Still Zam-ing along nicely after all these years

These guys...reliable as always. Forget the deer and shoot straight for the mutton.

Brunching at Bochinche

The last time I was at Bochinche (115 Amoy Street, #01-02, tel : +65 6235 4990), they were located at Martin Road. It looked noticeably more spacious, had a larger bar/counter seating and was more well lit than the current shop. Now I'm not sure why did I even bother to mention those things.

We had a spinach and goat cheese empanada. I wonder if these pastries are to Argentina as roti prata is to Singapore. While I haven't had much of them before, this particular one looked suspiciously like a French pastry than the puff that I was expecting. It tasted okay, not so tasty that I'll be coming back again for them.

The other thing I couldn't figure out was their grilled watermelon salad. It was supposed to be grilled and for some illogical reasons, I was thinking that they could've had char markings on them. I did just mention that it was illogical - but these weren't even warm. In fact, they were a little chilled. The mint granita was a nice touch while the burrata cream could have definitely done better than those decorative portions. This felt like style over substance.  

Brioche french toast with ham and bacon ice cream. The last part got me sold. Did taste like bacon but I couldn't really tell if the flavour come from just the bits or also the ice cream as well.

I liked their Provoleta best. Hearty, solid and sufficiently voluminous with their grilled bread. I just wished that the bread didn't have such a hard crust.

Kaiserhaus, Capitol Piazza

From what I could gather from their website, Kaiserhaus (#02-06/#03-06, Capitol Piazza, tel : +65 6377 0013) offers a culinary representation from the former Habsburg Empire - a big assed dominion that spanned nations in Europe which had its capital in both Vienna and Prague. Nations including the one Dracula came from.

While on the surface the restaurant claimed that culinary representation, it probably was just a very small fraction of that representation. From my limited perspective, there were Slavic/German/Austrian influences. Couldn't see any from the Italian counterparts that used to be part of the said empire.

But hey...  

That's the salon beuschel, an old styled Viennese ragout made with veal hearts and lungs. This was awesome. We could smell the offal from the first scoop and it came in generous portions of small manageable shreds with its meaty aroma. This stuff was served with bread dumpling. I could come back just for this alone.

We had their tafelspitzsulze - beef aspic. While this wasn't too bad, it had been outshone by the salon beuschel.

 The aspic came with bread on the side.

There were some fried mushrooms as well, courtesy of their happy hour beers.

This was the first time we've had veal schnitzel. This one looked cute. It had a wrinkly fried skin that reminded us of shar pei. Since it was veal, there wasn't much on the flavour from the meat. But wait - a squeeze of lemon on the side and a smear of their cranberry ragout, it was all good. Remember to ask for extra cranberry ragout.

The schnitzel was served with their vinegared potato salad. Simple and tasty.

From their Game Weeks menu, we had venison steak. Gamey tender loin served at medium doneness which for me didn't need the accompanying sauce. The bacon wrapped around it had already provided a nice smoky flavour. I shouldn't forget to mention that those red cabbage on the side were nice too. Are those rotkohl? And chestnuts - this plate tasted like Christmas.

We ended with an apple strudel. I had initially thought that this didn't need the vanilla sauce but ended up using most of it because those apples turned out to be quite sour.

Wolf Burgers, PasarBella @ Suntec

I've been wanting to try Wolf Burgers at PasarBella (#01-455 Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard) for a while after hearing some good things about them. You know what? This wasn't bad at all. There's a little bit of heft in the double pattied Alpha and those no-nonsense cheese blanketed patties were pretty good. Their brioche held up even though it wasn't remarkable and the bacon were really crispy. In the end and in spite of appearances, the burger didn't sink like leadened grease in the stomach. 

I'll would consider coming back if I'm in the vicinity. Will probably pass on the onions the next time round - I thought they weren't necessary.

Sari Ratu, Lucky Plaza

Came across the mention of this nasi padang shop (#02-107 Lucky Plaza, 304 Orchard Rd, tel : +65 6294 9983) and boy were we glad to have stopped by for dinner.

One of the dishes that Sari Ratu is known for is the gulai tunjang - curried beef tendon. Awesome savoury curry with a mild heat paired with generous portions of soft tendon.

Tendons so tender that one wouldn't really need teeth to eat them.

There's paru balado to be had here too. Their balado was actually pretty damn good. The lungs were somewhat inconsistent though. Some were tough, bordering on inedibly chewy while other pieces were really tender.

