Ozaki Wagyu Menchi-Katsu at 81 Duxton

I wasn't expecting my lunch to look like this. OK, sure, they called it a Burger Set on the menu, but since I ordered the menchi-katsu option, I thought that they meant hanbaagu rather than hanbaagaa (i.e., Hamburg Steak rather than hamburger). So I was a bit surprised to see it put on this gigantic bun, complete with ketchup, mustard, and even dragon breath-inducing raw onions. Either way, it was hot, tender, and tasty enough that I wolfed it down in seconds.

So yes, I guess I'm still talking about burgers in Tanjong Pagar, but that's not why I came here today (81 Duxton Road, 6225-4381). I came here because the sign read "Farmers, Butchers, Fishers [sic]," which naturally got me curious. When I looked it up, it turned out to be not only an extension of the Berjaya Hotel, but also a shop that specialized in Ozaki wagyu. Normally they do full cuts of meat running into triple digit price tags, but I took the budget route and went for the minced option.

Open Door Policy in Tiong Bahru

Despite everything that I had heard about this place over the years, I avoided it (19 Yong Siak Street, 6221-9307), in part because it sounded a bit overhyped, but also because it was related to the Spa Esprit Group, which in my experience has a tendency to be over-reliant on rucola and truffle oil. Still, I noticed its counter seating (read: my kind of thing) when I rode my bike past it this afternoon, and somehow the idea got planted in my head that I should come here later for dinner, especially since most of the other places that I wanted to go to were all closed on a Sunday.

It was totally better than I thought it would be. Now, I still encountered truffle oil with my very first dish (and I intentionally tried to choose a soup that didn't explicitly list it as an ingredient), but despite that, everything that I had was done perfectly, be it the watercress soup, seared scallops, roast quail, or that risotto above, all washed down with a few yummy cocktails. Granted, it wasn't cheap, but it was honestly good food without any pretentiousness (paper napkins!). And I didn't encounter any rucola in anything that I ordered!

Ocean Restaurant by Cat Cora in Singapore

When I first heard about this place, I was intrigued. This was not only due to the fact that Resorts World Sentosa pulled yet another celebrity chef over here, but also since this restaurant had a gigantic glass window facing the Open Ocean tank at the SEA Aquarium (22 Sentosa Gateway, 6577-8888).

Today, I had just enough time to grab an appetizer before moving on, and this little sous-vide piece of salmon was what I ended up with. Yes, I liked this tender and fatty cut of fish, gobbling it down quickly. Too bad that I didn't get a view of the tank though, as the place was fully booked, thus relegating me to the windowless bar at the front of the restaurant.

Dario Cecchini at Bistecca in Singapore

The World Gourmet Summit yet again spammed the heck out of my inbox this year. But in this case it worked, as there was one email that caught my eye: Dario Cecchini was going to be in town! Actually, he left Singapore last week, but Bistecca was still running a lunch set through today. And we made sure to come down here, hoping that we could get the same extraordinary meal that we had at his place in Tuscany.

It ended up being a different experience. Sure, that may be his signature Sushi del Chianti above, but it was laced with chili oil and plated up like fine dining rather than the rustic down-to-earth fun that we were hoping for. More importantly, that fine dining plating also meant fine dining portions (read: verrrry small). Granted, this was a S$58 (US$47) executive set lunch menu, so I guess one couldn't expect the unlimited portions that he does in Italy. But deep in our hearts I guess we were hoping to stumble out of the restaurant completely stuffed like we did over there.

Now that I've read the email again, I realized that Dario only did the butchering, whereas the dishes were prepared by the chef at Bistecca. And don't get me wrong; I liked what they had done with the meat (at least, for the first two courses), but the portions were just so darned small that we had to order more food, defaulting back to Bistecca's regular menu. That can only mean one thing: another run to Chianti is in order.

Meat Packing District at the Bestway Building

No, it's not Tanjong Pagar burger week or anything like that. I read about this place just a few hours after having eaten at Two Blur Guys yesterday, and figured that I might as well come here for lunch the next day while I still had burgers fresh in my mind (12 Prince Edward Road #01-01).

I gobbled it down in a jiffy, but admittedly, I didn't care that much for the quality of the meat, nor all of the black pepper that they put on it either. Still, they were nice enough to ask what they could do differently, seeing that they had basically just opened not long ago. So hopefully they tweak things a little soon. And I guess I did like the bun.

