Lawry's, Paragon

Dinner with Junie. You can obviously imagine this was about prime ribs. There's more though. Lawry's from Beverly Hills is located at the 2nd story of Paragon. The restaurant has downsized physically to about half of its previous real estate and now looks to be relegated to a corner unit. This expensive and supposedly top notch prime rib place was put under some intense scrutiny today (it's all in my head, that's all) faced with the likes of rival purveyors like Morton's and Hog's Breath.

Since this was a first time, impression counted much. The service was overrated and needed work. Yes, I am basing that on a first visit. I don't think a restaurant that charges their customers such premium can afford poor service. Anthony Bourdain once said that chefs need the iron discipline of consistency because that is what customers return for and what new people come to experience after having heard through word of mouth. I'm thinking this needs to be applied onto service as well.

Personally, I thought that the server for today was slipshod. Her speech and attitude implied rather explicitly that she was just doing her job, not doing it very well and couldn't care less. We were not being difficult. The experience from the start was rocky - marred by the wait staff that did not seem to understand when inquired about doneness of their prime ribs, incapable of coherent pronunciation of the words horseradish and au jus and the rather careless dropping of a salad fork. Geez. I'm not talking about rocket science or Olympic gymnastics here. Just asking about the meat.

These were their bread. We were totally unimpressed. It was neither warm nor tasted fresh. I had expected better out of these little things that made the meal here. We had assumed that the bread was kept between napkins to keep them warm - which was pointless since it wasn't even slightly warm in the first place. We left most of it unfinished which was not the usual modus operandi for hungry me. I'm normally quite happy to use them as an excuse to eat all the butter. I don't remember the last time I returned a bread tray with occupants.

Orders of prime rib came with their signature Famous Original Spinning Bowl Salad which was really a gimmick. Yeah, I said it. That salad tasted very ordinary. Was presented with the flair of a half hearted and mediocre circus act. What basically happened was the waitress that spun the salid in a bowl of ice while having their sauce (I thought it tasted like Thousand Island dressing) drizzled on (lettuce, shredded beets, minuscule amount of egg bits and croutons). After that, it was tossed. I'll credit them for a little originality, but I didn't think there was very much in terms of taste. The lettuce didn't look particularly fresh and I was sure that was not just a personal opinion. The most tasty item in it were probably the croutons. Now I think that's really sad.  Don't expect anything exotic or wondrous from the spinning bowl salad.

The highlight at Lawry's was of course the prime rib which comes in their "silver" carts. The meat was carved at the table side and served in various cuts. Their Lawry's cut was as they explained, the most popular. 280g. For those who scoff at such daintly portions, there's a Diamond Jim Brady cut which weighs an impressive 450g.

So there it is, the medium rare prime rib, Lawry's cut and deliciously juicy pink resting in mouth watering au jus. The meat was accompanied by Idaho mashed potatoes and Yorkshire Pudding. It was good as I was hoping for. The Yorkshire pudding did a good job soaking up the savoury au jus. Freshly made, it was crispy on the edges and soft on the inside. There was a particular taste of something that eludes me now, but ultimately was delicious soaked up.

We had the Nova Scotia Broiled Lobster Tail. Lightly charred, the meat was quite tasty although absent of any seasoning. Cooked the way they did, the natural sweetness was somehow not apparent. Also wasn't juicy. It was actually dry like over-grilled prawns. At $26 a pop, it was also an expensive 2 mouth affair. Yeah, it's that small.

We ordered a creme brûlée to share after hearing that it was was exceptional. It looked rather mundane but was actually the best creme brûlée I've ever tasted. Lawry's rendition had an amazingly light custard and was smooth and milky. The charred top was a light crisp shell. Whole thing paired very nicely with the fruits. This was so enjoyable that each spoonful was a dilemma of "fruit or no fruit this time?".

Turkey Cranberry sandwich @ PS. Cafe

Was pretty surprised (pleasantly) by the turkey cranberry sandwich from PS. Cafe. Turned out better than I had imagined. Still pricey for a sandwich in my opinion, however it was also enjoyable. Good enough that I'll think of getting it again the next time I'm here.

The fillings between the toasted bread were smoked turkey topped with grilled cheese, bacon and some cranberry jam with mayo. Good thing there wasn't too much mayo. Grilled cheese was nice touch being slightly charred. One the side were a small salad of boiled asparagus (and some other greens) drizzled over with cranberry pumpkin seed pesto, crushed almond and sunflower seeds. 

