Pizza Vegetariana

A while ago my friend Caroline commented that she is a fan of the “scalding cheese pizzas” served in American Airlines’ coach cabin. At the time I thought she was joking, but compared to my experience with the abysmal offerings available on Continental, I would take a perfectly palatable Pizza Vegetariana any day.

For the many of us whose lives approach that of George Clooney’s character in the phenomenally relatable new film “Up in the Air,” this is the absolute essence of airline dining; ease of preparation and quickness of consumption.

Details: American Airlines Inflight Service

Crabmeat Linguine with Chilli Tomato Cream

The reason why I try to avoid travel guidebooks is same reason that Gisela Williams’ New York Times article on “Singapore Culinary Melting Pot” fails to furnish the answers we all look to such resources to deliver: “What kind of RGF can I eat in this place and where can I get some?”

Any traveller who took the aforementioned article seriously might make the mistake of concluding that Singaporeans of sound mind might actually be willing to make the significant trek up Mount Emily to for Mod Sin (modern Singaporean) dishes like Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab with Mantou and Laksa Linguine with Quail Egg and Tiger Prawns.  

Indeed, what disturbs me the most about the NYT piece is Williams’ mention that she “made a point of waiting until after [her] trip to contact K. F. Seetoh, the acknowledged rajah of the local food guidebook series, Makansutra.” If someone has access to such a resource then by thunder why not take advantage !?! I am all for the idea of journalistic integrity, but not when it comes at the cost of quality. As I have mentioned in the past, the people who actually live in the city are the absolute best resource when it comes to up-to-date information about the food scene. In response to an inquiry about Wild Rocket, any self-respecting Singaporean would have said, “Eh, why you pay twenty dollar for pasta taste like laksa? You give me twenty dollar, I take you makan best laksa in whole of Singapore. We got some cash left over we buy Tiger Beer. Okay or not?” 

And the model Singaporean certainly has a point: the incongruity of conbining ingredients like pesto and laksa leaf mirrors that of white tablecloths at a backpacker’s hotel- it all just doesn’t make very much sense. As fond of fine dining as I am, I would seldom seek Singaporean-inspired food in a place where the real thing is readily available, affordable, and basically blows the competition out of the water. 

Although it is certainly an interesting experiment, I’d be genuinely shocked if Wild Rocket managed to maintain a toehold in Singapore’s dynamic and 100% populist restaurant scene until the next time I’m home for the holidays.   

Details: Mount Emily Hotel, 10A Upper Wilkie Road, Singapore‎ (+6563399448)‎

Claypot Rice with Chicken, Chinese Sausage, Salted Fish, Chinese Spinach, Black Soya Sauce and Oil

A properly prepared pot of claypot rice is beautiful to behold. So often menus will display it, and tantalized, I take the bait only to be sorely disappointed.

Let me clear this up once and for all. Being served in a clay pot does not a claypot rice make. Real claypot rice is cooked in a clay pot over a charcoal flame. It has a woody, smoky aroma that has been known to drive grown men wild. It includes the essential ingredients of chicken, chinese sausage, and salted fish. Most importantly, rice scraped from the bottom of the pot is crispy- slightly charred, it crunches beneath the teeth- it is this glorious texture that makes the whole dish worthwhile!

Cancer scaremongers be damned, I shall have my burnt rice and eat it too.

Details: Chinatown Complex, Blk 335 Smith Street #02-198/199 Singapore (+65 6227 2470)

Pork Floss Bun

Cream puffs covered in dessicated pork sound like the last thing one earth upon which one might build a baking empire, but such is the strange reality of Southeast Asia’s Bread Talk chain. Taste is savory with intermittant sweet gooshes of cream.

Try it, you just might like it.

