I like beef. Wait. I love beef. I love cows. Don't love milk. But I like Ice Cream. On the other hand, I do love steaks. I studied at a state where they name their steak cuts the Kansas City Strip. I can have beef every week or nearly every day. My wife, can be a testament to that because in school, every 3 days was a beef day. But when I came back to Singapore and discovered the quality of beef to be bad or poor, I told myself to have steaks maybe once or twice a year.
Everyone loves a good deal. Wait. Everyone absolutely loves a bargain. I thought I found it recently but I might have been having a meat mirage. People around me have been talking about Aston Specialities. It's a restaurant located along East Coast road and they serve good steaks. That's what people tell me.
I arrived at the place around 8pm on a Friday and it was full. Full with teenagers and families and young couples. I would like to think that I am part of a young couple but lets face it, these couples were probably still in college. We had to wait in line because the restaurant was full and the restaurant insisted that we had to order before we could find a place to sit (strike 1!)
And so I waited. I waited and waited. I waited for 30 mins before I could order and get a seat and see what all the fuss was about. We ordered the strip loin steak, the bbq ribs, a burger and alot of drinks along with a side of garlic bread. When the food came, I was surprised. The total bill we paid was less than $40. So yes, it is reasonable. The steak that my wife ordered was about 4 ounces? Which is small in my book because any steak you eat has to be about 8 - 12 ounces. We ordered with the sauce placed on the side because Singapore restaurants tend to have an over kill of sauce on the steak and this place was no different (strike 2!) The ribs were decent. It was sweet, the meat came off the bones easily, the burger was bad. I paid for a $5.50 burger and it came with beef patty and a slice of cheese. I was confused. The steak was decent, but the sides that came with it, was not that good. The mashed potatoes tasted processed (strike 3 and you're out!) but the fries, onion rings and potato salad wasn't bad at all. the garlic bread was slightly too soggy for my liking (strike 4?)
Before I get accused of being a high brow for food, let me say this, if you're a teenager and want to bring your girlfriend to a cool place to eat to show that you "know," secret hideouts, I say you bring your girlfriend there. Again, if you're a teenager, I don't know why you would be reading this blog. Anyways, if you have a young family with kids, bring your family there. They will like the place. I have been told that its better than Han's and Jack's Place. Honestly, I have hardly stepped into any of these restaurants in like many years so you can't take my word for it.
Just remember, don't order the mashed potatoes as one of your sides and stay away from the Burger and specifically ask for the sauce on the side for your steak. I was so ready to be impressed, and the pictures on their blog are pretty sexy meats. If you want to order the burger, they have this special burger they make that looks fantastic, order that! Don't order the burger on the menu. Don't order the ribs. And wait, if you could, ask the server if the cooks can abstain from putting the steak seasoning on the steak, and .... I think that's it.
I would really have digged this place if I was younger. I really do.
Reason for Prison Break at Changi Prison
Porta Porta is an Italian restaurant I have been to since I was a young lad. My parents wanted me to try Italian food and had read an article about this restaurant across from Changi Prison. Excited that I was going somewhere near a prison, I remembered ordering the squid ink pasta, and had tons of bread. I was thoroughly excited that my mouth was black with the squid ink.
I do not know if it is my mum's Cantonese culinary background or just my mum, my sister and I grew up being very critical of food. My family is the type of family that allows my mum to have the first bite of a fish head curry so that she can determine how fresh the fish is and thus to decide if we need to return the fish head curry. Yes, we are that family. I am also in the family where my mum and my sister can go to a restaurant and tell the server that the dish was horrible, or tell me its too salty or confound the critics by deciding that those fools were wrong.
Why am I writing this? The very fact that I was 12 years old when I first went to Porta Porta and I am still talking about it now means something about the restaurant. I do not know the owner and I do not know who cooks the food. I do know that this is truly one of THE hidden gems not only in the eastern part of Singapore but I can safely add that can include all directions in Singapore.
I ordered the Vongole and my wife ordered the Gnocchi, a mixed appetizer starter which consisted of olive oil cured cucumbers, mushrooms, red peppers and eggplant, free flow bread, an apple pie and a lemon gelato type sorbet for dessert coupled with a glass of wine and plain water. The bill was $100. But it was worth it.
I don't normally like to say this but the Vongole is probably the best I have tasted so far in Singapore over the last 2 years. If ever you can complain about having too much Vongole, this might just be it. I took about 15 mins to deshell everything. And once my task was completed, it took about 5 minutes to complete it. Not because the serving was small. But my mouth is big you see. The noodles were al dente, the white wine sauce was tangy and garlic protruded the taste. The blend was a great mix and I felt like drinking the sauce as soup. But I stopped myself.
The gnocchi was lovely. The cheese and the tomato mix was delightful and I personally hate cheese.
The mixed appetizer got me going, the bread wasn't the warmest but it did its job as a condiment to the starters. The desserts were great. My lemon gelato sorbet came in a lemon. How cool was that? (no pun intended) and the apple pie was much better than alot of the apple smush that I have had at other restaurants.
Service was polite and nice. I mean, its a small restaurant.
The only knock I do have is this: the menu is limited. I wish it has more variety so that I can sample more Italian cooking but its a small restaurant based on a very niche market.
So if any of you who decides to be Wentworth Miller and break out Changi Prison, try the Italian food. Its worth the prison break.
I do not know if it is my mum's Cantonese culinary background or just my mum, my sister and I grew up being very critical of food. My family is the type of family that allows my mum to have the first bite of a fish head curry so that she can determine how fresh the fish is and thus to decide if we need to return the fish head curry. Yes, we are that family. I am also in the family where my mum and my sister can go to a restaurant and tell the server that the dish was horrible, or tell me its too salty or confound the critics by deciding that those fools were wrong.
Why am I writing this? The very fact that I was 12 years old when I first went to Porta Porta and I am still talking about it now means something about the restaurant. I do not know the owner and I do not know who cooks the food. I do know that this is truly one of THE hidden gems not only in the eastern part of Singapore but I can safely add that can include all directions in Singapore.
I ordered the Vongole and my wife ordered the Gnocchi, a mixed appetizer starter which consisted of olive oil cured cucumbers, mushrooms, red peppers and eggplant, free flow bread, an apple pie and a lemon gelato type sorbet for dessert coupled with a glass of wine and plain water. The bill was $100. But it was worth it.
I don't normally like to say this but the Vongole is probably the best I have tasted so far in Singapore over the last 2 years. If ever you can complain about having too much Vongole, this might just be it. I took about 15 mins to deshell everything. And once my task was completed, it took about 5 minutes to complete it. Not because the serving was small. But my mouth is big you see. The noodles were al dente, the white wine sauce was tangy and garlic protruded the taste. The blend was a great mix and I felt like drinking the sauce as soup. But I stopped myself.
The gnocchi was lovely. The cheese and the tomato mix was delightful and I personally hate cheese.
The mixed appetizer got me going, the bread wasn't the warmest but it did its job as a condiment to the starters. The desserts were great. My lemon gelato sorbet came in a lemon. How cool was that? (no pun intended) and the apple pie was much better than alot of the apple smush that I have had at other restaurants.
Service was polite and nice. I mean, its a small restaurant.
The only knock I do have is this: the menu is limited. I wish it has more variety so that I can sample more Italian cooking but its a small restaurant based on a very niche market.
So if any of you who decides to be Wentworth Miller and break out Changi Prison, try the Italian food. Its worth the prison break.
Knives
During the long holiday week, the missus and I went to Sushi Tei at Takashimaya. While ordering the food by the sushi train, I paid attention to the sushi chefs and in particular, how pretty the knives were. I believe that besides the cleaver, you should maybe have about 3 knives in the kitchen to cook. And these are definitely on my list.
The pictures are taken from Watanabe Blades. Aren't they pretty?
The pictures are taken from Watanabe Blades. Aren't they pretty?
OSO
In my quest for better Italian food in Singapore. The wife and I have decided to explore another restaurant that is somewhat away from where we normally hang out. Located in Tanjong Pagar road, right next to FairField Methodist Church, is a deceptively sexy Italian restaurant. If you take a peek from the outside, it looks like a small eatery but as you enter the restaurant and turn a corner, its a hidden adjacent room filled with tables and I have to keep repeating this throughout the review, good service.
OSO is a sexy Italian restaurant. If you have been following this blog, we stumbled by this restaurant several weeks back before we reached Le Papillion. The wife and I wanted to head out for somewhere quaint and pretty and OSO was the choice. Its a pretty small restaurant but not as big as Garibaldis. The servers are all extremely pleasant and polite. Very helpful and was willing to put up with my nonsense, and that says quite a bit. We were going to meet our friends "Louis Vuitton," and his girlfriend "Pearly Whites," who were again fashionably 30 minutes late. Please do make your reservations. It'll do you good. So we were on time and hungry and we wanted to order everything first but wanted them to hold the orders for us to wait until our friends arrived. The servers more than happily agreed to our suggestion and we ordered the following:
Soup of the day - shreded crab meat soup in tomato base.
