Places I've eaten at recently

Brotzeit - It's got a lovely view, that is if you can ignore the massive construction hole on Sentosa where the casino (sorry, Integrated Resort) is supposed to be. The Kasespatzle, a Bavarian speciality, isn't much to look at but is surprisingly tasty. Spatzle is a type of egg pasta, and the Kasespatzle comes with a pretty yummy cheesy creamy sauce and topped with some slivers of onion rings. It's a dish to be shared, as it can get quite heavy. I was less impressed with the pork and veal sausage, which seemed a little bland. The pork knuckle on the other hand, was a crunchy delight, and served all chopped up on a bed of salad - pretty useful when sharing the dish. Wasn't terribly impressed with the beer - there's Paulaner on tap and a variety of bottled beers are available.

Persimmon - The Link Hotel is a bit of a walk from the MRT station, and can be a bit hard to find, unless you're familiar with the area. But once you spot those orange lights out front, there's Persimmon. Run by the people at Epicurious, it offers up some pretty good fusion food like a chicken salad that uses the flavours and sauces of Hainanese chicken rice. The spaghetti with porchetta and pinenuts was pretty good, although the porchetta on my plate was hardly crispy. And the fisherman's pie was a pretty large bowl of a lontong-like seafood stew with a rather massive slab of puff pastry on top. It was rather spicy and I was quite glad that I didn't order it, as I doubt I would've been able to eat more than half. Desserts were ho-hum, the pandan creme brulee winning over the very odd fruit crumble, which seemed to have all kinds of fruits in it, from grapes to strawberries to bananas. The white wine was quite a standout, although I can't remember where it was from now, Australia I think. But it was made from Japanese Kyoho grapes and had a nice sweet summery taste.

Da Mario Pizzeria - Of all the Places I've Eaten At Recently, this one was probably the best. It's a small joint tucked away at one corner of The Quayside at the Robertson Quay area. The Italian sausage and mushroom pizza was well, really pretty good. It had an awesome crisp crust - not too crisp and not too doughy! The canelloni was really tasty, stuffed with ricotta and spinach, covered with cheese and baked. And their puttanesca had a really good tomato sauce that was just right, not too tart, or too sweet. Plus it was chockful of olives, of the black and green varieties. I am definitely coming here again.

Ichiban-Tei - As I was walking around the Robertson area the other day, came across Ichiban-Tei, which had a pretty promising ramen menu. A quick google threw up some pretty decent reviews, so there I was on a Sunday evening, feeling a little guilty after watching the many joggers give their leg muscles (and heart and lungs) a good workout, while I was only exercising my jaw and stomach by wolfing down some chasiu ramen. The stock was a little too salty, so I gratefully reached for the jug of ice water at the table. But the chasiu had just the right amount of fat and was very very tasty, said I as I gulped down more water and left most of the soup in the bowl.

I hope you had some good eats over the past week.

Brotzeit
Vivocity
#01-149-151
Tel: 6272 8815

Persimmon
#01-07 The Link Hotel
50 Tiong Bahru Road
Tel: 62272271

Da Mario Pizzeria
60 Robertson Quay
#01-10 The Quayside
Tel: 623 57 623

Ichiban-Tei
60 Robertson Quay, #01-13,
Tel: 6733-3923

ladies who lunch

It's been a while since I've put up food pictures. So here a few for you to savour. DSD and I went for the ladies sushi lunch set ($28) at Kuriya at Shaw Centre on Thursday - I took a couple of days off to check out wedding stuff and she very kindly offered to accompany me. So to thank her for letting me drag her around, listening to people deliver more or less the same spiel, we had lunch at Kuriya. The lunch set changes every month, if I'm not wrong, and the quality is always pretty good.

We started off with a small salad of tuna and salmon, lightly grilled so that it's still raw on the inside.


Then this interesting combination of sakura prawns (slightly sweet), grilled broad beans in their pod, a grilled white fish and what was probably a braised bit of octopus.


Next was a delightful dish of fresh Japanese bamboo shoot, a light and very crisply battered and deepfried seafood cake, on top of some tofu/fish cake. (Sorry if my descriptions are wanting).


And then a chirashi set, self-explanatory. It did come with a deepfried prawn, crunch it up, head and all.

