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open door policy

November 6, 2011
Contemporary, Pricey ($30 - $70), Tiong Bahru, Western
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tiong bahru chic

tiong bahru’s seriously becoming chic you guys, what with popular cafes and restaurants like forty hands and open door policy sprouting up, along with curio shops like strangelets (that sold popaganda!) and cool bakeries like drips. mark my words, tiong bahru’s your next duxton/ann siang. already, i noticed an increasing number of foreigners and well-dressed singaporeans strolling around roads with names like tiong poh road and such, so its a matter of time. anyways, ODP is sited along yong siak street, directly across forty hands. its not exactly easy to get there — you’d have to walk for about 10 minutes to get into the old estate area from tiong bahru MRT, but i guess that’s what gives it its tranquil charms. the place is still relatively under-developed and primarily an old residential estate, so when night falls, there’s a certain tranquility that settles within the area. parking isn’t an issue because there’s a relatively big open air carpark within the estate.

the interior of ODP gives off a very industrial, sleekly designed feel that feels like some up and coming restaurant in NYC, say within the meat packing district. you do get the feeling of being transported to another world, one where tired executives head to artsy restaurants like these to unwind from the days work alongside well-dressed socialites quietly sharing the latest gossips with each other. one must mention the furniture within the restaurant, which has largely adopted the “olden days” theme, with tables converted from old classroom desks, and many chairs being those old, rusty metallic chairs in classrooms. the furniture, whilst fitting with the theme, wasn’t exactly too comfortable as the chairs were kind of hard and my mom stared at the rust worried she would get tetanus (lol.. kidding). ok food talk.

steak tartare with truffle mayo and potato chips, $19

yummy! i recently commented to a friend that i found truffle fries to be the next big overhyped dish of singaporean cafes but these truffle potato chips made me literally swoon upon first bite — crispy and amazingly flavored with truffle sauce. i could order an entire bowl to finish if I had the chance. =) the steak tartare was well made and paired well the toasted bread. i suspect we were supposed to eat the chips with the tartare, but the chips were too good to need any further flavor inject. mind you, for people who don’t know, tartare refers to raw meat, usually used for spreads for toast. (this is essentially the thing mr bean ordered and hated, and proceeded to try hiding chunks of them in the most ridiculous places ever. but don’t worry this tastes good.) so yeah, if you get squeamish about eating raw stuff, then don’t order this — though to be honest, it tasted really great and had no such slimy/raw feel to it.

48 hour cooked braised beef cheek with mochi potatoes, carrot puree, and snow pea lendrils , $29

didn’t exactly like the snow pea lendrils, but besides that this dish was perfect — something that can literally send you to gastronomie heaven. the beef cheek is so soft that it really melts in your mouth as you savour it. the sauce for it is well balanced, and the carrot puree formed a perfect complement to the beef cheeks. mochi potatoes was something new to me and they likewise went really really well with the dish, and made me actually hanker for more of such carbs. my only other complain would be that the sauce wasn’t enough and I ended up eating a little portion of the beef cheeks without the sauce. but besides that, seriously guys, go try this rendition of beef cheeks. yummz.

pork belly with parsnip puree, braised quinoa and celery, $29

tried some portions of this — the crisps stacked on top of the pork belly were really good and the pork belly was one slab of crispy goodness as well. my companions who ate this gave quite high reviews as well, besides for the fact that it was slightly small.

i didn’t try the desserts. why? to be honest, I realised just how expensive some of the dishes were – desserts were roughly $15 each, which is kind of exorbitant. and likewise, a quick calculation in my mind made me realise that we had already spent upwards of 30+ for a shared appetizer and mains each. haha.. i’m quite the calculative cheapskate nowadays perhaps, but i think the atas food trips is taking a tolling on my wallet. =(

overall? a really cool place with an exciting menu and food that has some serious flavor and goodness in time. it’s more pricey that your usual cafes (a spaghetti bolognaise went for $22) but in return, you get good ambience, interesting food arrangements (there was a tendency to use chopping boards and stone pots for various dishes) and good, solid food. come at least once to try it out, then take a stroll round the estate to discover this part of singapore, eh? 8.0/10

open door policy | 19 yong siak street | contemporary, western

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jones the grocer

September 24, 2011
Contemporary, Desserts, Mid - Range ($15 - $30), Orchard Road
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tea time special

