What don't you guys already know about good 'ole American food on this urbanized island! Burgers, steaks, hotdogs, huge pile of fries in fairly large portions... you've heard them all before. We got Billy Bombers doing the diner style thing, Jerry's (long service award) and a plethora of other similar themed restaurants.
So how does Botak Jones differ from the rest ? The first outlet was started in - of all places - TUAS. Well obviously Mr Jones saw fit to provide good quality American style food in our local version of the casual diner - the hawker center/coffee shop. This concept worked so well that he's since spawned a few other outlets around the island.
Botak Jones latest month old outlet occupies a 2 stall space at the corner of a newly renovated coffee shop along Depot Road. A brightly lit neon sign made in the likeness of Mr Jones' famous outline is perched in the left hand corner of the roof edge of the coffee shop. Located just before CMPB (in the direction towards Henderson Road), this place does brisk business catering to the lunch crowd pouring in from nearby factories and office buildings.
The electronic cash register, popular tunes blasting in the background from the 80s and 90s and a bunch of friendly sales staff looked a little out of place in our context of the local coffee shop but it's a refreshing change nonetheless.
Boasting an extensive menu serving everything from soups to burgers, hotty dogs, quality USDA / Australian steaks, there's definitely something of everyone.
We ordered a 200gm lamb chop and chili dog and sat down. Within a minute, a friendly waitstaff (in a coffee shop?!??!) brought the cutlery and an array of sauces - american mustard, HP sauce, chili, ketchup. Impressive huh.
6 minutes later, our meals came. Both plates were similary piled with servings of well seasoned and freshly fried cajun fries, fresh coleslaw (I mean fresh not that KFC crap), some lettuce. The lamb chops were well seasoned.. I think too well seasoned to the point where I couldn't really taste the gamey original flavour of the meat. It came with some creamy shitake mushroom dressing and a small dollop of chopped mint sauce that looked remotely like shredded olives. The next time I order the lamb I'll skip the cream sauce as it makes the dish too... how shall we put it.. rich ??
The hotty dog... I mean chili dog was huge. I mean HUGE. Like baseball game frankfurter huge. The bun was mushy from all the chili lathered in the sausage. Chopped onions, chili, minced beef.. pretty authentic alright.
You probably guess we couldn't finish the huge portions! Another excellent waitstaff brought over 2 styrofoam containers lined with aluminium foil to doggy bag the leftoevers - 1 for the fries, 1 for the hotdog. So polite! Even gave us a copy of the menu to take home and advised us to come for dinner as lunch is quite packed.
Cost us $21 bucks. Not exactly coffee shop pricing - you can have tze char for that kind of dough but the food was pretty satisfying. Can try lah. :)
Say Wa-Gyu!
Yummy yummy yummy... Daddy dearest brought home a nice block of wagyu today. Apparently a grade 7-8 type from Australia. Kindly left 3 slices for the wife and me to sear for dinner. We got home quite late today - 930pm so you can guess how hungry we were.
Fired up the frying pan (I know you wagyu purists will tell me the best way to cook it is over an open flame really quickly because the melting point of the fat is lower than regular beef) and seared each side for about 30 seconds. The meat wasn't cut too thick.. I reckon it was about a centimeter or so.
The end result was perfect. Somewhere between medium rare - medium on some parts of the meat seasoned with a few pinches of sea salt.
Even my dog was extra alert today. Wagyu oishi desu ne!!
Fired up the frying pan (I know you wagyu purists will tell me the best way to cook it is over an open flame really quickly because the melting point of the fat is lower than regular beef) and seared each side for about 30 seconds. The meat wasn't cut too thick.. I reckon it was about a centimeter or so.
The end result was perfect. Somewhere between medium rare - medium on some parts of the meat seasoned with a few pinches of sea salt.
Even my dog was extra alert today. Wagyu oishi desu ne!!
Impromptu...
It's always nice to have a good meal to cap off your hard week at work. I like putting such events on my calendar as it does help to motivate my work week. It didn't help that the wife had to attend ANOTHER wedding dinner on Saturday - dining alone is not exactly very fun. Dining with other women is certainly not an option anymore (unless the wife is overseas of course)...
Before I get into more trouble, I'd better chug along with the main purpose of this blog. Yours truly was literally roped in at the last minute to enjoy a dinner organized by some of my dad's long time friends. They were booked into an Italian restaurant called Bologna at the Marina Mandarin Hotel. Now FC and me have been here before. The standards have been rather, how shall we put it, mediocre. Not tonight.
We were seated in the far corner of the restaurant, nearly 90% hidden from regular tables via the use of some sliding doors. The menu for that evening was totally customized and neatly printed... even nicer than some wedding menus I've ever come across.
To simplify the menu for yous guys at the risk of getting battered by the chef and insulting his marketing prowess, I present to you my fully digested meal for Saturday.
Puff Pastry with Mushroom - OK only lah. Puff pastry was burnt at the bottom. Quite flaky though but definitely not a fantastic starter. Would have preferred some ice cold fresh oyster shooters with vodka and tabasco. 5/10
Zuppa di... it was some tomatoey soup. Light and zesty with soft veggies for some texture. 7/10
Risotto with Porcini mushrooms - Well done. Creamy, with the rice cooked just right with a little bite to it. Porcini mushrooms added to the texture. Bits of parmesan in the mix made every spoonful a delight. Had 3 additional spoonfuls plated to me by Aunty XX seated next to me. 7.5/10
Salmon with creamed potatoes - It's real easy to muck up a dish as simple as this. You need a really fresh catch to make this work. Simply seasoned with some sea salt and chopped herbs served on a mound of creamy mash. 9/10
Roast rack of lamb - I tell you what it gets better with the lamb. Cooked till it's just exhibiting a nice hue of magenta/pink with a beautiful layer of fat in between the meat. Light drizzle of demiglace at the side. One of the best lambs I have ever tasted. Honest to goodness. 9/10
Tiramisu - A little too rich for my liking to finish off the meal. Plenty of mascarpone oozing from the front of the slice. Not too sweet. Didn't do it for me but I'd give 6/10
We had 3 obscenely expensive choices of alcohol to wash it all down with that evening. Actually there were 4 but being late, I wasn't offered the single malt whisky of scottish origin in a nice, brown box.
