Mee rebus and kopi from Encik Tan at VivoCity

We had to be at VivoCity early in the day and there wasn't much in the way of breakfast options except Encik Tan and a certain fast food restaurant. This was my first visit to Encik Tan (#B2-37 VivoCity, 1 Harbourfront Walk). I was recommended their mee rebus and coffee. Have to admit to being a little skeptical up to the point when I tasted the noodles and found myself enjoying the nutty gravy. I liked that the noodles weren't overcooked too. If anyone was wondering about that coffee, it's shockingly better than the average local coffee (something I would definitely drink) where crappy renditions are a dime a dozen dozens. 

Chunky Lobsters, Robinson Road

These lobster rolls from Chunky Lobster (#02-03 Oxley Tower, 138 Robinson Road, tel : +65 9007 6467) were pretty good. I'm thinking they should be making more than just ripples with competitors purely based on taste and price point. Definitely liked that these rolls weren't unnecessarily complicated. The original had the barest of mayo and just a hint of herbs; the cheese roll had just cheese and a little butter and the Connecticut roll was simply buttery.

Certainly blew those from Platypus Lobster Shack out of the water and are serious options to consider if one doesn't want to drop a pretty penny.

Too bad about their lobster bisque. But for what they were charging, I didn't think it would be reasonable to expect more than that starchy low intensity broth. I'll skip the weak lemonade too the next time and just get those rolls.

Round 2 at The Public Izakaya

We thought the last visit showed some promise so we came back to try more of their food. To be honest, these guys look like the part of an izakaya and didn't quite feel like one. The word 'contrived' comes to mind. But I would not begrudge the food on that.

First to arrive was their moyashi itame. Boiled bean sprouts with a pretty tasty, nutty minced meat sauce. 

Followed up by some delicious shoyu flavoured baigai. I found these snails pretty addictive and even saved the broth for later.

The only disappointing item we had was their maguro yukke. Maybe I had incorrect expectations. There was some Korean-ish tasting sweet and spicy sauce that kinda ruined it. The only marinade we expected was shoyu and maybe sesame oil.

There was kani miso, baked I believe in the oven, served in the shell with crackers. One can imagine these to be great drinking food.

More of those bacon hotate and hatsu which we liked from the previous visit.

We saw these big assed tori karaage the last time on the neighbouring tables and decided to try them. These were actually pretty well fried. Their crusty skin had sealed in all the juices and heat in the meat. This was what I had saved my baigai broth for, but they're easily as good with mayo or on their own.

And some cheesy raclette potatoes to end.

Accept no substitutes. Just kidding....but this was definitely a good drink to throw back in our warm evenings.

Chicken dumplings and stuffed guinea fowl at Le Bistrot du Sommelier

The chicken dumplings are back in the garbure at Le Bistrot du Sommelier! We've been waiting for those dumplings to be rotated back in since they've been replaced with garlic pork sausages. Not that the sausages were bad but we liked this better.

These dumplings were precious. Only a pair in a pot and they're really good in a tender chicken-y manner.

I think it's the spring menu currently, hence the sugar snap peas, asparaguses and green peas. That's a half guinea fowl stuffed with mushroom paste on creamy rice. Enjoyed the bird. The meat was tender and had a gamier profile than chicken. Those creamy rice weren't very creamy though. The only thing that flavoured them was the sauce for the fowl and they tasted like they were a little undercooked.

Ye Shang Hai Teochew Porridge (夜上海潮洲粥), Lengkok Bahru

This was a lot of food and rather inexpensive for both the quality and quantity that we had at Ye Shang Hai (55 Lengkok Bahru, #01-387). Clearly, there are corners in the vicinity of places I pass by with some frequency that I haven't discovered. In case you were wondering, the spread fed five.

Note to self - the curry was watery and beware the shreds of ginger in the minced pork.

minced pork with fermented black beans

stewed cabbage

stewed pig intestines

eggplant

some steamed fish

fried chicken

hae bi hiam (spicy minced dried shrimp)

stewed hairy gourd

lion's head meatball

luncheon meat

braised/stewed pig skin

stir fried egg

tau kee (stewed dried beancurd skin)

tau kwa (stewed beancurd)

tau pok (stewed dried beancurd)

Uruguay Black Angus ribeye from Astons

So Astons (#04-03 The Cathay, 2 Handy Road, tel : +65 6887 5889) has Uruguayan Black Angus ribeye on the menu. Grass fed meat and apparently a premium export from the country that accounts for more than a billion dollars of bovine meat sales per year. It was a seasonal item and I was curious enough to try it. 

Warning bells should have gone off when it arrived with that chunk of rosemary butter. The reason that extra fat and flavour was needed was because the meat didn't have much of those. It tasted bland compared to their regular ribeye and wasn't as tender. Well, now I know for sure these aren't my thing.