L’Angelus

C says:

We went back to L’Angelus again tonight for the rib-eye. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as good as it was on our first trip here. I’m not sure what it was – perhaps the meat was under-salted, or the meat supply itself wasn’t up to par, but somehow it lacked the sweetness and punch that we experienced before. The Gratin Dauphinois Potatoes were still out of this world, though.


However, what saved the day was my starter of warm salad with duck liver, chicken liver and bacon. It was awesome – the bacon and chicken liver pieces were sautéed with shallots, and drizzled with a tart but very delicious dressing. The salad was topped with a few slices of poached foie gras au torchon – it was runny, rich and absolutely divine.


Being a Thursday night, the set dinner was available so A decided to have it. He was in a fish mood, so he ordered the salmon tartare to start with, and the salmon fillet for his main. The tartare was surprisingly meaty-tasting, and the salmon fillet was perfectly done – still slightly rare and orange in the center.

After the slight disappointment with the steak, the salad is now my favourite dish here, and certainly something that we’ll be returning for.

A says:

My set dinner was decent. I think salmon isn’t something they do very often. With the size of their salads, I think I may order just a salad and another starter the next time I go.

And the place has a much friendlier atmosphere when it isn’t packed. Most of the servers were very friendly and not too snotty like the last time we went. It can still be a bit hard to get their attention though.

L'Angelus
85 Club Street
Tel: 6225-6897
Lunch: Monday to Friday, 12 to 2 pm
Dinner: Monday to Saturday, 7 pm till late
Closed Sunday

The Sweet Stone Parad’Ice

C says:

Ok, the real reason A was keen to have Thai was because a Golden Mile Food Centre opposite, there’s a new gelato and waffle stall inside the hawker centre. The stall certainly stands out amongst the chicken rice, char siew and other generic hawker stalls – the walls have wood panels, it looks clean and sleek, and it’s owned and run by a Belgian guy and a very articulate Singapore Chinese.


Their specialty is Liege waffles, which you can order with gelato, or with chocolate dip. We decided to try the gelato – a scoop each of chocolate, chocolate mint and banana.


The waffles were lovely – thought they looked quite thick, they were surprisingly crisp, and very fragrant. The ice cream was a bit of a letdown though; generally too frothy and runny for my liking. Out of the three, the banana complemented the waffles best. Next time, I’ll just have the waffles with chocolate dip. Apparently they have fondue as well, which we may try next time as well.

Business was quite good – almost a never-ending stream of customers, and one of the owners, James Lee, takes the time to talk to all the customers, and offer a loyalty card as well. Well, as long as this stall is here, I’m sure I’ll get to have more Thai food across the street…

A says:

The waffles are really good. Very small though. And the way they serve it (wrapped in wax paper) makes it super difficult to eat with the gelato.

As for the gelato, I tried the banana and the chocolate flavours which were pretty good, but not fantastic. But then again, it’s only $1.80 per scoop so it’s cheap.

Overall, you get great taste for how much you pay. It’s a good thing I don’t work around the area anymore or I’d have a serving of this everyday.

The Sweet Stone Parad’Ice
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road
#01-67/76
Sebastien: 9007-8565
James: 9738-9868
Open daily 11.30 am to 9.30 pm (Mon & Wed closed 6 pm)

Diandin Leluk Thai Restaurant

C says:

Will wonders never cease? A actually agreed to have Thai food again today! When he was working in the Beach Road area, he tried this place a couple of times, and decided to bring me here to try it.

The restaurant is actually a branch of the Tuk Tuk Thai family, with other outlets at Suntec and Amoy Street, to name a few. It’s located in Golden Mile Complex, the infamous Thai hangout along Beach Road.

There were loads of things on the menu that I wanted to try, but we ended up having a Tom Yam soup (for me), and a rice with basil chicken (for A). The basil chicken was very good – very fragrant and tasty, and surprisingly packed quite a punch from the bits of chilli padi that were thrown into the mix.


