CARABINERO HOKKIEN MEE
Po, the new Asian restaurant at month-old The Warehouse Hotel in Havelock Road, serves, arguably, the most upscale fried Hokkien mee in town - which comes with sweet, robust-flavoured red Spanish carabinero prawns (above).
It costs $32 and is called Carabinero Prawn Konbu Mee.
The softened noodles, which have been braised in a heady umami broth, are tossed with pork belly and lardon and sprinkled with sakura ebi. I love this luxe take on Singapore's humble street food dish.
Another good dish here is the Paper Spring Chicken ($49). The breast is juicy and the glutinous rice stuffing hearty and appetising.
The restaurant has a beautiful interior and the locally inspired food has plenty of promise.
WHERE: Po, The Warehouse Hotel, 320 Havelock Road MRT: Clarke Quay OPEN: 7 to 10.30am, 11.30am to 2.30pm, 6 to 10pm daily TEL: 6828-0007 INFO: www.po.com.sg
SOFT-SERVE TO BEAT THE HEAT
Long queues intrigue me. I am, after all, a Singaporean.
Last Friday, I noticed hordes of people standing outside a small shop in Baghdad Street. The five-foot-way was impassable and people had spilled onto the road.
I had to see what the fuss was about. It turns out they were waiting for soft-serve ice cream from Muslim-owned shop Overrun.
You order at the counter and wait outside until your number is called. I waited about 15 minutes.
Its signature offering is chendol soft-serve topped with pandan jelly, desiccated coconut and a good drizzle of gula melaka ($6). A durian version, with a dollop of durian pulp, is priced at $7.
I had the Thai Milk Tea soft-serve, Overrun's Flavour Of The Day ($6, above), and it was velvety, creamy and sneakily sweet, but oh so welcomed - just the sugary ending I needed after a heavy meal on a hot day.
The speckled ice cream had a lovely tea flavour too.
There are plenty of toppings to choose from, from nuts to tiny marshmallows, but I'm a purist and usually prefer my ice cream plain.
Flavours Of The Day have included Nutella, Bandung and Banana Salted Caramel.
WHERE: Overrun, 18 Baghdad Street MRT: Bugis OPEN: Noon to 8.30pm (Tuesdays to Thursdays), 2 to 9.30pm (Fridays), noon to 9.30pm (weekends), or until it sells out INFO: bit.ly/2kY9E5i
AIRY SALTED EGG YOLK FISH SKIN
Salted egg yolk-flavoured snacks are about as ubiquitous as salted caramel - once a fad, now a culinary staple.
This Chinese New Year, Western restaurant chain Jack's Place is selling packs of airy Golden Egg Fish Skin ($12, above), crispy fish skin tossed in salted egg, chilli and fragrant curry leaves.
The fish skin is thin, airy, savoury and, simply put, just plain addictive. It makes for a delicious gift too.
WHERE: Jack's Place and Eatzi Gourmet outlets islandwide, while stocks last. Outlets include Jack's Place at Parkway Parade, Great World City and West Coast Recreation Centre, and Eatzi Gourmet at ITE Ang Mo Kio and Safra Yishun WHEN: Till Feb 12 INFO: Order online at eatzi.com.sg/cny2017. Go to jacksplace.com.sg for the full list of restaurants
SEA SALT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
I don't want to over-sell Fluff Bakery's sea salt chocolate chip cookies, but I'm going to come clean - I ate about half a bottle in one sitting.
That's about 10 decent-sized cookies at a go.
And no, I don't do this often. And, yes, they are that good.
Buttery and satisfying with a deep crunch and soft, large chunks of chocolate, the cookies are peppered generously with flakes of sea salt which give them a snappiness to cut through the cloy.
The bakery has the chip-to-cookie ratio down pat too - enough chocolate chips throughout the cookie to keep chocolate lovers happy.
These cookies are available from the Muslim-owned bakery in limited quantities each day (about 30 to 40 bottles). Each bottle is priced at $12 and purchase is limited to two bottles a person.
The cookies are available till tomorrow and, thereafter, on an ad-hoc basis.
WHERE: Fluff Bakery, 4 Jalan Pisang MRT: Bugis OPEN: Noon to 7pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), closed on Sundays and Mondays TEL: 9660-3541 INFO: www.fluffbakery.sg
