[Media Invite] Montana Singapore @ POMO Selegie Road

Montana always seemed a little different on each visit. Food items being improved appropriately and new items making its appearance, much to the delight of its customers. More choices, why not? Montana knows her clientele well, and this is reflected in the stronger flavours found in the menu. POMO Selegie area is well frequented by young adults and the occassional young at hearts.

inner section

If you are feeling famished or ravenous, then the Braised Beef Cheek with Carrot Kimchi from its brunch menu would be the perfect antidote.

Braised Beef Cheek with Carrot Kimchi @$20.80++

The bowl doesn't look like it's going to be very filling but dig in, slice past that wobbly yolk of the free-range poached egg to find a mound of deliciously smooth potato and sweet potato mash combo underneath it. So velvety smooth when savoured. Then break up the perfectly toasted till crisp and airy wholemeal bread, soak up the juices before wrapping your tongue around it. Mmm. The beef cheek was tender and flavourful, yet not overpoweringly so. Some may find the beef tasting a tad heavy when eaten on its own. Whether eaten on its own, or all together with the carrot kimchi and mash, it's all fine. Tasty stuffs.

If you are a young boy and still growing, then the Miso Brown Butter Linguine would feed you well. It's like a simple pasta dish with a grown up taste. Very likeable strong, creamy and bold flavours. Like a carbonara with a soy butter base. The shimeiji and shitake mushrooms gave it a slight earthy flavour and contrast in texture. Recommended to eat while it is hot!

Miso Brown Butter Linguine @$15.80++

Duck confit is a dime a dozen, but how about Peking Chicken Confit with Waffle? Perhaps, only at Montana! Five spice chicken confit, chives waffles with smoked ginger plum coleslaw and sauce. That smoked ginger plum sauce, my gosh....worked so well with the waffles. Sooo yummy! One gets a whole chicken leg, so there's ample meat, some carbs and some vegetable. It's a balanced meal.

Peking Chicken Confit with Waffle @$16.50++

We tried some burgers during the previous visit and there are new variations now. Fancy a Crab Burger or a Mac Daddy?

One may balk at the heavier price tag for the crab burger but it was really good. A patty that has an appropriate ratio of crab and seafood in it. Bouncy in texture, well seasoned and each bite was a delightful sweet string of flavours.

Crab Burger served with yuzu coleslaw, raisin caper relish and thick cut fries @$24++

Quite a rare find for a good crab burger. Look no further as one could enjoy it at Montana. Also tried the Mac Daddy with its 160g of beef patty and house-made buns. The buns, the soft fluffy sweet buns. Very likeable! Just look at that irregularly shaped beef patty with mac & cheese at the top. Ain't that a pretty picture? Liked that the beef patty is not dried out, moist and slightly spicy. It was just a twitch of a spice. Kind of teasing the taste buds. Nice.

Mac Daddy @$17++

Feeling thirsty? Try the V60 that's not in the menu yet but it was delicious. Brewed with coconut water and cacao, and served warm. Yummy.

V60 (price unknown)

delicious liquid

There's craft beers, wine, ciders, juices, coconut brew, coffee and tea available at Montana. Spoilt for choice!

And, one shall not leave till freakcake is served! You have heard and seen the freakshakes when it was trending in Singapore. Don't remember? Here's some help. Not to worry, the freakcakes at Montana are rather pretty.

The freakcakes are baked fresh daily, in limited quantities and assembled upon order. Waiting time of about 15 to 20 minutes. A freakcake is a single-pax serving portion but it was big enough to be shared amongst two to three pax for desserts. Each cake is $14.80++ and has 5 flavours to choose from; Red Velvet, Matcha Black Sesame, Coffee Kaya Coconut, Caramel Cookie Butter and Smoky Nutella.

Matcha Black Sesame

Black sesame frosting, matcha sponge, matcha buttercream and black sesame glaze. The cake's texture is reminiscent of kek lapis though.

Enjoy the cake with a good cup of piccolo latte. I like the coffee here and the matcha black sesame freakcake. Think I ate most of it!

piccolo latte

enjoy

enjoyed

If you are a small eater and in a 2 pax group, then I'd recommend for you to share the main course of perhaps either the miso brown butter linguine or the beef cheek, or get a burger each and share the freakcake. Or, get the freakcake and make someone happy by gifting it!

