"The Memorables & Mentionables" 2006 Grub Round Up

The Good

[No-brainer place for brunch] Cedele Bakery Depot at Wheelock Place- I'm almost afraid to venture into the realm alone for fear of losing control and getting all BreadOut. Till wheat-allergy do us part.

[Been there, done that and still visiting] Crystal Jade La Mian- So been-there-done-that, you can’t consider yourself to be a Singaporean / PR unless you have participated in a National Day Parade crystal jade queue.

[Karma in Play]: Ichiban Boshi & Sushi Tei- What goes around comes around. You don’t have to read between the seaweed sheets to sense my undying loyalty for these conveyor belt chains…

[Tangible dedication] Shimabshi Soba- You simply cannot ignore Shimbashi’s dedication to fineness (actually it's just a window display away). Gawd, I wish I owned this place.

[Uno senso required] Somewhere in Toa Payoh behind the Singapore Press Holdings bulding- The service staff is curt, the hygiene standard questionable and the ambience non-existence but for seriously good cze char, I could learn to shut down the rest of my senses and focus on taste.

[Ching Chong Chomp] House of Hunan- Beijing, Shanghai, Sichuan, Chong Qing, Jiang Nan and now Hunan, this elegant anomaly (i.e wallet-friendly) of the Tung Lok Group is the latest to join the “Somewhere In China” dartboard.

New Kids On The Block

E Sarn: Authentic Thai food in a small homely space... And to think it all started with a dream about the revered King Chulalongkorn and a plate of omelette. Not all dreams are made of fluff. (see sister restaurant: Thai Noodle House)

Auntie Kim's- I consider myself lucky to be living just a ten minute walk away from desr ol' Auntie Kim’s.

Pow Sing- A pitstop for familiar Nonya favorites.

New Kids in Couture

Sage Restaurant- An eye-opening experience, made memorable with the company of kindred spirits.

Ristorante Da Valentino- Secreted in an unexceptional surban, Valentine snubs the impregnable rule “location location location”. Three cheers for the service and a thumb -up for the food (one less thumb for the lackluster dessert). Let’s hope nobody’s on a visitor’s pass.

The Bad

Food Republic Thye Hong Hokkien Mee- "Join the queue, it must be good!" DAAAHHH!~!! Wrong! Singaporeans have a history of queuing up for questionable things (Remember Hello Kitty dolls?). Blame it on herd mentality and our MSMD (Merlion See Merlion Do) mentality. For hokkien mee aficionados, one mouthful is all it takes to pull a “merlion” (vomit).

Just Noodle- Just DON’T-Do It.

The Ugly

Razzies of this post include:

PS Café- “Perfect chill out spot” and “place to see and be seen’ are just a couple phrases that have been used to describe this eden. True, you won’t feel short-change on ambience but chow-wise (this is a f- blog after all), it is awfully pretentious and one feels short-change on value. The chaotic service didn’t help though we have to give them credit for looking better than Dude-Where’s-My-Duvet staff from Marmalade Pantry. Only for those who can’t afford their own cabbage patch African baby or tribe of Masai warriors for coolness’s sake.

Lemongrass Restaurant- there are certain things you wish you never had to find out of your own. Let somebody else try it! Let somebody else regret! Well, I did it so you better not follow in my footsteps

Hanabi- Joe Borg, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs would have your heads for unnecessary slaughter of animals.

The Forgettable

Kuriya: Bankruptable yet not particularly impressive.

Secret Recipe: I guess the real secret is how they’ve survived until now.

Auntie Kim's Korean Restaurant

A phonecall was all it took to dissolve any dreams of spending spring in New York with my younger sister. Come next april, I will be embarking on another internship rest after my last exam paper. This leaves me with not just barely any time for a holiday, but maybe just enough hours to switch mental modes.

What can I say? After watching my sister titter about late nights in the office in her Ferragamos and Enzo Angiolini, I realised the "must-haves" in life are accompanied by the "must-dos" such as long working hours, postponed vacations and possibly a non-existent love life.

