Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ

C says:

After an absolutely miserable wet weekend, the rain let up for a brief period on Sunday evening so we decided to walk out to the Korean bbq place across the road from our place. I’ve heard that the place is quite popular with Koreans, but was warned that prices weren’t low.

We ordered a couple of grilled meats, since that’s what they’re supposed to be famous for. At about $20 and up for the meats, it was definitely true that this place isn’t cheap. We went for a beef short rib ($36), and a honeycomb pork belly ($28). We also ordered a kimchi soup, since I have to have kimchi at a Korean restaurant.

We sat back, expecting just a light meal of soup and some grilled meat. Suddenly a waitress appeared with a gazillion plates till our table was full to overflowing. So much for a simple meal! I guess when you order the grilled meats, all the side dishes are included. There were loads, from two different types of kimchi, cold tofu, ikan bilis, to a sweet potato salad and a sweet fritter of sorts.


The cabbage kimchi was excellent – slightly spicy and garlicky, and perfect with hot white rice. The tofu was good too, as was the stir fried bean sprouts. On hindsight, since all these are included with the grill, the prices aren’t that astronomical after all.

The meats were ok, but the pork belly was a bit tough. I think we need a while to experiment with the various cuts of meat, to find out what’s the best (and also best value…).

The kimchi soup at $12 came with a bowl of rice and was chockfull of ingredients like cabbage, tofu and pork belly. This is a good deal, and I think if we want something simple (for real this time), we’ll just come and have a soup and maybe a bibimbap or a noodle dish.

I dare say that I enjoyed this a lot more than A, so as much as I want to come back quite soon, it’s going to take some convincing.

A says:

omg. I thought it was just meat with the order. We got a freaking flood of side dishes, most of which were great.

Just fyi for newbies so you don’t look as silly as we did, the small pill-like things are dehydrated wet towels. Add a little water and watch the magic happen.

Also, the large dish of veggies they give is to wrap the meat in. Next time, I don’t think I’ll need rice at all.

Ju Shin Jung Korean Charcoal BBQ
27 West Coast Highway
#01-18/19 YESS Centre
Tel: 6464-0872

Alli*Oli

C says:

Another random visit on a Friday evening, Alli Oli is actually part of the Four Seasons Gourmet Supermarket at the Marina Bay Link Mall. They have a cheese and charcuterie counter, but also a little sit-down section where you can order small bites and sandwiches. It’s quite funny that if they need any ingredients, they just walk through to the supermarket to grab them.

We had a salami and emmenthal cheese sandwich, an omelette with bacalau (salt cod), a plate of anchovies and a mushroom risotto.


The sandwich was very simple – literally just baguette with slices of salami and cheese, but strangely it was quite good as you could therefore taste both ingredients without being overshadowed by vegetables or dressing.



Maybe ordering both anchovies and the salt cod omelette in the same meal wasn’t the best idea. Both were good but also very salty. If I had to pick one, I’d go with the omelette.


The risotto was quite ordinary, but not the worst that I’ve tried. Given that this is a simple deli set-up, I can’t really complain.

This place is good if you’re in the mood for a light bite, but only one person runs everything so don’t expect a fast food experience.

A says:

Pretty good. Portions are tiny for the price but that’s what you’d expect. Definitely an option, although not one at the top of the list.

Alli*Oli
#B2-49 Marina Ball Link Mall
Tel: 6634-4726
Open daily: 9 am to 2 pm; 6 pm to 9 pm

Freshness Burger

C says:

We stupidly didn’t try Freshness Burger while we were in Japan, opting instead for Lucky Pierrot when we were in Hokkaido. So we were pretty keen to try Freshness when they opened in Singapore, but weren’t very keen to venture to the new Nex mall at Serangoon Central, so we’ve been waiting patiently for the outlet at Central at Clarke Quay to open. I think it only opened in the last couple of weeks, and we happily found an excuse to be in the area in order to finally try it.

At first glance, prices seem quite low. Then the burgers arrive and you realise why. They’re tiny! Without sides, each person can easily have 2 burgers, in my opinion. With sides, maybe 3 burgers between 2 people.


Our first order consisted of a Freshness Burger, and a Spam Burger, fries and onion rings. The Freshness Burger is a bit like a Mosburger – meat patty, big slice of tomato, onions and a meat sauce. This was ok but I think Mosburger has a more pronounced beefy flavour.


