I was fed up. I was tired of having silly western food all the time. Italian, American, Mediterranean, Mexican, French, I am tired of all of you. I am Chinese by taste and I think Chinese cuisine can kick any other cuisine's butt if it wanted to.
With this in mind, I thought we should have some good Chinese food. I remembered the suggestion from Tasty Bites about going to Peach Garden at Novena Garden. So on that rainy Friday night, I left with my wife for a sumptuous meal at the Peach Garden. I am an East person, so I don't really know the North really well, but I managed to get around to where I need to be because one of my ex-girlfriends lived around that area. We (my wife and I) met at the nearby MRT station and walked for about 7 minutes to the restaurant located across from the Novena Catholic Church.
The setting was more like a western restaurant than an eastern one. They played a bad rendition of all the Jackie Cheung songs with Chinese instruments but I didn't seem to mind it. In fact, I was humming the songs in my mind while my wife was telling me about her day at work. (Sorry Honey!) The menu was surprisingly short. There wasn't much to order I thought. So I went with the particular dishes I was advised to order. The wasabi and mayo prawns, the lobster noodles, my wife wanted some fried tofu with garlic and an order of roast pork.
I know that it seems like we didn't order much, but we felt that it was enough. The wasabi prawns were tasty. I don't know what is this obsession with Mayo in this part of the world but I have to say it was a potent combination. The creaminess of the mayonnaise together with the wasabi paste made the prawns sweet with a kick in the butt when necessary. My wife who doesn't like wasabi liked the dish. So that meant something. The roast pork, an ever simple meat that can be easily destroyed in the wrong hands were delectable. The fried tofu was decent.
The best dish came last. The lobster with noodles. Unlike other restaurants which serve crayfish when the menu says lobster. This restaurant actually serves LOBSTER. Lovely, light, delicate and simple. It was a combination of the broth (chicken stock and Chinese wine) made the this alchemy great. I thoroughly enjoyed my meal. I had been reading some reviews about the restaurant from other sites and I have to say that they were probably taking some crazy pills. The service was excellent. The pacing of the dishes were just right and I would definitely go back there again.
The best part of the night? My UOB card got me a 10% discount making our meal cost only about $60 some dollars. The meal was worth every cent.
I HATE BLOGGER
I appreciate Blogger for giving me an opportunity for providing me an avenue to write about my gastronomic adventures. However, I have to say that I absolutely hate BLOGGER. Its so darn difficult to write and paste pictures and keeping the spacing and alignment is a pain in the butt.
BLOGGER. I HATE YOU.
BLOGGER. I HATE YOU.
Brunch at Brunch
I don't know how I feel about a restaurant named after a meal time. I can't ever say I am having lunch at the restaurant lunch or you know, something like that. So to have my brunch at the restaurant called Brunch at Pan Pacific was not exactly the most thrilling of all ideas but since the wife loves having breakfast anytime. This place might just be my saviour.
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Located at the 4th level of the Pan Pacific Hotel, and near the pool, I expected some high class breakfast dining. I was ready to be impressed. I love the deco, this outdoors, woodsy type stylized furniture with the complimentary built in ceiling fan as well as the servers in shorts, polo shirt and a cap. The service was excellent as usual at Pan Pacific. The food was expensive.
I cannot fault the price of the menu because it is a nice hotel. But just eggs Benedict at $9.50 (if I remember correctly.) Now, granted the eggs look freaking fantastic. And the yoke breaks beautifully like art. But $9.50 for chicken ham? I don't know. And if pictures could lie, for the same price, I only got 1 waffle. 1. I also ordered the club sandwiches which were fantastic by the way and so were the waffles.
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If you want to treat yourself to a nice brunch any day of the week, at nearly anytime, I say saddle up and pay for what you think it is worth. If not, it might be better to avoid this place. They serve their brunch all the way till 7pm on the weekdays and 10 pm during the weekends.
Highly recommended if you want to pay $10 for sexy eggs Benedict. But I don't think I will go there again. Unless my wife wants to eat breakfast food at 7pm during the weekend.
The Prima Tower Experience
The last time I came here I didn't have my driver's licence for sure. I remember Dad used to know the valet attendants pretty well because they used to work for his friend. Come to think of it, the last time I set foot here was early 1996 just before I enlisted for National Service... not to eat but for baking classes. Yes you read it right the first time, BAKING classes with a whole bunch of tai-tai's. So what did a then 19 year old male, baking and a bunch of ladies have in common ? J-A-C-K.
So anyway back to the restaurant. Nothing seems to have changed in the last decade or so. You take the lift up to the 9th storey, then onto an escalator only to find another flight of spiral steps leading up to the main dining hall.