Gasp?! what am I saying?! I know you are probably staring at your monitor, wondering what kind of message I'm sending out. What about the non-materials like a peace of mind, love and yadas? The truth is I firmly believe that you should slog it out, re-pay your parents (or at least assure them that you can take care of yourself without financial help from them) before you live your dreams.

You got that right baby.

ANYWAY with the recent showers of unblessed inconvenience that we've been receiving, all I really needed was a bowl of steaming, scald-my-tongue broth.



Alright, I really don't need that tongue-numbing bit but in dire need of something to warm myself up (yes, I do happen to live in the tropics and on the equator), I wouldn't say no to the company of some hot and spicy kimchi chigae. The kimchi stew was loaded with kimchi, tofu, glass noodles, spring onion and onions. I hogged it hoping that others would bean curd stew with clams, which was too briny for my liking.


Bean curd stew with clams


Marinated Beef

My carnivorous sister of mine was very taken with the barbequed beef ribs. To my untrained tastebuds, it was faultless.. then again, I don't think anyone could remain impassive, in the face of these love-me-tender short ribs.



On the menu, octopus was the supposed feature of the above dish. However, the waiter kindly informed us that it would be squid instead octopus and I thought, "No biggie.. since both are deep sea creatures.. with tentacles.." Just as I thought: regardless of the spice factor or yum barometer, this marvellous squid stir fry hit homerun on both accounts.



The thing about having mackeral is that after eating, the taste/smell stays, no wait, CLINGS FIRMLY onto your esophagus and entire top half of your digestive system so you literally smell mackeral, burp mackeral even after the meal has been washed down. Pretty. Nasty. Stuff.

But still, the discomforting aftermath wasn't about to stop me from digging into the utterly palatable mackeral. Lightly grilled and bursting with flavour, the easily tug-away flesh had me hooked (line and sinker).



Forget Mary. There's something about Auntie Kim.

It seems like the perfect place to re-introduce Koreanophobics to the mouthwatering wonders of kimchi chigae, bulgogi and bibimbap. For authentic Korean grub just stone's throw away from home, I just can't think of a better place.

As you would have probably gathered by now that I haven't been updating much. Mainly due to a multitute of reasons,which really are actually lame excuses in disguise. Also, everytime I get started on an article, I feel like I should be doing something more valuable with my time for example, preparing for my business competition or reading up on my courses for the coming term.

When Pugsy passed away, I took the news pretty well. Too good, if I may say so myself. Not used to investing emotions in anyone or anything, I wasn't surprised at my lack of sorrow. Naturally, I was more worried about my younger sis who regarded Pugsy as more than a family pet and always referred to him as "Pugsy Coo Coo Cutie Sweetie Pie" (or something just as cringe-worthy) but she turned out to be too cool for comfort. Lingering family trait? Perhaps.

Recently, in my quest for a more fulfilling life, I feel like I have left a lot behind. I admit, I suck at relationships. Now when I look back, I see people moving on without me in their lives and I wonder if I had given up a piece of my life that made me more humane.

My internship is finally winding down and I feel like chasing after the people who mattered in the first place...

it's just hello, are you still there?

Merry Christmas everyone.

In Loving Memory

Pugsy Tan

1999-2006

Seoul Searching

Heavy clouds hovered ominously over our heads like last season's woolly grey sweater in need of a good squeeze. It was a wet evening, marked by relentless scatters of rain and chilling winds, which nudged you indoors.

In other words, perfect for steamboat.

Mum and I headed over to Jang Shou Korean Charcoal BBQ at Esplanade's Colours by the Bay for a fuss-free meal before catching La Sylphide. Not in the mood for bbq, the soybean paste casserole was instinctive, thanks to a need to kick up our body temperatures.


Soybean Paste Casserole with Brisket Meat

The casserole was a well-balanced meal, which contained fatty beef strips, thinly sliced zucchini, rice cakes, straw mushrooms, stuffed tau poks etc. I can't quite describe the flavour of the broth but you could think of it as My Sassy Casserole. More importantly, it was a melting pot of warmth, comfort and that warm zing-y feeling as every spoonful felt like an extra arm over your shoulders.


Soybean Paste Casserole with Brisket Meat

Talk about being at the right place at the right time.



