Eating places we have enjoyed recently
by prudence on 08-May-2010
Hometown Restaurant, 9 Smith Street, Chinatown
This was a serendipitous discovery, as we needed somewhere airconned one hot lunchtime in Chinatown. The Chinese cabbage with garlic was lovely, the tofu in spicy sauce terrific, and the crispy duck just out of this world. I'd expected a heavy bill, it being Chinatown and all, but it was under $40 for those three dishes, rice, and drinks for three people.
Blue Ginger, 97 Tanjong Pagar Road
This is a Peranakan restaurant. Now, we're not experts in this cuisine, but what we had was all very tasty: duck salad, vege spring rolls, fish head curry, ayam buah keluak, beef rendang, rice, and drinks for three. Nice environment, friendly service, just over $100 for three people.
Red Lacquer, 63 Jurong West Central 3, #03-96-101
Another Peranakan place. They do good lunchtime specials, consisting of starter, main, and drink, with quite a lot of choices available. $26 for two. Tasty food, and good value for the amount and the quality.
Din Tai Fung, 9 Bishan Place, #01-41 Junction 8
Taiwanese. The most delectable dumplings. Imagine a dumpling containing a solid filling AND a mouthful of the most delicious soup. How do they do that? Along with two plates of dumplings, we also had beef with noodles -- beef so tender you could eat it with a broken jaw, as my dad used to say -- chicken soup, fried rice, drinks for four people, plus unlimited Chinese tea. $60. Not surprisingly, given the good price and the general deliciousness, this place is very, very popular. We went on Friday evening, and had to wait a good hour for our number to come up. I'm not normally a patient person, where food is concerned, but this was WORTH it...
Cafe Le Caire, 39 Arab Street
We went here for lunch a while ago, and really enjoyed it. We had iced mint tea, foul with harissa and hummus (a really, really nice combo platter), kibbeh (cracked wheat baked with minced lamb and pine nuts, and served with yoghurt), muhalabia (milk and flour dessert with rose water, sultanas, and pistachios), and Turkish coffee. Can't remember the price, but it seemed reasonable, and we were impressed with the food. Going back for dinner, however, was not quite such a good experience. The lighting in the "non-smoking" (ie non-waterpipe) room was too low to read the menu properly, so bring your head torch if you go in the evening, and although the food was nice (hibiscus drinks, mezze, mixed kebabs, a couple of salads, mint tea and baklava), the first few things arrived pell mell, and the service was clearly overwhelmed by the number of guests there that night. We left a small tip more out of sympathy than out of recognition.
This was a serendipitous discovery, as we needed somewhere airconned one hot lunchtime in Chinatown. The Chinese cabbage with garlic was lovely, the tofu in spicy sauce terrific, and the crispy duck just out of this world. I'd expected a heavy bill, it being Chinatown and all, but it was under $40 for those three dishes, rice, and drinks for three people.
Blue Ginger, 97 Tanjong Pagar Road
This is a Peranakan restaurant. Now, we're not experts in this cuisine, but what we had was all very tasty: duck salad, vege spring rolls, fish head curry, ayam buah keluak, beef rendang, rice, and drinks for three. Nice environment, friendly service, just over $100 for three people.
Red Lacquer, 63 Jurong West Central 3, #03-96-101
Another Peranakan place. They do good lunchtime specials, consisting of starter, main, and drink, with quite a lot of choices available. $26 for two. Tasty food, and good value for the amount and the quality.
Din Tai Fung, 9 Bishan Place, #01-41 Junction 8
Taiwanese. The most delectable dumplings. Imagine a dumpling containing a solid filling AND a mouthful of the most delicious soup. How do they do that? Along with two plates of dumplings, we also had beef with noodles -- beef so tender you could eat it with a broken jaw, as my dad used to say -- chicken soup, fried rice, drinks for four people, plus unlimited Chinese tea. $60. Not surprisingly, given the good price and the general deliciousness, this place is very, very popular. We went on Friday evening, and had to wait a good hour for our number to come up. I'm not normally a patient person, where food is concerned, but this was WORTH it...
Cafe Le Caire, 39 Arab Street
We went here for lunch a while ago, and really enjoyed it. We had iced mint tea, foul with harissa and hummus (a really, really nice combo platter), kibbeh (cracked wheat baked with minced lamb and pine nuts, and served with yoghurt), muhalabia (milk and flour dessert with rose water, sultanas, and pistachios), and Turkish coffee. Can't remember the price, but it seemed reasonable, and we were impressed with the food. Going back for dinner, however, was not quite such a good experience. The lighting in the "non-smoking" (ie non-waterpipe) room was too low to read the menu properly, so bring your head torch if you go in the evening, and although the food was nice (hibiscus drinks, mezze, mixed kebabs, a couple of salads, mint tea and baklava), the first few things arrived pell mell, and the service was clearly overwhelmed by the number of guests there that night. We left a small tip more out of sympathy than out of recognition.