C says:
Quite coincidentally, we went to Uberburger for dinner the very day the Sunday papers did a feature on their $101 wagyu beef and foie gras burger. We must be trendsetters, cos A planned this dinner with his friends, as well as the venue, a week ago. Heh. And in case you’re wondering, nobody was insane enough to have the 101 burger.
Our friend S had told us that she tried the regular sirloin burger there, and was of the view that the ‘colossal’ one would be better because it had a larger patty (250g vs 200g for the regular) and would probably be juicier as a result. A and I decided to share the colossal one, which comes with a big bucket of fries. We also shared a starter of Swiss cheese and tomatoes on toasted ciabatta, and a side order of brown mushrooms sautéed with black pepper.
Taking each item in turn – the ciabatta was great. The bread was toasted with some fragrant charred bits, and the swiss emmenthal cheese and tomato combination is always a classic. It was simple yet tasty, and I’m now inspired to recreate this at home, although I’m sure there was more to it, like some garlic or other type of dressing, to make it taste as yummy as it did.
The mushrooms were okay; nothing spectacular, they tasted pretty much as you would expect mushrooms sautéed with black pepper to taste.
I liked the fries, they were extremely addictive. They came piping hot, and even though each bite threatened to burn my lips and mouth, I couldn’t stop chowing down nonetheless. They were quite thickly cut, crispy on the outside, and incredibly light and fluffy on the inside. They were only very lightly salted, and weren’t oily at all.
The burger was tasty, but nothing mind-blowing. The patty seemed more medium than medium rare which we ordered, and wasn’t as juicy as I expected it to be. I think the problem with their beef patties in general is that they over-compress them. I read somewhere that to make a good juicy burger, you shouldn’t manhandle the minced meat, and should only press it to the extent necessary to shape it loosely into patties. I couldn’t fault the taste of the beef though – because the patty was made from chopped sirloin, it was very flavourful and you could tell that it wasn’t made from throwaway cuts of meat.
Based on the reactions that A’s friends had to their orders though, it appears that no one will be giving rave reviews about the place any time soon. In fact, they had even more lacklustre reactions to their food than we did. One of them, who perhaps unwisely ordered the steak tartare, was downright revolted with what he was served.
Will we go back again? Probably, but a $29 colossal burger isn’t worth it for just 50g more meat than a $16 regular sirloin burger. Of course, an order of fries is a must.
A says:
What’s up with the stupid menus? It tries to keep hip, but just turns out damn hard to read. Bloody designers trying to be funny. Can’t even tell what the price is!
Overall, the service wasn’t as bad or snotty as I thought it might be, but then again, it wasn’t as packed as I expected. I wouldn’t be too sure about going back. Their thick milkshake (I had the loaded chocolate flavour) wasn’t very thick or very loaded. The best taste actually came from the cheese/tomato toast. I like-a me bread!
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Monday, April 24, 2006
La Petite Cuisine
C says:
Serene Centre seems to be the breeding ground for new and interesting eateries. First Island Creamery, which has recently moved from its humble corner shop to a full-fledged café within Serene Centre. And now, taking over Island Creamery’s old premises is La Petite Cuisine. The main restaurant, La Cuisine, is at Cluny Court next door (the building with Da Paolo, Awfully Chocolate and the new Cold Storage), but they wisely decided to have a presence in Serene Centre. Apart from simple soups and buns, the food is cooked at the Cluny Court branch and carried over (covered, of course) by servers to Serene Centre.
I wasn’t expecting much, even though A had gone a couple of weeks ago and had raved about the escargot croissant. Today the croissant wasn’t on the menu, so we had carrot soup, I had chicken with morel mushroom sauce and pasta, and A had a sirloin steak with gratin potatoes.
At just $8 a dish (the soup was an additional $1.50), I would encourage everyone to try it at least once if you’re in the vicinity. The food was great. The chicken breast was amazingly tender, and the morel mushroom sauce had an incredibly intense flavour. Even the pasta was good, even though it was just salted and served with grated parmesan cheese. A’s sirloin steak was surprisingly good as well. I didn’t have high hopes for the medium rare, mainly because most places in Singapore tend to serve medium rare as medium. However this place proved me wrong, and the steak even survived the journey from Cluny Court, arriving a perfect medium rare.
The Filipino waitress was a little blur though, and somehow A’s order was initially mixed up and he got a duck a l’orange instead. But the guy who brought the food over was very professional and exchanged the dish immediately and without question. Now I feel like going back to try the duck a l’orange.
A says:
Restaurant standard meals in a laidback café setting. Like Choupinette but even more relaxed. The only foreign server there that night was super blur though (the guys running over with the food are infinitely more professional and competent).
Serene Centre seems to be the breeding ground for new and interesting eateries. First Island Creamery, which has recently moved from its humble corner shop to a full-fledged café within Serene Centre. And now, taking over Island Creamery’s old premises is La Petite Cuisine. The main restaurant, La Cuisine, is at Cluny Court next door (the building with Da Paolo, Awfully Chocolate and the new Cold Storage), but they wisely decided to have a presence in Serene Centre. Apart from simple soups and buns, the food is cooked at the Cluny Court branch and carried over (covered, of course) by servers to Serene Centre.
I wasn’t expecting much, even though A had gone a couple of weeks ago and had raved about the escargot croissant. Today the croissant wasn’t on the menu, so we had carrot soup, I had chicken with morel mushroom sauce and pasta, and A had a sirloin steak with gratin potatoes.
At just $8 a dish (the soup was an additional $1.50), I would encourage everyone to try it at least once if you’re in the vicinity. The food was great. The chicken breast was amazingly tender, and the morel mushroom sauce had an incredibly intense flavour. Even the pasta was good, even though it was just salted and served with grated parmesan cheese. A’s sirloin steak was surprisingly good as well. I didn’t have high hopes for the medium rare, mainly because most places in Singapore tend to serve medium rare as medium. However this place proved me wrong, and the steak even survived the journey from Cluny Court, arriving a perfect medium rare.
The Filipino waitress was a little blur though, and somehow A’s order was initially mixed up and he got a duck a l’orange instead. But the guy who brought the food over was very professional and exchanged the dish immediately and without question. Now I feel like going back to try the duck a l’orange.
A says:
Restaurant standard meals in a laidback café setting. Like Choupinette but even more relaxed. The only foreign server there that night was super blur though (the guys running over with the food are infinitely more professional and competent).
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Lavender Wan Ton Mee
C says:
A and I went to Jalan Besar today, our final stop in our toilet bowl hunt. After an hour or so of traversing up and down the street (from numbers 391 to 131 and back again) and popping into almost every store that sold loos, we finally had a well deserved lunch at the S21 Lavender Food Square. According to A, the wan ton mee here is famous and sure enough, it was the only stall with a super-long queue.
I decided to wait in line to see what the fuss was about. The queue didn’t seem that long, but just my luck, the stupid tai-tai in front of me decided to ta pao ten packets. TEN! Must have been for some mahjong session or something… Anyway, after waiting for over 15 minutes in line, I thought “Damn, it had better be worth the wait”.
Sure enough, it was. I’m not even a big wan ton mee fan, but from the very first taste you can see why it’s as popular as it is. The noodles were perfectly springy, not soggy at all. The wan tons were tasty, the char siew was lean and tender, but what sets it apart from other wan tan mees is the additional stock that is ladled over the noodles right before serving. It’s not that oily or salty, just adds incredible flavour and prevents the noodles from turning into a clump. Now I half wish we hadn’t bought our toilet bowls today so that we have another excuse to head over to Jalan Besar…
A says:
The place is famous enough as it is so I don’t need to say anything. It’s funny how you can’t miss it because it’s the only stall with a queue barrier.
A and I went to Jalan Besar today, our final stop in our toilet bowl hunt. After an hour or so of traversing up and down the street (from numbers 391 to 131 and back again) and popping into almost every store that sold loos, we finally had a well deserved lunch at the S21 Lavender Food Square. According to A, the wan ton mee here is famous and sure enough, it was the only stall with a super-long queue.
I decided to wait in line to see what the fuss was about. The queue didn’t seem that long, but just my luck, the stupid tai-tai in front of me decided to ta pao ten packets. TEN! Must have been for some mahjong session or something… Anyway, after waiting for over 15 minutes in line, I thought “Damn, it had better be worth the wait”.
Sure enough, it was. I’m not even a big wan ton mee fan, but from the very first taste you can see why it’s as popular as it is. The noodles were perfectly springy, not soggy at all. The wan tons were tasty, the char siew was lean and tender, but what sets it apart from other wan tan mees is the additional stock that is ladled over the noodles right before serving. It’s not that oily or salty, just adds incredible flavour and prevents the noodles from turning into a clump. Now I half wish we hadn’t bought our toilet bowls today so that we have another excuse to head over to Jalan Besar…
A says:
The place is famous enough as it is so I don’t need to say anything. It’s funny how you can’t miss it because it’s the only stall with a queue barrier.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
West Coast Satay
C says:
Between Malay and Chinese satay, I’ll take Chinese satay any day. Chinese satay is characterised by the pork satay that traditionally comes with alternating layers of lean meat and slices of pure fat. Unhealthy, I know, but there’s nothing like the taste of pork fat that’s been slightly charred over the satay grill. Mmmm…
A and I used to traipse all the way to Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Gardens for the Chinese satay there, but eventually the nightmarish parking situation and the increasingly scrawny sticks of satay kept us from going back.
