Ichigo

The first time I blogged about Ichigo in 2007 (freaking 7 years ago!) I somehow thought they closed down for a period of time cos all my phone calls went un-answered, and then I sort of forgot about the place. That is, until I saw atetoomuch's blog entry on it. 

 Raw octopus with wasabi - I really hate the boiled octopus tentacles they sell at most sushi places. Tastes like nothing much, has the texture of leather and I have to chew like mad. Raw octopus, however, is completely different. It's closer to a crunchier, tougher squid. I really like the crunch from the suckers on the tentacles.

 Daikon and tofu salad - if I ever find a good recipe and the time to make it, I'll definitely be making more of these at home. Very light and refreshing, and I really loved the baby sardines, which added a crunchy texture to the salad.

Their yakitori patter - unlike Kazu which has many different kinds of yakitori meats, Ichigo specialises mostly in chicken yakitori and all its variations.
From top to bottom: origin, cheese, okonomiyaki, some sesame thing and avocado. I personally like the avocado one best, because I'm partial to avocados, but the okonomiyaki one is pretty good too (but a bit too salty for my liking).

Chicken heart - it has an interesting texture, if you like pig liver, you'll probably like chicken heart. It tastes like a less bitter version of pig liver. 

I can't remember what this is but it's one of the variations of the chicken yakitori. 

My favourite dish from Ichigo - the Soboro Don ($15++), which is essentially a hot clay bowl, filled with short grained rice, topped with marinated minced chicken, spring onions and a raw egg. Its served sizzling to your table, and you have to stir everything up well, very much like how you would eat the hot stone bibimbap. It's really awesome cos the clay bowl keeps the heat in, so even if you eat slowly, the rice will still remain warm.

I'll be back soon, since I'm now working nearby. Though I must say parking here's a pain during dinner time on weekends, so I'll avoid this place on weekends.

Ichigo 

399 River Valley Rd, Singapore 248295

Tel 6736 1340

Morton's and Pita Pan

Appletini

 The happy hour cocktails here are really worth it - sub $16, and with a good amount of alcohol. From our sampling, the gin martini was the most potent, followed by the chocolate martini, lychee martini and then the apple martini. The only downside is that you have to start queueing before 5pm, which is nearly impossible if you are working.

The Fillet Migon sandwich - which I donated 3 to my 3 dining companions.

In the back, is the $16++ fries. I would highly recommending just not eating anything and eat the steak sandwiches, since the fries are just normal naked fries (no truffle oil, no cheese, no nothing) with tomato ketchup.

Anyway, the whole point of going to Morton's (for me at least) was the part 2 - which was eating Pita Pan. Of course, as usual, I couldn't find ANYBODY to go with me to Pita Pan. So I offered ALL my steak sandwiches from Mortons, in exchange for a meat-free dinner. In fact, the other half of the group pang-seied us because of Pita Pan :'(

Pita Pan reviews coming up in the next post!

Anti:Dote

The bar scene in Singapore has been getting more and more interesting of late - lots of new cocktail bars popping up like mushrooms. I've been trying some of them before I hole myself up and hibernate for the next month and stuff my brain full of facts. 

And oops I forgot to take a photo of my drink. I can't even remember how it looks like anymore but it's the one on the top left hand side of the picture. The Treat for Kings. Actually, out of the 10 signature cocktails in the menu, only the Treat for Kings does't have citrus. So that was my default choice. 

It comes with pineapple and mint, and wasn't as boozy as I had hoped it to be (especially for the price) but then it didn't rate very high on the potency scale on the menu. 

 The Akami tuna, green apple, kaffir lime and ponzu, which came with a little plastic dropper with more ponzu sauce. ($18). Taste wise it's really good but size wise, you'll definitely blow your budget before you're full.

 The clam sphere, bacon and parsley oil was pretty interesting - think a rich and creamy Boston clam chowder within the capsule. For 14 dollars, you'll get 4 capsules. I might be really unimaginative, and missing the whole point of this molecular gastronomy thing, but I prefer a nice big bowl of the same clam sphere and slurp it down with a big spoon.

Crispy Parmesan Pizza, olive oil caviar, powdered tomato and basil cress ($12)
The pizza fared the best in terms of flavour and taste, as well as value for money. The base was parmesan cheese, with little pops of olive oil. I strongly recommend trying this if you're heading down.

 The baked chocolate mousse, hazelnut praline, and pear sorbet ($12) was actually in a proper regular sized portion. Which was a sweet surprise. Very chocolatey and delicious.

My 2 cents worth of advice to you will be to have a good dinner, then come here for desserts and drinks, seeing how the portions are.Honestly, I think the food is extremely expensive - think Bacchanalia prices and portions, and they even have that swanky lighting in the middle like Bacchanalia.

Anti:Dote
Level 1 Fairmont Singapore 
80 Bras Brasah Road 189560
Tel 64315315

Porn's Thai Food

I had the pleasure of dining at Porn's Thai Food on a Sunday evening. It wasn't very crowded, so we managed to get a seat straight away. I just got back from Bangkok a few weeks ago, and was craving for some good Thai food.

