Uncle Sim Traditional Lor Mee, Whampoa Makan Place

We gave this stall (#01-63 Whampoa Makan Place, 90 Whampoa Drive) a try because we had good memories of Uncle Sim for their cai png and curry chicken; and also in the faith that the branding of the business would imply quality. Both the cooked food and curry chicken have disappeared from this food centre and we didn't even know if those Uncle Sim stalls were even related to this one. We did think that it was odd that they would fold up the other two to go sell lor mee.

The toppings were strips of pork belly, fried chicken and bits of fried fish. A couple of things bothered me. Toppings were pretty miserable for $5. Tiong Bahru Lor Mee and Xiang Ji from Old Airport Road would blow this out of the water. Flavour was okay but most things become okay with enough chilli, vinegar and garlic. The other thing was that the gloopy gravy remained gloopy throughout. Most of the time, the stirring and the vinegar would "de-starch" the gravy. I don't understand it. Wouldn't come back again.

Etna, March 2021

While the prices have gone up and portions have somewhat gotten smaller, Etna does reel us back once in a while with their specials for the weekend. This weekend was their lamb.

Since we were here for the specials, we tried one from their starters. Tuna tartare with artichokes and mango. Artichokes might have been marinated in olive oil, was salted and I tasted pepper. The yellow pool at the bottom was a mango sauce that didn't have enough mango that the salt from the tartare and the artichokes pretty much overwhelmed the fruit flavour. Not enough strips of mango as well. This could have done a lot better with more mango.

We came here tonight for the lamb with coffee and star anise sauce. That above was the picture they put up. Looked properly grilled with a pretty pink shade of medium inside.

This was how it looked like. The cook, yes I said cook and not chef, seared the sides. Because the meat from each rib wasn't thick cut, the meat ended up more medium well than medium. Why sear the sides? We overlooked it because the lamb was still delicious. 

Not getting the coffee but definitely tasted star anise. Reminded me a little of the dark soya sauce from Chinese braised pork. I wished someone would do the lamb + coffee that Mietta's once did. Hey, didn't the product shot feature more sauce?

Most defining quality of their artichoke and scallop risotto was the anchovy flavour. Nice. Also a special for this weekend.

I mentioned that their food portions were getting smaller these years. We needed more so we gave their lobster ravioli in butter pistachio cream sauce a go. 

One of the ang moh staff commented that it was good choice and waxed lyrical over the crunch of the pistachio that he felt defined the dish. He's obviously getting better ravioli than we are or I'm smelling bullshit. I shall not judge but did anyone think for a moment from the picture above that there was actually enough pistachio for that to happen?

Taste was not bad. Sauce was nice but there was nothing pistachio-y about it. Also, six pieces for $36. 

Pistachio tiramisu again. Haven't tried anything else from them for a long time because I was afraid that it would be disappointing. This one remains nice but seemed to be smaller than I remember.

Shio kombu truffle soba from Healthy Soba IKI

This month's Spring special from Healthy Soba IKI. Besides kombu and truffle oil - there's also shirasu, rockets and some edible flowers. Looked pretty. I thought that it was a little too salty from the first mouthful of soba but the saltiness subsided very soon after that. Could taste the kombu, shirasu and truffle oil. I haven't had anything bad from them before and this was the same. Like the other plates/bowls I have had previously, I felt like I needed to look for something to eat soon after. :P

Back at iSteaks at Star Vista

I admit that iSteaks works for us as a western food option. They're kinda like Aston's with more variety and a larger price tag. Still quite affordable in my opinion. Came back to try a few more items. This was the one at Star Vista, not the Suntec outpost.

We tried their pasta today. Aglio olio with bacon. It was okay. Garlic-ky and a little spicy with tiny strips of dry-ish bacon.

I noticed that they was a honey ginger option for their grilled chicken previously so I was curious enough to order one to try. There's honey for sure but I couldn't taste any ginger.

We liked their capped loin of lamb enough to order them again even though we had a bad one at Suntec. This serving has proved that the kitchen here knows how to handle this cut of meat and serve it a proper medium doneness with a good char going on the outside. We've had this at least thrice and it's been consistent so far.

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.