Farm to Table

We were on our way to Flor to get a strawberry cake for YJ birthday. Our initial intention of eating lunch at a small Japanese restaurant in that area was thwarted, when we found that we were out for so late a lunch the restaurant had already closed for the lunch session. So we were roaming around aimlessly looking for an alternative lunch place and the words "ALL-DAY BREAKFAST" caught our eye. So in to Farm to Table we went.

Because it was so late (about 2 plus pm maybe), we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves. The menu isn't huge, but enough selections to spoil us for choices already. After much deliberation, we settled for these: Truffle fries, Gourmet croissant, Breakfast plate, Chicken pie.

The truffle fries were amazing. Super fragrant from the truffle, nicely crisp. Even had some herbs tossed in. We love. So much more effort put in to these fries than those superficial ones that just dump on some truffle salt and leave it at that.

Truffle fries

J had the gourmet croissant. Scrambled eggs and a gourmet sausage sandwiched within a croissant. J liked it very much. The eggs were done nicely, the sausage beautifully criss-crossed and charred.

Gourmet croissant

FQ, as usual went for the breakfast plate, with his eggs scrambled. The creamy scrambled eggs and the crisp bacon were so ooooooh inducing. Plus the bacon wasn't too salty, a huge plus!

Breakfast plate with scrambled eggs

I went for the chicken pie, and I totally didn't regret it. It was soooooo yummy! The crust was browned beautifully. And the filling. Hmmm... Generous portions of chicken, and the seasoning was perfect. Warm, crusty pastry with the warm, oozy, yummy chicken filling. It was comfort food at its best. I think this is one of the best chicken pies I've eaten in Singapore. I love love love it. I can imagine how comforting it will be on a rainy day.

Chicken pie

Look at all the chicken spilling out of my pie!

J and FQ loved the pie too, after I gave them a mouthful each to sample. FQ was having a bad cough, so no chicken for him. But I gave him a piece with the gravy alone, and that was enough to make him love it. I now remember this joint as the place with the very nice chicken pie. Maybe I'm biased. I do love pies, but I don't eat a whole lot of them to make myself a world expert on pies. But really, this one really hits the spot for me. 

Birthday edition dinner: Equinox

Oh dear... I'm getting more and more behind at blogging. But ignoring my usual preference for chronological order, let me slot in Lynn's birthday dinner before I resume my catching up.

As you will know from the previous post, we went Shima for a teppanyaki buffet lunch. We must be completely mad. How did we think that we can handle a buffet lunch followed by the typical huge birthday dinners we always have? So after lunch, we tried to walk off as much of lunch as possible by shopping in Takashimaya. Then we rested in Breeks for a drink and to eat the Hello Kitty cake I baked for her (goodness!). Yes, it was a small cake. But it still took up space nonetheless. So you can imagine how 'not hungry' we are when we arrived at Equinox for dinner.

And still not knowing when to draw the line, we took FOUR types of breads to share between us... Anyhow, on with the food critique. We had onion and cheese bread, French baguette, black olive, and I couldn't catch the last one. These were served with seaweed, as well as, regular butter. We only liked the onion, the rest were pretty umimpressive. And both agreed that it was a pity the bread weren't warm.

Bread and butter

The bread was followed by a complimentary canapé. Baked raisin with mascarpone. It was sweet and savoury at the same time, though we couldn't quite place what the savoury portion is. Since I hate raisins, I only ate a few small raisin-free scoops before I pushed what's left to Lynn. It was nice and creamy.

Complimentary Canapé

And our madness continue. We were soooo tempted by soooo many items on the menu, we decided to go for THREE starters and one main course, and Lynn super craved mac and cheese so we ordered that too. Then after we painstakingly shortlisted three out of so many tempting starters and placed our orders, we were told that to utilize the Amex Platinum card discount (50% for two pax, yo!), we had to order two main courses. So... we actually placed order for one more main course! Remember, we weren't hungry!!

