Miscellaneous Food: Eastern Europe

I recently concluded a three-city trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest, and had a wonderful time exploring old Europe. Prague and Budapest I’ve always wanted to visit – simply because the architecture and spirit of the cities seem so magical and immutable. Vienna has been the seat of culture, music and history for centuries, so that too was definitely on the list.

Prague

Although Prague is incredibly beautiful, the food there was a bit of a let-down. Either there is no good food to be had, or I was just looking in all the wrong places.




Lunch one day was broiled chicken breast with a mushroom sauce and rice which, while competent, was neither appetising nor remarkable.




Slightly more interesting was M’s dish – rice cooked with fruits. The rice had a brownish-yellow hue, and was cooked with raisins, kiwi and even grapes. Again, though, I’m not sure it could be said that this was a particularly enjoyable dish.




Thankfully I drank in the sights and in that way assuaged my appetite.




Dinner was not that much better – at a traditional Czech pub, I had the Czech version of beef ‘Stroganoff’, which was strips of beef cooked in a thick sauce, flavoured with some paprika and vinegar and served with rice.




M had a special of the house – Smoked Moravian meat served with potato pancake and boiled cabbages. Personally I thought it was as awful as it sounded, but she seemed to enjoy it. It was a massive portion though, big enough for two people to share.




With food like that, it really is no wonder life expectancy in the Middle Ages wasn’t terribly long.

Vienna

Vienna, however, was a slightly different matter. With its tradition of kaffeehauses and numerous beisls (eateries), there was more than enough food to go around in Vienna. Also, Chubby Hubby had helpfully published a guide to Vienna some time ago.




One of the first stops was Café Hawelka, a fairly well-known and popular joint to people-watch by the side of the street.




Its terrace offers shade from the summer sun, and it’s conveniently located just off the main thoroughfare, making it a great meeting place.




Unfortunately, though, its hot chocolate is pretty bad – tasting exactly like the Cadbury’s instant hot chocolate mix I had left England to escape. If you come here, stick to the coffees.

Café Leopold Hawelka
Dorotheergase 6, 1st




Almost directly opposite Hawelka is Trzesniewski, the famous sandwich bar with the unpronounceable name. Apparently Kafka was a regular patron here. These open-faced sandwiches consist of squares of sourdough bread topped with things like paté, scrambled egg, mushroom paste and salmon.

Personally I didn’t enjoy them at all, as I thought the sandwiches were neither tasty nor substantial, but the place still seems to attract a regular stream of patrons.

Trzesniewski
Dorotheergasse 1, 1st




The one thing that must be tried in Vienna is sachertorte, the famous chocolate cake that makes the perfect mid-afternoon snack.




The two most famous cafes that serve sachertorte are Café Sacher and Café Demel, though the former eventually won the right to call its cakes the “original sachertorte”.




Housed in the equally historic Hotel Sacher, Café Sacher boasts opulent decorations befitting the Habsburgs themselves, and a brightly-lit covered terrace to enjoy your cuppa and cake.




The sachertorte itself is a slice of beauty, served with a big dollop of unsweetened cream to temper the sweetness of the cake. And sweet it is too – there is an incredible amount of sugar that goes into the chocolate frosting. The cake itself is not that sweet, and the sponge is moist and delectable, but you definitely need some water after finishing all of it.

Café Sacher
Philharmonikerstrasse 4, 1st




Naturally we had to try the sachertorte from Demel as well, just to compare the two.

Demel has a pleasant outdoors terrace that allows you to enjoy the sights and sounds of Vienna, though on a hot day it can feel slightly stifling.




Indoors the place reminds me of Ladurée in Paris; with a salon de thé and a counter selling all kinds of pastries and takeaway goodies.




The hot chocolate at Demel still isn’t as good as the ones from Spain or France, but it was better than the ones being served at other Viennese cafes. The sachertorte, however, wasn’t as good as the Café Sacher’s, mainly because it was rather drier and denser. It was less sweet though, which was something I approved of.

Café Demel
Kohlmarkt 14, 1st

Austria's other famous offering is, of course, wiener schnitzel, the breaded and fried veal escalope that is another must-try.




Zu den Zwei Liesln is a popular biesl famous for their enormous schnitzels – definitely the place to come to if you’re a schnitzel fan, though it should be noted that their schnitzels are not veal but pork. They have a very nice open-air garden courtyard that’s lovely in summer, so don’t be fooled by the door to the restaurant that appears to be closed and locked; the real entrance is just a few feet away.




I had a goulash to start, which was a mistake, as this was almost a whole meal in itself – consisting of a thick soup, chunks of beef, potatoes and sliced sausages. While good, it substantially reduced my appetite for any more food.




Which meant, predictably, that I could not finish the three massive escalopes I was served. While schnitzel is tolerable enough in small amounts, by the second escalope I was starting to become slightly sick of the fried pork cutlet, which reminded me of the ‘pork chops’ you get from the ‘Western Food Stall’ in any hawker centre.

