Hello All,
i just wanted to update everyone on my situation at this point in time. i'm no longer in sg, and i don't know how long i won't be doing food reviews for. i'm currently in china, travelling mostly around beijing and the shandong province for business, so i might not be updating much. been quite busy with work and it's not really cool to take food pictures with business associates. but anyway, if i do get to eat interesting things out for leisure, i'll be sure to try to update.
meanwhile, the best way to not have to keep coming back to post anything is to sign up with the newsletter, on the right column of my main page. just enter your email address and you'll receive updates when there are new posts. and if there aren't any, there won't be any spam/mail either!
anyway, before i left sg, i tried gunthers. it was really good. i never got the time to write about it, but i'd like to say that it's really good, maybe just a little bit below iggy's, but much cheaper ($195 at iggy's and $120 at gunther's). besides, gunther's has the most incredible apple pie/tart that you'll ever taste.
other than that, you've got to eat morton's molten lava cake. it's sooo good. i had it before i left. best ever.
wish me luck here in china. add me on facebook if you want. it's shaunlim@umich.edu
happy eating!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Saint Pierre
emmanuel stroobant. one of tv's most famous celebrity chefs. i'm sure most of you recognize his face from his uber cool "chef in black" series, where he takes local cuisine and gives it a fantastic personal, high end twist. from charsiew/roast pork to bak chor mee, this guy knows how to keep his readers glued to the tv (that plus the chicks, including my dinner date l, think he's like mega sexy). i keep saying it's because of his blond hair, just so i can console myself. i think i need to get me some of that. i am never going to bring another chick to this place again. they swoon over the chef more than their dinner date. NOT cool emmanuel. not cool.given that i was already annoyed (as aforementioned), i decided i was going to use it as an excuse to diss his food (insert evil conspiring thoughts here). but honestly, there wasn't really much i could diss about. i enjoyed it, at least definitely much more than jaan. i'd be hard pressed to say it's as good as iggy's, but it's definitely different. it has it's own french flair to it, and a slightly more personal, comforting touch as compared to iggy's. wine and dine 2009 gave it 2 stars (out of a max of 3), which in itself is very prestigious. additionally, they are the only restaurant in singapore to be accepted into the relais & chateaux fold in 2008. st pierre first opened in 2001, and it has seemed to doing just as well. the chef-owner is emmanuel, but the head chef who does the day to day cooking is paul frogatt. apparently emmanuel is there on most days to oversee the cooking, and he was that day. he came out and chatted for awhile with the guests during the course of the dinner.
the cheese tray - for the cheese supplement, you pick 3-4 different cheeses and they'll cut out a portion for your on the spot, served with mixed dried fruit, bread, and biscuits
l and i both got the menu degustation, which is $118 per person (compared to jaan at $240 and iggy's at $195). as usual, if you decide to have the degustation menu, the whole table needs to take it. in addition, we got one order of the foie gras supplement ($14), and one order of the cheese supplement ($15). both were excellent choices. the cheese supplement can definitely be shared by two people, whereas if you're really into foie gras, which l was not, you might want to consider getting one each. because it is really good.
foie gras supplement - served with caramelized green apples and port saucewe started off with a mushroom soup in a tiny tea cup. it was veryy good. the soup was thick and creamy, with the perfectly viscous consistency and very tantilising aromas. the standard amuse bouche of beef carparcio, salmon and ebi tempura. it was pretty good. after that came out the cherry soup with mousse. all were good.
next we had the tuna loin with tomato confit, black olive crumble, fresh green bean salad and tomato jelly. the tuna was soft and tender, but lacked the flair of the blue fin tuna at iggys. still good nonetheless though.
after that came the escargot with soft boiled egg and pea puree. this one was good. i thoroughly enjoyed this dish very much. the egg was cooked soft boiled so that the yolk was runny, and it went will with the foamy pea puree and perfectly cooked escargot. this was probably one of my favourite dishes of the night.
