The Tastings Room @ Marina Square

Yet another visit here, due to a friend's incessant bugging. But this time, I really felt that I have been coming here too often, so I don't foresee a next visit at least within the next three months or more.

Truffle Wild Mushroom Risotto, $24.90

Compared to their previous servings for risotto, this looked quite... small. They have been coming out with a slew of discounts and offers via Groupon and so on, and I guess this has caused them to scrimp a bit more on the quantity. 

I thought that they added a bit too much truffle oil, actually. Prior to this, I thought truffle oil was something very expensive, but recently I found out that most truffle oil do not contain any truffles at all. Most of it is made up of olive oil that has been artificially flavoured using a synthetic agent. In this case, the truffle oil was a bit too overpowering and distorted the taste of the risotto somewhat. 

Confit of French Duck Leg, $29.90

The duck was supposedly imported from France. I have always hesitated to order duck confit, because the majority of duck confits ended up too dry. This dish was no exception.

Past visits:
2nd June 2012
29th May 2012
17th April 2012

Happycall Pan and steaks

After I got the Happycall Pan, cooking steaks has become an entirely different game. For one thing, I am much more inclined to fry steaks now instead of roasting or baking, as it is so easy and convenient. One big inconvenience with frying steaks using a normal pan is that the kitchen usually ends up in an oily mess due to the oil splattering out from the pan, but with the Happycall Pan, this isn't an issue anymore. Additionally, if the steak has some visible fat on it, you don't even need to add any oil.

However, steaks cook faster using the Happycall Pan, so the timing would have changed significantly. After various experimentations and attempts, this is what I summarised, assuming all steaks are medium rare:

Normal steaks (around 2cm thick)

1 min 30 seconds for each side, then turn off the fire and let it stay for another 30 seconds for the steak to continue to cook more uniformly and for the juices to come out.

Thick steaks (around 2.5cm to 3cm thick)

1 min 45 seconds for each side, let it stay for 30 seconds.

Thin steaks (around 1.5cm thick)

1 min 15 seconds for each side, let it stay for 30 seconds.

Foie gras

I got this right on my first attempt, fortunately! Just 25 seconds on each side would do. But the foie gras I bought was quite thick, so after I turned off the fire, I flipped it onto its sides for a while more to cook it more evenly.

Update as of 6th October 2012: 
The timings above are all based on two steaks in the pan. I tried putting more and the steaks turned out too uncooked. So if there are three steaks, perhaps you can fry it for 15 to 20 seconds more per side.

Modified events on MS Outlook not appearing on iPhone

Still couldn't solve the issue with modified Microsoft Outlook events not updating correctly on my iPhone, so I turned to the Google Product Forums for help. I went to test a variety of scenarios before posting, and here they are:

Create new event on MS Outlook --> Google Calendar updated correctly --> iPhone updated correctly

Modify existing event on MS Outlook --> Google Calendar updated correctly --> iPhone not updated

Create new event on iPhone --> Google Calendar updated correctly --> MS Outlook updated correctly

Modify existing event on iPhone --> Google Calendar updated correctly --> MS Outlook updated correctly

Create new event on Google Calendar --> MS Outlook and iPhone updated correctly

Modify existing event on Google Calendar --> MS Outlook and iPhone updated correctly

The issue is obviously very specific. I found a way to get around it though, which is to go to my iPhone Settings --> Mail, Contacts, Calendars --> Exchange, disable Calendars, and enable it again. This would wipe out all my calendar events, and then subsequently download them from Google Calendars again. This would ensure that everything is updated, but it is only a temporary solution. Another method is only to update events on my Google Calendar (instead of MS Outlook), but again, I would prefer a permanent solution.

Mythbusting #2

I am sure all of us have heard this before.

"Don't pluck your white hairs! If you pluck one, three more white ones would grow out!"

This has to be one of the most ridiculous and silly myths ever, but many people still believe it. If it is true, it means that to grow more hair, I can just start plucking away all my white hairs. I will end up with three times the hair I plucked out, and I can just dye all of them black and end up with a shining mane of black hair. Duh! 