It was dead quiet for a Monday night save for a few tables littered with foreigners and local businessmen. The hostess revealed to us that last Monday's crowd was much healthier but overall business was still pretty good.
Mom in law (MIL), Dad in law (DIL) and bro in law (BIL) came promptly at 715 followed by sis in law (SIL) and her boyfriend (SILB). MIL rang earlier in the day to order a set menu for 7 so that saved us the trouble of poring over the menu and get down to the business of eating! Thanks MIL, you're the best MILF. That's (Mother In Law Forever) oh ye of stained minds.
Opening dish was shredded scallop and cod in egg sauce. Not my exactly my favourite but I wolfed it down with a smile nontheless. I shan't speak much about this dish since I dislike eggs in various stages of cooking other than scrambled and fried.
Fish maw soup arrived. NEXT.
Mmm.. the peking duck arrived without much fanfare. The duck was brought to the table for inspection and our murmurs of approval sent it back to the carving table. After some 2 minutes of slicing, basting & frantic wrapping, we got served. Hehehe. Perched on my plate was a golden skinned spring roll-ish looking delight.. or was it ? The minute I put it in my mouth and chewed on the 'fat', my satisfaction levels went downhill. The duck slices which were supposed to be thin and crispy were a tad bit too thick and meaty. The skin used to wrap the duck tasted very 'doughy' and where the bloody hell were the sprigs of spring onions ??!! NADA..
Steamed fish of some sort came next.
I forgot the dish after the fish.
I think the last savoury one was the leftover duck meat fried with noodles. Lacklustre dish so I won't bother.
Dessert was deep fried egg white with red bean stuffing. Oily and not presented well enough. I felt icing sugar should have been used to dust the egg white balls and not castor sugar. Icing sugar just does so much more for the dish both visually and tastefully.
As you can already tell I've lost interest in describing mediocre standard cuisine. Soooooo sian!!!
If my Francofriends do come back for more in future I'd gladly take them elsewhere. Totally lost my vote of confidence but I hope for history's sake they buck up to where they used to be.
So anyway back to the restaurant. Nothing seems to have changed in the last decade or so. You take the lift up to the 9th storey, then onto an escalator only to find another flight of spiral steps leading up to the main dining hall.
It was dead quiet for a Monday night save for a few tables littered with foreigners and local businessmen. The hostess revealed to us that last Monday's crowd was much healthier but overall business was still pretty good.
Mom in law (MIL), Dad in law (DIL) and bro in law (BIL) came promptly at 715 followed by sis in law (SIL) and her boyfriend (SILB). MIL rang earlier in the day to order a set menu for 7 so that saved us the trouble of poring over the menu and get down to the business of eating! Thanks MIL, you're the best MILF. That's (Mother In Law Forever) oh ye of stained minds.
Opening dish was shredded scallop and cod in egg sauce. Not my exactly my favourite but I wolfed it down with a smile nontheless. I shan't speak much about this dish since I dislike eggs in various stages of cooking other than scrambled and fried.
Fish maw soup arrived. NEXT.
Mmm.. the peking duck arrived without much fanfare. The duck was brought to the table for inspection and our murmurs of approval sent it back to the carving table. After some 2 minutes of slicing, basting & frantic wrapping, we got served. Hehehe. Perched on my plate was a golden skinned spring roll-ish looking delight.. or was it ? The minute I put it in my mouth and chewed on the 'fat', my satisfaction levels went downhill. The duck slices which were supposed to be thin and crispy were a tad bit too thick and meaty. The skin used to wrap the duck tasted very 'doughy' and where the bloody hell were the sprigs of spring onions ??!! NADA..
Steamed fish of some sort came next.
I forgot the dish after the fish.
I think the last savoury one was the leftover duck meat fried with noodles. Lacklustre dish so I won't bother.
Dessert was deep fried egg white with red bean stuffing. Oily and not presented well enough. I felt icing sugar should have been used to dust the egg white balls and not castor sugar. Icing sugar just does so much more for the dish both visually and tastefully.
As you can already tell I've lost interest in describing mediocre standard cuisine. Soooooo sian!!!
If my Francofriends do come back for more in future I'd gladly take them elsewhere. Totally lost my vote of confidence but I hope for history's sake they buck up to where they used to be.
The Tastybite Update
Hello readers, so much has happened since the last post on coffee culture appreciation! Strangely enough, I don't recall eating anywhere worth mentioning in the last few weeks. Tonight is Daddy-in-law's birthday celebration @ Prima Tower Revolving Restaurant. For the uninitiated, it's situated at the top of a flour mill just before the Sentosa Gateway. It's been eons since I last ate there due in part to the less frequent arrival of our family friends from the south of France who "louve zee plaise anz zee veews of Sentosa". My next post is dependent on tonight's outcome.
