[Tasting] New Items @ Birds of a Feather (and re-introducing some of my favourite classics)

Happy to have the opportunity to try the newly launched menu items at Birds of a Feather recently. Glad to see familiar faces upon arrival and warm greetings exchanged with staff.

menu

Service was prompt and friendly as usual. Was offered a choice of iced or warm water as soon as I sat down. Felt welcomed through these actions. 

But of course, since it is a Friday night, let's get some iced cold beer! And if you're there before 7pm on a weekday, there's Happy Hour pricing. 

Sapporo draft @$12

If you're curious about their cocktails, here's an Oriental Negroni for reference, adorned with Mandarin orange sorbet for bursts of citrussy sweetness.

Oriental Negroni @$28

Beginning

Osmanthus Salmon

Osmanthus Salmon @$16 (2 pieces)

closer view

The very crispy brioche toast was loaded with generous amount of salmon mousse, dotted with smoked bamboo shoots, with bits of osmanthus gel, and beautifully topped with a sleek looking piece of osmanthus cured salmon. First bite and the salmon mousse bursts out onto the palm of my hand. And, I thought I could eat this somewhat elegantly...

The contrast of crispy (toast) and soft (mousse/salmon) was nice, with osmanthus fragrance floated to the fore subtly, and the slightly burnt savoury flavour from bamboo shoots, creamy salmon mousse were enjoyable. A slightly sweet-savoury combo.

Perhaps can consider serving this as 2-halves, so that one could eat it as bite-sized?

Argentina Shrimp Crudo

Argentina Shrimp Crudo @$24

Crudo refers to dish of raw fish/seafood typically dressed with olive oil, salt, citrus juice and vinegar. 

The ginger pineapple syrup, pineapple chili salsa, with coriander puree and red oil dressing, works well for this dish at BOAF. Refreshingly good and whets the appetite for more.

Burnt Chili Baby Squid 

Burnt Chili Baby Squid @$21

closer view

One gets hint of smokey spiciness when you bite into the tender part of the baby squid stuffed with mentai burnt chili. The furikake chips provided some umami savouriness and should be eaten quickly, otherwise it turned into seaweed strips after soaking too long in the sauce. Those small cubes of pickled sichuan vegetable gave it a familiar homely feels. I sincerely thought those were edamame but turns out to be fava beans. Tasted similar.

Find the Chicken in the Chilies

Find the Chicken in the Chilies @$19

It is still a must-order dish for me everytime when I dine at Birds of a Feather. Served hot, spicy and savoury. Loved the right-sized chicken bites, plenty of cashews and garlic. Just yums.

OnGoing

Duo Scallop and Daikon

Duo Scallop and Daikon @$48

Layered dish with the pretty (and tasty) chives tuille, medallions of scallops raw and seared, braised daikon served ontop a bed of cous cous and lentils, and bubu arare (Japanese rice crackers of tiny baked glutinous rice balls). At the center of the dish, there's cauliflower blanc manger and jamon iberico.

Barramundi Chazuke

Barramundi Chazuke @$36

One of the classic dish at BOAF for that warm, comforting feels and a strong touch of tangy and spicy!

Apportion

Whole French Chicken in 2 Seasons

Chicken done two ways, and served with a side of summer salad. Priced at $88 and good for sharing amongst 3-4 pax.

Firstly, a plate of beautifully roasted chicken breast. Chef came over to add the finishing touches to the plate with the 4 peppers dressing.

chicken breast - 4 peppers roasted crown

finishing touch with 4 peppers dressing

Subtle flavours from the firm tender meat, and recommended to have it with skin on. The dressing was rather light and allowed the natural flavours of the chicken to shine.

summer salad with 4 peppers dressing

The summer salad came in the form of watermelon cubes, cherry tomatoes, crushed olive emulsion, and some greens. More please!

Lastly, the second serving of the chicken. Whole leg deboned and done up in roulade style and braised in albufera sauce. Served with ratte potatoes, sweet baby carrots, trumpet mushrooms and renkon chips.

spiced braised whole legs

The braised chicken meat had a creamy, rounded refined flavour and some gentle overall sweetness. Loved the salted chips for contrast. 

Finale

If you asked me, which dessert fits the summer vibe. I'd say "Citrus Block". If you asked me which dessert is my favourite, I'd say "Glutinous Rice Cake Rock"

We asked Elle and Tiara to decide and these were their choice. 

Jujube & Strawberry

From the top, there's strawberry leather with strawberry compote, fresh strawberry slices sitting prettily ontop of mascarpone cremeux. Jujube cake at the bottom and sprinkling of almond sable/flakes all round.

