Delivery from Nouri on Amoy Street in Singapore

This place isn't cheap (72 Amoy Street, 6221-4148). But it's a one Michelin-starred restaurant, and I figured that I might as well indulge now that we're nearly out of the circuit breaker period. They do "crossroads cooking," which is basically fusion, but in a very high-end way, if all of the colorful plating in those cardboard boxes didn't give it away already.

Take for example, the larb on the right: yes, it's larb, but there are thin sheets of homemade maltagliati pasta underneath. And it's all garnished with a variety of herbs like dill and spices like Amazonian chili powder. It's also laced with candied nuts, which swings it far over to the sweeter end of the spectrum than I would normally venture. But given all of the contrasting tastes and textures in this thing, it worked.

Oh, the item on the left is their "neesua" salad, or their take on a Niçoise. Yet it featured hamachi instead, and was seasoned with cincalok...and I think I even detected some laksa leaf in there too. Again, normally laksa leaf is not my first choice, but I still happily ate it, along with their rye sourdough, nutmeg cheese, and vegetable broth in the background. The emphasis on fresh herbs made everything very aromatic.

Takeaway from Ye Lai Xiang Teochew Porridge

I wasn't quite sure how one would do takeaway for Teochew porridge, but the guy here at the Kim San Leng Coffeeshop basically put it all in one box for me (116 Bukit Merah View #01-217). I liked everything that I got except for the fish, which was surprisingly dry. Next time I need to remember to opt for the more expensive fish, and also see if they can pack up some of that brown bean sauce and chili that makes this stuff so savory.

Lumo at the CMO Building in Singapore

This open kitchen and cocktail bar opened up just before the circuit breaker period (50 South Bridge Road #01-00, 8921-3818). They're doing delivery now with some aggressive discounts, and some small plates and booze sounded great. I was happy with what I got, including not just the asparagus and cauliflower above (nice togarashi aioli for the latter), but also a mushroom risotto with pleasantly firm grains of rice. More importantly, I wanted to try their Patty Royale, which is a martini featuring a distillate from Impossible Meat. Admittedly, I had trouble detecting it, but it was the potent beverage that I needed tonight either way.

My First Taste of a Kiwano Horned Melon

These exotic-looking spiky fruits were at the market recently, naturally piquing our curiosity. This one was from New Zealand, but they are native to Sub-Saharan Africa. And as you can see in the photo, it's a bit of a melon and cucumber. One can scoop it out with a spoon; it was slightly sour, and like a cucumber, the seeds were slightly bitter but edible nonetheless. It was certainly refreshing, but not really anything so exciting that I'll rush to get another one.

Khansama Tandoori Restaurant in Singapore

I'll admit that the main reason why I ordered from these guys today was because it was hard to forget the catchy tune that they run on YouTube (166 Serangoon Road, 6299-0300). The food was fine, with the butter paneer in the bento box being surprisingly spicy and tangy; personally, I'd prefer a more subtle one, but it worked. They also had a nice chaat selection, including a peanut masala chaat that I'd never seen before. Yes, it was tasty, although I need to remember that some assembly is required.

Epilogue: whoa, only now did I realize that I've eaten from these guys more than ten years ago.

The Bunless Wrap Option at Five Guys

I regretted getting this bunless burger, as the heat from the patties ended up cooking that iceberg lettuce by the time we got home. Somehow, the one at Carl's Jr. did a much better job of surviving the journey, perhaps because it wasn't completely wrapped in foil and/or they let the patty cool a bit first?

I'm not sure if I heard the staff correctly, but I think she said that there was another bunless option that arrives in a bowl instead. If so, then I should try that next time. And yes, the fries here are still the best. I love all of that potato flavor, even when they are soggy.

My Own Little Butter Shootout: Échiré vs Bordier

I've always been a big fan of Échiré Butter. That stuff is so deliciously savory that it would help me wolf down loaves of bread without realizing it. But recently. we got our hands on some Bordier butter, which has a big fanatical following. I was curious to see what differences we could taste. This afternoon, I did a small shootout with some sourdough bread and radishes.



