Kome Japanese Dining

C says:

Kome is a fairly new Japanese restaurant opened by Lawrence Chia – the brother of Ronnie Chia of Tatsuya fame. The location – part of Keppel Club – seems a rather strange choice for a fine dining Japanese joint, but it’s open to the public so I guess it’s no different from driving to Keppel Island or even Sentosa for a meal.

It’s probably better to come here for lunch because, just like Tatsuya, Kome has some quite prohibitively expensive items on their menu (their omakase sets start at $95 per person, I think), but at lunchtime they have a selection of bentos for $22.90 each. Some of the starters and main courses aren’t too astronomical, so we managed to try a number of items when we came here with A’s folks (Keppel Club members) on Saturday night.


I ordered, what else, the hamachi kama (will she ever stop?!). The fish was very good here, but it fell short of being better than Akashi because of the rice. I ordered a bowl of sushi rice to go with it, and it was just too sweet. I prefer the vinegared rice to be just that – vinegared and slightly tart. Because it was so sweet, it didn't go as well with the grilled fish.


A ordered the Chirashi Sushi, which came in a pretty decent-sized portion for $28. A actually thought that the fish here was one of the best he’s had, and even better than at Tatsuya. Unfortunately I would have to differ, because one of the pieces of salmon sashimi I had actually had a bone in it! It was a small ½ cm piece of a pinbone, but a bone nonetheless.

A’s folks ordered a beef sukiyaki set for 2 persons, which surprisingly took ages to arrive given that most of the food is actually raw… The beef was excellent though – sliced thin enough but not so paper-thin that you don’t get to chew anything, and fantastically marbled and full of flavour.


We ordered a couple of side dishes to try, which were ok but not spectacular. The seared swordfish and foie gras tataki was an interesting flavour combination, and the cheesily-named Keppel Maki, with swordfish, salmon skin and asparagus, was ok but a bit too filling for my liking. The tuna in the Maguro Miso tasted quite meaty, but again somehow the dish failed to really excite.

I think we’re planning to come back again at lunch time one day to try the bentos, then we’ll be in a better position to compare this place with Tatsuya’s lunch sets, because at the moment the lunch we had at Tatsuya still beats the dinner here tonight.

A says:

I actually like the slightly sweeter rice. The food is good, the service is really good and ambience isn’t too imposing.

I’m just not sure if it’s worth the trip out to Keppel if you don’t live around here anyway. Also, the tables are a bit small if you’re ordering multiple dishes.

Kome Japanese Dining
Keppel Club
10 Bukit Chermin Road
Tel: 6273-0118
Lunch: 12pm - 3pm
Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.00pm

Tampopo

C says:

Tampopo has moved! They now occupy much larger premises on the ground floor of Liang Court, so don't be fooled into thinking that they're still at the basement unit within Meidi-Ya. That’s been taken over by another joint, which serves similar fare.

The new Tampopo is much bigger, but because of the publicity after its renovation, it’s also more crowded. They’ve got a really funky electronic ordering system, that not only lets you key in selected orders (sushi and sashimi) via a touch screen, but your order will get delivered right to your table via a conveyor belt. You don't have to grab it like at other sushi joints – here it’s programmed via microchip technology to actually be pushed right onto your table. Very cool; I got a big kick out of using it, much to the chagrin of the waiter.


Anyway, I’m back on my quest to try the Hamachi Kama at most self-respecting Japanese restaurants. The one here is very good value - $25 for one entire side of the head, compared to other places which only serve the collar for the same price or even more. It may have been good value, but I think the one at Akashi was still better in terms of taste. Akashi’s was better salted/seasoned, and their vinegared rice is unsurpassed.


We also ordered the aburi saba sushi – blowtorched mackerel sushi. Wow… we haven’t had a reaction like this since our first time trying the aburi sushi at Sushi Tei. The mackerel was flavourful and slightly fatty, and aburi-ed just right.

Their desserts here are also very good but unfortunately they sell out fast. And we’re not saying which are the better ones cos we want them for ourselves, heh.

A says:

I’m going to stop recommending stuff I like cause it always sells out. So with that in mind, don’t come here. And especially don’t order the desserts.

Tampopo
177 River Valley Road
Liang Court Shopping Centre
#01-23/24
Tel: 6338-3186
Open: 11.30am - 10.30pm daily

Brown Sugar Bistro

C says:

I had a belated birthday dinner with the gang on Saturday night at Brown Sugar. (Thanks all, and eep sorry I was uncharacteristically late). We hadn’t been back since our first and only visit when they first opened, more than a year ago, and there’s been considerable buzz about the place since then, so we were looking forward to dinner.

While there were a couple of kinks here and there, at least this didn't disappoint in the way that La Noce thoroughly did. We had a table of 12, so I think that had to be taken into account when considering the slight slowness in the arrival of the food.