gosh i have a huge backlog of restaurants to review. so moving along…

we headed to Jones the grocer@mandarin gallery for tea time on a Sunday afternoon because antoinette and arteastique were both packed and well, the line at jones wasn’t too bad. but wow.. i didn’t know so many Singaporeans enjoyed their tea time. anyways, Jones the grocer @ mandarin gallery kinda exudes an upmarket, gourmet-style cafeteria replete with healthy sounding snacks like walnut and apricot bar or something along the lines, as well as artfully designed chocolate and nuts packages. its those kind of shops you chance upon, browse around at all the fantastical looking ingredients, wished for once (or twice) you could whip up a feast like Jamie oliver and then head out wistful cause you know buying such expensive ingredients on your own paltryculinary pursuits would be a waste of money. lol.

with the bustling Sunday crowd and with every table packed, Jones reminded me of an upmarket cafeteria, where stylish ladies stopped by with their vogue magazines, shades and little chihuahua in tow. of course, those ladies would order a healthy banana and walnut muffin perhaps, with a skinny latte of that sort. hmm, for us mortals, we went for some nice pastries and coffee.

lemon meringue tart, $4

well whipped meringue that wasn’t overly sweet and paired well with the lemon zest within. i mean, i have tasted more refreshing, more delicious renditions of this, but for a simple afternoon tea, this sufficed. it must be said though that the crust was slightly thick and difficult to cut through.

apple crumble, $4.50

my sis got an apple crumble which was initially given to her not too well heated so we sent it back. hmm, that’s not too good eh, Jones? but the service staff were absolutely professional and handled the issue well. and i didn’t get to taste the second crumble because i was in a hurry.

piccolo coffee

my dad got himself a piccolo coffee, which is some sort of latte ‘shot’, which he likes immensely. me being a non-coffee drinker, i just admired the nice patterns made from the froth. lol.

to be honest, i don’t particular think the pastries here are anything mind blowing, but the ambience and finding a chill space on a bustling weekend was all i needed and Jones gave me all that. i can see myself getting a nice little pastry and plopping myself down on their chairs to just while the afternoon away. and well, food-wise, i don’t think Jones is all that well known for their pastries, but rather for their charcuterie boards and other mains. i had a wagyu beef open faced sandwich here that was really pretty decent.

all-in-all, a decent place to chill. and with pleasant food to go along. 6.5/10

jones the grocer | 333A Orchard Road, #04-21/23 Mandarin Gallery | tea time, contemporary, western 

house, barracks and camp

July 18, 2011
Contemporary, Dempsey, Pricey ($30 - $70), Western
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lifestyle of the rich and faymous

so i had decided to take leave the past weekend to head down to hong kong to meet friends and eat a whole load of hong kong delicacies but quickly found that plan to be untenable due to my hectic work schedule in the upcoming weeks (read: i’m travelling overseas tonight.) as such, the HK trip plan was abandoned, but that left me and my friend with one free day on friday to while away. and we chose to do it the atas way, whiling away time at dempsey’s house, barracks and camp for lunch among the tai-tais and other glitterati, i kid you not.

the thing about establishments at dempsey is that their very surroundings conjures a certain relaxed colonial charm and sense of comfortable luxury. indeed, the whimsical contemporary decor (you had an oversized table placed over the actual dining table) amid the lush surroundings made for a really comfortable and enjoyable lunch location. ambience wise, the location, decor and clientele worked together to create a sense of a expensive, rustic retreat.

service-wise, im satisfied with this place. i’ve heard of pretty bad reviews from HGW regarding service, but perhaps that was due to the taxing demands of an oversubscribed brunch crowd. the service to us was sufficiently attentive and polite, and not at all intrusive/overly-enthusiastic to clear your plates type. let’s get to the food.

truffle fries, $11

the aroma of the truffle oil is indeed inviting, and the oil does wonders to enhance the flavor profile of the shoe-string fries. nice stuff. not too oily, with sufficient flavor from the truffle oil to even pass off as an appetizer without the need for any dips.

