SIN -> BKK and BKK -> SIN on SQ Economy

I'm guessing by logical deduction that airplane food must have gotten better over the years, but they still don't taste very good. In fact, the poached eggs that they served over on the flight to Bangkok was just weird. But I guess I shouldn't expect too much over massed packed microwaved food. Stay tuned for eats at Bangkok.

Gantetsu from Ramen Champion

Here's a bowl of special miso ramen sans ginger from Gantetsu, the guys who're representing Hokkaido styled ramen down at Ramen Champion. For some reasons, I had always had the impression that I never liked miso based ramen and hence, seldom if ever ordered them. With this experience, my perceptions of them have changed a little and the fact is, I do not dislike them. In fact, the thick and savoury miso broth which was mixed with that knob of butter turned out to be quite good. It's now probably more of the fact that I prefer tonkotsu over these.

Yes, there was definitely the tender charshu that featured stratas of fat that disintegrated as you chewed them. There were some menma, negi and a healthy portion of corn as well along with an unimpressive ajitama. The noodles were chewy the way I liked as well. I wouldn't say that I've become a convert to a fan of this particular style, but at least I'll be more receptive the next time an option presents itself.

A blue swimmer crab burger from De Burg

This turned out to be some kind of crab rendition of a sloppy joe from De Burg. There was suppose to be salted egg yolk in there but I could only get the slightest bit of salted egg flavour. Couldn't really identify what else went in there and while this burger of theirs didn't quite suck, it didn't exactly make me want to come rushing back for more again soon. There was actually quite a bit of minced crab meat in the buns and the whole burger was so light that it went down in short minutes.

Inaho's Kitchen Bar, Duxton Road

I've been meaning to update this post for a while, but have been caught up in the past few days with work and the blood soaked feud between the Lannisters and the Starks.

Inaho's Kitchen Bar (60A Duxton Road, tel : +65 9090 6948) is run by a disarmingly curious/friendly proprietress Miho, whom has been living here for the past sixteen years. Curiosity got the better hold of us and we asked about the establishment's clientele. It was mentioned that about 5% at an approximate, wasn't Japanese. When we asked what was the English in the menu for, her three word response was 'sometimes ang moh'.

We ordered a bunch of dishes to try. Their home styled preparation was definitely up my alley. Being both a kitchen and a bar, the food that they served did go pretty well with drinks.

cod roe cream omelette

First up was an almost scramble egg like omelette that was doused in a cream mixed with cod roe. The flavour of the roe were robust in that ethereal cream and we pretty much wiped the plate clean with an extra portion of their freshly toasted sliced baguette.

gyu tan

I couldn't resist having a shot at their chewy pan fried cow tongue which was served thinly sliced. They were beefy tasting. The portions were rather small though. Of course I wished there were more.

grilled squid with ponzu & mayo

I couldn't taste any grill off their grilled squid. In fact, the mollusc tasted like it was braised. To which I didn't have any real complains. The pairing of grated daikon along with their ponzu dressing and heavy drizzle of mayo perked flavours up a couple of notches.

black pepper Hiroshima oysters with bamboo shoots

Miho mentioned that these fat oysters were from her place of birth. They were the largest Hiroshima oysters I've had. Even after they were cooked, these oysters were still a literal mouthful for me. Good enough for returns for sure.

sauteed pork with kimchi 

The sliced pieces sautéed pork actually packed more sodium than spice but I guess this was really just bar food here. Or maybe Japanese kimchi wasn't meant to pack as much punch as the Korean ones? Apart from the lack of the kimchi flavour, this was pretty enjoyable and would have been great to eat with rice.

I'm favourably disposed towards this hideout. Will consider coming back again.

Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice, Mei Ling Food Centre

I had only recently learned of this particular Sin Kee chicken rice (#02-22 Mei Lin Food Centre, Blk 159 Mei Chin Road) stall after having eaten a number of times at the "other" one down at Queenstown which I had thought to be the old stall relocated from the old hawker at Margaret Drive. Whew, that was a long one.

This place turned out to be better than the previously mentioned location. The chilled meat from the boiled chook was more tender, easier to slurp off the bone while the savoury sesame and soy sauce mixture were seemed tastier than the other. The rice was good that one could simply eat them without the chilli. It had one of the rare winning combination of sufficiently greased and yet, light at the same time while being infused with sufficient flavour. It wouldn't be difficult to find an excuse to come back. 

Update: 19/08/2011

We returned for a consecutive day for lunch and this time round, we topped the order up with a side of boiled greens (nai bai). Crunchy stemmed greens with leafy tops that held up their delicious sauce that it was drenched with. This time round, I managed two plates of their rice with nary a drop of chilli and to no surprise, it was still all good for me. I guess the broth that was used for cooking must have gone through the painstaking removal of excess grease for the rice to be so well flavoured without being heavy. None of that garlic scented burps after lunch as well. Yes, it's been a while since I've been excited over a chicken rice stall. This one is just gonna be tough to beat.

 

Basilico, Regent Hotel

We first noticed Basilico (1 Cuscaden Road, Level 2 The Regent Singapore, tel : +65 6725 3232) more than three years ago when we first visited Tenshin. At that time, the place was boarded up for renovations. It has taken us quite a long time to come to this place and I'm glad we made it. Weekday dinners come in the form of semi buffet. One gets an order of a main and the antipasti along with desserts are there for you to gorge yourself with.

I don't eat as much as I used to, so I am more selective. It was a little bit of this and a little bit of that. And I gorged myself in quite a few pieces of Gorgonzola blanketed with generous portions of truffle honey. And yes, I enjoyed myself while at that. The vine ripened cherry tomatoes were flavourful, it's nice to help myself with as much asparagus wrapped in Parma ham as I felt like eating and they had a pretty good Bailey's creme brulee at the dessert section.

We ordered the grilled Angus tenderloin with shaven truffles from the menu. The beef, was excellent and nicely timed medium rare. The truffles, were wasted on it. If I had to gripe, I only wished that the surface was a little more charred for texture and aroma, but I'm not complaining here. The meat was accompanied by a triangle of polenta which I really liked. Beats old boring small potatoes....haha.

The pan seared foie gras was excellent, came accompanied with Amarena cherries and what was described as Riesling wine gelatine. The latter didn't really appear so gelatinous to me and tasted quite amazing with on the crispy toast and truffles. I'll be damned if I don't order this again the next time I come. But then again, it'll be a damned if I do and damned if I don't situation since I would love to try something else on the menu.