I don’t care if you are going to throw tomatoes or rotten eggs at me, but I am going to declare Ramen Santouka at Central as the best ramen restaurant in Singapore.

We’re raised to believe that there is always something better out there. What if there isn’t? What if this is the best ramen place in Singapore, but I keep insisting on finding a better one elsewhere? Does it mean I have to try a few lousy ramen restaurants before I come back to Ramen Santouka and believe that they have the best ramen in Singapore?

If you have been reading my food blog for some time, you will know that I am not the biggest fan of ramen. It reminds me of instant noodle, and it seems silly to pay over the odds for it. But somewhere along the way, I realize that it is much more than that.

A bowl of good ramen, has superior stock that is carefully prepared by the chefs for hours. A bowl of good ramen, has springy noodles that bounce off the tip of your tongue. A bowl of good ramen, comes with slices of charshu that never seem to be enough, and a boiled egg that is runny in the middle. I think the perfect bowl of ramen is the one from Santouka Ramen at Central and I believe many also think that they have one of the best ramen in Singapore.

Even though I have not been to that many ramen places in Singapore, the Kara-Miso Ramen ($14.50) is a clear winner with its spicy yet addictive broth. The Shio ramen ($13.50) was good, but it paled in comparison to the spicy ramen.

I tried to coax the ramen to stay still, but it was far too mischievous and simply didn’t want to listen. The noodles bounced around the surface of my tongue, just like how a bunch of kids ran around in a playground. Slices of the ever-so-tender charshu had the “must-try-me-otherwise-you-will-regret-it” look. It was frighteningly tasty. How could something that’s so vulnerably thin, taste so good?

Will you queue for ramen?

Go Ramen Santouka during off-peak timings, if not be prepared to queue up for the bowl of ramen. Speaking of queues, I think I shall brave the long waiting lines to try Ippudo Ramen at Mandarin Gallery next!

Restaurant Review
Ramen Santouka
6 Eu Tong Sen Street #02-76
The Central Singapore
Tel: +65 6224 0668

Saint Pierre Restaurant at Central Mall has always make headlines in the local food scene. I’m sure no one will disagree that this fine dining establishment is one of the best restaurants in Singapore.

I had the chance to visit Saint Pierre during a recent Singha Beer launch where they commissioned celebrity chef Emannuel Stroobant to create a special menu to show that beer can be enjoyed with fine cuisine.

Imagine my excitement when I saw the North sea grey shrimp salad. It was like a piece of art and all of us did not have any idea how to start with it. The intriguing thousand island ice cream caught our attention when we saw it on the menu.

Ice cream with salad? Who will have thought of it! Frozen thousand island dressing that was presented in an ice cream form, retaining every hint of the salad dressing. This is Chef Emmanuel Stroobant’s ingenious idea of pairing savory ice cream with salad.

Oh my god, I’m sorry to do this to you, but the scallop was really good! Under normal circumstances, I’m not much of a scallop person. Even though I eat them like everyone else, I’d not particularly crave for them.

We can be good friends, but we will never be lovers.

So it came to a surprise when I actually fell for the Singha jelly with lemongrass infused scallop mousse and wild herb salad. Pan-seared to golden brown, the plump and meaty scallop was a scallop that didn’t taste like one!

Covered with a smooth, and intense layer of dark chocolate, the Caramelized banana crusted Flour-less Belgian chocolate cake came with the interesting coconut sorbet. The caramelized banana added a twist from the usual Belgian flour-less chocolate cake. So simple, yet so good!

Singha beer is light and refreshing, and it’s certainly very different from the usual beers that I’ve before. I had a great afternoon at the Singha Beer event with Aromacookery, Camemberu, the Hungrycow, and TheLittleTeochew.

I know beer taste great with fried food or burgers, the question is: will you consider trying beer with fine cuisine?

For more recommendations, read my list of the Best French Restaurants in Singapore

Restaurant Review
Saint Pierre Singapore
3 Magazine Road
#01-01 Central Mall
Tel: +65 6438 0887
(This is an invited session)

Like what I’ve mentioned in my previous blog post on the list of Japanese restaurants in Singapore, my friends have been craving for Japanese food recently.

