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Everyone knows I'll die for Italian, especially pizzas and pastas. Modesto's and Spizza's pizzas are by far my favourite. Cantina is also worth my praises but I've only dined there once.
The unfortunate thing is that most decent Italian restaurants are posh and the bill usually totals up to a considerable amount. And that's why I was very excited when I spotted IL Piccolo. It is no slick restaurant, but an unpretentious stall hidden in an industrial food center. The signage says "hand tossed Italian pizzas baked in a stone oven". That bought me over.
I ordered the Pescatora (seafood, $6 for a personal pizza). The whole clams was what drawn me to my choice but it was also the setback of having to shell them while eating. It's kind of troublesome if you're planning to eat with your hands. I found the crust too soft and I couldn't really hold it up to eat without folding it. Anyway, that aside, the pizza was delizioso!
I completed my satisfying meal with a Tiramisu ($2.50). A guy friend, J, can make better Tiramisu. :)
I'm so going to try the pasta on my next visit. Probably vongole.
I've been wanting to make my own burger since C gave me the link to his friend's blog. An ugly burger recipe. Since I've been burger hunting lately, I am very keen to make a burger from scratch. And I'm glad I did because it was definitely worth my time. Yes, like he said, it was darn good. Just that mine wasn't as ugly. :P
I never really measure when I cook just like keongzai. So with his recipe, I guesstimated the portions of ingredients he stated. I'll just copy the basic steps over just in case he deletes his blog. But do hop over to his blog and read his interesting burger rules which I followed readily.
Ingredients to make 4 patties:
400gms of topside steak, pulsed in food processor
dash of salt
dash of black pepper
dash of ground cumin
dash of ground coriander seeds
half teaspoon of mustard powder
half an onion (sauté with olive oil)
handful of grated parmesan cheese
half cup of breadcrumbs
1 egg
Patty:
Mix everything together with half of the breadcrumbs, adding more if mixture is too wet. The egg binds the mixture, and the breadcrumbs absorbs some liquid if it’s too wet. Fashion thick patties, dust it with breadcrumbs and fridge it for at least 20 minutes. This allows the flavors to get to know each other and for the patty to hold its shape. Fry it in pan with olive oil. Don’t overcook, it’s not sexy.
Buns:
Lightly butter the buns and toast them.
Toppings:
Sauté fresh (shitake or white) mushrooms and onions with butter. Egg is optional.
This looks pretty decent, isn't it? It's topped with mushrooms, sauté onions, fried egg, tomatoes and lettuce.
Some like the lot.
Some like it topless.
I like it with fresh onions!
Be it red or yellow.
And I also like my beef to be slightly rare.
I bet it's better than the burger E claimed her bf can make! Haha!
P/S: I'd like to thank keongzai for the wonderful recipe and P for helping me with super-marketing and eating. :P
ifinallygettoeatSuperBurger at Astons.
M and her hubby were quite sure I couldn't finish the super-sized burger. Which I did. Not that it was super shiok, I just have a super big appetite.
"The ieatSuper Burger ($12.50) is made from 200gm chopped Sirloin Steak, 2 slices of cheese, 2 rashers of bacon, Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, Astons Special Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce, Astons Special Sauce and crispy onion frost all piled up in a sesame seed bun."
The burger was served looking super messy such that I didn't know where to start. Nothing like what is pictured on their blog. The patty is tasty but a tad dry. The bacon was overdone and the buns were not toasted.
This is what I call a super gelak burger. It was oily rather than juicy. I think the culprit was the crispy onion frost. But then again, the Onion Frost ($5.00) was very tempting!
A complete opposite of the Beef Onion Portobello Burger I just had Cedele, these are definitely not for the health-conscious or weight-watchers. Still, it's a decent burger for the starving.
M insisted that the standard is much better during lunchtime when it is less crowded. I trust her words and will revisit during off-peak hours for better food and pictures.
Cedele is where I frequent for soup and free flow of bread with my ex-colleague, R. Lately, they launched its new cafe restaurant with a different menu at Raffles City. When I visited R to reminisce the good old days, she suggested the newly opened Cedele and I didn't hesitate.
