A wagyu hamburg steak with penne from Miàn (面)

I was craving some hamburg steak recently. By some chance when I ended up at Salut Kopitiam and saw that Miàn (Blk 119, Bukit Merah Lane 1) had some weekly special on the board which involved a wagyu patty and shallot fried penne, I basically changed my mind from trying their ramen burgers to that. The ramen burgers, will have to wait for another time.

I quite liked this. The meat was dense, tender and hefty for its size with flavours that were pretty beefy too. I didn't even mind the brown sauce that they were using as it didn't distract from the meat. The tangy dressing on their salad was quite nicely done too. All in all a plate of straight forward comfort food. I guess the only couple of things that I thought they could improve on was a proper seared crust on the exterior of the patty which would make the world of difference and getting the doneness at medium spot on.

Anthony Bourdain’s Theory on the Foodie Revolution

"When I grew up in the ’60s, we’d go to see a movie, then we would go to a restaurant. And we would talk about the movie we just saw. Now, you go right to dinner and you talk about the dinner you had last week and the dinner you’re going to have next week, while you’re taking pictures of the dinner you’re having now."

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Fu Xiang Chicken Rice : Boiled Edition

Here's me cutting back on the roasted pork and sticking to all things chicken in this plate from Fu Xiang which I mentioned wanting to try. I can't say that I've got how they've done their birds all figured out, but I think I like their roasted chicken better. The skin for this boiled one was a little thicker and just didn't quite work out for me. That's not to say that I won't change my mind about it with a better experience in the future though.

Mr Teh Tarik, Ang Mo Kio Ave. 5

This place sure brought back memories because an old friend used to live in the vicinity and also that, this was where Small Potatoes first started! To add on to the trivia when Botak Jones ended their tenantship (is that a word?), Charco's the Flaming Chicken took over. Though I do seem to recall that they had also left at some point as well, Charco's is easily and oddly, tops in page viewership on this blog. I know because Google says so and I didnt think they would lie about it. So I haven't been back here for a really long while and behold, it's Mr Teh Tarik (608 Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, #01-2771) today. A name that I remember from getting teh tarik at the outlet at Far East Square. This was however, a Muslim coffeeshop.

I hadn't a chance to explore much in this first visit, but I really dug the sup ikan stall which served a generous portion of piping hot fish soup prepared with an unabashedly generous dash of Carnation milk soul. It's been a while since I've watched someone make fish soup and tell myself 'hey, this looks so street food!'. The ritual of preparation wholly lacks pretence and knowing what to expect, I thought the soup rocked. The sliced ikan tenggiri was fresh and even the fried fish tasted good. Healthy eating as locals would consider it with a decent obligatory greens of crunchy sambal kangkong from the seafood tze char stall. Washed down with none other than teh tarik.

Kopi gu you (coffee with butter)

This is local coffee, not a fancy roast. But it's pretty decent local coffee. And then a slice cold butter melting in it. I've been wanting to try this for some time since I've heard of it some years back. Recently, I came across its mention again and that was pretty much what prompted me to seek out a cuppa. Apparently, this coffee with butter used to be a rather popular beverage back in the day. It's not seen commonly these days and Heap Seng Leong (10 North Bridge Road, #01-5109) is one time capsule of a local coffeeshop that still serves them. How did it taste? The buttery flavour was actually quite mild, but it did make the coffee noticeably smoother which I believe is the appeal. Sitting in this coffeeshop sipping one as time subtly decelerates is quite the experience by itself too.

I think I'll try making this at home. 

The Lokal, Neil Road

I first heard about The Lokal (126 Neil Road, tel  : +65 6423 9918) a couple of months back via Sarnies' social media streams. A cafe/restaurant with food using ingredients that's made in house from scratch. Cool beans. I told myself that I needed to come by to take a look to see what's their new venture about. With a little bit of Googling, I found the place - and a few websites that conveniently cut and pasted the exact same information about the resident chef from Sydney, Darren Farr, onto their own.