Usually, I would pretty much ignore the condiments. But this time round, my mum and I actually ordered second and third helpings of the peanut in sticky sweet sauce and kimchi (the kimchi, by the way, got on really well with the casserole broth).

On hindsight, it might not been such a good idea to dine in a bbq restaurant before a performance at the theatre. Luckily, this being a week night, the restaurant was less than half-occupied so we were spared from the smoky odorous prongs.

The service, made up of mostly students, was enthusistic and quick to please. When our casserole was being served, one carried the pot while another carried the mini gas stove. and another came over to cut up the chunkier pieces when our broth started bubbling. Looking at these kids fuss over us made me feel like an exploiter of child labour.

A Pause on Posting
due to unforseen unmitigated laptop problems.

Along BLAH-Lane

Secret Recipe is a restaurant which serves Pastas, Asian, Pies but proclaims forte in its cheesecakes. Plainly put, such Jack of all trades eateries have never inspired faith and a recent visit affirmed my suspicions.


Gourmet Pie

Peering into the pie, I found a stewy mix of corn, mushrooms and minced chicken. Hey, did someone forget to order the peas and carrots? The 'supposed' stew hardly made up for the scanty ingredients as it suffered from an unwarranted amount of cornstarch and taste-deficit, which was masked by a good shake-up of pepper.

Did somebody say ‘gourmet’? I didn’t even realize that minced chicken made it to the list of 'gourmet foods'- unless of course, it has been steamed, julienned, burnt-torched and vaporized by Aria Ferran.

Am I being unnecessarily harsh? Nah, while this bordelined on edible, I have tasted GREAT chicken pies so there really isn’t any excuse for Secret Recipe, especially since they named this 'gourmet'.



It was up to the award-winning Irish Lamb Stew to save Secret Recipe from becoming Joke of the Day. It was full of oomphy flavour and passably tender, though not quite “fall off the bone”. If only I had a more interesting carb to mop the gravy up with, instead of the commonplace white roll. On the same monotonous note, the mash potato was bland and pedestrian.

Life’s a gamble at Secret Recipe.

It's Official

Food reviewers + threat of pen-whip = Special Treatment

The Good

& The Unimpressed

what do you think, Ivan?

You've been Toast'd!

Recently, I have been shelfing muffin and scone plans to make room for toast. Just toast, except that it is usually not plain simple toast.

Retro is back.

Having said that, please keep all shoulder pads, disco balls and hairspray chain-locked and out of sight.. Hey YOU OVER THERE, those acid washed bellbottoms should have been crucified in the Great Fire of 1983.

What I meant to say was Kaya is retro and Kaya is back.



One of the best bread spreads ever invented in undeniably (and I say this, hand on heart) a green mucky thing called 'kaya'. Kaya toast -sigh-.. What kaya toast did for Singapore could be comparable to what the scone did for the English and croissant for the French. I know of many who get the jitters when you tell them their regular kaya toast store has moved away. Never a fan of those waif slices, I always go for you-betcha-Size-6-ass French Loaf?


Kaya Bun

I had this nondescript kaya bun in a coffee shop opposite Toastbox. Apart from the slightly special coconut-infused kaya, the ratio of kaya and butter spread versus size was disdainful. This was a best-forgotten experience, best summarized in three words: "blah blah blah".

So the next day, we eventually went over to Toastbox.


Toastbox


Pork Floss.

I think it was a real 'Eureka' moment for Breadtalk when they discovered the pork floss mania. They took their brainchild/ cashcow with them to Toastbox and created the Pork Floss Toast. Supiciously-looking? Yes but the stringy nondescript shreds of pork floss turned out to be very approachable.



MMM Milo powder. Groing up, I read books about kids had their peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, while lapping up milo in copious amounts. It was as if someone had hit the play button, unraveling your childhood video with every bite.


Peanut Butter

The Peanut Butter Toast was incredibly sexy-gummy. The peanut butter slouched against and melded spontaneously into the warm toast. I so wanted to proclaim it 'delicious' on the spot but all I could manage is “mmm, hphhfwck-yum.. mmm”

Each toast is sliced tic-tac-toe style and served with two toothpicks. Herein lies a mini-test of kinship: Who will lay claim to more squares?

