Da Paolo @ Holland Village

The last time I visited Holland Village was like, a decade ago. Seriously! I have generally avoided Holland Village in the past because parking was a nightmare, and the place was usually too crowded. Now that there is a train station right at its doorstep - and a 50% discount on Da Paolo here (via AMEX Palate) - I decided to drop by with my gf.

Carpaccio Manzo, $24

Thinly sliced beef tenderloin, with rocket salad and parmesan cheese. The beef was totally raw, by the way - 'carpaccio' refers to thin slices of raw beef. I found it a bit too thin to have much beef flavour, so this was just average.

Zuppa del Giorno, $13

This is actually cream of pumpkin soup. I thought the breadsticks were quite unnecessary, actually. The soup still tasted not bad - at least it didn't have that 'instant' kind of taste.

Tagliatelle Granchio, $28

Tagliatelle pasta with crab meat, tomato, cream, and vodka. I liked this dish; the ingredients were combined together quite well to give a unique taste. There's almost no vodka taste in it though.

Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia, $27

Squid ink spaghetti with cuttlefish. This is obviously the kind that gives you black teeth, black lips and a black tongue. I found the cuttlefish to be quite tasteless, while the spaghetti was nothing special. 

Tiramisu Da Paolo, $13

According to the menu, this had ladyfinger biscuits, coffee, mascarpone cheese, valrhona, chocolate, and marsala. This tiramisu was good! It was rich and yet not too creamy.


This dinner was average (after discount). I wouldn't make a trip down here just for this, but I wouldn't mind dropping by just for desserts after dinner.

Moonlight and Melancholy

I have been feeling a bit troubled lately, mainly due to work. And somehow, this was conveyed very strongly when I played the piano today. Due to my mood (actually, I was feeling melancholic as well), I selected solemn and slower songs to play - Beethoven's Piano Sonata No.14 in C sharp minor Op.27 - Adagio Sostenuto (more commonly known as Moonlight Sonata) and Beethoven's Piano Sonato No.8 in C minor, Op.13 - Adagio Cantabile (also known as Sonata Pathetique). 

Although I have played these pieces many years ago, today was very different - I felt totally drawn in by the music, and somehow the left hand's octaves near the beginning of the piece reminded me of church bells ringing mournfully in the distance. And while playing, I felt myself struggling as I brought out the emotions of the piece, never so powerfully before. I doubt if I had ever played this piece so well or felt moved by it as much as today. Which would probably not be possible if not for my mood today.

While my troubles were still there, I felt immensely better after playing. In actual fact, nothing has changed - my circumstances are still the same. But somehow, I felt a calm inside me, slowly pushing away my troubled thoughts.

This is why my piano never fails me. It is always there for me, for me to seek refuge in, for me to communicate using my fingers, without words.

Othello's Cafe-Bar @ Greenwood

Stumbled upon this place by accident, after we turned up at Bronte Australian Restaurant at 8 Greenwood Avenue for brunch, only to find out that it has mysteriously become 8 at Green instead (and was closed too). So we just walked around the area and decided to try this place (4 shops down, at 12 Greenwood Avenue).

Othello's Big Brekkie, $18

Scrambled eggs, a slice of country ham, two country sausages, back bacon, baked beans, mushrooms and a cup of fresh fruit salad. Served with farmhouse bread and oven roasted tomato.

The portion was actually quite moderate, so we were not too full after eating. The scrambled eggs, ham and bacon were quite okay, but the hash browns were a little too oily. The sausages were really bad - it didn't really taste like sausages, for one thing - but the texture also felt like some overly mashed meat.

Duo of Eggs Benedict & Florentine, $14

This was a nice combination of Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine - I say this because I like both. But I am sure that if you only prefer one, you can let the waiter know and they can serve only one type. This was still good, though I felt that the hollandaise sauce could be stronger, and the eggs could be a tiny bit less cooked. But the smoked salmon was a pleasant surprise, as they actually gave some fatty portions. I am not sure if that was intended, though! Still, this dish was not bad overall, and $14 is really pretty reasonable.

UK = Britain = England?

I have always been confused over UK, Britain, Great Britain and England - are they the same? (Geography was never my forte in secondary school) So I went to Google.

