The Fat Cat @ Lorong Liput Holland Village

Was first acquainted with Fat Cat @ Jalan Riang, way back in 2011. Here is the evidence. Fast forward to 2014, it is now located at 17D Lorong Liput.

Getting there was easy. Hop onto Circle Line and alight at Holland Village station. Take Exit C, and head towards Holland Village Mall. Walk downslope, and look for the green sign with the cat backside.

da cat sign

Was invited to The Fat Cat Official Opening Party (thanks Sarah!), and since it is now nearer to where I stay, there wasn't any reason not to go.

Fat Cat's new premise is small and cosy. Much like going to a friend's place. Fat Cat @ Holland V has Thai Yai, Masala Mantra, the French Onion and Fat Cat Bar. Hence, one could get Thai, North Indian and western fare under one roof, plus plenty to drink.

Since it's a party, let's start with some alcohol. Would've gotten Long Island, just like good old times but it wasn't on the party menu that day. Never mind, Mojito Classic will do. Refreshing on a warm night.

Mojito Classic

Had an array of party food, which also acts as sampler on items found in their regular menu.

mango salad

fish tikka

Fish tikka was rather nice. Moist and chunky, and best eaten with all its accompaniments. Very mild herbs and spices.

still moist

Sampled a shot of mushroom soup. Strong mushroom flavour, creamy and with a hint of bitterness.

mushroom soup

How about some wings as bar snack? Mantra wings from Masala Mantra. Looks like prawn paste chicken but tasted of mild Indian spices. Served hot and juicy, and with crisp outerside. Yums.

Mantra wings

Santero Moscato

Wondering about the actual portion of food? Had the same thoughts and voila! Here are some that we tried. For starters, a plate of Hot Pot Clams. Slightly spicy, tiny clam meat had mild sweetness but unfortunately the white wine sauce was a tad too salty.

Hot Pot Clams @$12++

Taking the heat up a notch, was Thai Yai's Clear Tom Yum Soup. Tongue tingling and the heat lingered quite a bit. Ingredients include lemongrass, blue ginger, straw mushrooms, tomatoes, kafir lime leaves and one could choose a choice of meat (prawns, chicken, pork, beef, fish). Wonder if they could do all sorts of meat in one pot.

Clear Tom Yum @$14++

Done with starters, now moving along towards main dishes. North Indian food, anyone?

aloo gobi, chicken masala and garlic naan

Am used to the likes of Butter Chicken and Rogan Josh so perhaps that was why the Chicken Masala gravy felt a bit watery for me. However, it was a pleasant combination to eat. Garlic naan was fragrant and served hot. Chicken was tender and its gravy was non-spicy.

Garlic Naan @$3++

Still feeling peckish? Pineapple rice from Thai Yai would cure the hunger pangs. Purist may frown but I quite enjoyed this plate of rice. Yes, it was pretty sweet (was it the raisins and pineapples?) but the good sized prawns were nicely translucent with firm flesh. Cooked just right. The sprinkle of pork/chicken floss was good too, providing that bit of crunchiness.

Pineapple Rice @$12++

Sweet pineapple rice with slightly tart and cold Coldstream Apple Cider. Perfect.

Apple Cider @$10++ during Puuurfect Hour

First time tasting Panang Curry. Ingredients stated yellow pumpkin and coriander, giving it a mellow sweetness. Totally non-spicy and strangely, found it to be leaning more towards the taste of very light peanut sauce.

Panang Beef Curry @$14++

Final two dishes were the Chef's Specials from The French Onion.

Lamb Shank @$24++

Sea Bass @$19++

Would say that the pricing for the Chef's Specials was good for the portion that one gets. Lamb shank was quite a huge chunk. Tender enough but the ome that we got that night, was perhaps too gamey for some.

For a safe, clean healthy taste, the Sea Bass dish would fit into that category. This was a plate of moderation.

Puuurfect Hour happens from 12-2pm and 530 to 9pm. 2 pints of draft beer (Stella/Hoegaarden) for $22? Nice.

Special thanks to Gina. Great to see you again after that many years!

