Soht and Baay: Thai reference?

Soht and Baay opened with much fanfare at ION Orchard. The restaurant had almost no frontage at all at its entrance at level 4 of ION...just a counter, and a glimpse at the beautifully decor promised what was within. I had been slightly discouraged by this lack of ability to see the dining area, and the menu at the counter indicated the prices were on the higher side of Thai cuisine in Singapore.

But try I did...and came away fairly impressed.

The glass buddha theme continues inside...as one enters at level 4, there are two small private rooms on the right, behind the glass buddhas above, and the waiter leads one up a flight of stairs into a large, bright and airy dining room upstairs.



We started, as in many high end dining establishments tend to offer these days an amuse bouche.



This was quite like the Miang Kana I had several times in Bangkok...but instead of kana (kailan), it was served on a leaf of lettuce. The taste was rather good. The characteristic Thai mix of tastes - sweet, sour, salty and spicy were all in abundance. Good way to open the appetite, so to speak.

Also getting popular is the Thai Lemongrass drink.



This is not a difficult drink to make. Start with a few sprigs of Thai lemongrass...which is more flavourful than the Malaysian or Indonesian ones. Smash the bulb, put in boiling water. Let the concoction boil for a while. Set aside to cool. At home, I like it slightly sweetened with honey. But the version served at Soht was sweetened with sugar syrup....I found it a bit too sweet, and the lemongrass not pungent enough. Canton-I just downstairs of Soht and Baay serves a nice version, and in my opinion, a bit more concentrated with lemongrass flavour than here.

We started with the standard Thai Pomelo salad:



The pomelo was left as large chunks. Sweet, fresh, with a slight tinge of sour. And the sauce was thick, sweet, spicy. All the Thai flavours. Great salad.

The rice was served...um, with a bit more attention to detail and care than most. It was moulded into a heart shape...not totally essential, but a nice touch, nevertheless.



I had the Tom Yum Kung, and Michelle had the Talay.



Tom Yum, is a standard bearer of Thai cuisine, and a rather complicated soup to prepare, requiring a whole array of ingredients blending together in a nice, almost magical way when done right. This tom yum was nearly there. I would have preferred it to have a bit more bite...more phet, as the Thais would say - phet meaning spicy. The sourness and the depth of the soup was quite satisfying. The prawns were reasonably fresh, but lacked the crunchiness and sweetness that one gets if one was dining along the klong in Bangkok.

We had some tanghoon with river prawns:



I have just written about tanghoon...woonsen...in my Lerk Thai review earlier this week, and my feelings towards my favourite Soi 5 establishment is still dear to me and not changed. The woonsen served by Soht and Baay is somewhat similar to Lerk Thai. The noodles were nicely cooked. The prawns fresh, and quite similar to the ones used in their Tom Yum. De rigeur dish. Not specatacular, nor poor.

We also tried the Phad Phet Kapow Kai



To me, this is the quintessential Thai dish, if there was one...more than the Tom Yums, and Som Tams. The Phad Phet Kapow is my all time favourite. Though my preferred protein is pork, Soht & Baay only offered it with chicken. The dish was rather good, good kick from the chilli padi. But a bit on the salty side, and the Thai Basil (kapow) did not manage to come through as strongly (fragrantly) as I would have liked. But still highly enjoyable. A recent sampling at Aroy Dee Thai in Sunshine Plaza offered a more authentic version, which I preferred. More authentic, and street like...while Soht's is, perhaps too refined.


Phat Phet Kapow Moo at Aroy Dee Thai

And finally the dessert. This was beautifully presented...



Khao Niau Muamang...mango sticky rice...another Thai favourite and standard bearer. The rice was rather interesting...three types of flavoured sticky rice was offered, in three beautiful pastel colours. Lovely.

Interesting and good tasting Thai. Authentic tasting, excellent service. Good cooking with fine ingredients, though a bit pricey.



