Teochew Fish Ball Noodle (潮州魚圓粿條麵), Crawford Lane

I've come across the menion of this stall (Wiseng Food Place, 462 Crawford Lane) a number of times. Curiosity got the better of me and I came by for breakfast. There isn't a name for the stall beyond a sign which indicates what they sell and the portions they serve their noodles. Nothing else to be ordered here as far as I can tell. The queue was sparse before 9am so if one was looking to avoid them, you have been told what a good time is to be here.

I got the mee pok. It's not bad. Noodles weren't clumped together or overly soggy, coated with a sheen of oil (lard!). The toppings were generic plus orange fish cakes I don't often see. Chilli was pretty good. There're toppings of fried lard and chopped garlic added after the bowl was assembled. I'd put this bowl as savoury and a little spicy. Can see myself eating this with regularity if only I was nearby often enough. 

Revisiting Cicheti

Getting reservations at Cicheti seemed to be a little more difficult than I remember. But then again, I've only been here once. The other time was delivery.

Haven't gotten calamari in restaurants for a while. Thought these looked nice at a neighbour's table. It was just okay. Don't like them with too much batter. Don't think I'll be ordering them again. Regretted ordering this after seeing that the restaurant was currently serving figs with their burrata.

Was curious about their pizza carbonara. While the flavour didn't so much remind me of carbonara, it was a pretty tasty pie. Nice smokiness from the bacon. Liked the mild sweetness which the caramelized onions imparted. I think more pepper and Parmigiano Reggiano could have nudge it up the carbonara-meter. See all that cornicione that wasn't covered with topping? Eat those with their olive oil. The oil they use was pretty fruity.

Was thinking of getting a pasta from their menu but got distracted by their seasonal white truffle tagliolini with brown butter and cheese. Damn it's good! They used fresh pasta for this. Very expensive but also very nice.

One Prawn Noodle (一號蝦麵), Golden Mile Food Centre

My interest in One Prawn Noodle (#01-93 Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 Beach Road) was piqued by the same reason as everyone else - the owner chef Gwyneth Ang was formerly from Burnt Ends. Morbid trivia - prawn noodles would be her choice of a death row meal.

I've heard from people whom have tried, saying that their broth was too sweet. I'm not sure what has changed since the time they've had theirs and I have had mine but I didn't think that. Sure it leaned a bit more towards crustacean sweetness than savoury/salty but I didn't think it was excessive. Prawn balls weren't as prawn-y as they were peppery. Odd. That single prawn tasted fresh and sweet. Only one prawn though so I guess the name of the stall meant something. Heh!

But altogether a pretty enjoyable bowl. Wouldn't mind another the next time.

The breakfast before breakfast

These Digestive biscuits tasted a little too wholemeal-y. Don't remember them tasting like that in the past.

Venison, beef tartare and more berried double Gruyere cream meringue at Coucou

This was our second visit to Coucou. Bar counter seats tonight - it was very much more crowded compared to the first time we ate there.

Got their curly salad again because we liked them from the last time. It's the dressing.

There was a nicely done butternut pumpkin soup with Gruyère and walnuts. Creamy, sweet and piping hot.

Coucou has a beef tartare with Sbrinz cheese. From what I gather, Sbrinz is similar tasting to Parmigiano Reggiano. Couldn't taste it in the tartare so I didn't get the point at all. The flavours in the tartare were also much milder compared to the French renditions we've had. There were also some silver skin in the meat. Not something we would order again.

The most enjoyable thing from this order were the skin on fries. Those were good.

Venison was on menu for this month's special. Though the menu mentioned striploin, it tasted like a tenderloin/filet. Was accompanied by some sweet carrots, Brussels sprouts and chestnuts on the side. Pretty expensive for the portions. 

While the venison could have improved from better crusting, they did manage to get enough browning on the outside for the caramelized flavour of the meat flavour to get through. Was delicious with the cranberry sauce. Market Grill's rendition was better but I enjoyed this also.

Fell back on their meringue with double Gruyère cream and berries for dessert. This was so good.

Ali Corner, Tiong Bahru Food Centre

We noticed this stall (#02-17 Tiong Bahru Food Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road) and their ayam penyet from our previous visits and decided give them a try because it looked good. 

It looked much better than it tasted. Rice was plain, not chicken rice. Meat from the chicken was a little dry. No refrying was done so the batter didn't have a good crunch. They also didn't look like they had applied enough force smashing the chicken. Sambal's okay. Project Penyek was a better quality plate of nasi ayam penyet if you asked me.