As for the research, the best I got was from here. It basically says that our hair turns white when the pigmentation cells in the follicle surrounding the hair die. When a hair is plucked, a new one should grow in its place, assuming that you are not balding. As the pigment cells are no longer producing pigment, this new hair will also be white. But one follicle only produces one strand of hair, so surrounding hairs will definitely not turn white after you pluck one. And that follicle alone will obviously not cause three more white hairs to sprout from a single root!

Google Calendar issues

Last year, I blogged about how to sync Microsoft Outlook's calendar to the iPhone automatically without any cable connections. The key lies in using Google Calendars as a medium between the iPhone and Microsoft Outlook, and my post can be found here. 

Recently, I realised that calendar events were not updated in my iPhone. By updated I mean that if I create a new event on Microsoft Outlook, it turns up on my iPhone fine. But if I update it, my iPhone doesn't reflect the new timing. It's odd, because it used to work perfectly fine.

I went to Google Calendar to take a look, and yes, the event had been updated there. So the connection between Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar was fine; apparently the issue is with the connection between Google Calendar and my iPhone.

I tried to delete my Microsoft Exchange account on my iPhone and activate it again. The initial sync managed to reflect all the latest events, but once I tried to update an event (on Outlook) again, it did not reflect on my iPhone. 

What could be the issue? Arghhh. I need to do more research.

Transformers Masterpiece MP-12 Sideswipe

Transformers Masterpiece MP-12 Sideswipe is out for preorder! Have been waiting for this for quite some time. For those who are unaware, the Transformers Masterpiece series consists mainly of figurines from the original Transformers Generation 1, and more recently, from the live-action movie. Compared to all other Transformers figurines, they are considered one of the highest quality, being larger and more detailed as well as having superior poseability. 

Some screenshots of MP-12 Sideswipe, taken from www.e-hobby.co.jp:

MP-12 Sideswipe, robot mode

MP-12 Sideswipe, vehicle mode

Just ordered four pieces of this for myself and three other friends. MP-13 Soundwave should be out for preorder soon too; I am looking forward to Soundwave even more than to Sideswipe...

My Humble House @ Esplanade

Second visit to My Humble House. This time, quite a few dishes we ordered were not from the menu, but were specially recommended by the waiter.

Roast Marinated Rack of Lamb with Herbs in Port Wine Sauce, $18

The lamb was tender, but I felt that the taste of lamb wasn't strong enough. The seasoning was quite good though.

Crispy Spiced Kurobuta Pork Rib in Sun-dried Tomato Reduction, $14

This was very disappointing. The pork was very tough, and very dry - obviously overcooked. It was so bad that I told the manager about it.

White French Asparagus, $15

I recently read from the newspapers that now is the season for French asparagus, so we decided to give this a try. This was still not bad, though we had no idea what the rich black sauce was. The crab meat was a good addition to the dish and was a good complement with the asparagus. The asparagus was a bit tougher than expected though.

Wagyu beef fried rice, $12

Somehow, I think using wagyu beef in such dishes is a big waste of wagyu beef. Firstly, because the beef is sliced into such small pieces, you could not really taste the real flavour of the wagyu beef. Secondly, when it is fried, the quality of the meat does not matter that much anymore. 

Still, the dish was still quite all right, if we treat it as normal beef. 

Foie gras with duck meat, $18

The picture isn't clear, but the black rectangular object is actually a slab of foie gras with duck meat below. While the portion of the foie gras was quite generous, it wasn't really pan-fried well enough to bring out the flavour of the foie gras. And the duck meat was minced and mixed with some other stuff, which failed to impress. Finally, I thought the foie gras and duck didn't really go well together, and we ended up eating them separately.

Crisp-fried Fish Skin with Oatmeal, $8

This dish, along with the two below, were ordered from the tapas menu. We were told that we had to order two main dishes first too to be able to order from this menu. I am glad we ordered this; it was certainly one of the better dishes tonight. The fish skin was fried perfectly such that it was crisp and yet not too dry. The oatmeal was a good variation of this dish too.

'避风塘' Style Crisp-fried Ocean Scallops, $12

I have no idea what '避风塘' style is, but I assume it has to do with the toppings as shown. The picture shows six scallops placed into a small box-like thing (which is edible, but I don't know what  it is exactly). The scallops still retained some of its juiciness, so it was quite good. As for the toppings, I think it consists of some dried prawns, chilli, salt, and sugar.

