The open-air bistro is very charming and if you speak with Marie, which my BFF did, you’ll find her equally charming.

We started with a decent la mix charuterie et frommage ($26), assorted cold cuts and cheese, accompanied with a bottle of wine at an affordable price (Alsace Riesling Vieilles Vignoy, $50). For mains, we both had onglet or hanging steak ($25) and ended the meal with lava chocolate ($7), spending a total of $146 for two.

To be honest, the food was so-so. But the ambience was intoxicating and the wines are value for money. We had such a lovely time. I suggest you should come here after dinner, for drinks, cold cuts and cheese.

O Batignolles

2 Gemmill Lane
Singapore 6438 3913
facebook
T: 6438 3913

M-F: 12pm-12am
Sat: 11am-12am
Sun: 11am-7pm

Rating: 3.258/5 stars

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

I was so hungry that I gobbled the food with much gusto. Although the rest of the RERG team thought the food was average to good, my hungry stomach said most dishes were awesome, possessing a homely touch. In general, the food was sweet and lemak (coconuty), not spicy.

Our top picks: (1) chicken satay (6 pc $7.20), from chicken thigh, was especially tender. It also had a charcoal aroma, reminiscent of wok hei, very delicious. (2) kang kung ($6.50) was stir-fried with soya bean paste. The bean paste is the salty bean that accompanies Teochew porridge. The combination of crunchy vegetables and salty bean was kick ass awesome.

(3) The Lee’s Charcoal Fish ($27.20) was the specialty of the restaurant and a favorite of one of our members. He said he liked the sweet black sauce on the skin, made crispy and smoky by the charcoal fire.

(4) Although Yandao thought the beef rendang ($8.20) was average, the sweetness of the curry and tenderness of the beef made this dish a personal favorite.

Other dishes we sampled that were not bad were the Taiwanese styled popiah ($2.80), very sweet with taupok and shredded carrot; char grilled sotong (2pc $9.60); and ayam bumbu (curry chicken, $5.50).

The daun singkong ($5.20) was tapioca leaves stewed in a lemak coconuty sauce, tasting like lontong. This dish is an acquired taste and since I was the only person in the group to have eaten it before, I was the only one who liked it. But skip the taupok goreng (4 pc $7.80), which was taupok stuffed with prawn, mushroom and water chestnut–quite bland; and skip the sambal eggplant ($5.80). The eggplant was so pretty, coming as a whole. And the sambal chili was delicious, like sweet and not-very-spicy cai po but the eggplant itself was oily and needed to be roasted longer.

For the dessert, the kueh taram is a must order. The top was a gelatinous pandan and the base was smooth mashed yam with shredded coconut, tinged with gula Melaka. The rest of the desserts, chendol and avocado smoothie, were so-so.

Chiobu mentioned that the service was very friendly and honest. When we wanted to order something, the manager said, “that one not very nice. I recommend you another dish” or “the chicken same sauce with the fish, why don’t you take the curry chicken?”

Our only grouse was the portions could be bigger but overall, the food was tasty and all the curries/spicy sauces tasted different, showing that they put in some effort to provide variety.

Lee’s Kitchen

865 Mountbatten Road
#01-41 Katong Shopping Centre
T: 6334 1012 / 6339 9974

Closed on Tue

Rating: 3.188/5 stars

PS: Thanks SQ for the invite, and the manager for the hospitality.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

And I regretted—that I didn’t return earlier! From the start to the end, the food was incredible, we couldn’t believe this was a buffet. All thanks to the new executive sous chef Ryan Dadufalza. Only 32 years old, he has accumulated a wealth of international experience from America, Japan, Thailand and China.

