Lunch at Clarke Quay

Being one of the most colourful place in the city, CQ can be a relaxing haven for a quite seafood lunch. By colourful I don't mean a place full of people wearing coloured clothes...its just the colourful buildings and tastefully painted place which strikes the chord...

Clark Quay is home to quite a many eating places ranging from Tapas to Thai and Moroccan to Mexican. There are also few good seafood joints serving live sea food.

Seafood dining is one such place which is located on the jetty next to the Singapore river overlooking the cruises. This place boasts of some very good Chinese and Singaporean seafood delicacies like the traditional chilly Crab, steamed Groupper with ginger and spring onions, wok tossed mussels with dry red chilly and so on. It also has some good freshly brewed beers to accompany the food.

We ordered a portion of wok tossed calamari, steamed snapper with nonya sauce and some noodles with a glass of Pump-room Lager.

The food came hot..was good ..the beer cold..and the afternoon cloudy.....what else can you ask for...

A meal for two will be around SGD 80 and if you are lucky..you'll get a 15% early bird discount.

Khan el Khalili

Egypt is associated with Pyramids, mummies, temples and pharoahs. Almost all the people travelling to this part of the world miss a very unique place in the capial city of Cairo. The old city, houses one of the world's oldest market place - Khan el Khalili.

It is a true medieval 'bazaar' which has the reminiscence of the rich cultural history of this country. Narrow, yet clean and lively lanes have many local coffee houses serving Arabic coffee and shisha.

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Another speciality are the Egyptian pancakes which are available in both savoury (with a filling of cheese..could not make out the right combination, but was out of this world !) and sweet which is like some kind of puff pastry with filling of nuts and honey.

Naguib Mahfouz, a very famous Egyptian author has also spend lot of his time here in this market. The Naguib Mahfouz cafe, which is now managed by Oberoi Hotels, serves one of the best Um-Ali. They make it a la minute, and even the pastry is baked on order. For LP 20, it is one of the cheapest and best preparation, another hot seller is the Turkish coffee which is to die for.

Next time one visits Cairo...make sure to be a part of history !

Night @ Newton !

I've always had a special liking for meat, especially for 'fruits de mer'. A freshly prepared catch can easily persuade me for anything and if it is a crab...then actually anything !

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I have tried crab in various places and many a preparations but the one in Singapore steals the show. One hungry midnight, made me visit this place in Newton, called the Newton Circus. It is the place which feeds the nocturnals. Open all the night, this place serves the best seafood in town.

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It was almost 1 am and getting a place seemed a difficult task. Fortunately managed to get a corner table. The order taking at Newton, defies all the conventional methods and you are supposed to give the order as soon as the menu is handed over to you....seriously they do not have any time to waste !

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I knew what i wanted and hence saved some time...it was simple...a portion of Chilly crab, steamed buns and a bottle of beer. The crab arrived steaming hot with the buns to wipe out the extra tomato and chilly gravy in which it is tossed....the first bite is like an endless sojourn to the gastronomic heaven and coming back might be difficult !

Unlike the name, the dish is not very spicy and made with a sweet and sour tomato sauce. It was invented by a Chinese chef and her husband in 1950s and has become very popular in Singapore and Malaysia since then.

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Usually prepared with mud crabs, an upmarket restaurant might prepare it with soft shell crabs and charge some extra dollars for the bib and claw cracker, they give you...anyways coming back to the point... a meal @ Newton will cost you around 30 SGD with a medium sized crabs, buns and drinks....

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Now desprately waiting to return to the same place as soon as I get back to Singapore....

A slice of meat !

Enroute to Petra, an evening spent in Amman engraved its mark on my 'nostalgia gastronomique' - as I call it.

Amman, as I remember is the biggest city of the Hashemite Kingdom and home to many cultural heritages, initially built on nine hills, it enjoys all four seasons including rain and snowfall.

That evening, I was wandering on the streets, when I saw this extremely long queue of Jordanians waiting in an alley...as I came closer, I could smell the air filled with the aroma of char grilled meat. On entering the lane, what I saw was an absolute culinary visual treat.

