Nagomi, Cuppage Plaza

This was a first visit for me down at Nagomi (5 Koek Road, #02-22 Cuppage Plaza, tel : +65 6732 4300). I was initially a little excited about the place because, well.....it was Nagomi and I wasn't too sure what to expect. What threw me a little off about about the visit was that I ended up undecided about how I felt about the place as it was ultimately for me, a bunch of mixed feelings.

In their food, one could taste the savory depth of shoyu and the sweetness of mirin. That might have been a one liner summary of things apart from the sashimi where each slice of fish had the clarity of its own flavors. The grilled wagyu wasn't as buttery as I had expected but the steamed sole (I think that's what he said) was piping hot and was faultless. I enjoyed the tofu with the nutty ponzu tossed salad, the soft braised nasu which was part of the otoshi I believe and the tempura of freshwater smelt was one of the better if not the best I've had. The serving of uni was especially aromatic. And in it all, very unintrusive attention from the proprietor.

Oh, the savory chicken porridge was really good as well.

But I left the place satisfied with the food and feeling a little hollow about the entire experience.

Perhaps it was the subconscious expectation that I might have been bowled over by the dinner. There was nothing I could fault, yet there was a nagging echo at the back of my head that seemed to indicate that expectations fell short somehow, somewhere.

Wong Chiew Dim Sum, Sembawang Road

Another great find here (19 Sembawang Road, tel : +65 6456 683) for some local rustic dim sum. I've been passing by this place for years and noticed the stall at the corner shop house that sells roast meat. It's been always out of sight and out of mind until recently, when I had realized that they're selling dim sum as well as a pretty wide variety of other cooked food. 

What's the deal with this place? I thought that the char siew bao was nicely done with fillings that could rival ones found in restaurants. Their century egg siew mai was exactly that - with a chunk of century egg stuffed beneath the meat fillings. Couldn't say that I've ever had something done that way or even thought of it but I liked this. Pork ribs was filled with that golden porky grease which made the perfect douse for their porridge filled with minced meat and chunky century eggs. Down to earth would be a good description for all the food here. 

No, there wasn't the lump of ebiko/tobiko on their siew mai or even crab roe that could be seen in their more refined cousins. It was just a daub of what could have been sweet chilli sauce and the radish cake certainly certainly wasn't smooth and creamy. I could also gripe about how slightly less easy it was to slurp the skin off the steamed chicken claws but I wouldn't. I guess these things didn't have to be. I was enjoying them all without the frills. Definitely coming back another time.

chee cheong fun with prawns

char siew bao

innards

fish meat balls

pan fried radish cake

steamed chicken claws with black bean sauce

century egg siew mai

pei dan chok (that's minced meat and century egg porridge for you)

siew mai

deep fried prawn and mango fritters

har gao

fu pei qun (bean curd skin rolls)

steamed pork ribs with black bean

JoLogs, Lucky Plaza

This place was a good recommendation. Even though the referral was to try their crispy pata (which I didn't get a chance to, yet!) and that I had deviated by giving the other items on menu a go. 

JoLogs (304 Orchard Road, #04-03 Lucky Plaza, tel : +65 6887 5724) is a place for rice meals where meats are paired with sinagag (rice) and itlog (sunny side up egg). Eggs are done either of three ways. Scrambled, sunny side up or salted. Yes, the last option was the salted egg most of us in this part of the world are familiar with. Orders are taken at the cashier counter and a number tag is then presented. You can then can help youself with packets of salted peanuts with fried garlic, bottomless drinks, condiments and the plastic utensil - all self service. 

We tried a serving of their sisiglog and another of their rice sets with smoked fish known as tinapa if I recall correctly. And then, there was also their juicy golden brown lechon kawali. Deep fried pork belly. If you were wondering what I had liked exactly out of all these, I could start by saying that the smoked fish was excellent pairing with the rice. It might have sounded like a no brainer there but the bits of garlic along with the salted egg and toasted peanuts found me a new winning combination of textures and flavours there. Not to neglect also, the crispy skinned lechon which had one of the nicest balance of fat and meat. I couldn't say that the sisig was anything impressive though. The crispy and chewy rendition on hotplate served down at 7107 definitely tops this.

 

Green Pumpkin Japanese Bakery Café, Nex

This place (23 Serangoon Central, #B1-K1 nex, tel : +65 6634 7990) was the cafe of the bakery of the same namesake, both of which were operating in a Japanese concept food hub down at Nex. It looked like one of those places that we would normally have walked past and not spared a second glance. As things would have it, everywhere else had snaking queues and this was the only one that did not.

We ordered an onion and bacon quiche to share while waiting for the food. It was warm, buttery and egg-y at the same time and even though it looked like it might have come from a pastry factory van, it didn't taste too bad at all.

They had a niku nanban soba on menu which was a lot better than we had imagined. The soba that was used here apparently is freshly made from one of the peer concept stalls. It was all in a light yet smoky dashi broth filled with mushrooms, shabu styled beef slices and even a poached egg that had molten yolk.

We had an order of their tagliatelle bolognese which turned out to be a lot better than I had imagined. The difference from a traditional rendition and this was a large dollop of ricotta cheese on top of the pasta. Which made very little difference if you had attempted to toss them into the rest of the pasta since it would melt away into a puddle of very little flavors. Having the ricotta on bolognese was interesting but probably not the best of ideas. There wasn't enough of the cheese to go around.

What I did really like was the sauce which didn't taste like it came from a jar with the usual atrocious herby aroma. This tasted home made and quite hearty at it.

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!