Anyway, the more interesting thing for me was the fact that it was another burger stall in a hawker center. And yes, Tai Wah Pork Noodle appears to be gone now (sniff, sniff). I guess that unfortunately means having to line up over at Crawford Lane instead.

Revisiting CoCo Ichibanya

Haven't been to this place in a while! We originally came down to the basement because I wanted to see if MK Hotpot had opened yet, but it hadn't. And out of the interests of speed, we just sat down here. I figured that maybe this was a good chance to try some of the omurice-like thing that they had on the menu. And yeah, I liked it, even if it looks like a bit of a mess above. I even got an extra bowl of rice to help shovel down some of the remaining curry.

Two Blur Guys in Tanjong Pagar

That was a lot better than I thought it would be. I actually avoided these guys for a while, although not for any particular reason aside from the fact that I just didn't feel like eating burgers for lunch. But many of the surrounding shops were all packed today, so I came here, helped in part by a colleague who mentioned that this place wasn't bad (1 Tras Link #01-03, 6636-4183).

And he was right. The patty was tender, juicy, and actually tasted like beef. I was a bit worried about the relish and truffle mayo that were going to adorn this thing but they weren't as overpowering as I had thought they would be. Granted, I'm not going to get cravings for this place either (and strange that there are no fries on the menu), but at least I liked it more than that Omakase Burger place.

Tokyo's Menya Itto at Ebisboshi Shotengai

I originally came down here thinking of getting another bowl of Honda when it turned out that the folks at Ebisboshi Shotengai (who apparently also run Daikokuya, I just realized) had already rotated its visiting ramen chefs, now featuring this thing from Menya Itto in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, it was rather boring. I hoped there might be something exciting about it given that it featured a prawn-based broth, but this was nothing like Keisuke's aromatic masterpiece. I suppose that the rest of the ingredients did the job, but it won't be something that I'll be coming back here for.

Still, I'm encouraged by this ramen rotation thing that Ebisboshi Shotengai seems to be doing, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing who they bring next. Actually, I wouldn't mind if it's more from Itto's Sakamoto-san; when I looked at his Japanese website, he seemed to have a lot of other interesting things available, including a clam-based one that I assume that I would like a lot more.

Wasabi Tei at Far East Plaza, Singapore

While I wasn't hungry anymore after that meal at Jollibee, I wasn't exactly satisfied either. So when it was suggested that there was a reasonably-priced yet decent quality sushi place at Far East Plaza (14 Scotts Road #05-70, 6238-8216), I was interested. After all, a few slices of raw fish couldn't be that filling, and it was healthy to boot.

It was only when we got there did I realize that I had passed by many years ago but immediately dismissed it due to its name and menu; it just didn't look like it would be any good. So I was impressed when this little counter-only shop served very generous cuts of fish, nearly all of which were decently fatty and tasty aside from that lean tuna. It was a bit cold, but I'd eat there again if I'm nearby.

Trying Out Jollibee From the Philippines

Jollibee's first outlet in Singapore (304 Orchard Road #06-48A, 6735-5117) has been in the news a bit lately. And since we were in the neighborhood this morning, we figured that maybe this would be a good chance to head over to Lucky Plaza (i.e., hopefully not too long of a line on a Saturday morning at 11 AM) and see what all of the fuss was about. It turned out to be a 20 minute wait.

I wasn't sure what to expect. All I knew was that it was a fried chicken place from the Philippines. Would they serve it with vinegar or something? They didn't, and that batter was limp and boring. But there was one important thing that gave it a huge leg up over KFC: one could actually taste the chicken! (Geez - what a novel idea!)

This was, of course, Asian fried chicken rather than American. So that meant no coleslaw, but rather a little packet of steamed white rice; a bit like a ketupat or even onigiri. And apparently one was supposed to pour that peppery gravy over it. Well, it was all interesting to try (that "Burger Steak" on the side reminded me of something from IKEA), but I won't wait 20 minutes for that again.

Beef Goulash on Singapore Airlines

Maybe it was just because I was hungry (I cut short my lunch to try to standby on this earlier flight, and lost my special meal in the process), but that was a lot better than I thought it would be. I liked it so much that I mopped up the remaining sauce in the tray with that roll. Who'da thunk it?

