Restaurant Bars

It was so gobsmackingly yummy I was gonna write a whole essay, but ok I know tl;dr you guys’d be plenty bored — so let me try to keep this as short as I can. Three words: mfkin’ bloody delicious. We started our meal with this Dadinhos de Sago. It’s essentially a little Brazilian street chow of tapioca and cheese, which does sound a tad foreign buuuuuut tastes hella amazing. The closest approximation I can recall would be those little Brazilian cheese bread; so imagine that, but better. These little cubes are fried to a perfect golden on the exterior, crisp and crunchy, and when you bite in oh boy those chewy yet light little sago pearls are so so oddly addictive?! It’s cheesy without being overwhelmingly creamy or jelak as well so really I could down the whole portion myself AND still want more. Can I also give a standing ovation to that dragonfruit chutney served in the side? Beautifully perfumed with cardamom and garam masala, absolutely stunning with the dadinhos de sago. Now I can wax lyrical the whole night, so please just trust me when I ask you to get yo ass there and try this.

This Halloumi & Squash ($16) number comes with sweet pickled beets, collard greens, almond flakes, and a nutty burnt butter dressing. Sounds fabulous, but unfortunately the seasonings were a wee off and it turned out a little meh. The squash for one, though well roasted, was completely unseasoned. Would’ve been fine if the burnt butter dressing had a touch of salt, but there was also way much of that sweet pickling juice added in which tipped the whole salad onto the sweeter side without good balance. They were also too heavy-handed with the dressing, leaving me eating basically greasy vegetables sitting in melted butter. The biggest disappointment however has to be the halloumi: the semi-hard cheese was fried to the point of being just crazy tough. Honestly if they’d just refine each component and pay a little more attention, this could be a fabulous salad.

I’ve been hoping to try this Numbing Burrata ($25) for so long, you’d notice I couldn’t resist slicing into it even before I got my shot. This dish is such an absolute stroke of genius, why hasn’t anyone done this before? You’ve got a big ball of creamy, luscious, cold burrata sitting on a bed of their housemade mala oil that, imma be honest, really champions that numbing peppercorn element without branding your tongue with a poker iron. And then there’s the refreshing cubes of cucumber and crunchy, buttery croutons as a canvas to mop everything up. I loved that I could actually taste all the different flavours on the plate and that, regardless of how vastly distinct they are, everything came together seamlessly.

This definitely didn’t disappoint flavour-wise. As far as sourdough breads go this was textbook perfect: lovely golden crust with just enough crunch (didn’t shave off the roof of my mouth so that’s a tiny win), a chewy and fluffy interior that carries just a touch of sour, and is fantastically balanced by a nice range of sweet, earthy, and yeasty flavors. Then you’ve got that delicious saucer of super umami seaweed butter, boasting very nuanced and complex flavours. What made me a little sad though, was how $6 (just for the bread) scored us just 2 slices 😕 I mean I would’ve expected 4, or 3 at the very least, seeing how I’d pay $15 for a whole loaf.

...but this place does really freaking good fries. Their Herb Parmesan Fries sees a medley of fried herbs (rosemary being the most obvious) and sharp, grated parmesan, sprinkled over a very generous serving of, may I say, very well done fries. Aioli on the side’s really delicious too!

Bao Boy has been on my list since they first announced their concept along Hong Kong street and, alright it took me awhile, but I’m glad to say I got my chubby arse there at last. Here’s their Halibut Fish & Chip Bao ($16), which I gotta say is absolutely fantastic if not for the slightly disproportionate portion of tartar sauce. Fish is sweet and utterly tender, perfectly golden, disintegrating with a slight nudge and releasing a flood of juices in every bite. I’d down a fish & chips like this any day, which really is the point isn’t it. The coleslaw was light and refreshing, lotus leaf bun was soft and fluffy (though oddly cold, like out-of-the-refrigerator kinda cold), and the housemade tartar sauce was super tasty. My only beef was they really slapped on that tartar, so much that it was completely overwhelming the fabulous fish.⁣
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I just read that this concept’s a pop up that will run only till 8 Dec 2019 though, so make your reservations quick and grab yourselves some amazeballs bao! ⁣

Maybe it’s the fresh tiger prawns that were a stark difference to the usually halved tiny (maybe mushy) prawns; maybe it’s the perfect balance of condiments and flavours, from the spicy chilli to the rich broth, umami-packed sakura ebi, and sweet lup cheong; or maybe it’s simply how I couldn’t seem to put the spoon down till the bowl was empty. I can’t really pin it down cause all I remember was snippets of “mm this is so good” while wolfing it all down 🤷🏻‍♀️

Definitely won’t be the first or last to say this, but Izy Fook’s roasted meats is uh-maaaaazing. Period. Roast pork is well-seasoned, tasty and tender, with a good sliver of luscious melt-in-your-mouth fat and a cap of fabulously crunchy crackling. And the char siew, ooooh. Fantastically charred edges (I adore the black bits), a sticky sweet, caramel-y glaze, and such juicy meat!

The price was what got us leaning to this dish, though in hindsight you really do get what you pay for 🤔 Skin was nicely golden and crisp, but pull that apart and the meat was depressingly dry and tough, worlds apart from that luscious melt-in-the-mouth texture we were expecting. The mash was passable, sauce well-seasoned, poached pears oddly cold...to put it short I found it lacklustre.

The 24-hour sous vide Black Angus Short Rib was tender and juicy indeed; but let’s be honest: there are quite a handful of restaurants out there that do this well, and with a $78 price tag it’s not the most attractively priced. What really made this dish for me though, was the tomato relish that came with. I can’t remember what exactly went into it, but all that really matters was the smoky fragrance that’s complemented with a nice balance of savoury and sweet.

If you can’t tell just from the photo, let me assure you it’s MASSIVE. Easily feeding 4, you get a 500g spiral pork sausage, half a Sakura spring chicken, pulled pork mac and cheese, 200g bavette, 250g secreto pork, sides of grilled veggies, babaganoush, house-cured item, sourdough and sauces. Phew that was quite the mouthful! Of these, the unanimous fave was the chicken: unbelievably moist, tender, and so so flavourful, I can’t imagine how long they brined their meat!

So timeless, so easy to recreate, yet nonetheless satisfying, I’ve never been able to say no to the classic baked Camembert. Bedrock’s comes with a topping of tangy fried capers and some bread crisps at the side, making seriously the perfect starter to dinner. There’s nothing much I can add on cause it really is the type of dish that should be kept as straightforward and plain as possible lol, but I can promise that if you like your cheeses, you’d love this as I did.