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Expectations. Setting and meeting them takes skills. Managing them requires greater skills.
So, what have you set for yourself today?
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An impromptu decision to dine out on a fine Sunday afternoon brought us to this little area that we like to go but is quite out of the way. We had heard about Everything with Fries for a while now and had been wanting to go down and have a go at it. Worried that it may be crowded out on a Sunday brunch timing, we called to make reservations but was told that they do not take them. Undaunted, we proceeded down, with a few places in mind as backup in case the queue is long.
To our surprise, we were given a table when we arrived at about 1215PM. We understood why they could not take reservations as there are limited seating for them and it is just no economical to do so. However it is always in my personal belief that exceptions need to be made for bigger groups. Oh well. That's just me perhaps.
Menu
The menu was quite extensive with enough choice and variety. You can see that the dessert list is almost as long as the mains and the drinks list. Ha. I have a liking for a short menu, especially for a small holding as it is a good indication that the chefs are focused and the dishes on offer are probably what they do best.
Lemonade
Usually we don't order drinks but the offer of a nice home-made lemonade ($2.90) on a sunny weekend afternoon is too enticing. With the right tint of sourness and perfect level of sweetness, it quenches our thirst and readies us for the meal ahead. A refreshing start indeed! (4.25/5)
One Egg Soup
We were advised by the waiting stuff that the food will take some time to prepare and recommended the One Egg Soup ($3.90) to start us off while waiting for the mains. Not sure if it was a marketing gimmick, but we had the intention to order the soup anyway, and so here we go. The soup is basically prepared using one egg. The egg yolk is used to thicken the wine infused chicken broth and the egg white souffled, and served with cream on top. The fusion of all the flavours was amazing! The egg white fried quickly in VERY hot oil was great and hit the spot with the broth. A very nice follow up to the lemonade indeed. (4.75/5)
Grilled Pork Chop
The main courses come with a choice of salad (colesaw or baby caesar) and a choice of fries (obviously). We ordered baby Caesar salad and curry fries for our grilled pork chops ($13.90). The pork chops were a bit dry and tough, although seasoned sufficiently. And the one piece serving definitely will not satisfy the hunger of a hungry man. The baby Caesar was a disappointment too with limited topping and a "lazy" sauce. Fries were ok. You cannot do too wrong with curry powder and salt. (3/5)
Breaded King Salmon
The breaded king salmon ($13.90) was the other 'signature' dish recommended by the waiting stuff. For th salmon, we had the colesaw and salt&vinegar fries to go with it. The colesaw was passable, tasted like one you would find at your coffeeshop western food stall while the fries were a bit too sour but still edible. Nothing too special to it though. The salmon however was very nicely done. Still moist on the inside and crispy on the outside, it came with this killer sauce that further acentuates the taste and freshness of the fish. Definitely better done than the grilled pork. (4/5)
We couldn't skip desserts could we? We were advised to reserve our choice of desserts as the more popular ones tend to run out very fast, like the nutella tarte that we wanted to order. We were recommended the hot banana butterscotch and the mille crepe and that's what we had.
Hot Banana Butterscotch
We find the banana cake ($5.90) too moist and too sweet. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, we found it strange. It is not the usual 'wow' feeling you get for ice cream and warm chocolate cake. It is just kinda weird. (3/5)
Mille Crepe (Nutella)
There is two mille crepe ($5.90) on offer. The vanilla and nutella. Having missed out on the nutella tarte, we naturally ordered the nutella version. The crepe layered with nutella crepe was quite special. With the right level of sweetness. It is like the western version of kueh lapis but less dense. On hindsight, the vanilla version may had tasted better. (4/5)
Overall a satisfactory meal although the mains were a bit disappointing. However, the prices are affordable and the whole set-up is nice and simple with great waiting staff who were decked out in pink, lending a certain youth energy to the place. Not a bad place to hang out on a weekend afternoon.
Everything with Fries
458 Joo Chiat Road
6345-5034
40 Lor Mambong
6463-3741
www.everythingwithfries.com
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Focus is the key. We only have 24hours of time a day, and that makes focus even more important. The key is, deciding what are they.
So, what's your focus for today?
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The trail blaze of Japanese food continue for us. This time round it's the food basement at Ion Orchard again. I think we only have Sushi Itacho left that we had yet savour. One day, we will. And I have a funny feeling that the day will come sooner than later.
And of course, by the name of the shop, it sells only Japanese curry dishes. We went for the economy size, having at first no way to telling how big the serving is, the safest way to go.
And of course how can we miss out our favourite pork tonkatsu? At economy size, ($12.50) it had a decent serving of Japanese rice and loads of cabbage. The curry is slightly darker than you would usually see. The curry is slightly more peppery than the norm and a tad sweeter, other than that the normal taste of Japanese curry is there. The pork cutlet was fried to perfection, still hot and juicy when served. (3.75/5)
We couldn't resist the sausages and toppings at just $3.50, it seemed like value for money. Thus the pork sausages were added with the chicken cutlet curry. Needless to say, the curry sauce used for the pork and the chicken (and we suspect the rest of the dish) is the same. The sausages was slightly disappointing as they were served cold. Not the hot, piping sausages that we were expecting. They are also slightly on the salty side and with wrinkled skin like what you see in the picture, they were probably pre-cooked and left out for too long. (3/5)
Service was prompt and the staff were very polite. It took about 10 minutes for the food to be served, which is a good sign as they prepare the cutlets fresh (and not the sausages.)
Overall a delight and I would say value for money meal. The smaller portion (healthy size) would probably satisfy me. If you are in your raging teens, you may want to try economy size and above.
