If you are around the CBD area and looking to satisfy your sandwich cravings, you can check out Absurd Sandwiches. With 10 different sandwiches on their menu, you’ll certainly be spoiled for choice. Here’s what we tried recently:

~The Cubano (sliced pork belly, cured ham, pickles, provolone cheese, mustard, absurd sauce)

~The Crispy Chipotle (chipotle fried chicken, pickles, romaine lettuce, roma tomatoes, spicy dressing, absurd sauce)

~The Cheesesteak (thin-sliced ribeye,
caramelised onion, cheddar, absurd sauce)

I personally enjoyed The Crispy Chipotle the most among the trio, and The Cheesesteak was pretty yummy as well! We also had their Mentaiko Fries, which came with generous amount of torched mentaiko sauce!

They are currently operating out of a cloud kitchen at Cross Street Exchange (basement 1), where you can order and collect your food from a locker. They are also available on Oddle Eats, foodpanda & Deliveroo. You can use my PROMO CODE ‘JONNYBOY10’ for 10% off on all orders at Oddle Eats.

We checked out Venchi’s newest cafeteria concept at ION Orchard recently. Over here, they have a dessert + coffee menu, as well as a seating area for you to chill and enjoy your treats at.

We were highly recommended to try their gelatoshake, and we got two Gelatoshake Gourmets ($10 each), each with different gelato flavours (Dark Cremino & Tartufato). The gelatoshakes were really rich and smooth, and would make for a very indulgent treat.

They also offer crêpes here, and we got the Crêpes Nougatine ($12), which came with Hazelnut Milk Suprema XV Spread, Nougatine Grains and whipped cream. Taste-wise, it was pretty decent and we liked how balanced it was!

And of course they also serve their regular gelato here as well. Having tried some of their flavours, my favourite ones are Pistachio Verde Di Bronte Dop (Green Pistachio from Bronte) and Stracciatella Di
Fragola (Strawberry & Chocolate Chips).

We visited The Communal Place for dinner recently:

~Octopus Chorizo ($18)
~Fish Taco ($14)
~Foie Gras # Miso ($26)
~St. Louis Pork Ribs ($28)
~Chocolate Dome ($21)

The Octopus Chorizo was yummy! Tender octopus chunks paired really well with chorizo sausage and Belgium mash! The Fish Taco was pretty good too! The beer-battered dory was really crispy, although I felt it was a tad dry when eaten together with the tortilla; more sauce would have been ideal. For the mains, we enjoyed the Foie Gras & Miso Linguine - pasta was al dente and nicely coated with the miso cream sauce. The foie gras had a good sear and was creamy inside too! As for the pork ribs, we felt that although the flavour was good, the meat could have been more tender.

Lastly, we ended our meal with the Chocolate Dome! This was fun to eat: We had to drop it onto the plate so that it’d break and reveal the components inside (see bottom right shot for reference). There's gelato, honeycomb, cheesecake, popping candy & berries, and it was quite an enjoyable dessert overall!

We had dinner at Ma Seung Sek, an eatery located within ESR BizPark @ Chai Chee that serves Cantonese style dishes, recently (clockwise from top left):

~Sautéed Beef Tenderloin w/ Asparagus
~Baked Pork Ribs w/ Chef Special Sauce
~Stewed Eggplant w/ Minced Pork
~Stewed Chicken w/ Chinese Wine and Basil
~Crispy Squid Tentacles w/ Five Spice Salt & Deep Fried Crispy Beancurd w/ Salt and Pepper
~Deep Fried Crispy Homemade Vegetable Goose

I feel overall they’re a decent food option that won’t break the bank if you’re in the area. The dishes have a home-style feel to them, if you're looking for something comforting to eat. I’d recommend the beef, pork ribs and eggplant.

The ambience here at Here Kitty Kitty is really nice and vibrant, and it’s inspired by 1950s Shinjuku Nightlife (the falling autumn leaves added a nice touch too!). I tried several cocktails from their new cocktail menu created by mixologist Gary Mandobon (clockwise from top left).

~Mad Cat (Wild Turkey Rye, Amaro Averna, Campari, Orange Bitters)

~Ume Whisky Sour (Makers Mark, Apricot Liqueur, Ume, Lemon, Egg white)

~Watermelon Sugar (Don Julio Blanco, Cointreau, Lime, Watermelon)

~Sensei’s Old Fashioned (Suntory Kakubin, Laphroig 10, Oleo Saccharum, Aromatic Bitters)

The cocktails that I like are Mad Cat and Ume Whisky Sour. Both are enjoyable in their own respective ways, the Mad Cat has a bold and bittersweet flavour, while the Ume Whisky Sour is citrusy and textured! The Watermelon Sugar, a crowd favourite cocktail from their sister outpost in Las Vegas, will suit those looking for something that’s more fruity and sweet.

By the way, they also serve pretty good ‘Japas’ here too - moreish snacks that combine both Spanish & Japanese in the cooking techniques and ingredients, to go with your drinks!