We chanced upon the stall at the West Coast hawker centre (the one opposite Ginza Plaza) quite by accident. We were aimlessly wandering around there one day with M and J and noticed the stall. We ordered a few sticks of each meat – pork, chicken and mutton – and I was hooked from first bite. It had all the elements of good satay, in my opinion: tender chunks of meat (none of that minced meat for me), not-too-overpowering seasoning, and perfectly cooked so that the meat is still juicy. In fact, I think it’s improved since we first discovered it. Previously, only the pork was good, and the mutton was sometimes tough and the chicken slightly tasteless. However, the standard has definitely gone up, and now all 3 are consistently delicious.
We’ve ordered raw satay from here before, for barbeques, and it was well received on both occasions. I managed to snag the guy’s (I think he’s Mr Lim) handphone number so that in future, I can just call to order large quantities for barbeques or parties. If anyone wants his number, or wants to know where exactly they can find the stall, just let us know!
A says:
What I like is the friendly guy. I wouldn’t say the satay is fantastic. It’s very good for sure but a tad on the oily side. Actually, maybe that’s what makes it better than the dried out stuff you find elsewhere. But then I don’t really taste the satay meat anyway, and just use it as a tool to scoop up gravy. I could actually just eat the gravy with bread.
Between Malay and Chinese satay, I’ll take Chinese satay any day. Chinese satay is characterised by the pork satay that traditionally comes with alternating layers of lean meat and slices of pure fat. Unhealthy, I know, but there’s nothing like the taste of pork fat that’s been slightly charred over the satay grill. Mmmm…
A and I used to traipse all the way to Chomp Chomp at Serangoon Gardens for the Chinese satay there, but eventually the nightmarish parking situation and the increasingly scrawny sticks of satay kept us from going back.
We chanced upon the stall at the West Coast hawker centre (the one opposite Ginza Plaza) quite by accident. We were aimlessly wandering around there one day with M and J and noticed the stall. We ordered a few sticks of each meat – pork, chicken and mutton – and I was hooked from first bite. It had all the elements of good satay, in my opinion: tender chunks of meat (none of that minced meat for me), not-too-overpowering seasoning, and perfectly cooked so that the meat is still juicy. In fact, I think it’s improved since we first discovered it. Previously, only the pork was good, and the mutton was sometimes tough and the chicken slightly tasteless. However, the standard has definitely gone up, and now all 3 are consistently delicious.
We’ve ordered raw satay from here before, for barbeques, and it was well received on both occasions. I managed to snag the guy’s (I think he’s Mr Lim) handphone number so that in future, I can just call to order large quantities for barbeques or parties. If anyone wants his number, or wants to know where exactly they can find the stall, just let us know!
A says:
What I like is the friendly guy. I wouldn’t say the satay is fantastic. It’s very good for sure but a tad on the oily side. Actually, maybe that’s what makes it better than the dried out stuff you find elsewhere. But then I don’t really taste the satay meat anyway, and just use it as a tool to scoop up gravy. I could actually just eat the gravy with bread.
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Aburiya revisited
C says:
Our fish month (March) was finally over, so we decided to indulge our Aburiya cravings with M & S on Friday night. It was supremely satisfying as usual, although S and I felt rather ill at yoga the next morning, after all the fatty meats that we consumed.
I won’t bore anyone by repeating my comments on the stuff that we’ve already tasted and about which we’ve posted; I’ll just write about new stuff that we tried.
Learning from our previous ‘mistakes’, we decided to order the pork belly with a simple Tare (soy sauce) marinade instead of the overpowering miso. This was much better – the flavour of the pork really came through, and the charred fatty bits were simply divine. We ordered the beef tongue as well, which we grilled for slightly longer than the regular meats. This wasn’t at all chewy and was better than expected, but I might pass on this in future because (a) A doesn’t do tongue (heh), and (b) I still prefer the normal meats.
On S’s suggestion, we also tried 2 soups – a Kimchi Chage and a Beef Karubi soup. According to S, the former is typically Korean and she said that it was pretty authentic. I’ve never tried the dish at all before, and I was pleasantly surprised (since I’m not usually a kimchi fan). It had a nice balance of spicy and sour and it provided a welcome change from all the grilled meats. The Beef Karubi soup fared a little less well, because it was slightly bland in comparison. A liked it, though.
Another surprisingly good dish was the spinach salad with bacon. This was wonderfully light and fresh, and again provided a welcome respite from the meat overdose. We couldn’t figure out what the dressing was, but it was slightly tart and lemony. There were fried garlic chips in it as well, which provided some awesome flavour.
The great thing about Aburiya is that, even though we sat indoors, we didn’t reek of smoke/bbq at the end of the meal. In fact, even with all the grilling, the restaurant wasn’t smoky or smelly at all. There were no visible airvents above the tables, so the only explanation for this must be that they have a kick-ass ventilation system that somehow sucks the smoke and odours from beneath the grill itself.
I guess our Aburiya cravings have been satisfied for another couple of months.
A says:
I prefer the HV branch over the Quayside one. It’s usually less packed and I somehow feel less stressed. S said the place had a Korean vibe as well but I wouldn’t know so I’ll leave her to comment on that if she feels like it.
Whatever the case is, the place RAWKS!
On a side note, we went to the Häagen-Dazs at HV after and although the service was much improved from last time, I think the place is still seriously overpriced.
Our fish month (March) was finally over, so we decided to indulge our Aburiya cravings with M & S on Friday night. It was supremely satisfying as usual, although S and I felt rather ill at yoga the next morning, after all the fatty meats that we consumed.
I won’t bore anyone by repeating my comments on the stuff that we’ve already tasted and about which we’ve posted; I’ll just write about new stuff that we tried.
Learning from our previous ‘mistakes’, we decided to order the pork belly with a simple Tare (soy sauce) marinade instead of the overpowering miso. This was much better – the flavour of the pork really came through, and the charred fatty bits were simply divine. We ordered the beef tongue as well, which we grilled for slightly longer than the regular meats. This wasn’t at all chewy and was better than expected, but I might pass on this in future because (a) A doesn’t do tongue (heh), and (b) I still prefer the normal meats.
On S’s suggestion, we also tried 2 soups – a Kimchi Chage and a Beef Karubi soup. According to S, the former is typically Korean and she said that it was pretty authentic. I’ve never tried the dish at all before, and I was pleasantly surprised (since I’m not usually a kimchi fan). It had a nice balance of spicy and sour and it provided a welcome change from all the grilled meats. The Beef Karubi soup fared a little less well, because it was slightly bland in comparison. A liked it, though.
Another surprisingly good dish was the spinach salad with bacon. This was wonderfully light and fresh, and again provided a welcome respite from the meat overdose. We couldn’t figure out what the dressing was, but it was slightly tart and lemony. There were fried garlic chips in it as well, which provided some awesome flavour.
The great thing about Aburiya is that, even though we sat indoors, we didn’t reek of smoke/bbq at the end of the meal. In fact, even with all the grilling, the restaurant wasn’t smoky or smelly at all. There were no visible airvents above the tables, so the only explanation for this must be that they have a kick-ass ventilation system that somehow sucks the smoke and odours from beneath the grill itself.
I guess our Aburiya cravings have been satisfied for another couple of months.
A says:
I prefer the HV branch over the Quayside one. It’s usually less packed and I somehow feel less stressed. S said the place had a Korean vibe as well but I wouldn’t know so I’ll leave her to comment on that if she feels like it.
Whatever the case is, the place RAWKS!
On a side note, we went to the Häagen-Dazs at HV after and although the service was much improved from last time, I think the place is still seriously overpriced.
Monday, April 17, 2006
Tuna experiment
C says:
After our February meat month, A and I decided to try and detox a little by trying to have more fish instead. This led to some comparison shopping to find good fresh tuna to make tuna sashimi/carpaccio. I didn’t do a particularly comprehensive experiment, and left out places like Isetan supermarket and Cold Storage at Takashimaya, because their prices were ridiculously higher than even the Japanese speciality supermarkets. At Isetan it was $99 per kg, and it was going for $118 per kg at Taka.
(I made the same dish with all of them so I could judge them on a level playing field – marinated the fish with soy sauce for a couple of hours, then seared it on a hot pan so the inside remained rare.)
The two fish markets I went to were: Sakuraya Fish Market and Kuriya Fish Market. Sakuraya is at Ginza Plaza, and they recently also opened another branch at Parkway Parade (another grudging notch in the East side’s belt…). The tuna is $80 per kg here, and the quality wasn’t too bad. The fish tended to flake a little though, even before cooking, and the grain wasn’t very fine (if you can call it ‘grain’, like you do with meat).
The tuna at Kuriya Fish Market, at Great World City, was far superior. Already at first glance it was a deep red, and after cooking it was much finer and sweeter. It was so flavourful that the carpaccio tasted almost like a rare steak. Not that expensive either, in comparison with Sakuraya - $88 per kg.
Surprisingly, Carrefour at Plaza Sing sells raw tuna fillets as well, at a fraction of the price - $39.90 per kg. Of course, you get what you pay for, and at that price it’s definitely not sashimi quality. It can be eaten raw, but it flakes a great deal so getting it to maintain its shape after slicing it is quite a problem. But if you want to prepare a seared tuna steak rather than sashimi/carpaccio, the Carrefour one is more than adequate.
A says:
The tuna we got at Kuriya was even better than the one they served at the restaurant. I’m singing the praises for Kuriya and I’m singing them in tuna! *groan*
Btw, C forgot to add that you can forget about getting good fillets from the market.