Soht and Baay
2 Orchard Turn #04-11 & 05-01 ION Orchard Singapore
6509 6058
Mon–Thu: 11.30am–2.30pm, 6.30pm–10pm
Fri–Sun: 11.30am – 10pm

Fresh Roast: Papa Palheta

with Prof Massi



One of my former colleagues told me about this place, and said that I would love it. So at the next available tea-break, I made arrangements with my friend Massi, who was looking for an espresso machine, and Papa Palheto carried Synesso and Giotto...so we appeared about 4pm-ish on a Friday afternoon.

The entrance is via Hooper Road, and parking seemed to be easily available...and as one enters, one gets the feeling one is tresspassing on a chillout party or something...the entry is at the back of the shophouse. The decor is quite interesting, with vintage objects all over. In the center was this huge Synesso machine...a 3 grouppa machine, no less.

The friendly Marcus chirped in his English accent, he looked Chinese, but the accent was quite British Isles...and we ordered two piccolo lattes. Interestingly, there is no fixed price for the coffee. There is a tipping jar, and a small note saying they would like $3.50 per cup, but totally up to us...or something to that effect. Interesting.





Nice latte art...one slightly better than the other, though both were made by Marcus. Perhaps due to the milk, the latte was a bit round, and fat. And I could hardly taste the coffee.

We started chatting, and I found they roasted in-situ. Marcus cheerfully showed us the roaster...a nice batch roaster - capable of 3kg each roast, though, he intimated, they usually roast in batches of 2kg. He also told me they were opening another branch right by the river, where Kallang Waterworks used to be, and will get a 5kg Probat roaster for that location. Make mental note to visit when open.



I tried two further shots of coffee...both espressos, this one from their Terra Firma blend: Brazil, Guatemala, Ethopia, Sumatra Mandeling.



Nice, full bodied coffee. The specs on the crema is indicative of a nice, short pull. The quantity, is probably right on the mark as a single espresso. On the palate, it was nice, round, with excellent mouthfeel. Slightly lacking in acidity perhaps, and as a result can be a bit dull...perfect for me as an after dinner espresso. I bought 250g for my home brewing.

Very interesting, relaxing place, though a bit small. But quite a good place to relax, drink a cuppa or two and learn about coffee.

They also conduct cupping sessions on the first Sat of every month...at 10am. I will have a short report on the cupping session later.



Papa Palheta
140 Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 229840
Enter by Hooper Road
Tue to Sun (Mon closed for roasting)

Thai Fusion: Lerk Thai

This is an invited review by the fine folks at Lerk Thai

Fusion cuisine. Sounds exotic. One of the first times I tasted a meal touted to be fusion was at the Fischerzunft in Schaffhausen in Switzerland. The restaurant has one Michelin star and was quite an experience. But fusion cuisine need not be lofty. We actually eat quite a lot of fusion cuisine here in Singapore. Even my native Peranakan cuisine is a fusion of Malay and Chinese. But we seldom think of it this way.

When I got the invitation to do the tasting at Lerk Thai, I was intrigued by their fusion style cuisine. Interesting methot. There were many such fusion restaurants that literally dot Bangkok. And almost every western or European restaurant (read Italian, French, Spanish) in the city is usually able to whip up a local Thai meal...as the cooks are usually Thai. I also have a few Italian-Thai favourites in that city. But I believe this is the first, anyone has tried to do such a fusion in Singapore (perhaps there are others, but I am not (yet?) aware of them)

So off to the Centerpoint store I trotted. Occupying the place which was vacated by another Thai Restaurant, Lerk Thai was decorated more like an upmarket cafe. Service, when we were there...this is afterall a Media Lunch...was excellent. Brisk, quick, polite, and the wait-staff were very knowledgable.

So how's the food? In a simple pronouncement...good, with some qualifications.

First off the menu was specially designed by the chefs - Head Chef Sompran Saengard, and ably assisted by dessert chef Kachai Preedaporn. And deliberately fusion and interesting.

