Chocolate and banana prata from Spize

I've passed this place (409 River Valley Road) on several occasions, but never really stopped by until today. And I realised that this location is probably really good for the post-clubbing crowd in the vicinity. The menu at Spize essentially featured commonly found local Muslim food like mee gorengs, pratas and et cetera. There is a variety of pratas on the menu which includes some of the common renditions, specialties and dessert pratas. I tried the chocolate and banana prata which turned out to be pretty much how I thought it might have been. This was actually not bad. Semi melted banana slices and chocolate sauce drizzled generously over the top of a freshly made prata. The crispy surface doesn't stay so for very long though.

One cool evening with three Hot Bitches

That's what Wild Oats (Emily Hill, 11 Upper Wilkie road) calls their hot dogs and in the face of perspective, according to a friend whom was present, "These aren't hot bitches, they are just bitches". Really, I have reasonably expected more out of the poor show from Buffy, Dizzi and Sassi. The bitches arrived barely lukewarm and the buns weren't even toasted at all. Now remove all sexual connotations to whatever you've just read. This is a food blog if you remember. The toppings are really, not much to speak of apart from the novelty of having things like creamed peas which really doesn't do much to the dog apart from aesthetic color contrast for the toppings. Peas aren't exactly the strongest tasting of things and having them on sausages with spicey beef sauce already isn't exactly going to add much of a dimension if at all to the flavor. The caramelized onions and mustard were pretty regular tasting and I thought that it would probably be easier if the regular chopped variety were used instead. I must also mention the $6.50 plate of miserable looking and overfried crickle cut fries which looks like the frozen variety that can be purchased from any supermarket. Yikes, and to think that Wild Rocket and this place are related? Who's da boss in the kitchen?

"buffy"

"dizzi"

"sassy"

.

more of my home made pizzas...

One of the random things I made at home. If you recall on the previous occasions, I don't actually make them from scratch. This time round, it's the same brand of frozen pizza with spinach topping....AND additional stuff which I thought would be good to have. I'm talking about shaven breakfast ham, sundried tomatoes, generous sprinkles of grated parmesan & mozzarella and an egg. I was actually pretty surprised that the egg was still runny when the pizza was done, having spent the same amount of time spread out on the top in the oven.

Da Paolo Il Giardino, Cluny Court

I was taken in by the location of this place (501 Bukit Timah Road,#01-05, Cluny Court) which was secluded in the back of the row of shop houses just beside Serene Centre along the junction of Bukit Timah and Adam Road. Funny thing was, there was the huge sign stood just beside the bamboo lined and stone paved walkway. Which was so obvious and I had actually overlooked it before realizing that the innocuous path had actually lead to a shaded sanctuary which was the restaurant.

The starter for lunch was the portobello al forno which were grilled portobello mushroom caps topped with mozzarella cheese, basil and rosemary on some spinach leaves and cherry tomatoes. The mushroom tasted pretty much like how it looked. Was pretty juicy. After having had the magic mushroom from the Original Sin, I found it hard to find better portobellos from anywhere else. I know it's not a very fair comparison here.



Didn't take note of the pasta names but the ingredients pretty much speak for themselves. This duck liver tagliatelle was an outstanding pasta. Well flavoured in the oils of the pan fried liver tossed in cherry tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. The liver wasn't the regular quivery foie gras but it was close and not overcooked. I didn't expect anything less than al dente there for the noodles and it didn't disappoint being firm and of sufficient bite.


This other tagliatelle was tossed in a tomato cream sauce with vodka. Couldn't actually taste any of the liquor in the sauce. I was hoping for a hint of it. That sauce though was rich and flavourful and loaded with minced crab meat. Flavour of that crab was also all over. Definitelysomething that I could return for again.


Don't pass up on tiramisu because it's just so much better than most other places. I'll be lazy here and skip the description because I've already done it previously. Suffice it is to say that the one here is good.

