A Royal Feast At Kaiserhaus

I visited Kaiserhaus at the newly renovated Capitol building last week, at the recommendation of Jerome.  I usually disliked the rather heavy fare served at German restaurants where meat, more meat, and even more meat and potatoes were the staple.  However, Jerome swore that this one was different. And he was right.

We had an exceptional dinner which served a gastronomical delight from the former Hapsburg empire stretching all the way from Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Northern Italy, right up to the Balkans.  So that was where I was wrong.  This was not a German restaurant.  The food was exquisite.  The veal Schnitzel was fried to a delicate crisp and the Debrecen Kolbász  or Hungarian Paprika Chicken Sausage which Jerome loved too, was bursting in a symphony of spicy, salty flavors that broke into a waltz on my tongue at the first bite. 

One of the not-to-be-missed dishes that you have to try at least once, would be the Austrian national dish called Tafelspitz.  A favorite of Emperor Franz Josef I, this comprised of tender grain-fed beef rump,  and mixed root vegetables, luxuriously creamy bone marrow, a crisp rosti and velvety creamy spinach served in traditional copper pots. The Tafelzpitz was accompanied by freshly toasted rye bread and homemade horseradish sauce.

Jerome also had the Backhendl which was a Viennese favorite. Also known as the Backhähnchen, this dish that dated back to the 18th century was once prepared primarily for the aristocrats and upper echelons of society. Today, this dish is very much enjoyed by many in Munich during the annual Oktoberfest. The version here at Kaiserhaus used organic chicken and came served with a refreshingly piquant potato salad and mâche, which was a European salad green that grew in small rosette-shaped bunches.

This must be the only European restaurant of its kind in Singapore that had Gabelkraut on its menu. A mildly sweet variation of the Sauerkraut, this was included as a side in the Debrecen Kolbász. Named after the city of Debrecen in Hungary, this was a smoked Hungarian chicken sausage, heavily spiced with paprika, marjoram, garlic and pepper. In addition to the Gabelkraut, this also came with mash and Lecsó, a bell pepper based Hungarian version of the traditional French Provençal ratatouille.

No meal here can be truly complete without a serving of their wholesome desserts. For this, we opted for the Zaunerstollen, a nougat praline with wafer, hazelnut and chocolate, that was handmade by Konditorei Zauner (Zauner Confectionery) using a recipe from way back in 1905.  It is noteworthy that Kaiserhaus is the one and only restaurant in this region that offered the traditional range of treats from Zauner. Established in 1832, this family-owned confectionery was listed as the purveyor to the royal court during the reign of the Habsburg Empire and the preferred supplier of confectionery to the imperial family of Austria.

The most important thing that I almost forgot to mention, is that when you do dine at Kaiserhaus, sharing the meal is highly recommended because the portions are usually huge.  After that, do wash that enormous dinner down with a pint or two of Hirter craft beer.

Our Verdict?  - BELLY-WARMINGLY GOOD

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

 

A Full Belly Of Spices At Diwali

With Diwali just around the corner, I thought it would be  appropriate to share our experiences at some Indian restaurants which Jerome and I had visited recently. Married to a Brit meant that my husband  was quite open to trying out new Indian dishes beyond the only British National dishes that he was familiar with which came in plastic boxes labelled with the brand Marks & Spencer's,  like Chicken Balti, Chicken Vindaloo, Chicken Masala and Chicken Korma.

So, after risking some harrowing experiences akin to a fiery volcano erupting within my tummy for almost two weeks, we bring you our recommendation of exquisite Indian fare from restaurants that suit every taste and budget.

Photo courtesy of David Ash, www.singaporemaven.com

Song of India

Each dinner experience here just gets better with the consistently impressive culinary standards coupled with the impeccable service displayed at Chef Milind Sovani's award-winning restaurant.   The restaurant showcased a contemporary interpretation of Indian cuisine in an opulent and palatial setting complete with soft illuminations and soothing piped-in music.

