i'll start off by saying that i really like this place. this is, in fact, my third visit, and i brought my sister along. 

the first time i went, i became completely enamoured with their take on vietnamese chicken salad ($7). crunchy cabbage slaw combined with shredded chicken, topped with crispy golden fried shallots, peanuts and pickled bombay onions. the dressing was tangy and appetizing. since then, i've never failed to order this (picture was taken on my first visit).

for my main, i had my usual order of grilled chicken chop bún ($9.30) while my sister had the deep fried spring rolls bún ($8.50). i always want to try something else, but i remember how good the grilled chicken is... and so i end up getting the same thing. good that i went with my sister then- i got to try the spring rolls. i expected the spring rolls to be vegetarian for some reason, though the menu did not say so; and so i was pleasantly surprised to bite into a juicy, meaty roll that was almost reminiscent of a dumpling. it came piping hot with a crackly wrapper- of course i liked it. 

i've never liked bún before trying their version, as i've always found the dressing disturbingly sweet. the fish sauce that came with this bún had no trace of saccharine sweetness at all, and went really well with the vermicelli and vegetables. not sure how an authentic bún is supposed to be, but who cares, i like this. the grilled chicken was as good as the first time i had it, with a charred exterior and tender meat, though it leans towards the salty side. plus, portion is definitely not stingy, especially the chicken. 

service was efficient- we were served in about ten minutes despite the place being packed and it being lunch hour. also, i asked for my grilled chicken bún to have more veggies and less noodles, and the guy taking my order was very good about it. in fact, when i was placing my sister's order, he even took the initiative to ask if i wanted that order to be normal or the same as mine, which was a nice touch.  

one of my favorite places for vietnamese. i wish i work in the cbd at times like this- so many good places to eat at! 

pho stop

72+74 tanjong pagar road

https://www.facebook.com/PhoStop

wanted a salad after the gym today, so decided to utilize the sugar voucher that i had bought. 

they had craft salads for $10, including 1 base, 5 toppings and 1 dressing, which was what i got. the house salads looked quite interesting actually- might try that out next time. 

the base was of lettuce, with an option of changing to a more premium base (spinach, from what it looks like) for an additional $1.50. the toppings available were quite standard- vegetables, fruits, nuts, some simple proteins, but they had cheese! awesome. so i picked edamame, alfalfa sprouts, parmesan cheese, egg, ham and avocado (i had six because the guy making my salad told me that i could have a free topping if i liked their facebook page- apparently that's their offer for april). then i saw that they had some special toppings on the board, and decided to get the sautéed mushrooms and sous vide chicken breast as well, for an additional $2.50 each. they do sirloin steak too, for an additional $4. 

they actually had quite a lot of interesting dressings- i picked miso sesame, after some deliberation. the dressing came in a shot glass, which was really cute. i liked that it came with a mini handle thing, which i presume is for me to flick the dressing over the salad, allowing control over how much dressing to put (i'm really not a dressing kind of person; most of the time i eat my salads plain). 

the salad came in a huge wooden bowl of generous portions. most salad bars are measly about portions and i usually leave feeling unsatisfied. this was different. i was actually full after eating it (and that's saying something). also helped that the salad was delicious, especially the sautéed mushrooms. the miso sesame dressing was on the sweet side, but i did like it. 

service was excellent. when i was leaving, the guy who served me noticed that i hadn't finished my dressing and was concerned if it was because i didn't like it. he also said that if i didn't like the dressing they would be okay to replace it with another one. wow, that's a first. i doubt most places would care enough to ask if we didn't finish our food. i reassured him that it wasn't because i didn't like it, but just that i'm not that much into salad dressings in general. for a place with no service charge (or even those with service charge), this was surprising (but in a good way). 

good service does make a difference. really liked this place. food was good and portions generous- which makes it stand out from all the other salad bars. prices are admittedly on the steep side, but i'll come back when i have a salad craving. 

the rabbit hole

#04-30 one raffles place

read that chef peter teo has opened a new place at 313 somerset, and of course, i wanted to go, being a fan of the thickly sliced sashimi that he's famous for. strangely enough, this place was located at food republic. haven't been to 313's food republic in ages and i was surprised to find that there were quite a few interesting looking stalls.

anyway, there were only counter seats, and was located right next to the teppanyaki place. 

they mainly offered set meals, with various sides. 

i was briefly tempted by the gyuniku foie gras set, because beef and foie gras!!! but logic persevered in the end- the restaurant is called chirashi tei, after all. 

