For more photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow: http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2011/11/16/zaffron-kitchen-east-coast-road

Q: Did Zac Efron open Zaffron Kitchen?
A: No, he didn’t but he might as well have. The restaurant is as pretty as him.

When I stepped in, I was taken aback at how gorgeous the decor is. It has a very Parisian feel to it, with French jazz playing in the background. The modern chic decor is very similar to the French restaurant, Cocotte, except Zaffron uses more colors (orange, grey, brown) boldly. It’s contemporary Indian food in a Parisian setting – why hasn’t anyone think of it earlier?? The decor allows friends to gather at the communal table; lovers in cosy corners and families–there is a play area for children. The decor is classy without being pretentious.

Unlike Zac Efron, Zaffron has looks and substance.

For starters, we had some papadum ($4) and Papdi Chaat (pictured above, $6). My tall, dark, handsome and RICH–most important factor according to Chiobu–date preferred the non-oily papadum, which comes with two delicious dips (mint and mango chutney) and also comes in two flavors, normal and with black pepper. The black pepper one was fiery, man. However, I preferred the more complex papdi chaat, a North Indian street food, with a potato-chip-like base topped with murukku, sweet yoghurt, mint and tamarind. So it was crispy and soft, sweet and sour and tart. Super appetizing! I felt like I could eat 10 million papdi chaat.

Mains: The dum chicken briyani ($11) was extremely exciting. The dish of spiced chicken thigh and hard boiled egg with basmati rice is sealed by a thin layer of prata. Merry Christmas! Unwrap your present. At the side is yogurt and curry underneath the papadum.

This dish was both visually and orally pleasing. The chicken thigh was so tender. Drizzle the fierce curry over the rice – all the spices burst in the mouth!

To add some protein to our meal, we had the tandoori mixed grill ($25) consisting of (in order of the photo) chicken tikka, chicken malai tikka, fish tikka and seekh mutton kebab, good for 4 persons to share. Each tasted distinctly from the other in a wonderful way but it was mixed feelings for us. The two types of chicken were very tender. We both enjoyed the chicken tikka which really had the punch of the gingery tumeric and hot paprika. But my favorite had to be the malai tikka, which my hot date disliked. Malai tikka is marinated with cottage cheese, coriander and yoghurt, giving it a very earthy and charcoal-ly taste. It’s like eating very good BBQ chicken wings, the kind that slightly chars at the edges. AWESOME right?? The fish tikka was too light in spices for me but my date liked it. We both didn’t take to the unique taste of seekh mutton kebab–it was overwhelming for us.

Kadhai Jhinga ($15), shrimps in onion tomato masala, was too salty for us but the Khatti Meethi Gobi ($8.50), cauliflower cooked with about 10 million spices, was fabulous. (Note the trend here? I only like intricate, complicated food with million spices.. like my love life.) It tasted almost like mashed potato with spiced tomato sauce on it, slightly sweet, slightly tomatoy-sour. I’m salivating as I am typing this.

We ordered two naans to go with the above dishes. The selection of naans is innovative. Aside from the plain, butter, garlic, cheese naans, there are masala kulcha (with vegetables and carrots), keema (a thin layer of mutton inside the naan), and kashmiri. We had the cheese naan ($5), made of mozzarella cheese!, so it’s like the Indian version of pizza. We also tried the kashmiri ($6.50), which is the Indian version of nut and raisin bread. Very tasty, I ate it on its own.My philosophy is no meal is complete without desserts. Moong Dal Halwa ($9). Shan, the manager, told us that the dessert is made from moong dal lentil, a variety of lentil. I heard “moon-dial.” So romantic right?

Does anyone know what lentil is? I don’t. Sorry, very suaku. Wikipedia says it’s a legume family, so it’s pea-like? Moong dal halwa is cooked with milk, sugar and butter. To me, it tasted like fried fish skin but to my RICH date, it tasted like coconut bits soaked in milk.

The honesty of the restaurant is very endearing. Unlike other eateries that dish out lies and manufactured ice cream pretending that they made their own ice cream, Zaffron’s menu clearly states that moong dal halwa is served with Ben & Jerry ice cream. How refreshing is that! Not only is Zaffron Kitchen honest, the chef from India tries to make the ice cream his own–like a rendition of an American Idol song–by sprinkling some unprocessed lentil (I think it’s lentil) on the ice cream and the cooked lentil. Full marks for effort and thoughtfulness.

Speaking of thoughfulness, the concept of the restaurant pays so much attention to details. On the napkins and the aprons of the servers, there are slogans like “the devil wears prata,” “your food is cumin,” “thyme for curry,” and “I clove Indian food.”

