CATO Restaurant Bar Lounge @ 237 South Bridge Road Chinatown

The CATO name had recently popped up all over my instagram feeds. Ivan mentioned that he wanted to revisit the place and thus, decided to tag along. Even more so since he mentioned that they have good craft beers. Keke.

Located just opposite the Sri Mariamman Temple, this was a rather unusual place to have a bar/lounge. The contrast between the external and internal vibe are apparent, and for us cafe hoppers on our 6th place for the day, the indoor airconditioning was a welcome respite from the heat wave outside.

Coincidentally, someone in the group mentioned about wanting to find a Halloween themed place to visit. Lo and behold, we walked right into one. Unintentionally, of course. No reservations, but upstairs is available, we were told. Carefully, we walked up the stairs to the empty and dark space. The Halloween party has not started since it was just before 730pm.

CATO @ Level 2 - The Bar Lounge area

They've done a pretty good job in the decorating the place for 31 October. Since there were no other patrons during that time, went about exploring the Level 2 area.

newspaper clippings of horrid tales, and that jar...

There were a few other installations near where we sat that upped the spook factor. Of course, the only real goosebump inducing ones would be the much talked about CCTV footage of this place that has been circulating over the internet. Am not going to see the video (yes, am a scaredy cat) and no, we still had our drinks and snacks before we left.

Contrary to earlier expectations, the selection of craft beer at CATO is still somewhat limited with only 11 choices. Decided on Belgium ones. The guys ordered something from the tapas menu to munch. For teetotellers, there's ginger ale, sparkling water and juices.

Modern Times Blackhouse Coffee Stout (USA) 5.8% ABV @$16++

Tried a sip of the coffee stout and it was bitter and strong, as expected. Ugh, not my kind of drink though.

St Bernardus Abbot 12 (Belgium) 10% ABV @$18++

Hmm, not sure why but beer brewed by Trappist monastery is always delicious. This one is still a pretty dark beer, fruity aroma with bitter finish and very dry. The kick will only come after the bottle has been drunk up.

The snacks from the tapas menu provided the accompaniment to the drinks. The online menu can be found here.

Beer Beef Chili and Cheese Fries @$12++

Crispy Squid in Thai Style Glazed @$12++

Lamb Skewers with Onions served with chili and peanut gravy @$16++

The crispy squid was seriously crispy, and done well. Tasty, with a hint of Thai seasoning and was that sweetness that appeared after the salt dip? Interesting and paired well with the drinks. The lamb skewers were good too. Tender lamb, and sauce that complements the meat. Not gamey at all. Nice.

The beef chili fries had a somewhat more muted flavour than expected. Perhaps, I have not tasted enough of beef chili fries for a fair comparison.

As we were finishing our beer, the DJ arrived and started spinning some tracks. The mood turned party-ish hip, and steady streams of party-goers decked out in their Halloween best started appearing at Level 2. There was a butterfly (or, I thought she wanted to be a fairy?), a samsui woman, and the usual suspects of ghouls.

All in all, this was an interesting place with an equally interesting tale.

However, am not sure why there are still places that has alcoholic drinks for on-site consumption but yet, does not provide free drinking water to its customers.

Marco Marco @ Novena Square

Noticed that they seemed to have more items in their menu. Plus, there are more choices for mains that could be redeemed with The Entertainer App. Yay! Except, that there was no signal in this area. Incredibile!

Anyway, we ordered the Melbourne Pizza and the Roma. The food arrived fairly quickly, with the pasta making its appearance known by the smell of the cheese.

The Roma looked and tasted like a dry carbonara. Has bacon, pecorino and parmesan cheese, an egg yolk and some chives. My preference for its pasta is still The Jaipur. Fusion yes, but scores in the stronger taste.

The Roma @$12++

Next up, was The Melbourne Pizza. This pizza ought to be shared amongst two pax. Though the pizza doesn't look like its picture in the menu, the toppings were actually adequate. But noticed that its pricing had went up since they haven't update their website menu.

The Melbourne @$16++

It has beef salami, bacon strips, turkey ham, red onion and capsicums with tomato based sauce and cheese ontop. Tasty when eaten hot.

Milagro Spanish Restaurant @ Orchard Central

If you have the opportunity to be at Orchard Central during lunch hour on a week-day, you might want to check out their lunch sets. There are two price range for the lunch set meals; $19.90+ or $26.90+ for two course-meal or three course-meal respectively.

There was at least five choices for entrees, mains and desserts. Pretty impressive, I must say. Being a small eater, was happy to do two-courses. Chose the pan-seared seabass as the main, and tiramisu for desserts.

The fish took the longest time to arrive. You can say, it was the last to be served. The Chicken Harissas and pasta all came way earlier...

pan-seared seabass served with sauteed mushrooms, salad, rice and salsa verde

The fish was kind of burning hot from the pan. Cooked quite nicely, but need a tad more seasoning.