Go Go Curry
Ion Orchard
#B4-55
6-509-4555
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Back to basics and to re-visit the reason for doing the switch. Sometimes we do lose our focus and forget why we are doing/done certain things or made some decisions. It is good that we reflect once in awhile, to reaffirm THAT decision and realign, if needed.
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And no, it is not a spelling mistake. More commonly known as nasi briyani here in Singapore, it is in fact an Indian dish. The word "nasi" meaning "rice" in Malay is an indication that we had indeed "localised" this particular delicay. There had been a small upstart on the popularity of "Dum Biryani", which acutally means that the rice and meat are in fact cooked together. The meat is actually slowly cooked and the flavours released directly into the rice. Painfully slow process, but if done properly, it will yield an unbeatable dish.
And unbeatable it is, the dum biryani I had here.
Located at the junction of Perak Road and Dunlop Road, the owner is the chef of the place and his wife runs the front on certain days. A rustic surrounding serving authentic food, what else can you ask for?
And the simplest form of advertisement and chef's creed is posted all over the interior of the restaurant. And yes, as they claim, no butter nor glee was used in the whole process of cooking the dum biryani. The flavour of the dish comes from the self mixed spices and of course the meat itself. It takes great confidence to do that, and being a health buff (and yet a foodie), it is a major plus for me!
They serve both chicken and mutton biryani ($6 for normal portion) and a double meat portion is also available. The long grains of basmati rice is visually stunning and the varied colours of the spices makes the dish expertly appertising. The meat looks slightly fried and very tasti-ly seasoned. It may be because that they do not use butter or ghee, it is not overly oily. The butter would probably elevated the spices to another level, but I am happy to settle for healthy but still tasty enough food. (4.5/5)
It is later on ieatishootipost website that I learnt that the owner actually buy the whole sheep and cook it's fare. So you are getting the meat from the same animal, resulting in a great consistency. Another plus point for me!
And I can't resist a lassi. The sweet lassi ($3) is has a nice texture and goes well with the biryani. Nothing that blew me away. (3/5) It will take some getting used to for first time lassi drinkers. Mango lassi for me anytime.
Overall, a good rustic experience and a good meal to boot. However it is slightly pricey at $9 spent in total. It will probably not be a regular haunt for me but when I am craving for (healthy) biryani, this will be the place I will go to. And plus, it is near my maternal grandparents' place, where I grew up. Nostalgia trumps everything.
Bismillah Biryani
50 Dunlop Street
93827937
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Truly a matter of "Your map is not the territory." It is interesting how certain personnel behave, for their own gains and put pressure on the vulnerable, or naive. And you have to salute those who stands up and be counted, and those who are willing to change their behaviour for the better of a fellow man, regardless of the potential personal loss or sacrifices. And all this make us human. It's a choice to be a decent one or not.
Better things will come. I am sure.
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This is our first visit to Canton-i after so many visits to Orchard Ion. I had a chance to visit the place with a group of friends but had to pass it on because of other commitments. So, it's the revenge of the pancakes this time round. With the missus of course.
The place was empy except for a tourist couple as we walked in at 515pm. Lucky though as their dim sum menu stops at 530pm. The place was delicately decorated with chinese motifs with colourful panels of chinese silk lying the walls. A bright fascade made the place looked big. Overall a very comfortable setting.
Braised peanut and the chilli paste. Something you have to taste. It's like the simplest dish but a good pre-cursor to the standards of the kitchen. The braised peanuts were nicely flavoured with five spice, a tad bit salty for my liking though (3.5/5). Chilli paste is as good as the one you can get at Imperial Palace or Crystal Jade (4/5). A good start to our dinner!
How can we miss out on the congee in a Cantonese restaurant? We ordered the sliced fish and meat congee($7.80). It came served with a separate plate of sliced dough fritters, a nice move for those who don't like the oily taste in the congee and for those who love their dough fritters crunchy to bite in with the congee. The rice was cooked to smooth perfection, almost silky. The cuts of cuttlefish was just the right size to bite into and the meat gave a very fresh taste to the congee. The fish was a little fishy though but overall a good tasting experience. (3.75/5)
Been awhile since my last post. I have to admit that my focus was shifted to somewhere else. Now that I have better aligned myself, it is down to building up our food escapades.
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Prego has got to be one of our favourite Italian restaurant. And it helps that we are using the Feed-At-Raffles card, courtesy of AMEX. Otherwise, we probably would not had visit as often.
This gotta qualify as one of our favourite breads served in restaurants. The bread is freshly baked and served with a cold salsa dip. We do prefer eating the warm bread with the classic extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar mix. Wonderful start to a meal. (4/5)
It is not very often that we order starters but we were feeling hungry and had a craving for good old Italian ham. The Parma Ham & Rock Melon starter ($27) came with a serving of rocket leaves and balsamic fig. Very interesting contrast as all tastes were covered. The sweet melon, savoury ham, bitter rocket and the sour-sweet balsamic fig jam, all come together gives varied layers of tastes. Intriguing. (4.5/5)
The missus ordered the Malloreddus Campidanese ($36) or the gnocchetti pasta served with pork sausage sauce. It tasted a tad too tangy for our taste-buds and the sausage slices were hardly present. This is a very boring dish. (2.5/5)
I ordered the Ravioli Ombrina E Carcio ($36) for myself. Basically it is ravioli with seabass and portobello sauce. Very creamy sauce and the strong taste of mushroom goes really well with the seafood inside the pasta. This comes in 3 big raviolis and probably not feel the stomach of a normal man. Even at half price, it is still not value for money, although it taste really good. (3.75/5)
Love the pizzas and lamb served at Prego on our previous visits. The tiramisu is also decent, though not spectacular.
Will definitely re-visit again... as long as I hold the 1-for-1 offer.
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