Casa Vostra, Jem

Casa Vostra has opened an outpost at Jem (#01-03 Jem, 50 Jurong Gateway Road) and it appears to have inherited the queue which is equally crazy as the original spot at Raffles City. We got there 15 minutes before opening and ended up spending about an hour in that queue.

There were some things on the menu that were only available here though.

Like their polpette alla fonduta featuring fried meatballs in Taleggio fondue. Great stinky cheese which we enjoyed - couldn't tell what meat the meatballs were made of after that though.

Aglio e olio's nice. It looked a lot spicer than it tasted because of red came from sun dried tomatoes. The one thing that this rendition differed from other aglio olio was the lack of garlic.

Pizza only available in this outpost included the 5 formaggi e pear. Found this very easy to like. I thought it needed a bit more of that pear compote for a more pronounced counter sweetness but I'm not complaining.

Another pizza only available here was their Amalfitana that's basically the seafood pie. Prawns, squid and clams. There was an option to top up extra prawns which we did. Profile's light tomato tanginess with clean thalassic flavour. Nice. Wish there were more clams though.

Just needed to end this with the triple espresso tonic after all the food.

Pici, Cadogan Street, Kennedy Town

Have been wanting to try Pici. Came across one of their branches at Kennedy Town (G/F, Hang Yu Building, 45-55 Cadogan Street, Kennedy Town, Hong Kong) this trip and we made it happen. 

There was white asparagus on their seasonal menu that came with shaven black truffles and truffle egg mayo. Asparaguses they served were kinda underwhelming thin. Not something we'd get again if the opportunity presented itself.

Their pici with truffle and parma ham was delicious. Great bite on the pasta and the flavour from the truffle cream sauce was nicely done and didn't spring the hidden surfeit knife onto us.

Got ourselves another plate of pici in the form of their cacio e pepe. Can you see what's not right with it?

Anyways, I helped myself using their pepper mill and made it better. Nice creamy cheese. We scraped the plate clean.

Tried their seasonal sweet potato tiramisu.

Nice. Flavouring's good. There's bits of sweet potato in the cream as well.

Holland Bar L'Operetta, Lorong Mambong

Pizzeria L'Operetta shuttered at Icon Village and re-opened as Holland Bar L'Operetta (23 Lorong Mambong) in Holland Village. I remember them doing Neapolitan pizza styled pizza in the past but it did not look like those today. Something's changed.

Meatballs were nice. Coarse ground meat with some beefy flavour.

Pasta's not great. The fettuccine with lamb ragu had a red wine-ish sauce that wasn't exactly lamb-y with meat that was lean and somewhat stringy. Frutti di mare was...boring.

So the pizzas don't look Neapolitan nor taste that way. Crust wasn't puffy and the "leopard spots" were kinda missing. Toppings were decent but that quattro formaggi needs more blue cheese. With the 1 for 1 offer they have at lunch, I couldn't complain. Wouldn't look forward to paying the full price for these.

Royal Host, Takashimaya/Ngee Ann City

Been curious about Royal Host since they opened at Jewel. These guys are retro styled Japanese western food...not unlike Ma Maison. This branch in town (#B2-25/26 Takashimaya Shopping Centre, 391 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6908 1339) was a lot more accessible.

Royal paradise tropical iced tea - tasted a little herbal. 

Lobster bisque's decent. Portion was pretty small.

This was an odd one; albeit an odd one which we enjoyed. A Genovese styled kale pesto spaghetti that's sprinkled with candied pecans and bits of biscuit which tasted like Marie biscuits. 😯 So amidst that pesto and creamy cheese, there's sweetness from those. I'd come back for this.

Sparkling water is available free flow for two bucks.

Their hamburg seemed to be a signature dish so we got one with brown butter sauce. Said sauce didn't exactly taste buttery - pretty sure there was beef stock with tomato and/or vinegar in it. Not bad tasting but we prefer the hambagu sans sauce because the meat tasted beefy. No fillers. Not bad. I like it more than the A5 omigyu one at Steak Sukadu.

