Black Marble, Raffles Holland V

Black Marble (#02-01 Raffles @ Holland Village, 118 Holland Ave, tel : +65 9641 6913) used to be Otto's Deli Fresh. At some point between three years back and now, they rebranded. With the rebranding, the decor and menu has changed as well. But the restaurant is still headed by Otto Weibel.

We ordered crab cakes. Breaded and fried. These were okay. You know the kind of okay that isn't outstanding but it's also not shabby as well kind of okay? Better than many but not the kind that'll make you wanna come back for more kind of okay. 

There was a baked Brie. Runny and cheesy and pretty delicious with the rosemary and honey. The bread they provided on the side was just about the right amount for the cheese. Not bad.

We had their wagyu striploin (MBS5). 200g. This was deliciously rich from the marbling. Any larger and it might have been too much richness. They managed to get a good char on the steak.

Thick cut fries with yuzu mayo there.

Lobster and scallop saffron risotto was very good. The stock in the rice was infused with three dominant flavours - crustacean, saffron and cheese. I liked that they struck a good balance between the three. Not getting much out of the bottarga though. Seafood was good quality and the bottom line was that this was a very competently done plate of flavours.

Wanton mee from 125 Bukit Merah Lane 1

The mention of this nameless wanton noodle stall (125 Bukit Merah Lane 1) has been popping up like mushrooms after the rain lately on social media. I was curious because of the fried egg that they have as an option. Apparently there's a story behind why there's the egg but I won't be going into that.

That's the $4 portion above with two eggs and chilli. Loved those eggs because they weren't over fried and had molten yolk. Appreciated the drizzle of dark soy sauce on them.

The flavour of the noodles were nice in a light savoury kind of way - with the wiry noodles (no alkali taste) laced with lard and those red dyed lean slices of char siew. Those fried eggs with molten yolk were what drew me to this stall in the first place and I loved all the golden yellow that bled into the noodles.

This one's $3 with an egg and no chilli.

The portions here aren't big. Not by any far stretch of imagination. Chilli sauce was okay but not particularly outstanding. It lent a bit of heat but couldn't get much of any other flavour from it. Probably because there wasn't so much of it. 

Wanton had smooth skin, were small and meaty. Some salt would make them tastier.

Kopi di lo from this coffee shop was drinkable stuff. I would come back for the wanton mee again because of those eggs.

USA Cheese Menu from Punjab Grill

Punjab Grill has a USA Cheese Menu which featured a four course end to end meal of dishes with cheese. I thought it was odd to have an Indian restaurant restaurant feature cheese from America out of the blue. The French/English/Italians might have made a better pick for a feature but what do I know eh?

We were served an amuse bouche of a spiced fried potato ball. In spite of appearances, it tasted like some sort of chaat.

My initial thoughts of their blueberry lassi was that it was quite sweet. After a while, it got pretty addictive. Finished it faster than I intended. This was ordered separately and not from the cheese menu.

The appetizer from the menu was a papdi chaat which featured American burrata and avocado with green coriander chutney foam. This was nice. Taste very chaat-y with the sweet and sour and a bit of heat.

Entrée was a lamb kofta that was stuffed with a mild Cheddar. The kofta, glazed with their Rogan jus was sitting on palak khichdi that had been infused with truffle oil. Very nice. Wanted to lick the plate clean kind of nice. I would imagine that lots of ghee or butter was in the khichdi. Flavours from the ball of lamb and the spiced sauce was moreish-ly punchy.

The main was chicken tikka in tomato makhani gravy with US Pepper Jack. Think butter chicken. Rich, more savoury than sweet and delicious. I mopped the plate clean with the mozzarella cheese naan which came on the side. 

There was also cumin pulao on the side of the "butter chicken" which was really good. Had a nice flavour from the cumin, was buttery and there might have been some cheese in it. So good that you could eat it on its own.

Dessert was a paan (betel leaf) kulfi with deconstructed dark chocolate. The powder at the bottom - that's the deconstructed dark chocolate. The other seedy stuff scattered around was mukhwas. A lot of flavours going on with a base of sweet lavender. Very nice dessert.

We were given the betel vanilla shot like the last time for digestion.

Revisiting The Ranch

My time for the flaming ramen is not yet here but I'm equally happy settling for a flaming boned in venison from The Ranch.

Bread has changed from the last time. They were rye previously. I preferred those over these mini baguette things. 

I remember their crustacean soup to be a lobster bisque. It's now listed as crustacean bisque in the menu. Still very nice soup. Oh, there's a ravioli in it now. Thought I detected something like prawns in the ravioli.

We liked the beef tartare from the last time so we ordered it again like the bisque. That gherkin-y beef tartare. They need to bring back the rye instead of those small baguettes. 

The Ranch has a competently done lamb rack. Nothing beyond salt and pepper on the meat. Good ratio of meat to fat for the bite and flavour. It was delicious with or without the twin peppercorn sauce on the side. If there was anything they could improve on, I thought a bit more char would have upped the game for flavour.

Ditto for the venison which was carted in with a bit of dramatics in a flambé trolley. For some reasons, The Ranch isn't big on caramelization. Anyways, the sauce was prepared à la minute. Picture's dark. There's cherries in it and after the flaming flourish, the two boned in pieces of venison had dark chocolate shaven over them. Too little chocolate shavings methinks. 

I've been having a bit of venison in the past couple of months. Coucou, The Market Grill, venison burger from Burger & Lobster (I'm counting this one) and now this. I'm crowning The Market Grill as the best of them because they are. 

The last dinner of 2020

2020 has been a trying year. For many and for myself. While I was tempted to say that I hope the next year would better or some shit like that, I caught myself because know that's not how it works. Reality would not bend for a change in the calendar. But I do hope that things get better as we go along and here's our happy meal from our favourite teishoku restaurant to mark an end to the annual milestone. And the link to all the times that we came here before that (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三 ).

I ordered lemon tea for the first time here because for reasons, they ran out of their Suntory on tap. I could be wrong but this tasted like something out of a can. From Seasons.

Sweet corn tempura which we've had previously. Nice munching with a bit of salt.

This was a first. Scallops they described in butter and soya sauce. Could taste the soya sauce but not the butter in the sauce. The scallops were really nice. The exterior was done with just the light char that flavour from the caramelization came through with insides that were still slightly rare. Vegetables were good quality, well cooked and juicy.

Doesn't look apparent but this was their white fish in shiso tempura.

A happy meal deserves their beef cheek in miso and red wine. 

Suju also has one of the better gindara teriyaki I've had.

One of the happy components of having a meal here is the rice and those takuan. They pair so well together and I almost always get seconds.

 

Burrata cheese soba from Healthy Soba IKI

Healthy Soba IKI has a Christmas special. Burrata cheese topping on their soba. Nice. Again it's all sitting in some tsuyu with a fruity olive oil and tomatoes, topped with tomato salsa, burrata cheese and negi. And black pepper. Tangy and creamy at the same time paired with their freshly made soba.

Proprietor Noguchi-san came over and asked about the food. Short chat broached the topic of their previous cheese soba. Apparently the shavings of cheese were 36 month Parmigiano Reggiano. Who woulda thunk?!