Ah Bong's Italian

Tiong Bahru is a very interesting place nowadays. Home to the old school Tiong Bahru Market and small Chinese restaurants and the famed Tiong Bahru Bak Kut Teh. Here in Tiong Bahru you still can find small eateries known as 小吃店, which are dying off in Singapore because the government have limited granting licenses for these eateries due to hygiene reasons. This small shops supposedly don't have the piping systems in place for food processes.

In the midst of all these old shop houses, Tiong Bahru also boast many hipster cafes such as Tiong Bahru Bakery and Dripz. And one particular 小吃店 goes through a transformation. Small eating house with a few hawker stalls by day, it transforms into a pizza parlour by night known as Two-Face Pizza. But today I'm not talking about the transformation nor the pizza. I'm focusing on one of the hawker stalls. In the face of dying traditions, a young fella stepped in and went to set up a hawker business. What's more interesting is, he is not selling traditional hawker food. He is selling Italian food, in a hawker fashion.

For Italian food, the prices weren't expensive. $6-7 for a plate of pasta. The menu changes daily, so check back often, or check their facebook. On the day I went, I had the Chorizo bolognaise. It was served in a traditional 'chicken' plate. Cute. The serving isn't huge, but with the minced chorizo and peas, it was good enough for me. Our intern had the aglio olio which only had some mushrooms. She's, um, still growing I presume, and found the portion not quite enough. The young chef came over and chatted with us and asked how the food is. When we feedback on the portion, he said that was 150g pasta each. I'm presuming he meant cooked weight. For me, I liked my bolognaise. The pasta was perfectly al dente, the sauce rich and delicious. Maaaybe a little more will be nice.

Chorizo bolognaise

Because those who had the aglio olio were so unsatisfied, we ordered the Expresso creme brulee. It's actually not bad. The coffee flavor wasn't overpowering, and the sugar crust was beautifully crunchy. Although I did find the custard not quite rich enough. It felt a little... thin...

Expresso Creme brulee

Broke through the beautiful sugar crust

I do admire the guy for braving the hawker industry with real 'ang moh' food. Not the usual 'western food' you see in kopitiams that serves asian flavored chicken chops with fries and call that western. And to do all that in his tiny stall area, I'm impressed. To tell the truth, we haven't really gone back there for lunch. The portion is probably one deterrent. The space constraint is another. The eating house doesn't have a whole lot of seats and can get quite warm in the afternoon.

Ah Bong's Italian

56 Eng Hoon St, #01-46
Singapore
Tel: 9650 6194

Tunglok Signatures (Vivocity)

Ok... Here's to catching up... *flex fingers*

It was my aunt's birthday, and the family decided we'll have dinner at Tunglok Signatures. I'm guessing the decision was made based on cousin's Amex discount. Back then I hadn't applied for that card yet. So for our 20 pax, that was a 20% discount under the Palate membership. I wasn't part of the decision making team for the food ordering. I simply go and sit and eat. But I believe we ordered some kind of set menu, as is the norm for my family.

Tunglok Signatures does serve up some 'attas' items that aren't found in the Tunglok Seafood restaurants. It's like a levelled up Tunglok if you will. But if you're looking for the usual favourites, they still carry quite a fair bit of those in their menu. The sharks fin soup was served in individual portions. I'm not a huge advocate of sharks fin, and will never order it by myself. But the family loves it, and I think it was part of the set menu. Their's was made more spectacular by the little sprinkling of flammable substance at the side of the bowl. Immediately prior to serving it to each guest, the waitress light up the substance. So each guest get a piping hot bowl of sharks fin with a little not-so-useful-at-keeping-the-soup-hot, more-for-asthetics flame at the side of the bowl. It turned out to be a little dangerous for the kiddos and we had to turn each plate until the flame is away from each kid. Fireworks aside, the soup was rich, warm and yummy.

Sharks fin soup

Next atas item. Bamboo clams. I looooovvvvee bamboo clams. This is an advance order item, something I learnt on a second visit when it wasn't available by the time I arrived at the restaurant. Steamed with a generous sprinkling of garlic and glass noodles and yummy sauce. I loved loved loved it. I think I even managed to snag an extra because there was only 9 pax on our table, not counting my 3 year old nephew.

Bamboo clam

Next is the fish. This is the most deconstructed fish I've ever seen in a Chinese restaurant. Garoupa, served two ways. One side is little nuggets of garoupa deep fried into golden perfection. Those were GOOD. We even managed to cheat one nephew into thinking it was chicken nugget and he ate them. He NEVER eats fish. The other side are fish slices stir fried with a variety of vegetables such as asparagus and peppers. I love these veggies, so that side suits me fine too. Overall, I like this dish.

Garoupa served two ways

I probably missed a whole lot of dishes in my photos, because I'm sure we ate more dishes than these. But really, those three were my favourites. The noodle actually wasn't amazing, but it was served so prettily that it warranted a photo. Bamboo pith noodle soup. The broth is sadly one dimensional, the noodles unimpressive, and shrimps soaked in soda to an artificial crunch. I hate 'fake' shrimps.