squid ink crust pizza, $25

interesting selection that turned out good because of the generous amounts of fresh seafood littered on top of the squid ink crust. to be honest, i didn’t really taste much of the squid ink within the crust because the crust was paper thin and crispy but it formed quite a nice carbs base for all the delicious fresh seafood. furthermore, such a pizza felt light and not at all jelak. good stuff.

macadamia crusted pumpkin salad, $16

oh this one’s good. the combination of flavors from the sweet pumpkin and macadamia along with the semi-salty/bitter (tbh, what exactly is the taste of veggies??) taste of the greens paired well to give a balanced and refreshing salad dish. the pumpkin was baked just right, not too flaky and dry but with a certain level of crispiness. this is a good, creative dish.

warm banana salted caramel cake, $7

again, a nice combination of flavors from seemingly simple ingredients. i mean, the cake base is a simple sponge cake with coffee accents then infused with salted caramel in the middle, topped with glazed bananas and sprinkled with popcorns. this worked, because the somewhat similar sweet flavors from the glazed bananas to the salted caramel meshed well with the coffee sponge cake base and there was a sense of an evolution of flavor. i think its a worthwhile idea to try and create at one’s own home!

i think overall, i really enjoyed barracks cafe also because i was in no hurry, and the glorious day just laid out in front of me. furthermore, with good conversation and such relaxed surroundings, one can hardly find fault with this place. might venture here for brunch one day. 8/10

house, barracks and camp |  8D Dempsey Road, #01-01 to 06 Tanglin Village  | contemporary, western, desserts

wild rocket at mount emily

July 2, 2011
Bugis | Little India
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the very definition of tucked away.

mind you, the patrons at wild rocket at mount emily most certainly did not just chance upon the restaurant located to the side of the lobby of a cosy, contemporary hostel called hangout at the top of mount emily. the place is truly tucked away, and the restaurant seemingly doesnt even bother to, say.. place a signage or such at the roadside to indicate its presence, so much so that i initially did a double take when we drove into the hangout hotel carpark and wondered if i had gotten the wrong address.

but people do come, which i suppose tells you something about the food here.  but lets first talk about the ambience – simple contemporary, with use of soothing green elements to exude a tropical, calming feel. the restaurant almost feels like a cafe (i suspect a portion is used for breakfast buffet by patrons at the hotel), as the interior of the restaurant is in full view from patrons of the lobby. but owing to the fact that the hangout hotel feels like some chic-contemporary hostel, you dont get much nuisance, and the environment is well suited for a lazy saturday lunch session. and mind you, methinks lunch here is a steal — the executive lunch set is priced at $35++, of which you can choose any appetizer and any dessert within the menu paired with 5 possible choices of entree. and mind you, when a single entree can cost $35 and appetizers/desserts go at around $18 – $20, the lunch set is too good to be missed. let’s serve em’ up

salmon carpaccio with bonito flakes and red rice

an instant winner. the presentation and initial aroma wafting from the wooden receptacle left one salivating. i quickly realized that wild rocket served what you call mod Singaporean food – updating Singaporean sauces and flavors with western concepts, ingredients and serving styles in a creative and intelligent manner. its something familiar paired with something new. this dish probably took its roots from japanese origins, using classical japanese ingredients like bonito flakes, fish roe and salmon sashimi but serving the salmon carpaccio style (thinly sliced, raw) and then presenting it on a bed of delicious, savoury red rice (which is healthier than white rice for that matter), topped with drizzles of mayo to complete the taste. the mixture of flavors – western and eastern, someone came together perfectly and was a fantastic appetizer.

chilean roasted sea bass with chai-poh served with congee

honestly, its cool to be at a restaurant where the chef joyfully plays with his food creations and infuses his experiences of both eastern and western cultures to create truly creative and delicious masterpieces. (hear that, 2am dessert bar) this dish brought back memories of eating chwee kueh with chai poh (salted turnip) at ghim moh during my JC days. the seabass was masterfully cooked — flaky and full of flavor and counterbalanced the saltiness of the chai poh perfectly whilst the congee served as a background base to elevate the taste of both foods. you know how you sometimes need rice in order to fully appreciate the sauces involved in some chinese dishes? i think this was what was achieved in this case. delicious, a little small, but with a smart choice of appetizer (like mine above), this was perfect.