Zu den Zwei Liesln
Burggasse 63, 7th




One of Vienna’s better restaurants (you won’t find it listed in Lonely Planet) is Plachutta – a restaurant specialising in beef and nothing but beef. They pride themselves on a long tradition of using only the finest cows from Upper Austria and Styria, and use almost all parts of the cow.




Plachutta specialises in tafelspitz, or boiled beef (a bit like an Austrian pot au feu), and its menu helpfully points out the different cuts of beef you may choose.




The cut is then served to you in a gleaming copper saucepan, in a tasty beef broth that includes vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and leeks, as well as a generous hunk of boiled marrow and a portion of rosti. Sauces include sour cream and applesauce.




Service here is excellent, with the waiters assisting you in dishing out the succulent hunks of meat and ensuring that your meal is an enjoyable and memorable one.




Everything is laid out neatly on your plate, and the meat, far from being dry or unwholesome, is tender, juicy and flavourful. It goes surprisingly well with the sour cream, though I wasn’t too sure about the applesauce.




One of the best things about tafelspitz though, is not so much the meat, but the wonderful beef broth that you can enjoy even after you’ve finished the beef. Clear, salty and bursting with flavour, I wish I had been able to finish the whole pot, but unfortunately I was rather stuffed by that point.

Plachutta
Wollzeile 38, 1st




I am told that there the Austrians have a specific word, Jause, to describe the numerous tea-breaks that they have during the day. With so many cafes to choose from, that’s hardly surprising. One of the most famous though, is Café Central.




Boasting an interior that looks like it came out of the 19th century, and its very own pianist, it’s easy to see why Café Central is such an institution in Vienna. Come here to while away a few hours in a delightful tête-à-tête, or just enjoy the music.

Café Central
Herrengasse 14, 1st




What used to be Café MAK at the Museum of Applied Art is now Osterricher Gashaus and Bar - a sleek bar-restaurant that serves traditional and modern Austrian cuisine. The garden patio, with its shady canopy, laid-back atmosphere, chill music and well-heeled clientele is a definite attraction.




I had the goulash, which was served with a bread dumpling and a thick, tomato-based sauce. Very hearty and very good, the meal would have been perfect if the weather had been a few degrees cooler, or if I had some extra bread to soak up the remaining sauce.

Osterreicher Gashaus and Bar
Stubenring 5, 1st




Since it was so hot, we decided to go chill out at nearby Café Pruckel, a kaffeehaus straight out of the 1950s.




It was so hot though, that even the eis chocolate I ordered did little to relieve the heat.

Café Pruckel
Stubenring 24, 1st




So, we decided that the one thing that would be really cooling was ice-cream, and the one name synonymous with ice-cream in Vienna is Zanoni’s. With outlets almost all over Vienna, it’s difficult to miss, but we headed for the largest one near St. Steven’s Basilica.




The banana milkshake I had was a bit too sweet, but it was very refreshing and very welcome on that hot day.

Zanoni and Zanoni
Rotenturmstrasse

Budapest

The greatest surprise of all, however, was Budapest, which not only produces some of the finest dessert wine on the planet, but also, as it turns out, has some truly exceptional food.




Lunch was at Signo, an elegant lounge-bar that also served food. Lots of dark wood and off-white cushions, Signo was the epitome of zen, even down to the bamboo sprig adorning each table.




When the food arrived, I was really astounded. I had already been impressed by the décor, but the presentation of M’s duck breast, served with pine nut sauce and mushrooms, was quite impressive.




My own dish, chicken paprika, was a traditional Hungarian affair but clearly presented in a modern way. In Hungary, anything served with paprika and sour cream is automatically something paprika, but it appeared that my chicken had been slow-cooked to fork-tenderness, and was served with some excellent potato gnocchi. The chicken was tasty, the sauce piquant and sweet, contrasting nicely with the cool, thick sour cream, and all the tastes and textures worked really well together to present an excellent dish.




Dessert was a sugar melon served with Tokaj sabayon and vanilla bean ice-cream. Sabayon benefits from the addition of the syrupy-sweet wine, giving a touch of class to the otherwise-simple dessert.

Signo Café
1137 Budapest, Pozsonyi út 4
Website




P, our Hungarian guide for the day, very kindly took us to a favourite hangout spot of his, Noir Chocobar, which, obviously, serves nothing but chocolate (although you can, and we did, have some palimka). Here you can have hot chocolate (served thick and authentically cloying, not like the Austrian stuff) in multitudinous flavours: dark, chilli, fruity, white, etc. An excellent place to come and relax in the evenings after a full day of sight-seeing.

Noir Chocobar
VI Kerület, Hegedü utca 6




Our final meal in Eastern Europe was at Appetito, an upmarket restaurant and café on Castle Hill that served modern Hungarian cuisine (in fact there are a surprising number of such restaurants around Budapest).




