Where to Dine in Singapore 2011

[nikkib]

Breakfast at Cafe des Amis in farrer Park again - pongal with vada and sambar. Pongal is a type of Indian rice Porridge and makes a very satisfying breakfast indeed.

[nikkib]

Some very decent fish tacos (and yummy hot sauce) at Piedra negra just off arab street. A good Mexican restaurant (with killer margaritas) with a nice bar on a pretty little pedestrianised street.

[nikkib]

Another great meal at Din Tai Fun - pork mince noodles, crunchy cucumber salad and vegtable and pork dumplings. God i love this place!

[nikkib]

Dinner at Mikuni at the Fairmont. I was lucky enough to be invited by friends and so wasnt paying (hence the step up from hawker centres!) and wow - what a meal! From start to finish - hamachi ceviche with jalapeno through to bonito broth with a prawn, sashimi (including the most deliciously sweet scallop i have ever tasted)sushi (outstanding wagyu sushi) robata grilled wagyu skewers, asparagus and a fish (i forget which) and some miso glazed cod, this was an unmissable experience. The sake list was a sight to behold, not being experts we selected a decently priced (around $125 for the carafe i think) sake from their tasting notes.

Edited December 16, 2011 by nikkib (log)

[nikkib]

a recent meal at "Kopi tiam" a sort of chain hawker centre i think (Kopi tiam is the name for a coffee house so may places are just called this including differnt chains etc. This was a vegetarian outlet - i forget the name something with 8 in it. Brown rice, stirfried green veggies and a couple of tofu and mock meat dishes i think - i just pointed at what i liked the look of. Smothered with the chopped red chilli soy sauce you can see top right of the image it was very satisfying indeed, not bad for $5.

[Kent Wang]

What do you think about the coverage on CNNgo? It has been surprisingly good for Shanghai.

Two articles about hawker stalls:

http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/eat/hawker-food-singapore-636748

http://www.cnngo.com/singapore/eat/mega-hawking-5-singapores-newest-hawker-food-spots-894902

[LT Wong]

The cnngo articles are not bad.

Every serious foodie will have their own favourite stalls.

Resorts World Sentosa has just recently opened their hawker centre featuring top Malaysian food hawkers from various states in Malaysia - Malaysian food at Resorts World Sentosa

[nikkib]

Thought you may like to see some images from the chinatown markets that have been set up for Chinese New Year

[nikkib]

And some more....

[nikkib]

Komala Villas on Serangoon road for a dosai and Indian filter coffee

[nikkib]

The ninenine eating house on upper weld street behind little India. Dont remember seeing it before so thought id check it out - nothing special really but at $2.50 not much to complain about either...

Rice & 3 Veg as advertised, stirfried greens, okra and egg stirfried with cabbage and carrots. Nothing a bit of chilli sauce couldn't have helped but theres was very mild.

]]

[nikkib]

The food stall next to my appartment - sorry, no idea of the name... anyone know what the brwon thing at the bottom of the photo might be? I still have no idea after attempting to eat it! Another $2.50

[nikkib]

Lunch at a Korean BBQ near Bugis $15 for a 2 hour "slot" whilst the meat raw doesnt look appealing it was completely delicious

We ordered spicy chicken, beef,pork and kimchi with assorted pickles

sauteed vegetables and a rice dish with beef, chicken and mutton and an egg stirred through - again a real hit.

The rice cakes on the other hand were just weird!

Final plate

Will definitely go back and have resolved to try more Korean food in future!

[nikkib]

Local restaurant near my house again - set South Indian meal. The 3 veg accompaniments were very good - a lentil one, an okra one (which was great even though i dont usually like okra) and a gourd and coconut one. $6.80 well spent

[nikkib]

Hi tea at the Ritz Carlton (for a work meeting) Everything you would expect from a premium brand like this - an hour and a half of luxury!

[nikkib]

Komala Villas for Chappati, dahl and raita

[nikkib]

Back to Sri Luckshmi for another South Indian vegetarian meal. This time there was a dry potato curry, what i assume to be green beans in the middle and a tomato based curry on the side. The small pot to the far right was sweet and spiced - possibly brown rice or beans with something, very tasty whatever it was!With a coffee it came to $8 so a little bit more expensive than the hawker centres but being a restaurant you have the benefit of air conditioning!

