Palate Pleasers N Tummy Teasers
Makan Post-it (6) - More goodies to be found in Chinatown
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Whilst you’re wandering along the streets of Chinatown picking up some last minute bargains on CNY goodies or simply soaking in the festive atmosphere, make time to pop by Temple Street (one of the many aisles of road closed to vehicles during this festive period) 
and keep a lookout for the following shop:
What’s to be found here? Chinese desserts galore 
Here’s a preview of their menu…
Everything from Peanut/Almond/Walnut/Black Sesame/Yam paste, egg pudding, even carrot/pumpkin/yam cake 
…to flavoured snow ice and coconut kueh! What better way to cool oneself down than to indulge in an icy dessert after an afternoon spent browsing makeshift street stalls under the sweltering sun 
These 2 desserts aren’t particularly new or unique, but what makes them stand out from similar versions elsewhere is the stall’s generosity with ingredients. Chunks of fresh mango in a thick mango pulp and an unstinting amount of diced water chestnuts ensure fans of the desserts keep coming back for more
Not in the mood for something sweet? Help yourselves to their home-made carrot/yam/pumpkin cakes and cantonese rice dumpling.
Delightfully soft, fragrant and flavourful, you won’t be stopping at just one piece 
Remember to have it with their home-made chilli which packs a punch with its distinct taste of dried shrimp. Wonderfully YUM!
Interesting tid-bit: Remember Farmer Brand peanuts? They are made and marketed by the same company that owns this dessert stall.
味香园甜品
65 - 67 Temple Street
King of Soups…NOT!
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Now’s the period where malls are packed with people rushing to do their last minute bit of shopping before the Lunar New Year or simply cashing in on the post-festive season sales (for those who don’t celebrate CNY ) Like everyone else, papilles was looking for a good meal to reward our growling tummies and aching feet after an entire afternoon traipsing through Suntec City. Off to the mall’s basement in search of food; that was when a majestic looking signboard caught out attention:
Everything from the gold fonts against the black signboard to the stylish decor of the restaurant brought to mind the concept of “Grand Shanghai”. Self-proclaiming to be the king of double-boiled soups and dim sum, this was one place papilles had to feature on this blog (just so everyone knows if they’re as good as they claim to be ).
Papilles Rule of Thumb: When in doubt, go for the recommended/specialty items (quite a no brainer rule actually 
)
This dish of Glutinous Rice wrapped in lotus leaf ($13.80) was described to contain “silky chicken and mushrooms” which in reality, was more than a little exaggerated. The rice turned out mushy and lacked fragrance; a mediocre dish at best 
A disappointing start, which unfortunately was to set the tone for the rest of our meal.
Our sampling of Pork Dumplings in Chilli Oil ($4.50) and Deep Fried Mango Roll ($4.50) from the dim sum menu, failed to leave an impression as well. Crystal Jade does a much better version of the former whilst the latter was well-presented but tasted like a crunchy bunch of nothing in particular
A little veg so we have a balanced meal:
This was probably the best dish of the night, simply done, allowing the natural flavours of fresh mushrooms and cabbage to speak for themselves. Relatively pricey at $8.80 though, considering portions aren’t big.
Hoping to end the meal on a sweeter note with desserts, we were once again left discontent with our orders of Honeydew Red Ruby Sago and 3-coloured Sweet Potato Soup ($3.80 each).
Enticed by the novelty of their alternative take on more commonplace local desserts, this had to be their sole selling point since there was nothing worthy of comment beyond their names. I barely bit into any diced chestnuts, a key ingredient of the Red Ruby dessert and X rightly griped that he could literally count the number of sweet potato cubes in his bowl 
Final Verdict: Papilles say “Nowhere close to being King or any member of royalty for that matter” 
Tang Dian Wang
#B1-033/036 Suntec City Mall
Yet another curry episode…
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Yes, papilles love our curries. Especially Jap curries. No prizes for guessing what happened once we discovered that a new curry specialty place under the Waraku umbrella of dining establishments had set foot on our shores
The friendly, cartoon features of the blob of a chef “Mr Curry” and his ’speak-no-evil’ (or is it eat-no-evil ) cat hinted at a casual, fun dining experience. I was particularly intrigued with their branding as a “Japanese Curry & Sweet House”. Was there gonna be a booth selling candy within the cafe-restaurant? Sure explains the kid-friendly illustrations then
As it turns out, their “sweets” were with reference to specific items in the menu - fancy a blueberry cheesecake sandwich anyone? Or simply choose from their assortment of finger cakes, reminiscent (both in shape and size) of the cheesecakes sold at Beard Papa stores. Papilles have more of a savoury than sweet-tooth so we decided to leave the sweet stuff to the next visit
A very interesting Chicken Mushroom Risotto ($12.80) served bubbling hot in a claypot. The generous amount of curry made this seem more like porridge but the overall taste was YUMMY, with burnt bits of rice at the base of the claypot adding a smoky flavour to the dish. Even X couldn’t resist taking more than a few mouthfuls for “sampling”
If you’ve been an avid reader of this blog, you would’ve noticed a certain dining trend of X’s; if the place serves pork cutlet rice, chances are that’s what he’ll be having I guess that helps in making him the expert in pork cutlets here I liked that the curry was served separately and also bubbling hot since not everyone likes having their rice drenched in gravy/sauces. At $16.80 (add $1 for a perfectly poached egg) for 4 relatively thin slices of cutlet though, this dish isn’t all that worth trying since there was nothing particularly outstanding about it.
