Dollar (and tummy) stretchers

Under $10:
Joaqium Porridge Buffet Lunch, Suntec City

$9.80 nett gets you succulent roast chicken and a whole spread of porridge accompaniments and traditional desserts to keep you happy. Proof of value: The scores of uncles and aunties dining next to suited executives.

Under $15:
Chinese Feasts Restaurant, Suntec City Fountain Terrace

The lunch set includes starters, cook-yourself steamboat AND dessert.

Under $20:
Chummeez Hong Kong Kitchen, Novena Square

There isn't a Crystal Jade outlet in the Thomson Road area, but Chummeez steps up to the plate nicely. In addition to the classic array of dim sum and HK noodle dishes, there is an a la carte buffet option which will have you rolling out the restaurant.

Under $30:
Pearl River Restaurant, Suntec City

A la carte buffet. Order the soon hock fish or a couple of them and the bargain's made.

Under $40:
Hanabi Restaurant, Odeon Towers and King's Centre

The eat-all-you-want Japanese fantasy in the form of an a la carte buffet. Paws up for Hanabi over Kuishin-bo at Suntec, which is also good value but serves food in the proletarian self-service buffet style.

Under $50:
Jiang Nan Chun, Four Seasons Hotel (see link at the right column)

The ULTIMATE weekend Oriental brunch.

The Magic Wonton Auntie

It's a real challenge to find a good wonton mee in Singapore in the old-fashioned "kon loh mee" style i.e. not the Hong Kong version (chunky prawn wanton/no char siew).

My vote for the centre of wonton excellence is the stall at Congress Kopitiam at Suntec City Convention Centre ... but ONLY if The Auntie is at the helm. If you see a male cook, turn around and patronise the prata stall instead.

You see, there's magic spun by this sprightly sixtysomething: not only in how she judges the right mix of sauces and ensures that the blanched noodles stay springy, but also in how she stays zen-like in the thick of the lunchtime throngs and gives you your order with a smile. She's no stinge with the wantons either (I got FOUR in my takeaway container today).

My mother will make the bus trip from Thomson Road just to eat there whenever she hankers for a taste of the past. I imagine that as she takes her tray of $3.80 noodles, she and the Magic Wonton Auntie exchange knowing looks that she's getting exactly what she used to eat in the '50s.

Where excellence is not a routine a.k.a. The Mystery of PS Cafe

I continue to be baffled as to why I can dine happily at PS Cafe at the Paragon, but be subjected to scaling heights of frustration at PS Cafe at Dempsey (Harding Rd).

The roast chicken sandwich at PS Paragon is one of the 2Bears' favourite lunches in Orchard Road. It's a lovely pile of chicken, rocket, onions, etc, in disarray atop toast which captures just the right amount of tangy dressing. Staff are speedy and obliging and so far PS Paragon has left a good taste in the 2Bears' mouths, washed down with fine cups of coffee.

PS Dempsey gets five paws up for architectural/interior design sensibility, something off the pages of a design magazine. But PS Dempsey's menuboard is East-Clash-West (the star example being "duck rendang") and service is patchy. The last time I went with 2 girlfriends in the banking industry we had to ask 3 times for the bill to close the lacklustre meal and then the wrong one arrived. We had intended to bolster our spirits after the dinner by way of their consistently good desserts but the menu we requested never came. That pretty much killed the business that could have come from certain banking expense accounts.

The 2Bears' theory on PS Dempsey: unless you are on at least air-kissing terms with the Front of House staff, save yourself the aggravation and stick to the Paragon outlet.

Review: San Marco (4 out of 5 bear paws)

San Marco
The Fullerton Hotel
Tel: 6438 4404

One gets jaded patronising fine dining restaurants in Singapore, and the 2Bears were not expecting to be surprised by dinner here.

There were some well-executed old standards in the "summer menus" we selected:
(1) chocolate fondant cake which every restaurant has (half-)baked to death - it's the bombe alaska or cherries jubilee of our generation;
(2) plump foie gras which when done well, like in the dish we enjoyed, renders any creative garnishing (here, pear) quite forgettable; and
(3) tomato & mozarella salad, which came in the form of alternating tomato and mozarella slices reassembled into the original tomato shape.

