Through sale of items/merchandise, as well as donations by customers, Food For Thought raises money for these causes. One clever idea is, while they do not charge for water, they encourage customers to donate $2 towards Living Water International so that clean water can be provided for someone in Africa for a year.

Even the idea for the lighting at their Queen Street joint was birthed out of a desire to recycle pasta sauce jars.

While I am no tree-hugger, I applaud them for their efforts in helping make the world a better place…which is why I feel like such a *bleep* for what I am about to write.

Before I continue, let me first qualify that it was my first time there, and perhaps it is not fair to judge them based on that one visit and the few items I ordered. Still, I believe I have to be objective, despite all the good that they are doing.

As I looked through the menu, one thought that struck me was that they had quite a limited range of food items. Four breakfast items, four types of sandwiches, four kinds of salad, four mains (actually five, but Steamed Lemongrass Sea Bass was scratched out from the menu), five pasta dishes (all Linguine), four risotto dishes, and four desserts. The rest of the menu was taken up by either sides or drinks.

While I had heard positive reviews about their sandwiches, they were only served till 5.30pm. And since I didn’t really feel like having pasta, I was restricted to the mains.

I opted for the Crispy Curry Chicken and Spicy Chilli Fries because (1) I like crispy chicken, (2) I like curry, (3) I like spicy fries. The menu also said that the dish would come with buttery corn salad and roasted tomatoes. I like corn, and I love roasted tomatoes, so it was quite a no brainer actually. To top it all off, it was a Chef’s Recommendation!

(Also because the other dishes seemed a little too funky for my liking…for example, Chai Spice Brûlée Salmon, Hoisin Har Cheong Baby Back Ribs, and Really Good Steak with Blue Cheese Butter. If the Lemongrass Sea Bass was available, I would’ve gone for that, but alas…)

I also ordered the Mushrooms with Bacon and Onions as a starter. I must say that I was underwhelmed by the presentation as it came in a little ramekin with some shredded spring onions strewn across the top as garnish. The mushrooms looked like they were a tad overdone as they were too black. The bacon was not crisp as it was soaked in oil, and the onions were too caramelised, such that they added a strange sweetness to the mushrooms and bacon.

The Crispy Curry Chicken arrived shortly. The portion was huge, if nothing else. It was basically just a breaded chicken cutlet that was either fried and sprinkled with curry powder (or vice-versa). The fries were overly salted…and the tomatoes were NOT roasted.

Those who know me, know that I love fried chicken. Any kind of fried chicken. So, when I say the best part of that meal was the salad…well, I guess that says it all. The wife ordered the Creamy Beef Striploin Linguine…but that was nothing to write home about either.

Throughout the meal, two words kept going through my head as I ate…cafeteria food.

Like I said earlier, I could have ordered the wrong item on the menu. But for what it’s worth, if I don’t like something even though it is my favourite food, then maybe something is not quite right. By the end, even the dessert could not save the meal. The Crème Brûlée of the Day seemed to be green tea flavoured. Let’s just say I stopped at two spoonfuls…even though I usually like crème brûlée.

Food For Thought seems like a great place because of all the causes they support. The staff was friendly, and the service decent.

If only they’d put a little more thought into the food.
 
Food For Thought is at:

8 Queen Street
Singapore 188535
Tel: +65 6338 9887
 

Apparently, Bakmi Ayam Alok is another chain…but like the previous post, I was very pleasantly surprised.

Our friends ordered one bowl each, and each serving came with a generous helping of free-range “kampung” chicken (and spring onions, just the way I like it). Lean, but yet not dry or hard…and very tasty! Seems like exercise also does wonders for chickens.

The noodles were also done the way I like it…with a bit of bite. Also, the soup that came with it was very fragrant and full of flavour. I am assuming that they boil the chicken bones down for a long time, till they get a really rich broth or stock…and that broth/stock is the base for everything else. Even the wanton soup.

They also ordered this fried, flour-ball looking thing…some kind of dumpling, I would presume. Don’t know what it is called, but it was good nonetheless.
 

