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 Butterfish Sir?I know a lot of Vegetarians do go for buffets (where there is a nice salad bar), but I wonder if a Vegetarian would actually go to a restaurant called Carnivore where the main attraction is "all-you-can-eat" meats that are carved right on your table? Even if they do, wouldn't the sight of so much celebration of meat be a turn off for those who choose to be Vegetarians for the love of animals? Anyway, when the Channel 8 producers asked me to recommend a buffet to film for their upcoming Channel 8 series, I picked Carnivore as the more interesting choice. I seldom go for buffets nowadays because Calories are precious and rather than going for quantity, I prefer to go for quality. So for me, I'd rather spend my money and calories on a nice steak rather than on a buffet. However, Carnivore was a bit more than your run-of-the-mill buffet, I thought it would be a bit of a fun dining experience for the family.
Beef Hump (This guy quite drama!)
Carnivore does have a ring of authenticity about it. For one, their passadours (the guys cutting the meat) are really from Brazil, and they also have stuff like Beef Hump which you is a cut of meat that is common in Brazil but not found in our usual Aust or American beef. The Beef Hump is found in the Zebu breed of cattle which the Brazilians rear but not on the Angus which is the common breed in America/Aust. It is essentially a hump of muscle just behind the neck of the cattle.
Sliced Beef Hump
This is the first time I am trying beef hump and I must say that it is quite nice. You can see from the picture that the meat is quite fat and it has been roasted over a slow fire for 6 hours. So you can imagine how juicy and melt-in-your-mouth the meat is. It has got a little of that "Corned Beef" kind of taste. 4/5
The other meat that I was quite impressed with was the Butterfish which was smooth and buttery without any hint of fishiness. 4/5
Having so much meat is a tad heavy, so the roasted pineapples was a nice interlude between meats. You must admit that the sight of wonderfully charred and caramelized pineapple can be quite inviting even if you consider yourself a staunch carnivore!
Conclusion
Personally, I would rather have a nice steak rather than all-you-can-eat meat. However, I can see how this place can appeal to a platoon of national servicemen who have just been eating combat rations for 2 weeks. I must say however that the beef hump was interesting enough if you have not had this cut of meat before and it would be an interesting family outing if they have never been to this type of restaurant before.
Postscript:
Carnivore will be featured in the first episode of Buffet Buffet which will be aired on 2 Oct, Channel 8 at 8pm. I really hope that they will do a good job editing my spoken Mandarin which many have already said was "CMI" (Cannot make it) the last time.
 Carnivore VivoCity1 Harbour Front Walk, #01-161/162, S 098585 63769939
Lunch $28++ Weekend $32++
Happy Hour (5.30pm-6.30pm) $36 Weekend $39++
Dinner $42++ Weekend $45++
With ieatjr 12 inch Pizza $8Following up on my Hawkerpreneurs at Golden Mile Food Centre story, here is another young Hawkerpreneur that is trying to burst into the food scene by offering Cafe style food at hawker prices. If you are hungering for your pizza fix but don't want to spend more than $8 on your meal, this might be just what you are looking for.
The pizzas here are probably the thinnest and crispiest in Singapore. It is almost like eating "Jatz" crackers with tomato and cheese. The toppings are also modest, you get your basic ham, chicken sausage, mushrooms, pineapple and seafood. None of the fancy stuff, no parma ham or freshly chopped herbs, just staightforward freshly made pizza base with your choice of topping.
I find the crispy, super thin pizza base surprisingly nice although it is not really your traditional Napoli style pizza. As I said, it is almost like eating baked water crackers with tomato and cheese. For $8 for the large 12 inch pizza, it is the kind of thing you can eat and then proceed to have an Ice Cream over at Ice Queen and spend around $10 for a lunch that might cost you closer to $20 at a cafe. 4/5
Conclusion
Cheapest way to get a pizza fix but not for those with a big appetite as the thin crust is not going to fill you up.