The Spam Burger, however, was sheer heaven. Soft bun, slice of Spam (Lite – I saw the cans), and a runny sunny side up egg. This was almost like a breakfast burger, and being the Spam whore that I am, I enjoyed this thoroughly. The egg yolks oozes all over the burger, mixing with the mayo and giving it an instant sauce. Mmm…

In terms of sides, the fries and onion rings are apparently both from “Hokkaido Farm”. The fries are more like wedges, so they’re quite filling and probably not worth the carbs when there are so many other burger options to try. The onion rings, however, are stellar. Crispy on the outside, soft and sweet inside, you can tell it’s proper onion and not some processed thing.


Clearly that didn’t satisfy us at all, so on our second round we ordered a hot dog, a side of grilled chicken, and one of their desserts – the popover. I think the burgers are better. The hot dog was alright but I prefer the dogs at Superdog. The grilled chicken was a whole grilled teriyaki chicken thigh, which was pretty nice. The popover was a big choux pastry puff, hollow in the centre, and they provided a miniscule amount of whipped cream to go with it. Again, we’ll pass on this next time.

Definitely going back for their Spam burger and the onion rings. Some other burgers on the menu are calling to me too, like the original burger and the bacon omelette burger. The Clarke Quay branch was pretty empty on Monday night, maybe because not many people realise that it's open yet. The branch at Century Square in Tampines is apparently open as well.

A says:

Awesome onion rings. Too bad they give you so few. And while the Freshness Burger is tasty, it’s very light on meat. Oh, and the hot dog sucked.

Stick to Spam Burger and onion rings for a good but very light and pricey meal.

True Blue Cuisine

C says:

Our main purpose of coming to True Blue Cuisine today was actually to pick up their Chinese New Year goodies – specifically, the Kueh Kara Kara. I used to have this snack – a crispy snack with slightly caramel hints – back when I was young, only I never knew what it was called. We used to just refer to it as “bee hoon thing”, because of its appearance.


I haven't been able to find them for years, but as of last CNY, True Blue Cuisine has started making them for sale. Their version is even better than those I used to have before – it feels lighter and not as greasy, and the sweetness is perfect.

Since we were there, we decided to stay for lunch as well. The restaurant is located in an old Peranakan house, complete with a lovely skylight inside. Food is served on traditional crockery so delicate that I felt a bit concerned that I might break something.


We ordered the otak, ayam buah keluak, bakwan kepiting soup (pork, crab and prawn balls with bamboo shoot) and stir fried okra. In my opinion, anyone who likes ayam buah keluak will automatically say that the best version they’ve had is their grandmother’s/mother’s etc. I’m unfortunately no exception. My grandma’s buah keluak is the standard to which I compare any buah keluak dish, and more often than not they all fall short. Most places skimp on the buah keluak and it ends up tasting like a glorified assam dish.

The version here ticks all the boxes in terms of buah keluak flavour. They add lots of buah keluak to the filling within the shells, and also add it quite liberally to the gravy itself. My only comment, which is more a matter of taste than a criticism, is that it’s a tad too sour for my liking.

The soup was pretty good but again, due entirely to my personal taste, I didn’t quite like the bits of coriander that “perfumed” the soup. Fishing them out didn’t really help since the flavour had already permeated.

The otak was so so, but we both really liked the okra, which was stir fried in a really good savoury sauce with a hint of spice.

The ambience is nice and you do feel like you’re in a traditional Peranakan home. But methinks we’ll only ever come back here to pick up more of the awesome Kueh Kara Kara every CNY.

A says:

Great service. And good food I guess. But I’m not a connoisseur of Peranakan. The question really is whether it’s as good as your grandmother's.

True Blue Cuisine
49 Armenian Street
Tel: 6440-0449
Open daily: 12 noon to 2.30 pm; 6 pm to 9.30 pm
www.truebluecuisine.com

Kraze Burgers

C says:

We moseyed over to Marina Bay Sands after work on Friday, but weren’t really in the mood to try one of the fancier restaurants. We ended up in the basement, and the choice was either the Rasapura Masters food court, and a standalone burger joint called Kraze. We saw our friends D and L at Kraze and decided to join them.