The lovely set ended with a slice of strawberry cake and coffee or tea.

Kuriya
Shaw Centre
#05-01
1 Scotts Road
Tel: 6735 5300

so near so good

Thanks to this post by Popaghandi , I had a great time on Friday night at the oddly named Smokinn Frogz at Bukit Timah.
The concept is a modern kopitiam, with a nice bar that does great (and cheap!) beer, a western stall and so far a North Indian stall (no pictures, too dark)

It was confusing at first. We had our drinks (2 pints of Stella Artois for just $14!) and were handed two menus but the waitress wouldn't take our orders as we had to go order at the respective food counters. I ordered a salad with tomato and avocado ($5) and a calamari ($7) at the western stall. And at the Indian stall, a cheese naan and a garlic naan, a meat curry with capsicum, and a chicken tikka, which came to the very low total of $14. Unfortunately they don't do pakoras (although it is listed on the menu) as they don't sell well.
Later, another pint of Stella and one of Hoegaarden came to $15. It looks like they have several bottled beers as well.

The food was good. For a $5 salad I was expecting cheap iceberg but it came with a nice variety of leaves like rocket and butterhead. The calamari was nice and lightly fried and came with a tartar sauce. The naans were not too overpowering with the garlic and the chicken, oh the chicken was great... it was described as a chicken tikka but it tasted more like tandoori, and it was so tender and just really delicious (I felt bad that we weren't able to finish it as we had ordered far too much). The guy who took our orders (never got his name but I presume he's the owner) said sometimes customers pay him more than is owed as they feel that his prices are too cheap. And indeed they are.

Here's a tip, go before 730 on Friday as by that time all the tables were taken up and so were the free carpark lots. Oh and test out the chairs before you plonk yourself on them as some of them are secondhand ones from the Salvation Army. One guy's chair came crashing down - in pieces - just as he sat on it.

Cheap beer, good food, free parking. And all just a five minute drive from my place. Who knew?

Smokinn Frogz (or something to that extent)
879 Cherry Avenue

Recent eats

I just loved the oyster omelet at Satsuma - it was filled with different types of mushrooms and large plump oysters, and had a sweetish soy based sauce. Eps and I devoured the grilled chicken hearts and the cartilage. Yum. And like its sister restaurant Shunjuu (at Robertson Quay), Satsuma provides a platter of vegetables (daikon, carrots, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers) and their absolutely amazing dip. But I was a bit disappointed with the mentai (spicy cod roe) spaghetti, as it tasted more like spaghetti cooked with garlic than anything else. The evening however was marred by a rather rambunctious group sitting at the enclosed table in the middle of the circular dining area - the one guy among the group of women had this horrendous hyena laugh and as the night went on, they obviously got drunker and seemed to laugh at nearly everything.

A recent shopping trip at Vivocity (which once again saw me leaving empty-handed) ended with lunch at Corduroy Cafe. I adore breakfast food but this was just too much.

This was their version of eggs, pancakes and hash. Teeny tiny pancakes with the honey already poured over (and not provided in a jug to do the pouring yourself), two sunny side up eggs (can't go wrong there) and a hash brown. It made me want to go back to Cedele at Wheelock for their macademia pancakes. Corduroy Cafe however, does a very nice mocha. And I have been in want of a good mocha (thick and rich) since the really bad one at the Coffee Club Xpress at work the other day (watery, thin, too sweet).


My mum's Bratwurst Pot fared better, but the sauerkraut was too sour, even for her.

And from the lovely Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros, I made her Apple Bread with Sugar and Cinnamon Topping. It's not a pretty sort of cake so it doesn't make for a good picture (lots of brown you see) but it comes out moist and absolutely delicious, and best of all, not too sweet.

150g sugar
150g butter, softened
2 eggs
120g plain flour (Bake King flour!)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder (I just used bicarbonate)
1/2 tsp cardamom (I didn't have this so I left it out)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
400g apples, peeled, cored and coarsely grated (I used 3 smallish green apples, and instead of grating all the apples, I chopped some of them so that the cake would have pieces of apple throughout)
60g walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped (I didn't bother toasting them and they still taste fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping: 60g walnuts, finely chopped
60g brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180degC. Line a loaf tin (30x11 cm) with greaseproof paper.
Beat together sugar and butter till fluffy. Add eggs and beat them in. Sift flour, bicarb, cinnamon and cardamom (if using) and add a pinch of salt. Mix well. Add apples, walnuts, vanilla and mix well. Pour into tin.

