Handburger - Only if you possess patience and like eating at off-peak hours

The husband is a huge burger fan, and wanted to try out this place after reading about it in the Sunday Times a few months back. Compared to other joints like Botak Jones and Carl's Junior, both of which we really quite like for the value-for-money factor, the burgers weren't all that cheap.

The place was packed solid. I was really disappointed by the service - we were standing first in line for about 10 mins and didn't even get a nod of acknowledgement. If not for the husband's eagerness to try the place, I w0uld have walked away.
The husband ordered the onion rings ($4.80) as a starter. These were fairly normal - nothing to crow about, and nothing to complain about.
The drinks were pretty good - I enjoyed my lychee mint crush ($3.50), and the husband really liked his root beer float ($3.80) (A&W where have you gone?).

My original Handburger burger ($.13.80). I thought the bun was a bit too sweet and soft. Also, I had ordered a chilled stuffed tomato to come with it as part of the set....but....

...this arrived instead. I asked the waitress what it was and explained that I didn't order this, and she looked blankly at me for a while before telling me they were yam/sweet potato chips (I forget now what they were). I had to explain that I had ordered the tomato with my burger before she gave another blank look and subsequently, after going back to the kitchen to check again, divulged that they had run out of tomatoes. Sigh. Information that should have been volunteered had to be prised out like a dentist extracting teeth without anaesthesia.

The husband's The Works burger ($16.80) with almost everything but the kitchen sink. This was a pretty good burger, I must admit.

The beef patty was tender and not too fatty, and the cheese was nicely melted.

The service was the real problem with the place, and it wasn't just the normal servers as well. At the end of the meal, the manager came up to us for a chat. Well, actually he asked specifically how we found the beef, which we said was really good. But we were really shocked to find out that HE was the manager since he was the waiter that pointedly ignored our presence while we were waiting in line - a cursory "we'll be with you in a minute" or "thank you for waiting" would have sufficed. Based on his bevahiour I thought he was ordinary staff. No wonder the rest of the team seemed to be rather poor in their customer engagement.

The value-for-money factor was a bit lost since the entire meal cost us nearly 50 bucks., despite me thinking that the beef patties were really good. I would have been happier going to Brewerks for a burger that cost a bit more, but with better service and atmosphere. This was just a fast food joint trying to play with the bigger boys.

If you really must, Handburger's at the Raffles City basement.

Penang Kitchen at Coronation Road

While I really like the food at Penang Kitchen, I've always found it overpriced for the type of food they serve, which essentially is street food or hawker food. Still, I was craving assam laksa big time and needed a quick fix that I was confident about.

Their assam laksa ($7.90) is always hot and steaming, and chock-full of ingredients - fish flakes, cucumber, pineapple and onions. And it's a fairly substantial serve, so you're always guaranteed to walk away full.

The husband had the herbal duck soup with mee sua ($9.50) - this was excellent. I'll be back there again to have the soup on its own, without the mee sua which I felt diluted it somewhat.

Having forgotten how substantial the assam laska was, I badgered the husband into ordering a char kuey teow ($7.90) to share. The char kuey teow was the winner of the lot - hot and spicy, with really supple kuey teow with lots of egg.

All in, it was a good and quick lunch, but on the expensive side and not really justifiable. For really large quantities of good Penang food, I've found the buffet at the Penang Place in Jurong to be extremely good value for money for about $20 for dinner. The Kings Hotel buffet is really good too, but paying $40 for a lunch buffet is a bit difficult to justify as well.

Penang Kitchen

5 Coronation Road

#01-05 Coronation Arcade

Tel: 6466 6193

Email: penangkitchencatering@gmail.com

Degustation at 53

Most fortunately, I have colleagues who are willing to make the time to try out new places and who drive as well. Earlier this week we went to 53 at 53 Armenian St. The place is owned by a lawyer-turned-chef who apparently has no formal culinary training except for all the Michelin-starred restaurants he's worked in. I'm sure I have many friends who know him personally (one, in particular, works in corporate comms in a private sector sector with a huge entertainment budget and brings clients there all the time @#$%^&*) so I won't say anything more about him.

The restaurant, which is on the 2nd floor of the shophouse, was empty when we got there. Another pair came in 10 mins later (one of the guys was the boss of one of my friends, but that's a story for another day) and it was just 2 tables occupied that day.
Their ordering system is rather strange - they have a set lunch (3 courses for $48++) and a degustation menu (5 courses for $78++), and the whole table has to order the same thing. It didn't make sense to us, and the waiter was not able to convince us that it was a good thing (note to aspiring waitiers - please do not repeat helplesssly "this is the system here...this is the way it works here", as it really does not work). That being said, he turned out to be a pretty good waiter since he could actually tell us where the teapot had been bought (we will never be able to verify whether he was lying or not).