 ROC (Relax one Corner) PizzaGolden Mile Food Centre #01-109 96846908 12pm to 9pm Closed Monday except Public Holidays
 Minipot Shabu Shabu sets starting from $15 (All proceeds donated to Operation Smile)I recently complained to a TV producer that she should not continue to make TV shows that glamourise $2 hawker meals. I mean, do we really want to encourage more hawkers to compete just price rather than to focus on quality?
With food prices going up, our hawkers are all suffering from lower profit margins but at the same time still under pressure to provide meals at cheap cheap prices. Our friend Liverpool of
Good Morning Nanyang Cafe is still forced to sell his cup of Kopi for $1.10 just because he is selling "Kopi" (Ya Kun already increased to $1.50 btw) while the same people won't even blink an eye to pay $5 for a cup of cappuccino at a cafe.
What we need is to change our mentality and reward hawkers who are willing to give us quality stuff rather than cheap cheap stuff. Either we do that or we risk all the good hawkers not being able to pass down their skills to the next generation. In the end we will all lose out.
I have made it my personal mission to support hawkers who are opened to new ideas and to providing better quality hawker food for us all. The fact is that even if they increase their prices, it is still cheaper than eating at a restaurant, but you derive more shiokness out of it.
So I am very happy to announce that Tina from Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow and taken on my suggestion of introducing a Shabu Shabu style Beef Kway Teow which I hope will do for Beef Kway Teow what Big Prawns had done for Prawn Noodles.
The premise is very simple. We like Beef Kway Teow, we like good beef and we also like our beef not too well cooked. So the solution to this is to provide nice Sukiyaki Grade Beef with a Mini Hotpot of stewed beef tendon, balls, tripe and you can cook your sliced beef yourself!
How often have you eaten Beef Kway Teow and wished the beef could be better?
Needless to say, the longer you cook the soup, the more "Tok Kong" (addictive) it is going to get and the slices of beef that you cook yourself just melts in your mouth and is even more shiok with Hock Lam's famous chilli sauce! 4.5/5
I prefer the soup version to the original dry version here. But you should try Tina's new "Gorn Lor" Hor Fun which is fragrant and the kway teow just leaps into your mouth. 4/5
Hock Lam will be introducing their Minipot Beef set on their 97th anniversary which is on 1 Oct (Hari Raya). And to commemorate their anniversary, they will be donating all the proceeds of the day to Operation Smile which is a worldwide movement to fix cleft palates in kids. So that is an added incentive to go down and try this very special way of enjoying one of Singapore's truly heritage foods. And, if it is well received, they might even put it on their menu!
Conclusion
I have tried very hard to convince Tina that there will be a market for better quality beef, but she is worried that consumers might not want to pay for it. How do you all feel about it? Would you like to see Wagyu beef or Karubi on the menu? Or do you want to just stick to the traditional $4 Bowl of Beef Kway Teow?
Please Note:
This special dish is only available on 1 Oct 2008 to commemorate their anniversary. However, if the feedback is good, they might decide to put it on the menu.The ieat kakis will be going there for lunch at around 1.30pm, do come and join us and at the same time support Operation Smile!
They will be opening from 10am to 3pm on that day itself.
 Hock Lam Street Beef Kway Teow
22 China St, #01-01
Far East Square
62209290
90180508 (Tina Tan)
What to do next:
Read what others have to say about Hock Lam Beef Kway Teow! Very heated indeed!
See which other kakis are coming in our Forum.
 One of the things that I often get asked during consultations is whether the condition they are suffering from is a result of "heatiness" (Juah). And it is not just the elderly who ask me this question, I also get asked by teenagers at times.
Now, we never learnt about the antidote for "heatiness" in medical school, so I must admit that I don't know the intricacies of Chinese Medicine. Suffice to say that there are now 1.3 billion Chinese in the world so even if I don't understand how it all works, at least I have to admit that it has somehow helped in the successful propogation of the Chinese race.