We started with an amuse-bouche of  spiced lentil chaat and this was followed shortly by rolled-up papadums with an array of tantalizing sauces and sweet chutney.

The main course was a Goan fish curry and a Chettinad prawn curry.  The former was a dish of made from cubes of fresh river fish simmered in a rich velvety curry flavored with coconut and kokam.

The Chettinad prawn curry was by far the most fiery dish.  Large tiger prawns were cooked in a curry prepared with red chilies and curry leaves from the Southern Tamil Nadu state.  

Both curries paired brilliantly with a basket of freshly baked garlic naan and their Dumbar prawn biryani which was a  Dhaba-styled biryani cooked with brown onions and a hint of kewda with succulent tiger prawns tossed in.

Dessert was one of Jerome's favourites, the Rasmalai.  A popular Bengali dessert,  the version here comprised of lightly sweetened homemade cheese dumplings in creamy milk.

How do we rate it? BELLY INCREDIBLE. Not cheap but definitely worth the money spent.

Muthu's Curry

I could not believe that this restaurant had been known to serve up some of the best curries since 1969.  It was as old as I was!   Established by Muthu Ayyakkannu, they have since modernised the set-up and operations to cater to an ever-changing clientele.  The restaurant management was obdurate on preserving the quality of their offerings by installing their kitchens with US-made Henny Penny equipment.  This ensured  that cooked food stayed warm without losing its moisture and winning flavours that had earned the  loyalty of countless patrons over the decades.

Our dinner started off with fish cutlets.These were dumplings of fish and potatoes fried to a golden brown.  Served piping hot with a refreshing mint  chutney, it made for a great starter.

The dishes in our main course came next. They were  Chicken Chukka, Masala Prawn and the Squid Sambal.  

The Chicken Chukka was a signature at the restaurant.  The chicken was deboned, seasoned in the chef's special fiery sauce and cooked with onions.  Rich in flavours and with a good level of spice,this definitely did not disappoint.

The  Masala Prawn came doused in a fierce red-hued paste which married the goodness of chillies, tomatoes and a smörgåsbord of spices to produce a spicy and slightly sweet palate teaser.

The Squid Sambal comprised of fresh tender squid rings prepared in a base of chili and tomatoes.This was fragrant yet mildly spiced and should please the less adventurous.

Their version of the biryani rice here used fluffy long-grained basmati and was served with Indian crackers and a side serving of braised vegetables.This was a perfect accompaniment to the intensely tasty mains!

How do we rate it? BELLY CONSISTENTLY GOOD. 

Jade of India

We paid Jade of India a visit upon the recommendation of a friend.  She thought we would be able to get a better variety of food that we could try here because it labelled itself as an "Indian multi-cuisine restaurant".  

We had an early dinner at Jade, so the restaurant was quite quiet save for our table and another family who was tucking into chaat a few tables away. We had the Samundri Moti. This was Jade's signature dish made up of soft boneless fish marinated with yoghurt , a hint of carom seed powder, mustard oil and assorted Indian spices. The fish was indeed one of the best dishes we had. The meat was still firm, the hint of spice was subtle and did not over-power the freshness of the fish. 

We also tried the Chettinad Masala Prawns. Picked from their South Indian menu, the succulent prawns was pan-fried with garlic, ginger and seasonings. This dish would not be for the faint-hearted. It was way too spicy for me and I tasted more spices than the prawns.   

The chicken biryani was not worth raving too much about. While it came with a generous amount of well-marinated tender boneless chicken, I found the dish too oily.  

The last dish we had was the Daal Butter Fry. I expected it to be the usual offering of yellow daal cooked in spices which might taste pasty and look pallid. However this was the best yellow daal I have ever had.  The daal had a smokiness about it and was rich and creamy.  This dish, together with the Sumadri Moti was Jade's saving grace during our dinner.

How do we rate it? BELLY ORDINARY.

