Sugisawa, Robertson Quay

I remember reading about the origins of chirashi which began as a way to utilize the unattractive looking cuts of fish that were leftovers from making nigiri sushi or sashimi. On certain occasions, I've actually tried to relate that possibly dated (or geographically inapplicable) fragment of history to the ones that we're having. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works these days here with the most of them far too prettied up or voluminous to be treated as discards. 

This chirashi donburi from Sugisawa (30 Robertson Quay, Riverside Village Residences, tel : +65 6235 0212) could just possibly be one of those bowls that fit in to the category of repackaging remnant cuts of fish - plus a little more on the side. Either that or the knife work was especially lacking in finesse. The quality of the fish had passed the decent muster but wasn't extraordinary.  I didn't quite take to the extra chewy slice of octopus tentacle. What I liked was the sakura denbu. Not so many places include them. And the butter fried scallops were actually rather good. Weren't overcooked at all and had that residual natural sweetness intact.

Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory, 313 Somerset

Just to be clear, I didn't queue to get into Chir Chir (313 Orchard Rd #B3-04/05/06). I happened to be there at a time when the insane queue hadn't yet begun for dinner. Their food was a fairly interesting experience if not altogether anything new.

I liked the grape salad with honey and ricotta but the restaurant doesn't used freshly toasted flatbread and was careless with the freshness of the nuts that they used. Otherwise, the rest of the food was pretty much how it looked. Those "cajun" spiced chicken with cheese & cream weren't as heavy as they looked though.

I could eat it again, but I sure as hell wouldn't queue for it.

Gurih Restaurant, Arab Street

ayam lado hijau

sotong hitam

sambal paru

begedil & sambal telur

sayur lodeh

Pretty decent nasi pandang from this shop (150 Arab Street, tel  : +65 6299 1643) located at the junction of Arab Street and Victoria Street. The proprietor claimed that the food is Padang styled and that we should expect their sayur lodeh to taste different from the local variety. Since I don't really have any frame of reference for actual Padang styled food, I don't know any better. In retrospect, perhaps the gravy was less rich than some local renditions, but the savoury depth was impressive. Their sotong hitam had an unexpected but welcomed hit of heat and I rather liked the ayam lado hijau too. 

This looked to be a fairly dependable frills free comfort food place I could come back to again.

Tracy's Special Udon from Tracy Juice Culture

This was the other item that we noticed many people ordering down at Tracy Juice Culture. Granted that there wasn't that many things that one could order from the shop apart from their beverages. This was a mushroom udon of sorts. Why so? The "broth" was pureed mushroom and totally delicious. Served piping hot, topped with some broccoli, a couple of cherry tomato, mock meat and some dried mushrooms. Not complaining here but I've observed that the consistency of the broth is not always consistent.

Neh Neh Pop

New ice cream shop brought to the world by the folks at Artichoke. It's at where Overdoughs, the old pastry shack selling baklava is. Speaking of which, the one encrusted with crushed nuts is the baklava flavour. Although it says orange blossom flavour for the ice cream, I'm pretty sure I tasted something like rose. It's not bad.

Black Angus Steakhouse, Orchard Parade Hotel

I had only been here (1 Tanglin Road, #01-08 Orchard Parade Hotel, tel : +65 6734 1181) once years ago for lunch and haven't stepped in ever since. This old school stage of a restaurant was actually kinda refreshing ironically.

The mains came with salad/soup options. This was their coleslaw. Never had it served that way before and it's actually not bad.

I remembered this thick stewy soup from the last time I ate here. I did not seem to have changed with those chunky pieces of beef amidst the barley and carrot.

Their fried zucchini to start had a batter that tasted suspiciously like the one next door at Modesto's. But those zucchini at Modesto's were larger and juicier. Better value for money spent there than the ones here, which were upstaged.

We ended up with prime rib which looked a lot better than the weak measly slice for lunch that I had years ago. By the way, the potato above was the one that came with the works. The toppings sure looked really sad for a steakhouse potato.

I got suckered (by the menu) for an option with lobster tail and butter. This wasn't bad but I still think Lawry's does a better job with a more tender slow roast and possibly with better quality meat paired with a more flavoursome au jus.