SweetSpot., Marina Bay Sands

I was previously under the impression that SweetSpot Deli had closed for good and was wondering what was wrong with this world. Until a little bird whispered and I learnt that it's just been moved across the road from The Shoppes to the lobby of Block 3 in the hotel. Have you not yet been enthralled the golden sheen of butter on the toasted bread already?

This new shop has noticeably less space for eating in and prices have gone up by a dollar. The sandwiches felt a little smaller as well. But who am I kidding? I'll still come back for these. Again.

To digress, I think I've figured out what's wrong with how they serve the pastrami at Sacha's. The sample that they lure you in with aren't the same state of meat as the one they serve you in their sandwiches. I'm pretty sure the sandwich goes into the oven and the result is dry chewy pastrami. 

LeNu (樂牛) Taiwan Beef Noodle Bar, Bugis Junction

This was a Taiwanese styled braised beef noodle shop by the Paradise Group (#B1-22 Bugis Junction, 200 Victoria Street, tel : +65 6336 7965). I noticed them some time last year and got curious but didn't manage to try them until today. The options were pretty simple; one chooses from the type of broth, the cut of meat and the noodle based on what's available on the menu.

This above was a bowl with broad noodles and the spicy broth.  Pretty enjoyable except for the broth which was something I hadn't experienced before. It's like mala without the 'ma' nor the 'la'. Chilli oils and spices that had some of the aroma and none of the heat. Not like what I had come to expect from my previous experiences with Lai Lai either. I managed to try the other two broths and I kinda liked them, even though everything was pretty salted.

Not very impressed at this point but I guess I liked some things enough that I wouldn't mind coming back to try something else.

A burger and a hotdog from The Brat

I've been passing by their grill behind the glass whenever I'm at the basement of Plaza Singapura and each time I did, I wondered if their burgers were any good. They did look promising in a basic sort of way so we dropped by. The smell was pretty enticing and honestly, there were only two things that didn't quite settle well with me. 

The first was the cheese. They need to use something better like proper aged Cheddar or even American cheese; the latter tastes better than these things they use here. The other thing that just didn't quite work out enough for me to want to return for them was the flavour of the meat. There was something inside that was more than just salt and pepper. Perhaps a marinade? I couldn't tell, but it was a not so subtle detraction of the beefy flavours which the grill aroma had suggested.

Well, at least their hot dogs are still good. 

More tuna from Isetan

Happened by on a weekend with tuna slicing demonstration going on so we decided to get a box of mixed cuts. It was certainly a lot cheaper eating out here without the additional cost of a restaurant with service. That aside, it tasted pretty much as good.

Revisiting Esquina

So......we came back. For another shot at Esquina. For some reasons.

modern and classic sangria

This modern and classic take on sangria basically piled foamed sangria on top of the drink. Gimmicky I suppose since texture didn't really do very much. While I prefer not to complain at this point, I've had better sangria.

warm thyme & onion bread, smoked bone marrow butter

The food started off pretty darned good. Like their light and flaky onion bread. My only gripe, I had absolutely no idea why it was bone marrow butter described on the menu. It tasted like regular butter, smoked nicely for sure, but bone marrow? Did I miss something or did they?

beetroot pickled, whipped burrata, truffle honey, walnut crumble, raspberries

This was good too. Served in small enough portions for birds but good nonetheless. What didn't materialize was the truffle honey. I'm pretty sure it was truffle oil that was whipped into the burrata. No honey there. Esqui-nada. But the play of textures and flavours were very nicely done.

roasted cauliflower, Serrano ham and cheese (Manchego)

Their roasted cauliflower appeared a lot less complicated than the beetroot but this was seriously good stuff. A light crunch from the vegetable, smokiness from both the ham and the vegetable and saltiness from the Manchego cheese. We scraped the plate clean.

sea urchin and crab bisque, sea grapes and smoked herring roe

We were looking forward to this but the dish was a little disappointing. The name on the menu should have been reduced to sea urchin and crab bisque. Why? The smoked herring roe came in such puny portions that it did nothing. Certainly didn't see any umi budou in there. Esqui-nada. This tiny uni shell was filled with chunks of sweet crab meat though. Apparently, the uni element was blended into the crab bisque so I could taste nothing of them.

barbequed mackerel, squid ink rice cracker, wasabi buttermilk, burnt cucumber & kale

Couldn't say I was very impressed with the barbequed mackerel. Couldn't tell which was the wasabi buttermilk neither since that green smudge tasted like a coriander and pureed avocado and the white smudge didn't taste like it has wasabi. This was a Japanese influenced grilled saba dish?

wagyu rump, fried oyster, oyster mayonnaise, dashi jelly

This was quite nice. What wasn't described was the heat from the crisp batter on the oyster which was rather good. The little onion layer in the middle contained a sauce. We tasted yuzu and maybe heavy cream. Very delicious sauce that could work well with almost anything. Oyster mayo was very nicely done too - if you like oysters. What didn't quite shine in flavour was the dashi jelly. It just didn't quite scream dashi.

basil sorbet, strawberries, sweet tomato, yuzu yogurt, black pepper meringue

Not the slightest hint of black pepper in the meringue. Which is the painted on layer in the bowl/plate in case you are wondering. One has to scrape them off with the spoon. The single element that rocked on its own was the sweetish basil sorbet. The flavour of the basil was.....invigoratingly refreshing.

Manchego cheese custard, black olive, brioche crumbs, apricot jam

This was a take on crackers, cheese and fruit jam. The brioche crumbs lent texture to the custard which was nice. Liked the custard. It was more savoury than sweet as a dessert but it worked.

Clearly, it was mixed feelings and stronger ones than from the previous visit. If anyone were to ask me if Esquina was any good, I wouldn't be able to come up with a straightforward answer.

BBQ Station, Tan Quee Lan Street

Hmmm, I think like this place (21 Tan Quee Lan St., #01-03). Their appetising liang ban cai was freshly made, deliciously spicy from the chilli and also perkily sour. There were boiled pork and cabbage dumplings on the other end were tasty too. What I had mixed feelings over were actually the grills. Some of the meat were good while others were really spiced up unidentifiable chunks of protein matter.

What worked for us obviously was that this was bbq without the hard work. All we had to do was order and the food arrived in pretty short order after. And with all the heat, grease and spices from the food, the only drinks that one should bother with are the hot Chinese tea (pretty nice stuff) and beer.