For Japanese food lovers, there’s this unsatisfiable crave for Japanese food. More sushi, more sashimi, more sushi, more sashimi! You can never have too much Japanese food. I would know, since we went to three Japanese restaurants within a week.

The Central at Eu Tong Seng street, Clark Quay has always been known as a Japanese food heaven. It houses many Japanese restaurants like Ma Maison, Marutama, Waraku Japanese restaurant, and Watami. Our dinner that night was at Sun with Moon, a Japanese restaurant at The Central by the Singapore River.

Sushi is so photogenic! I love how my picture for the Avocado Soft Shell Roll ($12.8) turned out. That aside, it was subtle, and sweet and when I swallowed it down – gulp – it’s gone! Six sushi are never enough.

Tonkatsu Tamago Toji ($12.80)

Wagyu Steak ($45.80 for 120g)

Tempura Zaru Soba ($13.80)

California Roll ($11.80)

Sun with Moon is at the prime location facing the Singapore River, and most importantly, it’s not together with the other restaurants inside the clustered Central Mall. With the breeze from the river, the al fresco dining area is ideal for a romantic dinner for two at night. Food presentation was sublime and the sight of the food made our mouth water.

Having been to both Sun with Moon (Central @ Clarke Quay & Wheelock) and its sister restaurant Japanese Dining Sun at Chijmes, I have to agree that all three restaurants have very contemporary and chic decorations. Unfortunately, Sun with Moon did not really meet our expectations to make the cut for my recommended Japanese restaurants in Singapore. The food was actually not too bad but there was just something missing. It’s not you, it’s me. Given that there are so many Japanese restaurants in Singapore offering good Japanese food at a similar or lower price, I probably wouldn’t return to Sun with Moon in the near future.

How much are you willing to pay for a Japanese dinner?

Restaurant Review
Sun with Moon
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#01-70/71/72 The Central @ Clarke Quay
Tel: +65 6534 7784

One of the things that I like about the Singapore Dining scene is the vibrancy, there are new restaurants opening all the time. Some open with a big fanfare, while others prefer having a soft opening to fine-tune and tweak their menu before they are plot on the to-dine-at restaurant radar.

And when a new restaurant is being helm by chef Sufian Bin Zain’ who helped his previous restaurant Iggy’s being listed as one of the world’s top 100 restaurants, it’s not surprising that everyone will rush to the new establishment. I am not one of those that like to chase after new restaurants, that’s one of the reasons that it took me until now to drop by L’Entrepot Bistrot.

I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but I hardly blog about restaurants in Clarke Quay, there’s nothing wrong with the area; in fact it is a well-known places for tourists to dine at, when visiting Singapore. And that’s precisely the problem. Awesome riverside view, gorgeous restaurants interiors, but I’d imagine it comes with hefty bills and the made-for-tourist stamp too.

For restaurants, set lunches are one of the ways to attract more customers and increase sales. In times like this, not everyone can still afford to splurge on extravagant lunches, and that’s when you have value set lunches. Given that a normal meal and a drink in a food court will probably cost you six dollars upwards, an affordable lunch for $15 nett in a nice restaurant with everything plated nicely, is very tempting.

Besides the perfect excuse to indulge in a good lunch, it’s an opportunity to check out the restaurant and see if it’s worth coming back for dinner. On normal occasions, L’Entrepot Bistrot’s normal 2 course lunch is $25++, while the 3 course menu will set you back by $30++, but there’s a current promotion for all the Clarke Quay restaurants where a 2 course set lunch is $15 nett.

The promotional menu is almost identical to the normal lunch menu, with a few exceptions. One of those is the escargot which we wanted to get, but since it wasn’t available for the promotion, we went for the French Onion Soup, served with Emmenthal Cheese. It was a good decision, the onion soup is the classic example of the rustic French Bistro food.

On this visit, I chose the Vongole, which came with clams amidst the leeks, onions tomato and spaghetti. There was a subtle white wine taste in the spaghetti sauce. The generosity of clams were admirable, but the presence of leeks drove me to verge of irritation; I ain’t no fan of leek.

