella. They might have been good for croutons at best but I couldn't even tell if they would actually absorb anything. Strike one.
Tried a foie gras with brandied apples and oranges from their specials menu. The sautéed fruits were delicious. There was a problem with the foie. It looked nicely seared with a crusty browning on the surface but the inside was slightly chilled; with a texture like the terrine variety rather than the soft quivery ones with rendered fat. That meant it wasn't defrosted properly. Strike two.
Scallops were the frozen variety. Had a nice aroma from the sear but didn't have the natural sweetness of fresh ones. But I wouldn't blame them for using those since it was meant to be paired with Parmigiano Reggiano and prosciutto di Parma. Each scallop in a single bite made very good chewing with the prosciutto. Saffron sauce was nice and creamy.
This was their cacio e pepe. Google 'cacio e pepe', click Images, examine them and then come back. Menu said 'rich blend of 4 quality cheeses'. Didn't taste very cheesy. It was creamy though. Much too creamy for just cheese and pepper. There was quite a bit of pepper but nothing beyond what one could achieve with a pepper mill. Not sure if that Kampot pepper made any difference. Strike three.
That's their pistachio and mortadella pizza. Menu mentioned 'buttery pistachio puree'. There were some crushed pistachio on the pizza; not nearly enough for aroma or even texture. No puree of any sort to be found. The flavour was mostly mozzarella, tomato and the mortadella. Strike four.
Digested Pages :
from Davey Jones' locker,
italian,
pasta,
pizza
Sunday, May 26, 2019
Of dancing fishes, spicy apples and cucumber latte...
I've just discovered that Dancing Fish Signature serves star fruit juices with preserved sour plum. Something suitably refreshing for the sweltering heat that seemed worse than usual in the recent weeks.
We landed ourselves another salad from them. This time it was the spicy green apple which had the same dressing as the starfruit rendition. These two and the mango salad were nice. Something tangy, crunchy and very South East Asian.
Their nasi berempah kuning delicious as always.
Just like the sambal terasi which was also another cornerstone of tastiness.
Chicken satay's not bad. That peanut sauce on the side tasted better than it looked. Actually, it tasted like a competently done satay sauce which is not so easy to find nowadays. It just wasn't coloured like the ones we're normally used to seeing.
Finally got round to getting the pucuk paku stir fried with sambal belachan. It's as tasty as their cha kangkong probably because its either exactly or mostly the same bunch of ingredients applied onto different vegetables
There's a cucumber latte on the menu which I've been wanting to try since the first time we were here and never go the chance till today. Believe or not, it does have cucumber flavour and it's not as weird as it sounded.
Digested Pages :
indonesian
Wednesday, May 22, 2019
He Ji Wu Xiang Guan Chang (合記五香贯腸), Maxwell Food Centre
For all the times we've been to Maxwell FC, we've either never paid attention to this stall (#01-97 Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street) or they've never been open since there was a queue for their bee hoon and fried stuff and we couldn't reasonably have missed them. What's more, at least half the queue were the older folks. Where one can safely assume "old taste".
Anyways, the stall looked like a competitor to China Street Fritters. The variety of their selection is curated to a bunch of stuff they specialize in. These include those liver rolls and egg lard things that one has simply got to try.
Speaking of which, their liver rolls do not taste the same as those from China Street Fritters. It was quite different but the ability to convey the difference eludes me. Both were good in their own ways. This stall though had an unexpectedly better sweet sticky sauce. Not the starchy gunk of starch most wu xiang stalls provide.
Digested Pages :
a local signature,
chinese
Tuesday, May 21, 2019
Revisiting Ramen Nagi
I recalled not having a bad impression of Ramen Nagi the couple of times I've been here. Things have kind gone downhill this time round. Their regular Butao King wasn't impressive with a pretty lightweight tonkotsu broth. I wouldn't go as far as to say that they're mediocre but as much as I like tonkotsu, this one didn't give me a reason to come back.
I thought their Green King bowl was disappointing. Not much flavours coming from the pesto and cheese in spite of appearances. I was hoping to get more of the basil or even olive oil but in the end, the fusion of flavours never quite took off for me. Oh well.
Digested Pages :
japanese,
ramenation
Monday, May 20, 2019
Empress Place Teochew Beef Kway Teow, Maxwell Food Centre
I've eaten from Empress Place Beef Kway Teow at Toa Payoh a few years ago before they disappeared. This stall (#01-43 Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street) looked like it might have been the same one though I cannot be sure.
I got myself their dry bowl of mixed beef kuey teow. Beef ball, lean meat, brisket, tendon and some tripe. Kuey teow was flavoured with their broth and some sesame oil. No gloopy gravy like those Hainanese styled beef noodles. Awesome with the chilli and this came with a nice bowl of soup that was savoury with a hint of herbal sweetness. I'll be back.