Since the last post, yours truly has finally bought a proper Italian made La Cimbali espresso machine. Picked it up in Perth during my recent trip there for a very good price. Even with the generous discount, this purchase has forced me to embrace the art of making coffee! Many thanks to my ever generous fairy Godparents in Perth Frank and Grace for that pleasant surprise gift of a proper coffee grinder.
My decreasing post count of late can also be attributed to my involvement in a new community forum project which has taken up a huge chunk of my usually quiet evenings vegging out in front of the telly.
Happy eating in the meantime and chat with you soon!
Since the last post, yours truly has finally bought a proper Italian made La Cimbali espresso machine. Picked it up in Perth during my recent trip there for a very good price. Even with the generous discount, this purchase has forced me to embrace the art of making coffee! Many thanks to my ever generous fairy Godparents in Perth Frank and Grace for that pleasant surprise gift of a proper coffee grinder.
My decreasing post count of late can also be attributed to my involvement in a new community forum project which has taken up a huge chunk of my usually quiet evenings vegging out in front of the telly.
Happy eating in the meantime and chat with you soon!
Morton's
A cannon camera for your picture to be taken: $550.
A color printer to print the picture: $600
A meal at the best steakhouse in Singapore: Priceless.
For everything else, there's always chicken, pork & fish.
More Restaurants, More Guests!
In the second part of the 3 part series about guests and restaurants: Specifically 10 days after my Mother In Law left for the United States, the great country that gave the world George W. and Michael Jackson, my brother and sister in law came to town!
I told them that in Singapore, you have to go to a buffet. Its everywhere. Its everything. Its part of Singapore culture. As if a buffet is the greatest social equality equalizer. There are no elitist in buffets. Just people eating in whatever order they like however much they like. Me and my big mouth brought us to the Straits Kitchen at Hyatt Hotel.
Now, I tried to make reservations the night before and I was gladly amused. Wow, a buffet having no tables available? The restaurant must be awesome! I made a reservation for the following day and we strutted ourselves there and were gladly surprised. It was a beauty. Straits Kitchen is probably one of the prettiest buffet/restaurant I have seen. The china was fancy. The service impeccable. The walls were out of this world. The food you ask? Well ... there's only so few words you can use but I shall use three. Glorified Hawker Center. Take away the masks of a hotel, china, air conditioning, and service. Its just very expensive hawker food. Maybe I am crazy stingy but to pay $44 a person including tax for a buffet that serves hawker food, which by the way did not have that much variety is a crime. I would like to take this time to publicly apologize to my brother and sister in law for dragging them to such an overpriced ostentatious experience.
I wanted my brother and sister in law to have a kick ass gastronomical experience. I wanted them to experience some local home cooking but not cooked by me, I thought of having some friends cook Chinese dishes. But the thing is, none of my friends can do it! They can cook mind you, but a 6 course traditional Chinese meal? Ouch! We are hopeless. I only know of a Victoria Junior College teacher, and friend of mine who can do Hainanese Chicken Rice? That's about it. Armed with that knowledge in mind, I decided to bring my guests to Liang Kee Teochew Restaurant, at Robertson Quay. Now let me get this straight. I am not Teochew. I am a misplaced Khek that can't speak a single word or swear with my own dialect and can barely speak some Hokkien and Cantonese. The reason why I chose Liang Kee was because it was my grandfather's favorite restaurant. And ever since he passed away over a year ago, I just somehow always think about going to the restaurant and have been back several times.
The food was good. Not great. The most important thing was that my brother and sister in law loved it. We sat al fresco style outside the restaurant and we ordered the goodies. The only disappointment was that they didn't have the braised goose meat, which is one of their specialities. We ordered the prawn rolls for me, hot plate tofu for my wife, some beef hor fun to share, some stir fried vegetables, my wife's favorite stewed pork with steamed buns, and I think some egg omelet. For all that, and I probably went through 3 rounds of Barley and or green tea, and maybe 2 rounds for everybody else, I have to say $60 some dollars was worth the ticket. I would gladly go back again. Only I would order the goose and cold crab!
Now, I can't afford to always bring my relatives to nice restaurants. So on some nights, we went to hawker centers and food courts. In my earlier posts, I stated that I have never stepped into Vivocity until my mother in law was in town, now I never stepped into the Food Republic in Vivocity until my brother and sister in law were in town. Let me just get this of my chest right now. Food Republic in Vivocity is the BEST, you heard it right, the BEST food court in Singapore. Bar none. Even better than the Food Republic at Wisma and soon to be in Suntec. Best. The people who got to the planning of that particular Food Republic got it absolutely right. From the location, to the type of food served to the decor of the place and the music that's played. Absolutely spot on. Its a lovely place. Great place to eat and I highly recommend this foodcourt more than any others.
