Etna @ 50 Duxton Road

I was planning a dinner with my male BFFs whom I gotten to know in Shanghai. We always have a good laugh talking crap and sharing industry gossip. So I wanted them to try something nice, authentic, and cozy.

Etna was a place I read about in the internet...and I immediately thought that it was similar to Cenacolo near my old HK apartment...and really wanted to try if it is the same....

The feeling is similar, good hearty italian food set in a cozy setting...( main difference being wines in HK's Cenacolo are much cheaper). Etna does produce a slightly more refined taste than Cenacolo....( I think Cenacolo's standards have dropped recently). The service is prompt , and is great for dinner with friends, food is charming and exudes a warmth that is great for the soul....

one little peeve though- they don't have the classic sicilian pasta dish where fresh sea urchin is mixed with olive oil and tossed with pasta.

As with any decent italian restaurant, there should be the antipasti, primi, secondi etc etc in the menu....

Suspect that they added a bit of tomato paste into the bread dough....not bad.

Forgot the name, but its a chef special - arego cheese with foccacia bread with porcini mushrooms.....miam, who can resist a combi like this?

Antipasti Etna -Deep fried rice balls with pork stuffing and grilled vege ( a la style of a ratatouille) ...

Penne with Crab & tomato sauce - crab and tomato sauce goes so well, that when you order a pasta like this, you know that it can't go wrong....

Spaghetti with scallops & cured tuna rod tossed in olive oil.....this is really excellent, you can taste the quality of the olive oil, which makes it so reminiscent of the food you will get in Italy.

The last dish we had was pork loin wrapped with bacon. The pork was cooked perfectly, the sauce is delicious..and even the dollop of mash potato was wondrously tasty - thumbs up!

More updates from my second time at Etna - still so delicious

Penne with Baked Eggplant and Pecorino cheese - very simple but very hearty taste!!

Quattro Formaggio Pizza - usually I find the 4 cheese pizza very heavy and would give me lactose intolerance almost immediately....this one is soo light, and so very cheesy too. Needless to say - no lactose intolerance for this.

Home-made Tagliatelle with Rosemary, Prawns & lardon. What a combi....seemingly random, but actually darn delicious....

Last time I was too full to eat dessert...this time.......the molten chocolate cake....yummy

Panna Cotta - looks and taste like pudding....a little bizarre.

Creme Caramel - yeah! thats a favourite.....a bit rich for the last few mouthfuls though.....

En Bar@ Mohemmed Sultan Road

I first went to En Bar, introduced by a friend ( who have sadly pass away very young), so I always remember this place because of him.


It was one of the first real Okinanwan izakaya joints in SG even before the common people knew what izakaya was....now they are all over the place though....


So then En Bar serves amazing food, great ambience, great alcohol, great owner ( I remembered a balding Jap guy)......


And now, sadly, standards did not really keep up. Most food was alright, though super not expensive, and the sake is very cheap there...........It could be a nice place if you want to drink more than you eat.........

Theres so much dishes to choose from

Tuna Carpaccio - love the spring onions and yuzu sauce....but really lacks a bit of depth....but really not bad for casual food.

One fav test for izakayas - if their 'tsukune' are up to scratch....though this looks a bit unusual, it doesn't taste that memorable.

Squid ink noodles - This is alright

KimChi Tofu - very average though...

Cod in sweet mirin & soya sauce - the cod is a bit too soft....so was a tad disappointed, was hoping that it could be a bit more firm

Gyoza! Not too bad, but not mind blowing.........

Casa Latina@ Waterloo Street

I always have a difficult relationship with Mexican food, I never thought they were that complex or deep, until years ago in paris, my mexican friend invited me to her place for burritos and just good old tequila...( ok I am so over tequila), but the taste of the burritos she made was unforgettable. I could never find that taste again for the longest ( coz I got stuck in Asia).......till Casa Latina kinda gave me the same delicious subtle taste of mexican food back..

Its yum, not very pricy, and set in a most wonderful ambience in an old house in Waterloo street ( which reminded me of Rosabieng in Bangkok Soi 11)......

Go there and eat the food, I want this restaurant to thrive!

Trust me, this is a goooood restaurant, for anybody who likes Mexican food...

God, whats this otak doing here? I asked......

I dun know what it is called, its a kinda of baked cornmeal  with beef slices and grilled, so its slightly crispy, and meaty, and yes so good.

Melted cheese ( eat it with Tortillas), I dun know what the ingredients are, the dish don't look very elegant....but the taste, the taste ....amazing, warm, soothing & vibrant all at one go.

Chicken Mole - right, this is the first time I tasted mole, I tasted beans, and just pure deliciousness....am not a big meat eater, but really love this mole.....with meat!

I was so indulged that night, I didn't remember the names , this is fish with the same herb green sauce as the melted cheese dish. Good - a resounding yes!

Some obscure pork with tortilla skin? Its just damn good!

Ok, this is exciting,another chicken dish, it has mole sauce, a thick green herb beany sauce, and the black stuff - tasted like black bean polenta. Its just great and so yummy.....

Keisuke TonKontsu King@ Orchid Hotel

Well, for people who know me, I am a noodle fan. I love it in all forms & shape....can't say that I have the same enthusiasm for rice though......so naturally, with the ramen craze going around the world, I am tempted to try all the ramen in Singapore.

This place was apparently the best Ramen in SG, according to a Japanese source.....but well...?

Noodles - al dente & chewy
Soup - rich ( but a tad oily) and very flavourful
Other highlights - the sesame thingy is obvious very fragrant and a real bonus....
minuses - the restaurant had a bizzare smell...I think the ac broke down the afternoon I was there for lunch.