Crispy Golden Tofu with Special Spicy Powder, $6

This was also fried very well such that the outsides were crispy and the insides were tender. The spicy powder was a nice touch to the normal 'crispy fried tofu' dish.

For a place that supposedly serves fine dining food, I guess the price was still arguably reasonable - after the 50% discount from the Palate membership. The food wasn't too impressive either, with dishes ranging from disappointing to decent to 'not bad'. Nothing was fantastic or really good. And when you  compare My Humble House to the likes of Tong Le Private Dining which I visited two months ago, this place falls short. 

Past visit:
7th March 2012

Mythbusting #1

I am always amazed by how easily people believe random things they find on the internet or hear from someone. For example, someone told me this a few months ago.

"You shouldn't feed your dog with so much bread! My friend told me that bread is not good for dogs..."

I scoffed at her, and told her to show me the proof first. She went to check, and came up triumphantly with this from here:

"Yeast dough (dough prior to cooking) - the yeast can continue to rise in the dog's stomach and cause painful bloating, gas and even rupture of the intestines or stomach."

I pointed out that the description already states that yeast dough is dough prior to cooking, so it is different from bread. Further research yielded merely opinions rather than facts. The most ridiculous one was that dogs should not eat too much bread because the excessive carbohydrates may cause them to get fat.

Erm... doesn't the first part apply to all food in general and even to humans, in the sense that we all should not eat too much of something? And the fact about the excessive carbohydrates are basically 废话 because too much carbohydrates would obviously make anyone fat, dog or human! I might as well say that 'dogs should not eat too much lard because the excess fat and oil may make them obese'. 

Menya Musashi @ Raffles City

Visited here again for lunch. This time, I tried their red soup.

Red Cha Shu Ramen, $12.90

I was a bit apprehensive after I ordered this, because I thought the spice may ruin the soup. Fortunately, they only added a bit of it, so the spice was not overpowering. And the soup was still very rich and good, but this time it was saltier than my first visit.

The noodles this time were now a bit too soggy. And the char siew was nowhere as good as that from my first visit. The texture (less chewy), thickness (thicker) and taste (this time it was too salty) were all entirely different! Looks like their standards have not been very consistent.

Past visit:

2nd June 2012

Menya Musashi @ Raffles City

I have passed by Menya Mushashi several times before, and there was always a long queue outside. Today, I went there at close to 330pm in order to avoid the queue. True enough, there was no queue, but even at this odd hour, the restaurant was around 80% full.

White Cha Shu Ramen, $12.90

I suppose their white broth is the original version. This was really good; the soup was rich and flavourful, but still not as salty as that from Nantsuttei! A few minutes of research helped me to realise that their soup was a mixture of pork bones and dried saury fish, something which definitely helps to differentiate themselves from all the other ramen out there.

But I found the noodles to be a little too tough. And the vegetables were obviously too old - they were extremely tough as well. The char siew was a different thing though. While they were actually slightly chewy and not the melt-in-your-mouth kind, they were still very good and I actually ate everything, fats and all. I am glad the char siew was sliced thinly; if not it would have tasted so good.

Black Kakuni Ramen, $14.90

The reason for the black colour was due to them adding fried onions and garlic into the broth. It tasted richer than the white version, but again still not too salty. The noodles and vegetables were both too tough though, similar to their white counterpart.

But the braised pork was really good too. There was a very slight tinge of sweetness in it, no doubt due to the gravy used to braise the pork. It was sliced much more thickly than their char siew, but was still very tender and almost melted in my mouth. Almost.

Menya Mushishi was a pleasant find for us. Will definitely visit here again and try their red soup base.

The Tastings Room @ Marina Square

Finally had the opportunity to visit here for brunch. It's a pity they only open at 11am though, as I would prefer to come here earlier for breakfast instead.

'Sous Vide' Eggs Parma, $18.90

This did not impress me at all. The bread did not seem appropriate for such a dish, the hollandaise sauce wasn't good, and the egg yolks weren't runny enough.

'Sous Vide' Eggs Royale, $18.90

The same applies to this dish for the bread, hollandaise sauce, and egg yolks. But where's the salmon? Upon further probing, we found the salmon under the eggs. It was supposed to be smoked salmon, but it tasted more like salmon tartare, and was chopped into pieces rather than left in slices. 