We all went for the degustation menu. First up was a palate teaser (dare I say amuse bouche?) of potato crisps with yogurt powder. The yogurt powder was slightly sour, making the crisps taste like salt-and-vinegar flavour but with a slightly milky taste.
The bread was made of potato flour and there were 2 varieties - the normal version, and the one with bamboo charcoal.

Both versions juxtaposed
The butter had roasted barley sprinkled on top, creating a slightly nutty flavour. It was excellent with the warm bread.

The first dish was Japanese tomatoes, strawberries and compressed watermelon with horseradish in a sorbet-like form. Very cold and refreshing. I'm not a horseradish fan but the combination of flavours and textures - the tang of the tomatoes+sweetness of the strawberries+watermelon juice+crisp bread+hit-you-in-the-nose-horseradish was amazing.

The second dish was a grilled scallop with watercress, chicken oysters and buckwheat topped with a carrot puree sauce, and chicken powder. Chicken oysters are apparently named because this piece of chicken meat is located between bones that cause the oyster shape. The chicken powder is apparently made from ground concentraced dehydrated chicken meat. This was another winner - the scallops were perfectly done; cooked/seared on the outside but still slightly raw in the middle.

Third course was an escabeche of mackerel, with fennel and kyoho grapes on top of quinoa and another vegetable that I couldn't quite catch the name of.

I didn't quite enjoy this dish as much since I'm not a fish fan. The quinoa and (I think it was carrot-based) sauce was rather mild, probably to balance the stronger flavours of the fish.

The fourth course was a chicken breast that was seared after being boiled. I have no idea what was in the foam, but there was a pine nut sauce which tasted like peanut, and granny smith apple discs on the chicken. Unfortunately boiled chicken breast is not a very exciting dish for a degustation menu.

Dessert was a combination of sweet cucumber and apple strips with an apple sorbet (again, I'm not sure if this is the right word) topped with a foam of concentrated lemon juice. There were little celery and cucumber cubes as well. Interesting and pleasant, but it didn't quite have the boomz effect. Something more sinful like chocolate would have made me much happier.

Our petit fours in the form of Apple gelatin drops. We were told to peel it off the stone, and leave it on our tongues to melt. This was really nice.

It reminded me of my meal at Vue de Monde in Melbourne earlier this year, albeit not quite on par - Vue de Monde was a lot more luxurious (and expensive) with much more variety on offer, and 53 was sadly lacking a restaurant buzz which VdM had even for a weekday lunch. But I think it's pretty good for local standards and could be worth another go at dinner time with a lot more time to enjoy the food with wine.

53 Armenian St

Tel: 6334 5535

Hairy Crab at East Ocean Teochew Restaurant

The mother has always raved about hairy crabs, so despite her being a cholestrol-challenged tv addict and exercisephobe, I decided to bring her to check out one of the hairy crab promotions featured in the Sunday Times some weeks back. Since she's based in Laos now, good Chinese food isn't that easy to come by for her.

It was a toss up between Tung Lok Signatures, Club Chinois and East Ocean Teochew Restaurant at Shaw Centre. I think it was the availability of parking near Lido that eventually clinched the deal for East Ocean. I hate the Central carpark, but I guess I could have parked at Forum if we went to Club Chinois. Anyway, between Shaw Centre, International Building and Palais Renaissance, I was fairly confident I could get a parking lot quickly.

After a delayed flight and scraping a nearby car (yes, seriously, but fortunately no visible damage), we made it just in time for our reservation only to be told our table wasn't ready. There were a few others in the same predicament, and I think it's only fair that if the restaurant wants to seat people before the reservers arrive, the earlier patrons should be told that there is an upcoming reservation and to be mindful of the timing of their meal. East Ocean doesn't have that many seats outside as well, so we ended up standing around for about 20 mins.

After we got to our table, which was actually located in a makeshift area along the exit corridor, we managed to order our Hairy Crab Set B for $88++ per person. It came with some cups of tea....which we didn't realise was meant to cleanse the palate. So it grew cold, but they were good enough to replace the cups.

First dish: One Hairy crab xiaolongbao. The photo is deceiving in that it looks like a giant xiaolongbao - the one that they served looks very regular. It was pretty good, with firm and soft skin. The liquid inside was sweet, and the filling was a good combination of lean and fatty minced pork as well as sweet crab. But - only ONE!

