Saraceno Ristorante

Pretty new place at Tanjong Pagar (83 Duxton Road, Berjaya Hotel Singapore, tel : 6438-9638) that was opened about 3 months or so ago with a Czech chef that has done a stint in Italy and was also formerly under Gordon Ramsey. I don't know if the latter situation made any difference but the food was not bad. In a way that it wasn't overly complicated and that the individual wasn't overwhelmed by the sum of its part if you catch my drift. Much cooking transforms a dish into a form where the original ingredients are often lost in translation (lol!) but it didn't look like it was that way here.

There was a generously portion Parma ham with juicy pieces of porcini on bruschetta to start. The truffle oil added a very nice accent to the rockets and mushrooms with neither of the flavours overpowering one another. In fact, what was really nice about it was that every ingredient could be distinctly tasted.

The pan roasted tenderloin featured also porcini and truffle oil. I'm wondering if it was the same batch of mushrooms that was done with the starter. Again, it was another item where both fungal aromas were in harmony even with the red wine reduction. The beef was a medium-rare, nicely browned on the outside and a juicy red on the interior. No complains except for the size. We enjoyed the grilled calf liver and hoped that they were here to stay as a permanent item on the menu. Done medium with a very nice char grill on a bed of exquisitely soft gnocchi.

Loved the freshly made baked apples on puff pastry. They appeared unassuming. Turned out awesome served hot with a good measure of drizzled caramel. Even though the base of the pastry was soggy, it was saved by how buttery it tasted. Almost like bread pudding. I liked the pineapple raviolis as well which seemed to be their signature dessert. Those were basically thinly sliced frozen pineapples folded across a lime sorbet. Along with chopped bits of strawberries in balsamic vinegar. Found them refreshingly sour for an interesting change.

Prosciutto di Parma con Bruschetta ai Porcini e scaglie di grana
Parma ham with Porcini on toasted bread, parmesan shavings and truffle oil

how does black pearls of vinegar in olive oil sound?

bread basket

amuse bouche (steak tartare)

Filetto di Manzo con Porcini e salsa al vino rosso
Fillet of Beef tenderloin with Porcini, Potatoe purée and red wine sauce

Fegato di Vitello alla griglia con gnocchi, burro, salvia e cipolle croccanti
Grilled Calves liver with gnocchi, butter and sage, crispy onions aged balsamic vinegar

Torta di mele
Peeled apples slowly baked on puff pastry

Ravioli di Ananas

Thickburger

It's thick because it's padded with the girth of two slices of tomatoes, onions and lettuce. But otherwise, the patty wasn't that big of a deal. Sure it was bigger than the usual of the fast food variety, but I didn't think it was that impressive of a difference. This Thickburger from CJ purports the use of Angus beef which I really can't tell. I mean, is it suppose to even taste different at all? The marketing tag say that some like it long and most would prefer it thick. I like mine less wet. Would have been better if the buns weren't soaked and disintegrating with all that mayo and ketchup.

Teck Fu Bak Kut Teh, Sembawang Hill Food Centre

I was brought to try this BKT stall down at Thomson (Sembawang Hill Food Centre, 590 Upper Thomson Road, #01-24) which was described to be not bad. True enough, it wasn't too bad. There was still a bone or two which I could pick on like the broth being less peppery than the norm and that they could've been much more generous with the soft boiled cloves of garlic. Those things aside, this was decent. There was just enough fat in the meat for me and that meat didn't come across as dry or hard. It actually slid off the bone quite easily which I liked. Portions were unfortunately quite small. Still, there was a nice braised tau kee (dried bean curd sheets) in that dark sauce that scored points with me. I wouldn't mind eating here again but probably not make that extra effort to go out of the way.

