Ristorante da Valentino, Turf City

This return to Valentino's (200 Turf Club Road, #01-19, tel : + 65 6462 0555) was way overdue. We've been wanting to come back for ages since the last visit, but somehow it never materialized until today. I was actually pretty excited. We drove and got lost on the other end of Turf City before finding the new location.

This was an order of fresh figs, Parmigiano Reggiano and what tasted like very fresh salami. Perhaps they were made here. Nothing surprising about the flavour of the porky salami, salty and milky chunks of Parmesan nor piquant olives, but the figs were excellent. Soft, sweet and pretty juicy. These are so difficult to come by.

The other starter which the server recommended was the grilled octopus leg which was really amazing. The leg was sliced upon serving and the fragrant aromas of the grilled meat were the first to hit us. Some parts of the octopus were unexpectedly tender while the other parts were a tad chewy, but all of it had that very fragrant exterior from the grill which made mouth water. The circumferences of the suckers and the thin end of the tendril were roasted to an aromatic crisp. Very impressed.

Here's a half portion of their squid ink fettuccine in tomato cream sauce and crab meat. As it was from the first visit, we were still quite blown away by it. This time round, we detected another layer to the flavour of the sauce. It was spiciness from red chilli which worked in an almost subtle role in the backdrop. The crab meat were chunky and freshly sweet.

Yes, we also fell back into another item which we liked from them - tenderloin in Gorgonzola sauce. It was as good as we remembered and the meat was also as small as I recalled. Haha....not complaining here. The flavour from the sauce had the same intensity from the blue cheese as we had remembered. This time round, we noticed that the accompanying vegetables and new potatoes were scented with rosemary.

Dessert was a chocolate crumble. Chewy innards with crumbly exterior topped with vanilla ice cream. I think I'll stick to the profiteroles the next time.

Here's where I say we'll be back again.

National Day dinner at Hup Choon Eating House

Yes, the array of dishes were pretty much the same as the ones from the previous visit. As far as cze char goes, the standards for some of the items cooked here in the context of these days are gold for me. So it becomes challenging to deviate from certain favourites. Like the firm and chewy sweet and sour pork and their crispy and subtler prawn paste mid wings.

Today, we tried a Nonya styled curry fish head which was from response gauged at the table, a very well done dish. The rich curry was robustly flavoured with dried shrimp (hae bi) and in spite of its cholesterol spiking bad boy looks, it encouraged spoonful after spoonfuls of the nutty spicy concoction. A killer, if you would - bedfellows with white rice. The accompanying vegetables were well timed in their cooking that they were all tender but not mushy.  The fish head was of fairly generous portions and fresh tasting too.

&MADE by Bruno Ménard

 

I'll skip the interesting stories about how Bruno Ménard used to run a 3 Michelin starred French restaurant in Tokyo and fate has relegated him onto our sunny shores to run a burger/sandwich joint (9 Scotts Road, #01-04/05/06 Pacific Plaza, tel : +65 6238 5549) these days. That's what Google is for.

I prefer talk about the food. Do I like it?  Yes, it was pretty tasty.  The dry aged beef burger with Comte cheese and sautéed onions was impressively one of the better, juicier and beefier pink medium rare doneness burger that I've had in a while. In a light, soft and airy bun. It's one of those things that you sink your teeth into and then quietly exclaim to yourself, "wow!". Those toastoo things which were buckwheat crepes were nicely made as well. I had the one stuffed with smoked salmon, cheese and spinach. The food was all freshly prepared and arrived hot. And juicy.

What didn't work for me were the dainty portions. Too damned small for a hungry person was my first impression and I could easily do three of those toastoos for breakfast. That though, would make it a rather expensive breakfast. Ditto for the burger which probably had one of the smallest non slider patty I've come across. 

Service was prettyy good and the food was great. I'd like to give it another shot someday. Maybe.

Mr Prata, Evans Road

Here's a maggi goreng mutton and a mutton dum briyani (weekends special apparently) from Mr Prata (26 Evans Road, #01-02, tel : +65 6235 6993).

The place was better than I had imagined. The prices on the whole were competitive compared to the other "famous prata shacks". That being said, I haven't really tried any other prata except for their "Italian" one which featured fillings of cheese, ground mutton, onions and strips of green peppers. It wasn't anything mind blowing though.

The dum briyani mutton was cooked with basmati rice that was infused with spices. That rice was tasty that one could just eat them naked. The cooked in meat was on the other hand too dry even though it wasn't tough. Maggi goreng mutton was competently stir fried with a semi liquid yolk egg. I wouldn't mind coming back again.

A worthy mee pok at Whampoa food centre

...can only mention the firm mee pok flavoured with bits of browned garlic and deep fried lard. Also the refillable soup that included wanton which had dried sole in its stuffings.

Ack!

Wooloomooloo Steakhouse, Swissotel The Stamford

focaccia with caramelised onions 

I've heard about this (2 Stamford Road, Level 3 Swissotel the Stamford, tel : +65 6338 0261) Australia-esque steakhouse from Hong Kong and decided to check them out. The setup of their menu reminded us of a mini-Morton's. Even the prices were a little more mini in comparison as well. But service from the restaurant was excellent and not miniaturised.

Dinner started by serving a freshly baked caramelised onion focaccia.

half portion of an excellent lobster bisque

The rendition of the cognac laced lobster bisque from Wooloomooloo was luxuriant. Natural sweetness from the crustacean was rich in the creamy broth backed with a trickle of prickling spice as it ran down the throat. Glad to find that the token piece of lobster that came with the bisque retained a great deal of its natural sweetness as well.

jumbo lump crab cake

Crab cakes were mixed with breadcrumbs. The result left a slightly floury texture but the crabs were tender and fresh tasting, spiced with little but salt and pepper. It also understandably didn't leave as much of an impression as the ones from Morton's.

beef wellington

For a country that's self proclaimed as a food paradise, beef wellingtons are somewhat a rarity. Wooloomooloo's tasted pretty good. 8oz tenderloin with mushroom duxelle, topped with foie gras and baked in a buttery crust. The inevitable comparison for me came between this and the filo pastry tenderloin from Etna which had actually more flavour in the seared meat. This one had foie gras and more buttery pastry. But then the latter had blue cheese sauce. Well, this came with a pretty good Maidera sauce which couldn't be discounted as well. And so forth.

ribeye (150-day grain fed, 2-3 weeks wet aged, Grainge Farms, Gippsland, Victoria)

The ribeye was in short, delicious. Their 12oz Australian Black Angus was a stellar representative of a properly done medium rib steak laced with a decent amount of fat and finished with a nice char on the surface with little to detract from the natural flavour of the meat but salt and pepper.

sauces and sides

Accompanying sides of sautéed spinach and mushrooms and the thin hash browns were nice. What I thought was outstanding was their creamy peppercorn sauce. In a wonderful, strange, sweet and peppery manner it got me.

As much as we would have wanted sweet ending, we had no more room for desserts.