Zsofi Tapas and Bar

26th July 2013.
There’s a tapas craze going on in Singapore. Not really among Singaporeans but restaurateurs. Month after month you hear about new tapas bars/bistros, and it’s becoming a cliché to start off an article along the line of “tapas bars are sprouting everywhere”.

Zsofi has been around before the hype though. They’ve been around as a tapas bar, dishing out free tapas with any purchase of booze (yay free food!). Now they are venturing into the bistro scene, offering home-style Spanish food alongside the extensive tapas menu.

Though the chefs are Singaporeans, the restaurant stays faithful to the Spanish food culture, while toning down the flavours a little to appeal to both locals and Spaniards.

Trudging through the late afternoon heat in Little India, we reached Zsofi parched. A glass of Sangria cooled us down, ready for the heat of the first dish.

We kicked off the dinner with Pimiento de Padrón, Spanish Padrón peppers (each with a slightly different level of heat) sprinkled with sea salt flakes. Fortunately for us, none was too much to take. Or maybe we just have a high capsaicin tolerance.

The Pan con Tomate is served in an interesting, hands-on manner. Instead of serving chopped marinaded tomatoes on toasts (a la bruschetta), Zsofi leaves cloves of fresh garlic and 2-halves of tomato in the basket of toasts. Before you eat, rub some garlic and tomato on your toast. The full, pungent flavour of garlic stands out easily, so go easy on it.

Though the octopus slices of the Pulpo a la Gallega (boiled octopus served on boiled potatoes, with a dash of paprika) wasn’t ideally springy (I remember hearing it was intended this way), but the natural flavours of the slimy sea creature was retained. I wish the slices were thicker though.

The variety of seafood that comes in the Combinado Mixta Marisco a la plancha is as good as having the sea in a platter. All the quintessential seafood items are in, and you can smell them before they arrive at your table. Apart from the presence of lobster, the dish was simply an honest seafood platter.

It was surprising to learn that the pork selected for Secreto Ibérico is marbled, because it certainly felt tough and dry. That’s all.

Duck and, more importantly, French comes to mind when it comes to confit. Imagine my bewilderment when Pollo was introduced as a chicken confit. The boss quickly explained that this dish was a result of fierce competition between tapas bars in Spain, and the need to innovate and differentiate. 

For dessert, we had Churros con chocolate. Unfortunately, the sticks disintegrated even before I could dip it into the chocolate sauce. The outside were crumbly more than crunchy, and the inside flaky more than pillowy. In the end, I had to deploy a fork just so that I could smother the fragile churros in chocolate sauce.

Zsofi is definitely not new in the tapas scene in Singapore, which is why personally I had expected more from them. Then again, the bistro side is still relatively new, so I believe they are in the midst of ironing out the kinks. Decent place to hang out with friends, but a tad over-priced for what it’s worth.

Thank You Yong En from Orbital Group Asia and Zsofi Tapsa and Bar for the invite!

Zsofi Tapas and Bar
68 Dunlop Street
Singapore 209396

Spice Brasserie | 槟城美食与螃蟹大宴

16th August 2013.
Passing by Parkroyal Kitchener Road one day, my eyes were fixed on their huge banner introducing their Penang Buffet. Hence, I find it very lucky indeed that just a few days later, I received an invitation from Spice Brasserie of Parkroyal Kitchener Road to try their new menu featuring Penang classics such as the Assam Laksa and Penang-style Char Kway Teow as well as a decadent crab feast with at least 10 kinds of crabs on offer.

Spice Brasserie has always been overlooked in favour of the more popular Plaza Brasserie of Parkroyal on Beach Road or the Lime Restaurant located in the architecturally prominent Parkroyal on Pickering. It is a pity because Spice Brasserie is actually a rather nice restaurant with plenty of space for kids and the elderly and the ambience is great for a casual get together or family gathering. Furthermore with a refreshed menu by the new chef, Frederick Kho, things are looking good.

The new chef is a native Malaysian from Kuala Lumpur who has a rich culinary experience, working in several notable hotels such as Penang’s Golden Sands Resort by Shangri-la and Singapore’s Shangri-la Hotel. He is also a fan of both Penang and Kuala Lumpur cuisine hence the Penang Buffet at Spice Brasserie.

