kaiserhaus, capitol piazza.

there's a lack of eastern european options in singapore, i realise- a pity, really, given how good eastern european food is. so i was quite excited to discover kaiserhaus, which serves food from quite a few european countries, including austria and hungary.



i'd made a reservation, but it turned out to be unnecessary, as the restaurant was quiet on a wednesday afternoon. i got to pick my table, and i chose a corner one on the balcony overlooking the first floor. lots of natural light slanted in from the glass overhead, and it was a nice spot for a quiet lunch.

i was half decided between getting dumplings (they were running a dumpling special for the month of july) and the tafelspitz ($38 for single serve). eventually settled on the tafelspitz, since it had lots of interesting elements (rösti!!) and i've never tried something like that before.

glad my adventurous spirit won out that day, because i ended up being pleasantly surprised by how much i liked the tafelspitz.



before my food was served, i was given a card with detailed instructions on how to best eat it. i was glad for that; else i would've just ate it my way, and wouldn't have discovered that the beef, paired with the horseradish sauce, rösti and creamed spinach at one go was such a delicious combination.



i generally liked the entire dish, with all its separate elements- plenty of things to keep me interested. when i needed something crispy and salty there was the rösti (which was a really good rendition); for something creamy there was the creamed spinach.



the broth had plenty of vegetables as well, and they were generous with the beef- there were three big pieces in the broth. i also really liked the horseradish sauce, which was just mildly spicy.



i'd also added on a cheese dumpling ($1.80) which turned out to be not really what i expected- kind of reminded me of a softer halloumi, but yummy all the same.



the only letdown was the rye bread and bone marrow. i wasn't expecting the bone marrow to be in the broth as well. it was only after digging around in the copper pot that i discovered the bone marrow. it was meant to be eaten with the rye bread, so i took their advice. spread some of it on the rye and took a bite, and didn't like it. the bone marrow didn't have much flavour to speak of- i'm thinking of the previous times i had bone marrow on bread (burnt ends' bone marrow bun and gastrosmiths' roasted bone marrow). the rye was supposed to be crispy, but it wasn't- it was just cold and stodgy.

that aside, i really liked the food. service was excellent as well- attentive without being intrusive. it's a place i'll love to come back, especially since they do set lunches at just $17.

kaiserhaus
capitol singapore
#02-06 and #03-06
http://www.kaiserhaus.sg

fika swedish cafe and bistro, onekm.

i've come to the realisation that i actually like swedish food, so when i saw that fika had a groupon, i promptly asked X to go with me for lunch.



we were there for a late lunch, so the place was basically deserted- always a good thing. i was torn between the swedish meatballs and the beef hash (both $19.90), but eventually decided on the meatballs. X was surprisingly decisive (for once) and got the herb-crusted salmon ($26.50). we were told that the salmon would take about twenty minutes, but i think it got served in less than that.



my meatballs came first. it came with boiled potatoes, a side salad, and lingonberry jam. the meatballs were on the small side and not as juicy as i'd like, but it was decent. i liked that the meatballs had an almost crispy crust, but i especially liked the accompanying cream sauce. i found myself swiping the meatballs and the potatoes through the sauce, and i think i finished all of the sauce, which hardly ever happens. i do like lingonberry jam but i found theirs too sweet- none of the acidity that makes jam mouth-puckeringly yummy.



X's salmon came as a generous slab, with mashed potatoes, pickled beets, asparagus and lemon butter sauce. she liked hers enough to finish it in its entirety, so i guess that says something.



i wanted something else to share, and so we ordered the mushroom crepes ($16.90). not sure what's so swedish about the crepe, but i have a soft spot for crepes, especially when they're filled with cheese.



to make up the value of the voucher, we added on a cinnamon bun ($4.50). sweets are really not their strong suit- i strongly recommend sticking to just the mains. X, who ate the cinnamon bun, was startled by how dry and stale it was (i refused to eat it). we left it largely untouched.

aside from the horrendous cinnamon bun, food was decent, and i'd come back if they continue having the groupon. without it, though, i think it's overpriced.


fika swedish cafe and bistro
onekm
#02-k3
http://www.fikacafe.com

meat n' chill, bukit timah.