I wanted soup initially but couldn't resist trying the Beef Onion Portobello Burger ($14.80) which R highly recommended. I wasn't very hungry but the juicy burger definitely whetted my appetite. Sandwiched between the focaccia breads were a slab of well-done beef, a huge flower of portobello mushroom, onion balsamic marmalade, tomato and lettuce. It was a perfect combination of saltiness, sweetness and sourness. Unlike some burger which you felt fattening after eating, this left me hungry for more. 
Pardon the lousy picture as they were shot with my handphone.
Is that true? P and I decided to find out at Botak Jones (Toa Payoh).
Botak Jones is about 5mins walk from Braddell MRT and finding our way there was a breeze. We got there at 6.30pm and to my delight, there was no dinner crowd. I figured their business comes largely from the working executives in neighbouring offices and students (who seem to have lots of spending power these days) from a school just a stone's throw away.
P took some time preying on the extensive menu while I went straight for the recommended choice–The Botak Burger ($5.50) and topped it with sautéed onion ($1.00) and garlic sautéed shitake mushroom ($2.00). The burger is really "botak" and you have to pay for additional toppings. If I had known that it was served with julienne of fresh onions, I wouldn't have picked the sautéed ones and opt for something else. The burger was served with the extra toppings in separate saucers and it didn't look as exciting as the one I just had from Crazy Ang Mo. What could have won brownie points was the bun. It was not the regular sesame burger bun you can get from Sunshine or Gardenia but focaccia-like sourdough bread. I like focaccia. But then again, the pale-looking bread didn't help to dress up the boring burger. I was wondering why they didn't toast it with some butter. Perhaps I should have added the cheese (which I didn't because we ordered the Chez French Fries) to make it more complete. To me, presentation is just as important and that the plate should be treated like the canvas. It's about the art of dining. Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that my food has to look fancy like those served in highbrow swanky restaurants. The least is to look appetising.
The patty was perfected at medium well and it was tasty but mushy. I'd prefer it minced, not mashed.
The Chili Dawg ($11) is HUGE! The sausage was sunk in whoopass con carne with chunks of jalapeño swimming in it and topped with fresh diced onions. It looked messy and again, not very appetising. The black tablewares were not a good choice, I felt. What's worse, there was actually a sausage bun soaked in the mountain of food! (Can you even spot it in the photo?) I think they should just do away with the bun. Anyway, having said all that, the Chili Dawg tasted surprising good! It was not too spicy, just the right amount of spice to zest up my appetite. The crinkled-cut fries, sprinkled with paprika or Cajun (I think), tasted pretty good too. They reminded me of the Cajun fries I had in The States.
The Chez French Fries ($8.00) were crinkled-cut ones covered with cheddar cheese and lettuce. The lettuce was a nice touch as they helped to reduce the "jelakness". They were yummy when hot and gooey but the cheddar cheese hardened after some time. If you remember TGIF Loaded Fries or Billy Bombers Cheese Fries, the Chez French Fries were just not their match.
The filling meal left both of us thirsty throughout the night. Yes, it may not be the best American food around but we did enjoy the dinner pretty much. And for the price we pay, it's definitely worth a revisit. But the next time, we'll be bringing friends to share the generous portions.
On a final note, I've to disagree with my friend, M, who didn't think much of Botak Jones, the statement is damn true. But I'm definitely heading to where she thinks is the winner, Astons. Soon.
After my curry puff lover friend, M, confirmed that the curry puff stall at East Coast Lagoon Food Village still exists, I couldn't wait to revisit the good old taste.
It was Labour Day and I took this opportunity to satisfy my crave. Happily, I dashed to the stall that says Lagoon Chicken Curry Puff. When I saw the empty food rack at the stall, my heart sank! To my relief, the uncle was deep-frying the curry puffs and I got them piping hot for $1.20 each. There was no egg and it was about 15% smaller than Old Chang Kee's.
That didn't really matter because my memory of the best curry puff ever was relived. The filling was spicy and moist with bits of onions in it. The skin was neither too oily nor thick. Everything was just perfect.
K and I tried to make our trip even more worthwhile by strolling along the beach and acting romantic under the scorching sun after the fulfilling afternoon snack.