Mix together the topping ingredients and scatter over the top of the batter. Bake for about 45 minutes.

Let cool and serve slighly warm or at room temperature. Great with a cup of hot Earl Grey tea or with a glass of cold milk.


Satsuma
1 Nanson Road
01-10/02-10 The Gallery Hotel
Tel: 6235-3565

Corduroy Cafe
Vivocity
#01-106
Tel: 6376-9895

Making you hungry

Ok so that was a rather grumpy Post yesterday. Today, after a couple of cups of really goood strong coffee at the Ellenborough Market Cafe at the Merchant Court Hotel (to wash down the many rashers of crispy heaven called bacon, among other things at breakfast); and trying on several pairs of shoes across Orchard Road on Saturday morning and going home with three of my very own, I admit I feel a little more chirpy.

So before the caffeine high wears off, let me tell you about Saturday night at Holland Village with two of my JC friends.

It started off at good old Aburiya. A mug of refreshingly cold Asahi in hand, and some good company and catch-up chit chat is really all one needs for a good night out. But throw in a hole full of charcoal and lots of meat, you get a sizzling good time (I blame the cheesiness on the caffeine).

Pork cheek grilled till crisp.
Shitake mushrooms and a veg platter with a miso marinade.
Foie gras sizzling in melted butter (in a foil pan that is, not on the grill itself).
Lamb loin marinated in ... well something that tasted very good.
Wagyu steak cubes.
Beef tongue with leeks (perhaps we could've done without this one)
Onigiri (rice balls)
And some short ribs.

I was stuffed, we were all stuffed. But the dessert compartment of the stomach was still available, so we hopped on over to 2am dessert bar. We were still trying to decide on our choices when the waiter comes by asking if we'd ordered a red wine. The same skatterbrained service reared its head again when the waiter brought a chocolate tart (which we had ordered) and a tiramisu (which we hadn't) to our table and started explaining it to us, not realising that the two platters, like the red wine before, was for the couple next to us. And then later he presents us with the bill before we'd even asked for it.

Service aside, it was not too bad. The winner was the chocolate tart which came with a blood orange sorbet and salted caramel. My Twix was a bit too heavy for me. The homemade chocolate ice-cream was lovely and dark but I thought it was a bit too much for the burnt caramel mousse and peanut crumble. As for the blackberry (described as parfait, lychee air, basil, pinenut cake), it was interesting, and made me want to eat a blackcurrent pastille.


Aburiya
17E Lorong Liput
Tel : 6464 6536

2am
21A Lorong Liput
Tel: 62919727

Botak Jones

'you ate a burger? I thought you avoid such food'.

Well, no. I like burgers. I just don't like those from Macs or BK.
I dream of one day sinking my teeth into an In-N-Out burger.
So on my first-ever visit to Botak Jones, I had to see what their burger was like.

It was weird being back in the area, feeding the mosquitoes and looking out at that building next door that was once my workplace. Now why didn't Botak Jones pop up a year ago? It would've been a welcome variety to the offerings available. The only thing open at night then at this canteen was a zhi-char stall, which wasn't very good. Now there's Il Piccolo and some stall selling Japanese food. There's also a pool table, and beer! (so the beer wouldn't have been a good idea as I used to work nights).

But onto the burger: it was overdone. Not burnt to a crisp overdone, but overdone enough that it was all I could remember. Was there cheese on the burger? Why yes, if I think hard enough, yes, there was. The fries were of the crinkle cut type, which I never understand: Why are they cut that way? What is wrong with a plain straight fry? And I'm afraid the appeal of coleslaw (even if it's the best in the world) is lost on me. Perhaps I have to eat at the other branches to see if there's a difference.

Here's one thing I liked, the beer. A pitcher of cold beer, and good company. Sitting outside meant the smell of cigarette smoke wafted in our direction a few times, as did that heady scent of sewage (we were next to a longkang) and the mosquitoes occasionally bit.

