Bangkok's Baan Ying Original Siam Kitchen in Singapore

This small chain from Bangkok opened an outlet at the new Royal Square at Novena recently (103 Irrawaddy Road #02-07, 9111-7852). I went for these meatballs and an omelette rice, but clearly the meatballs had been sitting out in the open for a while rather than being cooked to order. Yes, I'm disappointed, especially since it wasn't cheap either (I really should've gone to Took Lae Dee instead). Fortunately, they have some kind of more downscale street food place downstairs that might be worth a try. But if I come back here, then I'm only giving it one more chance, and that would be for the green fried rice and pork neck salad that I saw on the menu.

My First Taste of Kachang Phool in Singapore

I've been wanting to try this stuff for a while now. See, it's a local version of Middle Eastern ful medames. Today, I just happened to come across a shop called House of Cutlet by Aspirasi (2 Seah Im Road #01-39) that served it.

This one was thinner than I thought it would be, and seemingly more dependent on the garnishes like raw onions, chili peppers, and lime than the beans themselves. The bread was too soft for me too, and hence wasn't anything that I'll go for again. But I'm glad that I tried it.

Osaka's Ebi-Tori Menzo in Singapore

Yep, this week has so far been all about new ramen shops. Today's is an ebi tsukemen shop from Osaka that has opened an outlet at South Beach Avenue (26 Beach Road #B1-18, 9880-0519). I was pretty disappointed though. Apparently one was supposed to eat each of the ingredients in a clockwise sequence, starting with the chashu and onwards to the sweet potato, etc. But there was nothing cohesive to pull it all together; it was as if I were eating different parts of a salad. Granted, a squeeze of lemon perked it up a little, and the thick prawn broth was passable. But it also wasn't the fragrant beauty that Keisuke made many years ago. I think that thing (and his cruel termination of it) has scarred me for life.

Konjiki Hototogisu Soba House at CHIJMES in Singapore

More Michelin Bib Gourmand ramen has landed in Singapore (30 Victoria Street #01-17, 6256-3155), but this one was much better than Wabisuke. Why? The delicate approach to the ingredients. The broth here was crisp and fragrant with not just the aroma of clams but a touch of mushrooms and truffle (clams aside, it reminded me a lot of Tsuta's shoyu). The skinny noodles were firm and textured, and the chashu was thin.

That said, the chashu was also rather lean, and the broth admittedly got a bit tiring toward the end (their little gyoza were fine but nothing particularly exciting either). I'll come back, but more to try some kind of "smoke and pepper" ramen that I saw on the menu (apparently it has wood chip smoked minced meat). Interestingly, this place was brought down here by the same guys who do Ajisen. I really hope they don't mess it up.

Ramen Keisuke Champon King in Singapore

Champon has always been a bit weird for me. The thought of it is just unappealing, and yet, the few times that I have had it, I ended up liking more than I thought I would. Well, this time Keisuke opened up a small champon shop at International Plaza (10 Anson Road #01-02, 6224-2234), so I popped over today for lunch.

Yep, I liked it better than I thought I would, especially with its velvety rich broth. Unlike Ringer Hut, the broth wasn't peppery, but there was plenty of pepper at the counter for you to spike it with. He also had a tub of dry "Keisuke Garlic Chili" that wasn't too bad either.

As usual, he provided his signature supply of bean sprouts and eggs. But I didn't even bother with the eggs. I guess my gripe with champon is that it's just too heavy, especially with those thick noodles. It was all so heavy that I won't really go back, despite my positive experience.

Ballon et Coquillages in Paris, France

This was a little 12-seater raw bar (71 Boulevard Gouvion-Saint-Cyr, 1-45-74-17-98) serving local French seafood from the restaurant next door. There was no kitchen in here; just one round shaped bar. The single staff servicing the place in fact had to keep walking outside to the restaurant in order to shuttle food and drinks back in here. Either way, it was fresh and tasty; that crab (presumably similar to Irish brown crab?) was full of good back fat to scoop onto some crusty baguette. The headfat in the prawns was not as savory as the ones that I recall from Spain, but was more rich and buttery. The mayonnaise that they provided was a rather tasty too.

