B Bakery - A Quaint Little Find

Some time back I visited this quaint little restaurant (less than 10 tables inside and 4 outside) in Bussorah Street which is within the Arab Street network for a friend’s birthday dinner. The food was pretty decent and I liked the fact that the owners took effort to ask for the group’s (10 of us) food order in advance so that they can handle the orders, as well as providing a non-public menu for our selection. Not too sure if this menu is now printed, so when you do go, ask the staff about it.

The food was served rather quickly thanks to good planning by the restaurant even for such a small group. These are what I managed to try.

Grilled Vegetables & Hummus Platter - $5

A very interesting starter. Deceptively simple in preparation. All the vegetables used were grilled just right for that soft mashable texture. Though some of the vegetables were quite badly charred, like the onion on the 9 o’clock position. But still worth the mention was its surprising sweetness and the absence of spiciness. The hummus in the middle was great with the default basket of bread. A colourful, cheerful, healthy appetiser. I do wish that the portion would be larger. But at $5, maybe I will order 2.

Water Melon, Feta Cheese & Rocket Salad - $5

I almost forgotten about photographing this! Nevertheless, I must say is is a wonderful salad that cleverly combined watermelon with feta cheese. The strong taste of the former was nicely complimented by the refreshing crunch and sweetness of the latter. Both together made the salad eating extra enjoyable and fun. Clearly another happy and comforting dish.

Braised lamb shank in wine sauce, mashed potato, sauteed vegetables - $20

What’s this thing about braised lamb shank that every restaurant seems to be serving? Not that I am complaining, though. Anyway, the one here tasted pretty much like every other decent braised lamb shank with exception to the wine sauce which tasted sharper and might take a little getting used to. The fibres of meat could have been more tender and moist, but if the texture is your thing, it was done just right. I do wish the lamb shank had a little bit more of the tendons though.

Salmon papilote (oven baked in paper), vegetables, capers - $18

The salmon was nice, moist and flaky thanks to the way it was prepared. Unfortunately, zesty sauce used was not necessarily the best thing to go along with it, in my opinion. The saltiness from the pickled capers masked taste the fish by a bit too.

As for ambience, I like it for being small, quiet and personal. Perhaps the name, B Bakery also wanted to suggest its humility.

Lastly, the recommendation is to make reservations and order in advance as their inventory for dinner is quite limited.
Also note that they are open for dinner from Thursdays to Saturdays, 6pm - 10pm only.

Absolute Haven - not all that impressive

Thanks to the good folks at HGW, the girlfriend and I managed to give Absolute Haven a try. I was expecting something refreshing, cheerful and something close to “fireworks-on-the-palate” after so many positive reviews.

The menu of the day was a revamped one, so in a way we were all guinea pigs sent into an experiment. Which is actually more fun actually, as there would not be any references. Best of all, we get to dine at a fraction of the usual price. (Yes, I am plugging for the next HGW outing, check this forum thread)
Anyway, on with the food review and photos.

Soup - Cream of Rocket

We started off with cream of rocket which was quite nicely done. The soup was not overly smooth so that bits of its potato base (my assumption) could be felt. It is a nice thoughtful touch to have added that dimension in the texture. For me, perhaps lacking was a tinge of the rocket’s bitterness to authenticate the dish itself. Maybe a bit of minced or chopped rocket might have added a little character to the soup?

Starter - I tried Panchetta Ham & Smoked Salmon Roll

I like the combination of the smoky panchetta ham and salmon with the greens wrapped in them. The textures of the meat and leafy greens stood out for themselves with every bite and distinctive flavours complimented each other really well. The smoky meats provided the punch while the greens cleared the palate for the next piece. My only grouse is the saltiness from the ham, but I am sure it can be easily neutralised with more of the salad greens.

Starter - The Girlfriend tried Duck Breast Salad with Berry Sauce

I liked the sweet and tangy taste, but foresee it may be too overpowering as one progresses to consume more of this salad. This is perhaps catered to those with a sweet tooth.

Main Course - I tried the Pan-seared Seabass with Poached Egg, Miso Braised Daikon and Olive Pilaf Rice, served with Lemon Cream Sauce

High scores on the presentation, but average in taste. The fish wasn’t exactly fresh and was over-cooked with edges totally burnt and bitter. Rest of the fish was tough and dry by my standards. Taste-wise, the fish was very plain with the minuscule amount of lemon cream sauce. Overall, it felt like the dish was conjured by a randomised process where you pick cards for every accompanying item and a poor excuse for a fusion dish. Every item did nothing to each other or for each other in terms of taste.