Damn good food at a damn good price? I agree with the second part of that sentence. And I would rather go to Botak Jones again than step into a Macs. Plus, you know, Macs doesn't serve alcohol.

970A Toa Payoh North
Phone / Fax: 6258-6-225

Breakfast at Hediard

I'm not entirely convinced that eating here warrants such prices. There's a lot of fancy crockery with 'H' on them like that cute little butter dish with its dome porcelain cover. But $12 for a glass of OJ? And scrambled eggs for more than $10? (can't remember the exact price) I'm not sure.

But let's start from the beginning.

After a downpour, Sunday was turning out to be quite a sunny one after all. But I still lugged along the large umbrella all the same. My bus ride was a blurry one - obscured by those horrendous stuck-on ads on the outside. I get to Hediard a little early and wander around the red and black store, noting the lofty prices of well, everything. I wonder what would make their white pepper any different from the white pepper at a supermarket, except of course, that fancy 'H'. (Note: I still have not started my new job yet so the purse is feeling extra light).

The rest of the party arrive and we all order the 'H' set ($19) which comes with:
- toast, butter and a variety of jams
- a pastry or 'viennoiserie' (choose from croissant, pain au chocolat, brioche)
- a half-boiled egg
- OJ
- tea or coffee

The next set option 'XL' is at a gasping $45. It adds a scrambled eggs and a smoked salmon or parma ham platter to the basic set. There wasn't a choice in between, say, with just a scrambled eggs add-on, which the others wanted. So they just ordered an additional scrambled. No one commented on the eggs though, so I figure it was decent enough.

It was all very proper and the service was pretty good. I did like the coffee, which according to their website, was of 'Madeleine' blend. The brioche, though tiny, was yummy with the various jams. We got to sit by the large window to watch the world (or at least Tanglin Road) go by but that didn't last long, as all these busy working people I was breakfasting with had things to do and people to see. I, on the other hand, being currently a lady of leisure (I blame it on HR which is apparently still processing my formal offer), had absolutely nothing planned. Unfortunately, being a lady of leisure also meant that I couldn't afford another coffee there.

Hediard Café-Boutique
123-125 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247921
Tel: 6333 6683
9am-8pm

Marutama Ramen

Got a table before 630. Queue formed outside by 7.


Japanese kong bah


Ramen with chicken broth. Tastes better if it's spicy.


Marutama Ramen
#03-90
The Central

Eating (at) Lavender

Xiaolongbao


Congyoubing (spring onion pancake of sorts)


Yam cake


Har gao


Ngoh Hiang (am not an expert but my parents reckoned it's not that great here).


Soursop dessert - am not really into Chinese cold desserts, but this was what my mum had.


Other things not zoomed in on: beef kway teo and ter kah and the siew mai (which were quite good for a hawker centre). Washed down with carrot-orange juice.

Address: somewhere along Jalan Besar.

Eating Singapore (Part I)

June 28 - sashimi, tempura, sushi, cold soba at Sushi Tei, chocolate pistachio cake and carrot walnut cake Cedele at Vivocity, Ah Orh at Tiong Bahru (steamed pomfret, ngoh hiang, cold crab, fish maw soup, veg, orh nee)

June 29 - Universal Dining (foie gras torchon, grilled scallops. so-so only)



June 30 - Breakfast/lunch of teh tarik, roti prata, Indian rojak and soup kambing ta-powed from Adam Road food centre; Taiwanese sweet potato porridge with crispy fish, sambal kangkong, stewed pork with pickled veg


July 1 - Breakfast of cuttlefish and nuts porridge, you tiao and tau huay from Farrer Road market, lunch at Far East chicken rice, dinner with the relatives at home (mum's homemade chicken curry, noodles, tung hoon salad, chicken wings, tahu goreng, stirfried vegetables and my sister's Korean pancake)


July 2 - lunch at Food Republic at Suntec of prawn noodles, a coffee at Hans at the central library, dinner at home (of various leftovers and some extra stirfried veg with cuttlefish)

July 3 - Nonya buffet lunch at Chili Padi on North Bridge Road. Bah Kut Teh at Balestier Road, a Stella at Quarubar at Dempsey, half a bottle of Pinotage at Wine Network.


