This is the list of restaurants that I need to go to!
Enotria
Michelangelos
Portobelle
Esmirada
Da Paolo's Bristro
Valentinos
So I look forward to going to these restaurants pretty soon .... I hope.
Surf and Turf at Suntec Basement
I have to admit that after beginning to write in this blog, I have a problem in knowing where to eat. You ask me everyday, and I swear to you that I probably can't tell you what I want to eat. Strange. So since I can't decide what to eat. I have let the powers that be to decide. AKA, when out with friends, they will tell me where to eat. Last week was an interesting ordeal. The wife and I met with some friends at Suntec Basement and we let the coupons in our hands decide where to eat. You see, OCBC credit card as well as Citibank credit cards have this food specials where they give you coupons for some special deals. So on this special day, we went for the 25% discount at Surf and Turf.
Surf and Turf is allegedly an American restaurant. That serves well, meat and seafood. I don't normally will walk into such a restaurant but what the hay? We walked in. the service was pretty good. They were polite and told us what our coupons could and could not do. As usual, I felt like a pasta and I ordered the few non surf and turf stuff on the menu, a seafood marinara sauce penne pasta. My wife ordered fish and chips. Our friends ordered their roast chicken and pan fried salmon together with some mixed platter for appetizer. It was pretty good. In the line of Billy Bombers type better than Jack's place. I was impressed.
Some of you might think, man, you have some low expectations, and you are right. I will probably not go there again, if I could make my own choice, but just for that night, it felt right. I think this is a New York Deli type restaurant. Its for the kids.
Surf and Turf is allegedly an American restaurant. That serves well, meat and seafood. I don't normally will walk into such a restaurant but what the hay? We walked in. the service was pretty good. They were polite and told us what our coupons could and could not do. As usual, I felt like a pasta and I ordered the few non surf and turf stuff on the menu, a seafood marinara sauce penne pasta. My wife ordered fish and chips. Our friends ordered their roast chicken and pan fried salmon together with some mixed platter for appetizer. It was pretty good. In the line of Billy Bombers type better than Jack's place. I was impressed.
Some of you might think, man, you have some low expectations, and you are right. I will probably not go there again, if I could make my own choice, but just for that night, it felt right. I think this is a New York Deli type restaurant. Its for the kids.
Pasta Brava and Writing Skills
On the train the other day, I heard that a blog is a pretty narcissistic thing to do. It is about yourself, your thoughts, and your world view. The world according to you. That sounds about right doesn't it? So I have to give some "biggie ups," to some guy from Hwa Chong Junior College for saying that and letting me hear what he said so loudly on the phone.
How does this relate to food? In a way it does, this blog is designed to educate. Not to eradicate. This blog is to inform. Not to deform. You get the drift? As much as I love to slam restaurants and tell you they suck, I have to say that you have to go and try the food at the restaurant. Don't let me ruin you dining experience!
So last week, the missus and I went to a nice Italian Restaurant. Its called Pasta Brava at Craig Road in the Duxton Hill area. The website was nice. It looked classy and there were some pretty good reviews. We made our dinner reservations at 8pm but we showed up early. My wife had a tinkering for Lagsana and as expected, we never touched the Lasagne.
We got in and the deco was nice. There's this very rustic feel to the place. It feels somewhat Italian? The servers were decked in an all black uniform and were prompt and polite. We asked for suggestions after being in countless Italian restaurants. I ended up ordering the Puttanesca, tomato sauce with capers, olives and chili. My wife ordered her Lagsana? Nope. She ordered the Manicotti Ripieni di Zucca - Moon-shaped ravioli with pumpkin and red capsicum sauce and cream a pumpkin ravioli. Our appetizer was the melon and prosciutto ham. And our dessert was an apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It sucked. The servers seemed like they were in a rush and when asked about a dish to recommend, I swear there was a sigh and he simply broke down what was on the menu. And talking about the menu, for a nice looking rustic Italian restaurant, the menu was a paper menu that you could fold up and it looks like a newspaper but A5 size. A restaurant has to decide what it is. If it is a rustic place, don't play techno music! And my puttanesca sauce, had tons of olives, very little capers and 0 flavor. The base tomato sauce was good, but the pasta as a whole, I could make it better at home. The ham in my appetizer felt like it was taken from the ones that can be bought at cold storage and the apple pie, my gosh, it was this soft small thing and beared some semblance to an apple pie.