Jujube & Strawberry @$18

Glutinous Rice Cake Rock

The table might have been influenced to get this but hey, I think it was a good time to taste it again. Eat it while it is still warm.

Loved the pomegranate bits together with the warm glutinous rice, dabbed with soy bean powder and eaten with the ice-cream. 

Glutinous Rice Cake Rock @$18

Thank you Chef Eugene See for your kind hospitality and team Birds of a Feather for taking care of our table that evening. Special thanks for Ivan and Kris to gather up our smallish group of 5 for a short catch-up. Great meeting everyone again!

Birds of a Feather

Address: 115 Amoy St, #01-01, Singapore 069935

Website: https://www.birdsofafeather.com.sg/

Contact: +65 9755 7115

Business Hours:

Mon-Sat: 12–3 PM, 6 PM–12 AM

Sun: 12–3 PM, 6–10 PM

[Tasting] H&C halycon & crane @ Paragon Shopping Centre

Was invited to H&C at Paragon to try some of the items from the new menu. Thank you Kris and Eugene for the invitation. This time round, we went during dinner time. 

cosy interior

nice seats to watch the world go by

some nibbles before getting the mains?

how about some fancy teas?

Fancy Teas

Since weather was hot and humid, I opted for "Cold Brew Orchid Pu'erh Tea". This was the only cold tea from the fancy tea series. Staff informed that the tea is steeped daily and in limited volume. Ok, let's try it.

Cold Brew Orchid Pu'erh Tea @$10.90

cheers~

Loved the deep amber hue of the Pu'erh tea. It was indeed refreshing and enjoyable.

For teas prepared via the siphon pot, one could watch the tea preparation at the coffee/tea/bar area. These would be the "Beau-tea-ful You" and "Tea-rriffically Healthy".

aesthetically pleasing

Once the tea is ready, staff will bring over the brewed tea to your table (minus the siphon). Staff informed that the volume of water served is optimal for the tea-leaves used.

"Tea-rrifically Healthy" (Buckwheat and Chrysanthemum) @$14

"Beau-tea-ful You" (Mixed Dried Fruits, Rose, Strawberries, DragonFruit) @$14

Buckwheat tea was nicely nutty with toasty notes (unsweetened) while the one with the mixed dried fruits and rose, was mildly sweet and lovely rose fragrance.

Nibbles

Let's nibble on some appetisers while we sipped the teas. 

Crispy Squid @$18

Crispy squid was lovely as the squid was nicely tender. It actually doesn't pack any heat although menu listed it as '1 chili' spicy level. More sweet than spicy.

Hot & Sour Gyoza Soup @$14

Chicken gyoza was decent and the sauce is similar to 酸菜鱼 (sour vege fish) albeit less on the sour scale. Tangy and appetizing.

Sticky Pork Ribs @$15.50

The pork ribs had some crisp bits on first bite with overall flavours from the classic sweet vinegar glaze. Longan was nicely plump and sweet.

Tomato Beef Stew (served with sourdough) @$19.50

Oh, I might have found my new favourite nibbles and that's the tomato beef stew. Hearty, tangy plus beef with some fats? Bring it on! Plenty of tomatoes and potatoes in there too.

Pasta

For the mains, there are noodles and there are grains to choose from. Let's try a few.

Low Cal, Avocado Scallion Capellini @$22.50

Important thing to note is that keep the photo taking moments (if any) to a minimum if you had ordered the pasta.  We took a tad too long and the capellini had begun to dry out a little. So we made the most of the onsen egg to moisten it again once more, before we tucked into it. Hehe.

The scallion capellini had yummy mushroomy flavours that I liked. And, towards the end, I added some beef stew to the noodles to change it up a bit and I enjoyed that too!

Hot Sauce Prawn Pasta @$27.50

But my favourite pasta that night, was the prawn pasta. The prawns were cooked the way I liked. Moreover, it was served with deep fried kale. I'll gladly eat this vege.

that perfect bite

Grains

Squid Mixed Grains Rice Stew @$26.50

First time seeing squid mixed grains rice stew. Have you tried one before? It was a novelty for me. 

interesting

Salmon and grains were served with slightly charred/roasted romaines, sliced avocado, cherry tomatoes, sprinkling of nori and of course, a piece of well cooked salmon. I'm all for the salmon skin. Crisp and packed with flavours.

Salmon and Grains @$34

But who would've guess, that I'd fall for the stone bowl grains. Same mixed grains as the rest but there's a slight smokey flavour from each spoonful of this. Besides mixed grains, there's potato, mushrooms, chickpeas and fried kale.