There are 16 “live” cooking stations, so that food is cooked freshly and replenished as when necessary. There are so many dishes, probably about 100 items, that we were overwhelmed. But of course, we had to start from the cold entrees, such as oysters, chilled prawns, crabs, and sashimi. The oysters and sashimi we had were one of the freshest we had, and the quality was far superior to many non-buffet restaurants. The oysters, freshly shucked–the chef at the station was groaning “UGH UGH” as he was shucking them strenuously, quite funny but poor thing too–were thick, firm and had a nice bite, without any sliminess. TIP: Remember to ask for salmon belly sashimi.

Lamb Rack

Our second stop was the promotional items, which changed frequently. From now till 27 Jun, it is the BBQ items. But even the BBQ items change daily. The day before the tasting was Hawaiian-themed BBQ, our day was Louisiana-themed, and the day after was Korean-themed BBQ. Each day, Chef Dadufalza conceptualized the accompanying items with the theme. For instance, the Korean-themed BBQ would be accompanied with kimchi soup.

Our Louisiana-themed items included a fantastic beef brisket, cooked for 18 hours (above), charred and smokey exterior but medium-rare and tender within; a seared salmon and again, it was nicely cooked outside but raw inside; and ribs with BBQ sauce, cooked for 8 hours. The accompanying dish, jalapenos that was filled with cheese, covered in bread crumbs and deep-fried, was one of the best things I had eaten at buffets. One bite and the cheese spurted out. Too bad Singaporeans aren’t familiar with jalapenos yet and this dish wasn’t as popular as it should be.

Beef Rendang

We then moved on to the regular items that are usually on the menu. The Chinese food section was not bad, with some dim sum, Cantonese roast, hot cooked dishes.  My favorite was a fantastic braised chicken that I pressed it against the roof of my mouth, without chewing, and it dissolved.

But among all the sections, the Indian food section was probably the best but unfortunately, the most under-rated. (Singaporeans don’t like Indian food huh?) Ms Atas said, “OMG, everything in the Indian food section is moist and tender.” There were a few vegetarian items here and among them, the paneer makhanwara (cottage cheese in butter masala) was creamy, buttery, tomatoey with a hint of spiciness. The curry chicken was admirable but my favorite meat was the chicken tikka, still succulent despite baking in a tandoor. The charred and tender satay (pictured left)–I know it’s more Malay, but it was placed in this section–was a huge hit among Japanese tourist-customers.

One last main dish that you must absolutely eat is from the noodle section, the laksa. It came with quail eggs and plump fresh bouncy prawns. The soup was thick, and lemak (coconuty) and spicy – so delicious that the health-conscious Ms Atas slurped it all down. She said, “Don’t judge! I went to yoga in the afternoon to eat this meal.”

I was half expecting the desserts to suck because everything we had so far was superb. Surely something’s got to give? But I was wrong. This must be the best desserts a buffet can ever offer. Every dessert we had was good or fantastic, from the lime cake, strawberry shortcake and American cheesecake to panna cotta, chocolate mousse, and crepe. The desserts were so thoughtful that even the nyonya kuehs were traditional and stained blue with clitoria flower (or bunga telang). When I spotted the blue in the kuehs, I was very excited, jumping up and down. It’s very rare to find such kuehs now. A must-try at the dessert section is the ice cream. The coconut ice cream and lychee sorbet were exceptional.

Ms Atas was impressed by the service. To test them, I placed my empty glass at the side of the table and within the next minute, someone refilled it. I think the good service is because of a positive working environment. For instance, while waiting for my crepe, I also ordered a vanilla ice cream to be mixed with chocolate rice, like how Cold Stone does it. So the teenage boy-chef making the crepe told another teenage boy-chef  to mix the ice cream and the ice cream chef replied, “Yes, chef,” like in a Gordon Ramsey’s reality cooking show. And we three laughed.

Durian Cake

In every review I write, I always try to balance out the positive and negative aspects of a restaurant. Even if I love the place to bits, there is surely room for improvement. But The Line has benefitted from its 8 years of experience and in those 8 years, it has perfected the art of buffet.

