Tomato sauce omu rice from Pecori

I'm generally not big on tomato sauces. The good ones are hard to come by and there's usually enough options that I don't have to take risks with them. I took a plunge on this and gave it a shot this time round hoping that the flavour would offset all the weight from the egg and meat. Guess what?  I didn't like this too. I guess it was flat with that tartness. Today's hamburg was disappointingly floury and less beefy too. I'm pretty sure it wasn't of the same make as the ones I had from the last visit as this one contained quite a bit of fillers. Stick to the mentaiko with rubbery squid rings I shall.

Selera Rasa Nasi Lemak, Adam Road

So, this was the nasi lemak that people were talking about which was supposedly fit for Bruneian royalty. I remember having had nasi lemak in this food centre ages ago and it was probably from the neighbour which had the same snaking queue as this one (2 Adam Road, #01-02 Adam Road Food Centre).

In a nutshell, I think wasn't bad. The savoury basmati rice was delicious with the aroma of pandan and coconut and I liked that they didn't hold back whatever they had used to salt the rice. The chilli was one of numerous renditions that was a pleasant balance of sweet and spicy. The other items weren't memorable.

For a start, their crispy chicken wing was pretty greasy and lacked flavour in the batter. These have got to be one of the blandest wings I've tasted. The bergedil was nice and savoury but was also a tad too greasy and soggy.  Otah tasted unusual. By unusual, I did not mean it in a bad way. It just not what I'm used to from otah, lacking the spicy kick and all. I'll eat at this stall again if there wasn't so much of a queue but that's a big maybe there.

This wouldn't exactly be my go to place for nasi lemak when I have a craving. I think Kukus fits that bill better.

Bottle Tree Park Seafood Restaurant, Lorong Chencharu

No, we did not have any seafood at all even though this place was a purported seafood restaurant (81 Lorong Chencharu, tel : +65 6759 7077) and there were indeed tanks of live fishes and crustaceans around. In fact, we played things safe because we were told not to have too high of expectations.

As it turned out, it wasn't as bad as we might have imagined. The food was rustic in presentation and the quality was really passable that I wouldn't slap them off as mediocre. In fact, their fried pork from the sweet & sour pork dish (with cool green maraschino cherries, dragonfruit and lychee!) was excellent and competently done with a nice crusty exterior and tender juicy meat on the inside. The sauce didn't overwhelm the natural flavour of the meat. Having a venison dish that tasted like venison has also puts this joint above more than half the cze char stalls in this country. How bad can that be?

Sure we've had better. If I had to gripe, it would probably be how much they charged for their food. For these standards, they definitely don't go easy on the wallet.

tofu with minced meat, pork floss and seaweed

pineapple fried rice

kang kong stir fried with garlic

sweet and sour pork with fruits

venison in pineapple

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.