More from Wasabi Tei

Safe it is to say for me that Wasabi Tei is not the place for me to have sushi. A little can be said of their generous and thick, but formless sashimi slices and I would admit to having enjoyed the salmon quite a bit. Otherwise it's really not what I'm looking for. Might have been a bad fish day today, but I don't think it's a valid excuse. The nigiri was simply not satisfaying and for something that is considered to be a form of art, this was really far too abstract. Lol. Just like Picasso without the brush. And fingers. The mekajiki and maguro that was really sinewy today. There was also ankimo on the menu, something that normally gets my attention and this one was a little different from what I've had before. Tasted a lot like pâté. Really a lot like pâté than any fish liver. Hmmm.....stick to the cooked food I will.

An okonomiyaki from Japanese Gourmet Town

Here's a mochi and cheese okonomiyaki from the Botejyu counterpart of the three-in-one themed Japanese food place at Vivocity. I wonder if the mayo designs at the top will ever evolve like latte art. Lol. This stuff was quite good, so I'm going to try more of them to see if they're just as tasty or was it just this particular one. The addition of mochi in the batter made them taste a kinda like Chinese radish cake and surprisingly, the sauces at the top weren't as overwhelming as I thought they might have been. Another unexpected thing were that the bits of chopped cabbage inside actually tasted naturally sweet.

Hakata Nihon Ryori, Mohd Sultan Road

I think this was one of those places (33, Mohd Sultan Road #01-03, S23897, tel : 6836 1039) that has been around. One of the many that I've seen or passed by but never gotten myself to step in. Until now. That was after a tip off about the Kyushu styled food that they serve and a chance for me to try their tonkotsu ramen. The ramen was edible though not one of the better rendition we've tried. A word of advice - don't pick the seats at the bar. The counter radiates heat from the refrigeration unit and it could get uncomfortably warm after a while.

I was intrigued by the uni to ama ebi don, but the uni was disappointing. It wasn't much chilled and a little too stiff as well. Flavour of the sea urchin didn't quite get through. In short, it was a failed uni test for me. The sweet ama ebi was fortunately decent but wasn't good enough enough to save the donburi.

Here's their tonkotsu ramen. Liked these straight Hakata style noodles. The sliced chashu were small and were not the type that would dissolve your mouth. Actually, those charshu tasted like sliced pork in lor mee. At $10, it was also one of the cheaper bowls around.

I like them potato no mentai yakis. Basically sliced potatoes with a layer of mentaiko mayo and grilled (or baked?). We were told that they took a while to prepare and that we might have to wait a little but it was actually served before the other items. This wasn't just a flavouring if you're wondering. The potato slices were covered with enough mentaiko that you could discern the fish roe.

All in all, the food wasn't too bad despite the poor show of the uni. There was quite a variety on menu that I can see myself coming back.

Wasabi Tei : cooked food edition

Dare I say that the unagi don from Wasabi Tei was actually not bad in spite of the charred appearances. I thought that I detected a little bit of that greasy fattiness underneath the grilled skin of the eel. Not much can really be to the quality of eels locally, but I guess there are some places that do serve a pretty decent non-Japanese import of those fishes and this was one; in generous portions and a warm bowl of sticky rice to boot.

The unagi nigiris did surprise me a little since I wasn't expecting them to be so large. As expected though, they weren't much to look at, but the sizes were nothing one can complain about. The rice at the bottom barely held the weight of the grilled eels on top.

I generally don't hold much hopes for gyudons since I've never really had any that was really worth remembering apart from the savoury rendition at Yoshinoya which was surprisingly quite addictive. Pity that they're just another chain that takes no pride in what they serve  charging quite a bit and delivering pathetic portions. Wasabi Tei's rendition was nothing short of comfort food with sliced beef. Well blended were the flavours of the thinly sliced strips of sautéed onions and bits of garlic that worked really well with their salty sauce and greasy thin slices of cow on top of the warm rice. Again, it's form over finesse in generous quantities. Did I mention that they have a mushroomy tasting chawanmushi that's loaded with Shimeiji mushrooms too?