On a brigther note, it did have some UOB bank discounts and the total cost of the meal turned out to be only $71 which was pretty reasonable.
You might think I'm mean. But that's just what I think. You should go to the restaurant and try it yourself. I might be wrong!
How does this relate to food? In a way it does, this blog is designed to educate. Not to eradicate. This blog is to inform. Not to deform. You get the drift? As much as I love to slam restaurants and tell you they suck, I have to say that you have to go and try the food at the restaurant. Don't let me ruin you dining experience!
So last week, the missus and I went to a nice Italian Restaurant. Its called Pasta Brava at Craig Road in the Duxton Hill area. The website was nice. It looked classy and there were some pretty good reviews. We made our dinner reservations at 8pm but we showed up early. My wife had a tinkering for Lagsana and as expected, we never touched the Lasagne.
We got in and the deco was nice. There's this very rustic feel to the place. It feels somewhat Italian? The servers were decked in an all black uniform and were prompt and polite. We asked for suggestions after being in countless Italian restaurants. I ended up ordering the Puttanesca, tomato sauce with capers, olives and chili. My wife ordered her Lagsana? Nope. She ordered the Manicotti Ripieni di Zucca - Moon-shaped ravioli with pumpkin and red capsicum sauce and cream a pumpkin ravioli. Our appetizer was the melon and prosciutto ham. And our dessert was an apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
It sucked. The servers seemed like they were in a rush and when asked about a dish to recommend, I swear there was a sigh and he simply broke down what was on the menu. And talking about the menu, for a nice looking rustic Italian restaurant, the menu was a paper menu that you could fold up and it looks like a newspaper but A5 size. A restaurant has to decide what it is. If it is a rustic place, don't play techno music! And my puttanesca sauce, had tons of olives, very little capers and 0 flavor. The base tomato sauce was good, but the pasta as a whole, I could make it better at home. The ham in my appetizer felt like it was taken from the ones that can be bought at cold storage and the apple pie, my gosh, it was this soft small thing and beared some semblance to an apple pie.
On a brigther note, it did have some UOB bank discounts and the total cost of the meal turned out to be only $71 which was pretty reasonable.
You might think I'm mean. But that's just what I think. You should go to the restaurant and try it yourself. I might be wrong!
Eating Right : The Root Excuse of Failed Marriages
Tonight will mark the beginning of a series of wedding dinners in the coming months - which translates into hotel catered multi course dinners!! Expensive multi course dinners at that.
I believe formula for 2 seats for a table of 10 at a decent 4-5* hotel = 2 x 3 course dinner for 2 @ Saint Pierre inclusive of 15%+++ without wine.
This offshoot hopes to entertain and help couples make informed decisions.... if you trust our tongues.
First stop - The Regent
I believe formula for 2 seats for a table of 10 at a decent 4-5* hotel = 2 x 3 course dinner for 2 @ Saint Pierre inclusive of 15%+++ without wine.
This offshoot hopes to entertain and help couples make informed decisions.... if you trust our tongues.
First stop - The Regent
Ristorante da Valentino
I have a confession to make. I've been really lazy and haven't written a blog entry in ages. Truth be told, I've hardly been to an eatery in recent times serving decent grub enough to warrant a blog entry. *what a brilliant excuse*
Anyhow, I must write about this Ristorante. So we got Salvatore & Paolo with their outlets littered throughout our little island. Mr Valentino opened up this place a little more than a year ago in the quiet neighbourhood of Rifle Range Road. It's a small cozy place, sitting pretty on the first level of a 2 storey shophouse with a few tables set in the porch area for alfresco dining.