My Tom Yam was really good – the stock was really rich, so the tom yam soup wasn’t just clear orange but slightly murky. It was packed with lemongrass, galangal slices and kaffir lime leaves, adding to the very heady and authentic flavour. The seafood was passable – the squid pieces were a little on the chewy side, but it was still very shiok (note: later in the afternoon I certainly paid the price for slurping up all of the fiery broth).


They do a good iced tea and lemongrass juice here too. Next time we’re here, I want to try the green curry and pineapple rice. Oh, and if you’re into ‘street food’, they operate a stall opposite the restaurant selling all manner of things on sticks – whole catfish, chicken legs, livers and other strange things. Very interesting indeed.


A says:

Considering I don’t like “exotic” food, I could actually eat almost everything here (I still won’t touch anything with Tom Yam in the name though). Prices are also very reasonable considering you get pretty big portions for the more expensive dishes.

Diandin Leluk Thai Restaurant
5001 Beach Road
#01-67/68
Golden Mile Complex
Tel: 6293-5101

Newton Circus Chicken Wings: Taste Test

C says:

Still dreaming about last week’s chicken wings, today I decided to head back to Newton to do a taste test of the 2 chicken wing stalls – Weng’s and Fatty’s BBQ that we had last week.

These are Weng’s Chicken Wings:


And these are Fatty’s:


The verdict was so clear that it wasn’t even fun – Fatty’s wins hands down. Weng’s wings were overdone and a little dry, and flat-tasting. Fatty’s on the other hand were juicy and succulent, and much better seasoned – sweet and tart at the same time. Plus, Fatty’s chilli sauce has lime/lemon, which works better with the wings than Weng’s garlic chilli sauce.

I’m glad we did a comparison. Now I can make a beeline for Fatty’s right away.

A says:

Fatty’s wings are definitely better. I prefer Weng’s garlicky chili though.

Fatty’s BBQ Wings
Newton Circus Hawker Centre
Stall 40

Galbiati Gourmet Deli

C says:

Rail Mall at Upper Bukit Timah seems to have gotten a new lease of life. The last time we came to our old-favourite Rockys was more than a year, even two years ago, and back them it was a fairly sleep strip mall with just a few nondescript cafes, pet shops, dessert stores and restaurants.

When we were there on Friday night at around 9.15 pm, it was still buzzing with life. Finding a car park is well nigh impossible, and lots more eateries and watering holes have sprouted up. Rockys is still there, as well as Ramen Ramen, but Blooies has set up shop there as well, as well as a strange seafood restaurant called Let’s Clap that boasts an outdoor show-kitchen.

We were there to try a new bistro – Galbiati, that looks amazingly similar to Da Paolo’s Gastronomica. There is an array of antipasti and salads, as well as pizzas and hot food.


A and I shared a Stuffed Portobello Mushroom to start with, and while it doesn’t look too appetising, it tasted really good. The Portobello mushroom was stuffed with even more mushrooms – a mix of shitake, button and some wild mushrooms, and the result was quite a heady mushroom hit.


I decided on the Spaghetti with Squid Ink Sauce, which came with pieces of squid. The squid ink pappardelle at Friends was better, but as it goes this was pretty good. The squid ink flavour wasn’t as strong and rich as I would’ve liked, but the good thing about it was that it wasn’t too gelak.


A had the Spinach Fettucine with Clams, Garlic and White Wine. This started out good at first, but after a while, somehow it got a little overbearing. Maybe the white wine was too strong. Next time I think I’ll try the penne with crabmeat, cream and vodka, and I know A will make a beeline for the salmon ravioli.

This is quite a pleasant place, and much more easygoing than then sometimes overly-poncey Gastronomica. Their starters look very appetising, so maybe we’ll actually have more starters next time, and just share one main.

A says:

The mushroom was good, even though it was pre-made and had been sitting in the display. The mains we had were nothing special, but I don’t think those are Chef Roberto’s specialties. Roberto was also very friendly and easy to talk to. This place is definitely worth a visit if you live around the area.

