Monday, July 18, 2016

Hot Tomato Café & Grill @ Westgate

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Have always passed by Hot Tomato, be it their Star Vista branch, or Plaza Singapura and it seemed that its crowd consists mostly of the young adults. Brought parents out for lunch and we ran out of places to eat. The usual favourite would be Ichiban Boshi but mom wasn't in the mood so bro suggested Hot Tomato for us try its western fare.

It was off-peak during a weekend and about 330pm when we visited. Yeah, we were having our meals at odd hours. Having tunch (lunch cum tea)!

Service was friendly and top-up option was explained. Add $3.50 to get a soup of the day and a drink where one could choose from ice lemon tea., lime juice or hot beverages of coffee or tea. We chose ice lemon tea to quench our thirst on a hot Saturday.

dining area
menu
upgrades

The menu consists of salads, meats + pasta, meats + rice combination, or the usual meats+salad+french fries.
By default, the menu where it states pork chop or teriyaki chicken chop...those will come with a side of salad and pasta. One could inform the staff to remove the pasta for bigger salad portion.

top up $3.50 for each order of main course to get soup of the day and a drink

The soup of that day was tomato soup. A tad too watery for me though but generous in serving portion. Dad ordered Roast Chicken & Garlic Shrimp Combo and boy, what a huge serving! It has french fries (his favourite), olive rice and corn on cob with half baby roast chicken. The roast chicken was pretty regular sized and baby seemed like a misnomer.

Roast Chicken & Garlic Shrimp Combo @$12.90
U.S Choice Pork Chop and Sausages @$12.50

The pork chop was of a manageable portion. Guys would love to dine at Hot Tomato. It has enough meat, some carbs and the salad was pretty appetizing with the vinaigrette dressing.

Teriyaki Chicken Chop @$9.20
The chicken chop was a bit dry for me and the rosemary herb was rather strong. A normal juicy well marinated teriyaki chicken thigh would be great. The spaghetti can be done much better as  the current version tasted pretty much just salt-based. The salad was crunchy and refreshing with nice dressing.

In general, it was value-for-money. Meat, carbs and greens. They have it all. According to their friendly manager, the philosophy is so that each customer walks away feeling full and satisfied.
 

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Naughty Nuri's @ Tanjong Katong

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We were at Tanjong Katong Road, and looking for snacks post dinner. Naughty Nuri's happened to be there and we went in to try their famed ribs. On normal occassions, I'd choose a martini or a beer to go with the ribs, but we were in a company of non-drinkers plus feeling a bit full from dinner.

Chose the minimalist way and ordered pork ribs and burnt squid. Was tempted by Hence to get the burnt corn but....corn could be rather filling and no one else seemed interested, so we didn't.

Naughty Nuri's Signature Pork Ribs (full rack)


The pork ribs were well marinated and flavourful. Was amazed at how cleanly and easily the meat slid off the bones. Rather effortlessly! I don't think am able to finish a full rack on my own, so a half-rack portion would suffice if I'm having this for dinner. Plus a beer. Yes, that too.

When a dish has been prefixed with the 'burnt' word, I'd be expecting something that's somewhat charred looking. The burnt squid was looking rather pale with just specks of burnt'ness. But that was because the squid was slowly braised to ensure tenderness and then charred for smokey flavour. The flavour was subtle and the dip that looked like chili paste was not spicy at all and rather, it enhances the 'fresh' taste of the dish. To add some spice to this, one could eat it with the spicy kecap manis mix that's available in bottle form on each table. Rather yummy and enjoyable.

burnt squid
chili and kecap manis mix

Staff was friendly and accommodating. The place was fairly relaxed on a Friday night.

For two pax, expect to spend about $80 for ribs, shared appetiser and a drink.

Naughty Nuri's @ Tanjong Katong

Address:  306 Tanjong Katong Rd
Contact: 6247 7803

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NurisKatong/
Business Hours:
Mon-Thurs:    17:00 - 23:00
Fri-Sat:    17:00 - 01:00
Sun:    17:00 - 23:00




Friday, July 15, 2016

Kite @ Craig Road

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It was after an event at Red Dot Design Museum on a Friday night and we, the girls, wanted to have a place to chill and chit-chat. But, we are three equally fickle-minded or rather the better term would be 随和 (amicable) ladies, ended up walking everywhere to find that place. Passed by Orchard Hotel and saw the super long queues for Ramen Keisuke, Keisuke Gyoza King, Hana Hana and etc. Ok, no gyoza is possible for that night.

