Shito

Oops I did it again. Yes, I bought a new pair of shoes!

I recently saw local brand Shito (Alice Soedirman & Cheryl Mok) featured in some magazines and just had to check them out (Parco Millenia Walk). “Just a look”, I told myself.

Famous last words.

I was like a kid in a candy shop, omg everything was so pretty! I had my eye on two pairs, but unfortunately (or was it fortunately) they didn’t have one of the pairs in my size.

My new shoes are gorgeous right? Well-crafted wedges that’s so comfortable, edgy black mesh at the sides and that lovely lovely blue! $159 for true love isn’t too expensive.

“Exuding erotic attraction, every Shito shoe is edgy, flirty and feminine. It does what every good shoe must do: reveal the foot, enhance and display it, becoming a frame and a setting for the foot, and ultimately empowering the wearer.”

Rocca Giovanni Barolo 2004 DOCG

I recently splurged on a collection of Italian wines, including some Rocca Giovanni Barolo 2004 DOCG. Vino Shifu has advised that I stagger consumption of the 3 bottles to see how it develops over the years. So last night, I popped open the first bottle. With some aged gouda cheese, some figs and raisins. Life is good.

“Barolo is a red DOCG wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the Nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines. Barolo is often described as having the aromas of tar and roses, and the wines are noted for their ability to age and usually take on a rust red tinge as they mature.”

I decantered the wine for an hour before pouring. The nose was a bit tight at first but it slowly opened up. Smells of dark fruit and earth (hmm I couldn’t pick up the Nebbiolo grape’s characteristic rose aroma though). The wine is rusty garnet, quite light coloured and non-opaque.

Ok, a sip. Medium bodied and full of dark cherries (ok, I can detect the rose now). Loving the nice looong finish. Tannins go well with creamy fatty cheese, yums.

This barolo was likely to be made in the “modern way" with new French oak. It’s quite drinkable even though it’s relatively young. More pleasurable and less “intellectual”, as compared to the high acidity/tannin of more “traditional” Barolo. In this (Barolo) war I think I’m on the side of the modernists.

They say a well-aged Barolo will turn lighter, so I shall wait a few more years to see if that’s true. It’s also supposed to become more velvety as the tannins integrate into the wine. 25 year old Barolo, anyone?

"As a young person, you love big, rich flavors -- so you drink Barolo. In your middle age, you seek something more solid, something less obvious -- so you drink Barolo. In your wisest years, you want a wine that allows you to think about and savor the pleasures of maturity, both its maturity and your own -- so you drink Barolo."

Shape Run

Considering I've been doing about 20km (cummulatively) a week, 5km really shouldn't be a problem. But I'm not a morning person and it was a bad idea drinking all that wine the night before. Although I finished the run within a respectable time, I was worn out!

Breakfast with the colleagues helped alleviate the pain somewhat. Nothing like a good bowl of prawn noodles to brighten up my Sunday. I grew up eating at this stall along East Coast Road - yum, the soup stock is as robust as I remember it. But seriously too pricey, $5.80 for a bowl of noodles with two prawns? Gulp.

I love the ngoh hiang there. It's a bit of a wait but everything is freshly made, beautifully fried and oohh I love that chili sauce! Hands down the best ngoh hiang in town.

Happy Crabs

I read about Happy Crabs from a food blog (http://food.recentrunes.com/) and it’s been on my radar ever since. Delicious BBQ crabs at coffee shop prices. BYOB friendly. Best of all, located at Guillemard Village (old badminton hall), it’s a 5 min walk away from my new place!

So on Saturday night, I gathered my group of happy shiny people to check out Happy Crabs. At first, the westies in the group were reluctant to make the journey. By the end of the night, we all cheerily agreed it was a “damm-shiok-damm-affordable” meal, well worth their pilgrimage.

It’s a relatively new coffee shop – spacious, clean and breezy. It wasn’t crowded on a weekend night (let’s hope it stays that way). Happy Crabs is a modest stall tucked away in the corner. We excitedly ordered 3 king crabs from the stall at $25 each. Yums. They were fresh and full of creamy roe. They provide 3 sauces – chilli, mayo and wasabi with soya sauce, but I preferred the crabs on its own. The stall owner also recommended we try the fried fish. Hmm, crispy and the chili was hot and spicy, I like.