That's the telur gulai, curried hard boiled eggs. The curry, was awesome. Made us eat a lot of rice.

Didn't really think much of their beef rendang. I'm sure these are something they ought to be good at being Indonesian food and all and we were hoping that they would turn out tender like great slow cooked dishes; but the dry stringy textures of the meat didn't quite work out for us. Personally, I got through by drenching them in the curry from the telur gulai.

We washed down the dinner with jus belimbing. Star fruit juice. 

This was a little spot with awesome food in town. Gotta come back another time.

Tsukemen from Ramen Keisuke Tori King

Keisuke's Tori King has recently introduced some new bowls of ramen to their menu, a first since the time they have set up shop. This was the tsukemen with their bonito and yuzu spiked dipping broth.

The toppings for noodles were quite new to me since the last time. Only the chicken thigh and the ajitama were familiar. There were some garlicky menma, some chicken balls with bits of yuzu which I had never seen before and even some tender chicken charshu which tasted like it might had been marinated in some alcohol. Like Shaoxing chicken.

I would have liked for their dipping broth to be served much hotter. This was just lukewarm and turned cool pretty fast forcing you to finish the noodles quickly before it all turned cold. I also noticed that there's some ultra rich tan tan men and mazesoba under their new offerings too. Could be that I'll be heading back soon.

Savour Christmas 2016

The last annual event for Savour happened just this year about six months back and before we knew it, Savour Chrismas 2016 is already here. So here's some thoughts on the food they were hawking for this event.

Baller Breakfast (Artichoke)

1 Pide O’ Fish, 3pc Nugget Royale, 1 Crab BLT 

Artichoke's Baller Breakfast consisted of Nugget Royale - which are nuggets of breaded and deep fried duck with their toum garlic whip, Pide O' Fish - which is pide with burnt cabbage tartar, pink peppercorn and smoked swordfish and the crab BLT - spiced bacon chop with crab & lettuce tzatziki, tomato and breakfast muffin. All pretty good. Things that I'd eat again.

Smokin’ Daddy (Three Buns)

Aged 100g UK Hereford Beef Patty, Dingley Dell Black Beer & Treacle Streaky Bacon, bbq Sauce, Ketchup, Smokey Mayo, Bread & Butter Pickles, Cheddar Cheese, Bawang Goreng, in a Toasted Wagyu Fat Brioche Bun

The description of Smokin' Daddy was pretty tempting so that's what reeled me in. On hindsight, I still couldn't fathom why that beef patty which was griddled well done and subsequently overwhelmed by what they were trying to stuff between the buns. While I could taste some of the items and liked them, the meat could have done better without the bbq sauce, ketchup and possibly mayo. That aside, it wasn't too bad; just not the burger for the purists or even me under normal circumstances.

Grilled Tiger Prawn (Stellar at 1-Altitude)

Risoni, Pancetta, Bone Marrow, Foie Gras

The grilled prawn was delicious. The parts for the risoni where the head fat from the prawn had leaked onto was amazing too. While I liked the risoni, this was definitely a case of too much of a good thing. I mean, bone marrow and foie gras. I liked it, but I couldn't taste them individually so I'm not sure if it was so smart.

Half Roasted French Quail (Saveur Art) 

Pearl Barley & Forest Mushrooms Risotto,

Pickled Shimeiji, Japanese Buckwheat, Shallots 

Saveur Art has always done well in my opinion so this quail was just the slightest let down because it was just - well, roasted quail. Here was me hoping for a little more pink and juiciness. The barley and mushroom risotto on the other hand was really flavoursome. Awesome with the pickled shimeiji and onions.

Ravioli Stuffed with Saffron Risotto and Ossobuco Ragu (Buona Terra)
Homemade Ravioli Stuffed with Saffron Risotto and Bone Marrow Topped with Ossobuco Ragu and Gremolata (Chopped Parsley, Lemon Zest and Garlic)

This was not bad though I could imagine how it tasted like before actually tasting it.

Some Asahi Kuronama to help beat the sweltering heat.

Donut Softie (Bird Bird)
Sugared Donut, Egg Nog Soft Serve, Chicken Floss

The one thing that really got us mmm-ing was Bird Bird's donut softie. The sweet light cinnamon from the egg nog soft serve was a new level of good with the salty chicken floss. While I wouldn't say that the combination was weird or exotic or unimaginable, the pairing turned out much more pleasing that we had expected. So the vote went to Bird Bird.

