Can you smell Molecular Gastronomy?

If not, you can read about it.

Sun With Moon, Clark Quay Central

This reminded me of the first time I visited a couple of years back at their branch in Wheelock Place. Before this blog was born. The impression from that first visit seemed quite different from today. But we know memory can be a fickle mistress. Since then, the menu appeared to have changed a little with new items.

salmon & yellowtail sashimi

Their sashimi was quite ordinary. One can see that the kitchen here obviously do not put in enough skill points into their knife mastery as does a certain Kaiser Phua from the lack of clean-ness on the edges of the cuts. The presentation was fanciful for a few pieces of meat and style is over substance here.

dragon roll

Am not normally big on makis as I generally bit occasionally I do feel like them. This dragon roll  sounded a bit more promising than the usual because avocado and cheese. I was right about it and this was pretty good with cream cheese at the centre. The other filling on the inside was unagi - ordinary was the word.

rainbow roll

The rainbow roll contained crab fillings at the centre. I was thinking of chunks of crab meat but what they put in were finely minced crab meat in mayo. Kinda disappointing there. The ebiko at the top was more interesting than the crab mayo.

uni sushi

Do not order this here. It's not good at all and it actually costed more than Akashi. That is all I have to say of the uni.

foie gras sushi

Their foie gras was broiled. It didn't come with the crispy or toasty surface. Not impressive. This one so not creamy.

ebi & hotate yaki (prawn & scallop)

This prawn and scallop dish was pretty good. The scallops had char fragrance from the pan fry which made them tasty. Prawns were crunchy. My only complain was that the portions were small.

ton toro yaki

I think I had these pork cheeks the first time I was at the other branch. They were grilled with black pepper. Tasted like bacon minus the fat. Salty, slightly chewy and a bit dry. Again, portions aren't generous.

kani tamago toji

gyu foie gras grill

This gyu foie gras grill was foie gras on top of some grilled beef. Did not expected the entire thing to be drenched in a sweet teriyaki sauce which drowned out all the flavour of the beef. There's eggplant blanketed foie gras sitting on apple slices. Foie gras also did not have crispy surface. Will never order again.

tofu cheese cake

The tofu cheesecake seemed popular here. Thought it's pretty good. The texture felt more tofu than cheesecake but wasn't as soft as real tofu. Flavour's light yet had enough of the cheesecake taste. Wasn't heavy or overwhelmingly sweet.

murasaki imo mont-blanc (purple sweet potato cake)

This was a pleasant surprise. Most of the sweet potato flavour came from the purple yarn surface which housed whipped cream and a few chestnuts (that's the yellowish ball at the top too!) inside. This dessert was not excessively sweet. Quite good stuff.

mineoka ninjin creme brulee (carrot creme brulee)

Carrot creme brulees - not run of the mill creme brulee for sure. Which was why I just had to try it. The carrot flavours were mild but noticeable the same. I thought the caramel top could have been more charred.

tomato ame

Another interesting dessert were the spicy candy glazed tomatoes. These tomatoes were coated with a sugar glaze that was both sweet and mildly spicy. The fruit itself was actually fresh and the tomato bursted with juices when bitten into.

Crystal Jade Dining In, VivoCity

I thought this place was a good showcases of contemporary Chinese (Cantonese) food. The food here can be a little pricey, dependent on what you order. The dishes which will inflate the bill are the regular treasures from the sea like shark's fin, lobsters and for this place, geoduck clam as well. The experience was bolstered by very prompt and efficient service staff. The kind of Chinese restaurant I like. Would like to be back again to pursue their extensive menu. Now I wonder why is this one labelled "Dining In"...

 

deep fried fish fillet on crispy toast

sweet corn soup with minced fish and tomato

scallop and grapefruit salad

braised seasonal vegetable with crab roe

braised vermicelli with conpoy, dried shrimp & XO chilli sauce

double boiled hashima in fresh coconut

japanese glutinous rice dumping with fruit and cream

Sette formaggi pizza

Here's a simple cheating 4 step method of doing a cheesy pizza. Since I don't normally cook and it's a first time trying, there's really no need to get so authentic about the preparation. I'm quite sure I will fail at making the dough for the base anyway so to save on the time, most of the ingredients are already purchased for use. Since the four cheese varieties are rather common, I thought to take things up to another level. 7 cheeses. Firstly, get yourself one of those frozen pizzas from the supermarket that comes in quattro formaggi. I would recommend Dr. Oetker which is easily available at Cold Storage or Carrefour. They don't have a thick crust.