I had the seared scallops with carrot mousse and asparagus appetiser. The carrot mousse had orange in it as well, and was a bit too sweet for my liking. The sauce for the scallops was good though, and generally this was quite good; I just thought the portion was a bit small for the price ($18). A’s starter was quite confusing – molten (or as he insisted, mountain) goat cheese tart with escargots. The snails were actually served separate from the tart, atop the salad, and they tasted rather ‘green’, and definitely needed the cheese to detract from the flavour.


The hand-chopped wagyu burger came very highly recommended. You can choose to have it topped with foie gras or without. I decided to go the whole hog and had it with the foie gras. I think almost half of our table had this as their main course, and reactions/ results were mixed. First off, I think their doneness is touch and go, really. My medium rare turned out pretty ok. J (of K&J) ordered medium and his looked a lot like mine. Y’s medium rare ended up looking almost like steak tartare!

I can’t fault the taste – the meat was quite tasty and flavourful, but the patty was so loosely formed that even with a fork and knife it was really hard to eat. Plus the burger buns were quite hard to cut into, which made it even harder to eat.


A’s linguine was safer but also slightly more boring. It came with a cream sauce with organic mushrooms and topped with parma ham. Not bad, but not stellar either.

Feedback from some of the others were: J (of Y&J) found his rack of lamb to be good, but again the medium rare came out more like rare. Plus, he’d ordered the duck breast special, only to be told much later that they had run out, so he had to change his order. B had the seafood linguine which was served in parchment paper. It looked interesting, but she said it was overcooked.



The dessert selection here is quite good – quite a number of them were calling to me, including the sticky date pudding which S arranged to be served to me on a plate, complete with candle. For regular orders of this, it comes in a bowl with the sauce already poured on top. A’s mille feuille with banana mousse and ice cream was quite yummy too.

Thanks again all, for dinner and the pressie *muah* We had two tables so I didn't get to find out everyone’s thoughts about the food, so do post comments ;p

Will we come back? There are certainly other new places that I’d like to try before going back, but all in all while nothing really blew me away, it was quite pleasant and I wasn’t disappointed with anything.

A says:

The food here falls just short of great. I just can’t help but feel that we can find better elsewhere.

I also think that they’re understaffed. Service was bad when the place was full, but improved substantially once people started leaving.

Also, parking spaces here are limited, so come early.

Brown Sugar
277 River Valley Road
Stardus Clubhouse(enter via Institution Hill)
Tel: 6333-6612
Opening hours: Tue-Sat, lunch & dinner, All Day Sunday Brunch 10am-4pm
Closed Monday (unless Public Holiday)
Public Holidays: Fri & Sat - open as usual, other Public Holidays, even Monday - All Day Brunch 10am-4pm

Valentino’s

C says:

We had a slightly subdued trip to Valentino’s on Friday, because A was having a very bad headache. Still, the absolutely amazing starter special went quite a ways towards reviving him – he felt almost normal again after having it.


The starter was a twisted mozzarella, where the cheese was twirled to almost resemble a croissant. It was served with cherry tomatoes, and whilst not included, the server recommended some parma ham to accompany it so we ordered some on the side.

This was insanely good. Each separate ingredient was already quite stellar – the cheese was creamy and subtly flavoured (not watery and tasteless like some low-quality mozzarellas), the cherry tomatoes were ripe, sweet and so intensely flavoured that they just had to have been vine-ripened, and the parma ham was paper-thin and well-cured. But together, it was such a riot of complementing flavours that we were pretty much speechless.

What also rendered me speechless was the table of chi chi tai tais next door. Two of them ordered the mozzarella starters, and each of them left almost half of the cheese behind! Argh! Do you not appreciate good produce, people?!

Needless to say, we’re definitely going to order this if it’s ever on the specials list again.

A says:

They weren’t chi chi tai tais lah. Just desperate housewives. And to be far, the portions are big for a single person (not for atetoomuch).

Anyway, as always, food and service were both great. I had a headache when we got there, and one bite of the starter mostly cured it.

I wouldn’t recommend that you go there just so it’ll be easier for us to get a reservation and find parking.

Ristorante da Valentino
11 Jalan Bingka (off Rifle Range Road)
Tel: 6462-0555
Tuesday to Sunday: 12 pm to 2.30 pm, 6 pm to 10.30 pm

Relish by Wild Rocket – 6 months on

C says:

Props to A’s friend R, who suggested Relish for dinner tonight. We hadn’t been back since our disappointing first and only visit, so if not for tonight’s dinner we wouldn't have found out that Relish has in fact improved, and perhaps on our first visit we were victims of teething problems after all.

