Kentucky Grilled Chicken

I've never been a good customer to old man Sanders and curiosity got the better of me this time because for the first time, it wasn't fried chicken. Did anyone noticed that the box said prepared fresh? So nothing else must be fresh or otherwise they would have mentioned it.

Here's that supposed signature grilled chicken. The box mentioned that they're cooked in store but I didn't notice any grills in any KFCs anywhere. It looked more roasted/baked than grilled. Tasted like those that you could get in Cold Storage/NTUC. But those Cold Storage chickens cost less than this for a whole roasted bird so are effectively better value for the dollar. 

There's a slightly spicy and slightly sweet seasoning of sorts. The meat was not hard, just a little stiff. But it's KFC. If they were any good, it would not have become the case where all their competitors are better than them. How did this product that did not even exist months ago suddenly become a signature? These guys must have English as poor as everyone else's.

Mui Kee Congee (妹記), Shaw Centre

I've never heard of Mui Kee (#01-12 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, tel : +65 6737 2422) before it was announced on the news that Les Amis would be partnering up with them to establish a branch of their congee shop here. Trust Les Amis to come up with a pricey congee shop. Anyways, curiosity got the better of us and here we were.

Porridge was okay. Not sure why these fellas are generating such crowds but I suppose novelty would be one of the reasons. I wouldn't queue for it though. The congee I had became watery pretty quickly. It had a sweetness from the scallops. I was thinking that they might have had consistency along the lines of Zhen Zhen but these were not as gloopy. This particular bowl was not worth what we paid for.

What was impressive was the threadfin belly bowl that featured thick slices of scorched belly meat. We were informed that it was one of their signature congee and those came with wok hei. Yes, that smoky aroma was definitely infused into the congee. I'd come back just for that.

We had some dishes on the side. Drunken chicken was not bad, but then again, it's not bad in many places. So not a selling point.

This however was. Thick sliced kanpachi done up like Chinese yu sang. The fish used was of good quality with a superb dressing that included soy sauce, sesame oil and a squeeze of lime.

While the food was generally good, one had to be the obvious weakest link. The fried crullers which were a little too greasy and too dense. Not very good at soaking up the congee. Didn't like these.

I'd eat their delicious fried bean curd skins again anytime.

Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles (舌尖尖兰州牛肉面), Tiong Bahru Plaza

A new Chinese noodle shop (#02-107/108, Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) from Lanzhou has sprung up at Tiong Bahru Plaza in the unit where Baba Wins' used to be featuring pulled noodles - apparently a dish from the Muslim Chinese that's been passed on since the Tang Dynasty. These guys are also a member of the Lanzhou Beef Noodle Industry Association which they seemed to be proud of. 

We tried a couple of bowls and thought that they were pretty good. One could choose from a variety of noodle type they had to offer for each of those bowls and there were some options for customization. Their flat noodles had a very good bite where you could tell that they were freshly made while the broth had a beefy savoury flavour coupled with some spices. Vinegar was great with the dry noodle option which had chilli that seemed more flavourful than the ones you could help yourself with on the tables. I found it odd that their chilli didn't pack much heat at all though. I'm definitely coming back again.

A new thought on the annual ritual at Lawry's

I've been lamenting musing for some years about how Lawry's is still undisputed for slow roasted prime rib and to that point, whether if that's a good thing or not. This year, I've reconciled with myself that the reason for the status quo isn't important. I'm just going to enjoy it while it is still a good thing to be enjoyed.

Atout, Harding Road

My history with the food by Patrick Heuberger started back in the days of Au Petit Salut at Jalan Merah Saga. That might have been the pioneering of casual French cuisine on our shores followed by his subsequent venture, Le Bistrot Du Sommerlier. Before we knew it, he had started an off-the-beaten-track location at Casse Croûte for a short stint and then dove into charcuterie making at Huber's Butchery. I recalled that he successfully attempted to sell us some fruity Spanish olive oil then.

I don't know if this could be considered the coming back into a circle of sorts but today, Monsieur Heuberger is back into the restaurant/bistro business with Atout (40C Harding Road, tel : +65 6679 1800). Ironically located in the building where Au Petit Salut had been for some time. A rebirth spawning from the site of a legacy he had left behind.