That foodie friend of mine, P, used to work around Bishan and has explored most eating places within the vicinity. He told me about Crazy Ang Mo and I thought I shouldn't be left out especially when it's in my neighbourhood! (I hardly eat around my neighbourhood because there's always food at home.)
The stall appeared to have expanded from one unit to two units since it opened last year(looking at the photo in the article). I believe business is good means food is good too. There was no crowd and food was ready in around 8 to 10 mins.
Since it was my first visit, I went with the safe and recommended choice–the Crazy Burger ($7.90) with Steak Chips (top up $1). The burger was bursting with flavours and sinfully appetising. Juicy beef patty, crispy bacon, fried egg, sautéed onions, fresh lettuce, tomato, a slice of beetroot and a pineapple ring melted in the cheese and sandwiched between sesame buns. When I was done with the burger, there was no room left for dessert.
What I like about the Fish & Chips ($6.90) was the batter. It had some herbs/parsley embedded in the skin which made it different from the usual fish & chips anywhere else. It was served with healthy looking fresh salad instead of coleslaw too.
The Chicken Parmagian ($7.90), although a bit dry, was tastier than the regular chicken cutlet you get from western food stall in coffeeshop.
The Crazy Dog ($5.90) is simple but nice. The skin of the gourmet sausage is crispy and the meat, tender. Served with sautéed onions and melted cheese.
Having tried the highly acclaimed Crazy Burger, my craze for a good burger is rekindled. Next stop, Botak Jones.
All my friends know curry puff is my all-time favourite snack. Whenever I passed by a stall that sells curry puffs, I never resisted. Personally, I find Old Chang Kee, too "chanky", Tanglin Curry Puffs too bland and Tip Top Curry Puffs too sweet. Polar Puffs is spicy but a tad too sweet for my taste buds and the skin is puff pastry. I do like puff pastry but I prefer it when I'm eating chicken pie. And the filling is all mashed up such that you don't really taste the potatoes but minced meat. The Malay Curry Puffs 93 didn't impress me. 1A Curry Puffs which is available at quite a few places kind of satisfies my crave every now and then. I like the feeling when the piping hot moist filling oozes out as I sink my teeth into the melt-in-your-mouth buttery crispy skin. Heaven...
The one I can't take my mind off is from a stall at East Coast Lagoon Food Village. I've only tasted them once or rather twice when I was staying at the chalet. They were so good that I had to revisit to buy more on the second day of my stay. It is the traditional kind filled with chunks of chicken and potatoes. Rich yet not "gelak". But East Coast Park is so inconvenient and I'm too lazy to make a trip down specially for that. I wonder if the stall is still there. Maybe I should check it out soon. Of course there are more less popular ones which I've tried but the taste failed to linger in my mouth or my memory.
Just a few nights ago, my good friend who is never absent when there's good food, sent me a link to a Hokkien Prawn Mee recipe. He was trying to coax me into cooking that for him. Instead, this curry puff recipe caught my eyes and I was very inspired to give it a shot. So, I roped him in to try it out the very next day.
I did not follow the steps exactly. For instance, I omitted the sugar and added an extra teaspoon of chilli powder and salt to suit my taste. I used chicken fillet instead of breast meat as they are more tender according to mum. I diced the potatoes and steamed them for 15 minutes as it sped up the process. You may want to add water when the ingredient becomes dry when frying, which I did.
It turned out that the fillings wasn't spicy enough despite the extra chilli powder I added.
I did not go with the easy way out by using frozen puff pastry as I prefer the traditional skin. Wrapping wasn't as easy as I thought. My friend's curry puffs turned out looking like huge dumplings.
They didn't look too bad considering it was my first attempt.
The filling wasn't moist enough after they were deep-fried and the skin was a bit too thick.
Yes! I added a wedge of egg if you can spot that!
I rationalised that it's really not easy to make good curry puffs. The filling is as difficult compared to making the skin from scratch. So if you know anywhere else that sells tasty curry puffs, I'll appreciate if you leave me a comment. :)
(I promised to cook him the hokkien prawn mee soon.)
They say the route to a man's heart is through the stomach. Then I should have many guys swooning over me! Let's see if this blog proves the saying right. Haha! Bon appétit! :)
