Spathe - Brunch

I dropped by Spathe for a Saturday brunch as I was running errands nearby, and it seemed to have pretty good food reviews online.

Their menu - like Kilo, the menu was different from the one online. I don't know why these places don't update their websites in this day and age...

We had the eggs ben and the eggs royale. Portion was good, and the garlic fries were awesome.

My Croque Madame - which was pretty good - soft bread, enough béchamel sauce to keep everything moist but not soggy, lots of cheese and a runny sunny side up egg. And of course, the wonderful garlic fries.

The eggs benedict - with lovely garlic fries - bursting with crispy brown minced garlic. You can probably tell how much I like the garlic fries here - I'm not a big fan of plain french fries, but toss on some flavourings and I'll be unable to resist them.

The hard boiled yolk in the poached egg. Very consistent as all the yolks from all 4 of the poached eggs were hard boiled. Since we were sharing, I got 1 egg. I probably would have returned my eggs if I had to eat 2 hard boiled eggs.

Our sticky toffee pudding. The pudding itself isn't bad per say, but I really prefer my gold standard Maramalade pantry sticky date and toffee pudding. I'm definitely biased.

Again the service was a letdown - we asked if the sticky toffee pudding comes with ice cream (as being the ice cream junkies we were, we absolutely needed ice cream with it). Our server said no, it only comes with whipped cream. So we topped up a scoop of ice cream (chocolate hazelnut) and told the server that it was specifically cos there was no ice cream with the toffee pudding.

Of course, the ice cream had to come out a good 15 minutes before the toffee pudding. We sent it back cos we didn't want it all melted when the toffee pudding came.

And when it finally came out, there was a heaping huge scoop of hokeypokey ice cream on top! We called the manager over and returned the chocolate hazelnut ice cream - doesn't make sense for me to pay another $6 for ice cream since the toffee pudding already comes with it.

Extremely exasperating end to the meal.

The food's above average, prices average, service poor. I'm not sure if I will come back - I suppose if you have a whole load of patience, by all means, do come and give the food a try, it's really quite decent for the price.

Spathe 
#01-01
8 Mohamed Sultan Road
Tel 67351035
Daily 11am to 11pm

Hummerstons

Hummerstons is a pretty new restaurant opened by the ex-PS cafe chef. It has the same casual laid back feel of PS cafe and tasteful, homely decor. I definitely wouldn't have visited it if Julie hadn't suggested it cos I'm so tired from work and not on the active lookout for new food places.

Their signature dish is the poutine, which is a home style gravy with potatoes dish with a variety of toppings. Their best seller is the Montreal poutine ($19++) which comes with a decadent combination of foie gras, mushrooms and emmenthal cheese. It looks boring and browy but is indeed a lethal combi and tastes great - thick cut potatoes immersed in tasty gravy and a soft wobbly blob of foie gras and tender juicy mushrooms. And as you eat the foie gras, its lovely fatty oils will ooze out and drip over the potatoes making it even more yummy.
Smoked duck quesadilla ($27++) didn't fare as well as the poutine. I thought it was way overpriced. It was interesting that they paired the smoked duck breast with sweet roasted pears but taste wise, it was very average.

The Chimichurri Lamb short ribs ($32++) were not bad, but not spectacular either. The lamb ribs were well marinated and soft, but a bit too oily and fatty for my liking. It comes with Jamaica Honeydew slaw (tastes just like regular coleslaw, maybe a bit more sour - wasn't very remarkable or I'd have remembered) and a twice baked potato.

I suppose I would revisit Hummerstons again to try other dishes, but price wise it's pretty steep. The Montreal poutine itself is totally worth coming back for!

11 Unity Street

#02-14 Robertson Walk

Tel 67378863

Chikuwa Tei - ex-Wasabi Tei chef has been found!

Thought I'd never be able to see this familiar bowl and quiver in fear again whilst I sit and enjoy the thick slices of sashimi after I heard that the fierce Wasabi Tei chef was going to retire! Well, he's still alive and kicking, and has found himself a new spot along the densely populated food area in Mohammed Sultan Road. I was pleasantly suprised when ice messaged me and told me she hunted down the ex-Wasabi Tei chef so I scurried down within the next few days (which I thankfully was free) to grab a bite of that nostalgic chirashi. There were these tasty little morsels of Sawagani crab($15++ for seven) which potentially harbors an extremely dangerous parasite (Paragonimus westermani) but are oh so tasty and crunchy. These little crabs are shipped live to Singapore and are deep fried and seasoned lightly with salt. They're very crunchy, but please be careful when biting into them cos their sharp little legs are lethal especially when they spear your gums. (Of course, I found this out the hard way... ouch...)