July 4 - Lunch with sis at Crystal Jade at Takashimaya (char siew bao, siew mai, lo mai gai, rice with roast duck and char siew, crispy beancurd skin with salt and pepper, Chinese tea).





Dinner at East Coast Lagoon Food Centre with some uni mates. Satay, rojak, chicken wings, grilled stingray, cuttlefish, carrot cake, sugarcane juice... oh my!

And this concludes my first seven days in Singapore.

weekend edition

That was my last weekend here in Sg and I must say I have been doing quite a bit of eating.

You already read my post on the lovely Teochew feast at Guan Hin (I still dream of that crispy suckling pig) on Friday.

And on Saturday, after picking up various accesories for the new Macbook at Funan with my dad, and after dropping my sis off at a class reunion at a friend's house in the east, we ended up driving (although at some points more like crawling) around East Coast Road, looking for a place to eat.

I think we were supposed to eat some porridge somewhere but ended up at Kim Choo a Peranakan place, where we had babi pong teh (pork stew), bakwan kepiting (crab and meatball soup), chap chye (mixed veg) and ngoh hiang (prawn and meat roll). Not too bad, except for some rather hard rice and bland chap chye.

On Sunday, with my Australian aunt's family in town, we went to Chin Chin Eating House at Purvis Street for some chicken rice for dinner.

And not only chicken rice, but fish maw soup, stir-fried beef with kailan, Hainanese pork chop, battered prawns and once again, ngoh hiang.

I must say I'm not exactly very impressed by the food. The ngoh hiang wasn't very tasty and instead tasted more of flour than of meat. As for the chicken rice, I always prefer the one at Wee Nam Kee at Novena. That's still the best in my book. But boy, was I full after!

mangia!

I had a little birthday dinner with my family at Aburiya - I've written about it twice already so I'll only say that I ordered my favourites but please never order the kimchee soup.

After dinner, we went home to share four little cakes from the lovely Cafe Rosso next door.

There was a coffee/chocolate one, a sweet potato pie, a fruit tart and a custard puff. Not too bad. And oh so pretty.

Weekend eats

The tough decision making continued on Sunday as I stared at the screen and pondered... should I use my UNI$ on food vouchers? Or shopping vouchers? In the end, I decided on a mix of both. I made a quick pasta for the tapow dinner for work (with some chicken meat, yellow capsicum, asparagus, a teeny bit of chopped ginger and some garlic, tossed together with some olive oil and spices) And then I went to work. So that's my terrrrrribly exciting Sunday for you. But then, there will only be one more Sunday like this so I guess it's meant to be cherished.

On Saturday, I wondered what the slow service folks at Pu Dong (Balmoral Plaza) meant by "arrested vegetables" in their menu. I was laughing so hard I forgot to read the Chinese translation. However, this Shanghainese restaurant did also have "jerry fish" and "duck tone" on the menu, in case you'd like to give those a try.

Me and my folks skipped those dishes and headed straight for the chicken in chinese wine sauce (nice flavour but full of bones), spring onion pancakes (a bit overfried), xiaolongbao (excellent broth but so stingy on the meat that the baos lay almost flat!), a plate of caixin and a dish of stirfried nian gao with cabbage and pork (it's not the niangao that you get at new year, btw)

Then a quick stop on the way home at Island Creamery for a baked alaska for my mom, a scoop of kahlua latte for my dad and a scoop of pulot hitam for myself. Always creamy, always good.

Pu Dong Kitchen
271 Bt Timah Rd,
#B1-02 Balmoral Plaza
Tel: 6732 8966

Island Creamery
10 Jalan Serene,
Serene Centre, #01-05
Tel: 6468-8859

Lunch at Iggy's

It was so tasty and yet so simple.

A hickory-smoked trout, a slice of potato rosti and a bed of greens. Instead of the usual slivers one associates with smoked fish, this was a nice slab of trout. I love smoked fish and this was heavenly. The potato rosti was also beautifully crisp and tasty. I couldn't get enough. Can't really figure out what was in the greens but the dressing had a great tangy taste to it. Easily the star of my lunch.

Eps starter of capellini was a sizeable portion, but it unfortunately reminded us of fried mee, possibly because of the hei bee taste.

