The Penny Black, Boat Quay

Penny Black (26-27 Boat Quay) has been around for years. I've always had the idea that if an establishment has survived as long as they did, they must be doing something right.  We noticed that they had some English pub grub going on in their menu and we decided to try.

Like these bacon faggots. I gathered that they were made from left over cuts and offal. The bacon that was wrapped around those had the hallmark flavour of stale oil. Unforgiveable. It also wasn't smokey or salty. I was expecting more texture based on the constituent ingredients of the faggot but it was just mushy.

We were hoping the pork pie would fare better.

The fillings were soft and mushy. Like 狮子头 but much more loosely packed. Not much flavour going on except for seasoning. Could have been largely bread crumbs. I'm not an expert in English pork pies but I expected better. Expected something like a pork pie I once had.

I've read some recommendations from TripAdvisor for Penny Black. Positive ones that is. Now I see how appalling the standards of those recommendations. Wouldn't recommend it.

Oso Ristorante, Oasia Hotel Downtown

This was our first visit to Oso after they had shifted to the current location (27th Floor Oasia Hotel Downtown, 100 Peck Seah Street, tel : +65 6327 8378). The last time we ate at the restaurant was a long time back.

Bread has changed from what they served previously. The onion focaccia tasted fresh and the flatbread cracker thingy were good with salumi.

Cioppino was not bad. It's a prawn bisque flavoured with some orange zest.

We had some beef tenderloin carpaccio with black truffle puree and crushed hazelnuts. I found this to be somewhat addictive with those flatbread that I mentioned earlier.

Oso has venison tenderloin cured in house. The product was tender and smokey and paired pretty nicely with those sour berry things on the side.

Curious about how limpets would taste like, we ordered their Atlantic limpets with pink pepper on angel hair. Like clams. Those pink pepper had a different aroma from the common black variety. While I didn't dislike it, I prefer the black.

It's truffle season so we got some tagliatelle with Parmigiano Reggiano and tartufo bianco. Creamy, cheesy and buttery.

In our opinion, we make better tiramisu than the ones Oso serves. This was dry and a little lacking in flavour, salvaged mostly by the mascarpone cream.

We'll remember to skip their regular coffee the next time as well.

Un-Yang-Kor-Dai, South Bridge Road

Thai Isaan restaurant (#01-02, 57 South Bridge Road, tel : +65 6787 8575) located a short distance from China Square and Raffles Place. I'm not too familiar with Isaan style except for the Laos/Cambodian influence and the omission of coconut milk in comparison with the central Thai food that we've been having.

These were some spiced crackers which was served before the food. Something to keep our mouth busy. It's pretty good. It's a more complex rendition of our local keropok because of the spices.

The first dish to arrive was their kor moo yang. Grilled pork neck. Possibly one of the better if not the best rendition we've had out of Thailand. The meat was marinated, nicely browned from the grilling and had a dominant pepper aroma which I liked.

What I didn't expect from the fruit salad was the burning heat from their chilli. The heat picked up from a low burn rather quickly. Think I would prefer this with much less heat.

Gai yang was delicious. It seemed that the restaurant is known for this dish and the bird didn't disappoint. Meat was pretty tender and the marinate was quite tasty. 

The only dish that we didn't think was impressive was the squid stuffed with tom yam fried rice. It wasn't bad, just didn't wow. 

Sujulicious

Always something to look forward to eating at Suju.

A chilled Suntory would be one of those things.

And some sweet corn tempura today to keep the Suntory company while waiting for the other food to arrive. Not the sweetest corn out there but still not bad.

That's their Iberico pork misozuke. Pork that's been marinated in the miso that Suju makes. The outcome of the meat after the grill was sweet and salty. Actually, the flavour profile is quite similar to the Martini grilled pork from Pastaria Abate. That one was perhaps a little sweeter. This one was more intense. Both were delicious.

Not forgetting their always delicious gohan set to complete the meal.

Lunch at Shukuu Izakaya

I've always wanted to come here (8 Stanley Street, tel : +65 6327 9240) but have never made it due to myriads of distractions. Managed to drop by for lunch. Tried their surume ika meshi. Grilled squid stuffed with rice and tobiko. Not bad. That puddle of simmered (dashi flavoured?) egg was nice.

Lunch also came with a go at their salad bar. Just one serving. Liked the nasu with sesame dressing. Tofu and potato salad weren't bad too. Gonna try to come back in the evening some day.

Leftovers from Two Men Bagel House

That's the leftover turkey bagel from Two Men Bagel House. I don't know if the name's meant to be literal. To their form, it's stuffed. Turkey, cranberry jam, candied bacon, Brie, holy grail gravy dip (whatever that might be) and Pommery mustard. 

Falling apart as I ate. Was hoping for a bit more sweetness since there's cranberry jam and candied bacon. Bacon didn't have so much candy after all. Couldn't even get the Brie.

Here's the leftover though from this. I've exercised my share of disdain over the quality of local sandwiches. Things have gotten better in the recent years. No complains about the quantity of what's between the sliced bread. I mean, look at this bagel. The irony was that I liked the bagel better than the fillings.