Foir Gras Brushcetta with almond and marsala wine sauce.
Penne pasta in tomato bisque and orange zest
roasted pork loin with honey served with braised capsicum and cinnamon
Hot dark chocolate tart crostata
Mascapone Cheese cake
The latecomers ordered:
The Soup of the day - after seeing me and the missus drink the soup silly
Homemade Ravioli filled with beef in cream, cheese and mushroom sauce
Rigatoni with braised rabbit, thyme black olives, Taggiasche
Sicilian Cannoli filled with ricotta cheese mouse and mixed candied fruits
First of all, I have to say that I love their cutlery and plates. Very pretty plates and utensils. What I didn't do that I should have done was actually to bring a camera because words can't do justice to how pretty the dishes were. Chef Diego Chiarini makes all the dishes looks like art. The decoration for each dish was immaculate and a sight.
I loved the soup, my wife didn't really like it but it was actually one of the best tomato based crab meat soup I have drank in a long time. It was smooth and refine. The foie gras bruschetta wreaked of decadence and beauty. Instead of the typical diced tomatoes, it was foie gras! The almond and Marsala wine sauce made the plate more appetizing and sweet. There was a mix of smokiness and nuttiness that made the bruschetta a great experience.
My wife wasn't too impressed with her pasta. But I was surprised she ordered what she did because it is unusual to have orange zest in pasta, but tasting it, there was a good compliment with the tomato bisque. My dish on the other hand was fantastic. The roasted pork was pink, sweet and succulent. The capsicum and cinnamon complimented the pork to a tee. I clearly had the best dish on the table!
My friends ordered the rabbit pasta ended up returning the pasta because she felt like it tasted like tuna, and the servers took it back without complain and asked her what she didn't like about it. She ordered the shrimp salad later. Louis Vuitton's Ravioli was excellent as well.
The reaction to the desserts were mixed. Again, I ordered the best thing. The chocolate tart. The milk ice cream that came along with the tart made it an excellent dish. And I don't drink milk! My wife's mascapone cheese cake was good too. I like it because it was a light cheese cake and the mascapone cream carried the cake.
Right before the end of our meal, the Maitre'd Stephene Colleoni came by and asked my friend and joked with us for a couple of seconds about the rabbit pasta. It was funny, but you could tell, at least from my perspective that they bothered about what the customer thought. That is good service!
The bill turned out to be about $150 per couple. Just about what I thought it was. I liked the restaurant. Its quite obvious. My wife thought it was one of the best she ever had in Singapore. So that says quite a bit.
Go to the website and see for yourself what they have. The current menu on their website is not updated but they have nearly everything that is in the current menu. I would definitely recommend this Italian restaurant!
OSO is a sexy Italian restaurant. If you have been following this blog, we stumbled by this restaurant several weeks back before we reached Le Papillion. The wife and I wanted to head out for somewhere quaint and pretty and OSO was the choice. Its a pretty small restaurant but not as big as Garibaldis. The servers are all extremely pleasant and polite. Very helpful and was willing to put up with my nonsense, and that says quite a bit. We were going to meet our friends "Louis Vuitton," and his girlfriend "Pearly Whites," who were again fashionably 30 minutes late. Please do make your reservations. It'll do you good. So we were on time and hungry and we wanted to order everything first but wanted them to hold the orders for us to wait until our friends arrived. The servers more than happily agreed to our suggestion and we ordered the following:
Soup of the day - shreded crab meat soup in tomato base.
Foir Gras Brushcetta with almond and marsala wine sauce.
Penne pasta in tomato bisque and orange zest
roasted pork loin with honey served with braised capsicum and cinnamon
Hot dark chocolate tart crostata
Mascapone Cheese cake
The latecomers ordered:
The Soup of the day - after seeing me and the missus drink the soup silly
Homemade Ravioli filled with beef in cream, cheese and mushroom sauce
Rigatoni with braised rabbit, thyme black olives, Taggiasche
Sicilian Cannoli filled with ricotta cheese mouse and mixed candied fruits
First of all, I have to say that I love their cutlery and plates. Very pretty plates and utensils. What I didn't do that I should have done was actually to bring a camera because words can't do justice to how pretty the dishes were. Chef Diego Chiarini makes all the dishes looks like art. The decoration for each dish was immaculate and a sight.
I loved the soup, my wife didn't really like it but it was actually one of the best tomato based crab meat soup I have drank in a long time. It was smooth and refine. The foie gras bruschetta wreaked of decadence and beauty. Instead of the typical diced tomatoes, it was foie gras! The almond and Marsala wine sauce made the plate more appetizing and sweet. There was a mix of smokiness and nuttiness that made the bruschetta a great experience.
My wife wasn't too impressed with her pasta. But I was surprised she ordered what she did because it is unusual to have orange zest in pasta, but tasting it, there was a good compliment with the tomato bisque. My dish on the other hand was fantastic. The roasted pork was pink, sweet and succulent. The capsicum and cinnamon complimented the pork to a tee. I clearly had the best dish on the table!
My friends ordered the rabbit pasta ended up returning the pasta because she felt like it tasted like tuna, and the servers took it back without complain and asked her what she didn't like about it. She ordered the shrimp salad later. Louis Vuitton's Ravioli was excellent as well.
The reaction to the desserts were mixed. Again, I ordered the best thing. The chocolate tart. The milk ice cream that came along with the tart made it an excellent dish. And I don't drink milk! My wife's mascapone cheese cake was good too. I like it because it was a light cheese cake and the mascapone cream carried the cake.
Right before the end of our meal, the Maitre'd Stephene Colleoni came by and asked my friend and joked with us for a couple of seconds about the rabbit pasta. It was funny, but you could tell, at least from my perspective that they bothered about what the customer thought. That is good service!
The bill turned out to be about $150 per couple. Just about what I thought it was. I liked the restaurant. Its quite obvious. My wife thought it was one of the best she ever had in Singapore. So that says quite a bit.
Go to the website and see for yourself what they have. The current menu on their website is not updated but they have nearly everything that is in the current menu. I would definitely recommend this Italian restaurant!
Tis a sad day ...
Inventor of instant noodles dies
 Momofuku Ando often ate his company's instant noodles |
Mr Ando was born in Taiwan in 1910 and moved to Japan in 1933, founding Nissin Food Products Co after World War II to provide cheap food for the masses.
His most famous product, Cup Noodle, was released in 1971.
Its taste and ease of preparation - adding hot water to dried noodles in a waterproof polystyrene container - have made it popular around the world.
Mr Ando said the inspiration for his product came when he saw people lining up to buy bowls of hot ramen noodle soup at a black market stall during the food shortages after World War II.
Noodles in space
He developed his first instant noodles, Chicken Ramen, in 1958.
The product came out as Japan recovered from the ravages of World War II and began a long period of economic expansion.
It was the masterstroke of providing a waterproof polystyrene container for the noodles that made his Cup Noodle an instant success in 1971.
Nissin has led the global instant noodle industry since then, selling 85.7 billion servings every year, according to Agence France Presse.
His firm also developed a version of Cup Noodle for Japanese astronauts to eat on the space shuttle Discovery in 2005.
In 1999, Mr Ando opened a museum in Osaka devoted to instant noodles.
He retired as Nissin's chairman in 2005.
Japanese newspapers and business people have been paying tribute to Mr Ando.
"He was a self-made man who developed an epoch-making instant noodle product and spread it to all corners of the world," Akio Nomura, chairman of the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Kyodo news agency.
Mr Ando remained active until just days before his death, giving a New Year's speech to Nissin employees and having a lunch of Chicken Ramen with company executive.
Taken from BBC News
Solar System Japanese Food at Wheelock Place
So last week was Pampadam's birthday. Well, just to clarify. It wasn't exactly Pamapadam's birthday, it was a week that we were all free, and her birthday was much earlier this month. We discussed on where to go for lunch after much pushing and shoving and we decided on Sun with Moon at Wheelock place. It sounded familiar but I didn't argue with the birthday girl. Its been raining all weekend and I thought some good Japanese soup would help.
Unlikely of Pampadam, she was actually early and sm'ed me to tell me that the menu looked brilliant. So I was expecting something better than Sakae Sushi. The wife and I slept in that day and we were hungry. We always walked by the Sun with Moon because it was right next to our favorite breakfast place, the Cedele at Wheelock Place.
Entering the restaurant, the ambiance was nice but not as hot as Sushi Tei at Raffles City. When I say hot, I don't mean the temperature, I actually mean the surroundings. It was hot. So anyways, after walking a round of the restaurant, we found the birthday girl hiding one corner looking through the menu. After 10 mins, we hit the menu, and we ordered our food. we ordered the 5 varieties of sushi and a rainbow roll which was excellent. There are no pictures of those appetizers because we were that hungry! We sat down and we devoured the sushi before I remembered to take a picture!