Anyway, what I know is that if one is striken by a condition caused by "heatiness", then the remedy is to take something that is "cooling" (liang). I guess everyone knows that. Unfortunately, there is nothing in my dispensary that can be prescribed as "cooling" medicine, although if one is suffering from, say, a bacterial sorethroat, I would prescribe a suitable antibiotic to remedy the ailment. So, can antibiotics be also called "cooling" medicine? On the other hand, we often try to do the reverse and understand Chinese Medicine in the context of having anti-inflammatory ingredients and antibiotic effects. So maybe calling an antibiotic a "cooling medicine" might make sense to those who practise Chinese Medicine.
Back to this "Cooling" tea that Cactuskit told me about. As you all know, our roving food photographer eats quite a lot of hawker food, so every now and then, he feels a bit "heaty" and needs to cool down. That is when he pays this particular stall a visit to get his dose of "Bitter First Sweet Last" (Xian Ku Hou Tian) Cooling Tea.
For $3, you get a bowl of powdered bitter herbs mixed with a tonic which you have drink first and then counter the bitterness you follow with another sweet concoction. Like all medicines it is bad to take but good for you. Like I said, I don't know how it works but at least you feel that you have taken something that will enable you to continue eating all that yummy food at Old Airport Road FC!
Conclusion
So are you a fan of herbal tea?
With sumosumo, jems, carnineviand, ping, pong, champagne, Mr YaKwang, Holybro, Holydrummer You would think that any stall that can do a white carrot cake will be able to do a black one as well right? Afterall, it is a matter of adding black sauce and how hard can that be? But the fact is that most Carrot Cake stalls I know of are either good for the white or the black but not both. Will that be your observation as well?
For this particular stall, it is the white version that is the best version. The carrot cake fried till it is nice and crispy and the nice savoury flavour comes from the secret recipe fish sauce which has gone through some tweaking, plus the addition of prawns when they fry the carrot cake. The outsourced carrot cake is not bad, quite soft, according to Jems who likes it this way. Sumosumo also gave his approval for the white without chilli. 4.25/5
This particular stall has been around for quite a while. It is one of these Heritage Hawker stalls where the business has been passed down from father to son. The old man used to peddle his carrot cake around the Philip St area in Serangoon and settled at Chomp Chomp since 1976. The old man is still around, but his son has well and truly taken over and Dad refused to have his picture taken and insist that the limelight be shone upon his son instead. But after much coaxing he finally relented. I just wanted to post his picture so that those of you who have been eating at this stall for eons will perk up and say, "Hey, I have been buying from this man since his son was still waist high!" Hands up anyone?
Conclusion
Very good white Carrot Cake and worth having a plate on your table as part of your hawker feast.
 Carrot Cake
Stall 36 Chomp Chomp Food Centre
(Front of the food centre on the right)
Opened 5.30pm to 12 midnight
Closed on alternate Tuesdays
What to do next?
Check out other famous Carrot Cake places.
Try the two famous Hokkien Mee there Che Jian and Ah Hock!
Make sure you also get a plate of BBQ Stingray from Boon Tat Street BBQ.
RK House Prata from a across the road is also quite good.
Today's recommendations are at Golden Mile Food Centre. Aside from Ice Queen Ice Cream, you might want to check out the Pasta, Waffles, Hokkien Mee and lots of other stuff to eat there under the Golden Mile Food Centre label.
 3 flavours of homemade gelato $3.50
Golden Mile Food Centre will soon be turned into a centre for Hawkerpreneurship. I am amazed that the place has quite a few stalls manned by young Hawkerpreneurs trying to break into the food business. Remember the Belgian Waffles and Pasta Planet which I blogged previously? They are all here, as well as some other new stalls selling "Ang Moh" food that I will blog about later. Yes, the Hawker centres are an cost effective way for anyone to create a brand which is relatively low risk. And the irony is that when you actually sell stuff that usually belong in a shopping centre, you actually attract more media attention.
One of the latest entrant into the "Cheap and Good" category is this little Ice Cream shop in Golden Mile Food Centre called Ice Queen Ice Cream. Opened by a young lady who calls herself a "part time hawker", this is the kind of hobby stall where the emphasis is on making something that the owner is proud of, as opposed to making enough money so that one can pay the bills.