At least half the restaurant was patronized by European expatriates, some with their SPGs in tow. The walls were painted red which certainly added some warmth to the cosiness of the place.
We were greeted by a lady waitstaff and she promptly recited the specials available for that evening. The menu featured a range of staple italian antipasta like cold cuts, grilled veggies in olive oil, zuppa, calamari, pastas, pizzas and meat.
I didn't feel like thinking too much that evening because I had endured a long, long day at work!! You know how it is... So yeah, we got the attention of an Italian waiter, who I presume is related to Valentino (I read someone else's review that he brought his sister, momma and papa to help out), to help us out. I wanted to try the rabbit stew but unfortunately for me, that was sold out. I gave up and asked him to recommend something else.
You're probably thinking, what the heck!!! First time in a restaurant, don't know what to order and you're asking the waiter to rip them pockets off your pants. Mate I tell you this fella knew exactly what we needed.
He suggested 2 starters, a custom pasta combo and a meat for the main course. We had a cold cut combo weighing in at around $17something and a roasted vegetable combo also around the same price. The cold cuts were nice and fresh but a little too
skint for the money. The veggies were excellent! The red pepper was slithery n sweet, zucchinis n eggplants were also beautifully roasted. Oh I almost forgot, they serve some warm bread with a nice basil/coriander/garlic/olive oil dip!
Shortly after, the custom pasta combo arrived. We had Pumpkin Ravioli on one side of the plate and Fettucini ala god knows what the name... let's call it Fettucini ala Gobsmacked because it was that good!! The freshly handmade al dente cooked fettucini was tossed in a light cream sauce, shrimp and rucola leaves. The cream sauce was so light you could have hardly told that you ate a cream based sauce in your tummy. The Pumpkin Ravioli kinda looked like undersized Gyoza at first and that did set my expectation slightly lower *yeah I'm so superficial.. well good presentation does enhance the taste sometimes* but man was I ever so wrong to doubt Valentino!! As the warm, almond scented pumpkin filling oozed in my mouth, I thought I'd tasted nirvana/valhalla *that is so Christian-speak wrong*. It was piquantly pumpkin, sweet and salty, gorgeous combi with the ravioli skin.
The main course BLEW me away. We ordered an 800gm Bistecca alla Fiorentina, chargrilled to PERFECTION off the bone. It came on a round wooden platter, neatly sliced into a few pieces on a heap of fresh rucola leaves and 2 lemon wedges. The meat was very well seasoned and cooked just so the meat was pink on the inside and very very moist. I squeezed some lemon on the meat and skewed it on my fork with a couple of rucola leaves. So you think Morton's was good ? This will RIVAL Morton's anyday.
You've gotta try it to believe it folks! I was chewing the rare bits off the bone for goodness sakes!!
Dessert was wheeled to us on a nice glass trolley. They had a blueberry tart, lemon tart, panna cotta and something else which I can't seem to recall. Also available from the menu was a selection of sorbets and tiramisu. We ordered a blueberry tart, a slice of panna cotta and a tiramisu to round off our most excellent meal. The blueberry tart didn't go down too well with me because I didn't really like the smell of the semolina flour used to cook the base of the tart. Panna cotta is cooked
cream for the uninitiated and this one was DAMNED good. It was light, fresh and creamy. Most of all it wasn't overly sweet, just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of cream. Numero uno man. The tiramisu was excellent. To some traditionalists, the tiramisu is not recognized as a staple of Italian desserts but this one sure tasted like it had been done in the tradtition of mamma for a long time. Surrounded in thick luscious mascarpone cream and sponge cake soaking in coffee liquer, this was a long time coming. I haven't tasted tiramisu anywhere this good since the good old days in Australia.