The Chirashi set ($25++) which isn't that different from what you'll get at the old Wasabi Tei, just that it's now about $30 nett for the whole thing. If you count the extra $2 for the compulsary drink, it's still a whole $8 more, but you'll get 'real' service and free green tea, and proper table instead of a bar counter). I thought the sashimi wasn't that fresh and the tuna cut I got somehow had lots of fascia in between the layers of meat. Salmon was still fatty, oily and smooth, and as thick as I remembered it to be.

Hijiki seaweed appetiser - tasty and sweet, with some fried tofu.

The permanent scrowl on the chef's face has been replaced by *gasp* a SMILE of happiness as he potters about the restaurant pouring sake for his customers... Though I still have post-traumatic stress disorder when I see him walk about while I'm eating... Totally not used to the happier chef... Can't find his wife amongst his new staff tho... hope her absence hasn't got anything to do with his elevated mood... I still somehow can't bear to fork out $30 for something that used to cost $22... Though I'm really glad that there isn't that annoying queue and hushed/tense atmosphere that is associated with the Wasabi Tei experience...

Chikuwa Tei

9 Mohamed Sultan Road

#01-01

Tel : +65 6738 9395 (yes! you can call to make reservations!!they are very polite and will answer your phone call)

On a sidenote: damn I've been shopping too much my first pay is dwindling at an astonishing rate!! Hope they start paying us on the 15th!! (Even though I still haven't submitted my claims >.<) I must stop eating so much or too much expensive food or shopping but there's so much to eat and even more to buy!!

Boomerang Brunch

Went to Boomerang after a failed attempt to try Epicurious' brunch. Boomerang is an Australian (prob Sydney? at least, its menu has name of places in Sydney) pub/bar which becomes a charming riverside brunch place on weekends.

Corn Cakes ($14++)

Bacon avocado roma tomatoes rocket

Really nothing fantastic about this. Streaky bacon, grilled plump and juicy roma tomatoes and corn cakes, which were more like pancakes, with some herbs and a few bits of corn. Though they did give me a whole half an avocado (which I really like!)
I thought that it would have been much nicer if this came with scrambled eggs. They were kind enough to give me some additional hollandaise sauce, because I really felt that the corn cakes were too dry when eaten by itself, especially since the salad had vinegrette dressing, which really didn't go well with the corn cakes.

Buttermilk Pancakes ($12++)

With maple syrup caramelized banana and natural yoghrt

Shouldn't have ordered this cos the pancake base was essentially the same base as my corn cakes. They were pretty stingy on the yogurt cos there was only a small blob for 3 pancakes, and the caramelized banana was more like banana puree, and also in a painfully small amount. The pancakes themselves were thick and fluffy, but I thought it would have been much better if they had been more generous with the yoghurt and the banana.
Granola Muslei ($10)
Banana, strawberries natural yoghrt

Tea ($5)

Overall, the place is really nice - by Singapore River, and the restaurant is bright and airy. It's mostly patronized by the expats - so a plus point is that their service is pretty good and efficient. Though the food's nothing to rave about.

Boomerang
60 Robertson Quay
#01-15 The Quayside
Tel: +65 6738 1077

Bella Pizza

After our nice dinner at da Mario's, we decided to try Bella Pizza, which is another Italian restaurant within the same vicinity. Between the 4 of us, we shared an appetiser, 2 pizzas and 1 pasta (my logic is that if you're going to a restaurant with the word PIZZA in it, you might as well eat more pizzas than pastas right?) Eggplant parmigiana ($16++)
Extremely cheesey, quite salty , the eggplant parmigiana is probably the same size as most lasagnas. The layers of eggplant were slightly mushy, but I'm fine with that (the other diners weren't) and went really well with the tomato sauce. The Pizza Mascarpone ($22++) which has mushrooms, mascarpone and black truffle slices. The mascarpone (which tastes like cream) went very well with the juicy mushrooms. This pizza is a pizza bianca, which means that it doesn't have any tomato sauce on the base. Just as well, since the tomato sauce will ruin the nice flavour of the truffles (not that I could taste much), mushrooms and mascarpone. This is like eating the pizza version of a meatless Burger King's mushroom swiss burger.

From the "red" pizza list (with tomato sauce), we had the Pizza Salmone ($19++) which has smoked salmon on top of mozzarella cheese and mushrooms. I quite liked the tomato sauce, but I preferred da Mario's pizza bases.