It was a small kitchen with two large size rotisserie grills..full of meat and chefs with their knives continuously slicing it away to feed the hungry queue. It was a local Shawarma shop which was serving only Shawarma rolls, the only three menu options available were that of chicken, lamb and duck.

The shawarma grills had almost fifty kilos of meat on each of them and was about to get over within the next few hours. Two dedicated chefs were just slicing the meat as per the order and the third one was rolling it in the pita with the choice of fillings... I watched them for almost twenty minutes befor my turn came.... I ordered a lamb shawarma and before I could blink, the order was infront of me with the look on the man's face - asking me to hurry up and get lost !

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The first bite.....and I realised that it was worth the wait.

The soft meat with crisp lettuce and pickled vegetables were a great marriage. The aftertaste of the sour yoghurt and tahini marination leaves you lingering for more...and before you get a control over yourself after such a delightful experience, kaput ! its over...

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For just 1.8 JD, that meal was economical and if you want to sit down and relax, this shop had an uptown outlet with a seating adding to those extra dinars...

Chicken Rice

A hungry stomach and the desire to explore got me to a Chicken rice joint on a dripping evening in Singapore. A twenty odd seator restaurant on the Thompson road was quite a place when I first saw it standing across the road.

Typical Chinese Singaporean decor....or may be a no decor with dim lights, a tired chef, an old man sipping his share of ale in one corner and waitresses chatting among selves waiting for customer...was quite peaceful for me..

I grabbed a seat and asked for a portion of chicken rice and a Tiger...being an order after a long time that evening, the chef fired up the steamer and waited for the simmering stock to boil....

....while the stock was getting heated up to be served, the chef skillfully cut the boiled chicken with his cleaver and arranged on a plate with some spring onions and cilantro, a steaming hot bowl of flavoured rice and the stock came along....

Traditonally the chicken is served cold with warm or hot accompaniments....paired with Tiger, it was a sure trip to paradise.

Chicken rice or 'Hainanese chicken rice' is a Chinese preparation with lot of variations. The chicken is boiled with the skin in a pork or chicken stock. The rice which is also referred to as 'oily rice' is made by using a special chicken stock using plump birds for better oil extraction. The usual accompaniments are chilly sauce, soy sauce and sliced cucumber.

This chicken rice shop as it is named, serves good chicken rice at a very decent price of SGD 2.5.

If you like the idea and prefer to spend that solitary soaked evening with that chilled Singaporean barley brew...then don't miss this place...

Macaron

Macaron has always been a centre of gastronomic attraction all over the world. Its smooth and crisp shell and soft center with a filling of a flavoured ganache has attracted many young chefs to try their hand in perfecting the art of making a perfect macaron.

As far the history goes, 'Gerbet' or the 'Paris macaron' as it was initially called, has been claimed to have invented by both French and Italians. Though Larousse Gastronomique writes about its invention in central Franch in 8th century, the exact details are still not known.

Essentially almond powder being the principal ingredient, it is supported by meringue (egg whites and sugar whisked together) and of course skillfull 'crouting' or drying the macaron before the baking gives the characteristic cracks.

Though every one has their own recipe for the delicacy, French macaron are considered the best in the world. With places like Fauchon, Laduree and Pierre Herme; Macaron has been given a new style with every passing day.

My interest in the little monster started when I got the chance to browse through the copy of book from Lenotre some years back and since then I have been trying my hand and taste buds in making and tasting them wherever I travel.

Recently was in the Ion Orchard at Singapore and saw this stratigically located tea shop at the second level which reminded me of a Victorian high tea place. TWG tea salon serves a wide range of tastefully selected Macarons. Flavours ranging from Caramel, mint, lemon to rose and chocolate, the macarons at TWG are just the right texture, crisp shell and soft and chewy center with the burst of right flavours. Unlike other macaron boutiques, you can buy a macaron at a very competitive price of SGD 2 and a box of a six will just cost you SGD 12. A must go place for good macarons.

Just like any other classic, it too has its own variations, most of which exists in France. With fillings ranging from nut based to simple ganaches and buttercream, you will find Macaron changing from shop to shop and town to town. 'Makaron' is the Japanese version where the almond meal is replace by peanut powder and served extensively in the northern town of Sendai.

And it goes on and on...hope to find more soon....