Good Morning Nanyang Cafe, Far East Plaza

I remember the orange ciabatta with kaya from Good Morning Nanyang Cafe from years ago. I kinda liked it. Had the impression that the business had wound down in the past years but it turned out that there is still one last bastion (#02-23 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road).

I don't know if the owners are the same but the coffee was pretty decent. I did think that there seemed less orange peel in the ciabatta than what I recall. Not a bad eat but I was hoping for something more memorable.

January in Suju

Yet another dinner at Suju, I daresay our favourite teishoku restaurant.

Just when we thought we've tried pretty much what we thought might be nice, we discovered their kuro goma tofu in a dashi sauce. This one to be savoured slowly for the black sesame flavour. Pairs excellently with the sweetness from the grated wasabi.

Also for the first time, we tried a tempura of white fish wrapped in shiso. As a bonus, that one piece on the left contained grey meat! Nicely fried without being heavy. For some reasons the words that came to mind after eating this was "Japanese fish and chips".

Pork belly, kinoko and cabbage stir fried with ponzu. The citrus flavour in the dish made it refreshing.

Tee hee......

Enishi, International Plaza

Enishi (#02-85A International Plaza, 10 Anson Road) is from Kobe. What differentiates them from the numerous ramen-ya scattered around is that their soup ramen uses a dashi base broth instead of the more commonly seen tonkotsu/miso/shoyu/shio. The shop's small - only limited counter seats and they serve only two bowls; the dashi bowl and the dan dan noodles.

Their dan dan noodles is quite pretty. I got mine in mid level spiciness and mala. Mid level isn't very spicy.

The diced onions and heat helped with the monotony. There was a predominant nutty flavour like peanut butter.  

In my opinion, what really helped cut through the richness were the options of vinegars that they had which added that tangy dimension that kept the creamy sauced noodles interesting.

Good enough that I asked for rice.

This was our first dashi broth ramen. On hindsight, we should have picked the stronger flavour option but that will happen the next time. Pretty sure there was some fish powder in it. Liked the yuzu lingering in the background. Noodles were thick, a little flat and buckwheat. They were okay and I couldn't say that it was special enough that I would find them memorable.

Their charshu was super soft and nicely charred with that burnt aroma and smoked duck was very agreeable. Not sure if I had imagined it but the aji tamago had a sweetness in it.

Hainanese styled curry pork chop rice from Maddie's Kitchen

I liked this curry pork chop rice from Maddie's Kitchen (#02-10/11/12/13 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road). Why you might ask? The pork chop had a proper crispy dry crust and meat. Chap chye was respectably tender redolent with the dried shrimp flavour of the stock it was stewed in. I don't know if it made a difference but I might have gotten a really fresh batch of cooked rice which made them moist and easy to eat that the curry was a bonus rather a necessity. If I really had to come out with another reason, I could point out that they had an interestingly lime-y sambal belachan that you could help yourself with. Not so spicy but very tangy.

Gonna come back another day and try something else from their menu.

IAAI Malay Food, Havelock Road Food Centre

IAAI Malay Food (#01-32 Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22A/B Havelock Road) serves traditional Malay food. I've had their epok epok and lontong more than a few times before so I though I'd mention the lontong this time. Theirs came in a gravy of savoury sweetness that's prominently flavoured with dried shrimp (hae bi). Not viscous but still rich and creamy. Within were the mainstay of soft stewed vegetables, a boiled egg, a couple of pieces of tau kwa and some sliced ketupat. I missed having a molehill of serunding over the bowl but I'm not complaining. Tasted very homely and pretty satisfying.

Tandoor, Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre

I've been wanting to come to Tandoor (B1,  Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre, 11 Cavenagh Road, tel : +65 6733 8333) for a while but this place has been one of those that was out of mention, out of mind for me for the longest time. From what I could gather, they've been around for the past three and a half decades. Respectable considering how many eateries are merely just the flavour of the week.

Getting into retrospect, these guys didn't feel as earnest as Punjab Grill, wasn't as classy as Rang Mahal and well, they aren't anything like The Song of India. If anyone was wondering why these specific comparisons, it's because it'll cost you about the same to eat at all these places. Just didn't feel that the cost of eating at Tandoor commensurates the experience.

Some papads to start while waiting for the food. These were only free for the first serving.

The menu described these as potato barrels stuffed with nuts, marinated and chargrilled. Aloo ki nazzakat. The stuffings were mushy and not particularly nutty. For $22, it looked like it was something a little better than what one can get from local Indian rojak stalls.

But their mango curry, which is a signature dish of theirs was fucking awesome. Rich, creamy and full of fragrant ripe mango that's been simmered down so soft that no teeth was necessary. That's paired with some spice and a light bit of heat along with sweetness from the fruit. Not sure what's in there but I saw mustard seeds and a bit or dried chilli. I would come back just for this.

I've had tastier jeera pulao at the defunct Chella's. This wasn't bad. Lacked salt, lacked punch from the cumin. It just wasn't impressive for $18. But it also made that much more sense that we were eating this with that delicious mango curry.

The menu described their khusk tandoori raan as leg of lamb spiced with rum, pot-roasted in a heady stock spiced with cumin, cardamom, peppercorn and bay leaf, grilled in the Tandoor. Sounded exotic. If I had to describe it I'd say it tasted like lamb tikka. Meat was a little dry but pretty good munching. Good thing we took their advice to get the half portion as there was quite a bit of meat.

We took a gamble with their rose & cardamom panna cotta as mundane as that flavour pairing might have sounded for such an establishment. The texture was kinda dense for panna cotta. Not wobbly. Not getting the cardamom as well. Kinda expensive at $18 for something pre-made and taken out from a fridge to serve.