Revisiting Springleaf Prata Place @ Thong Soon Avenue

Been like a decade since we last ate at this Springleaf Prata Place. In recent times, there's the Springleaf MRT Station which makes the location much less inconvenient for people who don't live in the vicinity. Was a packed Saturday morning and we turned up not expecting the crowd.

Teh pandan's not bad - better than I imagined. Teh was adequate and the flavour from the pandan came through. Masala tea's also okay-ish. Note to self: Gotta siu dai.

Finally got to try their Impossible Murtaburger. Instead of lamb like the regular Murtaburger, there's an Impossible patty. The flavour also reminded me more than a little of a Ramly Burger. You know that there's too much sauce when you cut off a corner from a little piece and so much squirts out.

Otah prata which I felt was also a little too sauced up inside. There's mayo and mustard which kinda buried the otah.

Roti bomb. Crispy and sugary.

Lamb shank briyani's pretty good. Meat easily fell off the bone. Rice was savoury and pleasantly spiced. Nice nutty masala with a bit of heat as well.

Plain Vanilla, Yong Siak Street

I was just saying not long ago that we never come into Plain Vanilla (1D Yong Siak Street) because of the crowd. This somehow happened.

Niçoise salad. Tasted like Niçoise salad with fishiness from anchovies and tuna.

Got the portobello mushroom & Stilton flatbread because Stilton. In the end, it was mostly mushrooms and rosemary I tasted with occasional nuttiness from the pine nuts. Not so much the blue cheese. 😔 Felt like they were trying to do something and half assed it because they were afraid.

This was nice. Bacon, scrambled egg and halloumi sandwich with chipotle mayo. Buns were soft and the in betweens were deliciously hearty. Every element in here was bold and discernible; unlike the wannabe flatbread that tried to involve Stilton and failed right at it.

Menu called this tomato veloute soup with grille cheese soldiers. The non-fancy name could be cream of tomato with grilled cheese. Passable but I'm pretty sure I preferred the one from Josh's Grill.

Unremarkable ice mocha. Would have been enjoyable if they made this a lot more gao in consideration of all the ice in there. But that's me.

Revisiting Rustica

Back at Rustica.

Double shotted their bandung latte today. Liked it better than their regular single shot concoction because stronger coffee.

That's a basil and watercress pesto mee hoon kueh called Green Blanket. Blanketed by chopped kailan and some walnuts. Pesto's gentler than the Italian styled ones which are generally fortified with cheese and olive oil. This one was less rich and salty. Not bad tasting per se but also not moreish. 

Tried their seafood dry laksa which featured rempah without coconut milk. Understandably, it's not lemak. Not bad tasting and the seafood's good quality. 

The other item we had was their white pepper clams & fish soup. Soup's flavour was intense, had hua diao and was creamy. There's bee hoon in there as well. What I did not expect from it was sweetness. Couldn't put a finger to what that sweetness was. Had to soya sauce it to move the flavour spectrum towards savouriness which then made it pretty good. The slices of barramundi in it were lightly floured and fried. I liked this.

Mushroom pizza and teh from rumeL

The pizzas from rumeL are pretty good eating largely because of their puffy Neapolitan-esque crust. Tried the one with mushrooms recently and I liked it. Think it's just cheese and mushrooms. The teh's decent. It might not be as strong or creamy as the ones from Toast Box nearby but it's also cheaper.

Rustica, Crawford Lane

Came across Rustica (#01-65, 462 Crawford Lane, tel : +65 9030 8803) recently right next door to Tolido's Espresso Nook. They're a locavore restaurant using ingredients sourced from local producers and #localssupportlocal.

What drew our attention to them was a picture of their kaya toast which I had initially mistaken for something with avocado. Their rendition included house made whipped kaya and ricotta on top of a deliciously buttery brioche drizzled with gula melaka. I liked how it tasted and how each ingredient stood out. 👍🏼 

Bandung latte - which was rose flavoured coffee. Single shot. Not bad tasting. That said, I would have enjoyed it more if the coffee packed a bit more punch. Like with another shot.

Pandan latte which came with double shot as a default. Not bad.

These were iced on the menu but we could get the hot versions. Their menu looked like it had interesting takes of local influences. Don't mind coming back to try those.

Tsujiri Premium Tanjong Pagar, Tanjong Pagar Road

Ducked into Tsujiri Premium Tanjong Pagar (94 Tanjong Pagar Road) to escape the heat. This space was a lot more zen-esque and pretty than the old spot at Great World. The world 'sanctuary' might be appropriate here.

Some matcha beverages.

Matcha Yakult latte - nice. Tasted much like the name described. A pretty gao matcha with Yakult.

Their strawberry matcha milk cap was pretty good too. The pic above was before the extra shot of matcha. Better with the extra shot methinks because of the stronger green tea intensity. 

Hvala, Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya

First time at Hvala (#B2-28, 391 Orchard Road).

I'm not sure how I feel about the yuzu warabi mochi. I didn't dislike it but I'm also not sure that I did like it. Maybe it's because I've never had it citrus fruit flavoured. The yuzu flavour was pretty prominent. One also doesn't get the same consistency as those from Warabimochi Kamakura which I like better.

This was....probiotic apple matcha. Apple juice and green tea. Not bad.

rumeL, Tiong Bahru Plaza

rumeL's (#01-107 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) a mixed bag. Back when they were renovating, I thought the signs looked like they were promoting a generic Italian cafe with Neapolitan pizza. I think they're a bit more and less than what they claim coupled with some localised flavours.

That and the fact that their name is the reverse of 'lemur'. A Madagascan prosimian primate mascot? I struggle to decipher the meaning behind how they amalgamate. 😲 

Anyways there's a kaya butter pizza. Which was pretty nice. Peranakan styled pandan kaya. It's available for breakfast cheaper than their regular prices and can be gotten with soft boiled eggs and kopi. What's notable was their puffy sourdough crust which was kinda enjoyable. I guess I could call it Neapolitan-esque.

Even with some powdered parmesan cheese, the kaya flavour was dominant.

There's the localisation. Though admittedly these kaya-carb-soft-boiled-egg-kopi traditional breakfast has been a lot more marketing than reality. If it had been tradition, it hasn't been much for the better part of the past few decades. When it was, it might have been only for a couple of decades at best and never widespread. This is just the narration driven by capitalism.

Kopi's drinkable stuff.

Hot honey pizza wasn't spicy. Just sweet and cheesy.

McAffogato

I found McD's affogato a unexpectedly/surprisingly acceptable substitute for... a "proper" one. As much as they would wax lyrical about their managed processes for their food product from kitchen to customer, nothing much was standardised about these. The taste didn't appear to be consistent for reasons. Sometimes, it's milkier and other times, it would have really weak coffee flavouring. But I buy it as an acceptable substitute.

Nan Yang Dao (南洋岛), Tiong Bahru Plaza

Some stuff we had from Nan Yang Dao (#02-115 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road).

I had initially scoffed at the pat of butter with their butter coffee which I thought was kinda small.

Turned out to be pleasantly adequate. Not bad Hainanese coffee by the way.

Decent tasting egg tarts they have. I just wished the crust was bit more buttery and the custard a bit more eggy. Not of the same standards as those from Oriental Kopi if anyone was wondering.

Kolo mee wasn't bad per se but the sauce didn't taste like those we've previously had and there was something about the texture of noodles that was off. These just weren't as springy. If I had to describe, this bowl tasted like an imitator with leathery char siew jerky.