To supplement the meal we also ordered from the other stalls. I was hoping to try the thai food but it was closed. Oh well. we settled for two bowls of pig organ soup which was surprisingly satisfying, and a fried chicken cutlet from the western food stall which was well-executed.

It was sheer perfection – excellent company and plentiful good wine (my Saint Aubin was a good buy) served in atas riedel wine glasses we brought along. We paid the drink stall $1 for an ice bucket to keep our whites chilled. Shiok!

Antoinette

My sis is quite mad about all day breakfasts, cakes and pretty pastries. So when I asked her to suggest a venue for a we-are-on-half-day-leave-(yippee) lunch, I wasn’t exactly surprised when “Antoinette!” came up. Antoinette has had a lot of press lately, apparently it’s opened by Chef Pang from Canele and he sounds like a master of desserts. I was definitely psyched to check out the place.

I love it when nice joints like these open up in the east. Penhas Road is quite an obscure area but it’s very near my place. It looks quite out of place amidst its semi-industrial neighbours, but once you walk in, what a lovely setting!

White walls and wood fittings, plush velvet chairs and huge floral arrangements. Copious trays of pastries and meringues. Neat rows of beautiful cake creations that ALL look so good!

It was like walking into wonderland, Sis and I were quite impressed. It was fortunate we had reservations, because the place was packed for a weekday lunchtime crowd.

I am amazed by the amount of food we ordered AND polished off. Sis wanted her favourite French toast (for lunch?) and I wanted something savoury so I ordered the marinara pasta. We also ordered the parma ham and cheese crepe.

I went “wow” when the French toast came. It looked and tasted absolutely delish. The salted caramel and chantilly cream combination was amazing. Definitely something I’ll order again in a heartbeat.

The pasta fared well too. It was cooked al dente with just the right sauce consistency. They were generous with the seafood and I loved the spicy kick in the sauce. Try it.

The crepe looked pretty and it was nice bursting the molten yolk in the centre. Tastewise I found it lacking, the ham was not flavourful and the crepe wasn’t outstanding. Would skip this the next time.

You know what they say about girls having a different stomach for desserts. It’s true. Both Sis and I were stuffed but we couldn’t resist ordering a cake each. At $9 each for the Antoinette and the Tart Cafe Caramel, the cakes were expensive. But they looked so pretty and tasted so good! I really liked the sea salt caramel of the Tart Café Caramel, but the Antoinette’s earl grey infused chocolate mousse and crumble, as well as the raspberry coulis (oohh it oozes when pierced) left a deeper impression.

Overall it was a lovely afternoon and quality time spent gorging with my dear Sis. Would I recommend this place? Most definitely.

Coffee Break

There's a new man in my life and he keeps me buzzing. Introducing Uncle James, the entrepreneurial owner of Coffee Break, a small corner stall on the second floor of Amoy Hawker Centre which attracts winding queues of caffeine-starved office types everyday.

My colleagues and I have been shamelessly going back for our daily fix ever since we discovered Coffee Break. There are many varieties of drinks to select from - you have the ice blended coffee/chocolate drinks, the flavoured coffees and for the caffeine-intolerant, a good selection of honey/lime, plum drinks etc. Starbucks this is not (thank goodness), but then again the prices here are unpretentious too.

My favourite (big cup) of hazelnut caffe is only $3. The pleasure I derive from sipping it is priceless. The coffee here is perfect - not too strong but adequately robust, not too milky but smooth and creamy. I also like how Uncle James always has a smile on his face, coffee made with love indeed! You'll need to be patient though, he's a one-man-show so the queue moves quite slowly. But trust me, it's worthwhile to wait for the perfect brew.

Buyan Russian Haute Cuisine and Caviar Bar

I’ve never been much of a vodka fan but when the opportunity came up to attend a vodka tasting event at Buyan Russian Haute Cuisine and Caviar Bar (wah quite a mouthful of a name), I jumped at it. Buyan has been on my to-go list for a while, and I was curious to see the vodkas which the Russians are so famous for.

We were a bit early for the tasting but this gave us a chance to mingle with Alex from citynomads, the bartender and the sommelier – all very nice and friendly people. That, plus the fact that they serve 45ml shots here instead of the regular 30ml shots - I think this could be my new favourite bar!

