The Queen and Mangosteen

C says:

This gastropub that opened fairly recently is currently our new favourite dining destination at VivoCity. We came here twice in the span of 3 days – once on a Saturday afternoon and the next time on Monday evening after work. Hence the dramatic difference in photo quality, and also how we managed to try 5 dishes. We may be atetoomuch, but even we have limits...

The specialities here are apparently the mini burgers, and the fish and chips. Surprisingly, both appear in the Nibbles section of the menu rather than the mains, and for the price and corresponding portion sizes (fish and chips for $12 and the burgers for $16), these are very good value.


The fish and chips are given a slightly Asian twist here. The batter has a hint of lime leaf, and it’s served with a curry tartare sauce that’s a little strange on its own, but goes well with the fish. The fish itself, 3 pretty generous pieces, is really fresh, flaky and moist.


I always make a point to ask for my burgers to be cooked medium rare, because more often than not most places don’t get it right anyway. I’m happy to say that they didn’t disappoint here. The dish comes with 3 mini burgers; the patties are about 100g each, and served with a slice each of tomato and onion. They were very simple, no-frills burgers but were juicy, done perfectly and very enjoyable.


The only proper main course we tried – lamb chops with mash and arugula salad – was good too, but at twice the price of the nibbles but almost the same size portion-wise, this isn’t the most value for money. Taste-wise the lamb was very tender, but I didn’t quite like the sweetish dressing for the arugula salad.


Hot off our new obsession with all things cheese and ham related, we also tried the duck rillette with mini baguettes, and the cheese platter. The rillette was pretty good but very oily; the cheese board was surprisingly good and actually paired very well with the rillette dish.

The slightly kooky name apparently stems from a rumour that the mangosteen was Queen Victoria’s favourite fruit. Whatever the story, the name really suits the whimsical vibe of the place.

A says:

The food is here is very good though I’m not sure it fully lives up to its gourmet pub food billing. The prices are not cheap but the large portion sizes (especially for the nibbles) and quality of the grub mean you get great value and it’s totally worth it. I’ll definitely be back to have the mini-burgers again.

The Queen and Mangosteen
#01-106/107 VivoCity1 Harbourfront Walk
Tel: 6376-9380
Sundays to Thursdays - 11am to midnight
Fridays, Saturdays and Eve of Public Holidays - 11am to 1 am
http://www.queenandmangosteen.com/

Our trip, Part 1: Vancouver

C says:

We’re back! We had a fabulous time, and Vancouver is now our number one retirement destination, due in no small part to the availability of good food and amazing produce. We actually ate better and fancier in Vancouver than in Vegas, though maybe it’s not that surprising considering the wealth of decent fast food in the US.

As usual rather than detailing each and every thing that we ate or place where we dined, we’ll just share some of the gastronomic highlights of the trip.

Vancouver is fast becoming a foodie’s heaven. You can eat at some of the best restaurants in the city at fairly reasonable prices. In fact, even their most fine dining restaurants still retain a casual, non-intimidating vibe. They’re also very proud of their local produce, with menus everywhere proudly proclaiming that they serve “BC salmon”, to give the most common example.

One place that encapsulates everything I just mentioned is Raincity Grill. This is one of Vancouver’s fanciest restaurants, yet we still felt quite at ease and not at all patronised. They even surprised us with a platter of 3 raw oysters on the house, because they felt bad for making us wait too long between courses, even though we never complained.


Local produce is very much showcased, to the extent that they actually have a 100-Mile Tasting Menu featuring ingredients from within a 100 mile radius. Some of the highlights included a platter with five bite-sized portions of appetisers on spoons, the seared scallop with winter root vegetables, and pork loin from pigs reared so organically that the meat was prepared medium rare.

One of the reasons I was so disappointed with the meat and cheese platter from our recent visit to Don Quijote is because of the sheer variety and quality of the cured meats and cheeses that we tried in Vancouver. First, Salt Tasting Room in Gastown was one of the most interesting dining experiences I’ve had because it opened my eyes to so many different flavour pairings of meats, cheeses and condiments. The concept of Salt is simple – on a blackboard they have 10 cheeses, 10 hams and 10 condiments. You can either pick and choose 3 of each to create your own tasting plate, or leave it to the experts to choose the best pairings for you.


We selected a few, and left it to them to fill in the gaps and to create the pairings. They did a fabulous job, introducing us to ingredients and combinations that we never considered before. The blue cheese and honey was a winner, as was the Jambon Des Ardennes with quince paste. I hadn’t even tried quince paste before but now I’m a fan.


Finding Salt was an experience in itself. The address simply says Blood Alley, Gastown. We assumed Blood Alley was a cobblestoned path of some sort, and walked all of Gastown twice in an attempt to find it. We passed a dingy back lane a few times with nothing but dumpsters, but after increasingly frustrating failures to locate Blood Alley we finally stopped to peer down the back lane and noticed, far FAR off in the distance, a flag with an upside down salt shaker. Argh!