Galbiati Gourmet Deli
Rail Mall
400 Upper Bukit Timah Road
Tel: 6462-0926
Open daily from 10 am to 10 pm

Fatty’s BBQ Wings, Newton Circus

C says:

Ahhhh…. Bliss…. I had a chicken wing craving again today, so we headed over to Newton. This is my first visit to Newton since the major renovations, and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. We managed to find parking although it was 7.30 pm on a Saturday night, and got an empty table fairly quickly without needing one of the seafood bbq touts to score one for us. It helped that it was a fairly cool night, as well.

The place is much cleaner and airier now, with the centre section nicely landscaped. Don’t expect much variety though, because about 80% of the stalls sell seafood bbq. Still, we were there for one thing and one thing only – bbq chicken wings!! There are about 4 stalls selling such wings, with 2 that looked more prominent – Fatty’s BBQ Wings and Otah, and Weng’s Chicken Wings. I decided to go with Fatty’s this time.


We ordered 10 chicken wings between the two of us, and nothing else. At first when the plate arrived piled high, we got a little worried that we ordered too much. However, these are seriously addictive, and slowly but surely we polished off each and every one. I dare say these are better than the ones at Glutton’s Bay. They’re more savoury and less sweet, and the chili sauce is tangier and more garlicky.

Next time (probably next week…) I’ll try the other stall – Weng’s Chicken Wings. I’ll either order all from Weng’s, or maybe order a few stalls and do a taste test.

A says:

It’s pretty good. I’m not the chicken wing fanatic that C is so I have nothing further to add.

Fatty’s BBQ Wings
Newton Circus Hawker Centre
Stall 40

Wah Kee Prawn Noodles

C says:

Yet another case of the memory of a dish being better than reality, just like the Rendezvous Nasi Padang. This prawn noodle place used to be at the Farrer Park hawker centre at Race Course Road, but moved when the place was redeveloped. It relocated at Cambridge Road (Pek Kio) Food Centre, but somehow I hardly came back after they moved.

Back when it was at Farrer Road, I used to order prawn noodles with pig’s liver, and I remember it being extraordinary. The soup was rich and potent – orange and almost opaque with prawny goodness. The liver was perfectly cooked, that is to say, it was verging on underdone.

Since they moved, I almost forgot about this place until I read about it again on ieatishootipost. I persuaded A to have brunch there on Saturday morning, but I was in for a slightly disappointing experience. Firstly, the auntie at the stall was the typical old-school brusque type, and her sullen demeanour was beginning to annoy me. Secondly, when I asked for pig’s liver, she glared at me and told me they don’t sell pork. A panicked call to my brother confirmed this – they stopped selling pork ribs and liver after the Nipah virus.


I ended up ordering a small $3 bowl because I don’t like big prawns. I asked for mifen-mian but ended up just with mifen. The soup looked a little thin, and although it did have some good prawny flavour, it was nowhere near as full-bodied and flavourful as before. At least it did have some yummy bits of lard sprinkled on top.

Maybe this was an off day, or maybe I should order a bowl with larger prawns because maybe the larger prawns contribute to the richness of the broth. That is, if I can convince A to come here again. Prawn noodle soup seems to be very high on his ‘Don’t Touch With a 10-Foot Pole’ list.

A says:

Not a lot of choices so I don’t think I’d go back. Although there is a very good soya bean stall with the best “black & white” (soya bean with chin chow) I’ve had in a long time.

Wah Kee Prawn Noodles
Blk 41A Cambridge Road Hawker Centre (Pek Kio)#01-15
7.30am to 2pm. Closed on Mondays

Tea Cosy, Eclectic Attic

C says:

A and I had dinner at this very interesting place in Plaza Singapura on Tuesday night. The café is called Tea Cosy, and it’s nestled inside a shop called Eclectic Attic, selling all sorts of collectibles, antiques and flea market finds – from vintage clothes and accessories to furniture and knick-knacks.