I ordered this:
I honestly can't remember what its called but this is one of the specials. Its like a whole bunch of sushi on top of the sushi rice. I have to say this though. The fish were all fresh, rice had the hint of vinegar and didn't break into pieces like other restaurants might. It was highly enjoyable. My set also came with some Udon noodles and this stewed chicken with mushroom that was brilliant.
The missus ordered this:
It was a mushroom nabe soup, served with grilled eel with rice. I have to say. The soup did not have an overwhelming mushroom taste as you might have expected, in fact, it was light and sweet. The carrots, 4 types of mushrooms, tofu, what I thought was daikon radish and potatoes made the soup great. The rice with eel was alright but the soup again took the points for me.
Pampadam ordered this:
This was a Japanese concoction of what I think is their version of Singapore's clay pot rice. Where the rice and ingredients are all cooked int he same heated pot. This is served with the udon noodles and fruits (which came with every set). Pampadam seem to like it. At least that was what I thought she was saying through her non verbal cues!
Our dessert was:
This was a sample platter. The middle was green tea ice cream with red beans which Pampadam thought was brilliant, I actually preferred the bottom dessert, the sesame custard type dessert that was peppered with what else, sesame! The top dessert, I didn't try because it looked milky and I actually don't like milk. That drink on the top is my wife's Japanese grape smoothie which I thought was sweet and lovely (like my wife) and it ended our meal in a good note.
Japanese cuisine can be a real hit or miss sometimes in Singapore. The restaurant was familiar to me because we went there for our wedding anniversary dinner, but at Chijmes. The deco there was WAY HOT. The bill turned out to be quite abit but I thought it was okay. I can't state the price because Pampadam might read it. As an alternate view, one half of the FANTASTIC Gohs, i.e. the MAN-GOH, didn't really like Sun with Moon, and I could see why. But the most important thing I feel is to go try it yourself.
Comments Posting
The idiot in my technology brain switched off the comment portion of the blog and I just managed to turn it on. I have to say, I thought some people I don't know were posting comments. So please! Carry on posting comments and tell me what you think. I am not an attention whore but some constructive comments and thoughts would be great! Sorry about the not allowing the comments to be posted. I didn't know how to do that till today!
My parents must be proud.
My parents must be proud.
Penny Black at Boat Quay
As I tried to allude to in my last post, I am a very big Liverpool fan and last week, I was invited to watch the match at Penny Black which apparently is Liverpool central for game nights and I have to say the atmosphere was outstanding. There was singing of all the Liverpool songs and cheers for the players. Even my wife liked it.
The only complain that I do have is just the quality of my hotdog I ordered. It was bad. And it was $9. The beer was outstanding and the wife ordered a screwdriver.
I highly recommend this place for game nights if you are a true red. Its like you're there at the game only you're staring at the screen and the players can't hear your cheers.
Last note, don't order the hot dog.
The only complain that I do have is just the quality of my hotdog I ordered. It was bad. And it was $9. The beer was outstanding and the wife ordered a screwdriver.
I highly recommend this place for game nights if you are a true red. Its like you're there at the game only you're staring at the screen and the players can't hear your cheers.
Last note, don't order the hot dog.
Madam Butterfly
It was a strange day last Friday. I met the missus in town and we wondered along Duxton Hill. Living in Singapore for so many years, I have to say I have never been to Duxton Hill before and since my wife officially became the Mrs Food-critic, she now knows where are the "cool," places to go whereas me on the other hand have absolutely no idea where to go and what to eat.
So we wandered and darn that Broth looked cool but it was full for the night. The other restaurants just looked to either serve bad food, bar food, or just branded food. I thought of Ember and tried making a call, but alas, it was booked for the night as well. We were walking and finally found OSO that just looked also too sexy and it was full. I was down in the dumps and the wife was complaining about her feet being painful because of her heels. I was about to commit blog suicide when I saw the strange red building called The Red Dot Traffic Building. Honestly, I was looking for any place to just sit down and have a meal with the wife. ANYWHERE! And we stumbled into Le Papillon! And it was empty!
Straddled in the midst of bars and smoke, I was surprised to see an empty restaurant. We glanced at the menu and in 10 seconds I said lets go in. A very typical Singaporean like I am would not ordinarily walk into an empty restaurant but I was hungry. Okay, I didn't know it was empty until I walked in. But we were still surprised. We ordered some appetizers, my wife ordered the very sexily bowled mushroom soup which she thought had peanut butter, and I think I ordered and probably by coincidence discovered the best Cesar Salad I have had in Singapore. So good surprise so far.
A bigger surprise would be Mr. and Mrs. Tasty Bites was just next door! They were chillin out at Skin (like any cool advertising exec would I discovered), so in the midst of discovering Liverpool having to playing Barcelona in the Champions League (which Pool will win by the way), and waiting for my main course, in came the boss man himself TASTY BITES! My wife joked that we normally like to book the whole restaurant to have dinner by ourselves wasn't taken too kindly by the staff, which later explained to us that they were surprised that the restaurant was filled except that there were several last minute cancellations. So anyways, we were talking and admiring the cutlery when the main course came. My wife ordered a fish dish, I can't remember what it was and I ordered the seafood platter which contained 2 sexy looking huge asparagus lined up parallel to one another with shrimp, scallop,fish in the middle, and a side of what I thought to be mashed pumpkin. I have to say my dish was delish. It was good. It was clean, it was fresh and it was not enough (my gripe with most French cuisine). My wife loved her grilled fish and it actually looked good.
For dessert, we ordered the orange souffle which needed 30 mins to make, was good. A souffle is difficult to make but an orange souffle that had to be soft on the inside and gentle at the exterior was tough. But I thought the orange ice cream that accompanied the souffle was a slight overkill. My wife ordered her favorite melting chocolate chocolate cake. The type that has melted chocolate inside the small chocolate cake. It was decent. Not enough melted chocolate I thought.
The damage was $170 SGD and I thought it wasn't that bad. It was a great discovery by just walking around but I would probably not go back there again. If you see the hyperlink for Le Papillon, I agree with a certain Wong Ah Yoke that there's still some ways to go to improve the menu but it is still worth a try.
So we wandered and darn that Broth looked cool but it was full for the night. The other restaurants just looked to either serve bad food, bar food, or just branded food. I thought of Ember and tried making a call, but alas, it was booked for the night as well. We were walking and finally found OSO that just looked also too sexy and it was full. I was down in the dumps and the wife was complaining about her feet being painful because of her heels. I was about to commit blog suicide when I saw the strange red building called The Red Dot Traffic Building. Honestly, I was looking for any place to just sit down and have a meal with the wife. ANYWHERE! And we stumbled into Le Papillon! And it was empty!
Straddled in the midst of bars and smoke, I was surprised to see an empty restaurant. We glanced at the menu and in 10 seconds I said lets go in. A very typical Singaporean like I am would not ordinarily walk into an empty restaurant but I was hungry. Okay, I didn't know it was empty until I walked in. But we were still surprised. We ordered some appetizers, my wife ordered the very sexily bowled mushroom soup which she thought had peanut butter, and I think I ordered and probably by coincidence discovered the best Cesar Salad I have had in Singapore. So good surprise so far.
A bigger surprise would be Mr. and Mrs. Tasty Bites was just next door! They were chillin out at Skin (like any cool advertising exec would I discovered), so in the midst of discovering Liverpool having to playing Barcelona in the Champions League (which Pool will win by the way), and waiting for my main course, in came the boss man himself TASTY BITES! My wife joked that we normally like to book the whole restaurant to have dinner by ourselves wasn't taken too kindly by the staff, which later explained to us that they were surprised that the restaurant was filled except that there were several last minute cancellations. So anyways, we were talking and admiring the cutlery when the main course came. My wife ordered a fish dish, I can't remember what it was and I ordered the seafood platter which contained 2 sexy looking huge asparagus lined up parallel to one another with shrimp, scallop,fish in the middle, and a side of what I thought to be mashed pumpkin. I have to say my dish was delish. It was good. It was clean, it was fresh and it was not enough (my gripe with most French cuisine). My wife loved her grilled fish and it actually looked good.
For dessert, we ordered the orange souffle which needed 30 mins to make, was good. A souffle is difficult to make but an orange souffle that had to be soft on the inside and gentle at the exterior was tough. But I thought the orange ice cream that accompanied the souffle was a slight overkill. My wife ordered her favorite melting chocolate chocolate cake. The type that has melted chocolate inside the small chocolate cake. It was decent. Not enough melted chocolate I thought.
The damage was $170 SGD and I thought it wasn't that bad. It was a great discovery by just walking around but I would probably not go back there again. If you see the hyperlink for Le Papillon, I agree with a certain Wong Ah Yoke that there's still some ways to go to improve the menu but it is still worth a try.