A couple of nights ago, I made my way to Makansutra Glutton’s Bay and received a knee-jerking experience from the kaya fondue.


Kaya Fondue

For an incredibly novel experience, dip the handy buttered kaya twigs into the runny kaya... First we have kaya toast, then we had kaya roti, pork floss toast.. and now kaya fondue? As gimmicky as milo dinosaur, one would almost expect this to have its own mascot and theme song but bring on the pom-poms if you must, for this kaya fondue is unforgettable.

You just can't help but think, "there’s kaya toast and there’s KAYA TOAST.."

ABOF, Millenia Walk

Question: What's with Jetstar's website? There are 4 languages to choose from: Australia English, Japanese, Chinese and Singapore English.

Singapore English???



Australia English: "Start 2007 With a Getaway. Stand to win 2 air tickets to Bali or any destination of your choice for 3 days 2 nights"

Singapore English: "OFFER OFFER... Buy 1 air ticket to Bali and get another for free.. Come on LAR, don't waste time! You don't like offer to Bali, I give you offer to Hong Kong.. 3 days 2 nights $ xxx.. Don't say I cheat you arh"

Disclaimer: Promotions and offers stated on this blog are fictional, unless otherwise stated.

Speaking of vacations, I have finally sorted out my travel blog entries. Going through my previous entries leaves me itching to leave my nest...

I think there must be like two Scandinavian restaurants in Singapore.. Well four, if you insist on including Ikea... Just kidding! Of course, Scandinavian cuisine isn't all about meatballs but despite living in Copenhagen for six months, Scandinavian food remains a blur to me. I guess I was never adventurous enough to venture past polser, meatballs (sigh), and sushi. HAHA

Ever since I found out ABOF at Millenia Walk was a Scandinavian Restaurant, I have been meaning to get my heels through the door and dazzle my dining companions with my wordly knowledge of Scandinavian food. "Ooo, open-faced sanwiches.. you know they call them 'smorrebrod' in Copenhagen... you mean YOU DIDN'T KNOW THAT?" (Gawd, don't you just HATE it when someone speaks to you like that? And if I actually do, please dump a bowl of curry herring on top of my head- I insist.) In any event, I was lacking in opportunities since most of my friends or collegues were either adversed or TOTALLY adversed to the idea once I described to them what they could expect. At least, they didn't ask for meatballs.

By some really dubious chance, I actually ended up in ABOF and since we were greenhorns, we decided to go wit the ho-heh-heh-sounding Best Friends Platter.


Best Friends Platter

Served with dark multigrain bread and white toast, the Best Friends Platter consisted an assortment of appetizers, not unlike the cold dish you get at Chinese weddings dinners.



The roast beef above was covered in remoulade sauce, topped with green olives and shallots. It was a delight to have, with or without toast.



The pink shrimp with caviar & egg was pleasing while the curry herring, which was gut-wrenching but only because I can't stomach NON-ASIAN curry noe can I imagine it to ever tasty.


Oyster shots



The liver pate, bacon and shallots was great on dark rye bread. Who would have thought liver pate was gorgeous with bacon? This hereby confirms ANYTHING tastes great with bacon


Scrambled eggs wrapped in smoked salmon, topped pickled asparagus

This is a well thought out platter as there are tons of leafy greens, boiled eggs, tomatoes. I can't say it was scandaliciously good or that it brought back throngs of memories*** On hindsight, I can understand why many in Singapore would associate traditional Scandinavian food with Fear Factor. I can't gurantee an enjoyable experience on your part because it is basically an eye-opener. To me, however, I found the platter refreshing and untinted- exactly what I needed after feeling more than out of sorts lately. [By LA standards, I would have gotten myself a shrink and invested in Deepak Chokra's DVD box set.]

In any event, Tak For Mad.

***In all honesty, while in Copenhagen, I shy-ed away from most locally produced products, with the exception of yogurt, chocolate and butter cookies. It was just sushi sushi sushi, remember?

Aböf Restaurant & Tea Lounge
Millenia Walk #01-109
9 Raffles Boulevard
(S) 039596
Tel: 6338 7113
Opening hours: 8:30am - 11pm daily, last order at 10pm