The official name of the UK is actually 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland', which is made up of four constituencies - England (capital is London), Scotland (Edinburgh), Wales (Cardiff), Northern Ireland (Belfast). England, Scotland and Wales form Great Britain together, so Great Britain is basically UK minus Northern Ireland.

Naturally, the next question is, why is only Northern Ireland included in UK? What about the rest of Ireland? It turned out that before 1922, the whole of Ireland was included in UK. But after years of civil war, Ireland became a republic in 1921. Britain then negotiated with Ireland to keep the six counties in the northeast portion of Ireland, and thus, Northern Ireland was formed.

Map of UK. Source: indiancompass.com

C'est la vie

During my trip to Hong Kong two months ago, I bought a lip balm, but couldn't find it when I came back to Singapore. I spent two months looking for it, and even refused to buy a new one despite my lips becoming cracked at times.

Yesterday I gave in and bought a new one. And guess what? Today, I found my old lip balm. Nestled comfortably inside my stationary holder, no doubt thanks to the part-time maid.

Oh, the irony.

Gout is ouch

Had some drinks with my colleague two nights ago, and I admit that I had a bit too much and was half drunk. When I reached home at around 130am, I felt a slight pain in my right knee - that's strange, considering that I didn't fall down on knock it against anything the whole day.

The next morning, it was slightly worse, but I could still get around with just a slight limp. I drove out to Marina Square to attend a piano recital, and throughout the day, the pain got worse until I was really limping. While driving to the dinner venue, I knew that I couldn't make it anymore - even driving was a feat, as the pain was worst whenever I switched from stepping on the brakes to the accelerator and vice versa. In the end, I cancelled dinner and used two feet to drive - left foot on the brakes.

I already knew the cause of the pain - gout. I got it on my right ankle exactly three years ago - and did a blood test, which came out mildly positive on the uric acid part. Since then, I have been reducing my food intake in terms of purines - the worst culprits were offal and beer, which I have reduced significantly. But alcohol in general was also a trigger, as it interferes with the elimination of uric acid from the body. So I guess that the multiple servings of whiskey that night really caused it to happen.

I doubt if I would be able to go for work tomorrow, as my right knee is still painful and swollen. The affected area even felt very warm, and I had to resort to using a walking stick these two days. Oh well. Looks like I really need to watch my food (and alcohol) intake again.

Types of cheese

I have always liked cheese, but never knew the differences between cheese types (other than taste, which I only have two adjectives: nice and not nice). So I took the chance to do a bit of research (mostly from Wikipedia). I started from the NTUC Fairprice Finest outlet at myVillage, where I jotted down some cheese types and assumed that they would be the more common ones.

Here goes.

Blue cheese

Blue cheese. Source: www.whatscookingamerica.net

Blue cheese can be made from cow, sheep, or goat milk. A type of fungi called Penicillium is then added, which gives the cheese its smell and veins. Other kinds of bacteria are also allowed to grow on the cheese, and some of them are responsible for its pungent smell, which is commonly likened to foot odour or other human body odours. Eww.

Blue Stilton

Blue Stilton cheese. Source: www.tuxfordandtebbutt.co.uk

Blue Stilton is a special type of blue cheese, and is made only from Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. It is always made in a cylindrical shape, and has its own crust. It is often eaten with celery or pears, thus is commonly added to cream of celery or broccoli. Blue Stilton can also be eaten with crackers or bread, and is also used to make blue cheese sauces for steaks or salads.

The recommended alcohol to be drunk with Blue Stilton is port wine or sweet sherry. The rind of the cheese can be eaten, unlike some other cheeses.

Provolone

Provolone cheese. Source: www.thedailygreen.com 

Provolone is an Italian cheese, and can come in many shapes. It is a full-fat cow's milk cheese, and there are actually several sub-categories of Provolone with widely-varying tastes. For example, the Provolone Piccante has a very sharp taste, while the Provolone Dolce is significantly milder.

Brie

Brie cheese. Source: www.southportgrocery.com

Brie cheese is named after Brie, a region in France. It is made from cow's milk and is soft, pale in colour, and has a rind of white mould (which is usually eaten). The ageing process typically takes around four to five weeks, and if left longer, the cheese changes in several aspects. It tastes stronger, turns darker, loses some moisture, and the rind also becomes darker and crumbly. If left long enough, it becomes known as Black Brie.

