Capricci : Hooked on the Pasta

The rush of disappointment made me forget about my hunger the moment I stepped into this dark dark restaurant.  The lighting in this place is near non-existence.  Of course, my photos turned out horrible and I thought this post on my first visit to Capricci will never make it to the cyberworld.  BUT, I love Capricci's tagliolini so much that I revisit this place countless times thereafter.  So it seem to be unnatural to not rave about it as my best pasta find of 2009 before the month of Jan 2010 ends!

The bread basket was good enough for me to eat more than a piece.  Like the herbs embedded within the chucky pieces of bread and balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip was good too!

Complimentary bread

We love bacon and decided to order prawn wrapped in bacon and chickpeas.  Again, I like the crunchy prawns and the chickpea puree went well with oily bacon.

Prawns wrapped with crispy pork belly on puree of chickpeas ($18)

Wow my tagliolini was simply fabulous.  The fish was not mushy at all, very fresh.  Saffron went very well with fish.  Zucchini was cooked just right retaining its sweetness and yet still have a bit of crunch.  Capricci served chili in oil with their pasta! Quite extraordinary in an Italian restaurant! I tried a bit with the pasta not wanting to spoil my wonderful pasta.  Must say chili gave another dimension but I will prefer to eat most on my plate without chili. EXCELLENT!

Tagliolini with grouper, zucchini and saffron sauce ($22)

My dining partner claimed that the paccheri was too saltish but I love the cheese in this!  Pasta was perfectly cooked and sausage bits were fragrant as well.  I do like the tagliolini more but this was good too! 

Paccheri with sausage, porcini mushroom and stracchino cheese ($22)

I guess desserts were not the strongest point of this relatively new restaurant.  The gelato was the only memorable part - smooth with a nice nice vanilla taste.  Nice, sweet ending to a meal.  Oh, if you like extra foamy coffee, you should try theirs.  A bit bitter and acidic but extremely foamy...

Profiteroles con Chantilly ($10)

Lava cake with vanilla ice-cream ($14)

Cappuccino ($5)  

Service at Capricci was impeccable with everyone from the chef to waiters tending to our needs.  They even have a valet service so that we can dine without worry. 

Capricci

27 Tanjong Pager Road

Singapore 088450

Tel: 62216761

Ippudo : Expectations...

I have long learnt that expectations are frightening.  Often things (be it relationships, ideals or even meals)  fall apart when expectations do not match.  I went to Ippudo with almost no expectations.  Floggers didn't rave about it, reviews were bland and friends slammed that place.  I...LOVE it.  Perhaps I always like rich food, perhaps I did not harbour any expectations.  The layer of oil on the soup, the fatty pork belly, the runny egg just did it.  I love Ippudo.  I love the new Mandarin Gallery.  

  Shiromaru, $15

Akamaru + Tamago, $17 

 

I repeat. Hot, rich, flavourful and oily broth, ramen with some bite, very fatty pork belly, chewy black fungus and a hearty sprinkle of spring onions.  Guess you either love it or hate it.

Ippudo Singapore

333A Orchard Road

#04-02/03/04 Mandarin Gallery

Singapore 238867

Tel: 62352797

Black : Love. Their. Dessert.

PUB building SP building TripleOneSomerset and I are old friends.  Their 17th floor swimming pool was not only a wonderful place to swim but offered a panoramic view of Orchard too.  More importantly, it was the pool which I mastered how to swim. With the pool no longer around, guess dining at Black will always come with a tinge of sadness no matter how great the food is. 

Banana Crumble, $7.  The best I ever eaten (not that I tried many banana crumbles before).  The crumble was extremely buttery and crust was very crispy without being too heavy.  Love the freshness of chunky banana pieces.  Love the light presence of rum to enhance the flavour.  Soft and crispy.  Love most things with juxtaposition of texture. 

With ice-cream, +$2. The dude at the counter recommended me the ice-cream and mumbled something when I asked for the brand.  I could not make anything out but he said it was great.  Excellent vanilla bean ice-cream.  Again, cold ice-cream and warm crumble.  Love the hot and cold juxtaposition. 