The other place that my brother and sister in law loved was the temporary Chinatown market right next to Outram MRT. Okay. The way it was built is disgusting. You'll be inhaling and smelling like smoke if you sit in the wrong aisle and its always so crowded that you can't even find seats. The thing is that, the smoke inhalation and the over crowdedness adds to the charm of the place. I know it sounds weird but if Chinatown market was as sterile and as clean as a regular food court in the mall, why would I even think about going there? The food is good but I always wonder why in the world does a small stretch of stores always want to be serving the same type of food as their competitor? In this case, steamed fish head? That aside, I have always loved the Chinatown market and love the hawker center. This time, we went there primarily for the famous clay pot rice which we waited for 45 mins, we downed many glasses of the fantastic lime juice and sugar cane drinks as well as my sister and brother in law experiencing their first bbq sting ray. Cool.
My brother and sister in law loves Indian food. So we brought them to Little India to try one of the several Singaporean inventions that actually put us on the culinary map. The fish head curry. We didn't want to go to Muthus because it would feel like we were in an Italian restaurant and we thought it would be best to have them try Indian food in a comparatively somewhat more "local," place. Now, I have not been to the Banana Leaf at Race Course Road in a very long time. So I asked both of the Incredi-gohs to come along. Man-goh was amped for it. I could tell because he showed up early! Mrs. Goh was her usual calm and cool self. Actually the reason why I asked Man-goh to come was because I knew he could absolutely obliterate a fish head by command, just in case the tourists didn't like it. And boy did he!
My sister in law who is NOT a vegetarian but eats mostly vegetables cringed at the sight of the fish head. I don't blame her because I would too. My wife never liked fish head was quick to have me order other non spicy dishes for her,which I did. My brother in law, always game for anything and willing to try anything once had a field day. The fish tasted decent. The tandoori. the mutton curry the various vegetable curries were great. What wasn't was the effect it had on my stomach the day after. Now, I am not blaming the restaurant for my bad tummy. But lets just say that after that day, I wasn't going to go back to the restaurant again. My stomach twisted and turned so bad that I couldn't go to work and the feeling of nausea encapsulated 3 days worth of food. I hardly ate anything for 3 days after, and did I say that I was going to Hong Kong on the 4th day? Besides my stomach, the other thing I didn't like was the service. It was slow and I thought it was bad. We waited 45 mins for the food to come and when we try to get a server's attention, they always pretend to not see us? You know? That kind of service? I was upset. But oh well. Lesson learnt. Nothing bad happened to my brother and sister in laws stomachs. So that was good.
My guests being here meant that we could eat things that I normally wouldn't eat with the missus. That meant spicy food and seafood! One of the best kept secrets in local cuisine is still the Peranakan food. Their mixture of Malaysian spiciness and Chinese taste gives Peranakan cuisine an edge that maybe only Thai food can trump. We had to go to the heart of the Peranakan Restaurants, the ones at Katong and we picked and ordered some claypot satay chicken, my favorite salted vegetable soup, some otah, some stir fried and stewed mixed cabbage and mushroom, and of course the deep fried pork rolls in tofu skin. It was a lovely experience. The
restaurant was quiet on that weekday night and we had the restaurant all to ourselves. Service was prompt and we had a great time. I wondered why I never had more Peranakan food before.
I called and asked Mr. & Mrs. Tasty Bites along for our seafood experience. I wanted to bring my brother and sister in law to try some good chili crab and what better place to try it then the No SignBoard Seafood Restaurant at the Oasis. We made our reservations and we actually grabbed a bus there. We ordered 2 chili crabs, drunken prawns, those fried breads, stir fried broccoli, fried squid and no fish. We had a great time. Service was prompt. They held our food until everybody showed up. Everybody ate the crab, and the prawns. We ordered the fried bread twice. There's just something about chili crab. First of all, its more ketchup than chili and second of all, its more starchy than spicy. Thirdly, crab eating is hard work and sometimes, I don't feel like doing so much work for eating. But I did enjoy the experience we shared together. That was great.
Kopi. My brother and sister in law loved Kopi. They drank it like more than twice everyday. We went through the various types of Kopi like Kopi Si, Kopi Kosong, Kopi Kow, Kopi Pok, Kopi-O, the works. And I think they took about 3 days to identify what types they like, and my guess is they probably tried every kind and decided what they liked in 3 days. Unlike American coffees, the Singapore counterpart is usually thicker and it actually taste like coffee and not water. The places of choice always ended up to be Toast Box, Ya Kun and even the neighborhood coffee shops. The sock method does have its benefits.