Au Pied de Cochon in Paris, France

Here's another institution in Paris, but this time it is on the Eater 38 list, particularly for its pig foot (6 Rue Coquillière, 1-40-13-77-00). We were only here for an afternoon snack, so I went for the bone marrow above; it still came with little bits of pig foot on a slice of toasted bread. Yep, it oozed of deliciousness. The French onion soup here wasn't as deep nor sweet as the one at Angelina, but I also kinda liked how it was a lot saltier and cheesier, even if it felt more crude. Anyway, this 24 hour shop is pretty cool, and presumably has no relation to the identically-named shop in Montréal.

Berthillion Glacier on Paris' Île Saint-Louis

What's better than some ice cream to beat the heat of the past few days? We were told that this shop (29-31 Rue Saint-Louis en l'Île, 1-43-54-31-61) was known for both its high quality and unique flavors. And it was pretty impressive, with their strawberry ice cream bursting with fresh fruit taste. The cone I had above was made with praline-flavored chocolate and orange; it was rather sweet, but nonetheless wasn't a combination that you'd find elsewhere. I was surprised that they were only charging €3 (US$4.75) a cone too.

L'Escargot Montorgueil in Paris, France

Our taxi driver in Paris recommended this very old place (38 Rue Montorgueil, 1-42-36-83-51) for their escargot. They had a lot of interesting variations on the menu, like that foie gras version above, as well as even a gaudy 24 karat gold-leaf version.

We passed on the latter, while the former merely tasted like a bit of foie gras was added to the usual butter recipe. It was fine, but nothing that I wanted more of. I didn't like the other stuff that we got either, in particular the steak tartare, as our waiter put way too much mustard and bits of gerkin in there.

This place was filled with tourists too. In that sense, it reminds me a lot of Peter Luger in New York: an old school place with some history but more of a tourist spot now, with food that isn't anything that I'd want to go back for.

Chez Georges in Paris, France

That probably looks a bit messy above, but it was after my waiter had filleted the sole meunière that initially came out whole. I liked how the fish was thin yet firm, and how neither the butter nor lemon dominated it. If anything, it was very delicately balanced with an occasional bit of parsley or even fatty skin to keep it exciting. One couldn't complain about the buttery mashed potatoes that came on the side either.

For €41 (US$47), this wasn't cheap, nor was it very filling, even after devouring that basket of bread. But I still left this place (273 Boulevard Pereire, 01-45-74-31-00) stuffed thanks to a baba al rhum dessert, which was a big piece of cake soaked in syrup and rum. And when I say soaked in rum, I mean sitting in a small puddle of the stuff, especially since they gave you a bottle to drizzle more over it if you wanted it. Nice.

Le Relais de l'Entrecôte in Paris, France

This small local chain of steak-frites shops is an offshoot of the original Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecôte. There was no menu: just tell them how you want your meat done, and the salad, bread, and fries come along with it.

The green sauce obviously was central to all of this, especially since the meat was surprisingly lean, and thus needed the huge assist provided by the butter. The fries were better: fried crispy and full of potato-ey taste. I liked the edginess of the dijon mustard that they used in the salad dressing too.

I'm still a bit baffled by that lean cut of meat though: I wonder if other shops will use a better cut. It might also be worth going back to L'Entrecôte back in Singapore again to make a comparison too; I haven't been there in a while.

Au Rocher de Cancale in Paris, France

I needed a bit more food after work tonight, and fortunately a lot of late night places north of Les Halles were just a short walk away. I got a dozen oysters from this shop (78 Rue Montorgueil, 01-42-33-50-29), and they turned out to be wonderfully briny. But perhaps more exciting for me was the entire culture of sitting in one of those quintessentially small streetside tables nibbling on a bit of food and wine with a view of passers-by along the cobblestone road, especially when the weather was so nice tonight. It made me realize how I've been missing out on France all of this time.

Angelina in Paris, France

This old tea house in Paris was recommended by a friend. And it was only a block or so from where we were at, so we stopped in (226 Rue de Rivoli, 1-42-60-82-00). They're famous for things like their hot chocolate, which was thick and slightly gritty, as well as pastries like those macarons above. We liked everything that we had, including a naturally sweet and earthy French onion soup. But had we known in advance that these guys already have two outlets in Singapore, we probably would've gone somewhere else. Well, I guess it's still interesting to visit the original outlet.

