Beast & Butterflies, Robertson Quay

First time eating at Beast & Butterflies (Level 1, M Social Singapore, 90 Robertson Quay). They describe themselves as Mediterranean and Asian but there're also European influences.

I was upsold some tequila based cocktail. Pricey and it tasted just like a margarita.

Calamari. Not bad tasting. The menu described scallions so that's all the scallions they have in there. The quantity can barely even qualify as decorative.

We were recommended their Caesar salad. Something I don't order much.

Tasted not bad. What made this was their a la minute dressing which was nicely flavoured with anchovies. The kitchen seemed proud of it and extra portions of that dressing is chargeable.

This was called Breast & Butterflies - sous vide and seared chicken breast with morel and truffle cream sauce. And butterfly shaped pastries on the side. Chicken's pretty tender. What rounded up everything and made this dish for me was the rich velvety sauce with mushrooms.

A wagyu beef cheek rigatoni which they had inconspicuously named beef pasta on the menu. Sauce tasted tomato-y so it's not exactly my thing. The beef cheek texture was spongy which I didn't like. Something about that texture was off. No wagyu-ish taste if anyone was even wondering.

Their crispy pork knuckle was delicious. Crackling was crackling 😂 and the knuckle had enough fat to back up all that meat beneath the crispiness. I love the namjim which packed a invigorating sour and heat - even though there was coriander in it.

What's this? Blue cheese cream sauce made with a sweet white wine. First time having a blue cheese sauce that had a noticeable sweetness in it. Not that I didn't like it but I prefer them without. But what was this for?

I decided that it worked with the pork knuckle too.

Oven baked Mao Tai spring chicken. The bird was stuffed with glutinous rice which had hae bee, mushrooms and lup cheong. They brought it over wrapped in opeh leaf, unwrapped it and flamed the chicken. This was nice on the account that I could taste the wine and the bird was tender through the 4 hour sous vide. 

So Beast & Butterflies has this unlimited tiramisu deal at $6++ on Friday evenings only. We took advantage of it. It's not exactly unlimited serving per se though. You get a plate and there's no limit how much tiramisu you can scoop off their tray as long as you can fit them into said plate.

Round one was a decent pile. Which wasn't enough because there were a few people at the table.

So we got ambitious and scored a second plate. It was messy but I've to admit that their tiramisu was delicious.

Strawberry yoghurt from Warabimochi Kamakura

A chance grab at Warabimochi Kamakura (B2-34 Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Road) because there was only one person in the queue. Don't know how that strawberry sauce/thingy was made but it did remind us of the strawberry sauce McD uses for their sundaes. A lot. 😱 I like this with the yoghurt and bits of warabi mochi. Gotta get the bigger cup next time.

Idli and coconut rice from Sri Aachi Aappakadai Pte Ltd

Back at Sri Aachi Aappakadai Pte Ltd. Love the sour in their idlis. 

This was coconut rice. Nothing like nasi lemak if anyone was wondering. It's rice tossed with shredded coconut, peanuts, lentils, mustard seeds and curry leaves. Pretty good eating with some sambar. 

Tiong Bahru Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker (中峇鲁五香蝦餅), Kukoh 21 Food Centre

Tiong Bahru Ngoh Hiang Prawn Cracker (#01-09 Kukoh 21 Food Centre, 1 Jalan Kukoh, tel : +65 9857 2732) came by way of recommendation. Thanks Vicky! What's mention worthy about their 五香 was that the ingredients did not taste generic/similar to most. Special mention goes to their outstanding prawn fritters (虾饼) which were slimmer, crispy and topped with bean sprouts and shelled prawns. Egg slices and ngoh hiong were home made and there's even pickled cucumber on the side to cut through all the fried stuff.

The only restriction to abide by was that we weren't able to choose specific items.

What's also impressive was their bee hoon. It's the best tasting one we've had from any wu xiang stall, flavoured with lard and garlic.

 

Chilli sauce was also nothing like the typical from wu xiang sellers. This one was spicy and tangy, spiked with some sharpness from chopped onions

One day later...

We came back the day after with pre-orders for portions for three from the day before. That kinda guarantees the portion but doesn't reduce the waiting time by very much because each order is freshly prepared. Stall's open only 2 hours a day (12-2pm).

Revisiting Oriental Kopi

Back at Oriental Kopi because we enjoyed it the last time and couldn't believe the shit talking that can be found online about the quality of their food. While we admit that they might not the best at everything they serve, the standards of the food here was far from mediocrity. We're here to convince ourselves that those negative reviews were lies. 😅 At least for this branch. 😏

Mocha's coffee and Milo. Sea salt kopi tasted like it had butterscotch in it.

Thought their kampung mee hoon was enjoyable. The stir fried noodles was savoury and adequately salted with an old school-ish flavour. Ayam berempah thigh was tender, clad in a crispy skin that was deeply infused with turmeric. 

Chicken rice was pretty darn good too. Poached bird was tender, chicken-y and meaty while the rice had a respectable infusion of chicken rice flavour that had a hint of ginger which I did not even mind. 👍🏼 On the side was a bowl of pandan flavoured chicken broth. Nice lime-y chilli too. Wouldn't mind eating this again.

Curry chee cheong fun not bad. What's unusual was the creamy spiciness from the curry that was paired with sweetness from the drizzle of rojak sauce. There're also fishballs and fish paste in beancurd skin hidden amongst the curry and rice rolls.

A couple of egg tarts to end because we were told that people wait in line for them. Not bad tasting and we liked that the custard was not excessively sweet. Pastry was more buttery than the pain suise from Doña Bakehouse.

Restoran Kin Hua, Jalan Trus, Johor Bahru

We walked across the road after Doña Bakehouse to Restoran Kin Hua (8 Jalan Trus, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru) where we've seen a crowd and hence were looking for a little something more to fill the gaps of the soul left by the pastry/bagel breakfast.

Chwee kueh was not bad tasting. Kinda greasy with dark sweet sauce like kecap manis and a garlicky chilli. Rice cakes were a little denser than those back home.

Bee hoon had very little flavour. Explains a lot on why there was one mostly left unfinished near our table. We also couldn't bring ourselves to finish our order. Even the cheap sausages tasted weird....like fish sausages. Chilli sauce and gravy's not memorable. Note to self : Never get bee hoon from this place again.