X and i both got the chirashi set ($23). we requested to replace tuna, and the waitress obliged, suggesting white tuna with no extra charge. awesome. the set came with appetizers of a small salad with wafu dressing, another unidentifiable (i'm guessing dried fish) but tasty dish, and miso soup. tea was provided at $1. 

the chirashi came with salmon, mekajiki, white tuna, fish roe and japanese omelette, on a bed of japanese rice. the fish was fresh, but not nearly as thickly sliced as i'd expected it to be. the white tuna was especially good though- buttery, succulent and just plain delicious. the japanese rice was also competent- i almost finished all of mine. 

wanted some sides, so we got a grilled mackerel ($6) to share. it came with a crackly, slightly charred skin and was grilled just right. X also got a chawanmushi ($5) but said that the texture was slightly too soft and runny. 

sure, it was nothing mindblowingly spectacular, but it was a good meal, and for the price, value for money. there's no service charge and gst- all prices on the menu are nett; but service was efficient anyway. on top of that, they were having an opening promotion with 20% discount off all items, until the end of april. i left satisfied- will be back if i need a quick chirashi fix (which is, come to think of it, pretty often).

chirashi tei

food republic, 313 somerset level 5 

they're offering a lunch set that gives a salad and dessert with any galette ordered. chose the ménage à 5 because i was tempted by the mushrooms, though the nordic inspiration sounded good too. this is their menu: 

the salad that came with the set lunch was a simple one of lettuce and tomato drizzled with balsamic. 

the galette came generously filled with emmental cheese, tomatoes, ham, mushrooms and egg. the texture of the galette reminded me of thosai- maybe that's why i liked it. 

there is just something so nice about runny egg yolks, and this was done to perfection, and went well with the light tasting galette. i thought that i might still be hungry, the galette seeming insubstantial, but it was actually a good portion. 

the lunch set also came with dessert, which was a trio of small bites, including a caramel crepe. nothing spectacular, but it was a good end to the meal. 

79 circular road

wanted dessert after dinner, so settled for saint marc's. saw that they had a new special of vanilla rum bread pudding ($7.80); decided to be adventurous and tried that, along with the miyako ($8.20). 

what came was really different from the picture. the bread pudding looked stodgy and was surprisingly large- twice the size of what i had expected. we took a bite each and immediately gave each other weird looks. it was strangely salty and had none of the pudding texture i like so much about bread pudding. even the rum sauce was weird- extremely thick and the rum was overpowering. i tried to like it, but really couldn't. after some discussion, L and i decided to return it because it was just so bad. i've never had to return food because of its taste before. thankfully the staff was accommodating and processed it for us; we exchanged it for a little fuji. 

the miyako (warabi, green tea ice cream, vanilla soft serve + azuki bean paste) was thankfully normal. liked the warabi- then again i always do. japanese red bean paste is always shockingly sweet though, and this was no exception. 

the little fuji ($6.30) was so much better than the bread pudding. glad we mustered the courage to change it. it came with a crisp croissant base, topped by a generous swirl of soft serve and drizzled with caramel sauce. it was okay- expected it to be better with the rave reviews i read about some time ago. wouldn't get cravings for it, though. 

saint marc café

raffles city #b1-44m

saint-marc-sg.com

was in town and needed a quick lunch. remembered seeing that cold storage at takashimaya had a sushi counter sometime ago, so made my way there. 

aburi salmon was on special today, at $6.90 instead of the usual $7.90, so i grabbed that and some shime saba ($6.90). they had some counter seats at a corner for dining in, and even provided hot tea, wasabi and soy sauce. 

in my opinion, nothing can really go wrong with shime saba, because it's always awesome, with its vinegary tang. the aburi salmon was surprisingly good for its price- i could easily wolf down more. good for a quick, fuss free meal. 

nakajima sushi

cold storage (takashimaya) #b2-01-1

awesome pulled pork sliders ($13) from club meatballs. came by for dinner with X sometime ago. i've been there for lunch (had one of their sandwiches) but their dinner menu is different. 

we also had a main each ($19.50). i had a hard time deciding what i wanted- risotto or pappardelle? an abundance of choices confounds me. but in the end, X and i, after some discussion, decided to share our mains. so i settled for pappardelle with onion and red wine sauce, topped with wagyu beef and rosemary meatballs. X ordered the parmesan risotto with truffled mushroom sauce (which was what i wanted) and chicken and cumin meatballs.

so this was mine-

i liked how the pappardelle came al dente, but X didn't like it precisely for that reason. i probably shouldn't have chosen the onion and red wine sauce with it though- the sauce was good on its own (X really liked it) and with the meatballs but didn't really go with the pappardelle. the wagyu balls were sadly overcooked and on the tough side, though generously portioned. 

i infinitely preferred the risotto with truffled mushroom sauce. really good, and the rice was al dente too, exactly the way i like it. in fact, i think i'll come back for the risotto. i think i ended up eating more of X's than my own. 

X much preferred the sliders to the mains, though that might be because of her sudden thing for pulled pork. but i would come back for the sliders and the risotto. strange, because they're called club meatballs, i would've thought i would leave with a better impression of their meatballs. i didn't try X's chicken meatballs, but she didn't like it much because of the overpowering cumin. 

the food is generally good- enough for me to overlook their nonchalant service, i suppose. we were pretty much ignored except for when they were taking our orders, serving our food, and settling payment. will be back if i'm not starving- food took quite a while to come, though the place wasn't even close to full. 

club meatballs 

#01-35 20 cross street 

www.clubmeatballs.com