I’m not one who will always order fish for main courses while it comes to dining outside. I like fish, but it pales in comparison when you can have steak, chicken, or duck – meat in general. But still, I love fish, it sounds fickle but I am only human, you know. So I was glad when my Evangeline ordered the Pan Fried Seabass, with mashed potatoes. It may sound very ordinary, but the seabass was actually pretty good. It sounds like a layer of crispy pan-fried skin with the fillet nicely settled underneath.

It was a toss between Creme Brulee and Profiteroles when it came to desserts, but as Tampopo deli is nearby, we went for the former. Now, there will be vanilla beans inside, I’m sure. And true enough, there were tiny speckles of them in the custard, and the surface was caramelized beautifully.

* * *

Restaurant Review
L’Entrepot Bistrot
3E River Valley Road
#01-02 Clarke Quay
Tel: 6337 5585

Black pepper Sri lanka crab

Ginger Scallion flower crab

Fragrant Thai sauce crab

Nonya curry crab

Stir-fried slipper lobster in black bean sauce

Chili crab with deep-fried mantou

Oh man, She’s grabbing all the good stuff; the big pincers, the meatier crab legs, all gone! Everybody behind the woman, stared at her as she made away with the “goods”.

With the crab tong in hand, it was used to hammer the shell. The fellow diners on the same table immediately dispersed, “watch it! The crab gravy is flying everywhere!”

The lady eyed the seafood section, carefully choosing the biggest white fresh oysters on the bed of ice. She proceeded on to squeeze lemon wedges onto each of them, not wasting a single drop. Taking a fork, she slurped down five oysters, in one shot.

Wash your hands clean and crab-free in the lemon water, we are going for the second round!

The team of eight sat down at the table to discuss their plans, like true elite commando fashion; they attacked the crabs in the precise and deadly manner that they were known for.

“Mommy, I want that slice of very delicious-looking, oreo cheesecake!” The small girl told her mother, even though their stomachs are bursting from all the crabs.

* * *

(1) The commentaries were some of the conversation that I’ve overheard, and observed during the buffet, and I thought it would be interesting to write about this.

(2) I don’t like to eat crabs; I’m too lazy to dirty my hands shelling the crustaceans. And if I do, the chili crab will be my favourite; I love the thick, spicy chili gravy. And there’s the best company in the form of the deep fried mantou; I always poked a hole in the middle of the fried bun and poured lots of gravy inside. Then the soaking of the whole bun within the goodness of the gravy, they are oh, so-good! And I kept a bowl of chili gravy filled throughout the buffet, dipping everything in it.

(3) The crab buffet at Ellenborough market cafe is only available for dinner at $46++ per head, and will last for two weeks, starting from the 25th June. Singaporeans, love (read: love), their crabs, I went during the first day of the promotion and it was full house, on a weekday dinner! So if you are heading down, please remember to make reservations in advance. And my appreciation to Sok Hoon, the marketing communication manger for the invitation to the food tasting session.

(4) Just some more information about the buffet: There’s chefs-on-the-spot cooking crab risotto, frying mee goreng, and wrapping crab popiahs, the seafood area which has sashimi, prawns and seafood, the usual western/Asian cuisine selections, the omnipresent chocolate fondue, with a pretty decent choices of desserts ranging from cheesecake, to shooters, and their famous Durian Pengat. And I love having some Chinese desserts like tou suan with you tiao too!

Read my fellow floggers post on the crab extravaganza:
Camemberu here
& Aromacookery here

Ellenborough market cafe
20 Merchant road
GF Swissotel Merchant court
Tel: 6239 1847

It wasn’t merely a coincidence when the seven of us stepped into Nectarie Patisserie, fate has brought us together. The group of us; all dessert enthusiast, were looking for more after our previous encounter. Our eyes literally light up at the mention of desserts, our saliva flows at the thought of desserts, and our imagination run wild at the sight of desserts.

Just like the number 7, while some sees it as their lucky charm, others dismissed it as pure speculation. Things could gone either way, and our adventure was just the same. Some people could have feel that the place was great with its nice ambience and pretty cakes, while others might have given their verdict that it was crap and terribly expensive for the petite slice of cake. But for us, the company’s was all that matter, even though the cake didn’t exactly deliver, to our lofty expectations.

We were supposed to be in Seventh Heaven, but that failed to materialise, & we found ourselves in Nectarie instead. While the core of us were the original members behind this, we found new friends who shared our common interest.

