Kaya Toast from Wah Yen

This place (23 Sin Ming Road #01-01) is interesting. Rather than using the usual sliced bread for kaya toast, these guys offer a thick French bread version with the crusts and all. And if that is not enough for you, check out the excessive butter that they load on these things - whoa. There is so much butter that it's nearly "juicy" inside (and it does taste good), but it's probably not the healthiest thing in the world; I could nearly feel my arteries clogging on the spot (then again, I'm the psycho who loves putting a stick of butter in his ramen, so I'm probably not one to talk).

The Tapas Tree, Clarke Quay

This was a bit of a letdown. I had heard about this for a while, and I finally made it there tonight (Clarke Quay #01-08, 6837-2938). It was consistent, but it still fell short of Via Mar. It mainly came down to the quality of the ingredients and preparation: the chorizo, while greasy, lacked bite and just seemed like plain old sausages. The ham used on the tostadas was a bore, and the shrimp in the gambas al ajillo were not as fresh as they could have been. The paella was a bit mushier than I would have liked, and I prefer my gazpacho with more breadcrumbs - this was more tomato-ey.


In the end, it was all still very edible (and it's always fun to eat churros in chocolate), and the service was better than average. But next time, I'll definitely be hitting Via Mar instead. Even though I haven't had their paella yet, at least the tapas have proven themselves worthy.

Hae Bok's Korean Restaurant

Actually, there isn't much to say about this place (44-45 Tanjong Pagar Road, 6223-9003). The bulgogi (that they cooked in the back) was a bit dry and the kimchee was a bit boring. They had some interesting things like stuffed mushrooms but it was a bit greasy, while the raw fish in another dish were still practically frozen. Still, it wasn't so horrible that I won't come back - it was all still tasty overall, and I would like to try some of the other dishes. But I have yawned at a lot of these Korean restaurants in Singapore lately as they still seem not much better than a few places that I've found in food courts.

Oishi Japanese Pizza

Ugh. This just did not resonate with me. This place here in Singapore (9 Lock Road #02-01, 6555-5656) serves pizza but with Japanese ingredients (claiming to be famous in Japan), featuring things like wasabi seafood, Japanese curry chicken, and ika (squid) on pizza. It sounded a bit sketchy to me, but the convenience of home delivery was required tonight, so I made the call.

Although it looked interesting with its drizzled mayonnaise and nori & bonito flakes for toppings instead of cheese and chili peppers, the unagi and leek pizza just hit me in the face with that fishy taste - whoa. I guess I should have expected that knowing that it was unagi, but still, it was very unnatural to have a fishy taste on pizza (maybe because my brain is so accustomed to thinking of a more traditional pizza). Even though the teriyaki beef pizza (actually, it was ground beef) tasted much better, the fishy taste of the unagi just ruined the entire thing for me. The delivery service didn't make things any better: they told me on the phone that they would require 45-60 minutes; the delivery guy took 1 hour and 40 minutes, took cash only, and then didn't have small change to give me (thus forcing him to run down to the convenience store to get change). Yuck. I don't think I'm ordering from these guys again - I'll stick to Sarpino's.

That's really too bad. With the one exception of Mos Burger, I've found Japanese localization to usually produce food that is in many ways even better than the original: witness ramen/chahan/gyoza, Japanese curry, and yakiniku. I guess Mos Burger and Oishi Pizza stay off that list for me - ugh!

SQ's Iranian Chicken and Lamb Kofta Kebabs

Hey this was a lot better than I thought it would be. The "Iranian chicken and lamb kofta kebabs with sweet and sour Barberry rice" platter is available via the Book the Cook program - but I think only out of Dubai, so I made sure to order this. It didn't look like much when it first came out with that sauce drizzled on it, but then later I realized that - hey - that ground kofta kebab meat is like my favorite kubideh! Granted, it wasn't Shamshiri or Shabestan (and no, the little onions and tomatoes were not grilled on a fire), but for airplane food, this was impressive. The chicken wasn't too dry either, and the rice wasn't too fruity or anything - and of course it was nice to add some butter to it. It's too bad this isn't available on all SQ flights.



The starter tonight was "gravadlax with gherkin and new potatoes," which was decently fresh too, and a refreshing starter to have after all these kebabs lately.