Wherever you choose to have a meal to celebrate the Festival of Lights, the Belly Team wishes you an awesome Diwali filled with lots of fun and laughter.

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking.  

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

Honouring The Humble Pizza

 

The Belly Team has been quite quiet on this blog.  Ok, let’s be specific.  Half of the Belly Team has been quite quiet on this blog simply because I have been traveling for the past month.   However, worry not.  The other half of the Belly Team had been making his presence felt throughout some of the best restaurants in Singapore.  Jerome has devoured the most variety of cuisines the island has on offer with his voracious appetite, but the best for him, at least in my opinion, has probably got to be the humble pizza. To this, I had to agree in spite of my constant battle with healthy eating. 

 

When I was traveling across 4 countries last month, hopping from Hong Kong to Jakarta to Phuket and finally Kuala Lumpur, the amount of rich and spicy food I had turned my belly inside out with discomfort.  I finally settled for a vegetarian pizza at The Pizza Company in Phuket for fear of facing another spicy Som Tam.  Believe me, that pizza was the best dish I had throughout that month of traveling.

 

Tino’s Pizza Café

 

Jerome got his pizza fix recently at Tino’s.  A relative newbie to the already extensive quantity of pizza restaurants, Tino’s challenge was to serve up the best pizza that used the freshest, top quality ingredients.

He picked 2 types of pizzas, the Margherita and the Sicily Seafood.  The Margherita came loaded with mozzarella, padano, basil and cherry tomatoes while the Sicily Seafood came topped with tuna, calamari, shrimps, capsicum, basil leaves and padano.

 

Unfortunately, whatever Tino’s had promised to deliver, it really was not up to the mark.  The food was very average, uninspiring and the topping ingredients seemed cheap.  The portion of the food was also measly and not what one would expect from a restaurant that was established to focus on the hearty fare of good quality pizzas. We would question the sustainability of the restaurant against the competition of the “bigger boys” which offered better quality fare.

 

Jerome’s Verdict?  BELLY UNSATISFYING

 

Pizzeria Mozza

 

So we moved from a pizzeria that offered such poor quality fare to one that has consistently served up some of the best quality pizzas in Singapore – Pizzeria Mozza.  This goes back to the principles which Jerome and I shared.  To enjoy better quality food, one should not hesitate to pay a little more for it.  

At Pizzeria Mozza, one cannot go wrong with the pizzas served here that are inspired by celebrity chef Mario Batali. The restaurant was in fact the brainchild of Mario Batali, restaurateur Joe Basitianich and mentor and cookbook writer Nancy Silverton.  This local chapter was their first international foray, with their main restaurant headquartered at the prestigious Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. Each pizza is baked to order in a custom-built wood-fired oven and topped with generous amounts of  the freshest premium ingredients specially procured from some of the best purveyors of quality produce in Italy.

 

I had eaten at Pizzeria Mozza several times particularly after a show at the MasterCard Theatre across from the restaurant. In fact, embarrassingly, because the pizzas were so good, I had even eaten at Pizzeria Mozza twice on the same day, once before a show and then again, after the show.  

 

Recently, Jerome visited the Pizzeria and ordered 2 pizzas.  One came topped with fontina, mozzarella, sottoccenere and sage.  The second was prepared with burrata, slow roasted tomatoes and Sicilian oregano.  Be careful about being too over-enthusiastic with the addictive crispbread served while waiting for the pizzas to be cooked.  It was extremely delicious and threatened to cause frivolous ordering of multiple servings of crispbread which might leave little room left for the even more delicious pizzas.

 

Our Verdict?  - BELLY AWESOME AND DANGEROUSLY ADDICTIVE

 

Motorino

 

This pizzeria traced its roots to Brooklyn.  It specialized in Neapolitan-styled pizzas that came topped with ingredients procured from various regions in Italy, resulting in the rich and robust flavours across their pizza creations.  