It ain't cheap but it's worth the experience. Call in advance because these guys are packed!! Bon appetit.
Anyhow, I must write about this Ristorante. So we got Salvatore & Paolo with their outlets littered throughout our little island. Mr Valentino opened up this place a little more than a year ago in the quiet neighbourhood of Rifle Range Road. It's a small cozy place, sitting pretty on the first level of a 2 storey shophouse with a few tables set in the porch area for alfresco dining.
At least half the restaurant was patronized by European expatriates, some with their SPGs in tow. The walls were painted red which certainly added some warmth to the cosiness of the place.
We were greeted by a lady waitstaff and she promptly recited the specials available for that evening. The menu featured a range of staple italian antipasta like cold cuts, grilled veggies in olive oil, zuppa, calamari, pastas, pizzas and meat.
I didn't feel like thinking too much that evening because I had endured a long, long day at work!! You know how it is... So yeah, we got the attention of an Italian waiter, who I presume is related to Valentino (I read someone else's review that he brought his sister, momma and papa to help out), to help us out. I wanted to try the rabbit stew but unfortunately for me, that was sold out. I gave up and asked him to recommend something else.
You're probably thinking, what the heck!!! First time in a restaurant, don't know what to order and you're asking the waiter to rip them pockets off your pants. Mate I tell you this fella knew exactly what we needed.
He suggested 2 starters, a custom pasta combo and a meat for the main course. We had a cold cut combo weighing in at around $17something and a roasted vegetable combo also around the same price. The cold cuts were nice and fresh but a little too
skint for the money. The veggies were excellent! The red pepper was slithery n sweet, zucchinis n eggplants were also beautifully roasted. Oh I almost forgot, they serve some warm bread with a nice basil/coriander/garlic/olive oil dip!
Shortly after, the custom pasta combo arrived. We had Pumpkin Ravioli on one side of the plate and Fettucini ala god knows what the name... let's call it Fettucini ala Gobsmacked because it was that good!! The freshly handmade al dente cooked fettucini was tossed in a light cream sauce, shrimp and rucola leaves. The cream sauce was so light you could have hardly told that you ate a cream based sauce in your tummy. The Pumpkin Ravioli kinda looked like undersized Gyoza at first and that did set my expectation slightly lower *yeah I'm so superficial.. well good presentation does enhance the taste sometimes* but man was I ever so wrong to doubt Valentino!! As the warm, almond scented pumpkin filling oozed in my mouth, I thought I'd tasted nirvana/valhalla *that is so Christian-speak wrong*. It was piquantly pumpkin, sweet and salty, gorgeous combi with the ravioli skin.
The main course BLEW me away. We ordered an 800gm Bistecca alla Fiorentina, chargrilled to PERFECTION off the bone. It came on a round wooden platter, neatly sliced into a few pieces on a heap of fresh rucola leaves and 2 lemon wedges. The meat was very well seasoned and cooked just so the meat was pink on the inside and very very moist. I squeezed some lemon on the meat and skewed it on my fork with a couple of rucola leaves. So you think Morton's was good ? This will RIVAL Morton's anyday.
You've gotta try it to believe it folks! I was chewing the rare bits off the bone for goodness sakes!!
Dessert was wheeled to us on a nice glass trolley. They had a blueberry tart, lemon tart, panna cotta and something else which I can't seem to recall. Also available from the menu was a selection of sorbets and tiramisu. We ordered a blueberry tart, a slice of panna cotta and a tiramisu to round off our most excellent meal. The blueberry tart didn't go down too well with me because I didn't really like the smell of the semolina flour used to cook the base of the tart. Panna cotta is cooked
cream for the uninitiated and this one was DAMNED good. It was light, fresh and creamy. Most of all it wasn't overly sweet, just enough to enhance the natural sweetness of cream. Numero uno man. The tiramisu was excellent. To some traditionalists, the tiramisu is not recognized as a staple of Italian desserts but this one sure tasted like it had been done in the tradtition of mamma for a long time. Surrounded in thick luscious mascarpone cream and sponge cake soaking in coffee liquer, this was a long time coming. I haven't tasted tiramisu anywhere this good since the good old days in Australia.