In writing so much about my brother and sister in law, I guess what I am trying to say is this:
Kevin and Laura, we miss you.
I told them that in Singapore, you have to go to a buffet. Its everywhere. Its everything. Its part of Singapore culture. As if a buffet is the greatest social equality equalizer. There are no elitist in buffets. Just people eating in whatever order they like however much they like. Me and my big mouth brought us to the Straits Kitchen at Hyatt Hotel.
Now, I tried to make reservations the night before and I was gladly amused. Wow, a buffet having no tables available? The restaurant must be awesome! I made a reservation for the following day and we strutted ourselves there and were gladly surprised. It was a beauty. Straits Kitchen is probably one of the prettiest buffet/restaurant I have seen. The china was fancy. The service impeccable. The walls were out of this world. The food you ask? Well ... there's only so few words you can use but I shall use three. Glorified Hawker Center. Take away the masks of a hotel, china, air conditioning, and service. Its just very expensive hawker food. Maybe I am crazy stingy but to pay $44 a person including tax for a buffet that serves hawker food, which by the way did not have that much variety is a crime. I would like to take this time to publicly apologize to my brother and sister in law for dragging them to such an overpriced ostentatious experience.
I wanted my brother and sister in law to have a kick ass gastronomical experience. I wanted them to experience some local home cooking but not cooked by me, I thought of having some friends cook Chinese dishes. But the thing is, none of my friends can do it! They can cook mind you, but a 6 course traditional Chinese meal? Ouch! We are hopeless. I only know of a Victoria Junior College teacher, and friend of mine who can do Hainanese Chicken Rice? That's about it. Armed with that knowledge in mind, I decided to bring my guests to Liang Kee Teochew Restaurant, at Robertson Quay. Now let me get this straight. I am not Teochew. I am a misplaced Khek that can't speak a single word or swear with my own dialect and can barely speak some Hokkien and Cantonese. The reason why I chose Liang Kee was because it was my grandfather's favorite restaurant. And ever since he passed away over a year ago, I just somehow always think about going to the restaurant and have been back several times.
The food was good. Not great. The most important thing was that my brother and sister in law loved it. We sat al fresco style outside the restaurant and we ordered the goodies. The only disappointment was that they didn't have the braised goose meat, which is one of their specialities. We ordered the prawn rolls for me, hot plate tofu for my wife, some beef hor fun to share, some stir fried vegetables, my wife's favorite stewed pork with steamed buns, and I think some egg omelet. For all that, and I probably went through 3 rounds of Barley and or green tea, and maybe 2 rounds for everybody else, I have to say $60 some dollars was worth the ticket. I would gladly go back again. Only I would order the goose and cold crab!
Now, I can't afford to always bring my relatives to nice restaurants. So on some nights, we went to hawker centers and food courts. In my earlier posts, I stated that I have never stepped into Vivocity until my mother in law was in town, now I never stepped into the Food Republic in Vivocity until my brother and sister in law were in town. Let me just get this of my chest right now. Food Republic in Vivocity is the BEST, you heard it right, the BEST food court in Singapore. Bar none. Even better than the Food Republic at Wisma and soon to be in Suntec. Best. The people who got to the planning of that particular Food Republic got it absolutely right. From the location, to the type of food served to the decor of the place and the music that's played. Absolutely spot on. Its a lovely place. Great place to eat and I highly recommend this foodcourt more than any others.
The other place that my brother and sister in law loved was the temporary Chinatown market right next to Outram MRT. Okay. The way it was built is disgusting. You'll be inhaling and smelling like smoke if you sit in the wrong aisle and its always so crowded that you can't even find seats. The thing is that, the smoke inhalation and the over crowdedness adds to the charm of the place. I know it sounds weird but if Chinatown market was as sterile and as clean as a regular food court in the mall, why would I even think about going there? The food is good but I always wonder why in the world does a small stretch of stores always want to be serving the same type of food as their competitor? In this case, steamed fish head? That aside, I have always loved the Chinatown market and love the hawker center. This time, we went there primarily for the famous clay pot rice which we waited for 45 mins, we downed many glasses of the fantastic lime juice and sugar cane drinks as well as my sister and brother in law experiencing their first bbq sting ray. Cool.
My brother and sister in law loves Indian food. So we brought them to Little India to try one of the several Singaporean inventions that actually put us on the culinary map. The fish head curry. We didn't want to go to Muthus because it would feel like we were in an Italian restaurant and we thought it would be best to have them try Indian food in a comparatively somewhat more "local," place. Now, I have not been to the Banana Leaf at Race Course Road in a very long time. So I asked both of the Incredi-gohs to come along. Man-goh was amped for it. I could tell because he showed up early! Mrs. Goh was her usual calm and cool self. Actually the reason why I asked Man-goh to come was because I knew he could absolutely obliterate a fish head by command, just in case the tourists didn't like it. And boy did he!