M’s first dish was a pear soup, served cold with a quenelle of lemon mousse. Although better suited to a dessert than an appetiser, the soup was very satisfying, redolent with the texture and taste of the Alexandra pears, and the mild, lemony cloud of mousse lending a complementary effect to the dish.




I had a pappardelle served with stewed beef and tomato concassé that was equally nourishing. Cooked al dente, the pasta was excellent, and the beef, stewed to an almost melting texture and mildly spiced, was a good accompaniment.




M’s second course was a terrine of Hungarian goose liver served with peaches and a vanilla bean-flavoured white chocolate sauce. Though sounding like an odd combination, the trio worked well together, as the goose liver was sweet and rich, enlivened by the fruitiness of the peach and the fragrance of the vanilla.

Appetito
1014 Budapest, Hess András Tér 6
Website
E-mail

Definitely a series of inspiring and enjoyable meals in Budapest, I can’t wait to return in order to see what else this beautiful city offers in terms of food and wine.

Technorati Tags: Food, Miscellaneous, Prague, Vienna, Budapest

Miscellaneous Food: Paris

One of the good things about studying in the UK is that the rest of Europe becomes extremely accessible. Paris, in particular, is only a train ride away, and it doesn’t take much excuse to go visit. One such excuse was the recently-concluded French Open, though with all the good food in Paris, it’s really only a marginally better excuse.

Although this wasn’t supposed to be a food-oriented trip (insofar as that is possible where I’m involved), naturally food wasn’t completely ignored either.




Our first good dinner was at Le Chansonnier – a petit bistrot on the corner of Rue Eugene Varlin. Very French, it had a very relaxed attitude towards animals – a dog sat comfortably at one of the tables, while the lady of the house waged an endless war with the resident cat.

This was a Lonely Planet recommendation, so I wasn’t expecting much, but surprisingly, the food was excellent, and even more surprisingly, service was wonderful as well.




I started with white asparagus spears, steamed, with a simply-dressed salad. I wasn’t entirely sure the asparagus was fresh, as it seemed a bit stringy, but the spears were juicy and fairly succulent.




Some of my friends had the duck confit, which was meltingly tender, though served with some slightly questionable garlic roast potatoes.




I was debating between the osso bucco and the souris d’agneau, but in the end the latter won out, simply because I haven’t had lamb shank in a while. Braised in a rich sauce of red wine, tomatoes, herbs and orange zest, the lamb was tasty and hearty, though the mashed potatoes were a bit chunky.

No dessert, as we were all a bit full. Nonetheless, Le Chansonnier restored my faith in Lonely Planet recommendations, and demonstrated that good food at decent prices isn’t really too hard to find in Paris, provided you know where to look.

Le Chansonnier
14 Rue Eugene Varlin
Tel: 1 42 09 40 58

It was rather fortuitous that a few days before I left for Paris, Chubby Hubby posted an extremely helpful six-day itinerary of things to do in Paris.




One of the places he recommended was Bechu, an artisanal bakery known for winning le Grand Prix de la Baguette de Paris, or the Best Baguette in Paris.




There was already a queue outside the bakery when we arrived, and we saw satisfied customers leaving with armfuls of baguettes, the heady aroma of yeast and dough permeating the area.




As it turns out, Bechu is not just a bakery, but also a patisserie and salon de thé, though the last is a slight exaggeration; customers sit outside sipping their morning cafés.

The baguette here is rather good – the crust is crispy without being gum-piercingly solid, and the soft, billowy interior is at once tasty and comforting. Bechu offers a number of different types of baguette, but we had the classic. Interestingly enough, when a Frenchman ahead of us in the queue asked us what we were eating it with, he was aghast to hear that our reply was 'nothing'. Do the French not eat their bread plain?

Bechu
118 Ave. Victor Hugo; 16th Arr.
Closed Mondays
Tel: 1 47 27 97 79




Lunch was at a random restaurant fronting Place de la Bonaparte (?), which, again, was better than expected. The mussels in cream sauce were exceptionally flavoursome, and we were given a generous quantity of the molluscs, which meant there was more than enough to share.




I had intended to make another reservation at L'Os à Moelle, but unfortunately they seem to be closed on Mondays, and I made a reservation at Le Petit Pontoise instead, a restaurant with a similar reputation for quality food at friendly prices.

The restaurant has an interesting concept – there are no individual menus, merely multiple blackboards that adorn the walls advertising the choices on offer, with a separate blackboard for fish. The review I had read recommended the braised pork cheeks, but oddly enough none of us ordered it.




I started with the baked brie, with balsamic vinegar and truffled sauce. I’m not entirely used to starting with cheese (unless it's something like goat’s cheese salad), so I found this very rich and heavy. While the brie was warm and gooey, I couldn’t taste any truffle, and I thought the dish could have benefited from more vinegar in order to cut through the cheese. While good, I was not able to finish all of it.




The fricasée of escargots that my friends had, on the other hand, was rather delicious. It reminded me of the signature dish at Sage, though without the poached egg. The dish was bursting with the taste of the plump and succulent snails, without the traditional oiliness of the parsley butter.




