Forlino, One Fullerton

To get to Forlino (1 Fullerton Road, #02-06 One Fullerton, tel: 6536 9965), one would have to find the entrance of the security office at the ground floor of One Fullerton located next to Starbucks. From there, you would have to get to the second floor via an escalator, cross a bridge to the next building to sniff out another entrance to a semi opulent looking flight of steps into a short but convoluted Baroque passageway that could be riddled with secret entrances along the walls. I'm just making the last part up about the secret passageways, but the kitchen door was really one of those that looked like the wall.

We were here to take advantage of the 1 for 1 promotion that UOB has with the restaurant. By that, I have subconsciously lowered expectations. In the end, it was pretty much mixed feelings for this Traditional Menu at $88++ here because, some of the food was good enough to interest me back for a la carte while others were just borderline passable. Their food had certain elements of a homely comfort, but didn't quite feel in place as well in the ambience of the restaurant. But hey, that's just me.


The amuse bouche was a Russian salad. Honestly, I didn't walk into an Italian restaurant and expect an amuse bouche of that. It felt to me like it was something contrived in the last minutes out of sheer desperation. It was really just a potato salad with zucchini bits, tasted exactly the way it looks unless you smeared the little dash of balsamic vinegar with it. Spectacularly unimpressive at the very least.


The home cured meat platter really quite enjoyable for me, featuring a couple of salami types, pancetta, Parma ham and a slice of Mortadella in vinegar and bits of fried shallots. Basically, your gamut of thinly sliced salty meat to get your appetite whetted. I wished there was more of it to go around and that I hadn't finished that foccacia so quickly.


The portions of the traditional Piemonte ravioli was to me, abysmally small. That'll be because also, the actual packets of veal themselves were made quite petit since they had more of them that some of the prima platti in fancy restaurants. Personally, I thought that they were one of the better raviolis I've ever had and again, I wished that there was more to go around. These were well stuffed with tender bits of meat and laying in a rich savory broth. I should really have asked for more bread. With similarity to Il Lido, this first plate was probably the best out of the meal.


Novelty aside, "Mama Forlino" lamb chops didn't quite do it for me. Firstly, I'm not overly enthusiastic over fried stuff, especially breaded ones. The meat in the lamb was actually quite puny despite appearances as the breaded crust with the cheesy fillings underneath was actually substantial. And to reduce the significance of the lamb in this dish, the meat had little flavor. It was very nicely cooked, being tender and all at a medium well, but I really ate lamb for the aroma of the meat. I supposed that I would appreciate these things grilled better. I liked the carrot and the little polenta cake (steaming hot stuff) on the side reminded me of a less greasy pan fried radish cake from Crystal Jade.


Decent hazelnut mousse thing for dessert and the brittles were a nice touch for texture. It definitely wasn't mind blowing on that note.

Would I come back again? I really don't know considering that they were a little pricey if not for the card discounts. Service was impeccable, but that's not all to it is it?

t//r/st tr/p

I hardly know where to begin with this place (Sosis by Shiraz, 3D River Valley Road, #01-14, Clarke Quay). Maybe I could just start with the misspelled poutine on the menu.


It also occured to me that the service staff was "struggling" with the orders when there were 2 other persons in the queue. It must have been seriously gruelling, trying manage the insane load of 3 orders. The furtile attempt of trying to heat the buns atop the warm sausages was a total failure since work was done at a slug's pace and the buns, arrived cold and stiff. Even the freshly fried fries failed to stay warm enough to melt the little cubes of cream cheese for the "putin". And what's up with the stinge on the onions anyway? These had gone through 2 request for extra onions and I'm sure you can imagine how little there were at the start. For a $6.50 hotdog, one would think that when you asked for more onions, they'd be totally cool about giving you more.

I was left wondering, when I collected my order, what was that almost dried up brown goo in the heated container that was suppose to be the gravy. It was being spooned carefully onto the fries as I watched. Yeah, spooned. At my request for a little generosity with the gravy, the server alerted me that it was very saltish. In the end, that brown good turned out to be what I think is Brovil. Seriously, WTF! Barely melted cream cheese on barely lukewarm fries and that drizzle of Borvil. This stuff was just saltish and dry. Heart clogging and not so good there.

So, does anyone want to buy a vowel?