La Cabane Gourmande in Paris, France

We needed lunch near our hotel in District 17 today. So I hopped onto Google Maps and found this crêperie (1 Rue Lebon, 01-40-55-97-79), which looked interesting primarily because of a user comment that said that they didn't speak any English. Except that when we arrived, they did indeed speak English, and even had an English menu available. Well, it didn't matter in the end, as we were happy with the food, and the staff was super friendly too. Granted, it wasn't so unique that I will come running back either, but it was fresh, simple, and did the job.

Bakso Cak Masrur from Kangen Cafe in Batam, Indonesia

I can't figure out how unique this is, nor if that is that is even the right name. But this small chain here in Batam was serving this gigantic bakso meatball that encased several smaller meatballs (think of one of those Russian stacking/nesting dolls and you get the idea). It was actually a bit too much meat in the end. But the soup was savory and punctuated with some pepper and celery leaves, and having some potent sambal on the side never hurt. Next time I should remember to try some of their fish or duck that they covered in green chilies.

Onigiri-ya by Inaho on Duxton Road, Singapore

This place is hidden up on the second floor of a shophouse (60 Duxton Road, 6222-0852). And as the name suggests, they sell onigiri for lunch. The menu is basically a long list of different kinds of onigiri, which they make to order with the rice still warm. The quality was fine, the service was fast, and it certainly was healthy. What will perhaps be more interesting will be to see what this place is like in the evenings, when it transforms into Inaho's Kitchen Bar. There was plenty of alcohol lining the walls.

Du Hsiao Yueh at Taoyuan Airport in Taiwan

I'm not sure if I missed it last time I was at the airport, but the basement food court fortunately now has a local store (as opposed to Starbucks) open in the mornings. And it's decorated like a little hut with cute little bamboo stools, complete with a chef squatting down in front of the stall to assemble your food. Danzi mian seems to be their specialty, but for breakfast they were serving this rouzhaofan. It wasn't as sweet nor fatty as luroufan, but this mildly salty bowl was still delicious. I'd eat this for breakfast quite a bit if only they had one of these near my hotel in the city.

Raohe Street Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan

I went over to Raohe Street Night Market because they have three different Michelin Bib Gourmand stalls. The first one, Fuzhou Black Pepper Bun, was easy to spot: it was right at the front gate and had a long line. They basically make these fist-sized meat-filled buns and shove them into some tandoor-like ovens, giving it a rather hard and chewy outside. It was certainly unique, but I don't think I'll get it again.



Then I found the other stall, Shi Boss Spicy Tofu, only to realize upon getting there that the mala tofu was also stinky tofu, and in soup form with duck blood cakes below too. It wouldn't have been my first choice, but it ended up being well balanced enough to finish the entire thing off.



I didn't bother with the third stall though, as the medicinal herb pork soup just didn't seem appealing at the time. Moreover, I ate this all in a rather gloomy mood, as the news about Bourdain broke just an hour earlier. I met him once at a banquet in Singapore many years ago, and he was a really friendly and cheerful guy. Very sad.

Quan Alley Hotpot in Taipei, Taiwan

I've just found my new favorite hot pot place in Taipei. It's actually a small chain, but a rather upscale one at that, including not just a very posh décor but also plating that made something as simple as cabbage look elegant without being tacky.

It's not just the looks though: the quality of the ingredients could hold its own too, especially that broth above. Both the white pork soup on the left and the spicy one on the right were silky smooth, making it go nicely with the marbled beef and pork in our set.

Granted, the broth could've been just a tad spicier, but I thought this was just the right balance. It's too bad that the drink selection was pretty lousy though, and one couldn't order sliced lamb a la carte either. I'd still rather come here than Ding Wang.

Dongqu Hong Mianxian in Taipei, Taiwan

After clearing my step count for the evening, I realized that I needed just a little more food before going back to the hotel. I didn't want a full meal, and yet I wasn't going to settle for something from 7-Eleven either. So I decided to just stop at the very first street stall I could find, and that happened to be this shop selling local Taiwanese oyster mee sua (3 Zhongxiao East Road Section 4 Lane 181 Alley 7, 2751-0129). The chili sauce wasn't anywhere as fragrant as Ay Chung, but otherwise the bowl was fine, and in fact was quite tasty with thin cuts of large intestine in there (think: fat lining). And it was all only NT$45 (US$1.50).