Details: Wisma Atria, 435 Orchard Road #B1-55/60 Singapore 238877 (+6568874434)

Seiro (Plain Buckwheet Noodles) with Rich Sesame Dipping Sauce and Nameko (Mushroom) Soba in Seaweed Broth

Although haute cuisine restaurants like l’Atlelier de Joel Robuchon have only recently been moving towards the open-kitchen concept, simple-but-spectacular places like Shimbashi Soba have been showcasing the loving care that goes into preparing each delicate strand of noodle for years. One feels true gratitude for the delicate mouthfeel of the humble Seiro cold soba dish when the laborious process of combining flour, egg, and water, stretching and shaping, and finally cutting it into minute slices is fully considered.

Details: #B1-41 Paragon,  290 Orchard Road Singapore (+6567359882)

Bua Kuluak Fried Rice

If it’s edible, someone has probably blogged about it, and the obscure butter Indonesian nut, Bua Keluak is no exception. More famous for its role in the prominent Peranakan dish Ayam Bua Keluak (Chicken with Bua Keluak), the paste from this enourmous and impossible-to-crack kernel, makes a rich and aromatic friend rice.

Although Geylang is Singapore’s official red light district, all the way out in the Joo Chiat area one can also find after-dinner entertainment.

Special thanks to my cousin Nikki for the the hair-raising car ride and the eye-opening eating experience.

Details: 11 Joo Chiat Place #01-03 Singapore 486350 (+6562751002)

Do’ Balls

Doughnuts in all their glorious sizes and forms are a not-so-secret weakness of mine. I trace it all back to the times I accompanied my mother to the supermarket in the basement of Paragon shopping center on the promise of a sugar-dusted treat turned out by the elegant Japanese bakery tucked between the produce section and the butchery.   

Details: B1, Paragon Market Place 290 Orchard Road, Singapore 238859 (+6567380231)

Longan Iced Tea

On my annual pilgramage back to Singapore I usually devote so much time to re-capturing the tastes of childhood faves that I never try anything new.

Since a fellow foodie was afoot however, on this last day of 2009 I decided to take a risk. The Dempsey Hill area (just off Singapore’s main drag of Orchard Road), formerly home to Southeast Asian furniture stores like Shang Antique and not much more, has now exploded onto the dining scene. Besides high-end Australian market, Jones the Grocer,  this heavily (rain)forested area is now dotted with trendy spots for an audience of expats and yuppies to wine and dine one another.

Although no one could find fault with the view, the food at PS. Cafe leaves much to be desired. When I order a Caesar Salad with Rosemary Chicken, not even the waiter’s appealing flattery (“I was too captivated by your eyes”) could distract me from my displeasure at biting instead into a limpid, unremarkable one containing Lemongrass Fish instead. While the Green Garden Lasagne had generous amounts of bechemel sauces and overall was rather good, I doubt that many price-conscious, discerning Singaporean diners would hike all the way up this hill for a mediocre meal in the company of mosquitoes.

Details: 28B Harding Road Singapore (+6590708782)

Gai Wang (BBQ Chicken) with Sticky Rice

Although the version at Singapore’s Boon Tong Kee will forever be my nostalgic chicken of choice, the BBQ chicken available at the hole-in-the-wall stall on Bangkok’s Laarb Langsuang road comes a close second. I shall never forget the day that our school group had a long layover in Bangkok, and despite not having a ticket to fly that day, my friend Calla’s father made it all the way into the terminal, BBQ chicken and all.

Something that globalization is starting to erase is opportunities for a childish delight in obtaining the unobtainable. For years as a privileged visitor to the Videt kitchen, this spoiled Singaporean has access to chicken flown in weekly from Thailand. The example has been life defining: I will go to the ends of the earth to appreciate RGF and to help others do the same.

Details: Laarb Langsuang Road, Bangkok, Thailand

Freshly-Squeezed Watermelon Juice

During my four years in Cambridge, MA I eagerly awaiting spring, which was always signalled by the availability of freshly squeezed watermelon juice at my tex-mex taqueria of choice, Felipe’s.

Wonderful as that was, nothing quite beats the satisfied sipping of the very same juice when deck chairs and a sultry setting are also in the equation.

Details: Four Seasons Hotel, 155 Rajadamri Road Bangkok 10330 Thailand (+66021268866)