Anyway, I thought the food had room for improvement. Just my view. Like the avocado with ricotta and and pomelo and almonds and olive oil on sourdough thing. While the ingredients were fresh and of good quality (well...maybe the olive oil wasn't fruity), a generous drizzle of honey would have definitely brought the plate together some ways. Honey after all does work with every ingredient that they've piled up.

Scrambled eggs on the side were a little dry, but I wasn't complaining.

There was a veal schnitzel sandwich with grilled pineapple that sounded interesting from the menu. There was a bit too much going on there. The dominant flavour came from the pineapple which was really good grilled pineapple by the way. The rest of the ingredients were a mess. I couldn't taste the cheese, had difficulty in trying to identify the anchovy mayo which was mixed with the said cheese and drowning out from the pineapple and so forth. Couldn't taste much of the veal at all. For a meat that was lightweight in flavour that even lettuce could have contended with, it might not have been the best showcase. They could have used pork and most people would not have notice the difference. 

But I don't mind coming back.

Coffee's from Sarnies (meaning not too bad) and the staff was friendly. The menu has more to explore.

Grub, Bishan Park

So, the double cheeseburger from Grub (510 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, tel : +65 6459 5743) comes with bacon and the single one doesn't? That's a little odd. Still I thought it was better done than I had anticipated. No junk fillers nor needless seasoning in the coarse minced patty and the meat was a nice shade of medium. New Zealand grass fed I hear. There's very decent fries that came along with that and I did enjoy their mentaiko mayo dip there. And oh yes, a very small pickle too.

I think I like this place for their cheaper drinks as well. The staff were friendly and seats outdoor were actually pleasant if not for the sweltering heat. What didn't leave a positive impression was their over oily and overcooked sakura ebi pasta and churros which doesn't even have cinnamon. 

I can see myself coming back again just for the burgers and some beers though.

Sembawang White Bee Hoon, Jalan Tampang

That's the famous Sembawang white bee hoon (You Huak Restaurant, 22 Jalan Tampang) that many people wait in line for. It's not bad, but the queue generally puts me off so I don't eat there as much as I could have. It took me a while to understand what was the appeal of the bee hoon. But throughout the past few years, I've had them a number of times, so here's a few flavour profiles that one can get from the bee hoon. 

The general taste or flavour that most of the people get is gotten when the bee hoon is freshly stir fried and served hot. That bee hoon is stir fried in some stock. I don't pretend to know what it is made of, but I hear chicken, seafood, some say lard and it's fair to say that it's tasty in its own way. What works for most people who like it is that it's light and actually gets inhaled rather easily. The flavours do not dominate. It's also to me, the weakest flavour profile. I'm not saying that it's no good. Works nicely for old folks I guess. 

Then there's the option for squeezed lime. This enlivens the the bee hoon noticeably. And there's their pretty decent belachan chilli which also adds another dimension with fermented shrimp and heat. That's the third flavour profile if you've lost count. And then there is belanchan chilli and lime. More lime is needed if one still wants the citrus to be apparent in this case. To each their own ways and all are pretty good.

The last was discovered by chance. Some people don't like hot food. So waiting for the bee hoon to cool down allows the stock to be well absorbed into the noodles. The result is a dry and sticky wetness rather than a lightly starchy gravy. This is when the bee hoon flavors develops and tastes better than if you had them "fresh from the wok". There's also that fact that if it's not hot from the wok, one can generally taste it better. This cooled down bee hoon also works with any combinations of the limes and chillis.

You Huak also serves something they call Indo styled fried chicken wings. Marinated mid wings that are very nicely deep fried. Crisp, golden brown and little residual oil. Can be addictive.

That above is their bitter gourd omelette. It has the option of being done dry or wet and that's wet. It's also one of their very good dishes. The bitter gourd is thinly sliced, not overcooked so that it still has a little crunch and importantly, only leaves a bitter after note. It's not bitter when you eat them which is why I like them.