I'm not doing the names of the dishes justice - the link above leads you to the website and full menu - but I am a great believer of straightforward food descriptions. The present rule seems to be that the more expensive the restaurant, the lengthier and more excessive the menu explanations.

Does good old chicken rice need to undergo rebranding as "Plunged-cooked Chicken paired with Glossed Jasmine Rice, cucumber carpaccio, ginger micromince, sweet sour organic chili dip and dark soya concentrate" ? Think not.

Anyhow, surprises in San Marco came in the form of the freshness of the tomato stack, favourful porcini bruschetta afloat in a beef consomme, a slice of grilled dry ham providing the turf to the salmon surf, rose flavoured pannacotta which Ms Bear found absolutely delightful, the home-made marshmallow as petit fours, and the deferential service. The 2Bears like to sneak bites from each other's dishes and paws up for San Marco's facilitative attitude. If you wish to be as generous with your dining partner(s), courses will be placed at table centre with additional plates per diner in the Chinese fashion.

Everyone's a Critic

The Sunday Times carried a list of the Top 5o restaurants in Singapore today.

It's impossible for readers to be in full agreement with The Sunday Times, much less with one another, so the 2Bears won't launch into an exploration of why certain restaurants are in the list and why others were left out in the cold. The best restaurants on the island, whether represented on the list or not, will be rewarded by loyal patronage long after the buzz of the Sunday Times article dies down.

To compile the list, the Sunday Times apparently drew upon the views of its food critics. That brought to mind the entertaining book "Garlic and Sapphires" by the editor of Gourmet, Ruth Reichl. She was formerly the food critic of the New York Times, and she described having to increasingly draw upon an arsenal of disguises to avoid being "made" at restaurants, whereupon service became stellar and the freshest produce was put on the table, cooked with the best display of culinary talent the kitchen could muster. Imagine - she had to do this in a metropolis like New York.

In a 2-degrees-of-separation city like Singapore, don't all the critics get treated like kings ? I'd put more store in a positive restaurant review in an unknown's blog than one in the Singapore newspapers anytime. Shameless plug for me.

Review: L'Espresso (3.5 out of 5 bear paws)

L'Espresso
Goodwood Park Hotel
Tel: 6730 1743

This was the epitome of grown-up elegance during Ms Bear's secondary school days and we used to hold occasional teenage gossip sessions here. Fast-forwarding 20 years, the '70s/'80's decor has since been replaced by a new contemporary look - the link above leads to an oudated picture on the hotel's website - but the scones and clotted cream are still divine. They make me feel 16 again.

L'Espresso is an oasis of civilisation compared to the Coffee Lounge just down the corridor which incidentally does a mean Taiwan Porridge. Paying about $10 more for L'Espresso's tea spread means sparing yourself the hungry families making the most out of their weekend eating binge at the Coffee Lounge's buffet. The extra $10 doesn't mean that you get more food at L'Espresso though. What you do get is a very focused and high quality study on the joys of English tea, plus a chocolate fondue as a cave-in to the current dessert trend. No chee cheong fun, no local desserts, no dim sum.

The 2Bears enjoyed the whole range of finger sandwiches, canapes, cakes and other desserts, as well as the poolview. It was almost like being on holiday without the benefit of being able to retire upstairs to sleep on a full tummy. We did that at home instead.

The Terrace of War

We've started the hacking works on the terrace house that will be the 2Bear's headquarters, and it looks like a bombsite. See the accompanying aerial view of the backyard floor. Scary.

The neighbours are currently Not Happy with the noise. The Awesome Twosome, our interior designer and contractor duo, are getting quite a bit of pressure from the people next door to do things quiet and fast. All the money we're paying them is well worth not having to deal with the neighbourly aggravation ourselves.

Pet Peeve I: Valet Parking Charges

Why, ask the 2Bears, does it cost $7 to pay someone to drive your car from the Swissotel entrance to the car park below ? That's the difference between the valet charge and the parking cost. It's nighttime robbery.

It's also extremely annoying for the 2Bears to pay $6 for valet parking at Rochester Park, when the car is promptly driven 15 metres and left by the curb. We could have done it ourselves.