While studying in Melbourne, this "part time hawker" learnt the art of Gelato making from an Italian couple who ran a Gelato stall while letting out rooms to University students. Being a bit of a health nut herself (just a moderate health nut, I guess), she makes her Gelato with just enough cream and sugar to keep the ice cream from becoming icy. So it is low fat, low sugar and no egg which is healthier than your normal ice cream.
This Gelato (ice cream for the heartland aunties) really is "Cheap and Good" and it's every Kiasu Singaporean's dream. I was quite impressed with the Black Sesame Ice Cream 4.25/5 which was full of nutty flavour but without being too rich. The Peanut flavour was again quite excellent as is the dark and rich chocolate flavour. The ones with alchohol, viz the Rum and Raisin and Baileys were notably not "drunk" enough, but you really can't expect too much at $2 per scoop. If you prefer something a little more tart, you should try the sour plum sorbet which a lot of readers from the forum said they like.
Conclusion
Cheap and good Gelato. Where else can you get 3 scoops for $3.50? I really think that this part time hawker is really treating it as a hobby more than anything else and I suspect that after running it for a few more months, she will decide to increase the prices in order to get some money to buy some nice accessories. So better enjoy it while you can.
 Ice Queen Ice CreamGolden Mile Food Centre #01-86 Closed on Mondays
What do do next?
Find out what the others are saying about this in the forum
Looks like Uncle Alex just cannot sit still. He had originally intended to take a 6 month sabbatical when he had to close the stall at East Coast Road due to renovations. But the good news is that he is back frying Hokkien Mee just after a 2 week break.
The stall is located in the compound of the Orchard Hostel which is right opposite Four Seasons Durian Cafe and there's lot of free parking within the compound. The stall is sort of hidden inside so you can't really see it from the road.
Many of his regulars still have not found his new location yet, so here is your chance to eat it while there is still no queue!
What to do next:
After your Hokkien Mee you can go for Durians across the road!  Geylang Lor 29 Hokkien Mee1 Telok Kurau Lor J (Old Civil Defence Camp)
Opposite Malacca Hotel and Four Seasons Durian Closed Mondays 11.30am to 9.30pm
 A trip to Fatty Cheong's Char Siew is regular after-church ritual for the family. The kids love it, the in-laws love it and most importantly, I also love it. Ok lah, we always try to bring the kids to what they like to eat, but it is always a bonus if I also like the food as well. Parents, you know what I mean right?
After blogging a few Char Siew places, we are always drawn back to Fatty Cheong's as his Char Siew is consistently juicy and well charred. Anyway, for those of you who like to try making Char Siew at home, I managed to convince Fatty Cheong to share with us his Char Siew recipe.
According to him, the following are the ingredients he actually uses at the stall. Of course, the big difference is that he has a charcoal oven but many of us don't. So you will have to use your conventional oven or one of those "Xue Di Zi" aka Turbo Broiler if you have one of them. Incidentally, you probably know of the "Xue Di Zi" (Flying Guillotine) if you are about my age (or older) as it was one of those iconic weapons in old Kung Fu films. My mother-in-law affectionately named her Turbo Broiler (also an iconic kitchen weapon in that era) "Xue Di Zi" because of the similarity in shape. I wonder if it is just her or does everyone else also call it a "Xue Di Zi"?
Fatty Cheong's Char Siew Recipe:
1 kg Pork Collar (if you like it juicy) or Pork Shoulder (if you like it leaner) 500g Sugar 300g Oyster Sauce 300g Bean Paste (Dou Jiang) 200ml Soya Sauce 3 teaspoon Rice Wine 2 teaspoon Black Soya Sauce 2 teaspoon Red Colouring
Mix all the ingredients together to make the marinade then use it to marinade the meat for at least an hour or even better if you can marinade it overnight.
Roast in a moderately hot oven for half and hour, turning and basting the meat till it is cooked and slightly charred.
Conclusion
As with all hawker recipes, a lot of "Agarism" (estimation) is involved. So you might have to tweak it a little to suit your taste. And if you find it too tedious, you can always pop down to Fatty Cheong's to get some freshly roasted Char Siew!
