A hotdog from The Brat

This unit (#B2-39 Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road) used to be the Bratwurst Shop. I'm not sure how many times it has changed hands, but I vaguely recall that the original used to be set up by a family that lived in Australia for some time before coming back to set up a sandwich shop. I'm pretty sure that the original owners from that time are no longer around though.

Well, it's now just The Brat. A hot dog and burger place (the same...) and here's their English brat with some stinky sauerkraut. It was baguettes, not hot dog buns and they were toasted before filling the dog. I liked it; the pork brat was fatty, flavourful, smothered in a little bit of creamy mustard and the baguette was crisp. But I just couldn't shake off the feeling of knowing that even I could probably do this up at home for a small fraction of the cost. By the way, there's bottled Asahi Kuronama here.

Kimchi fried rice from Kim Dae Mun

This fried rice was pretty damned good. I liked that they used enough kimchi in there to flavour and that the rice was wok fried upon order. There were bits of miscellaneous vegetables for texture, some thinly sliced pork, enough grease to be good without being excessive and topped with a fried egg. I'm definitely coming back again.

On another note, their gamjajeon (potato pancakes) were quite good eating with crispy edges and their garlic/soy/chilli/vinegar dip. It didn't look pretty at all. Just tasted savoury and delicious. Today's kimchi on the side also tasted a lot better than the last time as well.

Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh Eating House, Havelock Road

pickled mustard greens

pig stomach

braised fallopian tubes or pig intestines?

watercress

boiled pig livers and kidney

This was decent bak kut teh.

What I liked a lot more was the braising liquid for the fallopian tubes which made a good dip for the dough fritters and was also simply good ladled over rice. There was a noticeable bit of garlic flavor in that soy based broth. More than what was the bak kut teh.  I actually preferred most of the other stuff we ordered to the actual bowl of pork ribs here.

Han, Odeon Towers

As far as I am aware, Han (#01-04, Odeon Towers, 331 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 6336 2466) is the only kushikatsu specialist here. The chef, a Seiichiro Arakawa who formerly ran a cool little place called Si Bon at the Amara Santuary Spa at Sentosa serving kushikatsu that I never got a chance to visit, heads this place.

This would be another one of those places that I've been wanting to visit for quite a while. It's also one of those places that constantly went out of sight and out of mind for me, so until recently when I stumbled upon a piece from a certain someone who might have grown up eating rubbish that coincidentally shares a similarly pronounced first name as a certain Mr Sinister, I stopped the procrastination and forgetting and made my way down.

The menu isn't too extensive, but it offers a variety. There's sashimi to be had and a dedicated counter for that. There's rice bowls, sushi and sukiyaki. A curated list of offerings. But who are we kidding? I didn't come to a pricey kushikatsu specialist to eat all that other stuff. Not on a first visit anyway. I wanted to try the deep fried things on sticks.

Actually, we kinda took the advice from the previously mentioned article and ordered the cheapest lunch set along with supplementary sticks of their kushikatsu.

Otoshi. I think it's salmon.

There's generally nothing much to say about accompanying salads from these Japanese sets. I just had to mention that the dressing for this particular one was refreshingly tangy. It made me want to finish up everything.

First up from the order of 3 sticks of supplementary kushikatsu was the angel prawns. It had a nice firm texture, was slightly sweet and very fresh tasting. I can't tell if there's supposed to be any difference from regular shrimp.

Next came the scallop.

Sweet and juicy inside.

Cherry tomato stuffed with cream cheese.

Light tang, some sweetness and rich creamy insides.

The main lunch item was the Ohmi beef tendon omelette rice with kushikatsu. The bits of beef were probably trimmings off those cuts that made the sukiyaki. And because they were just bits, all I could taste of it was a pleasant beefy flavor that was fairly pronounced, but not exactly robust which I was really hoping for. The pork kushikatsu sticks on the sides were done with shiso leaves. The meat was remarkably tender.

At this point of time, we were more than convinced that the man behind the copper frying dome was indeed an expert in his craft. None of the batter and panko mixture had the slightest excess grease.

The yuzu ice cream was...well, okay. I think the fruit works better as sorbet.

This black sesame ice cream in wafer shell thing with red bean was very nice.

I think I like the food at Han so far. The prices are on the high side, I'm kinda cool with lunch. There's definitely no dispute about the quality of their kushikatsu while service was attentive and prompt if not altogether unintrusive. I'm not sure about dinner though.

Kampong Corner, Sembawang Road

I've eaten at this nasi padang stall (602B Sembawang Road) a couple of times previously. The noteworthy thing for me included a chicken liver dish, their rather tasty paru and generally comforting food with a good amount of spices and richness in the gravies that were great accompaniments to both their respective dishes and nasi putih (white rice). Special mention goes to the sayur lodeh for the lontong which featured a heart clogging and delicious flavour in the gravy that's further enriched when added with shredded coconut and their sweet and spicy sambal (chilli paste). It's one of those things to crave for during rainy days.

Gæst, McCallum Street

salt boiled potato, lemon and salt marinated leeks, hazel nut and rye crunch, watercress, smoked mayonnaise

I read about this Nordic deli (21 McCallum Street, #01-01 The Clift, tel : +65 6634 0922) opened by a couple of Danish a few months back.  The food menu's relatively simple with focus on a few sandwiches made from their brand of sourdough that's baked daily, a couple of breakfast options and a salad of the day. 

roasted pork with crackling, orange marinated red cabbage with parsley, red apple, mustard mayonnaise

You know what? The sandwiches were really good quality and easily one of the better ones I've had. The fillings were fresh and the variety formed a medley of flavors & textures between the nicely done bread. The smoked mayonnaise from the potato sandwich was certainly memorable. I think these guys could impart a thing or three about sandwich crafting to everyone else.