Main Course - The Girlfriend tried the Oven-Roasted Yorkshire Pork Rack with Herb Potato, Vegetables Ratatouille, Fresh Mesclum Salad, served with Coffee Chocolate Sauce

The pork rack was nicely done with a tinge of pink in the centre and tender to the bite. The marinate was done just right to allow the freshness of the pork to be tasted. However, the coffee chocolate sauce with meat combination reminded me too much about the coffee ribs available from the tze char stalls. The girlfriend mentioned that the pork could have been better used, i.e. prepared in better ways.
The ratatouille seemed out of place because of its “heavy” flavour was more of a clash with the pork and it just felt additionally pretentious thanks to the movie. The use of fresh cut fruits like lychees, longans, dragonfruits, pears would have provided a refreshing edge and balance to the dish.

Dessert - I tried Victorian Creme Brulee

I liken this to the Hong Kong steamed egg pudding, but mushier. Well done for that important crusty top layer of caramelised sugar. Unfortunately it tasted pretty plain for a place where I expected more of. No exciting layers of surprised or infused floral scents. Or perhaps that was what the “Victorian” stood for - old, traditional and outdated.

Dessert - The Girlfriend tried Passionfruit Panna Cotta

Here at Absolute Haven, Panna Cotta has a texture of curdled cheese and plenty of zesty punch from passionfruit, orange peel and berries. I can’t be sure if I like this dessert as it didn’t taste bad, but neither did it taste fantastic.

Overall, the food just didn’t wow me as I had expected more thoughtful, cleverer, refreshing combinations in ingredients.

Service

The staff was friendly but rather slow with service and response and lacking in initiative. However the worst part has to be their failure to prioritise. The girlfriend and I had to run off for another appointment, so we asked for the food to be served slightly faster. Our expectation was only to be served with the first batch of the dish we ordered, but they weren’t even able to do that. Worst, for a group of over 20 people, they failed badly at coordinating for the food to be served together, making patrons without their food stare blankly at those who do. Some had even finished their food before their partner’s had arrived. That is totally unacceptable.

Valentine’s Day at Petals & Leaves

During my course of work, I came across a place in ulu Lim Chu Kang where there would be a Valentine’s Day dinner. So curious me decided to just try it out. Besides the traveling required, both the girlfriend and I were pleasantly surprised by this place called Petals and Leaves at Gardenasia.

For Valentine’s Day, a number of partners and sponsors collaborated to make this event at Petals and Leaves possible, notably Eternally Yours by Vernetta Lopez (ironically divorced from Mark Richmond) which did up the decor for the angelic theme for the night. The wait staff even put on cupid wings. The girlfriend and I liked the details of white feathers, curtains and hearts which ushered the patrons to the seat. We also liked the spaciousness between the tables unlike restaurants in more accessible areas where couples have to be crammed so close together, you can hear the other couple’s secrets. Plus there was no need to rush as they were open from 7pm till 11pm for that evening. On top of that, we also got to do some “area inspection” of the venue. With plenty of greenery and tranquil quietness, it was our kind of a nice place.

The dinner we had 4 courses with the mains of either fish, chicken or lobster to choose from. We took the fish and chicken with suspicions that the portion of lobster would be minuscule.

The food served is pretty decent, with the only grouse being the temperature which was rather cold, probably due to mass production. The pace at which the courses were served was also quite thoughtful, with the attentive wait staff making their rounds to ensure the plates are cleared.

In between the courses, the girlfriend and I inspected our goodie bags and were quite pleased with sample vials of fragrances, Godiva chocolates, audio CDs, red packets (it was during Chinese New Year) tissue packs, discount vouchers and massage vouchers (which can only be redeemed from Mondays to Thursdays in Horsecity, i.e. somewhat pointless)

The live band was also a wonderful mood setter as they belted out numerous sentimental songs and jazz standards. Unfortunately, the vocalist also had a rather morbid and graphic sense of humor that can can only be better appreciated in a pub lounge setting. Though I must commend her for being able to take in ground requests and singing even without knowing the lyrics to the whole song, letting good showmanship take over.

Overall, it is a lovely little paradise to spend Valentine’s Day. Just remember to plan for the transportation and bring along a bit of insect repellent.