At first glance, the shop just looks like a vintage furniture store. We happened to chance upon it only because we parked on that level, and saw a menu scribbled on a white board outside the store on our way from the carpark. That’s when we peered inside the store and realised that they had place settings at the tables. We took a seat at one of the tables, and realised that everything is for sale – from the decorations on the table to the wooden benches that we were sitting on, and even down to the crockery, I think.



The place is really quaint because no two tables are alike, although it feels really strange eating on the very furniture that they are trying to sell. There was a funky-looking table with a chair that looked like a wagon, but unfortunately it was taken.

The a la carte menu is centred on tea and desserts, but there’s a fairly good choice of hot dishes too, like grilled dory, minute steak, garlic prawns and even foie gras. Prices for the hot mains are in the region of early $20s. There’s also a daily set menu that’s available for both lunch and dinner. For $15.95, you get a soup/salad, a sandwich/pasta, and a ‘surprise’ dessert which consisted of a tiny square of cake.

In addition to the mushroom soup that we chose for our starter, A and I also shared a starter from the a la carte menu – the grilled mushrooms with parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes. The menu said there would be a 15 minute wait, but these ended up coming even before our soup.


There was a mixture of shitake and button mushrooms. Surprisingly, even though I’m a bigger fan of buttons than shitakes, this dish worked better with the shitakes; maybe because shitakes have a stronger flavour in general. The mushrooms are drizzled with a buttery parmesan cheese combi and baked till the cheese is melted and golden. Unlike A, I’m not a big fan of sundried tomatoes but I do admit that they did add some kick to the mushrooms.

The mushroom soup isn’t really worth mentioning – it was quite thin, not particularly flavourful, and seemed to have a faint aroma of coriander/cilantro/kng chye. Enough said.


A’s main was an open-faced sandwich with smoked salmon. This was totally up his alley – it was like being back in Scandinavia again, heh. The smoked salmon was served on hamburger buns, and was accompanied with an interesting coleslaw of carrots and broccoli.


I chose the duck pasta with sundried tomato sauce. Actually, I didn’t notice the sundried tomato sauce when I ordered it – I just saw “duck” and “pasta” and decided to order it. The sundried tomato sauce turned out to be a light cream sauce with diced sundried tomatoes. I ended up leaving most of the tomatoes behind and A polished them off. They were quite generous with the shredded duck, although the duck flavour was particularly strong. It was quite spicy too, thanks to chilli flakes that I found in the sauce.

I can’t get over how surreal it was to have dinner inside a furniture store. Still, it was a pleasant experience, and some of their tea-time offerings look pretty good, like hot scones and a selection of tea cakes. This may be a nice place to chill out after shopping – it’ll probably be nice to plonk yourself there with a good book and have a tea and some scones.

A says:

Interesting ambience, but the seats next to the window (which is really most of them) can leave you with a bit of a fish tank feel.

Service was very good, but that’s not saying much since we were pretty much the only ones there.

Food was better than expected but nothing really great. I do like how the menu selection isn’t all that boring. Considering the dining choices at PS are pretty generic, if I had to eat there, this would be one of my preferred choices.

Tea Cosy
Eclectic Attic
#05-10 Plaza Singapura
Tel: 6836-9736
Opening hours: 11 am to 9.30 pm

(Takeout Fish N Chips from) Greenwood Fish Market

C says:

We finally tried the takeout fish and chips from Greenwood Fish Market tonight. M (of M&S, not M&M) told us this was the only good thing at this place. To be fair, I’ve only been to the restaurant proper once, a few years ago, but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed back then.

Their fish and chips tonight were great, though. The smell in the car on the way home was excrutiating – it took immense will power not to rip the bag open there and then. When we finally got home, they were still hot and quite crispy – I think they deliberately pack them in paper bags instead of plastic boxes so that the food doesn’t get soggy.


