A very forgettable Pivdofr

Dinner with Junie. Pivdofr is located along the eatery laden Liang Seah Street, just across the road from Bugis Junction. I was recommended this place by a colleague whom also enjoys eating and told me that the prices of dinner at this place was very reasonable and that the food was not bad. Seeing their claims of serving good food and not serving fast food, I was thought that maybe, this could be another one of those gems in town where affordability meets quality. I'm guess that all of you  would know what assumption is the mother of. While the food at Pivdofr was really quite edible, there was really little beyond it. Their set dinner price of $16.50 did sound like a rather attractive deal. And it would seem that you pay for what you get.

The dinner gets you a small salad, soup of the day with garlic bread, a main of choice and dessert. Customers also are entitled to order their half dozen escargots at $6.50 instead of the usual $8.00 if at least one set dinner is taken. The snails were quite decent, but I thought it was a waste that there wasn't enough bread to soak up all the excess butter left behind. We found it quite laughable that both of us thought that the salad from this place actually tastes better than the circus act of a spinning bowl salad from Lawry's. What was obvious right from the start were the freshness of the vegetables that were used and strangely, I kinda enjoyed the bits of onion which seemed to add more character to the usual monotonous Thousand Island mix. I normally don't like onions. The soup of today was cream of corn and wow, the gods must been smiling because for once, I didn't encounter cream of mushroom for a daily soup. The soup was milky but a relatively unexciting cream of corn. The mains which we picked were the Hungarian Beef Goulash and the Mixed Grill. The goulash was really just beef stew that came with rice. I don't know if there's anything about Hungarian goulash that makes it truly Hungarian, but I'm quite sure this didn't have those elements because it's just a regular stew with potatoes, canned button mushrooms and carrots. On to the mixed grill, I know I've had better in coffeeshop westerns. Better in portions and better in quality. More than significantly better at that. These didn't even come with the bacon and eggs or even lamb. The meats were hard and well done (yeah, the doneness of the beef too) and what I assumed to be the chicken wing could well have been pigeon wings. The dinner finished with an easily guessed scoop of ice cream. I'm so thrilled. Thrilled that now I know and that I will never set foot in here again.

Maybe it's just me expecting too much.

Kazu Sumi-Yaki Restaurant, Cuppage Plaza

The menu for Kazu was astoundingly large for variety. It took a while before we could even register what we had browsed while running through the list of items that were available. Spoilt for choice would be an understatement here while we were momentarily frozen by indecision. That also meant that there was likely still a whole bunch of things which I've have just given cursory glances and did not remember seeing. I suppose that boded well, especially when we liked the food here.

Kazu is located at the fourth story of Cuppage Plaza - which is right behind Orchard Point or just across the Starhub building near Centrepoint. They're one of a few Japanese restaurants in the building that looked to be really crowded during dinner. The atmosphere does get a little noisy from the din of the crowd and wait staff along with the constant background sizzle of the grills in the kitchen which seems to be continuously ongoing without end from the time we stepped into the restaurant. Tables were packed quite closely. Seating arrangements per individual included space that was just slightly bigger than elbow room at the tables. If you're looking for peace and quiet at dinner, this place is not it. Otherwise, you've just landed yourself  good Japanese kushiyaki joint. My observation of vibrant hustle came from a weekend crowd so I've no idea if they're equally crowded during the weekdays.

I'm not sure if this place serves "regular" Japanese food but we were here today for their charcoal grills on skewers which I have been curious about after reading it from D's entry.

Herring roe

This was served in five pieces. Texture was akin to rehydrated fish maw, just more compact. The roe was buoyantly firm and crumbled as you sunk your teeth into them. Each crumbled piece was still firm. I could feel the eggs burst like hundreds of tiny water balloons in between my teeth as I chewed them, releasing their saltiness. On the top are bonito.

Angler fish liver

The smooth creamy angler fish liver was like a chilled foie gras, albeit with a stronger liver taste. I liked this. The orange grated topping was spicy radish. Chilled ponzu sauce had an invigorating citrus flavour that paired well with the spiciness and the spring onions on top. According to the waitress, this liver is seasonal and is only available during the winter season in Japan. Another item she mentioned to be seasonal for winter in the menu was cod sperm.

Horse sashimi

Now that I've tried horse sashimi, I didn't think that it was much out of the ordinary as a meat. The sliced meat wasn't fulling thawed and didn't have much of flavour. Was not sure what to expect of horse meat. Felt like cold and unsalted salami which I thought was rather boring. There was a sesame oil dip on the side which helped but otherwise, I wasn't impressed to any degree.