An introduction to Azhang, 6 Mohd Sultan Road

No I'm not introducing you to Azhang. Some of you probably have visited this place long before today. This refers to me being introduced to the oft mentioned restaurant. Azhang has it's roots from Joo Chiat before moving to the current location of Mohd Sultan. The owner is Patrick Zhang and his partner Ava. Having heard the name and food mentioned over numerous occasions my curiosity was piqued. During the call for reservations, I was informed (by Patrick) that we had to at least eat once from the regular menu before we could experience their customized ones. Which is essentially what dinner tonight was about. To taste the what Azhang had to offer for the first time and to qualify ourselves to their special menu items. I think the forumers at Makansutra probably have done Patrick a measure of disservice with all their talk which have set our expectations too high. I know for fact that I'm not the only person who felt that way.

Dinner was various items we picked off the limited menu of the restaurant. There were the pretty goods and there were the not so goods. When I left,  I found my self not so impressed. Sad to say it is.

Here's their famous freshly roasted corn salad which I've heard ravings about. I think it was roasted after an order is made so it's as freshly prepared as could get. Truly, it was tasty. I haven't actually had roasted corn salad before so this was an experience. The corn salad contains raw bits of garlic and onion, so it could get a little zesty. The only gripe I have with the salad is that it was mixed with coriander. Which is the bane of my eating experiences. I cannot express my dislike for that vile herb enough and I don't know what about them that enhances the the flavours of this salad. I certainly didn't like it. But that's really a personal thing. Apart from the coriander, I really enjoyed the roasted corn salad.

Initially, the ribeye here appeared rather impressive. It's a decently sized hunk of meat over pilaf, topped with onions sauteed in red wine. At least that's what it tasted like. And I thought those onions were appetising and well flavoured from wine. However, this was pretty much the highlight of the steak. The doneness of the meat wasn't consistent and for medium rare it wasn't exactly tender like we had expected. I think it's quite accurate to describe it as a tad too chewy. It was edible. Nothing more. Couldn't help thinking that this is really way below expectations and comparing the steak to the prime ribs at Hog's Breath. Yes, I am aware that they're of different cooking styles and it isn't a fair comparison.

The Azhang combo platter was visually very impressive. Visually. One can imagine the size of this platter in comparison with the rib eye off the top right corner. This was basically their surf and turf platter with lamb/beef kebab skewers and tandoori chicken. Of it, the squid scored some for having a fragrant char grill. The salmon belly is pretty tasty, oily and flavourful of the fish. The large and delicious looking prawns on sticks were unfortunately quite disappointing. It's actually a lot smaller when stripped of the shells which were stuck onto the flesh which was a tad too tough. I know I've had better. The tandoori chicken's dominant flavour was bitterness. It tasted burnt, and I couldn't really make out the spices involved. The lamb and beef skewers were drowned in the seasonings resulting in a whole lack of the natural meat flavour. For something that looked that good, I was honestly disappointed that it didn't quite go right.

What was commendable at Azhang was the very attentive service which we appreciated thoroughly. Something that was seen and felt, which was more than can be said of many other restaurants. Funny it seemed that most of the hospitality was extended through Ava and Patrick hardly said a word.

Whitley Road Big Prawn Mee, Novena

I've seldom seen prawn noodles that have enough prawns that can be considered generous. This place was one of them. But at $8 for a medium sized bowl, I didn't expect any less. Whitley Road Big Prawn Mee is located along the stretch of eateries at Novena across the road from the church.

Prawn and pork rib noodle

Prawn mee dry(regular)

Prawn mee soup (medium)

This shop does whip up some decent prawn noodles. The soup noodles comes with more diluted prawn soup as compared to the bowl of soup that accompanies the dry noodles. You also get to choose the type of noodles which you prefer. All in all, it was quite enjoyable, albeit not really filling for how much it cost. The large sized portions is priced at $10 which was quite expensive. Maybe that could be the reason why the place also sells fried bee hoon and wu xiang which helps fill'er up.

OOO : Inequality Street

I am not a partisan player in politics. Now that we have that out of the way....you know how the colloquial saying about the rich eating venison and the poor eating each other. Today in Today, the PM as quoted from the paper has said

"Do not go overboard and end up with excessive welfare" for those with lower incomes, said Mr Lee. "Do not over-extend subsidies to people who are not poor. We would only have to raise taxes from the middle-class to pay for these subsidies.

Have you gotten that through your craniums? Yes, all you middle class wage slaves out there. The PM had delegated the honourable duty of assisting the financially disadvantaged to you. The money has to come from somewhere so better you than me. So that the upper echelons do not have to be sullied with that burden. The rich get richer. The poor get help. Now the middle class eat themselves. Are you ready to cannibalise?

Bak chor mee from Fei Xiong

This was one of the memorable bak chor mee amongst myriads. Fei Xiong (Fat bear? lol) is one of those that had either franchised their brand or managed multi branched noodle stores. The quality of the food can be questionable in some outlets. This one located at the coffeeshop in 651, Jurong West Street 63 was good. No excessive chilli oil. The bowl was topped with sliced pork, minced pork, sliced liver, pork balls and mushrooms. Made a simple and delicious quick lunch.