Also back to the ninenine eating house for kopi peng (iced coffee)

Edited February 1, 2012 by nikkib (log)

[nikkib]

Finally got round to checking out Lau Pasat. During the day this is a hawker centre near the CBD - at night most of the stalls close and the action takes place on the street outside. It is all about the satay here - no pork as most of the satay men are muslim but no worry, we opted for chicken and some BBQd prawns. WOW - absolutely delicious (*not cheap though hardly pricy 60 cents per chicken satay with a minimum order of 10 and $2 per prawn) we demolished 10 skewers of chicken each and 4 prawns as well. Great atmosphere, great food - will definitely be back..

[nikkib]

Breakfast at the Chin chin eating house, said to be one of the great eating places in the CBD. My friend opted for bee hoon, basically just fried noodles with sambal on the said. I had nasi lemak, rice cooked in coconut milk with sambal and ican bilis (small fried anchoives) The noodles were ok, the nasi lemak pretty good but i'm not sure i get what all the fuss is about re Chin Chin - i think the haianese chicken is their speciality maybe i'll give them another shot for that one time...

[nikkib]

Brasserie Balzac, a newly opened brasserie on bras brasah/Prinseps street. I was looking forward to this opening and was not disappointed - very trad French brasserie, done beautifully. Delicious warm bread with salmon rilletes and butter, Lillet Blanc fizz (from a short but interesting cocktail list @ $18 or so) Charcuterie platter ($22) and a side of asparagus with hollandaise (cooked to perfection) (£10)Add a glass of (French Languedoc $12) wine and coffee as well so the bill topped $70 all in but well worth it.

[nikkib]

Singapores hottest opening (until the arrival of his next restaurant later this year)is jason athertons ESQUINA. A Tapas bar around the Barrafina mould this converted shophouse in chinatown is packed every night and after visiting last week i can see why. Pan con tomate was ok - i prefer it with raw tomato rubbed on it, but this was still pretty tasty. Mackeral with romesco & aioli was delicious - the BBQ flavours of the fish really shone. Bone marrow with snails, parsley and horseradish pesto was perfection and the heritage tomato salad a hit as well. A pre dessert of sangria ice cream was a lovely surprise and my dessert of strawberry gazpacho & black olive sorbet was outstanding, it worked really well. With a few sherries (fino) coffee and water this came to $170 so not cheap but definitely value for money. Individul dishes were around $20-$30 so could be done for less and i will definitely go back

[nikkib]

A great meal in Joo Chiat, Chilli Padi Nyonya restaurant where you dine on Peranaken food (created by intermarriages between chinese and malays)

WE started with Otak Otak - a dish of curried mackeral which was by far the best i have tried here in singapore, juicy and flavourful. Kueh pie tees (little pastry cups filled with sweet turnip and shrimp) were sweeter than im used to but again, very good. Achar (pickles) and then shared mains of assam pedas (fish and tamarind curry) Chicken rendang, honey pork and Sambal petai squid were all (with the exception of the squid that was oddly bland and seemed to have been boiled) very tasty indeed. The honey pork in particular which we ordered on a whim was delicious as was a betel leaf and cashew rice dish recommended by the waitress. Dessert was a shared sago and gulu malaka (palm sugar) concoction that was completely addictive. Highly recommend Chilli Padi for anyone visiting Singapore and wanting to sample authentic, local cuisine.

[nikkib]

Newton hawker Centre one of the most famous and well know hawker centres in singapore, open 24 hours and also outside seating which is a lovely relief in the cool evening breeze.

We shared cereal prawns - huge juicy prawns cooked in the shells and coated in cereal crumbs. A lemon chicken dish (my friend chose this - i wasnt too fussed but it was pretty good) Sambal kang kong, a spinach like leafy green vegetable in chilli, fried rice and some satay. We had a weird ice kachang dessert - it had sweetcorn and beans in it - not to my taste but at least i tried it :-)

Edited March 5, 2012 by nikkib (log)