Granville Island Public Market is similar to Borough Market in London. On the plus side it opens every day, but it’s less suited to random grazing for tourists and more towards home chefs shopping for ingredients. Still, one of the highlights was a stall selling a staggering variety of cheeses, prosciutto (the common English vernacular use of the term meaning cured hams, not the generic Italian word for “ham”, so as not to offend any readers), salami and more.


The photo shows just a small selection in one corner of the display window. I was both blown away by the variety, and terribly upset that we don’t have an equivalent stall in Singapore. They do a picnic platter with a selection of cheese, prosciutto, rillette and cornichons, which of course we had to try. While not as novel as Salt, it was still very satisfying, in particular the double cream Camembert which was superbly rich and creamy.

We’d watched Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations: Vancouver shortly before we left, and one of the restaurants that was featured was Tojo’s, arguably Vancouver’s best Japanese restaurant, and these days one of the few where the namesake head chef is still very much hands-on in the kitchen. We decided to try a mid-priced omakase, and with great anticipation settled down expecting to be amazed.


I hate to say it, but we were rather underwhelmed and to this day I don’t understand why. To be fair, we were presented with flavours and textures that we’d never tried before, like tuna scraped from the bone mixed with a Japanese mountain yam, but while it was novel we didn’t find ourselves really loving it. Some of the other dishes were halibut cheek with sautéed vegetables in a soy and miso sauce, braised bluefin tuna, and a sushi platter. Strangely enough, we actually had more of a ‘wow’ reaction to the simple garlic tuna nigiri sushi in Vegas, from the MGM Grand’s perfunctory Asian restaurant, Grand Wok.

We’re still wondering why we didn’t have the mindblowing experience that we were expecting. Is it just that – did our expectations get in the way? Or are our palates just not sophisticated enough to appreciate it? This was our first ever omakase meal, so maybe we’re not used to what’s usually offered at one. If we’re ever feeling flush enough, perhaps we’ll go for one here and see if our experience is any different.


Another joint featured in No Reservations: Vancouver was Japadog – literally, Japanese hot dog. This hot dog stand probably isn’t as bizarre to us as to some Westerners, because we’re quite used to concepts of fusion Japanese food, like Jap pastas and pizzas. We tried the Okonomiyaki and the Terimayo, both with a Kurobuta pork sausage. The sausage is partially sliced while cooking, creating more surface area for crisping and charring. Paired with all the mayo, teriyaki/okonomiyaki sauce and seaweed/bonito flakes, the result is a very messy but very juicy hot dog.

A says:

Excellent food. Superb service. Awesome cold weather. One of the biggest surprises on our trip was discovering Tim Hortons, a Canadian fast food chain that does donuts, bagels and more. The donuts were crap but the bagels were awesome. We came here almost every day for breakfast.

The dining highlight of Van for me was Salt. The portion sizes are perfect and, considering the quality of food and service, very reasonably priced. A definite must-visit when in Vancouver. That’s if you can find the place, which is an adventure on its own.

After a disappointing meal at Tojo’s, I wasn’t expecting much from Raincity Grill. Thankfully, the food was excellent, although due to the large party they had there that night, service was exceptionally slow. Almost Hell’s Kitchen slow. I have to at least give credit to the staff who gave us free oysters while waiting.

I wasn’t as blown away by Granville Market or Japadog as C was. I actually prefer our quick brunch at Cafe Crepe along Robson Street.

On a whole, the only thing I found lacking in Vancouver was the coffee. All the cups I had were very mediocre. Very strange considering the strong coffee culture they have there.

Our trip, Part 2: Whistler

C says:

One of the more, if not the most, memorable restaurants of the trip was Elements Urban Tapas Lounge in Whistler. They serve food tapas-style, i.e. smallish portions meant for sharing, but the food is more fusion Canadian than Spanish. We liked it so much that we ended up having three out of four dinners there, trying new dishes each time.


We’ve featured four of the best in the collage. The roasted duck breast with hoisin sauce and avocado was my personal favourite dish, possibly of the entire trip. I’ve never had such tender and juicy duck breast before, almost melt-in-your mouth. The lamb mini burgers with mint yogurt had quite a strong lamb flavour and weren’t at all dry. The flank steak with caramelised onions and blue cheese was A’s favourite dish there, and the seared sesame-crusted tuna with a ponzu dipping sauce was also fantastic.


What is it with tapas and crepes ending up as our favourite food on holiday?! Another note-worthy place in Whistler was Crepe Montagne, an authentic French creperie where we had possibly the best crepe ever – a seafood crepe with a creamy bisque sauce. This was superb because while most crepes tend to be just creamy and cheesy, this seafood bisque sauce was so much more flavourful.

A says:

My idea of dining on a ski/snowboard trip consists of donuts, sandwiches and cup noodles. Whistler has blown all that away. In fact, we ate better in Whistler than anywhere else on our trip.

My favourite single dish of the trip was the seafood crepe at Crepe Montagne and my favourite restaurant menu was at Elements. And on a side note, if you need a really filling meal before you hit the slopes, drop by Beetroot Cafe.

Our trip, Part 3: Las Vegas

C says:

We ate so well in Canada that we decided to go pretty simple in Las Vegas. We mostly had fast food or food court fare (Panda Express!), but we did have a few interesting moments nonetheless.