Latte, $5. Great with near zero acidic taste.  I am no big coffee drinker (bad bad gastric)  but once in awhile I like to torture myself.  This coffee is worth the pain! 

A quiet weekend morning at Black.  Kinda love the feeling of chilling out in a cafe alone.  Did it in Hong Kong a couple of weeks ago. Did it again this morning.

black @ Tripleone Somerset
111 Somerset Road
Tripleone Somerset #01-13
Singapore 238164

Update on 26 Jan 2010

Back at Black again.  This time round we tried the iced valrhona choc melt and green tea latte.  Iced choc melt tasted nutty, quite unique.  The iced version was rather frosty next time I will try the hot one to get the full richness of valrhona.  Take-away a valrhona banana cake too - it's quite light, a bit dry but still quite soft.  

Iced Valrhona Chocolate Melt

Green Tea Latte

Couldn't resist trying out my new camera today.  Looking at the photos quality think I have to work MUCH HARDER. 

Nam Sing Sharkfin and Birdnest Restaurant: Cheap and Chic Bangkok V

One of the oldest insitution along Yaowarat (Chinatown) which has deteriorated much since its heyday.  I never really like its sharkfin but this time round the sharkfin soup is even more starchy and dilute than before.  

Clayport Sharkfin, 300baht (S$12)

Beansprout and coriander

Spring Onion

My fave of the night will be the fried rice.  Heavy in wok-hei and crab meat.   Yums.  

Crabmeat and Prawn Fried Rice, 250baht (S$10)

Honestly, kang kong (the Thai menu usually use its English name -  morning glory) is good too.  Can tell that it was quickly stirred fried in super hot oil to achieve the crunchy texture and fresh taste.  

Sambal Kangkong, 100baht (S$4) 

Deep fried seabass was quite decent!  Just before we ordered, the chap was still swimming in the fish tank outside the restaurant.  Can't really go that wrong with fresh fried fish but i found the accompanying fried shallots and garlic bits a tad dry. 

Fried Sea Bass with Crispy Garlic and Ginger, 400baht (S$16)

Scallops were so so too, the taste of minced pork was a bit too heavy on palette. 

BBQ scallops, 400baht ($16)

Let's just say that my mum's birdnest beats this hands down anytime.  It was also rather tasteless in comparison to my last visit. 

Birdnest, 300baht (S$12)

 

Nam Sing 

Nam Sing was rather quiet while we were there and there were only 2 other tables of Singaporeans.  Guess this restaurant has seen much better days in the past. 

Nam Sing Birdnest and Sharkfin Restaurant 
39-47 Soi Texas,
Th Phadung Dao,
off Yaowarat Road, Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: (662) 2226292/2263628/2250089
Opening hours: 9.00am to 2.00am midnight

1 Caramel : Tinner after Brunch!

Was supposed to do the last entry on Bangkok but I am so happy with my tinner (ate tea/dinner because my wonderful colleague bought me super scrumptious fried carrot cake for brunch) today so MUST rave about it NOW.  A joyful tinner deserves a joyful blog entry.  Ha ha shall leave the rather bland review on Nam Sing to another day :)

Absolutely impressed by all these places specialising in desserts dishing out yummy mains these days.  First, it was Canele which made me cave into the carbo laden spicy crab pasta every now and then. Now, it is 1 Caramel whose mushroom soup so yummy to put any proper restaurant to shame.

  Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup with Country Bread ($8)

The mushroom soup came in a very cute little cappuccino cup which nicely preserved the warmth of the soup.  Choked full of mushroom bits but there was no rawish taste of mushrooms at all.  Very well-balanced soup with the right amount of creaminess and lots of bite to it.  The toasted walnut bread which accompanied the soup is good too. Anyway, walnut is good brain food because it is shaped like a brain??!! 