Bordier won. Or at least, it was softer (in taste) and more well-rounded; it was slightly cheese-like with more complex flavors going on. That said, I still love Échiré. It's more savory and punchy, and it still makes me gobble down bread as if there were no tomorrow. I'd be happy with both, but I now see why Bordier is so acclaimed.



BTW, I've been buying these Carne Meats charcuterie packs for a while now. They aren't anything to go nuts over, but it's nice that they are from a local shop called Indoguna, with a variety of options available (I like their rosette salami the best, and their chorizo the least). Plus, they are in conveniently-sized portions, and at reasonable prices. Pro tip: they're cheaper at Meidi-Ya than at Cold Storage.

Mister Potato x Daebak Limited Edition Ghost Pepper Black Crisps

When I bit into one of these, it was much more salty than it was spicy. In fact, it was excessively salty. And then I wondered to myself why the Daebak ghost pepper flavoring wasn't spicy. Just as I was about to open my mouth to voice my thought, I started coughing. Yep, the spices crept up on you very slowly, but the heat was definitely there after a ten second delay or so. It was a fun novelty to try, but it was too salty to eat regularly.

Mala Xiang Guo From Hua Shuang Kitchen

This is a mala xiangguo chain with stalls across the island. They made ours pleasantly spicy, but to my surprise, it was also totally lacking salt, making it rather boring. I'm not sure if they intentionally dialed it down or if it was just a one-off instance, but I'm not that excited about going back to these guys.

Trying Out Haldiram's Bhujia Sev

I picked these up at a corner store, mainly because of what the packaging said: "Bikaneri famous hot-n-spicy extruded fried Indian snack" from Haldiram's. And hot and spicy it was indeed. The heat builds up after a few handfuls, making it both fun and addictive. I nearly could've finished the whole bag, but thankfully, I didn't.

Riverside Good Food at Zion Riverside Food Centre

Here is the oyster omelette from Riverside Good Food at Zion Riverside Food Centre (70 Zion Road #01-21). It's a nice starchy, crispy, and savory grease bomb, and they are pretty generous with the pork crackling on top too. My only gripe is that the chili sauce is a bit sweet, but it's still fun to eat.

Korea's GOPIZZA Has Opened In Singapore

This is an odd time to be opening a new restaurant, but it seems that this chain from Korea did just that, with several outlets to boot. They do single-serving pizzas, some of which have Korean twists, like that bulgogi pizza above. It was sweet though, and I didn't care much for the soft crust either. The pasta fared a little better, but no, this isn't something that I'll get again. At least it was super fast via GrabFood.

Bara Chirashi from Minami Maki at Alexandra Central

I had never heard of these guys before, but we ordered lunch from them today (321 Alexandra Road #02-04, 9366-8199). This bara chirashi wasn't anything to go nuts over either. Yet it was edible enough for me to eat quickly without feeling guilty about it.

Jinbo Selection SOul Spicy Noodles from Taiwan

So that's not a typo in the headline; they really stylized it "SOul" if you look closely at the photo. Either way, it was pleasantly spicy, and was much better than the Paldo Volcano Chicken Noodle, as it was savory rather than sweet. I liked the noodles themselves too, which were of a nice size and shape for delivering some doughy goodness. Thumbs up.

Shake Salad, But Not From A Vending Machine

These guys actually operate out of vending machines across the island, but they are doing delivery too (5 Harrison Road #03-01, 6988-6869). As you can imagine, they have a limited selection of pre-configured items. It's nothing to get excited about, but it's fresh, clean, healthy, and packaged in a nice box that you can conveniently toss your salad in.