My main course was calf’s liver, served with a meaty brown sauce and creamy mashed potatoes. I can’t remember having liver before, which was mainly why I ordered it. It had a most interesting texture – crispy and almost meat-like on the outside, before becoming pastier, slightly chewier on the inside. It tasted characteristically liver-esque, much like foie gras paté, though much less silky and rich. It was a good change, though I think I prefer steak.




The duck breast here is quite good, though served with somewhat unpresentable snowpeas and carrot discs. The potatoes and grapes were a nice touch though, with a sauce that had body without being overpowering.

While perhaps not as dramatic as L'Os à Moelle, the food here is by no means inadequate, and Le Petit Pontoise benefits from having a much better location. The restaurant is very small though, so bookings are essential.

Le Petit Pontoise
9 rue de Pontoise
Tel: 01 43 29 25 20




Of course, no trip to Paris would be complete without a trip to Ladurée and Pierre Hermé for some macarons, on which you can read more in one of my earlier posts.

Technorati Tags: Food, Miscellaneous, Paris

Review: Where to Eat in Singapore (2007)

I've been asked this question a lot recently. Summer's here and this means a lot of people that I went to college with are in town, either visiting or moving here to work and live (strangely, a huge number are doing just that). I've put together a user-friendly guide of where indeed, I've been eating and what I recommend you try while in Singapore.

I wanted to put together a list that was sensitive of certain factors. For example, while I think that there are some great (and some rather obscure) local haunts, I have to say that perhaps not all expats are here, nor have the time, to hang out in coffeeshops. (That being said, I do think taking them to Straits Kitchen or The Line at one of the Orchard Road hotels is also quite a cop-out)

Also, I'm really proud of the food and hospitality explosion that has taken place in Singapore over the last three years and I think we really need to showcase that more, as well as the change in the environment and ambience that goes along with these places.

Secondly, different strokes for different folks right. While most people I know don't want to spend a whole lot on a meal, they all have different agendas. I think some places are good for a girls lunch but not neccesarily a date or a corporate meal. Also, people have a different idea of what they are looking for. For example, I've often wondered, do the Australians actually like going to PS Cafe, because (and this is even though I'm a huge fan of Aamir) there are much better cafes and cafe food in Australia itself ...or do they go there to see other Australians?

And you know, if you're a big white guy, no self-respecting local girl can be seen with you in BRIX (basement of Grand Hyatt, if you didn't actually know where, you have your priorities straight) but if you're here for the "Asian Experience" then you know you should go, because while the goods are odd, the odds are good, if you know what I mean...

So. This is my absolutely biased view of the places in Singapore you should eat at. I've put them into the categories that I usually think of them in. In no particular order of preference and with a definite preference for places that are nearer to my circle of conciousness in this little red dot of an island.

Category 1: So Good it's not fusion.

1. Buko Nero, 126 Tanjong Pagar Road
Tel: 6324 6225

This place tops the list because it's so very hard to get into, you know you're getting some local love. Run by Oscar and Tracy Pasinato, this hole-in-the-wall eatery serves small portions of beautifully cooked Italian fare with a slight Asian twist and for a very moderate price. The flavours are always well-brought and consistent and a meal there is always a calming, satisfying experience. If you've actually made the effort to get their very few reservations, you better bring someone special. Across the road from Buko Nero is Oso, 27 Tanjong Pagar Road, Tel: 6327 8378, the rich pricey and pure-bred Italian cousin, where the food is also excellent, much heavier and where you'd go for a corporate lunch or a schmancy, slightly stiff date.

2. The New Majestic Hotel, 31 Bukit Pasoh Road
Tel: 6511 4718

Chef Yong serves up some interesting Cantonese fare in this restaurant sited in the oh-so-hip boutique hotel run by local hotelier Loh Lik Peng. Having come from a proud tradition of traditional cooking, Chef Yong mixes it up here with Roast Lamb and Local Carrot Cake (savory turnip cake), as well as Foie Gras with Roast Duck skin, wasabi prawn and watermelon. I find the place inventive and a great place to nudge my sweet-and-sour-soup-loving American friends toward a bit more of an adventure. If you are all over Asia already though, then you might not want to eat this kind of food in Singapore and in Asia.

3. Sage, 11 Unity Street, #02-12 Robertson Walk
Tel: 6333 8726
Email: sage@sagerestaurants.com.sg

I especially like that this restaurant is run by a very young couple, Kimberly and Jusman. The cooking is excellent, the service polite and discreet. The food is absolutely tasty, deftly executed and well-presented. Unlike some of the other places listed below, this place is sort of quintessentially like a first date. Not casual but not stuffy and just all round solid. It's not out there in left field, you-hate-me-or-you-love-me territory but it is creative. Not that extravagant but not cheap.

