okb - one kampong bahru

one kampong bahru is located at the corner of Kampong Bahru Road and Spottiswoode Park, right beside Savor Rey La Mian (which we learned is no longer there!!). From what I've heard, they have an interesting assortment of baked goods by day, but by night it becomes a bistro, serving wine by glass and beer as well. Each dish in the menu has a suggested wine pairing to go with it, for those who like that sort of thing.



The sharing plates concept reminds me a lot of Ku De Ta, but perhaps on a slightly less opulent end of the scale. You also don't get to enjoy a panoramic view of the Singapore city skyline, but hey, our favourite dog groomer is just a few shops down the row, and if you can get a lot, coupon parking is a plus. Chill music can be heard over the speakers, not loud enough to drown out casual conversation, and the vibe of the place is just relaxed with more than a hint of class. The clipboard menu isn't very extensive, with about 10 items on the menu, excluding the side dishes and drinks, just right for a gastronomic tease.

The seared scallops ($9) should be advertised as just seared scallops with secret sauce, rather than blatantly stating 'buah keluar oil' - it's actually really good with the seared outer and semi-soft inner, flavoured by the oil, but I keep wondering how it's supposed to taste like buah keluar, thus diminishing the wow factor. Comes on a bed of salad.

The sliced angus beef ($18) is garnished with raw onions, coriander and a sweet sauce. The best bits were the pure unadulterated fat, which was almost foie gras like, unfortunately I only came across 1 slice like that.

The divine Sheperd's Pie - is actually a meatball covered with mashed potato and pumpkin mix, of the very soft and moist kind. Because it was baked, you also get a little of the charred crisp bits. Really outstanding dish! (at $8, it's the cheapest of the three too).

The dishes came one at a time, allowing us time to slowly savour and discuss the flavours, then musing about other similar dishes we've had elsewhere. Water is provided from the onset and constantly refilled, something that Mky and I appreciate in any restaurant. The waiters are polite and fade into the background, and inquire your views on the food when you pay for the bill. Good service. Since I wasn't there with Mky this time round, I'll probably bring her here the next time Roxy needs her nails trimmed, if at least, just to savour the Sheperd's Pie.

okb

1 Kampong Bahru Rd, Singapore 169339
Tel: 6220 4711

Aloha Ma Maison!

We are fans of Ma Maison. We love the homely, Hayao Miyazaki-inspired ambience, along with the fusion Japanese/Western food. Unfortunately, we don't go as often as we might like for two reasons. 1) the higher prices don't encourage recurring patronage, 2) the constant queues don't encourage walk-ins.

Fortunately, the Ma Maison group have spawned an offshoot called Aloha Ma Maison. They've adopted a Hawaiian theme and have a menu that is different, yet somewhat similar to the original. Enter the Loco Moco..

Loco moco is a traditional meal in Hawaiian cuisine. There are many variations, but the essential loco moco consists of white rice, topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg, and brown gravy. - from Wiki.

Ok, we won't find Loco Moco at Ma Maison, but the hamburger patty that comes with this dish is a very similar one to what you will get at Ma Maison (ie. the hamburg steak)! And the good news is, it's cheaper! Furthermore, you can opt for either white rice or multi-grain rice at no extra charge, and a further choice of having a larger serving for a slightly higher price.

Take for example the Ma Maison Loco Moco in the picture above. This was the larger portion. Two sunny side ups cover a hamburg steak, stewed apples, macaroni pasta salad in a demi glace sauce with 2 servings of multi-grain rice. And of course, the mayonnaise! Can't recall the price at this moment, but for sub-$20, your Hamburg Steak at Ma Maison won't come with as many sides nor will it be as satisfying, I can assure you.

Ahipoke 

The salad Ahipoke dish has diced vegetables, and would have been perfect except it had some spice in it. We think it's Tabasco sauce, but we can't be certain. All I know is that it was a tad strong for a salad. When our mains came, having the rice with this dish made it more bearable.

Mky: Ahipoke flavours were not well balanced, the dressing overpowered the fresh flavour of the ingredients. The spicy element, which had a strange numbing effect on the tongue, did not add to enjoyability of the dish.

 

Tuna and Avocado Loco Moco 

A heavenly mix of fresh raw tuna and slices of avocado with a heavy dose of mayonnaise.Can't go wrong here. Mky says you can either eat it as presented, or give it a good toss (ala Pepper Lunch) and mix everything up. I chose the latter and enjoyed this dish perfectly.

Very interesting decor making use of the overhead space

Overall, we loved the rice dishes and the two variations we tried. As I understand it, they are also known for their pancakes, something Mky really loves. Unfortunately we were so stuffed by dinner that we couldn't make room for those delicacies. We'll definitely be back to try that next time.

Aloha Ma Maison

201 Victoria Street,
#01-12 Bugis+

+65 6884 4471

New Sensations @ 7 Sensations!

After our excellent first visit to this healthy vegetarian restaurant, Mky decided that she would love to bring her parents here and sample the other aspects of their wide and varied menu.

We ordered the Moussaka again, but instead of going for individual portions, we did a shared-dishes type of meal this round. We also had a platter of Gado-gado and Mango-Avocado Salad to kickstart the meal - both dishes were decent but nothing to write home about.

Moving on to the mains, we had one serving each of Korean Brown Rice, Petai Fried Rice and a bowl of regular brown rice as our main carbs, to go with the Tea-Flavoured Vegetables, Sambal Buah Keluak and "Mutton" Curry.  Though we were already quite stuffed by then, the urge to order desserts was irresistible so we rounded off the excellent meal with some sweet treats - Chocolate & Raspberry Cake, Eggless Durian Cake and Avocado Mousse.

