Visited *A&W's abode this afternoon, and since we were near Novena, had to stop by the Tanjong Rhu pau shop to pick up a snack. These little Char Siew Paus fit in the mouth perfectly and bursts with an explosion of taste when bitten into. The bread part is not too thick or heavy, the yummy char siew sauce (dark and rich, not the artificial bright red kind!) and chunks of meat are generous. I could eat like 5 of these at one go...
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Food Bytes: Paper Prata.... with Milo Dinosaur! (Teacher's Estate Prata)
Did a lot of driving around this morning and was hovering around the North part of Singapore. Whenever I'm in the North, the question arises... which prata place should we go to? The famous Jalan Kayu, Teacher's Estate, or Upper Thomson Road?
Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Jalan Kayu for example, is supposed to be the most famous prata. Unfortunately, due to the huge inconvenience of the location, I frequent this the least and are not so familiar with it. The one time I did make it up there, I wasn't particularly impressed... I can't remember much about the prata, but the one thing I remember was that the milo dinosaur disappointed me sorely. To me that's kind of like the essential drink when eating prata, and it should come with heaps and heaps of milo powder which you can slurp up through the straw.
The Upper Thomson Road one is nearest to town and the one I've been to most often. You still have to struggle to find a seat and fight for the many waiter's attention even late at night. This place has my favourite milo dinosaur. The squid here is soft and not too spicy, while the prata goes nicely with the curry. You can even request for fish curry instead of the usual chicken.
Today however, we decided to go to the Teacher's Estate prata. Parking was "easy" since it was illegal, and there were tables open for us. One reason I like coming here is the "Paper Prata". Its thin and layered, crunchy and very very tasty. If it weren't so oily, I could probably eat a few of these! *Shinta thinks it would go nicely with ice-cream. He settled for his usual prata combination with egg and onion.
The other reason we like this place, is the fried slightly tandoori chicken. We attacked it too fast that I forgot to take a photo of it! The milo dinosaur here is passable, nothing to shout about, while the squid was unfortunately a little tough and chewy.
I've heard rumours that some prata places "recycle" the curry when they think customers are not looking. I can't remember which shop was supposedly guilty of this, but since I usually eat my prata plain or with sugar, it hopefully won't affect me!
Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. Jalan Kayu for example, is supposed to be the most famous prata. Unfortunately, due to the huge inconvenience of the location, I frequent this the least and are not so familiar with it. The one time I did make it up there, I wasn't particularly impressed... I can't remember much about the prata, but the one thing I remember was that the milo dinosaur disappointed me sorely. To me that's kind of like the essential drink when eating prata, and it should come with heaps and heaps of milo powder which you can slurp up through the straw.
The Upper Thomson Road one is nearest to town and the one I've been to most often. You still have to struggle to find a seat and fight for the many waiter's attention even late at night. This place has my favourite milo dinosaur. The squid here is soft and not too spicy, while the prata goes nicely with the curry. You can even request for fish curry instead of the usual chicken.
Today however, we decided to go to the Teacher's Estate prata. Parking was "easy" since it was illegal, and there were tables open for us. One reason I like coming here is the "Paper Prata". Its thin and layered, crunchy and very very tasty. If it weren't so oily, I could probably eat a few of these! *Shinta thinks it would go nicely with ice-cream. He settled for his usual prata combination with egg and onion.
The other reason we like this place, is the fried slightly tandoori chicken. We attacked it too fast that I forgot to take a photo of it! The milo dinosaur here is passable, nothing to shout about, while the squid was unfortunately a little tough and chewy.
I've heard rumours that some prata places "recycle" the curry when they think customers are not looking. I can't remember which shop was supposedly guilty of this, but since I usually eat my prata plain or with sugar, it hopefully won't affect me!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tragedy in Mumbai
Just heard that the Singaporean female lawyer who was held hostage in the Mumbai terrorist attacks has been killed. While we always sympathise with others over terrorist attacks, its always been "another country" and "no one I know". This poor gal was only 28, and while I don't know her personally, Singapore being such a small place, I'm pretty sure she's somehow "a friend of a friend". She must have gone there thinking it would be interesting to attend a conference, and perhaps even exciting over travelling and visiting India? I hope she didn't suffer.