Many years ago when they opened their first outlet at Liang Seah Street, I went there for lunch. The food was not bad but because it was so out of the way I never went back again (as you can tell, I don't particularly enjoy going to the Bugis area cos I feel very old there). And forgot all about it (since I have a goldfish memory).

I wanted to order Tom Kha Gai, which is a less/non-spicy version of Tom Yum soup with coconut milk (partly because I have extremely low chill tolerance). However, I was unable to find it in the menu. When I asked the server about it, he instantly said that they would be able to cook it for me (at no extra cost), and recommended that I order the seafood version, as I had already ordered their fried garlic chicken. Also, our small 2 seater table didn't have their special offers menu. The server also straight away asked if we had a UOB credit card, as the tom yum soup was 50% off if we did.

Food wise, I think that they are comparable to the standard Thai restaurants.
I really like the Tom Kha Gai soup, which, without the UOB offer, would be about $13++. It was a really big portion (good for 2 pax), came with 4 medium prawns, lots of fish and mushrooms. I could see the galangal and lemongrass, which some Thai stores don't even have (which, to me, means that the spices came out from a packet). There was just the right balance of coconut, so that the soup wasn't too thick and cloying, and neither was it too watery.

The garlic fried chicken was extremely addictive, and the basket of chicken was devoured in a matter of minutes. Light crispy batter, and soft moist morsels of chicken. It was tasty on its own, and I didn't have to dip it in to the sweet chilli sauce accompanying it.

The pineapple rice came with some prawns, baked cashew nuts and raisins. The rice was very fragrant and there was a mild hint of curry powder. I would like to try their olive rice during my next visit.

The papaya salad was really refreshing and crunchy, but the only part I didn't like about it was that there was way too much raw garlic for my liking. I will order this again, but definitely ask them to tone down the garlic taste.

I'm very impressed by their flexibility - especially with being able to adjust the spiciness of the dishes, which is very important to me since I have extremely low and pathetic chilli tolerance. I was also very happy with their service (something that is very rare nowadays) well as the waiter's initiative.

It's pretty hard to find restaurants nowadays who actually bother to train their staff well, or who have staff who actually bother and take the initiative to inform customers about the in-house offers.I was so pleased that for once, I didn't feel annoyed that I had to pay 50 cents for my cold water. If you frequent Thai Express, I would strongly encourage you to give Porn's Thai Food a try - it's much more wallet friendly, and I personally think the dishes I had today were really delicious.

Porn's Sexy Thai Food 
Star Vista Outlet
1 Vista Exchange Green
#02-09 Singapore 138617
Opening Hours Monday to Sunday 11am to 10pm
Tel 66943501

Kiku - Lunch

 

It's a tragedy - Aoki's lunch set has gone up in price, and they've taken to mixing short and long grain rice together, so it's not as fragrant. I still not sure if it's worth the price anymore, but in the mean time,  while I mull over this, I've been searching again for another mazechirashi worth eating. 

 Jane recommended this newish restaurant - Kiku, at Duxton, which has very reasonably priced set lunches, and on Saturdays and Sundays too! It is located where the previous Hanayoshi used to be. Decor and layout is still the same, they probably just changed hands.

 Complimentary appetiser - chicken soup which was very lightly seasoned and warming, one of the smoothest chawanmushi I've had in a long long time, and some steamed yam.

Since my main aim was to find a replacement barachirashi set, I of course had the barachirashi set. The portions are rather small, so I had lots of space for dessert. It's really prettily presented - with boiled octopus, salmon, squid, crab and tuna on a bed of rice (proper short grain rice, not the horrible mixed kind that Aoki has).

 This is the sushi set - which has a really tiny ball of rice on the side. Sushi is really fresh, but I think I'll be hungry still if I had this set.

 Fried cabbage, again, which was really lightly seasoned, super crunchy and fresh.

We added on ice cream for dessert - green tea and black sesame ice cream. 

The food here is very very lightly seasoned - so if you're a fan of heavier seasonings and sauces, this is probably not the place for you. I really like this kind of food though, cos I feel that the freshness of the food isn't overpowered by the added sauces and flavours. 

Kiku
1 Duxton Road
Singapore 089487
Tel 62255567
Opening hours: Monday  to Sat 12pm-11pm
Sunday 12pm to 10pm

The Beast

I'm very unenlightened about American food in general - I much prefer spending my money on Japanese food (since I cannot replicate it at home, or find cheaper substitutes for the freshness and taste). I got the opportunity to try the Beast when WKR suggested it. Since she's very against trying anything to do with vegetables, she always has some good suggestions up her sleeves whenever it comes for the monthly to bi-monthly meet ups! (Good to have a backup for her incase I choose some raw/vegetarian food and good for me cos it gives me a break from trawling though numerous blogs and websites trying to find something interesting to eat :D

 Freshly popped popcorn, from their in-house popcorn machines. More restaurants should totally steal this idea - addictive freshly popped buttered popcorn, and the buttery aroma that wafts through the restaurant. And it's not very high maintenance, and other than buying the popcorn machine, it's a pretty cheap snack to make.

