Take Me Back

Ami Ami is currently having a promotion of $3 for 3 amebi tempura from now till 3 December with every meal ordered. A great steal!
One who usually shuns the head of amebi tempura because I find the top part of shell too hard to chew, the heads today were wonderfully crisp and honestly, the best head of amebi tempura I've tried to date. The oil must've been boiling at the perfect temperature to achieve that light and crisp bite. That's all I have to say.

A patient prata lover that I am, stumbled upon Chindamani via Burpple, earmarked it, waited till I was around the vicinity to give it a go and I must say, the reviews weren't wrong; the prata here is seriously good - paper thin, crisp enough, no hint of sweetness, perfect blend of saltiness. The photo [plaster and plain prata going for $2.50] says it all, no? And trust me, it tasted even better 😋

Select 3 toppings out of an assortment of flavours (so good you'd wanna eat on their own!). Proceed to next station and select your preferred chocolate casing-dark, milk, white. Finish off with a drizzle of chocolate sauce from the 3 aforementioned. Et voilà, magnum pleasure at $8 for the next few minutes.

Tucked in a nook of Hotel Clover resides Brine, its decor reminiscent of the Laneway Market cafe.

Brine does not have an ala carte menu. You can opt for a two or three course meal, the difference being the (one fixed) dessert. We easily covered the entire menu between the both of us.

My mate had the starter of coconut lime risotto balls with black truffle mayo. Her main was the lightly battered okra and shimeji mushroom risotto cooked in dashi. I had the torched beef tartare with smoked tomato bean curd and lotus root chips, and the Angus flank sandwich with carrot purée, marmite, quail's sunny side up and julienned lettuce.

Whilst the dishes didn't bowl us over, we thought they tasted rather healthful. Perhaps due to the strong presence of greens and the apparent lack of salt. Those who enjoy a cleaner palette might find that Brine would suit them well. Staff was not aware there was a Burpple deal for complimentary dessert but did serve it to us after reading it. The milk ice cream with strawberry compote and a hint of lemon rounded the meal quite nicely.

Service was so attentive yet low-key, my dining mate decided she would be back for that alone, haha!

Has Dean & Deluca always been churning out such yummy thin crust pizzas? We tried the Primavera and it left us wanting for more!
The mushroom soup was very moreish. It would be right up the alley for those who prefer to taste more mushroom than cream.

This Tendon Set at Ami Ami ($22.80) is comparable to the likes of Ginza Itsuki and Kohaku, I'm not kidding. The Tendon is made up of two shrimps, a molten egg encased in a thin layer of crisp bean curd skin, and vegetables based on chef's selection. The set also includes miso soup and chawanmushi.
It's slightly pricier than the average tendon out there after the inclusion of service and tax, but the place is spacious and comfortable, service is attentive and polite. Best of all, there is no need for outdoor queuing or have fumes of oil linger on your clothes.
Definitely a must-try for the Tendon lover.

It was quite a nice surprise to see the herring with its roe on offer. The cheesy shrimp turned out to be my favourite-of the ten assorted plates devoured. Sushi Express is reminiscent of the regular conveyor belt sushiya dotted all over Tokyo. Not many sushi places provide the much needed hot water tap (very sacrilegious, if you ask me) and free flow of matcha in SG, but Sushi Express does. Good on Sushi Express 👍🏻

A craving for endless sashimi brought me to Ikoi on a weekday afternoon. Arrived around 1pm, half worried I might have to wait for a table after reading reviews about the restaurant being a constant full house. Thankfully, there were only a handful of diners and I easily snagged a good seat.
The other burpplers are spot on;you absolutely cannot go past the fried salmon skin temaki. The seaweed wrap-crisp! The julienned cucumber-crisp! The fried salmon skin-so very, very crisp! There's no better word to describe it. Enjoyed crunching on this temaki so much that I ordered it 4 times. Yes, even though I'd originally come for the sashimi.

Throwback to mid September when cakes were mostly all I could think about because it was my birthday month!
What we ate:
-Pork and apple dish from the Summer Collection (The menu is seasonal).
-The desserts:
White Lime-Each dessert is complemented with a pot of tea. We were informed the White Lime is a zesty little ice cream cake spiked with alcohol and made to resemble the white lime, a rarity that was etched in the proprietors' memories from their European travels. Easily the limelight of the evening :p
Orange and Dark Chocolate-This was paired with a more robust pot of tea. T'was citrusy and went well with the bitterness of dark chocolate.

The service was polite and friendly. Making reservation via phone was a breeze with the staff informing me the traffic would be rather bad due to the ongoing Formula1 but that they'd keep the table aside for us.

A table for two and these are what we ate:

The dumpling soup-unbelievably silky wantan skin.

The tom yum vermicelli-not a fan of tom yum yet it was mild enough for me to like.

The lentil quinoa burger-such fluffy bun I daresay it can rival any of the big boys out there.

The Earthist moringa tea-this tea, whilst refreshingly light, came sans tea bag nor a teapot. Quite simply, a cuppa tea that could've been any tea..? T'was weird.

The pineapple & mint kombucha tea-not sure what's the prevailing rate for a small bottle of kombucha, but theirs was going for $7 a pop. A kombucha virgin no more and I will be trying again! :)

Total meal was approximately $50. I'm not one for vegetarian food, but I enjoyed the meal a bit too much what with the idea that I get to happily go meatless, have the tranquility of after office lunch crowd, bath in the soothing orange lighting, spoilt with a discerning library to peruse. You can bet I'll be back. I do think the service could do with a bit more warmth though.

Tucked along the gentle buzz of Beach road is The Masses.
Lunch was the C&C pasta-a refreshingly moreish dish of cold angel hair pasta tossed with crabmeat, caviar and lobster bisque, followed by The Egg-a bowl of egg custard heaped with potato crisps and a generous serving of ikura and tobiko. Also had the very flavourful 12hr Boiled Chicken Collagen Velouté and the filling Duroc Pork Belly with a extra Truffle Mash side. We then capped it off with the wonderfully Frozen (and nicely tart) Lemon Curd. Total damage was around $70, and oh! what a delectable meal it was. The pasta as a starter and the lemon curd as a sweet ending were especially memorable.
Service was friendly and attentive. The ambience was a nice respite from the very noisy Bugis a couple of streets away. It was a delight to eat there and we'd like to go back for more.