Brrrreaaakkkfassst!

Yes please, more lontong from Kampong Corner.

Nantsuttei, Orchard Central

I had been wanting to visit Nantsuttei since they moved over to Orchard Central (#07-12/13 Central, 181 Orchard Rd, tel : +65 6337 7166) and had been planning to get myself reacquainted with their tonkotsu bowl to remind myself why I liked them so much previously. But as things went, I got suckered into ordering their spicy tomato miso bowl which ran for a limited 20 bowls a day.

On hindsight, it wasn't such a good decision. I didn't enjoy this as much as I hoped, leaving unsatisfied. The flavours were a muddle which resulted in.....well, nothing I had really recognized or expected. I certainly didn't get much tomato out of the broth and the measly slice of processed cheese didn't do really anything at all. The hard noodles were also softer than what I had been hoping for texture. I'm definitely going for the tonkotsu the next time and staying off miso for a while.

Some bites from this year's Ramadan bazaar

I hadn't visited the Ramadan bazaars for years. In retrospect, I didn't miss much in those years. Everything was pretty much the same as the last ones that I remember. There wasn't even much to look forward to to eat because little of the food stalls have changed. I could visit one of those roving pasar malam and pretty much find the same stuff for the most of it.  But here's a couple of items which we had.

These are deep fried Oreos. I had been expecting the cookies in the batter to be crunchy, but for some reasons, they were as soft as the batter. These are probably only good as a novelty snack.

The same stall that did the deep fried Oreos also did deep fried mac & cheese. The heart clogging street snack stalls might have made some progress beyond fried chicken parts after all.

This was unexpectedly tasty and it came with nacho cheese dips. I didn't think that I would enjoy it but I did.

More artichokes this year from Le Bistrot du Sommelier

The artichoke season is back upon us again! This year Le Bistrot du Sommelier has done up their steamed Brittany artichoke with a beef and tomato fondue, a change from the previous years where it was served with just vinaigrette. 

First up was their baby purple artichoke off the regular menu; this was not the seasonal item. The plant was stuffed with anchovy, ratatouille and a number of herbs. I think I tasted dill amongst a bunch of others. The flavour profile was surprisingly quite foreign for us and it did ring a little Middle Eastern-ish. Didn't quite enjoy this. It was way inferior in our opinion as a whole for flavours and experience compared to those seasonal Brittany ones that pop up in the middle of the year.

We got ourselves a steamed artichoke with the tomato fondue since the fondue option was new this year. It wasn't so much a fondue than a sort of Bolognese sauce. Sort of. Which was actually rather good by the way. Tangy, meaty and works with the little bits of "flesh" you scrape off the bottom of the scales.

This was their garbure, a vegetable soup of duck stock and bacon with chicken dumplings. The chicken dumplings were awesome. I'd come back here for this again easily.

I believe there was some sort of pesto involved in the garbure, but otherwise, the other main profile of the flavours were the slight smoky saltiness from the bacon. I couldn't sum it up beyond calling it an honest to goodness comforting soup. And one of the more memorable ones that we've had from recent times.

We finally made the heart of the artichoke halfway through the garbure. The best part.

And an onglet which we can never seem to get past during lunch. I don't know if this would qualify as one of the best onglet in town, but it's very competently done everytime we've had it. A nice caramelized crusty exterior encasing a warm red and juicy interior. Along the lines of what many lesser beings would described as "seared to perfection".  Lesser beings because only they understand perfection. I don't. 

A local signature

What’s in a local signature?

Let's just say that I came up with this label to tag anything that could be construed as a local flavour, uniquely so or not. This was of course ambiguous at times due to the fact that we’re essentially a migrant state with more people joining the party annually. Don’t worry, I’ll not be going into a political discourse at this stage. Back to my original topic, many of what we have taken for granted to be local came from elsewhere, exists elsewhere. The point is, it’s just a tag for something that one could attribute to this sunny island.

Like the McSpicy. I think it’s local in the sense that it probably doesn’t quite exist in any of the Golden Arches elsewhere. I kinda like it because it does have some heat. That goes for the garlic chilli sauce which is what I understand to be a local thing too. Goes great with the McSpicy.

And then durians. I know they’re available in other parts of the world and is rather well received up north as well. But it is something attributably local. Perhaps I had also meant incontestably as well. And with it breeds the familiarity with abbreviations such as d24, msw and wzw. The former two are featured in the picture above by the way.

And as a wrapper, these above were actually dinner. Of a local signature. Little where else in this world would it be a Double McSpicy washed down with durians.

Ikura don from Teppei Syokudo

I happened to be in the vicinity today. Teppei Syokudo does have a sort of presence that got my attention - and I thought to myself, why not? Yeah, their ikura don was kinda fun to eat in a briny bursty way. It's not so different from enjoying chee cheong fun without the chilli and sweet sauce. Something salty with aroma over starch. Complex in its own simplicity, not complicated. If you catch my drift.