The Line Buffet Price

Tue & Thur – $98++ (Seafood promotion)
All other days – $76++

The Line Restaurant Singapore

22 Orange Grove Road, Shangri La Hotel, Singapore 258350
T: 6213 4275
Dinner buffet: 6-10.30pm

Rating: 3.923/5 stars

ps: Thanks, Josephine, for the invite.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

On Friday, we searched for 20 minutes and couldn’t find the restaurant and eventually the restaurant sent someone to direct us. It seemed like the service wasn’t bad but the best server in the restaurant was the lady boss. If I ever open a restaurant, I want to make damn sure I am NOT the employee of the month every month.

The pancake was 4-5 times the size of my friend’s face.

We were sat in a room and when we pressed the bell for service TWICE, no one came. I walked out of the room to tell the server what we needed. We waited, nothing changed. Then my friend walked out, saw the lady boss, told her we needed to change the BBQ grill. She changed for us. Later, when we pressed the bell again, she was the first to respond. So yes, the lady boss was the best server. So the service can be friendly and swift if you can get the attention of the servers and do a dance and sing a jingle for them to remember what you require.

But ah! The moment I stepped into the restaurant, I was grinning from ear to ear because the ambience was fantastic, very convivial. And the patrons were hot Korean salarymen, rowdy with soju.

The food was spectacular. They serve free barley tea. The kimchi and assorted gratis dishes were so-so but you MUST ORDER the seafood pancake ($18), prime rib ($28) and spicy pork belly ($18). The gigantic pancake tasted like very good orh luk (oyster omelette), crispy and eggy. If it gets cold, just warm it on the grill.

For the charcoal grill, it comes with free, refillable grilled egg! It tasted similar to tamago, but was less sweet, less eggy and more smoky. The pork belly came in three thoroughly marinated thick slabs and the prime rib was beautifully marbled.

In general, the portions were generous and the quality good. Value for money. I was so happy, excited and completely satisfied with the meal that I kept exclaiming, “Shiok! Shiok! Shiok!” MUST EAT!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. The food and ambience were worth the negligent but friendly service. Besides the above-mentioned food, we also had an average kim chi soup ($15), two bowls of rice ($2/bowl) and a coke and paid $100 for three persons.

How to Get to Wang Dae Bak

When you’re at China Square, walk along South Bridge Road. The restaurant is by the overhead bridge, opposite Hong Lim Complex.

Wang Dae Bak

22 Cross Street #01-59/60/61/62/64 China Square Singapore 048421
T: 6225 2646

Rating: 3.905/5 k-pop stars

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

If “one night in Bangkok makes a hard man tumble,” what does a night in Langkawi do to a man? Celebrity Chef Sho Naganuma invites you to spend a hot night with him.

Chef Sho, protege of renowned Chef Hide Yamamoto, gained international experience working in America, Japan and Southeast Asia. For the launch of BMW’s latest 7 series car, Chef Sho was invited to create his signature menu for 7 dinners over 7 nights for 420 guests at Four Seasons Resorts in Langkawi, Malaysia.

The single one-hour episode shows the creative process of Chef Sho: how he designed the menu, sought inspiration, and sourced for ingredients. The latter half shows his days in Langkawi: he played hard in the day, getting to know Malaysia’s culture and food, and worked harder at night.

Separated at birth? (Photo of Christopher Lee from TNP)

Although some parts are cliches, the obstacles in the kitchen that Chef Sho underwent were very real and thrilling. At certain moments, I was at the edge of my seat. The show gives me a better understanding of what goes on in kitchens and how chefs solve the problems. Besides, the Christopher Lee-lookalike, Chef Sho, is easy on the eyes. You know “Sho” in Hokkien means “hot,” right? He is sho handsome and sexy that a (straight) male journalist asked him, “How come you’re so goodlooking?” And shy Chef Sho blushed!  Cute. Everyone at the tasting event was smitten by him. He has charisma that will slap you senseless like Chris Brown did to Rihanna. Psst… you get to see him topless in the show. He jet-skis and wakeboards like a pro.