They’ve added a few new burgers to their menu, including a brioche burger with minced pork patties, and a beef burger with blue cheese, pear and rocket, which is what I ordered. A decided to be boring and went with the old faithful Wild Rocket burger.


After the American Sliders at House, I seem to have developed a liking for blue cheese on my burgers. The one here came with a blue cheese dressing, rocket leaves, slices of tinned pears, and unfortunately some kind of peanut sauce that, to me, really didn't go with the rest of the ingredients. Then again, I’m not a fan of peanut sauce generally – I think it makes everything taste like satay... If not for the peanut sauce I wouldn't mind ordering this again, because the combination of the rest of the ingredients was actually quite good.


A’s Wild Rocket burger was nothing new but still satisfying. Again though I seem to have a problem with the sundried tomato chutney or whatever they put on it – I would much prefer it without too many fancy sauces. Maybe next time I’ll go for the bacon cheeseburger again, or perhaps I’ll finally give the Ram-lee burger a try. R had it and it looked really good.

I’m pleased to say that unlike our first time, the burger patties tonight were indeed cooked medium rare and, being adequately seasoned and not too tightly packed, were pretty tasty and finally shed some light on how Relish has managed to garner such rave reviews when initial experiences and feedback were lacklustre at best. The patties weren’t the best or the juiciest I’ve ever had, but overall this experience has definitely whet my appetite for more.

Service has also improved. The food took a while because it was almost full house on a Sunday night, but at least the waitstaff knew what they were doing, and were more than able to deal with the rush.

A says:

I think our friend D might disagree on the service considering the other six of us all got our orders very quickly, but his took forever.

Anyway, this place has redeemed itself so we can now go regularly. It’s still rather expensive for what you get though, so I don’t think it’ll be very often.

Note to self: Chocolate Cointreau milkshake’s thick and not too great. Skip it.

Relish
501 Bukit Timah Road
#02-01 Cluny Court
Tel: 6763-1547
Mon - Fri: Noon to 3 pm, 6 pm to 11 pm
Sat and Sun: Noon to 11 pm

Ember

C says:

We finally made good our intention to come to Ember more often, and not just once a year for our anniversary. Quite an indulgence to have two fancy meals in one day, but it’s my birthday today (I’m perennially 25) so indulge me :) Once again, Ember never fails to satisfy, and I left feeling very happy, and with a renewed intention to come back more often.

Besides the scallops with parma ham that we had last time, we tried 2 different starters – a deep fried tofu with a foie gras-mirin sauce, and cold angel hair pasta with sweet Japanese konbu (seaweed) and shaved abalone. Both were very different yet excellent.


The tofu was crispy on the outside and soft and light on the inside. It was topped with shimeji mushrooms and bonito flakes (you can opt for a variation with zucchini flowers that costs slightly more), and the highlight was the foie gras-mirin sauce, which was smooth, rich and creamy.


The cold angel hair pasta was actually a perfect complement to the rather heavy and oily tofu dish. The pasta really was fridge-cold and very refreshing. The combination of the sweet konbu and tender shaved abalone was light yet very tasty.



As always, one of us had the Chilean seabass, which never fails to impress and it certainly didn’t again today. I hope they never remove this dish from their menu. The other main we ordered was the slow-roasted pork belly with savoy cabbage and pomme puree (mashed potatoes). This tasted quite Asian, but it was very well prepared – the pork wasn’t too fatty and was fork-tender, yet the crackling was light and crisp.


We had some room for dessert but didn’t feel like waiting for the tarts or cakes that take up to 20 minutes, so A opted for the coconut panna cotta with gula melaka. Wow. I regretted not ordering one of my own, because this was surprisingly outstanding. It was topped with red rubies, which I thought was an interesting touch, and overall the creamy coconut pudding, gula melaka and red rubies were together perfectly.

We hope to make it here again at least once more before our anniversary in November this year, but given how 2008 has flown by so far, I won’t be surprised if the next time we write about this is our 5th anniversary.

A says:

Coconut panna cotta RAWKED! Awesome twist on red rubies. I’m definitely going to save room for that next time. Although the portions are small enough that you don’t really have to save room. 3-courses is definitely doable. And if I’m feeling hungry, I could probably go for 2 appetisers as well.

Restaurant Ember
50 Keong Saik Road
Tel: 6347-1928
Monday to Friday: Lunch 11.30 am – 2 pm, Dinner 6.30 pm – 10 pm
Saturday: Dinner only
Closed Sunday

Wood Restaurant & Bar

C says:

Evidently we’re still on our VivoCity carpark mission, because we found ourselves here again on Saturday to finally give Wood a try. Wood’s selling point is that they cook everything over wood or charcoal, to give a distinctive aroma and flavour. I’m all for charred and smoky accents in my food, but I thought that although this place boasts a very interesting concept and has a great amount of potential, it was actually slightly let down by the actual execution of the dishes.