So here's our madness in detail. Pan seared foie gras. It wasn't as blissful as we wished for, but still was a nice huge piece. It was aromatic and livery and buttery, sure. Just wasn't melt-in-the-mouth enough.

Pan seared foie gras

Next up is my newest favourite cheese since Valentino. Burrata cheese. Theirs was served with a nice mixed salad. The cheese was creamy and yummy and I love love love it. Then came along our all time favourite. Lobster bisque. Theirs seems to have a little too much cognac. It was a little too bitter. But we dig the chunks of lobster in it.

Burrata cheese

Lobster bisque

Then came along our mains and the side. Black truffle mac n cheese. YUM! It was rich, it was velvety, it was fragrant with the aroma of truffle, it was everything you can ask for in a mac n cheese. Only problem? I didn't have the stomach space for something this rich. I managed two mouths, and Lynn picked through half of it, and I think that was the furthest we went. Poor mac n cheese, it really wasn't its fault.

Black truffle mac n cheese

The mains. The black cod was lovely. It was nicely done, delicate and milky, the way cod fish should be. But by now, my stomach was overflowing. Cod being an oily fish, I was unable to fully enjoy it. I felt sorry for the fish. Lynn helped me with half my piece. The sour pickled vegetables that were served with it was great at cutting my 'gelatness'.

Black cod

Finally, our beef. Wagyu ribeye steak. It wasn't very Wagyu in the sense it didn't have that strong aroma that usually comes with Wagyu. Moreover, it was a little too salty. But overall, we liked the char and the flavor. This I managed to finish without help from Lynn.

Wagyu ribeye steak

The service at Equinox is impeccable, as expected. The food is actually very nice too, if not for our incredibly full states, we would have enjoyed it more. I actually forgot to take picture of the complimentary slice of cake that the waitress brought us for Lynn's birthday celebration. That was only managed after a few cups of tea each, and needed more tea to wash it down. Price-wise, it's expected that Equinox pricing is pretty steep. Come on, where else in Singapore can you dine with that kind of view from the 71st floor? (Maybe Ku De Ta, but that's another story.) But thanks to Amex, that meal was made affordable for a special occasion. Still, I doubt it's the kind of place I will come without the Amex discount.

Equinox Restaurant

2 Stamford Road

Singapore 178882
Phone: +65 6837 3322
Email: reservations@equinoxcomplex.com

Chapter 55

This is a new western restaurant that opened up at what we called a jinxed location at Tiong Bahru. It's predecessors were mostly overpriced, lousy food and dodgy-ly decorated food places that we didn't bother giving a second chance. And all of them closed down for obvious reasons. So we were quite curious to see the renovations going on for Chapter 55. And even more excited to see the sign that says "one-for-one weekday lunch". =)

So on day 2 of opening, we went to check out the lunch. To be clear to readers, the one-for-one does not apply to the entire menu. But quite a decent selection of the menu falls under the one-for-one deal. And as expected, its the cheapest items that you get free. So if you chose 4 dishes, the 2 cheapest comes free. And the eligible items are not limited to main courses. It is applicable to some appetisers too. But bear in mind since appetisers are generally cheaper than main courses, if you want to be really 'worth it' about it, may not be the best option.

The truffle fries does not fall under the one-for-one, but we decided to order it anyway. They are pretty good fries! Crispy shoe string fries with fluffy centre, I loved them! Down side is the truffle oil are not mixed in very evenly, so you get that occasional fry that is uber fragrant, the rest are just regular very nice fries.

Truffle fries

Their pastas were served pretty quickly. The vongole smelled amazing when it arrived. E thoroughly enjoyed it. J found her mushroom Aglio Olio a tiny bit on the bland side, but she still liked it anyway.

Vongole

Mushroom aglio olio

The non pasta mains. Goodness. 30 minutes after ordering, no sign of FQ and my food! After several times badgering the waiter, we finally got our food a good 45-50 minutes after ordering. Bad! But I chalked it up as teething problem on the kitchen's part. It's day 2 of operation after all. My sea bass was very nicely done and the mash potato puree was an interesting touch.

