Aerin's, Raffles City

Aerin's is located at Raffles City Marketplace. You know what stands out about them? The indigestibly long names for their dishes. I jest. Aerin's is run by the management that did Whitebait and Kale.

I walked in thinking with a misconception that it was just a new spiffy spots with forgettable food. I think I was wrong. I was initially unsure of what to make out of the menu. 

We decided to pave the way with soup. Wasn't much to choose from so it was easy to pick. Beside the Chunky Beef Goulash with Sour Cream and Butternut Pumpkin with Freshly Grated Nutmeg, the only other one Our Daily Soup which I presumed to be their soup of the day. They weren't kidding when they mentioneded 'chunky' for the beef goulash. This soup came with chunks of beef swimming in the goulash. Just look at the picture on the right. I thought that this is pretty damn good. The other soup we decided on was the butternut pumpkin. I was quite impressed. The soup was warm, smooth, buttery and sweet. The flavour exceeded ,u expectations even though I never really knew what to expect. I recommend it. I'm never saw myself being impressed much by soup but I was for this one. Too bad the foccacia was tough and chewy. All right! I'll say it, it's not fresh!

We had a shared salad, appetizer and a main course. The salad it was the Oven Roasted Pear with Brie Cheese, Walnuts & Semi Dried Tomatoes tossed in Honey Mustard Dressing. They restaurant menioned it was one of the popular choices. The roasted pears tasted quite different from how I imagined. I was expecting something softer. Instead it was only soft on the surface and was otherwise. crunchy. Unexpectedly pleasant though. Would have been great if they were more generous with the brie cheese. There were only two little pieces.

Our appetizer was the Deep Fried Risotto Balls filled with Mozzarella. The waitress claimed was good and a popular choice. I thought it was overrated. Not that it tasted bad. It tasted bland to me.

Onto the shared main course, which was Grilled Steak Pita Sandwich, Mushroom, Fries & Aerin's Piccadilly Sauce. This portions for this item was quite generous portions. The pita was quite thin. It got soaked and fell apart from the juices easily. I was thus robbed of my chance to eat it like a pita. I kinda like this one though. There was a decent portion of steak in the pita which was done medium well. Not sure about the Piccadilly sauce since I couldn't tell.

We had originally wanted to pass on the dessert, but we were convinced that the Apple and Rhubarb Pie with Puff Pastry and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream was a signature thingy. I yielded and ordered one. I was not the least disappointed. In fact, I was so not disappointed that I mean to go back there again to have it. The picture does not do it justice.

The crust is light, soft and buttery. The roof was all there was to the crust and it wasn't very thick. The inside was filled with apple, raisins and rhubarb which were overly sweet. Tasted juicy even and I liked the citrus flavour that were in there. 

The Original Sin, Jln Merah Saga

Stage

Jln Merah Saga

...the Original Sin, cloistered along the stretch along Jalan Merah Saga. According to their website, this place, which is owned by the Michaelangelo's Group of Restaurants was named as such after the fresco which the artist painted in the Sistine chapel. Incidently, the restaurants Michaelangelo's and Sistinas are both conveniently located next door and the next one down the road.

The decision to dine here came when the Mediterranean salad dude asked for suggestions on vegetarian eateries for a friend, Adrian. Who is vegetarian.  Didn't think it the best idea to go the usual Chinese or Indian places for some reasons so the next location I naturally though of was here. Besides, I've been wanting to try their food for sometime. What luck!

I'm going for the broad strokes in my description of the food at this place. I barely recognize half the vegetables used in this restaurant and Adrian would be the one in the know of what we had. The deepest and foremost impression that the Original Sin left was that, I didn't feel like I was eating at a vegetarian place. The food was nice enough for me to forget that I wasn't getting my meat fix. Phew!

Started with a Mezze platter and a crisp avocado salad. Oh, my advice is, don't click on the pictures. These look better small if you catch my drift. And as for identifying the contents of the plates, consider me out of my league. We have let's see....pita, what tasted like fried bean cakes (brownies on the bottom right), hummus (far left) and some mashed eggplant thingies (with mint?). Do not remember what they were but they were delicious. The avocado salad came light and fresh. Certainly had no complains about it but there wasn't anything else also distinctive for a salad. Without going into further details, I'm going to let the pictures kinda....speak for themselves? In any case, I would like to add that they were tasty.

The Moussaka

The Polenta Tower

The Bosco Misto

As I have mentioned, descriptions will be with broad strokes. Many of the dishes that weren't green vegetables or mushrooms or cheese taste pretty much like bean cakes. That meant the Moussaka and the double patty which made the bulk of the Bosco Mistro. The Polenta Tower however had a taste and texture like Chinese carrot cake. And in the midst of the shots, I've somehow missed the Risotto which I was sure I took a picture of because that was my order.

