A tonkatsu sandwich from Hoshino Coffee

Hoshino Coffee (#01-651 Suntec City Mall, 3 Temasek Boulevard, tel : +65 6836 9881) is probably the only Japanese coffee place where I actually remember enjoying their coffee. They have a tonkatsu sandwich - which featured freshly fried crisp pork cutlet with a crunch and I liked that they didn't overdo the tonkatsu sauce.

Chinatown Special, Chinatown Food Centre

Dad used to tell me that he had heard that the owner/cook of this stall (#02-12 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) used to come from a hotel kitchen. But I read that it was just a restaurant, not from a hotel. The first time I had heard that was back in the day when the stall was located at People’s Park Food Centre where we had a fairly regular ritual of fried rice along with guo tie from Tian Jin Fong Kee nearby on Saturdays. Back in the day when most people still worked Saturdays and we’d meet dad after his work for family lunch. And strangely like that dumpling stall, we stopped patronizing at a certain point and never really came back again until many many years later.

Monday one for one burgers at Medzs

Medzs (#01-01 Clifford Centre, 24 Raffles Place, tel : +65 6536 1917) has certainly transformed itself. Gone is the Mediterranean theme which was really the basis for their name. With the exception of their slogans and perhaps grudgingly, the decor - there wasn't much that was Mediterranean anymore. The menu has been whittled down into a somewhat generic western with a smudge of faux American Italian. Did the management change?

This current bar/restaurant setup does one for one burgers on Mondays and that applies as long as you get a regular priced alcoholic beverage. The selection for drinks wasn't much nor did I find very appealing, so I picked the cheapest - a San Miguel Light just to qualify for those burgers. It doesn't come with fries for this particular deal.

Verdict? That USDA brisket and chuck patty was not bad at all. The surprising thing about it was, these burgers were much better built than those I've had recently. Well, the brioche was barely holding up past half the burger, but it held. There was American cheese, a couple of rashers of bacon, pickles, thick cut tomatoes and onions; all of which could be tasted and worked as a burger. Kudos for not killing it with too much sauce. The bottom line was nothing fancy but it came together decently. Shame on Butchers Club and their dry aged BA blend they're so proud of. I'd take this over them. 

Ginza Kushi Katsu, Paragon

From what little I could gather, this shop (#B1-47 Paragon, 290 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6262 1304 ) is a kushikatsu joint that also specializes in gyu katsu. Armed with the notion that their gyu katsu is the first of its kind in this country. I would beg to differ. The difference between the first and any runner ups is an eternity because there can only be one first. So these guys aren't even close.

An aburi-ed foie gras and toro don from Maguro Donya Miura Misakikou Sushi & Dining

This was simply indulgence from our friendly blue fin tuna specialist. Torched slice toro, minced toro and foie gras. And some truffle soy sauce. Need I even say more? I just realized after taking the photo that there was just so much pink, even on the little sakura prints on the bowl.

A cheese dosai from Komala's

This was originally supposed to be a stop for some masala tea, but ended up with more than just tea. Along came this cheese dosai which was from the main shop down in Little India (330-332 Serangoon Road); apparently not available from their deli outposts which understandably has a much smaller menu. I remember not being so impressed with their dosai previously but today was kinda nice. Crispy at the edges, the salty cheese to go along and a nice warm sambar. Maybe I should drop by this location for tea more often and see what else is good.