Vegas is the land of buffets, with some going as low as under $15. We didn’t feel like gorging ourselves silly on poor quality food though, so we decided that the only buffet we’d go for this time was the renowned gourmet buffet at the Bellagio. Queues around dinner time are apparently legendary, but because we hadn’t had lunch, we were starving by around 5.30 and sailed in without waiting.

The Japanese section was average. The spicy tuna handrolls weren’t too bad but the nigiri sushi had way too much rice and not enough fish. The crab legs were sliced in half lengthways to make it really easy to get at the meat. Again, these were good but not fantastic, as the crab flesh had that slightly watery texture from being frozen and defrosted.


The highlights of the buffet for us were the meat/carvery section, and the dessert bar. There was quite an astounding variety of meats – prime rib, Kobe beef brisket, venison tenderloin, turkey, lamb chops and beef wellington. Side dishes included lovely grilled asparagus and sautéed button mushrooms. I think the meats made the buffet more or less worth the price ($28 on weekdays, $36 on weekends) – I asked for the prime rib to be seared and it tasted fantastic. The venison was tender and the lamb chops were really good too.

There was a staggering array of desserts, but by then I was so stuffed that I could only manage a cream puff and two helpings of a lovely cheesecake. Weekday lunches are only $20, so if the dessert selection is roughly the same, next time I may just come for lunch and focus on the desserts.

We went with cousin S to Burger Bar at Mandalay Place, Hubert Keller’s (of Fleur de Lys) innovative burger restaurant that really lets you customise your burger to your satisfaction. From the bun to the patty to the cheese to the toppings, you can build your burger exactly the way you want it.


This may be one of the best high-end burgers I’ve had. S had an Angus beef patty with mozzarella and baby spinach, A had a Ridgefield Farm beef patty with Provolone cheese, bacon, a fried egg and aioli, and I had an Angus patty with blue cheese, bacon and Portobello mushrooms. The burger was a perfect medium rare, the meat was full of flavour and the patty was loosely packed and therefore really juicy. I also like how fries are an option, so we opted out and therefore weren’t completely stuffed.

Of course, no trip to Vegas is complete without having an In-N-Out burger. Specifically a Double Double, with 2 patties, 2 slices of cheese, tomato, onion, lettuce and special sauce. This was completely different from Burger Bar but in my opinion, no less satisfying. A begged to differ, claiming that it wasn’t as good as he remembered. Well, I guess I haven’t had it as often as he has, so maybe I’m less jaded, but as far as old-school burgers go this was perfect.

Serendipity 3, that ubiquitous NYC diner featured in the movie with John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale, opened a branch in Las Vegas just 3 weeks before we arrived! Woo hoo! After hearing friends and family wax lyrical about the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate and wondering how good it could possibly be to warrant such rave reviews, we finally got to try it for ourselves.

Well, now we know what the fuss is about. I can’t even begin to describe how good it was. It’s like nothing that I’ve tried before – not exactly a milkshake, yet not simply a cold chocolate drink because there are tiny little ice crystals in each slurp. I don’t know how they’ve managed to get such intensely chocolate flavour into a frozen drink, but they have and that first sip is truly an experience.


It comes topped with a mountain of sweet whipped cream topped with dark chocolate curls. (Ours collapsed slightly on its way to our table; it’s supposed to look more like the picture on the left.) I would advise against mixing the cream into the drink, which is what we did. Firstly, the sheer amount of cream is a heart attack waiting to happen, and if you eat it separately you can control how much you consume. More importantly, the cream tends to water down the intensity of the chocolate, so drinking it neat is the best way to appreciate it.

Well, clearly we need to do double time at the gym to make up for everything that we consumed on our trip. Do let us know if you want more details for the various places that we visited.

A says:

OMG! Serendipity 3 is one of the most amazing restaurants EVER! I could feel my arteries getting clogged as I went through the mountain of cream on the Frrrozen Hot Chocolate. Plus the portion sizes are HUGE!

The Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay also rocked. In retrospect, we shouldn’t have gone there on the same day as In-N-Out. The In-N-Out burger really can’t compare.

Finally, never, never, NEVER eat at the food court at the Luxor. I felt sick enough to puke after the chilli dog I had there.

Don Quijote

C says:

A’s cousin L recommended this place to us, and we managed to catch the tail-end of a very good Citibank promotion when we went on Tuesday.


We ordered a selection of Spanish hams, sausages and cheeses. This was quite a disappointment, maybe because we’d just been spoiled by the quality of produce in Vancouver’s Granville Island Public Market (more on that in our upcoming holiday post). The cured meats here didn’t have much flavour and were quite chewy, and the cheeses were quite basic as well.


It got much better after that, though. The smoked salmon roll with cream cheese and lettuce was wrapped in an omelette instead of a typical tortilla or spring roll-esque wrapper and was very interesting. The grilled scallops with bacon bits and chicken wings with tomato, chilli and garlic sauce were both pretty good. The wings came with an optional spicy dip that packed a good punch. The sautéed green beans with Serrano ham were an unexpected hit. The beans were crisp and tender, and the ham added a subtle smoky flavour to the dish.