The service was good too, especially by our knowledgable manager, Shan. And when I wanted something, I just looked in the eyes of another female server, and waved. Eye contact is so important for service.

Vegetarian options and wine and beer available. A Malay couple sat next to us, so I think it should be halal too.

Last words: I think Indian food will never be the same again after Zaffron Kitchen. There is authentic Indian food here but there is also contemporary Indian food that tries to surprise the customers. Lots of thought is put in. And bringing delicious and very affordable Indian food in such a chic restaurant–that’s just brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?! I wish more places could put in more effort like Zaffron.

Pot Shop Boys sells only one dish, a street food from Kuala Lumpur. Mee tai mak or lo shu fun (loosely translated as mouse just wanna have fun) is cooked in a claypot with soy sauce, lots of lard, pork liver, minced pork, pork balls, and some prawns. $4 (small) or $4.50 (big).

It came boiling hot and the awesomeness exploded in the mouth. It was so delicious and lardy (but not greasy) that Huccalily asked, “Is this legal in Singapore? I want another bowl before it gets banned!” MUST TRY!

For full review and more photos, please visit http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/pot-shop-boys-singapore/

For more photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow: http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2012/01/23/gobi-cakes-joo-chiat/

Gobi is such a funny name for a dessert shop: Gobi desert VS Gobi dessert – get it

The decor is minimalist: all white with a chandelier. They outline the kitchen window so that it looks 3D (see photo above). Very cute.

The waiter was very cute too. But the service was so-so. Probably because they don’t provide free water. Joanne Peh, don’t come here.Hookerlily and Wise Guy shared Soufflé with Crème Anglaise with a hint of Malibu ($12).

You have to wait 10 minutes for it but it was worth it. OMG, both Wise Guy and Hookerlily agreed it was the BEST SOUFFLE IN SINGAPORE. It was so light and airy and ethereal, like it evaporated in the mouth. The sweetness was just right. It was simple delicate and delicious.

For photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow: http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2012/01/06/extra-virgin-pizza-asia-square/

Decor: The inside of the shop is the kitchen while the tables and chairs are all outdoor (as shown in the photos above). The server didn’t know I was here for the food tasting and she eagerly said, “Do you want to see the kitchen Come in!” That’s honesty for you! Don’t you love honest eateries You walk into the kitchen, and everything is displayed: the ingredients, the tomatoes, the oven, and how they make the pizzas. No secrets, no gimmicks, just natural and fresh ingredients. AWESOME.

The best natural and fresh ingredients are imported from all over the world: organic tomatoes from California; salami from France; flour from Italy. Extra Virgin Pizza went through great lengths just to get the flour. They had to order 50 tons to establish good relations with the Italians and store the flour in a temperature-controlled warehouse.

The ingredients are not the only ones that needed to be found. The bosses of Extra Virgin Pizza traveled the world–from Europe to America–just to find the perfect executive chef,Chef Matthew White, who has worked in Europe and Michelin-starred restaurants and has a diverse background of pizza-making and fine French cuisine.

Chef White said to me, “I told the bosses, if we are going to go this, we must do it in the best way. Can we get a Wood Stone Oven” [The same oven is used in Pizzeria Mozza at MBS.]

The bosses replied, “Why get one Get two!” The amazing thing about Wood Stone Oven is it goes up to 500 degrees, so the pizza is cooked within 2 minutes. Chef White said that precision is key: he only has a ten-second grace: pull out the pizza 10s earlier, it’s undercooked; 10s too late, it’s charred. The amazing thing about the oven is that thetaste and the juiciness of the food are retained and sealed in by the high heat.

Another anecdote Chef White told is they actually tested pH of Singapore’s chlorinated, fluorinated water. After getting all the ingredients from all over the world, Chef White worried that the pH of the water would affect the taste of the crust — let’s see if the water has affected the taste!

The menu isn’t extensive but it is focused. For starters, Chef White recommended theSalami & Cheese Board ($22). I wanted to tell him that eating cheese is a very Western thing; Singaporeans don’t usually eat cheese for starters. So Hot Boy Jasper from Six & Seven and Old Uncle Wise Guy (aka me) picked Veal & Ricotta Meatball ($15) andoven-fired clams in garlic, butter and white wine sauce ($18).

We love balls and we cannot lie. The meatballs were a lighter color and a lighter taste because of veal, so that they didn’t get excessive and heavy like Ikea meatballs. The choice of cheese (Provolone) provided a distinct smelly cheese taste–not for people who dislike cheese–while the minty, peppery basil gave the balls a kick.

