Thursday, June 30, 2022

Pizza and saltimbocca from 2it & drink

2it & drink, romana buffalo mozzarella

For reasons, we've eaten at 2it & drink a number of times but yet have visited their parent Otto Ristorante. Anywaysss....Romano pizza from their menu topped with additional buffalo mozzarella. One gets to choose if those mozzarella go into the oven with the pizza or are served freshly slice on top of it. Those olives sure were juicy.

2it & drink, saltimbocca

There was a saltimbocca for the weekend special. Pork was lean but the masala wine sauce and the truffle mash helped. Deliciously salty and savoury perfumed with sage. 

2it & drink, Valley Point

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

Tora Tora Tora, Oxley Bizhub 2

Tora Tora Tora, kaisen don

I had to get lunch here (#11-19 Oxley Bizhub 2, 62 Ubi Road 1) so I ended up with a kaisen don. One with vinegared rice. Not bad tasting if I might say so. Those maguro chunks was pretty good eating and there were scallops and ikura as well. What pleasantly surprised me was the wasabi - it's the grated stuff. All these in a bowl less than $20 at the roof of Oxley Bizhub 2. They even have Asahi Kuronama on tap.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

Rose flavoured Lay's potato chips from Scarlett Supermarket

Rose flavoured Lay's potato chips

Picked up a bunch of unusual sounding snacks from Scarlett Supermarket (思家客) at Chinatown Point. We haven't been here for a while and some new things have snuck into their shelves. Can you see it? The rose potato chips...

Rose flavoured Lay's potato chips

Here's a closer look at it.

Rose flavoured Lay's potato chips

The speckles make them look like whole grain chips. There's definitely rose flavour in there so what I was trying to get used to was saltiness because I've only experienced rose with desserts or bandung. They're also a little tangy.

Rose flavoured Lay's potato chips

Monday, June 27, 2022

Fish and strawberry bagels with dirty chai at Two Men Bagel House

Two Men Bagel House, Holland Village

I've gotten bagels from this Holland Village branch of Two Men Bagel House (into the bagel-verse!           十一 十二 十三 十四 十五 十六) only once. Back then, their outlet bagel was chocolate chip. It's become strawberry bagel for some reasons. Their menu has been revamped to include a bunch of what I guess are historical top sellers and those are available in all their shops.

Two Men Bagel House, dirty chai

Curious about their dirty chai. It's chai with a shot of espresso. So the strawberry bagels......

Two Men Bagel House, lox strawberry bagel

Here's the Lox in one. A smoked salmon bagel that's kinda similar to the Fisherman I've had previously at Tanjong Pagar. The strawberry flavour in the bagel came through for this one so that was nice. Unlike the next one...

Two Men Bagel House, what she order strawberry bagel

...which was What She Order? featuring fried fish, tartar sauce, capers, cheese, dill and some sambal which I couldn't detect. Because this had more going on, less strawberry flavour. Not none. Just less. This reminded of Filet O Fish. Maybe it's fried cod? Both bagels were not bad tasting. 

Two Men Bagel House, Holland Village

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Blanco Court Beef Noodles, Chinatown Point

Blanco Court Beef Noodles, mala beef noodles

I don't remember if I've ever had Blanco Court Beef Noodles but they have a number of branches across the island. This was the shop at Chinatown Point (#B1-52/52A Chinatown Point, 133 New Bridge Road, tel : +65 8816 1979). The bowl at the top was their mala beef noodles - something they did as a Father's Day Special for this month. Hot and numbing spicy according to them but if you asked me, it was definitely not 麻 and probably just 小小小辣. Needed a bit more salt as well but otherwise, not bad tasting.

Blanco Court Beef Noodles, beef tendon kuey teow

Their soup tendon kuey teow was more impressive. Those tendons were chunky and tender. While Blanco Court Beef Noodles didn't have the most memorable broth, it passed muster with sufficient saltiness that made it delicious.

Blanco Court Beef Noodles, condiments

What you'll find upping the game are the condiments which one can help themselves to. Peanut's good for dry noodles and lime's good for everything. Chilli sauce with chinchalok = delicious dip for the meats or spicy flavour enhancer for their soup. Even though they didn't have the most impressive beef broth out there, they didn't leave us without options to zhng it as well.