We thought we’d have to order more cos the dishes were all pretty small, but then the Spanish pasta with squid ink arrived, and the small portion we ordered was already quite substantial. The pasta was possibly even thinner than angel hair pasta, and absorbed every bit of squid ink flavour. I liked that it wasn’t too heavy or oily, just very intensely flavourful.

Without the 50% off promotion, this place isn’t all that cheap. They do have an a la carte buffet Sunday brunch, but that doesn’t cover the entire menu, just a selection of 20 tapas. Still, at $33, or $48 with free flow sangria, it sounds like a pretty good deal and we’re definitely planning to check it out one Sunday.

A says:

The service is superb. The food is above average. It’s not cheap but really not crazy expensive either. We’ll be back.

Don Quijote
17 Lorong Kilat #01-09
Tel: 6465-1811
Open Tuesday to Sunday: 5 pm – 11 pm
www.don-quijote-restaurants.com

Qun Zhong Eating House

C says:

On the day that we left for our trip, we decided to have something light and Asian for lunch, what with the prospect of lots of Western cuisine on our trip. We ended up at Qun Zhong Eating House, also ‘affectionately’ known as the Dumpling Nazi because of the owner’s apparently gruff manner.

Pass by here either during lunch hour or in the evenings and you’re likely to see a snaking queue outside the tiny no-frills shophouse. We got there at 11.30 before the crowds formed so we managed to get a table immediately.

We ordered the la mian with minced pork (zha jiang mian), la mian soup with sliced pork and Szechuan vegetable, and an order of xiao long bao. There was a slight miscommunication and we ended up also getting an order of the vegetarian dumpling, but luckily portions are pretty small and we managed to finish it all.


The thickness and texture of the noodles here are unlike any la mian that I’ve tried here. They’re quite thick but still pretty light. The sauce of the zha jiang mian was good, but I really like the tasty simplicity of the soup one. That’s my version of comfort food and I could probably eat that every day.


For something that I’d never voluntarily order, the vegetarian dumplings weren’t too bad. The xiao long bao were again quite different from the ones at Crystal Jade or Din Tai Fung. The skin was very thin, and the dumplings were absolutely loaded with broth. Kudos to them for being able to achieve that, but purely taste-wise I think I actually prefer the ones at Din Tai Fung.

All in all, the food isn’t too bad but definitely not worth waiting in line for. I wouldn’t mind going back but only if we happen to be in the area and there’s a table available.

A says:

The service isn’t great but it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The food’s not bad with some interesting things on the menu. Still, I probably wouldn’t line up for it.

Qun Zhong Eating House
21 Neil Road
Tel: 6221 3060
Opening hours: 11.30 am – 3 pm; 5.30 pm – 9.30 pm (Closed Wednesdays)

Prima Taste Kitchen

C says:

I’m not quite sure how we found ourselves at Prima Taste in Centrepoint; I think it was more a process of elimination because we didn't feel like any of the other outlets there. After perusing the menu, I ended up being drawn to the promotional item – Laksa Seafood Porridge, served piping hot in a claypot.


Actually, this is more like mui fun than porridge. I really enjoyed it because when you think about it, what’s there not to like? Seafood (prawns, crayfish, clams, scallops), bamboo shoot, shredded cucumber, laksa gravy, and rice instead of noodles. Perfect for those who are paranoid about laksa stains on their clothes.

Surprisingly, laksa fan A didn't like it. He thought the rice tainted the flavour of the laksa gravy. I didn't think so, but I must agree that the rice tends to absorb quite a bit of the gravy after a while.


A initially wanted the Laksa Yong Tau Foo, but because I ordered the Laksa Porridge, he had the Satay Beehoon instead, after being tempted by the table next door. I really don't like Satay Beehoon so I can’t really comment on this.

Anyway, this is the last post from atetoomuch for a few weeks while we’re off on vacation! We’ll bring you highlights of our eating exploits in Vancouver and Las Vegas when we return.

A says:

Service was surprisingly good. Although when we got home and C checked the receipt, we found we were charged for the chin chow that was supposed to come free with the laksa porridge.

Taste-wise, it’s good, but not great. I’d say this place is alright but really not a destination.

Prima Taste Kitchen
176 Orchard Road #01-63/64
The Centrepoint
Tel: 6887 3786
Open daily: 10 am – 10 pm

Return to Verve

C says:

We decided to make a repeat visit to Verve for dinner tonight, since we weren’t in a particularly adventurous mood and wanted something quite fuss-free. For starters we tried their fried calamari, which came with a garlic cream sauce, and their smoked cheese wrapped with proscuitto.


This wasn’t as oozy as the one from Valentino or even Pietrasantra; I guess it's because they use a different cheese. The one here uses a smoked cheese that’s quite hard, so it was more chewy, and also quite salty from the combination of smoked cheese and proscuitto.


I thought the calamari fared much better, though A wasn’t as enamoured. The calamari was quite tender, and I really liked how crispy it was without being oily. The garlic dip was a bit overwhelming but ok in small doses.