Since we had a larger party this time, we managed to sample a wider variety of delectables in the 7 Sensations menu.  Overall roundup:

HITS:
- Moussaka: according to Mky, today's version of the Moussaka tasted even better than our last encounter. We surmised that it was cos we ate it hot, straight from the oven, rather than letting it stand till it got cold. Very good nonetheless!  Mky: Moussaka was moister this time round, giving it a smoother, richer bite than our previous try (which was in itself good, but this time it was better!), where it was a bit grainy.  The eggplant layer was also more discernable... a good thing!
- Korean Brown Rice: can't go wrong with this dish!  Everybody liked it.
- Petai Fried Rice: slightly tastier than the regular plain brown rice.. Mky: the petai bits could have been bigger for more kick... by cutting them into slivers, there's hardly any petai taste in each bite unless one gets lucky and has a whole heap clustered together.
- Tea-Flavoured Vegetables: smelled great, loved the thick mushroom slices!  Mky: thought it clever that they deep-fried thick-cut slices of mushroom stem.  Created a taste sensation similar to fishcake which wowed us all.  The greens were well-executed, no tough fibrous bits, only crunchy tasty goodness!
- Chocolate & Raspberry Cake: Excellent high density cake that Mky decided would likely be the cake that I will be having for my birthday in April =D  Mky: Looking at Dky's expression when eating it, I knew for sure he'd love to have it as his birthday cake.  Saved the very last bite for him, and boy was he gleeful.  Cake had a decadent, almost velvety mouthfeel, liked very much that it was made of bittersweet chocolate enhanced by the pleasing tartness of raspberry jam.  Definitely not a sugar-bomb confection.  We love it!
- Avocado Mousse: Cool, soft and topped with a generous portion of gula melaka.

MISSES:

- "Mutton" Curry - The "mutton" pieces were actually very well-done, with realistic grain and texture and without the greasy sheen one usually associates with mock meats.  However, the curry gravy was a letdown as it was thin and tasted too strongly of curry powder.  One-dimensional.
- Gado-gado - Mky: Not quite worth it's price tag, even if the sauce was made of cashews (or was it almonds??).
- Sambal Buak Keluak: Even though this is categorised under a "Miss", I must say you can't go wrong with Buah Keluak.  Main issues was the sauce that was used - it had way too much vinegar, so it was overwhelmingly sour and mouth-puckering.  The "chicken" bits were as good as the "mutton" though!
- Eggless Durian Cake: Mky's parents who are durian lovers, say that the cake here didn't match up.  And this was quite obvious from the speed at which the other 2 desserts were being consumed, leaving the durian cake in the dust.  Mky: Perhaps the durian cake would have benefited from the inclusion of some fresh durian pulp for texture and fragrance.  The cake appeared to have been set with a gelatin or gelling agent, which affected its creaminess.


I must say that eating at 7 Sensations is a real happy-making experience. I thoroughly enjoyed the tastes that each and every single dish promised, especially since there is no MSG aftermath following it. I was practically bursting with joy while eating here! Mky: hear, hear! No MSG attacks!

Currently there is a promotion for Standard Chartered card-holders. Eating here on a Sunday gets you a whopping 20% discount. Spending over $100 gets you another 5% on top of that. That means you get a whopping 25% discount! Doesn't that make you want to just make a reservation there now?
(A caveat: being in Little India, there are a lot of foreign workers thronging the streets on Sundays, thus the large discount probably benefits only those who don't mind or aren't scared of walking in huge crowds.  Finding a parking space can also be an issue.).

Kudos once again to cousin Dawn for introducing this delightful restaurant to us.

16 Madras Street S(208413)
(Just behind The Verge at Tekka)
Tel: 6298 8198

7 Sensations

7 Sensations: who needs meat when food tastes this great?

We've had some recommendations on vegan restaurants recently, thanks to our friends who've suggested some really great places to try. All I can say is when I ordered the Vegetarian Lasagne on a lark (how can a lasagne without meat taste any good?), I was shocked at the first bite, and exclaimed to Mky "Who needs meat??" The lasagne was divine!

I'll leave the rest of the review for Mky, since I can't remember the dishes' names now.

Mky: On top of the creamy, perfectly al dente lasagne (as opposed to the chewy hard sheets of pasta we've experienced at some places), we also picked a Moussaka from the appetiser section.

What was served to us eventually was DEFINITELY not "appetiser" in size... it was a massive portion of spiced eggplant baked up with a cheesy top... ginormous! Certainly sufficient for a regular diner as a main course (we wouldn't have been able to finish it if not for Dax's high-capacity tum)! Of note was the tomato reduction which came with it... zingy, moreish, very VERY appetising!

Last but not least was my main course, a size-able claypot of "Korean Brown Rice" (?), which was essentially nutty brown rice topped with fresh veg (believe it was blanched chye sim) and shredded mushroom stalks (a personal love - better than eating meat!). It was a tad oily, but the flavours melded well together and we finished up every grain.

All in all, very tasty, well-executed dishes. The ambience is classy, with food prices that are surprisingly inexpensive (within the $12-20/dish range).

16 Madras Street S(208413)
(Just behind The Verge at Tekka)
Tel: 6298 8198

LivinGreens

LivinGreens: vegan dining that won't blow a hole in your pocket.

No MSG, garlic or onions, but they still manage to get their food tasting quite good. We had the daily brown rice set (Saturday's was "Tomato" - crunchy flash fried chye sim, potatoes and soy protein in bolognese sauce and watercress salad), green curry dry pasta and some really delicious baked potato wedges with tangy soy mayo dip.

325 Beach Rd
63965523