Unidentified flour ball

 
 
As with everything else we have eaten so far during our trip, the chilli made the difference. There was a container of chilli on every table, and you could add as much as you wanted.

Anyway, this meal rounded off the trip to Jakarta. It was a good end to a good trip.

*burp*

Update: Just found out that the unidentified flour balls are called bakso goreng.
 
Bakmi Ayam Alok is at:

Jalan Mangga II
Blok B No. 38
Greenville, Jakarta Barat
Jakarta,
Indonesia
Tel: +62 21 5687417

(Actually, Singapore probably has more anything per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world, due to its small size…)

Seafood in Singapore is generally quite good. The bad thing about seafood in Singapore is the price. Based on current estimates, a 1kg Sri Lankan crab will set you back about $50 to $60. For that amount of money, you can probably get a full seafood dinner at one of our regional neighbours.

Case in point, during our last night in Jakarta, our friends brought us to this seafood restaurant that is walking distance from their home. It was a good thing they called ahead to make reservations, as the place is usually packed every night.

Like any good seafood restaurant, there will be a place where you can pick out the “live” seafood that you want for dinner later.
 

Picking your dinner is an experience in itself

 
 
After you have picked out what you want, the staff will take it to be weighed, and then to the kitchen for preparation. There’s nothing left to do but wait…and eat, of course.

The first dish out of the kitchen was the chilli crab. Most versions of the dish in Singapore are usually too sweet, and not spicy enough (for me at least). The chilli crab at Saung Grenvil came with their own interpretation of the sauce (which they call Padang sauce). It wasn’t the best chilli crab I’ve had, nor the meatiest (the best is still my mum-in-law’s…hint, hint), but the sauce had a kick to it! I was practically drinking the sauce like it was a soup.

The chilli crab seemed to be the house speciality as every table had a dish of chilli crab.
 

Chilli crab with kick!

 
 
Next were the fish dishes…the ikan gurame and ikan bakar. These are the two fish dishes that you MUST have when you are in Indonesia. Ikan bakar is barbecued fish, and is eaten with chilli and a sweet black sauce. Ikan gurame is…well…fish that is sliced, fanned out, and deep-fried. As with everything else in Indonesia, the secret lies in the chilli…
 

Ikan Gurame…it’s the presentation that counts

Ikan Bakar

 
 
Our friends also ordered bamboo clams, which would normally have cost a bomb in Singapore. I’m not a clam person, so I didn’t really fancy this dish…but I did try a bit. And with both green and red chillies, you can imagine the spiciness level on this one.
 

Bamboo Clams…the chilli is enough to make anyone clam up

 
 
It was a good meal…but the best part was, it cost about SG$60.
 

Ikan Gurame, beheaded

 
 
The next time you need cheap and good seafood, it might be best to leave our shores. As they always say, the seafood is cheaper on the other side…
 
Saung Grenvil is at:

Kompleks Greenville Blok AV 12A
Jakarta Barat
Jakarta, Indonesia
Tel: +62 21 5659517

Sate Khas Senayan (sate is pronounced ‘satay’) seems to be a popular family restaurant chain in Indonesia (kind of like Applebee’s, Denny’s or Hooters*)…you know, the kind you take your family to lunch after church on a Sunday afternoon? Anyhow, I was a little skeptical about the quality of the food at first, but the tauhu telur won me over instantly. It was like no tauhu telur I had ever tasted. The nuts were a nice touch. I am a nut for nuts, so maybe this was why…
 
 

THE tauhu telur to beat…

 
 
You would think sambal kangkong is just sambal kangkong…right? Wrong! For a country with more than 100 varieties of sambal (one for every dish), you would expect them to use the right one for this dish…and they nailed it. This was not your usual run-of-the-mill insipid, limp, over-cooked sambal kangkong (and dripping with oil) at your neighbourhood zhi char stall. Speaking of insipid, limp, over-cooked sambal kangkong, you might want to give the one at Soup Restaurant a miss (it deserves it’s own blog post altogether).
 
 

Hot sambal kangkong…in all senses of the word

 
 
For a place with the word “sate” in it’s name, we just had to order satay…but this was no ordinary satay. It was made entirely of…get ready for this…GRILLED CHICKEN SKIN!