A decided to be boring and ordered the exact same thing as the last time – linguine tossed in olive oil with sundried tomatoes and shaved parmesan. The last time we came here this was a special, but it’s since been included as a permanent menu item.


I decided to try the slipper lobster linguine with cherry tomatoes in white wine and lobster broth. It was a big plus that the lobster came deshelled. However, I found the sauce to be a bit too subtle. I couldn’t discern much white wine nor lobster broth, and as a result the cherry tomatoes all but overwhelmed the flavour. This is good if you want something very light, but I much prefer the duck confit pasta I had the last time.

There are still a few more pastas on the menu that I’d like to try before deciding if they’re a one (or two) hit wonder. As it stands though, I don’t think Verve will take the place of Pasta Brava as our dependable Italian option (when we can't get a reservation at Valentino’s).

A says:

Generally, I’d recommend this for a nice, simple Italian meal. Just don’t expect the food to blow you away.

Verve
Block 7, Lock Road
Gillman Village
Tel: 6473-3655
Mon – Thurs: 12 noon to 11 pm (last order 10 pm)
Fri & Sat: 12 noon to 12 midnight (last order 10.30 pm)
Sunday & PHs: 12 noon to 10 pm (last order 9 pm)
http://www.verve.sg/

Fromage

C says:

Our excursion to CityVibe wasn’t entirely fruitless though. Posh Nosh chick wrote about Fromage in last week’s Urban so we decided to kill two birds with one stone and check that out as well.

Fromage is just a kiosk on the ground floor, with just a few counter seats. Given that the seats are within close proximity of the deep fryers though, I’d recommend getting the food to go if you don’t want to end up smelling like oil.

The food is quite suited to take-out anyway. They have pizzas and baked pastas, but what got Posh Nosh raving was the deep fried cheese. Beside the usual mozzarella sticks, they have deep fried Edam wedges, Camembert wedges, and delicious little morsels of deep fried mac and cheese.


We tried all three (passed on the predictable mozzarella), and my favourite is the Camembert, with the mac and cheese a close second. I like Camembert anyway, and to have it hot, oozy and crispy is just heaven. The mac and cheese was pretty interesting too, though not so much cheesy as creamy. It was tongue-searingly hot but mighty addictive, and though each bite scorched my mouth, I couldn’t stop eating them. The Edam was a bit of a letdown because the cheese wasn’t very ripe so it just ended up tasting a bit plasticky.

What I liked was the fact that they got their oil temperature right, so the food wasn’t very greasy at all. They also have churros with chocolate sauce but we were way too full. I’m already dreaming of the Camembert so you can bet we’ll be going again in the not too distant future. The mall doesn't have a car park though, so it’s a bit of a bitch trying to find parking at Clementi.

A says:

Not exactly cheap by kiosk standards but definitely worth a try. We’ll be back. Maybe we’ll even take the train cause evening traffic and parking in Clementi is very frustrating.

Fromage
#01-K4, CityVibe
3151 Commonwealth Avenue West
Opening hours:
10 am to 10 pm (weekdays)
10 am to 11 pm (weekends)

Uncle Sam’s Claypots

C says:

I read in the papers recently that Uncle Sam’s, stalwart of the Robinson Road lunchtime scene for years, has finally opened a second branch at CityVibe, the new mini-mall that sits on the site of the previous Clementi cinema and McDonald’s. I was psyched to have this place as a dinner option, because the branch in Robinson Road only opens for lunch.


Unfortunately, for some reason this didn't have the oomph that the Robinson Road branch does. It somehow lacked the smoky flavour of the original. I would have attributed it to the fact that the claypot was just a serving vessel, but for the fact that there WAS a layer of burnt rice stuck to the bottom. So if the rice had in fact been cooked in the claypot, then what’s the difference? I have no idea; I just know that it didn't have that greasy shiok-ness that I remember from the original.


A tried the claypot Ipoh hor fun, which wasn’t bad but certainly wasn’t memorable. I guess I won’t be coming back here any time soon. I’ll stick to having the Robinson Road one at lunchtime.

A says:

I don’t like claypot. C made me go.

In the unlikely event that we return, I will have multiple desserts of bobo chacha, tau suan and pulut hitam.

Uncle Sam’s Claypots
#02-11/12 CityVibe
3151 Commonwealth Avenue West
Tel: 6778-3088
Open daily: 11 am to 10 pm

Casa Verde: Update

C says:

Casa Verde no longer has their set dinners that offer various permutations of Antipasti, Primi, Secondi and Dolci. Instead, they have a regular a la carte menu with prices averaging $15 for starters, $20 for pastas, $26 for mains and $10 for desserts. Do the math, and you’ll notice that a full meal of A, P, S and D costs a whole lot more now than the previous price of $58. To be fair though, portion sizes have increased and a full 4-course meal is likely to leave you stuffed.


They’ve also streamlined their crostini menu, which is a tad disappointing. Previously they had 2 crostini platters – hot and cold – with 3 types of crostini in each platter. Now they’ve combined them to just one platter of 3 types, a mixture of hot and cold. Given that the crostinis were my favourite part of the meal the last time we came, I’m a bit upset at their decision to merge them. The offerings are now a bit boring – tomato and basil (which was the best one), roast beef, and porcini mushroom with parmesan.


