A beer chilli bowl from Brewerkz

I've been having really lousy food for about 2 weeks now and this is probably my first decent chow since. What do I make out of this spicy bowl of ground beef and bean porridge with a blanket of runny cheese over the top? Not too bad I would say. Not that I've had a whole lot of these beef chilli stuff apart from them being served on fries or burgers. Pretty comforting in the belly at the least on a cold day and otherwise, good to go with a pint or three of their golden ale. I kinda like that crumbly sweet and savory corn bread/cake thingy that they had on top too.

Does anyone know where to get this?

I can't really recall how I landed myself one of these but I like them and I don't remember seeing them around in the supermarkets. Does anyone have any idea?

Crystal's ohn no khao swe

Imagine something along the lines of laksa with a less rich broth. That's would be how I'd describe this tasted like for a start.

From what I had seen, it all began with a cooked chicken - with the bones for the broth along with chopped garlic and coconut milk. The rest of the bird was deboned and has its meat boiled in the said broth which was actually rather mild in flavour on its own. The dried chilli, along with sliced raw onions and a squeeze of some lime helped perk things up noticeably and added some crunch to the slurpy noodles.

Many thanks for the Turkish coffee and delights Crystal.

Bella Pizza, Robertson Quay

Hey, here's one Italian restaurant that serves Hoegaarden. Despite a few kinks at the start, I kinda like Bella Pizza (30 Robertson Quay, #01-14 Riverside View, tel : 6734 0139) enough that I would like to come back again. Service was adequate and polite. The best part of it was snappy yet observant. That and having pizza bianca on the menu helped tipped the scales to my favour.

We started off with some tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella wrapped in thinly sliced Parma ham with the courtesy of just a drizzle of olive oil and freshly ground pepper. Cheese was soft, smooth and basically what I had imagined it to be. Light and enjoyable.

The menu described their home made fettuccine to be done with a touch of cream. It was more than a touch but fortunately not overwhelming The sauce was light that one could still taste the bits of shaven black truffles and morels in them. The burst of flavours came from the bits of salty sausages that tasted home made.

Which brings us to the pizza. I had only one gripe with the pizza cotto which was topped with mozzarella, cooked ham and Gorgonzola. It definitely needed more Gorgonzola. But it was otherwise one of the better ham and cheese based pizza I've had in a while. Nice thin crust that folded under the weight of the generous topping of milky mozzarella and ham. More Gorgonzola!

Usually, ordering desserts kind meant that I generally liked the food. But not ordering them doesn't always mean otherwise. Their crepe alla nutella con banane was a little let down because I had expected more. Crepe with mascarpone and Nutella served with bananas. It taste like the way it looked and was saved by the Nutella. I could have made this myself at home.

Another bowl of beef noodles from...

...Hong Heng down at Ang Mo Kio. It was one of those unplanned lunches on short notice and I remain impressed enough to want to come back again.

Covo Bistro & Lounge, Greenwood Avenue

The entire experience eating in this place was rather good, secluded in the peaceful corner of Greenwood (16 Greenwood Avenue, Hillcrest Park, tel : 6466 8103). With their use of discreet lighting (read as rather romantic for dates) and somewhat minimalist industrial looking decors along with a nifty table in the middle of the restaurant encased in glass and little ponds at the sides. It was somewhat of a little surprise to find this space after having been here a number of times and never actually noticing that it existed until today. The amicable show runner (or chef or owner) Oliver whom was lurking at the entrance mentioned that it's been around for a year or two. I must confess that we were also partially bought by the $1 oyster options which sounded really familiar considering that this was just a few units away from the Greenwood Fish Market.


The food what fusion-ish by account of description and since we only had the squid ink pasta and oysters to go by, I couldn't really say much else about the other things. The former was quite the usual of its sorts, featuring al dente spaghetti and bits of squid in some crabmeat garlic tapenade. What I really didn't like about it was the chopped bits of coriander which I did not expect (why?!) and had to pick out carefully, marring this otherwise decent pasta. The Australian oysters were definitely fresh, plump and chilled and sliding down with ease with the accompanied lemons and tabasco sauce.

What amused me was that the sangria was bubbly (not bad actually) and that these guys actually serve also, a non alcoholic version. I asked the serving staff if that wouldn't have made it just a fruit punch and all I got was a bemused smile for a response.