Thank you Montana Singapore, Ying and crew for your hospitality. Great food and great vibes. Special thanks to Justin for your invite.

Other visit:
Tried two other freakcakes on a separate occassion and happy to report that they were all good! My favourite vote still goes to Matcha Black Sesame. You'll never forget your first love.

Smokey Nutella

Coffee Kaya Coconut

[Media Invite] Wangdaebak Pocha Korean Street Bar 왕대박 포차 @ 93 Amoy Street

Everyone's familiar with Wang Dae Bak BBQ at China Square Central and Amoy Street, for its well-loved charcoal BBQ and some say it's the Best Charcoal BBQ in town! It has opened Wang Dae Bak-Pocha at Amoy Street with a different concept where one could enjoy Korean streetfood during dinner time in a cosy retro environment. Imagine retrolicious 80s, complete with a music booth, barber lights and wooden furnitures. Pocha is an abbreviation of pojangmacha which refers to those small tents one could find along the streets of Korea serving foods like tteokbokki, sundae, odeng, mandu and anju. Diners usually just stand and eat, or like in those Korean dramas, where one could visit late at night with a friend or two, order a bottle or two of soju and a couple of dishes to enjoy and chill.

entrance

dinner menu

The place, though new, was busy and enjoyed a full-house on a Friday evening. To avoid disappointment, do make a reservation prior to visit, or come early before 730pm or you might have to wait a bit for a table.

interior

Happy Hour is from Mondays to Thursdays from 530pm till 830pm. Watermelon Soju at $29 instead of $38 and fruity soju at $14 (usual price $15/$16) per bottle. Draft beer is Heineken/Tiger for $10.90 per pint.

fruity soju 소주

Tried the Honey Makgeolli that was served in a small jug. Have tried chestnut flavoured, hallabong flavoured and plain makgeolli but this was the first time having honey version. Pretty nice but rather mild when drunk from soju glasses. The traditional version would have been served out of a kettle and drunk from bowls. However, this modern serving would appeal to the younger crowd.

Honey Makgeolli 꿀 막걸리 @$26

Don't be surprised when after ordering your food and drinks, the staff suddenly brings over small plates of stuff that you didn't order. These are the complimentary side dishes and refillable if you so wish to. But, save your stomach space as the main items are of generous proportions.

side dishes - pancake/jeon 전, instant noodles, kimchi 김치

Was tickled by the mamee-like dry instant noodles snack. It has some sweet seasoning to eat and something crunchy to munch on while waiting for the main dishes. The other interesting side dish was a plate of sweet corn in mayo.

sweet corn in mayo

cheers 건배

Try some boneless fried chicken done up in the usual yangnyeom (sweet and spicy) or honey soya flavoured. Loved the honey soya ones, so good! Tender chicken pieces, well marinated and just so flavourful.

Honey Soya Boneless  간장 닭강정 @$18

Of course, when there's a group of 4 or more pax, the group can opt for watermelon soju. So we did! Such a refreshing drink for our hot weather.

watermelon soju 수박 소주 @$29 (HH/$38 usual)

Have you ever tried korean-styled pork knuckles? I did once at Dongdaemun Market and it was rather chewy for me. Jokbal is in the menu at Wangdaebak Pocha, and am happy to say that it is worth trying if you like collageny skin. The pork knuckles is served with spicy chives and is a half plate non-spicy and the other half spicy. The spice factor is not those that will jolt but rather it gives a slow constant burning sensation in the mouth. No worries, as this will wear off in about 10 minutes or so, depending on your tolerance level. Quite shioks and we always went back for more! Haha!

pork knuckle with and without sauce (mix of spicy and non-spicy) 족발 @$39

The non-sauced and non-spicy parts were all good and tender. Liked the version here better than the one I last ate in Seoul! The pungent chives when eaten together with the non-spicy skin/meat gave the tongue a good dose of wake-up call. But, once the tongue had tasted the smokey sexy goodness of the spicy sauce...there was no turning back. Try it for yourself and I dare say that you will go back for its taste. Spicy collageny skin that exudes flavour the more you chew on it. Too spicy? Just eat a piece of pickled radish or, drown a bowl of watermelon soju. Then, continue with another piece...and another piece...and...Ok, you get my drift and by now, you'll know that I liked this dish by quite a bit.

spicy collageny skin

If you ask the staff what's their popular items, very likely the kimchi stew will come up tops. If that's the case, let's get a pork belly kimchi stew to try.