My sister in law who is NOT a vegetarian but eats mostly vegetables cringed at the sight of the fish head. I don't blame her because I would too. My wife never liked fish head was quick to have me order other non spicy dishes for her,which I did. My brother in law, always game for anything and willing to try anything once had a field day. The fish tasted decent. The tandoori. the mutton curry the various vegetable curries were great. What wasn't was the effect it had on my stomach the day after. Now, I am not blaming the restaurant for my bad tummy. But lets just say that after that day, I wasn't going to go back to the restaurant again. My stomach twisted and turned so bad that I couldn't go to work and the feeling of nausea encapsulated 3 days worth of food. I hardly ate anything for 3 days after, and did I say that I was going to Hong Kong on the 4th day? Besides my stomach, the other thing I didn't like was the service. It was slow and I thought it was bad. We waited 45 mins for the food to come and when we try to get a server's attention, they always pretend to not see us? You know? That kind of service? I was upset. But oh well. Lesson learnt. Nothing bad happened to my brother and sister in laws stomachs. So that was good.
My guests being here meant that we could eat things that I normally wouldn't eat with the missus. That meant spicy food and seafood! One of the best kept secrets in local cuisine is still the Peranakan food. Their mixture of Malaysian spiciness and Chinese taste gives Peranakan cuisine an edge that maybe only Thai food can trump. We had to go to the heart of the Peranakan Restaurants, the ones at Katong and we picked and ordered some claypot satay chicken, my favorite salted vegetable soup, some otah, some stir fried and stewed mixed cabbage and mushroom, and of course the deep fried pork rolls in tofu skin. It was a lovely experience. The
restaurant was quiet on that weekday night and we had the restaurant all to ourselves. Service was prompt and we had a great time. I wondered why I never had more Peranakan food before.
I called and asked Mr. & Mrs. Tasty Bites along for our seafood experience. I wanted to bring my brother and sister in law to try some good chili crab and what better place to try it then the No SignBoard Seafood Restaurant at the Oasis. We made our reservations and we actually grabbed a bus there. We ordered 2 chili crabs, drunken prawns, those fried breads, stir fried broccoli, fried squid and no fish. We had a great time. Service was prompt. They held our food until everybody showed up. Everybody ate the crab, and the prawns. We ordered the fried bread twice. There's just something about chili crab. First of all, its more ketchup than chili and second of all, its more starchy than spicy. Thirdly, crab eating is hard work and sometimes, I don't feel like doing so much work for eating. But I did enjoy the experience we shared together. That was great.
Kopi. My brother and sister in law loved Kopi. They drank it like more than twice everyday. We went through the various types of Kopi like Kopi Si, Kopi Kosong, Kopi Kow, Kopi Pok, Kopi-O, the works. And I think they took about 3 days to identify what types they like, and my guess is they probably tried every kind and decided what they liked in 3 days. Unlike American coffees, the Singapore counterpart is usually thicker and it actually taste like coffee and not water. The places of choice always ended up to be Toast Box, Ya Kun and even the neighborhood coffee shops. The sock method does have its benefits.
In writing so much about my brother and sister in law, I guess what I am trying to say is this:
Kevin and Laura, we miss you.
Best Restaurant in the World?
Over the Good Friday holidays, the wife and I decided to not do much. So we sat around the house doing nothing. Seriously. We didn't do anything productive. What we did was watch alot of episodes of HEROES, sleep and eat. Okay, you can call us pigs. While watching the television, I stumbled upon possibly what could be the BEST restaurant in the world today. El Bulli. The cooking techniques from chef Ferran Adria Acosta are both exquisite and marvellous. Look through the website, and you can see why. A mix of Science and fun, makes his dishes something to yearn for, something to look forward to. Every dish a taste that will bring you through a roller coaster worth of surprise, comfort that always ends with pleasure. His dishes, to call it ordinary would be an insult, to call it pretentious, would be missing the point.
The kitchen looks both of a science lab and a factory assembly line. I actually want my kitchen to look like his if I can afford it!
This is a DEFINITE MUST if I end up in Spain this winter.
The Perfect Meal.
If you had one last meal to eat, what would it be? It would obviously have to be the perfect meal. The mother of all meals? All your favorites whipped onto one meal. This question has been asked several times in the newspapers and asked in my Anthony Bourdain book that I was reading. Is there such thing as a perfect meal?