The Hotel's Self-Serve Cold Noodles

Yes, I'm back at the hotel's breakfast, and there was something in the spread this morning that I didn't notice yesterday: a station where one could make his own cold noodles, dressing it up with a selection of condiments, including sesame oil, peanut sauce, soy sauce, and Chinese vinegar. I tried to do what I could, grabbing a few other snacks along the way. I didn't quite get the seasonings right in the end, but at least it was better than that breakfast set from yesterday. I should have just started with this in the first place.

Shanghainese Noodles at the Hotel

Yes, I'm stuck here at the hotel today. We wanted to wander outside for lunch but I needed to get back upstairs later for a conference call, so we went back to the hotel dining room for lunch, where yet again they offered a number of local items should you so choose. I went for these stir-fried noodles, in part because I saw a few carts on the street yesterday selling it too.

It was good enough that I wolfed it down quickly. Granted, I don't know if it was that different from any other plate of stir-fried noodles, but if this stuff is eaten regularly off the streets here, then I'm happy to have had it, even if served in the confines of a hotel rather than on the street.

A Shanghainese Breakfast from the Hotel

I'm not sure if this is what people in Shanghai really eat for breakfast every day, but the hotel offered this set of "local flavors" cooked to order. It wasn't anything great. The noodles were too soft and the broth was too bland, while the skin on those xiao long bao was too thick. I guess I'll have to mark it down as yet another failed bowl of soup noodles from a hotel breakfast spread.

Dumplings off Shanghai Old Street

After that disappointing seafood meal, I needed more food. I walked up and down the alleyway a few times before I settled on this one, which was selling dumplings with a variety of stuffings. I grabbed the one at the top of the list, which was lamb. You could definitely taste the lamb, alright. But it was also a lot better than that seafood from earlier. And the cost? A bargain price of just 8 RMB (US$1.30).

Seafood Off of Shanghai Old Street

Yes, after finishing my work tonight, I came back here again for dinner, as I was tempted by a number of seafood stalls that I saw clustered in the middle of the street earlier. There were huge lobsters and crabs on display, along with a grill with a bunch of skewers. I stayed away from the big stuff and went instead for some crab claws as well as some scallops and squid that the guy upsold me on.

It was nasty. Oh man, there was wayyyy too much garlic on these things, and the crab was kinda dried out too. What was the point of eating seafood if one just covers it in garlic in the end? I just couldn't eat any more, feeling bad for wasting most of the food. But at least it wasn't too expensive. All of that seafood was only 60 RMB (US$10), beer inclusive.

Cold Noodles from Shanghai Old Street

That title may sound a bit weird, but that was literally the name of the street: Shanghai Old Street, or shang hai lao jie. When I asked the hotel's concierge for some street food nearby, they pointed me in this direction, where a number of places in a tiny alley were open. I stopped at this lady's stall and asked for her recommendation.

She immediately took one of those big tortilla-like things from the front of the cart. I thought she was going to give me a burrito of sorts until she folded it over and cut into strips of wide rice noodles, which she thereafter lashed with vinegar, chili oil, and raw garlic.

It was delicious. And the best part was not the fact that it only cost 6 RMB (US$1), but that she dumped it all into a plastic bag that was supported by half of a Styrofoam box underneath. It wasn't exactly what one would call elegant, but it sure was practical.

My Raw Vegetarian Meal on SQ

So it looks like I can still do special meal orders on SQ's website after all. And after having had so many lousy meals off the beverage cart lately, I made sure to do a special order this time, with one of the healthiest things I could find: the raw vegetarian meal (or in simpler terms, a salad).

Admittedly, I nearly asked the flight attendants to cancel my special order after I saw what was on the normal menu though: dim sum. Really? Dim sum on an airplane? That I had to see. But alas, I got my salad, and then it was onto getting work done on the rest of the flight.

Piedra Negra near Arab Street in Singapore

If I read it correctly, this place has been frequented by the Mexican ambassador (241 Beach Road, 6291-1297). And yet I've avoided it for quite a while now, in part simply because I had given up on trying to find decent Mexican food in Singapore. Still, I guess that Lucha Loco has restored my faith in what's available, so I suggested that we come here for lunch today.