We started with Thai Salad



This was a twist of the traditional Som Tam. We also had a sampling Som Tam, and this was testament that the chef could excecute well without the fusion cap on. But the Yum Hait Gai Krob was interesting. Prepared live by Chef Rattakan Peapoo, it consisted of a combination of 3 mushrooms (shimeiji, golden and straw) in a som tam style dressing and topped with crispy chicken strips. I found this dish to be quite excellent. The textures were particularly pleasing to the palate - the soft, almost mushy mushrooms complemented well with the crispy chicken. The sauce was quite well done.

The next dish was a soup:



Tom Yum Talay Num Sai...this is a version of the traditional Tom Yum...done with a clear soup. Seafood ingredients of prawns, cuttlefish, sliced fish and mushrooms were added to a very nice stock which I suspect is chicken based. The soup itself was tasty, with a sharp tart and spicy note. And the seafood was reasonably fresh, and cooked just right.

The following dish came with a bit of fanfare. The head chef Sompran himself preprared this live:



I found this a little less intriguing. The beef was well braised - soft and tender. Sompran had braised this carefully in a pressure cooker, and had used the shin of beef - traditionally a tough cut, but rendered tender and almost jelly like by the cooking method. On its own, the beef was rather tasty. The spagetti was done on the soft side of al dente...I would have preferred a firmer pasta. But the part which I had some trouble with was the lack of sauce. The spagetti was almost nude...on its own. And the beef stood by its side...seemingly a bit lonely. I would have liked the dish more if Sompran had drenched the spagetti with his braising liquid.

Thai Tang Hoon is a hot favourite of mine. One of the restaurants I frequented when in Bangkok is a curious place called Soi 5 Eating House...right by Sukhumvit Soi 5. They do a very nice tang hoon with river prawns...and in the traditional method...a mini-wok lined with herbs and pork fat, then tanghoon, prawns tossed into the mix with generous portions of peppercorn. Then baked.

The Woon Sen (tang hoon in Thai) served in Lerk Thai, though nothing like the Soi 5 version, reminded me a bit of that.



The tang hoon was cooked perfectly. Characteristic in its springy texture, clear, and had well absorbed some of the gravy tossed into the wok during the frying. Nice.

We next sampled a chicken dish.



Doesn't look like chicken? Well it is, and I found the dish to be quite spectacular. Slices of chicken is probably tenderised with a hammer, and coated with a batter. The batter is dipped in a bed of sesame and deep fried. Kailan is also juliened and deep fried to a crisp consistency. The combination with the spot of mayonaise is superb.

Morning Glory is a standard Thai dish...stir fried, with some fish sauce, and chilli, it serves as an excellent tasting meal with rice.



What is different with this dish was that instead of leafy parts of the vegetable, the chef elected to use the stems. These were sliced into strips, and flash stir fried with soy sauce. The stems remained crunchy and fresh tasting. Quite nicely done, I must say.

And finally the dessert. This was the highlight of many. The full selection of traditional Thai dessert is offered. But as an innovation, Lerk Thai also offered smaller portions as a trio, so that diners can do a tasting of the various desserts.



For eg, like the above combination of Thab Tim Krob (Red Ruby with coconut milk), Lord Chong Naam Ka Ti (Chendol with Brown Sugar and coconut milk) and Ma Muang Ban Sacu (mango with pomelo and sago).

And one of my favourites - the glutinous rice with mango



More traditionally portioned desserts were also available, like the Tago shown below - Thai Pudding with coconut jelly in a pandan cup.



The desserts all taste good...a bit on the sweet side, but this is par for the course for desserts, especially Thai desserts.

Overall, this was an excellent menu. My only hesitation on the taste was the spagetti. The other dishes are all definitely quite good.


Lerk Thai Restaurant
176 Orchard Road, #01-59-62
CenterPoint
tel: 67352292

Eating USA: Route 66 and Rod's Steak House

withProf Horolographer



Route 66. Certainly one of the most famous roads in the US, perhaps the world. I managed to pass its path, when we stayed at the historic town of Williams, AZ when we were visiting The Grand Canyon. See my photoblog for pics of the canyon. Certainly a worthy visit.

Staying at one of the small towns that dot the historic route west for the Americans is advantageous in that it gave me a glimpse of Americana...diners, old american cars, pubs and salons...reminiscent of the wild west...