Sea bass

We didn't really liked their coffee. It was too bitter, and J said that was over burnt coffee. Not that I know anything about coffee...

Latte

The most impressive thing about them? The gelato counter. Their flavors are interesting enough, and seems to change often enough for you to want to sample quite frequently. It's so nice to have a gelato place within walking distance from work for horribly hot days!

Gelato!

We went back on a separate occasion one week later, because S wanted to go. This time round I thought the kitchen should have sorted out its teething problem. And initially, I was impressed by my beef lasagne that arrived 10 minutes after ordering. But wait. We ordered TWO beef lasagne. And the second one didn't arrive til more than 30 minutes later. Guess the first one was a wrong delivery from another table. Oops. So needless to say, by the time the others' food arrived, I had long finished my lasagne. But timing aside, the lasagne IS very nice. The tomato sauce was perfect, only complain is the serving size is a little on the small side. NOT ENOUGH!!

Beef lasagne

We tried their buffalo wings this time round. Pretty good. Unfortunately my wing was slightly pink near the bone, something I feedback to the lady boss. She took the feedback very good-naturedly.

Buffalo wings

We also got fried calamari this time. Nice! The batter is not overly thick, and the squid cooked just right. Not too soft, not to chewy. Perfect.

Calamari

E tried the breaded pork ribs. It turned out just to be a deep fried pork cutlet. Nothing amazing. And if I didn't remember wrongly, it could do with a little more seasoning. But this was 5 months ago. I may have remembered wrongly. Hahaha

Breaded pork ribs

Overall I do like their food. It's the waiting times that is keeping me away. JK have been back twice for their dinner now, and both his wife and him loved it. He swears by their pizzas, which I haven't try. Maybe 5 months on, their kitchen speed have improved. Maybe it's time to give them another chance one fine day. For now, I'm quite happy to stop by occasionally for gelato. =D They're always quite full when I drop by, so I think this joint is here to stay and break that chain of 'unlucky' eateries to occupy that 'cursed' space. 

Chapter 55

55 Tiong Bahru Road, #01-37,
Singapore
Tel: 6221 2219

The Dough Shoppe

This new sandwich joint opened recently, and we saw it when we walked pass to go to another place for lunch. J subsequently told us she had tried it, and the sandwiches were nice, and the set lunch is pretty worth it. So one fine day, JK, FQ and me went to try it out. The set lunch is $10.90 for a sandwich with side salad or chips, a soup of the day, and a drink. Considering some of the sandwiches cost as much as $10, the set meal is definitely a good deal.

JK went for the pulled pork ciabatta. He loved it! The pulled pork was flavourful and juicy (look at the dots of juices that escaped). Their ciabatta was home made, and had the right soft, chewy texture, without the annoying, overwhelming layer of flour that some ciabatta have on their surface (for some unknown reason). He opted to have them with chips. Those were black pepper chips, which I spied from subsequent visits to be Kettle's.

Pulled pork ciabatta

As for me, the beef fan, I went for the corned beef. I have tried their multi-cereal bread before when J bought it for my breakfast once. So I opted to swap the ciabatta (because I haven't tried their ciabatta then and was expecting the powdery ones) for the multi-cereal bread. The sandwich contain a pretty sizeable portion of corned beef, topped with a nicely fried egg. Add all the veggies in, it makes for a juicy and tasty package. Best thing is, the corned beef isn't too salty, which suits my palate to a T. I had this with a side salad that was drizzled lightly with a balsamic vinaigrette.

Corned beef sandwich, with ciabatta changed to multi-cereal bread

View of the beef and egg

We tried their truffle fries. The fries themselves are nice thick cut fries. However, I found the truffle flavor pretty weak, so I would recommend just getting regular fries if you're here.