She went with Iggy's famous burger. A tall but slim tower, which tasted of truffles. Unfortunately truffles are lost on me. (er yeah, I know... it just doesn't do it for me) I guess I prefer my burgers simple, with cheese and bacon. However, the accompanying caramelised potato wedges were sweet and soft yet crunchy and the salad had a delightful zesty citrus dressing.

My main was ok. It was lamb, on a bed of vegetables i-dunno-what-you-call-it but chopped up vegetables cooked with a sauce. A tempura-ed eggplant lay on top but was strangely tasteless. Or maybe I've been eating oversalted tempura. I'm not sure.

Dessert was a banana tarte tatin. With banana ice-cream. Banana overload! Would've been nicer with a different flavoured ice-cream. But the tart was lovely - not too sweet, with just the right amount of banana slices and an excellent pastry.

But it was overshadowed by the fascinating creme caramel with candied tomatoes and basil ice-cream that eps chose. It all went beautifully together, reminding me of a tomato/mozarella salad with basil leaves. The ice-cream kinda grew on you and was rather refreshing.

Service was efficient although a bit strangely accented when the waiter gave his recommendations. But that is definitely how a set lunch is meant to be served. Done with the course, and ready with the next one. Not too immediate but with a satisfactory break in between. Efficiency, with an A+.

The restaurant - we set at the counter by the way - was packed full, with a mix of business-like people and tai tais (and one odd table of a tai tai and her young 10 to 12-yo son. A tai tai's version of fast food perhaps?)

The four tai tais seated at the corner of the counter talked rather loudly, except for those few moments of silence just after the meal when they all picked at food with toothpicks (weirdest sight ever at a restaurant). The windowless premises don't help as it's all rather solid, with nothing much to absorb sound. So you get to eavesdrop on your neighbours, or in the case of the tai tais, your neighbours' neighbours, if you're sitting at the counter.

Iggy's, in case you didn't know, was ranked 98 out of the world's best 100 restaurants, by British-based
Restaurant magazine, although Chubby Hubby felt that the voting system is hardly fair and subsequently devised his own restaurant survey (voting's now closed)

I definitely enjoyed my lunch but maybe my expectations were too high or maybe I'm supposed to go at dinner time and not for their set lunch for me to be blown away by the food.

Iggy's three-course set lunch is at $45 and a five-course set is at $75.

Level 3, The Regent
Tel: 6732-2234

crepes and coffee

I have been lazy.
I really have no excuse.
But I am taking the slacker's way out and pointing you kind folks who read this inane crap I occasionally spew, to my good friend DSD's entry on Wiener Kaffeehaus , where she, the slumbering gal and I met for some Austrian food and some good conversation.

I shall add a bit though, since DSD didn't mention the coffee, which she didn't have in the first place. I ordered what is apparently the viennese version of a cappucino, but with decidedly less foam (good for me - I am the foam scooper) and thankfully no cinnamon (cinnamon and coffee... who ever thought that was a good idea must be crazy). But it was such a lush intense coffee flavour. Very delightful indeed. And they serve it on a lovely silver tray.

Since the owner had mentioned in an interview with Life that he missed cafes where one could sit "for hours", I decided to take his word for it and sat reading for the good part of the evening, until the two friends came by after work.
So go read the blog entry about the food. I do wholeheartedly agree with her.

But I shall add that after slumbering gal left, DSD and I went over to the nearby Creperie Ar-Men in Duxton Road, wandering first past some seedy bars with long-haired skimpily clad women plying their various trades outside.

Then climbed some wooden stairs up to the restaurant seating area, ordered a mug of cider (yummy) and shared a chestnut crepe topped with chocolate sauce and homemade praline ice-cream.

We ate and drank the Brittany-style treats, surrounded by pictures of lighthouses and to the tunes of bagpipes....

Wiener Kaffeehaus
148 Neil Road
Tel: 6226-3148

Creperie Ar-Men
37 Duxton Road
Tel: 6227-3389

here's the scoop

So I dragged the family out to dinner at Tampopo.

The place is packed with locals. On hindsight, not a good sign when it comes to Japanese places - especially this one since it's next to a Japanese supermarket.

