Deep Fried Baby Squid

Deep Fried Baby Squid

My family and I had an opportunity to sample the Deep Fried Baby Squid at Fisher's Tavern Seafood restaurant at the Pasir Ris Town Park near the Fishing and Prawning Ponds.

Our Deep Fried Baby Squid was presented in a white leaf-shaped plate filled with a pile of curly brown squids. Coated with sesame seeds, the gloss over the squids was tantalising. Each squid had a cup-like body that sprouted curly tentacles fixed in rigor mortis. Those who hate seafood may change their minds after trying this fried baby squids.

When I sank my teeth onto one of the cute little baby squids, the crispy babies had just the right amount of crunchiness. The seasoning was sweet with a hint of chilli. With each bite, the burst of sesame oil released a heavenly taste. The tentacles were especially crunchy, yet possessed a surprising softness on the inside.

This deep fried Baby Squid was one dish that my family members could not have enough of.

Recommendation:
Score for Deep Fried Baby Squid = 9 out of 10

Saffron-Laced Basmati Rice

Saffron-laced Basmati Rice

I am a "rice-bin" kind of person. When I eat out at restaurants, I often look for rice to complement my dishes. The yellow (saffron) laced Basmati Rice at Muthu's Curry in Suntec City was chosen as my staple recently.

Presentation-wise, I like the colour and wholeness of the yellow rice grains, without broken bits and bent grains. Spices that are added like the star-anise tend to interfere with chewing if I am not careful about separating them out before spooning into my mouth.

Their basmati rice comes in a slender-shaped grain, coated with North Indian spices. While the texture was firm, the grains tasted too mild for my liking. It would improve a lot if more spices had been used to coat the basmati rice grains.

On top of its mild flavour, the basmati rice was a tad too dry. Perhaps this might have contributed to its disappointing lack of taste.

You could use the gravy from the main dishes to improve the taste of the basmati rice. But then, I could have paid less for plain white-grained rice to do that in the first place.

Recommendation:
Score for Yellow Basmati Rice, Muthu's Curry = 6 out of 10.

Muthu's Curry Tandoori Chicken

Muthu's Curry Tandoori Chicken

This plate of Tandoori Chicken from Muthu's Curry at Suntec City branch is a wonderfully delicious North Indian dish. I was in Suntec City and had a chance to sample the Tandoori Chicken recently.

Their Tandoori Chicken appeared as a tantalising fiery red pieces of fowl, covered with streaks of burnt bits. Before my first bite, I suspected that it could be spicy. The initial suspicion was confirmed after taking a few tentative bites.

The piece of Tandoori Chicken that I ate felt soft to my palate. The chicken flesh gave way easily between my teeth, releasing its aromatic fragrance. The Tandoori Chicken marinate was a giddy mix of sweetness and spiciness.

As I have a low threshold for hot and spicy stuff, I needed gulps of ice water to wash away the hotness after devouring a large piece of Tandoori Chicken.

Recommendation:
Score for Muthu's Curry Tandoori Chicken = 8 out of 10. Would be higher if chilli concentration could be lowered.

Fried Shrimp, Tony Roma Suntec City

Picture: Tony Roma Fried Shrimp is next to the corn.

Fried Shrimp Tony Roma Suntec City

The fried Shrimp came as part of the Family Feast that was served at the Suntec City branch of Tony Roma.

I like seafood, especially prawns and shrimps. However the Tony Roma fried shrimp that's lightly breaded and fried to a golden brown crisp did not turn out as expected.

I have tasted fried shrimps that were more crunchy and tasty than Tony Roma's. The breaded coat was rather insipid and not crunchy. The shrimp felt a little too dry and tough to bite. I suggest using the cocktail sauce to enhance the flavour of the Fried Shrimp.

Recommendation:
Score for Tony Roma Fried Shrimp = 5.5 out of 10.