Humble Grains Stone Bowl @$16.50

Special thanks to Chu Chu who took care of our table that night, and Chef Eugene for recommending us the dishes.

Read more on our past brunch experience here.

H&C halcyon & crane

Address: 290 Orchard Rd, #03-09 Paragon Shopping Centre, Singapore 238859

Website: https://linktr.ee/halcyonandcrane

Contact: 97275121

Business Hours:

Daily: 9 am–8:30 pm

[Tasting] Basdban @ 51 Telok Ayer Street

Accessible via Telok Ayer MRT, this place oozes happening vibes in the evening. Think neon lights, attractive cocktails and tasty food. Great for nearby office dwellers, whom are looking for a place to unwind after a hard day at work.

Was invited for a dinner tasting at Basdban, so let's have a look at what's good there. Come with me!

entrance to Basdban

let's eat spicy then

all sorts of flavours

nice bar, let's get some drinks!

Flower in My Gin @$25

That's right, I go for the pretty ones. Hahaa, safest choice because it's Gin, Elderflower, Cucumber and Tonic. Not much of the cucumber taste. Volume is good and I can drink it for looong.

one more shot, because it's pretty!

Take a sip of Kyoho, and you'll find it very very familiar. Pretty sweet, easy to drink, vodka based.

Kyoho @$23

Negroni @$28 (HH: 1-for-1)

One could be childlike with Kyoho, but definitely adulting with Negroni. Smokey, bitter...herbal.

smoke gets in your drink

Negroni, ready and sexy

Drinks such as Kyoho, Oriental Flare and Sichuan Sour have their mocktails version as well.

 

Let's feed the bellies! First up, some slices of salmon sashimi swirled up in funky dressing. Contrary to its name, it tasted of good 'ol soy and nothing quite funky about it besides the catchy name.

Funky Fish @$18

Sticky Pork Ribs @$18

Fashioned after 糖醋排骨 , the sticky pork ribs with Sichuan sweet vinegar glaze were lip smacking good. Meat was firm to bite and decorated with crunchy pistachio. Housemade pickles were delish too.

The first two dishes were non-spicy, so we were eager to let our tongues tingle with the "Lalalalalala Fried Chicken" (why the name so long ah?). Served on a retro looking plate/shallow basin (?) and sprinkled generously with toasted white sesame. The Sichuan green chili looked dangerous.

Lalalalalala Fried Chicken @$28

lala (clams) and fried chicken

Pro-tip: White rice with Lalalalala Fried Chicken equates to ooh-la-la kind of euphoria.

white rice

Was it spicy? For sure! For me, it was like level 7 out of 10. But I think there could be some chilies in there that wasn't as spicy. My friends said so. I had my doubts because every bite of mine, it was super shiok spicy! What I liked about Sichuan green chili, is that the spiciness was sharp and strong at the front and eventually fades away after a short while. If it gets too much, I had Flower in My Gin to cool me down.

Next, was a vegetable dish. Wok-fried broccolini, caulini and minced tofu. Strong flavours of savoury salty. The leaves were juicy and sweet though.

Two to Tango @$23

BB Prawn Aglio Olio @$28

If you're wondering what does Sichuan style Aglio Olio tasted like? Hmm.. it is unlike a classic aglio olio. Definitely saucier, and slightly sweet. Prawns were of a good size, and juicy.

slurp it up

If you want to eat 烤鱼 (grilled fish), order up the 'Wholey Fish'; Barramundi in mala broth.

Wholey Fish @$48

Was super duper full by this time but let's eat some Unagi Donabe! Portion was meant for 2-3 pax.

Basdban Unagi Donabe @$45

Sichuan waxed meat, Spicy sausage, Unagi, Dried Sole, Morel mushrooms, lard, special shoyu

Must must eat the scorched rice. Good stuffs!

precious scorched rice

And of course, we'd wrap it up with dessert.

Glutinous Rice @$15

Let's talk about Glutinous Rice done three ways; fried, pudding and boiled. Glutinous rice pudding was interesting. It has the aftertaste of 红糟 (wine lees).

Pick Me Up! @$15

Pick Me Up! is actually somewhat of a deconstructed tiramisu. There's sweet, bitterness from cocoa, crunchy, soft, coffee flavours, mascarpone and yes, contains alcohol. I like!

Thank you Kris for the invite and Basdban for hosting the dinner. Special thanks to Chef Eugene for feeding us! And Sharon, for taking care of our table. See you again.

Basdban

Address: 51 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, Singapore 048441

Website: https://www.facebook.com/basdban.sg/

Contact: 9755 1058

Business Hours: 

Sun: Closed

Mon-Fri: 11am–3pm, 5–11pm

Sat: 11am–11pm