Tomato pound cake from Pullman Bakery at Havelock Road

Pullman Bakery has for some reasons set up a shop in this area (741 Havelock Road). Unusual because they've only had that Millenia Walk shop for years and have never expanded. From out of the blue, this particular spot of the island? There's another shop at 100AM which is on the way if anyone is interested.

Anyway, we walked in one evening and I came across the tomato pound cake. I got a slice out of curiosity. I couldn't taste tomato in the cake so I was a little disappointed. But I enjoyed the dense crumbly texture of the slice which even had a bit of heft. I liked that it wasn't too sweet as well. 

Caffe Beviamo, Tanglin Mall

We must have passed by Caffe Beviamo (#02-K1 Tanglin Mall, 163 Tanglin Road, tel : +65 6738 7906) countless times and never thought of eating here until now. The food was grounded and not bad at all without trying to be fancy. Not big on their coffee though.

We had toast, scramble eggs and ham which were pretty much what they were.

A surprisingly delicious pasta, aglio olio styled, of peas, pine nuts and broccoli with spinach that reminded me of another vegetable pasta from P.S. Cafe that was equally good.

There was a vanilla and cinnamon risotto that was kinda nice too. It reminded me of a sweet dry porridge. The green stuff was stewed apple, not kaya.

More food from Pastaria Abate

What I like about eating at Pastaria Abate during the weekends is that it's usually not crowded. I definitely appreciate a peaceful sit down meal in this crowded city. There's a foie gras and mushroom pasta this past weekend on their specials. It was quite nice. Earthiness from the mushroom and the light liver-y taste from the foie. Those onions cutting through the grease worked. 

I was curious about the scallop pasta with some sort of lemon butter sauce. Those scallops were nicely browned and tender. I wouldn't mind a bit more char for flavour though. That savoury tasting sauce was tangy without being lemon-y and unexpectedly - also not buttery. That's as much as I am able to describe it.

Oh yeah, we tried their garlic bread. It says home styled on their menu. Don't know whose home. I wouldn't get it again. I think I can make better at home.

More of that duo of pork configuration from Blk 38 Curry Rice (#4)

Yes, more of that duo of pork configuration that's so delicious from Blk 38 Curry Rice. Today with their curried squids. Anyone noticed that there seems to be a herbal hint to those curried pork?

Yan Ji Seafood Soup, Alexandra Village Food Centre

If anyone was wondering, the seafood soup from this stall (#01-71 Alexandra Village Food Centre, 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1) was definitely not the same bowl as the one from Woodlands Centre FC. I've heard mentions on how this stall was opened by one of the workers that used to be from that original stall and that the real McCoy is the one at Marsiling. No idea what was the truth and I didn't really care.

None of it mattered since this was a much more convenient option and it wasn't too bad.

For a start, each bowl tasted a little different because of the ingredients since they were cooked to order. The broth from the first bowl on the top had a bit more crustacean-y flavour while the second bowl was infused with the aroma of fish maw which the crayfish bowl didn't have. And through the differences, the broth from both bowls lack the depth of the original at Woodlands.

There's more - those meat nuggets were less uniformly flavourful from the ti po (dried sole) and like the broth had less dimensions to their flavour.

What does this all mean? It could maybe just mean that if one didn't compare, this stall would still have the most flavourful seafood soup and meat nuggets for miles around. And while it might not have lived up to the old stall, it was pretty tasty in its own right.

A takeaway from Leek Hainanese Chicken Rice (力海南雞飯)

I've eaten from Leek (#01-73 Beo Crescent Market & Food Centre, 38A Beo Crescent) a few times but haven't had the chance to mention them. One of the reasons was probably because I've never ranked them highly amongst my list of options. Here's a take away packet of breast + chicken thigh (鸡尾) and an egg. The rice was just a little more greasy than what I like and a little less flavourful as well. For these guys, the chilli definitely helped as that rice wasn't exactly so good that you would want to eat it on its own. 

Still Leek was not bad in any sense of the word. They're just not exceptional. Just not something that I see myself looking forward to.