Pray go

It's been about 13 years since we were last at Prego. In retrospect, this dinner reminded us why we never came back. This time, I think the lesson will stick.

There was something called candied orange Gorgonzola. I didn't know what it was but it looked like Gorgonzola that was ripened with orange. If it was truly such a thing. Sounded fun. Anyways, there wasn't much orange and they tasted salty for something that was supposedly candied. #wtf We requested for honey and extra crackers which they obliged. Very nice with the honey.

Green risotto. Pea flavoured I think with spinach and asparagus. Pink things were smoked tuna. The rice was subtly sweet - to put it euphemistically. We asked for Parmesan cheese, a few healthy twists of black pepper from the mill and then dumped the rest of the candied orange Gorgonzola into the rice and it became quite delicious.

Got suckered into ordering their ribeye because there was an option for a sauce of Gorgonzola and veal jus. Not much Gorgonzola flavour in the sauce but it didn't taste bad. 

Regretted immediately when I saw the steak. Didn't look much like ribeye. Meat felt flaccid and lacked char. Was thinking it would be with just salt and pepper but it was scented with rosemary and some other herby stuff to mask the fact that the steak was bland and cheap tasting. Pretty shocked at the standards. Aston makes better at about a third of what this place charges.

Did I mention the meat was sinewy?

Trying dinakdakan

We came across dinakdakan the last time we were here at Asian Food Mall. They're apparently another porcine dish that could be made with pig's ear and face folded in with mayonnaise, lime, onions, vinegar and chilli. And other stuff. We came to try them. Noticed that there were a couple of stalls that were selling these. The one above is from Lutong Pinoy (#B1-16 Lucky Plaza). Creamy and a little greasy in a good way. Yeap, that's a longganisa on the side as well. I like the chicken-y tamarind soup that came with their rice plate. 

This one is from Chick Point a couple of stalls away. I got their dinakdakan with some lechon paksiw. Their rendition of the dinakdakan tasted a little gingery and had more heat coming from the slice chillis but was otherwise pretty similar to Lutong Pinoy. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of ginger in savoury food so no prizes for guessing which one I'm going with the next time I'm here. Say, don't these things taste like the non hotplate version of the sisig at Max's. The soup here didn't have any chicken flavour. 

Putien, Great World

I hadn't realized that Putien has a new restaurant at Great World (#02-149, 1 Kim Seng Promenade) until recently when we stumbled upon it. Between the Michelin starred flagship at Kitchener Road, Raffles City and Marina Square, this one has got the best service yet.

Got a refreshing bayberry tea. The bayberries are also encased in the ice cubes. 

Ordered some of the stuff we knew we enjoyed from them. Like their braised pig intestines.

And their well received Heng Hwa bee hoon. The prawns here were noticeably sweet. Then again, I might not have noticed previously because I tend to drench the noodles with a generous portion of their delicious lime-y chilli sauce.

One of our guilty pleasures from Putien is their stir fried yam. Yam cubes stir fried with fish sauce and sugar. Both of which are caramelized into a crisp shell of savoury sweetness encasing piping hot yam. We've been guilty in the past of shovelling these into our faces even when we were stuffed.

Loquat in herbal jelly for dessert. Strange I remember this being citrusy in the past when it wasn't today.

Sashimi teishoku from Suju

Did not manage to snag the counter seat today at Suju.

Got their sashimi teishoku for lunch today. As I remember, the selection of sashimi never changes. There's nothing seasonal even though the menu says "today's selection". But the quality as we've encountered it has always been unquestionable. The cuts are also thick. Their shoyu-mame has been missing from their nama tamago for a while now. Wonder if it's ever coming back.

Cold tomato soba from Tokyo Soba

Tokyo Soba's seasonal bowl currently is their cold tomato soba. I had the feeling that I would enjoy it and I did. The bowl came with chopped Spanish tomatoes and sliced Japanese ones. Don't know exactly what varieties those were but they definitely paired with the chilled bonito-y tsuyu. Tangy and smoky at the same time with them chewy buckwheat noodles. Just the thing to have in our scorching weather.

We ordered kisu tempura on the side. The flavour of the fish was....subtle. Wasn't something with much presence in tempura methinks.

Etna and thoughts

This was a dinner over the National Day weekend. We haven't been paying much attention to Etna in recent years because their menu doesn't change and variety isn't their game. They used to have staggering options years ago and were more rustic, but I suppose they get by with their current clientele with what they are doing these days with the smaller portions and prettier presentation. Occasionally, something nice comes up on their weekend specials. With a special price tag.

We still come back once in the while because there's still a quality to some of the items in their menu worth returning for.

Their antipasti platter is filled with their pickled vegetables. Pretty acidic. Great when you've been having rich food and need the sour to cut through the richness. A little too much sour for me as a starter. Will avoid in the future.

The pizza special this week was with stracciatella, Mortadella and pistachio from Bronte. Very nice. The flavour from the main toppings came through nicely balanced. Love the pistachios.

That's squid ink gnocchetti in a prawn bisque. Nicely done too. Getting the flavours from both the ink and bisque. The former possibly because of the sauce rather than the pasta. Kinda disappointed that their "lightly seared prawns" came in such pitiful portions for what they charged though.

Very nicely done tagliatelle with truffle cream sauce. Loved the bite in the egg noodles. There's mushrooms and scallops in there if anyone was wondering but one couldn't necessary differentiate between the two since they were both thinly sliced and in small pieces..