After our February meat month, A and I decided to try and detox a little by trying to have more fish instead. This led to some comparison shopping to find good fresh tuna to make tuna sashimi/carpaccio. I didn’t do a particularly comprehensive experiment, and left out places like Isetan supermarket and Cold Storage at Takashimaya, because their prices were ridiculously higher than even the Japanese speciality supermarkets. At Isetan it was $99 per kg, and it was going for $118 per kg at Taka.
(I made the same dish with all of them so I could judge them on a level playing field – marinated the fish with soy sauce for a couple of hours, then seared it on a hot pan so the inside remained rare.)
The two fish markets I went to were: Sakuraya Fish Market and Kuriya Fish Market. Sakuraya is at Ginza Plaza, and they recently also opened another branch at Parkway Parade (another grudging notch in the East side’s belt…). The tuna is $80 per kg here, and the quality wasn’t too bad. The fish tended to flake a little though, even before cooking, and the grain wasn’t very fine (if you can call it ‘grain’, like you do with meat).
The tuna at Kuriya Fish Market, at Great World City, was far superior. Already at first glance it was a deep red, and after cooking it was much finer and sweeter. It was so flavourful that the carpaccio tasted almost like a rare steak. Not that expensive either, in comparison with Sakuraya - $88 per kg.
Surprisingly, Carrefour at Plaza Sing sells raw tuna fillets as well, at a fraction of the price - $39.90 per kg. Of course, you get what you pay for, and at that price it’s definitely not sashimi quality. It can be eaten raw, but it flakes a great deal so getting it to maintain its shape after slicing it is quite a problem. But if you want to prepare a seared tuna steak rather than sashimi/carpaccio, the Carrefour one is more than adequate.
A says:
The tuna we got at Kuriya was even better than the one they served at the restaurant. I’m singing the praises for Kuriya and I’m singing them in tuna! *groan*
Btw, C forgot to add that you can forget about getting good fillets from the market.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Moonfish
C says:
Oh dear… this post may upset our friends who recommended the place to us, but I guess we have to be honest. Moonfish is an Italian restaurant in Millenia Walk (although it will be moving to Marina Square in the middle of May), that branched off from its sister restaurant, the better-known Spageddies.
Moonfish tries to differentiate itself from Spageddies by offering more Mediterranean-inspired seafood dishes, but unfortunately it falls short of achieving that goal, and ends up just being ‘Spageddies… now with seafood!’. I guess it didn’t help that the online menu sounded tantalisingly promising, and set our expectations unattainably high for a pseudo-Italian chain restaurant.
The Moonfish escargot, which was described in the menu as ‘snails stuffed in mushroom caps, wood-oven baked in herb garlic butter topped with parmesan cheese’ and which was one of the main dishes that we wanted to try, was disappointingly out of stock that day. So instead, we ordered the Seafood Platter, which was exactly like the Spageddies ones (surprise, surprise), and a Caesar salad, which frankly tasted like the obligatory salad that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf serves with their sandwiches.
A had the Spaghetti Vongole, which I’ll leave him to tell you about because I didn’t taste it. My main was the Lobster & Chicken, which I thought was severely misrepresented in the menu: ‘lobster and chicken with butter cream sauce’, yet the sauce turned out to be a lot more tomato and a lot less butter cream. The lobster was pretty fresh though, so that was good. The chicken was again uninspired – a hunk of not particularly tender chicken was coated in a salty batter and deep fried. The accompanying aglio olio pasta was again typically Spageddies and so laden with garlic that any other flavours were simply overwhelmed.
I shouldn’t be too harsh though, because if you’re looking for a fairly reasonable place to have ‘localised’ Italian food, and are sick of Spageddies, this is a pretty acceptable alternative. It’s just not up to par with an authentic Italian restaurant, but I guess I shouldn’t even be comparing them.
Anyway, the evening wasn’t all disappointing, because there’s a store called Candy Empire, also at Millenia, which stocks sweets, chocolates, chips and other snacks from all over the world but primarily from Australia. A whole range of Arnott’s Tim Tams, mini Cheezels that are particular to Australia, Burger Rings (what a blast from the past!)… the list goes on and man, was I in heaven! I’m not sure if Moonfish warrants a return visit, but Candy Empire definitely does.
A says:
Food blah. Service blah. Ambience blah. Total waste of time.
Oh dear… this post may upset our friends who recommended the place to us, but I guess we have to be honest. Moonfish is an Italian restaurant in Millenia Walk (although it will be moving to Marina Square in the middle of May), that branched off from its sister restaurant, the better-known Spageddies.
Moonfish tries to differentiate itself from Spageddies by offering more Mediterranean-inspired seafood dishes, but unfortunately it falls short of achieving that goal, and ends up just being ‘Spageddies… now with seafood!’. I guess it didn’t help that the online menu sounded tantalisingly promising, and set our expectations unattainably high for a pseudo-Italian chain restaurant.
The Moonfish escargot, which was described in the menu as ‘snails stuffed in mushroom caps, wood-oven baked in herb garlic butter topped with parmesan cheese’ and which was one of the main dishes that we wanted to try, was disappointingly out of stock that day. So instead, we ordered the Seafood Platter, which was exactly like the Spageddies ones (surprise, surprise), and a Caesar salad, which frankly tasted like the obligatory salad that Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf serves with their sandwiches.
A had the Spaghetti Vongole, which I’ll leave him to tell you about because I didn’t taste it. My main was the Lobster & Chicken, which I thought was severely misrepresented in the menu: ‘lobster and chicken with butter cream sauce’, yet the sauce turned out to be a lot more tomato and a lot less butter cream. The lobster was pretty fresh though, so that was good. The chicken was again uninspired – a hunk of not particularly tender chicken was coated in a salty batter and deep fried. The accompanying aglio olio pasta was again typically Spageddies and so laden with garlic that any other flavours were simply overwhelmed.
I shouldn’t be too harsh though, because if you’re looking for a fairly reasonable place to have ‘localised’ Italian food, and are sick of Spageddies, this is a pretty acceptable alternative. It’s just not up to par with an authentic Italian restaurant, but I guess I shouldn’t even be comparing them.
Anyway, the evening wasn’t all disappointing, because there’s a store called Candy Empire, also at Millenia, which stocks sweets, chocolates, chips and other snacks from all over the world but primarily from Australia. A whole range of Arnott’s Tim Tams, mini Cheezels that are particular to Australia, Burger Rings (what a blast from the past!)… the list goes on and man, was I in heaven! I’m not sure if Moonfish warrants a return visit, but Candy Empire definitely does.
A says:
Food blah. Service blah. Ambience blah. Total waste of time.
Deli Wheels & New Zealand Natural
C says:
Calling all people working in the Raffles Place area – if you like hot dogs then do support this place. It’s at the basement of Clifford Centre, and it has recently sublet a small section of the restaurant to New Zealand Natural Ice Cream. You can kill two birds with one visit – hot dogs and ice cream. A perfect combination!
Deli Wheels has pork, chicken and veal sausages to choose from, and within those you can get a variety of different flavoured pork and chicken ones. I’m partial towards pork sausages myself, cos I figure if you’re gonna have fundamentally unhealthy food, might as well go the whole hog (no pun intended). A few of the pork choices are – Cheesy, English Brats, Beer Brats (slightly bitter aftertaste), German Brats and Italian. My favourite is the English Brats – it’s classic fat pork sausage with minimal herbs and seasonings. The German Brats isn’t too bad either but it’s a bit softer than the English and lacks the chewiness and bite of the English.
The best thing about this place, and what differentiates it from other hot dog joints, is the condiments counter. You’re served the hot dog naked on a bun, and you get to slather on any and all the toppings you want. And the toppings are proper toppings, not just the perfunctory ketchup and mustard. Here, you have a choice between ketchup, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, curry mustard, wasabi mustard, regular mustard and chilli sauce for the wet toppings, and relish, sauerkraut, chopped onions, jalapeno peppers, capsicums and fried shallots for the dry toppings. The correct order of your ingredients should be – bun, sausage, wet topping, then dry topping.
They have recently diversified and now, in addition to hot dogs they also serve rosti with their sausages, as well as ham and cheese crepes and roast chicken thigh. I haven’t tried the crepe nor the chicken, but I had the rosti on Friday night with a German Brats. It was definitely less messy than the hot dog, but as far as rosti goes, it’s no where near Marche’s standard. I’ll probably stick to their hot dogs from now on.
A says:
Hot dogs and milkshakes – RAWK! Although the hot dogs are a bit too fancy bratwurstsy (not cheapsy wienery) for us simple folk, you can’t beat the toppings and condiments area.
But why doesn’t the New Zealand Natural there serve the Xtreme Shake? Makes no sense that they don’t since they already have a blender and offer normal shakes. Why not just have the nuts and honey as well?
Still, it’s hot dogs and milkshakes. RAWK!
Calling all people working in the Raffles Place area – if you like hot dogs then do support this place. It’s at the basement of Clifford Centre, and it has recently sublet a small section of the restaurant to New Zealand Natural Ice Cream. You can kill two birds with one visit – hot dogs and ice cream. A perfect combination!
Deli Wheels has pork, chicken and veal sausages to choose from, and within those you can get a variety of different flavoured pork and chicken ones. I’m partial towards pork sausages myself, cos I figure if you’re gonna have fundamentally unhealthy food, might as well go the whole hog (no pun intended). A few of the pork choices are – Cheesy, English Brats, Beer Brats (slightly bitter aftertaste), German Brats and Italian. My favourite is the English Brats – it’s classic fat pork sausage with minimal herbs and seasonings. The German Brats isn’t too bad either but it’s a bit softer than the English and lacks the chewiness and bite of the English.
