Third Time Unlucky

After two weeks trekking in the Himalayas coping with average food, we were delighted to get back to Singapore and prepare to gorge ourselves once more. Any time we are away for any length of time, I return with desperate dim sum cravings, and so within a week of being back, I’ve managed to squeeze in not one, not two, but three dim sum feasts. Having already visited old regular Crystal Jade Dining In, and new favourite Dim Joy, come the weekend it was time to try somewhere new.

Lei Garden always seems to receive favourable reviews and as we had shopping to do in the area, we called in to Chijmes to give it a shot. There was an enormous queue when we arrived, always a good sign, and thankfully they were all waiting for large family tables, and so we swanned straight past them and were shown immediately to a table.

I have often walked past Lei Garden in the evenings and thought that it doesn’t look very enticing due to its stark lighting. I was pleasantly surprised therefore just how welcoming an atmosphere it has – nicely presented tables, tanks full of live seafood and not too brightly lit at all. They even had a chef station for preparing specials to order within the restaurant.

We put our dim sum order in and then, because we’re greedy, we also flagged down a waitress with a tray of specials to grab something while we waited. She just so happened to have one of my favourites – Prawn and Mango Rolls, so how could I resist? Well unfortunately I wish I had resisted, this was not a good start to the meal… not only were they cold and soggy, they were dripping in grease. The paper doily left on the tray was translucent at the end and the plate beneath completely sodden.

Not a good sign of things to come. Thankfully things did improve somewhat – but not significantly enough to convince me to return here. The old favourites Har Gao and Char Siew Bao were nothing to get excited about, neither was the Pork Dumplings in Spicy Sauce

the Crystal Dumplings with Assorted Mushrooms were slightly better,

as was the Shredded Beancurd with Spicy Sauce and Peanuts.

The Xiao Long Bao, however was very disappointing – no soup and very little flavour,

and the Egg Tarts were just average.

Mr Greedy Glutton finished off with some Pan Fried Pork Dumplings – after seeing him take a bite and the grease literally pouring out of it onto the plate, I politely declined to join him…

So having been for Dim Sum three times in one week, I think you could say I got my fix… I shall certainly not be returning to Lei Garden next time though, no matter how bad the craving…

Lei Garden – 30 Victoria Street, #01-24 Chijmes

Teppanyaki Fun

It was raining but we didn’t really want to be indoors, so we made our way up to Chijmes, where we could have a bite to eat then have the option of moving outside once the rain cleared up. I’m never that impressed with the range of options at Chijmes – there seems to be too many places offering second-rate Burgers and Ribs for my liking, but today we came up with a winner…Tatsu.

As I’ve said before, we’re pretty much novices when it comes to Japanese food and have never quite ‘got’ all the fuss surrounding it… well, I think this could be the restaurant to convert us. Tatsu is divided into three – the Sakae Bar, the Sushi Restaurant, and the Teppanyaki Restaurant, and we chose the Teppanyaki section for its comfy chairs and in-situ chefs.

The waitress was really helpful and patient with our incessant indecisiveness and with a little help, we finally settled on the following starters:

Tuna Sushi

Tempura Maki

Both of which were fantastic, really fresh and tasty and I particularly fell for the Tempura Maki. But we had to ensure we saved some room for the rest of the feast we had coming our way – all from the Teppanyaki section: Beef,

Salmon

And Vegetables, served up with some Garlic Rice. Again, each dish was awesome and each cooked up on the hot plate in front of us by our charismatic chef:

Who kept us entertained with his banter, fire-raising and knife-juggling skills.

So a big-up to the Tatsu team for not only providing a really amazing meal, but also giving us an extremely entertaining and enjoyable evening… and converting us to the wonders of Japanese cuisine….

Tatsu Teppanyaki - #01-15/15a Chijmes, 30 Victoria St

A Burger Hunt

Mr Greedy Glutton came home from playing golf Sunday lunch time with a Burger craving... and we're not talking about a Whopper or a Big Mac here, we're talking home-made, ground beef, flame-grilled, with all the trimmings.

So, having read good reports in one of our restaurant guides, we set off to find Uber-burger. An hour later, having taken the MRT and shanks pony to Millenia Walk, we discovered that Uber-burger was in fact another victim of Singaporean catering and retail fickleness, and had closed down before we'd even had a chance to sample their 'gourmet' burgers. (We later found out that it actually closed down in February - that's 6 months before we even moved to Singapore, oops!)

So, we found ourselves in a bit of a quandry as to where to find a good burger. The closest place we could think of that has an abundance of 'western' bars and restaurants was Chijmes... so back we went for another 20 minute walk. When we eventually arrived there, it became a toss-up between the newly-opened Harry's 'Gastrobar' (their menu looks the same as every other Harry's bar, not sure what's so Gastro about it), Bobby's and Hog's Breath Cafe.... not the most inspiring set of choices.

We settled for Bobby's, having already experienced pretty poor meals at Harry's on Boat Quay and Hog's Breath at Vivocity before. As our burger hunt had now taken approximately an hour and half, there was little point in looking at the menu (and Mr Greedy Glutton knew better than to order anything else at this point), so burgers it was.

They weren't great... we weren't even expecting them to be... but they also weren't BAD - they were obviously home-made and had been seasoned well, but as seems to be standard here the cheese was of the 'plasticky' variety and the bun was stale. So burger craving only partly satisfied, and the quest for Singapore's best burger continues.

One thing I will say for Bobby's though - we were served by the most friendly and enthusiastic waiter I have yet come across in Singapore... he was truly full of the joys of Spring... so we may not have found our uber-burger, but we did find mr uber-enthusiastic... but unfortunately it didn't make our average burger uber...

Bobby's - www.bobbys.com.sg