Cosmo Cafe @ Kovan

It was one of those days where no one could agree on what to eat. FT wanted western, JT wanted rice and as for myself, I was just tired of the usual fare. We ended up in Heartland Mall at Kovan and decided to have dinner at Cosmo Café.

Prices are reasonable, about $5 - $10 for most of the dishes. Service is friendly and efficient. It’s a place to go when you don’t know what to eat. There's something for everyone in the menu: fried rice, noodles, finger food, toasts, spaghetti, surf and turf etc. Food is decent as long as one is not too fussy.

JT ordered a plate of Mui Fan which was surprisingly was quite appetizing. Just imagine Hor Fan with rice instead of kway teow. There were chicken chunks, crabsticks and prawns.

FT ordered the chicken baked rice. Wanted to take a picture but FT was too quick to the draw.

I mulled over the menu for quite some time before deciding on something light – mushroom omelette. It came with fries and coleslaw. Boring choice but I felt rather full. It was a light and savoury meal. I gave the coleslaw a miss though. It had a tangy dressing instead of my preferred creamy base. The cabbage was also shredded too coarsely for my liking, giving it too raw a taste.

Cafe Cosmo
Heatland Mall

Otak @ Kovan

I was shopping at Heartland Mall in Kovan when I walked past a makeshift stall on the first floor selling otak in man tous. I immediately had an otak craving which I just could not shake off. After running my errands, I made a beeline fpr the otak stall and ordered 2 man tous for lunch (@ $1.50).


Very much like those kong ba paos. But instead of fatty pork you had a slab of otak. Not bad, but I felt that the otak could be spicier to bring out the sweetness of the man tou. More veg would be good too.

PT had also bought several sticks of otak from Lee Wee and Brothers stall located in the coffee shop next to Heartland Mall.


Yummy. Actually, if this otak could be placed with the man tou, it would be the ideal combination

Durians!

The durians are back! Hooray! They are a living testimony that true beauty lies within. Who would have thought that such ugly prickly husks could yield such wonderful treasures?

I love the pungent aroma of the durian. Doesn't it immediately set your taste buds tingling? And the creamy yellow flesh deserves to be savoured slowly so that every gratifying bite is made to last as long as possible.

Who can possibly forget the burst of sweet richness and the lingering hint of bitterness that comes with every bite? Over the past 2 days, PT and I had chomped through 2 boxes of durians. Just one more box left..sigh…

Here are some of my favourite durian varieties.

Mao Shan Wang (Cat Mountain King)

Once you eat this, you’ll never want to eat another variety of durian again. Generous mounds of flesh surround small seeds. This durian gives a slightly bitter taste at the first bite which slowly yields to a complex buttery sweetness that leaves you wanting for more.

D24

The recent bountiful harvests of durians mean that the D24 variety can know be gotten at extremely competitive prices. Its succulent yellow flesh is rich and creamy and many durian lovers swear by its signature bittersweet taste.

XO

From Food Fiend

The XO durian has a very strong smell and its taste is more pungent than sweet, with undertones of cognac. It's less fleshy, wetter and the seeds are bigger. But I still remember the first bite I had of this durian and the amazement I felt when the alcoholic flavours pemeated through my mouth

Hong Xia (Red Prawn)

It's been a long time since I had this durian with its characteristic reddish flesh. The pulps are smaller than the D24 and Mao Shan Wang, but this durian comes with a unique gassy taste that needs to be acquired.

Aburiya – A Wagyu Gastronomical Adventure

It was a meat lover’s fantasy at Aburiya. This yakiniku restaurant at Robertson Quay completely satisfied my craving for beef. A most telling sign was the menu, where an impressive array of meats was listed even before the salads and the sides.

We went straight for the Wagyu Set. At $100, it was great value for money. There were 4 cuts of wagyu beef (tongue, skirt, rib-eye and short rib), a large salad, mushrooms, beef stew, tamago soup, kimchi and rice. We added 2 more servings of chicken, kurobuta pork and an order of onigiri and Foie Gras.

Woo-hoo...waiting in anticipation

The beef came richly marbled. We asked for the shio (salt) seasoning to allow the rich, earthy flavours of the meat to permeate through each bite. Just 2-3 minutes on the hot grill was sufficient. With the meat slightly charred outside and oozing with pink juices inside, every bite was a melt-in-your-mouth delight.