Kraze is apparently a Korean burger chain, and solely based on the menu, it looked pretty enticing. Unfortunately, it turned out pretty disappointing, and I don’t think it was worth it for the prices.



At least the low-carb burger was passable. This consisted of two burger patties and a sunny side up egg, with a sweet Korean bbq sauce. The actual burger, on the other hand, was pretty bad. The bun was cold, dry and hard, and the rest of the burger was just ordinary and forgettable. There’s apparently an option of normal and wholemeal bun, but we were all given the wholemeal one without any choice.

At an average of $20 per person, this definitely doesn’t warrant a return visit. I think the food court would’ve been a better bet.

A says:

It’s not bad. But it’s not very good either. More like “Yeah, well, whatever.”

Kraze Burgers
#B2-54 Marina Bay Sands
Tel: 6688-7844

Donna Carmela

C says:

This branch of Donna Carmela is just a 5 minute walk from our new place, but it’s taken us more than a month of driving by every day on the way home saying “we should really try it one day”, before we made a concerted effort on a quiet, plan-less Sunday evening.

Whenever we pass by, the restaurant isn’t ever empty but it’s never packed to the gills either, and Sunday night was no exception. There were a few tables outdoors enjoying the breeze with a few bottles of wine, and a few more heat-allergic patrons comfortably seeking cool comfort indoors.

At first glance, their menu seems pretty overwhelming, with pages and pages of pastas. But on more careful examination, you realise that the pastas are grouped according to pasta type – “Linguine”, “Tagliatelle”, “Penne”, etc – and for the most part there are many overlaps in the array of sauces. I’m still trying to figure out if this is the best way to present, or whether presenting it by sauce would be a better bet.

What was slightly disappointing is that with so many choices on the menu, after poring over them and deciding what we wanted, some of our choices weren’t available. In which case, isn’t it better to have a more streamlined menu, then ensure that everything on it is available?


Anyway, since they were out of the octopus carpaccio, we ordered the burrata instead, which came with a sizeable amount of salad and cherry tomatoes. Of course, comparisons to the Valentino burrata were inevitable, and the conclusion? Well, it’s one thing to have good produce, but I think where Valentino really shines is that they know how to bring out the best in the produce. While the quality of the burrata here was very good – rich and creamy inside, the dish lacked any form of seasoning. I had to drizzle olive oil over it and sprinkled salt and black pepper to season it, to bring out all the flavours.


A ordered the crab and lobster ravioli with a salmon cream sauce and caviar. This looked rather plain but it was delicious, with the ravioli full of shellfish and going perfectly with the salmon cream sauce.


I ordered the tagliatelle, Donna Carmela-style, which was Italian sausage with a tomato cream sauce. Another interesting aspect of this place is that you can opt for your pasta to be cooked either al dente, or tender. I opted for al dente cos I hate mushy pasta, but maybe their concept of al dente may be different from my expectations. The pasta was just a tad on the wrong end of firm, for my liking. The sauce was strangely almost Asian, with chilli padi and an Asian flavour that I just couldn’t put my finger on.


For dessert, I just had a scoop of gelato, but A decided to try the tiramisu roll. This was pretty dense and, given that they initially said they ran out but eventually located a portion, probably wasn’t the freshest.

All in all, some hits and misses, but a good option to have at our doorstep. Their raviolis seem to be good so we’ll try more of those, and give their pizzas a go too.

A says:

I was craving a bit of crab and while I was dubious over the quality of a crab and lobster stuffed ravioli, I loved it.

That turned out to be the highlight of our meal. I think we’ll have to try the pizza to give a well-rounded review of its capabilities as an Italian place. And given the enormous scope of the menu (although the majority is really probably just different pastas and sauces) we’ll have lots to try.

Service unfortunately was hit and miss. It alternated between having attention lavished on us, or the staff completely ignoring us.

This may be a default simple weekend dinner place for us, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it if you want a mind-blowing meal.

Donna Carmela
242 Pasir Panjang Road
Tel: 6476-3242
Lunch: 12 noon to 2.30 pm
Dinner: 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm

Best of 2010

C says:

Happy new year! It’s taken us a while to come up with a “Best Of’ list this year, simply because it hasn’t been all that inspiring a year for us, in terms of new finds. Possibly because some of the more lauded new restaurants this year have been way out of our price range, like Waku Ghin and Restaurant Andre. For the most part, our best meals of the year have been at old favourites like Ember and Valentino. Still, for what it’s worth, here are some standouts this year (in no particular order).