In both cases, car valet operators are merely preying upon desperate drivers, rendered helpless by "Car Park Full" signs. Some of the less sympathetic among you will no doubt say "don't drive then". But that would just get me started on the taxi system ...

The Curdish War

The 2Bears ventured into Rochor to patronise one of the rival bean counters for a late night dessert.

Frankly, it's ridiculous why people persist in queueing and jostling at Rochor Original Beancurd, when Beancurd City's product next door is just as good. It's not identical - thicker sugar syrup, and some say a firmer texture - but it certainly doesn't pale in comparison.

Killa Vanilla

Pure Chill Organic Ice Cream (5 out of 5 bear paws !)
Spotted at selected Cold Storage stores: Chancery, Novena

I think I've found the best vanilla ice cream in the world. But it's for vanilla fans who know how to appreciate ice cream with a lighter texture, in contrast to some of the gourmet ice cream creations that have had all the air pumped out of them. The Pure Chill company in Australia calls it "old style ice cream". We have it any old style - on brownies, with tipsy cherries, and best, on its own. We've contemplated making it into a milkshake, but the 2Bears thought we wouldn't survive the pure dairy pleasure.

Can you buy gourmet pleasure on $1.50 ?

Ms Bear started thinking about what non-fruit food treats you can buy in Singapore with $1.50 worth of coins after spending the evening obsessing about the almond jelly at the Isetan Scotts supermarket (exactly $1.50). Sadly, I can't make a list beyond that almond jelly, the Kueh Ambon I like from Bengawan Solo ($0.80), and (I'm ashamed to admit it) the 50c ice cream cone from MacDonald's.

Yes you can get chwee kueh, chee cheong fun, plain bee hoon, popiah, and the other members of stomach filling street food at this price level at wet markets, as well as fried snacks at Old Chang Kee, but the quality is often not up to scratch. I sometimes wonder what fish, if any, goes into cheap otak sticks.

Stick with the fruit stands when you are looking for bang for your buck-and-a-half. Jackfruit/nangka on a stick at $1 always does it for me. Mr Bear raises his paws for his favourite sunflower seed bun from Bread Talk and kopitiam soft-boiled eggs.

I Dream of Kitchen

The 2Bears have placed a 50% deposit on a German kitchen from Haecker http://www.haecker-kuechen.com/ . Mr Bear spent most of his 20's in Germany and likes almost all things German (we have the German car, the German oven, the German sink, the German roof tiles, the German shower and taps, right down to paying for these from our German wallets.) The dream of an island cooking counter is taking shape, but we wait with bated breath for delivery in 3 months.

In the meantime, some nuggets of wisdom to share from kitchen shopping. These are things I did not know barely 2 months ago:
(1) a European kitchen need not necessarily cost much more than a "local" one - perhaps double, but not multiple times - and look out for sales of show units;
(2) it is important to have a kitchen island in a size which can accommodate a spread-out Straits Times. Very important when you are having morning coffee;
(3) the colours of the worktop should coordinate with the kitchen floor (I don't think we got it completely right with the terracotta but we tried);
(4) the dishwasher can't be built-in under the oven (so the kitchen planner says); and
(5) the cost of kitchen faucets can go into the hundreds.

The renovation been an eye-opener on the costs and intricacies of a renovation project. The scope for error (choosing something ugly/impractical/plain wrong) is so high, and it's not an exercise where you can afford to learn from mistakes. A great resource has been the forums at Renotalk where you can learn from the (bad) experiences of others.

Review: Lee Tong Kee (3 out of 5 bear paws)

Lee Tong Kee
278 South Bridge Road
Tel: 6226 0417

This noodle shop has been around for ages - the website says since 1948. My 86 year old auntie, sister of my 93 year old cake-loving auntie, first brought me there for lunch about a decade ago. I tend to gravitate towards the "LTK special". I feel strangely motivated to order menu items with "special" in the name, or accompanied by notations like chefs' hats (note that this logic should never be extended to SQ airline meals, but more about that another time). The fact that the dish carries the founder's name makes it even more compelling, but what it comprises is really a small serving of very smooth velvety hor fun assembled with chicken and prawn pieces in brown gravy. You might start to imagine how small it is when you consider that it's sold at $3.80 in a nicely appointed airconditioned establishment. Trust the 2Bears that you're not going to feel satisfied with the snack-sized serving, and you should be ordering something else to go with it. I wrote earlier about the shui gao soup I had - the dumplings are fine, but the only distinguishing thing about the soup was its saltiness.