It’s not all bad though, because I think the standard of the food itself may actually have improved. The Vitello Tonnato that A ordered is one of the best versions of this dish that I’ve had. Most places slice the veal so thinly that you taste nothing but the tuna sauce, but here the veal slices were thicker and more substantial, so you actually got a good balance of veal and tuna flavours in each mouthful.


The Risotto with Sea Scallops and Bell Peppers that I had is also worth mentioning. The bell peppers actually gave colour and flavour to the risotto rather than featuring as an ingredient. There was a generous amount of scallops, and the flavour of the sauce was quite complex, tasting almost like a prawn or lobster bisque.

Unless the last time, desserts weren’t great tonight. A’s tiramisu wasn’t as good as Perla’s, and my chocolate and hazelnut cake was ok but nothing special. I’m not sure that I’m totally in favour of their menu restructuring, but there were enough highlights tonight to convince me that this place may still be an option. Only if we happen to be in the vicinity though, because there are definitely other places that I’d rather go to if I had a pasta craving.

A says:

Crostinis good. Veal slices in tuna paste excellent. Crab pasta disappointing (everyone said it tasted like high class mee pok which, depending on your tastes, may or may not be a good thing). Risotto very good. Tiramisu very average.

On a whole, I think the pizzas here are the best thing on the menu. So while I wouldn’t recommend coming here for a proper Italian dinner, it’s great if you want to chill out with some pizzas.

Casa Verde
1 Cluny Road
Singapore Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre
Tel: 6467-7326

Amoy Street Boon Kee Prawn Noodles

C says:

After our thwarted attempt a few Saturdays ago, I came here for lunch on Tuesday with Y and S. We got here at 12.15 and queued for a good 25 minutes but it was worth it.


The photo totally doesn’t do it justice (it was a rainy day and lighting was bad). It was the best bowl of prawn noodles I’ve had in years, specially since Wah Kee stopped serving liver with their noodles.

You can order all sorts of permutations involving prawns, pork ribs, small intestines and liver. Naturally I had a $5 bowl with the works, and man, was it satisfying. The soup stock was thick, rich and flavourful, the pork ribs super tender, and the liver was fresh and runny. With optional chilli padi and lard, this really is the perfect bowl of prawn noodles for me.

Since I came here on a work day at lunchtime, A wasn’t with me but anyway prawn noodles are really not his thing. So S and Y will take his place in a special guest post :)

S says:

Seeing the line that had formed in front of the stall even at 12.15, I had high expectations. The soup did not disappoint. It was thick as C said and really rich even though it did not have that red colour I like. I am not a fan of exotic ingredients so I had the $4 bowl with just prawns and pork ribs (no organs, thank you). This was fantastic and made for a very satisfying lunch.

I must admit that the greedy part of me was a little upset at first as the $5 bowls with the liver and stomach (or whatever else exotic parts of the pig C and Y were having) came in a huge basin whereas the $4 bowl was tiny in comparison. After standing in line (albeit gossiping) for 25 mins (felt like 40 mins), I felt I should have done myself justice with a basin of that soup. However the $4 bowl was more than sufficient. If you are a guy with a large appetite, make sure you go for the $5 bowl.

Glad I found another fun place to eat at lunchtime. Thanks C and Y for taking me there!

Y says:

I’m just so relieved that S and C liked the food because it is not often that I recommend eating places (especially to foodies like C and S) AND on top of that, make my 2 atas friends take the public bus (first time in YEARS for S) there with me as well!

I had the soup version the last time I came here with a colleague. While we were queuing up (it was definitely more than 25 mins lah), we spotted some people having the dry version, which was topped with a generous dose of tomato ketchup. That made me feel nostalgic so I decided to try the dry version this time. It was good, but slightly disappointing because I think there was too little ketchup but more chilli in the sauce, so it was more spicy than ketchupy. What’s good when you order the dry version though, is that the uncle gives you a big bowl of “pure” soup to go with it – shiok!

I ordered the $5 bowl because I wanted the liver and according to the Chinese signs in front of the stall which showed the various permutations you can order, you only get liver if you order the $5 bowl ($4 = prawn + pork rib + intestines, $5 = prawn + pork rib + intestines + liver). It was huge and I had to struggle to finish all of it (C seemed to have no problem with hers though heheh) [C says: Oi!]. Next time I shall try to see if the Uncle will entertain an order of a $4 bowl with the intestines (not stomach lah, S!) being swapped for liver instead.

Amoy Street Boon Kee Prawn Noodles
7 Keppel Road
PSA Tanjong Pagar Complex
Mon to Fri: 8 am to 2 pm

Kuishin Bo

C says:

What is it with atetoomuch and bad buffets this weekend?!

A’s friend KH suggested Kuishin Bo at Great World City for dinner tonight. We were told that it’s a member of the En chain, so we assumed that it would be similar to En’s fabulous shabu shabu buffet. Little did we know that (a) it’s part of the Kuriya group, not the En group, and (b) it was a generic Japanese buffet, with a wide range of offerings but lacklustre versions thereof.

