Capped short loin of lamb from iSteaks (and grilled chicken)

I came across what was described as capped short loin of lamb at iSteaks. The printed menu said 250g. There's an online menu which one could access and order via QR which was a little cheaper. That online menu stated 200g. I asked the wait staff, they checked and confirmed it's 200g. When it arrived, I thought it looked more than 200g.

The bottom line was, it's good. Unexpectedly outstanding piece of meat that was properly treated without unnecessary marinade. There was a cap of fat that was nicely caramelized and salted to go with the dusky pink meat of medium doneness. Meat was juicy so I guess the side of olive rice was just the perfect thing to soak up all the lamb-y juices. It was more expensive than their other lamb options but it sure was good.

In other stories, I added on a grilled chicken to my order of lamb. The chicken was served before the lamb. Finished it before the lamb arrived. But it's pretty good. Meat was properly charred and very moist on the inside. This is also where I remind myself that the mushroom sauce wasn't as good as the one from Aston's and that I should never choose it again.

Trattoria La Vita, North Canal Road

Trattoria La Vita (#01-01, 35 North Canal Road, tel  : +65 6226 1182) rose from the ashes of goo Italiano which I was sad to see go because I really liked their lemon pasta. I don't know if these guys merely rebranded but Trattoria La Vita is another Japanese Italian restaurant. The decor remained largely unchanged.

Bread wasn't amazing. They were made airy and porous and as a vehicle to mop up sauces. But they did a pretty good job out of the food from their menu.

Like their persimmon salad which contained ingredients like stracciatella cheese, prosciutto, barley and raspberry vinegar.

We ordered the linguine with oysters, bottarga and shungiku (edible Chrysanthemum leaves). Lots of umami from the pasta. Off the bat, this was way more delicious than the other recent pasta with bottarga we had. There was one large oyster and cubed pieces of more oyster the pasta. Very good stuff.

They did a good job out of the gnocchi with a light Gorgonzola sauce with pears too. Rich and wasn't cloying. The walnuts were nicely toasted and the black pepper came through all the creaminess.

I didn't like their panna cotta. Didn't think it was good. Too much gelatine in it. The texture wasn't light and wobbly.

Coffee was strong and bitter but not particularly fragrant.

A tea, a cake and a pie from PS. Cafe

The tea was Prana Chai from Australia. Black tea, probably a package blend with the masala spices and honey already included. The milk was soy. Was slightly apprehensive initially because of it but I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Liked the flavour that managed to come through from the masala. 

The cake was their burnt cheesecake with rum syrup drenched macerated raisins. Plump those raisins were. Cheesecake was soft and creamy. Not bad.

The pie which was more like a tart was a Normandy apricot pie. Pastry crust topped with slices of apricot and what might have been custard. I'm not sure. Not bad, but the crust would have benefitted from being more buttery. I'm thinking this could have been better heated up than at room temperature.

Fatty Cheong (肥仔详) Wanton Noodles, ABC Brickworks Food Centre

Fatty Cheong is pretty well known for their roast meats. They also have another stall (#01-52 ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah) at the other end of ABC Market which sells wanton noodles with bu jian tian char siew (不见天叉烧). One doesn't have to specify the cut of meat during order - all char siew that is served with their wanton noodles are 不见天.

You're probably wondering how was this particular wanton mee? 

The char siew was nice. It was actually the highlight for the plate of noodles. Fatty, readily falling apart yet with that bit of tender bite of contrasting texture to the sweet caramelized exterior. Good stuff. The noodles weren't much to speak of since they were lacking the bite of springiness which I was hoping looking for. Wanton was okay and chilli sauce was so so.

Ryan's Kitchen, Great World

Ryan's Kitchen (#B1-146 Great World, 1 Kim Seng Promenade, tel : +65 6767 0118) is an attachment to Ryan's Grocer next door. The former, an Aussie styled restaurant which gets their ingredients from the latter. From what I gathered, the food they sell are allergen free and organic. And in my opinion, frills free in a down to earth manner. 

Tried their 100 day grain fed ribeye. Straightforward piece of steak that was grilled a proper medium rare with salt and pepper. Their mushroom cream sauce was pretty good. This was a much more enjoyable steak than a certain dry aged one at a neighbouring restaurant.

Pork chop was also nice. Hearty, boned in and had a nice aroma from the grill. Delicious black pepper sauce on the side. Will come back another time.

Rong Ji Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice (荣记傳统海南雞飯), Redhill Food Centre

Tried the chicken rice from Rong Ji (#01-42, Redhill Food Centre, 85 Redhill Lane).

This was an order of their chicken cutlet rice with additional boiled chicken drumstick and and egg.

Pretty decent. Chicken cutlet was drizzled with some lemony sauce. The drumstick was quite slurp off the bone tender.

The rice wasn't greasy. It also meant that less chicken oil was used which resulted in lesser flavour. The bright spot to this was that it meant I didn't have to hold back on their chilli sauce - a chilli sauce that was appetizing in a garlic-ky and limey manner which also packed some heat. Creamy and no sediments like the kind that Boon Tong Kee has.