Philly Shack, Clarke Quay

This was a new establishment (3A River Valley Road, #01-01B Clarke Quay) that claims to do Philly cheesesteak sitting right on the very premise that Butchers Club Burger used to be. My keyhole view into the future whispers to me that a trend is about to recur.

We ordered their regular cheesesteak, one with Provolone and the other with Cheez Whiz. The cheeses were fine and the sandwiches were edible. In retrospect, I would have picked the one at Park Bench Deli over this any time. Actually, I would even pick Yellow Submarine over this. 

What I didn't think much of was that their meat wasn't exactly tender/juicy and the careless preparation left bits of silver skin and sinews in the shrivelled overcooked slices. While that was pretty much the only gripe I had with the sandwich, impressions took a major plunge. Even though the bread was kinda nice.

We asked for hot sauce. They responded with a basket of selections which was honestly, overwhelming especially when they didn't know what was what.

The onion rings were simply a waste of money. There's more batter than onions and whatever onions that were in the rings barely registered flavour. This was mostly grease and deep fried flour.

But their chocolate bourbon shake was rather good. If I were to ever return, it'll be for this shake. Incidentally, it was also the best dip for their fries; not ketchup or chilli nor any of their hot sauces. You heard it here first.

Ninja Bowl, Duxton Road

Like a shinobi, Ninja Bowl has sequestered itself into the little corner (15 Duxton Road, tel : +65 6222 8055) that we almost missed it. That little corner that I remember being a coffee joint previously. Not exactly hidden but still mostly out of sight.

What they do are the all in one bowl meals with your carbs and vegetables and protein and sometimes fruit packaged with a range of flavours and textures by the way of nature and condiments. Think Grain Traders or The Daily Cut minus the customisability. The food was tasty. Flavours hit you in the face like Lego Batman. And damn, those seared scallops were nice.

Carbs are optional. The only two options we had were orzo and ninja rice - the latter a mix of Japanese and brown rice. There's also quinoa. These are chargeable on top of the price of the regular bowls, so yes, cost does get ninja-ed in.

Can't say that we were bowled over (haha!) entirely by the food, but it was still undeniably tasty that we wouldn't mind coming back if we were in the vicinity.

Tong Ah Eating House (東亞餐室), Keong Saik Road

I was recommended by an aunt to this place (35 Keong Saik Road) and it was specifically mentioned that their kaya was buay pai. The home made lumpy type that's filled with pandan flavours minus the additional flour or whatever things factories add to make them unnaturally smooth and silky. And that I could only eat them there because they don't sell them as takeaways. It's not bad but doesn't beat the ones that my mum used to make. Didn't that make me sound like an old fogey? Oh, those French toasts were okay. Didn't look at picturesque as IG has made it out to be though. Lol.

Anyways, their queue system is rather chaotic. One could simply hijack a prepared order of toast and add on additional orders simply by having thick skin. There were only a couple of people churning out the bread and coffee while the weekend queue was in full strength. We got a pack of nasi lemak which was probably not made in house. It was surprisingly edible and featured that sweet and spicy sambal that I didn't find off putting because it had enough heat. The portions of the rice was unexpectedly larger than usual.

Coffee was a pretty thick local brew but it's not especially fragrant. Which works for some people but not quite so for me because the strength is just one half of the quality I look for. It's not bad per se, just not fantastic. And ooooh...testing Google Map embed into this post.

Super Mummy Hainanese Chicken Rice, Chinatown Food Centre

This chicken rice shop (#02-169 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) was one of a few Super Mummy branded stalls down at Chinatown Food Centre. I rather liked this. Their white chicken was slurp off the bone tender, smooth and doused with a fragrant mix of sesame oil and light soya sauce. They also had one of those lime-y chilli sauces that worked very well with their beady rice. Altogether greasy, but deliciously so. I'd eat this again.

25 Degrees Burger, Hotel G

Man this was disappointing. At the same price point, Omakase Burger beats this hands down and I actually get more bang with a McD double quarter pounder at half the price.

Oops, did I type that out loud? This was 25 Degrees Burger (200 Middle Road). Yet another unremarkable import - this time from Los Angeles. 

Their tomato soup was not bad. I think that might have been parmesan foam on top.

I decided to just try to build my own burger because I thought it didn't make sense to have Thousand Island and blue cheese and bacon together. What better way to hide poor quality meat. Instead, I went for a basic burger with American cheese and arugula.

We had three orders for them burgers - one medium rare and two mediums. All arrived like they were well done. Obviously the guys flipping in the kitchen know nothing about cooking patties to even not get doneness right. Obviously management doesn't give a flying fuck.

Let's compare American cheeses. Here's Omakase Burger and here's McD. And the one from 25 Degrees is in the picture above. Could barely taste it.

The bright spot to all of this? I don't even have to remember this place exists the next time I want a burger.

Le Bistrot Du Sommelier 2017

Le Bistrot Du Sommelier has always been a dependable venue for French food. At least for us it has. By some chance, we've stumbled upon the end of their winter menu again. The spring one starts next month according to them.

So we grabbed the French beet salad. We had something similar last year around the same time. These multi coloured beetroot were mostly sweet. The yellow ones less sweet than the orange and red ones. This year's rendition of the salad included something they called a celery "cannelloni". I'm pretty sure it was celeriac rather than celery.

Anyways, there were two rolls of those "cannelloni" under all the beets. Looked like they were steamed as well and stuffed with some creamy goat's cheese. Good stuff!

Can you tell what this is from the picture? We couldn't neither. It's their andouillette, made in house by their chef Brandon Foo. Not much of these gets served here so it's rather easy to remember the ones we've had.  

Looked like a mess mash even when we portioned it out. Nothing like the tightly packed sausage of intestines it was suppose to resemble. Between the one made by Patrick Heuberger at the defunct Casse Croûte, the labelled A.A.A.A.A. ones from L'Angelus and this one - the former two beats this hands down. I'm sorry to say that this wasn't good at all. The flavours were as messy as its appearances and that mustardy green marinate didn't help.

The unexpected thing from this serving was that the potatoes au gratin tasted of ginger. I know, right? Who the hell puts ginger into these things? What was ginger even doing in this restaurant? And I don't even like ginger unless it's for desserts. But actually, this tasted pretty good. Didn't see that coming did you? Neither did we. Maybe the cream made the difference. It could have been a mistake in the kitchen for all we knew and it will be the only one time ever that a gingered potatoes au gratin is ever served.

This andouillette was the first time we've ever had something that was disappointing from Le Bistrot Du Sommelier.

We've seen their Welsh lamb saddle on the menu for a while now and decided to give it a go since it was recommended by the server tonight. It was lamb saddle cooked in a bread crust. Cool huh?

The saddle was served with lamb jus along with a very smooth and very creamy buttery mash. The kind that would coat your oesophagus and trigger thoughts of seizures and heart attacks.

We were wondering if they put the lamb into a hollowed out baked bread of was the lamb encased in the flour and baked together. The inner top part of the bread seemed to have absorbed the lamb juices and flavours from the herbs turning itself into a crusty garlic bread of sorts. 

The meat was pink and tender. There was some chermoula which didn't taste very French-y but worked with the lamb.   

That's the bone that's cooked with the saddle in the bread after we were done with the meat.

Not enough room for desserts today.