Hot fudge sundae was pretty awesome. Never had something like this since I was a kid at Swenson's. Style's pretty nostalgic. Though it even had the same candied pecan and bits of Marie biscuit like the kale pesto spaghetti. 😬

Bonjour Ma Cuisine, Craig Road

Bonjour Ma Cuisine is the brunch operation of the one Micheline starred Ma Cuisine (38 Craig Road, tel : +65 9627 1058). The former is available for breakfast and lunch for weekdays only and the latter only has dinner service. At least for now that's how it's working for them.

Iced coffee's okay. 

Chocolat veinnois had a rich milkiness paired with a creamy viscosity and an infusion of cinnamon in the chocolate. Not bad. 

One of their recommended dishes was their Croque Madame Truffe - their refined rendition of the traditional sandwich with truffle. Doesn't look like the standard variety sandwich of its kind. Ham and cheese was inside the disc of crunchy bread with a pretty sunny side up. Not bad tasting. Now that I've tried it, I won't get it again. That's how it was.

We were more impressed by their quenelle de brochet sauce nantua.

Quenelle had a creamy/custardy texture flavoured by presumably the pike that went into it and that crustacean-y sweet, savoury and spicy sauce nantua. 👍🏼

Salade de foies de volaille - warm chicken liver salad with rockets. Nice. Sauce was vinegary and with onions which cut through the richness of those livers.

Their pasta with Parmesan is apparently a thing. Menu calls it linguine but isn't this pappardelle? Anyways, the application of the cheese is balanced by what the restaurant thinks ideal. It didn't taste bad. It just didn't pack the punch from the cheese like I imagined. But otherwise, it's okay.

They have a pretty refined hand chopped tartare de boeuf. Meat's in small chunky cubes which provided a good texture full of bite - if that's your thing that is. It was mine. We enjoyed this.

We were recommended their pain perdu kaya. I was initially wondering where the kaya was. It's the yellow sauce. Bread's nicely brûlée-ed with a light crisp and caramel bitter sweetness. It was also airy on the insides which helped absorb the custard-y sauce. This was nicer than I imagined.

Casa Vostra ending Year One

It's been about a year since Casa Vostra opened. Time sure flew by. The queue is still around. Some new stuff have come up on their menu.

Like braised beef cheeks flavoured with rosemary and pepper. Not bad tasting but wore its welcome quickly.

First year anniversary pizza featuring their wagyu bresaola. I was thinking that maybe more bresaola would be nice but after going through it, I was impressed by how much of the flavour came through with those slices.

Ravioli alla zucca was also new I think. Mini raviolis filled with pumpkin puree. We were tasting a lot of cheese and butter in this and lesser of the pumpkin. Not bad.

Today, we learnt that the menu allows an additional shot of espresso for their double shot espresso tonic. Nice.

Brunch at Wooloomooloo Steakhouse

First time brunching at Wooloomooloo Steakhouse. Four course menu which is kinda like a set lunch for weekends.

Nothing has changed with their onion focaccia. Still as nice with the butter.

Crustacean bisque was savoury sweet, creamy and had a bit of heat that trickled down the throat. There's some chopped prawns in it. Not bad.

Buttery egg & smoked mackerel tart which was delicious with the crème fraiche and sweet caramelised onions. There's a molten yolk egg in the middle to add to the richness. 👍🏼

Tuna tartare in goma dressing topped with tobiko in what appeared to be black sesame flavoured cones. Nice.

I saw someone with a Wooloomooloo double cheeseburger last time and thought it looked good. Got it with their secret sauce on the side. Meat's coarse ground/chopped and hefty with just smoked cheddar and house made lightly pickled cucumbers between buttered buns. Liked those fries. Someone thought this burger out well. Secret sauce was actually pretty good. Tasted Thousand Island-ish with mustard and diced pickles. Even enjoyed the ketchup. I could come back for this. 👍🏼

Lamb ragu linguine. Lamb flavour was in the tangy tomato ragu and the meat was chunky. Not bad at all.

Matcha yuzu gateaux. The yuzu came from the blob of crémeux on the side. Fragrant sesame tuile. Cake was basically matcha mousse. Also not bad.

Isn't a pavlova the Australian take on an Eton mess? Anyways, I liked this better than I imagined. There's raspberry compote with a light crunchy meringue holding chamomile Chantilly inside. Not excessively sweet so that scores.