I mean, like…how AWESOME is THAT?!
 
 

Chicken skin satay…delightfully sinful, sinfully delightful

 
 
The satay sauce was a bit too sweet for my liking though, and too smooth/creamy. I’m a chunky peanut butter kind of guy…the chunkier, the better.

Then, there was the tauhu pong. I know many of you are now thinking of stinky toufu, but this is not it. Instead, it is like a cross between taupok and taukwa, and fried till it puffs up and splits open…light, airy, and crispy. Dip it into prawn paste, and you got a real winner!
 
 

Tauhu Pong…no smell, just good beancurd

 
 
To round off the meal, I had soursop juice. This wasn’t soursop syrup with bits of soursop in it. This was like soursop ice-blended. REAL soursop.
 
 

Tall, cool, refreshing

 
 
Eating at Sate Khas Senayan gave me lots of food for thought (pun intended). It is clearly a chain, and yet, the food is really good. Maybe because they use real ingredients (I mean, none of that processed stuff). Maybe because the ingredients are really fresh and plentiful. Or maybe, the chef just takes pride in each dish…not like franchised joints where the standard drops after a while.

Whatever the case, I hope they don’t change. The world needs more places like this…
 
 
Sate Khas Senayan is at a lot of places. The one we were at is:

Kelapa Gading
Inkopal Blok C, 21-22
Tel: +62 21 4585 9080
 
 
*I’m not kidding. I once saw an ad which promoted Hooters as a family restaurant.
 

I was expecting a restaurant, so when we pulled into what seemed like a driveway of a house, I was puzzled. Turns out that the restaurant IS a house. Well, at least the first floor of the house had been turned into a restaurant. Apparently, the family still lives upstairs.

It gave the place a very nice, homely feel…especially with the piano standing against a wall. The entire first floor had been converted into a restaurant, including the living room and the patio outside. I guess it helped that our friends knew the owners…rather, they had gone there often enough to know the owners. The warm welcome given was exactly what you’d expect when you visit a friend’s home. Could also be that Indonesians are just warm and welcoming by nature.

We were seated outside on the patio. It was a beautiful evening, and coupled with the cool weather in Bandung, made for an absolutely perfect setting. The only drawback about sitting outside in the evenings, is that it gets rather dim. You can hardly see what it is you are eating by the light of the little tea-lights at each table…but I supposed that only heightens your sense of taste.
 
 

the tea-lights and menu…shot at high ISO, like everything else

 
 
Anyway, let’s get to the main point…

The wife makes pretty decent cream of broccoli soup, so I suppose wherever we go that has the same thing, we just have to order to see how it measures up. Turns out this was just a little bit less than perfect. Of course it’s a biased opinion. The roasted pumpkin soup was pretty darn good…but then again, I love pumpkin soup. It has to be really bad before I write it off. Note to self…I have to try to make it from scratch some day. Shouldn’t be too hard…I think.
 
 

broccoli and pumpkin soup…not in the same bowl of course

 
 
I ordered the Prime Ribeye Steak (Black Angus, no less), and the wife had the Filet Mignon (oooooohhhh…)

I like my steaks au naturel — grilled or pan-fried with just a little salt and pepper — so when it came smothered in mushroom sauce, I was quite disappointed. True enough, the sauce masked the taste of the beef. The wife’s Filet Mignon was also covered in sauce, and frankly, looked more like a hamburger steak than a Filet Mignon. The sides were interesting though…what we thought was a pear turned out to be potato. Ta-dah!
 
 

Prime Black Angus Ribeye…too bad about the sauce though

Filet Mignon, with the “pear” in the background

 
 
Our friends had the Waroeng Ethnic pork rib. I suppose if they have the name of the establishment in the dish, it means that it would be good…and it was (point to note)! It was basted with a sweet, spicy, tangy sauce, and grilled almost to perfection (i.e. juicy, tender, meat falling off the bones). I say almost, because it wasn’t quite as charred as I would’ve like it to be…but that’s just me being picky.
 