The fish is done traditional-style – light and fluffy batter, seasoned but not too salty, and white flaky fish inside. The chips are pretty good too, but the dips deserve special mention. The tartare sauce is awesome, and there’s also a sweet chilli sauce that’s very good with the chips and very addictive.

If you order the fish and chips in the restaurant, it costs $24.95 and you get two John Dory fish fillets. The takeout version uses New Zealand white fish, but you still get two big pieces, and a huge helping of chips, for just $9.50. It’s a great deal, and kudos (or mad props) to A for suggesting this for dinner tonight.

A says:

Ordering stuff on the phone from this place is super easy. Top marks to the service on the phone. While I don’t usually like this kind of fish & chips (I prefer the breaded kind), the condiments made this meal really good. I only wish I had some malt vinegar as well.

Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro
34 Greenwood Avenue
Tel: 6467-4650
12 – 2.30 pm, 6.30 – 10 pm. Closed Mondays

Pizza Pazza

C says:

This place, a pizzeria within a food court, has changed hands since it was first opened by Romanian chef Peter Bontoi, who used to own the now defunct Il Piccolo at Crown Centre. He has apparently sold the place and is now running his own chef for hire business. Pizza Pazza is now run by a Chinese lady, and there’s a Pasta Pazza stall opposite as well.

Quality has dipped slightly since the change, but not significantly. It’s still pretty good, and now besides their basic pizzas (you can choose any or all of their toppings - $5 for a 7 inch and $12 for a 12 inch), they have a few premier ones as well, like Proscuitto Crudo, Smoked Salmon and Seafood. Prices for these are for a 12 inch pizza – for half the price you can get a 7 inch version.



We had a half size each of the Proscuitto Crudo and Smoked Salmon pizzas. The Proscuitto came with a runny egg so that was good, but the parma ham was a little hard to bite into. The salmon was good but a little on the salty side. In short, I think I still prefer the make-your-own pizzas.

If anyone is interested, they also do catering, and all cutlery and crockery is provided. It’s just $10 per person, minimum 20 pax, and you get salad, pizzas, lasagne, some pastas, and panna cotta for dessert.

A says:

The pizzas are very good for the price. Definitely the most value for money pizza around (I’m ignoring the cheap ones that taste like cardboard). The only problem with this place is the 7” is too small and the 12” is too big.

Pizza Pazza
Oscar’s Food Mall
Anchorpoint
Tel: 6474-3626

Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee

C says:

I thought this place would bring back fond memories, because way before it became Rendezvous Hotel, this restaurant occupied the ground floor and I used to come here for Sunday lunch with my family almost every week. That was ages ago, but I remember that it had swinging wooden doors, like a Wild West saloon, and it serve one of the best chicken curries ever.

When M told me recently that the restaurant was still around and it had just moved to the second floor, I was pretty excited but alas, it was quite a disappointment when we were here on Saturday. The saloon door was gone, and although they tried to retain some old school tables and chairs, the food itself was a pale replica of its former self.


We ordered the sayur lodeh, chicken curry, beef rendang, curried chicken liver and some fried beans and tau kwa that was ambiguously called sambal goreng. Among these, only the rendang was good – it was tender and the rempah was quite flavourful. Everything else was lacklustre at best. The sayur lodeh was tasteless (the colour should’ve given me a clue), the sambal goreng was bland, and while the liver was quite creamy, the curry itself was quite flat.

I had high expectations for the chicken, but it was a letdown as well. I don’t know if the years have raised my standards, or whether time has dulled my memory, but I’m almost certain this can’t have been the curry that kept us going back week after week. The gravy was half-hearted, and the chicken hadn't absorbed much of the curry flavour. It almost tasted like plain boiled chicken with curry poured over it as an afterthought. I’ll take the chicken curry at River Valley Nasi Padang any day.

Actually, insipid is the word that springs to mind when I think about the food in general. It wasn’t bad, it was just…blah. The curries weren’t spicy, weren’t rich, weren’t anything really. It felt franchised, like the chef was just going through the motions and following a recipe, but there somehow wasn’t any soul or personality to the food.