1 minute after the food arrived

2 minutes after the food arrived

We requested for miso seasoning for the chicken breast and tare (sweet griling sauce) seasoning for the pork. Both exceeded expectations. The chicken was tasty and so tender. As for the kurobuta pork, having it seasoned with tare was a stroke of genius. After a couple of minutes on the grill it tasted like uber juicy bakwa slices. The well marinated pork was sweet and tender and the rings of fat just added little bursts of flavour with every bite.

Really value for money

FT and JT had a great time grilling the meat. The tamago soup was well received by both of them too. All I had to do was to sit back and stuff myself. The beers (Asahi and Sapparo) came ice cold and complemented the rich meats well.

A special mention must be made about the onigiri. After a couple splashes of soya sauce and several minutes on the grill, the result was a savoury cracker-like rice cake which went extremely well with the kimchi and strewed beef.

For dessert, FT ordered a scoop of chocolate ice-cream and I went for the black sesame ice-cream. I LOVE black sesame ice-cream and the smokey flavours of the one I had was an excellent end to an excellent meal.

Aburiya Japanese Charcoal Grill
60 Robertson Quay
#01-03 The Quayside
6735-4862

Food: 8.5/10
Price: $$$$
Service: 7.5/10
Ambience: 7/10
Yum: Wagyu short rib, Kurobuta pork, Black Sesame Ice-cream

Saybon Crepes

After a week-long drought, there's finally something to blog about. I had a Saybon mushroom and cheese crepe for dinner last night, bought by a kind soul.

Perhaps the journey from Plaza Singapura took its toll on the crepe. By the time I took it out from its paper bag, it was rather limp and wrinkled. Nonetheless, it still held some interesting savoury potential.

The cheese filing was still creamy and the mushrooms were well seasoned with assorted herbs. My only grouse was that the filing was rather sparse (for its $4 price tag) and it left me wanting for more.

Hopefully, there will be more culinary adventures to come

Cafeela

It was FT's birthday and we were having about a dozen guests at our place. After some deliberation, it was felt that having some Northen Indian cuisine from Cafeela would be a refreshing change. So PT and I drove down to Jalan Kayu to order and pack back the food.

The staff was friendly and accommodating. When they heard that the food was for a party, the waiter who took our order assured us that he would add extra curry for the guests to soak up the Naan. In fact, we returned with 2 large containers of Fish Head and Mutton curries as well as extra packs of chicken curry and dahl.

The spread did look impressive when we finally laid it out on the dining table. Here's a list of what was ordered: 3 different Murtabaks ($10 - $15), assorted Pratas ($1each), Garilic and Butter Naan ($1.50 each)Prawn Salad, Raita ($2), Tandoori Chicken ($20 for whole chicken), Fish Head Curry ($18), Mutton Curry ($4 per portion), Briyani ($4.50) ,

My photo taking skills are slowing improving

Have a closer look at the butter and garlic naan. Slighty chewy but extremely aromatic and highly addictive. I could just eat it on its own.

The tandoori chicken was moist right up to the bone and delicately seasoned. We ordered a whole chicken and I was pleased to see that a rather large bird was served. What I enjoy about Cafeela's chicken is that you can eat as much as you wish without feeling 'jelak'.

Here's the mountain of Murtabak that we ordered: mutton, remix (mutton and chicken) and combo (seafood).

Some sinfully oily curries  The Fish Head Curry, at an $18 promotion, was a steal.

Extra servings of Mutton Curry, robust and gamey.

And finally, fragrant Bryani rice.

For dessert, we had extremely  lemak homemade gula melaka egg tarts - deserving of a blog all to itself.

Cafeela Seafood Restaurant

254 Jalan Kayu

Opened 24 hours

Food: 6.5/10

Price: $$

Service: 6.5/10

Ambience: 4/10

Homemade Nasi Lemak

I had great homemade Nasi Lemak tonight prepared by my aunt, an absolutely fabulous cook. It was noon time and I was busy at work when she smsed me - "nasi lemak tonight". That was enough to distract me for the rest of the day. I had a light lunch to save my stomach for the meal that awaited me.

The rice was flavouful and fragrant. In fact, the delectable aroma of rice and coconut milk filled the entire corridor. I was certain that the neighbours were salivating. The dining table was laden with deep fried kunyit chicken, cucumber, sausages, fried eggs, egg omelette and my all-time favourite, fried ikan kuning.

Special mention is needed about my aunt's fried ikan kuning. She seasons them and fries them to a  crisp. It's like eating a plateful of light fish keropok, bones and all.