So, is it good ? Yes it is...will I go there to try the Red noodles & normal Tonkontsu broth? Yes I will........will I ask for less chicken oil....yes I will

:) 

Every Table had a sesame seed grater bowl , this is supposedly to enhance the fragrance of the noodle. Does it work? I am absolutely charmed by this.......

You can order extra noodles......

Black Soup - its slightly oily, but so flavourful.......also, I like the simplicity of the noodles, chopped spring onions, one piece of char siew, a few black fungus....thats great! no complicated fish-cakes, bamboo shoots......

I guess I am again charmed by the idea they offered free eggs and sesame oiled bean sprouts......the sesame oil is really aromatic........excuse the badly peeled egg though.

Ban Heng@ Boon Keng MRT

Ban heng is one of those old school chinese restaurants who serves old-school fuzhou food, one of which is the infamous 'Buddha jumps over the wall'.

The decor is friendly a bit dodgy, with the false ceiling looking like it needs a new coat of paint, the waitresses look hassled and tired but efficient nonetheless.

Food - thats the best part, its great good wholesome delicious chinese food , in its full traditional glory and I love it. Maybe takeaway from there would be a good idea......

One more thing about "buddha jumps over the wall" - its a huge urn with layers of delicacies stacked one each layer. It took three servings to reach the bottom of the vessal. Enjoy the pics. No menu pics though....

The infamous urn - Buddha jumps over the wall , not the dried scallops, shark fins ( am a big fan of shark fins, but do not support eating them now for moral obligations) pig's tendons and loads more

First serving - shark fin with dried scallop in thick broth

2nd Serving - abalone, the white stuff beside it is supposedly the liver of the abalone

3rd Serving - pig tendons, sea cucumber & chinese mushroom in broth

Honestly speaking , it taste very good, and thats probably due to the 5 star ingredients that went into the urn and double broiled to bring out the flavours

Frankly, after the three course of the above, this looks like a gigantum task to finish, but its good too - just plain broccoli and dried scallops cooked in wok fire, simple & delicious

Deep Fried Soon Hock fish - you don't get very tasty versions of this fish anymore, partly due to the fact, they are getting expensive. This one is done just right, and really do justice to the fish.

True Blue@Armenian Street

Singapore has a lot of good food, a lot of them in hawker centers, some in nice fine restaurants, and peranakan food is always so so yummy, usually housed in quaint little restaurants.

TrueBlue looks more like a living musuem than a restaurant, but it just happen to serve food in a nice relaxing ambience...food is rather the unusual peranakan fair, though a bit pricy. Only course that wasn't tasty is probably the otak otak - too spicy and too dry.

Menu in the design of a Peranakan Door - Ingenue

Living Museum & restaurant all in one....even the crockery & cutlery has a elegant feel to it.

Banana Flower salad - very good, unusual taste and texture

And this has got to be the best Kueh Pie Tee I ever tasted. I suspect they fried the pie skin themselves to give it 'ol so crispy' texture

Coriander Duck - not spicy, very nice duck taste

Buah Kalau - this is soo delicious, the black nut with chicken is sooo nice, the curry is fantastic with rice...just pure yum

Water spinach ( maybe I forgot the name) - but its great, its crunchy and reminds me of all the wild vegetables I ate in Taiwan, natural, crunchy and wholesome

Otak-Otak  - too dry, too spicy and very expensive, just skip this dish when you are there.

More updated dishes on my 2nd visit to True Blue!

This is sambal Potato leaves.... the sambal curry sauce is seriously yummy.

Chap Chai - mixed vegetables with vermicelli stir-fried...this is sooo old school and so yummy at the same time! Great dish to order to break the spiciness of the meal

Meat & crab Ball soup - this is really yummy. I tried it even though there's crab inside of it.

Wild Pepper Leaf Omelette - name sounds exciting, you can taste bits of a strange tasting herb...but the omelette is a bit dry.....not really a very good dish.

Beef Rendang - a bit tough though....but nicely spiced out.....ok for foreign guest...but for very difficult local foodies....I wouldn't expect this to be their standard.

Imperial Treasure @ Asia Square 2

Dim sum in Singapore is quite a hard to nail affair. Either they are not good at all, or just pretty conventional dim sum. Its always much better in HKG or Guangzhou, where almost all dim sum restaurants are kinda good ( that applies to HK only...) Guangzhou will surprise with crazily delicious dim sum at the classier restaurants.

Well Imperial Treasure is a 'Crystal Jade Reincarnation', kinda similar food, just that Imperial Treasure has a more ostentatious decor. Well food wise, its typical cantonese fair, but it just lacks the spark that you get in delicious cantonese food. However, their double-broiled soup is not bad, with wormwood herb which is very good for this eternally hot and humid weather,......

Another good point, its not very crowded, great for people who wanna avoid the crowds....

Golden bronzy menu ....

Roasted pork - I used to hate fatty meat like this before going to HK. HK open my taste buds to delicious 'melt in your mouth' fat....This is a bit far from it.The crispy bit and fit are supposed to work together to create a sensational texture and taste. The similar dish I tasted in Tung Lok Signatures have much more oomph to it.

3 treasures steamed dumpling - not too bad, you can't really go wrong with this...but then again not fantastic

Steamed rice rolls - decent , not fantastic, but the standard is better than many dim sum joints who purports to make steamed rice roll

Chicken feet in black bean sauce - this is nice traditional good....

Taro- cake - this is one of most memorable dish in the restaurant, shredded taro pan fried... very nice.

Char Siew Pastry Puff - this is also one of their better dishes where the char siew puff is very very delicious......order this if you ever get there.