The best thing about this place, and what differentiates it from other hot dog joints, is the condiments counter. You’re served the hot dog naked on a bun, and you get to slather on any and all the toppings you want. And the toppings are proper toppings, not just the perfunctory ketchup and mustard. Here, you have a choice between ketchup, BBQ sauce, honey mustard, curry mustard, wasabi mustard, regular mustard and chilli sauce for the wet toppings, and relish, sauerkraut, chopped onions, jalapeno peppers, capsicums and fried shallots for the dry toppings. The correct order of your ingredients should be – bun, sausage, wet topping, then dry topping.
They have recently diversified and now, in addition to hot dogs they also serve rosti with their sausages, as well as ham and cheese crepes and roast chicken thigh. I haven’t tried the crepe nor the chicken, but I had the rosti on Friday night with a German Brats. It was definitely less messy than the hot dog, but as far as rosti goes, it’s no where near Marche’s standard. I’ll probably stick to their hot dogs from now on.
A says:
Hot dogs and milkshakes – RAWK! Although the hot dogs are a bit too fancy bratwurstsy (not cheapsy wienery) for us simple folk, you can’t beat the toppings and condiments area.
But why doesn’t the New Zealand Natural there serve the Xtreme Shake? Makes no sense that they don’t since they already have a blender and offer normal shakes. Why not just have the nuts and honey as well?
Still, it’s hot dogs and milkshakes. RAWK!
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Kuriya Japanese Restaurant
C says:
We had lunch at the Shaw Centre outlet on Saturday to celebrate W’s birthday (Happy Birthday, W!). The food is definitely on the pricey side, and some of the items weren’t as good as I expected, but there were more hits than misses and overall it was enjoyable.
I had the zaru soba, which started out pretty good; in addition to the wasabi and spring onions, they also added sesame seeds to the zaru soba dipping sauce which added a very interesting flavour and texture to the dish. I’ve had quail’s egg but never sesame seeds in my zaru soba sauce. However, for some strange reason the sauce didn’t retain its flavour. About 2/3 through the noodles, the sauce lost all its flavour and it ended up tasting like it had been heavily diluted.
The rest of the food fared much better, though. The sashimi platter we all shared was quite a spread of assorted sashimis, with very generous slices of fish. In addition to the usual tuna, salmon and hamachi, there were octopus, squid and prawn sashimis too, all of which were nice and fresh. We ordered a grilled squid which was also delicious.
The highlight of the meal was the Kani Nabe (kani - crab; nabe - hot pot). Yes, say it loud and clear, it’s perfectly legitimate. This was a crab hotpot, which huge pieces of crab legs, Chinese cabbage, golden mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms and tofu. The soup stock was really sweet yet not overpowering, probably due to the crab. The crab legs were surprisingly sweet and meaty and the flesh was quite easy to get to, once we threw propriety to the wind and got down and dirty with our fingers. The crab came with a Ponzu sauce, which was a slightly tart version of soy sauce with a hint of lemon and vinegar, which complemented the sweetness of the crab meat perfectly.
I didn’t try some of the stuff that the others ordered, so I can’t comment on them (hint hint, the rest of you… heh).
A says:
Very good service. Pretty good food. Overall, it’s not bad, but there are plenty of other Jap places ahead of it on my list.
We had lunch at the Shaw Centre outlet on Saturday to celebrate W’s birthday (Happy Birthday, W!). The food is definitely on the pricey side, and some of the items weren’t as good as I expected, but there were more hits than misses and overall it was enjoyable.
I had the zaru soba, which started out pretty good; in addition to the wasabi and spring onions, they also added sesame seeds to the zaru soba dipping sauce which added a very interesting flavour and texture to the dish. I’ve had quail’s egg but never sesame seeds in my zaru soba sauce. However, for some strange reason the sauce didn’t retain its flavour. About 2/3 through the noodles, the sauce lost all its flavour and it ended up tasting like it had been heavily diluted.
The rest of the food fared much better, though. The sashimi platter we all shared was quite a spread of assorted sashimis, with very generous slices of fish. In addition to the usual tuna, salmon and hamachi, there were octopus, squid and prawn sashimis too, all of which were nice and fresh. We ordered a grilled squid which was also delicious.
The highlight of the meal was the Kani Nabe (kani - crab; nabe - hot pot). Yes, say it loud and clear, it’s perfectly legitimate. This was a crab hotpot, which huge pieces of crab legs, Chinese cabbage, golden mushrooms, shimeji mushrooms and tofu. The soup stock was really sweet yet not overpowering, probably due to the crab. The crab legs were surprisingly sweet and meaty and the flesh was quite easy to get to, once we threw propriety to the wind and got down and dirty with our fingers. The crab came with a Ponzu sauce, which was a slightly tart version of soy sauce with a hint of lemon and vinegar, which complemented the sweetness of the crab meat perfectly.
I didn’t try some of the stuff that the others ordered, so I can’t comment on them (hint hint, the rest of you… heh).
A says:
Very good service. Pretty good food. Overall, it’s not bad, but there are plenty of other Jap places ahead of it on my list.
Buko Nero
C says:
After waiting a whole month from the date we made our reservation, on Friday night we finally made our way to Buko Nero, a little hole-in-the-wall (literally – that’s apparently what the name means in Italian) restaurant along Tanjong Pagar Road. This was our third time there, and as always, we ordered the set menu but changed the main course to an item from the specials of the day.
After making a conscious effort not to have a second helping of the delicious breads, the complimentary amuse bouche arrived - today’s was tofu and tomato crostini. At first I thought the sauce was balsamic vinegar, but it was actually distinctly Asian; tasted a little like dark soya sauce mixed with sesame oil and ginger. Interesting and very nice.
Next up was the starter, which was beef carpaccio with lemon dressing and parmesan cheese, and topped with some alfalfa sprouts. The lemon dressing was refreshing without being overly sour and tart, but I think the parmesan cheese, though generously sliced, slightly overpowered the taste of the beef, so that essentially we just tasted parmesan and lemon.
The soup course was a seafood and spring onion bisque. This was yummy – the soup was incredibly flavourful and chock-full of seafood, and the tomato-based bisque wasn’t too sour. A and I slurped up every drop.
A tropical fruit granita came next, to cleanse our palate before the main course. Surprisingly, the only flavour that I could discern was guava; I couldn’t figure out what other tropical fruits went into it. This was nice and refreshing, but we did have to wait a while before it arrived, which I found rather surprising given that it’s the only non-cooked course. Maybe the granita needed some time to get frozen…
Main course came next – I had the beef tenderloin wrapped with bacon and topped with foie gras cubes, and A had the home-made tagliatelle with scallops in an aglio olio sauce. Mine first: mmmmmmm… The medium rare I ordered was perfectly done, and the bacon infused an amazing flavour into the already juicy and sweet tenderloin. The foie gras cubes added an interesting and luxurious touch to an already delicious dish. I had a couple of mouthfuls of A’s pasta, which was so simple yet so tasty. The delicate sauce relied on the scallops to provide its flavour, but what really blew me away was the home-made tagliatelle. Pasta-wise, it was the best I’ve ever had – it was cooked to a perfect al dente, and it was the first time I’ve had a pasta dish where I didn’t consider the pasta to be just an inconsequential carb.
Dessert was milk chocolate cake with caramel coulis. This tasted better than it looked. It looked like an ordinary slice of chocolate-flavoured butter cake, but it was moist, surprisingly chocolatey, and topped with mini maltesers and a kick-ass caramel sauce.
Alas, when we tried to make our next reservation, they were already fully booked for the month of April. I’ll have to call them sometime in April in the hopes of securing a spot for May. Wish me luck!
A says:
Without doubt, one of our favorite restaurants. Food almost always rocks. It’s like fine dining without being too serious (or expensive). The place is run by a husband and wife team so be prepared for service to get a bit slow when it’s busy. Maybe if we were the chatty sort that makes friends with proprietors, we’d be able to get preferred reservation places.
After waiting a whole month from the date we made our reservation, on Friday night we finally made our way to Buko Nero, a little hole-in-the-wall (literally – that’s apparently what the name means in Italian) restaurant along Tanjong Pagar Road. This was our third time there, and as always, we ordered the set menu but changed the main course to an item from the specials of the day.
After making a conscious effort not to have a second helping of the delicious breads, the complimentary amuse bouche arrived - today’s was tofu and tomato crostini. At first I thought the sauce was balsamic vinegar, but it was actually distinctly Asian; tasted a little like dark soya sauce mixed with sesame oil and ginger. Interesting and very nice.
Next up was the starter, which was beef carpaccio with lemon dressing and parmesan cheese, and topped with some alfalfa sprouts. The lemon dressing was refreshing without being overly sour and tart, but I think the parmesan cheese, though generously sliced, slightly overpowered the taste of the beef, so that essentially we just tasted parmesan and lemon.
The soup course was a seafood and spring onion bisque. This was yummy – the soup was incredibly flavourful and chock-full of seafood, and the tomato-based bisque wasn’t too sour. A and I slurped up every drop.