Whilst waiting, Alex initiated us to a rum shot (which he) called “Flirt”. Basically you take a wedge of lime, dip coffee powder on one side and cane sugar on the other, put it in your mouth, give it a good chew and down the shot of rum. Amazing! I’m not even a fan of rum but I wanted seconds *grin*

By the time the vodka tasting started, we were slightly buzzed so I decided it was time to sample some of the food. As mentioned by the earlier reviewer, the menu came on ipads and there were detailed desciptions and pictures, which made ordering easy. I decided on the Herring Under Fur Coat – a salad of chopped herrings mixed with potato and beet root, and doused with (was it mayo?) sauce. It was rather yummy, this dish and it went well with the shots of vodka.

We had 6 shots of vodka in all. The more memorable ones were the sibirskaya vodka from Siberia and this chilli-infused vodka name of which I can’t remember. I’m no vodka connoisseur but they definitely tasted smoother than the Smirnoff and absolut vodkas I was familiar with. Fortunately, to line our stomachs, they served up some traditional khachapuri (cheese baked with bread). Hot from the oven, this was gooey cheese goodness!

For dessert, I ordered the breaded baked apple. It was quite a novel idea – a whole apple baked into a crispy crust. It was quite tasty but the apple was a bit sour. The next time around I will order the blini pie instead.


I know it sounds excessive but we couldn’t leave Buyan without trying one of the finest Russian vodkas, the famed Beluga. At $45 a shot it was pricey but Ndee was in a happy mood (we all were) and he offered to buy the shots. I guess my vodka palate had really evolved throughout the night, because I could really taste the difference in the premium vodka – it was silky smooth, very subtle and elegant – well worth the hype (and $$$).

Surprisingly both Ndee and I only had mild hangovers the next day. Now I understand how the Russians can drink so much vodka – it’s not a myth, the good ones really don’t give bad hangovers! Anyway, I am definitely going back to Buyan to try out more of the food. And have another shot of “Flirt” *runs hands in glee*

Sabio Tapas Bar & Restaurant

We had an hour plus to spare before a vodka tasting event at Buyan Russian restaurant., so I figured it would be a good chance to check out Sabio, a relatively new Spanish joint just a few doors down from Buyan on Duxton Hill. I think it’s fantastic how they cleaned up this formerly dodgy area and the many interesting dining/wining destinations which have sprung up.



The décor of Sabio (picture below courtesy of Sabio Tapas Bar and Restaurant) was as authentic as Spanish bars come, I felt like I was back in Madrid! Long bar counter with plenty of side ledges to put drinks/tapas plates, nice mix of local and expat crowd, a buzz in the air that was befitting of a lazy Saturday evening.



The waiter promptly came to take our drink orders once we were seated. The drink list was fairly interesting with a respectable selection of Spanish sherries and wines. I decided on a dry amontillado sherry at $18 to start the night. Hmm, they were a bit stingy with the serving, not worth the price.

The huge leg of iberico belotta jamon (made from Iberian black pigs fed on acorns) they had at the counter looked very tempting but I recently had a jamon overdose so decided not to order that. It was a bit early for a full meal so we just ordered a sausage and cheese platter to nibble on. The platter wasn’t too bad but I was a tad disappointed it was so heavy on the chorizo and there were only 4 tiny silvers of queso.

After finishing my very tiny glass of sherry, I ordered a glass of albillo from Ribera del Duero at $16. It was not as good as I would have liked it to be but at least it was a decent serving. Ndee had a glass of red sangria which he said tasted like fruit punch.

Hmm, I would re-visit this place again to give the hot tapas menu a try, simply because I really liked the ambience. But I have this nagging feeling that they need to improve the food. It was also expensive, our bill for the above came up to $100.

Ndee said the face of the matador on the wall looked like that of the owner of the bar. If you do visit the place, let me know if you agree, haha.

Yoyogi Restaurant

The amount of sashimi I have been having is kinda an overkill but what the heck, I love my fatty chunks of raw fish and no, I am not sick of Japanese food (yet)!

Tonight’s fix was at Yoyogi, this Japanese joint along Mohammed Sultan Road which was recommended by my dinner date B. The reviews on hungrygowhere were not encouraging as they seemed to suggest the place was over-priced but I decided to check the place out anyway.


The sashimi moriwase platter wasn’t cheap at $88 but it did look pretty. There was a good variety of fish, but only 2-3 small slices of each –Fish Mart Sakuraya has spoilt me with their gianormous portions. Interestingly there was a “squid with roe” sashimi which had a really good bite and texture to it. It’s presented as the cross-section of a white squid and there’s white roe inside. I forgot to take pictures and I haven’t been able to google what is. If you know what it is PLEASE let me know..