 

The way the proprietor of Motorino described the tomatoes used in the sauce base was enough to send us into a state of delirium.  He mentioned that the tomatoes were cultivated in Sicily “where the sun shines the hottest and the volcanic soil on which the crops were grown ensured that the harvest yielded exceptionally good quality produce”.  The tomatoes used were heirloom tomatoes which were open-pollinated and non-hybrid which resulted in much better, quality-tasting tomatoes compared to the large scale commercially grown variety.   If you find me hiding in the corner of a kitchen munching on fresh tomatoes, that would be why.

 

Jerome opted for the all-time favourites Marinara and Margherita pizzas because these classics would be a good test of the tomatoes and other ingredients used which the proprietor spoke to us about.  The Marinara pizza was made from tomato sauce, oregano, garlic, sea salt, organic extra virgin olive oil.  The Margherita pizza was made from tomato sauce, fior di latte, basil, pecorino and organic extra virgin olive oil.  True to promised, they passed the test.  The pizzas were so simple, yet transported us back to the old fashioned Italian kitchens in our minds where we could see a little, or not so little old lady pounding away at the pizza dough….”the way Mama makes” as they would say in popular food programs featuring renown Italian chefs.

 

Our Verdict?  - BELLY HEARTWARMINGLY GOOD, ALMOST LIKE A HOMECOMING

 

Pizzeria L’Operetta

 

Another one of Jerome’s favourites was the Margherita Con Fungi at Pizzeria L’Operetta.  This full 12-inches of splendour came topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, basil leaves, and parmesan which was baked in a wood-fired oven.  This was simply delicious and they were obviously uncompromising in quality and freshness when it came to ingredients.  The oven which the pizzas were cooked in, bore an uncanny resemblance to Phalaris’ ancient torture device, the Brazen Bull.  Kept at a very high heat, it produced an absolutely delectable pie which was soft and with the right amount of chewiness.  The pizzas here were Vera Pizza Nepoletana which was a certification awarded by the Associazione Verace Pizza Nepoletana, a not-for-profit organization where members were bound to comply to the exacting standards of the traditional pizzas made in Naples.  This pizzeria belonged to the L’Opera group of restaurants headed by executive chef Seita Nakahara who had accumulated a wealth of culinary expertise with stints in Piedmonte, Sicily and Tuscany.

 

Jerome’s Verdict?  - BELLY AUTHENTIC AND WORTH BUSTING THE DIET FOR

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

Pride In A Peranakan Kitchen

Mum's Kitchen

Growing up in a Peranakan family offered my brother and I the privilege of witnessing the older generation  putting in a lot of effort to uphold our  traditional Peranakan values through certain traits and formalities they have nurtured over the years.  While Jerome and I appreciated our Peranakan heritage, and often recounted memories of our childhood within a Peranakan household, the truth was that we were slowly but surely losing our hold on our culture.  What seemed to help my brother and I cling on to the last vestiges of what was truly Peranakan in our family were old, fading photographs that were yellow at the edges, my aunt's stories about my grand parents when they were residing in Geylang, my Mum and her awesome Peranakan culinary skills.

Here are some examples of Mum's timeless treasures:

Nonya Mee Siam

Nonya Popiah

Chap Chye

Nonya Mee

Mum's Peranakan cooking became so famous that she even had a couple of her recipes appear in the local newspapers!

Mum whipped up even more wonderful dishes during special occasions like the Lunar New Year.  Particular favourites of mine like Ayam Buah Keluak,  Iteh Sio, Hee Peow Tng or Fish Maw soup and Dad's favourite Salted Vegetable Duck soup were reserved for such special occasions.  Jerome and I swore to curate all Mum's recipes one day, and compile them into a little book which could hopefully be passed down to the next generation and the generation after.  

Jerome and my verdict on Mum's cooking? Hello...it's Mum's food cooked with love. Of course it is Belly brilliant! Most authentic, Mum!

