There’s nothing like waking up on a lazy Saturday and cooking a nice breakfast. I like to cook on Saturdays as I have the whole of Sunday to clean up.

Read the rest of this entry »

Dave contacted us asking for places that define local Singaporean cuisine to bring his friends from the United States. He specifically asked for Chili Crab as his friends are from the Mid West where people think fish comes in square boneless white flesh and they’ve never tasted Chili before. Yes, Dave is a fount of unexpected experiences.

And here’s how we helped to surpr make welcome our guests to the best part of South Malaysia.

Read the rest of this entry »

Molecular Gastronomy was supposed to bring “a breath of fresh air to haute cuisine” according to a F&B rag, unfortunately a lot of the air seems to be trapped within uninspired foams or limpid gels in Singapore. It’s a bubble that burst long before, fortunately, it grew big.

This blog is so tired of Gimmicky Gastronomy that it was with some skepticism when he agreed to go for this SFCSS luncheon at Aurum.

Read the rest of this entry »

On a business trip to a country where their President was a US Citizen, the summer temperature is a nice 20-25 degrees Celsius, they make alcoholic drinks out of bread and there’s a monument to Frank Zappa in their capital’s city center.

Sunset is at 10pm, so will post when I can. In the meantime, keep smiling.

“Ivan, your beef is as good as, if not better than, any restaurant in Singapore,” said eslim. High praise, indeed, coming from friends who have very discerning palates. The funny thing was that the whole barbecue evening was almost a disaster.

Here’s an account of what happened.

Read the rest of this entry »

We were trying to organize a Dead Cow Society Dinner so we called up The Steakhouse at Clarke Quay to inquire about corkage. We were told that they charge corkage based on the wine and the vintage of the wine that we bring. Anywhere from $40 to $90.

This is the first time we’ve heard something so outrageous. I wonder what they will charge for a 20-year-old Wolf Blass Yellow Label (actually a fine wine) and a 2000 The Armagh (an excellent wine).

This encounter left an unpleasant taste in the mouth. With a corkage policy as dodgy as this, we did not bother with what else The Steakhouse at Clarke Quay has to offer.

It’s said that once upon a long ago, a member of the Chaine turned vegetarian and asked the Council to include a few Vegetarian events for a change. When this was related to me, I replied that this would be very difficult as not many people would dress to the nines and attend an event with lots of ceremony just to roast a couple of carrots and a turnip.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been less than a month since the Rama Thai Seafood closed its doors, I’ve not even finished the blog entry and there’s a new eating place at the very same location. Organized by the famous eslim of the Makansutra forums (still the definitive food forum of Singapore), it was a splendid way to end a hectic week.

Read the rest of this entry »

I was on my way to a Gimmicky Gastronomy lunch organized by the Slow Food Convivium Society of Singapore when I decided to have lunch first. Like macrobiotic and other health foods, the only way to survive Gimmicky Gastronomy is to have a good solid lunch first.

I was so intrigued with the black frontage and the large sign outside Kura No Naka that I walked up without looking at the menu. In the end, I almost didn’t want to leave the restaurant.

Read the rest of this entry »

While it is not the most romantic of meals you can have in a restaurant, Kaiseki is one of the most expensive and elegant.

As I mature (hopefully like wine and not like cheese), I find Kaiseki dinners to be more satisfying than it used to be.

“Come try our award-winning chocolate cake!” a representative of a local up-market confectionery cried eagerly as she held out the loaded tray.

“Which award did this cake win?” I asked innocently as I did my best to avoid hungry visitors reaching for the cakes.

“That’s a good question sir,” she looked at me rather shocked at my audacity (I guess people in polite company do not ask things like this), “let me ask my colleagues.”

“Errrm. Our cake won the best pastry award last year at this show.”

“Errr, no, sorry, if you’ll leave your card with us, we’ll get back to you.”

After some frantic checking and phone calls, “Oh. Our Chef won third prize in a competition in Japan some time ago.”

What you are feeling now after reading the preceding conversation is exactly how I felt throughout my entire visit to the Food and Hospitality Asia 2008.

Of course, there were a few gems to be found.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since Joone! and I had a meal together, so we decided to go to Sage which recently opened next to my favorite restaurant. Unfortunately, it was fully booked.

This presented a problem as this blog’s forte is in eating and not suggesting places to eat. Furthermore Joone! has a very discerning palate and more often than not, she’s been to all the restaurants I suggest. So a quick check with this blog’s favorite food reference site came up with a name.

And to my surprise and delight, Joone! has never heard of this restaurant before. Yes!

*punches fist in the air*

Read the rest of this entry »

One fine day, the Island Grrrrl had a craving for Teochew Porridge and went to the so-famous-that-everyone-but-this-blog-knows-about Teochew Porridge stall. Unfortunately, they had ran out of their equally-famous-but-this-blog-is-clueless-about Tau Kwa Pau.

The Island Grrrl was, to put it mildly, not a happy Island Grrrl.

Now, there are stories that the Microsoft Messenger is dangerous as it can be used to transmit viruses. This blog can attest that this is true because the Island Grrrl, who was lamenting the missed opportunity of consuming Tau Kwa Pau and, at the same time, extolling the virtues of a healthy and light Teochew Porridge (with a chorus of how she likes Tau Kwa Pau in between), implanted a viral message in this blog’s mind which broke out into an mind-blowing idea: let’s go earlier when the Tau Kwa Pau is available!

The Island Grrrl can be very persuasive and this blog is known, on occasion, to have bright ideas especially when nudged in the right direction using old school signs such as a pillar of cloud by day or a pillar of fire by night.

Read the rest of this entry »

I stood there laughing for a while when TTC pointed it out to me. You have to give it up for Oscar-Wilde-like wordplay as fine as this.

Honk Comment if you get the joke!

It all started when one of our friends was talking about how her daughter was raving about the Tuna Wasabi Pizza at the Four Seasons Bali and how the daughter, a frequent guest at the hotel, would make it a point to have the pizza every time she visits.

Now, normally this blog is not given to profound piscine ponderings, but this sounded very intriguing.

Read the rest of this entry »