Do write in and let us know if the recipe works for you!
Fatty Cheong
ABC Brickworks Food Centre
6 Jln Bukit Merah #01-120 (near POSB ATM)
Open 11am till about 8.30pm
Closed Thursdays
98824849, 94281983
What to do next:
Read more about the Xue Di Zi hereWatch "Master of the Flying Guillotine" here (Get ready for a great 70's Kung Fu flick) Check out the other famous places for Char Siew
 I finally found a stall in a hawker centre that sells Zhar Leong (Chee Cheong Fun with You Tiao)! For those who haven't yet tried this Hong Kong Dim Sum dish, it is essentially deep fried flour wrapped in steamed flour and drenched in a slightly sweet and savoury soy sauce. A very simple dish which uses the most basic of ingredients but it really hits the spot and can be quite addictive.
Zhar Leong isn't quite considered a top dim sum dish in Singapore, but in Hong Kong it is found in every self respecting Dim Sum restaurant. I must say that it is my favourite form of Cheong Fun (Steamed Rice Rolls) and I would always ask for Zhar Leong first and settle with Char Siew Cheong Fun if it wasn't available. It isn't easy to find Zhar Leong even in a lot of fancy Dim Sim restaurants which is why I am quite excited to find this stall that sells it for $2.50 in Changi Village Food Centre.
I thought that it was very smart of Chef Tham to include this dish in his newly opened stall. It really does differentiate his stall from the others. It certainly caught my attention. Chef Tham used to be the head Dim Sum Chef of Goodwood Park Hotel, before he decided to venture out to start his own business, so he certainly has good credentials backing him up.
The Cheong Fun is made fresh when you order and was quite good though I expected it to be just that bit more soft and silky since it is handmade. Otherwise, for $2.50 it did satisfy my craving for Zhar Leong. 4/5  For those who like the Hong Kong style congee, you can also order a bowl of congee from the stall. For me, the Hong Kong style congee is less robust than the Hainanese style. The porridge here reminded me of congee that Crystal Jade serves. The pork balls are a little different from the usual local version where minced meat are rolled into balls. These are a little more bouncy and have a texture somewhere between the commercially available pork balls and the ones you make yourself at home. Great if you are looking for Hong Kong style porridge. 3.75/5 ConclusionNot many places where you can just sit down and order a plate of Zhar Leong in Singapore so it is well worth a visit if you are after a tasty snack.
Update: 16 Sep 2008
My apologies, the Changi Village Food Centre is closed for renovations till 7 Oct 2008. Thanks to our readers who highlighted this to us.  Lai Hua Porridge Cheong Fun Changi Village Food Centre 8am to 9pm Closed on Wed
It is good to know that some things never change.
Almost 2 years ago, I blogged about Hillstreet Char Kway Teow and even in the early days of the blog, I already gave this old man a 4.75/5 for his Char Kway Teow. I think it was the very first time I awarded a 4.75/5 to any hawker. Now, two years later it is time to post some new pictures of the Char Kway Teow and let some of our newer readers know about this CKT legend.
I think that any self confessed Char Kway Teow fan will need to eat this Char Kway Teow at least once in their lives. After reviewing several other Char Kway Teow stalls, I still haven't really found any stall that could surpass this old man's plate. Since Char Kway Teow isn't exactly Cardiac Friendly Food, I always tend to tell myself that I shall only eat half a plate so that I can enjoy the flavour but not feel too guilty after that. But I need to confess that every time I come here, I always end up with an empty plate! Really can't help it. 4.75/5
Mr Ng still looks as feisty as before and now even with 46 years of frying experience under his belt, he still looks like he's got a few more years in him. Unfortunately, there is no successor to the throne, so it is only a matter of time before another great hawker name becomes just a distant memory.
Conclusion
I have heard some people complain that they don't want to travel from the West all the way to Bedok to eat a plate of Char Kway Teow. Well, you can't really call yourself a serious foodie in that case can you?
Hill Street Fried Kway Teow
Blk 16, Bedok South Road, #01-187
Opened for lunch till about 4pm. Then around 6pm till all he runs out of food.