out next was a tiny tart, with foie gras and peach compote, with riesling jelly. l totally loved this, but i thought it was abit to sweet and i could hardly taste any foie gras. and way too small.
the foie gras supplement came next though (as pictured above), and wow was it good. the foie gras supplement that you get is actually the "foie gras classic" that you can order as a starter. the foie gras served with cameralized green apples and port sauce, along with the peach tart thingy at the side went together in perfect harmony. the foie gras is supposed to be their speciality here, and boy was it wonderful. for those foie gras fans out there, you need to get the supplement!
next out came the cod with razor clams. the cod was very soft and tender, and not flaky. very well cooked. the razor clams (like bamboo clams) came with butter and cheese smothered on top of it. delicious.
poached duck breast with marbles of mixed vegetables the mains were next. l had the duck breast, and i had the pork loin. the duck breast was very soft and tender. good restaurants have a way of doing duck breasts that makes it just taste so good. i have no idea how they do it without making it dry. l thought her duck breast was ok but i thought it was really good.
my pork loin was pretty good. not fantastic, but good nonetheless. pretty tender and still juicy, it was served fresh and without the complications of too many sauces or other ingredients.
out next was the cheese platter. probably the most fun dish of the night. he had a whole tray of cheese to choose from, and asked which ones we would like. we could get up to choices. i told him to get us 1 really strong one, which was actually kept in a cover because it smells so pungent, blue cheese (which was my fav) and two others that he recommended. all 4 were soft cheeses as that's what l and i both liked. i liked the blue cheese most. it was really nice, cheesy, pungent and salty. it went really well with the crackers that were provided. it came with a bunch of dried fruit and bread too. the portion was actually quite large for a degustation menu. we both enjoyed this tremendously.
last was the desserts. the first dessert was the meringue with strawberry marmalade and strawberry sorbet. all i can say was that it was insanely sweet. i don't have a huge sweet tooth, so this was way too sweet for me. but l does have a sweet tooth and even she thought it was way too sweet!
the second dessert and last course of the night was the iced cheese cake with tomato jam, white peach sorbet and maple syrup. it wasn't as sweet as the previous. but still really sweet. if you really like sweet stuff, you'll love the desserts here. but make sure you really really like it super sweet, because that's exactly what it was.
overall, i think the food is pretty good. i wouldn't say it's fantastic, but i think it's still very good. what really left an impression was the foie gras and the escargot. i defintely wouldn't mind coming back for the foie gras and some of the regular mains.
overall degustation menu score: 8/10
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Yoshimaru Ramen
yoshimaru is the latest ramen joint to hit the island. they have 2 main outlets, one at holland v and one at east coast parkway. given that i'm a ramen junkie, i needed to try this place even though i wasn't expecting much. the reviews weren't raving, and even if they were, i've been disappointed more than once by raving reviews of ramen. to be honest, i'm extremely particular about my ramen. really really particular. but i came with an open mind (and a hungry belly).
the place looks very clean and new. a medium sized joint that is very organized and neat. the cooks cook their ramen behind a glass panel and the staff is ample enough to provide for your needs, although it could be hard to communicate as most of them don't speak much english.
i ordered a bowl of traditional hakata ramen and chicken gyoza (because they don't have pork!). l had just eaten (actually we both did) so she didn't get anything. instead, she watched me eat while playing around with my blackberry. all these crazy snoopy chicks. actually all the ramen is pork bone based, but i wanted to try the traditional, basic one in order to provide a good judge of its standard.
the food came soon enough. on first sight, it looks pretty alright. the egg looks very appetizing and the soup is not as thick as i would like, but then again, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. the noodles came with mushrooms, leeks, seaweed, charsiew and one egg.
i first tasted the soup. in fact, i tasted it several times before i could put my hand on it's familiarity. i swore recognized that taste somewhere. i finally realized that the soup tasted like pre-mixed bovril. for those of you who don't know, bovril is this soup drink that comes in a little jar, and you mix a teaspoon of it with hot water to get nice salty soup. basically the soup here tastes like premix broth. the quality is not very good. it doesn't taste fresh at all. in fact, i would go as far to say that the soup of the take home ajisen ramen packets are better than this.