Briosa Gourmet's Small Garfish in Hot Olive Oil

Time for some conservas. I can't remember which store I bought this from (addendum: looks like it was Isetan), but they were little garfish from Portugal, whose firm flesh had a pronounced mackerel-like taste. No, the "hot olive oil" wasn't spicy, even though you could detect a bit of the single chili pepper included in the can. I gobbled it all down with bread, radishes, and one of the negronis that I had saved from yesterday.

The Shooting Star Smørrebrød from Fung Kee Hotdogs

Here's something that you don't hear about very often: a Swedish bartender runs a Danish hot dog place with a playful Chinese name at Orchard Towers. He's since opened another outlet in Tanjong Pagar (68 Duxton Road #01-02, 8235-4935), and his hot dogs and cocktails are available for delivery right now.

He also does weekend specials, like that smørrebrød above, featuring breaded sole with fresh water shrimp, white asparagus, roe, and dill. It was light and refreshing, while the hot dogs were fun thanks to those rostad lök fried onions. More importantly, his potent negronis were exactly what I needed this afternoon.

Trying the Bánh Bèo from Quận 4

Quận 4 finally had bánh bèo available today, so I made sure to include them in my order. It arrived in individual components though, so I had to figure out how to piece it together. And I've never had it before, so I just looked at photographs that I found online and tried my best.

I'm still not sure if I did it correctly, and I wasn't sure how to eat it either given that the toppings kept falling out of the floppy rice cakes. But when I did manage to get one in my mouth, it was delicious thanks to those tasty bits of stuff on top and some potent chili too.

Delivery from Kimly Dim Sum, Singapore

I'm not sure how I'd never heard of these guys before, but it turns out that it's a huuuuuge chain across the island, with some outlets specializing in Teochew porridge, some in economic rice, some in cze cha...and they also run Tonkichi! Anyway, this was delivery from one of their dim sum outlets, and it was surprisingly cheap, with many items even cheaper than Kuai San's. Now, it wasn't exactly high quality, but it was edible enough for me to eat quickly, including seconds of their bak kwa pau with its smoky sweet filling.

WaWa Seafood at Stars of Kovan, Singapore

This one was gonna be hard for me to ignore: a shop that specializes in clams, and one whose physical shop is adorn with tanks of live Malaysian bivalves (998 Upper Serangoon Road #01-25, 9338-9435). Cool! I placed an order for several items, including their lala soup, porridge, and garlic butter sauce varieties. No, there wasn't a kam heong version.

The clams were definitely fresh, and were impressively grit-free too. I liked the soup version the best since it was the purest, even if it wasn't quite as savory as I was hoping for. The garlic butter sauce was goopier than I had thought it would be (and that little square of toast had sugar on it, to my surprise). If I order this again, then I'll just stick to the soup.

Paldo Volcano Chicken Noodle from Korea

I'm not sure if this Paldo volcano chicken noodle inspired the the Mamee Daebak version, or if it was the other way around (or just coincidence?). Well, it was very spicy, but it was also sweet. And if you know me, then you know what that means: I'm not likely to eat it again.

Quận 4 (District 4) at Interlocal Centre's MAP Kitchen in Singapore

When I heard about a Vietnamese place in the Pasir Panjang area, I immediately wondered if it was Uncle Ho Tuckshop. It wasn't. There is actually *another* Vietnamese place that opened not long ago just up the street: a stall at the food court of an industrial building called Interlocal Centre (100G Pasir Panjang Road, 8800-7027).

They do deliveries now, and the food was of good quality, as evidenced by the care that went into things like the tightly wrapped gỏi cuốn. I liked that they used fresh chili pepper slices in their bánh mì, and all of the food was easy to gobble down.

Now, what we ordered today wasn't so unique that I'd rush to order from them again (especially since they are closed on weekends, while weekday orders need quite a bit of lead time). But it seems they occasionally do some special items from time to time, which I definitely want to try when they are available.

