Perbacco, Ann Siang Road

For a moment sometime back, we had thought that Perbacco was gone for good. What we found out was that they've relocated from the former location to Ann Siang (#01-02 Ann Siang House, 28 Ann Siang Road, tel : +65 6224 1069). Current premise looks spiffier but there was a sort of cosiness that we missed from that previous spot. Menu's updated but I noticed that they've retained some of the old goodies.

We started with some burrata and prosciutto di Parma.

Followed up by some crispy air dried sea urchin shell. Just kidding.

Their tagliolini with truffle sea urchin emulsion was one of the old goodies that I've mentioned earlier. Savoury creamy richness scented by truffle and some sweet uni. We wished that the portions were bigger.

We were impressed by their bone in ribeye that came with an outstanding dark chocolate glaze. Pretty sure there's more than just dark chocolate in there like maybe veal jus, but can't figure out what. Loved those Brussels sprouts and potatoes.

Another awesome item which they had retained was their hazelnut panna cotta. It would seem that they have had the texture improved to become more wobbly.

A breakfast bagel from Two Men Bagel House

For some reasons I was craving for a breakfast sandwich in a recent morning and I ended up here getting the breakfast-iest looking item. Black forest ham, bacon, fried egg and hash brown in the sesame seed studded bagel. That hash brown seemed to have been lost in the rest of the ingredients. But it did the job and I even enjoyed it with the sriracha. It's cheaper for something similar plus a shorter walk from the train station than Park Bench Deli. 

Huo Yan Shai Zi Niu (火炎骰子牛), ION Orchard

The name of this stall (#B4-63 ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn) translates loosely to "flaming dice beef" referring to the diced beef cubes that they're selling. Which is pretty much the only thing that's available. The only choices to be made are the portions, a choice of sauce and whether one wants them with rice or not. Here's a small portion with black pepper sauce. These weren't too bad. Reminded me of those food court teppanyaki.

Interestingly, they also sold beer - which came in a plastic bag and straw.

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.