Open Door Policy @ Yong Siak

Wow. Can't believe its been such a long time since I posted. Feels like a lifetime has passed. 

Catch up time!!

Going forward I'll have to write more succintly since time is short.

Here's my first post of 2012- open door policy at yong siak street tiong bahru.

Foodwise- overrated. Restaurant Ember still wins in terms of taste though I like the dingy quirkiness of Open Door Policy. (chairs are semi rusty and a light actually fell on an unfortunate diner seated behind us halfway into the meal)

First starter- Halloumi cheese with olives, sweet pea leaves and croutons. Best eaten piping hot since the cheese starts to taste like those primary school rubbers once they turn cold. I enjoyed this dish but it didn't make me go "Hallelujah"

Second starter- Chicken wing (boneless) with some exotic egg yolk like concoction which actually turned out to be twisties curry flavoured sauce. The portion was really measly for the price and the fried chicken was mediocre.

Third starter- Watermelon with scallop and some shredded ham. Judging from the way my kakis were "playing with the food" and the time we took to finish this dish, I can safely say it was our least favourite starter. Sorry no pictures!

First Main course- Mussels in basil sauce with fries. I finished this within 5 mins and still felt hungry (and cheated). The portion was really pathetic. For a moment, I wish I was teleported to Brussel Sprouts, which serve solid mussels and free flow fries.

Second main course- Since I was still hungry and saw lots of people ordering the mushroom risotto, I decided to give it a go. It was really salty but this time the portion was very generous. The risotto was a little too hard for my liking.

Third main course- Pan seared sea bass. Nice and hearty. I enjoyed the crisp crust. It was well executed but not particularly memorable either. A safe choice.

Fourth main course- 48 hour braised beef cheek with potato mochi. The meat was fall off the bone tender and this has definitely got to be one of the signature dishes of the restaurant (the other being steak tatare which we were too chicken to try)

First dessert- Pistachio scented chocolate souffle. Very impressive presentation and a very generous helping. The insides were light and airy which is telling of a well risen souffle. Tastewise I'll defer to comment since I'm not a fan of pistachio.

Second dessert- Deconstructed black forest cake. Looks like a mess but tastes pretty good. They were strangely generous with the boozy cherries (counted at least 15 of them!) Is it just my imagination or is black forest cake making some sort of resurgence in Singapore?

Third dessert- Pineapple tartin with yoghurt ice cream. Since there was no apple tartin in the menu, I opted for this, only to be highly disappointed at the one dimensional flavor.

Coffee. Purportedly brewed by the folks from Forty Hands. I don't take coffee but my kakis do. One ordered a flat white while the other ordered a macchiato. Both weren't impressed and had some trouble sleeping that night.

It's hard to secure a reservation at ODP because of all the hype surrounding it. At the end of the day, the food is decent and the crowd is hip. But that's about it. Don't expect to be blown away unless you are the dreamy bohemian type

Osvaldo Ristorante

My tastebuds are quintessentially Asian, having grown up eating potent rempahs and fiery chilli padis. Whilst eating remains my favorite past time, I am almost ashamed to admit that my food vocabulary in recent years has very much revolved around the likes of Asian (Indonesian, Thai, Korean, Chinese, Japanese) cuisine.

Until now.

Yesterday, my tastebuds were jolted awake by the discovery of Osvaldo Ristorante at Maxwell Chambers.

Italian food never tasted so good.

The vibe in Osavaldo is unmistakably homely and if I may add, a little quirky.

A very queer dog portrait

Stacked neatly in shelfs lining the walls are Italian pestos, jams and preserved fruits for guests to peruse and purchase.

For the Italian (cook) in you...

As you can tell, the best things in life do not come cheap (click to enlarge)...

Especially enticing were the huge jars of bottled peaches placed just beside our table.

Unfortunately they do not come cheap.

Owner Osvaldo Forlino himself can be seen flitting from table to table engaging in friendly banter with guests, many of whom have become regulars. Service isn't top notch but our glasses were constantly refilled and it was relatively easy to grab the attention of a passing waiter.