They have a set lunch that’s also available on weekends - $28 for 2 courses, and $35 for three. Because I also wanted to try the smoked foie gras pizza, and A wanted the smoked salmon and buffalo mozzarella salad, we opted for just one set and ordered the other 2 dishes a la carte.



While the flavour of the smoked salmon was definitely impressive, A found that it didn’t actually go with the mozzarella, as the textures were too similar and didn’t really complement each other. The mozzarella also was a bit on the watery side and not as creamy as some of the better buffalo mozzarellas we’ve had. The roasted asparagus soup was good, with the smoky flavours quite evident, but be warned that the asparagus flavour is quite strong, so it’s not for non-asparagus fans.


The smoked foie gras pizza was paired with rocket, grapes and a sweet balsamic dressing. This wasn’t too bad – again I liked the fact that you could definitely taste the fact that the foie gras had been smoked, and it went well with the grapes and sweet dressing, but because A isn’t a foie gras fan, I think once is enough for this dish.


I was looking forward to their house-aged ribeye, as it was promisingly described as generously salted and grilled over their wood of the day (or something). Unfortunately, which the smoky and charred flavour was faultless, it was overdone – a clear medium as opposed to my requested medium rare, so it was way too dry and chewy.


Surprisingly, dessert was a highlight – the chocolate and earl grey crème brulee was very well done, with a distinct yet not overpowering hint of bergamot from the earl grey tea, and a perfectly caramelised top.

Interestingly, when you go to Wood’s official website, you’ll notice that it’s actually under the Caffe Bar umbrella – that casual eatery tucked within Parkway Parade. I suppose they’re aiming for a more sophisticated crowd and dining experience, so they’re not openly publicising the affiliation.

For a Saturday afternoon in an otherwise bustling VivoCity, Wood was rather quiet. When we arrived we were one of only two tables, but a few more tables arrived during the course of our meal. Still, I’m not sure that 6 tables for Saturday lunch, during the GSS, can sustain them in the long run. They suffer from a combination of poor feng shui, being located at the furthest end of one wing, and having a rather imposing frontage that gives the impression that it’s more poncey that it actually is. They could do a publicity blitz to position themselves as more accessible to regular diners.

A says:

This place is okay but nowhere near what I expected from a specialty restaurant (especially one with such a fancy frontage).

I wouldn’t mind coming back, but it’s not someplace I’d specifically go to for the food.

I’d probably recommend it if you want semi-fancy food but don’t feel like getting too dressed up. Or maybe if you’re in Vivo City and everyplace else is too crowded.

Wood Restaurant & Bar
#01-53 VivoCity (Lobby F)
Singapore 098585
Tel:6375-9663
Open daily
Lunch: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm
Dinner: Sun – Thurs 6 pm to 10 pm; Fri – Sat 6 pm to 10.30 pm

Jones the Grocer – an update

C says:

We were at Dempsey pretty early on Saturday morning (around 10.45), initially to try the breakfast/brunch menu at Culina, which apparently was only served until 11 am. We must have read a very old review/article, because when we got there, we saw that they only served lunch, and only from 11 am onwards. When asked, the servers looked a bit stunned, and said they hadn’t been serving breakfast for a long time. Because it was too early for a full-on meal, we bailed on Culina yet again, and found ourselves at next door Jones The Grocer, where extended breakfast hours on weekends are now 9.30 am to 3 pm.

This was only our second visit to Jones; the first time was back in October last year when they were still fairly new, and had some staffing and logistical problems. It was much better this time – they have more staff now, and they’re generally more clued in as well. Also, this time we were early enough for brunch, so I didn’t have to resort to having a sandwich like I did the last time.


A obviously doesn’t have any problem with sandwiches though – he ordered the bagel with smoked salmon, avocado and watercress. I like the creaminess of the avocado paired with the quite strong watercress, but as a result the smoked salmon, which was quite mildly flavoured, ended up taking a backseat. The toasted bagel was good though – I used to think bagels were overrated but this may have changed my mind.


I ordered the Jones English breakfast, consisting of eggs, sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and sourdough toast. This is a more refined, less artery-clogging version of the Penny Black fry-up; it has less oomph, and the sausages at Penny Black are much better, but at least you can enjoy this more often without the guilt. There was a slight glitch when I ordered sunny side up eggs and they served me scrambled, but they took it back and replaced it without any questions asked.

Coffees are good here – my flat white was better than A’s latte. Also, what I like about coming here is browsing the aisles after eating. This time we checked out the cheese room, and ended up getting a couple of wedges of delightfully creamy brie. Note to self: the French brie is much more strongly flavoured, but the Australian brie, being milder, lends itself to eating in more copious amounts.

