A weekend breakfast at Sarnies

Remember that I've mentioned liking the vibe from this place? Well I came back soon enough again for breakfast. I've pretty much said it all for their delicious fry up at Sarnies. Today, we got a bacon and egg roll as well.

What was that about? Think a pile of thin crispy salty bacon, flavours woven into the rich molten sunny side up yolks of the eggs, balanced off in a tomato jam/salsa thingy between freshly toasted ciabatta. I love that these guys do real sandwiches.  

Mapo don from Ohsho

I've had mapo tofu countless of times and have never known much about them except for their origins from the province of Szechuan. I'm guessing that the local renditions taste nothing like the ones from a place known for fiery lip numbing flavours. No real real basis of comparison against the original dish that I could make for the one from Ohsho except that which I've had locally.

Ohsho did what I thought to be a pretty regular tasting rendition marked by the flavour of fermented bean sauce, possibly vinegar resulting in a tanginess and some heat. That together with tofu and minced pork for additional bite and texture. The combined spicy and sour was appetizing, allowing me to overlook the starchy gravy that I generally dislike. This would actually make one pretty comforting cold weather meal. If it only ever got that cold around Ohsho.

More stuff from Island Cafe

So I'm back here again, hiding in air conditioning from the heat of the sweltering mid day sun, getting lunch and sipping my calamansi crush.

The chicken satay that they served was unfortunately very forgettable. The application of the marinade, quality of meat and expertise of the grill left quite a bit to be desired and it wasn't even close to the better ones that one can get with not too much difficulty elsewhere. In spite of the generous amounts of crushed peanuts in the sauce, it was concocted to be too watery for it to come together as a good dip. What's the point of having so much peanut when the satay can barely hold the watery satay sauce eh? And that fancy little funnel shaped bowl tends to enjoy making a sport of toppling itself over. A martini glass would have been more stable.

So atas food isn't always better after all.

And yes, there was chicken rice.

They serve a pretty pricey chicken rice here. It wasn't Chatterbox expensive but if most people were to be asked, it was expensive for chicken rice. That being said, I thought it was pretty well done on a non mind blowing scale. The rice was light, had just enough fragrance, was moist enough yet grainy. The flavours were present yet almost subtle. It was almost like my favourite spot elsewhere. And mind you, those sliced chicken thigh were served in a deliciously savoury hot broth. Or am I suppose to call that a consommé? Not just the usual rustic and regular light soya sauce and sesame oil drizzle.

Did I like the chilli? Yeah, that wasn't too bad too if I might say. It packed some heat and was generous with the limes. The accompanying dark soy sauce was especially aromatic.

The find of the day for us in Island Cafe was their prawn noodles. It came with a large grilled crunchy prawn apart from the "dwarfed over" boiled ones that came in the broth of the noodles; which by the way, was almost sublime. It was a very enjoyable ratio of part savoury, part crustacean-y and part sweetness that didn't taste like it was artificially enhanced.

Yes, it would be no further from the truth that one could actually have something similar for a fifth of what they charged at this place. But I wouldn't get a boiled chicken thigh in consommé and prawn kuey teow with a large grilled prawn. For a fifth of the price, I also wouldn't be sipping my iced calamansi crush in the comfort of air conditioning as well. Sometimes, I want to get a bit more comfortable while I'm eating too.

Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru, Liang Court

otoro

I think I'm gonna have to say that I think Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru (177 River Valley Road, #B1-48 Liang Court, tel : +65 6337 1022) was generally better than the looks of the place suggested. The quality and prices both indicated that what they served, were entry level stuff. Albeit respectable entry level which puts them on similar leagues with perhaps, Itacho Sushi. Which probably means that this place could be a sushi fix spot in Liang Court and that I wouldn't have to deal with an insane queue in a place like ION. Yay?

There were some hits and misses, thankfully, more hits than misses. I enjoyed the ankimo in ponzu as clinical as the presentation might have been and their cheap otoro actually tasted pretty good.  The chilly nama shirasu gunkan with little fish that popped between the teeth was definitely up my alley with their mild briny flavors while the kanimiso ones was rich in flavor of crab liver. Good that we had seconds. Even the torched cheese from the aburi cheese ebi was memorable in its own salty cheesy way.

The 'off' sides came from the uni gunkan which was frankly far from the best representitive of uni that could be served. The hue of the flesh from the uni looked a little dark and the flavors were lacking of the bouquet that could be found in fresh sea urchin of better quality. Anago was a little thin and could use a little more browning for better flavor in my opinion.

Like I said, hits and misses. I wouldn't scramble back in a hurry for sushi here, but will definitely consider them as an option for quick fixes when I'm in Liang Court.

ankimo

salmon belly

nama shirasu

uni

kanimiso

maguro and avocado

nama sakuraebi

engawa

anago

aburi cheese ebi

Tendon only from Hong Heng Beef Noodles

Something has happened to Hong Heng (#01-16 Kebun Baru Food Centre, Ang Mo Kio St. 22)? It's been only two visits since they've moved to the current location but the beef balls that they're using no longer taste as good and the chilli sauce has definitely changed. Not for the better in my opinion. I liked the old ones much better. On the bright side, I've discovered that they do a tendon only option for their noodles and since they chilli was no longer appealing, a squeeze of lime did wonders to the beefy broth.

What's happening to their magical touch?

Sushi Tei after all these years......

I used to like Sushi Tei years ago. They were really pretty decent at least for their cooked food department. Used to be top dog for the conveyor belt sushi chains until the current king of the hill, Itacho Sushi which is noticeably more than a notch better.

I don't think so much of them these days. The signs of a "local" business stain the establishment and their food with the same old unimaginative marketing slogans and localized food proportions which are tipped towards one specific cost/profit spectrum. I'm positive that QC must be a major issue for a chain with so many outlets. That and perhaps, my palate had undergone metamorphosis.

Once in a long while, I end up there.

Like many chain outlets, part of what helps Sushi Tei thrive are "promotions". Which includes dish concoctions of "seasonal" ingredients. Currently, there seems to be some new creations by their various outlet "chefs".

Here's something known as spicy ban ban ji ramen that purportedly uses a spicy sesame sauce. For a local establishment, the word spicy seems to be interpreted liberally towards a specific and almost-nonexistent end. My three year old niece was slurping noodle and sauce, apparently enjoying it. I personally found the lack of fragrance from the sesame sauce disappointing. Chicken was cold and hard and is probably something that was boiled and packed into fridges for easy use. I think grilling the chicken would have done wonders but then who am I to say eh? I'm quite sure can do this at home with bottled sesame dressing. This has got nothing at all on the hiyashi tan tan mien that I previously had from Ichibantei.

On the other hand, the rice stuffed squids were actually pretty good. Not that this was imaginative by any stretch of imagination as part of Sushi Tei's creation challenges. These stuff have been made available from the Japanese fairs over Isetan and Takashimaya for years already, and wow, today they're a creation from some competition. 

I liked that the flavours seeped into the rice. The squid was a little dry and chewy from the grill but I think real grilled squids need that bit of bite.

And then, there was a cheeseburger interpretation of an American sushi roll that came in Singaporean portions. Truly fusion indeed. There were even sliced cheddar, chopped onions and lettuce strips to complete the textures and flavours of the strips of cold chewy cow. Jokes aside, what needs work would have been fattier sliced beef that hadn't been cooked to death. This one component would have done some serious elevation on the roll to another level.

There......finally outta my chest.