We started off with a simple appetizer of mussels in white wine sauce. The portion was extremely generous and the chef had thrown in some additional clams for good measure. Everything was fresh and perfectly cooked. I enjoyed the jus so much that I couldn't resist mopping it up with some bread.

Mussel delight

Save some bread for the jus

Our next dish turned out to be the highlight of our meal- asparagus with parma ham and poached egg. This is undisputedly the yummiest Italian dish I have eaten in my whole life. The salty richness of the parma ham was not over-cloying. When doused with dripping egg yolk and eaten with tender asparagus spears, the end result was almost orgasmic.

Before bursting the egg

and after- our joy was uncontainable

When the main courses arrived, my mind was still reeling from the after effects of the excellent starters. Whilst my dining kakis were full of praises for their respective orders of risotti and lobster spaghetti, I found my gnocchi lacklustre. On hindsight, I realise I had commited the cardinal sin of ordering something off the menu. (The gnocchi was meant to be served in a walnut cream sauce but I had requested for it to be served arrabiata style instead)

Kaki No 1: Took a bite and went "WOW"

Kaki No 2: Took a bite and instantly went to 7th heaven

Me: Took a bite and sighed

Feeling slightly unfulfilled after the forgettable main, I tried to salvage the situation by ordering dessert. Gelato didn't quite jive with my mood so I decided to stick with good ol' tiramisu.

It didn't take long before I joined Kaki No 2 in 7th heaven.

The mascarpone cheese was creamy, light and slipped down my throat like a soothing balm. I haven't felt so satisfied after a meal in awhile.

As mentioned above, all good things in life seldom come cheap. Our total bill came up to SGD210, or about SGD70 per pax.

I'm already planning my next meal there and I can't wait to try the battered zucchini flowers stuffed with cheese!

Osvaldo Ristorante Italiano
32 Maxwell House
#01-03, Maxwell Chambers

Tel: 6224 0978

Soul-less dining

I've been a member of Changi Club for years. To me, one of the main perks of joining the club is enjoying a quiet meal by the sea, watching the waves lap by and admiring the twinkling city lights from a distance. Its an ethereal experience which is fast becoming extinct in this increasingly urban citystate.

Unfortunately, because of the club's obscure location, most restaurants seldom make it past their first year in business.

Enter Soul Waterfront- a daring venture by the Amici group. The cafe serve Western and Italian dishes, with some Asian dishes like Mee Siam and Laksa thrown in for good measure.

After 3 visits (twice for dinner and once for snacks) there, Hubby and I have decided to write off the place.

Let's start with the good stuff first. The chef seems to possess reasonable skill in preparing meat and Italian dishes. If you are a meat lover, do consider ordering the braised lamb shank, which comes in a hearty portion and melts nicely in the mouth. Although this dish is one of the highest priced items in the menu (over 30 bucks), we feel it is money well spent. Hubby also tried the cabonara and thought it to be above average.

The Asian items however pale in comparison to their Western counterparts. Particularly (un)memorable was the restaurant's laksa, which was a starchy mess of yellow noodles married with chokingly rich gravy. The dried mee siam fared slightly better, boasting a pleasurable wok hei flavor. The stale prawns in the dish however made me lose my appetite halfway into the meal.

As if it couldn't get any worse, we decided to give the place another shot and popped in on a lazy weekend afternoon for a mid day snack. We ordered a fisherman's basket to share and were appalled when the order arrived. The assorted pieces of battered calamari, onion rings, fries and fish slices stank of stale oil and sported an unhealthy looking brownish yellow hue. This is a perfect case of a simple dish gone wrong. If the restaurant doesn't care enough about the health of its patrons, then it is not a restaurant worth patronising. Even after dousing the dubious looking suspects in thick Maggi chilli sauce, hubby and I still couldn't bring ourselves to finish this dish.

Bad food is occasionally salvaged by good service. Not in this case. Service was painfully slow. Our food easily took at least 30 mins to arrive even though there were no other patrons (except us) in plain sight. Staff seemed rather incompetent and did not seem to care about the grotty floors. In all our visits, there was always more than one item "not available" in the menu, which was a little frustrating.

I'm not sure how long this restaurant will last. In any case, this is not one restaurant whose soul I will miss.