Just on that subject, if you are looking for perhaps the best authentic sort of Chinese food in town, I'd entirely suggest Dim Sum (especially on Sundays) or dinner at Crystal Jade Golden Palace in Paragon, 290 Orchard Road, Tel: 6734 6866. To spoil your tastebuds with the best, Peach Garden at 273 Thomson Road, #01-06 Novena Garden or Imperial Treasure, Great World City, #02-06 1 Kim Seng Promenade. They are all great and I don't think they are substantially different in price. Obviously, if you could go for Shanghainese Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings) or great Thai food at Ying Thai at Purvis Street but hey, you're in Asia, why don't you just go to Shanghai or Bangkok?

Category 2: I just love Japanese food

1.
Wacha, Ann Siang Road #01-01
(Closed, now replaced by Goto)

Tel: 6438 1553


Aiyah, I so love Chubby Hubby's site, I can't help but put this here. No, kidding. There were so many toss-ups for Japanese places - Singaporeans are Jap food connoiseurs! I've tried to keep it to those that I feel represent something new about the Singaporean dining scene and won't burn an obscene hole in your pocket. If you're looking for pure Otoro though, that's also a debate but I'd suggest Akane at The Japanese Association Singapore Club, 120 Adam Road, or Tetsuya at Crown Prince Hotel.


Wacha is located in an adorable little tea and porcelain crockery shop and is a clean lacquered space within a mini courtyard and salon. I love that it feels like dining in someone's house and that their dinner sets are about $35.
I also think you will get a great sense of one of Singapore's older streets, I mean, poetry has been written to this street! It's now been rejuvenated with rows of hip fashion boutiques like Asylum, Fred Perry, Wild Child and Front Row, as well as specialty pastry shops and design houses, all cleverly incorporated within the lovingly restored, tile-d and louvred facades of Peranakan shophouses.

Further down the street, you'll find some good drinking and eating holes, like Les Bouchons, 7 Ann Siang Rd, Tel : 6423-0737, the home of the $28 steak, salad and endless fries, as well as a whole street of upscale but slightly similar eateries that make up Club Street.

2. Yoshida, 10 Devonshire Road
Tel: 6735 5014

The sashimi is very good, they have great seasonal specials and the chefs here are a ball of laughs. Check out Mr Yoshida himself, clicking around in his high clogs (or very cool white Pumas) and the other chefs as they careen around the small sushi counter. Away from the cuteness of Wacha, this is my favourite Jap place in Singapore.

The ambience at night is especially special, it's dark, the light glows off the brick wall and the stacks of pale green and dark red Japanese plates, the stereo plays some sexy 1930's lesbian poster girl Chinese music, the fresh sushi and cold sake keeps flowing and the counter is wafting smells of hot tea and garlic fried rice. Meanwhile Devonshire Road hums around you, the water laps in the koi pond outside and late at night, the chefs are getting happy (they'll serve food pretty much till everyone leaves so if you're looking for a lonely late dinner, this is it).

Definitely prepare for sticker shock. Help by not ordering the chef's sashimi but single pieces of sashimi/sushi. Try the garlic fried rice. Go for the set meals. You could bring a corporate or conceivably the family...but this really is (at night) an in-the-mood-for-love kind of place.

3. Hachi,
218 Orchard Road, #03-03 Orchard Emerald
(now at 6 Mohammed Sultan Road, #01-01
Tel: 6734 9622

I hear the packs of bloggers screaming now but come on guys, we've written about this place so much, people Do know of it already. At the risk of giving away just too many secrets, this place really is awesome. No menu, no choice, just eat Chef Watanabe's home-cooked goodness. Everytime I go, it amazes me that this place just flies so under the radar but it is a hole-in-the-wall and a little less than expensive, so hey, I hope it stays that way for as long as possible. The sashimi, the beef. So good it probably has opium in it. That's the highest praise for food...so good it must be drugged. Go with whoever deserves to know.

4. Miharu Soba, Gallery Hotel, 1 Nanson Road
Tel: 68498686

I wasn't sure whether I should just label this as a snack, but it is a meal in itself. At the base of Gallery Hotel, Miharu makes the saltiest, yummiest, corn and seaweed-flavoured ramen in town. The menu is simple and uncomplicated and it serves only the specialty, the Sapporo Nishiyama noodles, which are air-flown in from Japan. Go after a night out at the clubs. Go whenever you get a craving. Just go. Bring a good friend.

And...for a really interesting night, skip the after parties and go upstairs to Bar 84, a hideout so well-hidden that very few Singaporeans know of its existance (ok and the expensive drinks help to keep the crowds away).

Even finding it requires a little magic. There are two circular towers at the Gallery Hotel, one houses the hip-hop club Coco Latte. But what is the other? Ah... go to the second floor, walk toward the art gallery and then exit on a little door on your left and be transported into a Lost in Translation land. This luxurious bar looks like the one at the Tokyo Hyatt and is complete with waitresses that don't speak much English. The proprietor Haki-san is a Ginza professional magician and will keep you entertained at the gorgeous curved wooden bar. It makes for a surreal night and maybe with the help of their extensive single-malt whiskey collection, you too will be stumbling out with their Japanese businessmen patrons.