A Shawarma off Al Rigga Road, Dubai

Just before leaving for the airport, I went for a walk down Al Rigga and found a shop on the street called Beirut that had ridiculously small shawarma sandwiches for only 4 Dirham (US$1). Since they were really cheap and small (you could wolf one down in less than a minute), I grabbed one just as a "taster." It didn't look too promising at first glance – not only since it was chicken, but also since it had no veggies in it (unlike those doner kebaps off the streets of Berlin). But I was a bit surprised when taking a bite as a burst of nearly stinging garlic mayo erupted into my mouth. This made it taste much better than I thought it would be, although I suppose anything with garlic is going to taste good (like snails – ha ha).

They also shoved French fries into this thing for a bit of a crispy texture. Well, this isn't healthy by any means (and yeah, the garlic was a bit excessive), but I can see why one would want one of these after a drinking session.

The Fish Market in Dubai

Here's just a couple quick pics from a quick 10 minute walkthrougn of the fish market in Dubai (and it has a lot more meaning now that I know that traditional food in Dubai is actually seafood-based). The first is a guy in the veggie section selling quintessential dates.



Next is a dried fish section - check out the butterflying action on those bad boys (there was of course the accompanying odor).

Unfortunately, I must have come too late though as the fresh fish section was being cleaned up for the day, but I'm sure it must have been cool to see, had I come earlier.

Shabestan, Intercontinental Dubai

Today, I hit up what multiple people told me was the best Iranian restuarant in the city, Shabestan, at the Intercontinental Hotel in Dubai. And true to form, this was awesome - and with a crapload of portions too. I got my favorite kubideh, which although was a bit less cooked than I would like (I want a little bit of carbon crispiness), it still went well with the raw onions and grilled tomatoes. The deep red sour somagh spice was available for sprinkling on top, as was a side of some sort of pickles.

Kinda like in Thailand, it also started with a huge plate of raw veggies: lettuce, mint leaves, basil, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, scallions, and cheese. But here, you can mix it with a yogurt not too unlike Indian raita, and then eat it with the flatbread (which, mind you, was the lightest and tastiest that I've ever had). The thin and sour dough drink also helped wash it down. To finish it off, I got some tea and faloodeh, which is an Iranian ice cream that was a little crunchy with a sugary coating and was even more unique thanks to the rose water and saffron water dribbled over it.



If it sounds like a lot of food, it was. There was so much leftover that it was such a shame if they really threw it all away (although of course a bit disturbing if they re-used it too). The cool thing is that this is probably the most authentic I'm ever going to get to Persian food, short of being able to go to Tehran anytime soon. That being the case, this says a lot about Shamshiri in West LA: that place is pretty much just as tasty as this one, so folks in West LA really have it good.

Breakfast in Dubai

OK, I was determined to find an authentic breakfast to start my day here in Dubai. I asked some of the locals, but most of them were puzzled by what I meant by a local breakfast. When I asked what they liked to eat for breakfast, one lady told me, "cereal" (ha ha). I had heard that maybe Lebanese breakfasts could be attained here, but there weren't any Lebanese places nearby that I could patronize so early in the morning. Some other guys recommended an "Indian Muglai Chinese" place. Such a identity-crisis-type restaurant sounded like a place that I would avoid at all costs, but they assured me that they served "Arabic" food there too (plus, nothing else was really open that early in the morning), so I walked over there. But it turned out to be all Indian food in the morning, which of course I can get in Singapore, so I got up and left. It seemed that the only thing that people could recommend was a "Western" breakfast, which I didn't come all the way to Dubai for. But needing food, I capitulated and just plopped myself in the lobby of the Le Meridien Dubai hotel where I was meeting someone soon anyway.

Then - little did I know (nor did the concierges at the hotel, apparently) - that there was an "Oriental Express" breakfast set offered in the Gourmandises cafe in the hotel lobby featuring "Mezzeh and cheese: hummus, moutabhel, labneh with mint, haloumi & feta cheese, tomato, cucumber, olives served with Arabic bread" and Turkish coffee. This was great - mezzeh are basically small dishes - almost like Spanish tapas. The hummus was one of the most savory that I've had, the moutabhel was sour and goat cheese-like, while the labneh was my favorite, with taste that almost reminded me of smoked cheese, but lighter and sour. Yum. The Turkish coffee had a mildly sweet and spicy twist to it - all in a tiny little espresso-like cup. It obviously wasn't my first choice to go into a nice hotel to eat a set meal, but in mind of my struggles to find a "local breakfast" here, I'm glad I did. It was refreshing to be able to finally find this, and I never would have thought to have had to go to a hotel lobby. And yes, this beats the pants off that Samar place back in Singapore.

