Lunch at the Naked Finn

I think this current lunch menu down at Naked Finn was a pretty recent development. For one, they didn't have the lobster roll (Connecticut style apparently) nor the secreto Ibérico previously. And the availability of their hae mee tng (soup prawn noodles) at lunch was something that they had done not too long ago IIRC as it was a supper only item previously.

Their Indian baby squids were available as sides. These are still char-smokin good.

The Naked Finn's hae mee has been something that's been talked about. At least for the people who're into paying more for food that is. For one, it was $25, probably the most expensive prawn noodle around and definitely the most expensive one I've had. From what I've read, they've been experimenting with the prawns that are used for the stock and from what they told us, it's now botan ebi and sakura ebi that makes the soup. It's actually pretty good and naturally very flavourful if what they claimed were it. The Japanese styled kurobuta charshu dissolves in the mouth. Those prawns that came with the noodles (somen option there) were fresh and sweet.

Deftly priced at $29 in between Market Grill/Luke's Oyster Bar and Platypus Lobster Shack, this came across as an in-betweener. What I did like was the chunky lobster meat like what they do at Market Grill and that there was definitely a lot more butter involved in the roll compared to the one at Platypus Lobster Shack. But Luke's takes the cake for butter. And salt. The differences between the three were that obvious. Was this good? Hell yeah for me.

And that's the secreto Ibérico which came with their addictive chilled piquant bee hoon. The flavours of the meat were moderately porky and livery at the same time with very visible meltingly soft intra-tissue fat spread across the slivers of meat. Grilled with olive oil and red wine thyme sauce. Nice.

20/20? The above fed two. It's still pricey for the portions, but the quality spoke for itself and was outstanding. If you come hungry, one item per person just doesn't quite cut it for portions.

Pomegranate cake from Laman's Delight

This was pretty enjoyable. I've never had cake (or anything else) with so much pomegranates before. Certainly not one in a shade of enchanting red and layered with cream, sold by a couple of ladies that looked like grumpy Russian gypsies. Laman's Delight (PasarBella @ The Grandstand, 200 Turf Club Road) the shop's called. I hear that this particular cake has been infused with hibiscus juices too. Anyway, the shop's located right beside Keith Crackling Roast - which does very delicious caramelized char siew by the way. For $12 a slice, this cake sure didn't come cheap. But I'm pretty sure I'll pop by the shop to buy again the next time I'm there.

Portico, Alexandra Road

I guess my primary interests in Portico (#01-10, 991B Alexandra Rd, tel : +65 6276 7337) was due to Leandros Stagogiannis (doesn't that guy look like Mike Portnoy) who had previously been chef de cuisine at Saint Pierre, head chef also at the defunct Fi53fty Three and had previously been doing pastry at The Fat Duck. It makes for an interesting resume for progressive/modernist cooking with Asian influences. And that they served sweetbread on menu.

Which was unfortunately not available when we were there.

On hindsight, there were hits and misses from what we've had. More hits than misses fortunately and then some thoughts. It's not a full measure by any yardstick of the food at Portico, just some of my thoughts on what we ate.

grape and quinoa salad, sugar snap peas and fresh raspberries

This salad was chilled and refreshing. The quinoa was properly cooked, the raspberries tart and the grapes sweet. A simple medley of flavours and textures. That being said, I could probably reproduce this at home with the exception of the watermelon which seemed to be flavoured with honey. 

kombu soba noodles, truffle and crispy brown shrimp

The Japanese influence cannot be more obvious here. This was probably another thing I could try replicating. I have no idea where to get kombu soba, but I'm pretty sure regular soba would do the trick since the flavours of the seaweed were virtually non-discernible in the noodle. But there was sufficient salt and truffle oil and the noodles were springy that made good eating. Those little shrimps added crisp and their bit of fragrance. The flavour grows onto you. I can't figure out what those little bits of stuff in there are though.

fish and chips, crushed peas and fresh mint

Let's start with my favourite part. The crushed peas with mint was really good. It's crushed peas, mint and probably loads of butter as I could tell. The flavours weren't complicated and very delicious. Fish was also pretty good. I hear it's locally sourced sea bass. The meat was tender, moist and flaky at the same time clad in a thin batter. That batter seemed a little over done in the fryer though. 