For this dish, not only you'll have to make space on the table for a small stove but also some space in the belly as the portion is good for two to three pax. At the center would be the kimchi stew with slices of parboiled pork belly sitting ontop of a cluster of golden mushrooms and some tofu squares and a whole bunch of kimchi at the bottom. The outer lining has cheese and sweet corn. Served with some seaweed riceballs which one takes and dunk it into the stew to eat.

Kimchi Stew with Pork Belly 삼겹살 김치 찌개 @$34

cuts pork belly into smaller pieces

The young and friendly staff would come over and asks if you'd like him to cut up the meat and kimchi for you. Of course, we'd say yes to such a polite and cute kid.

ok, almost done

When the stew had boiled and the meat well-coated with sauce, it was time to dish out the stew into smaller bowls.

kimchi stew with pork belly 삼겹살 김치 찌개

The kimchi was appetizingly sourish, and the sauce was of bean paste mildly spicy. Would imagine this to be a comforting bowl of stew on a rainy day. The flavoured rice balls were enjoyable as well.

Out of curiosity, we also ordered a plate of chicken feet to try. Was surprised that the version here was boneless, but of course, that made it very convenient to eat. No dirty fingers! Cooked with lots of garlic and topped with sesame seeds. Very tasty and after the spiciness of the pork knuckles, this was child's play.

Spicy Chicken Feet 매운 닭 발  @$28

The food at Wangdaebak Pocha was interesting and tasted very good. Portion was generous and ambiance was lively. Loved the retro feel too. The staff were all friendly and helpful. Excellent service.

Special thanks to Wangdaebak Pocha management and staff for hosting the dinner. Thank you to the good folks at HGW for the invite and fellow foodies for sharing the calories.

A quick look-around and one sees many tables of native Koreans, locals and tourists enjoying their meal at Wangdaebak Pocha. Recommended for tasty food, excellent service and authentic experience.

[Media Invite] Vita Italiana Restaurant @ 38 Mosque Street Chinatown

The name Vita Italiana may be familiar to some, but did you know that a new owner had taken over this place since May 2016, revamped its concept to an osteria-style with no menu and serving up rustic Italian home-fare just as mamma (or papa) would've made it. Owner/Chef Carmine is both a gregarious and humorous host, who's equally adept at utilizing both imported ingredients from his hometown in Abruzzo, Italy as well as from locally sourced produced from our wet markets.

To get there, the walk from the bus stop opposite of Hong Lim Complex took me about 10 minutes. Parking lots near the restaurant are limited and if you're lucky enough to secure one, do remember to put up the parking coupons (when appicable) as I've seen the parking 'uncle' coming around to check. Allow about 1.5 hours of dining time if you're doing 5 courses or more.

restaurant facade

coming round from the side

concept and pricing info

What's this concept of 'no menu' osteria style?
To put it simply, Chef decides on what to cook for you. For diners, the only thing that they need to do is to put their trust in Chef Carmine's good hands and able team.


Reservation is encouraged as the restaurant is a small and cosy place, much like a friend's home. Arrive at the restaurant and be greeted by the friendly restaurant manager, Giorgia. We learnt that she's from the northern part of Italy.

cosy space

Be seated, and Chef Carmine will be out to greet the guests. Chef would then enquire if you have any dietary requirements. Vegan? Not a problem. Has allergy to seafood? Sure, that can be replaced with other meats.

Osteria-style No Menu Course Options (aka Set Your Budget)
Diners can opt to choose how many courses they would like to eat. The very basic quick lunch set will simply be a two-course meal of either a soup/salad and a pasta for just $12++.

If you are not in a hurry, then a 3-course lunch meal can be enjoyed for just $28++ while 5-course is reasonably priced at $38++.

For dinner, diners have the option to have 9 course Chef's table meal for $68++ and 13 course for $98++.

From our experience, if you are in a group of 4-pax, you could do the 7 to 9 course meal. Desserts are included in the 9-course meal onwards.

For beer/wine lovers, do try the beer/wine pairing by topping up $38++ for 5 glasses of beer from the Collesi Birra Artigianale collection. We tried the Ambrata, Triplo Malto and Nera and they were all very good. You can arrange with Giorgia if you'd like to pair with beer or wine for the same price, or interchange the option.

Collesi - Italian Artisan Beer

award winning beer

The Experience

pouring of Italian craft beer

Liked how the staff genuinely wants you to experience the hospitality of Italians and the homely fares of Italian cuisine.