Violet Oon's Kitchen

When Mum was busy at the mahjong table, doing her nails, "setting" her hair or at some ladies' luncheon, at a time when Jerome and I had a craving for Peranakan food, there were other alternatives which I must qualify here, really could not come close to Mum's home-cooked, food-coma-inducing cooking.  However, the closest Jerome thought could warrant a visit from the most finicky Peranakan food lover was Violet Oon's.

Violet Oon needs little introduction in Singapore. Widely regarded as Singapore's food ambassador and a culinary connoisseur herself, Violet has been quite a kitchen celebrity for decades.  Her passion for the epicurean arts was translated on the menu offerings at her very own cosy bistro named after her.

Jerome kicked off his meal there with an appetiser of Kueh Pie Tee. This was a filling of julienned bamboo shoots and turnips poached in a prawn bisque,  stuffed into a pastry basket and topped with prawns, and a slight drizzle of homemade chilli sauce.

Kueh Pie Tee

He then went on to the mains and would not hesitate to order the Ayam Buah Keluak.  Yes Mum, we apologise for the disloyalty but we need not have to wait for a special occasion! Violet's Ayam Buah Keluak was one of her signature dishes.  An ubiquitous Nonya favourite, this classic dish comprised of a tangy chicken stew cooked with a black nut that was purportedly found only in Indonesia. The dish was infused with the rich flavours of an array of exotic Asian herbs and spices such as galangal and turmeric.  This had to be one of the few restaurants left where the contents of the nut were left as it was and any Peranakan food aficionado would appreciate this because many other restaurants claiming to serve authentic Peranakan food, would extract the contents of the nut, mixed it together with minced chicken or pork then re-fill it back into the nut. That, to Jerome and I, was near sacrilegious. 

Ayam Buah Keluak

Another dish worth trying at Violet Oon's was the Beef Rendang.  It was not a particular favourite of mine simply because I could not see it as a uniquely Peranakan dish.  At Violet Oon's the dish was made from tender pieces of beef shin braised in a moreish spice combination which had gotten added kick from the bay and kafir lime leaves and a velvety coconut cream sauce.

Beef Rendang

If you liked seafood, be sure to try the Fish Tempra.  This was a fried sea bass fillet with a drizzle of sweet and spicy sauce of onions, chillies, sweet soy sauce and a dash of calamondin.

Fish Tempra

These rich flavours of Violet Oon's dishes were accompanied by yellow rice or Nasi Kuning. Violet's version was made from glutinous jasmine rice infused with turmeric and steamed with coconut milk, which made the meal even richer and worthy of another couple of extra boxing training sessions booked in.

Nasi Kuning

It was about time Violet Oon opened her own establishment and offered good Peranakan fare. Jerome was not disappointed and hoped that the quality of her food would remain consistently good in the years to come.  Of course, it could not compare with home-cooked goodness at Mum's. However, I would know who to visit for a good meal should Mum need a break from the kitchen to spend more time at the mahjong table.

Jerome's verdict on Violet Oon?  Belly good and near-authentic enough.

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking.  

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

Chill Out Grub For Lazy Weekends

We do love our long weekends, don't we?  Some might take off on a short trip to a neighbouring island, others might be at the beach, Jerome and I would be eating,  We would either be cafe-hopping, brunch-grazing, trying out new restaurants or rekindling our memories with old ones.

Long weekends are meant for chilling out.  You could spend your chill out time having an intellectual debate about the recent  bimbotic choice of a cover in Rolling Stones magazine, watch a mindless B-grade remake of a movie  about dinosaurs, or pay $70 at Universal Studios to queue for 4 hours for that 1 mega ride and spend  another 1 hour to locate the washroom after so that we could throw up our lunch.  Jerome and I however, are more practical people. We just want to eat our way through the long weekend.

Chill out weekends call for "Chill Out Grub" and this should definitely include some light but not-too-light bites and a fair measure of alcohol.

