Uni ramen from Sushiro

I had to order this once I saw it in their menu because it ignited a burning curiosity. The ramen was surprisingly not as bad as I had imagined. That uni sauce in the warm noodles was creamy, a little sweet and I've to admit was kinda appealing. No comparisons to be made with Seizan here but the sea urchin in this bowl was so much better than the uni gunkan from the last time.

藝 yì by Jereme Leung, Raffles Hotel

Quite an entrance by the 'Pale Garden' wouldn't you say? Story is, Jereme's local and has cut his teeth in various prestigious hotels. He's apparently opened more than 9 restaurants throughout the world, has spent the past 17 years in Shanghai and 藝 (#03-02 Raffles Arcade, 328 North Bridge Road) is his first restaurant here. A homecoming opening if you would.

We were told that the chopsticks represented ying (阴) and yang (阳). The black pair was for common use and the cream ones were for individual. Pretty fancy.

The kurobuta char siew was an expensive disappointment. I believe the fat was insufficiently rendered resulting in the texture of the char siew in becoming a little tough and "crunchy". Unless that was the intent of the kitchen! *gasp*. Needed more caramelization too. 

The roasted pineapple was really good though. Sweet, juicy and fragrant.

Har gow with black garlic was nice. It's almost like the shrimp dumpling had balsamic vinegar.

Siew mai weren't one of the better ones we've had. Most of the flavour came from the dried sakura ebi. The rest of the fillings tasted flat and there wasn't much of textures going on considering that there was pork, prawns and mushrooms.

Loved their braised chicken claw in black bean sauce. I'm tempted to say that this was the best of this dish I've had. Solid flavour from the black bean sauce and the extraordinarily tender claws that were slurp off the bone. The taro that came in the dish was so fragrant.

If there was a dish that I would identify as outstanding, it'll be their luffa and pig's stomach peppercorn soup. I'm sure a lot went into the making of the velvety collagen filled broth. Awesome. I would come back just for this alone.

We tried their sautéed Xinjiang styled lamb tenderloin. Because cumin. Because lamb. Because it was something different from the sautéed beef cubes that every other Chinese restaurant seem to be doing. Lamb was nice. Portions of the lamb were dismal. This was dish was mostly fillers.

The server recommended their mushroom buns. It looked like one of the more better made mushroom buns in terms of appearances so kudos to that. I didn't understand the flavour because I tasted taro and was trying too hard to identify the mushrooms that were supposed to be in them.

The last dish we had was stir claypot kailan with prawn paste and Shaoxin. Nicely done if I might say so. I liked how direct it was with just the flavour coming from the wine and the prawn paste pairing with the crunchy sweetness from the vegetable. 

Their satay flavoured ice cream was interesting. It was nutty with some heat that was punctuated by citrus from the pomegranate. 

Was pretty surprised that the Da Li rose ice cream had a rose flavour that was more intense than the satay flavour from the satay ice cream. Not bad.

The night before Diwali at Madras New Woodlands

T'was the night that folks took to the streets set ablaze with pretty lights. We sought refuge from the sweltering heat behind a cup of chilled sweet lassi.

They gave us mini curry puffs while we were waiting for the food. I don't know if it was because they're doing amuse bouche nowadays or was it because of Diwali. 

We got a Punjabi thali. 

And a Madras thali. Both were not bad but neither tasted as impressive as the VIP thali we had previously. Maybe it is because there's no korma.

Dessert was appam, freshly made on order. One had coconut cream in it.

Then came the logical end to the meal.

Soufflé, Duxton Hill

The idea of a soufflé themed restaurant sounded intriguing on paper. The execution was not so much because when one soufflés every dish, it only means waiting time. Took about two hours to complete a three course at Soufflé (5 Duxton Hill, tel : +65 6690 7562) and it was not because we were slow eaters. We even saw people leave out of frustration.

Fortunately they didn't soufflé-lize everything. There was a foie gras terrine with sugar glaze onions. According to the menu. Terrine was okay, not one of the better ones around in my opinion. Those onions didn't taste sugar glazed - just wilted in red wine and unexpectedly lots of pepper. There was something also very Asian about its flavour which I thought didn't pair well at all with the foie gras.

There was a laksa soufflé. It's not bad. The soufflé itself had gotten the flavours delicately. Quite a bit of chopped up prawns in there. Sauce on the side added punch to the rempah flavours though it could have done with much less salt. The thing that might have completed it was laksa leaves or even shredded fish cake. Haha. 

Mains came with soufflé. Their bouillabaisse came with a mini lobster soufflé. Had a little lobster claw which tasted pretty seafood-y but not necessarily lobster-ly. Couldn't identify the flavour in the soufflé but it was definitely not lobster. Bouillabaisse was lightweight in flavour and the seafood tasted like they were frozen. So - forgettable. #lowquality

Entrecôte steak came with a mini Roquefort soufflé. Steak was okay-ish but that herb butter probably had more than just herbs. Unless the meat was sour. The Roquefort soufflé was good though. Should have just ordered the regular sized one.

We picked a soufflé a la Chartreuse for dessert. It was served with the digestif where you could pour to your heart's content. This particular soufflé was a little different from the earlier savoury ones we had. Its texture under that light crisp surface was what one might consider ethereal. It was also our first time with Chartreuse. Tasted very much like other herbal liquor.

An Indian rice meal at Mapletree Business City's FoodMaster

FoodMaster's the food court in Mapletree Business City (50 Pasir Panjang Road) nearer to Google. That's a rice meal from their Indian stall. Rice meal that some may affectionately call Indian cai png.

I liked it. Liked their garlic-ky and crispy chicken 65. Liked how the lime achaar went its own harmonious way with their dahl (hidden under the papapdum) or even their creamy raita on the the rice. Yeap, that thing right on the top isn't coleslaw. They even gave some tamarind curry today (beside the rasam). So much savouriness, warmth from the spices and tangy flavours to go around.

Cheng tng from Xi Le Ting (喜樂亭)

I thought this was worth a mention. Cheng tng at Xi Le Ting (#02-70 Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre, 31 Commonwealth Crescent) for a dollar and not a bad one if I might say so. Ingredients seem to have lessened through out the years. Or perhaps it's just inconsistency - I don't eat from this stall enough to know.

The soup's refreshing even though it was a warm dessert and it is not overly sweet to boot.

*activates time machine* Managed to dig out a photo from about 4 years back. It looked like there was more white fungus and those big sago balls. Not so much of the malva nut in that bowl.