Was very happy with my choice of dessert. Served in a jar, and it was just scoop after scoop of delightful yummy-ness.

Here's the tiramisu 3-shots:

tiramisu in a jar

looks good

taste good!

Dian Xiao Er 店小二 @ Lot One Choa Chu Kang

Haven't been here for a while. Dad wanted to have his birthday meal here, so that was where we brought him. The must-have dish? 东坡肉. Here's a link to last year's visit with the family. But this was the first time that we got to sit at the inner section though. Not many customers that night, or our dinner was rather late too. Around 8pm.

inner section

A set meal for 5 pax would be $108 (before GST). But we didn't get that. Went for ala-carte instead. 5 adults so we got ourselves 5 dishes. Two vegetables, two meats and one tofu.

Assorted Mushroom (三菇时蓅)  - Small @$13.60++

Dad's favourite Dong Po Pork (东坡肉) - Small @$14.30++

The broccoli was rather firm and crunchy. The three mushrooms were shitake, king oyster mushroom and abalone mushroom, served with tasty oyster sauce. The pork was as usual, could've spent more time in the braise. Not too fatty and the sauce wasn't overwhelming. Mild and pleasant. Doesn't feel greasy.

Nai Bai in Superior Broth 百花奶白 - Small @$9.90++

The Nai Bai certainly looks like a healthier choice. The broth has a milky white sheen to it and the goji berries lent some sweetness to the taste. Surprising find, was the strands of crab meat in the broth. Comparatively, this plate was of a good price. Unfortunately, mom can't eat this due to the crab meat in it.

Hotplate tofu 铁板菜香豆腐 - Small @$11.60++

The best dish to go with the steamed rice would be the hotplate tofu. Tasty tofu smothered in thickened minced meat sauce. There was a thin layer of egg at the bottom of the plate. So yums. Could finish a whole bowl of rice with this sauce alone.

Chicken in Chinese Wine 古早黄酒鸡 - Medium

One of the SG50 dish, we also ordered the Chicken in Chinese Wine (yellow wine?). Keke, confinement food! The wine taste was really mild. Wished it was stronger. Once upon a time, many many years ago (actually, aeons ago) when my mom had my sister, I can still remember the taste of the yellow wine ginger egg. Hahaha! Yup, I ate her confinement food. There was fried chicken wings too! It made sense now. My love for fried chicken wings started then...

Happy Birthday to 爸, you were the one that held my hand when I was younger, and fed me panadol when I had fever. 生日快乐。

Pork Belly Kare 豚の脇腹肉カレー - The Simplest Version

Had this idea of having Japanese curry at home for the longest time. Finally gotten around to do it, so went shopping for ingredients. The vegetables were pretty simple. Had wanted to do a variety with lots of colours just like those soup curry in Hokkaido where they had potato, grilled pumpkin, green pepper, broccoli etc. But, not really cost effective. So settled with just the basic two; carrots and onions. Didn't get potato because the rice would provide enough carbs.

Then, of course, the curry itself. The curry pack is easily available in any supermarket. Just need to choose either 'mild' or 'hot'. Knowing that Japanese curry is more likely to be sweet than spcy, I got a box of 'hot' curry. Picked one that yields 5 servings for less than $5. One serving of 2 squares, was enough to make a semi thick curry for 2 pax.

Next, must have meat. Wanted to do beef curry with beef tendons. But in the end, went for the economical route instead. So, ended up with pork belly instead.

ingredients

Ingredients for Pork Belly Kare (feeds 2-3 pax)

• 2 carrots
• 2 large onions
• some  garlic cloves
• 1 block of pork belly

Steps

1. Peel, cut and wash the carrots, onions and garlic
2. Remove skin from pork belly
3. Cut into large chunks and wash
4. Drain off excess water from vegetables and pork belly
5. Season the meat with salt and pepper
6. Powder the meat with corn flour
7. Heat up some oil and brown the pork belly
8. Remove pork belly and set aside. Remove excess oil from pan.
9. Sauté the garlic cloves in the pan, then add vegetables and fry for a while
10. Add some water to the vegetables, add pork belly and let it boil
11. Transfer all to a pot, add enough water and let it boil further. 
12. Cook till meat is soft before turning off the heat
13. Add the curry cubes into the soup. Stir well to let it mix
14. When curry is dissolved evenly, turn on the heat and let it simmer further
15. Turn off the heat when meat is soft enough

boil the meat and vegetables, just like boiling soup

meat ought to be browned more

The desired outcome would be wobbly soft belly meat, flavourful curry and steaming hot fragrant rice (香米).

pork belly kare with a side serving of stir fried dou miao

The cost of the meal would be about $5 per pax.