Celebrated my birthday here at Bread Street Kitchen recently and the highlight was of course their signature Beef Wellington! Taste wise, it certainly met my expectations, as it tasted as good as I thought it would be! The pastry was crisp and flaky, while the beef was done to a perfect medium rare. The red wine sauce amplified the overall dish too! This paired well with the sides that came alongside it - truffle brie mashed potato & glazed carrots!

Had their Salted Egg Chicken Rice for dinner recently, and it was good! The chicken came nicely coated with a generous amount of thick and creamy salted egg sauce that was well-balanced without being jelak (perhaps the few pieces of keropok helped cut out some of those richness too). Will definitely be back again for this! Read that the owners here used to be from the famous Taste Good a few stalls down, but it does not really matter to me as the food is more important! Haha!

Decided to have the kway chap here for breakfast recently after walking past this stall so many times on my way to work. The kway chap was pretty good overall - the kway was not clumpy, and the soup had a clean herbaceous taste! As for the ingredients, they were tasty and parts like the intestines were thoroughly cleaned so there’s no smell! They are actually famous for their duck rice, so will try that next time!

Had a wonderful meal over at JinHonten, a brand new concept by the Les Amis Group recently, where I enjoyed their 10-course omakase dinner ($450++; 8-course lunch is $180++) skilfully prepared by Head Chef Issey Araki.

Each course from start to finish was so exquisite! Every dish was so fresh and delicious, and prepared using ingredients airflown mainly from Japan! My favourites were the Steamed Kuro Awabi (tender black abalone, paired with a richly addictive abalone liver sauce!), Nodoguro “Benihitomi” Hand Roll (crispy roasted nori sheets filled with meaty fillets of blackthroat seaperch - yummy!), Charcoal Grilled Hida Beef (perfectly cooked to a nice texture - this is so, so good!), and Kegani Donabe Rice (each grain of rice has been infused with umami flavours of the Hokkaido hairy crab, making the whole dish so flavourful)!

The delectable food, beautifully designed dining interior, great service, plus Chef’s ‘showmanship’ made this a truly memorable dining experience!

[1. Appetiser] - Murasaki Uni | Botan Ebi
[2. Steam] - Kuro Awabi
[3. Hand Roll] - Nodoguro “Benihitomi”
[4. Sashimi] - Menuke
[5. Shabu Shabu] - Kinki
[6. Deep Fried] - Shiro Ebi
[7. Refreshment] - Nasu
[8. Charcoal Grilled] - Hida Beef
[9. Donabe Rice] - Kegani
[10. Dessert] - Musk Melon (not pictured)

If you’re a fan of kueh lapis, you might want to check out Mdm Ling Bakery’s latest addition to their menu - Kueh Lapis Legit (‘legit’ here means ‘rich in taste’ in Bahasa Indonesia). These multi-layered cakes are soft, moist, buttery and not too sweet. There are 4 flavours - Signature Original, Pandan, Chocolate & Hawthorn that come encased in a Peranakan-inspired gift box. The Signature Original and Pandan flavours are my favourites! This would certainly be a good gifting option for your loved ones.

The Best of Kueh Lapis Legit (4-piece set) is priced at $78 per box, and for a limited time only, take 10% off and enjoy a special launch price of $70.20. Order now at https://www.mdmlingbakery.com/.

P.S. What you see in my post is just a small portion of each kueh lapis legit; each piece is much bigger and you can check @mdmlingbakery for the actual size.

We visited Taikoo Lane Hotpot recently to try their latest soup base - Pork Ribs Soup! For those of you who aren't a fan of spicy broths, this is a good alternative. This soup base is really comforting and tasty, and comes with chunks of tender pork ribs, corn, carrot and daikon. If you are in the mood for something spicier but don’t want the usual mala, you can consider trying their Green Peppers soup broth that we also had. We liked how fragrant and piquant this soup base tasted!

Both of these go well with their fresh hotpot ingredients like sliced meats (beef, pork, chicken), vegetables and more! You can also order dishes from their sister brand Chengdu Bowl such as Crispy Fried Meat in a Trolley, Braised Pork Belly, Lala Clams in Spicy Sauce (this is good!) to enjoy together with the hotpot.

PROMO: In celebration of Father's Day, Taikoo Lane is offering its Gentlemen's Privilege promotion from now till the end of June 2022. For every table with,
~1 gent (15% off)
~2 gents (25% off)
~3 gents (35% off)
~4 gents and above (50% off)

Being a huge lover of Lor Mee, I have always wanted to check out the reputable Feng Zhen Lor Mee, and I finally did so recently at their newest outlet in Yishun! This outlet serves 2 kinds of Lor Mee - Traditional Lor Mee ($4/6) and Fish Lor Mee ($6/8). The most important component in any bowl of Lor Mee is the gravy, and this one here is deliciously well-balanced without being too overly thick or diluted. I personally prefer the Traditional Lor Mee, as there’s more of a variety in terms of ingredients (love their homemade pork meatballs especially!) as compared to the Fish Lor Mee. All in all, Lor Mee lovers should definitely check them out!