A tonkotsu ramen from RamenPlay

To my surprise the basic tonkotsu broth from RamenPlay (313 Orchard Road, #B3-04/06 313 @ Somerset, tel : +65 6634 0051) was actually not bad at all. I suppose I had initially been prejudiced since this was a venture by Breadtalk and local bakeries dipping their fingers into the already competitive ramen business wasn't exactly what I had felt to be something I would have thought to be "competitive".

Here was a creamy thick broth without some of the additional layer of dimension as compared to Ikkousha or perhaps Keisuke's Tonkotsu King, but it did possess the basic flavors that were sufficient that I wouldn't discount them so readily in the future. Even if they hadn't been using the firmer textured Hakata styled thin noodles which I would very much prefer. Even the soft and thin sliced charshu wasn't too bad as well. I couldn't say that RamenPlay is anywhere up amongst my favorites, but I still have to admit they're doing a decent job.

Limoncello Italian Pizza & Grill, Rivergate @ Robertson Quay

 

About the only thing I knew about Limoncello (95 Robertson Quay, #01-19/20 Rivergate, tel : +65 6634 5117) was that it was opened up by the chef that used to La Braceria. I remember having walked past the locale quite some time back and it had then been still the shop front of the previous occupant whom had subsequently gone out of business. Then a friend tipped me off and suggested that I give them a try.

 

We decided to give a poke on their antipasto Limoncello which turned out to be pretty enormous in portions. It was a pretty standard smorgasbord of cured meats that included salami, prosciutto di Parma, something else that might have been pancetta and a creamy burrata.  That and some tasty San Marzano tomatoes in olive oil and a spicy garlic toast. The cold cuts were aromatic and salty, cheese was milky rich which clicked with the rockets and the garlic bread was really delicious with the ham. Their unexpectedly large portions (which was described to be good for 2) was almost a meal for 2.

The inevitable comparison came about from their porcini and truffle risotto with the ones from La Braceria. This was pretty good and I had little reason to expect much discernable differences between the two. But if I had to say it, I think the latter had a stronger truffle flavour.

We had to pack half of their pizza della casa for take away because the antipasto and risotto already had us at the seams. Not to mention that this was one packed pizza with rolls of thinly sliced tenderloin and luxuriant amounts of mozzarella on top of a crust that was folding beneath all the weight of the toppings. The meat was unexpectedly tender and the portions altogether was generous on a not so thin and chewy crush. Della casa indeed, and a hearty one too. Will definitely consider this when I have a craving for pizza again.

Dessert was a crumbly Limoncello cake with almonds. Wasn't very exciting, didn't taste any of the liquor.

Breakfast burritos at Wendy's...?

This was what Wendy's passed off as a breakfast burrito. There's a certain veneer thin marketing attempt promotion for the week. Basically, one gets a "free" burrito for getting a coffee. For a dollar ninety. Get it?

To put into local context, this was really more poh piah than burrito. It looked to be about a third in thickness as the posters had misled me to believe and it was about as long as the plastic stirrer they dispensed for the coffee which was by the way, really lousy. What I did like about them was that they were freshly prepared. It was almost 5 minutes of wait for each order and they were served piping hot. They were filled with eggs, bits of chicken and cheese and I actually kinda liked them for what they were.

I wouldn't discount two of these for breakfast. Only if it's for a dollar ninety a piece.

A Diamond in July

It has been quite a while since we were last prime ribbing at Lawry's. This would be our second visit down at the current location in Mandarin Gallery (333A Orchard Road, #04-01/31 Mandarin Gallery, tel : +65 6836 3333). Since it's been a while, it was actually also a little exciting to see them carve up my Diamond Jimbo as the beefy fragrance wafted across the table. 

The meat as my last recollection, was tender and excellent. And it seems that the current service crew is noticeably a notch up from the last ones back in Paragon. Well done there.

Ten Restaurant, The Central

Here's a super deluxe tendon from Ten Restaurant (6 Eu Tong Sen Street, #01-68 The Central @ Clarke Quay, tel : +65 6221 2185). I'm going ahead to state the obvious that this joint specializes in tempura even though there is a display of some sushi certification at the front of the restaurant. Was that a point to be made about their sushi in the event no one likes their tempura?

While I wouldn't just write off the food here since it wasn't bad per se, I couldn't say that I was impressed by their tendon. I'm sure I've had better fried anago where the batter wasn't as dense and the meat wasn't as measly. Plus we were quite sure that there was a taste like shortening in the batter.

Funny thing is, the sashimi that the next table had ordered looked pretty good. Fat slices, firm looking meat from the fish, adept knife work, glistening and all.

Re-revisiting Etna

Two visits over the span of a week, I must have been voodoo-ed by something at Etna. This time round, it was really a series of hits and misses.

Here we have a grilled Asiago cheese wrapped in Parma ham on oregano toasts with porcini mushrooms. The flavours were pretty much how I expected, mostly earthy pungent with a rush of salt and laced with the tart of the vinegar that made them altogether pretty tasty.

The antipasto di mare was unfortunately a bit of a bore. I didn't quite take to the artificially crunchy texture of the prawns with semi translucent meat. These didn't taste like the prawns that were used for their delicious risotto and were certainly also not the ones in the frittura mista as well.

There was a fettuccini with black summer truffles. This was an oil based pasta (though I am unable to determine what oil that was) that was really perfumed by the fungus. None of the truffle oil infusion to boost the concentration of flavours. I thought this was pretty good on its own, but I couldn't help but compare it to the reminder of a buttery sauced rendition I had once at Bonta. 

Off their specials menu, was a filo pastry wrapped tenderloin. It was quite the bummer that the steak was cooked beyond the specified doneness. It had arrived pretty much medium well rather than the medium rare request. To their credit, it still turned out very acceptable in my opinion. I did like that the meat had been seared (char flavour!) before they had wrapped it up in the pastry and sent it into the oven. The Gorgonzola sauce helped the fact that the meat was a little dryer than I would have liked.

Didn't think much of the cannoli at all. The ricotta wasn't as rich and creamy as I was expecting and the shells were extra thick and hard. Here cues the happier memories of the much better ones from Gattopardo and Garibaldi.

Fortunately, their pistachio tiramisu was as good as we remembered it. Out of the variants of pick me ups I can recall, this has got to be one of the more outstanding takes. The chocolate drizzles made up for the lack of cocoa, but it was the flavour from the bits of pistachio and mascarpone that I really liked.

In spite of some of the things that I didn't quite like here, their fairly extensive selection on menu combined with what I did enjoy will probably get me walking back again.