Sidestepping further forewordplay, Atout was nice.

It's been noted that charcuterie is an interest and forte of the chef. So we got our selves some thinly sliced beef tongue which was salty and fatty and delicious. 

We had pink radishes with butter. Interesting pairing.

Bread which is chargeable here was in order (pun intended) because of the food we had. No better vehicle for those and their sourdough was good.

Followed up by Atout's rendition of boudin noir. A take that was mousse-like perfumed with onions and a crusty exterior. Not so different from the rendition at Le Bistrot du Sommerlier which could have been the way it was because of influence. Very nice with their delicious apple sauce.

This was a redemption of lobster bisque for us. Creamy and robust with the crustacean flavour, unlike the poorer rendition which we had very recently. This one even came with little chicken dumplings we liked like those that they make in Le Bistrot du Sommerlier.

The andouillette here tasted different from the ones we had at Casse Croûte. This one seemed fatter and a little less densely packed. The scent of the offal sausage was strong when it was served but the flavour was a lot better than the smell suggested. It was nicely spiced and paired pretty nicely with the sharp mustard on the side.

Their black forest gateau was nice. The liquor was sufficiently robust, cherries sufficiently intoxicating and the chocolate nicely sweet. Reminded me of the outstanding tiramisu from the defunct Angeleno. Stuttgart has a competent competitor now.

Un café marked the end of lunch.

Ruth's Chris Steak House, Marina Mandarin Hotel

In an epiphanous flicker shortly after we got seated in Ruth's Chris (4F Marina Mandarin Singapore, 6 Raffles Boulevard, tel : +65 6336 9093), it all came back to me. I remembered having been here before. This was the location where the defunct Bologna used to be. I had a lousy experience then. It seemed that the ghost of the experience past had endured. 

Bread was kinda boring. That came with butter that was fluffy but not very buttery tasting. This was merely an observation and not a gripe. The real griping has not yet begun.

We had imagined that as a steakhouse, Ruth's Chris' lobster bisque ought to be dependable. I wouldn't condemn this as bad, but mediocre isn't too far from the truth. It was creamy without sufficient crustacean flavour. Every time I have a lousy lobster bisque, I inevitably compare them to the one at Morton's - which may not be the top in the world, but at least they were good. Wooloomooloo and Bedrock also made better bisque.

Lamb was tender. Distribution of fat was not so great but I expect that the restaurant take responsibility for the quality of the meat they use. Some parts of the ribs had a good mix of meat and fat while others had only meat. Moving from meat and fat to just meat only resulted in a sudden lack of flavour. Other parts were just chunks of fats. 

The restaurant had also recommended medium rare for these as they said that the plates would be sizzling hot and the lamb would cook a little more. The actual sizzling on the plate lasted a total of probably 10 seconds. The medium rare didn't even get a chance to turn medium. So while I thought that those guys at 665°F wasn't competent enough, they were better than Ruth's Chris.

Like the lamb, the sizzling went out of steam pretty fast on the ribeye. The colour of the meat didn't look right. There wasn't much of sear. I thought there was too much fat without a good marbling that some mouthfuls felt like just fat. 

The meat texture was bad in a way that the fibres didn't sustain their form and splayed at the edges of the cut. It was soft, not tender. At certain points, we couldn't identify which parts were meat or fat. We could tell the sinews though. So much for them trying to explain USDA Prime because it sure didn't feel like it. I kid you not when I say that even Aston's was more satisfying. I'm writing this place off on this alone.

We had thought that some brandy peppercorn sauce would salvage the steak. This tasted weird - in a herbal kind of way. We gave feedback and they replaced with fresh portion that tasted like they added more brandy. Didn't make things any better. This didn't taste like any peppercorn sauce because I couldn't taste pepper. By the way, Aston's is a very affordable entry level steak joint that makes black pepper sauce which blows this one away.

Those grilled shrimps on the side weren't too bad, but a few shrimps aren't going to be enough to salvage the experience.

You know that there's a big problem when there is talk about the potatoes being one of the better tasting items from the menu. These Lyonnaise potatoes were indeed one of the better tasting items.