Stinky Tofu as a Drinking Snack in Taipei, Taiwan

During a team karaoke outing tonight, someone decided to order this stinky tofu topped with kimchi. It may sound like a lot of fermentation on one plate, but there was actually hardly any smell at all. It basically just tasted like normal fried tofu, which is actually a favorite of mine.

Ben Tiebanshao in Taipei, Taiwan

I'm not sure why this small local chain has a "Michelin Star Lunch Menu" given that it wasn't even listed in the Michelin Guide. Nonetheless, this was a bit more upscale than your usual basement food court teppanyaki, and apparently has been rather well-known in Taipei for some time. I liked that they used quality ingredients, but it also seemed as if they tried a bit too hard to make it seem fancy.

Jin Feng Braised Pork Rice in Taipei, Taiwan

Yeah, I know I had just eaten a multi-course meal earlier. So in all honesty, I stopped at this place out of greed (10 Roosevelt Road Section 1, 2396-0808). Besides, it was just a little bowl of lu rou fan, and it was right next to the subway station on the way back to the hotel.

I shouldn't have done it. The lu rou fan was unremarkable, as it wasn't the fatty and mildly sweet thing that I was expecting. That thick geng soup wasn't anything special either, as it was slightly sweet, and I had to spike it with a good amount of vinegar and pepper to make it work. I won't come back.

Longtail in Taipei, Taiwan

To be honest, I'm getting kinda tired of beef noodle. Plus, these past few days have been filled with back to back meetings, so I figured I'd pamper myself a little. I wasn't too far from this one Michelin-starred place either (174 Dunhua South Road Section 2, 2732-6616), so I made my way here in the hopes of being able to walk in. Fortunately, it wasn't any problem when I arrived, despite the online reservation system showing the place fully booked.



I loved that I could sit at the bar, especially since they had a cocktail pairing option with their multi-course menu. And the food was wonderful, including that heirloom tomato salad with strawberries at the top, to the charred foie gras dumplings with sweet corn and pecorino under that. The kitchen wasn't afraid to be edgy either: a tilefish that they brought out not only had scales still attached (i.e., fried so that they were crispy), but was also sitting in a parmesan water that they somehow extracted from the cheese, if I heard them correctly.



Most of the ingredients were local, and they were playful in giving some dishes a local twist too, like a stewed oyster with green chili sauce and a thin slice of local shaobing on the side! That tenderloin above was probably the dish that really brought it home for me. See that brown sauce on the plate? It's a homemade mala sauce, and it packed some heat. Like MUME, this place was much cheaper than I was expecting too. Bravo!

Number One Food Theatre in Taipei, Taiwan

Like Addiction Aquatic Development, this place has an unattractively utilitarian name for a restaurant (presumably it sounds much better in Chinese). Still, it was nearby today, and this beef noodle dish was one of their specialties (2 Bade Road Section 2 Lane 346 Alley 3, 2775-1689).

It took a while for it to come out of the kitchen, but it was worth it, especially with that gigantic but very impressively tender slab of meat up there, as it just feel off the bone, complete with its wonderful fat woven into it. More importantly, the broth here was light years ahead of that nasty one from last night. Granted, it still wasn't as in the same league as Liu Shandong nor Lin Dong Fang down the street, but it was good enough to make this worthwhile. The noodle texture was reasonable too.

They serve other things here too, and in fact, this farm-to-table place is a Michelin Bib Gourmand. It's in a cute little wooden barn with some kind of market down on the ground floor. Note to self: next time try the Japanese curry or something, especially if it will be faster while I'm rushing to my next meeting.

Pin Chuan Lan in Taipei, Taiwan

I can't remember how I found out about this small chain of beef noodle shops, but for some reason one of their outlets was marked in my Google Maps, and was on the way back to the hotel tonight. So I stopped in for a quick snack (10 Zhongxiao East Road Section 4 Lane 216 Alley 11, 2721-7397).

That bowl above certainly looked promising; they poured in the broth with a kettle at your table, and you had salt to dip those slices of beef into. But the broth was so boring that I couldn't finish it. I should've gone to one of the many yakiniku shops along the street, or maybe even Sichuan Wu Chaoshou around the corner.