Choices. Often people had to make their decision in an instant flash. Inside and outside. We were torn between both sides, until reality stuck. The sun had decided for us.

The inside was a long narrow streak, quite unlike what you’ll normally see. The use of mirror and glass to elongate the place, plus the tall table and chairs were clever, and necessary.

We started with the Pistachio white chocolate ($7.50) eagerly, egged on by one of us who was a fan of pistachio. For the pistachio purist, this was unacceptable. The taste of the nut wasn’t strong enough, and the whole cake was sweet. However for the neutralist, the cake was not bad. The green layer did taste more like kaya than pistachio, but the cake was very smooth, i like the thin layer of raspberry jam which contributed to the sweetness of the cake. Althought some might have felt the cake was too sweet, but personally i like the overall subtle taste.

We favoured the Parfait of dark & white chocolate ($7) over its chocolate cousin, the double chocolate mudcake. There was dark chocolate, white chocolate, and the rather chewy layer. Everything seemed perfect, chocolate with chocolate is after all a fail-proof option. But somehow, the whole dessert couldn’t click, something was amiss.

Whether the Granny smith apple crumble ($6) was created by the granny or not, we do not know. But what we know was the crumble skin was crispy and flaky. Served warm, this dish wouldn’t disappoint you. The only gripe, the apple fillings were too little compared to the thick crumble skin.

I have been told that the Caramelized bananas with chocolate ($7.50) here is good. In fact, it ranked among the top 50 cakes by Sunday Times. Undoubtedly the best cake Nectarie has to offer, the banana and white chocolate mousse was velvety and rich. But that wasn’t the best part, eaten together with the crunchy base, the taste was divine. And all of us unanimously agreed it was the star.

If the caramelized banana with chocolate was the best, then the Dark chocolate Opera ($6) would definitely be on the other end of the score sheet, the worst. Even before we got started on this, our dessert enthusiasts already noticed the cake was too dry. Indeed, the texture and taste was almost dehydrated. Disappointing.

We can’t possibly neglect the unique combination of chocolate and coconut in the form of the Chocolate terrine with coconut mousse ($6). I’ve no idea what’s a terrine, my best bet would be chocolate layers. The whole cake was on the sweet side, just like how desserts are supposed to be. The chocolate actually covered the taste of the coconut, so the others were actually eating them layer by layer to discover the coconut mousse.

I have a love-hate relationship with the Tiramisu ($7). I adored them, and they are definitely listed as one of my favourite desserts. Thus I’m always easily satisfied by the simplest and often i ain’t a good judge between an excellent tiramisu and the normal one.

Nectarie’s rendition was unusual for the fact they didn’t have the the typical layers found in others. The sugar & coffee icing were very beautiful indeed. The finger biscuits soaked in kahlua and espresso were right in the middle of the mascarpone cheese. I thought they were too soggy, a fairly average one, just as we suspected.

Total bill was $73 for 7 people, 7 slices of cakes, & 7 beverages. The promotion of 50% off per slice of cake with each drink meant that we need to get 7 beverages to enjoy the discount for our 7 cakes. This is only applicable during weekdays 1-3pm. With most the drinks fairly expensive, it made it seems like we were still paying for the cake, only that it came with a “free” drink.

I’ve noticed one thing, most of the cakes are decorated with raspberry dips on the white plate which made the whole dessert looked pretty. But while it’s nice as a decoration, to have it on every plate of dessert is a tad too much. Simple is beautiful. Yes?

Nectarie Patisserie actually wasn’t that bad, their desserts were generally okay, but for the prices you are just expecting something more, and they failed to come up with that x factor. The ambience is nice. Check. The cakes are pretty. Check. But somehow the taste failed to surprise us. I ain’t sure whether i’ll go back again, but for you people who hasn’t been there, this might just be one cool place to check it out, once.

Nectarie Patisserie
3C River Valley road
#01-05 The Cannery, Clark Quay
Tel: 6305 7628

Check out the rest of the dessert enthusiast entries:
Fen @ sgcake.com
Evan @ bossacafez
Sihan @ Fundamentally-flawed
Vicki @ herlittleblackdress

Until our next dessert enthusiast outing.. Seventh Heaven & choupinette’s calling!