Sanpoutei Ramen, Shaw House

This was a ramen shop from Niigata. I'll admit that in spite of having seen Sanpoutei (#B1-04 Shaw House, 350 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6836 4644) around for a while, I've always avoided them because of the connotations with the Breadtalk Group which brought them in. Eventually I buckled under curiosity and since I didn't even dislike the tonkotsu experience at the other ramen place, why not? 

Here's their Niigata shoyu bowl with a broth that featured a blend with dried sardines. I liked it. The broth was lightweight and savoury while those noodles were springy. The menma fortunately didn't have that pungent flavour that gets most people worried and the lightly smoky charshu disintegrated readily in the mouth. I'm glad that curiosity didn't kill the cat here. Also quite sure I'll come back when I'm considering a light bowl. I did spy a tsukemen which I could be interested in as well.

This could be a case for Mulder and Scully...

Or perhaps not. I just thought that this was an uncommon enough occurrence for me to put up a picture. I've come across these double yolked eggs before but I don't remember the last time. There was also a rumour that these could be specifically requested for in a certain central western part of the island. Unsubstantiated rumours for now. So here's for posterity and the truth out there. 

Cereal ebi burger with sweet potato fries from McD

So I got suckered yet again last night by the new cereal ebi burger from the Golden Arches. No thanks to them being conveniently located everywhere. The main differences from the previous ebi burger were the buns, sauce and prawn patties. This was a bun with sesame seeds and chives if I remember right with supposedly some sort of spicy shrimp paste sauce and there was some added crisp from the cereals embedded in the crust of the patties. This time round, those little shrimps embedded in the patty looked even bigger than the last one. The sweet potato fries were just that, actually kinda nice whey they have turned cold and a little soggy.

And we seem to have been ushered into an era where their sandwich looks like the Photoshopped models on the menu. What is this world coming to?!

A Nagekomi donburi from Ryoshi Sushi Ikeikemaru

This was definitely not as satisfying has I hoped for but I suppose it did the job out of dinner. Apart from being rather heavy handed with the vinegar on their rice, I personally found the quality of the seafood a little shabby considering the number of Japanese clientele Liang Court has. The tuna was especially disappointing; those negitoro bits were nothing compared to the ones that you could get at Tampopo. Considering that this shop does a lot more sushi/sashimi and were a sort of a specialist (I used that word loosely here), I found that disappointing.

Hong Kong Mongkok Dim Sum and a pandan butterfly at Chinatown FC

I was introduced to Hong Kong Mongkok Dim Sum (#02-097 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) almost a decade ago by a friend and in that past decade, I've never come back much. This was street food dim sum untainted by glamour served on styrofoam plates. But you do get them as freshly made as one can get and the quality was very decent. They do not have much by the way of variety, but what they do have, are done pretty well. Those fluffy char siew bao were literally bursting at their seams with their stuffings and their chunky siew mai were both savoury and meaty. In the past decade or so of my life, I've also learnt to appreciate the steamed chicken claw dish commonly known as phoenix's claw. The required effort to make them were no laughing matter and these ones here were slurp off the bone tender.

Not thirty seconds stroll away in an adjacent lane is Tai Wah Cooked Food (#02-115). Not to be confused with the other Tai Wah that does ba chor mee at Hong Lim, this stall sold fried Chinese breads. Like the butterflies and the hum chim pang. Well, I couldn't get the pandan flavour out of this pastry but as butterfly fritters went, these were nicely done with the prerequisite crispy shell dotted with sesame seeds and chewy insides. I realised that the "wings" weren't just stuck with each other but were knotted into a pair.

Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger : Year Nine

It has been nine years already. Nine years of perspectives in gastronomical proportions. Did I imagine myself to be doing this for so long? No I did not. I didn't see very far ahead then when I started this blog and I still cannot see far ahead today after each year to a Nazgul. No, there're no auguries cast from chicken entrails or swirling tea leaves to be read of what comes ahead.

How long have you been hanging around?