Fettuccine with Italian sausage, truffles and a touch of cream ($22++)

I liked the fettuccine lots cos I thought it tasted very fresh (not so sure if it's really fresh or comes from a packet, but I thought it tastes fresh). The sausage usually comes together with the pasta, just that we requested for it to be separated.

Desserts - Crepe with Nutella, mascarpone and bananas ($8++)

I personally though that the crepe was not wortn it cos it was dissappointingly tiny! Even for 1 person, it'll be incredibly small. The combination of Nutella and creamy mascarpone cheese is a winner - sticky nutella (everyone likes nutella!) with cream cheese, folded into a warm crepe, served with chocolate sauce and bananas. Yum! Somehow, I still prefer da Mario's (even though most people say it isn't as nice anymore, I'll go there for the foie gras pasta!). Ok, actually if da Mario's is full, I'll just go over to Bella.

Bella Pizza

30 Robertson Quay

#01-14 Riverside View

Tel: +65 6734 0139

da Mario Pizzeria

Da Mario's special calamari rings ($16++) which were very soft and chewy, with a golden and crispy breaded crust. The tartare sauce was very tasty - there's a hint of garlic in it so it's extremely yummy when eaten together with the piping hot breaded calamari rings.

Pizza bianca - It comes with a nice pungent cheese, salty green olives, flakes of crab, artichoke hearts and a sprinkle of chilli flakes. The pizza base was thin, crispy but with enough thickness to make it taste like a pizza and not like a chapati. I liked how the salty olives went with the sweet crab flakes, and the flavourful cheese. I'll definitely try their other Pizza Biancas again if I come back.
Foie gras pasta ($23) - this is artery clogging to the max. Fatty liver with buttery sauce is a lethal combination. It's definitely not the best foie gras I've tasted, but to give the chef credit, it's 2 fat pieces of foie gras, seared lightly. This was my favourite pasta for the night. I suppose that this would be really too rich to have all by yourself, but it's perfect for sharing.

Spaghetti al Cartoccio - sauted with squids, scallops, prawns, clams, mussels in tomato, garlic and white wine sauce, baked in foil ($23++)

Not very impressive - I found the tomato sauce tangy and refreshing, but it was too watery for my liking. Though the many pieces of seafood (about 3 prawns, lots of mussles and clams) makes it pretty worth it.

Squid ink pasta ($18++) - this wasn't very good. It wasn't very tasty, and the squid ink was just gritty. I have conculded that I don't quite like squid ink pasta.
The pasta that I wanted to order, but it wasn't available. I think their cheese wheel must have broken down.

Tiramisu - good sized portion, but it wasn't alcoholic enough, and I felt that the mascarpone cheese and cream layer wasn't as rich as I would have liked it to be.

Service here was a bit slow - 4 of us shared all the dishes, and there was an incredibly long break between the arrival of the pizza and the first pasta and the other 2 pastas. In fact, it was so long that we finished the first 2 dishes before they served the rest of the dishes. They serve iced water, but the staff seem very harrassed and don't seem to be able to cope with the customer load, and our glasses were perpetually unfilled.

If I come back, I'll go and try the other pizza biancas - pretty hard to find pizza biancas around, and the pizza base is the kind that I like - thin but thick enough to chew on.

da Mario Pizzeria

60 Robertson Quay

#01-05/06 The Quayside

Tel: 6235 7623

Sapporo Ramen Miharu

Yay I got to try my Miharu Ramen at Gallery Hotel after Miharu-ing at everyone so long (and no one wanted to go and eat it with me, cos somehow there always seemed to be a better place to go). Mondays are really nice cos it's so relaxing (slack!), which is great since if I had a heavy Monday, I'll get major monday blues!I had the Tonkatsu Tonshio ($12.50++, or $15 nett, with free topping of corn). Again, for those people who wonder what for pay so much for ONE miserable piece of pork, it's the soup base your paying for (and all that boiling and gas/electricity fees). The waitress recommended either the Tonkusen Miso ($13++) or the Miso Tsukemen ($12.50++) which is cold noodles with hot soup.

They have fish-based shoyu stock for the Wabusi Shoyu which sounds pretty interesting. Perhaps I'll come back and give it a try. The cold ramen sounds pretty good too! I'm currently craving Noodle House Ken's Cold Ramen. Can't wait to go back there!

The soup broth is pretty oily, and I actually took the Tonkatsu Tonshio cos the waitress said it's the least salty one. It's pretty salty still, but the miso one (pictured in background) is even saltier. The soup is very rich and creamy, and theres lots of oil globules floating around on the surface.

