Entre-nous Creperie, Seah Street

This was a Brittany based crepe place (27 Seah Street, #01-01, tel : +65 6333 4671) that I've been wanting to check out for a while. It probably wasn't so much of a coincidence that watching Bourdain in Brittany recently also helped ignite my interest in them. My previous experience with French crepes educated me that I probably shouldn't be visiting one of them if I'm seriously hungry. Even though they weren't exorbitantly expensive, the weren't filling either and it could get pretty expensive adding up.

la belle, -ile -en mei

i'ile aux moines

We started off with a couple of the cheesy (yes!) galettes. One that was curiously named i'ile aux moines which means 'island with the monks'? It definitely moved with the right notes in me as there was a pretty generous layer of creamy Roquefort on the insides exuding an aroma of the blue cheese. Perhaps the metaphorical monks being referred to here are the bits of walnuts that added textural character. The other galette was filled with a pungent (and nicely so) and creamy goat cheese drizzled with honey had me sold as well.

entre nous (salted caramel butter)

lemon and sugar

The crepes weren't too bad. Not that I'm any authority of these pancakes but I'd give them a small thumbs up for their flavours. The salted caramel was a robust buttery sweet and savoury piece while the lemon with sugar crepe came with freshly squeezed lemon juice that added a refreshing tart to the bits of sweetness from the sugar. Will definitely consider coming back again someday.

Chikuwa Tei, Mohd Sultan Road

Rising from the ashes of the old Wasabi Tei is Chikuwa Tei (9 Mohamed Sultan Road, #01-01, tel : +65 6738 9395).

Clearly, this place would be of interest to the people who once clamored to the drab 16 seater that once graced Far East Plaza. This new location by the former chef looked almost nothing like before and it seems that quite a bit has changed.

For one there was a larger menu now in the restaurant and there were actually a few wait staff manning the current premise which is much more spacious than before. The place even accepts reservations these days it seems. Changes as they were, did not come totally and some remnants of the old trademark of the now smiley chef could still be seen. Hell, even the cuts of the raw fish looked like before and their ankimo still looked like the maimed chunk of discolored wet clay.

After a few orders, one could also say that the quality of the food did not change but however, portions have become a little less generous and prices have gone up. Certainly, some of the dishes which I've never had the chance to order still came in rather large portions. Noticeably the hearty and comforting oyaku don which came a in a large steaming bowl of rice laden with the sweetish egg, chicken and onion over the top and a very nicely grilled squid which wasn't shabby at all. There were even the seasonal sawagani (small deep fried river crabs) which were lightly salted and nicely crispy and crabby in flavors.

Still, I think I would have preferred the old and regularly overlooked stall back in the day where one could not call up for a seat and had to queue 45 minutes in line waiting for the moment when either the chef of the wife would give the signal that we could enter and be seated. The slightly frantic but subdued shuffling of 16 pairs of feet into the restaurant where customers would quietly eye each other across the U shaped table as they got quickly to the seats and ordered quickly and then proceeded for the next wait over the preparation of the food.

What I had missed about that experience was a sort of anticipation of the unknown coming from the once dreaded service with a scowl.

sawagani

ankimo

sake

amaebi

oyaku don set

chirashi set

cod hot pot set

grilled squid

Hup Choon Seafood, Binjai Park

I was brought here once by a friend previously to this stall (1 Binjai Park, tel : +65 6468 4081) sequestered along a Y junction a little off the main Bt Timah road. I had thought that the food here was a rather good representation of local cookery (cze char) coupled with very affordable prices. The food was not different or fancy in any sense, there were the dishes commonly seen in such stalls and were rather well executed.

Sweet and sour pork was fried before being stir fried in the sauce. This left the pieces of meat with an outer layer coated with the sweet and sour sauce and yet was still a little crisp. This was one of the dishes I had the first time I was here and it's one of the better done ones I've had around.

The prawn paste mid wings were also well fried without excessive grease in the battered skin. Unfortunately, the flavour of the prawn paste could have done with a little more strength. What I personally liked about this was that the meat was quite easily removed from the bones without the use of fingers.