2nd course: Chicken soup. This was very enjoyable...the taste of the chicken was pretty intense.

3rd course: Stewed pork ribs with mantou and broccoli. I'm not sure why the pork ribs were selected as a filler to fit into the hairy crab menu - this arrived not-too-warm, and the fat had congealed by the time we ate it. Very average and ordinary.
The highlight of the evening - 2 female crabs from the (can't recall the name now) freshwater lake in some southern province of China.

The server cut up the crab and removed the inedible bits. I didn't get her name, but this was one friendly and attentive waitress. She made the meal a much more enjoyable one. If not for the high price tag for the set meal, I would have given her a separate tip.

The main body of the crab plus shell - this was where all the roe was

The pincers and legs with the shell crushed and removed, so we could eat every single little bit

Next up was a mixture of crab meat and roe on top of noodles. The crab mixture had a bit of salt and ginger in it. I don't usually like ginger, but this was absolutely divine. The meat was sweet, and the roe made everything really smooth. The noodles were nicely cooked al dente.

Dessert - ginger tea with one little sesame-filled tangyuan, as well as cut fruits.

88 bucks (in the end, $212 for 2 people including taxes) was spent just like that. After I heard about the 10RMB hairy crabs in Shanghai, I felt this meal was really not worth the price for the food alone. But a happy mummy made the hole in the pocket feel a little bit better.

East Ocean Teochew Restaurant

1 Scotts Road

#02-18 Shaw Centre

Tel: 6235 9088

En Grill & Bar

This is a month-old overdue post but I thought I should stop procrastinating and get it out since the offer is coming to an end soon - En Grill at Mohd Sultan is having a Kushiyaki Buffet for $24.80++ until the end of November which is really really really good value. The husband and I have spent over a hundred bucks at Satsuma, so we were so happy when our friend Wonderwoman the Buffet Queen made arrangements for us to have dinner there.

They have a lot of skewers on offer for the buffet - we probably ordered only about just over half of the menu. Their happy hour drinks (until 8pm) are also 50% off, which makes it even better!

The obligatory raw salad with miso dip

They give you 5 skewers to start with, which you can't choose: we had (From left) tsukune (chicken meat balls), shisamo, golden mushrooms wrapped in thinly-sliced pork belly, prawn wrapped in shiso leaf and the same thinly-sliced pork, and cherry tomatoes wrapped in bacon and covered with cheese. From the word GO, the food was amazing - the chicken meat balls were moist yet well-cooked on the inside and the minced cartilege added a really nice bite. The ones wrapped in pork/bacon came fresh off the grill, and the pork fat when eaten fat was absolutely wonderful.

For the rest of the things that we ordered, I'll let the pictures do the talking. Suffice to say that practically EVERYTHING was good quality - the food was fresh, and it was served freshly off the grill.

Scallops wrapped in bacon - the scallops were fresh, and thick. So nice to bite into!
Grilled salmon

Shitake mushroom and more prawn wrapped with shiso leaf and pork
Grilled squid
Chicken wings

Pork belly, and beef with grated radish and ponzu sauce. The husband liked the beef very much...I preferred the pork.
Shitake mushroom wrapped in pork belly with cheese

Asparagus wrapped in pork belly
Unagi
Oyster wrapped in bacon
Capsicum stuffed with minced chicken

Tofu with miso paste

Taken when we were halfway done...we orderd another round of almost everything : )
En Grill and Bar at 207 River Valley Road (but located on Mohd Sultan Rd)
#01-60 UE Square Tel: 6732 6863

A Great Article from the New York Times

100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do

By BRUCE BUSCHEL

Herewith is a modest list of dos and don’ts for servers at the seafood restaurant I am building. Veteran waiters, moonlighting actresses, libertarians and baristas will no doubt protest some or most of what follows. They will claim it homogenizes them or stifles their true nature. And yet, if 100 different actors play Hamlet, hitting all the same marks, reciting all the same lines, cannot each one bring something unique to that role?

1. Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.
2. Do not make a singleton feel bad. Do not say, “Are you waiting for someone?” Ask for a reservation. Ask if he or she would like to sit at the bar.
3. Never refuse to seat three guests because a fourth has not yet arrived.
4. If a table is not ready within a reasonable length of time, offer a free drink and/or amuse-bouche. The guests may be tired and hungry and thirsty, and they did everything right.
5. Tables should be level without anyone asking. Fix it before guests are seated.
6. Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.
7. Do not announce your name. No jokes, no flirting, no cuteness.
8. Do not interrupt a conversation. For any reason. Especially not to recite specials. Wait for the right moment.
9. Do not recite the specials too fast or robotically or dramatically. It is not a soliloquy. This is not an audition.
10. Do not inject your personal favorites when explaining the specials.
11. Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.” Even if there are only two lobsters left.
12. Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.
13. Handle wine glasses by their stems and silverware by the handles.
14. When you ask, “How’s everything?” or “How was the meal?” listen to the answer and fix whatever is not right.
15. Never say “I don’t know” to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.”
16. If someone requests more sauce or gravy or cheese, bring a side dish of same. No pouring. Let them help themselves.
17. Do not take an empty plate from one guest while others are still eating the same course. Wait, wait, wait.
18. Know before approaching a table who has ordered what. Do not ask, “Who’s having the shrimp?”
19. Offer guests butter and/or olive oil with their bread.
20. Never refuse to substitute one vegetable for another.
21. Never serve anything that looks creepy or runny or wrong.
22. If someone is unsure about a wine choice, help him. That might mean sending someone else to the table or offering a taste or two.
23. If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc.
24. Never use the same glass for a second drink.
25. Make sure the glasses are clean. Inspect them before placing them on the table.
26. Never assume people want their white wine in an ice bucket. Inquire.
27. For red wine, ask if the guests want to pour their own or prefer the waiter to pour.
28. Do not put your hands all over the spout of a wine bottle while removing the cork.
29. Do not pop a champagne cork. Remove it quietly, gracefully. The less noise the better.
30. Never let the wine bottle touch the glass into which you are pouring. No one wants to drink the dust or dirt from the bottle.
31. Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something went wrong.
32. Never touch a customer. No excuses. Do not do it. Do not brush them, move them, wipe them or dust them.
33. Do not bang into chairs or tables when passing by.
34. Do not have a personal conversation with another server within earshot of customers.
35. Do not eat or drink in plain view of guests.
36. Never reek from perfume or cigarettes. People want to smell the food and beverage.
37. Do not drink alcohol on the job, even if invited by the guests. “Not when I’m on duty” will suffice.
38.Do not call a guy a “dude.”
39. Do not call a woman “lady.”
40. Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad.
41. Saying, “No problem” is a problem. It has a tone of insincerity or sarcasm. “My pleasure” or “You’re welcome” will do.
42. Do not compliment a guest’s attire or hairdo or makeup. You are insulting someone else.
43. Never mention what your favorite dessert is. It’s irrelevant.
44. Do not discuss your own eating habits, be you vegan or lactose intolerant or diabetic.
45. Do not curse, no matter how young or hip the guests.
46. Never acknowledge any one guest over and above any other. All guests are equal.
47. Do not gossip about co-workers or guests within earshot of guests.
48. Do not ask what someone is eating or drinking when they ask for more; remember or consult the order.
49. Never mention the tip, unless asked.
50. Do not turn on the charm when it’s tip time. Be consistent throughout.