So there you go, the magnificent 7 of mozzarella, emmental, edam, blue, cheddar, feta and parmesan with the last 3 being the additional ones which I've heaped on top of the original frozen pizza. And it rocks. I thought it was much better than the triple cheese from the Pizza Place. If I ever get to do this again, I'll probably top it up with an egg.

Bontá Italian Restaurant & Bar, UE Square

This place felt like Garibaldi. Even the style of the decor relayed the same clean looks and the dining experience bore a close semblance. Speaking of which, I will digress and mention that the new French place by the Garibaldi group at Purvis Street, Gunther's, seems to have opened. The digression ends here.

 

The food at Bontá (#01-61, UE Square) was expectedly tame in the sense that nothing is really very different from the usual. The menu items looked the same after a while (angelhair pasta with lobster anyone?) but I'm don't know if consistency of templated menu is a good thing. It tends to get boring. But this is an early claim to things, since this is the first time I've visited. If the restaurant perseveres, changes are bound to roll in. I think. The most impressive dinner item was actually the bread. Impressive as it kinda wowed me. And no, dinner was not that bad. It was okay actually. One has to factor the law of diminishing returns in the due course of progress. The bread was so good, I asked for seconds which almost did me in after the starters of the Ocean Trout Crab Meat Rolls. But it was very good bread. Worthy of space in my stomach. The bread arrived hot in a cup much like a cupcake with a ceramic base. Beneath the crust was buried bits of walnuts and in the middle, feta cheese. It was seriously good stuff. With or without the olive oil and tapenade.

the bread

The starter of Ocean Trout Crab Meat Rolls wasn't really mention worthy. The trout rolls with the smooth and creamy crab meat felt contemporary Japanese. Beside a tiny handful of avocados, cherry tomatoes and an unidentifiable blood orange sauce there wasn't much to this dish. Didn't think much of it in the department of flavour.

the starter

the pasta

The homemade goose liver ravioli was heart stopping. It was full of cheese. Parmesan cheese sauce and scarmoza cheese melted over the top. The other heart clogging ingredient was of course the goose liver that spilt oil as I cut into the ravioli. As a whole, pretty enjoyable. I'm quite glad it didn't come in larger portions. 

For first visits, Bontá didn't feel impressive. It's not mediocre. Also not satisfying. The feeling I'm getting was neither here nor there.

Essential Brew, Holland Village

Essential Brew (269 Holland Ave, Holland Village) has been around for some years. Their food are fusion of sorts because they're paired with tea and flowers. I didn't think all of it were a success in the department of flavours. That being said, the food here wasn't bad. In fact, I wouldn't mind eating here again if I had to.

Some of the dishes were pretty good. Or maybe, I came here expecting little. Judging by how long this establishment has been around, I also think that this place is probably one of the early adopters of such tea and flower food fusion places. The only other place that I know of was actually Helio Cafe.

grilled tofu steak ($4.75)

nutmeg marinade prawns ($7.50)

The grilled tofu steak which I was told was good was actually good. It was was tau kwa with sliced mushrooms wedged inside. Tasted light and clean and a little salty which I enjoyed. Compared with the elaborate tau kwa tower from Buko Nero, this was less pretentious and represented better value for money in my not so humble opinion.

The nutmeg marinade prawns on the other hand didn't do as well. The prawns were decent if not outstanding. What didn't work for me were the overwhelming lemongrass and ginger in the sauce which totally overwhelmed any flavour from the nutmeg. Bad fusion. Confusion.

earl grey ribeye ($18.95)

honey mustard chicken ($14.95)

Earl Grey and steak isn't....two words that come together usually. Piqued my curiosity so I ordered it. The ribeye was quite decent. I opted for the medium doneness and it did turned out to be a very good medium. Was a little larger than what I expected. The accompanying sauce was an Earl Grey and red wine concoction. Neither of which came through sufficiently. The red wine flavour was thin. Even if it were to be robust, it would totally drown out the subtle tea flavour. I had only managed to detect very a faint taste of the Earl Grey after I was more than halfway done with the steak.

The honey mustard chicken too didn't quite live up in flavour to its name. The mustard flavour was a tad too light. It was however a nice honey chicken chop. The ball on the side was actually jasmine rice which had quite a strong flavour from the jasmine.