I have visited here several times, and I must say that their eggs dishes weren't really special. This is in contrast with their other main dishes, which I really enjoyed. Will probably stick to dinner here instead of brunch.

Past visits:
29th May 2012
17th April 2012

Pizza Giardino @ Chijmes

It has been quite some time since I had pizza, so my gf and I dropped by another restaurant on the Palate program, Pizza Giardino, located at Chijmes. 

Prior to ordering, I told the waiter that I was going to use my AMEX card (bundled with Palate) and asked if there were any ordering requirements. The waiter just told us to go ahead and order, and said that yes, we could enjoy a 50% discount with the AMEX card. So we ordered one main course and two starters.

Lasagna Bolognese, $18

This was quite poorly done. I couldn't taste the pasta at all - it seems like it was just layers of cheese. And the cheese was a bit too hard. 

Affettato Misto, $16

This was definitely more interesting, though I would have preferred if they had told us the name for each cheese and ham. In my opinion, this was the best dish of the night, even though it wasn't really outstanding. No wait... I think the Corona beer I ordered was the best.

Misto Carne Pizza, $25

Comes with toppings of tomato, cheese, salami, ham, bacon, and Italian sausage. This was still all right, except that it was a bit too salty - not surprisingly given the combination of ingredients! I discarded most of the bacon though; it was almost 100% fat with very little meat.

When the bill came, another waiter told us that they couldn't give us the 50% discount, because the requirement was that we had to order two main courses. I told them that we had asked beforehand and were not informed of this. The waiter went to speak to his manager, but when he came back, it was still the same stand. 

I stood my ground. I told him that this was extremely unfair to me, because of two reasons: I had asked beforehand and was not informed, and even if he did not hear my question fully (which perhaps he didn't, because he looked a bit distracted and lost), he definitely knew that I was going to use the AMEX card (he did tell us that we could enjoy the discount if I used my AMEX card). So when he took my order, he should have told me that I would need to order two main courses instead. 

In the end, they relented and gave me the discount. Then again, I wouldn't visit this place again. The food wasn't good, and the service was definitely not satisfactory either.

The Tastings Room @ Marina Square

Second visit to The Tastings Room. Unlike my first visit, today the restaurant was 90% full, no doubt due to their Groupon offer.

Norwegian Salmon Tartare with 'Sous Vide' Egg & Caviar, $18.90

This was really a delightful starter. For one thing, the egg yolk definitely helped to make the dish more aesthetically pleasant, but though it looked very runny, I still found it a little too cooked. But the salmon was really good, and it was heavily spiced and topped with lumpfish caviar. Definitely recommended!

Saffron Seafood Risotto, $24.90

Beneath the cheesy risotto lies some squid, prawns, and scallops, which were all good but not fantastic. The risotto was quite all right, but I didn't really like the fact that they added some lemon juice to it. Prego's organic risotto is currently still the best, in my opinion.

Past visit:
17th April 2012

Covelli @ Orchard Central

Second visit to Covelli.

Covelli Zuppa di Funghi, $14

Cream of wild mushroom soup, with white truffle oil. This is considered a 'light' version of mushroom soup, which contrasts with The Tasting Rooms' rich version. While this was still all right, it still lost to The Tasting Rooms'. Even if we compare it with other 'light' types of mushroom soups, I think Prego's is still better.

Classic Caesar Salad, $14

One look at the dish and I groaned inwardly. The egg - its supposed to be poached, not hard boiled! True enough, the egg yolk was 90% cooked, which was a let down. But at least the salad itself was still pretty okay.

Risotto al Funghi, $18

Arborio rice, with gourmet field mushrooms in porcini mushroom cream sauce. Some white truffle oil was also added. Nothing really special about this; I thought the mushroom flavour could be richer. And there was a very slight tinge of sourness inside which didn't really go well with my palate. 

Black Truffle Ravioli, $20

One of their 'must try' dishes. The ravioli was filled with black truffle and cheese, and cooked in brown butter cream sauce. The garnishing on top is actually grated hazelnuts. This dish gave me the opportunity to taste the difference between black and white truffle (compared to the soup and risotto). White truffle seemed to taste much stronger, for one thing. (Or maybe they added much more white than black truffle.) And black truffle does not have the kind of 'gassy' smell like white truffle.