Samui Seafood Restaurant
My wife not being accustomed to spicy food but had a strange thing for Thai food. She actually liked it. On our previous trip to Bangkok in the days or yore, she actually could stomach the foodcourt at MBK. So this experience to Koh Samui helped me see how much she could take. We entered Samui Seafood Restaurant full of hope and ambition. Like many other seafood stalls along the Chaweng stretch, the restaurants would parade their fresh seafood at the entrance of the restaurant so that they can entice customers to enter the restaurant and you can have the seafood cooked any way you want.
Honestly, I entered the restaurant because I thought it was pretty. Okay? I am the food-critic. I am shallow. Little did I know that the restaurant, if I believe my failing memory correctly, is actually opened by one of the maid servants that took care of the Thai King and actually cooked for him. In Thailand, its a big deal. To me, I was like, if the King liked her food, I would too! (See, shallow.)
I wanted my wife to feel like she knew what she was doing and so I asked her to order something she thought looked good, my wife ordered the cashew chicken. I would normally laugh at her because cashew chicken isn't exactly Thai, but you know for her first time in a pretty authentic (I am using pretty authentic because there is also a huge western menu in the restaurants for the FARANG) Thai restaurant and she was trying her best. I chipped in by ordering the tourist favorites, my tom yum soup, pineapple fried rice, pad thai and my fantastic lime juice.
The verdict: I loved the pineapple seafood fried rice. It was actually served in a pineapple, so it was a plus! There was a good blend of sweetness and the texturing was tangy and perfect. The pad thai was good. It wasn't outstanding like the pineapple fried rice but the key was to mix everything up. The nuts, the sprouts, the noodles and the shrimp, we didn't really do that and I think that's why it was quite disappointing. My tom yum soup was fantastic. Its not the clear broth that I prefer but the amount of seafood and bite in it, took all my other reservations away. Tom yum soup is the type of soup that is flavored by lemongrass and the spiciness only kicks in 30 seconds after you swallow the soup, that's the brilliance of it. The cashew chicken, well, was bad.
I would just like to add again how pretty the restaurant was. The restaurant is located at the end of the busy Chaweng stretch and it was fun to ride the local "bus," i.e. the back of a truck there.
In the end, not the most authentic Thai food but almost there!
Food notes from Koh Samui
I have not traveled to many places in the world. But I have to say that several ethnic foods have conquered the world. Chinese cuisine, Indian Cuisine and now Italian Cuisine. Every corner, there was an Italian restaurant and an Indian restaurant. I was shocked, but I didn't know why. Food is such an influential cultural epitome that it translates itself into corners of the world that even the cunning intellectual would blush. (I don't know what I just said) but in layman's terms, specific cultural foods are everywhere in the world. And in Koh Samui, the wife and I discovered PANCAKES!
Its definitely not the American Pancake but its the Indian style "Pratha," type pancake. I had mine with banana and my favorite condiment of all time NUTELLA and my wife had chocolate and banana but mine rocked! And all this goodness for less than $1.50 SGD? Come on! Steal of the holiday!
Imagine if you will a thin layer of flour based batter fried and you put in sliced bananas and Nutella and fold it up to what I can only think is mad goodness!
Its definitely not the American Pancake but its the Indian style "Pratha," type pancake. I had mine with banana and my favorite condiment of all time NUTELLA and my wife had chocolate and banana but mine rocked! And all this goodness for less than $1.50 SGD? Come on! Steal of the holiday!
Imagine if you will a thin layer of flour based batter fried and you put in sliced bananas and Nutella and fold it up to what I can only think is mad goodness!
My trip to Koh Samui in Food Pictures
Recently the missus and I took a short holiday to the beautiful island of Samui to take a short break and do what every other European were doing in Koh Samui this time of the year. Have a tan. Unfortunately, being from a tropical island, a tan was quite easy to have besides waking up late everyday and gorging on the hotel buffet breakfast, we went about the stretch of Chaweng beach to discover gastronomic adventures that were in the end, more of an anti-climax.
Our first night, the restaurant that we wanted to try was RICE. RICE you would think is an Asian restaurant but it was nothing like it. It was an Italian restaurant. Yes. I was hit with the Italian bug AGAIN! The pictures in the magazine was nice and so was the restaurant. Now, if you could only ignore the telephone wires outside the restaurant!
The deco of the restaurant was nice. The servers were very polite and might I just add that the coke bottles are really glass coke bottles? How cool is that? Anyways, we ordered several dishes. And this was how they looked:
What is not seen in the pictures that I did not include was a bricked oven baked pizza Magherita with just cheese,tomato sauce and basil, which my wife thought was fantastic. I thought it was above average. We got served the breads as a free appetizer and I have to say the breads were tasty, fluffy and warm, they went great with the green olives, tomatoes and butter. I then ordered my squid ink pasta with crab meat cooked in olive oil and vegetables. I thought it was good. It wasn't great but at that price and at that ambiance, it was good. My wife ordered the crab stuffed pumpkin ravioli. I had a piece of it and thought that it was good as well. The taste for all the dishes were clean. It wasn't too heavy on the tummy and I felt it was the right amount.
Looking back, maybe I would not have chosen RICE but maybe Olivio's instead. But that's just me being picky. The damage was less than $50 SGD so I can't really complain. The food was clean and dare I say better than Pasta Fresca and El Forno but nowhere near Valentinos or Garibaldis. It was a good median that I wish Singapore restaurants could present to me. A good authentic Italian restaurant without the high price and the glitz.
If you're in Koh Samui for more than 4 days, this is one of the restaurants to go. If you are in Koh Samui for less than 2 days, don't bother. Try the Thai Food!
Our first night, the restaurant that we wanted to try was RICE. RICE you would think is an Asian restaurant but it was nothing like it. It was an Italian restaurant. Yes. I was hit with the Italian bug AGAIN! The pictures in the magazine was nice and so was the restaurant. Now, if you could only ignore the telephone wires outside the restaurant!
The deco of the restaurant was nice. The servers were very polite and might I just add that the coke bottles are really glass coke bottles? How cool is that? Anyways, we ordered several dishes. And this was how they looked:
What is not seen in the pictures that I did not include was a bricked oven baked pizza Magherita with just cheese,tomato sauce and basil, which my wife thought was fantastic. I thought it was above average. We got served the breads as a free appetizer and I have to say the breads were tasty, fluffy and warm, they went great with the green olives, tomatoes and butter. I then ordered my squid ink pasta with crab meat cooked in olive oil and vegetables. I thought it was good. It wasn't great but at that price and at that ambiance, it was good. My wife ordered the crab stuffed pumpkin ravioli. I had a piece of it and thought that it was good as well. The taste for all the dishes were clean. It wasn't too heavy on the tummy and I felt it was the right amount.
Looking back, maybe I would not have chosen RICE but maybe Olivio's instead. But that's just me being picky. The damage was less than $50 SGD so I can't really complain. The food was clean and dare I say better than Pasta Fresca and El Forno but nowhere near Valentinos or Garibaldis. It was a good median that I wish Singapore restaurants could present to me. A good authentic Italian restaurant without the high price and the glitz.
If you're in Koh Samui for more than 4 days, this is one of the restaurants to go. If you are in Koh Samui for less than 2 days, don't bother. Try the Thai Food!
Another night of Italian
So last night, I thought of having dinner with me dad and wife outside. Since my mum was out of town attending to a certain new addition to the family in London, I thought I do my part before me dad leaves for the U.K. and I go for my holiday. I actually wanted Japanese but unfortunately, my expatriate wife and local dad could not find the restaurant. I think I should have gotten the hint when I tried to call the restaurant and the phone company tells me that the service is no longer in use. I was going for quantity vs quality as my dad is big eater. But I digress.
We were walking through Marina Square and my wife turned to me and told me that she doesn't want to eat that much. So okay. My initial buffet idea has gone out of the window. So while we were walking to Suntec because I thought we might have Kushin-bo, or fishing bowl like my dad calls it, we took a turn into Pan Pacific instead and lo and behold, up one level was Zambuca. Its a bar and restaurant and its owned by the MichaelAngelo chain, so how bad can it be right?
We walked in and my wife immediately liked the place while my dad went, "Wah, you like this kind of place?" It sounds funny but for those that do not know, it was the first time I was going out with my dad and wife. So its an unusual chemistry. Usually, there would be mum with dad, and us. So it was kind of uncomfortable for awhile.
The deco of the place was nice. The whole restaurant was dimly lit and the roman blinds were at half mass. The servers were polite but the restaurant wasn't exactly packed. Prices are reasonable. For a plate of pasta, it was about $34 average, main course was about $45, and appetizer are about $25. It wasn't that bad. I ordered the soup of the day which was mushroom for me and dad, and we all split some bruschetta. I ordered the pasta fruta de mare, my dad ordered the pasta tandoor (if I remember correctly) and my wife ordered a penne with spicy Italian sausages, with kalmata olives and some assorted vegetable. The total cost was about $165. It wasn't that bad.
