Kin Kao Young, 313 Somerset

This restaurant (B2-01/02/03, 313@Somerset, 313 Orchard Road) for some reasons reminded me of a localized and less polished version of Kub Kao' Kub Pla. Looking back in retrospect, I couldn't even pinpoint why was that so. Some of the food was a little sweet here.

Khao kha moo was not bad. Not one of the better we've had but still pretty competent. Can't compare the standards here to the ones in Bangkok of course. Which are cheaper and features better stewing. Enough of this already.

I kinda enjoyed their tom kha gai with the mild heat and tanginess but towards the end, the sweetness got to me. Broth was creamy, coconut-y and filled with mushrooms and chunks of chicken thigh.

We had a bowl of pork rib rice noodles. Didn't expect to get so much pork ribs and ones at these sizes. Nice. These tender slide off the bone ribs were delicious with the garlic chilli dip. They costed about the same as a bowl of prime rib bak kut teh.

Halibut steamed with lime, sugar, garlic and coriander. Fish was okay-ish. We ordered this because Thai steamed fish generally do not use halibut and we wanted to try it. Pretty good flavouring there from the tangy lime and garlic. Loved the heat but I thought there was a bit too much sweetness in their concoction.

Keef the Beef, The Grandstand

Keef the Beef (#01-12 The Grandstand, 200 Turf Club Road, tel : +65 6972 1582) is a local grown steakhouse. They've relocated from their previous business location not long ago to this current space which used to house Yoyogi. From what I've read, this steakhouse spawned from a trigger during the owner's trip to an iconic 150 year old steakhouse in New York City in 2015. The signature cow dish from said 150 year old steakhouse had left such an impression that Keef the Beef replicated it here. 

Suntory's kuro is available on tap here. An excellent choice if I might add but at $20 a pint, it was pretty pricey.

Foie gras was quite nice. Those spiced apples on the side were good - wished there was more of it.

There's hand cut fries - okay tasting.

I like their option of kimchi as a side. These were well fermented with a respectable sourness which served as a foil to cut through the richness from the meats.

We had an order of The PL - the replicated steak from the iconic 150 year old steakhouse in New York City. With USDA Prime beef. Hawr hawr...yes PL is obviously supposed to abbreviate Peter Luger. This steak was a ribeye, not a porterhouse though. I've never been to Peter Luger so I have no frame of comparison; but this was good.

The knife slide through the tender meat with relative ease. Tender yet with bite. Not the melt in your mouth shit that poseurs out there often yap about. Well to be fair, the fat in the meat was sufficiently softened that it was actually kinda melt in your mouth. Not exactly medium rare I was imagining but I enjoyed it. Drizzled and dipped it in the melted butter I did.

Lunch at Hana Hana (華花)

We haven't eaten at Hana Hana since the first time we were here. Non omakase ranchi was walk in only so we tried our luck today with lunch.

Think that's their otoshi. A strip of salmon in a bowlful of daikon soaked in a sweet broth. I kinda liked this.

They had grilled oysters on menu. Tasted nice but they were very small and pricey at $8 a pop.

The cheese omelette was also a bit of a let down in spite of appearances. Couldn't taste much of the cheese.

But I was here to try their A4 wagyu aburi don that I saw on their poster outside the restaurant. The image of that donburi conjured memories of the aburi wagyu meshi I had previously at Kuro Maguro. Hence I was excited and therefore expecting better from Hana Hana.

This was the reality. WTF?! More like sukiyaki beef with all that sweetness than the torched thin slices of wagyu I had imagined. It didn't taste bad but the flavour from the meat wasn't telling at all. I did enjoy the bowl in spite of the sweetness and light gingery notes - thanks also to those bits of fried garlic that perfumed it. Just not worth the 30 bucks and I felt misled. 

Today's lunch included their Bara + beef stew. Their marinated cubes of fish still holds up today even though not much has changed. That beef stew though - it's gyu suji to be more accurate. No extra flavouring in there to mess with the flavour of those chunks of tender beef cushioned with bits of fat and tendon. This was so good.

If you're wondering whether regular rice or shari - it doesn't make a difference to me. Regular is logical because of the flavour bomb you already have from the toppings but if you feel like the sushi rice with those - who's to say it cannot happen?

Fu Ji (福記) Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice, Bukit Timah Food Centre

Hmm...a pretty good chicken rice from Fu Ji (#02-191 Bukit Timah Food Centre, 51 Upper Bukit Timah Road). This was a plate of ji wei (鸡尾). I detected a light garlicky sweetness from something they drizzled over the meat which seeped into the rice. Nicely done tender chicken with a layer of jelly beneath the skin. There's the bonus of it being boneless. Pretty good chilli as well. I'm thinking that I need to eat this again another time.

Roti plaster from Tanglin Halt Roti Prata & Nasi Briyani

Here's a roti plaster from Tanglin Halt Roti Prata & Nasi Briyani. With assam fish curry. I liked the crusty crisp on the edges of the folds and rims that's always a good pairing with the tender chewiness on the other parts of the griddled dough. If only the fried eggs had a more molten yolk.

Leng Kee (龍記) Fish Soup after all these years

Story time. There used to be a bunch of roadside hawker stalls just at the back of Fairprice along Beo Crescent. I remember that spot being dark and dingy. What was etched deeper in my mind's recesses was eating satay there as a kid and that satay stall there was my first experience with the pineapple sauce that stalls serve with their satay. Said satay stall also sold fish soup. As a kid, I never bother with names.

I've only learnt from my dad that the above mentioned satay stall was Leng Kee. The fish soup I thought I had only been introduced to a decade ago when in truth I had been eating for far longer was that same Leng Kee. The satay stall and the fish soup stall had separated some time after they had relocated to Bukit Timah Food Centre. Anyways, I got myself a bowl today. Still great slices of fish in that broth perfumed gently with ti poh and fried shallots that I always felt was delicious.