Singapore - Cugini Trattoria Pizzeria

My impressions of Southern Italy are of homeliness and heartiness - all about simple treatment of fine produce from the good earth and sea around.  With a classic white and blue themed fixtures and fittings, reflecting the style of that area, Cugini attempts to bring all that good stuff to Singapore and does a decent job of it.  Although service was a little spotty when we got in, as they were busy, we got to enjoying a little bit more attention as the night wore on. 

The menu is rather large and so being our first time, we went with all of our waiter's suggestions. 

The Bresaola (hand cured beef) with lemon oil and shaved Parmesan, served on a wooden board, lived up to its presentation.  Tender and well cured (without being just salty) thinly sliced beef was lifted by the abundant rocket leaves and good quality Parmigianno.  I would have preferred a little bit more cheese than the 4 slices but didn't want to push my first visit!

Since Cugini emphasises Sardinian cuisine, we tried the Sardinian style spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, chilli, mullet roe (which Sardinia is famous for), and Mediteranean prawn.  The taste is something which even locals who are not initiated into Italian cuisine can enjoy.  Very reminisent of the local Hokkien prawn mee, and even had some "wok hei" to it.  Enjoyably tasty even if a tad local for my liking but Sardinia is one of the places I haven't had the privilege of visiting in Italy so perhaps..

Our Cugini pizza was served as a pretty decked out forest of fall colours with generous toppings of fresh tomato, mozzarella, tomino cheese, Italian bacon and rocket.  More rustic in style with a slightly thicker and chewy base (which I enjoy) it was an excellent combination of distinct flavours.  Although the base can get tough as it cools, it was still a high quality pizza. 

Our dessert of the Sardinian deep-fried pastry filled with cheese and citrus flavoured honey was good but I would have ironically preferred to have started the meal with it than end with it since it is a little heavy.  Softly chewy like Mozzarella but with slightly more pong, it went well with the honey.

All in, the produce is certainly good quality - from the cured meats which are flavourful, to the cheeses, they are in themselves worth another visit.  Understanding that less is better with fine produce is the key to enjoying nature's bounty.


87 Club Street
#01-01
Singapore 069455
Tel: +65-6221 3791

Hong Kong - a day in Central

The amazing thing with Hong Kong's central district is not that it houses THE financial centre of Asia but that it still coexists with a collection of long-standing businesses in old shophouses, much of which is the heart of Hong Kong's cuisine.

You can start the day at Sang Kee for a breakfast of congee and fried vermicelli.  This congee institution has been around for much of Hong Kong's modern history and is famous for its fish congee and pig's giblets congee.  The fish in particular is extremely fresh and despite it being a river fish, has no foul muddy taste.  Accompaniments of a ginger/spring onion soya sauce is excellent with the fish.  Do also order the fried vermicelli, well fried to envelope each strand with a tasty stock and with hardly a grease trace.  Dace fish cakes are also good and springy. 

After Sang Kee, take a walk to Lan Fong Yuen for a taste of one of Hong Kong's oldest and quintessential Cha Chan Teng.  Sip on smooth silk stocking milk tea (the cold one is excellent with even ice cubes made from the tea so there is no dilution), while biting into a thick toast smothered with peanut butter and condensed milk, the stuff our childhoods were made of..  And if you have room, or are just greedy, try their famous chicken chop with tossed Nissin noodles, served with a ginger/spring onion condiment for a little bit of tasty innovation.

 

After you're done with soaking in the neighbourhood, you can choose from a myriad of restaurants or continue the theme by dining on classic Cantonese fare at Lin Heung Lau.  Check out http://edeats.blogspot.com/2009/04/hong-kong-lin-heung-tea-house.html.  Dim sum isn't bad but here's a glimpse of what you have to battle if you eat there!

 

Sang Kee Congee Shop

生記粥品專家

G/F, 7-9 Burd St,

Sheung Wan

Hong Kong

Tel: +852-2541 1099

Lan Fong Yuen 

蘭芳園

No. 2, Gage Street

Central

Hong Kong

Tel: +852-2544 3895/ 2854 0731

Hong Kong - Chez Patrick

After being given a tour of the area by E, I thought I would go back and explore the Star Street area restaurants having started with Cinecitta last week.  This time, I decided to try Chez Patrick, located off the beaten track in the "quietest" corner on Sun Street. 

It's a great little set up, very quaint and reminiscent of an eatery in France.  And Patrick does his thing with the meet-and-greets.  He comes across as kinda shy and so not a whole lot of conversation unless you really engage him.  The food was fine but not overly impressive for some of the hype I've seen.  Maybe Patrick has his good and bad days.  I went on a neutral day, I think.  Competent but not a whole lot of soul.

The fish terrine amuse bouche was well, fish.  Nothing else to be said.  But the freshly baked rolls were good.  They might have used better butter but I was happy enough. 