The food wasn't that bad at all. Service wasn't bad. Restaurant wasn't bad. But on the flip side, it wasn't very good as well. Its, how you say, ho hum? It wasn't terrible, and it wasn't great. It was mediocre. I didn't complain about anything, but there wasn't anything worth giving too much praise for. Its standard fare. None of the dishes stood out. Well, nothing really stood out. We had a pleasant time chatting and talking about things but the food never was one of the topics that were discussed, which is unusual for me actually.
I wouldn't recommend this place to most people but I have before because I haven't gone to Zambuca until last night. But what do I know?
We were walking through Marina Square and my wife turned to me and told me that she doesn't want to eat that much. So okay. My initial buffet idea has gone out of the window. So while we were walking to Suntec because I thought we might have Kushin-bo, or fishing bowl like my dad calls it, we took a turn into Pan Pacific instead and lo and behold, up one level was Zambuca. Its a bar and restaurant and its owned by the MichaelAngelo chain, so how bad can it be right?
We walked in and my wife immediately liked the place while my dad went, "Wah, you like this kind of place?" It sounds funny but for those that do not know, it was the first time I was going out with my dad and wife. So its an unusual chemistry. Usually, there would be mum with dad, and us. So it was kind of uncomfortable for awhile.
The deco of the place was nice. The whole restaurant was dimly lit and the roman blinds were at half mass. The servers were polite but the restaurant wasn't exactly packed. Prices are reasonable. For a plate of pasta, it was about $34 average, main course was about $45, and appetizer are about $25. It wasn't that bad. I ordered the soup of the day which was mushroom for me and dad, and we all split some bruschetta. I ordered the pasta fruta de mare, my dad ordered the pasta tandoor (if I remember correctly) and my wife ordered a penne with spicy Italian sausages, with kalmata olives and some assorted vegetable. The total cost was about $165. It wasn't that bad.
The food wasn't that bad at all. Service wasn't bad. Restaurant wasn't bad. But on the flip side, it wasn't very good as well. Its, how you say, ho hum? It wasn't terrible, and it wasn't great. It was mediocre. I didn't complain about anything, but there wasn't anything worth giving too much praise for. Its standard fare. None of the dishes stood out. Well, nothing really stood out. We had a pleasant time chatting and talking about things but the food never was one of the topics that were discussed, which is unusual for me actually.
I wouldn't recommend this place to most people but I have before because I haven't gone to Zambuca until last night. But what do I know?
Not everything that is Italian is Italian!
By MARIA SANMINIATELLI
The Associated Press
ROME -- Imagine a delicious dinner of pasta with meat sauce and grated parmesan. Add a salad of fresh mozzarella and Roman tomatoes sprinkled with Tuscan olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe you'll wash it down with some Amaretto liqueur.
But there's a catch: none of that food was made in Italy.
Foods that look or sound Italian but are produced elsewhere account for $66 billion in annual sales -- nearly half the $135.5 billion worth of real Italian food that is sold worldwide in a year, says Coldiretti, Italy's farmers association.
Italian producers have launched a campaign to set the record straight in hopes of boosting their own sales.
"They might not be illegal, but they are deceptive," Coldiretti's spokesman, Paolo Falcioni, said. "It's wrong for two reasons: You take the [market] of the real food, but most importantly, you're deceiving the consumer."
The fine print may identify food as not coming from Italy, but Italian flag colors or Italian references on labels can lead rushed consumers to think otherwise, Falcioni said.
For Italians, many of whom believe that they have the world's best cuisine, that's tough to swallow.
"I was in China four days ago, and in a supermarket in Shanghai I bought balsamic vinegar from Modena -- with the label written in Italian -- that was made in Germany!" Falcioni said.
Italians say the finest balsamic vinegar is produced in the small northern Italian city of Modena, which is also home to automaker Ferrari. It's expensive: a flask the size of a perfume bottle can cost $100.
The top buyers of fake Italian food are in Australia and the United States, where a mere 2 percent of "Italian" cheeses are made in Italy.
Gary Litman, vice president for European affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said it's too late to rename imitation Italian products that are already firmly established. "You cannot change history that easily," he said. Litman noted that, unlike the European Union, U.S. law requires labels to state exactly where products are from.
In the Know
Falso
Some foods that look or sound Italian but are produced elsewhere:
Olive oil from Spain featuring a label with a picture of Rome's mythological founders, Romulus and Remus.
Roman-style tomatoes grown in California.
Imitations of Parmesan cheese produced worldwide.
Mozzarella cheese made with milk from American or Australian cows.
"Italian" ragu -- meat sauce with basil -- made in Estonia.
Pecorino cheese from Shanghai, China.
"Perfect Italiano" ricotta cheese made in Australia.
Provolone cheese made in Wisconsin.
"Amaretto Venezia" liqueur made in Germany and sold in bottles shaped like that of original Amaretto di Saronno.
SOURCE: Coldiretti
The Associated Press
ROME -- Imagine a delicious dinner of pasta with meat sauce and grated parmesan. Add a salad of fresh mozzarella and Roman tomatoes sprinkled with Tuscan olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Maybe you'll wash it down with some Amaretto liqueur.
But there's a catch: none of that food was made in Italy.
Foods that look or sound Italian but are produced elsewhere account for $66 billion in annual sales -- nearly half the $135.5 billion worth of real Italian food that is sold worldwide in a year, says Coldiretti, Italy's farmers association.
Italian producers have launched a campaign to set the record straight in hopes of boosting their own sales.
"They might not be illegal, but they are deceptive," Coldiretti's spokesman, Paolo Falcioni, said. "It's wrong for two reasons: You take the [market] of the real food, but most importantly, you're deceiving the consumer."
The fine print may identify food as not coming from Italy, but Italian flag colors or Italian references on labels can lead rushed consumers to think otherwise, Falcioni said.
For Italians, many of whom believe that they have the world's best cuisine, that's tough to swallow.
"I was in China four days ago, and in a supermarket in Shanghai I bought balsamic vinegar from Modena -- with the label written in Italian -- that was made in Germany!" Falcioni said.
Italians say the finest balsamic vinegar is produced in the small northern Italian city of Modena, which is also home to automaker Ferrari. It's expensive: a flask the size of a perfume bottle can cost $100.
The top buyers of fake Italian food are in Australia and the United States, where a mere 2 percent of "Italian" cheeses are made in Italy.
Gary Litman, vice president for European affairs for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said it's too late to rename imitation Italian products that are already firmly established. "You cannot change history that easily," he said. Litman noted that, unlike the European Union, U.S. law requires labels to state exactly where products are from.
In the Know
Falso
Some foods that look or sound Italian but are produced elsewhere:
Olive oil from Spain featuring a label with a picture of Rome's mythological founders, Romulus and Remus.
Roman-style tomatoes grown in California.
Imitations of Parmesan cheese produced worldwide.
Mozzarella cheese made with milk from American or Australian cows.
"Italian" ragu -- meat sauce with basil -- made in Estonia.
Pecorino cheese from Shanghai, China.
"Perfect Italiano" ricotta cheese made in Australia.
Provolone cheese made in Wisconsin.
"Amaretto Venezia" liqueur made in Germany and sold in bottles shaped like that of original Amaretto di Saronno.
SOURCE: Coldiretti
Italian Weekend
Over the weekend, my wife and I went on this Italian binge. However we were left somewhat disappointed. On Friday, we headed to Mama Lucia's at Robertson Walk. We didn't know what to eat that day and even though we were at Raffles City, the thought of eating at Prego's scared the "begeesus," out of me. We grabbed a cab and went straight to Roberston Walk. Its a small restaurant. I like the deco but I didn't understand why the chairs were plastic chairs. We were served promptly and abruptly. I thought I was experiencing some deja vu when I realized that I was seeing the same thing over and over again on pages of the menu. It took about 5 minutes before I figured out what it was. The restaurant served many types of pasta, but with the same sauces. For example, if they had tortolleni and fettuicine, they would have meat sauce on both. But they will be seen on 2 different pages of the menu because it was categorized by pasta types. The prices were decent and its the type of place to bring your kids there to enjoy some above average pasta and pizza. I won't go back there again simply because they don't serve cold water. Its THAT type of a restaurant where they insist you order a drink. The pasta was decent, the sauce was actually good by the way. The pizza we ordered was the quattro stagioni ( mushroom, ham, olives and artichokes.) It was average. Dare I say Pasta Fresca Pizza? But the quality of pasta is definitely above average.
