Weekend eats

Saturday after-lunch: things that begin with the letter L

I finally sat down to have a bite at Corduroy and Finch.
It's a short bus ride - or a quicker drive - from my house, yet I've never been there. Somehow, proximity to a restaurant/cafe/bar just doesn't do it for me. I like to have to travel a wee bit for my food/drinks. There was an attempt to have lunch there one Friday but there were no tables available at that time.

I'm sure tons of people have written about this place, I know I've read (and heard) various people's opinions of the place, which tend to run in the not-so-good sector. But here's mine, albeit a short one about teatime, where I had
a lemon tart and a latte

I kinda liked the tart with its er.. tart lemon curd. Yet I finished it extremely dissatisfied. It was quite a small portion and was shaped like a bathtub. I guess I was expecting something more along the lines of Marmalade Pantry's lovely slice of a lemon tart, or even Bakerzin's round little pastry. Not something resembling a bathtub.

And the dollop of cream on top did nothing for me. It was effectively tasteless and useless and only ended up on the side of my plate. Maybe a bit of a meringue would've be better, to balance out the tartness with a hint of sweet. I was quite fond of the candied peel - probably the best part of the tart.

It was a gorgeous place though - I loved the high ceiling and the dark wood of the tables, chairs and shelves. And how the floor-to-ceiling shelves were stocked with all kinds of fascinating products. But it was all a bit cluttered and squashed, with the shelves at the corner seeming to get in the way of people wanting to check out their deli section, or get to the tables further inside.

Service was also quite iffy. If a waitstaff is serving a sandwich that has a salad on the side, wouldn't utensils be required?
Saturday was the somewhat extravagant dinner that never happened.

Dinner was supposed to be at Ember but the chef decided to skip town so there wld not be any chef's table menu available. Too bad we only just knew about it... otherwise we could've made alternative plans earlier and not send smses back and forth the three parties, trying to figure out where we should eat. After throwing up ideas such as Kalinka-Malinka and Nadezhda, we ended up at Hanabi for a far less pricey meal than I had budgeted for. It was after all, only $30++ and as we devoured our way through plenty of sashimi, handrolls, tempura and more, I realised that this was probably less than half what we'd have spent at Ember, which probably would've included a bottle of wine. So it was off to the Bullfrog next door for a cold pint of Erdinger.

Sunday lunch: in the mood for pho

I happened to be in the mood for Vietnamese on Sunday.
So it was off to Killiney Road.
With Pho 31 closed for a private function, there was only one thing to do - walk along the row of shophouses to the next Vietnamese place, The Orange Lantern.
An order of chili beef noodles got me sniffing away - I really hadn't expected it to be that hot.
(I'd order some spicy pork noodles at Mai before and ended up throwing in almost all the chili available into my soup)
But it was good and the beef was tender. The beef balls were more like beef pyramids but still yummy.
A order of grilled chicken with vermicelli salad and some spring rolls was also a delight. But

While the service at C & F was iffy, the service here was just flighty when a strangely bashful waitress took our orders and later handed us the wrong bowls - mine wasn't supposed to have brisket.

Sunday dinner: veggie delight

homemade dinner at the office
- baby carrots
- a banana
- an apple
- potato salad - we didnt have any relish in the house and so i suppose potato salad purists might scoff but i threw in some herbs, salami and grated some cheddar cheese over it. (is there really some kinda true potato salad recipe anyway? I suppose it'd be with bacon and chives. But then I hate chives.)

And with the weekend over, another week of eating begins.

Hanabi
559 Bukit Timah Road, King's
Arcade, #01-03, Tel: 6465-5525

Corduroy & Finch
779 Bukit Timah Road Tel: 6463-8038

The Orange Lantern
73 Killiney Road, Tel: 6732 8032

And with that cheaper-than-expected Saturday (didn't even need to pay for a cab ride, since I just had to walk there), I won't feel too guilty about spending more money on my day off tomorrow where the plan is Mortinis and something for dinner/supper after, hopefully HK this Friday after work and Saturday at lunch at Wild Rocket. Although this might mean I shouldn't make too many excuses about exercising.

Listening to Okkervil River - Black