Patrick's signature appetiser of the foie gras trio was interesting for the presence of a foie gras ice cream profiterole but it was my least favourite.  I had trouble enjoying cold liver.  But I did like the baked foie gras profiterole, which make it less greasy yet retaining the full bodied richness of the liver.  The terrinne was decent also but not unexpected.  The dark chocolate/balsamic vinegar sauce is a nice touch. 

The mains special of the evening was veal steak with a cheese crust served with a rich wine sauce, accompanied by each of a beetroot and potato mash.  The quality of the meat was not as good as I would have liked.  Not to say that it was bad but it was just a tad tough.  The cheese crust was tasty but overall, not a dish I might order again.

C's fillet mignon in a similarly rich wine sauce, on the other hand, was more impressive.  A better piece of meat, and had excellent companions - escargots, what tasted like cheese polenta and a baked cheese stick.  The common presence of beetroot really didn't do much for either of us.  But the steak was certainly enjoyable. 

The best parts of the evening were the desserts.  Far superior to the savouries, these were perfectly executed. 

The star was the apple and almond tart, served with a vanilla and calvados ice cream.  Of course, served warm, the tart was almondic in fragrance, lightly crisp, with a slight chewiness, the combination was delightful and not overly sweet. 

The chestnut cake with chocolate sauce and a maple like ice cream was also very good.  Looking every bit like a chocolate cake but so different in taste - much more delicate and brought home by the good quality chocolate sauce. 

Chez Patrick would be worth another shot if you like the neighbourhood enough but there seem to be many other choices.  But otherwise, it is a quaint place to have a traditionally French home-style dinner at and there aren't that many choices if that's the criteria.  And hailing from Burgundy, the wine list was certainly quite illustrious.  Hopefully, I go from neutral to good next time. 

G/F, 8-9 Sun Street
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2527 1408

Hong Kong - Irori 酒處

I stumbled on this last weekend and it was a good find!  Always been under my nose - considering how often I'm in Causeway Bay - but never heard of it.  Well, the power of the internet ...  is just powerful.  And so, armed even with recommended dishes from other bloggers, off we went in search of a non-descript building on Yiu Wa Street.  Good thing it's a short street.

We started with the pumpkin salad - 2 ice cream scoops of mashed pumpkin with bits of hard boiled egg.  Very similar to a Japanese potato salad but I just like spuds more.  Wasn't bad though.

First time - so a cautious order of Hirame sashimi. 

The sashimi was fresh and there was a generous serving of condiments.  Well cut with no stringy bites.  Bonus:  we got what I believe is the thin muscle of the dorsal fin, on the side of the fish.  Higher in fat content, juicier and softer, and a richer finish.  Very good.

Next up: the minced tuna canapes topped off with nothing but rich Japanese mayo.  Decadent richness and surprisingly not oily at all but a superbly good combination.  Served on slices of baguette, the fusion was interesting in a positive way.

The novelty of the joint was the grilled mochi balls with a pizza twist.  With bits of tomato and bacon on the inside, the combination is quite yummy.  Only complaint: took a lot of chewing to down 3 balls.  I think a max of 2 per person would be perfect, greed factor aside.

My favourite was the vinegared mackeral pressed sushi, Osaka style.  Very high quality mackeral and not vinegared to a pulp, this was almost catch-of-the-day fresh, with a nice twist of acid, nudged against a decent bed of rice interspersed with torn Perilla leaves, topped off with a glossy translucent seaweed, adding to texture.  Definitely one of the better ones I've eaten outside of Japan.  I would go back alone just to have this.  The 6 pieces would make a nice light lunch for one.

A quiet place to hang out above the hustle and bustle of Causeway Bay, with interesting concoctions and they even have baby bottles of sake for the less initiated (or if you need to drive). 


2/F, Bartlock Centre,
3 Yiu Wa Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2838 5939

Hong Kong - Cinecitta

The menu was enticing enough but as we walked through the doors, it was deserted!  Oh-oh...  but too late, since we didn't really want to be rude.  Granted it was only 7.30 on a Friday evening...  and most would presumably still be getting to a happy state at the neighbouring bars in the Star Street neighbourhood..  The restaurant is known for and is spectacular in size with silent black-and-whites playing right of bar as you enter. 

There wasn't a whole lot of options since I was on medication but we did agree on sharing a couple of items.  It was 2 hits out of 3 so we thought we did pretty good.

The beef carpaccio dusted with fresh parmesan, and strewn with rocket and fresh artichokes was actually very good.  The thinly sliced beef was not at all streaky and rolled into the accompanying bounty well.  A nice combination of flavours with nothing overpowering the other.  A team effort!

The Gnochetti with "Guanciale" ham and black truffles in a carbonara was decadence epitomised and the sort of luxury on the palette I haven't enjoyed in a while.  A wondrous combination although best to share since it can get overly rich on the senses if in abundance. 