Past visit:
2nd May 2012

Portfolio update

With markets in such a big mess due to Greece, I made some switches to my portfolio around two weeks ago. For one thing, I don't foresee that the Greece crisis will be resolved so soon, so this time I switched some of my equities to bonds and took profits on some funds as well. And it's a good thing I did; markets continued to fall over this period. 

CPFIS-OA

Fund	Sector/Region	Asset Class	% of portfolio
Aberdeen Global Emerging Markets	Global Emerging Markets	Equity	16.07%
Eastspring Inv UT Pan European	Europe	Equity	14.63%
Fidelity America USD	US	Equity	23.67%
First State Dividend Advantage	Asia Pacific ex Japan	Equity	13.83%
First State Regional China	Greater China	Equity	10.60%
Henderson Global Technology	Global Technology	Equity	7.70%
LionGlobal Japan Growth Fund	Japan	Equity	7.08%
Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond (S$)	Short Duration	Fixed income	6.43%

Asset allocation: 94% equities, 6% fixed income

Changes:

Sold First State Global Resources
Bought Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond (S$)

First State Global Resources has plummeted by 30%, and I have decided to switch it to a short duration fund and wait for an opportunity to enter the market again. Thinking of going into Europe because of its cheap valuations, but Europe already takes up quite a substantial portion of my CPF-OA portfolio. Hmm.

CPFIS-SA

Fund	Sector/Region	Asset Class	% of portfolio
DWS Premier Select Trust	Global	Balanced	27.17%
First State Bridge	Asia Pacific ex Japan	Balanced	72.83%

Asset allocation: 100% balanced

No changes. Still looking for a good chance to put the money back into my CPF-SA account. DWS Premier Select Trust is down by 3.06% while First State Bridge is down by 1.44%.

Cash

Fund	Sector/Region	Asset Class	% of portfolio
Aberdeen Pacific Equity	Asia Pacific ex Japan	Equity	19.56%
Aviva Inv Glb HY Bd Axh SGD	High Yield	Fixed income	12.50%
FTIF-Templeton Glb Total Ret A(mdis) SGD-H1	Global	Fixed income	7.91%
Fidelity America USD	US	Equity	4.63%
First State Regional China	Greater China	Equity	7.02%
LionGlobal Spore Fixed	Singapore	Fixed income	8.64%
Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond (S$)	Short Duration	Fixed income	25.75%
United Asian Bond Fund	Asia ex Japan	Fixed income	9.54%
United Emerging Markets Bond Fund	Emerging Markets	Fixed income	4.44%

Asset allocation: 31% equities, 69% fixed income

Changes:
Sold Aberdeen European Opportunities
Sold (partial) Aberdeen Pacific Equity
Sold BNPPL1 Eq Russia EUR
Sold DWS SGP small/midCap A SGD
Sold Fidelity Glb Fin Serv EUR
Topped up into Aviva Inv Glb HY Bd Axh SGD
Topped up into United Asian Bond Fund
Topped up into LionGlobal Spore Fixed Inc-A
Bought Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond (S$)


As shown, my cash portfolio's asset allocation (equities - bonds) has changed from 70-30 to 31-69. Aberdeen Pacific Equity was still making money, so I sold off some to take profits. BNPPL1 Eq Russia EUR, Aberdeen European Opportunities and Fidelity Glb Fin Svc EUR were also sold off as I think markets will still go down further. As for DWS SGP small/midCap A SGD, I have decided to invest directly in the Singapore stock market instead of going through a unit trust.

The high allocation to Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond (S$) signifies that I am just waiting for a good opportunity to enter the market again. Markets are unbelievably cheap now, but I think there is still room for it to fall further. Will probably enter it in staggered intervals and in small amounts.

Baker & Cook @ Hillcrest Road

Due to my mother being a huge fan of bread, I brought her here for breakfast this morning. Baker & Cook is located at 77 Hillcrest Road, along Bukit Timah Road (opposite Hwa Chong Institution). It was refreshing to find such a place that opens for breakfast as early as 7am.