The teriyaki cod and shioyaki salt we ordered was ok, nothing too challenging or impressive. I needed to get my carbo fix so I ordered a bowl of garlic fried rice to fill my stomach. Bad choice, it was dry and unflavorful. The two skewers of chicken we ordered were also mediocre, bland and a bit charred.

I’m usually very forgiving with my food reviews but $200 for the bit of food we had (including two bottles of biru) – very average tasting – was definitely not worth it. I’m sorry, but I am not going back.

Fish Mart Sakuraya Parkway Parade

It was moving day into the new Shoebox (affectionate name for my new apartment) and I was tired out from packing, moving, unpacking, and unpacking some more. To reward myself, I met up with fellow Katong Kia Kaisan for a nice celebratory dinner at Fish Mart Sakuraya Parkway Parade. "My treat", he said, “Order whatever you want”.

Uh oh. Those are dangerous words to tell me in a restaurant.

When we got there, I realised that Fish Mart Sakuraya had moved from a retail shop with just 3-4 seating tables, into a much bigger space with a proper seating area. They now have proper wait staff and a full menu comprising not just sushi and sashimi items, but also grilled and other cooked items – impressive! There was a queue on a Sunday night, but luckily, it moved pretty fast. Excellent, I was starved.

After we ordered some cooked items – cold salad tofu, edamame, inari sushi and grilled mentai salmon, we left our seats to pick out the sashimi at the counter. I’m not kidding when I say I went berserk over-ordering. Thick slab of kanpachi (yellowtail) please. Oh, and two thick slabs of maguro (tuna) and mekajiki (swordfish) too. Oh oh, and let’s not forget a generous serving of our favourite ohtoro (fattiest tuna)!

They weren’t big on presentation but I love how fresh, thickly sliced and creamy the sashimi was. Paired with a smooth bottle of junmai daiginjo, it was a hearty (I braved took responsibility for finishing up the copious amount of sashimi we ordered) and thoroughly enjoyable meal with a newly-discovered-old-time friend. Damage for all that food with a 750ml bottle of sake came up to $140 for the two of us, not the cheapest but it’s respectable, given the generous servings we had and how fresh they were.

Easties, lucky us, we know where to head for our sashimi fix *burp* Shiok to the max!

Wine Dinner at Shin Yeh

We paired german wines with Taiwanese food last night. Epiphany Wines had a Hans Flach wine dinner at Shin Yeh and oh man, the food and wines were really excellent value. Kudos to Irene from Epiphany for a fantastic night out, been so long since we last met and she was looking hot, that babe.

We started off with a combination platter of Homemade Taiwan Sausage, Roasted Mullet Fish Roe with Cuttlefish, Golden Mushrooms in Mustard Sauce, paired with a Ravensburg Muller Thurgau Kabinett halbtrocken 2003. The second and third dish were the Braised Shark’s Fin soup and the Steamed Sliced Cod with Superior Soya Sauce, paired with a Ravensburg Silvaner Kabinett 2003.

I didn’t like the fish roe with cuttlefish combination, it was way too fishy. But the shark’s fin soup was really yummy (apologize to those with ethical issues here) and the cod was silky smooth - shiok. This was my first time coming across the Müller-Thurgau and Silvaner grapes, I felt a bit suaku. The muller-thurgau grape is apparently the second most widely planted grape in Germany, after the Riesling grape. Silvaner, is an old variety that once was the most important grape in Germany. Interesting, I liked how light the two wines were.

Next up were the “heavier” dishes. I loved the Crisp-fried Prawn Rolls with Yam Paste – crispy indeed and very fragrant and well-executed. The highlight of the meal was the 脆皮如歌, Crispy Roasted Pigeon. It was EXCELLENT. Not as good as the Shatin Pigeon in Hong Kong, but possibly the best I have had in Singapore. We had these two dishes with some red wines various friends had generously brought to share at dinner – some very nice pinots there, thank you.

The meal ended up with a hearty bowl of Taiwanese-style Beef Noodles, nothing like a hot bowl of beef broth to make me smile. “You have a very healthy appetite”, Paul commented, as I slurped the bowl clean. “Thank you” I replied, grinning widely.