Digested Pages :
a local signature,
chinese
Sunday, May 19, 2019
Saveur, Purvis Street
It's been quite a while since we've last had anything from the Saveur Group. Meaning Saveur and the defunct Saveur Art. The original founders had left and gone their ways. Two ways to be exact. This restaurant at Purvis Street (#01-04, tel : +65 6333 3121) might have been their flagship but we've never actually visited this particular outlet before. Does anyone remember that this spot used to be Miss Clarity?
Think their Saveur pasta didn't change much. Still nice even with the artificial tasting truffle flavours. I guess what sold with this dish was that it still remained the umami bomb it was made to be and the texture of those capellini were still nicely done.
There's a salmon confit which looked like it might have been something they brought over from Saveur Art.
Duck confit was not bad.
Liked their beef en croute too. Served with carrots, parsnips and mushrooms. Noticed that it wasn't called a beef Wellington. This even had the layer of mushroom duxelle and foie gras around the tenderloin beneath the puff pastry. Would have been great if there was more of their Bordelaise sauce to go around though.
Dessert was a pistachio panna cotta a little different from how I remembered them. The current rendition has some Bailey's mousse and I believe they've candied the pistachios. Nice too though. I liked this.
Digested Pages :
dessert,
french,
from Davey Jones' locker,
pasta,
pastry
Saturday, May 18, 2019
Pizzaburger from Da Paolo Pizza Bar
This was from Da Paolo Pizza Bar. A limited time item they called a pizzaburger. Because it resembled neither a pizza nor a burger, I couldn't actually call it a purger or a bizza. It looked like a beef Wellington that came in a pizza crust shell instead of a pastry shell. With a burger patty inside. Frankensteinian or Adam-esque? It doth teeter. As the progenitor was both a pizza and a burger, it could very well be a Ezri grub zap (thank you online anagram generator!).
I digress. From what they mentioned, wagyu beef patty, Brie cheese, porcini mushroom sauce, caramelized onions and Parma ham. What came through mostly was that wagyu patty, some of that Brie and the sweet caramelized onions. Pretty flavourful moist meat in a savoury package of umami and some sweetness from those onions. Those black crumbs on top were olives. I kinda liked this for what it was.
Digested Pages :
burgers/sandwiches,
italian,
pizza
Friday, May 17, 2019
Laksa bak kut teh from Old Street Bak Kut Teh
I tried this out of curiosity from Old Street. Which by the way is a much better bak kut teh chain than Ya Hua. Anyways, this tasted much more like curry from curry fish head than laksa. Not the rempah flavour nor the lemak-ness I was hoping for. It wasn't bad. In fact, I found it very drinkable and I liked that the bottom of the claypot was filled with dried shrimps whose flavour had permeated the curry. But laksa it is not. Three ribs and four pieces of tau pok. Pretty sure I'm not getting this again.
Digested Pages :
a local signature,
chinese
Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Revisiting Tian Tian Seafood Restaurant
Because we liked what we had the last time, we came back to Tian Tian Seafood to try more of their food. I guess for them, there's a good reason why there's always a crowd. The above was something called fu jian chao fan (福建炒饭). Yes, it doesn't look much like fried rice. It's fried rice with gravy slathered over that had diced chicken, prawn and mushrooms. Not bad. Kinda like the fried rice rendition of mui fan.
This nai bai stir fried with garlic filled our quota for our greens of the meal. But we generally like nai bai. Not as pretty those served at Din Tai Fung but what the hell right?
If I had to describe their har cheong gai, I'd say it wasn't too bad as a whole. This was properly fried without excessive grease. To compare, the ones over at Sin Hoi Sai were one up with their stronger prawn paste flavouring which was kind of the point as well. Make of that what you will.
Digested Pages :
a local signature,
chinese
Tuesday, May 14, 2019
Even more from Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine
We tried the fish noodles from Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine in our last dim sum lunch/brunch because I was curious if their rendition were as nice as the ones I recalled from Hai Tian Lo or Peach Garden ages ago. Hoping to recapture a little something here. It didn't. No char and not so much fish flavour in those noodles. Disappointed.
On the bright side, we found out that the restaurant offered a steamed version of the usual pan fried radish cake we normally get. This was really nice. Glided down the throat with ease even without the grease. Think we're gonna stick to this rendition from now.
Tried their mushroom dumplings for the first time. Pretty good if I might say so. The soft and chewy crystals skins were packed with diced mushrooms and green beans...I think. Will be getting these again the next time too.
Digested Pages :
chinese
Monday, May 13, 2019
More from Astons Steak & Salad
We came back to Astons Steak & Salad mostly for the salad bar.
They have a duck a l'orange. Not on the regular menu. What I disliked about the duck was how heavy the flavour of the herbs were on the skin. Didn't need those at all. The parts of the duck that didn't have those herbs were good on their own or with the sauce.
Tried their t-bone. Probably the most expensive of their regular steaks. A little too much sinews for me. Not feeling how this was better after paying so much more so I'm sticking to their non bone-in regular steaks the next time.
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