wild rocket strawberry cheesecake

hmm, leave the desserts to the french? this was a case where i couldn’t detect much of a mod sing feel of the food as there wasn’t nary of an asian influence to the dessert. in essence, the strawberry cheescake was a deconstructed version of your cheesecake, served up in a martini glass. we have a generous dollop of philly cheese (though i wish it was mascarpone), followed by walnut ice cream (to masquerade as the cream?) then garnished with syrup-infused strawberries and graham-cracker bits to complete the feel. maybe i don’t get deconstruction, but in trying to reconstruct the cheesecake by combining the elements within a single scoop, i didn’t feel any particular innovation or new tastes that evolved. hmm.

all in all, this place is quite the hidden find, and really, a perfect place for a cozy chill out session with your atas friends and the likes. drive there though, the midday sun can be quite oppressive if you need to walk up mount emily. 7.5/10

wild rocket at mount emily | hangout hotel, 10a upper wilkie road, s228119 | contemporary, fusion, western, mod sing

the rotisserie

June 25, 2011
Contemporary, Mid - Range ($15 - $30), Tanjong Pagar | CBD
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a lil’ nyc in ol’ singapore.

mind you, having a food blog can actually be pretty tough at times. for one, suddenly you become the person responsible to source for restaurants for friends, and to order food for everyone -_-”.. i mean, to be honest, most of the places i reviewed were introduced to me by friends, and not from me sourcing from hgw or the likes.. i like going to places where friends go to, and afterall, it’s the company that matters the most eh?

anyways, my friend recommended rotisserie to me when I suggested tea/dinner/chillax after work one day. he mentioned that there was pretty good chicken (i immediately thought of cocotte’s standards) and the salads were decent as well, so yeah i was pretty up for it. =)

the rotisserie is located pretty centrally at raffles place at china square, obviously geared toward the banking/expat/CBD area people. (coincidentally, i was pleasantly surprised when one of friends commented i looked like a “raffles-place” sort of employee. haha. sorry i’m vapid in that way.) the decor is the typically chic NYC healthy eatery – brightly lit with simple furniture, open concept with communal dining tables and cafe-style menus tacked on the walls. think pret a manger if you need a design reference. lol. and you know me, im a sucker for anything NYC-ish, and anything with a healthy-focus, so I was sold from the start perhaps.

half chicken with 2 salad sides (rocket with pumpkin and pasta with chicken) – $14

methinks this is really of pretty good value, considering that the salad portions are generous. you get to choose for 5 salads at their salad bar which includes cous cous and potatoes/bacon mash among other choices. and the salads are good stuff – the semi-bitter taste of the rocket was mitigated by the sweetness of the pumpkin and also went well with the vinaigrette dressing. the pasta/chicken salad felt fresh.

the chicken was pretty good – skin and sauce was decent, but well, it really can’t match with cocotte’s utterly tender, taste-locked chicken, but for that price point, I can really appreciate the food. what’s more, look ma’, no carbs (ok ignore the pasta for now)! i mean, this is really healthy, free-good, value food! wouldn’t mind popping down here for the occasional salad/chicken if i were working here! 7/10

The Rotisserie | 51 Telok Ayer Street, #01-01 China Square Food Centre | western, contemporary, healthy

medzs

June 18, 2011
Contemporary, Orchard Road, Value (less than $15), Western
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gem of a find.

so it was sorta the weekend to schedule a treat for my dad what with the father’s day celebrations and the likes. i wasn’t too sure of where to go since it was kinda unplanned and hungrygowhere is kinda difficult to access on my pathetic htc phone. the next best alternative was to ask my dad for his own recommendation, to which he mentioned medzs, a Mediterranean concept restaurant located in B2 of orchard central. i had never heard of it before, and in fact my mom was more inclined to head to the trusted ootoya for some japanese food, but since it was this special weekend, we decided to follow dad’s cravings. and boy im so glad we did.

