nydc, Wheelock Place

I don't remember when was the last time I had actually stepped into nydc (501 Orchard Road, #02-19 Wheelock Place, tel : +65 6736 3253). Like Modesto's, they were a fixture back from the times when I was still a student and at that time, they were the American restaurant/café that was the place to be seen in. For a time, they did well, expansion took the natural course and even later on, downsizing occured. Time took its toll and today, they're not so talked about anymore. Not with the souped up hotpot of eateries that are opening up in this era. Apparently, the nydc chain was founded by a real American couple back in 95.

I'm sure the menu has changed some throughout the years. I remember them being American Italian-ish with pastas, pizzas and meatballs along with their mudpies and chocolate what have yous. They're still on the menu, but some of the former have kinda become focused; if you catch my drift. How I ended up here today is happenstance.

We ordered their Lolli Pork Ribs purely out of curiosity. Man, this was actually quite good. As much as these guys don't look like a barbeque joint, the managed to do some decent ribs in a cocoa sauce coated in their chocolate soil. The last item tasted like dried brownie crumble which I suspect they are. The meat was quite tender and slid off the bone with relative ease. The flavours were savoury, sweetish and rich from the chocolate. Something to be enjoyed in small but cherished quantities. Certainly didn't see this coming.

What they called a Double Beef Booster was pretty much a Reuben sandwich. Which was on its own, pretty decent. By local standards. Unfortunately, we've had better at the same price point which left us not as impressed.

Then came the Hookin’ Brooklyn Chicks. Or their rendition of Buffalo wings. The marinate packed a light heat, but was quite sour. One wing was all it took before we decided that one was enough. On the bright side, they provided a pretty decent blue cheese sauce for their vegetable sticks.

Yellow Submarines, Toa Payoh Central

We noticed this shop (Blk 177 Toa Payoh Central, #01-110, tel : +65 6352 7890) opening last year doing a local rendition of Philly cheesesteak inspired subs with an eye catching yellow submarine signage and had been wondering if that was any good, so since we were in the vicinity, we decided to give them a try. By the way, I hear that this joint is Halal certified.

I've never had a real cheesesteak before so I haven't any real basis for comparisons. But I've an inkling of it via Food Network/YouTube. The sliced beef didn't quite look like it was on the any griddle. In fact, it looked boiled. Topped with their sunflower yellow cheese sauce and softened onions between some soft rolls.

It's actually not bad. The meat was juicy for one and one could certainly tell that it was beef and not some unidentifiable protein matter. The only gripe I have are the portions. For what they where charging, I think it's a little small. And I don't feel for the fries.

La Nonna, Holland Village

La Nonna (26 Lorong Mambong, tel : +65 6468 1982) of the Senso Group has been around for some years. It had somehow never been a place that has gotten me interested enough to check out. I'm thinking it's because of Italians and their grandmothers. No offense to the matriarchs, but it's a little tacky as marketing for their food. You know, the home spun and old recipes that they all claim as a source of their cooking. I may not be Italian, but I think grandmother's recipes all over the world tend to have certain defining attributes. Looking rustic aside, it's generally filled with more love and richness than food that one generally can purchase outside. I don't feel that love there. It was a Chinese guy making the pizza today.

So we had a couple of pizzas, a crab and tomato cream pasta linguine and some tiny looking bruschetta. Their linguine was a little more savoury, garlicky and less creamy than the one from Da Paolo.  I like Da Paolo's rendition much better. The squid inked frutti di mare pizza was not too bad though. The toppings were rather generous, crust thin that it was folding down from the weight of the said toppings and the flavour of the ink came through.

I'm not really getting that "I'll be back" vibe though. 

Pontian wanton mee with cheese sauce

Yeap, if you had just done a double take. It was definitely the old Pontian noodles with cheese sauce from their outlet at Toa Payoh (177 Toa Payoh Central). A curiosity if you would. But then again, these guys haven't changed their menu for the longest time and as bad an idea this might have sounded, it was new. It didn't taste half as bad as I had imagined. In fact, this was even cheesier tasting than the cheese noodles at Sun Kee. It kinda gives you an idea how poorly I think of the latter.

Small Potatoes Make The Steak Look Bigger : Year Eight

Another slightly late anniversary marker. It's been 8 years, hasn't it?

This picture up there is the cover of Scorpion Swamp, the 8th from an old series of Fighting Fantasy game books by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone that used to be the thing back in the 80s. For adventurous little boys with greater ambition than that of being a chosen one destined to defeat a dark lord through a battle of wands that is. I kinda grew up with those choose your own adventure games along with stuff like Joe Dever's Lone Wolf and Blood Sword by by Oliver Johnson and Dave Morris.

Scorpion Swamp was memorable for one thing. It was the first of those books where you could map the terrain through the game like a grid. Even though it didn't have one of the better artworks or story lines.

Fun times then.

Familiar comfort food at Pow Sing

Brow-sing Pow Sing?