Cinque formaggo pizza from La Nonna

I came across this cinque formaggo pizza from La Nonna from a recent food delivery so we came back for another go at it in the restaurant. On hindsight, I kinda liked it better from food delivery because it wasn't so hot. Where the flavours from the cheeses were a bit more pronounced and wasn't as gooey. Was glad that my favourites - the mottled Gorgonzola and the goat's cheese were up there among the flavours that stood out. The crust was unfortunately not a match for Luka's.

This could also possibly be my limit for the number of cheeses for pizza since it was so salty and rich. Would love to have it again with some honey. Note to self : La Nonna's vongole is lousy. Might be the reason why it's not on the regular menu.

Shen Ji Chicken Rice (申记鸡饭), Tanglin Halt

Pretty impressed with Shen Ji Chicken Rice (Guan Kim Coffeeshop, 47 Tanglin Halt Road). If the addressed looked familiar, it was because this chicken rice stall was located right next to Maria's Corner.

To be more precise what I was impressed with was the boiled chicken rather than the roasted one. Not that the roasted one was bad. Their boiled chicken was served chilled, smooth, was slurp off the bone tender and had those delicious gelatinous layer under the skin. This was dangerously close to the standards at Sin Kee.

We had a serving of liver on the side which was creamy.

Boiled eggs were boiled eggs.

I was taken in by their rice. It was greasy without being excessive. Had sufficient flavour going on with enough salt and savoury that every spoonful was torn between just rice, with chilli or dark soy sauce. Yes it was good enough to be eaten on its own. So good that I had seconds. Speaking of the chilli - Shen Ji's packed a bit of heat, not enough ginger to bother me and zest from the limes they used. Lightly salted and pretty appetizing. 

Baristart Coffee, Tras Street

Been hearing quite a bit about Baristart Coffee (65 Tras Street, tel : +65 6904 3168). About them coming from Sapporo. About them using the premium creamy milk from the Jersey cows in the farms of Biei in Hokkaido. About the higher fat content from the "Jersey milk" which produces a deeper flavour. About how those cows there makes up less than one per cent of the total cow population in Hokkaido numbering at only about 800. Hasn't all that marketing gotten us all intrigued already?

Cream puff's pretty good. Reminded me of those from Beard Papa. The puffs here were more crusty and sturdy.

The custard filling was made with their precious milk. That custard had a particular quality to the flavour - an aftertaste from the eggy sweetness that bordered on cheesiness. Nice.

Cappuccino was okay. Like many Japanese coffee joints here, strength of coffee isn't what they're known for. Apparently latte art was more important than cocoa. What was different about this cuppa was its smoothness which I attributed to the milk they used.

Lobsters & Ice Cream, Tanjong Pagar Plaza

Tried Lobsters & Ice Cream (#02-101, 7 Tanjong Pagar Plaza) out of curiosity. I've always thought outcomes to be dicey whenever "affordable lobsters" are mentioned because there's usually a good reason why they're cheaper. 

We were given samples of their house made lime, mirin and tarragon ice cream. They tasted was mostly milky. There were the mentioned flavours that were hovering around that milkiness but none of them taking firm hold. Lime for me also doesn't work very well as a flavour for ice cream. Sorbet yes.

This was a seafood soup that came with our rolls. Clams were very good. Soup was pretty sweet. A mirin based sweetness with a light aroma from the bits of fried shallots. Didn't taste particularly seafood-y for a seafood soup.

Ratio of bun to fillings were poor. Bun was dry and a little crusty from the toasting without sufficient heat from the toaster and stingy application of butter. The lobster was okay but meat's only on the top part of the rolls. So there wasn't much lobster. 

For $29 this was about as expensive as Market Grill which costed less than twice as much taking into consideration that they (Market Grill obviously) had better buns, more lobster meat and nicer lobster meat. That pricing also puts Luke's buttery lobster rolls in the same ballpark. I remember paying the same $29 once at The Naked Finn (they're more expensive these days) and they tasted better. 

If I had wanted to pay less, Chunky Lobsters was way ahead of these guys at their game.

Components of the roll were sub par. They even thought it was worthwhile to save on something as low cost as butter which would have up their game without touching those lobsters.

Scallop rolls were okay. Nothing particularly outstanding and it suffered from the same poor bun to filling ratio. These rolls felt quite carb-y.

Ah Xiao Teochew Braised Duck (亞笑潮洲卤鸭), Golden Mile Food Centre

Have been wanting to try this Teochew braised duck stall (#B1-43 Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 Beach Road) for a while and it finally happened. And hell yeah it was good. 

We ordered half a duck with egg, some stewed pork belly and duck liver. Hidden with the liver, we also found a duck's heart. Meat from both the duck and pork belly were smooth and tender, flavoured with the grease infused braising sauce.

Speaking of which, that sauce was outstanding. I liked that it wasn't too herbal and the base flavour profile was more savoury with just a light sweetness. Intense but not unnecessarily complex. Brought back distant memories of bowls of rice drenched in similar sauces from my childhood.

These guys offer a couple of chilli dips. The red one was like the type used by most kuey chup stalls except that this rendition had a lot more bits of chopped garlic and its flavours going on. The other one was more of a chilli vinegar dip which was tangy and spicy and also garlicky at the same time. Something helped cut through all the grease from the food like a light from the beacon in a storm. Did I just say that?

Burger King's Ultimate Angus Double Mushroom Swiss

I haven't patronized Burger King locally for a while because I'm from an era when they used to be pretty tasty and think that they're but a shadow of their past today. I haven't thought well enough of them for more than a decade but a confluence of stars has had our paths crossed once more and I ended up with their Ultimate Angus edition of their Mushroom Swiss. Double and no less. 

Surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Those Ultimate Angus patties were thicker and more firm with a chunky meaty texture and moisture that their regular patties couldn't achieve. Better flavour too from those patties if that hadn't been my imagination. This must have been four times the amount of meat compared to their regular patties and it shows on the receipt. 

The fries are different from what I remember of them. But as I said, it was quite a while ago since the last time. These appear chunkier and tasted more potato like. A little pale and boring but nothing a few squeezes of Sriracha can't fix.