Alegro Spanish Street Food, Clark Quay

I was initially alerted of this place (3D River Valley Road, #01-13 Clarke Quay) from a Spanish fair at Isetan some time back when I purchased one of their borcadillo de Serrano and was handed a business card. I recalled being quite impressed with the sandwich down at the fair and decided to give this supposedly street food kiosk a try. I didn't expect to be underwhelmed by the selection of what they had to offer. Apart from the borcadillos with the jamon Serrano and chorizos, I was hard pressed to find something else of interest and had to settle for just that. In the end, the sandwich didn't taste as good as I remembered it from the fair and came across as rather pricey for a sandwich with what, 3 thin slices of chorizo and some tomatoes? The subtleties of their flavours was mostly lost on me tonight. Even the churros didn't quite feel like the other time.

I doubt I'll ever return if that's all there is and I'm pretty sure this is a poor showcase, if any, of Spanish street food. By that, I refer to both the variety and the quality. I can always get fried calamari and french fries elsewhere.

Lorong Ah Soo Lor Mee, Hainanese Village Food Centre

This stall (Blk 105 Hougang Ave 1, #02-12) I was told, is supposed to be one of the go to places for lor mee. Judging from the queue in front of the stall, there was probably little debate about that fact. My initial expectations was something along the lines of a vague memory I could scrape from the days of the old Maxwell Food Centre.  Where the bowl of noodles was piled on the top with sliced pork belly, crispy fried meatballs, ngor hiong and chopped garlic. I was actually a little disappointed that this was not the case. There wasn't any fried meatballs nor strips of pork belly. Instead it was a just some fish cake and a bit of shredded braised duck. The saving graces were the sliced chilli padi, chopped garlic and vinegar which boosted the flavour. Otherwise didn't think that there was anything that was exceptional.

Founder Bak Kut Teh Restaurant, Balestier Road

I've lost count of the number of times I've passed by this place (347 Balestier Road, New Orchid Hotel, tel: 6352 6192) and wanted to give them a try. Today, we finally did and fortunately, we managed to get a table without too much of a wait at the queue. I had expectations since this was one of those places that people often mention when the topic gets onto ba kut tehs. It's not bad if you're wondering. There was a nice peppery broth (which gave me hiccups) that didn't diminish in flavour with each refill and I probably would have enjoyed the ribs better if they had been those that slipped off the bone more easily. Very decent garlic-ky salted vegetables and boiled tau kee on the sides there, but I didn't feel that it etched an impression as deep as the one at Kelantan Lane. I did notice that the broth was a little brownish instead of the usual white for these peppery types.

Viva Mexico, Cuppage Terrace

Viva Mexico (23 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace, tel: 6235 0440) is a new Mexican restaurant that's opened at Cuppage Terrace after the renovation. From what I could discover, they're are run by the Palate Vine group that also manages Vintage India, Ras The Essence of India and also The Tent. I thought the food was not bad. Their prompt and polite service was definitely appreciated.

 

I don't really know much about real Mexican food and I'm sure much more to it than the usual Tex Mex stuff locally. This eggplant starter for example. Could have been served in any other Mediterranean restaurant I wouldn't have known any better. Looked like something I could have had from someplace like the Original Sin. Oven baked and stuffed with spinach and cheese with semi crunchy texture, the eggplant retained enough taste that wasn't overwhelmed by the tomato based sauces. Did I mention that it was a rather generous portion as well? The hunk of meat in the first picture on top was a beef filet stuffed with something call Cuitlacoche mushrooms in the centre. This could have been a Mexican steak of sorts. I'm pretty sure the cut was a tenderloin. Tasted quite good with a nicely charred exterior and salty nutty flavour from those bits of mushrooms inside. Don't know much about the special sauce which the menu described, but it might have been the milky stuff over the top which tasted like it has been made with goat's cheese. There're also some very sweet caramelized onions served on the side. 

 

Steak came with a side of beans and cheese as well. These guys got medium rare right so that's a good sign for me.

 

The dessert here was their pumpkin en tacha. The chilled pumpkin sure tasted like it had been stewed. Sitting in a pool of brown cane sugar concentrate call piloncillo and a generous pour of heavy cream. There were some bits of chopped guava at the bottom as well, but nothing of those could actually be tasted or identified. Also couldn't discern any of the cinnamon and cloves that were suppose to be in this dessert. No complains about the pumpkin itself but the rest of it was too sweet.