It ain't cheap but it's worth the experience. Call in advance because these guys are packed!! Bon appetit.
Jubilicious Nasi Biryani
Growing up with a dad that loves Indian and Malay food, I was introduced to the Nasi Biryani when my parents threw a birthday party for me when I was 7 and instead of having it at Macdonald's like all the other cool kids, my parents insisted on having a party in the house and invited none of my friends. Wow! What a party. But I guess thats how growing up stories sound like most of the time. My parents catered from my Dad's then favorite Islamic Resturant at Arab Street. It was pretty fantastic, that meal.
As I got older, I developed my own taste in Nasi Biryani and picked the restaurant right next to Islamic called Jubilee. Back then, Jubilee was this all Indian restaurant with metal framed room dividers, and the Indian uncles would serve us as much food as we ate. I remember ordering so much once that the guy asked us if we were sure. I think on that day, me and my dad ordered close to a total 6 plates of chicken and mutton Nasi Biryani - a record in the family by the way.
So my mum decided to start buying Biryani again from Jubilee. I must say, that it hasn't changed a single bit. Its still fantastic tasting. I always order the chicken Biryani and the chicken and rice is a fantastic combination. Rice is fragrant and not too soft. The chicken is well cooked and the marintate is excellent. Its a deadly combination. People should go try it.
As I got older, I developed my own taste in Nasi Biryani and picked the restaurant right next to Islamic called Jubilee. Back then, Jubilee was this all Indian restaurant with metal framed room dividers, and the Indian uncles would serve us as much food as we ate. I remember ordering so much once that the guy asked us if we were sure. I think on that day, me and my dad ordered close to a total 6 plates of chicken and mutton Nasi Biryani - a record in the family by the way.
So my mum decided to start buying Biryani again from Jubilee. I must say, that it hasn't changed a single bit. Its still fantastic tasting. I always order the chicken Biryani and the chicken and rice is a fantastic combination. Rice is fragrant and not too soft. The chicken is well cooked and the marintate is excellent. Its a deadly combination. People should go try it.
Espirito Santo at Parkway
I had to buy some meats for a bbq this week and it was fun to walk into Espirito Santo at Parkway and be surprised by the meats they served and the service I got. The service wasn't great but it was more friendly than say a Cold Storage or a Shop and Save? The meats were great tasting and succulent and fresh. Honestly, even though their American meats looked some what questionable and I wouldn't recommend anybody to buy it but their Australian cut beef striploin and their pre-marinated were awesome. They tasted fresh, succulent and tender. Just the way, cows are supposed to taste.
I was about to go crazy because I couldn't find a good meat place in Singapore. I nearly went with tasty bites to JURONG to buy some meats! Thank goodness for a store like Espirito Santo.
I was about to go crazy because I couldn't find a good meat place in Singapore. I nearly went with tasty bites to JURONG to buy some meats! Thank goodness for a store like Espirito Santo.
The French are coming!!
Delifrance Parkway:
Spoiler Alert: Last Saturday, the wife and I went into Parkway Hungry. We couldn't decide what to eat and it was eastern or western day so we narrowed our bad choices to Delifrance and Sakae Sushi. We walked into Delifrance hoping for something good. We walked out after sitting down for 3 minutes and looking through the menu. I was hungry, but I never knew the Singaporean interpretation of "French," food was that bad. But it was.
Spoiler Alert: Last Saturday, the wife and I went into Parkway Hungry. We couldn't decide what to eat and it was eastern or western day so we narrowed our bad choices to Delifrance and Sakae Sushi. We walked into Delifrance hoping for something good. We walked out after sitting down for 3 minutes and looking through the menu. I was hungry, but I never knew the Singaporean interpretation of "French," food was that bad. But it was.
