Rochor Thai — A Thai Adventure In More Ways Than One

Xin Li, and myself attended the event. So dashing, in his Wong Kar Wai moment. 

Greeted with the vibrant orange interior and numerous pictures of Thai street scenes, this place exuded a homely vibe. It was a vibe that was further extended by our warm host, Kenny, and his young team of chefs, headed by Joel. 

Nam Tak Krai Kab Bai Toey - Pandanus Lemongrass Welcome Drink

This was a refreshingly sweet and cool drink, with the intensely aromatic and sweet flavour of pandan accompanying the refreshing citrus flavour of the lemongrass. A great drink, probably a hit with the kids with it's bright green colour as well. 

Cha Yen - Thai Iced Tea

Using good tea is a key to making thai iced tea. The smoky taste of tea filtered through the richly bodied milky tea, and it wasn't too sweet or heavy. Pretty good. 

Kanom Jeen Sao Nam - J's Cold Sald of Kanom Jeen Noodles

While this amuse bouche tasted pretty good, I was expecting a sharper, perhaps more uplifting start to a meal. The noodles had been sprinkled with grated coconut and dried shrimp, resulting in a interesting medley of savoury sweetness. You can imagine the slight "hay bee hiam" taste (acquired taste, this one, I like it though) being quite well-balanced with the full-bodied, slightly salty creaminess of the grated coconut, all gone along with the refreshing vermicelli. Not too bad. 

Som Tum - Green Papaya Salad Central Thailand Style

I have to be honest and admit that this wasn't anywhere near the best of papaya salads I've had. It tasted overtly wet and soggy, over-marinated in something that tasted too heavily of vinegar. The carrots tasted slightly raw and it didn't go very well with the long beans at all. Although the accompanying nuts was a good effort, it fell quite short as the characteristically associated flavours of sweet, sharp, spiciness of a thai salad didn't come through.

Tom Yum Talay - Hot and Spicy Seafood Soup with Thai Herbs

First, the good stuff: It wasn't as oily as I expected, and it was quite spicy enough to give me a good kick, like a good tom yum soup should. However, the prawns weren't too fresh, and the offerings inside didn't play the part of revealing the fresh seafood flavours that were masked under very heavy spices in this tom yum soup. Additionally, the overwhelming saltiness (presumably an overdose of fish sauce) made this a very confusing mix of flavours — it sort of kicked away the spiciness of the tom yum, but it also masked the seafood that wasn't very fresh.

Po Taek - Clear Spicy Sour Soup with Holy Basil and Kaffir Lime Leaves

This was a deadly spicy soup, so I was wow. The lime and citrus flavours that presumably came with this was sadly masked by the very heavy overdose of fish sauce. Not good at all. 

Pla Nin Pao - Salt Baked Whole Tilapia served with Spicy Coriander Sauce

I am actually not a very big fan of fish even though I eat it quite regularly (happens when your family is Teochew). Tilapia is one of those freshwater fishes that can taste very muddy and fishy (utterly nasty) if not chosen properly — after all, it is a bottom feeder fish, residing at the bottom of the riverbeds feeding on plants and algae. However, I was very pleased to say that this was an excellent tilapia — so good, you could actually eat it on its own. The salt-baked crust ensured that the moisture was packed in, avoiding those situations where you had an awfully dried fish I've had at some tze char restaurants. It had a nice light saltiness to it, presumably because of the crust, and tasted wonderfully fresh, even evoking the taste of the water that it was in. I was okay with the spicy coriander sauce, which was not very spicy despite its namesake. The tilapia was so good in fact that I just ate it on its own, which is something I don't usually do with freshwater fish. 

Kor Moo Yang - Seared Pork Collar served with Aromatic Dried Chilli Sauce

This was quite salty, especially for some of my dinner companions on the table. While the pork collar was fairly tender and well-layered with fat (not too much, thankfully), it went well with the dried chilli sauce in my opinion. If I could suggest any improvements to this, I would suggest that the sauce be made sweeter to balance out the salty nature of the pork. 

Gaeng Kaew Wan Gai - Chef's Special Green Curry with Chicken Thigh and Thai Eggplant (right) This did taste surprisingly sweet for a green curry — not that I minded, though. The chicken was not dry (always a good thing) and the eggplant was not too disgustingly mashed and overcooked. Above average, but nothing to write home about other than it being exceedingly thick and creamy, which gets a bit gelak after a while. Gaeng Phet Pla Krapong Daeng - Dry Red Curry with Red Snapper Fillets I think this was personally one of my favourite dishes of the night. The slight sweetness accompanied the sharp saltiness of the red snapper well, in a robust medley of textures assaulting my mouth. There was a wonderful smokiness to this dish that added an extra dimension to the interplay of sweet/savoury, and the snapper was sufficiently moist to say the least. This was quite well done, and I would recommend this highly.