Another interesting item we had to try was their naan-bread which comes with a variety of toppings (i.e. Jap-style pizza). The Seafood Naan-bread ($9.80) we had was fresh and the chewy dough characteristic of naans gave this pizza inspired dish an unusual twist. Something worth ordering to share if you’re planning to check this place out since it’s unique to Mr Curry (at least I haven’t seen it served elsewhere) The curries served here are also generally pretty mild so they’re suitable for both young and old alike; you also get to choose from 3 varying levels of spiciness if you’re ordering a curry rice dish (e.g. X’s pork cutlet curry rice).
Mr. Curry
#03-84 The Central
N.B. Mr. Curry is located at a corner shop at the end of a row of dining places. As it is hidden from view until you’re nearing the shop, it would help to pay attention to the unit numbers of the dining places around it
A homely dining affair at Ma Maison
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With a name like Ma Maison, which is literally French for “my home”, one expects to savour home-cooked food amidst a cosy dining atmosphere; an experience which the restaurant delivers right from when you’re first seated:
Each table gets a set of these huge, brass keys akin to what you’d expect to be handed when checking into some motel in some far-out rustic countryside (or creepy hostel, if you’ve been watching one too many horror flicks ). Tagged with your table number, this key makes for easy payment after a meal without you having to get the attention of wait staff and then waiting again for the bill to be brought to your table; simply bring the keys to the payment counter, check, pay and you’re done!
That being a cold and rainy day, we started our meal with a bowl of Clam Chowder ($5.50)
Creamy and served nicely warm so that we could slurp at the chowder without getting our lips burnt, this made for really comforting food on a wet day With bits of clam and potato cubes, we liked that this chowder wasn’t watered down but aside from that, it was probably what you could get at most other cafes/restaurants.
X’s Tonkatsu Curry ($15.88) was also unexceptional though having said that, I must add that we couldn’t find fault with it either. It just didn’t make us sit up and commit this dish to memory as “The Best Tonkatsu” ever The combination of lightly breaded, crisp pork cutlet doused in Jap Curry is probably a dime a dozen here so it would really take a perfectly-done tonkatsu and a superb curry to have us bowled over Yes we foodies are so hard to please.
The sauce for this Beef Stroganoff ($14.80) was fairly rich, the way I like it. The beef slices were also tender; a pity there were so few of it though. This dish could also have been given an interesting twist with the use of tomato braised rice instead of just plain white rice for their omelette as they had done. The omelette though, was done well - creamy and not at all dry/charred like most over-cooked omelettes are wont to be.
Overall fairly average fare and a good place to keep in mind if you enjoy dining by candlelight and having fuss-free home-cooked french-inspired Japanese cuisine
#03-96 The Central
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
Other outlet at #02-51 Bugis Junction
Eateries to look out for in 2009!
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So it’s goodbye 2008 and HELLO 2009! Well the 1st post of the New Year has obviously gotta be about something good since I’m sure we all wanna have things to look forward to and leave the bad behind
It goes without a doubt that Singapore has no lack of eateries, but subject the variety to scrutiny and you’ll discover there are only that many places worth blogging about. Take mega mall Vivocity for example - a host of dining choices with only a handful worth dining at. One such place which deserves mention would be White Dog Cafe.
Half-expecting to enter a cafe filled with pictures of pooches and pet-friendly decor, I was surprised to find that there was none of that. In fact, there was nothing white or canine-related that adorned the minimalist interiors 
Sure beats me how the name came about then. Not that it mattered once the food arrived…
We were too distracted by the flavorful Lobster Bisque which had a rich aroma of the shellfish. Creamy liquidy goodness…Slurpilicious to the last drop
The pairing of sauteed mushrooms with shredded red cabbage didn’t go down as well with me though. The soft, mushy textures of the fungi coupled with the crisp cabbage tasted odd and uninspired A definite miss.
That said, our 2 mains that followed more than made up for it:
Think thick, juicy, breaded pork fillet sandwiched between lightly toasted, fluffy (notice the air pockets in the bread) foccacia buns This is one for the pork-lovers and everyone else will too be won over once you sink your teeth into one. I sure was
I’m pretty particular about how my pasta is done but this probably warrants an above-average rating. Creamy without being overly rich and salmon cubes that were cooked just right made this dish that bit above the norm. The asparagus was added by request; papilles think the original plain salmon pasta would probably come across as unidimensional on the palate. Papilles recommends this tried and tested combi if you like your veg
NB: Do stay clear of their tomato-based sauces when ordering pasta though; these tend to be watered down resulting in a bland, insipid dish. And remember to check back for more 2009 blog-worthy eateries
#02-131/132 Vivocity