Ambrata

Started the night with Collesi Birra Ambrata with its slightly deep amber hues, honeyed malt and caramel profile with slight fruitty hoppy taste. Slight sweetness and smooth.

The antipasti platter was brought out shortly after. The serving sizes are of tapas portions and good for our party of 4-pax. The appetiser platter had so many things in it! There were two types of breads, a good mound of greens with tomatoes and olives (unpitted), cured meats (salame di Sant'Olcese), and two types of cheeses (buffalo mozzarella and taleggio).

Antipasti (2 courses)

Potato Foccacia

Salame Di Sant'Olcese

Buffalo Mozzarella

Taleggio

The most interesting was the thick cut salame and the squares of taleggio cheese. Interesting as this was my first time tasting this kind of cured meat and cheese. The meat was cut thickly in strip form. Very meaty, and somewhat juicy. Not too salty. The semi-soft Taleggio cheese has a nice strong flavour that's quite likeable. So good with the breads and salad. Goes well with the beer.

For the third and fourth courses, Chef cooked us seafood. The Prawn and Scallop with Saffron sauce and the Grilled Salmon on Pomelo with white sauce. Looked dainty and pretty. The flavours were rather subtle for the prawn and scallop.

Third Course - Prawn and Scallop in Saffron cream

Fourth Course - Grilled Salmon on pomelo with white sauce

The salmon was well-cooked and pomelo gave it just a slight tang of citrussy-bitter flavour. The white vinegar sauce was good with the fish.

Fifth Course - Lamb

Next up, we got a lamb dish. Grilled lamb rack with beans and bok choy and decorated with stalk of wilted chili. The lamb was tender with a slight chew and not gamey. The seasoning for the lamb was rather mild. The grilled chili was quite nice to eat with its slight smokey flavour.

For the meats, it was paired with Triplo Malto. The Ambrata works as well as that beer is an all-rounder that can be paired with anything. Liked the Triplo too and it has a slightly higher alcohol content as compared to Ambrata. Both were refreshing.

Cheers with Triplo Malto

Sixth Course - Pork Ribs with Fregula in brown sauce

Fregula is one of the more 'unusual' pasta that we seldom see nor order when we have Italian food in Singapore. Served with pork ribs, the fregula made semolina dough, offers a slightly 'popping' texture similar to barley. Grab a spoonful of that pasta and it was quite an enjoyable texture and flavour. The pork ribs were well-cooked and fork tender with slightly burnt edges.

As the flavours gets stronger, we then progressed to Nera, a dark beer similar to stout. This beer had won the World Beer Awards - Imperial Stout Gold Medal 2015.

Nera

If you're wondering if there's carbs in the course-meal, then answer is yes. Usually, there will be one pasta course. For that day, we got carbonara done in legit Italian style which is without cream!

Seventh Course - Carbonara

By now, we were all pretty stuffed from all the food and drinks! But, the carbonara was seriously good. Glad to taste it in tapas portion, so that's more manageable. Cooked simply with pancetta/bacon and egg with thin strands of pasta noodles. What a treat!

yummy carbonara

For finale, we ended with 3-course desserts. All are made in-house and we got tiramisu, panna cotta and vanilla ice-cream. The tiramisu here is a version without any liqour. Loved all the desserts, especially the panna cotta.

Desserts - Tiramisu, Panna Cotta and vanilla gelato

And, the unofficial dessert? The limoncello, a digestif aperitif. Sweet, strong and tangy. To be sipped slowly.

limoncello

Overall, it was an enjoyable experience and we learnt something new about Italian cuisine. Reasonably priced and diners would get to chat with Italian natives about life in another country, food preferences, history, culture etc.

Special thanks to Vita Italiana Restaurant and Chef Carmine for your hospitality, and Giorgia for taking care of our table. Thank you Ivan and Chope SG for the invite.

Vita Italiana Restaurant

Address: 38 Mosque St. Singapore 059516
Website: www.vita-italiana.sg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VitaItalianaRestaurant/

Contact: 6220 0093
Reservation: http://www.chope.co/singapore-restaurants/restaurant/vita-italiana-restaurant
Business Hours: Mon-Sun: 12-2:30pm, 6-10:30pm

Nearest bus stop: Opposite Hong Lim Complex
Nearest MRT: Chinatown