Truffle fries

FQ, our breakfast king, went for the DIY breakfast platter. No set meal for this, but since he's not exactly a huge beverage drinker, it works fine for him. He chose scrambled eggs and pork sausage for his platter. This platter was served with a bread basket with 3 breads: a multi-cereal, a cranberry walnut bread, and a rainbow colored bread of some sorts that I can't quite figure out. The most interesting thing about the platter is the pork sausage. It came split down the centre, which meant there was more charred surface. FQ usually de-case his sausages, but in this case, the case wasn't so tough that he actually didn't mind it and finished the entire sausage. He loved the eggs (Of course. He love eggs no matter where.). The baked potatoes were nice too! He couldn't actually finish his bread basket, and the staff very kindly gave us a paper bag for him to take away the last piece of bread for his tea break!

DIY breakfast platter with scrambled egg and pork sausage

We've been back a few times since. And J also occasionally buy bread or sandwiches from them for our breakfast. We love their breads and sandwiches. Did I mention they make a decent chocolate cake too? I have yet to try their signature red velvet cake because they rarely have a whole cake available on the days I have sudden needs to buy birthday cakes for the lab.


The Dough Shoppe
61 Kampong Bahru Rd
#01-01 Singapore 169368
Tel:6423 9936
enquiry@thedoughshoppe.com

Platypus Lobster Shack

It was E's birthday celebration, well, much belated. She didn't have any craving in particular, and S's friend has a share in this lobster roll joint, so we decided, why not? It turned out to be restaurant/bar kind of joint, and E usually disliked noisy places. So with the loud music and all, she was getting a headache. But since we had already made reservations, we decided to just quickly eat and go elsewhere to chat.

So as the name suggests, this place specializes in.... Lobster! Mainly East-Coast style lobster rolls. But even their non lobster rolls items have a lobster theme. That said, they do have a few non seafood items if you have friends, like me, who are allergic to seafood but would love to just come here with others who love seafood. There are things worth coming for here, we'll see.

We ordered a urchin and lobster bisque to share. I tot the urchin was just going to be in the name, but no, you do get a faint taste of the urchin in the creamy soup. It lends a very Japanese touch to an otherwise very Western soup. Interesting fushion, I like!

Urchin and lobster bisque

We also ordered a starter size Crustacean Bowl to share. With Uni creme, poached lobster, some rice, and a ton of other seasonings that are again, very Japanese in nature. A little reminiscent of salmon roe cream (mentai) with cheese. Rich, seafoody, fresh, and yummy.

Crustacean bowl

Lobster roll! I ordered the Piquant Garlic lobster roll, which doesn't have mayo. Trying to make some efforts at cutting down on my calories. Anyway it is seasoned with lemon marinated garlic. All lobster rolls are served on a tray, with a fresh salad on one side, and truffled chips on the other. The chips are nice!! That's what I meant by the non-seafood people have something worth coming for. Although a tad oily, but that's only because it's home made chips. The truffle flavour is strong. The lobster rolls are yummy too. The lobster was sweet and juicy, nicely done. The bread was soft and fluffy, just the tiniest bit toasted to give it a nice soft crust. But I think, I will not try to act clever and go mayo-less again. Lobster roll without mayo tastes... lacking. Hahahaha!!

Piquant garlic lobster roll

Zoom in to the roll and chips

Actually the serving isn't huge. I mean, it's a lobster roll, so you can't be expecting huge portions. From their website they claim that each roll contains the meat of a 4-500g lobster. I just discovered that they have a Platypus Restaurant at Bugis Junction which serves pasta and such on top of lobster rolls. Maybe that's a better option for more variety, especially for the non-seafood people. But I spotted mac and cheese and a duck roll in Lobster Shack that looks friendly enough. May just bring FQ there yet. 