Category 3: Our National Heritage

1. Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice at Balestier Road

I'd suggest Tian Tian stall at Maxwell Market for the more adventurous but it's hot, sweaty and a bit complex to find. I'm also partial to the quaintness of Balestier, which is one of the oldest residential areas in Singapore. I love the mix of random lighting shops, shophouses, clan associations and old public housing and Hainanese Chicken Rice is after all, our national dish. As a plus, you can also get on the highway afterward and go to the Night Safari after dinner, that makes for a super touristy but nicely local night! You could bring a date if she's open-minded that way but it's better to bring a visitor.

2. Rumah Makan Minang, 18 Kandahar Street
Tel: 629 44805

All the cika-s in Kampung Glam, represent! I love Kampung Glam. It's a world of its own and one that most visitors unfortunately, don't get out to at night. But oh you should...this place has awesome Nasi Padang, which is a rice dish, sometimes lemak (with coconut) and accompaniments, fried eggs, yummy fried chicken, hot sambal chilli, cucumber, beef rendang, crispy little anchovy fish and usually served on a banana leaf plate. They also have the most cheerful service and a great street side location right off the curb on Kandahar Street, in the huge shadow of the golden Sultan mosque.

There are plenty of other Nasi Padang places to eat (like Sabar Menanti, also on Kandahar) and when you're done, head to the fantastic Samar Cafe, 60 Kandahar Street, Tel: 63980530 for some Arabic almond or milk based ice drinks and shisha by the mosiac pavement. This place has Nepalese waiters in black cloaks, an upper floor tented room for live music, dancing and ladies night, a portrait of slain Hamas leader on the wall and a Free Palestine poster on the menu. Don't judge and Americans, don't flaunt your passports. Bring your friends and your cronies.

3. Tiong Bahru FC

I love the Tiong Bahru area, it's old, it's quaint and I have all these great memories of cages of singing birds in the morning and outdoor spiral staircases creeping around the old flats. Sadly, a lot of these sights are not there anymore but the wet market has remained. Back in the day, this was a mistress area so the prices are still (this boggles my mind) at a premium to the other swankier wet markets in town.

I like to walk my visitors through the wet market the first day they arrive, just so they get that dead chicken squirminess out of their system. The market has a good history, its actually the re-built site and after years at the make-shift market, they are now occupying a three storey building, with multistory roof parking. The food center is on the second floor where it is mildly cooler- you need to try the 'jui kueh' or 'water cake', a glutinous tapioca pudding with salted vinegared vegetables, the roast pork specialist and the black carrot (turnip) cake, washed down with some black local coffee or a jug of sugarcane. Go for breakfast, before it gets hot.

4. Swee Kee Fishhead Bee Hoon, 96 Amoy Street

Comfort food at its best. The fishead bee hoon here is milky, hot and yummy. The old aunties who run this place are truly horrendous, they'll scold you and you'll hope they don't spit in your food. Then again, they don't need your business. On good days, the crowd spills over into tables on the sidewalk and the walls are lined with photos of 1980s celebrities in flannel shirts (you remember those days, yes you do) and pictures of old Singapore and old Chinatown. An absolute institution but a casual lunch, yeah?

Are there more local places that you could go to... Absolutely. There are too many to count and the best way to explore or find them is really to make some local friends. I've left out some things that are blatently, flagrantly touristy, like Indian curry along Racecourse Road and black pepper crab at No Signboard seafood in Geylang. I've also left out some national treasures like prata (thin Indian flour pancakes) at Jalan Kayu/Mandai or bak kut teh (a soupy, peppery pork stew) at Whampoa. It's not that they aren't good, quite the opposite. But I suppose, with the exception of prata, if you ask me whether I go often...the real answer is No.

Category 4: Young and Hip in the Suburb

This is sort of a special category that I created really to celebrate the fact that there have been all these new food and hospitality entreprenuers, setting up particularly in some of the more residential areas in Singapore. The ones profiled here are obviously the places that are nicer to go out too but I think all of these places are really raising the level of food conciousness and access in Singapore.

Also, I think extra props should be given to the fact that most of the places are run by young people and I have to say, just from my own experience, that they tend to find a better reaction in those who are young.

1. PS Cafe/Oosh 28B Harding Road
Tel: 9070 8782

The Dempsey cluster definitely has to be the hot spot of the year. This is an area slightly off the residential district of Holland/lower Orchard Road and you should enter via Minden Road/Dempsey Road. The area has always been an artist commune of sorts (albeit a rather high end one) and now several restaurants have set up shop to capitalise on the expat-heavy crowd carking for green environments and organic food. Sad but nice, nonetheless.

PS Cafe is good for brunch, good for desserts (after dinner) and the place looks jungly and green by day, romantic and glassed colonial by night. The fare is typical Australian bistro food and the best desserts are definitely the flourless orange cake and the piping hot mango banana crumble with vanilla ice cream. It's noisy, it's fun, it's beautiful. The service is erratic. But the place is different enough that it was one of the 60 places to see and be seen in Asia AND yes, I'm here often. You could hang out with pretty much anyone here as long as they speak up.