the noodles are thin and white. i believe they're home made or semi home-made, and they are very similar to that of marutama ramen. i don't fancy the noodles that much because they are too thin for my liking, which gives it less texture when you bite into it.
the charsiew is fatty, but not intramuscularly fatty, but more of a piece of meat with fat on the side. i wasn't impressed at all. almost all decent places have better charsiew than this. the egg was the only thing that was decent. the white was cooked soft with a very orange molten center. pretty good if you ask me. the yolk is still very soft.
the side order of gyoza came awhile later. i tried one of them and didn't enjoy it too much. it wasn't bad. it was just very average. the flour of the gyoza is a little too soft and slightly rubbery. the filling is made of chicken instead of pork and isn't generous at all. taste like some gyoza you can buy from the supermarket and make at home yourself.
to be honest, this place isn't flattering at all. it's not horrible, it's just horribly average. nothing special or fantastic to rave about. i guess if i were really craving ramen i might come here, since it opens till about 11 on weekends. but other than that, i see no need to waste calories on such mediocre food. (and money too, since you can get much better ramen for the same price).
but as always, try it for yourself and make a judgement. after all, food is about personal preference.
http://www.yoshimaruramen.com.sg/
the place looks very clean and new. a medium sized joint that is very organized and neat. the cooks cook their ramen behind a glass panel and the staff is ample enough to provide for your needs, although it could be hard to communicate as most of them don't speak much english.
i ordered a bowl of traditional hakata ramen and chicken gyoza (because they don't have pork!). l had just eaten (actually we both did) so she didn't get anything. instead, she watched me eat while playing around with my blackberry. all these crazy snoopy chicks. actually all the ramen is pork bone based, but i wanted to try the traditional, basic one in order to provide a good judge of its standard.
the food came soon enough. on first sight, it looks pretty alright. the egg looks very appetizing and the soup is not as thick as i would like, but then again, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. the noodles came with mushrooms, leeks, seaweed, charsiew and one egg.
i first tasted the soup. in fact, i tasted it several times before i could put my hand on it's familiarity. i swore recognized that taste somewhere. i finally realized that the soup tasted like pre-mixed bovril. for those of you who don't know, bovril is this soup drink that comes in a little jar, and you mix a teaspoon of it with hot water to get nice salty soup. basically the soup here tastes like premix broth. the quality is not very good. it doesn't taste fresh at all. in fact, i would go as far to say that the soup of the take home ajisen ramen packets are better than this.
the noodles are thin and white. i believe they're home made or semi home-made, and they are very similar to that of marutama ramen. i don't fancy the noodles that much because they are too thin for my liking, which gives it less texture when you bite into it.
the charsiew is fatty, but not intramuscularly fatty, but more of a piece of meat with fat on the side. i wasn't impressed at all. almost all decent places have better charsiew than this. the egg was the only thing that was decent. the white was cooked soft with a very orange molten center. pretty good if you ask me. the yolk is still very soft.
the side order of gyoza came awhile later. i tried one of them and didn't enjoy it too much. it wasn't bad. it was just very average. the flour of the gyoza is a little too soft and slightly rubbery. the filling is made of chicken instead of pork and isn't generous at all. taste like some gyoza you can buy from the supermarket and make at home yourself.
to be honest, this place isn't flattering at all. it's not horrible, it's just horribly average. nothing special or fantastic to rave about. i guess if i were really craving ramen i might come here, since it opens till about 11 on weekends. but other than that, i see no need to waste calories on such mediocre food. (and money too, since you can get much better ramen for the same price).
but as always, try it for yourself and make a judgement. after all, food is about personal preference.