Soi 19 (十九街) Thai Wanton Mee, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5

I had read about this place (Blk 151, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5) from Makansutra recently and ended up heading down for two consecutive days of their wanton mee. Guess I must like them. In my visits to Thailand, I've never had wanton noodles. Ever. So I've no basis for comparison to determine whether these actually taste like Thai wanton mee or not. 

One of the things I liked about them was the texture of the egg noodles which alone, in my opinion, puts the stall ahead of many if not most wanton noodles in this entire country. There was a certain flavour to their seasoning which I couldn't quite put a finger to. But then again in the second visit, I had forgone those flavours with the dried chilli flakes, fish sauce and sugar. The carrot for ordering the large bowl of noodles from the stall are slices of sweet fat laden sausages which were really good by the way. There are two types of wanton from the stall. Deep fried ones that contain onions, served with the noodles and peppery ones which come with the soup. The latter is good.

Without condiments, this tasted quite local and even looked that way.

Noi's Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles, Jalan Datoh

Here's a large bowl of ba chor mee from Noi's. I've been wanting to try this stall (588F Jalan Datoh) for a while, having noticed the crowd on numerous occasions on the way to Balestier. As I've discovered later, half of that crowd were actually having ba kut teh from the neighbouring stall. Anyways, I would have liked for the vinegar in this bowl to have more presence and the mee pok with that bit more of bite. Still, this was a fairly satisfying and above average bowl which I wouldn't mind having again if I'm nearby. There's prawns instead of the the usual pig liver. Note to self, soup is forgettable.

Gayatri, Telok Ayer Street

Note to myself : I think I may have found my other favourite butter chicken in this location (212 Telok Ayer Street, tel : +65 6225 4221). We stumbled here for a late dinner on a Sunday evening. This particular outfit is not the same as the restaurant. It's an open air shophouse unit by the junction of Telok Ayer Street and McCallum Street where food is self serviced after selection from display troughs. This spot is what most locals would call "coffeeshop".

Why did this work for me? I guess it matches Jaggi's in term of rich creaminess while the undertones of the spices were a bit more robust. Explosion of flavours if you would. What was different was that the tandoori chicken that they used here wasn't deboned. Competent sambar and rasam on the side too. 

Ginza Lion Beer Hall, Rodyk Street

So this Ginza Lion Beer Hall (#01-01/02, 8 Rodyk Street, tel : +65 6634 9113) is an outlet of the first beer hall set up in Tokyo in 1899. The group that runs this place, Sapporo Lion, is also responsible for Tonkichi and a few other restaurants. The drink to have here is Sapporo draft. There're other imported brews, but I wouldn't really consider them for the price point. There is a 700ml option that's served in a boot shaped glass.

Food here's generally Japanese and their brand of western. It's mostly the latter and looks pub grub. Their Black Angus roast beef which is apparently a recommended item was pretty good. It's frills free sliced beef crusted with black pepper and flavored with shoyu, served with grated horseradish and wasabi. Oddly, no au jus. The caprese that they have was decent if otherwise unremarkable. Don't mind coming back again for some more drinks and the other grub on menu.

That reddish drink up there is the Red Eye, Sapporo with tomato juice. Kinda like what I had back in Mimigar which is just round the corner.

Omakase Burger at Wisma Atria

I confess to being suckered into this fairly new outlet (#01-02/03/37-41, Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, 435 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6737 3218) of Omakase Burger for their exclusives. One of them being their nitrates free Applewood smoked bacon which are sourced from hormone & antibiotic free pork which they had cleverly marketed as the Rolls Royce of bacon; and more importantly beef tallow fries! How was it? The bacon cheeseburger was nice, but then we all knew that with their juicy customized blend of medium done ground beef patties already. The American cheese was rich and creamy and the bacon was crisp, adequately salted and smoky. In summary, pretty darn good. Their beef tallow fries were the real talking point today. I don't remember the last time I've had potato fried in rendered beef fat. Yes, that beef fat can be tasted on each strip of fried potato. And you know all those dripping juices that end up at the bottom of the burger wrapper? 

It's liquid steak and bacon.