Side Dish: Tony Roma Corn

Side Dish: Tony Roma Corn

I love the corns that come as a side dish in Tony Roma's Family Feast.

The Tony Roma corns looked a healthy yellow. Unlike those sallow pieces that have been squeezed of moisture like some supermarket corns that often appear in tin cans that you add as a side dish at home.

The individual grains of corn offered a robust bite, with enough juice in this side dish to keep the mouth moist. The corn had intrinsic sweetness that was not due to added sugar. If you like to coat your corn with butter that comes with the Family Feast, the combination of butter and corn sweetness with thrill your tastebuds to no end.

Unfortunately, I could not get enough of the corn side dish as I had to share the portions with other family members who were also enthusiatic over it.

I surprised myself at my fondness for the corns, as I am usually considered to be a "rice bin" person. I'm glad I switch the side dish from rice to corn instead. If you have not tried these, do consider having a go at them.

Recommendation:

Overall score for Tony Roma corn as a side dish = 9 out of 10.

Tony Roma BBQ Chicken

Picture of Tony Roma Family Feast with BBQ Chicken (arrowed)

Tony Roma BBQ Chicken

I sampled the BBQ Chicken of Tony Roma's Family Feast. Earlier I've also talked about the St Louise-styled ribs.

Presentation-wise, the well tanned thick slabs of chicken looked tantalising. The dark BBQ stripes on the well-glazed chicken skin signaled to me that it was hot off the BBQ grill and appeared very appetising.

One small bite on the Tony Roma BBQ Chicken revealed its soft, juicy and fleshy meat. It's got that wholesome chicken flavour that makes the tongue lust for more. The secret BBQ sauce that Tony Roma used to cook their BBQ chicken tasted sweet and thrilled my tastebuds.

This is one of the better BBQ chicken that I've tasted, that doesn't come with a thick coat of batter. I prefer it this way was batter coating often adds an unnecessary layer that masks the chicken taste.

Recommendation:

Score for Tony Roma BBQ Chicken = 8.5 out of 10.

Beef Soup, Din Tai Fung

Beef Soup, Din Tai Fung

I sampled this beef soup at Din Tai Fung Restaurant at Tampines Mall tonight and discovered that it was one of the better beef soup that I have tasted so far.

Din Tai Fung's beef soup comes a a white porcelain bowl filled with a clear broth. The beef soup is really tasty, sweet, not too oily and does not have any overpowering beef aroma. I liked the beef soup as it doesn't come with any herbal ingredients to mess up the beef flavour.

There were about 5 thick slices of beef that were succulent, soft to bite and flavourful. The individual fibres of beef could be teased apart easily using my teeth without getting stuck between teeth. The beef flavour was intact and it gave a warm feeling as it glided down my throat smoothly.

Recommendation:
Overall score = 9 out of 10. Perfect score if more pieces of beef and larger sized soup bowl filled to the brim with tasty soup.

St Louis-Style Ribs

St Louis-Style Ribs

I liked the St Louis-Style ribs of Tony Roma, Suntec City restaurant. This was part of the Family Feast that I tried recently at Tony Roma.

Picture: Tony Roma's Family Feast with St Louis-style ribs featured.

The St. Louis-style ribs were finger-linkingly sweet. The meat on the rib has a consistent texture that releases the flavours with each chew. I was able to seperate the meat from the ribs with ease and wasted none of it as I licked it until rib-bone dry.

Pity that the St Louis-style ribs did not come with more pieces in the Family Feast. Perhaps next time, I might order the St Louis-style ribs only.

Family Feast, Tony Roma

Family Feast at Tony Roma

This huge plate of yummy goodies is known as the "Family Feast". I sampled the Family Feast at Tony Roma in Suntec City's dining restaurants.

Picture of Tony Roma's Family Feast.

The Family Feast comes with popular samplers from Tony Roma's menu that a family of three to five would be happy to feast with. Whether the Family Feast can satisfy hunger for such families really depend on the stomach capacities of individual family members.

