Golden Coin Beef Phở from Super Ngon

See how those cuts of beef above alternate in lines between meat and connective tissue? I'm only realizing now that this is a cut from the leg referred to as "golden coin" here, and Super Ngon serves that cut in their phở for a couple bucks more. Yep, they made it impressively tender, and I was happy to eat it along with that salty minimalist broth and thin but sour chili sauce. Next time I should remember to opt for a side of quay given the northern style used here.

The Pyongyang Naengmyeon from Joong San

Something occurred to me when walking through Singapore's blazing heat in the past week: I had yet to try the naengmyeon at Joong San, even though I've been there more than a handful of times. I thus got the Pyongyang version above, and I was quite happy with it. It was all about the subtle taste of the beef coming through in the broth. The sliced beef itself was similarly delicate, as were those textured buckwheat noodles. They still gave their usual array of banchan and rice, including that killer sesame oil, which just makes me like this place so much, especially since it's so healthy too. Sadly, the gomtang is no longer on the menu though.

Kalam Restaurant in Singapore's Little India

I liked this place a lot more than I thought I would (2 Veerasamy Road). See, on the surface it didn't look like much. A bunch of us had never heard of it, and the signage suggested that they were trying to be all things to all people. But it turns out they actually specialize in food from Mangalore and the city of Udupi, so that meant a softer coastal cuisine.

There were not only some rather notable dishes that one typically doesn't find at other shops, but they also they executed well with good quality ingredients and techniques, and even decent ambience and service to boot.

Some of the unique things included some puffy buns that looked like many other flatbreads, but were actually mildly sweet and came with a coconut chutney. The prawn ghee roast as well as a mutton sukka were nice in that they didn't sit in a thick gravy, but was seemingly more like a stir-fry. And I liked how the portions weren't outrageous here, which let us try quite a few things. This place is worth returning to.

The Curry Paitan from Enishi Singapore

Enishi is doing this curry paitan special now. If I heard them correctly, they secured some kind of special curry powder from a shop in Japan, and I guesss that's what gets added to their toripaitan bowl. I was very happy with how sophisticated and earthy the powder was; it really lit up the bowl and yet was also restrained enough not to overpower it. I hope they keep this on the menu.

Moutarde at Resorts World Sentosa

A Michelin-starred chef from Shanghai opened up a bistro in the basement level of WEAVE (26 Sentosa Gateway #B1-219). There were a few things that I wanted to get, including his steak tartare as well as steak frites. But they weren't cheap, and I wasn't in the mood to spend that kind of money.

Fortunately, he had a duck confit that was more reasonably priced, even if it was a rather small plate without any carbs. The ingredients were good though, including not just the duck but also the mushrooms underneath, which I was particularly happy with. But I won't go back unless someone else is paying.

HK Fei Guo Rice Noodle on Cross Street

This shop on the corner of South Bridge has big signage that surely gets lots of visibility from passers-by, and I finally tried it today (6 Upper Cross Street). As the name suggests, it's in the same vein as TamJai SamGor, although the customization options weren't as obvious from the menu, which also had a number of other things like jigongbao. Anyway, the bowl above did the job, but also wasn't anything so special that I'd go back for it. Maybe I should go back to Fei Zap Mai Laan someday.

Smash Street in Singapore

The Scarpetta folks opened up a smashburger place a few doors down the street, and it's pretty good (50 Amoy Street). The beef patties above were nicely charred for both texture and taste, and yet they were still juicy and accentuated with a mildly spicy yet rich mayo. The fries still carried a decent potato taste despite my initial apprehension about them being crispy shoestrings that were borderline dry.

The venue is just a sliver of a shophouse with maybe only ten bar stools. Miss out on one of those, and you're standing at the counter or leaning against the padded wall. This isn't somewhere to have big group conversations; loud hip-hop blares overhead and your clothes come out smelling like grease. But that's what made it fun. It is actually what I thought New York's Burger Joint would be like, but this was better.

The Special Omurice from Fukusuke in Singapore

It's been a while since I've been here so I don't know when they started doing this, but Fukusuke is doing omurice for lunch now. And I probably should've read the menu a little more carefully rather than just ordering the first thing I saw at the top of the list, as the "special" configuration above came with heaps of protein, including a giant tsukune meatball covered in cheese, as well as a crab croquette and karaage. It was excessive and I regret ordering it, although at least the croquette and karaage were piping hot from the fryer.

Wendy's (Perhaps Only My Second Time?)

Something occurred to me as I was walking through the food court at San Francisco's international terminal: I've hardly ever eaten at Wendy's, despite its long-standing national presence. I mean, I'm pretty sure I've eaten it once at least, but I really don't remember it at all. So I grabbed a quick burger from them tonight, which they made fresh to order.

I'm not sure what makes them different though. Visually, you get a distinctive square patty, which they say is made with fresh beef rather than frozen. But I couldn't taste the beef when it was covered by the cheese that covered it. The things that stood out more were the pillowy (and almost creamy) yellow bun as well as the generous amount of lettuce in there. I must be missing something though.

The Lobster Roll at California Fish Grill

California Fish Grill has started doing lobster rolls. The bun was buttery and the lobster meat was savory, but it was also a bit dried out in a few places. To that end, I'm a little concerned that this place seems to be getting less consistent over time. Indeed, the shrimp and avocado Caesar salad in the background featured not just overly salty shrimp and lousy dressing, but the croutons sprinked onto it were crumbs, as if they dumped what was remaining at the bottom of the bag or something. I should probably stick to my usual rockfish or grilled shrimp next time.

Soong Soong Restaurant (Xiaoer Youyijia) in San Jose

I'm only putting that photo up there because I was amused by the little silver pastry cups that these xiaolongbao arrived in. This was from an old-school Chinese place called Xiaoer Youyijia (3680 Stevens Creek Boulevard, 408-243-8868); the little cups were effective in managing the broth inside, but it wasn't anything that I particularly liked given that it was fatty and sweet. I was happier with their doufunao, which was a bit like hot and sour soup with silky douhua tofu inside. They also sold soybean milk alongside the dumplings here.

The "SRC Bibimbop" from SGD Tofu House San Jose

It turns out that the Blossom Hill outlet of SGD Tofu House has some menu items that the other outlets don't have. One of those is this "SRC Bibimbop" above. I should have asked what SRC stood for, but presumably it is a Special Recipe Chili yangnyeom sauce that they pre-mixed into your bibimbap before throwing it onto a flat hot plate.

The pre-mixing wasn't the notable thing for me, nor was that "SRC" sauce, which didn't seem that unique to me either. But leaving the rice on the Pepper Lunch-style flat plate for more than five minutes did provide a pleasurably scorched nurungji rice texture. That made up for all of those crudely sliced carrots and such that they tossed on top.