Grilled Ayam Geprek from Papa Ayam at 313@somerset

Papa Ayam is still serving food during the circuit breaker, so this time I opted for the grilled version, as I wasn't in the mood for fried food. It's too bad then that it was sitting in a sweet sauce underneath. Granted, the potent sambal on top still helped me to finish it all, but next time I should stick to the fried version, perhaps going for the "trio sambal" option.

Fupi Beancurd Skin Crisps from Singapore

These were available at 7-Eleven. To my surprise, they physically looked like Sun Chips. But they were much thinner, and didn't have much taste on their own. Instead, they were covered by a strong sweet and salty powder. It was interesting enough that I finished the entire bag in one sitting, but I also immediately regretted doing so afterwards. They didn't have a salted egg flavor, although presumably that's also because this is meant to emulate hot pot.

The Beef Noodle Soup from My Elephant Thai

Here's the beef noodle soup from My Elephant Thai. The broth is a bit sweet, although that shouldn't be too surprising (think: boat noodles). More importantly, I liked the noodles in here, which were thinner and firmer than your usual kway teow; presumably these are the same noodles that they use in their pad thai. I definitely prefer Thaksin Beef Noodle over this, but I was happy to eat this too.

Lesana Fritos Artesanas Patatas Ricas from Spain

I am not sure how long NTUC has been carrying these potato chips from Spain. But I'm glad that they do. Why? Because they simply taste of potatoes, with nothing else but a little oil and salt. Plus, it's cheap, and it comes in a cool brown bag.

The Low-Carb Angus Beef from Carl's Jr. Singapore

Burger time again. I've consumed way too much carbs in the past day or two, so this iceberg lettuce-wrapped burger sounded rather refreshing. And it was better than I thought it would be, as the taste of the beef and onions shone through without all of that bread getting in the way. The patty was a bit thin and dry (despite being in their Premium Angus Beef category), but it still carried that signature charbroiled beef taste that Carl's Jr is known for. I'd eat it again.

The Awadh at the Centrepoint in Singapore

I've been curious about this place for a while now (176 Orchard Road #01-33H, 6909-9971). It specializes in Awadhi cuisine from Lucknow; they say that they serve a royal cuisine with Persian and Mughlai influences. It's pretty expensive (even for takeaway/delivery), but fortunately they have reasonably-priced weekday lunch sets like the one in the bottom right corner. Yes, it was refined and tasty.

I got more than just the lunch set though, particularly their signature gosht galawat kebabs on top. Only after I bit into its velvety smooth texture did I realize that I'd eaten this before at Flying Monkey, but under the name galouti kebab (I think they are the same thing, from what I could see). And that went along with their signature ulte tawe ka paratha bread. These made my bill much more expensive though.

Tamil Nadu's Dindigul Thalappakatti Restaurant in Singapore

This is an old chain of briyani restaurants from Tamil Nadu. It turns out that they've opened an outlet in Singapore (195 Kitchener Road, 6909-8694), and they can arrange for delivery during the current circuit breaker period. I thus placed my order for lunch today.

It was awesome. That tawa meen at the bottom was a lightly spiced and breaded fish that was crunchy yet tender, while the mutton briyani was peppery, with just the right amount of spices. Granted, the mutton wasn't as tender nor fatty as Bismillah, and they used a short grain rice, to my surprise. But they say that it's precisely this parakkum sittu rice that is able to absorb all of the spices that long grain basmati rice can't.

Yes, I will happily order from them again, as well as go to the restaurant itself when we are permitted. There are actually a bazilion other things on the menu, including "biriyani in a bucket," which I think is for their ten-person party pack. But I'd still be happy ordering nothing but these two items.

Delivery from Cheek Bistro on Boon Tat Street, Singapore

I tried going to this one Michelin-starred place about one year ago, only to find that it was being renovated (21 Boon Tat Street, 6221-1911). It turned out that it was undergoing its transformation from Cheek By Jowl to its current incarnation, Cheek Bistro. Obviously I couldn't go on-site today either, so here was the delivery version, with things like that cauliflower dish above being deconstructed for the purposes of retaining its texture, but also requiring me to figure out how to put it back together by looking at the pictures on GrabFood (basically, that crunchy barley went on first before topping it with the Tête de Moine cheese).