http://www.yoshimaruramen.com.sg/
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Wonton Mee Goodness - Chomp Chomp
if there's something that i really love about singapore - it's the food. (that and the fact that you don't have to pay capital gains tax when you sell stock). so, every singaporean has a few favorite local foods. it's interesting to see the difference in what people find to be their favourite dish in sg. and love asking people about what their favourite food is.
you have the usual meepok, bak chor mee, chicken rice, char kway teow, hokkien mee, etc etc. sometimes, you may find people who have a strange favourite food. the strangest i've come across was this guy who apparently told me that his favourite food was pigs trotter in black vinegar. now, this is not the regular "te kah" that you eat. this is the old chinese style of cooking it, with BLACK VINEGAR. now that is some pungent stuff.
regardless, if there's one thing that i really like, it's wonton mee. (okay that and bak chor mee). to be honest, it's not easy to find a good wonton mee. i've had several that were supposed to be good, but they never really tickled my fancy all too much. i'm really anal retentive about my wonton noodles (d will tell you i'm anal retentive fullstop). i need it to be just right. the noodles need to be of perfect al-denteness, not too thick and not too thin. the charsiew has to be lean and coated with a nice sweet sauce, sliced not too thinly to be unable to enjoy the texture and flavor and yet not too thickly until you feel like you're eating steak. at the same time, it needs to be soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outer ends. and the wontons have to be good, with just the right meat-to-flour ratio, and without the filling being overly soft and gooey or fatty.
i was about to give up hope on my quest for the perfect wonton noodles when one day d comes along and says: have you eaten the wonton mee at chomp chomp? i gave her a beffudled look on my face (aka the i'm retarded look) and said "huh?" then somewhere at the back of my head i somewhat recall that the wonton mee there is good. i go back again to my makansutra and BAM! there it was. i was right. it was good (i recently bought an extra copy of makansutra 2009 for my car so that i won't ever be lost without it again. everyone knows the horrors of being unable to find good food when you most need it. *shivers).
it was 5 chopstix (out of 6). in makansutra, there is no wanton mee stall that has received 6 choptix. so 5 is the best. i happened to try other one with 5 chopstix (eng's wanton mee) and was impressed, but not blown away. for those who are interested, eng's wonton mee serves really al-dente noodles that are slightly thin. it comes with thinly sliced pieces of charsiew and nicely cooked wonton's. but the main attraction for people is the chilli. it is spicy to the touch and stings.
now before i go on i'd like to briefly talk about a very important issue; sauce. there are mainly two types of sauce that make a dish. one is the traditional sauce type, and the other is the chilli type of sauce. when you eat food, say meepok/fishball noodles for example, you have stalls which sell ther fishball noodles with all the ingredients, then they put in their chilli as the main ingredient for the "sauce" of the noodles. without the chilli, the fishball noodles will just taste like fishball noodles. but there are other fishball noodles stalls have have good sauce. so what this means is they do not rely on the chilli itself to make a good meal. and this is what i truly admire. i'm not saying that they are better, all i'm saying is i greatly respect the ability of a chef to make a good dish WITHOUT using his chilli sauce as the main flavor for it.
so, to make a comparison, it's like eng's wonton mee and the chompchomp one. eng's wanton mee rely's on it's chilli sauce to make the dish, whereas the wanton mee at chompchomp tastes fantastic with or without chilli. the dark colored sauce makes a terribly good tasting wanton mee. in fact, i might go as far to say that the wanton mee might taste better without the chilli! having it chilli-less really allows you to get down into the bowl of noodles. you can really taste the combination of slightly sweet and salty flavors that go into the dish, coating the noodles perfectly.
this is what i really define as textbook wanton mee. good aldente noodles with delicious, meaty charsiew and the right sized wantons, all mixed together with a perfect sauce. it's something that i'm sure most of you have tried before, but because i was a late bloomer (in more ways than one), i was really able to appreciate this, after tasting all the half-hearted wanton noodles. wash it all down with one of the huge jugs of sugar cane juice with lemon, and there will only be one look on my face - satisfaction.