The place is rather small; there is only one big table for indoor seating. The other seats are outdoors, so some customers would inevitably have to sit under the sun. But I liked the design of the interior, especially how they display their bread. However, the smell of freshly baked bread was noticeably missing, something I should have taken note of when I stepped in.

Baker & Cook Freshly Baked Bread & Croissant Selection (for two to share), $10

I am not a bread fan. Which made me wonder why I offered to order this to share with my mother. The bread was obviously not freshly baked. They were hard. They were dry. The crust of the bread was so tough that I discarded almost all of it. For the croissant, ignoring the fact that it was cold, also did not taste good, as the delicious buttery taste that is indicative of a good croissant was definitely missing. The butter cubes were also quite tasteless and did not help to make the bread easier to go down too.

For a place that specialises in bread, Baker & Cook disappoints big time. I suspect that the bread was left over from yesterday; there is no way freshly baked bread would taste this bad.

Keystone @ Stanley Street

While the Palate discount is definitely welcome for the restaurants that I have visited, for Keystone, it almost seems to be a necessity because of its prices. We usually order two main courses and at least one starter, but after we saw the prices, we decided to forego the starter. I was actually eyeing their foie gras, damn it... 

Blackmore Abstract, $55

From the title on the menu, I had no idea what it was and had to ask the waitress. It turned out to be beef brisket with gnocchi and ravioli. I love the presentation for this dish; it somehow reminded me of a garden with colourful plants and vegetables scattered all over. 

Some explanation is obviously needed here. The green ball-like thing is actually the ravioli, which took me by surprise. Isn't ravioli supposed to be... pasta with fillings? Their ravioli felt like a wobbly sweet pea bomb that practically exploded in your mouth once you chew on it. So this has to be eaten in one mouthful. Good luck if you tried to eat half of it or cut it. 

The bbq gnocchi slices looked like sausage slices, and to a certain extent, it almost tasted like sausage slices too. (That's a good thing, by the way.) But of course, the beef brisket was the highlight of the dish. Inconspicuously obscured under the layer of queso manchego cheese, the beef practically melted in my mouth. It was unbelievably delicious and is one of the best beef dishes I have ever had. 

Snake River Farms Pork Belly, $58

This is apparently one of their most popular dishes, and came with yukon chips and baby carrots. The yukon chips were fried so well that the outside was perfectly crisp but the inside was still tender and moist, while the baby carrots were refreshing but normal.

When I eat pork belly, I usually remove all the fat. But looking at this dish, I guess the fat already accounts for half the pork belly! So judging from its price, if I were to skip the fat, I would basically be forgoing more than $20 of my money. My gf and I thus finished every bit of the pork belly. It was wonderfully cooked and extremely good indeed, but I would still prefer the previous dish to this.

As can be seen, Keystone is obviously rather expensive, even after a 50% discount. We still felt a bit hungry after eating as the portions were quite small, but we refrained from ordering anything else, even the desserts. In the future, we should grab some bak kut teh nearby before coming here for dinner...

Baikohken @ North Canal Road

I have always stressed that to me, the soup is the most important when it comes to ramen. Baikohken's shoyu is currently the best I have ever tasted, but their char siew was even more outstanding. 

Shoyu char siew ramen with flavoured egg, $20.50

This is a huge bowl of ramen. Maybe it's not that obvious from the picture, but my gf and I shared one bowl and were quite full after that. While the price may raise some eyebrows, it was really worth it considering that it was enough for two, and it comes with an abundance of char siew. Don't be deceived from the picture again - there are still more pieces of char siew lurking under the soup!

The shoyu soup was not too salty and yet had the natural taste of the shoyu within. The huge chunks of menma (bamboo shoots) were also another differentiating factor from other ramen, but the char siew deserves much more attention.

Firstly, if you look carefully, you will notice that the char siew differs in colour and texture. The left pieces are whiter, while the pieces on top are darker. It is clear that the lighter pieces come from a thinner portion of the pig, while the darker pieces come with more fat. One can tell that Baikohken really focuses on making their char siew good - they use pork shoulder (五花肉), and the texture and taste of the meat differs as you move from one end of the pork shoulder to the other end. 