medzs follows a similar concept like good ol’ nostalgic marche and shokudo in which you are ushered into the large expanse of the themed restaurant with a dining card thrust in you hands and with many different stalls hawking foods ranging from charcuterie, pizza, pasta, kebabs and other foods of ‘mediterranean’ flavor. i put the apostrophes because, well.. mediterranean is more a thinly veiled attempt at putting in any country that has influence or is in contact with the mediterranean sea, and hence you basically have foods from france (charchuterie, duck confit, cheese platters), italy (pasta, pizza), turkey (kebabs, doner), spain (paella) and the likes. oh, and the randomly placed rosti station at one corner. i guess they had to put it in for those marche fanboys that got duped into coming in. lol

anyways, i havent had too good an impression of such concept restaurants simply because the prices of the food are exorbitantly priced for relatively simple and small-portioned fare, and the card often prompts you to spend more than you should, leading you to fork out something around the region of 30 bucks for a decent meal with dessert and drinks. hence, i was kind of wary of what to expect with medzs.

the decor of medzs is kinda food court style, with decorations and nice touches that make it more similar to marche. we have turkish lanterns decking each of the dining booths and nice mosaic-tiled pillars strewn across the place. it’s a pleasant, cosy experience. let’s get to the food -

prawn aglio olio, $9.00

my mom, in her never-ending quest to find the cheesecake factory’s shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta dish, settled on ordering prawn aglio olio. honestly, at $9, the portion was really generous and had quality ingredients within like pine nuts and decently sized prawns (you know how sad you get when you expect prawns and you get measly shrimp like infants at high end restaurants?) and the pasta was light and used many herbs to elevate the natural flavor. im honestly surprised at the level of detail and attention paid toward the dish considering it’s price point. this could easily pass off in the fine dining restaurant at 3 times the price.

 rosemary and truffle butter roast chicken, $9.00

seriously? i couldn’t believe my eyes when i saw truffle butter amongst the ingredients used. this was like literally lifted off a menu from a classy restaurant, just without the shocking prices as well. the chicken was grilled well – tender and juicy and the truffle butter sauce gave the dish a mellow, buttery feel that was unique and delicious. and wow, the sauce actually also went well with the rocket, pine nuts and cheese accompaniment at the side. this is serious value! i also ordered a beef skewer ($6.00) shown above, and it was well flavored, finely executed (medium rare) and you could really taste the infusion of herbs and peppers. yummy.

almond tart, $3.80

dessert came in the form of bread and butter pudding with vanilla sauce ($2.00, my mom’s choice) as well as an almond tart. the almond tart was crispy and delicately made, giving off subtle wafts of almond as you bit into it.

seriously, i almost think that such a dining concept of decent prices paired with tasty, well-prepared dishes wouldn’t really survive the months ahead so I’m almost tempted to visit this place more often before it disappears. and considering that the total damage of the meal, for 3 people came up to only $37.95 after 25% dbs card discount (where we each had a main, shared an appetizer, had drinks and dessert), this is really worth the trip to the bowels of orchard central. nuff’ said. 8.5/10

medzs | 181 Orchard Road, Orchard Central, #B2, s238896 | western, value, orchard road

pantheon | fatboy’s burger

March 27, 2011
Mid - Range ($15 - $30), Upper Thomson | Novena, Western
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[shot of the interior of the Pantheon, where 'Raphael Santi had his earthly tomb eventually']

its a testament of how great the ancient Greek architecture was that this archaic structure still draws gasps and feels entirely anachronistic as a public space. it’s just.. one of its kind in terms of an architectural statement.

where to eat

[fatboy's the burger bar, upper thomson road]

[bleu-cheese burger:- gratuitous black-pepper coated patty, fried onion ring and bleu cheese toppings, $12]

there’s quite alot of gems along upper thomson road, and this little burger shack is no exception – away from the hot sunday afternoon sun and tucked within the cool confines of a simple modern black decor, this place serves up decent burgers at decent prices. i cant comment on the other burgers, cos the 3 times I have been here, I have zoomed straight for this bleu cheese burger, because somehow the mix of black pepper and bleu cheese tastes wonderful and is a good excuse for a sinful once-in-a-while treat after tennis. the place is pretty no frills, ice water is self-service (no service charge) and well.. i couldn’t change my fries for something healthier. bummer. these places need to understand that sinful behavior needs to occur right beside redeeming behavior in order for one to feel less guilty – and offer salads and such as an alternative. that being said, the fries were nice as well, semi-crispy with enough potato filling within. you can order interesting dips and sauces to go with your fries but it comes at a cost.

