Les Ducs, Ann Siang Hill

A few bouillon styled eateries have popped lately. Les Ducs (8 Ann Siang Hill) along with Bouillon Gavroche were a couple of them.

Sourdough was smoky. Nice with butter.

Foie gras terrine's...okay. A bit pricey methinks. The foie flavour seemed muted, not like what I remember of them from Brasserie Gavroche.

Pretty meaty steamed prawns. Love their cocktail sauce that we even saved them for fries.

Not a fan of their roast chicken leg with mushroom sauce. Skin's a bit chewy and the meat's pedestrian. Sauce felt a little thin didn't taste particularly mushroomy; definitely wasn't the creamy variety that I had in mind. Also not something that I'd associate with French and sauces. I'd rather the roast chicken leg from Cold Storage. Seriously.

Not bad tartare de boeuf.

Tartar was tangy, a little herby and creamy. Didn't seem to have capers though.

Their ham and Comte cheese coquillettes was basically a French mac & cheese. Nicely done.

Pretty nice chocolate mousse. Had the expected smooth creaminess with dark chocolate notes and importantly, not overly sweet.

I like their crème Mont Blanc. White pudding-y bottom reminded me of yoghurt. Top's chestnut cream and meringue.

Thye Hong Singapore Fried Prawn Noodles (泰豐), Food Opera @ ION Orchard

One might mistakenly arrive at the conclusion that this plate that I came across from Thye Hong Singapore Fried Prawn Noodles (#B4-03/04 ION Orchard, 2 Orchard Turn) might be the close to perfect plate of char kuey teow - going by the definition of myriads of retarded parrots out there about what that should be. Parrots that mostly yap about wok hei and haven't a mind sufficiently prehensile to grasp other characteristics of the dish, not to mention articulate them. 

I don't know what might be the perfect plate. This one has charred noodles and was smokey for sure. That smokiness was as much from caramelisation as burnt bits and speckles of carbon. Much more in your face than say Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee. There was much less dark soya sauce flavouring than the appearance suggested. Those guys at the work also looked like hired hands rather than veterans. It didn't taste bad though.

Mee kia from You Yi Minced Meat Noodle (友谊肉脞面)

$5 mee kia from You Yi today. Portions were still substantial even though it's reduced compared to the $7 bowl. No fish maw as I anticpated but I noticed a couple of wantons which I don't recall from the last round. Asked for extra chilli today - that'll be the way moving forward with them.

Will stick to mee pok in the future.

BBQ drumstick rice from Golden Rooster

Not bad drumstick rice from Golden Rooster. Even though it didn't taste like it was fresh off the...whatever it was they use for their bbq chicken. Portion felt a little small though. Will stick to the half chicken the next time.

女皇镇驰名油条 (Queenstown Famous You Tiao), Alexandra Village Food Centre

I've never noticed this stall (#01-72, Alexandra Village Food Centre, Blk 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1) until recently.

What got my attention were their banana balls.

Had a skin like hum chim pang - a little doughy and chewy. Inside was mashed banana. We returned for seconds and got a batch fresh off the fryer. Nice! 👍🏼

Plain Vanilla, Yong Siak Street

I was just saying not long ago that we never come into Plain Vanilla (1D Yong Siak Street) because of the crowd. This somehow happened.

Niçoise salad. Tasted like Niçoise salad with fishiness from anchovies and tuna.

Got the portobello mushroom & Stilton flatbread because Stilton. In the end, it was mostly mushrooms and rosemary I tasted with occasional nuttiness from the pine nuts. Not so much the blue cheese. 😔 Felt like they were trying to do something and half assed it because they were afraid.

This was nice. Bacon, scrambled egg and halloumi sandwich with chipotle mayo. Buns were soft and the in betweens were deliciously hearty. Every element in here was bold and discernible; unlike the wannabe flatbread that tried to involve Stilton and failed right at it.

Menu called this tomato veloute soup with grille cheese soldiers. The non-fancy name could be cream of tomato with grilled cheese. Passable but I'm pretty sure I preferred the one from Josh's Grill.

Unremarkable ice mocha. Would have been enjoyable if they made this a lot more gao in consideration of all the ice in there. But that's me.