A tropical fruit granita came next, to cleanse our palate before the main course. Surprisingly, the only flavour that I could discern was guava; I couldn’t figure out what other tropical fruits went into it. This was nice and refreshing, but we did have to wait a while before it arrived, which I found rather surprising given that it’s the only non-cooked course. Maybe the granita needed some time to get frozen…
Main course came next – I had the beef tenderloin wrapped with bacon and topped with foie gras cubes, and A had the home-made tagliatelle with scallops in an aglio olio sauce. Mine first: mmmmmmm… The medium rare I ordered was perfectly done, and the bacon infused an amazing flavour into the already juicy and sweet tenderloin. The foie gras cubes added an interesting and luxurious touch to an already delicious dish. I had a couple of mouthfuls of A’s pasta, which was so simple yet so tasty. The delicate sauce relied on the scallops to provide its flavour, but what really blew me away was the home-made tagliatelle. Pasta-wise, it was the best I’ve ever had – it was cooked to a perfect al dente, and it was the first time I’ve had a pasta dish where I didn’t consider the pasta to be just an inconsequential carb.
Dessert was milk chocolate cake with caramel coulis. This tasted better than it looked. It looked like an ordinary slice of chocolate-flavoured butter cake, but it was moist, surprisingly chocolatey, and topped with mini maltesers and a kick-ass caramel sauce.
Alas, when we tried to make our next reservation, they were already fully booked for the month of April. I’ll have to call them sometime in April in the hopes of securing a spot for May. Wish me luck!
A says:
Without doubt, one of our favorite restaurants. Food almost always rocks. It’s like fine dining without being too serious (or expensive). The place is run by a husband and wife team so be prepared for service to get a bit slow when it’s busy. Maybe if we were the chatty sort that makes friends with proprietors, we’d be able to get preferred reservation places.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Fish & Chips at Parkway Parade
A says:
Finally! The East has something to redeem itself. I spent part of my childhood living in Katong and fondly recall how fun Parkway Parade was when it first opened. But we were forced to flee during the war and the whole place went to hell. My occasional sojourns back left me feeling empty at the soulless place it had become.
So it is with great joy that I report of the renewed vitality that has returned to the mall of my youth. Once more, one can find delightful curios that tickle the senses and prickle the imagination.
Anyway… Fish & Chips at basement food court BEST! Be sure to ask for vinegar. There’s also a New Zealand Natural ice cream kiosk on ground floor where you can get an EXTREME shake! Sedap!
C says:
Nice shops… retail therapy… I like…
Finally! The East has something to redeem itself. I spent part of my childhood living in Katong and fondly recall how fun Parkway Parade was when it first opened. But we were forced to flee during the war and the whole place went to hell. My occasional sojourns back left me feeling empty at the soulless place it had become.
So it is with great joy that I report of the renewed vitality that has returned to the mall of my youth. Once more, one can find delightful curios that tickle the senses and prickle the imagination.
Anyway… Fish & Chips at basement food court BEST! Be sure to ask for vinegar. There’s also a New Zealand Natural ice cream kiosk on ground floor where you can get an EXTREME shake! Sedap!
C says:
Nice shops… retail therapy… I like…
Monday, March 27, 2006
Ichibantei
C says:
After watching two weeks of ramen specials on Japan Hour, and reading today’s Sunday Times feature on ramen places in Singapore, we decided to finally succumb to our (or rather, my) ramen craving, and went to Ichibantei at Quayside for dinner.
The place was packed, and I think the waitstaff were rather overwhelmed. They were slightly inattentive, but once we managed to get their attention, we got a table, ordered and got our food all fairly quickly.
We managed to order the eel dish that was sold out when we wanted to try it at Ai Japanese restaurant a couple of weeks ago. This was really good – chunks of eel steamed with onions and beaten egg in a sweet teriyaki sauce.
I had the tonkotsu ramen, which is several slices of char siew, a half boiled egg and some bamboo shoots in Kyushu-style broth, which is made with pork bones. I was in heaven – the soup was milky white from the pork bones and full of flavour, and it even had bits of fried garlic to enhance the flavour. The texture of the ramen was good too, springy and firm with lots of bite to it. A had the tantan men, which had additional ingredients of sesame paste, chili paste and minced beef and pork added to the pork bone soup. This tasted a bit nutty, but because it reminded me of satay gravy, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
A great reason to keep coming back to this place is the soft ice cream dispenser. If you order a soft ice cream, the waitress will literally give you an ice cream cone in a metal holder with a handle, and you’re supposed to dispense it yourself. Believe me, it’s NOT as easy as it looks. Mine turned out ok because I decided not to be greedy; 3 swirls were all I dared to do before easing off on the lever. I’ll leave A to share his experience…
A says:
Bloody machine couldn’t be switched off (it’s actually quite simple if you’re not panicking while trying to balance a 4 level tower of power)! So now I’m prepared and going for 5 levels of swirls next time. I ended up catching the tumbling ice cream in my hand and having to gulp it down before further calamity struck.
Anyway, service kinda sucked and the servers looked stressed to hell by the crowd, which could be because the restaurant was in the papers that day as one of the best ramen joints in Singapore. I personally didn’t find the ramen all that fantastic. The unagi rocked but what’s going to bring me back is the soft-serve machine. Damn that machine! Vengeance will be mine!
After watching two weeks of ramen specials on Japan Hour, and reading today’s Sunday Times feature on ramen places in Singapore, we decided to finally succumb to our (or rather, my) ramen craving, and went to Ichibantei at Quayside for dinner.
The place was packed, and I think the waitstaff were rather overwhelmed. They were slightly inattentive, but once we managed to get their attention, we got a table, ordered and got our food all fairly quickly.
We managed to order the eel dish that was sold out when we wanted to try it at Ai Japanese restaurant a couple of weeks ago. This was really good – chunks of eel steamed with onions and beaten egg in a sweet teriyaki sauce.
I had the tonkotsu ramen, which is several slices of char siew, a half boiled egg and some bamboo shoots in Kyushu-style broth, which is made with pork bones. I was in heaven – the soup was milky white from the pork bones and full of flavour, and it even had bits of fried garlic to enhance the flavour. The texture of the ramen was good too, springy and firm with lots of bite to it. A had the tantan men, which had additional ingredients of sesame paste, chili paste and minced beef and pork added to the pork bone soup. This tasted a bit nutty, but because it reminded me of satay gravy, it wasn’t quite my cup of tea.
A great reason to keep coming back to this place is the soft ice cream dispenser. If you order a soft ice cream, the waitress will literally give you an ice cream cone in a metal holder with a handle, and you’re supposed to dispense it yourself. Believe me, it’s NOT as easy as it looks. Mine turned out ok because I decided not to be greedy; 3 swirls were all I dared to do before easing off on the lever. I’ll leave A to share his experience…
A says:
Bloody machine couldn’t be switched off (it’s actually quite simple if you’re not panicking while trying to balance a 4 level tower of power)! So now I’m prepared and going for 5 levels of swirls next time. I ended up catching the tumbling ice cream in my hand and having to gulp it down before further calamity struck.
Anyway, service kinda sucked and the servers looked stressed to hell by the crowd, which could be because the restaurant was in the papers that day as one of the best ramen joints in Singapore. I personally didn’t find the ramen all that fantastic. The unagi rocked but what’s going to bring me back is the soft-serve machine. Damn that machine! Vengeance will be mine!
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Victor’s Kitchen
C says:
If you’re feeling in the mood for classic, good quality dim sum, head down to Victor’s Kitchen, which is tucked away inside Sunshine Plaza on Bencoolen Street. We read about this place in a food blog, and decided to try it on Sunday morning for brunch. Judging from the crowd at the restaurant in an otherwise deserted shopping mall, many other people had read the blog as well.
There isn’t a huge selection of dim sum at Victor’s, but everything that we tried was incredibly fresh. It probably helps that Victor is standing there continually making dumplings and other items, so that you know that what you’re getting is nothing short of 100% fresh.
The siew mai and har kau were amazing – generously filled with fresh prawns that were sweet and crisp and springy. The carrot cake was steamed, rather than the traditional pan-fried variety. This was a welcome change – it was much healthier, and you could really taste the individual ingredients of turnip, dried scallops and lup cheong without being overwhelmed by any oiliness.
The char siew pau and custard pau were good too. Unlike most commercial places where there’s more dough than filling, the paus at this place were very generous with the fillings. Of course, this isn’t exactly a plus point for carb-obsessed A, who would prefer 80% dough and 20% filling…
We had two chee cheong funs: char siew, and a very interesting you tiao one. The char siew one rocked – the cheong fun was very fine and silky smooth, and the sesame oil-laced sauce that it came with was perfect and not too salty. The you tiao one was interesting because of the difference in textures of the soft cheong fun and crispy you tiao, but it became quite gelak after a while.
The great thing about this place is, even with such fresh and good quality ingredients, the average price of each item is $3, which is on par with or even cheaper than other mass market dim sum places that are no where near the standard of Victor’s.
A says:
This is one hole-in-the-wall places I really don’t mind. Overall, it’s damn good dim sum. I like the you tiao chee cheong fun but a bit of an overdose if you eat the whole thing by yourself. The only thing I can think of that’s better somewhere else is the char siew pau (Crystal Jade ones are better).
Expect the staff to be brisk. Think they’re from China. Can be friendly but can also be very, “This your order? Nar!”
If you’re feeling in the mood for classic, good quality dim sum, head down to Victor’s Kitchen, which is tucked away inside Sunshine Plaza on Bencoolen Street. We read about this place in a food blog, and decided to try it on Sunday morning for brunch. Judging from the crowd at the restaurant in an otherwise deserted shopping mall, many other people had read the blog as well.
There isn’t a huge selection of dim sum at Victor’s, but everything that we tried was incredibly fresh. It probably helps that Victor is standing there continually making dumplings and other items, so that you know that what you’re getting is nothing short of 100% fresh.