And that was a pretty good representation of their approach to food: a lot of focus on contrasting textures and tastes, all while using high quality ingredients. The burrata starter at the top similarly was all about contrasts, especially when paired with heirloom tomatoes, fermented green chili, and fried shallots. It was so aromatic that the smell of a garden erupted when I opened the container. They were surprisingly edgy about it: the tomatoes and green chili made for a pretty acidic and spicy combination. I wouldn't mind trying the restaurant after everything re-opens, but someone else is going to have to pay, as it's not cheap.

Mofo Hot Sauce's XXX Reaper from Fremantle, Australia

We passed by the Mofo Hot Sauce stall at Fremantle Markets a couple of years ago, and liked them enough that we ordered a bottle of the "extra hot" one afterwards. Admittedly, it's been sitting on our counter unopened for a while now, and we're regretting not having opened it earlier. It's fantastic, as it's not just about sheer heat, but everything else going on in there. The brown sugar, onion, garlic, and vinegar make it reminiscent of Worcestershire Sauce, but a pleasantly spicy one at that. The label says "Eat On Everything," which we basically have been doing. That means that this bottle isn't going to last much longer than a week at our current rate.

Fried Kam Heong La La from JB Ah Meng

JB Ah Meng is running a limited menu on GrabFood right now. Fortunately, their famous bee hoon was available. They also had clams, which in my haste, I had thought was going to be done in rice wine and garlic like I had from them previously. Instead, it was done in a Malaysian kam heong style with curry leaves and dried shrimp. I would've preferred the other version, but this was still salty, savory, and spicy enough to be fun to nibble on with some rice on a Sunday afternoon.

Basil Thunder Tea Rice from Grain

We ordered from Grain again today, and this was their thunder tea rice. Normally I dump my entire bowl of soup into the lei cha fan, but clearly that wasn't going to happen today with the little cup that they gave. That said, it was a lot better than I thought it would be, with not just a delightfully aromatic yet savory broth, but also all of the contrasting textures and tastes on top of the rice, including the peanuts, rice, and celery. Their food tends to be frustratingly sweet, but in this case, it was a welcome approach given how nicely it complemented everything else. If we order from these guys again, then I'm sticking to this one.

Five Guys Burger and Fries in Singapore

I'd tried Five Guys once or twice back in the States, but it didn't leave a big impression on me. So I never really bothered going when they opened an outlet at Plaza Singapura late last year (68 Orchard Road #01-32, 6976-4385). Yet burgers were requested again for dinner tonight, and I'm realizing now that I've been missing out all of this time. It was delicious, including not just the beefy patties (double patties are standard - yay!), but also those potato-ey fries.

One reason why I didn't like Five Guys before was because my expectations were too high. More importantly though, I finally got my selection of toppings correct this time: just lettuce, tomato, raw onion, and mayonnaise. Sure, the lettuce and onion here were rather sad, giving Shake Shack a clear lead in quality and care. But I can't stand Shake Shack's boring crinkle cut fries; I'd much rather get these fresh-tasting grease bombs instead, and finish off with a bacon and salted caramel shake.

The Mayfair Burger from Burger & Lobster

Burger & Lobster is running some rather impressively low prices during the circuit breaker period right now, with burgers starting at just S$10 (US$7). I opted for The Mayfair at the top of the burger section, which included a slice of tomato, onion, and their house-made pickles.

Unfortunately, it was the pickles that ruined it for me, as they were rather sweet. The patty itself was nice and beefy though, so next time I'll just get the cheapest burger instead. Hopefully next time it'll be in the restaurant itself too so that the fries aren't cold by the time it gets to us.