Additional Photos available here.

Messing around at Mint Bar @ Graze

We weren’t too impressed with Bistro @ Da Paolo’s. So we came over here to try out the potent concoctions the Girlfriend and I got really “happy” with. As usual, the Mint Bar @ Graze is a place nobody ever notices, which is good, because we get to have the whole place to ourselves over half the time.

From the last time I visited, which was nearly a year ago, they made plenty of updates in the interior decor. It’s nevertheless still as cozy as ever. The Mint Specialties are still as good and potent and we got to try out their Mini Wagyu Burgers which was delicious. A highly recommended place for a quiet chill out.

Click on any photo to view the whole album

Wild Olives - Astoundingly Cheap Western Food!

A friend of mine revealed a little secret tucked in Changi Airport Terminal 2. It’s a staff canteen that serves surprisingly good food. One of which is Wild Olives which serves really good western food and pasta at really low prices even for public customers.

After coming here, you’ll suspect that other western food stalls are either paying astronomical rentals, or they are really ripping you off. With a pasta main as low as $2.90 and the most expensive at $4.20, it is not hard to start guessing. Others like Fish & Chips and Breaded Fried Chicken cost $5.50 and $5 respectively.

Anyway, pretty much everything they serve is really good. My list of favourites would include: Fish & Chips, Breaded Fried Chicken, Fusilli Di Bosco, Linguine alla Vongole and Potato Salad.

Fish & Chips
The fish is fried to perfection with a light and crispy outer shell that covers the moist and flaky fish. The generous dollop of tartar sauce ensures that you can enjoy every morsel of the fish and its sides of chips and coleslaw.

Potato Salad
This cold dish packs a real surprise on the palate. The diced potatoes are mixed with mayonnaise and then sprinkled with spring onions followed by yellow raisins. The myriad of textures is just amazing with every bite. The sweetness of the raisins marry perfectly to the potatoes.

Fusilli Di Bosco
For something with mushrooms, it is surprisingly cheap. What’s more, this pasta dish is served with portobello mushrooms. At $2.90, it is an unbelievable steal, not to mention that it tastes absolutely fantastic as well.

Linguine alla Vongole
You can taste that a good amount of white wine was actually used in this dish. The result is a creamy sauce which is rich with the taste of the wine. Easily a favourite with white wine sauce lovers.

Airport Boulevard, Changi Airport T2
Public Area
Staff Canteen
Singapore 819643

What’s after donuts?

How about homemade muffins and scones?

And I’m not talking about chains like Mrs Fields and Famous Amos, those are just too sweet for my liking. Neither are they able to tweak their recipes to reduce the tons of sugar they put in.

So it is a great to find an independent shop like Wooden Spoon which makes uniquely great muffins that are moist, dense but fluffy and full of flavor. Plus, it tastes of less sugar and more of the ingredients. The sweetness comes mainly from natural ingredients like raisins and bananas, just the way the health conscious would like them. No more having to deal with muffins loaded with tons of sugar! Another feature I like is the absence of the paper cups, so no more peeling off those cups and you can just eat everything.

Particularly, their banana walnut muffins, when broken open, reveals the generous amount of banana mashed into the little package, like banana walnut bread.

Also try the scones. Bite onto the crunchy exterior to reveal the buttery and soft insides with a zap of natural sugar from the raisins baked into it. Goes perfectly with your favorite warm, caffeine-laced drinks.

Besides their muffins and scones, Wooden Spoon also makes a variety of cookies, brownies, cakes and so on. However, note that everything here is produced in limited numbers and they will close shop once everything is sold out. It was already closed when I came by just past 6pm on a weekday. So if you are interested, do come by earlier for a true homemade fix.

Wooden Spoon 100 Beach Road #01-24 Shaw Leisure Gallery Singapore 189702 Tel: 6297 8839

Review: The Pump Room

The girlfriend’s pals were gracious enough to let me in on their gathering at The Pump Room. So we got there early to get ourselves a table.

For the uninitiated, The Pump Room is a microbrewery and bistro. So we ordered our beers and sides first while we waited for the rest to arrive. We were ushered to a table and presented the menu. I took my time to look through the menu for something that might inspire me…

Beer

Personally, I prefer dark beers whenever come to a beer place. I have this preconception that dark beers from a place specializing in beers would offer something interesting. Plus dark beers usually meant more dimensions in terms of the flavor, which would be better experience compared the fizzy, foamy, bitter and pale stuff.