R is a steak person, so i was poking around looking for steak places for dinner when i remembered meat n' chill, which i've wanted to try for a while. everyone was okay with the menu, so i made reservations for a saturday dinner.



having the downtown line makes getting to bukit timah road without a car so much easier! the place was just a couple of minutes' walk from sixth avenue station- really quite accessible now.

i was extremely torn about whether to get the steak or the ribs (they had one glazed with a combination of guinness stout, marmite and molasses) but went with the red neck soo-veed ribeye ($27) in the end. every main came with a choice of two sides. i went for the mashed potatoes and sweet pickled apples n' onions. R, of course, went for the 500g soo-veed strip steak ($27), but strangely enough there was no option to choose sides- it automatically came with a double portion of fries.



C's hickory ribs ($19) came first. it was quite a formidable amount of ribs, and C, having a bird-like stomach as she does, donated quite a bit of it to me (yay!). i quite liked the ribs- the meat was tender and it was easy to remove it off the bone. the ribs were quite meaty as well. i'd probably want to come back to try their more exotic flavours.



happily enough our food came in quick succession. R's steak was massive, and fries filled up the rest of the plate. i tried a bit of hers, too, and while it was good, i much preferred my ribeye.



our steaks were both perfectly medium rare, just as requested, but mine, being ribeye, was definitely fattier and juicier. the accompanying red wine sauce went well, too. the sides were also prepared with care- the star was definitely the mashed potatoes. all of us finished our individual portions of mashed potatoes, and L commented that she could do with another. i loved that it was creamy and buttery, and  that it wasn't completely smooth- there were lumps of potato to add texture. the pickled apples n' onions (really just pickled apples) was refreshingly tart, providing a great balance to the creaminess of the mash.

L got the crispy skin grilled salmon ($19). being just 160g, its size looked minuscule compared to ours. it came with tobiko cream sauce, and since L cleaned her plate, i'm assuming it was good.

the mains were simple, nothing fancy, but i love it when simple things are done well. food was reasonably priced as well. the thing that was lacking, however, was probably service. service was brusque, but i would've overlooked it if they were efficient (they weren't). we finished our mains and had ordered dessert, but they didn't clear our plates until they had to serve the dessert, and found that there wasn't space on the table. even then, only half of the table was cleared, and we were left looking at each other, wondering if they were going to come back to clear the other half. (they eventually did, probably five minutes later.) they also didn't serve us water until halfway through the meal, and never did come back to top up our water (the glass was pretty small).

ridiculously enough we waited for more than half an hour for our waffle. we were half suspecting that they'd forgotten our orders and sent L to go and check- apparently they'd accidentally put chocolate sauce on ours (we ordered it sans sauce) so they had to remake it. but really? more than half an hour? and no one even came to offer us an explanation until we went looking for it. when the waffle with vanilla ice-cream ($7) finally arrived, we heaved a sigh of relief.



oddly enough it comes as a stack of three (don't waffles usually come served as an even number?) but C was too full to have any, so it worked out fine. the waffle was the biscuity, crisp type which i grew to like after a few bites. for $7 including ice-cream, not too bad. the wait was horrendous, though.

food was good, and i can see myself coming back when i have a meat craving. they do have to improve on service, though.

meat n' chill
805 bukit timah road
#01-04
https://www.facebook.com/meatnchill/

south union park, kembangan.

south union park is really quite out of the way. tucked in a housing estate, it's not one of those places you'd just chance upon. made my way down with X for a late lunch.



there weren't a lot of options on the menu. i wanted some protein, so i zeroed in on the poached salmon with baby potatoes and spring vegetables ($20). before going i'd already marked out the roasted vegetable salad ($10) and crabcakes ($12) as things i wanted to try, so we ordered them to share. knew that they were known for their handmade pastas, so i managed to cajole X into ordering the duck confit tagliatelle ($19).



they had an open kitchen, and we were seated quite near, so i got to look at them potter around while waiting for our food. there weren't many tables occupied, but they were still busy making things. at one point in time they were making corn muffins, and it smelled awesome!



