Oriole Cafe & Bar......Take 2

This revisit to Oriole came about because we didn't get to try their coffees the last time round. Since the owner and head barista here were winners in the National Barista Championship for the past 2 years, I'm guessing that they must be pretty good.

The food as with the previous time fell short. A side of thick cut fries arrived without the shaven Parmesan cheese. The excuse being that the cheese was tossed with the fries and had melted in. So to me that essentially means that the portions that they had used, if it was used at all, was minute and the fries must have been sitting for a while before they reached the table. Neither of which sat well with me. That particular staff was seen walking back into the kitchen counter after grabbing a bottle of powdered Parmesan, probably trying to use them from our request for more of the cheese which I thought was really just bad form without excuse. It took another server with initiative to approach us and return with the shaven cheese.

I understand that this was just a cafe and that one might not expect pristine service/top notch servings, but really, one shouldn't advertise on the menu if one cannot deliver.

The Cubano sandwich wasn't too bad. I guess the basic elements of ham, melted cheddar, pickles and a sweet chilli mayo under the hot iron press in bread turned up pretty decent. Probably the first point of redemption for me here since I don't think I would mind eating this again if I returned.

This was one of those weekly specials that was actually a Gorgonzola based risotto with kenya beans and roasted Hokkaido scallops. I was honestly hoping for it to be good, but again, was disappointing. If you've noticed, I've often griped over the insufficient use of that blue cheese, resulting in a less than desirable level of aroma (or pungence) from the cheese. This time round, I couldn't taste any blue cheese at all. Nada. Zilch. What was served was creamy risotto with some flavor of cheese and slightly undercooked grains. Scallops was deceptively dry and certainly didn't taste all that fresh to me.

The silver lining at Oriole dawned from their brews. I found myself a little taken in with their rich chilli chocolate mocha that worked a lingering spiciness down the throat which was almost subtle. That spiciness here was the sort that was a mild fiery warmth rather than a harsh burn. I hadn't really known what to expect initially, but I guess this was something I guessed grew onto me as the sips went by.

Oriole's piccolo latte is what I think of as a real coffee lover's latte. To explain in short, I normally regard regular lattes are coffee flavoured milk. Not coffee. This one packs the punch of an additional shot of espresso bringing the milky brew up a noticeable notch in aroma and strength of coffee. I dare say that they were fairly robust as well.

Will be back for more of their coffee. One more shining ray of hope in our coffee market I must say.

Jaggi's revisited

I've been craving for Indian food since I came back from Hong Kong. This was a trip to get some frills free comfort food within fairly easy reach. It's been quite a while since we were last at Jaggi's. and we have been meaning to come back for some time. As things turned out, we came back for dinner twice over three days to catch up on what we've been wanting to eat. 

A plate of white rice slathered with some meaty keema, some chicken tikka, their unique smoky and creamy butter chicken, aloo gobi and their kashmiri "candied fruit cheese" naan which was a one of a kind deviant against the more traditional varieties. I them to be tasty in their own ways. No real dried fruit nor nut, just candied cherry and some cheese.

Would have been close to a perfect ending if I could have finished with that masala milk from Chellas. But the milky masala tea here came close.

The New Yorker from Seah Street Deli

Essentially, this was their rendition of the classic pastrami on toasted rye from Seah Street Deli (1 Beach Road, Raffles Hotel, tel : +65 6412 1110). There were fennel seeds in the bread which added a dimension to the flavours. I kinda liked this. Even the fries on the side tasted a lot better than it looked. Probably one of the better tasting sandwiches around town that I've had. Though I have a couple of gripes. A little more generosity with the pastrami would definitely have upped how I ranked the sandwich. Same with the paper thin slices of Swiss cheese. While I understood that this was Seah Street Deli, $23 was kinda pricey for a sandwich.

Omakase at Kaiho Sushi

This omakase dinner at Kaiho Sushi was quite a let down. Even when we were already expecting no prawns, salmon and beef, it just didn't feel up to scratch. Was unexpected considering that their lunch sets were decent and good value for their location and offerings. On retrospect, this felt much like a fish dinner since it was mostly that. And pretty regular fish offerings at that. If I remember correctly the bill turned up just a little less than the dinners I've had at Akashi but was noticeably less impressive. I guess the only new thing here was the sardine tempuras and an interesting house made strawberry sake that was the highlight of the meal. Even the toro and uni didn't seem as satisfying.

some simmered fish....probably tuna

sashimi moriawase?

asari butter itame

ikura, uni, maguro and hamachi

tempura sardines

fish head soup

the strawberry sake

An end-try for Hong Kong....

Yes, I did have dim sum. In old school tea houses. Several times. Just didn't take photos of them mostly. One of the things that I've never tried before now was a steamed bao/roll of sorts that had lup cheong in the middle. Man that was some good greasy fatty roll I wish I could find back home. And those amazing roast geese that I couldn't get enough of.....

 

Stinky tofu (臭豆腐) from a street stall in Mongkok

It was the smell wafting though the streets that made me realised that there was one of these stalls around. I recall only having had them once back home somewhere in Geylang and was told that I should try them in Hong Kong or Taiwan where they were suppose to be better. These things are likely to be an acquired smell more than taste since they tasted essentially much like deep fried tofu with a crispy skin and hot soft insides. It wasn't really much of a stench at all for me and these stuff were pretty enjoyable for the cold weather, especially when it gets slathered with the salty and spicy chilli sauce.