 

THE Waroeng Ethnic Pork Rib

 
 
Waroeng Ethnic is at:

Rancabentang 18,
Ciumbuleuit,
Bandung, Indonesia 40142
Tel: +62 22 7083 2275

A few weeks ago, my better half pointed out a special deal on Facebook by the Shangri-La Hotel (Singapore). Apparently, if you “liked” their Facebook page and jumped through a couple more (minor) hoops, you could have the chance to eat at ANY of their in-house restaurants for up to 50 percent off!!

Now being the cynic that I am, I’ve conditioned myself to think that if anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, a couple of years ago, Shangri-La was the hotel which gave diners a discount which matched their age…so, I thought I’d just give it a shot.

Anyhow, turns out that the deal was the…err…real deal.

You could have your pick of any in-house restaurant (i.e. The Line, Shang Palace, Blue, etc.) but since we have been to The Line and Shang Palace with our families (and we like Japanese food), we picked Nadaman. Also because we heard so much about it, and how it was like the holy grail of Japanese food in Singapore…arguably (but could be only because it is really expensive).

As an aside, in my ignorance, I used to think that Nadaman was a strange name for a Japanese restaurant because it sounded like an Indian superhero. It was only today that I found out the restaurant was named after its founder – Nadaya Mansuke – and the one at Shangri-La is only one of many in Asia (usually found at exclusive department stores and top hotels). Given their penchant for shortening the names of everything, it was only natural that the restaurant was called Nadaman. While reading more of its history online, I also found that it is an institution in itself. It had its roots in the 1800s in Osaka, and has since grown to cover China, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong (not to mention many parts of Japan as well).

So, the fear of nuclear contamination notwithstanding, we made reservations two weeks ago for lunch today…and with great anticipation, headed there at noon. We were shown to our table and given the menu. I flipped it open and stifled a gasp. They weren’t kidding when they said this place was expensive. It is definitely not your regular run-of-the-mill Japanese restaurants like Sakae Sushi, and if not for the 50 percent deal, I probably would not even dare step in.

As with every Japanese restaurant I go to, I flipped the menu to the page titled ‘Sashimi’. My eyes ran down the page and paused at each item before glancing over at the price. A serving of salmon sashimi (shake) will set you back $25, while tuna (maguro) costs $40. The next item on the list was toro (tuna belly). That will lighten your wallet by $90…eeks. Bear in mind that each serving is FIVE slices. You go do the math…

In the end, I figured you only live once…and such deals don’t come by too often. So, I bit the bullet and ordered the shake, maguro and toro sashimi. The restaurant also had a teppanyaki special for the month of May. The one thing that caught my eye was the tokusen kuroge wagyu sirloin. I didn’t know what tokusen kuroge was, but I knew wagyu and sirloin, and it was good enough. I don’t remember having had wagyu beef before, but I have heard much about it and seen it sold at Japanese supermarkets. The steak also came with a radish and apple sauce, but that was besides the point. The wife ordered some set meal that seemed to have everything…but most importantly, there was grilled cod and chawanmushi (steamed egg custard).

The service was top-notch…and what I noticed was there were also quite a few Japanese staff. Presumably they had a regular Japanese clientele…and in the time we were there, I counted no less than five tables with Japanese customers. It only served to affirm our choice of restaurant. You know my theory. If any nationality eats at a restaurant from their home country, the food is definitely authentic.

Soon, the food came. The sashimi was served first. I popped a slice of toro in my mouth, and was immediately sent to sashimi heaven. I can’t describe it. It was fresh, firm, tender, sweet…and you could taste the fat of the tuna as it melted over your tongue. The shake and maguro were similarly fresh…definitely not something that has gone round and round for hours on a conveyor belt.

The wife’s chawanmushi was soft and silky smooth, and just slid down your throat. The rest of the set came, and the grilled cod with teriyaki sauce was simply delicious.

The wagyu sirloin was next to arrive…and it was everything I dreamt it would be. The marbling was fantastic, and the steak was done to perfection. I wanted it medium, and it was juicy, tender and melt-in-your-mouth…literally. The grilled vegetables on the side were a huge plus…not to mention the crispy sliced garlic, fried to a golden-brown.
 