To keep this post short, I will just point out some of the memorable dishes from the buffet. First and foremost, there were the Penang Classics such as Penang Oh Chien (Oyster Omelette), Penang-style Prawn Mee, Assam Laksa and the ubiquitous Penang-style Char Kway Teow. My favourites were the amazing oh chien which has generous chunks of oyster embedded in its creamy egg and pan-fried to perfection with a delicate, smoky crust and served chilli sauce.

The Assam Laksa was another winner. I wasn’t impressed by the Assam Laksa I had in Penang (partly because we had it at the touristy Gurney Drive (Chef Kho advised against visiting it if you want to true Penang food experience). This Assam Laksa wasn’t overwhelmingly spicy like the ones I had before and it has a nice fruity and sweet touch to it from the pineapples. I was also informed that mackerel was used for this Assam Laksa, hence staying true to the Assam Laksa back in Penang. Furthermore, Chef Kho also serve this CNN No.7 most delicious dish with its full range of condiments which include finely sliced cucumber, onions, red chillies, pineapples, lettuce, common mint, daun kesum (laksa mint), pick bunga kantan (torch ginger). This was one of my favourite dishes for the day.

Then you have the crabs, the main feature of their Friday Crazy Crab Dinner where you get to enjoy at least 10 kinds of crabs prepared and different way and tasted different (instead of just being named differently). Sauces aside, I must point out that their crabs are rather fresh. The flesh was still springy and succulent as opposed to the chalky powdery texture I had in a previous crab buffet.

The Singapore Chilli Crab was served with mantous to mop up the gravy, which is very thoughtful of them. My only gripe is that the gravy was almost honey-like sweet. I prefer it to be more spicy but Chef Kho explains that there are diners who complained that it was too spicy and pointed out that if you enjoy something more spicy, you should go for the Nonya Chilli Crab instead.

My favourite item among the crabs is the Braised Crab with Glass Noodles. The noodles have great texture and come thoroughly soaked with the flavours from the crab. The crabs accompanying the glass noodles were pretty good too if you prefer something without gravy and just want to enjoy the sweetness from the crab meat itself.

I didn’t try all of the crabs. I tried the Sarawak Black Pepper Crab which was more spicy than the usual Black Pepper crabs and the Herbal Crab which was one of the other lighter crab dishes but with a herbal infusion with red dates, dangui etc.

Another signature of Spice Brasserie is their Teochew Porridge Buffet which is bound to please my parents. During our visit, they had sweet potato porridge served with a whole range of condiments and sides such as braised chicken and pork belly with mui choy to enjoy with your teochew muay.

Finally, we ended our buffet with some quality ice cream by Kapiti from New Zealand. This is the second restaurant I found Kapiti Ice Cream, 10-at-Claymore has it too! Similar to 10-at-Claymore, Spice Brasserie changes the flavours from time to time. I was told that their ice cream is unavailable on the usual supermarkets (indeed, I don’t see them at Jasons Marketplace or Fairprice Finest). The Kapiti Ice Cream is just one of the many sweets offered on their desserts counter which offers from assort French pastries to traditional desserts like kuehs, cheng teng and Ice Kachang!

All in all, I must really thank Parkroyal on Kitchener Road for the invitation. I have found another place where our family could have a decent buffet meal with plenty of room at wallet-friendly prices. For UOB Cardholders, you get a sweeter deal with their 1-for-1 offer on Mon-Thurs or 1 dines free with every 2 adults on Fri-Sun till 31st October 2013.

And here is a short Chinese write up by our guest, Calvin Ng! :
檳城的風味美食，加上富有本土氣息的家常菜，還有讓所有人垂涎欲滴的螃蟹自助餐 － 座落在吉真路（Kitchener Road) 賓樂雅酒店 (Park Royal Hotel) 的香料法式餐廳 (Spice Brasserie) 新推出的自助餐，應該能滿足一家大小的味蕾吧！

擁有豐富經驗的主廚Frederick Kho師傅獨挑大梁，推出許多經典的檳城美食 － 就包括了酸辣的Assam叻唦，檳城鮮蝦福建面，檳城炒粿條及蠔仔煎。更讓人為之瘋狂的是每週五所推出的螃蟹自助餐 － 有十道不同烹調法的螃蟹任你挑選！有大家愛吃的辣椒螃蟹，娘惹咖喱螃蟹，鹹蛋螃蟹以及米粉螃蟹。選擇多樣化，讓人不知道該從哪裡下手。