i was hungry, and while watching them make stuff was fun, i was more interested in getting my food. the roasted vegetable salad came first, and while i've read good reviews of it, i didn't expect to like it this much. the pumpkin and carrots were roasted till they were soft and yielding, while the broccoli and cauliflower florets were toasty and slightly charred. everything was tossed in an asian vinaigrette (reminded me of balsamic, actually) and was so more-ish. it was a promising start to our meal.



the crabcakes (or rather, crabcake) arrived after we were done with the salad. i loved how it'd been freshly fried, and was completely not greasy (makes me feel a little better about eating it). the breading was really minimal, creating just a light crust around the filling. and happily enough, i could really see (and taste) the crab in the filling. even the purple cabbage slaw was dressed thoughtfully- it was lightly acidic, which was offset the heaviness of the crabcake. found that i didn't need the accompanying remoulade, actually.



it was only after they'd cleared our starter plates that our mains arrived. my poached salmon was perched on top of the spring vegetables and baby potatoes. the vegetables were swimming in a buttery broth- still can't quite make up my mind if i like it. loved the perfectly poached salmon, though i wished it was more generous in size.



because she wasn't hungry, X'd requested for less pasta, so i'm assuming the portion was smaller than their usual. i tried a bit of it, and i can see why they are known for the pasta. the silky ribbons of pasta was the perfect vehicle for the hazelnut cream.

no service charge was added, but service was pretty good. our plates were cleared quickly and water refilled regularly. it was a really nice place to spend a lazy afternoon chatting and lounging around. i can see myself coming back to try their pastas.

south union park
101 jalan kembangan
https://www.facebook.com/southunionpark/

london: scotchtails, borough market.

scotchtails proved to be strangely elusive- the first time we went to borough market, we wandered around the market in search of it, even googling and asking stall owners, convinced that we were not looking hard enough. in the end we realised that they just weren't open that day (J was astounded when we told her- she was all, it's always there when i go!). the second (and final) time we went back to borough market, i had my fingers crossed- i really, really wanted to try it before we left london. and happily enough, there they were, under one of the makeshift tents.

the menu was simple. scotch egg on a bed of rocket (4.50), meal box which came with additional sweet potato fries (6.90) or just the sweet potato fries alone. we wanted just the scotch egg, but there was no such option (i asked, and was told that they'd charge us 4.50 anyway), so we got the one with rocket. the scotch egg they had on offer that day was a pork one.



i'd had scotch eggs before, but this one was different. most of the time the meat around the scotch egg is such a thin layer that it seems more like an afterthought, but this one was really wrapped with a thick, juicy layer of pork mince. the yolk was molten and a glorious orangey hue. artisanal scotch eggs, indeed. the breading was minimal, making it less greasy than scotch eggs usually are. the scotch egg was finished with a grind of black pepper and sea salt. even the dressing of the rocket was good. i love it when simple things are done well.



i'm glad we managed to try the scotchtails in the end. if i had more space (and time) i probably would've wanted to go back again.

scotchtails
borough market
SE1 1TL
http://www.scotchtails.com

london: chinese laundry, islington.

never expected to want to eat chinese food while in london, but upon hearing J's enthusiastic recommendation of the place, i decided that C and i had to make a trip there, even though it was quite out of the way. i'm a sucker for chinese fusion, so it was right up my alley.



went for breakfast, because their breakfast/lunch menu was different from dinner. there were so many things i wanted from the menu that it was hard to choose- the only limit was how much our stomachs could fit, really.





service was quick. the first item to arrive was the rice & peanut milk (£2.70), followed by the egg bing (£5.50), which was basically a chinese scallion pancake with a glorious sunny side up sandwiched in between.



the pancake was crispy and yet not greasy- i could almost pretend that it hadn't been pan-fried in oil.



the laundry full (£10.50) arrived next. it was a great way of trying what the restaurant had to offer, since it had a bit of all their morning plates- braised beef, peanuts, tea egg, king oyster mushrooms, julienned potato, bacon and what they called milky little buns (basically fried mantous with a drizzle of condensed milk). i loved the milky little buns, especially paired with the other items. the sheer variety made it a fun eat- kind of like a chinese fusion version of a big breakfast, really.



the shrimp cake benedicte (£12.50) was the item i was eyeing all along, and was adamant about ordering it. theoretically speaking, it should've been great, but it wasn't- let down, perhaps, by the shrimp cake. i was imagining something plump and juicy, but it was overly crisp and to me, it barely qualified as shrimp cake. would've liked more of the peanut brittle, too- i could hardly find it, and it was one of the components that had excited me about the dish. probably should've ordered something else- the savoury tofu did call out to me.