I suggest you do not try the Family Feast on a first date, or with another small eater. You may end up gorging yourself silly on such a high calorie, high fat meal. You would also not want to waste any food on the Family Feast menu.

Try the Family Feast at Tony Roma if you can afford to bring family or a group of friends along to taste test it.

Price of Family Feast = $62 before GST

I will comment on the individual items on Family Feast meal later.

"Har Gao": Shrimp Dumpling

"Har Gao": Shrimp Dumpling

I took a bite of this Har Gao or Shrimp (Prawn) Dumpling dish at Xin Wang Cafe Restaurant in White Sands Shopping Centre.

The Har Gao (Shrimp Dumpling) came in threes inside a bamboo basket. First impression was that the Har Gao / Shrimp Dumpling looked rather small in size. One piece of the Shrimp Dumpling also had a tear on its rice flour skin.

One bite of the Har Gao made up for the average presentation. The texture of the prawn was firm to bite, with a springy chewy not mushy feel. The skin was a little too starchy for my liking. I appreciated the taste of the prawn dumpling, better than some other restaurant's Har Gao / Prawn Dumpling. The skin tasted rather flat, as does most other stall's Har Gao skin.

For the price of $2.50 for three pieces of Har Gao / Shrimp Dumpling, I considered it of moderate value.

Recommendation:

Score for Har Gao / Shrimp Dumpling = 6.5 out of 10.

Eating Places Singapore: Fried Carrot Cake

Eating Places Singapore: Fried Carrot Cake

There are many eating places in Singapore. Some eating places I go because of the recommended food. Some Singapore eating places I go because of the convenience. Some eating places in Singapore I go because of the ambience. Some eating places like foodcourts I go in Singapore because it is the cheapest option to eat out.

The foodcourt at Simei's Eastpoint Mall Shopping Centre is one of those eating places in Singapore that I went to recently because of the prices.

I tried eating their fried carrot cake. They prepare both 'white' and 'black' versions of the friend carrot cake. I saw the queue at this eating place for the fried carrot cake and was tempted to give it a try.

I chose to eat the black fried carrot cake as I like it that way. They used plenty of sweet sauce which is the way I like. However, the oil that was used to fry the carrot cake was also very generously poured all over the hot work.

With one egg mixed into the wok and the carrot cake, the smell was inviting. The texture of the carrot cake was fairly soft, very sweet and the egg gave it an added robustness. But the oil drip was not a positive.

Overall, this simple dish is easy to prepare but hard to reproduce to a standard that everybody will appreciate. Perhaps next time I shall ask the lady to save the oil for another customer.

The dish is halal certified.

Recommendation:

Overal score for fried carrot cake = 7 out of 10.

Hokkien Noodle, EastPoint Mall Foodcourt

Hokkien Noodle, EastPoint Mall Foodcourt

This Hokkien Noodle dish served at the foodcourt in EastPoint Mall is halal. I tried it some time ago and discovered a new eating place in Simei.

Taste-wise, I must say that it is different from the usual hokkien mee that I've tried. The noodles have a springy texture and are less soggy than those that I regularly eat. The gravy sauce used in this hokkien noodle dish looks clearer and tastes more watery but it is still sweet.

I realise that the most important aspect of hokkien noodle is its prawn paste. Sadly, the prawn taste was severely lacking in their version. Even the prawns that was used lacked the taste of a juicy prawn.

As I like my hokkien prawn noodle with a thicker and richer prawn paste, I am afraid that I can't score this dish highly. Those who like simple noodles in a clear watery sauce will like this Hokkien noodle dish.

It is different from the Hokkien noodles that use thick prawn (hae-bee) paste. The good thing about this cersion that is served at Eastpoint Mall foodcourt is that it is a much healthier choice.

Recommendation:

Score for hokkien noodle dish = 6.5 out of 10.