As we walked from our Motel...yes, its a small town...don't know of any large chain hotel...so we stayed at this little motel...comfort level was ok, but as the motel allowed pets, it was certainly not the cleanest we have ever experienced. The Super 8 motel at Mariposa was certainly one of the better ones.

Anyway, along the route...a pub! Which offered drinks, as well as a bath...I imagined a copper bath tub, hot water for the cowboys of the day to get themselves cleaned for a night out!



As Horolographer was no drinker, and not craving for a drink myself, we passed...till we came across this steakhouse...



A quick peruse of the menu...and we were inside.



Long story on quality, value...and a long story on how great a guy was Rod...who started the steakhouse.



The decor was almost exactly as we expected it...like a saloon in the Wild Wild West (those of you old enough to remember that TV series will know what I mean...those who don't can imagine the Will Smith version. And if that's too old for you too...um...google it up...)



Right on our ceiling where we sat...a light cover with a nice, fat, cow. Hmm...and the songs they were singing on how fantastic the steaks were got my juices flowing. So I ordered one of the signature steaks...Rod's Special Charred Steak. Dipped in sugar. Hmm...that sounds a bit suspicious...but the Special Charred got me.



Looks pretty good...but this was not the speciality charring I was expecting from a high end steak house...like Smith's & Wollensky we just had tried in Las Vegas...but more home cooked.

Cut, it looked good too...



The meat was ok. I guess the cow was grass fed...it had the characteristic sinewy, a bit chewy texture, and almost no marbling. But it was disappointingly sweet. I should have caught the dipped in sugar part when I ordered, but I was not really expecting a sweet piece of meat, which it was. Almost like dessert. Other than the coyness, the meat was fine, and the done-ness was ok. I should have ordered a more regular steak...sigh.



Rod's Steak House
301E Route 66
Arizona, USA
http://www.rods-steakhouse.com/index.htm

Flutes at the Fort: Fire Chief's Residence turned restaurant

with Eddie, Prof Massi, SJX

Flutes at The Ford is an interesting restaurant. With almost no visible frontage at all, it is tucked between the buildings at Fort Canning...to be exact, right behind the Singapore Philatelic Museum. It used to be the residence of the Chief Fire Marshall of Singapore, and indeed, is connected by a walkway through a set of stairs to the Central Fire Station.

The restaurant is housed in a very residential looking, black and white bungalow. Seating can be either outside on the verandah, or in the air-conditioned space within.



The decor is quite nice, I must say...with huge paintings depicting a somewhat colonial environment. The food, is decidedly modern Australian, I guess...with emphasis on fresh ingredients, simple cooking but fortified by sometimes strong sauces.

We had the set lunches...two sets are described...one in somewhat more detailed as I ate it, and the other I show pictures and offer my eating companion's views.

First off...the bread...typically I don't mention the bread unless it is exceptional for one reason or another. And this bread is freshly baked, warm when served, and excellent.



Nice, soft, fluffy. Goes perfect with the extra virgin olive oil.

I started with a pan fried foie gras, with pineapple and chocholate:



I found the foie gras to be a bit on the small side...especially when it commands a $8 supplement over the set lunch price. And the liver itself to be slightly overcooked...not to the extent of being rubbery, but the consistency within was a bit less than, shall I say, melt in your mouth smooth creaminess. The pineapple was a grilled affair on which the foie gras sat on. And I must say the pairing of a light chocholate sauce is quite brilliant. Nice complement.

The other starter, also a $8 additional cost item, was the seared Hokkaido Scallops with cauliflower, curry and celery.



This was rather interesting. The top of the scallops looked like they were charred over hot coals...indeed this was the case, though the scallops were coated in a sauce or condiment before searing. The dark, seared parts were well done to a crispy consistency, but the insides remained soft and succulent. I tried one scallop offered to me by Eddie...and it is a sweet, delicious one!

