Xin Wang Taiwan Cafe, Citylink Mall

Only at the second time when I passed by this place (#B1-23 CityLink Mall, Raffles Link, tel : +65 6341 9542) that I did a double take and realised that this was actually a Taiwan themed cafe instead of the usual HK cafe that Xin Wang has numerous branches of. I was never one for those HK cafes that seemed to be opening everywhere else. Some of those franchised outlets might have been interesting when they first appeared but after a while, success formulas inevitably get whored with the same template applied repeatedly and en mass. What we eventually got was just mediocre food that was priced way above what it was worth. The situation was also saddened by the fact that I could probably cook more than a handful of what they had on menu myself at home. There was little reason why I would walk into one of them. 

But this was the Taiwan version and being the sucker for stuff like lu rou fan, I bit onto the bait.

We didn't end up with the lu rou fan. It was the mei cai kou rou fan (braised pork belly with mustard greens) that got us instead. While it didn't look great, the taste of it was pretty decent. The sliced pork belly underneath the gooey vegetable stew was actually not bad at all. I meant, with fats that would disintegrate in the mouth. 

The beef bowl with rice was edible. Nothing special in particular. I'm looking at you, solid egg yolk. Still in search for a good beef bowl that would bowl me over. 

There was a crispy fried pig intestines which was done with very little seasoning. No complains about that though. Also ordered a very regular deep fried chicken similar to those one could find in the night market. These were a little better done in comparison.

 

Dessert was also pleasant as well. It was listed on the menu as a peanut smoothie and I was thinking of a peanut shake of some sort. Turns out that, it was something akin to a frozen version of peanut paste that one could find in Cantonese dessert shops. The frozen peanut paste was covered by peanut butter and blanketed in finely ground peanuts. This was nice.

Gary Baldy

I've been meaning to come back to Garibaldi for some time because it's been a while since we've eaten here. This would make our first visit since they time they closed up for renovations, re-opened and inched up prices noticeably higher from the time before. Still, one could find pastas at a price that could reasonably be considered non exorbitant or overpriced. I did have some good impressions of them from before.

 

Lunch started with prosciutto & gnocco. It was described on the menu as a Romagna fried dough. Might have been street food from its place of origins and possibly something one could get real cheap since the price of it was pretty much about the parma ham that came along. The taste of the freshly fried dough was akin to a sugarless fried doughnut or from another perspective of it, hum chim pang. The fun part about eating it was that one could just stuff the thinly sliced Parma ham into them before eating. It was otherwise pretty much as it looked.

One of the reasons for wanting to come back again was also, the selection of risotto that the restaurant has these days on the menu. One of those that got me curious was the risotto alla carbonara which was basically, a carbonara styled risotto which I've never tried before.

The risotto was on the whole rather predictable in taste. Was both eggy and cheesy at the same time with defined beads of rice that was cooked in the cream reduction. I thought this was comforting as a dish for a bit before it become little boring. Why? Portions were rather generous for something that was so rich in texture and there wasn't much dimensions. The crispy parma ham on the top was....meh.

What was unexpectedly good was their cannelloni stuffed with minced wagyu beef that came in a cheese sauce and leek confit. Strange as it might sound, what won me over was the beef which reminded me of that braised boar stracci from Oso. It was a brand of savoury delicious. There was a bonus in the cheese sauce which contained Gorgonzola - an icing equivalent if this was cake. Unfortunately, the sauce came in really miserable portions. Leeks were pretty good if ordinary.

You might have already noticed, this lunch was filled with rolls. With stuffings. Even for dessert. Did not have much expectations for their cannolo siciliano. Not that I think they're not good but they did turn out much nicer than the "no expectations" that I've had for it. We enjoyed the creamy ricotta fillings that were encrusted with a generous amounts of pistachio at the ends. The bar of chocolate that the pastry rested on was even filled with more of the pistachio stuff. Unexpected pleasant surprise there.

Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger : Year Three

Wow, it's been three years and counting still!

This has become something of an unexpected commitment and I really had no idea how long I could continue. Still I have to say that I've longer running interests so I shouldn't be too surprised that it's been going on for as long as it has been.

More interesting things to come, hopefully.

Like Tony Stark messing with Peter Parker's suit.

Mayim, Northpoint

This turned out to be a case of hits and misses for me. I remember Mayim (930 Yishun Ave 2, #02-01/05 Northpoint Shopping Centre, tel : 65 6758 3168) back from the time I had them last at West Mall. Recalled that I've actually eaten there a few times and enjoyed the food quite a bit. I've even taken out yu shen during one or two of the Chinese New Years then. So I was definitely interested when I found out that they have a new and only other outlet at Northpoint.

District 10, Windstedt Road

This was an unexpected trip down to Luca's new bistro (10 Windstedt Road, #01-17, tel: 65 6738 4788) beside the nice neighbourhood of apartments at Monk's Hill. Really serene location at night despite being located not too far away from the bright and noise filled Newton Food Centre. I remember having read about District 10 some weeks back but it didn't really register then. I was also hoping upon reaching the place that perhaps, it would be a little different from the regular bistro. I suppose it was just in the end, another bistro. The food wasn't too bad but nothing was special. It was a nice spot to hang out though.

 

Started off with some creamy green pea soup with roasted ham and mint. I had in mind cubes of roasted ham in the soup but it turned out to be a couple of strips of bacon and there wasn't the slightest hint of mint in the soup. In the end, what I had was just a mashed pea soup. Viscous but not really creamy. Wasn't too bad. Just not what I had in mind. There was some calamari which were decent but nothing really much to write about unless you've never had calamari before and had absolutely no idea what they tasted or looked like. I decided on the rigatoni with wagyu meatballs for a couple of reasons. There wasn't really much else on the menu that I found interesting and I wanted to prove myself that these meatballs would taste exactly like regular meatballs. True to my guess, it did taste like regular meatballs. Mixed with little bits of herbs which I felt would have been better without. Tossed in a lightly tart-ish tomato based sauce. I was also disappointed that they forgot the shaven Parmesan on the top but didn't feel like asking for them. Maybe it was a little too much to expect for these guys to be a little more like Bontá. Like I said, a really pleasant place to chill, but not terribly exciting in the department of food.

 

Pumpkin ramen from Menya Shinchan

This seemed to be relatively new on the menu at Menya Shinchan and because it was a pumpkin soup base, I just had to give it a go. With an extra order of egg. The creamy pumpkin and pork bone broth was mildly sweet (from the pumpkin likely) yet savoury in taste which was something I found pleasant. Broth didn't have much viscosity but there was a milky quality to it. I'm guessing this was seasonal. Maybe? This trip was also another reminder of what I like about this place. The smoky tasting egg and soft charshu slices. All excellent with the generous portions of crunchy bean sprouts and scallion toppings. I hope this item is going to be here to stay.