Wednesday, March 17, 2021

More food from Miznon

Miznon, Stanley Street

Revisiting Miznon. Seems that they've run out of cauliflowers.

Miznon, whole animal of artichokes

Artichokes appear to be in season though. We ordered one.

Miznon, pita

There's roasted chilli with their free pita & tahini. Nice.

Miznon, artichoke

The artichoke was okay-ish. Was drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice and some salt. Yellow puddle on the side was lemon aioli. It was more satisfying eating those large ones at Le Bistrot du Sommelier.

Miznon, pita candy brisket

This was their 'pita candy brisket'. Was from the specials section of their menu featuring seared beef brisket that was well caramelized on the pan - plus onions, tahini, pickles and chilli.  Pretty good. Brisket was crispy on the outside and tender underneath that crisp.

Miznon, sweet potato

Very nice roasted sweet potato. Sweet and very tender. I thought it worked very well with the sour cream and dill with salt.

Miznon, Stanley Street

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Uncle Sim Traditional Lor Mee, Whampoa Makan Place

Uncle Sim Traditional Lor Mee, lor mee

We gave this stall (#01-63 Whampoa Makan Place, 90 Whampoa Drive) a try because we had good memories of Uncle Sim for their cai png and curry chicken; and also in the faith that the branding of the business would imply quality. Both the cooked food and curry chicken have disappeared from this food centre and we didn't even know if those Uncle Sim stalls were even related to this one. We did think that it was odd that they would fold up the other two to go sell lor mee.

Uncle Sim Traditional Lor Mee, lor mee

The toppings were strips of pork belly, fried chicken and bits of fried fish. A couple of things bothered me. Toppings were pretty miserable for $5. Tiong Bahru Lor Mee and Xiang Ji from Old Airport Road would blow this out of the water. Flavour was okay but most things become okay with enough chilli, vinegar and garlic. The other thing was that the gloopy gravy remained gloopy throughout. Most of the time, the stirring and the vinegar would "de-starch" the gravy. I don't understand it. Wouldn't come back again.

Uncle Sim Traditional Lor Mee, Whampoa Drive Makan Place

Monday, March 15, 2021

Etna, March 2021

Etna, Duxton Road

While the prices have gone up and portions have somewhat gotten smaller, Etna does reel us back once in a while with their specials for the weekend. This weekend was their lamb.

Etna, tuna tartare artichoke mango sauce

Since we were here for the specials, we tried one from their starters. Tuna tartare with artichokes and mango. Artichokes might have been marinated in olive oil, was salted and I tasted pepper. The yellow pool at the bottom was a mango sauce that didn't have enough mango that the salt from the tartare and the artichokes pretty much overwhelmed the fruit flavour. Not enough strips of mango as well. This could have done a lot better with more mango.


We came here tonight for the lamb with coffee and star anise sauce. That above was the picture they put up. Looked properly grilled with a pretty pink shade of medium inside.

Etna, lamb chops

This was how it looked like. The cook, yes I said cook and not chef, seared the sides. Because the meat from each rib wasn't thick cut, the meat ended up more medium well than medium. Why sear the sides? We overlooked it because the lamb was still delicious. 

Not getting the coffee but definitely tasted star anise. Reminded me a little of the dark soya sauce from Chinese braised pork. I wished someone would do the lamb + coffee that Mietta's once did. Hey, didn't the product shot feature more sauce?

Etna, artichoke scallop risotto

Most defining quality of their artichoke and scallop risotto was the anchovy flavour. Nice. Also a special for this weekend.

Etna, lobster ravioli

I mentioned that their food portions were getting smaller these years. We needed more so we gave their lobster ravioli in butter pistachio cream sauce a go. 

One of the ang moh staff commented that it was good choice and waxed lyrical over the crunch of the pistachio that he felt defined the dish. He's obviously getting better ravioli than we are or I'm smelling bullshit. I shall not judge but did anyone think for a moment from the picture above that there was actually enough pistachio for that to happen?

Taste was not bad. Sauce was nice but there was nothing pistachio-y about it. Also, six pieces for $36. 

Etna, pistachio tiramisu

Pistachio tiramisu again. Haven't tried anything else from them for a long time because I was afraid that it would be disappointing. This one remains nice but seemed to be smaller than I remember.

Etna, Duxton Road

Sunday, March 14, 2021

Shio kombu truffle soba from Healthy Soba IKI

Healthy Soba IKI, shio kombu truffle soba

This month's Spring special from Healthy Soba IKI. Besides kombu and truffle oil - there's also shirasu, rockets and some edible flowers. Looked pretty. I thought that it was a little too salty from the first mouthful of soba but the saltiness subsided very soon after that. Could taste the kombu, shirasu and truffle oil. I haven't had anything bad from them before and this was the same. Like the other plates/bowls I have had previously, I felt like I needed to look for something to eat soon after. :P

Saturday, March 13, 2021

Back at iSteaks at Star Vista

iSteaks, aglio olio bacon

I admit that iSteaks works for us as a western food option. They're kinda like Aston's with more variety and a larger price tag. Still quite affordable in my opinion. Came back to try a few more items. This was the one at Star Vista, not the Suntec outpost.

We tried their pasta today. Aglio olio with bacon. It was okay. Garlic-ky and a little spicy with tiny strips of dry-ish bacon.

iSteaks, chicken

I noticed that they was a honey ginger option for their grilled chicken previously so I was curious enough to order one to try. There's honey for sure but I couldn't taste any ginger.

iSteaks, lamb capped loin
iSteaks, lamb medium

We liked their capped loin of lamb enough to order them again even though we had a bad one at Suntec. This serving has proved that the kitchen here knows how to handle this cut of meat and serve it a proper medium doneness with a good char going on the outside. We've had this at least thrice and it's been consistent so far.

Friday, March 12, 2021

Revisiting Tenjin

Tenjin, inaniwa udon set

Ordered exactly the same thing as the last time we were here - their chilled Inaniwa udon set. I don't think I'm going to deviate much ordering at this place so this will likely be the last entry on Tenjin in a while. The only thing that their premium set has that this didn't was the tempura egg.

Tenjin, freedom range egg

Which we decided to add on today. Their eggs are from The Freedom Range Egg Co. - a home grown cage free egg producer. That cage free life ended at Tenjin when the kitchen caged them in batter for tempura. If anyone was wondering, yes - there was molten yolk.

Tenjin, Raffles City