A return to Yoshida

I came back again for lunch because the chiraishizushi was so memorable. I think I got some fish liver today which wasn't in the box the last time I was here. The chutoro seemed to melt more smoothly. I was wondering if that was psychological for the chutoro part. Everything was as good as I remembered it. I'll be hard pressed to want to pick anything else from the lunch menu if I come back again and I'm wondering if this was a good thing or not. Lol. If I really had to find a fault here, it'll probably be the pickled ginger which I was quite willing to overlook. The sashimi moriawase (I believe there was salmon, hamachi, maguro and a juicy scallop) turned up smaller than I had expected. I didn't get to taste it but it looked as good if not as impressive as the chiraishizushi box. And not to forget, the wonderful chilled onsen tamago in yuzu infused soy sauce. Mouthwatering is god damned right!

Dinner @ Sage

It had been almost a year since I had first/last walked into Sage. This was a dinner that I've been looking forward to do for quite some time, courtesy of fatpig.

A bit has changed in the past year at Sage. There doesn't seem to be lunch anymore which I thought was a pity because what they did was good. Dinner only has a la carte where there used to be sets previously. Those aside, the food still lived up to how I remembered it. The photos here do not do justice to the actual food. The restaurant was "romantically lit" and only so much image quality can be squeezed out with 2 megapixels. Thanks Adrian, for the extra lighting.

complimentary amuse bouche

I'm not sure what this was so I can only describe it by taste. The fuschia layer at the top was tangy and reminded me of berries or tomatoes. Couldn't put my finger onto what it was. At the bottom was a pudding of sorts the colour of oatmeal. That seemed to taste like pate.

Seared King Scallops on a Salad of Homemade Squid Ink Capellini, Marinated Ocean Trout and Avruga Caviar, Braised Scallop Lips and Leek & Potato Vichyssoise

I found the seared scallop very enjoyable. The sweetness of the it was resonant. There was some salty Avruga caviar with smoky morsels of scallop "wings" at the top and squid ink capellini at the bottom. At the base was a leek and potato vichyssoise which was delicious - to the point that most of us were rummaging the bread basket for remnants to mop up all the remaining vichyssoise. The marinated trout simply tasted like salty salmon flakes.

Pan Seared Duck Foie Gras with Pistachio Crust and Fig Compote, Granny Smith Apple Puree and a dressing of Red Grape Mustard Vinegar

This foie gras was widely praised. Probably one of the best I've had so far. Those cliche descriptions of crispy skin and quivery soft insides that disintegrates in your mouth lending their rich buttery flavours...it's all true. There's more. I had particularly enjoyed the pistachio crust which provided an additional nutty fragrance. That was definitely not just window dressing. Wait - there's even more; the Granny Smith apple puree was worth mentioning because it was so smooth that it was almost creamy. It introduced a citrus balance to the duck liver which was already heart clogging good.

Caramelized Black Angus Beef Cheek topped with Melted Foie Gras Mousse and a Fricassee of Mushrooms, Compote of Butternut Squash and White Onions

I picked the beef over the fish for the main. Almost regretted it because I tried the cod. The abhorred 'melt in your mouth' description would be very appropriate there. As much as I prefer to avoid that phrase, it was true for the fish.

Back to the beef cheek. Quite what I had expected. Not so interesting. There were some saving graces led by a light hint of that caramelized bitter over the sweet and savoury cheeks which were fork tender. The beef cheek sat in the sweet jus which was made richer by the foie gras mousse. Not much to the mushrooms but I liked the butternut squash compote.

Lemon & Triple Cheese Bavarian

For dessert, I landed myself this mascarpone, ricotta, cream cheese and Meyer lemon Bavarian with peanut butter ice-cream and baked honeyed-lemon filo. I was thinking as I tasted the pudding that all three cheese were individually lost in translation. It tasted like a curdled lemon yoghurt. Pretty enjoyable with the sweet filo pastry but was overwhelmed by the creamy peanut butter ice cream which was also really good with bits of crushed nuts on the side.

This place would definitely be for re-visits.