For dessert, we had Sweetened Almond Jelly with Peach in Syrup. This was interesting, the almond jelly was textured and chewy! I rather liked this twist. We ended the meal with two Rieslings - Spatlese 2005 and Auslese 2004, and a Scheurebe Auslese 2005. Yum. Sweet/dessert wines can do no wrong.

The dinner was priced at $90++ per person but we had a big group so it was $80++ per person.

I was quite intrigued with the shape of the bottles the wines came in - it reminded me of the bottles of X.O. my dad used to have. A quick google showed up some bits of trivia – the bottle is called a Bocksbeutel and it’s commonly used for wines from Franconia in Germany. The bottle is deliberately flattened for practical purposes, for example, to keep the bottle from rolling away on uneven ground.

Problem: In my semi-intoxicated state last night, I believed I purchased a few bottles of silvaner from Irene. Erm, how does one store these bottles in the wine fridge? *scratch head*

The Connoisseur Concerto (TCC) High Tea

My life has been pretty hectic of late, what with coordinating home renovations and juggling demands of work. On a social front I have also been keeping busy – plenty of meet-ups with friends old and new – it’s been fulfilling but TIRING.


So I decided to take time off for some good "Me" time. I have never been a big fan of high teas but I think TCC might have converted me. At ~$15++ for a high tea platter (inclusive of a drink), what’s not to love? It was a great 2 hours of me-time spent at the café, just sipping my iced latte, chilling out watching re-runs of SATC on my ipad.

Before I knew it, I had nibbled the high tea platter clean. It didn’t look like much but man was I stuffed! I especially loved the chocolate chip and raisin scones, served with cream and preserves – so soft and buttery – I relished every morsel. The savoury fried chicken (?) wrap was very tasty too, fresh and crunchy. I also polished off the mini chocolate cheesecake and the raspberry dessert in shotglass – sweet ending!

The location at Anchor Point was an oasis from the bustling crowds outside. It was busy but was not crowded, and service was prompt and attentive. Lucky me got a soft cushy sofa seat beside the window so it was a very pleasant afternoon indeed.

A Quickie

They were giving out these pamphlets outside the office. A quickie during lunch, anyone? I mean a nap (ah bu den!)

Not sure whether the idea will fly though. $36 for an hour ain't that much cheaper than my $50 hour-long massage which I can sleep like a baby right through. I wonder why they are charging the premium - expensive massage chairs? Sound-proof rooms? Can somebody go check this out and share your experience please?

Hummerstons

The Thirsty Thursday club comprising 2 overworked lawyers and 1 hyperactive tax professional convened last night. The venue: new restaurant Hummerstons at Robertson Walk. It was a very nice setting on the 2nd floor at Unity Street, above the (eerily quiet) no signboard seafood and overlooking the Robertson dining stretch of restaurants and bars. I loved the beautiful vintage re-upholstered chairs/tables and cool bistro vibes of the restaurant.

As professionals, it is good practice to keep meetings short and sweet, so we wasted no time in moving on to the first item on our agenda - ordering a bottle of wine to quench our Thursday thirst. Admittedly, I am a cheap drunk so my eyes immediately settled on one of the house reds, an argentinian malbec at $45 a pop. At this price point, it was quite palatable - peppery and spicy. Oh that first sip of wine was a warm hug down my throat!

Next item on the agenda was the food. Here, we zoomed in on the beef and foie gras poutine (french fries topped with emmental cheese, covered with brown gravy), the smoked duck quesadilla, as well as 2 items from the specials menu - the Norwegian salmon, and the chicken terrine with double brie cheese (this sounded too good to resist).

When the food came, we were bowled over by the fantastic presentation. This is my first appreciation of how visual presentation can whet one’s appetite to eat. Apologize for the pics which do not do the dishes justice. I think the presentation might have raised our expectations a notch too high though, because the taste of the food, albeit good, did not impress. The poutine stood its own, but the smoked duck quesadilla and chicken terrine were kind of lack-lustre. Luckily, the norwegian salmon was done very nicely, I loved how it was pink on the inside, and the cream (mushroom?) sauce complimented it perfectly.

We ended the meal with item 3 of the agenda, a bottle of montepulciano d'abruzzo ($51). It was an easy drinking Italian red with mildly sweet and soft tannins, a good one to end the meal.

The Thirsty Thursday club passed the motion that in spite of misses in some food items, Hummerstons was a good place to unwind and recuperate from a hard day at work. Oh, and of course, quench our thirst.