The siew mai and har kau were amazing – generously filled with fresh prawns that were sweet and crisp and springy. The carrot cake was steamed, rather than the traditional pan-fried variety. This was a welcome change – it was much healthier, and you could really taste the individual ingredients of turnip, dried scallops and lup cheong without being overwhelmed by any oiliness.
The char siew pau and custard pau were good too. Unlike most commercial places where there’s more dough than filling, the paus at this place were very generous with the fillings. Of course, this isn’t exactly a plus point for carb-obsessed A, who would prefer 80% dough and 20% filling…
We had two chee cheong funs: char siew, and a very interesting you tiao one. The char siew one rocked – the cheong fun was very fine and silky smooth, and the sesame oil-laced sauce that it came with was perfect and not too salty. The you tiao one was interesting because of the difference in textures of the soft cheong fun and crispy you tiao, but it became quite gelak after a while.
The great thing about this place is, even with such fresh and good quality ingredients, the average price of each item is $3, which is on par with or even cheaper than other mass market dim sum places that are no where near the standard of Victor’s.
A says:
This is one hole-in-the-wall places I really don’t mind. Overall, it’s damn good dim sum. I like the you tiao chee cheong fun but a bit of an overdose if you eat the whole thing by yourself. The only thing I can think of that’s better somewhere else is the char siew pau (Crystal Jade ones are better).
Expect the staff to be brisk. Think they’re from China. Can be friendly but can also be very, “This your order? Nar!”
Sunset Bar & Grill
C says:
This place has the best buffalo wings in Singapore, by a mile. A discovered it when he went there a couple of years ago for a friend’s stag night, and it was by sheer luck that the both of us managed to find it again a few months after that. It’s tucked deep (and I do mean deep) within Seletar Airbase, amongst old colonial bungalows and aircraft hangars. In fact, the restaurant is situated right next to the runway, and if you’re lucky, you can catch a plane taking off or landing while you feast on the scrumptious food. Of course, once we found the place, we took no chances and asked them to give us a detailed map, which we followed precisely on our next visit, and we’ve been going back so often ever since that the route is now second nature to us.
To me, the place is worth going purely for the buffalo wings. The wings arrive piping hot and are tender and juicy, with the meat practically falling off the bone. The hotness levels range from Level 1 all the way to Level 10. We’ve never tried anything beyond Level 4, though, which already pretty much reduces everyone to tears. The deep fried calamari is also very simple but one of the best I’ve tried, with the calamari crispy on the outside yet tender and not at all chewy.
On Friday night we went with our friends S and E. We had brought S there before, but it was E’s first time. S’s chili tolerance is on the low side, so we had half a dozen Level 1s just for her, and another dozen Level 3s for the rest of us. The wings didn’t disappoint, although they were definitely less spicy than previous Level 3s that we’ve had there. I’m quite sure that chili levels are arbitrary, because unless they have precise measurements on how much chili goes into Level 3, 4, 5, etc, you’ll never get the exact same amount of spiciness each time. Friday’s Level 3 was like a normal Level 2, but they were still enjoyable to the last morsel.
The four of us shared a brownie with ice cream for dessert. A wanted his own brownie but unfortunately they only had one brownie left. The brownie here is baked by the owner Jerry’s wife, and is typically old school – warm, soft and almost cake-like, with only a minimum amount of nuts, then drizzled with hot fudge sauce and served with vanilla ice cream. Interesting point – S asked the waitstaff what brand of vanilla ice cream they use, expecting it to be Haagen Daaz or Ben & Jerry’s. To our surprise, it was Nestle! The ice cream was surprisingly good, so perhaps Nestle’s quality has improved in recent years.
A says:
Unofficial history (derived from rumors, gossip & hearsay) – the owner of Sunset is the Jerry of Jerry’s. He sold that and went on to start Buckaroo’s. Sold that and is now doing Sunset.
Each place has its own specialty in my opinion (Jerry’s has better beef ribs while Buckaroo’s has the onion tower thing), but this place is my favorite. Almost all the starters rock. The calamari is also some of the best I’ve had in Singapore. The starters are so good that we order a whole bunch of those and just skip the mains. In fact, the only main really worth ordering is the hamburger.
I think besides the food, what sells the place is the setting. It’s laidback and getting there is an adventure in itself. So good luck finding the place!
This place has the best buffalo wings in Singapore, by a mile. A discovered it when he went there a couple of years ago for a friend’s stag night, and it was by sheer luck that the both of us managed to find it again a few months after that. It’s tucked deep (and I do mean deep) within Seletar Airbase, amongst old colonial bungalows and aircraft hangars. In fact, the restaurant is situated right next to the runway, and if you’re lucky, you can catch a plane taking off or landing while you feast on the scrumptious food. Of course, once we found the place, we took no chances and asked them to give us a detailed map, which we followed precisely on our next visit, and we’ve been going back so often ever since that the route is now second nature to us.
To me, the place is worth going purely for the buffalo wings. The wings arrive piping hot and are tender and juicy, with the meat practically falling off the bone. The hotness levels range from Level 1 all the way to Level 10. We’ve never tried anything beyond Level 4, though, which already pretty much reduces everyone to tears. The deep fried calamari is also very simple but one of the best I’ve tried, with the calamari crispy on the outside yet tender and not at all chewy.
On Friday night we went with our friends S and E. We had brought S there before, but it was E’s first time. S’s chili tolerance is on the low side, so we had half a dozen Level 1s just for her, and another dozen Level 3s for the rest of us. The wings didn’t disappoint, although they were definitely less spicy than previous Level 3s that we’ve had there. I’m quite sure that chili levels are arbitrary, because unless they have precise measurements on how much chili goes into Level 3, 4, 5, etc, you’ll never get the exact same amount of spiciness each time. Friday’s Level 3 was like a normal Level 2, but they were still enjoyable to the last morsel.
The four of us shared a brownie with ice cream for dessert. A wanted his own brownie but unfortunately they only had one brownie left. The brownie here is baked by the owner Jerry’s wife, and is typically old school – warm, soft and almost cake-like, with only a minimum amount of nuts, then drizzled with hot fudge sauce and served with vanilla ice cream. Interesting point – S asked the waitstaff what brand of vanilla ice cream they use, expecting it to be Haagen Daaz or Ben & Jerry’s. To our surprise, it was Nestle! The ice cream was surprisingly good, so perhaps Nestle’s quality has improved in recent years.
A says:
Unofficial history (derived from rumors, gossip & hearsay) – the owner of Sunset is the Jerry of Jerry’s. He sold that and went on to start Buckaroo’s. Sold that and is now doing Sunset.
Each place has its own specialty in my opinion (Jerry’s has better beef ribs while Buckaroo’s has the onion tower thing), but this place is my favorite. Almost all the starters rock. The calamari is also some of the best I’ve had in Singapore. The starters are so good that we order a whole bunch of those and just skip the mains. In fact, the only main really worth ordering is the hamburger.
I think besides the food, what sells the place is the setting. It’s laidback and getting there is an adventure in itself. So good luck finding the place!
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Student Eating
A says:
C abandoned me for yoga so I decided to save some time and money by going back to eating what I used to as a poor college student. That being said, I had 4 slices of plain bread with ketchup. I’d usually supplement that with a slice of Kraft American Cheese but since we had some leftover Camembert, I finished that off instead.
Side note: There was a picture of a cow on the cheese container and a sticker on the back saying “Made from goat’s milk”. Bloody mis-rep!
Had some of C’s cookies for dessert and washed it down with a glass of milk. Took all of 10 seconds to get dinner ready and a minute to clean up. Super easy, super cheap and super light. Think I should have more of these.
C abandoned me for yoga so I decided to save some time and money by going back to eating what I used to as a poor college student. That being said, I had 4 slices of plain bread with ketchup. I’d usually supplement that with a slice of Kraft American Cheese but since we had some leftover Camembert, I finished that off instead.
Side note: There was a picture of a cow on the cheese container and a sticker on the back saying “Made from goat’s milk”. Bloody mis-rep!
Had some of C’s cookies for dessert and washed it down with a glass of milk. Took all of 10 seconds to get dinner ready and a minute to clean up. Super easy, super cheap and super light. Think I should have more of these.
Monday, March 20, 2006
Sistina
C says:
So much for our resolution to eat prudently this weekend (cos we already fulfilled our allotted two ‘fancy’ dinners per week on Thursday and Friday). A had a pizza craving and didn’t feel like lowly ol’ Rockys, so we ended up at Holland Village where we had to choose between Sistina and Da Paolo’s Pizza Bar. Of course, A inevitably chose the more posh joint… To be fair, we’ve been meaning to try Sistina for the longest time.
We shared a mushroom soup and an insalata caprese (tomatoes and mozzarella) to start. The soup was pretty basic but somehow strangely addictive. The insalata caprese was ok but I found the one at La Vela better, probably because of the quality of the mozzarella.
The pizzas fared much better. We both had thin-crust 8 inch pizzas - I had the pizza of the day, which had bacon, salami, asparagus and mushroom (told them to hold the olives) and A had the Vespa, consisting of rosemary-marinated lamb slices, grilled eggplant and feta cheese (also holding the olives). A’s was certainly very flavourful, but I’m sure not if I could have dealt with an entire pizza on my own; for me it would’ve been a bit gelak after a while. I much preferred my more basic pizza. Also, A begs to differ, but I prefer the pizza here to Peperoni. I think the flavour of the tomato sauce base is much better. I do agree, however, that if you’re in the mood for a no-frills pizza, Peperoni is probably a better bet.