Zaffron Kitchen @ East Coast Road

Located at 135/137 East Coast Road, this place is across the road, at the opposite side of 112 Katong. Was there for dinner on a Friday evening.

can't miss the bright cheery signboard

On our day of visit, the place was still fairly empty at 7pm as the dinner crowd only started to come in from 730pm onwards. The place has a nice ambiance, looking bright and cosy.

children's corner

menu

cheeky prints

The popcorn machine is not for display only, as we found ourselves a bowl of popcorn for our table.

complimentary popcorn

Our dinner group consist of one guy and three ladies (with not so big appetites), so we ordered a korma chicken, tandoor tikka malai and naan (plain and cheese) to share.

our order

The food was served in about 10 minutes after our orders were keyed into the system. Quick and efficient.

plain naan (top left), cheese naan (bottom left), tandoor malai chicken and korma chicken

The korma chicken was non-spicy and tasted creamy and sweet. It has bits of cashew nuts in it as well. Good sauce for the naans.

korma chicken gravy

Speaking of naans, I quite adore the cheese naan.

a basket of cheese naans

cheesy center

just like pizza~

Also tried a bit of the plain naan, and for some reason, it seemed to be slightly chewier than the cheese naan. Hmm.

Feeling the need to have more gravy for the bread, I requested for curry gravy from the staff and they obliged. The fish curry gravy was nicely sweet, tangy and slightly spicy. Yummy.

yummy fish curry gravy

The carbs were nice, but we need meat! The tandoori malai chicken tikka were served in bite sized chunks. Flavourful with a hint of smokeyness.

tandoor malai chicken tikka, with green sauce

bite me

meaty goodness

For drinks, my friends had the good old teh to go with this meal. For me, I had the iced plum lime.

thirst quenching iced plum lime

cold water, is also available

This meal costs about $57 in total.

The Fat Cat Bistro @ Jalan Riang

The Fat Cat Bistro was featured in a popular local magazine recently, so we were inspired to try a new place for our weekly dinner. From Lorong Chuan MRT (meeting point), drive along the road and turn right into Jalan Girang. After which, at the next first turning, turn into another part of Jalan Girang again (the signboard says it's that road name....), after which drive straight and, turn right into Jalan Riang. The place is bright and chirpy and easily recognizable.

table settings and bar view

They have 3 food partners; Thai Yai (Thai food), Tiffin (North Indian food) and Flamin' Grills (western). We ordered naan and mutton curry from Tiffin, and the rest are mostly from Flamin' Grills. Didn't get anything from Thai Yai, because we just had Thai food last week. Happy hour (or as they call it, puuurfect hour) ends at 730pm (weekday). So make your drinks order from The Fat Cat Bar, pronto!

I had the Long Island Tea ($12 after happy hour, $10 during). Suffice to say, it gave me enough buzz for that one hour.

Long Island Tea

colourful cutlery basket

mutton curry

naan

The mutton curry was flavorful and the meat fork tender. Enjoyable, flavorful, not very spicy and not too oily. Served with pappadum as well.

For the meat main course from Flamin' Grills, it is served with 2 complements (side dish). We chose baby carrots, broccoli, mashed potato, baked potato and french fries. My friends had grilled chicken and grilled dory fish.

grilled dory with baby carrots and mashed potato

grilled chicken with huge broccoli, and baked potato

Though the baby carrots were sweet, I didn't like it because it was rather soggy and limp. We were quite surprised by the broccoli, certainly a very generous portion of vege!

My striploin came last. It looked good. Thick cut of meat, served with cream spinach and french fries.

striploin steak, medium rare

looked juicy from the outside

striploin

cream spinach

But the first sign of trouble, was the difficulty in cutting through the meat. The doneness was also uneven as some parts are medium and other parts more rare than medium rare. As a result, the meat was very chewy. Hence, when the friendly kitchen staff came to enquire, this was feedback accordingly. Immediately, he asked if I would like to have the dish changed. I declined and told him to just take it as a feedback for improvement.

But I think he went back to the kitchen to report to his boss and soon, another gentleman came over to understand the issue, and to offer an explanation. Once more, he too kindly offered a replacement order. I wanted to decline again, as I had already finished 60-70% of the dish but he kindly insisted that I should get a better experience from my visit. He offered to change it to ribeye, as he assured me that this cut would be more tender. I was impressed by their generosity and swiftness in handling a customer feedback. =)

The ribeye fared better, and it was also gentler to the jaw. I liked the cream spinach, as it was soft (but not too mushy) and healthy tasting. Generous portions as well. Another thing worth mentioning, was that the friendly Flamin' Grill staff came by again to check if I was happy with the meat. Certainly made me feel cared for as a customer. Keep up the good service!

For desserts, we had the chocolate lava cake with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Sweet ending to our meal. Overall, an enjoyable experience and a good place to chill. The prices are certainly wallet friendly. We paid about $23 per pax (incl. of 1 alcoholic drink)