Prices are far from reasonable as well – we paid a hefty $34 for lunch. I guess this place caters to tourists who want an “authentic” nasi padang, or families who want to dine in air-conditioned comfort. For me, I’m definitely not going back. In fact, now I need to go to River Valley soon to remind myself how good nasi padang can be.

A says:

Beef rendang was good, but everything else was very blah. So not worth it.

Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee
#02-02/03 Hotel Rendezvous Gourmet Gallery
9 Bras Basah Road
Tel: 6339-7508

What would YOUR last meal be?

C says:

Every Sunday I read the interviews in the papers with celebrities, cookbook authors, chefs and the like, and I especially enjoy reading their answers to the question “What would your last meal be?” The answers are sometimes predictable and sometimes a little questionable, but always interesting.

I’ve been meaning to come up with my own list for ages, but actually going through my entire mental food encyclopaedia was just too daunting so I’ve always put it off. Still, I would like to put some sort of list together, so bearing in mind that it’s in a constant state of flux, depending on what random food suddenly springs to mind, here’s what would constitute my ideal last meal.

1) Chicken wings – Possibly the one food that I absolutely can’t resist. Maybe I’ll have a couple of the buffalo wings from Sunset, and another couple of the hawker centre-style wings, a la Huat Huat.

2) Jonker Street satay, from Malacca. This is Chinese satay at its best - both the pork and intestine versions have alternating layers of pork fat; the intestine version is absolutely fabulous when slightly burnt.

3) Aburi-toro sushi (seared fatty tuna sushi) – I’m surprised that this made the list, but I suddenly thought of the sushi we had at Sushi Tei, and that initial bliss when I bit into the seared tuna belly sushi and it both melted and imparted a charred smoky flavour at the same time.

4) Valentino’s Lobster Pasta with Pink Sauce – This initially wasn’t on A’s list but when I mentioned it, he decided he wanted some of mine too.

5) Roast Kurobuta pork belly with crackling - essentially, high-end gourmet siew yoke

6) Krispy Kreme Original Glazed – Need I say more.

A says:

- Starter of Insalata Caprese (salad of tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and olive oil) with Smoked salmon
- Slice of pizza with parma ham, mushrooms, beef, garlic and extra cheese
- Iggy’s Burger
- Salmon Mayo sushi
- Valentino’s Live Lobster Pasta
- Original Glazed Krispy Kreme
- New Zealand Natural Chocolate Extreme Shake

Gluttons Bay, Esplanade

C says:

We came here on Wednesday night, thinking we’d have a quick dinner after work, but it didn’t turn out that quick after all, because the traffic from A’s office at Tanjong Pagar to the Esplanade was ridiculous. Anyway, the last time we were here was on a Friday night, and I definitely recommend coming here on a weekday night instead. The place is pleasantly filled – not crowded so no long queues at any of the stalls, yet not deserted enough to make you feel uncomfortable.

I’ve been meaning to come here because I’ve been craving some good hawker centre chicken wings for a while. The ones from Huat Huat (Stall F) are great – perfectly barbequed, still juicy and not overcooked, with a sweet honey glaze and slightly garlicky seasoning. Perfect when dipped into the essential tangy chilli sauce that accompanies the wings.


When we were last here, I remembered thinking that I had to have the Thye Hong Fried Hokkien Mee on our next visit. Alas, the stall has changed to Hup Kee – apparently they’re from the original Gluttons Square in Orchard Road. They still serve the noodles on opeh leaves, just like Thye Hong, but somehow the hokkien mee didn’t have much oomph. It was certainly no where near the standard of Nam Sing – the stock wasn’t as rich and hearty, and there wasn’t enough wok hei aroma. And I now understand what Nam Sing are getting at when they insist on not serving sambal chilli with their noodles. The Hup Kee one came with a huge dollop of sambal, and while it was very good sambal (quite spicy, not overly sweet), somehow it adulterated the pure taste of the noodles.