I went for the duck confit...being a sucker for this dish...heck the fat, cholesterol and calories:



Confit du Canard is a deceptively difficult dish to pull off successfully. Not only must the duck be rendered perfectly with its own fat, but it also must not be too salty, and the final cooking before serving must make the skin super crispy. The best example I have eaten, bar none is found at Chez Dumonet Josephine in Paris. But in Singapore, the best I can remember and still serving is at Black Sheep Cafe. Chef Ratha gets it almost right.

At Flutes, they almost get it right too...but a bit further along the continuum than Ratha. The meat was a bit too salty, and the skin not crispy enough. Not disappointing, for it was still quite nice to eat...though a touch too salty, but nowhere near where the masters of the confit can make it.

The other set was grilled fillet of cod.



I didn't try it, but Eddie offered that it was excellent. The fish looked cooked nicely.

OVerall, Flutes was a good place to bring a business associate for a quiet lunch to discuss business. It has tremendous ambience, quiet, and very good service...and it is within the CBD without being overcrowded with office lunch crowd. The food was good, but not at the level to command multiple returns for me...the ambience might make me want to return to entertain clients, but the menu is not inspiring enough.



Flutes at the Fort
21 Lewin Terrace
179290
6338 8770
Open Mon-Sat 12pm-2:30pm, 6:30pm-10:30pm

Eating USA: In and Out Burger

withProf Horolographer

Last night in Los Angeles, tired, and we had already returned the car. Went to the concierge...

me: Hi, can you recommend a nice place to eat? Walk...Somewhere where you would go.

Concierge: oh...you guys from California?

me: um, no

Concierge: have you tried In and Out Burger?

me: oh, we saw many of those driving around the state...are they any good?

Concierge: Da Best! You gotta go. There is one just round the corner...about half a mile walk.




So off we trotted to the nearest In and Out Burger. When we arrived...there was a long line of cars at the drive-in counter...and inside...there was a long line...to order. Promising, methot.



The menu was simple...this was the place for the indecisive. You only get burgers. That's it! No fancy names to figure out...just plain and simple. Hamburger, Cheeseburger, or Double Double (meaning double patty, double cheese). That's it! I ordered the Double Double:



It was excellent. The blurb they put up...100% beef patty, made from fresh whole chuck. They claim they don’t even own a microwave, heat lamp, or freezer. The buns using old-fashioned, slow-rising sponge dough. And we make every burger one at a time, cooked fresh to order.

And it shows. The burger was delicious. The ingredients were fresh. The beef tasty. The cheese smooth, creamy and um...cheesy.

The fries are also good, and not greasy:



Hand cut in the premises, the fries are also only made on order. Hence the queue.

I also had a nice, thick milk shake...made from real ice cream. So thick, it was a bit difficult to suck out of the cup...and I had to wait for it to melt a bit.

Nice burger joint. Would go again, and recommended if you are in the South West (they have only stores in California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah).


In and Out Burger
many branches throughout the South West USA
we were at the LAX outlet

Eating USA: Country Fried Steak

with Prof Horolographer

Continuing on my series of typical street, or highway food in the US...we stopped by this little diner at Mariposa for dinner one evening...on our way back to the hotel from Yosemite National Park.

Fairly typical, small town USA diner...in a small building on its own, and with the Americal fascination with the automobile, you drive right up to the door:



Inside, it reminds me of an episode of a TV sitcom...like Becker...bad coffee...the coffee in a typical non-specialist outlet (and by Starbucks don't count as a specialised coffee establishment...perhaps Peet's Coffee or other might fit the bill) is really bad...dreg like dark liquid, which is almost not drinkable...but most Americans are happy to drink gallons of this everyday.



So for me, it has to be another type of liquid stimulant...and being in Yosemite (um...distances in the US are different from what we are acustomed to in Singapore...a 40 mile drive (about 65km) is typical...and indeed was the distance we drove from Yosemite Valley to Mariposa. So a nice cold beer, perhaps?



How about one named after Yosemite's famous landmarks...the Half Dome...this was a fresh tasting, slightly malty, but very refreshing brew. Very nice after the drive. And awaiting dinner.

I had a peculiar American dinner meal known as Country Fried Steak.