Platypus Lobster Shack

China Square

3 Pickering Street
Nankin Row #01-31

Singapore 048660
Tel: 6438 7961

Toby's - The Dessert Asylum

We happened to be in the far east (Marine Parade) to attend a wake, and decided to hunt for dinner somewhere nearby. I suggested Parkway Parade since it was nearby, and in no time, we had parked and started looking for dinner places. I did scan the website on the ride there to try to find suitable eating places. Hubby rejected most of those I suggested, but he spotted Toby's bright signage from from far away and dragged me over to check it out. Turns out the menu seems pretty alright, something I wasn't able to tell from it's name on the website. I honestly thought it was just a dessert place.

The menu is actually quite playful with cartoons all over, and somehow a little reminiscent of NYDC's format and variety. I was actually tempted by many items ranging from pasta to pizza to pies. I finally decided on what I want, and added on a set meal. The set meal came with a soup of the day, which in this case, was a mushroom soup. Portion wasn't huge, but its nice to see a non-campbell mushroom soup, served with a super well toasted slice of bread (which really, is more like a cookie given how toasted it is.).

Mushroom soup

My final decision was the beef lasagne, which for some reason was served with a buttered toast on it. The toast was totally out of place, but I dutifully ate it before digging into the pasta. The pasta is actually pretty alright. The sauce well flavoured, the pasta cooked right, the whole combination is pretty decent.

Beef lasagne

Hubby was hungry and straight up ordered a pizza and a pasta. The mushroom and spinach pizza had a generous scatter of spinach leaves and toasted almonds. I liked the pizza, and helped eat one, maybe two slices. That's because he was too full from his pasta and couldn't finish the pizza. There was something he didn't quite like in the vegetarian spaghetti but I can't remember what it is. Oh! I think it was the greens in the pasta. I was pretty sure they were spinach but he said they tasted weird and left them all behind.

Mushroom and spinach pizza

Vegetarian spaghetti

Ironically, we had no space for desserts. The food isn't too bad, but wasn't so amazing that I will drive all the way back to the east for it. But if I happen to be in the locality, I will probably want to return to try their desserts.

Toby's - The Dessert Asylum
80 Marine Parade Road, 

#02-68/69/70 

Parkway Parade
Singapore 449269
+65 6346 2435
enquiry@tobys.com.sg

Feedlot Steakhouse

It was post-gym, we had steak cravings, it's the night before my birthday, sooo... we thought we'll eat "better". We had came across Feedlot Steakhouse on those 'best steak in Singapore' lists, so we thought we'll give it a try. It took me a two drives pass it to find the entrance into its carpark, so do take note to turn into the left side of that road because the carpark entrance is right after the turn, there's no time to make a filter to the left after you have turn.

Post gym we are alway ravenous, and always welcome something warm. So mushroom soup sounded lovely. And it was served in these super pretty bowls! Pretty bowls aside, the soup was very nice!! Fragrant and truffly and smooth. Totally hits the spot.

Cream of mushroom with truffle

We requested that everything else be served at the same time, rather than starters first. First to reach, our Black Angus Ribeye steak, served with bordelaise sauce. We asked for sea salt and Lynn loved it. The beef was good, and well flavoured. I hardly ever need extra salt for my steaks most of the time, unless the salt is flavoured. But Lynn loves her beef with sea salt, and she especially loved it this time round.

Black Angus Ribeye

For sides we ordered truffle fries. Although it looked impressive with the black truffle bits, it wasn't super truffly. Yes, I know the strong truffle taste of truffle oils are just factory synthetic flavouring. Call me a sucker if you will but I love that factory synthetic flavouring. Lol...

Truffle fries

Our 'starter' that we requested be served alongside was a pan seared foie gras. It was very flavourful, but wasn't very melt-in-the-mouth. We enjoyed it nonetheless. How far wrong can foie gras go right?

Pan seared foie gras

The second main we ordered was the Iberian pork chop. I... actually cannot remember much about it. So I'm guessing it wasn't super impressive, nor was it bad. I guess it just was normal.

Iberian pork chop

We actually liked the atmosphere, service and food at Feedlot. They subsequently had a lobster mac n cheese promo that Lynn wanted to come for but we couldn't find the time. But sure, I'll love to come back for more mushroom soup and beef please!

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

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