Peanut Butter and Cheese Tart ($6.90)

Heard that this peanut butter cheese tart is one of the best dessert here.  Nothing really beats the heartiness of creamy salty peanut butter cream and sweet hazelnut praline on a crunchy base.  Great especially because I was in a fabulous mood after the soup :)

Love the decor of the place, clean lines with white chairs and caramel-hue long sofa.  Great food, great ambience, great company, great brunch and great tinner. What else can I ask for?

1 Caramel

6 Handy Road

#01-01 The Luxe

Tel: 63383282

Ootoya (Bangkok): Cheap and Chic Bangkok IV

Definitely definitely love Ootoya in Singapore and wanted to try Ootoya Bangkok.  If you know me by now I am really not a model Japanese food eater and tend to order the fried stuff.  Oh, another thing you should know by now is I have an excellent stomach for oil and fat.  So what has it got to do with Ootoya?

G found the tori katsu with rice too sweet for her palette and it seemed like the fried chicken was sitting in the kitchen (neglected? ha ha) for too long.  So not good I guess...

Tori Sosudon, 160baht (S$6.40)

My chicken katsu set is supposed to be on the menu but I do not understand what is so new about it.  The breadcrumbs were both soggy and extremely oily at the same time.  Cabbage was also way too immersed in oil even for me to ingest...

Chicken Katsu Set, 180baht (S$7.20)

I wanted to try the oyakodon long ago but my friend wanted to eat this so I ordered the chicken katsu set instead (for the love of my blog lor, to ensure you people get to see a tiny bit more).  The don which smell so good in Singapore did not have the same magic in this Bangkok's outlet. 

Oyakodon, 160baht ($7.20)

Delivery menu

So will I go back to Bangkok's Ootoya again? Definitely maybe.  If I happen to be consumed by all the shopping and left with no choice.  Definitely maybe.  

Ootoya

Central World

Level 3

P.S. Finally back home and free enough to manually post this.  I wish Ootoya in Singapore has delivery service too.  Had a grand total of three waste-my-calories meals at work this week.  

11 Gallery : Cheap and Chic Bangkok III

11 Gallery 

Any self-respecting party animal will not miss Bedsupperclub while in Bangkok.  Sukhumvit 11 is the soi which houses this probably the coolest club in Asia and home to numerous chic restaurants.  11 Gallery is a restaurant along this road which is not so pretentious and most importantly has the most down-to-earth pricing.  Love the feeling of eating authentic thai food in its rustic old world bangkok surroundings.  

Som Tum, 100baht (S$4)

Dishes at 11 Gallery are served in traditional tiffin containers.  So cool!  I HATE PAPAYA ripe or unripe so simply took a strand of carrot from the som tum.  Nevertheless, the salad pass my must-have-more-than-3-balanced-taste test.  Good. 

Sai Oua, 125baht (S$5)

Sai Oua is basically sausage filled with minced meat and vermicelli, rather ubiquitous in northern Thailand.  11 Gallery's version is chewy, tough yet satisfaction comes from savouring every bite of this wholesome meaty dish. 

Kiew Wan, 120baht (S$4.80)

Kiew Wan or chicken green curry here is one of the best I ever tried in Bangkok (better than Mahanaga's and Thanying's lor).  Like the strong hint of basil and very drinkable gravy.  

Gai Pad Med Mam, 145baht(S$5.20)

Ordered this because the description on the menu sounds good.  A typical stir-fried dish that tasted flavouful and multi-dimensional in texture and aroma.  My friend liked the cashew nuts while I loved the onions, tomatoes and oily gravy.  Everything at 11 Gallery can just makes one eat a lot of rice. 

 

Tom Yum Gong, 150baht (S$6) 

Looks potent but actually not.  Tom Yum Gong is delicately flavouful with a great balance of spicy, salty and sourish taste. Anyone who misses out this soup will just miss out a lot in life.  Period.  

11 Gallery
1/34 Soi 11, Th Sukhumvit
Tel: 02 651 2672
http://www.11-gallery.com/

iBerry & Ice-Cream@Chatuchuck: Cheap and Chic Bangkok II

Situated right at Siam Square, this iBerry outlet is one of the prettiest in Bangkok.  Choc cake I had was very moist but I did not like the taste of frosting.  Think they use vegetable oil instead of butter.  Nevertheless, this is still one pretty place for you to rest your feet before hitting the rest of Siam Square again. 