I found out later though that there really isn't anything like breakfast out here in Dubai since people usually wake up at around 10-11 AM. And even more interesting is the fact that the only real "local" dish here is fish and rice (and maybe a little curry). Dubai was traditionally more of a seafood town, but today most people eat other Middle Eastern food, namely Lebanese, Iranian, and Syrian food. Now I finally understand why I could not really find any breakfast today. Hummus is more of a foreign thing for Dubai to begin with.

Interestingly, I passed by a McDonald's with this sign for a McArabia meal, featuring a grilled kofta sandwich. It's cool to see all the localization that McDonald's does around the world (it reminds me of that ad I saw for McDonald's Israel featuring a McShwarma). I didn't go into the McDonald's to actually try this, but it almost retroactively seemed like a good idea for a second when I couldn't find local food this morning.

SQ's Book The Cook Ribeye

Ugh. Using SQ's Book the Cook service, I pre-ordered the "6 oz. U.S. rib-eye steak with creamy green peppercorn sauce, roasted vegetables, and garlic-mashed potatoes." And when I got on the plane today, the "regular" menu today looked rather boring, so I was patting myself on the back for having the foresight to Book the Cook. That turned out to be premature. The ribeye that I got wasn't anything great; it wasn't moist, it wasn't thick, and it relied too much on the sauce than actually using the natural flavor of the meat. Granted, I shouldn't have expectations of Morton's on an airplane, but even just the physically drab appearance of this thing was a turn off.



I guess I just set my expectations too high. I still ate most of it (the prawn starter was pretty good), and it sure beat typical airline meals, but I definitely won't be craving this thing anytime soon. SQ also didn't serve their satay starter today; I guess that's just for long haul flights.

Lawry's The Prime Rib, Singapore

Mmm...Lawry's! This is an old favorite of mine from back in LA, and fortunately, there is one right in the middle of Singapore (Paragon #02-30, 6836-3333). It's great: there really isn't anything else on the menu except for how thick you want your prime rib cut, after which they wheel a big metal cart by your table and carve away, throwing on scoops of sides like their spinach or corn. I used to always get the Diamond Jim Brady cut as it is the largest one (with the bone in it), although lately I have migrated more toward the English cut, which tends to be a bit tastier since it is sliced very thin. Still, tonight, I was craving a huge chunk of juicy meat, so I opted for the "DJB," as my friends back home and I used to call it.



And fortunately, it is just as good in Singapore as it is back home: juicy, tender, and tasty. They provide both a creamy horseradish sauce as well as raw horseradish for extra kick. And who can beat their spinach mixed with bacon and onions? Throw in their mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding, and you've got one heck of a meal.

Is there anything I don't like about Lawry's? I don't like beets, and their "spinning salad" (named such because they spin the salad bowl on a bed of ice while tossing the salad dressing in) features some beet in their salad. But it's not as bad as it sounds - it's actually only a few very small slices that I can bear with, and beets aside, I really do like their salad, especially when dumping their special Lawry's seasoned pepper on top. Yum.

So we've got both Morton's and Lawry's here in Singapore - yay! The only place that seems to be missing from here now is Ruth's Chris, which unfortunately does not have a presence here. I think they have branches in Hong Kong and Taipei though, so hopefully I'll get a chance to grab some of that sizzling-butter filet soon (or maybe on my next trip to the States).

Kamameshi from Sun at CHIJMES

Back at Sun again today, I finally tried out the kamameshi, or rice and toppings (thin slices of beef in my case) baked in a metal bowl. It wasn't bad, but I have to admit that while I ate it, I couldn't stop thinking that it tasted like an over-glorified bowl of Yoshinoya beef bowl. Now, that's not a fair comparison - I only thought that because of the thin slices of beef on top of rice, and honestly it was good. But I'm pretty sure that I'll crave Yoshinoya more than this. I was never a huge fan of Sun to begin with.



Actually, before our lunch today, we were thinking of finally getting the wagyu beef that we didn't get last time here. Unfortunately, it looks like that is only on the dinner menu. Still, our meal wasn't without its excesses. We got the toro tuna belly sashimi, which wasn't cheap, but it was firm and tasty (and certainly very pretty with all the fat marbled into it).