More food from Komala Vilas

So we came by Komala Vilas during the CNY period and we ordered some items which we haven't tried before.

I've been wanting to try another Andhra meal after the first time I've had it at Sri Lukshmi Naarashimhan. Mainly because of the podi and ghee which they provided for the rice. This one from Komala Vilas didn't have ghee....or at least they didn't drizzle over mine like they did for a neighbour's. The vegetables and curries on the side were the same as the ones from their South Indian meals. Podi didn't pack much punch here. I liked the one from Sri Lukshmi Naarashimhan much better.

Their jeera pulao was delicious. Aromatic and had a good flavour from the ghee and cumin. 

That's their mushroom mutter. Sliced canned mushrooms with peas in masala(?) gravy. Not bad. Had a bit of heat.

To add more grease and carbs into the meal, we got poori too. These were quite nice. The bread had a light crisp and was chewy.

Zhen Cheng Roast (贞诚特色传统烧腊), Cantonment Road

Noticed this roast meat stall (243 Cantonment Road) when we were down trying the noodles from Lao Gu Ban as they were just next door and we thought, why not?

We got ourselves a plate of triple roast. Duck, pork belly and char siew. Quite decent roast meats as a whole but not so outstanding that I'd come back specially for. But then again, I would likely come back here for Lao Gu Ban so I'll probably end up getting some roast meats to go along as well.  

Tarte by Cheryl Koh, Shaw Centre

The couple of times I tried to verbalise 'Cheryl Koh', it had somehow sounded like Sheryl Crow. Don’t know why that was so. She has a tart shop by Les Amis (#02-05 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, tel : +65 6235 3225). Cheryl that is, not Sheryl.

Was drawn to the blood orange tart. Pretty good.

The blood orange slices were sour; a punchy citrus that paired with the buttery crust and sweet cream in the tart. Nicely done methinks.

This was their Piemonte hazelnut tart. Flavour reminded me of a better quality and refined Ferrero Rocher. It wasn't bad but I liked the blood orange one much better.

The only coffee I've had from them was their piccolo latte. Was a neutral cuppa - inoffensive and also not impressive. I missed the good coffee from Canelé and La Strada of the past.

Luke's Lobster, Istetan Scotts

Finally got to try Luke's Lobster (#01-K4 Shaw House, 350 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6592 7642). I imagined that they would have ironed out staffing issues after all these time but it seems that the people behind the counter still don't know what they're serving because I was trying to ask and was given the sheepish looks of ignorance. The experience today felt like they were staffed with people who cannot handle beyond processing orders and cleaning up rather than a crew running a shop. Probably a reflection of the management anyway. Tattooed butch behind the counter has an attitude as well...

Anywayssss...the rolls were not bad. The bread was light, airy and buttery. Seafood tasted like they were soaked in water though. The shrimps were the weakest link with almost no flavour - made me miss those prawn rolls from Market Grill which blew these out of the water. Wouldn't get them again. Crabs were okay, meat had a briny sweetness. Lobsters were not bad. I kinda enjoyed the clam chowder too. Not gonna wait long in line for them though.  

Lambchuri in sesame bagel with an egg from Two Men Bagel House

 

Me like lamb. So here's the Lambchuri in sesame seed bagel with an added fried egg from Two Men Bagel House. Enjoyed it but there's mixed feelings. The tanginess from the chimichuri could be overwhelming the other ingredients (the haloumi and the lamb mostly) in the bagel sometimes. (一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 十一 十二)

Re-revisiting Jia Wang Cafe (佳旺)

Late dinner at Jia Wang. We came half an hour before they were closing so we got to sit indoors as they were packing up the tables outside. If you've noticed from the boxes of coloured preserved fruit/ginger, it seemed that they were also catered for lou hei.

We just wanted to try more of their food. Like their sum lou hor fun which was competent. I wouldn't rank this with the likes of Ka-Soh, Quan Ji or even the Holland V XO fish bee hoon shop but they weren't bad at all. This one also didn't cost as much. Fresh tasting firm slices of fish, a light smokiness to the hor fun and decent textures - qualifies them as a go to for neighbourhood cze char. 

We've never had a roast pork fried rice before so we tried theirs. Again, competent as neighbourhood cze char fried rice went - there's fried strips of pork belly in it. Flavour was a little peppery which I did not expect. I ate these with the sliced chillis which was awesome for 3/4 of the plate before the lip/tongue burn became too much for me. This plate was a little greasier than the sambal plate we had previously. Would not mind eating again. 

Some kailan stir fried with garlic for our dietary fibres. I liked that it was sufficiently salted and there were both bits of deep fried garlic and thin sliced stir fried garlic in there. Those thinly sliced garlic were caramelized and sweet.