Iced Caramel Coffee, 85baht (S$3.40)

Chocolate Cake + Iced Green Tea(not in photo), 120baht (S$4.80)

iBerry

iBerry

Siam Soi 2

http://www.iberryhomemade.com/

For the shopaholics, it is an understatement to say that Chatuchak is a must go.  The best area for clothes and all the other girly stuff will be zone 1,2 and 3.  While you are sweaty and thirsty from all the walking and buying, make sure you don't miss the thrist-quenching coconut ice-cream there! The stall was near the Kamphseng Phet subway station while I was there in mid-Dec.  I don't know if it has a fix location in the market.  If you see the stall, make sure you grab the frosty coconut ice-cream placed on top of layers of spoon-out coconut shavings housed in half a coconut shell. 

Coconut Ice-cream with fresh coconut shavings, 25baht (S$1)

 

The busy stall

Coconut Ice-cream

Chatuchuck

Near Zone 1

Seb x 2 & Green T-shirt Chicken Rice: Cheap and Chic Bangkok I

While I like eating and dieting tremendously I love shopping too.  Whenever I go Bangkok with great dining plans I end up compromising them due to tight shopping schedule.  Thus, I decide to take on the direction of cheap and easy-to-eat meals near shopping/fun areas in five instalments of Cheap and Chic Bangkok.  Stay tune!

For girls who love clothes and accessories I am sure you cannot miss Platinum Mall, imagine 5 floors of cheap cheap free size clothing!  Where got time to sit in a resturant and slowly eat!  Anyway, Sebx2 is a great wontan mee place (a wonderful recommendation by G's brother) which is just across the road from Platinum Mall.

Wanton Mee (dry), 30baht (S$1.2)  

Great wanton mee must have good and springy noodles, yummy char siew, flavouful wanton and savoury sauce (I hate ketchup and don't understand why some people must ask for ketchup in their wanton mee btw).  I must say that this is the most BALANCED wanton mee I ever tasted.  Not one ingredient is too fab nor too bland.  Just a perfect combination of delightful flavours with lard being the magic "bonding agent"!  The serving is a tad small though so some people may need more than 1 bowl, anyway the noodles is so ymmy and cheap.  Eat more! Eat more! 

Seb x 2

Sebx2

Soi 19, Petchburi Road

If you happen in be in the area (Platinum Mall, Pratunam Market, Central World, Gaysorn) from dawn till dusk, which I can perfectly understand why you are shopping from dawn till dusk.  You can drop by Kaiton (affectionately known as pink t-shirt chicken rice) for their Hainanese chicken rice.  However, if Kaiton is closed or too crowded, a good alternative to get your khao man kai fix is to visit the GREEN T-SHIRT stall at the junction next to Kaiton.  Ok, you will be shortchanged for a piece of chicken blood but the rest of the package is similar.  Moreover, this stall is open 24hours.  Well, the chicken is a bit hard and dry in comparison to Singapore's version but the rice is just as flavourful, slightly sticky but well-separated.  People drop by this stall for their pork satay and iced lemon (more accurately lime) tea as well. 

Green T-shirt Chicken Rice

No signboard (Look out for luminous green t-shirts)
Junction of Th Petchaburi and Th Ratchaprapo

Just walk 15 mins along the road from Gaysorn

Fong Kee : While I am Away

Fong Kee's Wontan Mee

Here's a glimpse of some famous wontan mee, Fong Kee is one of my faves.  Its char siew and gravy are the best in town but noodles tend to be a bit too springy for my taste.  Am going to embark on my yearly HK pilgrimage in a moment.  While I am eating all the authentic HK's roasts, shall entertain you with another wanton mee in Bangkok along with posts on other great BKK's food (taken during a short weekend getaway in Dec 2009).  Hope the blogger scheduled posts thingy will work :P

Fong Kee Coffee Shop
6 Keong Saik Road 

Bistro Petit Salut : 2009 Year of Shifting Paradigms

Pre-blogging paradigm: (Yummy food vs yucky food) + (Pretty restaurants vs ugly restaurants)
Post-blogging paradigm: (Yummy food vs yucky food + Photogenic food vs Not so photogenic food vs Ugly food) + (Dark restaurants vs Bright restaurants) 

Haha my ps sup in nus is going to be so proud of me, years later I can still apply this concept.  Later half of 2009,  I found myself in an internal struggle to order better looking food for this young blog.  In the end I still order the food I want to eat.
 

