Solid Western Food at iSTEAKS Diner Holland Village

Yk suggested visiting iSTEAKS for nomnoms one boring weekend so we up-ed and went off to Holland Village for some steak and chops.

The environment was pretty nice, abit like a laid back family meat shop:

We ordered a chicken with black pepper and tenderloin 200g in black pepper at the front cashier and I started off with an Australian wheat beer (according to the bottle label).

The black pepper chicken with Mac and cheese and broccoli cream arrived first.

The chicken was nicely grilled and superbly tender. The sides were big, a big dollop of mac n cheese and broccoli cream. Looks like half a head of brocoli cream. For $9, I think it's really worth it.

The tenderloin arrived next.

The presentation looks abit underwhelming, but once I cut the steak.. It suddenly got much better.

The 200g Tenderloin was juicy and tender, for lack of better words lol. I really enjoyed it with the black pepper sauce and mustard. I found this 200g of tenderloin pretty worth it! However I would probably get either the ribeye or sirloin in the future since I find tenderloin's flavors less complex.

- update -
I did get the ribeye on my next visit! It was satisfying.

iSTEAKS Diner 

Holland Village

17 Lorong Liput

(S) 277731

Hours: 

Sun to Thurs - 11am to 12am

Fri to Sat - 11am to 11pm

New Ubin Seafood - Celebration with good food

This meal at New Ubin Seafood was with my closest and longest group of friends. Since we graduated from celebrations, we just meet up for meals. Sounds so savvy right? Actually our group stopped because it started to get repetitive and I think it's a pity when we stop celebrating events and things in life.

So back to New Ubin Seafood which was proposed by JL as a dining venue that would cater to the hugely varying preferences of the group, hers especially included. Lolol. New Ubin Seafood had also been accorded Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Inspectors in 2016.

When I approached the place, I was praying for air con because I was feeling super warm... Alas.. We were seated under the fan in the open area. The good thing was that the fan was pretty effective. Update: New Ubin Seafood has since shifted to a new location at Hillview. 

Being in a diverse group that gets kind of passive, we took like forever to decide on the food. But eventually, we got the ribeye steak that comes with potato wedges, caramelised onions, and rice fried with beef fat, spinach with three types of egg, hotplate tofu, chicken satay, cai por hor fun, foie gras satay.

The steak ($70 for 500g) was pretty yummy with a nice BBQ taste, it was a good medium rare, not bloody and had a good bite. The fried rice (Heart Attack style) was dark brown and devoid of any vegetables.

The baked garlic crab ($42 for a rather small crab) came with a bunch of big garlic cloves (like those you see in Dracula) and tasted pretty good. It was aromatic without an overly strong garlic taste and complemented the taste of fresh sweet crab. We enjoyed it.

The hotplate tofu ($16 for M size) was cut into chunky rectangular blocks and I found it soft and silky. The sauce was savoury and not overly salty. It went really well with the fried rice!

I liked the spinach with three types of egg ($15 for M size), it was a beautiful green and well cooked. It had a sweet addictive taste and I kept on drinking the 'cap' (soup). The cai por hor fun ($10) that RJ ordered was dry (the way she likes it) and tasty but verdict was that it was too salty.
The chicken satay ($8.50 for 10) was juicy and tender on its own, while the satay sauce was as per usual. The only grouse I had was that I found the pieces of chicken satay abit small.

Foie Gras ($15 for 2 sticks) was good, soft with a wonderfully nutty buttery taste. I shld stop eating such food, and watch my cholesterol, omg... :(

In conclusion, New Ubin Seafood serves zi char at a higher price point than usual Zi Char stalls. However, its food is yummier and tastier than many zi char shops. Some items, like the beef steak however, is reasonably priced and well done. ^^ Points for yum!

New Ubin Seafood 
New Location: 63 Hillview Avenue Level 6 (Canteen) (S) 669569
Hours: 11am - 2pm, 5pm - 10pm

Smoky, Charred and Tasty - Burnt Ends

Burnt Ends is a modern bbq restaurant that offers seriously yummy food and a happy foodie ending. Its kitchen is helmed by Australia-born Chef David Pynt and restaurant backed by Loh Lik Peng + Andre Chiang. I enjoyed this article on the chef. The yummy food was created by him and with a four-tonne, dual cavity oven fired by apple and almond wood and grills.