A serious man is a sexy man. Chef Sho demonstrated how to slice raw tuna—very, very carefully, in case the meat was destroyed by careless handling. But more importantly, his hands touched the tuna that went into my mouth and body. OMG OMG OMG!

Some quotes from Chef Sho:

On his philosophy of food: “The smell of a flower gives me very good inspiration… This is how I see my food, elegant, sensitive, fresh.”

On his first dinner at Langkawi: “I might get fired tomorrow!”

On obstacles in kitchen: “I like drama in my life, not in my kitchen!” I think Chef Sho may be more Korean than Japanese since, you know, Koreans have lots of drama in their lives as you can tell from tv. A lover has to die in every episode of Korean drama.

“One Night in Langkawi” premiers on Asian Food Channel, channel 435, 17 Jun, Mon, 10pm.

Grilling the roasted chicken, so that the chicken got beautifully golden and had a smoky aroma.

Although I wasn’t invited to spend one night in Langkawi with Chef Sho–I SHOULD HAVE, BMW!–he cooked for some of us a 4-course menu at his turf, Hide Yamamoto Restaurant at Marina Bay Sands, a restaurant that I had been wanting to go for the longest time. This menu was the similar to the one in Langkawi.

Started with chawanmushi with sea urchin and black truffle flan ($15) which had a consistent smooth silky texture. Somehow, the ingredients came together to produce an almost imperceptible pleasing bitter aftertaste. Very fantastic.

Chef Sho does his sushi the traditional Japanese way, that is, the soy sauce and wasabi have already been added to the sushi, so you should just eat it straight. The medium-fatty tuna sushi was a tad chewy for my liking but the other two, sweet shrimp and ikura (roe) were fantastic. Especially the ikura, one of the best I had, plump bubbles of joy bursting in the mouth.

Slicing truffle onto the chicken

But the star dish had to be the young chicken stuffed with truffle butter rice ($68), first roasted then grilled over charcoal. Chef Sho encouraged us to use hands to eat the chicken–which is my philosophy too! I have always believed that eating chicken with hands makes the chicken tastier because there is a direct contact with the food. The charcoal aroma hung onto the skin and the flesh was moist and tender. Topped with truffle shavings, the chicken by itself was already spectacular. Throw in the fluffy truffle buttered rice: this was one of the most orgasmic things I’d eaten this year.

The Japanese are not known for their desserts but Chef Sho adds an Asian twist to the traditional oshiruku (red bean soup, $19) by including coconut, matcha ice cream, crisp bits of black sesame meringue and green tea jelly. The result was a well-balanced, not-too-sweet, textured dessert.

At first, I thought such a handsome chef can’t cook because, let’s face it, good looking people bat their eyelids and minions do their bidding. But after the meal, I find Chef Sho sexy and talented. The world is not fair.

From start to end, this is one of the perfectest meals I have this year. These dishes can be found at Hide Yamamoto.

Hide Yamamoto

8 Bayfront Avenue, Marina Bay Sands #02-05, Singapore 018955
T: 6688 7098
Hide Yamamoto Menu 

12-3pm
6-11pm

Rating: 4.250/5 stars (based on food alone)

ps: Thanks, Pradnyesh, Liyana and Fairenza, for the invite.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

The restaurant is a very narrow strip of room–too claustrophobic for my liking–decorated in an industrial chic manner, just the way we hipsters like it. The service was friendly and comfortable, like old friends.

We sat at the bar and chatted with the sushi chef, Mr Kannu, who used to work in a defunct sushi restaurant, Inagiku, at Fairmont hotel. The restaurant is opened by local music duo, Jack and Rai, who have been performing for 15 years, and Jack’s wife, Angelina Leong. If I’m not wrong, she was the pretty, Korean-looking manager in charge of the restaurant too.