Oyster in pork belly wrap

Oysters blanketed in pork belly - which were akin to having them wrapped in bacon. These skewers were served piping hot and one should be wary about popping the whole roll into the mouth. Lest the hot juices from the oyster exact their revenge on you.

Golden mushroom(top 2) and asparagus(bottom 2) pork belly wraps

The pork belly wraps for the mushroom and asparagus were sliced very thinly that one can almost not taste them. However I  dug the golden mushrooms and asparagus so this was a must try for us as it was our first time here. They were not bad at all.

Foie gras

Foie gras was another no brainer. At $5.50 a stick, it was affordable. Not as good as the pan fried ones but it came quite close. A slightly crispy grilled surface that enveloped a soft creamy inside which disintegrated as you wedge it between your tongue and the roof of your mouth.

Grilled squid in sweet sauce

I mentioned liking squid before. Kazu's grilled squids were pretty good. The meat was firm with enough bite, yet not rubbery. I did think it would have done better if it were a little more charred. The legs were removed and skewered.

Grilled pork with apple

I was instantly curious about these after reading about them on D's blog. Not surprising, these were pretty damn good and was claimed to be something of a specialty at Kazu by the server. Chunky pieces of tender fatty pork infused with the flavour of the grilled apples wedged between them.

Minced chicken with cheese in zucchini (left 2), grilled cod belly (second from right) and grilled chicken hearts (right)

The minced chicken and cheese in the zucchini wasn't fantastic. I could hardly taste any cheese. Will not order them again the next time. The cod belly was decent but I prefer my cod to be in larger pieces. Grilled chicken hearts were chewy. I'm not sure if I've ever had chicken hearts before today but I found them delicious. The heart is the strongest muscle in our body and I would presume it to be so for chickens as well. I suppose hence, the texture of the hearts were more meaty. But not tough. 

grilled tuna

I'm not usually big on cooked tuna but these were quite good. The insides were slightly rare instead of fully cooked which worked out for me. Didn't touch the leeks though.

ox tongue(left) & Japanese wagyu beef(right 2)

Ox tongue tasted like a chewier beef. The wagyu here was quite well cooked. Despite that, it wasn't tough and the buttery flavour came through courtesy from the heart clogging amount of fat marbled into the meat. We were not sure of what the difference was between the Japanese, Australian or the US version, so we picked Japanese at random. If I remember correctly, it was $10 a stick.

"Snowdrop"

That's a dessert call Snowdrop. The lump in the centre was ice cream (which you can choose between green tea or black sesame) that is wrapped in mochi skin. In the ice cream were some almond pastry and a chunk of milk chocolate in the centre. The golden weave (or hair) on the top was made of sugar. Though nnot a bad dessert, I didn't think too much of it.

Would definitely like to return again someday since I never got to try the crab and pumpkin croquette and pumpkin ice cream - they ran out of pumpkin. I also think that there are items from their menu that could appeal to me. What we've had so far left a pretty good impression.

Marrakesh - Moroccan Lounge & Bar, Clark Quay

This was a nice looking place which I've passed by on a couple of occasions but have never stepped into until now. Marrakesh is run by the management that owns the Harry's Bars and it is located right beside The Tent at Clark Quay. I was quite impressed with how the interior was decorated. Some effort had apparently been made for that Middle Eastern feel bar. I thought it was nice alternative spot to chill. They even had music in this place (some form of Indian-ish/middle eastern modern ambient/chillout) which was also not intrusive.


What I liked about Marrakesh were the cloistered corners which the establishment seemed to be filled with. Although it wasn't a lot of space, it might be comfortable room for 5-6 persons cloaked in semi-privacy.

That's pretty much where the beauty of this place ended. The food and drinks were a general gamut of grills, breads and vegetable stuff which you can expect from Middle Eastern themed places. Having eaten at Banoo, I can attest at the better quality and variety at the latter. Most of the food here looked like more elaborate bar snacks which I guess was the point. Being able to smoke in this place meant that it's probably a bar license they've gotten, not a restaurant.

This mixed grill platter I had at $28 came as they described with beef kebab, shish taouk, shish kebab, lamb kebab with dolma, hummus and Arabic salad. What arrived was an array of grilled and spiced meat on sticks drenched in some tomato based gravy. I'm fairly sure there's coriander in there somewhere, but in this instance, it was faint enough for me to disregard. The portions weren't large, so a platter feeds one hungry person. Their mojito was quite disappointing. While the drink was good with the lime and mint, it had barely any detectable trace of rum. Serving drinks with excessive crushed ice and not enough alcohol is unfortunately lousy but common bar practice around.

If you're not really looking for great food it's a good place to chill and hang with friends.

Dinner @ Home @ 6 p.m.

Boon Tong Kee Little Gourmet, River Valley Road

what's "ong kee little goup"?

