Pork bone seafood tsukemen from Menya Shinchan

What kept me coming back to Menya Shinchan were the different types of broth for their ramen which I haven't tried in entirety. This was my first tsukemen. Reminded me of a very thick fish soup with bits of braised charshu. Possibly with bonito. While I couldn't quite place my finger to what about it that was tonkotsu, it certainly carried enough elements of that to remind me so. On the other hand, I probably might not have identified the pork bone base in a blind taste test.

The thick noodles were firm and chewy but weren't chilled. Did the job of a quick dinner that also didn't make me perspire overly in the evening humidity. I did finish up most of that soup as well.

Roadside durian stall at Balestier

I have seldom if ever talked about durians and this is probably the first time I've gotten them on photos. I do enjoy eating certain strains of the fruit. If that's a correct term for describing their variety. These above are mao shan wang which we've purchased off a roadside stall along Balestier Road, located just in front a temple. In truth, I do not know how can they be identified beyond the bittersweet flavored and thick custard like flesh with a certain shade of yellow. For a fruit that I've eaten countless times in my life, I usually have the tendency to usually forget how filling those rich and creamy meat can be.

Edit : I've just found out that the stall is known as Combat Durian (249 Balestier Road, Goh Chor Tua Pek Kong Temple). They even have a Facebook page!

Crisp airy kosong and cheesy pisang prata

This might not look like much on picture, but they were pretty good prata there from Al Ameen. What I liked about their kosong was their lightly crisp and airy texture and that the pan fried prata wasn't soaked in excessive oil. The other slice lying just below was filled with chewy mozzarella cheese and melted bananas. It's not an overly unusual combination these days, but damn it was good. No powdered instant curry was used here as well.

Whence came this strawberry shortcake?

This was, as one could term it - baked by loving hands. Freshly home baked chiffon dressed in light buttery cream with strawberries and nicely chilled in the fridge. Very little of them survived the first evening.

Da Luca Italian Restaurant, Goldhill Plaza

The spores of Italian cuisine have again spread. Located not far away from Matsuo Sushi is a relatively new restaurant, Da Luca Italian Restaurant (1 Goldhill Plaza, #01-19/21 Goldhill Plaza, tel : +65 6258 4846), at Goldhill Plaza. Little frills but serves hearty food. The type that I would prefer. The chef Luca, as I have heard was previously from Garibaldi and Gunther's. As a matter of coincidence, as we walked into the restaurant, we recognized the wait staff whom we've seen back in both Garibaldi and Gattopardo. Small world it is then.

Their bread served came in the form of thick sticks of olive foccacia. Crusty, porous and pretty good for soaking up dips which we dutifully did from the stewed tripe.

The stewed tripe was done in a tomato cheese sauce and Parmesan. The sauce was both light and creamy while the tripe was tender and chewy. It was a little less tart than the one at La Braceria and less cheesy than those from Pietrasanta. We enjoyed the warm heartiness of it and will want to come back for this.

I probably shouldn't be making comparison of the stracci here with the one at Oso since they are of different sauces. As much as I would like to decide that the latter is the better, I enjoyed this flavourful rendition as much. And also as much as I think that I generally avoid tomato base stuff, I liked every bit of the sauce. Wouldn't mind eating this again for sure.

Da Luca's soft spinach gnocchi with Gorgonzola sauce was....dang, I'm out of adjectives for the day. Hearty it is then. No complains about the creamy Gorgonzola sauce which had the prerequisite pungent aroma of the cheese wafting from the moment the pasta was plated. Tempered by the sweet balsamic drizzle. Couldn't get enough of them.

Dessert was a tiramisu. We just wanted to try it for comparison's sake. Not with those served in other restaurants but with those that we've made ourselves at home.

The restaurant served a sugar dusted pastry, chiacchiere at the end that came with a zabaglione and chocolate dip. I have to be honest and say that it wasn't spectacular, but it was definitely a nice gesture. I think every table got one of these. Here's the part where I say that I'm definitely coming back again for re-visits.

Blanco Court Prawn Mee, Beach Road

We've walked by this place on several occasions, so this time round we stopped over to try the prawn noodles. Here's a look at both the soup and dry options for the 3 in 1 noodle from Blanco Court Prawn Mee (243 Beach Road, #01-01 tel : +65 6396 8464). 

What made the 3 in 1 option was basically the addition of boiled pork ribs and pig tails in the bowl of noodles. There were also some pig skin in there as well. The dry version was pretty decent and one could pack a lot of heat into the noodles by simply adding chilli powder and thinly sliced chilli padi. The noodles already come dressed in chilli sauce. However, I think I enjoyed the soup version more. The crustacean sweetness (along with lard and fried shallots too!) was robust in the broth and seemed much more so than another similar stall down at East Coast Road. I hate to think about how much MSG I might have ingested if there truly was any involved at all but damn the soup was good. And there was refilling available for that soup as well. The chor bee hoon was firm, pig skin springy and the porky tasting pig tails were pretty much like a tiny version of oxtail. Definitely good for returns.