One last Bari-Uma Ramen at Tanglin

Ten years ago, we tried Bari-Uma for the first time at the basement of Tanglin Shopping Centre. I remember being impressed with their blend of tonkotsu shoyu which was new thing for us then. These guys have kind of become a fixture in the in the building for the past decade. They'll also be closed by the time of this posting. From what we heard from them, the building has been sold so the existing tenants had to move out.

We were attended to by a chirpy server Aoi who lamented over the stoppage of their cheese gyozas on the menu when we asked about them. Anyways, our last bowls here before this place is gone for good.

It was a good time for me to quell the curiosity over their kara tama uma bowl - yeah, that spicy bowl with agi tama. The broth which I'm guessing was a spice blend infused into their tonkotsu shoyu was spicy and creamy - it even had a particular taste that came from dried chilli which I normally don't detect in spicy ramens. I liked it. Heat's manageable. Not as spicy as Ikkousha's God Fire Level 4. 

Gyoza's okay. Had a cabbage-y/chives-y classic taste which reminded me of the first times I've had gyoza.

I'm surprised that their tori karaage were small. Kinda like large chicken popcorns. Hot, juicy and had a light gingery flavour.

Till the next time Bari-Uma.

Boomarang, The Quayside

Have finally gotten over my curiosity about Boomarang (#01-15 The Quayside, 60 Robertson Quay, tel  : +65 6738 1077) today. Part of the reason why the curiosity was because, I've never been able to definitively describe what's Australian about Australian food due to the cultural confluence that has been part of their cuisine.

I won't pretend that Boomerang is a definitive of that because it won't be and cannot be. But it is still a casual representative? Superficially?

There's Suntory Black on tap. Did not expect this.

These are known as prawn cutlets on the menu. Deep fried coconut crumbed prawns is what they were. No coconut taste so it was pretty meh. Overpriced for it's portion but I won't complain because I came here of my own accord and didn't have a gun over my head to order them.

Kangaroo burger was....kinda boring. I've had kangaroo before and have enjoyed it. This one wasn't delicious. At least I didn't think it was. Won't find excuses for it. I'm not sure what to make out of that patty but it didn't taste satisfying. For some reasons, they didn't salt the meat much.

Pizza's called Far North Queensland. Prawns, salmon, calamari and spinach on a mango chutney base. Did not expect the crust to be so biscuit thin. It was okay. Okay meaning that if I ever came back I won't be ordering it again. The accompanying yoghurt on the side was nice though.

The closest place I could relate to in Melbourne was The General Assembly and those guys were way better for what we ate.

Hong Kong Street Chun Kee (香港街珍記), Bukit Merah Lane

Haven't eaten at Hong Kong Street Chun Kee (125 Bukit Merah Lane 1, #01-190, tel : +65 6271 8484) for a long time.

Yu gai mai fan (鱼鸡米粉) was disappointing. I normally wouldn't complain about hua diao wine in the broth but today's was excessive to cover up the lack of proper flavour in it. The chunks of yu gai were also smaller than what we had been expecting. With a reputation like theirs, I hadn't expected this particular dish to be sub par.

Cereal fried rice was competent though. Looked like yang zhou fried rice (扬州炒饭) heaped over with cereal. There's real char siew in it. No excessive grease and it was a good mix of savoury sweetness.

This was a claypot of fish maw, prawns and scallops. Pretty good quality seafood there. Loved those old school firm and crunchy prawns.

300 at Brothers Ramen

Trying more bowls from Brothers Ramen (一, 二 , 三, 四, 五, 六).

That's their iekei ramen. Got it spicy and with extra garlic. The broth for this bowl is probably a combination of their regular tori paitan and shoyu. This was good. The thick noodles reminded me of the megamen.

First time with their vegemen. The kombu/shoyu/mushroom broth was lightweight compared with their other bowls and sweet even. There's a faint truffle aroma. Other than what's visible on top of the bowl (menma/ajitama/spinach/nori/tomato/rice puffs), there's some tofu in it. 

Mr. Uncle & Auntie Kitchen, Norris Road

I'm not entirely sure how to describe Mr. Uncle & Auntie Kitchen (#01-01 Anna Illam, 35 Norris Road, tel : +65 8661 5899). In not so little words, they're a restaurant that looked like a food court - with flamboyant disco lights, plenty of alcohol options, a pool table and loud music emanating from the Bollywood videos they're playing on screens. Try putting that image together.

That's a pomegranate shake. It's wasn't the sort of shake I had in mind. Maybe it's because the menu didn't say milkshake. It was more juice than a shake. I asked and they confirmed I had gotten the correct order.

We ordered some food to eat with naan. Their egg podimas was nicely done. A little spicy, savoury and with a bit of sweetness from the finely diced onions. Preferred this over the egg burji at Urban Roti.

Paneer korma was not good. Nothing was wrong with the paneer. It was the korma that tasted off. Can't put a finger to what exactly made it weird but it might have been the freshness of the cashews that were used to make it.

Their kashmiri naan tasted nicer than the looks suggested. Plenty of dried fruits and we could taste the bits of nuts in there.

What I was looking forward to was their satti sorru; a curried claypot briyani that's could be described as an Indian 煲仔饭. I hear that it's a Malaysian thing.

This one had canned sardines and curry folded into rice that's topped with crispy ikan bilis and a boiled egg. What got me in this pot was the moreish savoury spiciness that kept me continuously spooning mouthfuls of that curried rice.

The sweet lassi looked a wee bit pink because the funky disco lights had been switched on at this point. Anyways, their rendition is thin but not diluted. Kinda refreshing.

A change in Keisuke's Red Spicy?

Haven't had a bowl from Keisuke's Tonkotsu King for a while. It's mostly because......

...long queues. I was looking forward to the red spicy bowl again but what I got today wasn't what I had been anticipating.

I remember the fiery red being mostly oil. This looked like sambal and even tasted like one. Have I been victim to the Mandela Effect again?!😱 Anyways, it was good. I don't know if I've imagined it but it felt a little less spicy than the impression I had previously.