1. Spruce

Their burger and burrata are decent, but what will make me return to Spruce is their outstanding tuna tartare.

2. Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck

This is our new default favourite place for birthday gatherings with my gang. Fabulous Chinese food that even A likes, and outstanding peking duck. Not to mention the delicious mee pok with truffle oil.

3. Otto Ristorante

Fancy Italian food but still not intimidatingly chi-chi. Just well executed and great flavours. The set lunch doesn’t showcase the restaurant at its best, so just go for a proper dinner service.

4. Two Fat Men

No, this isn’t here because we know the owner KH. It’s because their creamy tom yam soup and grilled pork neck are almost reason enough to consider moving to the East.

5. Paradise Dynasty

Awesome xiao long bao and la mian, this place may be our new favourite dining destination in ION. The perpetual queue just makes Meatworks next door look all the more forlorn.

6. San-Sui Sumiyaki and Tsuki Bar

We’ve been here a few more times since our first visit and I must say I’m liking it more and more. Their foie gras rice bowl, the ultimate in elitist comfort food, is to die for.

7. Gattopardo

I know some of my friends have mixed feelings about Gattopardo, and I while I do agree that some trial and error is required in terms of what to order, I still maintain that when you do come across a gem, it’s really good.

8. Chikuwa-Tei

Thanks to colleague L for recommending this amazing Japanese joint. It’s right up our alley – no frills, really fresh fish, and in my opinion, their chawanmushi is the best damn $5 you’ll ever spend.

9. Paradise Inn

Another entry from the Paradise Group, the Paradise Inn restaurants serve zi char done really well. Everything that we’ve tried here has been delicious.

10. Santi Tapas Lounge

I’m in two minds about whether this ought to make the list, but I did need some place to round off the list to ten... Anyway, this makes the cut simply for the awesome parmesan cheese and the quail stew.

Have a great 2011 everyone!

A says:

Maybe we’ve just gotten more spoilt and selective, but it seems the pickings for new places were slim this year. My best meals probably came from old favourites like Ember, Valentino and Morton’s Bar.

But for new places we tried in 2010, I agree with C on:

Spruce – Killer ahi tuna tartare

Otto Ristorante – Very good food with very good service. Atmosphere may appear stuffy and imposing but the wait staff are super friendly.

San-Sui Sumiyaki and Tsuki Bar – Made me a convert with the foie gras rice bowl. And I’m not even that big a fan of foie.

Paradise Dynasty – Great xiao long bao flavours and large portions of la mien.

Paradise Inn – Good zi char chain.

Chikuwa-Tei – awesome Unagi and Chirashi for relatively affordable prices.

I’d also add:

Melt, The World Cafe – Fantastic cheese selection.

Domani – Not for food, but for the Double Chocolate Chiffon Cake.

Rocks Urban Grill + Bar – Great food although a tad on the expensive side.

I’ll stop there and not try to force entries just to make up numbers.

Sin Thor Bak Koot Teh

C says

Sin Thor Bak Koot Teh is apparently pretty famous; it’s the one that used to be at Eunos MRT, and later moved to Aliwal Road. It’s moved to the Kopitiam at Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre, and colleague C was kind enough to give me the recommendation, since that area is now our kampong.


To be as objective as possible, we ordered our usual – the long pork ribs, giam chye, you tiao and added a braised tau pok as well.

The verdict? It was ok, and certainly better than Ng Ah Sio, but it still ain’t no Founder. The meat on the ribs came clean off the bone, but it was still quite tough and dry. The soup wasn’t very peppery, and big minus point for me is that they threw in a bunch of coriander, which I had to fish out asap. The giam chye wasn't too bad, though.

Founder is still the best bak kut teh, in my opinion. By a mile.

A says:

The soup was interesting and the you tiao was great. But otherwise, definitely not worth making a special trip down for.

