Another crayfish party at Ikea

I hadn't realised that it's already been a year since the last crayfish party. This year, they charged $20, but gave a $10 voucher in return for the ticket purchase so if you do buy things from them, it would be exactly the same price as last year. I have to say that they did improve some things. The most obvious was the queue management which was more organized. The quality of the bugs that they served was also better than the last year, but they could have been a little over-enthusiastic on the salt. I lasted a couple of dozens like the last time before I moved on to other things.

Off the main crayfish offerings which were plagued (at least at the start) by aunties doing their best showing us what it was like in the third world food handout, they had crispy fried half mid wings this year and a chopped salmon tartare which was tossed with some tahini like dressing that packed respectable heat. And then their semi hard cheeses which was great with the gooseberry jams. Not exactly the same thing as last year so I guess I could look forward to the next expecting new surprises? 

Blu Kouzina, Bukit Timah Road

I've passed by Blu Kouzina (893 Bukit Timah Rd, tel : +65 6875 0872) many times along the main road and never realised that it was just right on the ground floor. This is the first time we've been to a Greek restaurant. While what I know about their food is pretty limited to what I've read, the Mediterranean quality to their style of preparation wasn't unfamiliar.

By the way, the olive oil that they have on the table are pretty good stuff.

fasolosalata

Can't say that I've had lots of bean salads in my life but this one that they had with three different beans was not bad at all. The dill and spring onions were a great pairing for flavour. 

saganaki with figs

A saganaki as I've learnt, is a dish of fried cheese prepared in a small frying pan. They cheese that they used according to the menu was a sheep/goat cheese known as kefalotyri, something not unlike halloumi, but not wasn't entirely the same for taste and texture. It was heavy on the salt while the figs were concentrated sweetness.

spanakorizo

This spanakorizo which was basically spinach cooked with rice was my favourite item for the dinner. It's spinach and rice and some herbs. There was definitely dill. The rice was wet, textured like a stodgy porridge. But it was delicious. Something I would get again in revisits.

bifteki stin sxara

This was the only item off the mains we had. The portions of the salads and the rice before this were pretty big so there was only so much space we could afford. We even had to pass on the baklava for desserts after this. This, referring to their beef patty. I'm not particularly impressed because the meat was of a pretty fine mince, so that meant that there wasn't so much of texture to go around. The flavors were expected, but the food was doused with quite a bit of olive oil and lemon like everything they served prior to this dish. It tasted noticeably better eaten with bread than alone.

Well, my interest is piqued. It's been a while since I've had something really different and in spite of the fact that I wasn't blown away by the food, there were things that i liked and I really would give serious considerations to coming back. Service was pretty good.

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.