A kaya & salami sandwich

The last time was Nutella, so this time round I had a jar of kaya from Wang which I decided to use since it wasn't all that different with the sweet/salty thing. I guess this worked too. But I did feel that this kaya from Wang isn't very fragrant and the texture was a little too smooth. I'll try other brands the next time.

A slice of Black Forest cake from Stuttgart Blackforest Boutique S-Café

Well, that name (41 Middle Rd, tel : +65 6336 8675) was a mouthful. But the cake was actually rather enjoyable. I had been hoping that each of those slices were freshly cut from the whole, but from the speed and frills that they had put in, it was apparently not. Still, it was probably one of the better Black Forest gateau (considering that we have a dearth of it) around with Kirsch soaked cherries, not blueberry jam. If I had to gripe, it'll be the caramel crust at the base that felt too sweet after a while.

Lollapalooza, Keong Saik Road

This new open-kitchen restaurant (1A Keong Saik Road, tel  : +65 6221 3538) was brought to the world by the people from Lolla. It's kinda obvious while not being so. The vibes from the food felt like a mix between Burnt Ends, Lolla and Wolf sans the counter seats.

Was it important that I mentioned open kitchen? Well, the smell does linger. Anyway, these guys are going the "season" route for ingredients so the menu is expected to change on a daily basis for a small part.

The first to arrive unexpectedly was their wagyu (Gunma Prefecture, A4) ribeye cap. The meat was a marriage of flavours from rare melting fat and the Malliard's reaction. Yes, basically what one would reasonably expect from such meat. We loved it. Of course I would have liked more of it.

The other dish which came up pretty quickly was their lamb shoulder and oyster stew. It's our first time with this combination of surf and turf and there's nothing that didn't work. Truth be told, I was initially wondering how does oysters work out with lamb as well. It's a lamb stew with an injection of brine from the fat oysters. That's it. Not bad as it was still tasty, but it was not mind blowing. 

Here's roasted black figs wrapped in bacon. The figs were stuffed with merguez; which I just found out is an African based spicy sausage of lamb or beef. This one's lamb. There's a tangy element to all the fat and sugars which is the sauce.

To kill the suspense of any who cannot recognize the rune like piece of organic matter, it's veal tongue. Corned veal tongue from them to be precise. My first time possibly, having so much tongue in a seating.

That's a slice of Perl Las which is a blue cheese made from the Caws Cenarth dairy in Carmarthenshire. The name means 'blue pearl'. The texture was creamy and the pungence was robust without being overpowering. What made this platter of grape and cheese different was that the grapes were oven roasted. Meaning that the fruit was hot and that heat accentuated flavour and sugars. Which led into a different flavour game versus the regular cool citrus of grapes with cheese. We liked it.

This was lemon semolina cake with rosemary ice cream. Cake was soaked in some citrus which didn't quite taste like just lemons. But the citrus was vibrant, not overly sour and very very good with the hot crumbly cake and rosemary ice cream. I hope this becomes a regular item.

Potato Head Folk, Keong Saik Road

Much has already been said about Potato Head Folk (36 Keong Saik Road, tel : +65 6327 1939) so I'll save myself the parroting. If anything, these guys certainly knew how to market their presence sufficiently. Frankly, I was quite disappointed with the food.

I wanted to like their burgers which in my opinion were rather well constructed. My beef with their beef was their T.O.M. sauce, whatever that means. Quite liberally applied, it contested in flavours with their actually decent patty, cooked properly at medium rare. Maybe it was just me, but I certainly didn't like so much contention. I didn't even finish up.

Their naughty fries were passably decent. I'm not sure what went into that spice Bearnaise, but it didn't taste like Bearnaise. It was a little cheesy and packed a little heat. Actually quite tasty. But those fried shallots they used were those that came from plastic packets. Essentially almost flavourless. For the kind of prices this places charges, it'd not be unreasonable to expect freshly fried shallots. Really.

The lamb burger was okay. Nothing that I could complain over, but at this point, I've already formed the impression that their food is not for me. This was one meal that I walked away from unsatisfied.

Paradise Dynasty, Causeway Point

Family meals are sometimes fun. There's more people involved and more food can be ordered. Communal dining is not just a wannabe trendy buzzword from recent years. Many of us have been enjoying it for ages.

Here's some stuff from Paradise Dynasty (1 Woodlands Square, Causeway Point, #05-16/17/18, tel : +65 6894 6322). That's the fried rice above, which was quite competent. The lack of residual oil is one particular benchmark and those up there are in the leagues of Din Tai Fung.

Braised duck tongues. Supposedly in oyster sauce but I tasted a lot more spices going on than just oyster sauce. The meat was tender, chewy and I suppose it's probably not something you would want to order if you are very hungry since it was some effort for small rewards eating this. Otherwise, this was pretty tasty.

These were their mao shan wang durian xiao long bao.

Truth be told, I'd rather eat the durian. This texture was desiccated for a fruit that is supposed to be creamy and the trademark aromas of the fruit was muted.

These brown stuff floating on the top are called malva nut. I've just learnt that after having had them in cheng tng since I was a kid. Which part of the nut makes these, I don't know yet. The wait staff mentioned that this item wasn't dessert, but it tasted like dessert. Sweet and chilled with bits of diced pear.

Some fish in some Chinese wine sauce. This was soft and flakily delicious from the flavoursome sauce.

These are supposed to be sour and spicy potato strips (酸辣土豆丝). The rendition here is far less sour and spicy than I had expected. The flavours have been diluted for whatever reasons, so we're never ordering these here again.

This last dish that almost never arrived was steamed bullfrog. There's scallions and chilli and a sauce that reminded me a lot of fermented black bean sauce. That sauce would have been excellent pairing with white rice. I'm impressed. The heat was a slow and steady build up until as we were about to be done, I felt the burn on my lip. The meat from the frog was smooth, fairly tender as frogs go and easily slurped off the bone. Even those on the torso. I'd come back for this again.

Store in a cool, dark, secret place.

A much appreciated gift all the way from London. Thanks Crystal!

I had gotten one of these some time back in Meidi-Ya and they are apparently on very limited runs. Could never find them again since.