A nasi goreng ayam from Dahlia Cafe

We found Dahlia Cafe in Golden Landmark (#02-21/22 Golden Landmark Shopping Complex, 390 Victoria St) near the entrance/exit facing the Arab Street quarter teeming with people during lunch. So here's their nasi goreng ayam - fried rice with fried chicken. It was pretty decent, but I found flavour lacking in the nasi goreng. That aside, the tray was very recognisable comfort food and that ayam goreng tasted freshly fried and crispy. Enjoyed it. Don't pass on their belachan sauce which you can help yourself to. I think I should resist the impulse at this point to compare this fried chicken with the one from Mat Noh & Rose which I feel is better.

Fill-a-Pita, China Square

If you're wondering, this shop (3 Pickering Street, China Square Central, #01-29 Nankin Row) is the very same Fill-a-Pita that was previously located at Shenton Way. It seems that they've just relocated last week and if you get there early enough, one can actually get seats with air conditioning - which was certainly an improvement over the old location. But this current shop doesn't come equipped with a fryer/grill so their current falafels are baked and halloumi cheese is off the menu. #sad

The food's still pretty much the same though. Those baked falafel were equally as delicious as the old ones and today, we tried a recommendation from them which was their fava bean pita with labna. Delicious stuff - but our labna sunk to the bottom of the pita instead of being spread out evenly. Not a problem really. I certainly hope they find a way to get the halloumi back on the menu though.

A slightly improved sandwich experience at Sacha & Sons

Remember that I had a theory on how the pastrami at Sacha & Sons didn't quite work out for me. Well, thanks to an affirmation that went in line with that theory, we decided to get their regular deli sandwich instead of the Reuben. So the meat doesn't go into the oven. Indeed the pastrami was more moist then those in the Reuben, but it still dried out pretty quickly. I liked this option better even though I still couldn't say that I'm a fan.

The roast beef with chopped liver on the other hand was pretty enjoyable. The beef was tender, beefier tasting than the spiced up pastrami and had chopped liver to boot. I thought a little bit more salt would have been great. If I should ever return, perhaps I'll try getting sandwiches on rye that is not toasted. 

Vegetarian - that's an old Indian word meaning 'lousy hunter'

The title of this post which I found on the Internet was a quote made in a different context from the contents of this post, but I thought it was amusing. So here's us back at Komala Vilas for more delicious vegetarianism.  Those brightly coloured drinks above are badam (almond) milk and rose milk if anyone was wondering. The chilled milk was smooth, fairly rich and sweet in a non-cloying manner. Just what we needed from the sweltering humidity. But they don't seem to be so big on the actual flavours.

That's the vegetarian briyani, something which I remember mentioning previously as a Bombay thali. I'm pretty sure the old menu must have made that reference because I would not have made that up myself. These days, I'm much more acquainted with what are the items on the side. Anti-clockwise from the right - dhal, raita, vegetable kourma, some long beans stir fried with desiccated coconut and spices, a folded chapati and a payasam beside the rice for sweets. This could have easily fed two.

This was the chapati meal. Unleavened flat bread served with a mixture of vegetable sides and also a payasam. Never actually noticed of how people eat this but pretty much everything on the banana leaf can be shovelled with the chapati into the mouth and it would taste good. The flavours for the vegetarian items were as usual outstanding and these guys have been in business for a long time with a relentless crowd for a very good reason.

And of course, some hot masala chai to finish.

Islamic Restaurant, North Bridge Road

I took notice of this shop (745 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 6298 7563) a long while ago after I happened by and have been wanting to visit. That never happened until today. So here's a look at their briyani. Their mutton beryani as they called it to be precise. The spices in the rice were aromatic but lightweight and their mutton seemed to be served in two different portions. One boned in meat and the other shredded. The plate was served with crunchy cucumber achar on the side and no papadums.

Because I've just recently had the one at Yakader, I'll want to make comparisons. The rice here was was fully basmati and definitely wasn't as moist or flavoured as the one from Yakader. In fact, the mutton was a lot more moist and tender at Yakader as well. As much as things sounded in favour for Yakader, I personally found this one at Islamic Restaurant enjoyable in a different manner. One can see that their styles/recipes are different. I wanted to say that this tasted more Middle Eastern, but I do not know if that was true.

And to wash down all that spice, rice and mutton - some iced ginger milk. There was even a little heat from the ginger that they used.

I read that Islamic Restaurant have been around for quite a while. Like for almost a century kind of 'while'. Another one of those eateries which I hadn't taken note of until recent years. 

Soup pasta with clams and mushroom from Saizeriya

It's been quite a while since I've last had spaghetti in soup. I actually liked this one from Saizeriya (#02-22, Liang Court, 177 River Valley Road, tel : +65 6337 9001) better than I thought I would. Sure those clams aren't the best ones to be had, but for $5.90, it was generous portions and decent tasting plate of soup noodles for a restaurant in town. And this was almost as comforting as chicken soup.