Sin Thor Bak Koot Teh
Block 1, Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre
Stall #01-02, Kopitiam

Valentino’s

C says:

Another awesome meal at Valentino. This time we had the burrata and the lobster pasta, both of which eluded us during our last visit. This is kind of our last hurrah before we embark on a slightly more cholesterol-friendly diet next year. We’re still atetoomuch, and we won’t say no to a good burrata on a special occasion, but no more cheese platters for no real reason any more. Time to face facts – we ain’t no spring chickens no more.


Anyway, the burrata was outstanding. Paired with fabulous cherry tomatoes (the tomatoes here are always so wonderfully flavourful and sweet) and good olive oil, the creaminess of the cheese was to die for, and a fitting yet bittersweet farewell to the rich foods that we know and love. Sigh.


They had the octopus starter again so we ordered that, but I think it was grilled slightly too long so it wasn’t as orgasmic as when we first tried it. I still liked the contrast of the tender octopus and the smoky charred exterior, but some parts were a tad chewy.


The lobster pasta with pink sauce was excellent as usual. If I had one complaint, it would be that I wish they reverted to deshelling the lobster like they did previously. By the time I managed to shell both halves, the pasta was no longer piping hot. But I do appreciate that some people like to see the actual crustacean, so that they know that they’re getting what they paid for.


In the spirit of Christmas, we (perhaps erroneously, on hindsight) ordered the turkey roulade wrapped with parma ham, and served on a bed of mashed potatoes. The potatoes were great – creamy without being too rich and buttery, and the parma ham really added a kick to the turkey. Still, this lacked the oomph that the kitchen is capable of.

We need another special occasion to come back here soon. Maybe an early Valentine’s dinner? Hmm…

A says:

Another winning meal with awesome service.

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

Carl’s Jr

C says:

Quick one. After hearing cousin C wax lyrical about Carl’s Jr’s Thickburgers, we decided to try it for ourselves when we were at Vivocity today. We shared the Portobello Mushroom one, which in my opinion is the best Carl’s Jr burger flavour.


Thank goodness we shared it, and now I know what their tagline “It’s gonna get messy” means. This was absolutely impossible to eat as a burger. I had to do the loser thing and asked for a knife, and ate it deconstructed.

It’s really good cos you get a full-on beefy rush, but personally I’ll stick to the regular Portobello burger in future. At least I can eat it as a proper burger. Oh, their hand cut skin-on fries rock as well. I’d much rather have the burgers here than the lacklustre one that we had at Meatworks.

A says:

It’s really expensive as fast food goes, but definitely worth it for a treat. If you’re not on a diet.

Swensen’s

C says:

Another blast from the past. Presented with limited choices at IMM when we had dinner with A’s folks, he decided on… Swensen’s. He was probably trying to recapture his youth as he advances in age (happy birthday, A). Unfortunately, either the standard has deteriorated, or our palates have gotten more honed, but this really didn’t do very much for us.


A’s folks ordered a set, which came with a soup of the day. No effort was made to tell us what the soup was, so we were left guessing and even after tasting it, I still can’t figure out what the flavour was supposed to be. Maybe carrot? Possibly pumpkin? Oh well.



Between the 4 of us, we had the lasagne, fish and chips, a hamburger pizza, and beef stroganoff baked rice. The latter two were the only things that were noteworthy, mainly because they were fairly interesting. The pizza was a deconstructed hamburger on a pizza base – minced beef, cheese, onions and pickles.

The beef stroganoff rice was actually pretty decent, but quite Asian-inspired. The beef tasted like Chinese-style stewed beef brisket, so I wasn’t complaining.


The chocolate milkshake was the main reason that A chose Swensen’s, but I think he was slightly disappointed. The milkshake wasn’t properly blended, so there was a whole chunk of ice cream that still hadn’t melted.

Service was terrible. We had a very surly restaurant manager that looked and behaved like he’d rather be anywhere else. Trust me, dude, the feeling was mutual.

A says:

Old school blast from the past. The service (except for the cashier who went out of her way to help us) was horrible. The food came out quickly though. The standard’s passable if you stick to those labelled “All-time favourite”. And if you keep your expectations low. The biggest disappointment of the night was the chocolate milkshake. Sigh.

Not recommended unless you’re trying to be ironic.

Best. Christmas. Gift. Ever.