Alterantively, there are other drinking holes in the area. Go to Hacienda, a tented lawn of a bar or Oosh, the posh big sister of the cheap and cheerful PS Cafe (think fountains, landcapes, palms, Maseratis).

2. Minjiang at Rochester Park, 5 Rochester Park
Tel: 6774 0122

After checking out this area, you can say that you've seen the government's biotech brainchild and that you've seen a fairly residential area in Singapore. This cluster of restaurants off Buona Vista is a great way to have dinner in an aged Colonial bungalow setting. Better at the end of the year because its cool out but a different experience nonetheless. The restaurants here, Graze, Da Paolo, Rochester Park achieve a fairly good diversification but while they are all classy, none of them are cheap and I've found the service a tad lacking. If you go to Minjiang, try the roast goose, for which they brought in an authentic wood-fired over from Beijing. Don't sit on the second floor, I've been told it's stuffy.

3. Mimolette, 55 Fairways Drive
Tel: 6467 7748

I kind of love the setting of this place, in many ways its near to my heart. This creative entreprenuer set up in a little nook off the Eng Neo exit toward the Pan Island Expressway (PIE), behind the green fairways driving range and the saddle club. Be prepared to park your car amidst the horses or stables and to eat in a slightly Balthazar-like converted bistro shed. The scenary is tropical and the french toast is Really good. This is really a breakfast/brunch, weekend place, with the morning food like eggs benedict being a lot better than the evening dinner fare. The place hasn't officially opened.

4. Wild Rocket at Hangout Hotel, 10a Upper Wilkie Road
Tel : 63399448

When he quit law, I don't think Willin Low had any idea that he was starting a revolution. A I-don't-care-that-I'm-in-WHERE revolution. Visitors seem fairly familiar with this place, especially the kind that stay at the boutique backpackers hotel in the same building. But locals have no idea where this place is. A pity, because this is one of the most unique areas for a restaurant. Set on a hill, beside the Istana (garden residence of the President), in a old Jewish enclave, within a new Indian slum, newly gentrified into modern apartments, residential shophouses and great art galleries (explore around after lunch!), this place is quite an experience.

The restaurant is small but seating is not that limited. The specialties are the half-fusion pastas, the Wild Rocket burger (yum) and the food is light but tasty. Next door to the restaurant, they've started a bar/lounge called Wild Oats which serves drinks and tasty finger food at night. Both places are pure sunshine, moonshine and taste like the spirit of doing something different.

Category 5: A Good Snack

It's been said that Singaporeans live to eat and that we plan our day from one meal to another. Just in case you're between meals.

1. Chin Mee Chin, 204 East Coast Road

Singapore is so small, you wouldn't think we have sides but we do. I grew up on the West coast, therefore I am extremely biased in that most of the places I love are similarly, in the West. Its only in the later years, after returning to Singapore, that I grudgingly admit I miss out by not spending more time in the East. Haha, that said, I'm an absolute menace when driving in the East, I have no idea where I'm going. And you know, like, all the good schools are in the West so seriously, our property prices will always be higher.

Sorry. I digress. There is lots of wonderful food in the East, there is especially a lot of good Peranakan food given the Peranakan/Eurasian enclave that still exists along the East Coast/Katong area. There is however, only one place that I go to fairly regularly, one place that I make the drive from West to East, early in the morning, just to eat breakfast at and that place is Chin Mee Chin.

Stepping into this charming hole-in-the-wall confectionary is like stepping back in time. The 65-year-old fixture boasts none of the comfortable trappings but will charm you with its aroma of fresh baked pastries and brewing coffee set against mosaic floor tiles, old-world fixtures (yeah, you know I'm talking about those old ink paintings of 8 horses and Tiger beer poster with voluptous women) and the whirring of ceiling dans. Their sugee cake is to die for and the home-made kaya is good.

2. Island Creamery 10 Jalan Serene, #01-05 Serene Centre
Tel: 6468 8859

How long has it been since you've actually gone out for ice cream? This place has made its name off all the local flavours, teh tarik (sweet thick local tea), Horlicks (a malt drink for kids), pulut hitam (black glutinous rice in coconut) and even the Tiger (beer) sorbet. The place is cute and innocent, adorned with walls of photos of secondary school children and happy families. Opens later on weekends.

3. Soyabean curd at Rochor Road, 2 Short Street

This probably represents all the rest of the local food and snacks that I didn't write about. Truth be told, this is my current favourite because its the most healthy of the bunch. The dessert can be served hot or cold and this place is the best for a syrupy, smooth bowl of soyabean curd.

