The king of kings or so they say at Lian Hua Chun Fruit at Balestier

We were looking forward to a durian fix at Combat Durian and realized that their stall was not open. So this was an opportunity to check out a neighbouring stall a couple of minutes walk away (279 Balestier Road) by the junction. The seller told us it was wang zhong wang (皇中皇) but the bouquet didn't feel as full bodied, that almost alcoholic bittersweet creamy richness wasn't quite there and the seeds weren't as small as they had claimed. The smell that was left on my fingers was a little off too. 

All in all, it wasn't worth the $56 that they had charged. Maybe it's psychological, but now that I think of it, those guys did behave a little weaselly. You know what they say about being bitten once so I think I'll stick to buying from Combat Durian which by the way isn't going to be opened till the middle of the year. Heads up folks.

Kajiken (歌志軒), Orchid Hotel

So we finally made out way down to Kajiken (#01-07 Orchid Hotel, 1 Tras Link) for their mazesoba after passing it by on numerous occasions. That above is their Nagoya styled bowl - with an additional piece of tori karaage. The flavours were pretty much how one could expect with the tossing of spicy minced meat, strips of seaweed and the chopped negi in those noodles enriched by an onsen tamago. Which kinda reeled me in by how straightforwardly comforting it was. I couldn't help but to see it as a Japanese version of ba chor mee. I liked it and will be back.

Gin Khao, One Raffles Place

Gin Khao (#04-29 One Raffles Place, One Raffles Place, tel : +65 6532 2387) serves contemporary Thai. The food that they do is what anyone with some familiarity with Thai cuisine would acknowledge as internationally recognized Thai food - nothing with much surprises going on here. The contemporary element simply redefines the recognisable with refinement on the ingredients, preparation and presentation. The roots remain.

yam mamuang

I liked their mango salad. Nothing unnecessarily fancy, properly made and there was that citrus fragrance from the fruit that was on going there. Not just strips of sour crunchy stuff that you sometimes get. Would have been great if they were more generous with those crushed peanuts.

paw pia tod

These prawn spring rolls was unexpectedly better than I had imagined. There seemed to be nothing but prawns stuffed in the rolls and the flavours of the skin was...much tastier than they looked. Could have easily finished a serving of them myself.

stir fried squid with runny salted egg

Stir fried squid was not bad tasting but the larger pieces were kinda chewy. 

tom kha gai

Their tom khai gai was addictive. It was lightly creamy from the coconut milk with a vibrant tanginess which left me spooning mouthful after mouthful of the broth. I would be willing to return just for this.

khao phat dtaeng moe

The only thing that I probably haven't tried before from the bunch of stuff we ordered was their watermelon fried rice. This was a seafood fried rice which came laden with quite a bit of squid, prawns and mussels and strewn on top of that - cashew nuts, crispy deep fried bean curd strips and chicken floss. Not forgetting, warm chunks of warm watermelon. I liked it.

larb moo

The lard moo was served late for a salad. But it was good. Nice hit of mint and lime over fish sauce in textures of ground pork, onions and leaves.

kang ob woon seng

And we had some vermicelli with crayfish which was pretty flavourful.

For some reasons, our table had a free dessert. It was a Thai tea mousse cake of sorts which tasted like how it looked. I realised that did not really describe anything to anyone who doesn't know how Thai tea tastes like, but...

The other dessert which wasn't free was their green curry gelato over steamed black glutinous rice. There was nice creamy heat that left prickles on the back of the throat from the gelato and the rice was moist and tender. I liked this.

And some Thai coffee to wash the food down. This was a rather strong brew. Strong like how I can remember feeling palpitations when I get my triple grande at Starbucks in Bangkok. But the fragrance of the roast wasn't as full bodied as I would prefer. The coconut cream that came with it made it taste a little salty so I recommend it with a little bit of the syrup that they also provided.

Patty Melt on rye from Park Bench Deli

Here's a quick warm sandwich for dinner. Chuck patty with cheese, bread & butter pickles and caramelised onions between toasted rye from Park Bench Deli. Greasy and a little salty for the most of it, but also delicious.

iO Italian Osteria, HillV2

This place (#02-01 HillV2, 4 Hillview Rise, tel : +65 6710 7150) is by the people who runs Etna. I wanted to check them out because I liked Etna and I was hoping to see what they would do out of the concept of an osteria.

We had porchetta, a roasted layered pork stuffed with herbs. The portions were pretty large so my advice is to share it. As a starter, it could have been easily split two or three ways. I thought it was not bad; super crisp (I do mean super crisp) on the outside while moist and fatty on the insides. But they were very light handed with the salt on the meat. I supposed that worked with the accompanying mustard which seemed to have been nicely salted.

The other thing was their schiacciata, an Italian flatbread. This one was stuffed with ricotta, mushrooms and some truffle oil. Again, the portions were huge. This could have been breakfast for two. But it was also quite nice. The bread was served hot and crisp with the cheese oozing out of the edges.

Feeling adventurous, I tried a home made tagliolini with prawns and lemon. It was something that was probably off my usual flavour train and I was hoping that having lemons would zest up the noodles or the sauce. I couldn't taste the lemons and the sauce was a generic one that was made with the ingredients on the plate. Being adventurous doesn't always pay off. While I liked the texture of the pasta, the rest of the flavours was kinda boring. #disappointment

The steamed bullfrog with chilli is back, now on the regular menu of Paradise Dynasty

I've previously said all there is to say about this particular dish which was on a limited run menu. I'm guessing that it had been well received enough for the restaurant to have included it into the regular menu. Still burning hot and tasty this is, so not for beginners.