C says:


For the second year running, my lovely aunt presented us with a delectable Christmas gift – an entire side of smoked salmon. That’s 1 kg of smoky, savoury goodness just for us. I like smoked salmon but this is all A. He was practically salivating when I was carefully portioning the slices into separate bags for easy thawing.


I start out having grand plans of making everything from little hors d’oeuvres and pasta with a smoked salmon and lemon cream sauce. But the festive period laziness usually gets the better of me, and more often than not we end up savouring the salmon on toasted bagels with a schmear of cream cheese, a squeeze of lemon and some sliced red onion.

Merry Christmas, one and all.

A says:

Awesome. I might actually OD on salmon and get mercury poisoning.

Ma Maison

C says:

We were at Parco at about 8 pm on a Friday so needless to say, there was a line outside Nantsuttei. We didn't want to wait, so instead we wandered around the rest of the restaurants and chanced upon Ma Maison, an eatery with somewhat of an identity crisis. The food is typical European done Japanese style – Hamburg steak (which seems to be their specialty), and Japanese-style pastas. The decor is also a mish mash, with curios from US, UK and Germany, to name a few.


We decided to try one of each – a Hamburg steak, and a pasta. We tried the special Hamburg steak, which was stuffed with a scallop. A bit strange, but quite a pleasant surprise to slice into it and find a whole scallop. The patty was quite flavourful and it had a nice char to it.


We had the Japanese pasta with egg, bacon and mushrooms, but more of a sautéed style rather than the expected carbonara. This was decent but the Hamburg steak was much better.


Service was good, and it’s interesting how they present you with the “bill” – a big key which you then bring to the cash counter to make payment.

We just missed the opening of their Ma Maison dessert cafe, which is slated to open tomorrow (18 December), also at Parco. Bummer, cos they sell Japanese style desserts and I really would’ve liked to try them. Guess another visit to Parco is on the cards.

A says:

This old school French-themed Jap coffee house is interesting to check out. The food’s decent and the service is excellent, but other than for a gimmicky kind of meal, not really someplace I’d regularly frequent.

Ma Maison
9 Raffles Boulevard
PARCO Marina Bay
P3-03
Tel: 6338-9391

Madison Deli

C says:

The Marina Bay Link Mall is now our destination of choice when we have no other plans on a Friday night. Compared to the chaos of the mall at lunch times, it’s pretty deserted in the evenings, which means being able to get a table at practically any restaurant there without any prior reservations.

Tonight we decided to have something light, and tried the sandwiches at Madison Deli. Madison Deli is opened by an ex-banker from New York, who decided to open his own joint after not being able to find decent delis in Singapore that serve authentic New York fare. To ensure quality and standards, almost everything is made in-house, from the roast beef to the coleslaw. In fact, one of the reasons he doesn’t currently have a Reuben sandwich on the menu, is because he hasn’t been able to find pastrami that lives up to his high expectations.


The roast beef here is outstanding. Tender, flavourful and sliced into paper thin slices, it features in a number of sandwiches here. A tried the Jersey Special, which had roast beef, coleslaw, swiss cheese and Russian dressing on a Turkish bun. For someone who’s not a huge sandwich fan, this was a damn good one.


While many of the roast beef sandwiches looked enticing, we decided to try another meat so I had the Madison BBQ pork sandwich, with hand pulled pork, homemade bbq sauce, coleslaw and jalapeno relish on a toasted ciabattaThis was good too, but I found it a tad too tart and acidic for liking, specially compared to the awesome beef sandwich.

I must admit that as good as the sandwiches here are, I’m rarely in a mood where I actually crave a sandwich, but I know A sometimes does, so when I’m feeling ambivalent about where we eat and if he really wants this, I won’t be averse to it. Compared to, say, Subway.

A says:

Great sandwich. Although for $13 for a more premium sandwich, it’s a bit on the expensive side. We’ll definitely be back at some point though.

Madison Deli
#B2-68/69 Marina Bay Financial Centre
Weekdays: 8 am to 10 pm
Weekends: 10 am to 10 pm

Clifford

C says:

We celebrated the end of our leave with lunch at Clifford at Fullerton Bay Hotel. One of the main reasons I wanted to come here was because I’d tried the food at Lantern, which apparently shares a kitchen with Clifford. The (albeit overpriced) truffle fries at Lantern were so awesome that I really wanted A to try them.

