More brisketing at Decker Barbecue

It's been a while - a couple of years since we last/first tried Decker Barbecue so we decided to come by for a quiet afternoon lunch of their briskets. You know, just to get reacquainted with their barbecue over again. It's not like we have much other options for American barbecue as well.

We got ourselves a brisket sandwich and just a little bit of brisket. The former wasn't piled as high with slaw as we had imagined from the menu description. Between the two orders, we came to the conclusion that the tenderness was top notch. There was some smokiness in the meat. But the other flavours was a little muted and maybe some more salt would be great. 

Not to mention that these guys were pretty expensive too. But then again, not like we have much of a choice for barbecue here.

Two fried eggs from Beo Crescent Curry Rice

Yeap, todays curry rice came with two fried eggs (荷包蛋). Almost the same configuration as the last time except for the swap back to the regular squids. Yum yum!

Le retour à L'Entrecôte

Has it been almost 8 years already since that first time we stepped into L'Entrecôte at Duxton Hill? Time surely sidled by almost unnoticed. I managed to get a better pic of the steak they're known for this time round though. Portions seem to have shrunk. If there was anything that really bothered me about this visit, it was that they seriously need much better air conditioning.

We didn't do anything else but their entrecôte steak. I'm not entirely sure if the sauce was exactly the same but I didn't think there would be any reason that anything would change. I still enjoyed it. The meat had some aroma from a bit of char to go with as well. Fries didn't seem to be as good as I remember them. Les Bouchons has nicer fries.

Black Tap, Marina Bay Sands

I've never heard of Black Tap from New York until recently when they were announced to be opening up at Marina Bay Sands (L1-80 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 10 Bayfront Avenue, tel : +65 66889957). Since then, I've been reading up a little. Their shops in NY get meat from Pat LaFrieda. I wonder if it's the same meat that's being used here.

Apparently, these guys are known for their "Crazyshakes" which looked very much like a fast track to diabetes. We were intrigued by their burgers instead.

Nursed a Brooklyn Lager while waiting for the food. The first time I had one of these was at Keens Steakhouse earlier this year. A dry-ish, not so bitter and hoppy brew I liked which reminded me of the Golden Ale from Brewerkz. Was definitely looking forward to this.

I was surprised that they even offered Singapore Blond Ale on tap though. I'm guessing that they must have been coerced into it because that was a lousy brew.

We had a couple of their burgers, both of which were pretty good. Totally blew the recent Nekkid experience out of the water. The one on top was the lamb - came with a solid coarse ground patty that packed a nice lamb-y flavour which held up in the face of the pickles and Swiss cheese. At this point, I'm pretty confident that this could possibly the best lamb burger we've had to date.  

The Greg Norman was a kick ass blue cheese burger. I suppose I could understand why it had won the People's Choice award for the past consecutive years at the New York City Wine and Food Festival's Burger Bash. There was a good amount of the blue cheese that it was satisfying without overwhelming that wagyu patty that they used. That is balance right there. Speaking of the patty, it came with a nice crust around that medium doneness. Fries were good.

No Crazyshakes for us. Just a classic peanut butter with whipped cream. Nice.

Tiong Bahru Boneless Hainanese Chicken Rice (中峇鲁起骨海南雞飯), Smith Street

This again, was another one of the numerous places we've passed by literally countless times and wondered if they were any good. I was also wondering to myself if this shop (56 Smith Street, tel : +65 63230191) has/had any relation to the other Bib Gourmand listee by the same name at Tiong Bahru Food Centre. They have exactly the same name but this one didn't serve their chicken rice with kiam chye. There's also cze char to be had here.

Anyways, this chicken rice wasn't too bad. I'm not a fan of their chilli which I felt was a little too gingery for my preference. The rice had just the lightest hint of ginger that didn't bother me. But it also had sufficient flavour that I didn't quite mind the fact that I'm doing this chilli-less. Their poached chicken was chilled and even had those jelly underneath their skin. Not adversed to coming back at all.

Between sliced bread at Japan Rail Cafe

Japan Rail Cafe's special of the month in September is their kaisenwich. As one might have surmised - the name which is a mesh of seafood in Japanese (kaisen) and a sandwich. Bread from Asanoya Bakery presumably. Filled with minced crab, Hokkaido scallops, tobiko and onions. It tasted nicer than it sounded.

I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed their Ultimate ABC burger - their bacon cheese burger with avocado. Juicy if relatively uncharred wagyu patty in a stack where the flavours weren't muddled. And yes, I would be judging it using a set a different standards that I normally do for burgers because they're Japanese. I liked them even though it didn't have some of the usual characteristics I go for. Just because I accept that they're a thing.