Food Bytes: "I'm bored, meet me for lunch" #3 (Shunjuu)
Today was the last day of *Shinta's leave and our extravagant lazy weekday lunches for a while.... Was feeling like having some onsen tamago, hence we headed to another of our frequent haunts, Shunjuu at Robertson Quay. For those who haven't been there before, its a Izakaya where you can get yummy yakitori, grilled and bbq-ed food.
Not withstanding the above, there are 4 main reasons why we usually pick this place...
1. Miso dip with fresh cool crunchy lettuce
- Usually we need to ask for extra miso!
Not withstanding the above, there are 4 main reasons why we usually pick this place...
1. Miso dip with fresh cool crunchy lettuce- Usually we need to ask for extra miso!
2. Onsen Tamago
- Some shops can't get this right, and the egg comes under/overcooked, but this one is usually perfect!
3. Century Egg Toufu (Pei Tan Tou Fu)
- This is probably not the best I've had (that would be Shimizu's), but its still very yummy
4. Dried Puffer Fish
- Unfortunately decided to give this a miss today, cos I didn't have time to slowly eat it and savour the flavour of each piece. For those who've never tried, it it essentially tastes like high-class Ba Kwa but with extra nice and intense flavour without the oiliness.
Other favourites include the Garlic Cha-Han (ie fried rice), grilled beef, grilled pork, bbq-ed squid. I've ordered sashimi only once before, but it didn't leave an impression on me. Sometimes if I'm daring, I will order the Nato, but that really depends on my mood and tolerance for it that day...
Oh and don't forget to wash it down with beer!
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Shunjuu Izakaya
#01-15, 30 Robertson Quay, S(238251)
Tel: 68873577
Hours: 12pm-2.30pm 6pm-1am
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- Unfortunately decided to give this a miss today, cos I didn't have time to slowly eat it and savour the flavour of each piece. For those who've never tried, it it essentially tastes like high-class Ba Kwa but with extra nice and intense flavour without the oiliness.
Other favourites include the Garlic Cha-Han (ie fried rice), grilled beef, grilled pork, bbq-ed squid. I've ordered sashimi only once before, but it didn't leave an impression on me. Sometimes if I'm daring, I will order the Nato, but that really depends on my mood and tolerance for it that day...
Oh and don't forget to wash it down with beer!
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Shunjuu Izakaya
#01-15, 30 Robertson Quay, S(238251)
Tel: 68873577
Hours: 12pm-2.30pm 6pm-1am
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Food Bytes: "I'm bored, meet me for lunch" #2 (Kohi Ten)
Thurs was Day 2 of *Shinta's leave, and I had an errand to run, so we ended up at this little yoshoku shop called Kohi Ten at the little street between Centerpoint and OG.
This was my 2nd time here. The food is.... so-so, but what I do like is the coffee. *Shinta had the ice milk coffee, while I had the normal house blend. Its pretty ex (>$5 a cup), but I like the little syphon brewing contraptions they had.
The Garlic Mushroom Spaghetti I had was horribly bitter. *Shinta says the shoyu was added too early to the mushrooms and there wasn't enough water, hence it got burnt leading to the bitter taste. The Seafood Soup Spaghetti that *Shinta had was too diluted for my taste. I guess I was expecting bouillabaisse or something. Its a pity cos the Chilli Garlic Seafood noodles and the Chicken Mushroom Soup of the Day I had on my first visit was not too bad.
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Kohi Ten
19 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace
Tel: 64768083
Hours: Mon-Thu 8.30am-11.30pm, Fri-Sun 9.00am-11.30pm
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The Garlic Mushroom Spaghetti I had was horribly bitter. *Shinta says the shoyu was added too early to the mushrooms and there wasn't enough water, hence it got burnt leading to the bitter taste. The Seafood Soup Spaghetti that *Shinta had was too diluted for my taste. I guess I was expecting bouillabaisse or something. Its a pity cos the Chilli Garlic Seafood noodles and the Chicken Mushroom Soup of the Day I had on my first visit was not too bad.
