Summer 2006 Food Awards

At the risk of sounding like a BFP (Big Fat Pig... ok la I am one)... I'm going to go on about the great (and not-so-great) food I've been eating these past 3 months... good things must share mah! So here is my long, eclectic and somewhat biased list.

Revisited:

• Crystal Jade
  Golden Palace (Teochew cuisine) was exorbitant but exquisite. With impeccable, efficient Chinese service (the way it should be). La Mian Xiao Long Bao just serves up the best comfort dimsum. Am newly hooked on this dish called - similar to wanton, with smooth slippery skin, but swimming in a tasty, spicy red sauce. And the new Cakery allows you to bring your favourite pastries home!
  


• Max Brenner's
  Chocolate by the Bald Guy is always a fantastic experience... although next time I get my fondue fix I will try asking for all 3 dishes of choc to be dark. The other 2 are a tad too sweet; suspect white is really evaporated milk in disguise.
  
  edit: I went back a second time and the very nice staff acquiesced to my request! *satisfied* Though now Alex suggests they sell additional dunking materials, cos we never finish the fondue :P
  


• Holland Village XO YPMF (beats the Tanjong Pagar version)
  Sounds like some super code name right ;) But it's a deceptively simple dish, fried fish and rice noodles swimming in a milky soup base. Be sure to specify the 'XO' version for that extra kick.
  


• Bakerzin
  I disdain the trendy new name :( But desserts are awesome!
  
  
  Marriage made in heaven: combinations of fruit and ice-cream and all that is good.
  


• NYDC
  Ok, this shouldn't make the list after multiple trips to the Cheesecake Factory in Chicago. And the darned baked pastas seem to get smaller every year :P But I heart the Farmboy Chicken Salad for its toasted almonds, savoury croutons and generous sprinklings of shredded chicken... if you're not that into greens just split the salad and an entree with someone else.
  


• Essential Brew
  Serves funky fusion teas and desserts and interestingly, run by some guy I met in NY :) You can chill upstairs for hours and ppl-watch as they go by...
  
  


• Long Beach seafood
  Creator of our famous chilli crab and black pepper crab... chilli crab with fried mantous has got to be my ultimate favourite dish of the year (pity about the cholesterol). Nice fresh fish too... comparable to No Signboard.
  


• Togi
  Authentic Korean bbq, with seafood pancake, bulgolgi and all the little side dishes to make eveyone happy. The bibimbap is mixed before your eyes and the sundofu is fiery enough for us to keep asking for refills of the very fragrant rice tea ;) And the lao2 ban3 niang2 is super nice, explaining everything on the menu when you don't understand.
  


• Sushi Tei
  Sushi Tei has proved itself a highly reliable choice for Jap food :) Sashimi is always fresh (try the salmon carpaccio) and the handrolls are served with the meat still hot (crispy soft shell crab ummm).
  

Newly visited, and highly recommended:

• Rive Gauche (Taka basement food square)
  rive gauche means 'left of the river' and has come to represent a certain fashion style. For PPT's birthday I visited the cakery and chose a dark chocolate cake layered with dense praline and mousse and a crunchy hazelnut base. 'Nuff said :)
  


• Sun with Moon (Wheelock Place)
  Sushi Tei prices for superior taste, presentation, decor, and service! Extra marks for the bed of crushed ice for the soba and the smiley waitresses who were always on hand to explain stuff on the menu to us... and the desserts! *swoon* I went back for the green tea parfait: a generous scoop of green tea ice cream, lashings of red bean paste, mochi, green tea sponge cake, and cornflakes :)
  


• The Art of Tea-drinking
  CS intro-ed us to Yi Xing Xuan Teahouse and Tea Chapter on Tanjong Pagar Road... the latter is where we actually had tea, in a quaint shophouse with jap-style furnishings (low tables and cushions) and an INCREDIBLE smell drifting through it. Loved the cha1 ye4 dan4 and fragrant gao1 shan1 cha2(literally, Taiwanese High Mountain Tea) we had :)
  


• Via Mar
  The choc souffle at this Spanish restaurant and wine bar (opp Harry's at the Esplanade) is supposedly 'to die for' *ahem ahem* but I found the paella de mariscos (seafood fried with rice) much more worth shouting about. And sangria, sangria, sangria! :D
  


• Divine
  Ok due to a certain someone's desire to keep this place under wraps (for fear it'll become crowded... lol) I can't disclose the address... but apparently it's been in the papers, for it's floor-to-ceiling wine cabinets and 'floating fairies' (on remote-controlled harnesses) to retrieve your bottles for you. A bunch of us went and shared a couple bottles of wine. Both were lovely. And there was live jazz piano and singing *swoons* I had an awesome, awesome time!
  