Long Jiang and Toh Kee
I had the exciting privilege over the last week to eat roasted meats. Yes. I do love my char siew and roast duck. My mum being Cantonese is proud of her roasted meat taste standards, and I think besides my dad, the whole family, even my American wife can taste and know how good char siew is. She is "ahem," well trained.
Toh Kee (TK) at People's Park food center has been there forever. I ordered a plate of assorted roasted meats that came up to $16 for 2 people.
Long Jiang (LJ) at Jalan Pari Burong along Upper Changi Road is a new place I traveled to last week. We ordered also a plate of roasted meats that came up to $0 because I didn't pay for it.
Like all fair and balanced comparison, lets have an apple to apple comparison, or in this case, a meat to meat comparison:
Char Siew: I thought that the char siew at TK was much less in serving. In fact, I would say the quantity served at LJ was much more. But besides quantity, the flavor at TK was excellent. They made burnt ends of char siew taste like the best worst cooked meat in the world. You could still taste the sweetness and moistness of the char siew. The char siew at LJ was somewhat dry, not overly dry and still taste somewhat porkish.
Duck: This I say is a push. Both the ducks were succulent and smooth to taste. The bones had the rhiney and juicy flavor that you just want to suck the juice out of the bone. The skin was both crispy and and damp and the fat between the skin and the meat was right. It is well with my soul.
Roast Pork: I would say a slight edge to TK. The roast pork at TK was phat, sweet and crispy. You know its bad for you but you just want to eat more and more. There was no excess fat, the meat and fat was of the right amount. The coloring was right. Its a light brown skin and an almost beige white meat .... drool..... The roast pork at LJ was good also. It had the good amount of fat and meat mix. But the slight sweet salty after taste was missing. The skin was crispy and meat tender, but it didn't leave an impression in the mouth.
I highly recommend Toh Kee. I have been there for several years now whenever I can or am in the area, and I have rarely been disappointed. Long Jiang is worth a try. I might be wrong in my deductions but I stick by what I say. TK rocks.
Toh Kee (TK) at People's Park food center has been there forever. I ordered a plate of assorted roasted meats that came up to $16 for 2 people.
Long Jiang (LJ) at Jalan Pari Burong along Upper Changi Road is a new place I traveled to last week. We ordered also a plate of roasted meats that came up to $0 because I didn't pay for it.
Like all fair and balanced comparison, lets have an apple to apple comparison, or in this case, a meat to meat comparison:
Char Siew: I thought that the char siew at TK was much less in serving. In fact, I would say the quantity served at LJ was much more. But besides quantity, the flavor at TK was excellent. They made burnt ends of char siew taste like the best worst cooked meat in the world. You could still taste the sweetness and moistness of the char siew. The char siew at LJ was somewhat dry, not overly dry and still taste somewhat porkish.
Duck: This I say is a push. Both the ducks were succulent and smooth to taste. The bones had the rhiney and juicy flavor that you just want to suck the juice out of the bone. The skin was both crispy and and damp and the fat between the skin and the meat was right. It is well with my soul.
Roast Pork: I would say a slight edge to TK. The roast pork at TK was phat, sweet and crispy. You know its bad for you but you just want to eat more and more. There was no excess fat, the meat and fat was of the right amount. The coloring was right. Its a light brown skin and an almost beige white meat .... drool..... The roast pork at LJ was good also. It had the good amount of fat and meat mix. But the slight sweet salty after taste was missing. The skin was crispy and meat tender, but it didn't leave an impression in the mouth.
I highly recommend Toh Kee. I have been there for several years now whenever I can or am in the area, and I have rarely been disappointed. Long Jiang is worth a try. I might be wrong in my deductions but I stick by what I say. TK rocks.
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