Saveur, Purvis Street

It's been quite a while since we've last had anything from the Saveur Group. Meaning Saveur and the defunct Saveur Art. The original founders had left and gone their ways. Two ways to be exact. This restaurant at Purvis Street (#01-04, tel : +65 6333 3121) might have been their flagship but we've never actually visited this particular outlet before. Does anyone remember that this spot used to be Miss Clarity?

Think their Saveur pasta didn't change much. Still nice even with the artificial tasting truffle flavours. I guess what sold with this dish was that it still remained the umami bomb it was made to be and the texture of those capellini were still nicely done.

There's a salmon confit which looked like it might have been something they brought over from Saveur Art.

Duck confit was not bad. 

Liked their beef en croute too. Served with carrots, parsnips and mushrooms. Noticed that it wasn't called a beef Wellington. This even had the layer of mushroom duxelle and foie gras around the tenderloin beneath the puff pastry. Would have been great if there was more of their Bordelaise sauce to go around though.

Dessert was a pistachio panna cotta a little different from how I remembered them. The current rendition has some Bailey's mousse and I believe they've candied the pistachios. Nice too though. I liked this.

Pizzaburger from Da Paolo Pizza Bar

This was from Da Paolo Pizza Bar. A limited time item they called a pizzaburger. Because it resembled neither a pizza nor a burger, I couldn't actually call it a purger or a bizza. It looked like a beef Wellington that came in a pizza crust shell instead of a pastry shell. With a burger patty inside. Frankensteinian or Adam-esque? It doth teeter.  As the progenitor was both a pizza and a burger, it could very well be a Ezri grub zap (thank you online anagram generator!).

I digress. From what they mentioned, wagyu beef patty, Brie cheese, porcini mushroom sauce, caramelized onions and Parma ham. What came through mostly was that wagyu patty, some of that Brie and the sweet caramelized onions. Pretty flavourful moist meat in a savoury package of umami and some sweetness from those onions. Those black crumbs on top were olives. I kinda liked this for what it was.

Laksa bak kut teh from Old Street Bak Kut Teh

I tried this out of curiosity from Old Street. Which by the way is a much better bak kut teh chain than Ya Hua. Anyways, this tasted much more like curry from curry fish head than laksa. Not the rempah flavour nor the lemak-ness I was hoping for. It wasn't bad. In fact, I found it very drinkable and I liked that the bottom of the claypot was filled with dried shrimps whose flavour had permeated the curry. But laksa it is not. Three ribs and four pieces of tau pok. Pretty sure I'm not getting this again.

Revisiting Tian Tian Seafood Restaurant

Because we liked what we had the last time, we came back to Tian Tian Seafood to try more of their food. I guess for them, there's a good reason why there's always a crowd. The above was something called fu jian chao fan (福建炒饭). Yes, it doesn't look much like fried rice. It's fried rice with gravy slathered over that had diced chicken, prawn and mushrooms. Not bad. Kinda like the fried rice rendition of mui fan.

This nai bai stir fried with garlic filled our quota for our greens of the meal. But we generally like nai bai. Not as pretty those served at Din Tai Fung but what the hell right?

If I had to describe their har cheong gai, I'd say it wasn't too bad as a whole. This was properly fried without excessive grease. To compare, the ones over at Sin Hoi Sai were one up with their stronger prawn paste flavouring which was kind of the point as well. Make of that what you will.

Even more from Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine

We tried the fish noodles from Imperial Treasure Fine Teochew Cuisine in our last dim sum lunch/brunch because I was curious if their rendition were as nice as the ones I recalled from Hai Tian Lo or Peach Garden ages ago. Hoping to recapture a little something here. It didn't. No char and not so much fish flavour in those noodles. Disappointed.

On the bright side, we found out that the restaurant offered a steamed version of the usual pan fried radish cake we normally get. This was really nice. Glided down the throat with ease even without the grease. Think we're gonna stick to this rendition from now.

Tried their mushroom dumplings for the first time. Pretty good if I might say so. The soft and chewy crystals skins were packed with diced mushrooms and green beans...I think. Will be getting these again the next time too.

More from Astons Steak & Salad

We came back to Astons Steak & Salad mostly for the salad bar.

They have a duck a l'orange. Not on the regular menu. What I disliked about the duck was how heavy the flavour of the herbs were on the skin. Didn't need those at all. The parts of the duck that didn't have those herbs were good on their own or with the sauce.

Tried their t-bone. Probably the most expensive of their regular steaks. A little too much sinews for me. Not feeling how this was better after paying so much more so I'm sticking to their non bone-in regular steaks the next time.