• Wala Wala
  If you can take the smoke... there's nothing not to like. Great music, speedy service, authentic pizzas with the thinnest, crispiest bases you'll find in SG :)
  


• Jazz@Southbridge
  Ok this is more for the music than anything... they have a great band and a different singer every week or so... drinks are also not bad. But go early or make a reservation cos this place is popular.
  


• Breko's
  Their breakfast is not bad and quite value for money. Ooh and potato puffs - oily, salty, and sooooooo good!
  


• J6 seafood
  Popular place in Geylang (aka Singapore's red light district) for frog's legs. On this particular trip someone thought 龙虾 meant prawns and ordered us a $100+ dish of spicy lobster beehoon (!!!)
  


• Herbal soup prawn mee (Kim Seng Plaza near Zouk)
  I'm not even a prawn mee fan. But this stall just takes the cake. With prices starting at $4 per bowl with 1 prawn it's exorbitant, but the prawn is HUGE and the noodles generous and not too flaccid... wonderful for detoxing after the weekly Mambo Nites haha. Def worth a try.
  


• Hainanese beef noodles (in Laguna Park)
  I am ashamed to say I hadn't tried this before. Anyone who hasn't should, the beef is tender and juicy and the noodles are soaking in a delicious rich gravy... Aaand, it's Hainanese! *waves Hainanese flag*
  On that note also try Hainanese chicken rice balls (Tiong Bahru market). I personally find the balls a bit too dense and starchy but no there's no denying their intoxicating aroma :D So good, you can eat them on their own. But why do that when you have the marvellous dark soy, ginger, and chilli sauces to go with it!
  


• Seafood steamboat with satay sauce soup
  Believe this is traditionally Teochew... I'm nuts about the peanut-y soup!
  

The forgettables

• Harry's (Holland V)
  The jazz music was good, though it was only 2 ppl on guitars and their warmup seemed to take forever, and ended abruptly. What really irked me was their "3 refills per table" policy for the nut basket, which was ridiculous considering the 5 of us had ordered 11 drinks between us. I mean, what if we insisted on closing the table and opening a new one? Or splitting tables? If you want to be kiam siap (stingy) about nuts then at least peg to the amount your customers spend right? Bleah.
  
  edit: The Esplanade branch fared somewhat better with service and ambience (and sangria!). But the band was too loud and too sucky :P
  


• Menotti's
  Another fab place in Raffles City to get your sweet treats. What's more, the gorgeous Italian cakes are sold at 50% off after 10pm! ***Cheapo alert!*** My only prob with them is that they were overcrowded when I went (it was the crazy fireworks weekend) and the waitress told us she would 'try' to get an additional order for us, only we had to find out 20 min later, upon asking again, that they were out of the requested pastry. And then the bill took another eon to come (that is, until we complained to the manager).
  


• Beppu
  Hmm let's start at the very beginning... when my sis and I were greeted by shouts of "Shimaso!" and "Masai!" which are all gross perversions of the Japanese welcome greeting to customers. Then, to my horror, I discovered the chopsticks had no rest or even wrapper, AND there was a gigantic soy sauce mark left on the table (ewwww). They served up free edamame but it turned out to be several shades on the wrong side of ripe (never try to offload bad food on your customers, they will know!! duh). Green tea was bland and I found a hair in my rice. Finally, the zealous but bumbling staff took forever with the bill (Lying, be thankful we didn't choose this place the last time!) Can't imagine how they got Channel U approval.
  


• Hog's Breath Cafe
  Went to the one in HV. The steak was a bit too rare for medium-rare... but a mean nacho dish with The Works (cheese, guacamole, salsa and refried beans - all in a tasty, gooey mess).