Nonetheless, I kept my expectations low, especially after noticing how the menu was bordering on Tex-Mex. So I was pleasantly surprised with how thin and fresh the chips were, as well as how quickly I wolfed down that enchilada above (and yes, corn tortillas - yay!). I still like Lucha Loco much better, but at least I know that this wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Savour 2013 in Singapore

Last year, we had tickets to this food festival down at the F1 Pit Building and Paddock, but ran into a schedule conflict and had to give our tickets away. Fortunately, this year, we were able to make it, and immediately hit the "Village" portion of the event where a number of restaurants from around the world had set up stands. I tried to stick to the stalls from overseas, being pleasantly happy with a seared scallop dish from a South African place as well as some mackerel and pork belly dishes from a couple of Michelin-starred English restaurants. My favorite dish of the evening was this quinoa risotto above, a rich yet refined concoction from Mirazur in France. Awesome.



There were a lot of other things turning heads, of course, particularly these molecular xiao long bao from Bo Innovation in Hong Kong. It looked pretty and sounded interesting, although it wasn't anything that I'll get cravings for. It actually tasted more like hot and sour soup than it did a xiao long bao, while I didn't really care much for that thick skin and gooey texture. I was also a bit surprised to find that I didn't like the Peruvian food from Astrid y Gaston; now I'm no longer as motivated to go to his outlet back in San Francisco.



That's not to say that we skipped past all of the local shops though. Gunther's was there, serving that lovely cold angel hair pasta. That thing in a can above was from Mikuni at the Fairmont; it tasted fine, but was a bit more show than tell. A number of the Resorts World places were there too, including Robuchon as well as Osia (come to think of it, this was quite the anti-Marina Bay Sands event, and was much better too). Note to self: next year, be prepared to shell out for at least S$100 (US$80) in extra food vouchers while on-site, but also don't forget that there are tons of samples at the "Market" portion of the market to top up with later.

Bijin Nabe from Tsukada Nojo

Tonight we made it down to Tsukada Nojo for dinner, when they served the full-on bijin nabe rather than those individual bowls of noodles for lunch. But what a wait it was. Since they didn't take reservations, we got there at their opening hour of 5 PM to find already a huge line there. By the time we got up to the front, we were told that it would be an hour and 45 minute wait, which in reality turned out to be two and a half hours. This had better be worth it.

Sure, it was good, particularly the broth. Now, admittedly it wasn't that different from the one in the lunch meals, but in this case the taste of the broth changed as more veggies got added. And when they brought out the pot, the broth was still in a gelatinous form that melted down as the pot warmed up (in that sense, it was the opposite of that snow dome from last week, when the pot poofed up as heat was applied). Anyway, we cleared everything in the pot from the chicken to the veggies to the noodles.

But I doubt that I'd wait 2.5 hours for that again - or at least, I'd plan ahead to put our names down at 5 PM in anticipation of a 7-ish seating. The lady told us that the line is not as bad on weekdays, but that there is still a line nonetheless, particularly after 6 PM. Apparently there is another (and thankfully larger) location opening in Chinatown Point soon too, if I heard it correctly. Well, even if the line tonight was long, I take comfort in the fact that it was surely still shorter than Tim Ho Wan's new outlet downstairs.

Black Thunder Ramen from Menya Musashi

I know that I swore off Musashi previously, but yesterday we noticed that they were offering yet another special that ultimately lured me into their Raffles City shop for lunch today. They called this "Black Thunder": it was basically tantan-men spiked with local chili padi and some of that black oil (as well as an interestingly little black lightning-shaped fried wonton-skin thing in the middle, if you look closely). It was better than I thought it would be, but that will probably be my last one. That was too unhealthy to eat a second time.

La Barra at The Star Vista

I've never been to Colombia before. But when I had heard that this place had opened up at the Star Vista (1 Vista Exchange Green #02-21, 6694-2495), I knew that I would come here one of these days, and tonight I did. I went for the first thing on the menu: arepas. The best that I could make out was that it was kinda like a Salvadoran pupusa, but topped with things, kinda like a Mexican tostada.

Unfortunately, that assumption completely set the wrong expectations for me. Sure, physically there were some similarities, but it was completely devoid of the chili peppers that one would have expected had this been a Mexican dish. It was only after I looked it up just now did I realize that Colombians don't eat chili peppers - how ignorant of me!

Well, I definitely liked the corn taste of the thick arepa patty itself, and some of the stuff that they put on top were pretty good. But I still can't kick the thought of how much different this would have tasted had it been spiked with some chipotles or something. I guess that explains why they had bottles of Tabasco on each table...I was puzzled as to why they were there at first, but now I understand.

Mendokoro Honda's Komi Toridashi Ramen

From what I understand, Mendokoro Honda is a rather highly regarded ramen shop in Japan. And interestingly, Ebisboshi Shotengai at Great World City has been featuring a bowl from them for the past few weeks. This appeared to be only a temporary promotion, so I made sure to come down here today before they took it away.

