Dinner @ Yishun 81

I'm back here again, having dinner with Mike.

It hadn't been too long back since I last ate at the Pontian wanton mee stall. This time we got the $3 portions of noodles which was noticeable larger than the $2.50 ones. It also came with more of that spicy tomato/chilli sauce. Visibly more messy from my last visit. Lol. The fried wantons tasted as nice as I remember them. Tasted much better than their looks suggested. Don't go expecting large ones filled with chunks of succulent prawn or pork because they're small and are simply not those kinds. Also, in the last visit, I didn't get the mayo and chilli on the sides, so I guess business is evolving. The other kuey chap dishes came from another store in the same coffee shop, not the wanton mee store.

The Coffee Club, Hotel Rendezvous

Lunch with Gweezer. I came here today because I remembered having their garlic prawn pasta before and that it was quite tasty and inexpensive. It seems that memory has again betrayed me as it appeared different from what I had remembered. It's a glaring reminder of Mr Bean where the differences could have been attributed to the fact that I haven't eaten there for years. Has my taste changed so much or was it a differently done thing?

From what I hear, the garlic prawn pasta was a talked about dish. There have been more than a few people who have been asking me if I've had it and I've always given them the same affirmative reply saying that I liked it. It's time to re-program my automated reply to that. 

 Lunch began with an interesting mushroom, pesto & parmesan frittata.

The frittata was pretty good. Was soft, almost akin to densely layered steamed egg with portpbello mushrooms buried inside. The egg was generously drizzled in olive oil and some pesto. The overall taste was light in flavour and portions were pretty generous.

    

The garlic prawn pasta definitely didn't look like what I remembered, so I'm wondering if I remembered it wrong. This looked and tasted like it had been pan fried on a wok. It's also spicier than I recall. From the picture you can see that the spaghetti is really cut up. It's much better than what Mr Bean offers, however there's too much of a reminder of each other. The slick oily aftertaste didn't sit that well. So, I guess it'll be the last time I'm eating this.

Dessert Tapas @ Bakerzin, Paragon

Found it strange that tapas are being used to describe their assorted desserts. This word seems to be put in rampant abuse lately. The original usage for small bites has mutated evolved much. But that's what Bakerzin did and what they had was basically an option for multiple types of some of their desserts/ice-cream available in a single order item. A five item tapas dessert order sets one back $15.90. I generally don't think well of places that charge for water (yes here at Bakerzin if you haven't caught on), but sometimes I just have to make exceptions.

Warong M. Nasir, Killiney Road

I read about this nasi padang place and their beef rendang before and since we were in the vicinity today, Junie and I decided to check the place out. The eatery was quite easy to locate along the row of shop house at Killiney Road where the Killiney kaya toast place is located. The food here was pretty decent. Nothing was particularly exceptional though. I don't mind eating here but I don't think I'll specially come here to it unless I happen to be in the vicinity.

beef rendang

ayam bakar

sayur lodeh

gulai daun singkong

curry from yoghurt chicken

rice

I didn't think there was anything special about the beef rendang. The meat was a little too tough. The tapioca leaves were seriously in need of some kind of quality control. Some of the leaves tasted almost raw.

Pasta Brava, Craig Road

Dinner with Bird. There's quite a bit of pasta options in the menu of this restaurant. Enough to have me spoilt for choice while deciding what to order for dinner. Pasta Brava at Craig Road is located a few minutes of walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. From there, one can head towards Duxton Hill and Craig Road is just off the main road at Duxton within the vicinity.

Bread came cold. Vinegar wasn't available until requested for. So apart from the food, homely pleasant decor and very prompt removal of finished plates, there wasn't very much else to expect from first impressions. The wait staff need to appear more inconspicuous instead of hovering around like vultures ready to swoop. We got everything to share from the menu which covers just an antipasti, two pastas and a dessert.

Underneath the 2 slices of ham of the Proscuitto Con Melone, are the melons. 2 slices. I was expecting the ham to be rolled around the fruit. On the overall, I found it to be a combination of a rather pleasant sweet and savory appetizer.

This Risotto Nero Alla Sinfonia Dei Nostri Mari has got to be one of the better risotto I've ever had. If anyone knows of really good ones, feel free to drop me a note. Especially if there's squid ink involved. This one is done with squid ink, white wine and seafood.


It seems that quite a number of people that I know have had concerns about having squid ink pastas. It looks either unappetizing or it's a worry for having black teeth. I have no such concerns. Lol. I was quite impressed by the aroma from the rice. It's probably the stock and the squid ink. The risotto actually came with decent portions of scallops, prawns and little squid rings. Not apparent at first sight though. What I had in mind with the seafood description of the menu painted quite a different picture.


Sitting on a paper boat, the Tagliolini con Aragosta didn't appear to be impressive. In very regular tasting tomato sauce and lobster flesh that's a little tougher than I was expecting, I didn't find anything compelling about the pasta. But for $27, it was probably one of the more affordable lobster pastas around. I know what I'll avoid the next time I'm here though. Which brings me to the dessert.

I remember mentioning that tiramisus for me are generally a shot in the dark. I decided on this here because it's Italian and usually with them, they are not too bad. It appeared okay I guess. I was not really sure what my beef with this, but I didn't really enjoy the tiramisu here as much as I thought I would. There's something about it that set it apart from most others and I couldn't quite identify what about it which I didn't take to.

Holland V X.O. Fish Bee Hoon

We braved the rain tonight from Buona Vista MRT. Of all the after office hours in the past week, it just had to rain tonight when we planned to have dinner out instead of working overtime. Don't really remember the name of the coffee shop but it's known as that X.O. fish bee hoon place at Holland Village. Tonight was exceptionally crowded because of the downpour and it took a long while to find seats. But I suppose you can say that it was worth the trouble. For their sum lou hor fun which we thought was rather good. 

Don't know how many places that sells X.O. fish bee hoon are around but this isn't the only one. Or for that matter, also don't really care if this stall uses milk in the soup or it's simply fish bones that make the soup milky. Not really concerned here since I like the milky flavour and as long as it tastes good, doesn't matter so much to me. 

Anyways, this stall is known for the X.O. infused soup which adds depth to the flavour. Probably just a dash of the liquor though. I don't know if I imagined it or if it really did its job of warming me up. Especially after that rain. 

Here's the hor fun dish. Looked mostly white but it's far from being bland. Thought there was a good portioning of the three main ingredients. Sauce was deliciously savour. I liked how the bean sprouts kept their crunchiness which added texture to the sliced fish and rice noodles. We also ordered a portion of the prawn paste chicken which is also for some reasons, always available in these fish bee hoon/sum lou hor fun stalls.

If I had to be honest, the prawn paste chicken was just okay. Generally not so big on fried chicken and if I have to eat them, I try not to think about all the grease I'm ingesting. The prawn paste they used lacked punch although the chicken was crispy and not too heavy with the batter. Will give this a pass the next time. 

All things considered, it was still worth the effort getting slightly drenched for this dinner. The damage, inclusive of a teh-C and a kopi came up to $21.50 for two. Wasn't too hard on the pockets. In fact, what we had probably would have fed one more person if not for us being such pigs.