A says:
What is it with paying too much for food lately. The pizzas here are certainly very, very good, but the starters were way over priced. Maybe next time we go we’ll just have pizza or some other mains. Although I think we’ll try Da Paolo before we come back here.
And yes, I still prefer Peperoni because of its nice, clean taste (simple food for simple folk, yo!)
So much for our resolution to eat prudently this weekend (cos we already fulfilled our allotted two ‘fancy’ dinners per week on Thursday and Friday). A had a pizza craving and didn’t feel like lowly ol’ Rockys, so we ended up at Holland Village where we had to choose between Sistina and Da Paolo’s Pizza Bar. Of course, A inevitably chose the more posh joint… To be fair, we’ve been meaning to try Sistina for the longest time.
We shared a mushroom soup and an insalata caprese (tomatoes and mozzarella) to start. The soup was pretty basic but somehow strangely addictive. The insalata caprese was ok but I found the one at La Vela better, probably because of the quality of the mozzarella.
The pizzas fared much better. We both had thin-crust 8 inch pizzas - I had the pizza of the day, which had bacon, salami, asparagus and mushroom (told them to hold the olives) and A had the Vespa, consisting of rosemary-marinated lamb slices, grilled eggplant and feta cheese (also holding the olives). A’s was certainly very flavourful, but I’m sure not if I could have dealt with an entire pizza on my own; for me it would’ve been a bit gelak after a while. I much preferred my more basic pizza. Also, A begs to differ, but I prefer the pizza here to Peperoni. I think the flavour of the tomato sauce base is much better. I do agree, however, that if you’re in the mood for a no-frills pizza, Peperoni is probably a better bet.
A says:
What is it with paying too much for food lately. The pizzas here are certainly very, very good, but the starters were way over priced. Maybe next time we go we’ll just have pizza or some other mains. Although I think we’ll try Da Paolo before we come back here.
And yes, I still prefer Peperoni because of its nice, clean taste (simple food for simple folk, yo!)
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Unknown Jap place at Quayside
C says:
We had dinner with A&C (yes, same initials as us) on Friday night. We were supposed to go to Ichibantei at Quayside, but we got sidetracked by a new restaurant (apparently run by the same Ichibantei management) next to it that had just opened. Neither of us could decide which to go to, so we flipped a coin and the new one it was. Unfortunately the name escapes me, even after spending the last half hour googling and yahooing. If it’s any help, the restaurant occupies what used to be Tamade (*sniff* the place brings back fond memories for A and me…).
I thought the food was ok, typical Japanese fare but nothing to scream about. It didn’t help that they were out of 2 things that we wanted to order – tuna sashimi and some unagi dish. A and I shared a zaru soba which was ok, but we’ve had better zaru soba in an unassuming Japanese joint in the basement of Raffles City. The squid tentacles fried with butter were quite nice, and karaage (deep fried chicken) was served with a rather interesting sour-salty sauce.
After dinner, we went over to Ichibantei for their soft ice-cream, which was yummy. I had a look at the Ichibantei menu while waiting for the ice-cream and now I’ve got a ramen craving. Wonder when we can go back to try the ramen and have more ice-cream…
A says:
We didn’t have the $36 shabu-shabu buffet, which would probably be the only thing worth it on the menu. Food was remarkably average. Nothing bad, but nothing special at all. Could probably get the same things much cheaper elsewhere.
The ice cream place looked fun though. Looking forward to going back there. Highly doubt we’ll go to the unknown jap place again (even if it did take over Tamade’s spot at Quayside).
We had dinner with A&C (yes, same initials as us) on Friday night. We were supposed to go to Ichibantei at Quayside, but we got sidetracked by a new restaurant (apparently run by the same Ichibantei management) next to it that had just opened. Neither of us could decide which to go to, so we flipped a coin and the new one it was. Unfortunately the name escapes me, even after spending the last half hour googling and yahooing. If it’s any help, the restaurant occupies what used to be Tamade (*sniff* the place brings back fond memories for A and me…).
I thought the food was ok, typical Japanese fare but nothing to scream about. It didn’t help that they were out of 2 things that we wanted to order – tuna sashimi and some unagi dish. A and I shared a zaru soba which was ok, but we’ve had better zaru soba in an unassuming Japanese joint in the basement of Raffles City. The squid tentacles fried with butter were quite nice, and karaage (deep fried chicken) was served with a rather interesting sour-salty sauce.
After dinner, we went over to Ichibantei for their soft ice-cream, which was yummy. I had a look at the Ichibantei menu while waiting for the ice-cream and now I’ve got a ramen craving. Wonder when we can go back to try the ramen and have more ice-cream…
A says:
We didn’t have the $36 shabu-shabu buffet, which would probably be the only thing worth it on the menu. Food was remarkably average. Nothing bad, but nothing special at all. Could probably get the same things much cheaper elsewhere.
The ice cream place looked fun though. Looking forward to going back there. Highly doubt we’ll go to the unknown jap place again (even if it did take over Tamade’s spot at Quayside).
Friday, March 17, 2006
Kazu
C says:
We finally went to Kazu last night (Thursday) after reading and hearing so much about it. Reservations are definitely necessary, because the last time we tried to go, at like 7 pm on a weekday, we were turned away because they were completely full. This time we learned our lesson and made a booking almost a week in advance.
The restaurant is tucked away on the 4th floor of Cuppage Plaza, amidst seedy karaoke bars with hostesses milling around outside. It clearly doesn’t need any advertising or marketing apart from word-of-mouth, because even though it was a Thursday night it was still packed. The waitresses were surprisingly friendly though; I expected them to be really atas and snotty to us, since we’re not regulars, but when they found out that we were first-timers, they were really helpful in suggesting their specialties to us.
Almost all of the stuff we had was GREAT. They’re a sumiyaki place as well, but instead of you cooking your own food like at Aburiya, here they skewer it yakitori-style and grill it for you. We were only able to sample like 10% of their extremely extensive menu. Amongst other things, their specialties are chicken skewers and bacon skewers (misleadingly called pork belly rolls on the menu). They have skewers for practically every part of the chicken – wing, liver, heart, gizzard, tail, skin, neck skin (is there a difference?!), soft bone… the list seems endless. We tried a standard chicken, a chunky wild chicken, chicken wing, liver, and crispy chicken skin. We had the chicken meat skewers with teriyaki sauce, but the rest were salt-and-pepper (the default seasoning of most of the skewers). I didn’t see much difference between the chicken and wild chicken, but A preferred the wild chicken (maybe cos it was more expensive, the atas Teochew ah sia...). The chicken wing was great, as was the artery-clogging crispy chicken skin.
The equally artery-clogging bacon rolls, with the ingredients wrapped with bacon, are also delicious. We had several mushroom ones – enoki (golden) mushroom, maitake mushroom (which tasted quite wild and earthy) and eringi mushroom. The eringi mushroom was a seasonal special and was really interesting cos it tasted so meaty that it took me a while to realise that it wasn’t a pure pork belly skewer. I think the enoki mushroom was better than the maitake; the texture lent itself better to skewers. We also had bacon wrapped with sticky rice cakes, which was interesting but I may not order it next time. The potato bacon rolls and garlic bacon rolls were ok but nothing to rave about.
A killer item, of which we had a repeat order, was the beef with cheese skewer. A juicy mozzarella chunk wrapped with a thin slice of beef. Mmmm… The grilled foie gras was also delicious. It was seasoned with salt and pepper, and grilled till the edges were crispy. Some other skewers we had were belly pork, and miso pork with eggplant. We tried the garlic fried rice, which came with a miso soup with meatballs. The meatballs were really good; I think there was some crabmeat in them. The rice had crispy fried garlic chips in it which were really fragrant. Next time I’ll just stick to the skewers tho, I think the rice got me pretty full.
The only downer that we ordered was the yakiniku – sautéed Australian wagyu beef slices. While the flavour of the beef was good, it was incredibly tough. I couldn’t even bite into it, and had to put each fairly large piece into my mouth and chew incessantly before I managed to get it down.
Apart from the beef, everything else was a winner and this is another place that definitely begs a repeat visit.
A says:
Funniest thing was this Russian guy at the next table talking really loudly about this foursome he had (obviously a banker or a trader or something like that cause of the bank name he kept dropping – he was in the Amsterdam, London and New York branches). Haha. Anyway, I’m super impressed by the service. C seemed perpetually gleeful over the location in the seedy heart of Singapore’s Little Tokyo. She kept going, “Do you think those are xiao jie? Can you go ask them if they’re xiao jies?”
Anyway, with regards to the food, the rule of thumb is to stick to the food that is on a stick. Everything else pales in comparison.
We finally went to Kazu last night (Thursday) after reading and hearing so much about it. Reservations are definitely necessary, because the last time we tried to go, at like 7 pm on a weekday, we were turned away because they were completely full. This time we learned our lesson and made a booking almost a week in advance.
The restaurant is tucked away on the 4th floor of Cuppage Plaza, amidst seedy karaoke bars with hostesses milling around outside. It clearly doesn’t need any advertising or marketing apart from word-of-mouth, because even though it was a Thursday night it was still packed. The waitresses were surprisingly friendly though; I expected them to be really atas and snotty to us, since we’re not regulars, but when they found out that we were first-timers, they were really helpful in suggesting their specialties to us.