Review: Turquoise Room (3.5 out of 5 bear paws)

The Turquoise Room
7 Lock Road
Tel: 6473 3655

So long as you have wheels, this is the perfect place for a lazy weekend afternoon (it opens at 12 pm on Saturdays, not sure about Sundays). It's a welcome retreat with its whitewashed Mediterranean style, lush greenery outside the large windows, and ceiling fans. Sadly for the establishment, but luckily for us, only three tables were taken at lunch today.

The 2Bears and their friends the Chikus ordered
(1) grilled portobello mushroom,
(2) chicken caesar,
(3) three types of pasta - crab, slipper lobster and prawn+arugula,
and all was yummy until the desserts arrived. The 2Bears think that crumble on apple crumble should not consist of crushed digestive biscuits. Sometimes the ice cream topping saves the dessert it's built on, but no chance here. :(

I had wanted to try the pork loin stuffed with eggplant and rolled in prosciutto that fellow food blogger ("flogger") Steffles wrote about but sadly, it wasn't on the menu.

2 Carbs and Salsa on the Side

The 2Bears ate for the whole bear clan today. They started with pasta at the very bright and breezy Turquoise Room at Gillman Village (Lunch No. 1 @ 12 pm) and progressed to slurp slippery hor fun and accompaniments at Chinatown (Lunch No. 2 @ 3 pm). Ms Bear demolished a whole shui gao soup on her own since Mr Bear turned up his brown nose at chopped-up (vs whole) prawn filling. I like the prawn bits dotting the dumpling filling spreading the flavour around, but to each his own shui gao. Mr Bear gives a big paws up to the ones at Crystal Jade.

The 2Bears were by then suitably fortified to climb 3 flights of stairs up a Chinatown shophouse to see their friends, the Chikus, at salsa class. That's where you go when you want to see a group of strangers uncomfortably paired and in embrace ("make sure there is no gap between your arm and hers", "bounce her up and down"). The 2Bears made a quick exit and succumbed to a carb-induced afternoon coma.

Making Cake for Auntie

Ms Bear has a 93 year old auntie who likes to eat cake. "Why can't you have cake for dinner", she said. There's a lot you can learn from old people. I'm a simple baker. I'm happiest with the 6-ingredient recipes from old Home Economics and dog-eared recipe books: self-raising flour, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla essence and something else for flavour. But I have been trying to hunt down the elusive moist lemon cake recipe. I tried a recipe from a Donna Hay cookbook asking for lemon juice AND sour cream and it ended up resolutely flat and toe-curlingly sour. But 93 year old auntie thought it was nice anyway. They do say that as you grow older your taste buds don't work so well. This weekend, the 2Bears have decided to surprise her with another lemon creation, this time from the idiotproof-looking "Cooking for Expats" book. Wish us luck.

How much storage is enough ?

Male Bear thinks that I'm a hoarder and that more cupboards are going to lead to more junk. I don't like to see clutter so it's got to go somewhere. I'm already dreaming of at least a 10-foot wardrobe. Nevertheless Ms Bear has launched into a springcleaning campaign before the big move. Out go the Her World magazines from the ... '80's.

Knowing your Hoe Kee from your Sim Siang Choon

The 2Bears have been preparing to renovate an "original condition" terrace house. It's been fun and a bit of a Singapore travel adventure. Some of the farflung destinations: the Grohe warehouse at Defu Lane, furniture shops in flatted factories in Pasir Panjang, tile shops at Balestier, Kitchen Culture at Alexandra Road, and sink purveyors Hoe Kee at Jalan Besar and SSC at Bukit Timah. We've appointed an interior designer and contractor we shall call the Awesome Twosome and the hacking starts next week. Emails with design ideas are flying back and forth. This weekend's decision is How Many Power Sockets ? The more the merrier, I say.