Jerome's choice of restaurants for chill out grub were the tried and tested, know-what-you-would-get-when-you-ordered-it type because while he used half his brain on weekdays for decision-making at work, he was not one to use what was left of his brain for decision-making over the long weekend. 

So he headed for Smokey's BBQ American Smokehouse & Grill where he ordered a smoked beef chilli nachos. The portion that arrived was huge. It was prepared with deep fried flour tortillas served with salsa, and topped with American cheese, sour cream and home made chilli con carne. Jerome loved the passion that the Smokehouse team had been putting into their culinary vision. They used a  blend of mesquite and hickory wood chips imported from the U.S. to recreate the smokiness of an  American Barbecue. So if you intend to get beyond the chill out grub, do try also their  U.S. Prime Beef Brisket marinated in Gordon Biersch Maibock, a beer from San Jose, California.  The meat was smoked and slow-roasted for 20 hours and smothered with barbecue sauce.

Smoked Beef Chilli Nachos At Smokey's BBQ American Smokehouse & Grill

Jerome's verdict on Smokey's Smoked Beef Chilli Nachos? - Belly Fantastic

Another restaurant well known for its chill out grub that had remained consistent in the variety and quality of its offerings is Chili's  Bar and Grill.  Among its Tex Mex favourites, Jerome swore by its Santa Fe Quesadillas as a chill out dish.  This comprised of flour tortillas filled with seared shrimp, corn and black bean salsa, American Monterey Jack cheese and a spiced Santa Zfe sauce. This was served with house-made pico de gallo and sour cream with citrus-chile rice and black beans.

Chilli Bar and Grill's Santa Fe Quesadillas

When Jerome decided that he wanted to sweeten his chill out time with some exotic cocktails, the safe bet for him was to head to the lobby lounge at Intercontinental Hotel.  There, he picked his cocktails by colour.  He loved his "girly drinks" like that.  He had the Basil Grande, created by Intercontinental Hong Kong, which was a heady concoction made from  vodka, grand marnier, maraschino liquer, cranberry juice and strawberry syrup.  He also had the Blue Devil, created by Intercontinenal Seoul, which was a lovely potion made from gin, tequila, rum, vodka, grand marnier, blue curaçao and pineapple juice.

Jerome's verdict on Chili's Santa Fe Quesadillas? - Belly OK.

Cocktails At Intercontinenal Hotel's Lobby Lounge

Jerome's verdict on Intercontinenal Hotel's cocktails? - Belly Expensive But Ok Lah

While Jerome determined his choice of chill out grub by what he had remembered ordering week after week, I was a little different.  For my choice of chill out grub, I tended to get off the beaten track and would pick more unique offerings.  

One of my top picks was El Mero Mero at CHIJMES. Even if you were not in the mood for food, their cocktails are enough to make you put on your dancing shoes and show off your salsa moves. There were no words suitable enough to describe the cocktails here apart from the word SEX.  We were mesmerized by the Latin Lover which was made from dark rum, a variety of fruits and aromatic bitters.  We flirted with the Habanero Mango Martini, which was made from habanero tequila and mango purée. We swooned over the Maracuya, a margarita made from fresh passion fruit.

Cocktails At El Mero Mero

When we were finally ready to line our tummies to salve the headiness caused  by the cocktails, the unique Mexican cuisine created under the culinary direction of executive chef Remy Lefebvre, did not disappoint.  We had the Street Food Corn Sampler that came beautifully served with organic baby corn served in a Mexican sugar skull (the representation of the Mexican festival known as Dia de Los Muertos or Day of the Dead)  and smoked corn mushroom huitlacoche donuts with cotija-mayo dipping sauce that came in a tube.   We were particularly enamoured by their tacos.  You know how you would go to some Mexican restaurants and you felt that in spite of the variety of tacos served, they all tasted the same?  We did not feel the same at El Mero Mero. The tacos served here  were absolutely delicious. They were quite light, more refined and the ingredients were so fresh that we could taste each ingredient within a single taco.   We had the Wild Fish Tacos which consisted of fresh red snapper fillet, tempura shishito and onion rings with chipotle-mayo sauce on flour tortilla.  We also had the Duck Carnitas Tostadas which were duck carnitas on a flat crunchy tortilla with salsa verde and braised onion.