A says:

Being an expat joint, I’m not surprised by the price; I just expected the portions to be bigger. My bagel looked deceptively tall only because the thin layer of salmon covered a huge load of avocado.

Although the service here is now very good, I don’t really fancy this as a breakfast place. Choupinette is still tops in my book.

Jones the Grocer
Block 9, #01-12
Dempsey Road
Tel: 6476-1512
Opening hours: Tues-Sun: 9.30am to 11pm; Mon: 9.30am to 6pm

Central (VivoCity)

C says:

Not to be confused with the shopping mall of the same name located on Eu Tong Sen Street, Central is a Hong Kong cha chan teng with other branches at Parkway Parade, Tampines Mall and, most notably, the basement of Ngee Ann City. VivoCity is their newest outlet.

Having never been to the other outlets, I can’t really make a comparison but I believe the menu offerings are different. My brother’s tried the instant noodles with luncheon meat and egg at the Ngee Ann City outlet, but that dish was conspicuously absent from the menu. Instead, they seem to have a whole section devoted to what they term ‘pick-up sticks’ – sticks of anything from fishballs, parcels of minced meat wrapped with cabbage, meat to even pig’s intestines are cooked with your choice of noodle then served either dry or in soup (I think). I think this is similar in concept to the Trolley Noodles at the Marina Square food court.


We shared a luncheon meat and egg sandwich but that was pretty uneventful – a thin sliver of luncheon meat and omelette between soft white bread. I ordered the Central special chicken with scallion la mian. The chicken was essentially poached chicken rice-style chicken topped with a spring onion and minced ginger combi (which had a tiny trace of coriander, ugh), and the noodles were tossed in a soy-based sauced and topped with some dried shrimp. The chicken wasn’t too bad, save for the hints of coriander, and the noodles were ok, if a bit ordinary.


A ordered the pork chop noodles, which came with rather generous portions of battered pork chop that were pretty tender. I really like the noodles – while they may not have had the rich taste of the wonton noodles from Hong Kong, they definitely had the texture. The noodles were delightfully springy, which is quite rare here in Singapore.

The drinks and dessert items far outweigh the food proper here, which is a little strange. A had the yin yang and I, to nurse a throat that’s still very slightly under the weather, opted for the hot ginger drink. This tasted like the ginger teas that they always serve at the start/end of spa treatments, but a much more intense version. This really packed a punch but also really hit the spot.

I expect we’ll be back, at least in the month of June, cos we still have parking credits in VivoCity that we need to use up by then. I’m definitely going for something with the springy noodles.

A says:

Sigh. Another place where the wait staff don’t speak English.

At least our waitress wrote down the numbers of our orders and asked us to check.

Anyway, the selection of food is not big and the standard is decent. The desserts and drink selection is much better and I’ll probably go try the interesting items when I’m hungrier. The only thing off-putting is the inclusion of durian items (like Durian Fried Rice. What’s up with that?!). Durian really taints everything near it.

Central
#B2-13/14 VivoCity
Tel: 6376-8270

Pasta de Waraku

C says:

Alas, we haven’t been very experimental of late, so we’ve been a bit quiet. Hopefully this weekend will see us trying at least one new place, but in the meantime, we thought we’d write a bit more about Pasta de Waraku at Novena Square 2. We had dental appointments in the area on Saturday, so took the opportunity to try more stuff at Waraku.

Once again, confronted with the mind-boggling array of choices, we were undecided until the very last minute. We ended up having the Okonomiyaki pizza, which I liked so much from our previous trip, as well as 3 other pastas. Yes, 4 dishes for 2 of us to share. No wonder the waiter and the table next to us were shocked… In our defence, the portions are quite small, we hadn’t had breakfast, and we ended up not really having much dinner either.



We tried 3 new pastas: a carbonara with squid and spicy cod roe, a Bolognese, and something from the seasonal specialty menu – tuna and mushroom with oma sauce or something. The carbonara was pretty good, and what dish isn’t made better by the addition of mentaiko? The Bolognese was a little odd – it had a distinctly smoky aroma and aftertaste, which I quite liked because it made the dish a little less ordinary, but A wasn’t too keen on it.


The oma sauce spaghetti was NOT my cup of tea, though. The sauce turned out to be somewhat like a pesto, but I couldn’t identify what herbs went into it, and there was definitely a lot of seaweed involved as well. Well, A seemed to be ok with it, though I’m not sure if it’s because it was his choice and he felt obliged to finish it.

The pizza wasn’t as good as I remember, but generally I have no complaints with this place, as long as you come knowing full well what to expect (and what not to).

A says:

2 mains for 2 would be right if you’re not too hungry. 3 mains for 2 if you’re reasonably hungry. And 4 for 2 if you’re starving and write for atetoomuch.

Although the food is only average, I really like the variety and the service at this place. Plus they have chocolate milkshakes!