You're also sitting in the middle of a family fued. Apparently there were three brothers, one runs the stall in Geyland and the other runs the "Original Rochor Road Beancurd" stall on 4 Short Street. When the local paper ran this story, Singaporeans had a field day deciding which brother served the best product (yes, we're a food-obsessed, very bored nation that way) and I'm not sure if the debate runs till today but this is a great late-night snack. To my surprise, it is actually possible to have a conversation on their sidewalk seats and they chase you away at about 1am in the morning.

So that's it folks! Don't call me, just read this entry and sort yourselves out. I think I should ask all the other food bloggers to join me in this Singapore-focused post and list their favourite eats this summer. Happy Eating!

Day 7: Milan, at last and Dinner at Le Vigne

After we trained back to La Spetzia, after dinner, I hit the bed and blacked out, literally, till the next morning. Loading all our luggage back into our cars, we drove back toward Milan, with the rainy, overcast weather following us all the way. As we neared Milan at 11am, we suggested that the guys should drop us off near Corso Venezia while they went to check-in at the hotel.

While they were gone, we visited the Nuti and Ferragamo shops for some serious shopping, then went into a street-side cafe for lunch. The cafe was called Cova and they had the loveliest cold, whole mozarella dish with cherry tomatoes and a wonderful sacher torte.

After the boys came to meet us, poor things, the subway train drivers had gone on strike that very afternoon and they were stuck somewhere slightly out of town, in the rain, we shopped on at more male-focused stores like the Ferrari flagship, Boss, Valextra, Fendi and Geox. I really do regret not having made it out to 10 Corso Como or the wonderful stationers Pineider 1949 at Corso Europa but there really wasn't much time, especially as we wanted to stay around and visit the Duomo.


Getting to dinner was a slightly confused process as well. After following the advice of way too many street drunks, we finally found our way to Ripa di Porta to this little restaurant called Le Vigne. This is a quaint and far more artistic streets, in the navigli district, on one of Milan's surviving canals, with so many wonderful shops (so little time!)


Before we had left for Italy, we had an friend who grew up in Milan (now working in Singapore) to write down a list of small eateries, not fancy, not expensive but with good, honest food that he had to eat every time he came home. This was one of the recommendations.


We decided just to share all the starters and chose a cheese plate and a ham and salami plate.


While these were excellent, I wasn't exactly that impressed, having come from the Chianti region.


The other two appetizers were the sandwich tower of mozzarell and tomato (not as good as at lunch) and the huge wanton (which was both amusing and very savory yummy).


The main courses though, were the best part of the meal. The one that I should definitely point out was the chicken that M. ordered.


None of us had had chicken in Italian menus during the entire trip. This place had a chicken breast on offer and while that sounded extremely ordinary, it was soft, smoothly textured and the most succulent piece of chicken. It made me wonder, pretty much, whether they had cooked it using methods similar to our Singaporean Hainanese Chicken Rice, you know, the double dipping in boiling and ice water.



The other dishes we ordered were steak and lamb, all of which were good and honestly cooked.


My dish was the risotto with rose hips and porcini. Despite not even liking rose hips, I ordered this just because I had to have risotto again. The lesson I learned is, if you don't like a strong taste like rose, or mint, or almond, or durian, don't order the dish, even if the mode is something you like.

I have to say I'm an absolute purist when it comes to risotto. I don't even like saffron in mine, so I didn't much like this. I felt the flavour was definitely too strong and it sort of highlighted for me, the hard grains of rice that I could feel encapsulated in each foamy piece of risotto. This is traditional Milanese risotto but I have to say, I'd pass on the tradition for my version of risotto perfection.


The desserts were, as most Italian desserts tend to be, a little hard, a little thick, a little dry, a little disappointing.


We had a creme brulee (the Italian version is made with a great deal more egg and is neither as smooth nor as light as the French version).


We also had a chocolate cake of sorts (very lightly coloured but then most chocolate cakes in Italy look like they've been flavoured with nutella than Valrhona) which wasn't really worth a photo, a plate of biscuit things called chocolate salami (which we didn't realize would be so hard and yet chewy) and a lemon cream tart with strawberry accents.


The next day, we woke for breakfast at the hotel and packed up. I managed to sneak away to the nearby grocery and fill the rest of our Bistecca styrofoam box (yes, J. this is how I arrived in Singapore with half an Italian cow) with fresh cheese, pesto, speck and parma ham for some great follow-on meals in Singapore. Buon Giorno!



Cova
Via Montenapoleone 8
Milan
20121
Tel: +39 (02) 76000578

Le Vigne
61 Ripa di Porta Ticinese
Tel. 02 8375617

For those of you with interest, these are the other restaurants that made it to the Milan cheap and good list, which we didn't get to try:

1. L'osteria del Treno, Milano Repubblica, Stazione Centrale, Via San Gregorio 46-48 Tel: 02 6700 479

2. Trattoria del Pescatore, Milano Porta Romana, Vannucci 3, Tel: 02 58320452

3. La Piola, Milan Porta Venezia, Viale Abruzzi 23, Tel: 02 29531271

4. Ponte Rosso, Milano Navigli, 23 Ripa di Porta Ticinese, Tel: 02 8373132