In my platonic search for gastronomic perfection, I have gone through many restaurants, hawker centers and coffee shops throughout Singapore gauging and tasting looking for good food in Singapore. But is "good food," just dependent on my taste? Science has often shown that people have different taste buds. In a test to taste bitterness, a chemical was used in a taste test and it was a 50-50 result. Some could taste it, some could not. Doesn't that mean that what food or dish is tasteful to me might not be tasteful to another, hence the perfect meal or that best dish is actually not that great and not that perfect?
Is the perfect meal dependent on the techniques cooked or the emotions and memories they invoke. Like women craving chocolate, its not jut because chocolate is delectable but it invokes comfort and memories of good time and at the same time provides some kind of sexual relief? Or is it the flash frying of the fried rice at Din Tai Fung that makes the fried rice fantastic?
I personally am dumb founded because I don't have a perfect meal and I probably won't even know what I want to eat if I knew I were to die tomorrow; simply because if I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I wouldn't want to be caught eating. I would be telling people that I love how much I love them and going to a corner and curl and getting ready to die. I know how I want to die though but only my wife knows that!
Truth is, I like good food and I have to say that as much as my mood is dependent on it, I have to eat my wontan noodles, char siew and roast pork rice and hainanese chicken rice at least once a week. Crazy? You bet. I hear stories of how my wife could eat pancakes for dinner for 2 years growing up in Wisconsin so I don't think I have that bad a habit.
The perfect meal or the last meal has to be a perfect storm. The mood that I am in. The people I am with. The restaurant I am at. The food that is being served. The service of the restaurant. The ambiance created by the restaurant. And the state of my mind. A great example of this was the dinner I had on my birthday at Valentinos. I was in a great mood because it was my birthday. All the friends I love were there, the food served was fantastic (never had such great oso bucco before ... or ever!), the ambiance was homely and warm, service was excellent as usual and the state of my mind was nothingness, because I was satisfied. If I died in my sleep that night. I would feel that I was satisfied because all was good with the world.
I guess what I am trying to say is that despite all these write ups and reviews from so many people including myself about food and restaurants, the only person, the only thing that is the most important to even decide how good food is, or how delicious it is: is you. The reader.
Perfection is subjective but the power to pontificate of vilify food still lies with you.
So what is the perfect meal?
In my platonic search for gastronomic perfection, I have gone through many restaurants, hawker centers and coffee shops throughout Singapore gauging and tasting looking for good food in Singapore. But is "good food," just dependent on my taste? Science has often shown that people have different taste buds. In a test to taste bitterness, a chemical was used in a taste test and it was a 50-50 result. Some could taste it, some could not. Doesn't that mean that what food or dish is tasteful to me might not be tasteful to another, hence the perfect meal or that best dish is actually not that great and not that perfect?
Is the perfect meal dependent on the techniques cooked or the emotions and memories they invoke. Like women craving chocolate, its not jut because chocolate is delectable but it invokes comfort and memories of good time and at the same time provides some kind of sexual relief? Or is it the flash frying of the fried rice at Din Tai Fung that makes the fried rice fantastic?
I personally am dumb founded because I don't have a perfect meal and I probably won't even know what I want to eat if I knew I were to die tomorrow; simply because if I knew I was going to die tomorrow, I wouldn't want to be caught eating. I would be telling people that I love how much I love them and going to a corner and curl and getting ready to die. I know how I want to die though but only my wife knows that!
Truth is, I like good food and I have to say that as much as my mood is dependent on it, I have to eat my wontan noodles, char siew and roast pork rice and hainanese chicken rice at least once a week. Crazy? You bet. I hear stories of how my wife could eat pancakes for dinner for 2 years growing up in Wisconsin so I don't think I have that bad a habit.
The perfect meal or the last meal has to be a perfect storm. The mood that I am in. The people I am with. The restaurant I am at. The food that is being served. The service of the restaurant. The ambiance created by the restaurant. And the state of my mind. A great example of this was the dinner I had on my birthday at Valentinos. I was in a great mood because it was my birthday. All the friends I love were there, the food served was fantastic (never had such great oso bucco before ... or ever!), the ambiance was homely and warm, service was excellent as usual and the state of my mind was nothingness, because I was satisfied. If I died in my sleep that night. I would feel that I was satisfied because all was good with the world.
I guess what I am trying to say is that despite all these write ups and reviews from so many people including myself about food and restaurants, the only person, the only thing that is the most important to even decide how good food is, or how delicious it is: is you. The reader.
Perfection is subjective but the power to pontificate of vilify food still lies with you.
So what is the perfect meal?