Note: This place is not for those who can’t take watered-down Japanese versions of pasta.

Pasta de Waraku
Square 2 (Novena)
10 Sinaran Drive
Tel: 6397-6266
Open daily: 11.30 am to 11 pm (last order 10.30 pm)

Stew Haus

C says:

Fancy having stew cooked by LKY? That’s Benedict LKY, the affable and sometimes over-the-top owner of Stew Haus along East Coast Road. He is very proud, and certainly makes no secret, of the fact that he’s also called Lee Kuan Yew – a fact that was played out at length when his restaurant was featured on Makansutra Raw.

We came here on Saturday night with A’s Mart buddies, to bid a fond farewell to one of their own. Besides a variety of about 8 savoury stews, another of Stew Haus’ specialities is their pork knuckle, so we ordered a few helpings of the knuckle and a wide selection of stews to share. I’m just going to attach a few photos, because after a while the stews ended up looking the same… Taste-wise they were pretty different though, and we all had differing views on which was our favourite.


For me, the winner hands-down was the German oxtail, followed by the lamb shank stew. The oxtail was a full-bodied, richer version of its lighter and more subtle lamb shank cousin. The oxtail pieces had been slow-cooked to perfection, with the tendons in the meat breaking down to give a great thickness to the sauce. A preferred the Lamb and Guinness (sup kambing, as it was affectionately called) because it was lighter in texture, but flavour-wise was actually still quite strong. The alcohol had been cooked away but there was still a strong trace of Guinness.


The Osso Bucco here uses pork shank rather than veal, which was interesting but made for slightly tougher meat. The Hungarian Goulash was so-so, and I didn’t try the mussel stew, but the Chicken Stroganoff was surprising. We ordered it because it had come recommended over the Gumbo, but when it first arrived, it paled in comparison to the rich red-meat stews. At the end of the night though, as I was picking through leftover portions, I realised that after enjoying the various heavy, meaty ones, the Chicken Stroganoff was actually a welcome breath of fresh air, being tasty yet light enough not to overwhelm.


For a stew house, the pork knuckle was great – deep fried till the crackling was really crispy. The downside to that though, is the meat got a bit hard as a result. What I liked was that they deboned and chopped it up for you, so no messing about clumsily; you just get lovely bite-sized pieces of crispiness.


We had a sweet stew dessert – apples stewed in white wine, served with rum and raisin ice cream. I found the apple and wine combi a bit too strong for me, actually, but the rum and raisin ice cream was fabulous. Next time I’m just gonna have the ice cream.

Don’t expect fine dining, but if you feel like some comfort food on a rainy day, I think this’ll hit the spot. Unfortunately, (a) this place is in the East, and (b) stews really aren’t A’s cup of tea. Unless we arrange another group outing, I highly doubt that he’s gonna agree to traipse all the way here just for stew. Pity.

A says:

Service from the owner is very good. Unfortunately, one of the waitresses forgot one of the dessert orders. As for food though, stews really aren’t my thing. I’d recommend it only if you live within walking distance. Parking in the area is hard to come by.

Stew Haus
695B East Coast Road
Tel: 6445-5037
Open 11 am to 11 pm
Closed Monday

Mimolette

C says:

Mimolette is located in a charming little bungalow within the Saddle Club off Eng Neo Avenue. It’s yet another dining location that caters to Singaporeans’ current love for eateries that are off the beaten track. We had heard lots of things about Mimolette since it opened, ranging from rave reviews to tentative opinions to downright scathing comments on the service (or lack thereof), so it was a good thing that we went there for brunch without any expectations whatsoever. Because we didn't have any expectations, we couldn't really be disappointed with both the food and the service, so we ended up actually having a decent experience. My one grouse is that they still don’t allow photographs of their food. I knew they had this policy prior to the launch of the restaurant, but it’s been launched and open for so long that you would’ve thought they’d relax their policy by now. No such luck, so I only managed to get one shot before I was stopped.

The seared tuna salad was highly recommended by L, so we shared that as a starter. I must say that while it was a pretty good salad, with a simple balsamic dressing and some raisins thrown in for added flavour and texture, I was a little let down by the tuna itself. While the quality was good and it was pink inside, somehow it was still not rare enough for my liking. I think I need my seared tuna to be completely raw, sashimi-style, with just the barest hint of a seared outline.


I ordered the mini wagyu burgers with fries. These come topped with 2 different toppings – caramelized onions, and sautéed mushrooms. When they say mini, they really mean it. These were absolutely tiny. Granted, they were tasty, and the patties were very flavourful and well seasoned, but they were just a little too pretentious for my liking, and almost impossible to eat without deconstructing it with a fork and knife; the patties simply fell apart. I think if I want a ‘posh’ burger and fries, I’ll still go back to House.