I ordered a miso ramen, my sister the shoyu ramen, my mom the korean ramen, my dad an unagi don. We also get some gyoza and assorted sashimi.

The ramen comes with a couple of thin slices of melt-in-your-mouth pork, the usual bamboo, seaweed, and unfortunately, beansprouts.
The noodles are nice and springy but the soup - while far better than the shoyu-based stock - is rather salty and I end up trying to avoid drinking the soup and just eat the ingredients instead. Tsk.

The gyoza is shoddily made. My sister does a far better gyoza.

The desserts look a bit more promising - with warabi mochi, mont blanc etc on the menu.

But I'm really at Liang Court for the ice-cream.

Just a few metres away from Tampopo, is this stall - also within Meidi-Ya - that does a rather delicious sweet potato and chestnut gelato. I ask for a double scoop on a cone - with the sweetpotatochestnut and a black sesame.

The guy piles it on and I feel like one greedy bugger walking away with a two scoops of ice-cream taller than the cone they sit on. One pale creamy mound, the other a dark cement-like tone with little dots of black sesame dancing all around it.

Mmm... gelatolicious.

Of course with two mammoth mounds to contend with, the family has to wander around the shelves of Meidi-Ya, checking out weird frozen items, that shelf of fresh tofu products, and that whole tantalising section of raw seafood.

I am a supermarket junkie. I like to wander the shelves of supermarkets that are not called NTUC. I love to feast my eyes on the fresh produce section - the crisp, colourful vegetables, fruits and herbs, the blood red of meats, the creamy lushy cheeses. I rather enjoy pottering around the baking section, letting my eyes wander around the alcohol and wine departments. And of course, filling up the basket full of goodies to check out.

Tampopo Restaurant
#B1-50 Liang Court Shopping Centre
Tel: 6338-3186

wine and dine

I quite like the Wine Company at Dempsey Road, having been many times just for a bottle of wine, but it's more likely to be a couple of bottles, some pizza, cheese platter, chicken wings...

I just don't like that sometimes it can get kinda crowded - I prefer to sit indoor (got a/c mah) and sometimes the laughter and the chatting can get rather loud.

So I am very pleased to find that the newer outlet at Evans Road has a larger indoor area - where the tables aren't forced close together - as well as a nice outdoor area. And it's got proper food.

There are salads, soups, pastas, lamb cutlets... and char kway teow. Yeah...

Anyway, we went for the cheese platter, the prawn and mango salad with an assam sauce (which was kinda tasty), the mushroom pasta (could do with more salt and pepper but was piled with quite a bit of mushrooms, which was great) and a spinach pizza (always good)

And because I was in a "sparkly" mood, we went with a lovely sparkling white wine. I can't remember what it was now but it was yummy.

I like that they used the original tiled floor, and introduced lovely dark wood furniture and ceiling fans that recreate a colonial feel. The ugly fish tank in the middle was a bit out of place though. Not just cos it's ugly but it seemed to have been a last minute decision - maybe a fengshui master said they needed some kind of water element in the room.

Dinner including the wine and $6 fee they charge for consuming the wine inhouse, came up to about $85.

The Wine Company @ Evans
26 Evans Road
Tel: 6732-1229

(yeah I really couldn't think of a better post title)

raku on

It was 1145am on a public holiday. A good time for an early-ish lunch, since I was to be at work a little earlier (230pm) that day - although I ended up sitting around for 1 1/2 hours not doing anything.

We decided on the Greenwood area - near my house, free parking, a decent variety of food choices.

But it was just too early. Most of the places only open at noon. Sebastien's had people sitting al fresco for breakfast, which ends at 11. But lunch service only starts at 12. So after milling around for a while, and walking up and down trying to decide on what to eat, we end up at Raku, an understated Japanese restaurant. Yeah, the one that is not Shiro - the other Japanese restaurant in the stretch, famous for being reservation-only.

You blink as you enter Raku, giving your eyes time to adjust to the low light. And then walking to your table, greeted by the sushi chefs and waitstaff, you notice how Raku is very sleek, done up with a modern touch, with muted tones and soft lighting.

You wonder if this will carry into the food, as you are, after all, opting for the set lunch, which some places are known to stinge on and not bother too much with.

This place is a little different though.