Reservations can be made via their website and based on my experience, it is almost impossible to engage the restaurant via phone. I had earlier made a reservation for two at 6.30pm but we decided to push the meal to Nov and after several failed attempts to call and cancel, i decided to ask ML if she would be willing to eat with me. Thank goodness she was because a penalty of $20 is levied upon each no show.

I reached slightly after 6.30pm and the place was almost full. It was raining and the rain was so crazy with lightning and waterfalls. ML was stranded without a brolly and I went to rescue her. Both of us got terribly wet in the process. Ha. ha. ha. What a start to dinner.

I had earlier secured seats in front of the Burnt Ends bar and we had great fun watching the Beverage Manager do his thing. The menu is printed daily and today, it's this.

We got the Scallop, shisho and citrus, Beef marmalade and pickles, Pulled pork sanger and 200 gms of Onglet, burnt onion and bone marrow. I was really sold on the bone marrow.

First up! The scallops

These were fresh,  refreshing, with a hint of sea and zest. The combination was really nice with the leaf, though... I wasn't sure if they were meant as garnish.... O well...

The Beef Marmalade arrived, and I just looked at it for a moment with pleasure because I like pickles and pickles paired thick meat sauce atop a buttered piece of bread totally made me want to demolish it instantly.

This dish was wonderfully savoury and sweetish with pucker of pickle. We wanted to lick the plates but controlled ourselves, and thank goodness the sanger arrived shortly.

I LOVE how the pork was so tender and juicy!! I wasn't expecting much since it just looked like a normal burger, BUT I was wrong, I was totally bought over by the juicy, tender, warm, luscious burger and I had to order a beer because I needed to complete my burger experience.

Pistonhead Lager - nice colour, taste ok.
The Onglet arrived next. Waaaaooowwwww.....

It was amazzzinggg, smoky, rich flavour and a perfect medium rare, no excess blood and deviod of iron taste. The slightly zesty sauce went really well with the meat. So. Yummy.

After demolishing the last slice of beef, we were stuffed.. But we had to order desserts :D The wait staff recommended us the smoked ice cream and honey cake and we agreed, plus 2 marshmallows. The marshmallows arrived first and I had abit of a hard time putting this into my mouth because it screams carbon. I finally did, however..

I appreciated the crispy skin and sweet caramelised taste of the marshmellow but I just could not reconcile with eating so much burnt matter. The smoked ice cream, however, was a totally different matter. 

I was wondering how an ice cream can taste smoked, and doubted the plain look but on the first bite I went oommgg, it's really smoked! This ice cream has got a strong smoked savoury taste, and the honey cake was really good.

Beautiful meal, really!!!! I would revisit Burnt Ends, in a heart beat. No, like half a heartbeat. Ha. Ha.

Burnt Ends
20 Teck Lim Road (S) 088391
Hours:
Tues - 6pm to 12am
Wed to Sat - 11.45am to 2pm, 6pm to 12am
Closed on Sun & Mon

Pasta J - Upper Thompson Road

I walked past Pasta J on the way out from my massage appointment at The Healing Touch along Upper Thomson Road. I digress, but the massage was not healing at all. It was more like destructive and pain causing. When i was being elbowed and kneaded, I had to bite my lip or hold my breath to stop myself from crying out loud. But after the massage, I actually felt relaxed and pretty good! I didn't have a headache or bad body aches. So.. I'm confused..

Anyway, I felt kind of hungry after the massage, and went looking for food. I came across Pasta J, and the tagline - 'extraordinary flavours' made me stop and review the menu. The owner, John, popped out and proceeded to point out some of his well received food items before popping back into the restaurant lol.

With such an enthusiastic introduction and a colourful, descriptive and yummy looking menu, I decided to eat at Pasta J and ordered the Super Striploin, one of the recommended items. And the experience was pretty good! Here's the striploin!!

I really liked it! It was served on its own (no gravy) with carrots, sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, a pinch of salt and a dash of chilli salt powder. The medium rare was exactly how i liked it, the meat was flavourful and juicy on its own. It was quite fatty but I reeeeaalllly liked it! The carrots were soft and tender, abeit slightly burnt. The salt and chilli salt enhanced the taste of the meat. Clap clap. It was gooood. ^^ One more pic of the beef!!!

 

Beautiful!!! I  will revisit Pasta J to attempt the other items in its menu!!!

Pasta J

205 Upper Thomson Road

(S) 574345

Hours: 

Mon - Fri : 12pm to 12 pm

Sat : 10.30am to 12am.

Sun: 10.30am to 11pm