C was really full after the meal, but i felt it was just nice. i did like the food in general- just not the shrimp cake benedicte. i would probably go back again to try their other items. i'm sad that i don't have more stomach space, really.

chinese laundry
107 upper street
N1 1QN
http://chineselaundryroom.co.uk

coyote by spruce, phoenix park.

coyote's brunch menu (tex mex!) intrigued me enough to want to give it a try, so i snagged a $30 chope voucher and headed down on a sunny sunday afternoon for brunch with X. i've never actually been to phoenix park, so i didn't realise how far away from civilisation it was until i google-mapped it. happily enough there was a bus from somerset which cut down the walking (i'm really lazy about walking nowadays, because of the insane heat).



we reached at two-plus, and on approaching the restaurant, we were scared to see that there was al fresco dining (i believe in al fresco dining, but not in singapore). but thankfully they did have indoor seating as well (i quite literally heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing the indoor seating area). happily enough it was quiet when we reached; only a couple of other tables were occupied. we got a table by the window, and while the air conditioning wasn't strong, it at least beat sitting al fresco.



i'd already decided what i wanted, so i barely had to glance at the menu. as usual X was torn between a few choices, but eventually settled on a pulled chicken torta ($20). i got the huevos carnitas benedictinos ($19), which was basically a fancy way of saying eggs ben.



i was starving- i'd had an early breakfast, had hit the gym, and really needed my fuel; so it was awesome that the food came pretty quickly, and at the same time, too. i was impressed by the generosity of the pulled pork and chicken on our respective plates- particularly X's, because it was presented open face, so the pulled chicken appeared as... well, a big lump (in a good way).



i ended up quite liking my food. i was slightly dubious about the presence of hollandaise at first, because the pulled pork, which was cooked in bbq sauce, appeared sufficiently sauced. it turned out that the hollandaise actually matched pretty well with the pulled pork, tying everything together. X wasn't a fan of the corn waffle- i found it slightly limp but alright. enough to finish it, anyway. i just didn't like the poached egg. it was way overdone, so part of the yolk had already congealed.



tried a bit of X's pulled chicken, but i preferred the pulled pork. it was cooked in a different sauce from the pork- kind of a spicy, tomato-y sauce. i was surprised that X, who has a bird-like stomach not unlike C's, managed to finish the entire plate, given the generosity of the portion. i was startled by how full i was, too.



food was not spectacular, but not too bad. it was a nice, quiet place for a leisurely sunday brunch, though it's really a bit too out of the way.

coyote by spruce
320 tanglin road
http://www.coyote.com.sg

fyr cycene ond drinc, boon tat street.

i was excited about trying out fyr's brunch menu, because they had something called baked blinis. given my recent obsession with all forms of blinis and how hard it is to actually find them, i was really looking forward to trying it. it seemed that blinis and i really have no fate- when i got to the restaurant, the waitress told me apologetically that they'd since scrapped the brunch menu. what they had, instead, was a three course set lunch for $25, and the a la carte menu.



the three course set lunch looked alright, but i was there for blinis, and they were nowhere to be found. i was contemplating leaving, but i was hungry and it was already pretty late for lunch, even for me. so i decided to ask if they could give me two starters instead of a starter and a dessert- if they could, i'd stay. happily enough they were flexible enough to allow that.



the first starter to arrive was the pork belly, prettily presented on a flat black plate (kind of hard to eat from, though). the pork belly came complete with crispy crackling and a sticky balsamic glaze. i found myself mopping up the balsamic glaze with the pork belly- really, really good. i usually find myself picking out the fat bits because it's way too overwhelming, but in this rendition i cleaned it all up, because the ratio of fat to meat was just right; enough not to be scary. loved the barley risotto and pickled vegetables that came with it, too. perfect balance.