A had the steak and eggs, which came in a huge portion – 2 sunny side up eggs, baked beans and a massive steak. Again, this had lots of potential but somehow fell just slightly off the mark. No complaints with the eggs, and the baked beans had bacon mixed into the sauce which made them taste heavenly, but I’m still puzzled by the steak. It was listed on the menu as an Angus tenderloin, but when it arrived it was clearly anything but. Tenderloins are usually medallion shaped, simply because of the shape of the loin itself, but the steak that appeared was more like a sirloin. It didn’t have the full-bodied flavour of a sirloin though, which again puzzled me. It didn’t have much beefy flavour at all, and the texture was tender but also a bit spongy. Can’t quite describe it.

We had some space for dessert because the burgers were so tiny, so we had the nutella and banana crepes. Good thing we did, cos it ensured that we ended on a high. The crepes were yummy, but then again nutella and banana is a pretty foolproof combination.

I know it sounds strange that we aren’t dissing this place, given that the food obviously wasn’t anything to shout about. I can only attribute it to the fact that we had no expectations, the ambience was very pleasant, and service was surprisingly quite good. Will we be back? Probably, just to give them another chance.

A says:

The waitress we had was very good. Service was excellent but I think it was only because the place was only half full.

As for the food, it was mostly good with a few exceptions. The tomatoes and baked beans (with killer bacon bits) were exceptionally good. The fries were exceptionally bad.

I think I’d like to come back to try the full Farmer’s Breakfast.

Note to self: Cappuccino is very small but latte is a bit weak.

Mimolette
55 Fairways Drive
Tel: 6467-7748
Tues to Fri: 11 am – 3 pm; 6 pm – 11 pm
Sat to Sun: 10 am – 3 pm; 6 pm – 11 pm
Closed Monday

Grill-Out!

C says:

Yet another Makansutra Raw alumnus, Grill-Out is located amongst the cluster of eateries in the not-so-recently refurbished Sunset Way area. The ground floor of a block of HDB flats has been converted to a casual dining enclave, with mostly al fresco seating. The whole area has a pretty nice vibe – it’s definitely not hip or poncey, but rather very chill-out, laidback, and you won’t feel out of place in your weekend flip-flops.

Grill-Out has only outdoor seating, on a specially-constructed patio deck. An adequate number of fans ensures that it doesn’t get uncomfortably hot, and on Monday night (apparently they’re closed on Mondays but opened because it was Vesak Day) it was actually quite pleasant, which is saying a lot for a serial indoor person like me.

We weren’t feeling particularly flush, so the Wagyu steaks were out. We went for a US Angus beef ribeye, and a US Kurobuta pork tenderloin. We also shared a starter of grilled US Kobe beef short ribs (boneless) with yakiniku sauce.


The short ribs ended up being the highlight of the evening for me. The meat had a good char to it and was tender and sweet, with just enough fat to give flavour without being too sinful.


Surprisingly, between the two mains, the Kurobuta ended up winning hands down, which is not the result that I expected. The ribeye was very ordinary, and indeed no better (but no worse) than lower end and cheaper versions at Astons or even Uno Beef House. The meat wasn’t particularly flavourful given that it was supposed to be US beef, and some parts were actually quite chewy and sinewy.


On the other hand, while the Kurobuta pork looked dry and unimpressive, it actually tasted a lot better than it looked. It was actually quite tender, all things considered, but the tenderloin being a lean cut by nature, while it was tender, there wasn’t much fat on it to give it flavour.

Still, I quite like the area in general, so if we find ourselves here again, I may actually go for a host of starters instead, because some of the other choices looked quite interesting, like potato cakes with kurobuta pork, and steamed mussels. And, if we can get over the thought of having fish at a meaty grill joint, the Wild Alaskan Salmon with Gorgonzola Sauce and the Grilled Yellowtail Cheek with Wasabi sound pretty good too.

A says:

I was very impressed by the service considering the crowd. The food was good but just didn’t meet my expectations given the hype and price. I actually think C makes better steaks when she gets good meat from The Butcher. (When are we going to get an endorsement deal from them?)

I think I’d only go back if I was too lazy to dress up or go far out. If I’m craving a good steak, I’d rather go to L’Angelus or even Angus House.

Grill-Out!
106 Clementi Street 12 (Sunset Way)
#01-38E
Tel: 6774-7001
Tues – Sun: 6 pm to 11.30 pm
Closed Mondays

Marmalade Pantry

C says:

I can’t believe we’ve never written about the tai-tai institution, Marmalade Pantry. We’ve been to the original Palais Renaissance one a couple of times, I’ve tried the one at Hitachi Tower (bad service on a weekday lunchtime!), and today we went to the newest outlet at Holland Village for brunch.