Closed on MondaysMr Ng 90421312
Read the last blog post here
With Amagada Black Pepper Crabs $38 per kgWe should do a poll to see whether there are more Chilli Crab lovers or Black Pepper Crab lovers. I think that there was one time when Chilli Crabs were the runaway favourites, but then Black Pepper Crabs came onto the scene and stole top spot from Chilli Crabs. Of course, nowadays there are a few other crab fads like Crab Bee Hoon and Salted Egg Crab, but I still think that Chilli Crabs and Black Pepper Crabs are still by far the favourite amongst Singaporeans. Today we talk about Black Pepper Crabs and as you all may already know, the creation of the dish is widely attributed to the famous Long Beach Seafood Restaurant. But if you ask where is the best Black Pepper Crab around, a lot of people will tell you about this particular place where you have to ring up early in the day to book your crabs before coming down at around 5pm to start queueing for a table.
The notoriaty of this place is legend. The queue is so bad that it had intimidated me enough to not to try it after all these years. There is also the rumour of a Empress Dowager like figure commanding the restaurant and rumours of the Uber Food Nazi chasing people away for the lack of crabs is the stuff of Singaporean Hawker Lore. And then, there is the fact that they are usually sold out by 8pm. How to eat like thaaaaaat? Then again, like that, how not to eaaaaaat?
What finally brought me to the restaurant was when I heard rumours that the restaurant had moved to somewhere in Yio Chu Kang and that the restaurant in Joo Chiat is closed. In fact, I have driven past the alleged new restaurant (which I shall not name at the moment) and it says clearly on the signboard that they were previously from Joo Chiat Place. I think it was Holydrummer who told me that he had already eaten the black pepper crab there. So I started making plans to visit the new restaurant at Yio Chu Kang since I thought I might get a chance to eat the crab before people find them and we have to start queuing again.
But as I was organizing my trip there, one of my patients told me that she had just eaten Black Pepper Crab at the old Joo Chiat Place! After making sure she wasn't seeing me for diarrhoea, I decided that I would get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all.
So we eventually found ourselves sitting at the old coffeeshop at Joo Chiat Place at 5 pm waiting for our Black Pepper Crabs. We were lucky as we did not ring to reserve our crabs ahead of time but still managed to order some because they had a good supply of crabs that day.
As our gowment says, Two is not enough!
The verdict: Strangely addictive. These Black Pepper Crabs are not like the ones served elsewhere. The sauce is slightly sweet and not overly spicy. As Goldilocks would say, "it is just right!". It was so shiok that I think I ate more crabs at that one seating then I ever had for a long while. 4.5/5
The lady manning the register told me that there is some secret ingredient in the black sauce that they used but stopped short of telling me what it was. She also insisted that rumours of there being a change in management at the restaurant was untrue and that everything was the same as before. She appeared to know about the restaurant in Yio Chu Kang but wouldn't say anymore about them.
Conclusion
I guess the real question is whether I would bother calling up earlier in the day and come at 5pm to start queuing up for the Black Pepper Crab the next time? Quite honestly, I think I would.
But back to the mystery at hand. Something must have happened to have started all the rumours! Anyone knows of what actually happened?  Eng Seng Restaurant
247 Joo Chiat Place
(Jn Joo Chiat Place and Still Rd)
4.30pm to around 8pm
64405560
91113564 Eunice
 Which NUS Alumni hasn't been to Fong Seng Nasi Lemak? Some places just have the best location. I am not a NUS Alumni, but I can imagine the scenario. You live in the Hostel and have been mugging for an exam. Suddenly you feel your tummy rumbling. You look up and its 2am in the morning. No worries, there is always Fong Seng Nasi Lemak down the road! Hurrah.
With such a great location, all you really need to do is to provide a hearty meal, not charge too much for it and it's "Game Over".