Roast meat rice at Geylang Lor 28

A friend introduced me to this coffeeshop located at the entrance of Lorong 28. The address says 514A Geylang Road on the business card while the block number on the building states 512, so it's a little confusing. But nestled inside is a roast meat stall that was pretty good. I couldn't find a name for the stall. The duck breast was tender and moist; char siew was fatty, nicely caramelized and sweet while the rice was fluffy. Of which the latter paired well with their chicken rice chilli. It was certainly the makings of a competent roast meat stall and this plate went down in short minutes.

Update on 18/10/2015

Here's an update on their roasts. Still as good as the last round and the crackling from the roast pork were crispy.

Bai Nian (百年) Yong Tau Foo, Albert Centre Market & Food Centre

Wow, this (Albert Centre Market & Food Centre, 270 Queen St #01-58) was seriously good. And was definitely worth the time I spent in the queue. The ingredients were "pre fixe" if you would; with only the option to upsize in portions. But those toppings were of pretty good quality, different from most and tasted better than the mass produced items that are used in the run of the mill stalls. I especially liked those boiled prawn cakes. Will definitely be back. 

RedRing Treasures, Food Republic @ Wisma Atria

Remember those guys that cooked their wanton noodles by machine automation? Well, it seems that they have a stall (Stall 6, Food Republic, Wisma Atria) now at the Food Republic with an expanded menu that includes stuff like pan fried dumpling and even fried onion blossoms.

They are still cooking those egg noodles by machine. Here's a plate of them with fried pork and chicken cutlet. In retrospect, they could have had the best tasting cutlets in this branch of Food Republic if not for the existence of Udon Goen. Right now, these are simply outclassed. Hands down. Still pretty decent egg noodles in a spicy sauce that attempts to taste like the wanton noodle mixture of old though.

Ippudo, Shaw Centre

Ippudo (1 Scotts Road, #04-22/23 Shaw Centre, tel : +65 6235 2547) requires little introduction. They've been opening up a few branches of their ramen shops over the past few years. We headed down to this latest one at Shaw because I wanted to try their tan tan tonkotsu which is only available in this particular outlet.

While waiting for the ramen, we snacked. Here's a spicy potato salad topped with a fried egg. Yes the yolk was molten. The spice element tasted like some sort of curry. Probably concocted in house. Mild by local standards.

And then some garlic toast with honey dip. No surprises here. I kinda liked the crisp and airy toast.

Here's the tan tan tonkotsu. My request for the noodles was 'very hard', which I presume is their harigane. The bite from those noodles wasn't so impressive.

At first glance, the bowl reminded me a little bit of laksa. The tan tan element was a lot milder than I thought. It's more of a balanced blend between the nutty flavours and that of the original tonkotsu broth with a nice warm heat. Yes, the charshu was thin and tender. I think I prefer the basic shiromaru and if I want tan tan noodles, there's a pretty decent one nearby.

Three Little Pigs, Ngee Ann City

At the risk of sounding tacky, Three Little Pigs (391 Orchard Road, #B2-32 Ngee Ann City, tel : +65 6836 4988) have come out to play now that the Wolf's away. Truthfully, I enjoyed their food. Which happened today to be seared pork chops with their accompanied sauces (the apple beurre blanc's addictive) and a delicious sultana pesto. Even liked those asparaguses with orange mayo. Will head back again.

Gripe? Portions are a little petite for those pork chops.

Wakanui Grill Dining, Boat Quay

Wakanui Grill (70 Boat Quay, tel : +65 6438 6321) is Japanese, originating from Tokyo and specializing in meat from New Zealand; namely their brand of hormone and antibiotic free Ocean beef and Canterbury spring lamb that is raised in natural pastures leading stress free lives until the moments they're sliced up and shipped from New Zealand, dry aged locally and subsequently grilled over bintochan upon order. 

Here's their tenderloin and a full rack of spring lamb. I'd go with the lamb again easily. Tender, pink and juicy at medium doneness with little else but pepper and salt. There was just enough of that lamb flavour to be satisfying. The medium rare beef was expectedly tender and very mild in flavour. Both meats inherited the smoky aroma from that white charcoal grill.

The ghost of Wasabi Tei

The title of the post might have been a little dramatic. Long gone has been the irascible chef who has moved on and again; I haven’t a clue what’s happened to that man at present time. Left behind was a legacy in the form of his old little frills free “hole in the wall” counter seating shop at the 5th floor of Far East Plaza. Run by a current management that had in honesty, made an effort to keep things very much the same as before. Right down to the $2 per seated person "cover" charge that comes with a drink. The vintaged decor had never changed too and apparently, not much has changed with the food as well.

Otoshi still came in the recognizeable form of braised hijiki seaweed and minced chicken. The flavours do seem a little thinner though.  

Here's an oyako jyu, a cooked chicken and egg over rice bento which I've never tried before. Brimming with sweetness from the mirin and onions, that went comfortingly delicious with a splash or three of light soy sauce.

For supplement, some sliced maguro. Thick and chunky replicas of those lack of finesse knife-work that this little joint was known for.

But what's changed are the people running the restaurant. The don't look so much on the edge and are visibly more amicable. And I think I have an idea......