Murugan Idli Shop has shifted

We hadn't been back to this area in a while and realized that things have changed. There's a bunch of restaurants we hadn't seen before. Raj is gone. For a moment, we had also thought that Murugan Idli Shop had folded until we realized that they've relocated down the road less a minute's walk away (76 Syed Alwi Road). At where Raj used to be.

We did get the obligatory idli. On top of that also a delicious ghee onion uttapam. Nice buttery greasiness with the fragrance of pan toasted onions and their tasty chutneys. So now we know what else is good here.

I've seen these mini meals around for ages and have wondered what went into them. Later on I understood that they were just a variety of the flavoured rice plus a little something on the side. This had some curried tomato thing, raita and achar. I've tried their lemon rice previously and this mini meal happened to have pretty much all the rest. The sambar rice (right below the papadum) was savoury and delicious while the tamarind rice was appetizing. I believe that sweet at the bottom right was some rice kesari bath/bhath.

Note to self : There's coriander in their curd rice.

The Rillette Bar above Le Bistrot du Sommelier

In the few years that we've been going to Le Bistrot du Sommelier, we've never ventured up to their Rillette Bar which has been around probably as long as the bistro has.

Chance has it that we wanted something warm from the Rillette Bar menu and it was suggested that we ate at the bar instead since the bistro usually only brought down their charcuterie. Turned out to be a good idea.

We were plied with items from their board and ended up with some Bayonne ham which was just the ideal passenger for their crusty bread.

Nom nom nom......

Fresh from their spring rotation was a pâté en croûte stuffed with goose, foie gras and confit orange. This was outstanding. Everything from the stuffings to the gelatin and even the crust were well flavoured. The latter must have been infused with much lard.

Nom nom nom nom......

The something warm which I had mentioned earlier was their croûte au fromage. A Swiss dish of cheese melted over bread which isn't very dissimilar from a croque madame. There was some smoky ham beneath the cheese and it was topped with a fried egg.

We were recommended to try the Alain Milliat chardonnay grape juice. So awesome a nectar it was that we unwisely spent 25 bucks for two bottles of it. Ouch but yeah, it's delicious like clear liquid raisin.

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.