Going down on Victoria......Street

The initial plan was to get some dinner at the food centre beside Allson Hotel. Since I had to be in that vicinity, I couldn't resist making my way back to Benten Cafe and grabbing their blue cheese and honey pizza again. I really wanted to know if the pizza was going to be as good as the first time round and if it was truly a place I could reliably (loosely used here) come back for more in the future.


Fortunately, the pizza was almost as good as the last visit. There were definitely little difference. The blue cheese toppings felt marginally less generous but that still meant that there was quite a bit of it. Today, the honey was given in a separate jug and there was definitely more going around than the previous time where it could barely be tasted. The stinky blue cheese and honey paired up just like best of friends. For a selfish reason, I hope this place doesn't close down so that I can always come back for this pizza whenever I feel like it.

Moving forward into the second part, there was a stall call Victoria Street Bak Kut Teh. I wasn't thinking of bak kut teh at all since I remembered seeing that they had an assorted variety of items for kuey chap. Those were what I actually had in mind. In the end, it was a plate of assorted items, some tau kee (bean curd skins) and a bowl of peppery pig stomach soup which was generously filled with boiled garlic. The pieces of pig stomach were stewed for so long that they were not chewy anymore. Certain pieces looked like they were on the verge of disintegration. Soup tasted peppery and flat. I don't know if this place was famous or good but I probably wouldn't be coming back. There was nothing very special about them all, but I suppose they did an adequate the job of just filling up.

Yoshimaru Ramen Bar, Holland Village

Pretty sure that I will come back here (31 Lorong Liput in Holland Village, 6463-3132) again. Maybe even soon. Reason was their ramen left an impression. Which was a good thing considering that there have been quite a few ramen shops opening up in the recent years and they're starting to look the same. Coupled with veteran ramen shops, we actually do have quite a number option. Do feel that they need to distinct themselves.

Here's a bowl of their moridakusan ramen which is Yoshimaru's version of "the works". Including a tiny dollop of mentaiko was a waste since nothing of it could be tasted once everything got mixed. Enjoyed their tasty tonkotsu broth which wasn't as salty and greasy as I imagined. In their moderation, intentional or not, it turned out to be good. The thin and firm noodles was the other thing that I liked. Was never much of a fan of the soft and curly types. These ones almost reminded me of the first time I ate at Ajisen many years back when they were still decent. 

There's also tan tan mian which featured a nutty and spicy broth that left me wanting more. I'm wondering if there was any peanut butter involved in the soup.

Didn't enjoy their charshu don which featured charshu that tasted like preserved pork cubes. Reminded me of mei cai kou rou when eaten with takana. Definitely had better.

Mietta's, Arab Street

Angelo Sanelli, formerly of Michaelangelo's and current captain of this culinary ship known as Mietta's (126 Arab Street, tel: 6396 5493) reminds me of a man sized dwarf. Big boned, bearded, gruffy facade and probably a nice guy at heart behind his serious appearances as he makes his rounds about. Executive chef Dennis Sim on the other hand, exudes the personality of a man of the kitchen. I say that because his chef's coat isn't snowy white like what many are wont to romanticize and it actually has food stains. And the first words from the man were to enquire if the food was fine and to explain why was what which way. Impressions.

Before I go into the more interesting topic of the food, I'd like to extend my thanks to fatpig for organizing dinner (again!) and for the arrangement of the interesting starter of blueberry gnocchi with braised venison in a red wine, bitter chocolate jus which was something dredged up and out from days back in Zambuca. That was probably not the only residual item that was plated since the carpaccio di manzo did look quite the same as well from the chef's former restaurant.


Honestly, the starters didn't leave too deep of an impression and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel strongly about them. But perhaps, I had wanted to be pleasantly surprised. For starters (pun intended), the venison as explained didn't have enough marinate time and in all likelyhood didn't have as much flavor as the chef had intended. Chocolate sauce wasn't as interesting as it sounded and compounded on that, the only flavor of the blueberries came from the bits of the fruit. I must say that the portions were rather generous. The beef capaccio arrived in portions too dainty and I could have sworn that I tasted lemongrass even though nothing like that was described to be in it. One could say, underwhelmed.


The mains, on the other spectrum of impressions were very commendable. We had an excellent foie gras risotto with porcini, which I think should have been renamed because each mouthful of that rice was infused with a robust taste of the mushroom. Foie gras really stood second place in the department of flavor and second place didn't position itself with as much proximity to the first as I would have preferred. But that would just be me. The rack of lamb which was crusted with "coffee soil" was just awesome. The only revelation from the chef on what made the coffee soil were coffee and cocoa which were probably the reasons for the burnt caramelized aroma of the crust. The sweet and savory rich flavors of the sauce that didn't threaten the moderate gaminess of the lamb were smile inducingly impressive on my part. It was a tad pricey for a rack of lamb on that note, but it also made me want to eat them again.


Desserts weren't too spectacular for me so I'll only be on top of the items which I thought were the better ones. The more memorable being the tiramisu which was probably one of the better ones I've enjoyed outside of home made ones and something that was call orange, orange and more orange. From what I can remember, a shot of blood orange jelly and mandarin sorbet atop a crepe and I remember hearing Grand Marnier in the description. What worked for that was pretty much the appeal of a clear citrus flavor at the end of dinner.

Golden Rooster at Clementi

Wow, this is quite nice. Another place that has been around for ages and this was probably my first time eating here. I've been trying to make a trip down to this chicken stall (Blk 450 Clementi Central, #01-305, S120450) for quite a while after being told about them, but it never really happened until today and I'm pretty impressed. By both the the tenderness of the generously portioned barbequed chicken and the speed at which the stall dishes out orders. For $4.50 it was a good deal and I was told that it used to cost less for the same amount. They have a pretty good chilli sauce on the side that had some kick as well. For a few dollars more, one could also just get the whole chicken which was quite a lot of meat. Me thinks I'll be back again quite soon for more now that it's not so far away from the workplace.

Amuse bouche?

These were from a colleague that got them from a trip to Shanghai. They're essentially dried beef jerky things that were a mix of sweet and savory like pork floss, but the chewy texture made me feel that it was more akin to eating dendeng paru (dried and fried beef lungs). And of course, the hilarious naming they've got there.

Singing the blues?!

This was a discovery of chance. We were looking for some food after a movie at Filmgarde in Iluma and ended up in a very suspect and what I thought to be pseudo Japanese joint that goes by Benten Cafe (201 Victoria Street Bugis, #01-14). We were totally impressed by their amazing blue cheese and honey pizza which I swear, contained more blue cheese than any others that I've had ever. I did not expect it to be half decent but what turned up definitely surpassed our expectations. Mind blown. One can surmise from the mottled surface of the pizza that no exaggeration was involved here on my part. If not for anything else, the pizza was the one thing that validated this establishment's existence. I hope that this wasn't a one off incident and I intend to come back again to find out.