On Sunday after a 5 hour "sabbathing," nap, my wife again said that she wanted some Italian food and so we headed to somewhere near. We headed to Al Forno along East Coast road. Before reading the pamphlet on the side, I never knew that it has been open for the last 11 years. WOW! I know that I have been there many times but 11 years. Man, I am old. We ordered a Calzone, and I have to say that they might have the best Calzone but that's about it. My wife ordered a dish that was Lagsana type dish and an Italian Antipasti. Average at best? I regretted not heading to Porta Porta at Changi Village. And the bill turned out to be $81! Oh my gosh, that's a lot to pay for a really average meal in which I only loved the Calzone!
Morale of the lesson, most Italian food in Singapore, very mediocre.
On Sunday after a 5 hour "sabbathing," nap, my wife again said that she wanted some Italian food and so we headed to somewhere near. We headed to Al Forno along East Coast road. Before reading the pamphlet on the side, I never knew that it has been open for the last 11 years. WOW! I know that I have been there many times but 11 years. Man, I am old. We ordered a Calzone, and I have to say that they might have the best Calzone but that's about it. My wife ordered a dish that was Lagsana type dish and an Italian Antipasti. Average at best? I regretted not heading to Porta Porta at Changi Village. And the bill turned out to be $81! Oh my gosh, that's a lot to pay for a really average meal in which I only loved the Calzone!
Morale of the lesson, most Italian food in Singapore, very mediocre.
Thanksgiving Turkey
I celebrated Thanksgiving last week with a few of my friends, and I have to say the Turkey from Espirito Santo from Parkway is fantastic! Sure it was a tad bit pricey, but it was awesome! Highly recommended for Christmas parties too!
Just on an interesting note, every thanksgiving the President pardons a Turkey for Thanksgiving in the United States. I guess the rest just get eaten. That would be a great reality show!
Australia vs Switzerland (The sausage edition)
Before you think this is the title of the next porn movie that I am making. It is not. Before I carry on, let me just say to the millions and millions of fans out there for this site, I am sorry for not having to write for so long but I haven't been able to go to new places, I have been stuck going to my regular places! I have also been asked to write about places that are somewhat cheaper than Garibaldis. So here goes.
The missus and I were walking in Takashimaya on a weekend and we ventured deep into basement 2 when we spotted the Swiss German Sausage Bar. Okay, honestly it wasn't even our first choice because we wanted cheap Italian food right next to it because they were serving Illy coffee. (my wife's favorite) We hesitated for a second and I thought Swiss Sausages, how bad can it be? And the conclusion is that it is not bad at all. Mediocre at best but not bad at all. You can't go wrong with sausages! I love sausages. We ordered the same combo that I can't really remember the name of but it had 2 types of pretty big sausages plus a German meat loaf with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. Not bad. The meats in the sausages are processed meat so its not the authentic types. But it was okay. I would recommend anyone who loves sausages and wants to sit down for a some what cheap meal. We paid about $25 for 2 and it even came with soft drinks.
On the other end, there is the Melbourne Bratwurst shop in the basement of Plaza Singapura. I have to say this is probably the best hot dog in Singapore. The bratwurst are thick and juicy. Sauerkraut is good. Service is decent and price is reasonable. For less than $5 a person, you get a great hot dog with ketchup and mustard on the side. Freaking fantastic. You have up to 5 types of bratwurst available and they have even expanded their sitting area! I have never been to Melbourne before but this is probably the best thing in Singapore for the hot dog scene, unless of course Gray's Papaya decides to open a chain here. But since this is not the case, this is the best place in Singapore for a good hot dog!
Mouthfuls of Weekend Gorging
My dear aunt rang today and wants to take us out to dinner!! Looks like we are headed to Au Petit Salut for some French on Saturday. The Cliff @ Sentosa Spa & Resort will be expecting us on Sunday for a quiet celebration to commemorate our 1st wedding anniversary. Tell you what, I'll be havin some of them fresh, divine oysters topped with a Martini Sorbet. To top it off, it's Arsenal vs Liverpool at midnight. I pick the Londoners to lose 2-1. WONDERFUL. I couldn't have planned it any better.
Wedding Dinner at The Regent, 28th October 2006
The ballroom is sufficiently large enough to comfortably hold about 40++ tables. I'm not sure if carpark space is adequate though! We came early and managed to get a nice spot near the exit.
The service throughout the event was pretty good. Distribution of waitstaff was optimal, one per table with prompt and courteous service. Beverages were constantly and politely topped up.
Food wise, I would have to say the menu for the evening ranks as one of the better places to throw your once in a lifetime party.
This was a traditional 10 course dinner with a twist right at the end. Instead of ending the meal with traditional Chinese desserts such tang yuan or orr nee, we had a nice slice of light pistachio cake dressed with a white chocolate stick and carefully spooned raspberry puree sauce.
There wasn't a crackingly good standout dish though I must give special mention to the steamed Canadian Sea Perch which tasted really fresh and cooked to perfection. It takes alot of experience to do a really good steamed fish dish for 500 hungry people.
Starting with the cold dish combination of roast pork, salad prawns and other tastybits *yeah yeah*, we progressed to a thick dried scallop flavoured soup. Roast chicken, shrooms and spinach??, broccolli..
The white & red wines were a good accompanyment to the food. Don't ask me if it's Australian. It's always a good thing the wines are nicely paired with the food. I think I had a beer, a glass and a half of wine and lots of chinese tea because I remember leaving the ballroom to take a pee which lasted a minute.
Good servce, good food. I'd say based on the menu, the cost per table was probably in the $1,200 - $1,400 region. Worth considering if you want to make a good impression. It certainly left us quite satisfied.
The service throughout the event was pretty good. Distribution of waitstaff was optimal, one per table with prompt and courteous service. Beverages were constantly and politely topped up.
Food wise, I would have to say the menu for the evening ranks as one of the better places to throw your once in a lifetime party.
This was a traditional 10 course dinner with a twist right at the end. Instead of ending the meal with traditional Chinese desserts such tang yuan or orr nee, we had a nice slice of light pistachio cake dressed with a white chocolate stick and carefully spooned raspberry puree sauce.
There wasn't a crackingly good standout dish though I must give special mention to the steamed Canadian Sea Perch which tasted really fresh and cooked to perfection. It takes alot of experience to do a really good steamed fish dish for 500 hungry people.
Starting with the cold dish combination of roast pork, salad prawns and other tastybits *yeah yeah*, we progressed to a thick dried scallop flavoured soup. Roast chicken, shrooms and spinach??, broccolli..
The white & red wines were a good accompanyment to the food. Don't ask me if it's Australian. It's always a good thing the wines are nicely paired with the food. I think I had a beer, a glass and a half of wine and lots of chinese tea because I remember leaving the ballroom to take a pee which lasted a minute.
Good servce, good food. I'd say based on the menu, the cost per table was probably in the $1,200 - $1,400 region. Worth considering if you want to make a good impression. It certainly left us quite satisfied.
Birthday at Le Bristrot
First of all, let me say that I am a couple of weeks late for this post. I should have written this one earlier but I didn't! A good friend of mine had his birthday, one half of the "Fantastic Gohs," was reluctantly turning 30 and we had to celebrate it! I planned for the dinner to be at Le Bristrot, and even though they did not have seats inside for us, we still had a great time! The service was good and the food excellent! Like every happy occasion, here are some of the pictures.
By the way, people were there too!
Raffles Bar and Billiard Room
At the end of each tiring week, I usually like to kick back, and relax with the wife. We go out to town. Have a good and nice dinner and last week was no exception. The only problem was where to go and we didn't know where to go at all. After much thought and consideration and since it might be near somebody's (yes, that's you Tasty Bites, its your wedding anniversary coming up!), I decided to have the buffet dinner at the Raffles Hotel Bar and Billiard room.
Its Raffles Hotel, so you expect good service. And I got it. This is the type of service that you want to be intentionally bad so that you can see how good the service is? But fortunately for all, I behaved! We made some reservations earlier that day and it wasn't full. We got a small table by the far away from the buffet and I like it. It was quiet and we had our privacy. The place was dimly lit and a small tea light on the table. I was just happy to be there because there are lots of good memories at the place!
It was an "All you can eat buffet," and we tried our best. The breads were top notch. The soup of the day was New England Clam Chowder. It was surprisingly good! You'd expect something so creamy looking and without the clam smell taste so " Clam Chowderish?" The spread was typical. The seafood which I attacked with force were all fresh. Lobster, shrimp, oysters, clams, fresh sashimi all tasted good. I even had time to start out with some salad and a small miniature glass cup of smoked tomato reduction to cleanse the pallet. I thought the secret of the buffet was the grilled food which was outside the restaurant. I don't think many people saw that! Anyway, the grilled, beef, chicken and shrimp all tasted good.
The only complaint if I really want to nit pick is the pasta bar. For all the money you are paying, you would think that the choice of ingredients for the pasta bar would be more. But it wasn't so. The pasta was good mind you. But I just felt that I couldn't, how you say, carbo load enough with the pasta?