Bamboo pith noodle soup

The most amazing thing about Tunglok Signatures, is actually the birthday service. We brought our own cake. But the cake was displayed beautifully on this huuuge plate, with meaningful writings on it. And to amaze us further, a few of the waitresses actually came to our table, and read that entire writing out in celebration for the birthday girl. And the next amazing thing was served alongside our cake. Their longevity buns. Instead of the usual pink lotus paste buns served at the beginning of the meal, theirs were yellow buns served at the end. Which puzzled me. Until I bit into one. OMG!! IT WAS 流沙包 (salted egg yolk custard bun)!!!! AND ITS VERY VERY YUMMY!!! The older folks weren't keen on it, and the helpers were too full to eat it. I managed to conquer and wolfed down 4 all by myself. YUM YUM YUM!!

Cake presentation and longevity buns

I was duly impressed. Both by their food and their service. And I brought my hubby's family back to celebrate my FIL's birthday subsequently. Lynn brought her mum there for birthday celebration after my rave reviews too. And she, too, was very impressed. And now that I get the Amex card, Lynn and I can go and eat at 50% off. I think we'll be frequenting this place alot alot of times...


Tunglok Signatures
VivoCity #01-57
1 HarbourFront Walk
Singapore 098585
Tel : +65 6376 9555

The Wine Company (Sentosa Boardwalk)

I've spotted this joint a few times walking in and out of Sentosa from Vivocity. It faces the sea, and looked like a nice place to chill with the hubby during sunset. So one fine day, we decided we'll go 'pak tor' there. Unfortunately, we chose a slightly overcast day and the hubby decided that sitting outdoor was risky. Moreover it was one of those incredibly humid August evening and the indoor air-conditioning was welcomed.

First up, truffle fries. I like that theirs were slightly more thick cut than the usual shoe string fries. I like my fries thick and fluffy, which was how theirs was. However, theirs were a little oily, and there wasn't a lot of truffle flavor.

Truffle fries

Lynn told me their chicken liver pate was very good. I could find it nowhere in the menu, except as one of the options for the bruschetta. So we ordered the tomato and the mushroom for the hubby, while I get the chicken liver pate. Indeed, their pate was creamy, livery and yummy. I just wished that it was a dish by itself.

Bruschetta - roma tomatoes, mushroom and brie, chicken liver pate

Remembering the fabulous crab pasta from Riccioti, I ordered the crab spaghetti and was sorely disappointed. The pasta was too undercooked (mind you, I know al-dente. Theirs' was definitely undercooked) and the tomato sauce waaaaay too tangy. That said, they were very generous with the sweet crab meat. In the end I picked through to get all the crab, and gave up on the pasta and sauce.

Crab spaghetti

Hubby got the mushroom risotto. As he is usually not big on rich dishes, he enjoyed maybe the first three mouthfuls? Then he got sick and finished the rest without much comments. But risotto are always like that, very rich. So he typically never liked them.

Mushroom risotto

We didn't get any wine despite being in a Wine Company. Hubby wasn't in the mood for it. We also weren't impressed by the food. And being 1 of the only 2 tables in the restaurant was pretty awkward. I'm pretty sure we won't be back in the recent future. 

PS Cafe Petit (Tiong Bahru)

The plus point of working near Tiong Bahru is the access to all the little cafes that have sprung up in this recently hipster neighborhood. So for SH's farewell lunch, we thought we'll go to PS Cafe.

The Tiong Bahru branch of PS Cafe is the Petit version - meaning it only carries the takeaway menu. Nonetheless, we managed to secure ourselves a table. I've actually never tried any of the PS Cafe, but I've been told that their truffle fries are to-die-for. So, I ABSOLUTELY have to try the truffle fries! It was served in a nice little paper cone, and sprinkled generously with parmesan. The truffle flavor was strong without being overpowering (wait a minute, can truffle ever overpower? haaa). The fries were piping hot and crisp, the perfect vehicles for carrying the truffle goodness to my mouth.

Truffle fries

SH went for the All-day breakfast panini. Bacon, eggs and cheese sandwiched between beautifully toasted bread. Look at the cheeeese....

All-day breakfast panini

The beef bolognaise was quite normal. It was a good pasta, don't get me wrong. It just wasn't impressive. And somehow the takeaway format seems to take something away from it. But I've already known it's a takeaway menu so I can't complain.

Beef bolognaise

Given the small takeaway menu here, I don't think I'm in a position to judge the food. The fries were good, that's for sure. The other food were simple, mainly because they were meant to be eaten on the go. I think to be fair to PS Cafe, I need to go to a full-fledge restaurant before I can cast my judgement.

PS Cafe

No.41 Blk 78. Guan Chaun St, S 160078
Telephone / SMS: (+65) 9226 7088 for takeaway orders