Oso, Bukit Pasoh

In the event that anyone was wondering if this had become some sort of photo blog, it's not. With what little time I've had lately, I just thought that I could just put up the photos before I got down to writing, so there you go....I'm back. And this time for a place call Oso (46 Bukit Pasoh Road, tel: 6327 8378) which I thought I should have discovered much earlier.

Apart from some little splotches in service, dinner here was what I was hoping to be. A few people have been egging me to try on numerous occasions. Turned out to be one of those that left me with a satisfactory smirk and I'll probably be returning again in the not too far future.

We got a very creamy burrata in very generous portions for two to start with along with some accompaniments of cherry tomatoes and a mustard coloured tomato sabayon. The effect of the colour of that sabayon (which really tasted like a fresh tomato dip of sorts) pairing with the plaster white cheese reminded me of a giant poached egg. Certainly nothing at all to fault with the hearty braised wild boar stracci luxuriantly saddled in a blanket of that rich tasting sauce robust with the aroma of red wine. Something I'm fairly sure I'll be tempted to order again when I do return. Those gnocchi with gorgonzola and parsley sauce was surprising in ways that I didn't expect as the fresh green flavour of the herbs held up with the not so strong gorgonzola. It was salty without the pungence to match, but I supposed the parsley novelty made up for it since it was good enough for us to mop up all the remaining sauces second servings of bread.

Dessert of the double vanilla panna cotta in black pepper caramel sauce was interesting, but wasn't mind blowing as desserts went. It was a nice milky panna cotta and the pepper caramel was refreshing.

Daily made “burrata” cheese from Puglia filled with tomato sabayon “for 2

Whole wheat “stracci” with braised wild boar in red wine

Potato dumpling “gnocchi” in Gorgonzola and parsley sauce

Double cream vanilla flan “panna cotta” in black pepper caramel sauce

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.