Walked on and passed by Korean restaurants and desserts place that peppered around Tanjong Pagar area. Ok, we weren't that hungry so no Korean for us. Jen needed coffee, Kris needed some food and all of us needed air-conditioning as the weather was super humid and hot. Kris brought us to Kite and no questions asked, for we unanimously agreed as we needed to rest our tired soles.

The place was dimly lit, gave a comfortable cosy feel and looked more bar'ish than cafe'ish when night falls.
Service was friendly and welcoming.

bar counter
anyone knows the story of kite logo?

I think its menu was designed by young people with perfect eyesight. With lights that dim, and font size 8...it was very very difficult to see what's on the menu.

food menu
Happy Hour which we missed as we arrived around 9pm
The menu looked pretty interesting with modern fusion food and since Kris had been there before, pretty much left it to her to order our snacks.

When we said, we'll go drinking together...this was what happened. Kris satisfied with ice-cold water, Jen with a cup of hot latte and I'll take a glass of wine. We celebrate diversity.

drinking together

Jen's latte with abstract art
Gerard Bertrand, Languedoc-Roussillon, France, Gris-Blanc 2014

Our first snack was the Chili Miso Chicken Mid-wings, an item from the Bar Snacks section, available from 10pm onwards. It looked a tad like blackened chicken and very strongly flavoured. Spice level was rather mild though. Think it goes well with cider or beer, otherwise it came across as rather salty for us.

Chili Miso Chicken Mid-wings @$12+

Next up, was something from the ala-carte dinner menu; the Ubin Seabass. A rather smallish plate with just a few fish slices on it. However, we were surprised by its taste. Every component on that plate, from the ingredients to the seasoning, flavouring and sauce...it worked.

Ubin Seabass @$14+

Served with lotus roots that tasted a tad dehydrated with a somewhat chewy texture but nicely sweet. Then combined with a slight herby green flavour of the sprouts and soothed over by the creamy yellow sauce and beneath the sauce, there were some dollops of what looked like sesame paste. It tasted pretty much like sesame peanut buttery but this was revealed to be the sunflower seeds. Try it and let me know what you think of the sauce.

yes, the seabass is somewhere in there

Next, we had a pleasant surprise due to Kris's wide network of friends, we got to enjoy a complimentary plate of "Chicken Rice" Crackers. The moniker of "chicken rice" came about due to the use of chicken rice chili and kecap manis that serves as the condiment for this snack. The tapioca crackers were enjoyable but will turn soggy when left soaking in the chili for too long. Good with the bar drinks.

"Chicken Rice" Crackers @$6+

We kept seeing this plate of desserts being ordered, so the curious us also ordered the same. Turned out to be a chocolatey dessert called chocolate forest. Made of caramelized white chocolate, nut soil and herbs. Pretty to look at, and I think I enjoyed it quite a bit since it is not that often I get to eat pretty desserts like these. Haven't been too exposed to the edible soil thingy.

Chocolate Forest @$15+

Surprise find of this dish? The real mushrooms. Yeah, not chocolate white mushroom but really, the actual shrooms shroom. Luckily, it didn't taste weird with the rest of the stufs. There's some passionfruit sauce (Not too sure but it tasted like one) buried underneath the 'soil' and when eaten together, you'll get a dose of sharp tangy fruity distinct taste of the fruit, salty bits from the soil and sweet bits from the chocolates plus some slight herby taste if you happen to bite into any of those green herbs. Not too strong, and overall pretty enjoyable with the dry crumbly texture combined with some gooey sweet texture from the chocolate and passionfruit sauce.

nom nom

Expect to spend about $30+ per pax for some shared light bites and a drink. A single dish from the ala-carte mains may not be enough for a proper meal. If I'm in a cosy group of 2 and am at Kite for a meal, then I'd probably order one or two appetisers to share. Then, from the hot food section, we'd get a meat dish and from the cold food section, the mentaiko somen sounds nice for some carbs and finish off with a dessert to share. Of course, each with a drink. Allocate about $60+ per pax, or you could opt for the set dinner sharing menu for 2 pax at $110+ (without drinks) where you get to try more items as this set dinner has about 8 things in it.

Am glad to be able to explore new places with my fellow foodies, Kris and Jen. Your company on a Friday night was truly a blessing. Thank you for sharing the laughter.

Kite


Website: http://eat-at-kite.sg/
Contact: +65 9729 7988
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kiteoncraig/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eatatkite/
Business Hours:
Lunch
Tuesday - Friday 12 pm - 230 pm

Dinner
Tuesday - Sunday 6 pm - 10 pm

Drinks
Tuesday - Saturday 6pm - 12mn

 
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