Spanish Fair @ Isetan

This must be the first time a fair like this have appeared at Isetan since it's been mostly Japanese and Korean ones that have made their presence felt in this corner of the departmental store. Truth be told, after numerous visits, it has started to become a little boring with the usual stuff in circulation that eventually felt like recycled events. Let's hope that this marks the beginning of more of such small food fairs from other places than the usual suspects. This Spanish one (9th - 18th Sept), although tiny was probably a good start.


What attracted me were probably the Spanish hams which were the counterparts to the prosciutto di Parma of the Italians. I managed to sample some together with a couple of variety of chorizos. I couldn't tell if the jamon were really any sweeter but I could taste that there was more depth in the aroma. If these were the lower grades of the major artisanal jamon, I would imagine the jamon iberico could be exceptional. Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to try them and they don't seem to be available in this fair.

There was a also a variety of cheeses, largely from sheep and inclusive of a blue variety (Valdeón) to be had along with an an assortment of wines, preserved produce, date cakes and pastas. I didn't manage to get them all on photo. Today also marks the first day of their ham slicing demonstration which ends in 3 more days.


Now it wouldn't do at all to just view and just simply walk away without getting anything especially when it's something that new. So here's a borcadillo (baguette) with that jamon serrano and some freshly fried churros with chocolate dip. It was a nice sandwich on heated bread with butter and their Tomaca sauce and all, but there's really nothing majorly exciting. I would presume that such a ham would be better savored on its own. Fresh churros were also nice since we don't get them outside of restaurants. It seems that Alegra, a Spanish restaurant down at Clarke Quay are part of the team that's doing this little fair.

Edit 10.33pm
I've been informed that these fairs do rotate quite a bit, so I've probably never had the chance to see them happen.

Fried kaki curry rice from Romantic Kobe

After having these fried oysters with rice for a couple of times already down at Romantic Kobe (177 River Valley Road, #B1-50 Liang Court Shopping Centre, tel: 6333 0630), I'm glad to verdict-fy (premature as that might be) that it's good and it looked that they could be keeping some consistent standards here. At least I hope that to be the case. This place was certainly leagues ahead of that defunct outlet at United Square. The main draw for the kaki fried curry were the oysters rather than the curry which was atypical of the usual Japanese types. While it made the rice much more appetising, it also tasted similar to most of the others. The oysters were however fat, succulent and tasted fairly fresh (as they can get here). Enough has been said.

Bak chor mee @ Seng Huat

There's always been some sort of crowd whenever I happen by the area and I thought that the ba chor mee looked pretty good. As it turned out, this was a passable bowl. The options here were pretty simple. One can choose the portion for the noodles portions and can request for additional toppings for a dollar more. The mee pok was firm and none too starchy while their chilli wasn't bad as well. Those mentioned toppings included minced meat, liver, some sliced pork, two meatballs and some mushrooms. Not bad if you're wanting to grab a quick bowl to satisfy a craving. It however wasn't as memorable as the one from the fat hero in the west.

Resto Surabaya, Lucky Plaza

This shop at Lucky Plaza (304 Orchard Road, #02-63/64 Lucky Plaza, tel: 6732 1803) wasn't bad considering the variety of stuff that the restaurant was selling. To disclaim, I'm not so experienced in the realms of ayam penyet, having only tried a few places locally and. Have had one in Bintan where the chicken was just fried and not even smashed. This one here actually ranked pretty well in terms of taste and their tender fried chicken was really beaten up and easily removed from the bones. To add on, the tauhu goreng and tempeh were freshly fried. That weak looking chilli on the side was pretty potent. Actual portions were much smaller than it looks on photo.

 

On the side, we ordered a tauhu telur and a longtong cap go meh. The latter was kinda like lontong in a coconut rich gravy with a chicken drumstick and a keropok on the top. The gravy was rich and flavourful -  made me want to eat beyond just one serving of rice. But it was otherwise just a lontong with measly bits of boiled vegetables. I thought that the tauhu telur looked small. The good thing about that was that it didn't appear over-fried and that it came with a bowl of nutty sauce with shrimp paste that upped the flavour game of the dish.

 

Their savoury sop buntut (oxtail soup) wasn't bad as well tasting lightly of the beef used. I caught a pepper-ish aroma and fried shallots. I noticed afterward that they had grilled oxtails and ayam bakar on the menu too. Could consider a re-visit some time.

Key lime pie from PS Cafe

I remember having key lime pies for the first time a few years back in California Pizza Kitchen. Recently, I've discovered that these are actually available in PS Cafe (290 Orchard Road, #03-41/44 The Paragon, tel: 6735 6765) and these pies as I have learnt are actually the state pie for Florida since 2006? Anyway, the original ones are apparently yellow in colour from the lime juice and egg yolks that are used to make the fillings. There's mention that the traditional pie makers frown upon the green colouring that is added. Not that I particularly care about that. Lol.

I kinda like these which are $12 a slice from PS Cafe. Pretty pricey for a slice of pie but this has got to be one of the more memorable ones that I've had since that upside down apple pie from Morton's quite a while back. The stiff and creamy fillings in that buttery crushed cracker crust were full of that limey zest which was invigorating as a flavour. It also didn't bring on the feeling of sugar overload. This stuff was actually pretty appetizing as a dessert.

Mooncakes from Shang

I don't usually enjoy this stuff because I find them cloyingly sweet. Once a year, some of them get distributed around because of the Mooncake Festival some of them will inevitably end up with my family. The only fond recollection of those I enjoyed was something that Raffles Hotel once sold. That was mostly because, the fillings were cream cheese and raisins. I was actually kinda sad that those aren't available anymore. Anyway, this was one of those uncommon instances when I decided to eat some and thought that they weren't bad. Having those salted yolks to offset the sweet lotus paste was important.

I'm curious about how quadruple yolk mooncakes are like though since no one I know have ever bought them.