For starters, we had oysters ($36) and truffled ebi fry ($15). The five pieces of ebi fry didn’t have a strong truffle taste, which was too bad because the description on menu sounded awesome. I thought 5 pieces were too many; maybe there could be an option of 3 for $6, which would be more reasonably priced. The six oysters could be cheaper too although they were huge and quite delicious with garnish, accompanied by lime and yuzu ponzu sauce. But it was cleaned too well that we didn’t taste the sea in them.

For mains, the MUST-ORDER chirashi ($23, above) was exceptional and value-for-money. It had scallop, sweet prawn, tamago (egg), tuna, salmon, swordfish and a big piece of white eel. The end result was something orgasmic, with all different flavors mixing together.

The fusion foie gras aglio oglio ($29, above) was not the best decision I have made: it came in stir-fried ramen noodle, which honestly reminded me of instant noodles. But the smoked duck had a great balance, not too salty, and complemented the foie gras very well. While the combination–ramen, foie gras, smoked duck–worked beautifully, I wonder if it was overpriced because I was still hungry after finishing it.

So I told Mr. Kannu to hit me with three of his best sushi. (You have to order at least 3 sushi or sashimi). He presented toro sushi (tuna belly, $12, ouch), salmon belly sushi ($2), and amaebi sushi (sweet prawn, $3.90). The tori and salmon belly came in aburi form (seared with a flame). The real way of eating sushi is that you don’t have to dip any sauce or add any wasabi and as respect to Mr. Kannu, I ate the sushi as he served it without dipping. I usually don’t like aburi sushi (because I believe you shouldn’t burn good meat) and I never had a good prawn sushi before. But wow, all three were fantastic. The sweetness from the vinegary rice counterpoised with the freshness of the seafood. The sushi was one of the best sushi I have since I came back from Japan a year ago.

Including drinks, we paid $137 for two, a tad expensive, although we fall in love with this hole-in-the-wall. This back alley sushi enclave is like indie music to all the major blockbuster food corporations. Everything here was done right and the food ranged from good to delicious. Next time we come, we’ll just attack the chirashi and sushi, they are of better value and of great quality.

The Flying Squirrel

92 Amoy St
#01-02
Singapore 069911
T: 6226 2203
facebook

11.30am-3pm, 6pm-10pm
closed on Sun

Rating: 3.688/5 stars

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

Vouchers Giveaway

Beanstro is giving the first lucky winner $30 voucher and the second winner $20 voucher. Terms & Conditions apply.

Triple your chances of winning by doing all three options:

1. Share the link on facebook (showing “via Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow” and setting your privacy setting to “PUBLIC” so that we can take note of your participation.)

2. Retweet.

3. Answer this question on the blog: Beanstro has two outlets, one at Marina Bay Sands and one at Takashimaya. Which outlet serves the breakfast special?

Contest ends 14 Jun Fri 2359hr. Only to addresses in Singapore. May the odds be ever in your favor!

EDIT

The winners are @jingsmb ($30 voucher) and Viny ($20). We’ll contact you via the emails you have left us.

ps: Thank you Herbert and CBTL for the giveaway. Images provided by CBTL.

Yandao and I went PasarBella over the long weekend and we loved it! It reminds us of farmers’ market we’ve been in NYC and London. Upon entering PasarBella, we saw fresh seafood, 2 huge pans of paella, organic fruits and vegetables, organic household products, Dutch Colony, pies by Rabbit Carrot Gun etc. Great atmosphere.

Since it was a pre-dinner snack, we shared Latte ($4.50) and a slice of Organic Red Velvet Cake ($6.50). I had a sense of major win when we ate the Red Velvet cos it was the last slice sitting in the fridge and it was so yummilicious! The red velvet cake was moist, and it was so soft, it melts in your mouth. The best part of this Organic Red Velvet is the cream cheese. We had the best red velvet cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, NYC and Hummingbird Bakery, London. It is so difficult to find a good one in Singapore because we can never find something with such orgasmic cream cheese. Look no further! This red velvet is good!