Tacos And Tostadas At El Mero Mero

My verdict on El Mero Mero's cocktails and chill out fare? - Belly Incredible.

When I wanted to go on a little adventure by visiting a place that was way off my radar for chill out grub, I would pay Le Park a visit.  This place was situated in the heart of Chinatown, on the rooftop of People's Park Complex, which was an old and  grubby building you would never think of visiting unless your elderly mother intended to visit a travel agency to book a tour to China for elderly folks, or buy a gallon of Chinese medicinal herbs to cure your "heaty" disposition.  

Le Park was accessible only after meandering through a rabbit warren of old-fashioned clothing stores and climbing up a few flights of backroom stairs that reeked of pee.  When you came to the entrance of Le Park, you would even be wondering if you had taken  the wrong turn and ended up at a dingy KTV pub.  Once you had overcome the prejudice of first appearances and stepped through Le Park's door, you would be transported to a different world of a fantastic variety of unique beers, and Asian-inspired tapas.  There was no menu for the drinks, although the variety was extensive. The different types of beers, ciders  and sodas on offer were lined up at the till.  All you needed to do was to walk up to the till, point to the bottle you might like and pay for it.   The food menu was quite limited but the portions were big enough to  fill you up as a main course for one.    

Not A Place You Would Expect A Chill Out Bar

For drinks, we had the Fucking Hell beer, so named because it came from a place called Fucking in Austria.  I might migrate there.  We also had the Woodchuck Hard Cider because it was made from Granny Smith apples and I needed a serving of fruit that day.

Wide Variety Of Beers And Ciders At Le Park

There were a few unique Asian-inspired Tapas on the menu like Thai Basil Pork With Stuffed Tau Pok,  Pepper Salt Crispy Chicken Skin and Otah Bomb,  we decided to veer on the safe side, no doubt influenced by Jerome, and ordered the Chicken Wings with Thai Chilli Sauce and Chunky Spam Fries With Truffle Mayo.  However, when we ordered the Nachos with Peri Peri Chicken which were not quite Asian-Inspired, that truly knocked our socks off.  The spiciness of that tangy Peri Peri chicken was a winner when combined with nachos, and got us to order yet another round of drinks. 

Ordinary And Less Ordinary Fare At Le Park

My verdict on Le Park's drinks and chill out grub? - Belly OK

We loved chill out grub on a lazy weekend afternoon.  It offered us a choice to go heavy on our order and turned it into a full meal or we might just want to order a few light bites, then wait and see where our day was about to take  us.  Jerome and I liked choices without the pressure. Ultimately that was what chilling out meant right?

Post Script:

When Jerome read this blogpost, he protested  about my unfair judgement of his safe options for chill out grub. He alerted me to a visit he had made to Suprette, a restaurant located at the historic Kam Leng Hotel which now looked a little like "Hotel Hot Sheets".  The location of Suprette was also pretty much off the beaten track and the food was purportedly quite unique as well. Jerome enjoyed its Five Spiced Chicken Wings which was fried to a perfect crisp and served with Kecap Manis.  He also had the Suprette Burger which was sandwiched between toasted sesame seed buns and filled with Grueye cheese and balsamic onion relish.   He also pointed me to the fact that Suprette too served Fucking Hell beer.  Bravo Jerome, for walking on the wild side from time to time. Woo Hoo....

Suprette's Nondescript Location

Suprette's Five Spiced Chicken Wings And Burger

Jerome's verdict on Suprette's Chicken Wings and Burger? - Belly Awesome

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking.  

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.