A second visit to Tampopo this year

It happened to be the season for hotaru ika during this visit so I got a bowl just like the other time. This actually went pretty well with the la-yu (辣油) and a dash of shoyu. The other thing that got our attention today was their wafu steak jyu, an evolution into a rice bento from their regular wafu steak that had appeared on their menu in recent years. Check out all those delicious bits of carcinogenic burnt ends on the beef. We didn't even mind that it was overdone from what we had requested.

The sad news is, their foie gras tonkatsu with truffle has been taken off the menu. Why?!

Savour 2016

foie-ffle (Artichoke)

Artichoke Fried Chicken

carabinero - cauliflower, raisin and almond (Buona Terra) 

home made tagliolini, Parmesan, shaven back truffle (Buona Terra)

wagyu striploin (Bar-a-Thym)

This was our first time visiting Savour. While I was tempted by the ones from the previous years, the thing that really put me off was the need to purchase tickets for admission and food. So I’m pretty pleased that they’ve done away with that nonsense this year. If any of the Savour folks are reading this, please improve on the shelters for the next one. The blistering sun and having to eat underneath that scorching heat took away a lot of fun and after a while, we gave up and sought sanctuary in the air conditioned Market.

We managed to try from a few stalls. The stuff from Artichoke was pretty nice. We liked both the syrup-ed crispy skinned fried chicken and the foie-ffle though it was really that foie gras butter and light & crisp corn waffle from the latter which I found more memorable. Both the carabinero shrimp and pasta from Buona Terra were tasty too but the portions were really measly. I did kinda like the wagyu from Bar-A-Thyme. It was some nice striploin and delicious vegetables on the side, but that meat was not wagyu good if you know what I mean.  

Northern Thai Restaurant (泰北), Peace Centre

northern Thai tom yum

We've stumbled past this shop in the past, but hadn't realised that it was the Northern Thai (#01-46 Peace Centre 1 Sophia Road) place because it had been located inside Isle Cafe. The shop didn't look like much and the menu's pretty small. Sadly the mango salad looked like it had been just taken out not too long ago. Which left me disappointed. But I suppose people don't come here for variety. 

pad hoon sen

The main draw to Northern Thai is their northern Thai styled tom yum soup. The creamy orange one on top that you see with no chilli oils. I've got to admit that I liked it quite a bit. There wasn't so much heat as there were those appetizing tanginess which kept us spooning one after another. There was fried fish in the bowl which soaked up that delicious soup. Those green bits one the side are kaffir lime leaves and for the eagle eyed & initiated, this bowl was requested for without coriander. 

pineapple fried rice

Their pineapple fried rice and pad hoon sen were okay I guess. Sufficiently flavoured, simple and straightforward; well done enough that I wouldn't mind having them with some regularity if I had to but it wouldn't be something I'd travel the distance for. I would come back for that northern styled tom yum again though.

A mentaiko mayo mazesoba from Kajiken (歌志軒)

Here's a bowl of the mentaiko mayo mazesoba from Kajiken. It was noticeably dryer than their Nagoya bowl but still delicious. The main difference between eating this and the former bowl was that I didn't use any extra chilli oil or vinegar because I really wanted that mentaiko flavour to come through. I thought it would have been a more enjoyable eat if they portioned more of the roe. From what we've observed so far, the toppings are pretty good portions only if one took the regular portions of noodles. Upgraded portions, free as it is would certainly benefit from additional toppings which is chargeable.

By the way, that cup of soup that the serve on the side is pretty good.

Hon maguro fin shioyaki set from Nakajima Suisan

Here's grilled hon maguro fin with salt. Nice char and unctuous tender meat beneath that. As enjoyable as their nodo.

Fakruddin, Desker Road

I understood that Fakruddin (19 Desker Road) is a Bangladeshi restaurant and they are known for their briyani.

That plate above was their lamb/mutton briyani. What was different about it was that these guys didn't use basmati rice that we're used to seeing for briyani. The rice here was a short grained variety and there was even potatoes along with the mutton. The flavours of the rice was a little buttery (from ghee) coupled with the aroma of the spices they had used to cook it. I thought this was delicious. I meant "I'm definitely coming back again" kind of delicious.

The other rice that they had was bhuna khichuri. From what I managed to discover, it was rice with dal (lentils). Pretty tasty, but this was not buttery like their briyani and the mutton in the rice was measly. Actually, it was mostly bits of bones. But still tasty the same and comforting.

We had vegetables. Spiced and stir fried sliced gourds of some sort with egg. Tasty stuff.

And a spicy mash that packed a little bit of heat which the proprietor mentioned was made with yam. Due to the intensity of the spices, we couldn't actually tell that it was made of yam. But it was delicious. 

We spied kheer in the refrigerator out back and got a serving. This if you didn't already know is a dessert of sweet and milky spiced rice pudding. It's mostly cardamom flavoured, but there is occasionally saffron and nuts as well. In the rice were also a bunch of really plump raisins. We were already pretty stuffed at this point and if you have noticed, this meal was carbs heavy. But still we managed to finish it. Mmmmm....