The $25 set starts with some sashimi (several restaurant-quality slices of fresh tuna and salmon), a sashimi salad (a bed of finely sliced cabbage and Japanese cucumber, with a scattering of cubes of seared ginger tuna, and topped with a soya-based salad dressing) and a dish of petin tofu, which I might be spelling wrongly, but is a very light, creamy cold tofu rectangle, topped with some century egg-based sauce.

I went for the ebi tempura option and the prawns were fresh and tasty. The gindara mentai was a slice of cod encrusted with mentaiko (spicy roe) - very nice.

And the meal was rounded off with some fruits, as usual. (But of course, we officially ended the meal with gelati and a latte at the store a few doors down.)

Raku has other options inlcuding ramen sets at $16, curry sets, and other bento sets at various prices. The $25 set is the most expensive option, but I think it's pretty good value for money.

Raku Japanese Restaurant and Bar
10 Greenwood Avenue.
Tel: 6219-9447

good ole pete's

After a late lunch with my mum at good ole Pete's Place.

I know DSD doesn't like this place but for me, it's like going to those old kopitiams which still have some flavour to them, although the flavour's probably sweat, grime and dust accumulated over the years.

Pete's Place has plenty of sentimental value - it's a place my mum occasionally took my sister and I to, ever since we were young, for their soup and salad buffet. Many of the staff have been here for ages (which my mum always likes to point out) and the basement restaurant has always looked the way it does - its checkered table clothes, its brick walls and dim lighting.

It is after all, Singapore's oldest Italian restaurant. Founded in 1973, it's older than me! And while the hotel has gone through several renovations and introduced new dining destinations, I hope they never change Pete's Place. Things move and change so fast here, I'd just like some things to remain as they are.

It did change its menus many years back, but I remember how it used to be - designed like a newspaper, and you'd have to unfold it, although it was only once when we'd actually ordered from the menu, as it was always just the buffet for all three of us.

Their bread is always fabulous - a nice selection of bread sticks, dinner rolls, walnut bread, rye, sunflower, etc...
The salad selection has improved over the years - long ago lettuce used to mean just iceberg, but today there was a nice assortment and even some baby spinach leaves.
The soup was rather disappointing today though as it was goulash and minestrone, which taste somewhat similar. But the goulash was good.
The dessert was a delicious tiramisu as well as a ricotta cheese tart, which my mum declared as pretty good.

And best of all, with the UOB credit card, we get a one-for-one deal, so lunch was only $22 for the both of us.


Pete's Place
Grand Hyatt Hotel
Tel: 6416-7113

ichiban?

Popped by Ichiban Boshi - yeah conveyor-belt sushi, but still far far better than others like Sakae Sushi - for lunch on Wednesday. A long-ago arranged lunch with a somewhat ex-JC mate whom I'd bumped into at an event at The Arts House a long time ago. He revealed during lunch that his wife's very into Japanese food, so I felt a bit bad about making him eat more Japanese food (plus not the high class type), but he seemed to like it.

And so do I. I like Ichiban Boshi, I'm not afraid to say it.

They do a nice half-bowl of udon - just plain with a sprinkling of green onion (ick), a slice of beancurd skin and a piece of fish cake. But the soup is light, and not over salted or overly sweet. Plus the udon never fails to be springy! (I can't say the same for the last time I had noodles - at Akashi at Tanglin Shopping Centre) We also got some sushi - decent stuff, for its price - including my favourite lobster salad on a crispy rice roll. There was also a special we shared of butter scallops - now that I liked a lot. Served on its shell and with that soft buttery orange roe still attached, it was a little sweet and a little garlicky, and the scallops were really fresh. Plus I love it when they leave the roe on. A scallop is not just a plain white disc, it's a white disc with that gorgeous bit of red/orange sunshine attached. And the dish of four scallops was... what... $5? Something like that. Lunch with the noodles, scallops and several plates of sushi was $15 each.

Am not gonna give the usual contact details cos it's not exactly a place you make reservations for, but more like a quick, not too expensive bite at Wisma Atria, when Food Republic's too crowded and er well, Wisma really doesn't have anything else anyway - that pizza place (don't look that great), Din Tai Fung (not a fan), Crystal Jade fast-food style (still not sure about that one).