Cod fish maw & black pepper chicken noodles from TamJai SamGor (譚仔三哥)

This appeared to be some CNY limited time bowl from TamJai SamGor (譚仔三哥) which featured cod's maw and black pepper chicken. I added pork belly so there's that and this was with their Wu La soup at 小辣. I got exactly three pieces of the cod's maw just like their picture showed. Liked those and I wish there were more of that cod's maw - would have made this bowl more memorable.

Sonny's Pizza, Circular Road

Came across Sonny's Pizza (17 Circular Road, tel : +65 9822 4825) some weeks back by chance. I remembered them because they looked the closest thing to a NY pizza shop I've been to (I'm excluding Lombardi's obviously) and in retrospect, also had pies that tasted the closest to a NY slice. While I'm no expert in those, gut says that Sonny's more legit than John's Pizzeria.

Despite what the menu shows, there're only 18" pies. One can get them by slice(s) or by the whole. There's a pretty good pepperoni one; lightly smoky and I'm noticing for the first time, a faint anise flavour from the pepperoni. Fennel?

One can extend the flavour of the pepperoni slices by drizzling them with their hot honey which added a bit of heat amid the sweetness on top of the savoury smokiness.

Mundane tasting I'm Going Green slice with Béchamel, mushrooms and herbs. Don't know what herbs were those though.

The other GM Pizza was a little rich tasting and got cloying after a while from the Hollandaise.

Other than the pepperoni pizza, the other one that I liked was their Saigon Stunner - a tomato slice with minced beef, a betel leaf pesto and fish sauce. This was kinda like a bo la lot in pizza form. Something about the earthy betel pesto and the pungent fish sauce made this appealing.

Hot honey and ranch - that's what I thought they said. The latter which was recommended for the cornicione had plenty of dill. Nicest tasting "ranch" I've ever come across.

There's a bunch of beer in their fridge. Tried a few and this Black Kite Golden which was the cheapest was also the better as a light beer without fancy flavours and had a smooth floral finish. Tasted like the Golden Ale from Brewerkz.

Revisiting Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee

We're back for more curries and post lunch coma inducing stuff at Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee.

Tried the beef rendang today. Meat was dry and a little tough and if you asked me, it was largely saved by the gravy. Wouldn't get this again. The mutton rendang was much better.

Kang kong's pretty decent.

Their sambal goreng, for a lack of better descriptions, tasted Chinese. Firm crunchy beans and chunks of prawns in there. The latter I have never encountered in the commonly found Malay renditions of sambal goreng.

I like their curried chicken liver/gizzards. Loved that the gizzards were tender and not the crunchy type.

Our begedil today didn't come from a freshly fried batch like the last time. These ones were cold and had more muted flavours from the chicken and black pepper compared to the hot ones. That could be the reason why these things are thought of differently. 

Cucumber salad.

This was the best dish today - sambal fried fish. The sambal was slightly sweet and not very spicy. What made this dish was how crispy the surface was and how freshly fried it tasted with a delicious seasoning on the flour that coated it. I liked that flavour but how to describe it eludes me. Meat was not dry at all.

Astons Specialities, Cross Street Exchange

We learnt of this branch of Astons Specialities (#01-105 Cross Street Exchange, 18 Cross Street, tel : +65 6970 8177) some time ago while we were in the vicinity and had wanted to see if they were on par with the Cathay branch. We've ended up at Zazz Pizza every time we've been in this building. Until now. 😬

They have Spanish chestnut pork on menu. Looked to be a limited time item so we tried. The meat was bone on, pleasantly tender and had delicious bits of fat around for flavour. I hope this pork stays on for much longer because I would love to get it again.

Trying their cheeseburger for the first time. Pretty hefty and basic. I liked that there wasn't much to mess up that cheeseburger profile flavour. A couple of things bothered me. The cheese wasn't melted onto the patty when they served the burger - not a biggie but that kinda revealed that they had likely rested the meat before putting on the cheese rather than having the cheese on while the meat was still on the grill. Unless it was the latter and the cheese still hadn't melted. 😱

The other thing was that the burger came with a salad. I know that they're a business and sometimes they need to charge us for a side which some might not appreciate. I would much prefer it if they allowed us to choose a side we wanted (like what they do for their other plates) rather than force the salad on us.

Mansor D'Cafe, Far East Plaza

Pretty good nasi padang stall (#04-34 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road, tel : +65 9421 7005) tucked at a corner in Far East Plaza. There was a lot more dishes than we could have tried in a single seating. A few things were memorable. Liked that fried fish (ikan selar goreng) because it was sizeable enough to be meaty. Sambal goreng had a creamy savoury sweet sauce and large chunky pieces of tofu in it. That lemak cili padi gravy that was ladled over the rice was rich tasting and packed a respectable heat at the same time. Gotta come back another time. 

Where Kopifellas doesn't measure up

So like every other such business that has done well enough for themselves to have branches, quality more often than not meets inconsistency because the coffee's standards are pegged largely to the maker - not the branding. Today's coffee looked good, smelled good but didn't taste as good as the smell suggested. Was more enjoyable the last time when it was another brewer. Also I've had a taste of the butter they used from their butter sugar toast. Pretty generous slice between the bread but kinda lacking in that butteriness.