Fong Seng's Nasi Lemak is not bad but I feel that if they had been in a worse location, they would put in more effort to be better. The selection of additional stuff to put onto the Nasi Lemak is impressive, but the rice was really quite hum drum with nothing to rave about. They use the cheaper grade of rice which doesn't have a good bite and you have to close your eyes and shut out all other distractions in order to taste the coconut. What I did enjoy was the chilli which I felt was nice and sweet. Just the way I like it. The wings were not freshly fried, so again was pretty ordinary. (Maybe I have to come during the peak period).
Conclusion
Overall I give it a 3.75/5. But as I mentioned earlier, you really don't have to be all that excellent to be successful when you have such a great location. The place does have a rustic charm about it and I would return again when I in the area looking for something to eat late at night.
Update: 10 Sep 2008
Due to the overwhelming consensus of the state of the food there, the ratings have been adjusted down to 3.25/5.
 Fong Seng Nasi Lemak
22A Clementi Road S(129751)
Open almost 24 hours.
Closed between 4 to 6 am daily
Well guys, bad news, I am afraid that we did not manage to win the "Most Insightful Blog" Award. But, as William Hung said, "I have done my best, I have no regrets!" Just want to thank once again everyone who has voted for me and especially those of you who have religiously voted everyday. My biggest supporter is probably my Dad who at the age of 70 has been logging in everyday to vote! Thanks Pa! Praise God who makes everything beautiful in His time! It might not be my turn this time, but I'll continue to put in my best effort to keep improving the blog so that we can do better the next time round! To my regular makan kakis I have this to say: "Sorry guys, I had to cancel the reservation at Golden Peony." ;)
With Food Guru Kurobuta Pork Chops $36Oh yes, we are seeing more of the good stuff hitting the coffeeshops! My latest find is this coffeeshop stall which has started selling US Kobe Beef Ribs, US Kurobuta Pork Chops and Wagyu beef done mediterranean style. Now, there are many Western food stalls which are opening up in coffeeshops so I usually have to look out for signs that a particular stall is offering more than just your run-of-the-mill Dory fish and chips, NZ steaks, chicken chops etc.
Preparing the grill with beef fat
You know how a lot of times you just get a gut feel about things? In fact, a lot of decisions in life are made based on gut feel. When it comes to people, women tend to have that special ability to size a person up in just a blink of a second. It's the same thing when men look at a BMW and know that they are looking at quality. In fact, it only takes one glance to see quality but it takes time to try to describe what actually makes a BMW look more "solid" than a Geely. (Yeah the Geely has taken over from Hyundai as the budget car)
So it is with Big D's Grill. I had a good gut feel about the stall just within the first few seconds of looking at the place. Then I started listing out the visual cues. Big Eurasian Man wearing a biker T and jeans behind the grill - TICK. Array of different restaurant style pans hanging above the stove - TICK. Big sticker declaring "Angus Beef" - TICK. The words Kobe, Wagyu and Kurobuta, TICK, TICK and TICK. Big D (Damien) oiling the grill by rubbing a piece of beef fat on it, TICK times ten plus an A*! It is quite obvious that Big D is really serious about providing good food!
Another obvious cue is the standard of the side dishes. Coleslaw and French Fries are dead giveaways for the run-of-the-mill "Hawker" western food. Thankfully, Big D's provides a wonderful selection of sides with a heavy Mediterranean influence. The Pinto beans and Spiced Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Mash were excellent and really got my tastebuds tingling. And the Kurobuta Pork Chops did not dissappoint either. They were wonderfully tender and had that charred mediterranean spice taste. The pork was flavoursome without that "porky" smell that pork can sometimes have. Now, $36 might be a little pricey for a Pork Chop but it is cheap for "Kurobuta" which are usually more than $40 in restaurants. 4.5/5
Pasta with Anchovies $17
Big D's pastas are also well worth a try. His Pasta with Anchovies is a relatively simple dish but very well executed. The pasta was perfectly Al Dente and the freshly chopped herbs are again a pleasant departure from the usual "McCormick" dried italian herb mixes that most Western Food Stalls (and even some restaurants) would use. I am not a big fan of Anchovies, so I did not appreciate this dish as much as someone who is. But judging from the way it was presented, I would be coming back to try the other pastas that they are offering. 4/5
 There is a good reason why Big D's is called Big D's. That's because owner and chef, Damian D'Silva looks like the kind of Cowboy you wouldn't want to mess around with. An Ex-Aeronautical Engineer, he flew off on a whim (at age 42) to spend 2 years working in kitchens around Southern Europe in order to pursue his interest in cooking before coming back to Singapore to work at several European restaurants before he opened the now defunct Soul Kitchen at Purvis St.