Swee Heng Wanton Noodles
20 Kensington Park
#01-12 Serangoon Gardens Food Centre, Chomp Chomp
5pm-12.45am
you have the usual meepok, bak chor mee, chicken rice, char kway teow, hokkien mee, etc etc. sometimes, you may find people who have a strange favourite food. the strangest i've come across was this guy who apparently told me that his favourite food was pigs trotter in black vinegar. now, this is not the regular "te kah" that you eat. this is the old chinese style of cooking it, with BLACK VINEGAR. now that is some pungent stuff.
regardless, if there's one thing that i really like, it's wonton mee. (okay that and bak chor mee). to be honest, it's not easy to find a good wonton mee. i've had several that were supposed to be good, but they never really tickled my fancy all too much. i'm really anal retentive about my wonton noodles (d will tell you i'm anal retentive fullstop). i need it to be just right. the noodles need to be of perfect al-denteness, not too thick and not too thin. the charsiew has to be lean and coated with a nice sweet sauce, sliced not too thinly to be unable to enjoy the texture and flavor and yet not too thickly until you feel like you're eating steak. at the same time, it needs to be soft on the inside and slightly crisp on the outer ends. and the wontons have to be good, with just the right meat-to-flour ratio, and without the filling being overly soft and gooey or fatty.
i was about to give up hope on my quest for the perfect wonton noodles when one day d comes along and says: have you eaten the wonton mee at chomp chomp? i gave her a beffudled look on my face (aka the i'm retarded look) and said "huh?" then somewhere at the back of my head i somewhat recall that the wonton mee there is good. i go back again to my makansutra and BAM! there it was. i was right. it was good (i recently bought an extra copy of makansutra 2009 for my car so that i won't ever be lost without it again. everyone knows the horrors of being unable to find good food when you most need it. *shivers).
it was 5 chopstix (out of 6). in makansutra, there is no wanton mee stall that has received 6 choptix. so 5 is the best. i happened to try other one with 5 chopstix (eng's wanton mee) and was impressed, but not blown away. for those who are interested, eng's wonton mee serves really al-dente noodles that are slightly thin. it comes with thinly sliced pieces of charsiew and nicely cooked wonton's. but the main attraction for people is the chilli. it is spicy to the touch and stings.
now before i go on i'd like to briefly talk about a very important issue; sauce. there are mainly two types of sauce that make a dish. one is the traditional sauce type, and the other is the chilli type of sauce. when you eat food, say meepok/fishball noodles for example, you have stalls which sell ther fishball noodles with all the ingredients, then they put in their chilli as the main ingredient for the "sauce" of the noodles. without the chilli, the fishball noodles will just taste like fishball noodles. but there are other fishball noodles stalls have have good sauce. so what this means is they do not rely on the chilli itself to make a good meal. and this is what i truly admire. i'm not saying that they are better, all i'm saying is i greatly respect the ability of a chef to make a good dish WITHOUT using his chilli sauce as the main flavor for it.
so, to make a comparison, it's like eng's wonton mee and the chompchomp one. eng's wanton mee rely's on it's chilli sauce to make the dish, whereas the wanton mee at chompchomp tastes fantastic with or without chilli. the dark colored sauce makes a terribly good tasting wanton mee. in fact, i might go as far to say that the wanton mee might taste better without the chilli! having it chilli-less really allows you to get down into the bowl of noodles. you can really taste the combination of slightly sweet and salty flavors that go into the dish, coating the noodles perfectly.
this is what i really define as textbook wanton mee. good aldente noodles with delicious, meaty charsiew and the right sized wantons, all mixed together with a perfect sauce. it's something that i'm sure most of you have tried before, but because i was a late bloomer (in more ways than one), i was really able to appreciate this, after tasting all the half-hearted wanton noodles. wash it all down with one of the huge jugs of sugar cane juice with lemon, and there will only be one look on my face - satisfaction.
Swee Heng Wanton Noodles
20 Kensington Park
#01-12 Serangoon Gardens Food Centre, Chomp Chomp
5pm-12.45am
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