 

the wagyu steak…to die for

 
 
While eating, I had no doubt that the food was of the best quality…close to, if not the same, as what one would get in Japan. You could taste the difference. The Japanese are known for not compromising on quality, so as an authentic Japanese restaurant, you can be sure what you get at Nadaman is really good stuff. Of course the price is on the high side, but you get what you pay for. I’m glad the 50 percent discount helped to lessen the pain by…err…half.

This place needs no recommendation because it speaks for itself. Eating there is almost like going to Japan, and I’m glad I had the opportunity to try it out today (thanks to the wife). Now I can die a happy man.

Nadaman is at:

Shangri-La Hotel
22 Orange Grove Road
Singapore 258350
Tel: +65 6213 4571

Many people are familiar with satay, but not everyone knows what satay celup is. ‘Celup’ means dip, in Malay. So, satay celup is…well…dipping satay (or satay dipping), I guess. It is similar in concept, yet different in content. You still dip skewered food into satay sauce, but instead of the usual seasoned meats, satay celup has more variety. You have fishballs, deep-fried wan-tons, mushrooms, ngoh hiang, etc. Even kang-kong on a stick (now I have seen everything)!

As far as I am aware, there are not many satay celup places in Singapore. So, to find one near home was…well…quite a find. With great anticipation, we made a reservation for eight people, and descended on Malacca Celup like a swarm of locusts. Our first impression was “This place is so clean!” (compared to the one we were familiar with in Malacca). In Malacca, we know for a fact that they recycle the pot of satay sauce at each table, and leave it for the next customer. “Adds to the flavour!” quipped one of my friends. Over at Malacca Celup though, we were pretty sure that the sauce is NOT recycled, and each pot they bring out is a fresh one.
 

The all important pot of satay sauce…mmmmm

 
 
With great eagerness we studied the menu. Each stick costs between $1.00 and $1.50, depending on the item. While we didn’t ask if there was an a la carte menu, we all went for the buffet which was $16.90 for adults. There was also a young child (2-years-old) in our midst, but we did not ask whether there was a child price (more on this later).

This is how it works. One is supposed to order by writing down the serial number and quantity of whichever item one fancied. After looking at the menu, we figured it would be easier to write down what we did not want. One of the group then decided it would be much easier to just ask the waiter to bring two of EVERYTHING on the menu (minus the two items we did not want).
 

One of everything, on one tray

 
 
The waiter was stunned for a while, but he recovered quickly and proceeded to place our order with the kitchen. To be fair to our friend, it was indeed a far more efficient way to order. After all, there were around 30 different items on the menu, and two of each would mean 60 to 70 sticks. Between eight people, we were sure that we would be able to finish all the food.

The skewers of food and the all important pot of satay sauce were soon brought out. The pot was placed in a hole at the centre of the table (which had an induction heater below it). The food was brought out in two trays. While two of everything sounded like a lot, the items on the trays looked far less imposing. To seasoned buffet veterans, this would be a cinch. Ordering everything also gives you a chance to try out the food first, so that you would know what to go for the next round.
 

They even serve quail’s eggs and century eggs (with ginger)!

Dipping food into the sauce

 
 
Anyway, after waiting impatiently for the pot of satay sauce to come to a boil, we quickly tucked in. We enjoyed ourselves tremendously. Eating food from sticks seems to encourage this casual laid-back feel, and brings out the kid in everyone. The food itself was pretty ok…after all, how badly can one screw up fishballs, button mushrooms, etc? The all important satay sauce wasn’t the best I’ve had, but I guess to be able to dip your food in, it cannot be too thick. It could have been spicier though. The waiter did give us a small dish of fresh sambal chili upon request, and it had a kick (not the level-30 spicy wings kind of kick, but a kick nonetheless)! I must say the service was pretty good, and the staff are quite accommodating (although, I think our large group kind of overwhelmed and even frightened them).

The only downer was the dessert. After enjoying ourselves, we wanted to take the Malacca experience a bit further, and try the chendol. Unfortunately, it fell far short of the standard we have been used to in Malacca. When I need my chendol fix, the only chendol that can make up for the one in Malacca is at Different Taste Cafe (along Frankel Avenue). Too bad I cannot add Malacca Celup to that list.
 

