Tornado hits spin doctors

Changing Appetites

Dim Sum Danny

Dim Sum was the order of this month's anniversary treat. As always, Lei Garden never fails.

Coincidentally, I may be interviewing the 3 Dim Sum Dollys next week for Yum.sg!!

p.s. We tried the ice cream at Raffles Creamery, which is at Raffles Hotel. Wooo. The quality is unmistakably top notch. Now, if only they did something to the presentation...

Japanese fondue

Once again, it's Wednesday, a.k.a. Treat-of-the-week day!! Again we went down to HV, cos' she wanted to have the ever reliable Sushi Tei.

Sushi Tei's standard of food is noticeably higher than other Jap restaurants in the same price range, like Sakae Sushi (yucks) and Genki Sushi (double yucks), and it helps that they try to inject some of the famed Japanese creativity in presentation, even in food that isn't necessarily the most expensive.

Pre-meal focus

Soft-shell crab maki with smelt roe

Take the soft shell crab maki, for instance. Rather than simply rolling the crab in some rice (ok, I know I'm abbreviating the whole process, but I'm just trying to make a point), they take the effort to arrange the dish aesthetically. The smelt roe is a great touch, contrasting beautifully with the crisp batter of the soft shell crab (hmm, is it soft-shell or soft shelled?). The final presentation of the maki makes it look like a giant shrimp. Fantastic.

And then, there were these beautiful salmon-smelt-roe roses...

Exquisite? Oui!

Three types of smelt, three ways to spell heaven. I realise now that I really do like roe. Crab roe, prawn roe, smelt roe, salmon roe, I like them all. I guess it's like the poor man's caviar, but hey, now no $$ so boh pian.

Don't you agree that these look absolutely gorgeous?? And now... on to my all-time favourite Jap dish:

The dish that can do no wrong.

SABA SHIOYAKI!!!!! (Grilled Mackerel) at Sushi Tei is consistently one of the highlights of any meal there. You genuinely taste the flavour of the fish (sweet) and the flame (smokey), with minimal seasoning (salty). It helps too, that the texture of well-made saba shio is tender without being flaky, which is exactly what Sushi Tei's is like.

Sushi Tei
Holland Village

Taste: 4/5
Value: 3.5/5
Ambience: 2/5 (way, way, way too squeezy. And it's not just cos i'm fat)

One bowl of noodles later, we headed off to The Coffee Club, our new go-to place for dessert. We will try out everything there soon enough, I fear. Haha.

Fondue: $12.90

The people who queue for not-as-nice-but-more-expensive fondue at places like anderson's and chocz, should just come here. The chocolate could be of better quality, but it's already damn good, given the price. Plus the fruits are sweet.

Sweeeeeet.

Coffee Club
Holland Village

Taste: 4/5
Value: 5/5
Ambience: 4/5

Encounters of the foodie kind

Yes, it's been some time since the last foodie post, so here are four in a row, including the treat of the week!

First up, mango-grapefruit dessert from a copcycat shop opposite Ah Chew Desserts. Thankfully, this creation is entirely unique, with both flavours contrasting beautifully.

Mango with Grapefruit $3.50

It's not particularly cheap, but is an excellent thirst quencher. With the sweetness of the mango and the tangy-bitter aftertaste of grapefruit, it's a wonder nobody thought of this before.

Copycat dessert stall opposite Ah Chew Desserts
Along Liang Seah St

Taste: 3.5/5
Value: 2/5
Ambience: 2/5

Next up, treat of the week!!! Erm, well, I confess, I haven't strictly been following the once-a-week thing, but hey, what's a foodie to do?

You know how you always go to holland v and see all these ang mohs eating al fresco, and you look at the menu and you just balk? Well, on the back of being paid to write about food at Yum.sg, I figured, what the heck, I haven't been pampering her for awhile. hehe.

So.

El Patio, the Mexican restaurant, it was to be, as it's neighbour, Cha Cha Cha, was packed. As soon as we put our rumps in the chairs, the friendly lady proprietor plonked two menus and a bowl of nachos/salsa on our table.

FREE FLOW NACHOS AND SALSA!

Ok, the lighting was horrendous, so I didn't take many pics. I ordered the chicken and beef fajitas (21.50) and sangria (9.50), while the missus had the chicken fajitas (20.50) and a strawberry margarita (12.00).

The strawberry margarita

I didn't take any pics of the fajitas, because my fingers were too dirty! Basically, they serve theirs in a hotplate, slathered with a brownish sauce, capsicums and caramelised onions. I suppose ang mohs will ooh and aah at the sizzling plates but hey, we are weaned on tie ban tou fu and sambal stingray ok!

Together with the hotplate, we were served warm soft tacos to wrap the meat in. I guess every culture has its own version of the popiah. We smeared sour cream and guacamole, the perfunctionary shredded lettuce and diced tomatos, and the sizzling chunks of meat onto the three tacos before devouring them.

The first taco you bite into, you really can't get enough of the stuff, but by the third, it's lost its gimmick-value.

Overall, the whole experience was good, the food was above average, but doesn't justify its price. The drinks were pretty darn good, though, so I'd recommend ordering the cheaper dishes, like the quesadillas or the burritos, with a drink, if you ever decide you have about 30 bucks you wanna blow on Mexican munchies.

El Patio - the Mexican grill
Holland V, opposite wala walas

Taste: 3.5/5
Value: 2/5
Ambience: 3/5

And now, for the dessert shot of the day: Greenhouse @ The Ritz

Shotglass of chocolate mousse, cheesecake, eclair

I was wondering if I should post this pic of Scissors Cut Curry Rice up. The best curry rice I've ever, ever, ever, had, is...not this. It's actually found at Beo Crescent in Alexandra. But, this is a pretty good version of the hainanese dish.

With a wide array of sides, you can easily tell the curry rice connesiours from the tourists and people-who-happen-to-eat-there-because-the-queue-is-short. Obviously, the bak pa (pork chop), deep fried egg and stewed vege is the combination made in curry-rice heaven.

Who on earth would order say....a chicken wing here? preposterous.

And please, when you've ordered your food, and the guy asks "Xiao di, yao lim kahli zi mah?" (Boy, do you want curry sauce?), say yes. It's curry rice, for goodness sakes. Him having to ask the question, I suppose, means some idiots actually don't want curry. On curry rice. Morons.

Oh, btw, you can also opt to add black gravy, I highly recommend it. After all, curry rice is not supposed to be glam. It's supposed to look like slop. But to the trained eye, even slop also got standard one ok.

Scissors cut curry rice $3.50

Scissors cut curry rice
Food Republic, Wisma Atria

Taste: 3.5/5
Value: 4/5
Ambience: 3/5

From Greenland to Poland

Moved from the interns' corner to the other side of the ocean. It happens.

New desk.

New view