Jasper said the clams, which are delivered freshly every few days, were a surprise since pizzerias have no use for clams. Jasper seemed to like it but I can’t say I do. The bread was crispy but also tough. The entire dish had a very “clammy” taste, too intense, too smelly sea-shelly for me. My critique of both starters is that they were both greasy although the portions were very generous.

The spicy pepperoni pizza ($22) arrived first and after a first bite, I said to Jasper, “OMG OMG, it’s so good.”

The crust (for pizzas across the board) was AMAZING. It was crunchy like potato chips, like an apple. Every bite you bite into it, the sound of the crunch reverberates within your soul. The texture was amazing for a second reason: the crust was smooth and airy but there was a grainy substance–semolina–scattered on it to provide an interesting contrast. For the third reason, the crust was charred. They are actually called “leopard spots” which are characteristic of authentic Neapolitan pizzas. The “leopard spots” provided such an interesting variation–and plus I loved charred food. Usually pizza crust tastes monotonous like this: —– but Extra Virgin’s crust tasted like this: –^-^–. Besides the texture, the taste was very savory–one of the best crusts I’ve eaten–sweetened naturally from the flour and high heat.

The organic tomatoes imported from California on the spicy pepperoni pizza were extremely fresh. At first, when I didn’t know the origin of the tomato, I bit into it and exclaimed, “OMG, they bottled sunshine. The tomatoes tasted like a burst of sunshine.” There was also mozzarella on the pizza, which after the high heat, seemed to transfigure into a sweet milk powder substance. My only complaint is the spicy pepperoni, imported from France, wasn’t fierce enough. But still, spicy, tomatoey, and creamy made a very excellent pizza.Then came the vegetarian pizza, Pistachio Pizza ($24), eat already very chio. Get it Pista-chio I am a carnivore, how good can a vegetarian pizza get right If the spicy pepperoni was amazing, the Pistachio is an alien… out of this world. There was surely magic involved. The combination of pistachio pesto, mozzarella, and parmesan caramelized in the high heat, giving off a mind-blowing, unbelievable taste–it tasted almost like the skin of very good BBQ chicken wings. It’s guilt-free BBQ chicken skin!! The bitter raw arugula and zesty lemon vinaigrette added after the oven added awesome dimensions to the BBQ chicken skin, providing layers and layers of different tastes. We were truly blown away by this perfect pizza.

Jasper was praying, “After such delectable pizzas, please please please let the dessertsbe good.” Well, both the tiramisu ($8) and nutella panna cotta ($8) were competent. The nutella panna cotta was… I dunno.. like that lor. So-so, not particularly good but not bad either.

It wasn’t fair for me to comment on the tiramisu because I just had one of the best tiramisus in Singapore the day before coming to Extra Virgin. The cream cheese–mascarpone–was actually comparable to this best tiramisu, rich enough, but the sponge was not soft. It would be nice if they soak the sponge in rum. As it is, this tiramisu is alcohol-free.

Recap: Yumyumformytumtum and I both opine that Peperoni Pizza may be the best pizza in Singapore but now I no longer think so. Extra Virgin may possibly win that spot. It is going to knock your socks off. It is going to be sensational. Delivery will start in early 2012. I wish one day they do island-wide delivery.

Directions: How to get to Asia Square. Asia Square is so new its postal code isn’t even on gothere.sg. This is the same building as Google, which I wrote an entry on the lunch buffet Google has for the staff. If you’re taking public transport, Asia Square is diagonally across from Lau Pa Sat. Asia Square is behind One Shenton Way Building. If you’re driving down Collyer Quay, keep left, turn left into a very, very small lane just after Lau Pa Sat, just before One Shenton. There is a small sign pointing “Asia Square.”

For photos, please visit Rubbish Eat Rubbish Grow: http://rubbisheatrubbishgrow.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/tong-heng-东兴-chinatown/

Tong Heng has been around since the early 1900s! That’s 100 years of history in Singapore.

There are two main Chinese pastries in Chinatown, both with their own distinct taste but I prefer Tong Heng. I’ve tried almost everything there including the Chinese desserts.

Over the years, I’ve tried most of their products, even their Chinese desserts. (Bet you didn’t know they sell Chinese desserts!) The diamond-shaped egg tart is the most awesomest! Because it sells quickly, they are always baking new batches and so the tart is usually hot. It’s like M&M, melts in your mouth, not in your hands, with just the right amount of sweetness. The other specialty in the shop is the char siew su. This one is different from other places because there is a slight saltiness to it, the char siew is moist and just a little bit charred–which is the best kind of char siew. My third favorite is the egg cake (鸡蛋糕) because it’s light and fluffy.

The shop also does chinese new year goodies, mooncakes, wedding pastries and baby’s first month.

Although there are seats in the shop, which is like the Chinese style of a cafe, people usually takeaway.