Now, I wasn't expecting much from these Ebisboshi Shotengai folks given my previous experiences there. So I was pleasantly surprised by the mildly aromatic bowl that they brought it out; I think that was a roasted shallot oil coating it all, if I tasted it correctly. The ingredients inside were also of better quality than I had expected, including a shoyu with a decent amount of character.

Granted, shoyu ramen isn't exactly anything that I will usually get cravings for. But I can't help but wonder what the original one in Tokyo tastes like now.

Choco Cros from Japan's Saint Marc Cafe

It's frightening how addictively good those little pastries are at this Japanese coffee chain (1 Harbour Walk #01-108, 6222-2309). This is our second night in a row of eating this stuff, including that matcha latte that I just can't seem to stop drinking. Sure, they're nothing but chocolate-filled croissants, but as their own signage pointed out, they are "loaded with butter," making them totally flaky and crispy. I guess it reminds me a bit of how addictive Beard Papa was too.

Snow Dome Shabu Shabu from Azmaya

I was looking forward to coming to this place (30 Robertson Quay, 6737-6863), in part because they had something called a Hokkaido Snow Dome, which I had never heard of before. It turned out that this was basically a broth fluffed up with egg whites, such that when the broth boils, it rises up, looking a bit like a ball of snow (yes, it was basically a meringue). After that, one could poke away at the egg white, and proceed with shabu shabu as one normally would.

The problem though was that the shabu shabu wasn't of very good quality. Granted, that's my own fault for intentionally ordering the cheapest set of pork at S$24 (US$19), but I wasn't very encouraged by the rest of the stuff that we got either. Still, I'm curious to come back here to try the S$90 (US$72) option in the hopes that the quality gets better as a result. (What an interesting position for a restaurant to be in: I didn't like the food tonight, and yet am willing to come back to spend multiple times more just to prove that I could like the food!)

Mr. Chicken Rice at Downtown East

I recall seeing a Makansutra TV episode about this place, where a former Chatterbox chef (yes, another one) setup his own shop, and where the chili sauce was supposed to be nearly lethal. We were in the neighborhood today and we thus stopped by here to see what the big deal was (1 Pasir Ris Close #02-120, 6582-1302).

The good thing was that the chili sauce was indeed spicier than most others. It wasn't as spicy as Big Bird's, but it was good enough. Unfortunately, I didn't really care much for everything else. The rice was dry and lacked aroma, while both the ginger sauce and the chicken itself were annoyingly sweet. If I come back here, it will be solely for that chili sauce.

The Market Grill on Telok Ayer Street

Last month, I made my way over to Lucha Loco, a Mexican place in Singapore that finally resembled something from back home. This week, I found an American grill that evoked similar feelings, especially when the smell of grilled meat pervaded the place (208 Telok Ayer Street, 6221-3323). I liked the burger so much that I came back again today to try the lobsters that I saw others nibbling on at that time.

It turned out that the lobster wasn't anything that special; it was rather small and wasn't anything that I got me too excited (then again, I guess I've never really been that big on lobster). But that burger that I had the other day with bacon and egg was memorable enough that I'll still come back for some of the grilled meat that I saw on the menu.

Incidentally, this place is run by the same guys as the ones behind Keong Saik Snacks. That explains a few things, including not just the approach to food but the counter style seating. I eagerly look forward to their next venture.

Singapore-Style Ramen at A Noodle Story

When I first read about this place, I didn't think it would be very good, in large part because the name (of both the stall and the dish) sounded rather tacky. Nonetheless, the word "ramen" still kept me half-curious enough to come down to Amoy Street Food Centre today (7 Maxwell Road #01-39), and I'm glad that I did.

It was a heck of a lot better than I thought it would be, in part because of those firm skinny noodles coated in oil, but also because of the quality of that freshly fried and crisp shrimp thingy. Everything went down in the blink of an eye, wontons and all. The only item that I didn't care for was the little dab of chili sauce, but that was easy enough to avoid.

Now, the main things that made it even remotely resemble ramen was the pork and egg. Otherwise, this was really more of a local noodle than anything. Either way, I can see where the fine dining pedigree of these guys came in, as it showed in the care that they took in the details. I'll come back, and if it's any sign of how much I liked it, next time I'll opt for the largest size.