The disappointing chendol…that came with sweet corn

 
 
Back to the point about the child price. It was probably our own fault for not checking as we assumed that children under a certain age would not have to pay the full child price of $14.90 for the buffet. However, it was only after I returned home that I realised the 2-year-old kid was charged the full price of $14.90 for eating a couple of sticks. To be fair to Malacca Celup though, they did not charge us for the chendol after we voiced our disappointment.
 

The Aftermath

Taking stock of the damage…131 sticks in total
(not a lot by our standards)

 
 
All in all, it was a good dinner…a nice place to go and have fun with friends and family, but not the best satay celup we have had. As one of my friend’s said, maybe it was because the place was too clean.
 
 
Malacca Celup is at:

115 East Coast Road
Singapore 428804
Tel: 63440860
 
 
Update – The mother of the 2-year-old just clarified that all her kid had were some cucumber cubes (and half a fishball to convince him that the sauce would be too spicy for him). Definitely nothing that would warrant paying $14.90 for.

Update #2 – After contacting them, the manager immediately offered a refund of $14.90 which was subsequently transferred to my friend’s account without fuss.
 
 

cinnamon sticks

 
 
I got the idea for doing this while sauteing onions and mushrooms on previous occasions. After all, if you can saute onions and mushrooms, why not apples too?

I suppose you can serve sauteed apples with anything, but what better than with waffles or pancakes for breakfast?

Step 1: Grab a green apple, and cut it into slices. I haven’t tried this with red apples, but I think green ones work better because they are a little sour (and so will go nicely with the sugar and cinnamon).
 

nice crunchy green apple

Step 2: Throw apple slices into a saucepan and saute with butter over low heat. Sprinkle a generous amount of brown sugar over the cooking apples and butter, and let it simmer for a while. The sugar will melt and caramelize into a nice golden-brown syrup together with the butter.
 

cooking the apple slices in butter

 
 
Step 3: Stir the apples, and make sure they become nice and cooked (and the butter/sugar mixture becomes golden brown). Sprinkle some cinnamon powder over the whole thing and let it simmer for a while more…
 

add brown sugar and cinnamon powder

 
 
After that’s done, just serve the sauteed apples over hot pancakes…mmmm…
 

tah-dah!

We decided to Google the place just to find out more about it, but there were few posts to be found. Seems like it was a pretty new place. One of the blog posts we found described it as a “French-style restaurant” because there was escargot (we later found out it was anything but). I had my reservations, but oh well…what did we have to lose? As I like the chill-out kind of ambience, we decided to go make a reservation for four (parents included) and check it out that very evening for dinner.

The restaurant is tucked away in a quiet (really quiet) little area in Changi called Cosford Road, off Upper Changi Road North, past Changi Prison on the way to Selarang Camp. The reason why it is called The Bunker is probably because it is where the Johore Battery is located (artillery…not Duracell), and was probably really a bunker in its day.

It was a nice drive, and as I used to be based at Selarang Camp, I was quite familiar with the area so I had no problems finding the place.
 

The Bunker…Bar, Bistro, Restaurant.
Perhaps it should just be Bar & Bistro.

 
 
As we pulled up, my first thought was that there was no parking lot. You had to park along the side of a narrow road, on the grass verge. As we were parking, we noticed more cars parked a short distance ahead…presumably to patronize the seafood restaurant at the end of the road.

Anyhow, my first impression of The Bunker was that it looked like a really nice place. It had modern decor, and looked a bit upmarket…kind of like Barracks at Dempsey (what’s with the military themed names anyway?)

There was outdoor seating that looked really nice, but we opted for air-conditioned indoor seating as it was a humid evening and we were warned about the mosquitoes.

When we went in, there was only one other table occupied…however, 15 minutes later, the place filled up pretty quickly. Not bad for a new place. We were glad we made reservations. The staff was polite and service was prompt. Our orders were taken, and we sat and waited.