Blanco Court Beef Noodles, Chinatown Point

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Ab Undance

Abundance, Lengkok Bahru

It's been a while since our last visit to Abundance. We made the queue shortly before the place opened and shortly after we were seated, that queue became discouragingly long. Business looks good.

Abundance, peach sour lychee oolong

One of the current brews on tap was a Peach Sour. It was sour and fruity but not exactly peachy. Not bad for our sweltering weather though. The other glass on the right was some lychee oolong concoction. Not getting the tea for that one.

Abundance, crispy chicken bun

I wanted to try the crispy chicken bun. It's kinda like som tam mamuang with peanut sauce on a fried chicken in the buns. Seeing that I much preferred the spicy mango slaw over the fried chicken, I knew this wasn't for me. Which means my favourite bun from them is...

Abundance, gua bao

...the gua bao. Sans coriander of course.

Abundance, red hot chilli dumpling noodles

Wanted to get their red hot chilli dumpling noodles because I liked the mala-ish dumplings and their springy shaven noodles from the previous visits.

Abundance, xo fried rice

They do a pretty decent XO fried rice. Needs a bit more salt but it was not bad otherwise. I couldn't help but to keep thinking about Din Tai Fung's fried rice as I ate this.

Abundance, scottish ale
Abundance, scottish ale



While waiting for our vegetable to arrive, a pint of their Scottish ale on tap. This was a bit more sour than what I was expecting.

Abundance, bacon cabbage

So the vegetables. Chilli oil, wok seared cabbage and bacon.

Abundance, Lengkok Bahru

Friday, June 24, 2022

Briyani set from Gandhi Restaurant

Gandhi Restaurant, Chander Road

Came back to Gandhi Restaurant for their briyani set meal. We tried the the regular one previously so this was just natural progression. 😅

Gandhi Restaurant, briyani set

Pretty regular tasting briyani with their spice infusion. Not that it was bad but I could not pinpoint anything distinctive about their flavour.

Gandhi Restaurant, onion chicken

We ordered onion chicken which was a fried chicken thigh with caramelized onions and curry leaves. Chicken was a little dry. It's the onions that were tasty. Will probably not get this again.

Gandhi Restaurant, curry mutton

Their rich nutty masala mutton was kickass. This dish scored with the combination of tender chunks of lamb and a spicy creamy paste. We had originally wanted the ribs which they had ran out of. We were glad to have tried this. Will still try our luck with the ribs another time though.

Gandhi Restaurant, curry shrimp peas

This was another curry with loads of little shrimps and green peas. Not bad.

Gandhi Restaurant, fish cutlet

Some potato-y fish cutlets.

Gandhi Restaurant, lassi

Not to self - their lassi was thick and creamy. One of the enjoyable ones around.

Gandhi Restaurant, Chander Road

Thursday, June 23, 2022

Curry Kapitan chicken nasi lemak from Uptown Nasi Lemak

Uptown Nasi Lemak, curry kapitan chicken

I had the idea for some reasons that the Kapitan chicken curry from Uptown Nasi Lemak would be a dry curry chicken. Possibly from the picture on the menu. It wasn't and had a viscous lemak gravy that tasted coconut-y and potato-y. Beneath that creamy curry was the chicken thigh and drumstick - one that was smaller than what they used for their ayam goreng berempah. If anyone needed to know, they've upped their prices by 50 cents for all the chicken items in the current fresh chicken drought.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

The indecisive Vadai Shop

The Original Vadai, prawns ikan bilis gragos

We've noticed this shop (#02-84 Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road) for a while. The name should be The Original Vadai instead of The Vadai Shop or The Vadai Shop @ Amoy. Finally decided to get a few of their vadai. They aren't visually distinct except for the one with prawn. The picture up there features one of those with prawn, one with ikan bilis and another with gragos. I like the latter two. Did not expect so much of the shrimpy flavour from the latter of the latter. Haha! The bread was tender, light and greasy in a good way. Will try more another time.