I settled for their Scottish ale, a dark beer with a nice taste of roasted malt. It goes down slightly more bitter at first, but ends sweetly.

Sides

Our appetite was growing as we waited for the others. So we decided to order some sides to keep our mouths occupied. I was disappointed that there wasn’t anything like buffalo wings on the finger food menu. The best they could muster were a few potato-based sides and garlic bread. The rest of the table did set their eyes on something else…

Creamy Mashed Potato was pretty good. I did wish there was some bacon crisps mixed into it. Would have been a great combination of textures.

Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms with herbs was nice too. Although it was on the salty side. The chunky garlic was a nice touch which I liked.

Still waiting, I decided to entertain myself and the “early-birds” with my camera…

More of the interior

And the fascinating “optic fibre” lighting which changes color…

Service

We were rather taken aback when we realized that the staff had failed to inform us about their special offers for their brewed beers. We thought fine, since we never asked.

Then we got really annoyed that many of the wait staff were selective of who they wanted to serve. There was this group of Caucasians that took the table in front of us and were given a VIP treatment while the other tables like mine were conveniently neglected and ignored. I then realized the wait staff were consistently tipped by that table for every item served. Talk about spoil market!

But I guess I shouldn’t harp on that. I mean, there are other stuff to be peeved by. Like the wait staff’s snail-like and begrudging response times for plain water. It seems like they convenient forget your requests. Not like we won’t order other stuff, right?

Main Courses

I found the Linguine with Prawns, Mussels, Scallops and Squid Aglio Olio style was pleasantly spicy with black peppercorns. The seafood was fresh done just right, with the exception of the mussels which were really raw. I think it is because we are so used to the well-cooked mussels in chilli.

One can hardly go wrong with The Pump Room’s Special Steak Burger with Salad and Chips. But it does lack the necessary punch to live up to its “Special” status.

Beer-Battered Pacific Dory with Chips, Tartare Sauce and Mesclun Saladwas nothing special, though the chips were pretty good.

My order was the Hickory smoked BBQ Baby Back Ribs in Special Beer Marinade. It was a rather standard and ordinary quality. nothing to shout about.

The verdict for mains collectively would be somewhere between mediocre and average.

Desserts

The plan had been to stay to catch the live band perform. So we needed to “buy ourselves some more time” in the form of desserts.

The Warm Chocolate Pudding with Vanilla Ice Cream was fantastic! The warm, thick chocolate pudding was probably oven toasted to achieve a crispy outer crust with a slightly charred taste. Every mouthful of the thick melted chocolate and the crispy crust was a luxurious experience.

Soft Centered Pavlova with Tropical Fruits and Passionfruit Curd was a light, zesty dessert thanks to the fruits involved at the sides. Pretty enjoyable if you just love the sugar. Personally, I found it a little too sweet, but nevertheless, it had a good mix of textures to be experienced with every little bit placed into the mouth.

There is a sudden realization that one can’t really go wrong with a Cheese Platter. With very distinctive textures and tastes, it will instantly turn one into a cheese connoisseur.

By the time we wipe off everything on the plates, the band started their act. Plenty of 80’s and 90’s music to dance the night away.

Last but not least, the toilet was pretty decent, a good thing to have with all the booze going around.

Food Review: Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh

As you may know, I like the fried fish bee hoon over at Beach Road and like to walk there for the soupy lunch. As usual, there was a long queue. Not usual was my decision to find something else to eat. So I backtracked a bit and came to Leong Kee. It seems quite popular, why not give it a try since there are seats?

The order took longer than expected. I must have waited about 15 to 20 mins for my claypot of Bak Kut Teh and rice combo. But when I came, I was pleasantly surprised.

The soup was boiling in the heat insulating claypot when it was presented by before me. So it scores on presentation. The consistency of the soup was almost like a gravy, liken to say, sharks’ fin soup and it had a strong herbal taste. Particularly, it had the bitterness from the tang gui used. Unfortunately, that was about all the herbs I could taste. It was something enjoyable, though on the heavy side for a soup.

I liked the addition of the tau kee or fu pi which gave the dish an extra dimension. The vegetable added was also a nice touch. The meat served here seems to be always spare ribs, which is tender to the bite. I liked that it was cooked to the extent where the meat comes off the bone easily.

