Ichibantei, Robertson Quay

I think I'm becoming a fan of tan tan mian. This was a hiyashi tan tan mian from Ichibantei (60 Robertson Quay, #01-04 The Quayside, tel : 6733 3923) and it is probably making itself into the top of my list for cold ramen with its robust savoury sweet and spicy sesame gravy and springy noodles. Not that there were any others in that list apart from the cold ramen at Noodle House Ken which was as good if not better in its own refreshing way. The generous toppings of ground meat added to the textural chewiness. There was also a pretty decent tonkotsu ramen in the house that came with the usual milky pork bone broth, tender sliced chashu and egg. Sadly, the order of oyster kakis was disappointing. They were shrivelled and dry as compared to fat and juicy. I've passed by this place on countless occasions and only sometimes wondering if there was anything good about them. If not for today, that cycle would probably have continued.

Bontá unplugged

Unplugged because most of the things here aren't from the menu and the after dinner was graced with the company of the Chef Luca Pezzera. Where casual dialogue evolved around prices of Japanese produce, how he likes otoro and not uni, the real faces of restaurants in Italy and quite a number of other things which will not by discretion, go beyond the dinner table. Chef Luca is apparent quite conversant with the local slang judging from expressions like "ok lah", "I tell you one thing ah", or "very expensive leh" that arose in the midst of his candour. This visit also represents a re-acquaintance to the food at Bontá, recalling that it didn’t leave deep impressions previously. Opinions were rather different this time round, but then again, there’s also the stuff that one doesn’t usually get since they’re seasonal. Still, one can get a feel of straightforward and down to earth cooking that doesn't reek of fancy schmancy.

The first starter was a pair of steamed or poached German white asparaguses blanketed by a sunny side up with shaven Parmigiano Reggiano. I though it was a appropriately warm in a refreshing way. The crunchy asparagus which were also a little juicy. Cheese and eggs sealed the deal for me. Nothing overly complicated but a warm and pleasant opener. I just found out that white asparagus are grown in the dark today.

Asparaguses were followed by sliced Parma ham and chilled melon pieces drizzled with something sweet that tasted like honey. And something else. I couldn't really identify. Again, nothing over the top.

Pasta was good. There's truffle cheese sauce and with more freshly shaven summer truffles. What I liked about this was that the cheese in the sauce was outstanding yet not overwhelming as to mask gentler truffle flavour. Comfort food.

Secondi piatti was a seafood duo of tuna and scampi. I was for red meat but since it's all decided by the chef, you get surprised sometimes. The outstanding items were the sweet scampi and roasted garlic. There was almost none of the pungence associated with garlic and the bulbs were slightly sweetish and crunchy. The tuna wasn't really my thing. It was still juicy even though it was a little hard. There was rosemary which I don't normally enjoy. Would have been great if there was more scampi.

Dessert was a molten chocolate cake with rum and raisin ice cream. Not much to say about this.

Seletar Grill & Pub, Singapore Flying Club

This was my first visit to Seletar Grill (140B Piccadilly, Singapore Flying Club, tel: 6482 0244) and I've managed to get my name up on the level 30 wall of fame for their spicy chicken wings. It didn't taste good, I do not recommend them at all and I did it for the cheap thrill of having my name up on a piece of paper up their wall of fame after enduring the tongue and lip blistering venom which makes those wings look absolutely toxic. Not to mention the fuzzy feeling in my stomach after that...... 

The silver lining of this visit was the prime rib on the menu which I was admittedly skeptical about initially. After little persuasion, I took the plunge and this turned out to be a good call. And a good thing it was too that I decided on medium instead of the usual medium rare since it probably would have been a little to rare for my liking. The boned in prime rib was tender, juicy full of beefy goodness coupled with a healthy amount of fats for texture and flavour. Not forgetting the nicely browned surface as well. Honestly surprised at something like this in an out of the way shack. It's tough luck for me that this place is so damned inaccessible.

Wasabi Tei, Far East Plaza

If I ever had to make a call on the quintessence of form without finesse in Japanese food, Wasabi Tei (14 Scotts Road, #05-70 Far East Plaza, tel : 62388216) would probably be it. There is very little of, if at all that can be associated with the elegance that one would associate with the traditional vein of Japanese cuisine here. Frills are virtually non existence and presentation takes no precedence. But the food was actually pretty decent with all things considered. While it's far from being beyond reproach, it was not half bad at all. Doesn't really look it at a glance. One comes to this hole in the wall place to get their bellies filled and leaves.

 

Everyone got served an otoshi which consisted mainly of what I was educated to be simmered hijiki seaweed and bits of chicken. The seaweed reminded me a little bit of a pickled tea leaf salad I once had. While it didn't appear to be very much, the starter was quite flavourful in a savoury sweet manner and I thought it was quite good.

 

I would simply describe the mixed sashimi here was generously portioned, thick sliced and straight to the point. We got the usual suspects of sake, hamachi, mekajiki, maguro and a fat piece of hotate sliced into two. They're as you can see them, literal slices of meat with little, if any style on the knifework. The slices of fish were chilled, firm and quite fresh tasting.

 

The uni gunkans were unfortunately not one of the better ones I've had. It did look a little suspicious on delivery especially when one was already toppled and both were barely (badly) wrapped. The sea urchin did look slightly mushy and while the taste wasn't as bad as what my nagging suspicion had indicated, it didn't quite put a smile on my face neither.

 

This was surprisingly, one of the better tasting unagi makis I've had. Certainly not the best looking one, but the grill scorched aroma was very evident on the still crisp caramelized skin of the eels. I suspected that the extra char was how it was intended to be done since I did look a little more so than usual, but it was really quite nice. I'll need a revisit opinion on the unagis.

 

The chirashi bento was quite similar to the sashimi platter - on rice. Plus a little bit of ikura, a crabstick and no scallop. Not much else to be said about them that I haven't already mentioned, but my parting comment would be that the salmon they served was actually not bad too. Good as in a way of having definitive fat that slicked my soya sauce with grease. Caveat lector : do mind their little in house rules they have for their customers though.

D is for....

Damned long wait for food! Maybe it was the stuffy and sweltering humidity coupled with the heat that made the waiting time less bearable. The kitchen did look very much to me like they took their time about their business which while is their prerogative, kinda makes me think twice about coming back again. D is for deliberate.


Getting back on track, Big D does do an awesome kurobuta pork loin. In honesty, this is the first time I'm having such a large piece of grilled Berkshire black pig. The resulting piece of meat doesn't score much of points in the department of tenderness, but hey, that didn't really matter. There was enough juices still left on the moderately fatty insides after the exterior was seared with a very commendable char that came with the accompanying char fragrance which I though was a big factor contributing to what made this pork loin good. D is for delicious. Such was the focus of the centerpiece very other thing else on the plate fell on the sideline. I felt like I was eating steak. D is for dandy.


The sambal buah keluah as I have discovered, was a dish that took a minute to prepare despite all the waiting time. It was as simple as scooping that black puree out from somewhere onto a plate with rice and some salsa on the side. This stuff is good like rendang, being heavy on the coconut flavor and paired with spiciness and sweet. Certainly doesn't taste like the buah keluah I've had before but it was all good. It would have been great if they had done a better job out of the rice which was anything but soft and fluffy.

And finally, D is for Damien. Damien D'Silva. Who wasn't around in the kitchen the whole time I was there. So wassup with those wannabes crooning his name everytime you talk about his food eh? Give some credit to the rest of the staff, especially that guy who was sweating it out at the grill working on the pig.

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.