The "miss" of the evening was the chicken roll in the mains section.  While decent enough, it just wasn't what we expected and we could just as well have ended dinner on the 2nd course. 

An enjoyable place, and decently priced.  I might just go back to try the other interesting pasta combinations.

9 Star Street
Wanchai, Hong Kong
Tel: +852-2529 0199

Hong Kong - Shirokiya No.1 Japanese Casual Restaurant 白木屋居樂屋

One of the best things after a long afternoon/evening of tennis is the group that adjourns for dinner.  The Kowloon side is relatively unexplored for me and it's always nice to get to new places.  There are hits and misses of course but I thought that with the right expectations and knowing what to order, Shirokiya can be a hit. 

The key to success:  stick with the fun stuff and avoid the classics.  Classic sashimi and sushi are not the highlights here so you can give them a miss unless you really must.  It's an Izakaya for heaven's sakes.

What we had fun with and enjoyed:

The Japanese omelette stuffed with eel

The carpaccio of salmon, yellowtail with a light dressing. 

The dressing on this dish made the difference - with a Japanese twist, the tang was nicely balanced with the soya and dusted wtih crushed pepper, it was quite an appetiser.  Only complaint - the octupus was too chewy.  If you order this, see if they can substitute with more fish and give Octopussy a miss.  Other complaint: this was forgotten and came after we ate most of our other food. 

Hamburger Steak Sushi

An interesting combination of 2 classics.  Wasn't spectacular but few can complain about Japanese style hamburg steak. 

Crab meat pizza

The pizzas were surprisingly very good - thin crust and generous toppings.  The crab meat pizza was our favourite, followed by the teriyaki chicken.  Given the salmon a miss since we thought it was less than mediocre.

Korean style Kimchi fried rice. 

Surprisingly tasty and made even better with the bacon and eggs.  It was actually the first dish to arrive (did I say service is a little weird here) and the hungry wolves polished this off in about 45 seconds flat.

Curry hotpot

This took a long time coming and we were hoping to cancel since we were quite stuffed but they charged us for it and insisted that they were already preparing it.  It wasn't bad at all especially if you like your Japanese curry but we would have enjoyed it a lot more if it came in the thick of dinner.  Generous chucks of prawns, scallops, clams, chicken and accompanied by lots of cabbage, potatoes and carrots made the soup very sweet and drinkable. 

Lest I forget, the drinks list is pretty incredible- both alcoholic and non.  I enjoyed my white peach calpico a lot!  Very thirst-quenching!

While I won't go out of my way to eat at Shirokiya, it is a worthwhile option if you want  to check out the humongous MegaBox mall in Kowloon Bay.  Make sure you're in a good mood since the service can be a little trying too.

Unit 34, Level 2,

Megabox,

Entreprise Square 5,

38 Wang Chiu Road

Kowloon Bay

Tel: +852-2817 5788

Singapore - Tung Lok Classics

It's been crazy busy with the the Public Affairs Institute and Roundtable all week and trying to catch up on work in the evenings.. what a life. And obviously, nothing food blog worthy all week. Just as well, since I haven't kept up. So this post is a little late, since I ate there 2 weeks ago, but still recent enough to recall the experience.

By Tung Lok standards, it was pretty decent. Not spectacular but worth a visit. Its clean take on Chinese classics and customised for local palates without taking away too much of the real thing, is commendable.

Some hits:

My favourite Shanghainese soup - Yan Du Xian - with twisted bean curd sheets, bamboo and flavoured with Yunnan ham and salted pork belly pieces, makes for a heartwarming way to start the meal, especially as the weather cools. Ok, Singapore doesn't really get cool, so maybe with a lot of rain, and a full blast of air-conditioning will get you there.

The steamed soon hock with chillies (朵椒) - a favourite from Chairman Mao's hometown of Hunan was very good. The fish was steamed just right - and the flesh was still juicy and fall off the bone fresh and the chillies added a freshness to the dish, since it wasn't too spicy at all.

The seafood fried rice in lotus leaf, gratin-ed on the top with melted cheese was very well done. Fluffy and tasty, with generous bits of shrimp, scallops and other seafood bits. The bacon adds a dimension and brought out the flavours of the different ingredients. Simple but well executed.

The biggest miss was the Eight treasures served in sesame pockets. The pockets, which are usually baked, was a tad oily so I think they might have been deep fried. The eight treasures were a little heavy handed - as they are usually, but did nothing for me. Won't order it again..

A pleasant experience and worth a second visit. With Tung Lok restaurants, best to hit it after 12 months and see if the good chefs are still around. Seems to be a problem with their other outlets but I'm hoping it's different this time.


Chinese Swimming Club
21 Amber Road, #03-00
Singapore 439870
Tel: +65 6345 0111