We find the beverages here very reasonably priced. Iced mocha is $6 where most hipster cafes will charge $8. The latte was aromatic and balanced, there’s no strong aftertaste. There is an extensive variety of coffee beans and you can choose how you want your coffee to be done from 6 brewing methods.

Best thing is, staff here are friendly which we appreciate a lot.

Dutch Colony Singapore

PasarBella @ The Grandstand
200 Turf Club Road #02-K67/K68 Singapore 287994
+65 6467 0255
facebook

Brit Chef Jack Woolner, who runs the kitchen, trained under Clive Dixon, one of the youngest Michelin star chefs, and under Heston Blumenthal OBE, owner of Michelin starred Hinds Head. Chef Woolner presents a variety of price range for the food. For the all-day menu, it is priced in the mid-range. There are pizzas from $21 and salads and mains from $24.

But we had the fine-dining dinner menu, which has a $98 tasting menu. In general, we thought the food was competent, not particularly impressive but not bad either. Started off with lobster bisque with cognac which was thick and sweet. The seared foie gras ($28) was ample and sat on a bed of roasted orange, drizzled with cointreau, on toast. Quite a smart combination but the foie gras was a tad overcooked and hence, a little tough.

The wagyu fillet (250g, $90) was tender and chewy but the red wine jus might be too cloy after a few bites. Ended with chocolate fondant ($12), which was skillful, but the accompanying vanilla ice cream had a freezer’s taste.

Overall, the food was satisfactory but expensive. As for ambience, Masons is an ideal place for dates, lazy afternoon meals, and groups of friends and colleagues. I’d strongly suggest they do weekend brunch, which would probably be popular because of the great ambience.

Masons Singapore

8 Lock Road Gillman Barracks Singapore 108936
facebook
T: 6694 2216

12 noon – 11pm

Rating: 2.931/5 stars

PS: Thanks, Val, for the invite.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.

The award-winning Chef Lam Loon Tuck runs the kitchen and some of his specialties, such as the Sri Lankan Chili Crab, are on the buffet menu. The crabs, one serving only, had a fantastic sauce and very awesome deep-fried buns.

Because there are 47 items on the buffet, we couldn’t eat all of them, so we’re only listing the highlights. For appetizers, The spicy ikan bilis salad (pictured above) was unique. The ikan bilis and onion were stir-fried in a sweet and spicy chili, and they sat on slices of potato. The braised fish maw with crabmeat soup (one bowl per customer) was loaded with ingredients but there was just something missing. Sharks’ fin, maybe?

For meat, the honey glazed chicken is another specialty of Chef Lam. The chicken was cooked so that it was crispy outside, with a smoky tinge, and the ginger was very palatable and sweet. The steamed fish fillet in teochew style did not fare as well to us as we prefer it in an entire fish, instead of dory fillet. But tastewise, it was pitch perfect. There are other standard cze-char fare, such as fish curry, sambal squid, sweet & sour pork, and sliced beef in back pepper sauce.

For fibre, the braised bean curd with crab meat sauce had deep-fried tofu which skin had this delicious lardy flavor. The braised jade abalone with spinach (one serving only) was a must-eat but Chiobu thought the veg was a tad salty so you may want to order rice with it.

For carbs, well, there are a few options but people don’t usually order carbs dishes in buffets. Instead of ordering from the buffet menu, we got the specialty, black pepper fried kway tiao with seafood ($15) from their standard menu. The kway tiao was fantastic, it had that elusive wok hei.

For a sweet ending, there are 7 desserts, including gui ling gao, mango sago, etc, on the buffet menu.

The excellent service was the icing on the delicious food. Overall, we had a wonderful time and all the food was above average.

Ah Hoi’s Kitchen

1A Cuscaden Road, Traders Hotel Level 4, Singapore 249716
T: 6831 4373
6.30-9.30pm

Rating: 3.314/5 stars

ps: Thanks, Wai Ling, for the invite.

Written by A. Nathanael Ho.