A had the char kuay teow, also from Hup Kee, because for some reason there isn’t anything that he seriously craves at this place. The char kuay teow was pretty good - quite spicy but also pretty oily. At least the cockles were fresh and cooked perfectly (I can’t stand cockles that are too raw), but they weren’t so cooked that they were rubbery.

I noticed a few other tables ordering from the zi char stall (Sew An Seafood Cze Char, Stall H), so maybe the food there is good too. For me, I’ll just stick to having the chicken wings here – lots and lots of them.

A says:

My advice is to go on a weekday so it’s easy to get a good table and there aren’t really queues. Parking at Esplanade is easy as well.

The food is good but expensive as hawker fare goes. It’s probably worth it if you’re coming all the way here though. And they have good teh-cino at the makansutra drink stall as well. I’ll probably try the mee goreng or kaya fondue on my next visit.

Hup Kee (Orchard Road) Char Kuay Teow and Fried Prawn Noodles
Stall L

Huat Huat Chicken Wings/Carrot Cake
Stall F

Mmmm! (Meats, Marinates & Much More)

C says:

This store, located on the fourth floor of the new Novena Square 2, was just 3 days old when we chanced upon it on Monday night. They sell primarily frozen meats –about 90% of their stock is frozen, but they do have some chilled meats on offer as well. A quick disclaimer – since the meats here are frozen, I don’t think it’s fair to make comparisons between the quality of the meat here, and fresh meats that you can get at specialist butchers like The Butcher or Swiss Butchery.

Mmmm! imports meats from primarily USA, Australia and Brazil. After speaking to the owner, I found out that they have already been supplying to hotels and restaurants, and this retail store is an attempt for them to reach out to the general public. Most of the meats are nicely sliced, portioned and vacuum-packed; this is done by them (not their suppliers) in their warehouse. There’s quite a vast array of meats – thinly sliced belly pork for sukiyaki, whole pork knuckles, single portion rib-eye steaks and lamb chops, just to name a few.


Since we were having a family barbeque on Tuesday evening, I decided to take the opportunity to see if the meat here is up to scratch. I couldn’t resist the amazing marbling, and bought two 300g packs of US boneless beef short rib slices (commonly known as Karubi); each pack costs about $11. We had one pack at the barbeque, and I kept the other pack for dinner one night with A – I may season it with some teriyaki sauce, and sear it on my grill pan.


At the barbeque, I simply dabbed some oil on the meat, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Because the slices were so thin, I had to take care not to overcook them. A few quick flips on the grill was all it took. I was a bit too light-handed with the salt, but generally I think the quality of the meat passed with flying colours. The meat was tender and flavourful, probably due in no small part to the marbling of fat running through the meat. It didn’t have the sweetness of the meat from The Butcher though, although I’m not sure whether that’s due to the fact that it was frozen meat, or the cut of the beef itself.

Either way, this store definitely shows promise. Prices aren’t that high since the meats aren’t air-flown, and you can buy in relative bulk because the meats are so well packed that as long as you store them in your freezer, they have a shelf life of about one year. It’s useful when you want to keep some meat on hand at home just in case, and it’s such a shame to buy good air-flown chilled meats just to stick them in the freezer. At least here I have no qualms doing it because they were bought frozen to begin with.

For a newly opened store, they’re certainly very well-stocked, but the same can’t be said of their general administration. They hadn’t printed any name cards yet, and only accepted cash that day. But I guess I have to cut them lots of slack for a three day-old joint. The staff were very helpful though, and the most important part – the meat – doesn’t seem to face the same opening-week teething problems.

A says:

This is probably the place to go for something between boring supermarket meat and fancy butchery cuts. That’s if you can find the place. Novena Square 2 is damn confusing siah.

Mmmm, Meats Marinates & Much More
10 Sinaran Drive
#-4-55 Novena Square 2
Tel: 6397-6818