And look what we found in the Christmas market? The most insincere goodbye gift in the world larger than ever.

Pork rib mee sua from Old Street Bak Kut Teh

Wow, this bowl from Old Street Bak Kut Teh was pretty good. Those slurpy smooth noodles had soaked up the garlicky peppery broth and this was just the thing to have in the recent cool evenings. Yes, that and those tender fall off the bone meat from the rib.

Sawadee Thai Cuisine, Tan Quee Lan Street

Sawadee Thai Cuisine (9 Tan Quee Lan Street, tel : +65 6238 6833) is slightly upmarket restaurant, not the street food kind of place for Thai food. The food is not unfamiliar, just a little more refined and for certain dishes, are elevated by more expensive ingredients. Kinda like Gin Khao. 

I gathered that they've been around for quite a while but they're obviously one of those places that has evaded my attention all these while. Apparently, they've been listed in the top 5 Thai restaurants here for a few years.

We had panaeng roasted duck curry. Panaeng curry is a type of red, rich curry that's a little sweet and salty and nutty. Something that is an excellent accompaniment to steamed white rice. Sawadee's version has shreds of roasted duck (with skin!), lychee (amazingly good in the curry) and pineapple (not the canned variety!). Recalling back, the first time I've had these was back in Baan Khanita. That one had baby eggplants and grapes.

In recent years, I've discovered in myself a little fandom for Thai salads. Namely the variety more commonly seen like som tam (papaya), yum som o (pomelo) and som tam mamuang (green mango). That's the yum som o. This particular rendition doesn't have toasted coconut but seemed to have a flavour that tasted like honey. Oddly couldn't taste the fish sauce too. The pomelo that they used also did not have so much citrus that I would have preferred.

But I still kinda liked it.

Those crab spring rolls por pea poo were supposed to be appetizers that arrived at the post appetizer stage of the meal. They were pretty good. The fried skin was really fragrant, not simply flat and greasy like many other fried spring rolls.

Stir fried bean sprouts with fish maw and eggs. Three ingredients that I like. Amongst many. Putting them together just made sense for us to order it.

We had their grilled Kurobuta pork collar - known as khor moo Kurobuta yang on the menu. This came from the appetizer section of the menu and arrived last. While it was pretty tasty, I thought that it would have benefitted from a little more char and I couldn't help but feel that the use of Kurobuta wasn't necessary in making the dish better. We've had equally good ones that was done with regular pork.

Dessert was steamed tapioca with coconut milk. These sweetened tapioca were steamed on order and tasted good. None of those old fibrous root in there.

Hajjah Mariam Cafe, Westgate

We came across this shop at Westgate (#B2-08 Westgate Shopping Mall, 3 Gateway Drive) selling nasi ambeng. It's steamed white rice topped with Javanese/Indonesian/Malay dishes which were sauce/curry rich and came in communal dining portions for sharing.

The shop was packed pretty much to the brim and it looked like it was worth a try. The food turned out to be pretty good. Both the curries and the sambal belachan added up, sending beads of perspiration down my scalp. Their sotong hitam was rich and delicious. The only thing I thought wasn't well done was the beef rendang. The gravy hadn't much of a presence and the meat was dry and a little tough.

Super Loco, Robertson Quay

Decided to check out Super Loco (#01-13 The Quayside, 60 Robertson Quay, tel : +65 6235 8900) which is opened by The Loco Group, the folks behind Lucha Loco. The only margarita included in their happy hour are the frozen ones. I had initially thought that it was not a wise move on their part. But the easy drinking icy slush was soft and after a while, it became like one on no rocks still nicely chilled.

Lucha Loca was the first time I've had elotes. These ones here were also pretty good. Juicy corn coated with creamy saltiness of the cotija cheese and was that ancho?

Those huitlacoche quesadillas were pretty good munching with the nutty mushrooms and cheese. 

This was the pulled lamb quesadilla with onions, dill, mint and parsley. The flavour combinations from the herbs were great.

We had previously thought that El Mero Mero had expensive tacos. Super Loco had tacos that costed even more. These ones with ox tongue and cheek and ghost chilli mayo were $12 a piece. But I had to admit this was pretty damn good and I liked that ghost chilli mayo.