Goong Pad Nam Prik Pao Kab Horapa — Stir Fried Prawns with Thai Chilli Jam and Sweet Basil Didn't remember much about this dish other than the slightly sweetness of the thai chilli jam kicking in with the robust flavours of the sauce, which was very heavily wok hei-ed. Hoay Lai Pad Prik Pao - Clams Flambe in Chilli Jam and Chef's Stock The clams weren't too bad — fresh, and went well with the robust, wok hei flavours of the stock.

Khao Niew Ma Muang - Mango Sticky Rice

With the coconut milk sauce copiously absent, it was replaced with toasted sesame seeds instead. I did miss the full-bodied creaminess this sweet dessert is known for, but I also did appreciate the very soft and mushy texture of the rice going well with the mango that wasn't too sweet. It was an interesting take on the traditional dessert, perhaps from reminiscient of the variant made in Thailand. 

Tab Tim Grob - Thai Red Ruby

Tasting just like strawberry milk and red beetroot, there were complaints on the table that the chestnuts weren't big enough. That aside, there was a creamy, fragrant sweetness overwhelming your tongue, and definitely a dessert that the kids would love to go into a sugar high for. 

While certainly not the best Thai restaurant I've tasted, I am tempted to give it a chance on the virtue of it being 2.5 weeks old (at time of tasting). It does show a very raw potential, and the passion for such a young team of restauranteurs trying to strike it out in an intensely competitive culinary landscape is quite commendable. 

The food, with some misses, was largely above average and the commitment to not using MSG and things like no service charge and GST make the deal a tad bit sweeter here. An honest restaurant wanting to strike it out, I am tempted to give it a chance. 

As with most Thai food, actually.

Our deepest thanks to Joel & Kenny for the invite for this tasting and for hosting us. 

Rochor Thai
340 Joo Chiat Road
Singapore 427592

Email: rochorthai@modasflame.com.sg

Opening Hours
Daily: 11.30AM-10.00PM
Last Order: 9.45PM
Closed on Mondays

Old School Delights | Just the Cake Please?

8th August 2013.
Hari Raya Puasa.
Posted by Xin Li. Photographs by Mu Yao.
Despite my friend’s less than satisfactory experience at Old School Delights, I decided to give it another try partly because Mu Yao and Calvin were drawn to its nostalgic atmosphere.

Upon deeper observation, we realized the theme got lost somewhere when things that seemed “nostalgic” to them doesn’t relate to us like the furniture for example. However we still enjoy playing erasers and snake & ladders while waiting for our food.

The atmosphere however, did little to redeem the disappointing Chendol (4.50 SGD) or the overpriced and rather average Otak Otak (2.50 SGD). The Otak Otak tasted like an average spicy fish cake which lacked the smoky charcoal grill flavour as well. I have tasted better otak otak at a fraction of the price.

For drinks, the Bandung Dinosauress (4.90 SGD) and Teh-Chino (4.50 SGD) didn’t fare well either. Personally, I think the Teh-Cino was too bland.

Nonetheless, the saving grace on the menu (besides the Laksa from the previous visit) was the Butter Pound Cake which was smooth and rich with buttery fragrance. However, priced at 4.50 SGD a slice, it is arguably on the pricey side.

Overall, Old School Delights have more misses than hits. I remember Old School Delights as a café dedicated to serving good old local dishes by papa and mama. However, I think over the years it has got lost in its old school theme and forgetting about the food.

Old School Delights
215 Upper Thomson Rd
Singapore 574408

Closed on Mondays.

Coriander Cafe | Affordable Tze-Char at Thomson Plaza

8th August 2013.

Hari Raya Puasa

At first glance, Coriander Café at Thomson Plaza seemed like nothing much. One would probably head to Swensens, Sushi Tei, Hans or the food court instead. This is a pity because Coriander Café actually serves up some pretty good tze-char food. One of my favourite dishes here is their Hong Kong Mee (4.50 SGD). It is pretty cheap and the noodles texture was spot-on. Springy noodles mixed with an array of ingredients including egg, cabbage and beansprouts. Squeeze a bit of lime juice and voilah! A delicious plate of hong kong mee.



It is not my first time at Coriander Café. My mum, sister and brother-in-law likes to eat here too when we visit Thomson Plaza.