From the menu: Miharu "takes pride in serving you our specially imported Sapporo Nishiyama Noodles", which is supposed to be the most preferred and famout breand of noodles in Japan."

The texture of the noodles is pretty good - it's cooked just right with enough bite and chewiness, but what I didn't like about it was the waxy aftertaste. It's like eating those yellow prawn noodles (or whatever you call that thick fat artificially bright yellow noodle, I think the Chinese word is 'mee' cos when people order prawn mee they will say "guo tiao mee" and you'll get kway teow plus that waxy noodle?).

The charsiew piece is pretty thick and big, and not very fatty, which is good since I don't like the fatty parts. The stewed egg is overdone, and doesn't have the nice soft center.

We were there about 15 min before noon, and they flatly refused to let us in to sit (even though the aircon was on!! Not even going to order food what! and it was so darn hot ouside. The waitresses all just sat around chitchatting until after 12, when the grudgingly let us in. But I didn't complain - wait they spit into my food :O

Anyway, the waitress was pretty efficient with topping up water (cos there was such a high proportion of waitresses to diners) and getting our bill.

I'm pretty pleased with myself cos we went to take this free O+ magazine from the counter in the restaurant, and the last page had a voucher for additional free topping. So we managed to get free toppings (corn, stewed egg or leek) for our ramen :)Pesonally, I prefer Santouka and Noodle House Ken ramen, but this one comes pretty close. I pretty much like Maturama for their special 7 nuts soup, but I don't like Menya Sinchuan's soup though. I can't wait to try the new one at Hollad V since it's so near my house, it's def worth checking out. According to some reviews I've read, it's something like Santouka. Great that it's at Holland V, since Santouka's far and in CBD.

Sapporo Ramen Miharu

1 Nanson Road GF The Gallery Hotel

Tel: 6733 8464
Closed on Wednesdays

Chiara Ristorante

A whole hoard of us went to Chiara Restaurant for a lazy Saturday lunch. I like how the whole Mohamed Sultan feels like on weekends - feels like I'm in another country. Restaurant bread that we had to request for - olive bread with with juicy olives (yummy! I like black olives) and star skewers.

For starter, I tried the shrimp cocktail with toasted bread. I like anything with cocktail sauce, so I'm not a good gauge for this.
Tuna Bruschetta looked quite good, but I didn't feel like eating tuna that day, and the Soup of the day was Cream of Asparagus - good sized portion of soup, but average.
They have the option of adding $8++ for Pan seared foie gras with almond ravioli and Apple Jus, but I was being stingy so I didn't eat it.
For the main, I had the Roasted Lamb Chop with Gremolata Baby Potatoes and Tomato Confit. The portion is absolutely minuscule. I hate small things. Especially if baby potatoeS - how can they give only TWO baby potatoes. Such an unsatisfying meal! Seriously, don't ever get the lamb chops it's the tiniest portion ever - should be classified as kids' sized. How can you feed people 2 pieces of anorexic lamb chops????!!!!! Plus 1/5th of it is fats :(

It's completely un-worth it and I think if you ever go there you should eat the Wagyu Beef (Involtinis of Wagyu Beef with Mashed Potatoes) or perhaps the Fish of the day (even though I didn't see it, how can it be tinier than the lamb chop?) I was pretty annoyed with my meal cos I paid $28 nett and I all I had for the mains was a lousy tiny lamb chop. Seriously, lamb chop isn't as ex as wagyu!!

The Chocolate mouse with Marinated Strawberries failed to redeem the meal (for me at least). It's pretty sweet and creamy, and the chocolate taste doesn't come through. I'm craving for the chocolate mousse from Koko black now (it's the bestest chocolate mousse I've tasted, though it's only in Australia I think). The panna cotta with fruit salad is pretty mediocre - nothing to rave about.

Oh well I suppose you're paying for the ambience. But give me high tea in a hotel anytime - for $29 Dining Room @ Sheraton has high tea buffet, which looks tons more impressive than this lousy lunch I had.

*Btw Claire & Kevin tell me that dinner here is very good (they're always correct about gd food :P) but I'm very sian to try this place again. Oh wells next time if I can't think of anything else to eat for dinner...

Chiara Ristorante
80 Mohamed Sultan Rd
#01-03 The Pier at Robertson
Singapore 239013
Tel 62388817

Chiara Restaurant serves a 3 course set lunch (starter, main, dessert) from 12-2.30pm.