the other starter that i picked was the seared salmon fillet. the salmon was alright, but the pork belly definitely outshone it. the salmon came with cous cous and a mixed citrus salsa- a little heavy-handed with the salsa, but everything was cooked to perfection.

while i was having my starters, the waitress suddenly came by, surprising me by putting a slice of chocolate cake on my table. apparently it was the chef's birthday! a really nice touch, actually.



my main, a duck confit, came a while later. it was a tossup between the seabass fillet (400g!) and the duck confit, but i'm glad i decided on the duck in the end. it was cooked really well, with a thin, crackly skin and super juicy meat. the best part, however, was that the sides were really good as well-crispy little potatoes, caramelised onions, and a well-dressed salad. interestingly enough there was a wasabi sauce in a little pot as accompaniment, and i found myself dipping both the duck and the potatoes in it. yum.

i still wish they'd kept the brunch menu- given the food i'd had, i'm pretty sure whatever the kitchen churns out will be of a certain standard. i was pleasantly surprised by the food i had. came with no expectations whatsoever (other than wanting to have the really elusive BLINIS) and was really happy with everything i got. i'd come back for the set lunch, just so i can try the other mains.

fyr cycene ond drinc
19 boon tat street
https://www.facebook.com/FYRBTS/#

london: bao, soho.

i ate a lot in london (and C, who has the stomach of a bird, had no choice but to try to keep up). it makes sense, then, for me to blog about what i ate. i usually plan our food pitstops, but we chanced upon bao in the most singaporean way ever. we were wandering around in soho, rounded a corner, spotted a queue for a restaurant that was across the street, and decided to just join the queue. of course, after that, we googled as to what exactly we were queueing for, and it enticed us enough to stay in the queue.

full of luck club, holland village.

for X's birthday dinner, i'd initially planned something else, but full of luck club had just opened. it sounded like exactly her kind of thing, so i suggested going there instead. i was honestly quite enticed by the baos (ever since eating at bao in london) and the fact that they serve chinese small plates- what a great idea! so i made a reservation for a weeknight dinner, and we headed to holland village.



liked the decor. liked it even better that we got a cozy corner table.



we ordered a variety of small plates, and the food came so quickly we were startled. first to arrive on the table was the baos (2 for $9.80). i initially wanted the portuguese pork chop, but they were out, replaced by smoked duck. even better, because i like duck anyway.



X was fixated on the salted egg yolk prawn bao, so that was the other bao we got. what i didn't realise was they had two different types of bao- the smoked duck one came with a fried bao, which i found too biscuity and crisp. much preferred the regular bao, which was pillowy and soft. the baos were not bad, but i couldn't help but compare them to bao in london... and they don't quite measure up.



the rest of the food arrived together (always a good thing) and it filled up the small table quickly. we were initially worried that we hadn't ordered enough, but it turned out to be just nice. the duck (half for $35) came served on a board and was shredded on the spot, with hoisin sauce, cucumber, spring onions and steamed chinese pancakes as accompaniments. we were supposed to eat it à la peking duck wraps, but we didn't quite take to the pancakes (way too thick) so i ended up just dipping the duck in the sauce and eating it with cucumber. the duck was admittedly a little on the dry side, but with the sauce it was alright, so i didn't mind.



the dimsum we ordered we both good, though! got the steamed scallops and vegetable dumplings ($6) and the shrimp dumplings ($7.20) that were both translucent, thin-skinned and packed with ingredients. the stir fried radish cake with XO sauce ($6.80) was good too, and this is coming from a person who doesn't even eat radish cake usually. yum.



i was intrigued by the golden sand corn with (what else) salted egg yolk ($4.80). it was certainly an interesting eat- made for a good snack.

the highlight of the dinner though, was probably the fortune cookies. fortune cookies are so silly (i know that logically) but they're such good fun. especially when i took a bite of mine BEFORE reading what it said.



just proves that i'm a glutton, really.

service was quite good, too. they cleared our plates quickly and were pretty attentive. on the whole, quite liked what we had there. X liked it so much that she vows a return.


full of luck club
243 holland ave
http://fullofluck.club