On weekends the price is an astounding $43.90++ for dinner, which came up to about $50 per person! This was a huge rip off – there’s no way what we ate was remotely worth $50.

I need to go to En soon – I need to have a good quality yet good value buffet to restore my faith that you can have buffets without skimping on the quality of your offerings.

A says:

The sushi and sashimi aren’t bad by mass production standards. And there’s soft serve ice cream and a decent chocolate mousse for dessert. Having said that, this is in no way worth $50 unless you really, really eat like a kilo of sashimi. Not recommended.

Persimmon

C says:

My aunt gave us a dining voucher at Persimmon as an ang pow for Chinese New Year. My brother tried it before I had a chance to and highly recommended it, so on that basis I suggested it to L when she wanted ideas for her team dinner. Her feedback was lukewarm, so we decided to use up our voucher and try it for ourselves on Friday night.

Argh. My sincere apologies to L. This is the last time I recommend a place without atetoomuch’s stamp of approval first. Granted, it’s pretty good value, but the quality... well, let’s just say you get what you pay for.

Persimmon is located at The Link Hotel at Tiong Bahru, and is a division of Epicurious. They serve modern Singaporean food (think a lower end version of Wild Rocket), and until recently were a typical casual bistro. However, they’ve recently responded to the recession by offering a value-for-money a la carte buffet instead. Prices range from $20 for weekday lunches, to $30 for weekend dinners. Considering that those prices are nett, and you can order unlimited servings of all starters and pastas (main courses are limited to one dish per person), it’s definitely a very good deal.


Be warned though – this buffet is an Atkins diet nightmare, because you end up having loads of pasta and not much else. Even though the portions are tasting portion sized, A and I shared about 6 plates and were ready to explode by the end of the night. The pastas themselves are food court standard, nothing to complain about but nothing great either. The highlights were the chilli crab fusilli, the pork belly fusilli (which was both sweet and savoury) and the mushroom and miso spaghetti. What downright sucked was the vongole – A said the clams had been on a South Beach diet, and they hadn’t cooked off the alcohol in the white wine sauce either.


Amongst the starters, the only thing that stood out was the mini pork and beef burgers. The patty tasted just like an old fashioned Ramly burger, with a hint of curry powder. The rest of the starters paled in comparison.


A ordered the ribeye with satay sauce as his main, and I had the braised pork rib soto. A’s was heaps better than mine. The beef itself was pretty nicely done, albeit a rather small portion. My soto, on the other hand, was hot in some places and lukewarm in others. Definitely dished out from a pre-made pot and not heated through properly.

Overall, I can’t say that we won’t recommend it, cos I can imagine that this will appeal to some diners. Try it if you’re up for a value-for-money carb fest, and if you’re more inclined towards quantity rather than quality.

A says:

Don’t expect to be wowed by the standard of the food. It ranges from tasteless to just above average.

My worst dish was the vongole. All I got were clam shells with almost no meat in them.

Best dish is probably the mini-burger. This is closely followed by the steak (although my impression of the steak may have been tainted by my expectations being lowered substantially by the time we reached the main course).

The ambience and service aren’t exactly stellar either.

On a more positive note, you do get pretty good value for money if you’re a big eater looking for just a bit of variety.

Persimmon
#01-07 The Link Hotel
50 Tiong Bahru Road
Tel: 6227-2271
www.persimmon.com.sg

Home-made pizza

C says:

I have a Pizza Express Napoli pizza machine on loan from my aunt, so in anticipation of a pizza-making party at our humble abode in a couple of weeks to celebrate W’s birthday, I decided to give it, and some home-made pizza dough, a trial run.


I got the pizza dough recipe from the Pizza Express Napoli website, but I think I’ll try Martha Stewart’s next to see if it’s any better. I made 2 pizzas for dinner tonight – one with chargrilled artichokes out of a bottle, olives, sliced Portobello mushrooms and blue cheese, and another with shaved ham and sundried tomatoes. As you can see, the sundried tomatoes that I sprinkled on top of the cheese turned to charcoal.


The machine looks like a round barbeque grill, and consists of a pizza stone on the bottom and a heating element on top. It’s pretty easy to use – just plug in, preheat and you’re good to go. The challenge is to roll out the pizza dough thin enough that it’s crispy, but not too thin that it tears. And to get it in a perfect circle – mine were more, shall I say, artistically-shaped. It also took a bit of practice figuring out how to transfer the pizza, laden with all the toppings, onto the stone.

The pizzas didn’t turn out too bad, taste-wise. The stone inevitably gets dirty, which is apparently to be expected because it just means the stone is being well-seasoned, and you’re not supposed to clean it with anything except a damp cloth. I do feel a bit bad returning it to my aunt in this state though.

I’m planning another trial run next week, because I need to find a way to pre-make the dough or par-cook the pizzas otherwise I’ll be in the kitchen all night during W’s party. Maybe I’ll experiment rolling out the dough during the day, then storing it between sheets of baking paper for use later on.

Can I just say that after all my efforts in preparing a pizza meal for A, all he did was bitch about how I didn’t also make tiramisu for him for dessert. Hmph...