On another occasion, I tried the pig’s trotter. I liked the smoky taste which came from the high heat treatment just before it is served. The texture of the meat was tender and the skin, tendon and fat are something that should be tried at least once no matter how health conscious one may be.

Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh
321 Beach Road (Jn Sultan Gate and Beach Road)
11am to 9pm
Wed Closed

Food Review: Ice Cream Chefs

While on Leonard’s mini-van, I talked about the newly opened Ice Cream Chefs somewhere in East Coast. I provided an inaccurate location of East Coast Park and we spent some time circling a carpark until someone finally connected to the internet and googled for them. It was in East Coast Road instead. So we moved along.

We then hit a roadblock of sorts when we couldn’t find a parking lot in the vicinity. So we Xinzhan got off the vehicle and went straight to the shop to ask about parking. Surprise! Parking is free if you are customers.

One challenging thing about coming here is really figuring out the choice of ice cream. Like a few ice cream places in Singapore, Ice Cream Chefs makes it possible to mix flavours, 2 for a small cup and 3 for a large one. For every topping, or more correctly, mix-in as they call it, it’s an extra 70 cents.

We got ourselves 3 large cups for 5 of us. No, make that 4 since Leonard was suffering from diarrhea had to be left out from partaking the ice cream. We stuck to 2 of the staff’s recommendation of a fruity concoction and a chocolatey durian combination along with my mad mix of butter pecan with kinder bueno and marshmallows along with horlicks and mocha ice cream. All of which were rather enjoyable.

It is quite a fascinating sight to see the chef whip up your customised ice cream.
First your flavours are laid on the cold plate.
Then with one spatula laid on the ice cream, the other taps on it to create an indentation for the mix-ins.
Repeat the spatula actions to crush the mix-ins and then further reduce the size by chopping with the spatulas.
Fold them around a few times.
Finally scoop them into the cup and served.

Personally I found the ice cream on the watery side. It wasn’t as rich and creamy as I expected. The novelty of zhng-ing your ice cream definitely helped a bit. But for continued success, they need to improve their ice cream formula.

Ice Cream Chefs
520 East Coast Road #01-06 (Ocean Park)
Tel: 64466355
Beside St. Patricks School & Along East Coast Road
Sun-Thurs 12pm to 10pm
Fri-Sat 12pm to 11pm

Post Script: Pardon the poor colour as the batteries (Sanyo rechargeables) in my flash died yet again. It seems that they just can’t retain power for more than a week.

My Budget Food Trail - Beach Road

I’ve recently been somewhat obsessed with the idea of amassing wealth, even though I earn a rather pathetic keep. And a budgeting spreadsheet revealed in detail my spending habits were not helping my plans in saving up.

And since I love eating like every other Singaporean, I figured that I could note down a few places for a good and affordable lunch. Affordable meaning less than $5. So I shall start this “series” (if there is one) with Beach Road. And with my camera, I took pictures of the food I eat along the way.

First up, Chicken Rice at Purvis Street. There are 2 places nearer to Beach Road that serves up pretty good chicken rice. I find both just as good. There shouldn’t be any difficulty finding them if you frequent the area. I have to admit that it is rather tempting to splurge on food in the vicinity of Purvis Street. There are so many good things to eat here. But plans are plans, and I want to stick to them.

Further down away from Raffles Hotel along Beach Road is Alex’s Eating House where they serve up one of the best roast duck, char siew and roast pork and anything that goes with it. The crowds here is a testament of how good the food is here.

Moving on to the junction to Liang Seah Street, Kim’s Wok Seafood serves up a decent plate of Hokkien mee at $4.30. 30 cents being GST.

A good distance down, past The Gateway and Plaza Parkroyal Hotel is Blanco Court Fried Fish Bee Hoon at $4.

I personally like the fried fish head as there is more variety in the texture of the meat. This stall is also a crowd puller, so expect a queue. The stall is set up at those old corner coffeeshop. Here’s a picture of its stall front for identification.

To add a sense of adventure, get off Beach Road and skip along to North Bridge Road, just behind the Golden Mosque where Zam Zam is serving up good and cheap prata. This is possibly the only place in Singapore where a murtabak and teh tarik doesn’t cost more than $5. Ok, its neighbour also has similar pricing, so that makes 2 places.

What do you know, that’s exactly 5 places for good food, one for each day of the week!