Bread Basket

Both of us ordered the baked burgandy snails. Petit Salut has been through a lot since my school days (expanding, closing, re-opening etc) but their escargot has always been good.  Although I know salmon tartare will be more photogenic - all stack-up and pink but I choose to go with my stomach instead :P Like the fact that the snails are tender and the sauce is flavouful and not salty. 

Baked Burgandy Snails with Tomato and Garlic Butter 

I knew seafood cannelloni will be all boring brown and flat but I still want that creamy cheesy carbo for lunch.  True enough some Japanese ladies beside us ordered really photogenic 40 garlic cloves chicken and catch of the day! Ha ha shall try those on another day.  Cannot really go wrong with baked cheese so this course is quite good, not mind-blowing but stable, good and wholesome pasta.  Petit Salut's dishes are rather low on sodium so one can get the real taste of the food.  

Seafood Cannelloni with Crabmeat, Scallops and Prawns

Braised pork knuckles was ordered because A said I need more collagen!  The dish came with a very very pungent pork smell which kinda put me off immediately.  However, it did not taste as strong as the aroma.  Generally a good dish with tender meat, great orange juice infused carrots (a pleasant surprise) and buttery mash potato but I think I can only take a few bites and let the man finish the rest. 

Braised Pork Knuckle in Orange Juice and Mash Potato

Ordering desserts was another struggle - choux buns, meringue and strawberry sorbet are all going to look so cute and pink in photos! In the end, we ordered tiramisu and bread butter pudding.  Forget it lah dessert are meant to be eaten and enjoyed.

Tiramisu is way too light and I cannot detect the kahlua.  But I know people who swore by petit salut's tiramisu so I guess is really a matter of preference.  What can be agreed on is the tiramisu is really just an ugly slab of toppling blob on the plate!

Kahlua-infused Tiramisu

Liked the rich and creamy bread butter pudding better.  Perhaps Petit Salut is basically French not English so the pudding tasted and looked like creme brulee.  Flat and ugly in photo again but this is one dessert which I enjoyed a great deal.

Bread and Butter Pudding 

Smell of coffee is just strong, bitter and aromatic.  I have ruined my gastric and cannot stomach coffee that is too acidic but A liked his coffee.

Coffee

Food at Petit Salut is good but not fantastic, suits people who like light and natural taste I guess.  However, I will still go back for this is one French bistro which I can simply go in shorts and slippers. The lunch set is really cheap at $25++, service staff are nice and professional  and on matter how paradigm shifts, sentimental me still like Petit Salut. 

Bistro Petit Salut
44 Jalan Merah Saga
#01-54 S(278116)
Tel: 64749788

Happy New Year everyone! Thank you for reading.  Your support has been most encouraging.  This blog will not be possible without my dearest family, friends and YOU.  In this brand new year, I beg your indulgence to let me thank the people who have been putting up with my idiosyncrasies for and on this blog. 

1) C for inspiring me to submit reviews on hgw after our lunch at Oso

2) G - remember our dinner at Putien = first review on hgw = pt of no return  :P 

3) WC who is always on look out for new places and for loving the risotto at Zambucca too

5) NW - remember Cova? And Iggy's? Service staff loves you

6) A for letting me dictate our meals

7) Fangie - you are so far yet so supportive
8) R - far and supportive too
9) X - my cake advisor

10) XM - my bread advisor
11) All you readers out there - without you I would have stop writing long ago! 

Love all of you loads :) Have a good year ahead!