A says:

Toppings rocked. My only complaint is that the crust doesn’t get good and crusty.

Gunther’s

C says:

Next on our weekday value set lunch trail is modern French restaurant Gunther’s at Purvis Street. Their set lunch is the magic number $38 for 3 courses. We were there just after 1 on a Friday and it was surprisingly crowded.


A had the cold pasta with shaved Iberico ham, and I had the mushroom consommé with foie gras ravioli and a slice of seared foie gras. A’s pasta was ok – slight Asian in flavour and the ham had a nice nutty flavour without being too salty. My consommé was much better. It was clear yet bursting with flavour, and the foie gras was a good textural contrast to the clear consommé.


We were a bit indulgent – I saw the Roasted Bone Marrow on Toast on the a la carte menu and had to order it. I love bone marrow in any shape or form, and this dish showcased it at its best. You’re given a tiny spoon to dig out the bone marrow, spread it on the wafer-thin toast and season to your liking with sea salt, pepper and chives. The marrow was rich, creamy and insanely flavourful. This is a heart attack waiting to happen so it’s definitely a once-in-a-LONG-while treat.


There were 3 options for the main course. We nixed the garden pasta, so it was just down to the meat and the fish. The fish was grilled tuna, and the meat was called Gunther’s Creation on the menu. It was meant to be roast chicken but they’d run out, so they served roast Kurobuta pork shoulder instead, and man I’m glad they ran out of the chicken. The pork was fabulous – thinly sliced and grilled, the smoky flavour was quite apparent and the pork, being streaked with fat, was very flavourful.


The fish (which was plated very similarly to the pork, and indeed many of the other dishes that we noticed being served) was quite an enigma. It didn’t taste like fish at all. If you’d given it to me in a blind taste test, I might have said it was very tender chicken breast. The pork was better overall, but the tuna was good because it was such a novel flavour.

Dessert was a rather uninspired crème caramel, but generally no complaints about the food. Service was good but I felt that the main waiter was being just a tad patronising. Maybe it was just his manner – for the most part he was very polite, but I sensed some very subtle hints of condescension, especially when I was raving about the bone marrow and the consommé. This echoes another anecdote that I heard about the place, where the maitre d’ almost fell over trying to wrest a McDonald’s paper bag from S when she walked in carrying one.

A says:

I actually found the service to be excellent and not as snooty as I thought it would be. The food was excellent. It didn’t blow me away but it was very interesting. I’d definitely be willing to go back sometime.

Gunther’s
36 Purvis Street
#01-03
Tel: 6338-8955
www.gunthers.com.sg

Emerald Garden Thai Food

C says:

Emerald Garden is another stall within the Bar Bar Black Sheep establishment along Cherry Avenue. I can’t believe A voluntarily chose Thai food tonight, over Wishbone and the prospect of a chocolate milkshake! Will wonders never cease…


We had the pork pad thai, the stir fried chicken with basil and chilli and a bowl of steamed rice. I quite liked the pad thai – there was a very good balance of flavours, without any one flavour dominating, and it wasn’t too dry either.


In comparison, the stir fried chicken was a tad boring but I actually preferred it to the pad thai. I’m quite a sucker for a simple stir fry eaten with hot plain rice, so this just struck a chord with me. Also explains how I can crave take-out Chinese food when I’m on holiday (Panda Express in Vegas, for example).

This is by no means our default Thai place – that would probably be A-Roy Thai. But if we’re in the Bukit Timah area and somehow don’t feel like eating anything else in the area, this is a pretty decent option. Now we just need to try the Indian stall at the same joint; it was closed when we were there tonight.

A says:

I’d pay the $10 for the Phad Thai, but I don’t think the chicken is worth $13. A bit expensive but worth considering for a quick Thai around Bukit Timah.

The Fishmonger, Part 3

C says:

We finally tried the Ling fish fillets from The Fishmonger! Well, half of them anyway – the portion we got from J was a hefty 1.2 kg so we split it up into 2 meals.

Because Ling fish is much hardier and more distinctly flavoured than the Orange Roughy, we figured it could hold its own against some stronger flavours so I added some grated cheese to the flour for the crust, and served it with pasta in a tomato and gorgonzola sauce (bottled, courtesy of Marks and Sparks – I’m not that much of a domestic goddess).


I must say I’m less of a fan of these than the Orange Roughy fillets – I think I’ve just been spoilt by how awesome the latter were. Clearly the Ling fish is a much bigger fish than the Orange Roughy, so it simply didn’t have the same delicate, almost melt-in-the-mouth texture and subtle flavour. The Ling fish was much flakier and also had quite a distinct ‘fish’ (note: not fishy) flavour. It was also more challenging for me to cook it because the thicker portions really needed quite a bit of time before they were cooked through.

I would imagine that this would be good for fish and chips, kebabs/satay or even on the grill. Or perhaps cut up into chunks and served in a robust fish stew or chowder. Not quite my cup of tea, so I think we’ll stick to the Orange Roughy.

A says:

What C said.

The Fishmonger
Tel: 6851-6158
www.thefishmonger.com.sg/