餐館的空間寬闊，位子很多，能容納近300位客人。還有特設的貴賓房 － 適合辦生日派對，公司聚會或是大壽等等。一踏進餐館，服務生親切友善，笑臉迎人，非常體貼。用餐的客人以家庭居多。一家負老攜幼來享受本土風味的美食，讓我不禁也想帶自己的爸媽來用餐呢！

值得一提的是自助餐裡有的潮州糜 (Teochew Porridge) 以及隨旁的配菜 － 滷豬腸，滷鳳爪，滷豬腳，也忘不了我愛吃的梅菜扣肉。雖然味道一般，但一定能抓住愛吃潮州糜老一輩的心。

也沒忘記我愛吃的榴蓮美食，榴蓮糯米飯 － 榴蓮肉任你拿！

豐富的配菜 － 也有我愛吃的阿喳（Achar）！

愛吃娘惹糕點的你，怎麼能忘了九層糕，Pulut Inti以及其他的經典糕點呢？
自己動手做Ice Kacang！新西蘭的Kapiti雪糕甜度適中。Blueberry Muffin口味是我的最愛！

當晚，主廚Frederick Kho也特地和美食博客們聊天。親切友善的他曾在檳城工作一年，也和我們分享檳城的美食所在！果然都是饕客！

總的來說，吉真賓樂雅酒店 － 香料法式餐廳的自助餐的確是個一家人外出用餐的好去處。因為食物選擇多，又有老少都愛吃的本地及檳城美食，加上餐庭環境理想，沒有距離感，是個用餐的好去處。


Do check out these reviews by Food Nomads and Hubsch Jess Baby who were at the session as well.

Spice Brasserie
吉真賓樂雅酒店
PARKROYAL on Kitchener Road
181 Kitchener Road
Singapore 208533

Penang Affair
Mondays to Thursday
Lunch | $34 (Adult) $15 (Child)
Dinner | $38 (Adult) $15 (Child)

Crazy Crab Night
Fridays Dinner | $58 (Adult) $25 (Child)

Sensational Seafood
Saturdays Dinner | $58 (Adult) $25 (Child)

International Buffet
Fridays to Sundays Lunch | $34 (Adult) $15 (Child)
Sundays Dinner | $38 (Adult) $15 (Child)

Thank You Cleo from Parkroyal on Kitchener Road for the invitation!

手拉手京华小馆 | 小笼包!

3rd August 2013.
Shou La Shou Beijing Restaurant is located just next to Swee Choon, the famous dim-sum restaurant which is a pity because Swee Choon’s fame overshadowed the good food Shou La Shou has to offer.
This Chinese restaurant serves up some pretty good and I mean really good xiaolongbao that is on par with Din Tai Fung (when it used to be good).Their xiaolongbao’s pastry was delicate but firm enough to hold the rich, flavoursome broth within. 8 小笼汤包 goes for 6.80 SGD.

Besides Chinese dim sum, Shou La Shou is above all a Chinese restaurant serving all sorts of dishes for a communal setting. For appetizers, one could start off with some fine line cuts of 酱香牛肉.

Then whet your appetite with an awesome bowl of 咸菜鱼.

Their 自创家乡豆腐 (10.80 – 20.00 SGD) is highly recommended too. Beancurd topped with a mash of seaweed, minced pork and sprinkled with shaved carrots and spring onions served with a savoury gravy was pure delish.

The 广东脆皮鸡 (13.80 – 27.00 depending on serving) was pretty good too. The skin was very crispy and the meat was adequately moist. What makes this chicken stood out however is its spice dip with has strong hints of cumin. Otherwise, I think it is just a decent deep fried chicken.

The 灯笼茄子 was an unintentional order but turned out to be rather delicious! Its eggplant deep fried with a crispy batter like a tempura and stuffed inside the eggplant were prawns and it was really quite delicious but also very oily.

Lastly, we ended off with some 豆沙锅饼, not bad. I find the batter a little thick for my liking though

.

We also ordered the seaweed and dou miao here. There were okay too.

手拉手京华小馆
Hand in Hand Beijing Restaurant
141 - 143 Jalan Besar
Singapore 208859

Daily: 11:30 - 00:00