Pecorino Romano

Pecorino Romano. Source: www.igourmet.com

Pecorino Romano is an Italian cheese that is made using sheep milk. Compared to other cheeses, it is considered hard and salty, which probably explains why it is often used for grating. Thus, it is commonly used on pasta dishes with richly flavoured sauces, such as carbonara. 

Gouda cheese

Gouda cheese. Source: www.freepik.com

Gouda cheese is a Dutch yellow cheese made from cow milk, and unsurprisingly, it is named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands.

Interestingly, Gouda cheese is better described as a 'style of cheese making' rather than a kind of cheese, because its taste depends significantly on how much it has aged. As it ages, it develops a caramel sweetness and slight crunchiness. Young Gouda cheese is usually used in sandwiches or as a snack on its own. Older Gouda cheese (12 months and above) is best accompanied with strong pale beers.

Parmigiano Reggiano / Parmesan cheese

Parmigiano Reggiano. Source: www.maccheronibrighton.co.uk

Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard and granular cheese, and comes from certain provinces in Italy. It is made from raw cow's milk, and the only other additive allowed is salt. The cheese is submerged for 20 days in brine tanks, and absorbs the salt. It is aged for an average of two years. Like Pecorino Romano, it is also often grated over pasta dishes or soup. 

Camembert

Camembert. Source: www.ilovecheese.com

Camembert is a French cheese, and is made of cow's milk. It is aged for at least three weeks, and its most distinctive feature is its softness and creaminess.

Cheddar

Cheddar cheese. Source: www.athenapizza.net

Cheddar cheese is made from cow's milk, and originated from England. It is slightly crumbly and harder than most other cheeses, and its colour can range from pale yellow to near-white, though some are artificially coloured. The typical ageing process ranges from three to 18 months.


Feta cheese

Feta cheese. Source: www.igourmet.com

What differentiates feta cheese from most other cheeses is that is made from sheep's milk, or a mixture of sheep and goat's milk. It is traditionally made in Greece. (Maybe that's why Greek salad has feta cheese?)

Feta cheese is often used as a table cheese, baking, in salads, pastries, or simply with olive oil. It is aged for at least three months, and its texture can range from soft to firm. The firmer varieties are supposedly of higher quality, and these should be creamy and infused with aromas of ewe's milk, butter, and yogurt.


Gruyere

Gruyere cheese. Source: www.gourmetwines.com

Gruyere is a hard yellow cheese originating from Switzerland. It is sweet and slightly salty, and age is the major determinant of its flavour. For example, when young, it is creamy and nutty, but as it ages the flavour becomes more earthy and complex. When fully aged, which is around five months to a year, its texture becomes slightly grainy.

It is one of the best choices for baking, as its taste is distinctive and yet not overpowering. It is commonly used in fondues, French onion soup, or in some sandwiches. As a table cheese, it can also be grated on served with salads or pastas. The best wine accompaniments for Gruyere cheese are white wines, especially Riesling. 

Mozzarella

Mozzarella cheese. Source: www.athenpizza.net

Mozzarella cheese is an Italian cheese made from either buffalo's or cow's milk. It is white in colour, and is semi-soft. It is high in moisture, so it spoils more easily and is usually served on the next day after it is made. But in supermarkets, we usually see it immersed in brine. Mozzarella cheese is very popular in pizzas and pastas. 

Buyan Russian Restaurant and Caviar Bar @ Duxton Hill

It has been a long time since I had Russian food, and since Buyan (I keep on typing buaya by accident) was on the Palate list of restaurants, I decided to bring my friend here for her birthday celebration.

Located at 9/10 Duxton Hill, it was a ten minute walk from Tanjong Pagar MRT station. Despite having the address, I missed the place twice as its signboard was not prominent at all. And it seemed more like a bar rather than a restaurant.

Borscht soup, $13

Borscht soup is probably the most well-known Russian dish that most people know. One of the main ingredients is beetroot, which is responsible for the reddish-purple colour.

Having tasted authentic Borscht soup when I went to Moscow five years ago, this didn't impress me. I found it a little too sweet too.

Stchi, $11

If I recall correctly, the waiter pronounced this as "shee". It is basically Russian cabbage soup, and is very popular in Russia as one does not get sick of it easily. Thus, it has become a staple food in Russia, and a Russian saying explains it all: "One may become fed up by one's own father, but never by stchi!"