I am telling you all this because it is not easy to find a chef-owner who is passionate about food that is willing to open a stall in a coffeeshop. And the best thing is that since he is in a coffeeshop, he can keep rental cost down and serve quality food at great prices. He is quite fussy about using only chilled meats and freshly chopped herbs and doing stuff from scratch, such as his steak fries which double fries himself. This is a man who really cooks rather than just another person hired to grill a piece of meat and serve it with re-heated veggies.
The only thing I am concerned about is whether he is able to churn out the food quick enough for a crowd and controlling escalating food costs since he is insistent of only using imported stuff like Spanish Anchovies. Apart from that, I think you can be assured of getting something quite special out of his kitchen.
Bonet $4
Don't miss out on Big D's homemade desserts. Bonet may be a simple homestyle Italian Chocolate Pudding with Caramel Sauce poured over it, but simple things executed well can be marvellous, just like a perfectly cooked omelette. For someone who isn't really that big on desserts, I actually enjoyed this very much. It's almost like a Chocolate version of Creme Caramel and is so smooth that it slides easily down the throat leaving a wonderful chocolate aftertaste at the back of the palate. 4.25/5
Conclusion
Big D's has that maverick Roadhouse Pub kinda of character and my first impression is that it could easily have been set up in an old shophouse somewhere in Siglap. We did not managed to try a lot of their other stuff like the Beer Battered Fish and Chips made from Snapper fillets ($8.90) or the US Kobe Cross Rib ($40 for 200gm) but judging from what I had, I'd say that Big D's Grill is well worth checking out if you are hungry for some excellent European Food cooked with character and passion without the +++.
Special Promo for ieatishootipost readers:
Mention ieatishootipost and get a free dessert (Bonet) for every $30 spent!
 Big D's Grill
Blk 18 Bedok South Road
#01-87
11.30am to 9.30pm daily
Thurs 5.30pm to 9.30pm
Damian 96627040
 My first introduction to the BBQ Stingray was during my dating days in RJC. I never used to like seafood until I met Amagada. What to do? You want to impress your potential in-laws you need to put in the effort which includes enjoying what the girlfriend's family likes as well as washing the windows before Chinese New Year. Yeah, PM Lee might be Singapore's love guru, but I also have a few tips up my sleeves (besides buying $228 mooncakes) and have two kids to prove it that it works.
Anyway the first, and for me, still the best Stingray, used to be the one at the coffeeshop just below her block of flats at Teban Gardens. For a guy who didn't like to eat fish, the Stingray was quite a revelation. It's too bad that the stall has since moved to who knows where.
The thing about BBQ Stingray is that this seems to be one of the very few ways people actually eat the fish. Stingray is a very cheap fish if you were to buy it in the markets, but somehow when it gets displayed on the bed of ice at the BBQ seafood place, the value suddenly increases exponentially. Afterall, no one really buys stingray except for the BBQ Seafood places right? Do let us know if your family buys Stingray to cook at home.
Amagada really likes the sambal chilli here and says that it deserves a 4.5/5. Yes, it is one of the better stingrays that I have eaten of late, the chilli is full of Hae Bee and is very fragrant. However, it somehow still doesn't measure up to what I had over twenty years ago.
Conclusion
Very good stingray here but I can't say that it was as good as what I had twenty years ago. I am sure you all can recommend Singapore's no. 1 BBQ Stingray right? And with around 3 BBQ seafood places at Chomp Chomp, which one is your favourite?
Boon Tat Street BBQ Seafood
Chomp Chomp Food Centre
Open 5.30pm till late
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Carnivore VivoCity