Interesting name for a shop that's famed for chicken rice. I happened onto this shop while searching for some past midnight grub. The prices didn't look cheap. However I had thought that the quality ought to be quite good based on branding. We hoped. Having eaten at Boon Tong Kee at Bt Timah only once before, I wasn't sure of how this place would work out. The previous experience was quite good so I had little reason to expect otherwise. I guess even franchised brand outlets must possess a certain level of quality to thrive.



If I had compare, it was a tough fight between My Rice and BTK. Both stores were quite on par in terms of flavour. While neither matches Ming Kee in terms of price, the former two accounted for their worth with more tender chicken meat and what I thought to be a zestier chilli sauce. The poached vegetables in oyster sauce here had fresh crunchy texture and was topped with fried shallots and some meat floss.

Indulgz Bistro, 9 Tan Quee Lan Street

Dinner with Junie. This is one of those places where the aftermath of dinner makes me feel that I could definitely have had better elsewhere. Yeah, I've said it. While didn't stink big time, there was a lot that left more to be desired. In short, unsatisfying. While I'm not here to put down new restaurants on purpose, I am definitely in a position (which I prefer) to really call things the way they are. Tan Quee Lan Street while isn't really remote, isn't really pedestrian neither and with the culinary standards and little publicity, doesn't look to have a healthy life in the business. We started dinner with a White Gazpacho and a Potato & Garlic soup.

White Gazpacho

Potato & Garlic soup

The gazpacho is a Spanish cold soup. It had a raw taste of finely grated vegetables and garlic. The soup tasted also to me like blended vegetable juice.I'm not sure what to make out of this here but it lacks a certain something that might have made it special which I can't put my finger to. Potato & Garlic soup came with a tinge of rawness. That rawness seems to come from the potatoes. However with the garlic and cream, the soup itself turned out decent. If I had to make a comparison, Aerin's soups are probably better value for money in both quality and quantity.

The Deep fried Camembert cheese with Berry compote ($9.90) is apparently a specialty of Indulgz. I like cheese so I don't really have much complains about this except that it's a specialty that really involves minimal skill. of frying some triangles of breaded cheese. Camembert cheese as I discovered from an often maligned source is usually eaten uncooked as heat kills the subtleties in the flavor and texture. What gives with them being deep fried? The compote while tasting as described isn't special at all. I'm guessing that it's just cooked berries and the concoction is rather watery. For cheese lovers, this might be worth a try. Another house specialty which I personally think is constitutes a sad joke is the chicken bites with tangy sauce. Another specialty that doesn't require much culinary skill to create. The chicken doesn't look uniformly fried on the surface and really, KFC popcorn chickens taste better and probably cost less. The tangy sauce tastes atypical of sauces provided in cze char stores for fried meats. It's probably the same kind of sauce that you get when you order thai chickens from some non thai eateries. And the sauce comes with coriander.

Tangy Raspberry Salad ($7.80)

Had a Tangy Raspberry Salad to share. The salad includes mesclun in raspberry vinaigrette, an egg sliced into quarters, a few token raspberries, tomatoes and some sprinkling of sunflower seeds. I suspect about the purported raspberry vinaigrette that was used in the salad because it tasted flat of just raspberries. Definitely not something I would recommend. The house specialty mains which we got were the butterfish steak and chef's crispy pasta with chicken mushroom cream sauce. Neither of which I thought was really special in any way.

Butterfish steak ($19.80)

Crispy pasta with chicken mushroom sauce ($14.00)

I'm not really a fish person with the exception the cold water ones. The butterfish tastes like a promfet with more bite and while wasn't bad, tasted very ordinary.The taste of the fish is actually bland, salvaged by the mango salsa which doesn't taste like anything else except mango. We did get a generous portion of the fish which makes me a bit suspicious based on what I've seen in the cost to food ratio. On the side, there is a nice side of truffled mashed potatoes which comes with the strange rawness that is present in the potato soup and gazpacho. The crispy pasta looks gimmicky like cze char noodles. Angelhair pasta was used instead. The taste and texture of the crispy pasta is something imaginable from appearances. Like crispy noodles from cze char stalls in cream sauce and small strips of chicken and mushroom instead of gravy. Wow, what a surprise huh? With cream sauce which reminds me of Pasta Mania.

The panna cotta, textured like bean curd (tao huay) and comes with a milky vanilla flavor which I rather liked. Apart from that, it doesn't really feel like panna cotta to me. Brownie was simply lousy stuff. The chocolate flavor insufficiently rich and it arrived lukewarm instead of hot. It's really just a dense chocolate cake with plain vanilla ice cream. Avoid it. We didn't think well enough of it to finish it.