As a dining experience, I will briefly comment on the service from the restaurant. Curt and sculpted. Which is to say that while acceptable, it was nothing to write home about. Smiles from the wait staff do not emit warmth. Normally, it wouldn't bother me too much. But since this place prided itself a gourmet restaurant and charges us dearly for a bunch of vegetables, I'm entitled to voice out what I noticed. For anyone who is interested in giving this place a try, heads down for the estimated damage possibilities.

Colbar, Portsdown Road

Sequestered amidst Portsdown Road just before Temasek Club, it's not much wonder that this unique eatery is not so often heard of and mentioned. Word was that they have been in operation for around 58 years and the current building it is currently residing was rebuilt brick by brick to resemble the original one it occupied. Single storied and very mundane looking, Colbar can easy to miss. The official address at Whitchurch road could be a little misleading as Whitchurch is essentially a loop and the end of the loop which meets its beginning is along Portsdown. There's where Colbar is. Confusing? Not if you see it in person.

This was the second time Chris and I were attempting a visit to this not so well known place. The obscurity of the location definitely did not deter it's reputation. Old timers which must have by word, passed on the knowledge of it's presence that it even graced the digital domain of Time Magazine. Obscure and mentioned on Time Magazine on the internet. Confusing? Yeah...

One of the quirks that made this place unique were the furnishings. Contained within what is supposed to be a mess hall of the colonial barracks of history, the interior is a sight which many a local have not seen or will not be likely to see elsewhere in the country. Not for an eatery at least. Upon entrance to the eatery, one is greeted by sights familiar in the oldest of coffee shops nowadays. Food is ordered at the counter and served by a couple of youthful lads in jeans, t-shirts and chains - young people in contrast to the elderly that work in the kitchens and behind the counter. Seatings are separated into the smaller spaced interior and a more spacious al fresco of sorts with tables and plastic chairs mostly under a roofed shelter.

So what is it to be expected from this little aged sanctuary that's secluded in a not so well travelled to part of the country? I hear that the chicken curry is fantastic. Not today my whims did not direct me to that. We ended up grabbing the oxtail soup, lamb chop, ham steak and a couple of ginger beers.

The oxtail soup was served warm and was pleasant for the cool evening. Didn't have anything remarkable to speak of but for soup at that price, it was pretty decent value for money. The lamb chops tasted better than many other western food places that are priced similarly. In fact, I do not recall any other coffeeshop/hawker centre based stores that does it quite like this place does. It even comes with canned green peas. One can taste the lamb which was not drowned in some sauce. The Gammon steak is an unusual treat here. This particular dish is uncommon and this could be the 3rd time in my life which I've had one. Came slightly charred with fried pineapples (haha) which I thought went nicely with the salty ham. On the side are chips. Chunky cut potatoes which obviously aren't French fries. If one is in search of a quiet idyllic location for a decent meal away from the noise of the city, this could just be that place. What it promises is a time capsule experience which is not likely to be replicated in fashion by any other eateries here. I did wish I had more room to try some of the more uncommon sounding food. Mayhaps, I'll just be back another day.

Namly Cafe, SIM @ Namly Ave

I'm on workshop at SIM these couple of days. The catered lunch today was Indian food. I must say I'm a little more than slightly impressed by the limited but decent options. Most local catering leave little or nothing to be desired and the food is often just edible. This one was noticeably above those. Vegetable flour cakes, spring rolls, battered fried fish with some unidentifiable herb, a light and rather tasty vegetable curry with mushrooms and crunchy long beans and a delicious tandoori chicken which was not overly salty. The mini cream puff at tea had a surprisingly tasty custard filling and was actually more chilled than the puff itself. Marvellous. Couldn't have enough of it today. I was told that the caterer for the lunch buffet is the same one that runs the cafeteria in that place which looks like it has a small array of western and local dishes at a very affordable price. It looks to be of a quality beyond what local coffeeshops or even what Hans offers. I didn't recall anything that cost above $6. I'll update this when my second day is done.

Update 15/9/2006

As mentioned, this is the second portion of my update on the catered lunch at SIM. This was lunch today. Garlic fried rice, Mongolian chicken, mussels, satay, curried vegetables. The lunch was indeed good. The pictures do not do justice to the food. The fried rice in spite of its pale appearance tasted quite good. The caterer that runs Namly Cafe in SIM is Kriston. I managed to speak to the manager and he was agreeable to have his business mentioned here. If anyone knows of Kriston or is interested in their catering service, click away to www.kriston.com. Oh, I almost forgot. Lunch also included a delicious mee siam which was noticeably better than many stores out in the streets. And guess what? There is no hum.

OOO : Flavour of the week

Uniquely Singaporean. Remember, I talked about localisation? Sheds new light on the topic it seems. Why someone even thought it might be because of thoughtful referrals. Remember, remember, 12th of September. And it's the small potatoes that make the steak look bigger.

Akashi got ninja-ed, something Raku this way comes...

Time has a habit of slipping past unnoticed. I remember the last time I brisked by Citylink, Akashi was still around. Last night, it was gone. I hadn't been there so long that I never noticed. Gone without a trace but for the effigy the assassin left behind to signal what's to come. Come October. Now watch that space.