While the leaner portion was already quite tender, the fatter portion practically melts in your mouth. And no, it is not because of the fat. I removed most of the fat and can confirm that it is the meat's texture that is responsible for making it fall apart so easily. 

This is definitely the best char siew I have come across in ramen stores, though theirs was a bit too salty. The fatter corner was also significantly saltier than the thinner corner.

Having raved so much about the char siew, I must say that I have come here before and the char siew, though good, was never as good as today. I should pay them another visit for a more accurate evaluation.

Skyve Elementary Bistro & Bar @ Winstedt Road

Skyve Elementary Bistro & Bar is located on 10 Winstedt Road, along Bukit Timah Road. It is almost right beside Anglo-Chinese School. I dropped by this morning with my gf and two other friends. 

When we entered the restaurant, we were pleasantly surprised by the interior layout of the place - it was spacious, comfortable, and modern. We were the first customers of the day, and were enjoying the peace... until they switched on the music. It was way too loud and we had to ask the staff to turn it down. 

Then we got down to ordering. 

Classic Breakfast, $20

Their two eggs came with a choice of style - overeasy, sunny side up, scrambled, or poached. It is not that common to see restaurants offering overeasy (fry both sides), and having grown up eating overeasy eggs, I chose that and requested that the egg yolks must still be runny. This didn't turn out too well, as the egg yolks were probably already 80% cooked. Then again, I have never eaten an overeasy egg that is done as well as how my mother fries it.

Other than the eggs, the dish also comes with mushroom fricassee, pork sausage, grilled tomato, and a choice of brioche or sourdough bread. I picked the brioche bread. Everything else was average, but the pork sausage was quite good and juicy.

Skyve Sous Vide Eggs Benedict, $16

'Sous vide' actually stands for a method of cooking, where food is sealed in plastic bag in a water bath. This helps to cook the food more uniformly. Their version of eggs benedict comes with sourdough bread, grilled portobello mushroom, sweet corn, holladaise sauce, and some arugula salad. When the dish came, we knew that their poached eggs would definitely be good - it looked so perfect and was even wobbling when the waiter placed the plate down. True enough, when the egg was pierced with a fork, the egg yolk gushed out, indicating a perfect doneness. (The biggest sin when poaching eggs is to overcook it.) Along with its accompaniments, this was pretty good too, but because of their way of cooking, the texture felt quite different from your usual poached eggs.

While writing this entry, I paid their website a visit and realised that they have just increased their prices. The Classic Breakfast used to cost $18, which wasn't a big difference from $20. But the Eggs Benedict was originally only $12. Looks like they increased this by 33%, ouch...

The visit would have been more enjoyable if not for a couple who brought their kid along. The kid was probably around 3 years old, and after a while, started to wail loudly and throw tantrums, shattering the peace and quiet. Fortunately we had already finished our food, so we made a hasty (albeit grudging) retreat.

I really detest kids. 

Update as of 21st May 2012:

I just checked their website again, and the prices have been updated. They have also renamed their 'Classic Breakfast' to 'Skyver's Breakfast'.

Ramen Keisuke Dining @ Millenia Walk

Having tried their watarikani ramen (crab stock ramen), we decided to try something different - their shio and shoyu ramen. 

Shoyu ramen with flavoured egg, $13

I must say that I was really disappointed with this bowl of ramen. While the egg was still as good as before, the soup was a big let-down. I ordered 'strong' for my soup, which came out too salty. But even if it wasn't that salty, one could tell that the taste of the shoyu (soy sauce) was not prominent, and there was even a very slight tinge of sourness in the soup. Baikohken has the best shoyu ramen I have tried so far; will blog about it soon.

Shio ramen with flavoured egg, $13

Shio actually stands for salt, and the soup is obviously clearer, made with salt and chicken or vegetable stock. Among the four standard types of ramen soup - shio, shoyu, tonkotsu, and miso - shio is the lightest and healthiest of all. (Which is why I usually don't order it. I like my soup to be thick and rich.) But I must still say that this bowl is still much better than the shoyu ramen.

I definitely should stick to their watarikani ramen next time. For the tonkotsu version, I can just visit their other outlet Tonkotsu King at Tanjong Pagar.

Past visits:
4th January 2012