Casa Latina, Waterloo Street

I've had this recent bout of craving for Mexican food after a recent disappointing experience. Hence, Casa Latina (42 Waterloo Street, tel : +65 6884 6929).

We were intrigued by their Casa Latina melted cheese starter which was mozzarella cheese in a hot stone bowl with a spicy green sauce (it was laced with coriander/cilantro). Melted cheese was hot and gooey and one could just scoop them into tortillas that were served on the the side. The bonus this dish had for us came from the burnt cheese that were at the bottom of the bowl.

Their Jarocha seafood soup turned out to be a good choice. That being said, it was also kinda hard to discern the flavours of the soup. If I had to describe, it was savoury, umami and spicy altogether in a robust broth. In spite of appearances, it didn't taste of any tomatoes as I had initially suspected might. Heat did pack a bit of punch. Very good stuff. Will order them again if I come back.

Our first time having mole. The flavour was a mixture of mild sweetness, spice and a hint of pepper amid a pronounced chocolate body. The shredded chicken that came in the fried tortillas were just shredded chicken. This dish was about the mole. Taste did become monotonous after a while. What it did remind me a little of was the sweet sauce from chee cheong fun.

There, more green cilantro flavoured sauce ladled over their crab enchilada. This enchilada was loaded with shredded crab meat. Couldn't say that it was close to the best crab I've had but portions were pretty generous. Tasty refried beans on the side as well.

More home breakfast porn

Battle Sisig

No, there won't be any Alton Brown styled motormouth commentary from me. Here's a look between the sisig from Gerry's Grill (bottom) and 7107 Flavors (top).

The rendition from 7107 wins hands down for both flavour and texture. The latter attribute can obviously be seen from the sliced chilli, chopped onions along with bits of unknown cartilage-y parts which are thickened by a raw egg beaten over as they served the hot plate. There was also a whole lot more flavours going on.

As much as I liked some of the other items at Gerry's the sisig simply tasted burnt and it looked like it was just minced meat, some onions and garlic.

Bilbao Restaurant and Gastrobar, TripleOne Somerset

The name of this Spanish restaurant (111 Somerset Road, #02-16 TripleOne Somerset, tel : +65 6737 0150) reminded me of the uncle of a certain furry footed individual that bore an almost indestructible ring of power into the volcanoes of a bleak and desolated land. It also actually happens to be a name of a city in Spain.

This was a serving of octopus with olive oil, salt and paprika on sliced potatoes. The simplicity of the preparation allowed the natural flavours of octopus to savoured, enhanced by the ubiquitous crystals that the world harvests from the seas. Adding dimension was the paprika. I rather liked these as they were tender and chewy at the same time.

I didn't remember the name of this particular tapas, but it was balls of goat cheese encrusted with crushed almonds with tomato jam (which was fruity and delicious by the way) and squid ink toast. I liked it.

I didn't quite think too highly of the strips of fried potatoes. It was really the prosciutto and egg that really tricked me into ordering this item. Were they any good?  Better than the regular ham and eggs. But I don't kid myself into thinking that these were anything along the leagues of jamon Iberico. The eggs were of course, just eggs.

Couldn't remember what this was called, but it looked like an un-themed mash up of more of those fried potato strips, some salty fried prosciutto, eggs, pan fried foie gras and a carpaccio of pork trotters which was that thin film of jelly just below the foie gras and diced root vegetables.

That carpaccio packed a surprising amount of great flavour that shone in spite of its feeble appearances. Ditto for that red wine sauce on the side.

And there was an enjoyably chilled sweet rice and milk pudding dusted with some cinnamon.

As lacklustre as this entry appeared, the food from Bilbao was actually pretty tasty. I wouldn't rule out coming back.

Pizza & Empanadas, Tanglin Halt Food Centre

Given my lack of familiarity with empanadas as a Latin American pastry, I couldn't say how the ones from this stall (48A Tanglin Halt Road, #01-34 Tanglin Halt Market & Food Centre,  tel : +65 8151 1406) stack up against the real thing. But I do quite like these (enough that we bought back another 20 pieces destined for the freezer) and I think they do make pretty tasty snacks that weighs up less on the guilt factor.

While there wasn't anything in particular that would make Guy Fieri exclaim "Dynamite!", the offerings from the stall resonated with the charm of street food, if not from the pastry's locale of origins. I did quite enjoy the light tasting mozzarela and mushroom fillings (which uses fresh button mushrooms, no less) and the minced beef with hard boiled egg empanada with a touch of spiciness that definitely worked there.

A little off the beaten track were also some deep fried spring rolls stuffed with chives and oysters (pretty decent there) and one with chilled durian puree. Both of which featured crispy skin that was well drained of excessive oil. Not too bad I must say.

Level 3 curry from Coco Ichibanya

This level 3 spiciness option from Coco Ichibanya's (313 Orchard Road, #B3-25/27 313 @ Somerset, tel : +65 6636 7280) beef curry packed quite serious heat. I seem to recall less of a punch from their tasty clam curry from previous visit, but then I might have gotten something that was one step down from the one this time. In introspect, there was definitely more viscosity and grain to the texture of the curry. I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it even though I wasn't really in the mood for something that was so hot this time. The "simmered to death" bits of stringy beef were pretty tasteless and a bore. That being said, I will refrain from commenting on how little meat it all had. Haha!