For the uninitiated, this is a piece of steak...usually not a flattering cut...they don't tell you most of the time what cut it is...tenderised, usually mechanically by whacking it, piercing it till the muscle fibres are cut into small pieces...tenderising the meat. Then coated in a batter like that used for Fried Chicken...and deep fried (they love deep frying in this country) till golden brown and super crispy. Then a wallop of country gravy. And served with a large serving of french fries.



For some reason, I find the Country Fried Steak quite palatable...I was to have several of these in the course of our sojourn. Love the juxtaposition of the tender steak (yes beef) with the crunchy, crispy batter and the rich, smothering gravy. The fries were also done very nicely. Not as great as they do in Paris (see La Bourse ou la Vie), but nicely indeed.




Country Kitchen
Mariposa, CA
USA

Eating USA: IHOP

with Eddie, Prof Horolographer

This trip to the US, being on the road...I drove some 3000 miles (about 4800km) in the 14 days we were there...treking mainly the coastal California cities and the US National Parks of Yosemite, Bryce, Grand Canyon. So it meant having to set aside fine dining, and nicer food, for fast food on the road.

The US highways are literally dotted with many such oasis of food, gas and whatnot. And in many of them, the usual suspects - McDonalds, KFC, Burger King, Denny's but also IHOP.

Easy to find, with their characteristic A frame blue roof...



Interesting and typically American to name your chain of stores International House of Pancakes...when the chain is not quite international (they have outlets only in North America), and their menu is quite complete...a bit like Denny's...all day breakfasts, and other American Diner style meals. But of course, special emphasis on pancakes.

I had earlier been kind of hooked on their pancakes...so in our little party of 3 for breakfast before breaking for Gilroy for some retail therapy, we started with a blueberry pancake stack:



This was superb. The blueberries were fresh berries, but totally immersed in a compote of blueberry jelly-jam. The pancakes were huge, fluffy, buttermilk pancakes, which were embedded with blueberries. Eaten just like that, or if you are decadent, with some whipped cream...oh...delicious! Oh, did I mention blueberries are very healthy? They contain a good dose of antioxidants, and are delicious too.

We also sampled the plain pancakes...just a stack of 3 huge, fluffy.



Breakfast, eating this with either Maple Syrup or Honey is just wonderful. Gives you the energy to bounce off walls for the next 10 hours!

We also decided to add some protein, and went for the American staple big breakfast...



Two eggs, ham, sausage, has browns, bacon...all the grease one can take...and smelled wonderful, tasted great.

IHOP...eat like the Americans...and certainly worth one breakfast when in the USA.


International House of Pancakes (IHOP)
everywhere in the USA
www.ihop.com

Eating USA: Thanh Long Crabs

with Kohei, Eddie, Prof Horolographer

Meeting up with Kohei Saito, a good friend from San Francisco...he decided on a famous roasted crab place...run and owned by a Vietnamese family.

The location was rather easy to find, but the parking is a horror...valet is available, which we eventually used.

The restaurant was crowded by the time we arrived at about 7pm...but we were promptly seated.

First up...grilled calamari



Perfectly grilled...slight burnt edges, but nicely medium rare inside...so the meat gives rather easily. It is easy to overcook squid, and will result in a rubbery texture. But this was perfect. Nice, sweet, a bit spicy due to the seasoning and sauce.

We also had the classic Vietnamese deep fried spring rolls.



This was de-rigeur. Quite tasty, but nothing to write home about.

The piece de resistance is the roasted crab.



A nice large Dungeness crab was roasted in supposedly secret ingredients...The crab was large, fat, and had quite nice chunky meat. The meat itself was sweet, rich and creamy. Nicely done. There was rather a lot of meat within the crab.

We also had their famous garlic noodles...basically soft cooked spagetti like noodles, with a garlic sauce. Some claimed this to be irresistable. I found it to be good, but not great.

I liked the calamari and crabs. Very nice.



4101 Judah St
(between 46th Ave & 47th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94122
Neighborhood: Outer Sunset
(415) 665-1146