Sumo-Ya (相扑屋), Pickering Street

We came across the mention of this place (#01-52 Nankin Row, 3 Pickering Street, tel : +65 6904 9116) from a friend and later on social media. After a little "research" online, we decided to give this local setup a go - reeled in by the pictures of their curry and their menu. It was only when we were there that we were informed that they don't do curry anymore. For good. I felt duped because nothing was mentioned on their social media which was obviously updated.

We were served a bowl of meatballs shortly after we had ordered. I had though it to be otoshi. The meatballs were of good quality, nicely done and had a tasty broth. It was only later that we realized that they were served to us by mistake and the restaurant had attempted to charge us for it quietly. Bad practice making your customers pay for your mistakes. 

The restaurant upsold us and we went along. This was some beef salad with goma dressing. The same type of goma dressing that you could purchase from supermarkets. The salad was quite nice by the virtue of that dressing.

Pictures I saw online of their barachirashi suggested that there were avocados in it. There wasn't any.  The fish was run of the mill, the usual suspects and were still very chilled. There wasn't any discernible vinegar in the rice as well so that probably puts this down to a kaisen don instead. Not exactly what I had in mind after seeing some glowing reviews online. Good thing I learnt never to trust most of them.

Their tori paitan ramen was a good effort. Pretty decent. It needed some improvement for the ajitama which didn't have any shoyu flavour and more firm noodles would have made this a competitive bowl. But I still couldn't get past being duped into coming down without the curry and being charged for food that I didn't order.

Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee (海南福建炒蝦麵), Golden Mile Food Centre

I've never been very big on Hokkien mee. Most of the stalls do the saucy ones which isn't my thing. I don't dislike them. Just don't find the majority of them eat-worthy. What I liked about Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee (#B1-34 Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 Beach Road) was that it wasn't saucy. That meant that there wasn't any of the reduced stock that thickened like gravy to coat the noodles. I think the stock was boiled off in the stir fry. Kinda like the plates churned up by Nam Sing at Old Airport Road FC. Not exactly as crustacean-y as the Serangoon Gardens stall at Redhill FC. Chilli was moderately spicy. Still rather tasty as a whole. There doesn't seem to be much of a difference between the $4 or $5 plate though. Both looked puny. 

Chee Cheong Fun Club, Maxwell Food Centre

Interesting name....Chee Cheong Fun Club (#01-38 Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street). The proprietress is from Malaysia and what the shop does is allegedly Malaysian styled chee cheong fun. I get the curry rendition which was quite delicious. I had been initially comparing them to the rich and viscous Peranakan variety that I grew up with but this wasn't that. Still tasty and a nice eat with the fried bean curd goods and meatball. Watch out for those crispy fried hae bi.

The one that I haven't tried before was the chee cheong fun with sesame sauce. It looked like caramel and tasted like peanut butter. More salty than sweet and quite nutty. Again, I was thinking that it might have been similar to Japanese goma dressing but this wasn't it. I liked this too. I'll come back another day to try their laksa ccf.

The Highland beef burger from Nekkid

I've never thought highly of the premium burgers by The Naked Finn. The fact that it didn't taste outstanding was exacerbated by the listing of what made them premium and a matching price tag. But we were looking for nice burgers out of town and not too far from where we were and we ended up at Nekkid (41 Malan Road). The Naked Finn before The Naked Finn.

The beef was a third pounder. Highland beef (Scottish I presume) from cows that were free ranged, hormone-free and grass fed for their entire life of three years if what I read was accurate.

Like their basic burger, it left me with the feeling that it was getting there but not quite there and hence not exactly worth what we paid for. What I did like was the coarse grind of the patty that tasted a little gristly. The meat had a bit of bite in them which I kinda enjoyed. The menu mentioned blue cheese sauce but I was really getting none of that there.

And I said, "What about breakfast at Huber's Butchery?"

We haven't been to Huber's in quite a while. So how about getting....breakfast before butchery? Haha. The menu's changed a little and the deli no longer seem to have the mushroom ham that I liked. But it seems that they have introduced haggis into their small breakfast selection.

That's their potato and ham soup. There were a lot more cubed ham and potatoes that it looked. With a few twists of black pepper, this was surprisingly tasty.

That's the haggis which I wanted. The last time I had it was eleven years ago. From what I know, none have had the courage or foolhardiness to introduce them into their menu until now. These lamb parts that went into them according to Huber's were heart and fats. Along with stuff like oats, lamb stock, salt, onion and a bunch of spices. The haggis was sourced from Macsween, not made in house like what they do for many of the food in the bistro.

I liked it. The offal-ly flavours were delicious. But it was just two measly slices with a poached egg and a bit of bacon for 18 bucks.  Pret-ty expensive if you asked me.

There's onglet on the menu too. They had salted it lightly so with a generous sprinkle more, it was quite tasty. Not Le Bistrot du Sommelier kind of tasty but also not as hard on the wallet as well.

John's Pizzeria & Bakery, Alexandra Road

I came across the mention of this shop online (321 Alexandra Road, tel : +65 6254 8920) and thought it might be interesting to to see what their pizza is about. Apparently these guys are doing New York styled pizza. I mean, really? I certainly had reservations about that claim.

We had a half and half of pepperoni and sausage onions and mushrooms. I'm not an expert nor could I even say that I've had enough NY slices to know the difference but these didn't feel like them. The menu mentioned 14" but these looked to me more like 12-13". Not close to 16" for sure. Crust was thin and cornicione was a little bready. The topping was decent but not outstanding. The pie didn't taste too bad though.