 We were getting ravenous waiting so we ordered the pulled pork sliders to start. They exceeded my expectations - generous filling of soft clumps of pulled pork infused with smokey BBQ sauce.

We also had the cornbread as a starter - comes with a little blob of butter and maple syrup. The cornbread totally beats Kenny Roger's cornbread hands down!

The catfish tacos were awesome - really exceeded my expectations. Soft, flakey breaded catfish pieces, served with warmed tacos and an assortment of dips and salads. Excuse to eat like a barbarian, off the chopping board, and with your hands.

The crab cakes - packed full of crabmeat (no need to poke through all the shells)

Sticky buffalo wings with blue cheese dip.

Mac and cheese - not the best I had, and all that cream was getting to me.

The prawn and grits was pretty interesting but too creamy when paired with the mac and cheese.

Blurry chicken and waffles. Cos my hands were oily and I was busy eating. 

The chicken was so juicy and soft, and the waffles remind me of the A&W waffles. 

I must admit that everyone ate a a scary lot that night (might have scared the waitress too) and I was so stuffed after that. 

When I go to a restaurant/bar place, my algorithm is to decide if the food is worth eating. If not, it'll be alcohol to fulfil my caloric requirements.  I didn't drink anything that day :D

By the time it was desserts, I was so full that I couldn't really be bothered what we ate. But I definitely wanted lots of ice cream, so we had the mudpie (underwhelming, really) and a pecan pie (I can't remember what it tasted like. Ultimate example of the Law of Diminishing Returns). 

Better than expected - I definitely won't mind coming back.

The Beast

17 Jalan Klapa 

Singapore 199329

Tel 62950017

Pasarbella

I must be the worst foodie ever cos I've only just visited Pasarbella last month, even though there were many raves about it being like a farmers market, all the unique foods there blablabla and it being in extremely close proximity to me. I wanted to fanfare and crowds to die down a little bit, since I hate queueing and jostling in crowded places (best way to catch some germs).

Bandung Gelato frm Latte Miele

I'm proud to say that I've finally gone down and darn, I've been missing a whole load of good stuff!! Including Bandung gelato. Ok, so Latte Miele isn't in Pasarbella, but it's along the row of shops outside Pasarbella, so just bear with me). Bandung has to be one of my favourite childhood drinks, and bandung gelato is just the thing to have on a hot afternoon (which is every afternoon in Singapore). 

The gelato had just the right balance of Rose syrup and milk - I can't stand it when there's too much rose syrup in proportion to the milk, cos then it'll be too sweet and not creamy enough. I could eat the bandung gelato all day! (Do note that my review is biased cos I like bandung so much). 

Only thing I didn't like about this place was the kiddy friendly playground, filled with screeching kids. But we sat far far away from them.

Plus sized pan of Paella - from Le Patio

The best thing I ate there (not that I really ate a lot since it wasn't the cheapest) - was the paella. I'm very impressed cos it's about $15 per portion, and you'll get a good sized piece of chicken, prawn, mussels, fish etc etc and some rice. It costs much more in any other restaurant. The paella is delicious - the starchy grainy rice (not overcooked, and brimming with flavour), tender seafood and juicy chicken. Delicious! Add on their spicy garlicky chilli sauce, and you have a winning paella.

 Such an beautiful arrangement - beats any floral arrangement in my books anytime!

Le Patio's Paella - eat it while it's hot

I'd be lying if I said no animals were harmed in the making of this post...

 Randomly walked around, and couldn't get any crodos from da paolo (sold out sadly). Decided not to eat the sashimi cos it was too expensive. Tried finding drinks but they were ridiculously priced. Decided to be cheapo and walked out of Pasarbella and into Giant to buy some more decently priced drinks.

We got tempted into buying some roasted iberico pork from this shop - not the best and it was darn expensive. I'll stick to my cheapo charsiew anytime! The garlic mashed potatoes were really good though! Smooth, airy and creamy. 

The Cheese Ark

We were just wandering around and stumbled upon the Cheese Ark. Thanks to the friendly staff there, we each went home with a piece of cheese. Lots of European cheeses there - the truffle cheese is super delicious, but I can't think of anything to eat it with at the moment.

In conclusion, Pasarbella has lots of good stuff to try - just that it's a lousy place to drag your whole family and extended family down cos it'll get chaotic. And being and early bird is key - cos lots of the places close so early! I'm going to rush down like an aunty the next time I end early (which is, unfortunately, a very rare occurrence now) to get myself some paella and cheese, and maybe a hotdog from Hubers. 

Pasarbella

The Grandstand, Bukit Timah Road
200 Turf Club Road Singaproe 287994
Opens Mondays to Saturdays 0930-1930