Fine Cuts

We've actually tried Fine Cuts at the basement of Central years ago, at the start of our steak journey. We weren't impressed, but a subsequent walk pass made us realized 1) they have expanded, a good sign of good business, and 2) we saw Kobe-like beef on the menu. But before we could try it again, it closed down for renovations, and it was a few months before we could go and try it again.

Post renovation, it's now more a bistro than a restaurant. You place order at the counter and food is served to you. But it was pretty empty when we visited, so the staff was nice and came out to take our order. Turned out we couldn't find Kobe-like anything on the menu. The guy pointed to a wagyu ribeye and said that's the one. So we ordered that, plus another steak. I was having a chicken nugget moment, while Lynn was in a Campbell soup mood. Hey, we all have our processed junk food moments!

The soup was, like I said, Campbell's cream of chicken soup. So not much to be said about it. Same for the nuggets, which I didn't bother to snap. Regular juicy fried nuggets, to satisfy my crispy chicken craving.

The steaks were somewhat disappointing. They didn't have the wagyu aroma. Although they weren't bad steaks per se, they weren't satisfying our wagyu love. Sauce was so-so, and fries were regular fries.

We were less than satisfied with the meal, considering we came with high expectations for the Kobe-like beef. Given the lack of crowd, I'm suspecting a change of menu, probably for the worse. I doubt we'll be back. We actually enjoyed our post dinner desserts more at Squee upstairs, but I forgot photos for blogging.

Mai Zhi Su 麥之素

Because my hubby is a vegetarian, and because we stayed in Bishan for a few years, we frequented this joint. And still do. I found this place pretty much by entering 'vegetarian' and checking 'ang mo kio' in HungryGoWhere. Given how rare it is to find vegetarian places serving dinner (most vegetarian hawker stalls operate morning only), you can see why we always return here.

But that's not the main reason. Bishan area actually had a decent number of vegetarian places back then. But what brought us back is the quality of the food here. I love their rendition of sharks fin soup. Starchy soup with glass noodles and mock chicken etc, a dash of vinegar and pepper, and it's almost the real stuff minus the guilt of harming sharks. What's there not to love? 

Their nonya cod fish is also yummy. I know, it's funny when they 'speciate' the fish. Mock fish is mock fish, cod some more? But ignoring that, this is a nice spicy and sour dish. The mock fish used here is tender, not the usual tough ones. The gravy goes really well with rice. And ladies fingers (okra) with chilli gravy is really the best combination.

The hubby's fave - sambal kang kong. I prefer theirs to Zi Zai's, cause unlike the latter's, Mai Zhi Su's version doesn't come flooded in oil. 

We've also discovered and fell in love with their steamed tofu. Whole block of silky tofu covered in crunchy fried preserved turnip (cai po), flooded in a nice gravy, with broccoli on the side. Another dish that goes well with rice. I have yet to take a picture for this.

They also serve a good variety of one dish meals such as chicken rice, duck rice, macaroni soup, Ipoh hor fun etc. All reasonably priced and in the comfort of an air-conditioned setting.