51. If there is a service charge, alert your guests when you present the bill. It’s not a secret or a trick.
52. Know your menu inside and out. If you serve Balsam Farm candy-striped beets, know something about Balsam Farm and candy-striped beets.
53. Do not let guests double-order unintentionally; remind the guest who orders ratatouille that zucchini comes with the entree.
54. If there is a prix fixe, let guests know about it. Do not force anyone to ask for the “special” menu.
55. Do not serve an amuse-bouche without detailing the ingredients. Allergies are a serious matter; peanut oil can kill. (This would also be a good time to ask if anyone has any allergies.)
56. Do not ignore a table because it is not your table. Stop, look, listen, lend a hand. (Whether tips are pooled or not.)
57. Bring the pepper mill with the appetizer. Do not make people wait or beg for a condiment.
58. Do not bring judgment with the ketchup. Or mustard. Or hot sauce. Or whatever condiment is requested.
59. Do not leave place settings that are not being used.
60. Bring all the appetizers at the same time, or do not bring the appetizers. Same with entrees and desserts.
61. Do not stand behind someone who is ordering. Make eye contact. Thank him or her.
62. Do not fill the water glass every two minutes, or after each sip. You’ll make people nervous.
62(a). Do not let a glass sit empty for too long.
63. Never blame the chef or the busboy or the hostess or the weather for anything that goes wrong. Just make it right.
64. Specials, spoken and printed, should always have prices.
65. Always remove used silverware and replace it with new.
66. Do not return to the guest anything that falls on the floor — be it napkin, spoon, menu or soy sauce.
67. Never stack the plates on the table. They make a racket. Shhhhhh.
68. Do not reach across one guest to serve another.
69. If a guest is having trouble making a decision, help out. If someone wants to know your life story, keep it short. If someone wants to meet the chef, make an effort.
70. Never deliver a hot plate without warning the guest. And never ask a guest to pass along that hot plate.
71. Do not race around the dining room as if there is a fire in the kitchen or a medical emergency. (Unless there is a fire in the kitchen or a medical emergency.)
72. Do not serve salad on a freezing cold plate; it usually advertises the fact that it has not been freshly prepared.
73. Do not bring soup without a spoon. Few things are more frustrating than a bowl of hot soup with no spoon.
74. Let the guests know the restaurant is out of something before the guests read the menu and order the missing dish.
75. Do not ask if someone is finished when others are still eating that course.
76. Do not ask if a guest is finished the very second the guest is finished. Let guests digest, savor, reflect.
77. Do not disappear.
78. Do not ask, “Are you still working on that?” Dining is not work — until questions like this are asked.
79. When someone orders a drink “straight up,” determine if he wants it “neat” — right out of the bottle — or chilled. Up is up, but “straight up” is debatable.
80. Never insist that a guest settle up at the bar before sitting down; transfer the tab.
81. Know what the bar has in stock before each meal.
82. If you drip or spill something, clean it up, replace it, offer to pay for whatever damage you may have caused. Refrain from touching the wet spots on the guest.
83. Ask if your guest wants his coffee with dessert or after. Same with an after-dinner drink.
84. Do not refill a coffee cup compulsively. Ask if the guest desires a refill.
84(a). Do not let an empty coffee cup sit too long before asking if a refill is desired.
85. Never bring a check until someone asks for it. Then give it to the person who asked for it.
86. If a few people signal for the check, find a neutral place on the table to leave it.
87. Do not stop your excellent service after the check is presented or paid.
88. Do not ask if a guest needs change. Just bring the change.
89. Never patronize a guest who has a complaint or suggestion; listen, take it seriously, address it.
90. If someone is getting agitated or effusive on a cellphone, politely suggest he keep it down or move away from other guests.
91. If someone complains about the music, do something about it, without upsetting the ambiance. (The music is not for the staff — it’s for the customers.)
92. Never play a radio station with commercials or news or talking of any kind.
93. Do not play brass — no brassy Broadway songs, brass bands, marching bands, or big bands that feature brass, except a muted flugelhorn.
94. Do not play an entire CD of any artist. If someone doesn’t like Frightened Rabbit or Michael Bublé, you have just ruined a meal.
95. Never hover long enough to make people feel they are being watched or hurried, especially when they are figuring out the tip or signing for the check.
96. Do not say anything after a tip — be it good, bad, indifferent — except, “Thank you very much.”
97. If a guest goes gaga over a particular dish, get the recipe for him or her.
98. Do not wear too much makeup or jewelry. You know you have too much jewelry when it jingles and/or draws comments.
99. Do not show frustration. Your only mission is to serve. Be patient. It is not easy.
100. Guests, like servers, come in all packages. Show a “good table” your appreciation with a free glass of port, a plate of biscotti or something else management approves.
Bonus Track: As Bill Gates has said, “Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” (Of course, Microsoft is one of the most litigious companies in history, so one can take Mr. Gates’s counsel with a grain of salt. Gray sea salt is a nice addition to any table.)

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/

http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/05/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-2/

Imperial Treasure

When Imperial Treasure first appeared a few years ago, I was hesitant to eat there for a while thinking that Crystal Jade was still the ultimate in Cantonese cuisine. Both served the same type of food, and both also branched out into serving Shanghainese food like la mian and xiaolongbao. Since I started eating at Imperial Treasure about a year ago, I've become a pretty big fan given that the quality is consistently pretty good.

Cuttlefish with salt and pepper ($7.00). The cuttlefish was chewy, and the batter was crispy and dry.

Beef brisket casserole ($14.00). We slurped every bit of the sauce up to eat with our rice. The beef brisket was stewed until it was tender, and the sauce had a good balance of spices and beef flavour.

Fried spinach ($9.50)

My favourite dish at Imperial Treasure - Egg White and Fish Meat with Dried Scallop ($10.80). It's served with a raw egg, which the waitress will mash into the rest of the dish together with vinegar and pepper. It's super tasty, and reminiscent of the runny eggs with pepper and soy sauce that most kopitiams serve.

Close-up after the mixing