They have a set lunch at Clifford, but the menu was pretty sad today because I think some places are now pretty full on with their festive menus, and Clifford is no exception. Needless to say, pumpkin and chestnut soup or roast capon roll is not how I want to experience Clifford, so we ended up ordering off the a la carte menu. We decided to share 3 starters and a main.


To start, we had the lobster and scallop carpaccio with black truffle. I was a bit surprised because from the description on the menu, I expected the lobster to be raw as well. Still, this was very good. Maybe a tad too acidic and I don’t think the truffles were strictly necessary, but a promising first dish.


A wanted the French onion soup, but this was very ordinary and watered down, and the cheese crouton on top was almost like an afterthought and not very cheesy at all.


At least the fries didn’t disappoint. The truffle oil was a bit inconsistently distributed, but the shoestring fries were great – really crispy on the outside and still soft and fluffy inside. This gets my vote for best truffle fries in Singapore. Plus they serve Heinz ketchup, so bonus point there.


Then the main arrived, and standards dropped again. We ordered the roasted cod with a saffron and chorizo risotto. The seasoning on the dish was way too delicate, and the risotto was a terrible let down. It was overcooked, mushy, and still flavourless despite the chunks of chorizo which should have given it some serious flavour.

Except for the carpaccio and the fries, the food here was quite disappointing. Plus I was quite unimpressed with the service. First, they gave us the wrong menu – the dinner menu rather than the lunch menu. Then we were served by a waitress who, while being very civil to us, gave me the distinct impression that she was rolling her eyes at us internally for (a) not ordering sparkling or still water, (b) not having wine, and (c) sharing our orders.

Poor service seems to be the order of the day at the hotel in general – my visit to Lantern was also let down by terribly slow and simply inept service.

A says:

The food was totally not worth the price.

Clifford
80 Collyer Quay
Fullerton Bay Hotel
Tel: 6597-5288
Breakfast: 6.30 am to 10.30 am
Lunch: 12 noon to 2.30 pm
Dinner: 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm
www.fullertonbayhotel.com/dining-en.html

Nantsuttei

C says:

We’ve been put off by long snaking queues at ramen joints, so we’ve been refraining from trying places like Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery, and this one, Nantsuttei at Parco Millenia Walk. We happened to be here early on Friday, before 7, and managed to get a table right before the queues started forming.

Their specialty here is ramen with a tonkotsu broth – the milky white pork bone soup. Their unique feature is the addition of a fragrant black “ma yu”, created by frying garlic over 7 phases and blending it into sesame oil. We discovered only after dinner that upon request, they can also ramp up the garlic quotient even more with freshly squeezed “garlic juice”.



A ordered the traditional chashu ramen, which came with lots of spring onion, and a few slices of tender char siew. I ordered the “Dragon Ramen”, which was the same except I had just one slice of char siew, and had some spicy minced pork instead.

As far as ramens go, this was surprisingly light and not very jelak. I expected the broth to be thicker and richer, but this was actually quite delicate. I preferred mine because of the added flavour from the minced pork, but overall I expected more flavour from the ma oil.

So, this is good, but is it worth standing in line for more than 15 minutes during peak hours? Not in my opinion.

A says:

Between the two Ramen joints there, I’d recommend this one for sure.

Nantsuttei
9 Raffles Boulevard
#P03-06 Parco Marina Bay, Millenia Walk
Tel: 6337-7166
Open daily: 11.30 am to 10.30 pm
www.nantsu.com/sg/

Bangkok Jam

C says:

This is a slightly random post, but we were at Great World City today and decided to try Bangkok Jam for lunch which, as its name suggests, serves Thai food with a modern twist.

We were both drawn to the fried noodles with crab and bacon. This was good – what’s there not to like, with noodles, crab and bacon? A found the noodles a tad too dry though, as they started clumping up and had to be loosened with some soup.

The tom yum kway teow soup was ok, but I found it a little too sweet and without the added chilli padi, it lacked a bit of kick. I must say they were very generous with the ingredients though – full of seafood and mushrooms.

My favourite, unsurprisingly, was the chicken wing starter. First off, they only serve the wing portion, and to make it even easier to eat, they cut that into half. It was served with dried chilli, cashew nuts and some very addictive but potent fried garlic.