Revisiting A-Kuan Hot Pot in Taipei, Taiwan

I recall not liking this place very much last time. And yet, I needed food before rushing to my next meeting, and this was (yet again) one of the few places with seating during the busy lunch hour. Plus, I've been craving hot pot for the past few days, so why not?

Except that it was just as forgettable as it was last time, especially with that oh-so-boring (read: not spicy) mala broth. I tried to stir things up a bit by opting for a pickled veggie broth to go with it, but it was boring too. I wonder if some of the other broths would be better.

A Bowl of Sesame Paste Noodles in Taipei, Taiwan

That probably doesn't look very attractive above, but it's sesame paste, in case you're wondering. It was just a random bowl of noodles that I grabbed from a small shop in Taipei as I was desperate for food after a long day of meetings. She suggested a bowl of shrimp dumpling soup to go with it. Both of them were fine, but weren't anything memorable either.

A Random Pork Chop Rice Set in Taipei, Taiwan

I didn't get a chance to eat lunch today, so I desperately needed food before heading to my next meeting. I thus stopped at a random food court near the train station and got this pork chop rice set, another quintessential Taiwanese dish. The pork chop was impressively light and airy with a nice salty edge to it, while that soup had a pleasant surprise of ginger slices inside, even if also with some oddly dry chunks of chicken breast. Anyway, my refueling objective has been achieved.

Liu Shandong Beef Noodles in Taipei, Taiwan

Not to be confused with Lau Shan Dong from last night, Liu Shandong (2 Kaifeng Street Lane 14 Section 1, 2311-3581) is another Michelin Bib Gourmand noodle shop. It closes pretty early in the evenings, so I've never had the chance to go. But the flip side is that they are open for breakfast, and today is the only day this week where I'll get a chance to go before meetings start.

It was awesome. One sip of the chingzhen broth on its own and it was all over: these guys take the cake. The broth nailed both the taste of the beef as well as the complex - but not dominant - spices swirling underneath. Plus, the choice cuts of beef were some of the most tender and tasty that I've had in one of these bowls. It reminded me a bit of the Korean beef that Hadongkwan uses.

That said, I didn't like the udon-shaped noodles. Sure, the texture was nice and firm, but if I only I could get last night's wide noodles in this morning's bowl, then I'd be all set. Note to self: next time, don't squeeze chili oil in the chingzhen bowl or else you'll just cover up that wonderful broth. Also, give the other red version a try too.

A Random Bowl of Mango Ice in Ximending, Taipei

After that beef noodle, I needed just a little more to finish my meal. So I walked around in the basement of the same building and found this random shaved ice shop. Fortunately, mango was in season. It's too bad then that this wasn't that great, mainly because ice was rather coarse without enough milk to make it rich. The mango was sweet and meaty at least.

Lao Shan Dong Homemade Noodles in Taipei, Taiwan

Since my last visit to Taipei, Michelin has since released its first-ever guide here. Da Wan, MUME, and Sushi Ryu (started by the former Sasa chef, I understand) all got stars. But of course there was also the Bib Gourmand list, which includes not just Din Tai Fung and Fu Hang, but also a decent list of beef noodle shops like Chingzhen, Jian Hong, Lin Dong Fang, and Yongkang. Tonight, I decided to try another Bib Gourmand beef noodle shop, Lao Shan Dong, out in Ximending (70 Xining South Road B1, 2389-1216).

I can see why they liked it. Not only was the beef incredibly tender, but those widely cut noodles were firm and nicely textured. Granted, the broth was naked when it came out, and it was a bit tame, even after I gave it a good scoop of chili oil. But then I found another red chili oil that gave it a lot more depth, and one could always gnaw on a few cloves of raw garlic if it still wasn't punchy enough. Jian Hong and Lin Dong Fang are better, but this was definitely much better than your average shop too.

Le Bon Funk on Club Street, Singapore

We came to this wine bar (29 Club Street, 6224-1490) in part because the food was done by a former Burnt Ends guy. And it showed in the food. Granted, we could only afford to get some bar snacks rather than a full meal, but that pâté above hit the spot, and the olives in the background were even better, as they carried a nice edgy (nutmeg-based?) punch to them. I love places like this; I only wish I had the wallet to match.