Chain Reaction

A couple of days ago, I was inspired to embark on a little blog-housekeeping. To your right, I have added a sort of directory (1) and a search engine (2). Hope it makes this blog easier to navigate!

In its heydays, the signature dark green Olio Dome sign could be found island-wide; however, all that remains today is a handful located in areas overshadowed by other establishments. Mia and I decided to head to the Suntec branch as it was one of the very few restaurants spared from lunch crowd hoola.



The Olio menu looked good but I wasn't in the mood for anything "proper". A little bird told me that The Hungry Cow recommended Olio's fries, so I had fries and a char grilled vegetables side salad.

UPDATE 10th May: The Hungry Cow recommended potato wedges, not fries. OOPS!



Frankly speaking I was a wee-bit underwhelmed by the fries. They tasted as good as most deep-fried starchy sticks but were otherwise, nothing to rave about. I felt pretty much the same way about the char-grilled salad. Hey it's hard to get excited over assorted lettuces, a slice of eggplant and a cube of red pepper, no?



Does this mean I have written off Olio from my list of 'Places To Return'? Well, no simply because I had basically set myself up for disappointment by making not-very-interesting choices to begin with. In fact, I already know what I'm going to order on my next visit- the Roasted Duck Sandwich and Olio Style Brownie.

Over lunch, Mia and I talked about priorities and compromising, then we walked past Sakae Sushi and she asked, "If I suggested Sakae for lunch, would you eat there?"

I was taken aback because this is Mia, Jap-enthusiast we are talking about. Was she testing our friendship with bad sushi? I'm not sure if it was a joke but I replied, "If you asked, Mia, I would definitely go =)"

Of course that smiley emoticon wasn't there when I spoke but I'm sure she felt the warmth and sincerity.

=)



I needed carby snack and grabbed a couple of muffins from Breadtalk because I couldn't decide between two flavors and they were going at a special economies-of-scale promotion of $2.50 for 2. My sister and I were just comparing how different we were because she's a cupcake whore but I love muh muffins. She loves cupcake icing and I love muh buttah.



Both muffins -chocolate chip and green tea- paired with Twinnings English Breakfast Tea was an ideal way to chase down the rainy afternoon. The chocolate chip was predictably good but the green tea, intense grass-green, was super rad. Obviously this whole ghetto talk is so not working for me.

Initially, I didn't think of blogging about these scones because they were "just some scones bought from a bakery chain..."

These scones are from Epi D'or, Raffles City, which bears striking resemblance to Four Leaves and Panaderie. Yeah they might just be innocuously named 'cranberry scone' and 'chocolate chip scone' but their name tags could have easily read "A.S.S- Absolutely Scrumptious Scones".

The measure of a good scone is how the flavour and crumb factor intertwine within its dense interior. These extra-ordinary scones boasted the exemplary rich buttery flavor and light fluffiness, with 15% crumminess. Like any scone worth blogging about, they left a slightly coying aftertaste, which called for some discrete tongue-in-gum action thereafter.



Funny enough I've never warmed to the English/ Scottish tradition of pairing scones with clotted cream and jam. I only use them because that's what most scones are served with. However, if I had a choice I would probably opt for -ooo surprise!- peanut butter. I'm someone who believes in the absolute power of peanut butter and that the uber-smoothness of peanut butter was meant for slathering upon the surface of any flour-water-butter alchemy.

If you are a total slob like me when it comes to eating alone, you could even lick off crumbs picked up by the peanut-butter-stained knife and thus save the cleaning up! Or you could sweep off the crumbs onto your carpet... (hey I'm in no position to judge).