My wife had to order a Singapore Sling because we were at Raffles hotel and I have to say I don't really know what the obsession is with the drink, it tastes like cough mixture. I don't really blame the bar tenders, I blame the 2 people drinking it. My wife and I!
I usually end the night with more seafood. But somehow, all the small little finger sized desserts drove me crazy. I ate probably the entire variety of desserts available except the healthy fruits? They were all good. Every piece a bite of what a buffet is supposed to be. Quality and Quantity. Raffles hotel had both.
The bill turned out to be about $150 SGD. I have no complaints. The only complaining that night was from the both of us, but it was about our work. Our dinner took over 2 hours. We sat there. Took our time and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The music played from the live band was fantastic and it added so much more to the ambiance than the sounds of people laughing and talking or utensils knocking on plates.
A thoroughly enjoyable experience to relax. If you and your long time wife or girlfriend like to sit and talk and eat, I say this might be the place to do it.
Its Raffles Hotel, so you expect good service. And I got it. This is the type of service that you want to be intentionally bad so that you can see how good the service is? But fortunately for all, I behaved! We made some reservations earlier that day and it wasn't full. We got a small table by the far away from the buffet and I like it. It was quiet and we had our privacy. The place was dimly lit and a small tea light on the table. I was just happy to be there because there are lots of good memories at the place!
It was an "All you can eat buffet," and we tried our best. The breads were top notch. The soup of the day was New England Clam Chowder. It was surprisingly good! You'd expect something so creamy looking and without the clam smell taste so " Clam Chowderish?" The spread was typical. The seafood which I attacked with force were all fresh. Lobster, shrimp, oysters, clams, fresh sashimi all tasted good. I even had time to start out with some salad and a small miniature glass cup of smoked tomato reduction to cleanse the pallet. I thought the secret of the buffet was the grilled food which was outside the restaurant. I don't think many people saw that! Anyway, the grilled, beef, chicken and shrimp all tasted good.
The only complaint if I really want to nit pick is the pasta bar. For all the money you are paying, you would think that the choice of ingredients for the pasta bar would be more. But it wasn't so. The pasta was good mind you. But I just felt that I couldn't, how you say, carbo load enough with the pasta?
My wife had to order a Singapore Sling because we were at Raffles hotel and I have to say I don't really know what the obsession is with the drink, it tastes like cough mixture. I don't really blame the bar tenders, I blame the 2 people drinking it. My wife and I!
I usually end the night with more seafood. But somehow, all the small little finger sized desserts drove me crazy. I ate probably the entire variety of desserts available except the healthy fruits? They were all good. Every piece a bite of what a buffet is supposed to be. Quality and Quantity. Raffles hotel had both.
The bill turned out to be about $150 SGD. I have no complaints. The only complaining that night was from the both of us, but it was about our work. Our dinner took over 2 hours. We sat there. Took our time and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. The music played from the live band was fantastic and it added so much more to the ambiance than the sounds of people laughing and talking or utensils knocking on plates.
A thoroughly enjoyable experience to relax. If you and your long time wife or girlfriend like to sit and talk and eat, I say this might be the place to do it.
List of Restaurants to go to
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.
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.
Shortest Review Ever!
Carl's Jr is the BEST fast food Burger Joint in Singapore. Nuff Said. And so says Alby. (The dog in the picture)
New thing at StarBucks
Even though some people think that Starbucks is the evil empire of coffee just like Chelsea is to the EPL and the Yankees are to Baseball, their variety of new products never cease to amaze me. My new craze is the huge oatmeal raisin cookie. Its the best cookie I have tasted in Singapore. Its $4.50 (abit too much for a cookie me thinks) but it tastes great. Its soft and chewy. It warms my heart to eat it. I never understand why most other cookies are always so tough.
Have a try. Go ahead. You know you want it.
Have a try. Go ahead. You know you want it.
D Cup better than C Cup
Bigger is better. My colleague prefers a handful of it and I believe we should milk it for what its worth. C Cup is in. C Cup might be the new D Cup.
What exactly am I talking about? It's simple. CUPCAKES!!!!. Some of my over "sugar-fied" colleagues have recently been on a sugar binge and have caught the craze of cup cakes. As some of you might know, I'm not much of a sugar person and cup cakes isn't really my thing. When one of my female colleagues came over without saying anything and typed it onto my Internet browser the website, I was like, "What the heck?" But thank goodness, it was a website for cup cakes.
Apparently the orders have been coming in so much that we had to wait 2 weeks for our delivery. I have since found out that this is not a store front. This is business from a home! And I got this forwarded email from one of the other cupcake co-conspirators that they even told us which items they did not have enough to make one of the cupcakes and suggested to us that we should order something else. But of course, they were more polite than that. I respect this kind of service.
When the cupcakes came and the time for tasting arose, it did not fail. I thought the cupcakes were delicate and not too sweet. Will I order it again? No. But I think I might order it for people as gifts. The biggest cup cake in the website isn't really a cupcake. It was more of a mini-cake by my definitions but I digress. Just a note, you have to order up to $80 for them to deliver.
You should probably order cup cakes for your moms that are not on diet, your skinny girlfriend or just wanting to appease that irritating customer of yours. Its a creative gift. Hey, its sweet.
A syllogistic question: If cupcakes is to C Cup then what is to D Cup?
What exactly am I talking about? It's simple. CUPCAKES!!!!. Some of my over "sugar-fied" colleagues have recently been on a sugar binge and have caught the craze of cup cakes. As some of you might know, I'm not much of a sugar person and cup cakes isn't really my thing. When one of my female colleagues came over without saying anything and typed it onto my Internet browser the website, I was like, "What the heck?" But thank goodness, it was a website for cup cakes.
Apparently the orders have been coming in so much that we had to wait 2 weeks for our delivery. I have since found out that this is not a store front. This is business from a home! And I got this forwarded email from one of the other cupcake co-conspirators that they even told us which items they did not have enough to make one of the cupcakes and suggested to us that we should order something else. But of course, they were more polite than that. I respect this kind of service.
When the cupcakes came and the time for tasting arose, it did not fail. I thought the cupcakes were delicate and not too sweet. Will I order it again? No. But I think I might order it for people as gifts. The biggest cup cake in the website isn't really a cupcake. It was more of a mini-cake by my definitions but I digress. Just a note, you have to order up to $80 for them to deliver.
You should probably order cup cakes for your moms that are not on diet, your skinny girlfriend or just wanting to appease that irritating customer of yours. Its a creative gift. Hey, its sweet.
A syllogistic question: If cupcakes is to C Cup then what is to D Cup?
Cedele at Wheelock Place
I once said not so long ago that one should only go to Cedele for soup and bread. I would just like to say now that I stand corrected. After going to Cedele at Wheelock Place twice in 3 weeks for me and the missus' late Sunday breakfast after church, I have to say that its pretty good. In fact, I would highly recommend this Cedele in particular more than the others.
Maybe its not a franchise or maybe it is. But there is something different with this Cedele. No longer is it a transient restaurant where you sit, eat and leave. Here, you seem somewhat invited to stay longer and order more food because the food selection is wider and I personally think that the food is better.
For the past 2 ventures, I have ordered the same thing. The big big breakfast, filled with 3 pieces of bacon, 2 sausages, scrambled eggs, a little side salad with balsamic vinegar sprinkled on as a mix and saut'ed mushrooms. It also comes with a cup of tea. All for $16.80. Some would think that how can you go wrong with bacon, sausages, mushroom, eggs and toast? It can. Trust me. It's not like I hate Macdonald's breakfast but that is almost the bottom of the barrel in terms of how breakfast should taste. The hotels kill the "American Breakfast," genre because they make it into an overkill, just too much stuff on a plate. And my wife who ordered her blue berry pancakes loved her pancakes. I might not be a connoisseur in pan cakes but readers should trust a person who ate pan cakes nearly all her childhood. So she knows good pan cakes.
The only times I have seen Diana Ser is when I am at Wheelock Place and the unfortunate thing is that I have not seen her the last 2 times. And that's the only down side of Cedele. I should write an ode to Diana.
Maybe its not a franchise or maybe it is. But there is something different with this Cedele. No longer is it a transient restaurant where you sit, eat and leave. Here, you seem somewhat invited to stay longer and order more food because the food selection is wider and I personally think that the food is better.
For the past 2 ventures, I have ordered the same thing. The big big breakfast, filled with 3 pieces of bacon, 2 sausages, scrambled eggs, a little side salad with balsamic vinegar sprinkled on as a mix and saut'ed mushrooms. It also comes with a cup of tea. All for $16.80. Some would think that how can you go wrong with bacon, sausages, mushroom, eggs and toast? It can. Trust me. It's not like I hate Macdonald's breakfast but that is almost the bottom of the barrel in terms of how breakfast should taste. The hotels kill the "American Breakfast," genre because they make it into an overkill, just too much stuff on a plate. And my wife who ordered her blue berry pancakes loved her pancakes. I might not be a connoisseur in pan cakes but readers should trust a person who ate pan cakes nearly all her childhood. So she knows good pan cakes.
