Oysters at Putien and more

The Oyster Festival is back at Putien. We came back to our favourite branch at Great World and this time round, we were very intrigued by their oyster juice so we ordered one to try. Just kidding. That's soursop juice.

We did order something that we've always overlooked - their herbal tiger prawn soup. A soup we never knew we wanted until today. Man was it flavourful from the herbs and wine with a moreish savoury sweetness. That tiger prawn was fresh and sweet as well.

This pan fried oyster bee hoon was something we've had previously. One could catch a whiff of the aroma of the oysters from just the bee hoon itself. Only egg yolks were used for the egg component of this dish. Nice.

This was also a second go at their seaweed oyster omelette. This had enough flavours from the oysters and seaweed stuffed in the fried egg that it didn't even need sprucing from their delicious lime-y chilli sauce.

The oyster dish that was new this time round were the deep fried ones with dried chilli (辣子鲜海蛎). These were basically the oyster versions of 辣子鸡. I noticed that they hadn't overdone the batter and had infused a moderated amount of flavours from those chilli and pepper that the oysters weren't overwhelmed. 👍🏼 Thought was definitely put into this rendition. However if one was looking for something up the Scoville scale, these ain't it. 

Tea break at TWG

This one at MBS (B1-122/125 The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue, tel : +65 6535 1837). The cosier one closer to the MRT station which is bathed in warmer hues than the other sunny space.

Still haven't gotten past their Dulcet Rose.

There's a crab and prawn club sandwich which we haven't seen before on the menu. Kinda "juicy" from the dressing if you know what I mean. Not bad tasting but don't expect to be blown away by the quantity of the crustacean fillings. I also don't remember them having fries as an option.

Buttery toasted bread on their Croque Salmon which featured smoked salmon and Comté. There was supposedly some black tea infused béchamel but I couldn't taste it. The butter, smoked salmon and Comté were enough to keep me silent. 😬 

Don't know what this is called but they were kinda like the eclair shaped versions of Paris-Brest. Choux pastry filled with praline mousse/cream and surprise butterscotch thingy inside. I liked this.

Oriental Desserts (东方糖水), Temple Street

Came across this stall (59 Temple Street) which was literally a stone's toss away and yet under the shadow of the always popular Mei Heong Yuen. In retrospect, I kinda understood why these guys are under the shadow.

We were intrigued by some of the stuff they were serving. One of them was their steamed egg with liquor. Said liquor tasted like cheap Chivas Regal which overwhelmed the flavour from the steamed egg. To be precise, the steamed egg wasn't even as eggy as I expected in the first place. So here's a novelty crossed off the list.

Their black sesame paste wasn't of the same league as the ones from Mei Heong Yuen for sure. These were just not as fragrant.

That's almond tea with peach gum, red date and white fungus. Not bad tasting but I don't think we're gonna be heading back just for this now that we know their standards in general. Pretty sure we can find better dessert shops in the Chinatown vicinity.

Rasapura Masters, Marina Bay Sands

I've been curious about Rasapura Masters (B2-50 Marina Bay Sands, 2 Bayfront Avenue) for a long time but the queue and crowd had always been a deterrent. From appearances, I had thought that they might have been another branding by BreadTalk but they're not. The name behind them is actually Koufu. Must be their most impressive branding. Anyways, we got something from their herbal soup stall. 

There's pig's stomach, fish maw and some chicken in it. Meats were all tender and the flavour of the soup was not bad. Similar tasting as 鱼鳔猪肚鸡 at Chinatown Food Centre. They're nice but I'm pretty sure there're also better tasting soup stalls around.

Ordered this bowl because they're apparently by Li Xin and I've never had a 月光 mee pok before. Also couldn't reconcile how The Folks' Favourite translated into 月光宝盒. 😅

Not bad at all. Crispy pork lard with half boiled egg and cut chillis marinated in light soya sauce - this bowl was set up not to fail. Pretty good noodle texture there and the minced pork was tender.

Kopi di lo was pretty decent so there's decent cheaper kopi to be had in this place other than ToastBox. 

Myung Ga (맛집) III, Beauty World

We had lunch here (#04-04 Beauty World, 144 Upper Bukit Timah Road, tel : +65 6835 0877) today. Presumably, this is a sibling stall to Myung Ga II. Banchan's not memorable here. The only item worth getting refills was the kimchi. 

Tried their chadol sukju - thin sliced beef brisket stir fried with bean sprouts. Not good. The bean sprouts were fine but the beef was dry and a little tough with minimal flavour. Not worth half of what they were charging.

My first doganitang I think. It was unspectacular as there wasn't anything I could identify with the broth except pepper. Was much more drinkable after squeezing some lemon into it. There weren't much tendons in there unlike the picture in the menu. 

The godeungeo gui was nice. I liked that the grilled mackerel was firm yet tender on top of being flaky. The flavour of the meat was rich without being excessively fishy. Most impressive item we've had today.

Chère Claudine...

We made this reservation from the last visit with their chou farci in our crosshairs.

Great tangy aroma from the sourdough which was smelling fresh from the kitchen. Today's textures were more telling with the light chewy tenderness of the inside and a crunchy crisp from the crust. I had seconds with the Ibérico butter.

Had a glass of Trouble Brewing's Summer Ale to go with the bread while waiting for the orders. One of the nicer brews I've noticed for the weather with an faint underlying sweetness and pleasant hoppy finish. 

Pretty pricy Hokkaido uni pasta. There seemed to be a few things going on - kombu, smoked egg yolk and the herbs. Something else tangy in there which I couldn't put my finger to. Uni was nice and I also liked how the dill freshened the flavours. Portion was small.

Tried their sardine toast. I liked these from the smoky saltiness of the fish and I think that paired with some butteriness from the toast. Delicately countered with dill, onion and aioli that kept it from being monotonous.

Here be the chou farci.

The menu described a few things and the ingredient which I was surprised I couldn't quite detect were the prunes. I liked the burnt exterior of the cabbage which paired with the tender cooked portions inside. Nice foie gras and great bovine-y sauce/jus. The rest of the ingredients had a lot going on so it was a mixture of textures and flavours. If anyone was wondering, I liked it.

These are called pariteroles. Claudine's take on profiteroles with pecan pralines. I think they're nice. Texturally different from regular profiteroles probably from the crusty praline with a pleasant nutty flavour from the pecans. I know it's a kinda obvious description but that was what it was.

I remember that their coffee was decent but hadn't the fortitude I generally look for. Still was nice for a bitter brew after the dessert.