More breakfast from Hajjah R.S.A

I might have overdid it a bit today at Hajjah R.S.A. because I was hungry. If anyone's wondering, it's two thosais - one with egg and the other with just ghee. Both are slathered with the sambar and coconut chutney. The fritter on top was a masala vadai which was pretty good - came with a bit of heat in the crumbly crunchiness of the fried lentil patty flavoured with aroma from green chilli. I have got to remember for the next time that getting one thosai would be good enough. That one with ghee was really nice though with all the buttery flavour.

Imma katsu

Haven't eaten at Imakatsu for a while so I ordered a cheese tonkatsu which I hadn't seen on their menu before since the rosu katsu with garlic seemed to be no longer available. Felt disappointing as a whole because it wasn't so cheesy and the tonkatsu was kinda small. Even the one from Tonkichi was nicer. I recall remarking on their slipping standards as a tonkatsu shop a few years back and this one didn't change my mind on it.

Their seafood katsu curry rice featured a couple of oysters, some dry salmon and a prawn. Not a fan of the boring salmon but the other fried items were passable. Am pretty sure that the panko breading is heavier these days than in the past. Curry was disappointing though. Lacked body and wasn't particularly aromatic. Keria as an all rounder made much better curry katsu. Imma stick to Tonkatsu by Ma Maison for the katsu fixes yet I wonder how the shop at Star Vista fares.

Master Prata, Alexandra Central Mall

We've seen Master Prata (#01-02 Alexandra Central, 321 Alexandra Road, tel : +65 8268 8210) around for a long time but haven't eaten from them until today. The place looked old school and is filled with the fumes of the grease that would cling onto your clothes. Aged and stained like an old cracked oil painting. 

Teh halia's not bad though.

The one on the left was the murtabak, not a plaster. Kosong's on the right. Their pastry is in a style that borders almost on a shallow fry and more crispy than chewy which I usually do not prefer. Presumably, there could be exceptions. But I liked that they didn't feel excessively greasy and ending up feeling heavy.

The mutton in the murtabak was marinated to the max. I could barely tell it's mutton so this would be a first and the last. Not as layered and nuanced compared to Zam Zam or Victory for sure. We had originally wanted to try their squid murtabak but squid was apparently not available today. At least it wasn't in the morning.

Thosai masala with egg and cheese wasn't that great. The potato/vegetable masala fillings were too wet. Could barely taste the cheese and egg for some reasons. But I think they did good chutneys. The left reddish one was tangy with the flavour of coriander which I had initially mistaken it for some sort of sambal. Coconut chutney on the right was pretty decent. Their sambar was also nice tasting.

That's a prata with cheese and dates. And a masala vadai.

Was served with a bowl of assam fish curry. Sweetness from the dates and the cheese made it delicious. That dense crusty masala vadai was pretty good soaked with the fish curry.

Re-visiting Gaston

We enjoyed the food from Gaston the last time so we came back for more.

Still serving that sourdough.

We started with some Kir and Lillet Vive...

...before we were impressed with their pôchouse bourguignonne - a creamy seafood stew with some potatoes, mussels, a scallop and halibut. Pretty impressive seafood flavour in the salty broth which we had initially imagined to be tomato based. Shellfish were outstanding and fish was also delicious. Wiped the plate clean with their bread.

This was their skate Véronique, not the more traditional Sole Véronique because they had run out of Dover sole. While that sauce Véronique looked similar to the earlier fish stew, the flavour was a little different. Loved those grapes. Pretty sure the traditional one doesn't have ikura as well. Skate was very tender. Another delicious dish where we wiped the plate with bread.

The sauce Véronique dish came with a side of choice. We ended up with their leeks fondue which was cooked in cream and probably butter and topped with crushed hazelnuts. Sweet, creamy and delicious.

Not forgetting their foie de veau et oignons caramélisés - seared veal liver with sweet caramelized onions. Outstanding veal dish with a solid salty crust from the sear and tender creamy livery on the insides which paired beautifully with the softened sweet onions. Impressed.

Ponggol Nasi Lemak : The plate with the fried chicken drumstick and chicken wing

Hmmm...this plate from Ponggol Nasi Lemak felt festive. Hahaha! It's been months since we last ate here. The standards have maintained. 

A lunch from Leng Kee (龍記) and Hock Le Xiang (福乐香)

Woohoo! Managed to get fish roe with my sliced fish soup at Leng Kee (龍記) today!

I wanted to try the rojak from Hock Le Xiang (福乐香) after seeing them the last time. I liked that they were pretty generous with the rojak sauce and crushed peanuts. Pineapples were sweet and juicy. Will come back for this again.