Many Restaurants, 1 guest
As some of you might know. My Mother in law was in town recently and we had a great time. At least I hoped she had a great time. I know I did and I am pretty sure my wife did as well! We brought her to many of the favorites that has been mentioned in this blog before, to new places that I never knew existed. These are some short reviews of the places I visited:
Max Brenner's: How do I say this? It was cool when I first had a 4 years back. Its a chocolate heaven set in a durian like architecture. Personally, I never thought chocolate and durian mixed well but thats just me. I expected something when I went there again, but it turned out disappointing. We had an early dinner at the nearby self styled after the popular local television series, Makan Sutra Hawker center, which was ALSO disappointing but that's another story. We ordered waffles with chocolate ice cream as well as some brownies and ice cream. How do I put this? It was bad. The waffles were stale and you sense that it might be left out there for too long and the service was tedious. And might I also add to say that at that point of time, there were only 2 other tables in the whole place.
Makan Sutra Hawker Center @ the Esplanade: What I liked about the place. It's location was one heck of a convenient. I wanted very nearly to drag my mother in law to the satay club next to Lau Pa Sat but my wife didn't really feel like walking so we settled on this place. I have never tried this hawker before but lets just say that thank goodness, because it was going to be the last time I was going to be there. We were there at around 6 in the weekday evening and not many of the stores were ready to open yet. We went around looking for new things for my mother in law to try but many of the stores were either not too bothered serving me because I was local or didn't really bother at all. I thought that was sad, not for me but for the state of the hawker center there. They serve over-priced hawker food that can be had anywhere else in Singapore and you have to take in a healthy dose of attitude along with the average food. My advice: don't go. Save your money and go to some where else better. Hey, how about the Marina Square foodcourt across the street?
Spizza for Friends @ HarborFront or was that vivo city? I have never gone to Vivocity (or was that harborfront) until my mother in law came to Singapore. We just had a field day at Sentosa and we wanted somewhere that we could sit down and order pizza and kept cool. Pizza can not be terrible. Its not difficult to make and simple to eat. We ordered a pizza and an appetizer. What I didn't like about the place: the service was slow. Again, its a early dinner situation and there were only about less than 10 people in the restaurant and service was slow? Did I say that the service was slow?
What I did like about the place was the food was actually decent. Not the best. But above average for a pizza joint. I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza and the appetizer and the thing is the bill only came up to $30 some dollars and change for 3 hungry adults. That was cool.
Max Brenner's: How do I say this? It was cool when I first had a 4 years back. Its a chocolate heaven set in a durian like architecture. Personally, I never thought chocolate and durian mixed well but thats just me. I expected something when I went there again, but it turned out disappointing. We had an early dinner at the nearby self styled after the popular local television series, Makan Sutra Hawker center, which was ALSO disappointing but that's another story. We ordered waffles with chocolate ice cream as well as some brownies and ice cream. How do I put this? It was bad. The waffles were stale and you sense that it might be left out there for too long and the service was tedious. And might I also add to say that at that point of time, there were only 2 other tables in the whole place.
Makan Sutra Hawker Center @ the Esplanade: What I liked about the place. It's location was one heck of a convenient. I wanted very nearly to drag my mother in law to the satay club next to Lau Pa Sat but my wife didn't really feel like walking so we settled on this place. I have never tried this hawker before but lets just say that thank goodness, because it was going to be the last time I was going to be there. We were there at around 6 in the weekday evening and not many of the stores were ready to open yet. We went around looking for new things for my mother in law to try but many of the stores were either not too bothered serving me because I was local or didn't really bother at all. I thought that was sad, not for me but for the state of the hawker center there. They serve over-priced hawker food that can be had anywhere else in Singapore and you have to take in a healthy dose of attitude along with the average food. My advice: don't go. Save your money and go to some where else better. Hey, how about the Marina Square foodcourt across the street?
Spizza for Friends @ HarborFront or was that vivo city? I have never gone to Vivocity (or was that harborfront) until my mother in law came to Singapore. We just had a field day at Sentosa and we wanted somewhere that we could sit down and order pizza and kept cool. Pizza can not be terrible. Its not difficult to make and simple to eat. We ordered a pizza and an appetizer. What I didn't like about the place: the service was slow. Again, its a early dinner situation and there were only about less than 10 people in the restaurant and service was slow? Did I say that the service was slow?
What I did like about the place was the food was actually decent. Not the best. But above average for a pizza joint. I thoroughly enjoyed the pizza and the appetizer and the thing is the bill only came up to $30 some dollars and change for 3 hungry adults. That was cool.
Recomendation
For all the food lovers out there, I highly recommend A Cook's Tour by Anthony Bourdain. Its not a great read, but I think Bourdain clearly understands what food eating is all about and why he does what he does as a chef. Philosophical and entertaining and it makes me want to become a chef.
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