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Kohi Ten
19 Cuppage Road, Cuppage Terrace
Tel: 64768083
Hours: Mon-Thu 8.30am-11.30pm, Fri-Sun 9.00am-11.30pm
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Food Bytes: "I'm bored, meet me for lunch" #1 (White Rabbit)
On Wed, *Shinta was on leave, so we met for lunch. Decided to go to our "current favourite" place, The White Rabbit at Dempsey. Usually when we find a place we like, we go there over and over within a short span of time until we get sick of it. Think we'll prob give this place a rest after this round, since it was my 4th time there, and *Shinta's 3rd time.
The place itself is a lovely ex-chapel, now converted into a restaurant. The high ceilings, stained glass and long wooden tables kind of remind me of the college halls back in uni. There's even a slightly raised platform, which could serve as the High Table! At the back, there's an open air bar and nice white garden furniture. I've only been here in the daytime, and can only imagine how nice it would be to chill out there at night with a glass of wine. If I am very rich with tons of cash and can afford a big house and garden, I'll model the garden after this area!
Food tried here includes the Mac & Cheese (super yummy especially if you can appreciate truffles!), Scallops (5 huge ones in the shell, but sadly not accompanied by much else), Lobster Thermidor (nice, but I'm afraid I can't appreciate this that much). We decided to try the beef stroganoff (had a weird taste I didn't like), mushroom soup of the day (not the chunky type I usually prefer, but still very good cos of the truffles) and a very good fish pie (nice pastry top, soupy liquid with small chunks of fish).
Almost forgot to mention. I quite like the ciabatta bread. Not so fond of the onion bread, which has a fantastic smell that doesn't quite translate into taste...
We didn't have desserts there this time, but based on previous experience, the Mars Bar souffle is not bad. I didn't like the deconstructed Black Forest Cake (too much work to assemble each mouthful), and the Baked Alaska sorely disappointed me. Go try the one at Shashlik Restaurant at Far East Shopping Center instead.
Sorry, but no photos this time round, but it really is a very pretty place!
The place itself is a lovely ex-chapel, now converted into a restaurant. The high ceilings, stained glass and long wooden tables kind of remind me of the college halls back in uni. There's even a slightly raised platform, which could serve as the High Table! At the back, there's an open air bar and nice white garden furniture. I've only been here in the daytime, and can only imagine how nice it would be to chill out there at night with a glass of wine. If I am very rich with tons of cash and can afford a big house and garden, I'll model the garden after this area!
Food tried here includes the Mac & Cheese (super yummy especially if you can appreciate truffles!), Scallops (5 huge ones in the shell, but sadly not accompanied by much else), Lobster Thermidor (nice, but I'm afraid I can't appreciate this that much). We decided to try the beef stroganoff (had a weird taste I didn't like), mushroom soup of the day (not the chunky type I usually prefer, but still very good cos of the truffles) and a very good fish pie (nice pastry top, soupy liquid with small chunks of fish).
Almost forgot to mention. I quite like the ciabatta bread. Not so fond of the onion bread, which has a fantastic smell that doesn't quite translate into taste...
We didn't have desserts there this time, but based on previous experience, the Mars Bar souffle is not bad. I didn't like the deconstructed Black Forest Cake (too much work to assemble each mouthful), and the Baked Alaska sorely disappointed me. Go try the one at Shashlik Restaurant at Far East Shopping Center instead.
Sorry, but no photos this time round, but it really is a very pretty place!
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Update: Found some photos that I took last time with my handphone camera!
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The White Rabbit
39C Harding Road, Dempsey
Tel: 64739965
Hours: Tue-Sun 6.30pm-10.30pm, Tue-Sun 12pm-2.30pm , Sat-Sun 11am-3.30pm
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