Revisiting Pastaria Abate

Though I've only been been here a second time, I found it odd that for such a small family run establishment, I've never seen the owners around. Maybe they're shy and hiding in the kitchen but I'm getting the impression that the staff are quite left to their own devices. 

The weekend crowd looked a little forlorn.

Still they did a pretty tasty porcini ravioli (aren't these tortellini?). That brown butter sauce sure made the pasta a whole lot tastier. Great with a few twists of black pepper from the grinder. By the way, that $2 upsize option doesn't apply for this.

Here's their meatball and marinara sauce with angel hair. Not a fan of the sauce. It tasted a little tart like concentrate. I'm sure it was because that reminded me of those jarred pizza sauces I ate too much when I was younger. The meatball was tender and dense, not too tight but I felt would have been nicer if there was a little more fat for flavour.

The last time I ordered chicken in an Italian place was years ago. That was probably the first time and it was amazing. This pollo toscano of theirs was....ordinary for the laziness of a better description. While it wasn't bad, I didn't take to the flavours.

Panna cotta was dense and creamy. It's not the light and wobbly variety and it wasn't too bad with the cherry....erm gastrique? Liked those cherries.

The tiramisu was edible. It's lightweight on the ingredients with a low mascarpone to lady's finger ratio that hadn't gone through what was in my opinion, thorough soaking. No alcohol in this one but I kinda already saw that coming.

Sakura ramen from Ippudo

Ippudo has a sakura ramen for the spring season. It didn't quite look as pretty as the picture they put up on their social media but I suppose it was close. What I was disappointed with was the flavour which was nothing much like the expectations ingredients that they have put into it. A poorly thought out bowl if you asked me.

In the end, what came through was just the takana and mentaiko. I'm not sure why they had bothered with the sakura denbu though. I'm pretty sure that based on the tiny amount that they had sprinkled on for aesthetics, they would know that none of it would be registered. On the bright side, they have a salmon katsu on menu that was actually pretty good. Breaded, fried and rare on the inside!

Revisiting Kra Pow Thai Restaurant

If it wasn't obvious the last time round that we enjoyed the food at Kra Pow Thai Restaurant, here's us coming back. While the dishes aren't the same as what one can get in Bangkok, they were also not so far off.

Their pad krapow moo was pretty solid by the way. Savoury, spicy and comforting minced pork with chopped beans and chilli with rice that was comforting as all pad krapow should be.

Got a plate of their seafood pad kee mao this time round. Though I cannot be sure, I thought this was a better flavour than the pork rendition from the previous round. In any case, both were delicious. While it cannot be seen on this photo, there was actually a chunk of fish in there.

I recall mentioning that their stir fried kailan was a nicely done dish. I still stand by that statement.

Some fried squid tentacles were also ordered. They were just regular fried squid tentacles and I'm pretty sure that something similar can be found elsewhere.

For some reasons, the yum woon sen was the last dish to arrive. It was also pleasantly warm for a salad. There was a nice lime-y flavour together with the fish sauce with textures going on. The only things I thought would have improved it was some crushed peanuts and some mint leaves. 

Wasabi Kit Kat

Picked up one of these from a shop that sold some Japanese confectionary down at Tanjong Pagar Centre. I kinda had some idea what to expect but I was still curious anyway.

The flavour if anyone was wondering was mild. I did secretly hope it was stronger. It tasted like creamy Kit Kat with just that bit of wasabi that you could tell it was there. No horseradish tolerance necessary.

Fried Egg Power from Park Bench Deli

I happened to be in the vicinity during breakfast hours so I thought it made sense to stop by for a breakfast sandwich from Park Bench Deli. It did sound good on paper. A couple of eggs, tater tots, bacon, cheddar and PBD sauce. I'll disclaim at this point that I do not actually know what's in the PBD sauce.

It's not bad. Greasy, carb-y and salty - texturized between two warm rolls. But for $12.85 I definitely felt that quantity needs work. #pricey. A bit more cheese, a bit more bacon and possibly another egg would have been so much more satisfying. Couldn't taste any of that PBD sauce after half the sandwich so some strategically squeezed Sriracha came to the rescue with their nice vinegary warmth. 

Spicy shrimp Tambun Biscuits from Penang

These were quite tasty. One could definitely get a good hint of those flavours from the spicy dried shrimps (hae bi hiam) in the mung bean stuffings which made these tau sah piah more savoury than the usual already savoury sweet ones.