Pretty soon, our orders arrived. First to arrive were the mushroom soup and clam chowder. The mushroom soup had a thick, rich, hearty, mushroomy taste which we really enjoyed. Like it was home-made from mushrooms that were freshly picked. Unfortunately, that was where the dinner peaked, and it started going downhill from there…after it began with so much promise. The clam chowder was only so-so. It was bland and a little too watery…and I could count the number of clams on one hand. I’ve actually had better clam chowder from a can…think it was from Marks and Spencer’s.
 

Cream of Forest Mushroom…the highlight of the meal

 
 
The escargot arrived a short while later. A serving of escargot does not a French restaurant make. Don’t know where the other blogger got the idea from. Anyhow, the menu described it as ‘Hazelnut Snails in Shell’. There was a generous serving of hazelnuts all over it (which was my favourite part of this dish), and each snail was stuffed with parsley butter. As it is being served at your table, the staff will pour a dash of white wine over the dish, light it, and serve it to your table flambé. I’m no expert in escargot, but that bit of showmanship aside, the snails were nothing to crow about (and they tasted a little bitter…are they supposed to taste bitter?) It would have been better with garlic though…a LOT more garlic.

Hazelnut Snails in shell

The Mushroom and Cheese fritters (with hollandaise sauce) weren’t bad, but they weren’t fantastic either. While the button mushrooms were juicy, the taste of the mushrooms and melted cheese did not quite come through so it was just ho-hum. May have been better with a stronger tasting cheese to give it bit more kick.
 

Mushroom and Cheese fritters

 
 
Next to arrive was the char-grilled ribeye steak. I had ordered it medium, but when I made the first cut, it was grey and cooked through. Just to be sure, I made a few more cuts towards the centre of the steak. It was the same. Over-cooked throughout. It was about this point of time that I had mentally written off this place, but I decided to give it one more shot.

I informed the non-native English speaking service staff that I had ordered my steak medium, but the one I got was well-done. She looked confused. “Well-done?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes…”, I replied. Realising the reason for her confusion, I clarified, “The steak is well-done, as in over-cooked. Not well done, as in good job (I actually did the two thumbs up sign).”

Perhaps that confused her even more. “Erm…?”, she offered.

“Could you please take it back?” I asked (really nicely). I usually make it a point never to send my food back at any establishment, lest I get a replacement that had a little bit more than I bargained for. However, this time round, it was just too much.

She understood this time, and went back to the kitchen with my plate. To their credit, I got the replacement really fast. I made a cut. Again, it was grey all the way through. I gave up, and just decided to eat in peace. For $28, the steak was a total disappointment. You can get much better steaks at Aston’s for half the price. Heck…even Botak Jones takes the effort to make sure that you get your steak in the right done-ness by asking you to check first when you get it.
 

Char-grilled Ribeye steak

 
 
In the meantime, the rest of the dishes came. My dad’s Lamb Chop Véronique looked really impressive (véronique is a term used to describe dishes garnished with seedless white grapes). There were three large pieces…most lamb chops I’ve seen in other places look miserable in comparison. However, quantity does not equal quality. As he was eating it, we discovered that it was the total opposite of my steak. As far as I know, lamb chops are meant to be cooked through with a little pink in the centre…however, this was totally undercooked, so much so that it looked raw in places. Also, I realised that the menu said char-grilled lamb chop with grape, bacon, and croutons in red wine jus (same sauce as the steak). Guess what? I did not see any grape, bacon or crouton. To give them the benefit of the doubt, maybe they went into the sauce. Anyhow, my dad is not the type to complain, so he just suffered the rest of the meal in silence.
 

Lamb Chop Véronique

 
 
The other main dish to arrive was the impressively named Pollo Marengo…essentially, pan-fried chicken in white wine and rosemary. Of the three main dishes, this was the tastiest and least disappointing. However, it was nothing to write home about.
 

Pollo Marengo

 
 
Back to my steak. After I had finished about half of it (the over-cooked half), I discovered that the other half was rare. I wasn’t sure if it was their idea of a joke (well-done + rare = medium?), but I was certain that this was not how a steak ought to be done. They had butchered the beef..in every sense of the word.

