With Relish

I'm not sure why I took so long to visit Relish (501 Bukit Timah Road, #02-01 Cluny Court, tel: +65 6763 1547). Burgers here were pretty decent if not particularly outstanding. Where überburger failed, Relish looked like it might succeed. For one, it wasn't as expensive. That and Relish's parent is a lot more active on social media.


Lightly peppered fried onion rings. Not bad. Would have scored higher with thinner batter.

wild rocket burger

spiced lamb pita burger with mint hummus

ram-lee burger

The beef patties for the burgers look similarly moulded. I recall them being juicier back in Wild Rocket. Remembered having to suck onto the ends of each bite simply to prevent the juices from the meat from dripping all over the plate. Wasn't the case here in Relish but the taste was as good as I remembered them. That thick beef patty was tender and not as dense as it might have looked.

The wild rocket burger, least intriguing one was actually pretty good. Not much flavour from the rockets though because it was mostly the fragrant Sarawak pepper cream and tart tomato relish I was tasting. Lamb pita burger was agreeable for me - liked the garlicky hummus/sauce/thingy one top of the patties. Couldn't taste any mint. Lamb burgers aren't common and this one was nice. I did feel that the one at Cellar Door was better done though. 

The ram-lee burger as many are aware is inspired from the original greasy street burgers that often make their appearances in the local pasar malams. Tasted somewhat like the original version slathered with mayo and sweet chilli sauce. There are a couple of differences from what I could tell. A thicker beef patty inside that doesn't taste suspiciously like unidentifiable meat matter (rat!) and this one was definitely less greasy. For the discerning, the omelette wrap for the patty tasted lighter as well. Did turn out much better than what I had imagined.


Was originally wondering what the deconstruction does to a cake. Sounded gimmicky but after having this cheesecake, I felt that it was more enjoyable than the regular sliced variety which I probably would have passed on. Could taste the different parts. Didn't spell synergy though. The individuals here were tastier than the sum of it.

Ham, cheese and strawberry pizza, Part 2

This was another attempt at my strawberry pizza again. I should give myself a pat across the back for making them more delicious this time round. Slowly but surely, I will perfect this. Lol. The ultimate incarnation will likely look very different from what you're seeing. If you're wondering how it tasted like, go try it.

This time round, I bought a small basket of strawberries instead of the pre-sliced ones and possibly because of these strawberries, the pizza tasted better. I used Romano cheese and mozzarella instead of parmesan and mozzarella. The results were quite similar as Romano and parmesan are both sharp salty cheeses. The sliced strawberries were first placed onto the crust and then laid over with the shaven ham pieces. The Romano bits were scattered onto the ham to fill the spaces in between. The mozzarella was added after. This shielded most of the strawberries from the direct heat of the oven and helped reduce char on the fruit while the mozzarella got the nice browning.

The next time round, I'll might just look out for bare crusts instead of using these pre-topped frozen variety.

Ah Teo's Bread and Butter Pudding

• Bread - estimated portions at your discretion.
• SCS Butter
• Organic Unrefined Sugar
• Jumbo Flame Raisins - a small handful
• HL Milk - approximately 500ml
• 2 Eggs
• Cinnamon Sugar
• Mixed Spice powder (optional)

Disclaimer: All the ingredients used in this dessert are scrounged from my house. You may use similar substitutes for each item as you see fit. If it doesn't taste good, don't look to me. You must have done something wrongly. Lol!

1. Slice bread and cut into small pieces that will fit into a cake tin. Just FYI, we used what was available at the moment at home which was mix of a rolled oat, apple and cheddar loaf from Cedele and and a fruit and nut loaf from Gardenia. Butter both sides of the bread before placing them in layers into the tin and sprinkle at your discretion with cinnamon (and mixed spice powder if desired). Add a second layer of the buttered bread and repeat process with cinnamon powder. Sprinkle the raisins over the top of the bread in the cake tin.
2. Heat 500ml of milk in a pan. Add approximate 5 large teaspoons of the sugar and stir under low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs as you continue to stir until the mix appears consistent throughout
3. Pour the milk mixture into the cake tin with the bread. Let the bread soak in the mixture for a couple of minutes before placing it into a pre-heated oven. Bake at 180 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes or until the top of the bread is nicely browned. Check that the custard is set before removing it from the baking process.

Eat while it's hot.

Eastern Chicken Rice, Whampoa Food Centre

Nice find here down at Whampoa Food Centre (Whampoa Drive Block 90, #01-88, S320090). On a random rainy afternoon, this place was almost serene at lunchtime. Reminded me more than a little of the old hawker centre down at Tanglin Halt for some reason.

Eastern Chicken Rice sells only chicken rice (roast and steamed variety) with the usual add on options for eggs, liver, gizzard and boiled greens. They go for $3.00 a plate if you add an egg. Really nice with plump strips of sliced chicken piled on their garlic-ky oiled rice. Rice may not have been the most fragrant around but was still pretty decent. Wasn't too grainy. Was also glad that the flavour of the rice had more garlic than ginger. The chilli used here is a formula of their own. Spicy with a decent kick and pairs well with their rice. Portions were more generous than Chye Kee for sure. I'm not adversed to coming back here again but the options in this food centre are overwhelming and so tempting.

11/04/2008 update

I have decided that I liked this Eastern Chicken Rice enough to come back again after a couple of days. Look at this. For $8 this was very decent portion for two persons (along with two plates of rice) with an addition of an egg and chicken liver. Note that their chicken wasn't flattened. The meat was pretty tender as well.

Chye Kee Goldhill Roast Chicken Rice & more, Novena

This roasted meat stall (Rocovo Restaurant, 151 Thomson Road, Goldhill Centre, tel: 6256 3888) located just a stone's throw away from the United Square exit at Novena Station seemed to be pretty packed during lunch. Their roast meats were pretty tasty, however the small portions do make them a little pricey. If you're wondering, Rocovo Restaurant is an old school coffee shop and not a restaurant. Just next door to it, is another coffee shop which houses another Chye Kee stall that sells soya sauce chicken.

The roast chicken and duck here were pretty tender and absent of excessive fat. The same can be said for the roasted pork which actually had crispy crackling. The meats however were thinly sliced and portions for two which amounted to $12.00 didn't quite do the job for lunch. Great chilli with lime here though which added a good zest to the greasy rice.

Cam whoring brunch at Cedele...

Rosemary foccacia with sundried tomatoes. Crispy salty bacon. Buttery light scrambled eggs. Light toasted bread with unsalted butter. Tasty sauteed mushrooms. Thick chicken sausages. Savoury pureed pumpkin soup. Double shot cappucino. Dry black forest cake. Rosemary foccacia with sundried tomatoes. Crispy salty bacon. Buttery light scrambled eggs. Light toasted bread with unsalted butter. Tasty sauteed mushrooms. Thick chicken sausages. Savoury pureed pumpkin soup. Double shot cappucino. Dry black forest cake.Rosemary foccacia with sundried tomatoes. Crispy salty bacon. Buttery light scrambled eggs. Light toasted bread with unsalted butter. Tasty sauteed mushrooms. Thick chicken sausages. Savoury pureed pumpkin soup. Double shot cappucino. Dry black forest cake.

Surprisingly for a place that is so well received, the black forest cake fell short in terms of comparison to the one I had at Brotzeit.