Ichibantei, Robertson Quay

I think I'm becoming a fan of tan tan mian. This was a hiyashi tan tan mian from Ichibantei (60 Robertson Quay, #01-04 The Quayside, tel : 6733 3923) and it is probably making itself into the top of my list for cold ramen with its robust savoury sweet and spicy sesame gravy and springy noodles. Not that there were any others in that list apart from the cold ramen at Noodle House Ken which was as good if not better in its own refreshing way. The generous toppings of ground meat added to the textural chewiness. There was also a pretty decent tonkotsu ramen in the house that came with the usual milky pork bone broth, tender sliced chashu and egg. Sadly, the order of oyster kakis was disappointing. They were shrivelled and dry as compared to fat and juicy. I've passed by this place on countless occasions and only sometimes wondering if there was anything good about them. If not for today, that cycle would probably have continued.

Bontá unplugged

Unplugged because most of the things here aren't from the menu and the after dinner was graced with the company of the Chef Luca Pezzera. Where casual dialogue evolved around prices of Japanese produce, how he likes otoro and not uni, the real faces of restaurants in Italy and quite a number of other things which will not by discretion, go beyond the dinner table. Chef Luca is apparent quite conversant with the local slang judging from expressions like "ok lah", "I tell you one thing ah", or "very expensive leh" that arose in the midst of his candour. This visit also represents a re-acquaintance to the food at Bontá, recalling that it didn’t leave deep impressions previously. Opinions were rather different this time round, but then again, there’s also the stuff that one doesn’t usually get since they’re seasonal. Still, one can get a feel of straightforward and down to earth cooking that doesn't reek of fancy schmancy.

The first starter was a pair of steamed or poached German white asparaguses blanketed by a sunny side up with shaven Parmigiano Reggiano. I though it was a appropriately warm in a refreshing way. The crunchy asparagus which were also a little juicy. Cheese and eggs sealed the deal for me. Nothing overly complicated but a warm and pleasant opener. I just found out that white asparagus are grown in the dark today.

Asparaguses were followed by sliced Parma ham and chilled melon pieces drizzled with something sweet that tasted like honey. And something else. I couldn't really identify. Again, nothing over the top.

Pasta was good. There's truffle cheese sauce and with more freshly shaven summer truffles. What I liked about this was that the cheese in the sauce was outstanding yet not overwhelming as to mask gentler truffle flavour. Comfort food.

Secondi piatti was a seafood duo of tuna and scampi. I was for red meat but since it's all decided by the chef, you get surprised sometimes. The outstanding items were the sweet scampi and roasted garlic. There was almost none of the pungence associated with garlic and the bulbs were slightly sweetish and crunchy. The tuna wasn't really my thing. It was still juicy even though it was a little hard. There was rosemary which I don't normally enjoy. Would have been great if there was more scampi.

Dessert was a molten chocolate cake with rum and raisin ice cream. Not much to say about this.

Seletar Grill & Pub, Singapore Flying Club

This was my first visit to Seletar Grill (140B Piccadilly, Singapore Flying Club, tel: 6482 0244) and I've managed to get my name up on the level 30 wall of fame for their spicy chicken wings. It didn't taste good, I do not recommend them at all and I did it for the cheap thrill of having my name up on a piece of paper up their wall of fame after enduring the tongue and lip blistering venom which makes those wings look absolutely toxic. Not to mention the fuzzy feeling in my stomach after that...... 

The silver lining of this visit was the prime rib on the menu which I was admittedly skeptical about initially. After little persuasion, I took the plunge and this turned out to be a good call. And a good thing it was too that I decided on medium instead of the usual medium rare since it probably would have been a little to rare for my liking. The boned in prime rib was tender, juicy full of beefy goodness coupled with a healthy amount of fats for texture and flavour. Not forgetting the nicely browned surface as well. Honestly surprised at something like this in an out of the way shack. It's tough luck for me that this place is so damned inaccessible.