Did not expect the curly fries. Those tasted exactly like the ones that can be gotten from McDonalds. In fact, the reminder of McDonalds kinda ruined the experience. They should have stuck with regular fat chips and maybe triple fried them instead of these.

the Portico burger

The Portico burger was a little disappointing. I think pretty much everything worked. The toasted brioche, the cheese, the bacon and I didn't even mind their home made BBQ sauce and ketchup which were not excessively used. That's some care right there which I appreciated. What didn't work for me was the beef patty. The meat lacked the natural flavour of beef and I read that it's a 28/72 ratio that they're using. Omakase Burger makes better tasting patties than these. And these overdone fries, were again a reminder of McDonald's. Expected much better for those.

tart aux citron and onion ice cream

Their onion ice cream with crispy fried shallots were interesting. This was a first for me; it actually worked and played nicely with their smooth and creamy lemon curd which I liked.

Tian Jin Fong Kee (天津冯记), People's Park Complex Food Centre

This stall (#01-1148, People's Park Complex Food Centre, 32 New Market Road) which has been around since before I was born serves a bunch of stuff like dumplings, Chinese rice cakes, spicy & sour soup and zha jiang mian amongst a few other things. What they are really known for are their guo tie (pot stickers). Notably their pan fried ones. Which I've been eating since I was a kid. For years, it was an bi-monthly affair until a certainly point, we stopped patronizing for some reasons. I don't remember why. In the past 8 years or so, I recall only having had them once.

Well, that deserved a mention doesn't it? This stall pretty much formed the impression of what I thought a typical guo tie should look or even taste like. I had grown up thinking that this was local food rather than one of Chinese origins. They were also the benchmark guo tie that was etched in my memory with their crisp browned skin that wasn't overly thick with juicy fillings of minced pork and chives. This visit, I noticed the change. Well....the dumplings were probably a little bit bigger in the past (I cannot verify for memory can be fickle), but that wasn't what jarred that memory. The marinate used in the minced pork fillings have changed. Those minced meat are now brown instead of a lighter shade of fully cooked pork. I'm certain it wasn't how it had been in the past.

Not that it tasted bad but it's just not as good as what I had remembered. Good thing I've an alternative these days.

Immanuel French Kitchen, Bukit Merah Lane

chicken liver pâté with port

The owner of this stall (Blk 119 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-40), Immanuel Tee, has a heavyweight resume. Names like Restaurant Andre, Jaan, Guy Savoy at Marina Bay Sands, Le Bistrot du Sommelier, the two-Michelin starred Pastorale in Brussels and sous to head chef at the defunct Keystone Restaurant. And he's what? 27 this year? In many industries, it could have been construed as job hopping! Lol. So modern European/French it seems then.

sous vide chicken breast

Food here was French bistro styled with a very curated menu. They were pretty good for their price point and there was not much to complain about except the need for a bit more salt. The liver pâté was smooth and creamy while the sous vide chicken breast was impressively tender. There was also an onglet which was spot on medium rare, had an excellent sear and the meat tender. Unfortunately, some parts were rather chewy. I'm trying not to compare with my favourite place since this was really 54% the cost of that one.

steak & fries

A bowl of torched toro and avocado rice bowl from Kaiho Sushi

Wow, this was pretty good. I wouldn't say that the flavours were anything new since it consisted of hand chopped tuna belly, sliced avocados, Japanese mayo, teriyaki sauce and wasabi. Nothing exotic. But it was the kind of good that we just sat and ate in silence for at least half a bowl. Melting tuna belly fat, seeping all their warmed up flavors into that mash of richness over the vinegared rice. I would have liked for this bowl to be bigger . Like maybe 50% bigger since it wasn't cheap at all.

Since we were at Kaiho Sushi at lunch their chirashi don made an appearance as well.

While it did look visibly less impressive than the ones we had in the past (very visibly less, mind you), the quality of the seafood that they gave were still very decent. Special mentions to the sweet and succulent scallops.  There was fish with skin so silver and mirrored that I could have sworn that I saw myself in it. Then again, we got some salmon and it wasn't really belly. I missed the pink fish floss. I sense cost cutting at work based on the variety of toppings that was given.