Pigsty pigs

T (April '23) SCORE: OK, lah ORDER: Yoghurt if small, Tiramusu if large (comes with coffee, which is good to dip the ladyfinger biccies in) VALUE: Yes - like the downsized option My intention of never passing up a bingsu is real and so, since I was in the Bugis hood trying out / CSFresh , the man and I detoured a little to /IceLab. I remember when they used to be in Somerset, with a huge site, snowflake fountain and gorgeous cutlery. The new site is very different, very bistro cafe esque, with magazine cut outs slightly strangely pasted on the walls. The coffee was excellent and the bingsu was totally doable but without the distinct shavings I relish at / Coffeesmith . Kudos to them for having different sizes though. /IceLab

(April '23) SCORE: Suck it and see (horses for courses, worth trying out but maybe don't bring the boss or hot date the first time you go) ORDER: Soft Shell Crab + Chilli Crab sauce (Ocean Deli counter) | Siew Yoke and Roast Duck (Crystal Jade Counter) | Couldn't figure out how the wine worked VALUE: 100% One of the things I have always loved about Singapore is how our culture of value seeking allows people from all walks of life to access aspects of luxury, and, for those who don't have issues of access, to keep it real and genuinely interact with their countrymen on equal footing. Hawkers are an example of this, and it makes me a little sad how so many of the residents I meet these days understand and experience hawker culture (and, no. A Crazy Rich Asians tour of Newton is not experiencing it). One thing that does give me a skip in my step and a sense of hope - the rise of supermarket dining. Having spent a chunk of my twenties drinking Dead Arm over cha...

Y (April '23, written in April '23) SCORE: Suck it and see (horses for courses, worth trying out but maybe don't bring the boss or hot date the first time you go) ORDER: Any of the local swiss spirits (including a single malt!) VALUE: CHF 350 / 2 with alcohol pairing I found out about this place while looking for local places to try in Zürich. I was hoping for something more authentically Zürcher. Turned out, this place was LOCAL local. ie, nothing that's on their menu (including alcohol) comes from outside the country. They even try their best to restrict to the canton itself! I did not know this going in, but glad I didn't because that may have impacted my decision to come here to try it out. It is housed in an old flour mill, and the centerpiece in the dining room is a steam powered coal transporter from ages ago. You're welcomed in, and the friendly staff share with you the core concept, about how local everything is, and even one whole side of t...

T (April '23) SCORE: Could have been ORDER: Crab cakes | Kombucha (Forrest) | Wine VALUE: Great for the location-$80/head with drinks. I just wish they let you have FOC water with the wine I ordinarily try not to write about new openings outside of big name projects, as it feels unfair to compare places still finding their mojo. For /Eden restaurant at the Pullman Hotel, I'm going to gloss over training gaps (and also the general lack of service orientation amongst Singaporeans that a capacity constrained workforce is having to try to overcome) that manifested as poor service. Most of the industry is struggling to find staff, from hawkers to hotels , and many are having to train a new generation of potentially short-term front of house. Thomas, who may or may not be a restaurant manager, was doing a gallant job of holding things together and training on the fly, and seems to have built a well-rounded range of events and services to develop the restaurant and draw in ...

Y April 2023 SCORE: Tell 'yo friends. This is good enough to bring to people. ORDER: Caviar add on, Smokey negroni VALUE: 250 CHF / person including wine pairing, cocktails and caviar This summer trip to Europe I was catching up with a friend in Zurich. For context, by the time I had gotten to this tavern, I had been traveling for something like 22h on end (SIN-FRA, wait, FRA-ZRH by train) and was exhausted. This restaurant is located down the hill from the ETH campus, and walking up the cobblestoned alleys to the restaurant was just such a joy on a spring evening. Upon entering, it just evoked the word "tavern" in my mind because it was wood lined, cozy space with tables close to one another, and a myriad of different types of groups dining and having a wonderful evening. I had already pre-requested the tasting menu, with caviar and the wine pairing. Which was a good thing at that point, because I was definitely facing decision (and regular) fatigue by this...

First Visit T (April '23) SCORE: mmm...Nah. The food and experience are good but the value is poor. Suspect as the size of the restaurant doesn't allow negotiation on price ORDER: Sake VALUE: Poor-$770/head with drinks My second visit to /Fleurette unfortunately was akin to the first. The food was good and reasonably interesting, but not particularly memorable. Have done a dump of poorly taken photos underneath, and stand outs were the caviar snack, lamb, donabe (had two serves!) and the desserts. The white fish snack, hameibi somen, scallop, white asparagus and beef had negative notes - a lack of natural flavour, overly fishy, bitterness, while the first snack and chawanmushi were alright, but did not make an impression. My favourite touch was probably a bit of szechuanesque kick to the pumpkin puree served with the lamb. Much as I really want to love Fluerette, I just can't reconcile the experience to the price. Unlike, for example, Zen, the ingredients don...

