PST (Pizza Studio Tamaki), Tanjong Pagar Road

Pizza Studio Tamaki (38 Tanjong Pagar Road, tel : +65 8072 9512) is apparently a name in Tokyo known for their Japanese Neapolitan pizza. Never knew of them until recent months when the usual social media machinations cranked their gears for the hype train.

They have their fluff. Gemini mentions numerous accolades, including multiple listings on the Michelin Guide Japan's Bib Gourmand list in 2022 and 2023, four consecutive years on the Michelin Guide Japan list, and multiple wins in the 50 Top Pizza World and 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific awards as of 2024. And then, there's also their unique blend of flour, 30 hours aged dough and blah blah......

What's also alluded was that the chef behind it, Tsubasa Tamaki, was mentor to Eddie Murakami of Beyond The Dough, another Japanese Neapolitan joint that set up shop not that long ago here. Word out was that it was hard to get a table, but we managed a walk in.  

We were served complimentary cold potato onion soup.

Meatballs were not bad. Love the grind and that these weren't overly soft, draped with a fresh tasting tangy tomato sauce.

Our first pizza was their seasonal tomato kakigori pizza. That's right, kakigori and pizza. Never had them together before. This was awesome.

We were guided to spoon in the kakigori with basil, followed by a squeeze of lemon and a drizzle of olive oil. By slice. Flavour from the kakigori was intense tomato which formed a chilled layer over the warm cheesy pizza profiled with basil and olive oil. Like they also said, great for our weather. Nice! 👍🏼  

The other pizza we got was their Diavola. Did not look like how we imagined. Not spicy as well. But the olives and sausage flavoured it nicely.

Vanilla ice cream with olive oil.

They obliged our request for more olive oil. Nice. 

Espresso here was intense and bitter.

Hup Kee Delicious Food (合记), Bukit Merah Central Food Centre

Only noticed Hup Kee Delicious Food (#02-15 Bukit Merah Central Food Centre, 163 Bukit Merah Central) not long back even though I've been in the area numerous times. Bee hoon flavour's decent but seemed to be a bit too greasy.

Re-thinking the nasi lemak at Katong Laksa Holland Village Nasi Lemak

After having had nasi lemak from Malaysia over the past year, this one from Katong Laksa Holland Village Nasi Lemak has lost its limited allure. Rice wasn't as tasty and even their fried chicken thigh felt subpar. The sambal belachan is also no longer available. 😔

Half and half from Pakistani Dum Biryani Sg

Apparently, one can request for half biryani and half pulao at Pakistani Dum Biryani Sg. While the mutton I got today was tender, it was also one that was lean and stringy. The dal helped but I'll see if I can request for less lean cut the next time.

Putien Mama, Tiong Bahru Plaza

Putien has opened their Mama branded eatery at Tiong Bahru Plaza (#02-114 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) in the unit that might have been previously Xing Xing Mala & Chicken Pot. This looked to be a more "express" version compared to their regular restaurant.

They have a litre sized iced lemon tea which looked like a response to the giant lemon tea from Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine.

Found their sweet & sour pork to be dangerously addictive.

Putien's signature Heng Hwa bee hoon is available here in single serving portion. Kinda small portion methinks. It looked somewhat pre-made and put together than cooked together if you catch my drift. But it's all good with their lime-y chilli sauce.

Not bad tasting scrambled eggs with prawns. A number of their dishes looked like they came in claypots and we were initially wondering at the huge portions. Today, we found out that the claypots were pretty shallow and those portions weren't as large as we thought them to be.

Next Shikaku, Westgate

So another oyster broth ramen has sprung up (B1-28 Westgate, 3 Gateway Drive Mall, tel : +65 6592 5060). Next Shikaku from Osaka. The place looked a lot like a local bar/karaoke/watering hole than a ramen-ya. They claim that they specialise in using the freshest oysters in their ramen broth and I'm of the opinion that superlativity smells like rats.

They've been hyped as the first experiential oyster ramen store here. What in the world does that even mean? 🤔

This was their koeru bowl. Broth's creamy, smooth and has oyster flavour. Umami is a good word. But if one is looking for oyster-ly, this has nothing on the bowl from the defunct Keisuke Plus. It's actually less oyster-ly than the paitan bowl from Konjiki Hototogisu which I thought was decent until Keisuke Plus opened my eyes. 

With expectations laid from a place that claims to be an oyster broth ramen specialist, this was kinda underwhelming. Not a bad bowl of noodles though. Just wished that there was more than a lonely sad oyster in there.

I liked their asobu tsukemen better. Noodles were wide like pappardelle and had a nice firm bite to them. They were served in chilled water to preserve said texture but it also meant a lot of drips went into the dipping broth. Which was a more intense version of their koeru broth I think. Accented with pink peppercorn for that extra bit of floral note.

Beef sushi's nice. Thin sliced, fatty and flavourful with a small mound of rice.