Revisiting Tenjin

Ordered exactly the same thing as the last time we were here - their chilled Inaniwa udon set. I don't think I'm going to deviate much ordering at this place so this will likely be the last entry on Tenjin in a while. The only thing that their premium set has that this didn't was the tempura egg.

Which we decided to add on today. Their eggs are from The Freedom Range Egg Co. - a home grown cage free egg producer. That cage free life ended at Tenjin when the kitchen caged them in batter for tempura. If anyone was wondering, yes - there was molten yolk.

Notes from breakfast at Tong Kee Chicken Rice (東記雞飯)

Came to Tong Kee for...an early meal. The stall opens at 10am. I reached a few minutes before and the proprietor said he needed another 5-10 to get his prep done. So the take away was that they're not a stickler for time.

Getting there at the opening hour also meant that some things might not be available yet. I was looking out for the livers and boiled eggs. They aren't ready in the early opening hours. So I ended up asking for a regular 鸡尾 plate. The proprietress suggested some char siew and roast pork and I though to myself, why not?

The roast pork and char siew are generally nothing to write home about. The brown caramel-y gravy that they give on the side made them taste better. 

Between the brown gravy, chicken rice chilli and dark soya sauce, there's usually not enough rice in a single plate for me to use them all.

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.