all in all, a decent sinful treat joint. 7/10

gallery space | db bistro moderne

January 23, 2011
French, Pricey ($30 - $70), Raffles City | Marina Bay, Western
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[shot of mbs shoppes at the bay]

this shot somehow gave me the feeling of the impressionist art exhibitions in the Parisien train stations as painted by Monet. wierd. MBS has really become some atas-pretending person’s dreamworld with the glitzy arcade feel, stylish expensive branded shops and celebrity restaurants aplenty. it’s somewhat as if parts of NYC & Paris Champs Elysees was uprooted and implanted here at MBS. it’s so expensive and lux-ish that u almost feel like this is a completely different Singapore. and considering how annoying it is to actually gain access to the place by public transport – mrt, then a walk down esplanade/helix bridge etc.. it’s probably so.

so the reason i was at mbs was to have brunch with the Cornell peeps at db bistro moderne by daniel boulud. hadn’t heard of this place before, i rely on my NYC-gazing friends who love fine dining and wine to tell me of what’s hot in NYC that has landed in Singapore. indeed, the ambience in db bistro moderne feels like you’ve stepped into an NYC restaurant off say55th street or smth. what was cool to me was how the kitchen was partially showcased to the restauranteers via partially screened windows — and to me the kitchen scene was every bit as bustling as Hell’s Kitchen with Gordon Ramsay shouting expletives and throwing the proverbial (and literal) towel on the kitchentop in disgust. ok reality tv distractions aside, one minor (well, not exactly minor) complaint was how the menu of such a glitzy restaurant looked like so filmsy retread of a 3rd rate STB brochure that lacked sophistication, creativity or style. it was as though they ran out of money on the menu and got of the assistant chefs to do some picture cutoffs and paste in random order.

[beet cured salmon: baby beets, horseradish cream, candied walnut, mustard greens $18]

we chose 3 appetizers to kick off the brunch, beet cured salmon ($18), foie gras terrine ($26) and tuna tartare ($23). the salmon was dyed an intense red and the beet was refreshing and went well overall. yummy. the tartare intially got mixed reviews because i felt the tuna was kinda gummy, christina said they probably added stabilizer (eww) but then upon repeated tasting, the tartare started growing on us and was gobbled up in relish (i think the crispy bits on the top made for a great texture differentiation as well). foie gras was a disappointment to me when taken alone thanks to me having had the best shit ever already at bing zhao’s party, but then the foie gras with the brioche went really well again. see, the amazing thing about french cuisine is how you can’t deconstruct your meal and eat them by parts. you need to savor all the small portions together and make the chemistry work in your mouth. lol

[the original db burger: sirloin burger filled with braised short ribs & foie gras served on a parmesan bun and pommes frites, $38]

the fries were probably the best fries i have had for a long time (perhaps even.. ever). apparently the chef soaks them in water overnight to remove some of the starchiness so the overall product is super crispy and tasty without a sense of being stuffed to the gills with starchy potatoes. amazing fries that didn’t need any sauce, pepper and salt to complement it. the burger was well.. to me it was decent, though i felt the short ribs and foie gras didn’t exactly show up in terms of flavor wise, and the patty was just a’right. hmm.. maybe i don’t know my burgers well. the parmesan bun was delicious and well, the entire thing together went deliciously. i think it’s a decent dish honestly and would probably want to try it again had i the chance — but perhaps sharing it (the portions are really quite generous) and.. hehe.. getting more desserts. =)

[madeleines in a basket, $8]

we order 3 desserts to share – madeleines ($8), profiteroles ($15) and ile flottante “lemon floating island” ($14). here’s where french cusine just sparkles. all three desserts got top marks in terms of presentation, taste and just.. plain awesome deliciousness. the madeleines should put delifrance out of business. profiteroles was how it is supposed to be (compared to the pathetic the french stall rendition), chocolately, gooey and nutty altogether and the ile flottante felt like some ephemeral bliss that went smoothly down our throats and felt like we were eating happiness. special mention to the madeleines, which were freshly baked with a citron twist and just.. delicious.

so the final verdict? it came down to around $70 a person, which is well.. i would begrudgingly say reasonably priced for a celebrity chef restaurant in MBS (considering that CUT by wolfgang puck nearby served $100 and above set lunches) and considering service, plating, food were all a real good experience. a decent 8.0/10 for that special occasion or reunion.