Compared to the Borscht soup, this was lighter and easier to drink, albeit nothing really special.

Pelmeni, $18

Pelmeni is something like Russian ravioli, or if we 'translate' it to Chinese, it's like meat dumplings. Out of all the starters, I thought this was the best. There was a very unique flavour to it (I can't place it exactly though) and the meat inside was also quite juicy.

Shashlyk, $38

Chicken, lamb and trout, all charcoal grilled. When it came, it was only slightly warm. The trout was a bit dry, and the lamb was also not juicy enough.

Beef Stroganov, $30

This was better than the other main course. The beef was slow cooked and served on mashed potatoes, and drizzled with mushroom sauce. The potatoes were very soft and creamy, while the sauce was rather rich. Combined together, they made the dish a bit too rich and filling, but taste-wise it was still pretty all right.

Bird's Milk, $12

I have no idea why they call this bird's milk, since it is actually souffle with chocolate. And when it came, we wondered if they had gave us the wrong dish - this didn't look like souffle at all! Souffle is supposed to be a lightly baked cake, but this tasted almost entirely of cream. I wouldn't recommend this dish.

Angus Steak House @ Ngee Ann City

Angus Steak House has been in Ngee Ann City for more than ten years, comfortably tucked at the boundary of Takashimaya departmental store on the fourth floor. It was my first visit here, and to celebrate my father's birthday. As my father (and I) were huge fan of steaks, I decided to try out this place as we had already tried Morton's and Lawry's before.

Prices of the steaks ranged from $40+ to $60+, depending on the size and cut. My advice is to go for the largest cut (300g) because of the value-for-money. For example, 300g of ribeye costs $63, but 250g already costs around $56. And top up $10 to make it a dinner set - comes with bread, soup, starter, salad, and dessert. 

Hors d'oeuvre - chicken

For the starter, we had a choice of chicken or fish. I found this to be normal only, but my mother fancied it.

Hors d'oeuvre - threadfin fish

Nothing impressive about this dish. I thought the chicken was slightly better than this.

Bread

The bread was freshly toasted, and once you remove its cap, you can see a bit of steam wafting out. It was quite delicious and crispy, though I think they were a bit too stingy on the butter. I didn't request for more, though I am sure they wouldn't mind serving extra. 

Crab meat chowder

This was quite disappointing - there was zero taste of crab inside. I managed to find one miserable piece of crab meat inside, and even this piece did not taste like crab.

Green salad with Japanese salad sauce

The dressing was probably a mixture of Japanese soya sauce and a bit of sesame oil. This wasn't done uniformly; mine had a bit too much dressing while my mother's had practically none.

Charcoal grilled ribeye steak, medium rare. $63 for 300g

Finally, the main course. My father, brother, and I ordered the 300g ribeye steak each. Firstly, there was no way this steak could weigh 300g. It was too thin, for one thing. And my mother has always prepared 1kg of beef for our Sunday lunches for four of us - and our four orders of 300g steaks did not even appear to come close! It should be 1.2kg in total, but it seemed more like 800g.

But the steak was done pretty well, and it was extremely tender. The Japanese sauce appeared to be a mixture of radish, Japanese soya sauce, and probably some miso - and it was a welcome change to the common red wine or black pepper sauce. But I found the lime and butter quite unnecessary, as it seemed to clash a bit with the steak.

Charcoal grilled sirloin steak, medium. $58 for 300g

Compared to the ribeye steak, the sirloin steak was slightly tougher, but on its own, it could already be considered quite tender. The beef flavour for this was a bit stronger than the ribeye, so this was quite good as well. 

Tiramisu

For desserts, we had a choice of either tiramisu or ice cream. The tiramisu was pretty good; served in a modest portion and ended the meal on a nice note.

Compared to Morton's or Lawry's, Angus Steak House is cheaper and you get to try a much wider variety of food. The food is not fantastic, especially the starters and so on, but the beef is still all right. However, when it comes to service, it fairs much more poorly. While the service staff were definitely not rude, they were obviously inexperienced, and either fumbled when serving us, or did not seem to know where to place our bread and starters. 

And finally, if you are having dinner here, don't ever get a window seat. Angus Steak House actually faces Orchard Road, and the spotlights for Ngee Ann City actually shine right in - it was extremely glaring and uncomfortable.