The only times I have seen Diana Ser is when I am at Wheelock Place and the unfortunate thing is that I have not seen her the last 2 times. And that's the only down side of Cedele. I should write an ode to Diana.
Garibaldi at Purvis Street
The Food-critics aka me and my wife had a very brief discussion about Garibaldi with Mr and Mrs. Tasty Bites and for the sake of summary and purpose lets call this couple "The Gohs." The reason for this conversation was because I have been reading quite abit about the restaurant stating that its the best Italian restaurant in Singapore. The Tasty Bites thought that the food was decent but the quality of the food was not in proportion to how much it was. On the other hand, "The Gohs," loved the place. It was the beginning of the month and I had to date the wife, so I decided to experiment to see how good was this place.
If you have read my earlier scripting about Menottis, please note that I just wasn't too impressed with the place. The pasta was closer to Pasta Mania than Babbo's but the desserts were decent. I made a reservation for 830 pm because I thought the place wouldn't be too crowded on a Friday night and boy was I wrong.
The restaurant is a dimly lit restaurant with an L shaped architecture. The walls looked dark green with the yellow light and there were a lot of foreigners. When I stood at the door of the place, the server had to slide the door open for me to allow my wife and I to enter the restaurant. Cool. Our wait for a table lasted only 30 seconds before a nice lady came out and called my name sounding like I have been there every other week. So far, the service has been fantastic. The impression is good.
As I sat in between more foreigners, the servers started coming around to tell us what the specials were and handed us the menu. I actually thought that the menu price was decent. I mean, if it is the best Italian restaurant that so many people claim it is, it has to be pretty expensive right? We sat down ordered the prosciutto Ham appetizer, my wife ordered the typical American Steak and potatoes which the place is famous for, I ordered the scallop and marsala risotto - I have just been in a marasla phase recently, and 2 types of desserts. The warm chocolate cake and some pistachio based chocolate dessert. 2 glasses of the cheapest wine and the free flow bread!
Is it wrong to state that the best dish of the day was the free bread? A very nice server came and constantly walked by our table and kept asking us if we wanted the sundried tomato and cheese bread. How could you say no? To a point that I had to stop the server from giving me bread because everytime she walked by and asked, I would always say yes. I told her to stop. And she smiled when I told her but somehow she refused to listen to me! Damn, the service is good.
When our dishes came, I have to admit that I was almost full, but I soldiered on. The risotto was decent. There was 3 pieces of scallop and I could tell that the risotto broth had some dried scallops as well. The blend was soothing and comforting. The marsala and scallop mix was good only after several bites. But I liked the flavor. It was something unusual and daring. My wife loved her steak and potatoes. It looked good. The beef was smooth and slippery in the mouth. One can taste the balsamic vinegar base of the steak. The appetizer was fantastic. I never understood how the saltiness and the toughness of ham goes so well with the sweetness and juiciness of melon. The ham was also paired with asparagus and fresh mozzarella cheese. Loved it.
My wife doesn't really drink wine. In fact, I have to say that she likes fancy places and this was one of it. Oh, and she likes to drink wine at fancy places. That's when I know I'm getting lucky that night also by the way.
The desserts were great. The warm chocolate cake with the liquid melted chocolate center was well received. My pistachio dessert was a hit and miss but the pistachio cream was pretty tasty.
I have to say that in the end, I guess I stand in the middle of both the Tasty Bites and the Gohs. I liked the place. In fact, I would say it is the best Italian restautrant in Singapore but it was not worth the amount paid I thought. The dinner bill was $200 some dollars and I was satisfied but not fully satisfied I guess. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are out to impress your wife or girlfriend. Just expect to pay quite abit for dinner!
If you have read my earlier scripting about Menottis, please note that I just wasn't too impressed with the place. The pasta was closer to Pasta Mania than Babbo's but the desserts were decent. I made a reservation for 830 pm because I thought the place wouldn't be too crowded on a Friday night and boy was I wrong.
The restaurant is a dimly lit restaurant with an L shaped architecture. The walls looked dark green with the yellow light and there were a lot of foreigners. When I stood at the door of the place, the server had to slide the door open for me to allow my wife and I to enter the restaurant. Cool. Our wait for a table lasted only 30 seconds before a nice lady came out and called my name sounding like I have been there every other week. So far, the service has been fantastic. The impression is good.
As I sat in between more foreigners, the servers started coming around to tell us what the specials were and handed us the menu. I actually thought that the menu price was decent. I mean, if it is the best Italian restaurant that so many people claim it is, it has to be pretty expensive right? We sat down ordered the prosciutto Ham appetizer, my wife ordered the typical American Steak and potatoes which the place is famous for, I ordered the scallop and marsala risotto - I have just been in a marasla phase recently, and 2 types of desserts. The warm chocolate cake and some pistachio based chocolate dessert. 2 glasses of the cheapest wine and the free flow bread!
Is it wrong to state that the best dish of the day was the free bread? A very nice server came and constantly walked by our table and kept asking us if we wanted the sundried tomato and cheese bread. How could you say no? To a point that I had to stop the server from giving me bread because everytime she walked by and asked, I would always say yes. I told her to stop. And she smiled when I told her but somehow she refused to listen to me! Damn, the service is good.
When our dishes came, I have to admit that I was almost full, but I soldiered on. The risotto was decent. There was 3 pieces of scallop and I could tell that the risotto broth had some dried scallops as well. The blend was soothing and comforting. The marsala and scallop mix was good only after several bites. But I liked the flavor. It was something unusual and daring. My wife loved her steak and potatoes. It looked good. The beef was smooth and slippery in the mouth. One can taste the balsamic vinegar base of the steak. The appetizer was fantastic. I never understood how the saltiness and the toughness of ham goes so well with the sweetness and juiciness of melon. The ham was also paired with asparagus and fresh mozzarella cheese. Loved it.
My wife doesn't really drink wine. In fact, I have to say that she likes fancy places and this was one of it. Oh, and she likes to drink wine at fancy places. That's when I know I'm getting lucky that night also by the way.
The desserts were great. The warm chocolate cake with the liquid melted chocolate center was well received. My pistachio dessert was a hit and miss but the pistachio cream was pretty tasty.
I have to say that in the end, I guess I stand in the middle of both the Tasty Bites and the Gohs. I liked the place. In fact, I would say it is the best Italian restautrant in Singapore but it was not worth the amount paid I thought. The dinner bill was $200 some dollars and I was satisfied but not fully satisfied I guess. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are out to impress your wife or girlfriend. Just expect to pay quite abit for dinner!
Tubby Man
I have to admit that over the last few weeks, I have not been inspired to write anything. Some friends of mine, including Pampadam (we shall name her this because this is after all a food blog) suggested that I look at other bloggers to get inspired. Inspired I was not. A sense of insipid horror came upon me that writing for the sake of writing or writing to entertain some of my friends because blogging has become a professional sport. Some of the blogs that I have seen are walking advertisements with great pictures and boring writing or writing with so much inferred winks that it would seem as if the writer was paid by the restaurant to write what the blogger writes.
Some of you might be thinking that the food-critic is keeping his amateur status because he might want to compete in the Olympics someday but sadly, that is not the case. Blogging has to be fun and amateurish in nature. That is the essence of blogging. There are professional bloggers but at least its clearly stated. Don't be fooled by those who you think are actually amateur but are in fact professional.
Since I have opened myself up to much criticism, I have also, at least I think I have, turned on the comment option. Before, I turned off the comment option because I thought since people were just reading this for fun, there was really nothing much for people to say except to shut up and listen. In my ever disgusting need to contradict and be ironically objective, I have decided to turn the comment option on so as to participate in some kind of open forum or at least fun debate on food and food places.
To quote the hatred Bill O'Reilly, the comments have to be pithy.
So with this, I take a small step in my blog, but a giant step to the nearest bathroom because the critic needs a leak.
Some of you might be thinking that the food-critic is keeping his amateur status because he might want to compete in the Olympics someday but sadly, that is not the case. Blogging has to be fun and amateurish in nature. That is the essence of blogging. There are professional bloggers but at least its clearly stated. Don't be fooled by those who you think are actually amateur but are in fact professional.
Since I have opened myself up to much criticism, I have also, at least I think I have, turned on the comment option. Before, I turned off the comment option because I thought since people were just reading this for fun, there was really nothing much for people to say except to shut up and listen. In my ever disgusting need to contradict and be ironically objective, I have decided to turn the comment option on so as to participate in some kind of open forum or at least fun debate on food and food places.
To quote the hatred Bill O'Reilly, the comments have to be pithy.
So with this, I take a small step in my blog, but a giant step to the nearest bathroom because the critic needs a leak.
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