Revisiting Scala Shark's Fin Restaurant

This was a re-visit in particular which I had been looking forward to and it was largely because of the stir fried fish maw which I had previously.

This time round, we ordered the steamed crab claws and kale. There was just the natural sweetness of the meat from the claws and a bit of oyster sauce to flavour the kale. The taste was light, sweet and clean.  It seems that the number of crab claws that was served was dependent on how many of them you wanted and the dish was charged accordingly. Serving crab claws by themselves are an awesome idea.

And of course, the stir fried fish maw with bits of chopped up river prawns. The flavours of the maw was a bit more complex this time round as there was river prawns compared with the last visit where it was just fish maw. Soaked into the maw this time was a deep crustacean flavour similar to crab roe. The robust flavors and the airy textures resulted in a light tasting dish that one wouldn't get tired of. But then again, your mileage may vary.

Following up, was a claypot tang hoon with river prawns. Hidden in the bottom of the claypot beneath the vermicelli, were peppercorn, bits of baby garlic, spring onions and thinly sliced pork belly which help add flavour to the noodles which would have soaked in the richness from all the combined ingredients.

We wrapped up with some chilled bird's nest. What worked for me was the soothing sweet pandan flavors in the dessert in tandem with the chill and gelatinous stripy textures. Otherwise, I have never been a proponent of these things as I find them overly costly.

A return to Pow Sing

The inevitable comparison for me came about again with the chicken rice from Pow Sing and my still favourite from Mei Ling Food Centre. In retrospect, this could come in as a serious contender if not for the tenderness of the meat and the rice which paled in terms of fluffiness.

Their light and savoury fish maw soup was exactly what I was looking for while the slightly crunchy Nonya cabbage rolls came stuffed with competently whipped up salty and spicy otah in the middle. A genuine tribute to home styled cooking.

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.