Coriander Cafe
Thomson Plaza, #02-08
301 Upper Thomson Rd
Singapore 574408

Black Sheep Cafe | A Re-Visit

10th August 2013
Posted by Xin Li and Mu Yao. Photographs by Mu Yao.
Just about a couple of weeks after the visit to Black Sheep Café, I was back again to try some of the new items on menu and their lunch set menu which cost 26 – 29.50 SGD depending on whether you are getting 2 or 3 courses. Both comes with tea or coffee from Puro (:

Before I move on to the new items, I just got to order the Cheeky Pork on Sauteed Greens and Pear with Orange Glaze (28.50 SGD). It was good, the pork itself was very tender and the wrapped around the tender flesh is a crispy (but rather fatty) pork skin. Together with the orange glaze, it was really good.

Mu Yao:
Had nothing to say other than the fact that I'm a sucker for savoury and sweet things mixed together. The sweetness of the orange glaze was saccharine enough to balance the rich savoury taste of the pork, which is brilliant.

The set lunch menu was too heavy on the palate in my opinion, both starters, the Goat Cheese Salad and the Mushroom Soup (originally asparagus but it ran out so it was changed to mushroom) were rather quite heavy in terms of flavour and texture.

Mu Yao:
I loved the Goat Cheese Salad as a starter because I am quite a sucker for cheeses. The rich, heady creaminess of the goat cheese arrested me with a slight smokiness, complemented wonderfully with the tart tomatoes and the mesclun salad. The walnuts were a lovely touch as well, sealing in all that dairy creamy goodness with a smoky nutty taste and texture.

For the choice of mains, you could opt for the Duck Confit Crepe, a cream-based pasta or the beef fillet which are again heavy dishes in my opinion. All of my friends had the Duck Confit Crepe which proved to be underwhelming in the sense that the dish doesn’t do justice to the actual duck confit that Chef Ratha serves, the duck here was not as tender and while the mushroom cream sauce was pretty good, the dish gets monotonous towards the end. The addition of relish and cherry tomatoes helps to compensate for that but more variation in textures could have helped.

Mu Yao:
What I really appreciated was the sweet and spicy cherry tomato/pepper relish by the side, which broke the monotonous creaminess of the sauce. It was very uniform, and got a bit sick of it after eating everything, and I would have appreciated more flavours enticing my mouth. It was pretty underwhelming, and the heavy sauce sort of drowned out the actual taste of the duck itself. While it wasn't dry, it was slightly sinewy as well. I definitely recommend his mains, which I think, are much better.

In the original lunch set menu, the dessert was supposed to be a Crème Brulee, another heavy dessert. Thankfully we were able to request for a change to a Pear Crumble beforehand because one of my friends was a fan of his crumble dessert the last time we had a celebration at Black Sheep Café. Thankfully the desserts left a good overall impression, my friends enjoyed their Pear Crumble with Rum and Raisin Ice Cream a lot.

Mu Yao:
This dessert was a hit because of the slightly over-ripe pears inside that made the difference — a creamy sweetness and tenderness that melted into the rest of the crumble so well. I appreciated the wonderful fruits and that provided nice flavour contrasts, which are always a good thing.

For me, I had the Chocolate Boudini (9.50 SGD). Both Mu Yao and I think it is supposed to be “boudin” which means “pudding”. This dessert is probably Chef Ratha’s re-worked Flourless Chocolate Tart. It is like a lava cake embedded with grilled bananas and berries, topped off with a scoop of quality rum and raisin ice cream. I enjoyed it a lot. The fruits really help to balance the rich chocolate content in the dessert. Chef Ratha is still working to improve on this chocolate gem.

Overall, Black Sheep Café is still settling into its new haven at Thomson V, while the ambiance has been great and the food was pretty delicious, there are still things to iron out such as the set lunch menu which Chef Ratha is aware of . As of now, he is working to roll out a new set lunch menu in the near future.

Black Sheep Café
Thomson V, Basement 1
11 Sin Ming Road
Singapore 575629

Bistro @ Changi | Through Mu Yao's Lens

29th July 2013. 

Posted by Xin Li. Photographs by Mu Yao

A few days ago, I posted about Bistro@Changi. Mu Yao and another friend were with me too and here's Mu Yao's perspective!

Mushroom soup. Yum.

Satay! Not too bad, quite like this.

 Lamb. Was the best dish of the day.

A wonderful dinner at Bistro@Changi.

Bistro@Changi

260 Nicoll Drive

Changi Beach Carpark 1

Singapore 498991

Operating Hours

Mon - Thurs             12pm - 11pm

Fri, Sat                   12pm - 1am

Sun                       10am - 11pm

How to Get There:

Bus Services : - 89, 19, 9

Alight at Changi Beach CP 2 Bus Stop.