T (Always) SCORE: Tell 'yo friends. This is good enough to bring to people. ORDER: Hairwash VALUE: Yes, amazing Had to share this for sheer randomness. Another quintessential /sg experience is the HDB hairwash. Typically found in the hair salons at HDB estates, the ~$15 experience involves a 40-60 min back+head massage, wash and blowdry. What does this have to do with pigging out? Well, let me introduce /NeedsSalon in Tanjong Pagar, which dramatically upped the Salon game with its value add of food and desserts to go with their salon experiences. Case in point, this surprisingly delicious air fried teriyaki cod. I've rarely had a blow dry while eating a (calorie intake worthy) meal that costs more than the service, and so wanted to shout this out asap. So random, so perfectly Singapore. /NeedsSalon

T (All the time) SCORE: Tell 'yo friends. This is good enough to bring to people. ORDER: Blueberry pandan VALUE: Yes, 100% One of the best foods in Singapore is undeniably HDB pandan waffles (with blueberry, in my case). This was a second pregnancy craving that saw me tour the country for the perfect blend of fragrance (forget Famous Amos, these guys are where the free smells are at), mochi chew and crunch on a bite. The winner for me was Levure Naturelle's (Tanjong Pangar MRT). I can offer no photos of the waffle in its folded green glory becauae I always bite into it before I take a picture. This is a no regrets carb + sugar + fat + nostalgia treat. As an aside, and to add credibility (or not) to my waffle lovingness, I nailed 8 1/2 waffles on the other end of the spectrum just last night. I love the waffle party at /Zen. Despite feeling about banana in food like many people do about pineapple on pizza, I can never get enough of the banana caramel they ser...

Y (April '23)  SCORE: Tell Yo friends HIGHLIGHTS: Podi Ghee Dosa VALUE: $10b for a filling meal  This is a place i stumbled upon while waiting for my folks to finish up at the perumal temple across the street 5-6 years ago. I have been going back ever since whenever i crave a good dosa.  The operation used to be run by three grannies. They would make you feel like you had walked in to their living room - they would offer you new veggies everytime a fresh batch came off the stove - and would essentially ensure that you left the restaurant pretty much as stuffed as though you'd gone to grandma's.  Needless to say the food was homely delicious. Much has changed in the past few years, and the grannies no longer run the place. The comforting hot sambar remains though and brings me back everytime.  Don't expect good service, as I'm convinced they get staff who haven't done FNB gigs. This time I had their ghee podi dosa and a sambar rice. The former is consistently go...

T (February '22, written in April '23) SCORE: Suck it and see (horses for courses, worth trying out but maybe don't bring the boss or hot date the first time you go) ORDER: can't remember in 2023 (why we have this blog!) but hmm perhaps Combat durian after VALUE: Les Amis Pricing Some places have a way of leaving an impression without leaving an impression. I remember /Fleurette being next to Combat Durian and imagining that I could almost smell the king of fruit lingering as I walked in. I was inordinately excited about this /locallegend being so proximate (a bit like the stall outside /orientalist when Reiko made those amazing Japanese meals). Also exciting was their non-alcoholic range (did I really just write such blasphamy?). They had... ... and some interesting seasonal sakes. I do remember embracing the beef add on. It was so pretty, we had to have 'em all. I enjoyed watching Chef do his thing too... ... and I do love a good unboxi...

Y (April '23)  SCORE:GOOD ENOUGH TO GO AGAIN HIGHLIGHTS: Paneer Tikka| Grilled Maitake | bone marrow Kulchette VALUE: $350/head for largest tasting menu without booze (don't remember how many courses) One of my oldest buddies from college stopped by this past week. He's a Singaporean now settled in the bay area. I wanted to bring him and his partner to a place that would be local food, but more ang moh palate friendly, and not the usuals as he's been in Singapore plenty of times. In the past my go to would have been Kin at Straits clan, however now that that space is used for global chef's show-and-tell, I find Revolver a good spot to bring foreigners to.. As S quite rightly put it, Revolver is brown people food... but for white people palates. Lucky for us, they still had a counter spot available using their handy dandy web tool, we were looking to dine on a random tuesday, after all. I decided to bring my buddy and his partner there for dinner. I went...