A beef kebab sandwich from Sultan Kebab

Just a quick one on the beef kebab sandwich ($7.50) from Sultan Kebab (1 Sophia Road, #01-15 Peace Centre, tel : 6338 8750). They're are often sold out pretty quickly and by a late lunchtime, most of that huge skewer in the vertical spit is gone. Managed to snag one today. Encased in a freshly toasted roll, this was beefy flavoured comfort food. The prices seemed to have risen by a little. I only wished that the portions were larger since I still felt like eating after that.

Jade of India, Race Course Road

Brought to us all by the same management that did the vegetarian restaurant Raj down at Syed Alwi (which I happened to have dinner at just the day before by the purest coincidence), Jade of India (172 Race Course Road, #01-01/05 Soho@Farrer, tel : 6341 7656) was the one of several "chindian" restaurants that have been making appearances in the recent years.

boondhi raita

murg gajab ka tikka

gobi manchurian

mutton naan

kashmiri naan

butter marsala paneer

prawn malai curry

saffron & pistachio kulfi

TBC

Samar, Bali Lane

I had tried looking up this place sometime late last year when I visited Alaturka and saw that the older premise at Kandahar Street had closed. Stuck upon the doors, was a crude paper sign which read that they have moved to somewhere in the east side. So I was actually taking a stroll down to Cafe Le Caire and was surprised to come across the current location for Samar (17 Bali Lane, tel : 6398 0530). We decided to give these guys a try instead and pend Cafe Le Caire for another time.


I don't know how long has the establishment been located at the current premise in Bali Lane, but the feeling I got was that they hadn't been here for too long. They seemed to be out of several of the items on the menu and the place was quiet. Which made it a sanctum to escape the bustle of being at the outskirts of the city. In fact, in the second storey of the restaurant was a rug strewn area with low coffee tables that one had to enter without footwear. With a couple of shishar smoking customers around and the covered up windows, it looked like some sort of a Middle Eastern opium den. The place had such a getaway feel that we lingered around for more than a couple of hours, rooted to the peacefully atmospheric......albeit slightly musty smelling sanctuary.


The food in this place revolved around the usual styled grilled meats, Arabic flat breads, dips and various caffeine and milk based beverages. They were out of saffron and couscous for today which was a bummer. So we ended up getting a serving of the hummus and a grilled meat platter which I had originally thought to be a large serving meant for two. It turned out that it was probably just good for one hungry person. The hummus had more lemon juice than most but was otherwise quite the norm. It came with freshly made bread which were pretty good. What we liked was the lamb from the meat platter which was tender that when we tried to pick a rib up, the meat promptly slid off the bone. There was also a small potato which seemed to be infused with spices before it got baked resulting in a dull shade of orange-y brown rather than the usual yellow. I'll could come back for the lamb someday.

I was quite taken in with their honey milk drinks. Since they were out of saffron, we grabbed the almond and rose flavoured ones. The former was honey and milk blended with almond. It was a sweet milk which was lightly accented with almond flavour and many sediments at the bottom of the drink. I don't know how these guys did their rose milk, but it didn't look or taste much like bandung. The milk was actually snow white and the rose flavour was much more aromatic.

Service was slow but very polite. These people apparently take their time to prepare the food, but it did feel worthwhile assuming you were in not hurry to eat and leave.

Char shio, shio ba, arh heng peng

I came across Tuck Kee Roasted Meat (#08-17, Golden Mile Food Centre, 4679 Beach Road) stall by chance when I was in the vicinity. This combination of meats is a particular favourite. So there's the roast duck, char siew and roast pork. I'll go with it's not bad. I'd come back again. What I thought distinguished them was the plum flavoured sauce which was more appetizing compared regular brown ones. The char siew was tender and a bit sweeter than I'm used to. No excessive fat under the skin of the roasted duck breast for this one.

Of shrimps and durian

I was looking at the options for a very late breakfast and made an interesting find of a durian chee cheong fan (rice rolls) down at Beach Road in the Golden Mile Food Centre (#01-86). I've read about them sometime back in the past before and it was some store that was mentioned down in Geylang. The chee cheong fans from the store are all made as you order them, so there aren't any pre-fabricated ones lying dry in some heating mediums waiting to be bought. I thought this durian rendition was pretty good with a rather generous filling of durian puree. It wasn't the most fragrant of durian flesh that I've had, but it was decent. It would have been great if the ground peanuts had been more fragrant rather then tasting flat and lacking of any toasted aroma. On the other hand, the shrimp fillings of the second one which I've gotten weren't anything special at all.

Portuguese Egg Tarts from Lisboa Bakery

This was a place that I probably wouldn't have visited if not for a fact that a co-worker lives nearby. Lisboa (Blk 642 Bukit Batok Central, #01-150, tel: 6563 5423) is a bakery selling Portuguese-styled confectionery so naturally, egg tarts come to mind.

PET aka Portuguese Egg Tarts

I was given a box of these by said co-worker during tea break one day. The crusts look weak, dry and maybe a bit unappealing while the surface of the egg custard didn't not look as charred. Although their looks were not appealing, I decided to give them a try because the strong egg aroma coming from the tarts weakened my willpower to refuse them.

Did not regret as they tasted quite good. The crusts were not too oily and were crispy at some parts. The egg custard were soft and fragrant, making me want to pop another tart in my mouth after I finished the first. I was hoping that the surface was more charred and the tarts were warm. This was my afternoon salvation nonetheless.

Egg tarts anyone?