Ebi Bar, Cuppage Plaza

Heard about these guys (#B1-21 Cuppage Plaza, 5 Koek Road) and had gotten curious enough to come down and try their take on an upscale prawn noodles. Didn't like how they processed orders. It's a bad combination of a poorly designed digital menu that one had to navigate on mobile and the need for email to even get an order done. 

I've read words like "rich" and "umami" from online publications about their broth. How did these people even get their jobs?

Broth was sweet and crustacean-y but it didn't taste rounded - not exactly a sweetness which I enjoyed. Rich and umami weren't words that came to mind. Didn't finish it. Didn't think much of the noodles also. I'd easily pick Da Shi Jia over a bowl here.

Those tiger prawns were meaty but otherwise not memorable. Preferred the prawn balls which were formed from chunky lumps. Chicken charshu thingys were okay but I don't think these were a selling point.

Achar was not bad. I liked the nutty quality that they managed to get into the flavour. I prefer it more sour. Also too little jellyfish. Pretty sure they're trying to make this achar sound special with the name because there's too little jellyfish. 

Ngoh hiang was so so. That's just my opinion. It had a nice crisp skin but my truths is, these can't beat the home made ones that I'm used to from Nonya grandmothers and mother-in-laws. Also, I'm not big on five spice powder.

These prawn dumplings were a little odd. There were openings on the surface. Like prawn stuffings clad in smooth ripped jeans. Not bad tasting as spicy prawn dumplings went. Those from Abundance were way better.

A jalapeño double cheeseburger from Burger Bar New York

Burger Bar New York was suggested for lunch today and I didn't mind another go at their burgers. Nothing was customized for this jalapeño double cheeseburger. I mentioned previously that I felt that their patty needed a bit more salt and that hasn't changed. To add on to those previous thoughts, I saw what I had today as a catchall burger. There's a bit of everything and you do taste a bit of everything. Other than the heat from the jalapeño, nothing in particular stood out because there was a lot of everything. Very juicy though.

Duotou clams season is back at Putien

The Duotou clams are back at Putien. They even have a cute mascot this time. Along with an update to the menu that included, IIRC, around 20 new dishes. From what we learnt from the restaurant, the clams are referred to as 哆头蛏 or just 蛏 (chēng).

This braised home made tofu was one of the new dishes. Liked the spongy texture with the bean flavour which has soaked even more flavour from the braising sauce.

Stir fried kailan and beancurd skin was from the old menu. Had this previously.

Another new dish on menu was claypot chicken in Chinese red wine lees (红糟). I'm a little surprised that a dish with these red wine lees haven't been available here earlier when places like Xing Hua have already done so. Anyways, this was pretty good. Chicken was tender in a delicious gravy that was superb pairing with rice. Those black stuff are wood ear fungus.

One of the dishes from the current 蛏 season were said clams stir fried in dried chilli and garlic. Savoury and a bit spicy. I realized for the first time that these dried chillis can be eaten. Nice.

More 蛏 in omelette and mushrooms which allowed the flavour of the clams to be showcased.

Can't be doing all these flavourful dishes without rice.

Bruno's Bistrot, Telok Kurau

Bruno's Bistrot (201 Telok Kurau Rd, #01-06, tel : +65 6346 3970) was a mixed bag. They're part of Bruno's Pizzeria & Grill which has been around for at least a decade. Place looked kinda old school Italian (think Pete's Place). Not remarkable at a glance and definitely more homely than fancy. 

To layer on to their brand rustic charm, there's escargot and beef tartare on the menu which was neither common nor something one generally expects to find in an Italian restaurant. Right? Then again they're a bistrot so erm....French? Wait there's more. The bistrot actually serves an Italian brew on tap that's not Peroni.

Can't decide if this was a Marc Spector or Steven Grant. We did land ourselves some gems from their food though. 

But first, a #megapint of beer! 😂

Bread's was baguette. Not an outstanding one but serviceable when you're hungry and as a mop for sauces. Feels French but it came with olive oil and vinegar, not butter.

Tomato soup's not bad. Piping hot and tomato-y. Not something that I order much of if at all but I didn't regret this. I'm just wondering if those thin drizzles of cream did anything at all for the soup.

The price of the foie gras was a little on the high side but we went with it anyway. When it arrived, we understood why they charged what they did. There's more of the foie than any single serving portion I've had.

Not bad at all with the bread and prune compote. 

We came here for the riz de veau - veal sweetbread. This one was pan fried with onions and topped with a delicious morel cream sauce. Spaghetti on the side with shaven Parmigiano Reggiano? So good and I'm gonna just leave it at that. I haven't had sweetbreads in such generous portions since the salad at Brasserie Gavroche. Or perhaps the one at Bouchon too.

Tartare de boeuf's tangy, sweet and just a tiny bit spicy. It's a little wetter than others we've had before but not a biggie. Still enjoyed it. Definitely French here. The fries tasted like "Cajun fries" instead of just French fried potatoes. Hmmm... 

Menu mentioned that their tiramisu was made with rum. I could taste the alcohol in it but couldn't tell what kind it was. Lady's fingers were a little dry and the mascarpone had more cream than cheese. Didn't taste bad but I wouldn't get it again.

Affogato's decent. Not to nitpick here but I prefer them in coffee cups than martini glasses. Heh!

Dark Kamakura beer, burrata and katsuo soba at Healthy Soba IKI

I've seen the selection of Kamakura beers at Healthy Soba IKI (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二, 十三, 十四, 十五) but haven't tried any of them until today when I got a bottle of a dark brew on their recommendation. A dryish moderated hoppy bitterness which kinda felt a like a balanced ale. Smooth drinking but nothing in particular stood out. 

Burrata seemed to have made it as a pretty regular off menu item. We got the one with Kampot pepper this time. The flavour of the pepper was sharp and distinct paired with proper salting and a nutty fragrance from the toasted buckwheat on the milky cheese and fruity olive oil. Don't you already want this?

The current seasonal/limited soba comes with slices katsuo - skipjack tuna. I read that they were the kings of the Japanese culinary world before the current reigning maguro, especially hon maguro. Meat's a bit fishier which I never found issue with for katsuo. The soba came with lime so the flavour profile was a citrus dashi kind of thing.

Not forgetting the trusty sidekick of shirasu avocado mini don.

Texas Chicken, Star Vista

Felt like having fried chicken from Texas Chicken (B1-13 The Star Vista, 1 Vista Exchange Green) for some reasons so we ended up at this branch. I recall eating their fried chicken many years ago and having the impression that they were "nice" but what we had felt a little lacklustre today. It wasn't bad fried chicken in any way, just wasn't memorable...compared to those from say Jollibee. What I unexpectedly liked though were their tender honey butter biscuits. Light, sweet and savoury in a crispy package.