The Original Vadai, Amoy Street Food Centre

The basic bowl from Guan's Mee Pok

Guan's Mee Pok

I wanted to experience Guan's Mee Pok minus frills so this was just the basic bowl with nothing else. Also because I wasn't that hungry but I still needed to get some food. Not exactly the run of the mill bcm ingredients if you've noticed and it's arguably expensive for their small portions, but we're at Capitol Piazza. I enjoyed it. Both the meaty dumpling and fried roll (are those ngoh hiang?) tasted better than they looked. The noodles didn't have the greatest of textures but were especially good with their marinated cut red chilli.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Chilled jello worms, iced bitter gourd and more Duotou clams from Putien

Putien, Great World

More food from Putien. Been enjoying the food from this branch at Great World (, , , , , , , , ). In all these visits, we've never felt that their Michelin starred flagship at Kitchener Road was any better.

Putien, chilled jello worms

One of the new items on the menu was described as chilled jello worms. Don't know what those worms were but they had texture that was akin to clams. Said worms were trapped in a savoury jelly that's drizzled over with finely minced garlic, chilli and soy sauce.

Putien, iced bitter gourd

Trying their iced bitter gourd for the first time. These thin shaven and chilled bitter gourd strips were served with a honey dip on the side. Crisp and refreshing they were.

Putien, duotou clams salt & pepper

Salt and pepper 蛏 fried in a light flour coat. We wanted to try more of these Duotou clam dishes since since they were still in the season. Those brown strips were tea tree mushrooms.

Putien, duotou clams steamed with garlic

蛏 steamed with minced garlic. The main flavours came from the pungent sweetness in the garlic and light soya sauce pairing with textures that reminded me of bamboo clams. Nicely done.

Putien, stir fried pig's liver

Stir fried pig's liver. Not bad.

Putien, kelp seedling chicken broth

The other new dish from their menu we picked up were kelp seedlings with minced pork in chicken broth. I liked this.

Putien, rice

Gotta do this with all that right?

Putien, Great World

Monday, June 20, 2022

Brewerkz, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel

Brewerkz, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel

Brewerkz has set up shop at Orchard Rendezvous Hotel (#01-08 Orchard Rendezvous Hotel, 1 Tanglin Road, tel : +65 9012 6154). You know, the one that used to be called Orchard Parade Hotel and used to house Black Angus Steakhouse and Modesto's right at the front. 

I remember lamenting over the quality and execution a few years ago. Seems like they've revamped their menu since and it was actually a change for the better.

Brewerkz, fort siloso chocolate vanilla porter

But first, their craft beer - the Fort Siloso Chocolate Vanilla porter which lived up in flavour to its name. Not the Fort Siloso part.

Brewerkz, burratina gazpacho

Their chilled gazpacho with burratina was just the thing to help take the heat off the blistering weather. There's flavour of tomatoes and red bell peppers punctuated by tart sweetness from balsamic vinegar and little cubes of quince. All that with creaminess from the little burrata. Nice.

Brewerkz, fried sardines

These were fried sardines in pilsner batter. Tasted a lot better than it looked. The batter was sufficiently light, crisp and enveloped those piping hot tender sardines. I'd eat this again.

Brewerkz, lamb ribs

Pretty much slurp off the bone lamb ribs with honey mustard. Portions were pretty generous for something under their appetizer section. Those chunks of beetroot on the side were sweet. No complains and definitely no qualms ordering this again.

Brewerkz, cacio e pepe quail

They have a couple of dishes that are only available in this outpost. This tagliolini cacio e pepe with pan fried quail was one of them. This. Was. Delicious. Would have liked more pepper but otherwise the cheesy pasta was moreish. We had half expected the quail to be tough chewy but it was pleasantly moist, sufficiently tender with a good bite and had a nice flavour from the marinate. Could eat this again too.  

Brewerkz, mangrove red snapper

The other outlet exclusive dish was the mangrove red snapper sourced from Ah Hua Kelong. Great pairing from the creamy dashi beurre blanc and ikura. Hmmm...so familiar this one. Believe it or not, I could eat this again. How many times have you heard me say that already? I surprise even myself.

Brewerkz, oatmeal stout beeramisu

Dessert was their Oatmeal Stout tiramisu. Couldn't say that I could taste the booze but this was a competently done tiramisu. I like the flavour of the mascarpone in it.

Brewerkz, Orchard Rendezvous Hotel