Tsukemen from Menya Musashi

That's the black chashu tsukemen from Menya Musashi (1 Vista Exchange Green #B1-08, tel : +65 6694 2515) with triple portions of noodles from Star Vista. I admit, I got defeated by the portions which were much more than what the picture showed.

While the broth appeared black, it was basically a black layer of oil that was floating above their base tonkotsu broth which also didn't quite pack the punch I was looking for. The noodles from the tsukemen were much chewier than the regular noodle in broth bowls which was a good thing but I ultimately didn't feel impressed by the whole thing. These cold sliced charshu simply didn't do it for me and the menma was pretty pungent.

Chicken rice at Malaysia Boleh

Well, this wasn't too bad a rendition coming from Ipoh Buntong Bean Sprout Chicken Kuitiew/Rice at Malaysia Boleh (Jurong Point 2, #03-28, Jurong West Central 2). It's pretty much similar to what we are well acquainted with as local chicken rice. The meat was smooth, tender and this set option comes with a healthy serving of crunchy boiled bean sprouts and a side of real chicken soup. Too bad for me that the chilli that they use is so heavily laced with ginger.

Uncle Leong Seafood, Punggol East

what's the horror behind the taxidermied quad claw crustaceans Uncle Leong didn't say?

Let's begin this with Mellben.

I was introduced to Mellben some years ago. Back then, the first taste of the broth from the crab bee hoon was mind blowing. I had never had anything that tasted like that. In fact, the milky and crabby broth left such a deep impression that it gave quite a bit of leeway to the subsequent decline of standards.

The last visit to Mellben that I made was probably about half a year back. While the crab broth was still good, it was nothing like the earlier years. Fast forward to today, I managed to try the ones at Uncle Leong (6 Tebing Lane, #01-03, Punggol East, tel : +65 6441 1848) for the first time. Never had the chance to visit them when they were back in AMK. These two are related though I am not exactly sure how. While I felt that the crab bee hoon was a passable okay, it wasn't up to the standards of what was served in Mellben today. Remember what I said about about plenty of leeway. A pale shadow here of the old Mellben but arguably, a decent soup still.

What's well known about them is that they have their suppliers that provide them with really large crabs and they're generally fresh and meaty which is the way most people like them. The ones that come with the bee hoon are generally better in my view as they they don't get overcooked as often - which results in flesh that gets stuck onto the shells.

Those golden sand crabs which are a signature at Uncle Leong aren't as impressive as I would like. The creamy buttery sauce spiked with peppercorns and fried curry leaves somehow lacked body.

Maybe it's time for a re-visit to Mellben just to compare broths.

stir fried nai bai with garlic

Guinness pork ribs

crab bee hoon

jin sha (golden sand) crab

corridor of claws

The Market Grill, Telok Ayer Street

My first encounter with the product of a certain Loh Lik Peng, restaurateur and hotelier, was a number of years back. At Restaurant Ember in Hotel 1929. And subsequently, Cocotte and Esquina. In retrospect, I have to admit that this man knows what people want, understands the concepts that work in the ever thriving F&B realm and sells those crystallized themes to the rest of us.

Market Grill (208 Telok Ayer Street, tel : +65 6221 3323) is one such conceptualization made material. I'm not too sure what people label them, but I personally think it's a rather clean concept with straightforward food with little frills, probably focused preparation from skilled kitchen staff and attention to quality. Of course, such things comes with a price tag to match. 

Their cod croquetas are balls of mashed potatoes and minced cod. Crispy on the outside, hot and soft on the inside. I'm sure those aren't very difficult to imagine. On top of that, seasoned with enough paprika to pack a little bit of heat. Not bad, but I guess these are one of those things that I'll never order again after having had them once.

We were looking forward to the lobster sliders. Live tank lobsters slain upon order so that we could have them stuffed brioche rolls at our pleasure. This was as fresh as freshness gets. This was good. Good meant large chunky springy pieces of lobster mean tossed in a mayo, looking as if it were about to burst out of the rolls. Even the fries tasted good. Expensive it ws too.

They had run out of ox tongue which was what I had originally wanted, so I settled for a hanging tender. Steak was a nice medium rare and no less. As the name implies, the meat is tender and has a very defined grainy texture. It was juicy, beefy and a lot more chewy than the regular prime cuts of meat. I thought that the exterior sear was well done to seal up the meat with that you know, umami meat crust that meat eaters generally like? Yes, that was pretty much what it was.

I did also like the accompanying black pepper sauce they did, but I had to hold them in reserve for their 'salardais styled' duck fat potatoes rather than mess up the flavour of a nice piece of seared beef.

Lamb rack was also pretty good. The meat was laced with quite a lot of flavourful fat. The trick was to eat them fast before the fat becomes brains. From this order, we discovered that the mashed potatoes that they do here were excellent. Milky and buttery in flavour, smooth and creamy in texture. Superb accompaniment with the lamb jus on the side.

Banana rum pockets for dessert. I tasted no rum in those bananas. Fortunately, the rum and raisin ice cream was nice.

Fee-fi-fo-farfalle!

Some home cooked colorful farfalle which we had previously picked up from the Marco Polo airport. So my knowledge of cooking pasta inches up a trifle more. These need to be boiled a little longer. Al dente wings means harder knots in the centre, so I'll have to settle for softer pasta the next time. If anyone wonders, it's just bacon and mushrooms. Flavoured by butter, truffle salsa and truffle salt.

PasarBella at the Grandstand

I am having difficulty trying to reconcile what the theme for PasarBella is after hearing words bandied about like 'freshest ingredients' and 'gourmet farmers' market' against what I've experienced there. Does anyone honestly think that those things exist and that we could truly establish an artisanal market for niche produce? We hardly have farmers. What fresh produce? Everything grown or organic that is sold is imported. I certainly didn't see any home grown brands for produce. So as much as they like to call it a market, it's really more of a mall with a market theme and a glamorized food court attached.

And do we really honestly need another Shiraz kebab stand or another Da Paulo's anything down in Bt Timah? The prominence of established brands point towards what most of this country has been doing with malls and food courts. Cut and paste templates spending a whole load of money, a little bit of effort and no originality.

End of rant.

Start of another.

Here's a look at the paella from Le Patio. I'm not sure if these guys are doing Spanish or French, but it's probably just the aesthetic charm that they're selling. The hook that lured me into the queue was a large cast iron platter of seafood on top of rice. And judging from the queue, these guys seem pretty popular.

The first thing I was expecting was freshness and value in a real farmer's market. The stock for the rice was to me, sub par. A random paella I had previously eaten in a food court in the airport in Barcelona seemed much better tasting. No, I don't have a picture to back that up. And soft mushy textured prawns? This wasn't anything I would associate with fresh or great quality. Yes I'm also about to gripe about the empty mussel I had there as well. And no, the drumstick is not part of the box. That's another $2.50 you've gotta top up.

To be fair, the crepe was quite good. Then again, it was freshly made and one simply shouldn't mess up sugar, butter and a squeeze of lemon.

The veal dog from Huber's was actually quite boring. I appreciated the freshly toasted buns and certainly better quality sauces that they were providing, but the fillings of the sausage are smoothly textured factory processed protein matter. It ends there for me. No texture to look forward to each bite, not big on flavors neither. Not exactly gourmet if you asked me.