Almost all of the stuff we had was GREAT. They’re a sumiyaki place as well, but instead of you cooking your own food like at Aburiya, here they skewer it yakitori-style and grill it for you. We were only able to sample like 10% of their extremely extensive menu. Amongst other things, their specialties are chicken skewers and bacon skewers (misleadingly called pork belly rolls on the menu). They have skewers for practically every part of the chicken – wing, liver, heart, gizzard, tail, skin, neck skin (is there a difference?!), soft bone… the list seems endless. We tried a standard chicken, a chunky wild chicken, chicken wing, liver, and crispy chicken skin. We had the chicken meat skewers with teriyaki sauce, but the rest were salt-and-pepper (the default seasoning of most of the skewers). I didn’t see much difference between the chicken and wild chicken, but A preferred the wild chicken (maybe cos it was more expensive, the atas Teochew ah sia...). The chicken wing was great, as was the artery-clogging crispy chicken skin.
The equally artery-clogging bacon rolls, with the ingredients wrapped with bacon, are also delicious. We had several mushroom ones – enoki (golden) mushroom, maitake mushroom (which tasted quite wild and earthy) and eringi mushroom. The eringi mushroom was a seasonal special and was really interesting cos it tasted so meaty that it took me a while to realise that it wasn’t a pure pork belly skewer. I think the enoki mushroom was better than the maitake; the texture lent itself better to skewers. We also had bacon wrapped with sticky rice cakes, which was interesting but I may not order it next time. The potato bacon rolls and garlic bacon rolls were ok but nothing to rave about.
A killer item, of which we had a repeat order, was the beef with cheese skewer. A juicy mozzarella chunk wrapped with a thin slice of beef. Mmmm… The grilled foie gras was also delicious. It was seasoned with salt and pepper, and grilled till the edges were crispy. Some other skewers we had were belly pork, and miso pork with eggplant. We tried the garlic fried rice, which came with a miso soup with meatballs. The meatballs were really good; I think there was some crabmeat in them. The rice had crispy fried garlic chips in it which were really fragrant. Next time I’ll just stick to the skewers tho, I think the rice got me pretty full.
The only downer that we ordered was the yakiniku – sautéed Australian wagyu beef slices. While the flavour of the beef was good, it was incredibly tough. I couldn’t even bite into it, and had to put each fairly large piece into my mouth and chew incessantly before I managed to get it down.
Apart from the beef, everything else was a winner and this is another place that definitely begs a repeat visit.
A says:
Funniest thing was this Russian guy at the next table talking really loudly about this foursome he had (obviously a banker or a trader or something like that cause of the bank name he kept dropping – he was in the Amsterdam, London and New York branches). Haha. Anyway, I’m super impressed by the service. C seemed perpetually gleeful over the location in the seedy heart of Singapore’s Little Tokyo. She kept going, “Do you think those are xiao jie? Can you go ask them if they’re xiao jies?”
Anyway, with regards to the food, the rule of thumb is to stick to the food that is on a stick. Everything else pales in comparison.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Whitebait and Kale
C says:
Had a fairly good dinner here on Saturday night to celebrate a friend’s engagement. Service wasn’t the best, cos it took ages for us to get a waiter’s attention to order some drinks before dinner, but the food was better than expected.
We all shared the deep fried whitebait, which was certainly very addictive and a lot lighter than fried calamari. I had the deep fried mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil as a starter, and A had the grilled Portobello mushroom with seared scallops. The mozzarella was slightly disappointing, cos I was expecting the cheese to be creamier and richer, more like buffalo mozzarella. The mushroom and scallops were good, though.
I had the risotto with shrimp, asparagus and cherry tomatoes, drizzled with lemon oil. I like ordering risotto in restaurants cos it’s something I can never bother to make myself. This was quite refreshing, but towards the end it pretty much did me in; I guess all the starch just expanded in my stomach. A (as well as practically everyone else at the table) had one of the specials, the grilled rib-eye with chestnut-truffle mash and veal jus. The beef was pretty good, but the winner of the evening was the truffle mash. This ROCKED – the hint of truffle in the mashed potatoes, which were still lumpy enough to have some texture and bite, was really good.
For all my fullness, I still had to have a dessert so A and I shared an Earl Grey infused crème brulee. I thought this was pretty good, cos the earl grey fragrance took away the gelak-ness of the crème brulee. Unfortunately the general consensus on the rest of the desserts, like the profiteroles and the apple crumble, wasn’t quite as positive.
A says:
Steak was good but not as fantastic as the mash. My favourite was the crème brulee though. And considering I’m not a big crème brulee fan, that’s saying a lot. Was surprised that the place was as crowded as it was considering there’s nothing else there (and that the building is haunted…oooo). Overall, it’s quite nice, but the price means I wouldn’t go unless it’s for some occasion.
Had a fairly good dinner here on Saturday night to celebrate a friend’s engagement. Service wasn’t the best, cos it took ages for us to get a waiter’s attention to order some drinks before dinner, but the food was better than expected.
We all shared the deep fried whitebait, which was certainly very addictive and a lot lighter than fried calamari. I had the deep fried mozzarella salad with tomatoes and basil as a starter, and A had the grilled Portobello mushroom with seared scallops. The mozzarella was slightly disappointing, cos I was expecting the cheese to be creamier and richer, more like buffalo mozzarella. The mushroom and scallops were good, though.
I had the risotto with shrimp, asparagus and cherry tomatoes, drizzled with lemon oil. I like ordering risotto in restaurants cos it’s something I can never bother to make myself. This was quite refreshing, but towards the end it pretty much did me in; I guess all the starch just expanded in my stomach. A (as well as practically everyone else at the table) had one of the specials, the grilled rib-eye with chestnut-truffle mash and veal jus. The beef was pretty good, but the winner of the evening was the truffle mash. This ROCKED – the hint of truffle in the mashed potatoes, which were still lumpy enough to have some texture and bite, was really good.
For all my fullness, I still had to have a dessert so A and I shared an Earl Grey infused crème brulee. I thought this was pretty good, cos the earl grey fragrance took away the gelak-ness of the crème brulee. Unfortunately the general consensus on the rest of the desserts, like the profiteroles and the apple crumble, wasn’t quite as positive.
A says:
Steak was good but not as fantastic as the mash. My favourite was the crème brulee though. And considering I’m not a big crème brulee fan, that’s saying a lot. Was surprised that the place was as crowded as it was considering there’s nothing else there (and that the building is haunted…oooo). Overall, it’s quite nice, but the price means I wouldn’t go unless it’s for some occasion.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Founder Rou Gu Cha
C says:
One of our favourite places, and a good place to go if you don’t want that heavy a meal, is Founder Bak Kut Teh, along Balestier Road. Yes, I’m sure for die-hard foodies there are better bak kut teh joints in far-flung areas in Singapore, but Founder is pretty central and it’s good enough for us.
When we first started going, we were more impressed with the peppery soup, giam chye, tau pok, and pretty much everything except the bak kut, cos the pork ribs were pretty dry and quite bony. In fact, A would just pass on the meat completely and just have the side dishes. Which really are good, especially the tau pok and giam chye. The tau pok is stewed in a really rich salty gravy, and the giam chye is one of the best I’ve had – not very salty and loaded with chopped garlic.
After going a few times, we noticed other tables having proper pork ribs, i.e. long ones shaped like proper baby back ribs. I used to think it was coincidence, that they were just lucky to get those, but one day I just thought I’d ask, “wo yao na ge chang de bak kut, ke yi mah?” And lo and behold, they brought a bowl with 2 huge, proper long pork ribs. This brought our Founder experience to a whole new level, cos now EVERYTHING about it was great. The meat was soft, with just the right amount of fat, and slid off the bone easily. And even A has been converted. Vegetarian bak kut teh, no more!
A says:
The place is just plain fun to go to since you get the Founder founder’s face plastered all over in pictures with celebrity diners. Surprisingly, the staff are really friendly considering they’re one of the most popular bak tut teh places in Singapore. Other places might have the rude “want come, don’t done” mentality.
I used to be put off by the difficulty in finding a parking space until C decided we should just park in shopping centre across the road and cross the overhead bridge directly in front of it. Now, besides the long queues at night, there’s no reason not to go.
One of our favourite places, and a good place to go if you don’t want that heavy a meal, is Founder Bak Kut Teh, along Balestier Road. Yes, I’m sure for die-hard foodies there are better bak kut teh joints in far-flung areas in Singapore, but Founder is pretty central and it’s good enough for us.
When we first started going, we were more impressed with the peppery soup, giam chye, tau pok, and pretty much everything except the bak kut, cos the pork ribs were pretty dry and quite bony. In fact, A would just pass on the meat completely and just have the side dishes. Which really are good, especially the tau pok and giam chye. The tau pok is stewed in a really rich salty gravy, and the giam chye is one of the best I’ve had – not very salty and loaded with chopped garlic.
After going a few times, we noticed other tables having proper pork ribs, i.e. long ones shaped like proper baby back ribs. I used to think it was coincidence, that they were just lucky to get those, but one day I just thought I’d ask, “wo yao na ge chang de bak kut, ke yi mah?” And lo and behold, they brought a bowl with 2 huge, proper long pork ribs. This brought our Founder experience to a whole new level, cos now EVERYTHING about it was great. The meat was soft, with just the right amount of fat, and slid off the bone easily. And even A has been converted. Vegetarian bak kut teh, no more!
A says:
The place is just plain fun to go to since you get the Founder founder’s face plastered all over in pictures with celebrity diners. Surprisingly, the staff are really friendly considering they’re one of the most popular bak tut teh places in Singapore. Other places might have the rude “want come, don’t done” mentality.
I used to be put off by the difficulty in finding a parking space until C decided we should just park in shopping centre across the road and cross the overhead bridge directly in front of it. Now, besides the long queues at night, there’s no reason not to go.
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