We were quite surprised that the place was almost full for a weekday lunch, but after trying the food it was understandable. The food was better than expected and fairly reasonable, and I think we’ll be coming back for more whenever we’re at Great World.

A says:

Surprisingly good. The Thai Iced Tea wasn’t as great as I expected though.

Bangkok Jam
1 Kim Seng Promenade
#02-26 Great World City
Tel: 6732-4523
Weekdays: 11.30 am – 3 pm; 6 pm – 10 pm
Weekends: 11.30 am – 10 pm
www.bangkokjam.com.sg

Ember again

C says:

We went back to Ember again as promised (a week earlier than expected because of unanticipated house-moving scheduling conflicts), and I’m pleased to announce that this time, this was the Ember that we know and love. We went for the 4-course set dinner for $85 per person, but again our plans were derailed slightly. We didn’t order the roast venison loin on our anniversary because it was one of the set dinner options, but when we were here tonight, they were out of the venison and it had been replaced by a duck confit. Ah, the perils of not following your instincts…


We both had the parma ham-wrapped scallops to start, which were wonderfully seared and deliciously caramelised. Ember always does a very good job with their scallops – always perfectly cooked and very meaty.


For our second course, I made a beeline for the pork knuckle terrine. It was accompanied by another little portion of a braised pig tail, with the meat and cartilage slowly cooked then finely chopped into almost a rillette texture, and served as a crisp pan-fried disc. This was an excellent dish, and when I ordered it the waitress said I made a very good choice.


A’s second course was also very good but not as good as mine. His was some kind of lobster sampler, and what really shone was the rich lobster bisque dipping sauce.


Because of the unavailability of the venison, we both had the beef tenderloin. Finally, a good and well-cooked piece of meat after the Meatworks debacle. Nothing much else to say, except that it was as good as we expected.


A had his tried and tested molten chocolate cake. I tend not to order this these days, since it’s now so prevalent that it’s almost uncool (bit like the iPhone, really), but I do admit that it's a good, almost foolproof dessert option and Ember does it very well. Properly cooked so the centre is a molten lava of oozy goodness.


I had the sticky date pudding with grand marnier ice cream. The pudding was surprisingly light; I was expecting and would have preferred something a bit more decadently caramelly.

Because I am an ardent supporter, I’m considering our Ember visits in their totality, so between our anniversary dinner and this one, Ember is still one of our firm favourites.

A says:

Great as always. But I think I’ll stick to our usual ala carte next time.

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

Otto Ristorante

C says:

Sorry our posts are so erratic. We’re in the process of moving house (from Balestier back to the West, yay), so we’ve been squeezing in some feasting amongst a sea of boxes and bubble wrap.

We went for a set lunch at Otto, which just reinforced my view that while certainly value for money, weekday set lunches definitely do not showcase a restaurant at its best. The food today was nothing to complain about, but it certainly was nowhere near the standard of the dinner that we had.


The amuse started out well – a piece of seared rare tuna dusted with some paprika and other spices. Also, the waiters walked around with baskets of freshly baked bread that was simply too good to resist. My favourites were the soft onion foccacia and the olive bread.


We both had the wild mushroom parcels to start, which was essentially sautéed mushrooms with a light cream sauce wrapped in filo pastry. The mushrooms were very moreish, and this was a good start.


The mains were a little less outstanding. A’s light smoked salmon turned out quite medium well – it tasted good but would’ve been much better if it had been a bit more rare.


My pork belly was quite disappointing. The crackling was a tad chewy, and the pork itself didn’t have a lot of flavour, and was surprisingly quite tough too.



For dessert, A had the ice cream selection and I had the polenta cake with mango foam. Again, quite decent but definitely not something I would’ve picked from an a la carte menu.

Still, service was excellent and the meal still made me want to go back for more. But next time definitely for a proper dinner.

A says:

Awesome service. Awesome bread. Food was pretty good but maybe a bit scaled down for lunch. We'll definitely be back for the full dinner treatment.

Otto Ristorante
28 Maxwell Road
#01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building
Tel: 6227-6819
Weekday lunch: 12 pm – 2:30 pm
Weekday dinner: 6.30 pm – 10.30 pm
Sat: 6:30 pm – 10:30 pm
www.ottoristorante.com.sg