Oyster omelette was pretty decent with a good portion of the smallish fat oysters scattered into the fried egg. Again, I enjoyed this because it wasn't overly oily and the eggs were not fried to death.

These butter squids didn't taste very buttery at all and were in fact, just battered squid that were again, nicely fried with a crispy exterior and a hint of garlic and chilli.

Suitably greasy and spicy, the sambal kang kong was both crunchy and flavourful. I've had some pretty bad soggy greens from this dish on various occasions in the past and this was definitely not one of those knock offs.

Another obligatory vegetable dish of stir fried abalone mushrooms and spinach.

For a table of six with a round of drinks and rice, the bill came up to a mere $58. Very little for me to complain here. If not for the fact that this was a little out of the way, I could see my us coming down with some regularity.

Go! Go! Curry!, ION Orchard

Another chain restaurant that hails from the Shinjuku district of Tokyo which has been brought in by the En Group. Go Go Curry (2 Orchard Turn, #B4-54 ION Orchard, tel : +65 6509 4555) is one of several tonkatsu places that defines itself with their special blend of Japanese curry which is quite the different thing from the usual. For one, it was barely even spicy.

The rich tasting gooey stew like sauce (the curry) had a thicker consistency than regular Japanese curries. The flavors were both sweeter and also perhaps meatier? There wasn't any option for the choice of cuts for the pork katsus, which along with the chicken versions, featured a thinner breaded crust which I kind of liked. The lean meat was still a little juicy on the insides while the cheese options as an addition paid for topping wasn't as appealing as I was hoping for. The gravy could have been much warmer to facilitate the melting of those strips of mozzarella.

Still I thought it was a decent option for curried (or gravied) katsu rice to be had in town and until I've had my take with more from Ginza Bairin, I couldn't really say which one is the better.

Hup Lee Fried Bee Hoon, Chong Pang

Here's a couple of servings from Hup Lee fried bee hoon stall at Chong Pang (Blk 101, Yishun Ave 5, Swee Sian Yuan Eating House, #01-03). What I liked about this stall was the fact that the add ons on the side are not steeped in excessive amount of grease and for most of the them, taste freshly fried with that light crisp. Not soggy. Usually. Their eggs were also not over fried to the point that there's a chewy border of idontknowwhattocallthem. Hup Lee also makes a better ngoh heong for a non specialist place where one could taste the bits of water chestnut in them. 

Debatable as to whether they're the king of their hill, but the queue and crowd definitely speaks for itself.

Italiannies, TripleOne Somerset

I first encountered Italiannies (111 Somerset Road, #01-02 TripleOne Somerset, tel : +65 6736 4211) a few years back in Kuala Lumpur at The Curve. Little had I expected that a few years later today, they would be setting up shop here. In spite of what they claim, this was strictly American Italian styled food. Portions were hearty and surprisingly for me, there were certain items on the menu that agreed. Still, this place was a family restaurant chain of sorts. One should keep expectations moderated here.

This spinach and artichoke formaggio was quite hefty for a starter. The dish was a dip with bits of artichokes, mushroom and spinach in a creamy cheesy sauce. It didn't taste bad at all. I suppose it was a wee bit heavy on the grease. It was rich, salty and I thought it was a little too much cream and salt for a single serving.

Clams in olive oil, white wine, garlic, parsley and something that made it spicy. Generous amount of decent tasting clams which were made much better by the delicious broth. It wasn't amazingly good, but it was unexpectedly very tasty.

The Napoli Bianco was a non tomato based meat lovers pizza that didn't exactly have the thinnest thin crust out there. The pie was loaded with ground sausage, salami and bits of chicken. The weight of all that protein and fat simply folded the crust as each slice was lifted off. All that salty meatiness with cheese had me sold.

Grape Shake. Surprisingly very refreshing and clean tasting. We were told it was made with nothing but ice and blended grape. With skin. Definitely one of the better fruit slushies I've ever had. Not to be missed if you want a thirst quencher or make believe that you could actually be scouring off all the richness from your arteries.