Botak Jones, Holland Drive

Botak Jones (43 Holland Drive), the brand that kickstarted this blog. Like 15 years or so ago. They've been resurrected after some business strife but they aren't the force that they used to be. We've much more options at this price point nowadays and in retrospect, the food looked less impressive today than it did in their glory days the past.

I don't know what to make of their lamb chops. Yes, those are lamb chops - marinated with rosemary (what era is this already?!), slathered in a creamy mushroom sauce which was pretty much also their mushroom soup and then a vinegary mint sauce? What am I expected to taste here? None of the flavours of the lamb I'm sure. This was the larger $22 portion and almost half of it were bones. 

Coleslaw is a little sour. For some reasons I had imagined a gratin dauphinoise for their double baked cheese potato. Tasted like mashed potatoes with cheese.

Sukiya (すき家), Century Square

So I mentioned wanting to try the spring onion gyudon from Sukiya previously. Got this from their outlet at Tampines (#01-21 Century Square, 2 Tampines Central 5). It looked a lot better on the picture from their menu. I know, shame on me. I somehow missed the mention of the sweet and spicy Korean chilli pepper sauce and ended up not expecting that. Took away some of the savouriness. The spring onions looked a little sad and was haphazardly snipped up. Barely any flavour coming from those too. #disappointed

I have the impression that the shop at Suntec have better standards so maybe I should stick to them.

Burgers, fries and thoughts from Phat Burger Bro.

I've been wanting to come back to Phat Burger Bro. for their double cheeseburger. The triple sounded good but I didn't see myself being able to eat something that tall like a burger. It might happen someday yet! Today I kinda figured out what I would do the next time with my order. No lettuce, no tomatoes and sauce on the side. Look at those charred patties! 

Fries are really good. I got these on separate order instead of the set because it's a larger portion.

The smart thing to do would be to eat the burger above the fries and let all the juices from the burger drip onto the potatoes. That's all the extra flavour those fries need.

Zhen Zhen Porridge (真真粥品), Maxwell Food Centre

Zhen Zhen Porridge (#01-54 Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street) has been around for ages. I've only heard of them in the recent decade or so and have eaten their porridge for the first time just a few years back. Have generally never been big on porridges but I like theirs.

Got a bowl with fish, chicken and century egg today. Added a raw egg for the extra richness. Tasted much like the last time I had it. Today's porridge had pockets of flavour for some reasons instead of one that was more evenly distributed. Maybe I didn't stir much. Tiny and occasional bursts of flavour from the light soya sauce and fried shallots that accompanied the bits of meat and century egg.

Peperoni Pizzeria, Zion Road

This spot where Peperoni Pizzeria (56 Zion Road, tel : +65 8940 3885) is, used to be Bistro Du Vin. I've had pizza/pasta at Peperoni a few times previously but haven't gotten them into the blog for some reasons. I don't dislike their food but I also wouldn't say I'm much of a fan.

Passionfruit cooler made with tea was nice. There's also Menabrea on tap, just like Bruno's Bistrot.

Here's their Napoletana with extra cheese and olives. Might have gotten a little overboard with the extra olives for this one considering that there were also capers and anchovies in the pizza. Was nice for a couple of slices before it became undulating saltiness. Surfeit quietly but swiftly crept in and stuck its knife on our backs. 😂

Didn't get much of squid ink flavour from the sauce in this pasta. The taste had a profile similar to most vongole (garlicky). I enjoyed it. Was actually pretty good for something that didn't have intense flavours. Those Manila clams were meaty and briny though. While the menu mentioned spicy chorizo, I'm pretty sure it was just sausages in there.

Peperoni has pretty nice affogato. Robust bodied espresso and a creamy vanilla ice cream in this one. There were bits of chocolate in it too. I'd come back just for these.

Bar.B.Q. Tonight, Roberts Lane

Finally got ourselves down to Bar.B.Q. Tonight (10 Roberts Lane, tel  : +65 6299 5210) after wanting to try their food for so long.

Lassi was creamy and not diluted.

Loved their savoury raita that's infused with much cumin. Great with the meats, rice and bread.

We had lamb ribs. To cut to the chase, it was delicious.

Meat was flavourful, tender and easily slid off the bone. I'd come back for this again.

The Afghani pulao was...not what we expected because the menu mentioned orange peel, carrots, almond and raisins. Sounded real good. This was just rice and chicken buried beneath.

We asked them about it and they brought our half eaten plate back to the kitchen and....yeah, raisins and carrots. Still the same half plate and it was reheated as well. Still no almond and orange peel. I felt lied to but this was delicious and we soon forgot about the missing ingredients. The sweetness from the plump raisins paired well with the flavour infused into the rice while the chicken was slurp off the bone tender. Would not mind getting this again.

Great toasty sesame flavour from their double sesame naan. Though the menu mentions "brushed with butter", there wasn't any butter flavour. Was good enough to eat on its own though.

Tried their chicken haleem. Chicken flavour intensity in this one was a far cry from the mutton flavour intensity in the haleem we had at Bismillah. Wasn't bad tasting though. There was plenty of shredded chicken meat in it.

Grilled prawns had a nice smokey spice rub on the shell. So I ate a couple of them with the shells before I decided that it was too much chewing. Meat beneath the shells weren't as well flavoured, a little tough for prawns and pretty dry without the matching flavour on the outside. Will not get these again.

Kunefe was not bad but I didn't think it was memorable compared to the ones we might have had previously. Some parts of the pastry was burnt and the richness got to us before we finished it. While it might have been a long time back, I recalled that the very first one we had at the defunct Deli Turk at Suntec was much better.

Don't bother with their masala tea...flavour's not great and the cup's small.