Champagne - Moet et Chandon 1988 Vintage Dom Perignon. Rated 93 by Wine Spectator.
Wine number #1 - Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1989. Bordeaux blend. Rated 90 by Robert Parker and 98 by Wine Spectator. Only had a glass of this one. Didn't like it.
Wine number #2 - Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 1988 magnum sized bottle. Bordeaux blend. Rated 90 by Wine Spectator and 94 by Robert Parker. Washed down 3 glasses of this. Heh heh.
There was another lovely delicate white. Fantastic bouquet and very very drinkable. I forgot the label but I need to know that one because I want to drink it again.
The wines alone could pay for 6.5 months worth of groceries based on an average of $100 a week.
In the end, the wife had to drive me home. I mean we both consumed copious amounts of alcohol that evening (she at the wedding, me at the party) but she holds her drinks so much better than I do!
So there you have it, good food, great wine and excellent company... I think I learned more about the mechanics of the good life in 2 hours than I'll ever learn for the rest of the year. You know plenty of us aspire to live the good life.. live in a nice posh home, drive a fancy automobile, eat at the swankiest places... I just think the most important things are godliness and contentment because without those, your Porsche would become just "another toy" in your garage.
I look forward to more value for money wines, porridge, salted fish and beansprouts and homemade espresso.
Ciao.
Before I get into more trouble, I'd better chug along with the main purpose of this blog. Yours truly was literally roped in at the last minute to enjoy a dinner organized by some of my dad's long time friends. They were booked into an Italian restaurant called Bologna at the Marina Mandarin Hotel. Now FC and me have been here before. The standards have been rather, how shall we put it, mediocre. Not tonight.
We were seated in the far corner of the restaurant, nearly 90% hidden from regular tables via the use of some sliding doors. The menu for that evening was totally customized and neatly printed... even nicer than some wedding menus I've ever come across.
To simplify the menu for yous guys at the risk of getting battered by the chef and insulting his marketing prowess, I present to you my fully digested meal for Saturday.
Puff Pastry with Mushroom - OK only lah. Puff pastry was burnt at the bottom. Quite flaky though but definitely not a fantastic starter. Would have preferred some ice cold fresh oyster shooters with vodka and tabasco. 5/10
Zuppa di... it was some tomatoey soup. Light and zesty with soft veggies for some texture. 7/10
Risotto with Porcini mushrooms - Well done. Creamy, with the rice cooked just right with a little bite to it. Porcini mushrooms added to the texture. Bits of parmesan in the mix made every spoonful a delight. Had 3 additional spoonfuls plated to me by Aunty XX seated next to me. 7.5/10
Salmon with creamed potatoes - It's real easy to muck up a dish as simple as this. You need a really fresh catch to make this work. Simply seasoned with some sea salt and chopped herbs served on a mound of creamy mash. 9/10
Roast rack of lamb - I tell you what it gets better with the lamb. Cooked till it's just exhibiting a nice hue of magenta/pink with a beautiful layer of fat in between the meat. Light drizzle of demiglace at the side. One of the best lambs I have ever tasted. Honest to goodness. 9/10
Tiramisu - A little too rich for my liking to finish off the meal. Plenty of mascarpone oozing from the front of the slice. Not too sweet. Didn't do it for me but I'd give 6/10
We had 3 obscenely expensive choices of alcohol to wash it all down with that evening. Actually there were 4 but being late, I wasn't offered the single malt whisky of scottish origin in a nice, brown box.
Champagne - Moet et Chandon 1988 Vintage Dom Perignon. Rated 93 by Wine Spectator.
Wine number #1 - Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1989. Bordeaux blend. Rated 90 by Robert Parker and 98 by Wine Spectator. Only had a glass of this one. Didn't like it.
Wine number #2 - Chateau Lafite Rothschild Pauillac 1988 magnum sized bottle. Bordeaux blend. Rated 90 by Wine Spectator and 94 by Robert Parker. Washed down 3 glasses of this. Heh heh.
There was another lovely delicate white. Fantastic bouquet and very very drinkable. I forgot the label but I need to know that one because I want to drink it again.
The wines alone could pay for 6.5 months worth of groceries based on an average of $100 a week.
In the end, the wife had to drive me home. I mean we both consumed copious amounts of alcohol that evening (she at the wedding, me at the party) but she holds her drinks so much better than I do!
So there you have it, good food, great wine and excellent company... I think I learned more about the mechanics of the good life in 2 hours than I'll ever learn for the rest of the year. You know plenty of us aspire to live the good life.. live in a nice posh home, drive a fancy automobile, eat at the swankiest places... I just think the most important things are godliness and contentment because without those, your Porsche would become just "another toy" in your garage.
I look forward to more value for money wines, porridge, salted fish and beansprouts and homemade espresso.
Ciao.
Best Pints of Commercial Ice Cream Ever!
.jpg)
.jpg)
The best pints of Commercial Ice Cream in the world. You people should try it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)