By this time, I had already made up my mind that The Bunker had bombed..and quite badly too.

As we finished off the meal, the service staff asked if we wanted dessert. At this point of time, I was really wondering if I should even have dessert, considering how the rest of the meal had gone. However, I looked through the dessert menu, and saw that there was tiramisu. I can never resist tiramisu, so I ordered it. If it was really good, perhaps it could be the redeeming factor of a meal that had so far bordered on disastrous. Besides, the staff said it was a speciality…and at $12.50, it had to be good. Right?

Wrong.

I had seen tiramisu served in a slice (like a cake), but I had never tasted tiramisu like this. The mascarpone layer (on the top) was not creamy. Instead, it was hard, and had the consistency of butter that had been refrigerated for a long time. The next layer was like a layer of cake, instead of the traditional Savoiardi biscuits (light, finger-sized sponge cakes, commonly known as ladyfingers). Even if this was not a sore-point, the cake layer was dry and did not seem like it had been soaked in coffee, not to mention a liqueur like Kahlua, rum or a sweet wine. I simply could not taste the coffee or the liqueur. Ironically, the wife liked it because she doesn’t like the taste of the alcohol in more traditional tiramisu. The tiramisu took the cake (pun not intended). I was now certain that I would never come back here.
 

A dry, desert-like dessert

 
 
The bill came up to about $125 for four people. While not overly expensive, it was overpriced for the quality of the food we had. The $125 would probably have been better spent at the seafood restaurant down the road. As we were leaving the place, the number of cars outside had increased, and it seemed most were parked outside the seafood restaurant. Maybe they knew something we didn’t.

To be fair, the service at The Bunker was pretty good and the ambience and presentation was nice…but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Same goes for any restaurant. Perhaps we ordered the “wrong” items, because we checked with the wife’s sister again…and also asked people who went subsequently. They all said that the food was ok. However, it seems that the people we asked had stuff like sandwiches, pizzas, finger food and the like. Now that’s not the true test of a restaurant…is it? Maybe The Bunker is just better at certain kinds of food than others…or maybe we were simply unfortunate enough to visit on a day when the kitchen had an “off” day…or maybe all this could be down to teething problems since they only opened a couple of months ago…

Anyhow, if you would still like to check out the place to chill-out over drinks and finger food, The Bunker is located at:

27 Cosford Road
Singapore 499549
Tel: 6466 9000
 
 

The building was completed about 14 years ago, but the design is really avant-garde and way ahead of its time then. Today, it would still grace any magazine on modern architecture. Anyhow, since this is not an architectural blog, I shall not get carried away.

While I was taken by the entire building and complex, it was the cafe that made the biggest impression on me…naturally. I hate using an over-cooked cliche, but it was “one with nature”. It was constructed outdoors, and built AROUND the existing greenery. So mindful were they of not destroying nature that a table was built around a tree. Yes, the table-top literally had a huge hole in it to accommodate a tree that they did not want to cut down. If I understood correctly, the benches, tables and some decor were also made from recycled wood. Which is why one of the signs had a lot of holes in it.
 

the “holey” sign…with the holes painted white

 
 
But back to the main point.

Since we just had lunch at Lisung before visiting the gallery, all I had was ginger coffee. Now, I really like ginger tea, but this was the first time I heard of ginger coffee, and I was really looking forward to it. However, it was a bit of a let down. Basically, it was coffee flavoured with ginger. In fact, I am not sure whether the ginger was infused into the coffee, or if the taste was supposed to come from the little piece of ginger on the end of a stick that you were supposed to stir the coffee with…kind of like a cinnamon stick. Whatever the case, the taste did not really come through. Maybe I should try it out myself one day…
 

the ginger coffee that wasn’t

 
 
Anyhow, here are more pics of the cafe.
 

the table with the tree growing out of it

another view of the cafe
with the “holey” sign clearly visible

 
 
To end off, I’d just like to share two art pieces from Sunaryo which I particularly liked.
 

 
 

 
 

Kopi Selasar is at:

Jalan Bukit Pakar Timur No.100
Bandung 40198
Tel: +62 22 250 7939