Old Hong Kong Kitchen, Square 2

After three visits, there are definitely things going on around here (10 Sinaran Drive, #02-80 Novena Square 2, tel : +65 6397 7023) that I liked. In spite of a poor show of staples like the ubiquitous char siew bao with skin that was a little hard and fillings that were, we managed to find some redemptive dishes that made us come back.

Like the competently done har gao and the XO sauce carrot cake that wasn't overly greasy and was well textured with the accompanied egg and crunchy bean sprouts. I definitely loved the bean curd skin wrap with chicken, fish maw, pig stomach and mushrooms along with their collagen filled shark cartilage soup with conpoy and fish maw wanton. The latter two of which have become my regular favourites.

The plate of colourful stuff was supposed to be sautéed scallops with goose liver sauce. What I didn't expect was that it consisted of mostly bell pepper fillers. It was a mistake that will not be repeated.

This place is probably a little pricier than Imperial Treasure which I feel does a very good job of dim sum, but not so much that I wouldn't consider them again when I feel like a little change. Maybe I could try dinner another time.

Gattopardo Italian Grill & Pizzabar, Hotel Fort Canning

I have been wanting to give Gattopardo (Hotel Fort Canning, 11 Canning Walk, tel : +65 6338 5498) a try for quite a while now. In retrospect, it had turned out to be a case of anticipation that finally met up with a series of mixed feelings.

What had caused those mixed feelings over a place with good service and delicious Sicilian food you might wonder? I guess I had expected a little more out of their sardines alla Beccaficu with stuffing of breadcrumb, olives, pine nuts and raisins. I would imagine that such a combination would result in a play of textures and flavours. I couldn't have been more wrong. The stuffings felt like a paste - a blob of cooked polenta perhaps and was overwhelmed in both textures and flavour by the sardines. I did enjoy those fresh warm sardines, but I guess that was pretty much all there was to them.

Next up was their seafood stew served in a terra cotta pot. Didn't quite think that presentation scored with that since the pot was obviously not used for the cooking. The broth was infused with the flavours of seafood and tomatoes, but it had ultimately felt like a seafood ratatouille. Didn't think it was worth that they had charged since it was pretty much the usual seafood for a signature stew.

The pizze Arrotolata was a hearty one. What did I like about it? The fillings were milky and chewy with generous stuffing of mozzarella; porky and greasy with the bits of suckling pig meat and fat. All of those aforementioned cheesy and porky goodness was further bolstered by a robust platform of flavorus from the porcini mushrooms.

I guess I had also been expecting bits of crispy suckling pig skin in there which there wasn't. And I guessed that their supposedly smoked mozzarella tasted exactly like the regular ones and that it would have been great if they hadn't forgotten that grape sauce which was suppose to be in the pizza. Wow, talk about mixed feelings.

Ordering desserts is usually a good thing for me since I would not have bothered if I had felt that the rest of the meal wasn't worth the time or money to invest further. Their rum baba turned out to be an excellent choice as the rum infused cake was amazingly light. It must have been really soft and airy if it wasn't soaked in the rum. Would have been great if there was more cream to go along and the lime sorbet was a nice touch.

Itacho Sushi revisited......

Here was a fish and rice filled dinner that we had. It was a much better experience than the first visit when I wasn't very impressed at all. I still feel the same about their aburi-ed items. It certainly lacked a full body scorch aroma which I was expecting but the rest of the items were not too bad. Put into consideration also that ION was definitely a convenient location.

Sabar Menanti, Kandahar Street

I hadn't realized that this place (48 Kandahar Street, tel : +65 6396 6919) had been visited by Anthony Bourdain until very recently. So said his little photograph behind the cashier counter at the front of the restaurant.

That aside, the food was pretty damn good in a hearty sort of way. Good enough to send me to a coma shortly after lunch from the extra portions of rice made necessary by the rich and savoury/spicy gravies which I had found hard to resist.

I'm talking about heart clogging creamy goop from the ayam rendang and the spicily flavourful and rich tasting gravy from the ayam obor. Not to be overlooked as well, was the beef rendang redolent in the aromas of coconut and and char aroma which I suspiciously felt came from the black (read burnt) bits. This I'm sure, was enough reasons for one to request for more than one portion of their modestly portioned rice.

Their frills free (only potato and nothing else) begedil was really good too. Will try to make a trip down another day.

ayam rendang

ayam opor

paru belado

stir fried long beans?

begedil

some tasty omelete

pretty awesome beef rendang

Prime rib from Crossroads Cafe

I saw on the board behind the bar that they had prime rib on the menu on Thursdays. Beside appearing a little mangled and slightly undercooked, the meat did taste pretty ok. It wasn't the kind of quality they had over at Lawry's or at Tanglin Club but I guess for what it cost, you do get what you pay for. There was a pretty tasty and slightly tart au jus and a choice of sides which included a pretty smooth creamed spinach and some salted asparagus which I liked. Guess here's an option for affordable prime rib on the weekdays apart from the one down at Hog's Breath.

A semla from Ikea's cafeteria

I hadn't seen or heard of these things before so I grabbed one out of curiosity down in the Ikea at Tampines. These semla turned out to be pretty good. What they essentially were, is a cardamom spiced wheat bun with cream and almond paste on the top and a dusting of powdered sugar. It wasn't as sweet as I was worried about and I had to say that the subtle cardamom flavour in the bun did help in my decision of liking it. Now, if I could only try some of these freshly made!