We were there at about 11-ish, so it was a little too early for proper food. A predictably had the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, and I decided on a field mushroom and emmental cheese omelette.



The food wasn’t bad, but nothing to really blow you away. My omelette was suitably runny in the centre, but I would’ve like a stronger hit of emmental cheese. Portions were also quite small, although I do recall that the lunch main course items are more substantial. I guess they take the view that brunch is just the beginning of a lazy day of eating, but don’t order the brunch items if you’re ravenous because you won’t really be satisfied.

A says:

Food’s okay but really not worth the price. The atmosphere is really nice so I’d recommend this place for catching up with friends over a snack rather than for a proper meal. And the music they play is awesome.

Marmalade Pantry
17D Lorong Liput
(Holland Village, next to Aburiya)
Tel: 6469-8016

La Noce

C says:

La Noce is opened by the ex-chef of Papi so it was with considerable anticipation that we made our way to the slightly ulu Chu Lin Road in Bukit Batok on Saturday night to celebrate B’s birthday (Happy Birthday, B!).

I can’t say that I totally wouldn’t recommend this place, but the general consensus was that it had its fair share of hits and misses. Some of the dishes were objectively very good, but then there were some that were so bad that, coupled with the erratic and downright bizarre (I’ll explain in a bit) service, I don’t think the place as a whole could be redeemed.


The evening started out well enough, with a complimentary amuse bouche of crab meat and caviar tartlets. The pastry for the tartlets was a bit soggy, but otherwise this was alright. Because the chef was from Papi, the pizza place that we loved for too fleeting a moment, we wanted to try the pizza here so we all shared a Siciliana – eggplant, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, anchovies, garlic and black olives. Some of the gang thought this was a little on the salty side, probably because of the anchovies and olives, but I was very impressed with the pizza.



The other starters that we shared had more mixed reactions (which proved to be the prevailing theme for the rest of the night). The spicy sauce that came with the calamari was quite good, but the squid itself was overcooked and rubbery. The vitello tonnato (thinly sliced veal with tuna sauce), on the other hand, was very good and as S said, one of the better ones that she’s tried. The veal was sliced just thin enough to still have some substance, and the tuna sauce had a good balance of flavours; not too overpoweringly tuna.

M had a pumpkin soup and W had the minestrone, both of which fell completely flat, in their opinion. In fact, it seemed that a lack of salt/taste was the general opinion throughout dinner, and we had to keep the salt shaker with us the entire night. When starters were ordered, we got our first taste of the strange waitress who seemed to be living in a parallel twilight zone dimension. Y asked if there was any mushroom soup, and the waitress told her, with a straight face, that mushroom soup hadn’t been on the menu for two years. Wtf??!!! The restaurant itself has been open for only about 6 months…



We had read/heard differing views about the main courses too. B read that the lamb rack was good, and W was told to stick to the pastas. With that in mind, I ordered the lamb and A ordered a pasta – the cappellini with crab meat and cherry tomatoes – to share. The lamb arrived first, and while mine was a tad overdone (I’d requested medium), S’s and B’s looked a bit better, but taste-wise there was no complaint. The meat was well-seasoned, not too fatty, and generally quite tasty.

Then the pastas arrived, and all the pastas just couldn’t make it. Again, everything just lacked salt and taste. The crab meat cappellini was flat, and according to M and W, their vongole and seafood pastas didn’t fare much better.

Strangely enough, only half of the pastas arrived. After waiting ages for 3 more pastas, we finally asked the waitress (the same twilight zone one) to check on them, and based on the flurry going and her frantically checking the order chit, we knew she’d simply forgotten them. She claimed to have them ready in 3 minutes – well, maybe in her time zone. After a good 10 or 15 minutes, a second cappellini and 2 rigatonis arrived. This cappellini was only marginally better than the first, but the rigatoni with creamy duck ragout was actually pretty decent.



Finally, it was time for dessert. We ordered 2 portions of profiteroles, and a slice of torta del nonna (grandmother cake) to sing a birthday song for B, but the kitchen gave her a complimentary plate of 2 profiteroles with a candle in one of them. Quite a nice gesture, and the profiteroles themselves didn’t look very good but actually tasted quite delicious. The choux pastry was very light, as was the whipped cream filling, and it was coated in a light chocolate sauce. The cake was a bit on the heavy side though, and a tad dry.

Well, there you have it. Quite a spectrum of standards, such that it felt as though the dishes were cooked by completely different persons. I’m sure the rest of the gang have some words of their own to share about the place, so I’ll leave them to add a bit more colour.

A says:

The other tables had the antipasti which looked really good. I guess you should stick to that and the pizza, although I think Peperoni does a better thin and crispy pizza. Best dish was surprisingly the profiteroles. Nice.

La Noce
3 Chu Lin Road
Tel: 6877-1986
Closed Mondays