See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/07/14/gold-authentic-thai-food-thai-gold-food-on-10jul2015/
had a good 2pax thai dinner with wife at thai gold food on 10.7.2015.

place was small with indoor & outdoor sitting. we were seated 7pm. soon a queue formed.

calamansi was sour & not too sweet, S$1.50 a glass so quite ok. i prefer the more intense lemon but this was quite refreshing.

we ordered the S$10 tom yam goong (prawns). there were 6 fresh prawns, soup was good. of course not to be compared with patara which cost 2.5x more, but i liked this better than the clear tomyam talay at nakhon @ amk which i had recently.

we liked the S$10 green curry chicken. this the “dry” curry version. it was very flavourful & the chicken was tender. i prefer though the soupy green curry at nakhon @ amk where i finished up all the curries.^^

the S$10 bbq pork was a recommended dish. it was good.

the total bill came to S$34. the dishes were slightly more expensive than nakhon @ amk. they were more satisfying for me though, it really depend on dishs preference & what we ordered. e.g. i prefer the red tomyam to the clear version.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/07/04/good-thai-food-good-value-nakhon-amk-on-3jul2015/
a friend arranged lunch at nakhon @ AMK on 3.7.2015.^^

it’s nice & airy at corner of blk 529 AMK ave 10. there were tables orderly set at a cover extended area w/o encroaching on the walkway. my friend was there 10mins early to get a table. i was there at 11.55am.

nakhon starts lunch at 12pm. a queue started to build up almost immediately. by the time we finished lunch, queue was 10+ long.

my friend ordered 4 dishes. we ordered a red ruby to share afterwards. the pandan chicken was not bad for S$6. lots of sauces, i only used the sweet thai chilli for the pandan chicken.

my friend love the clear tom yam talay (seafood). his whole family like this dish. for me, i prefer the red tom yam. the prawn was ok, so maybe next time i will order tom yam gung. cannot really compare this S$6 soup with patara’s which cost nearly 5x more. for S$6, more than ok i think.

i just loved the green curry. beef was fine, not tough, not the tenderised artificial texture, quite ok. i drank most of the curry.^^

red ruby was S$3. ordinary, which is good i guess. i think this is really good authentic thai food. may not be the restaurant or fine thai kind of food, but it is s authentic as any thai street, comfort food or small restaurant/shop food.

and the price is very reasonable, which accounts for the constant queue. well above average food at very good value prices. will be back soon!

See my full review & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/07/01/great-food-ambience-kith-cafe-park-mall-on-30jun2015/
we had a 15pax dinner at kith cafe @ park mall on 30.6.2015. kith does all day breakfast (till 5pm) and seems like a good coffee place too.

i didn’t know if kith meant anything in particular, but after googling i found out that kith was like kin or kindred or – acquaintances, friends, neighbors, or the like; persons living in thesame general locality and forming a more or less cohesive group.

a cafe for friends – good name!

we ordered some calamari & 2 pizza to share, and each ordered our own pasta dish. calamari was good. squid was very slightly tough, batter was good.

gong bao chicken pizza was better than i expected. we all liked the thin crust pizza. no sticky sauce, taste was not too sweet & combined quite well with the pizza.

parma ham pizza was competent also. pretty ok.

pizza not particularly my favourite but it is an excellent dish for communal dining & i do enjoy a slice of good pizza (i shared 1/2 gong bao chicken & 1/2 parma ham pizza with a friend) to start the dinner.

the spaghetti alio olio was good! good helping, very flavourful, good garlic flavours & lots of shiitake mushrooms. I shared 1/2 of it with a friend who shared 1/2 of my squid ink pasta. not a usual dish i would order as i like meat or seafood.

the linguine gamberini (garlic prawn) looked good. i will order that next time.

carbonara. looked ok. somehow looked a bit like hokkien mee. egg was mixed in the pasta. i think it would taste good as most pasta here were good. though i am more used to the look/colour of carbonara at alfresco gusto.

i had a try of the bolognese, and the tomato sauce was good. meat sauce/ragout preparation not my favourite but this was good.

did not try the vongole. it looked fine. they said vongole is a test of italian chef. the lala (littleneck) clams have a distinctive shellfish taste & if the linguine is done al dente the combination is quite excellent. my own vongole linguine here.

the veal spinach tortellini looked interesting. & looked yummy! i must try that next time.

my friend the proprietor ordered the day’s special, a squid ink spaghetti with seafood alio olio. i tasted. it was good.

i liked my own squid ink sauce pasta better though. it was more intense & flavourful, though my immediate reaction was it was a bit salty. my own squid ink seafood spaghetti here.

the friend who shared 1/2 my squid ink thought it was very salty, and that the alio olio was also salty. i was good with the alio olio, & salt does bring out the flavours (though too much would kill it).

my friend the proprietor ordered 2 more pizza – a duck & mushroom ragout & a special – with sausage. duck ragout was good & had some meat pieces.

i liked the sausage special pizza a bit more, sausage very flavourful.

it was really enjoyable evening. company was super fun, outdoor ambience was cool & nice open space, & food was great. i will probably come back with my family.

See my full reviews 7 photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/06/22/excellent-italian-food-follia-on-20jun2015/.

daughter arranged a father’s day dinner at follia on 20.6.2015.^^

this the 3rd father’s day. wife arranged a 2pax father’s day lunch at kuriya diningearlier, and then a family father’s day dinner at valentino, as wife & youngest daughter were away during father’s day.

we started with pane pizza all’ aglio, just S$4.80. it was good as any pizza minus the toppings.

the lobster bisque was good, flavourful, and came with mussels, clams, prawn & flower crab. most important the bisque tasted great!

flower crab had no meat, the ingredients looked good, but not really important. i was curious that 2 reviewers – one said dislike the mussels the other said they had a bad taste. the mussels were ok for me though.

the special crayfish squid ink risotto was very good. really like the flavours of the risotto with good shellfish stock, smooth & creamy. the proprietor told us later though it was butter & no cream. it was especially good with the tomato sauce for the crayfish mixed into the risotto. there were 2 halves crayfish & 2 large prawns.

S$35 not really overly expensive for the dish. however i don’t really need to pay for crayfish. i can do my own very well bought from chinatown, at times just S$12/kg. the squidink pasta dish on their menu is good enough for me.^^

i liked the frutti di mare a lot too. it was really an excellent flavoured tomato sauce. the ingredients were also very good. i will definitely take this again.

we arrived at 7pm & the place was empty. but by 8pm, it was full left 1 table. a simple but pleasant place & a very friendly proprietor who took photos with us later.

i ordered the osso bucco alla milanese as it was the only dish featured on their homepage. & i was not disappointed. it was the same saffron osso bucco dish i had at a riverside restaurant along milan’s navigli district, just as good!

the osso bucco was very well done, fork tender, tasty & not sinewy. braised meats are never my favourites though, nothing to do with the dish itself. & the saffron risotto was excellent, and very nice garlic toast too.

i do very good pastas (like squid-ink spaghetti and lobster angel hair pasta) & also an excellent seafood risotto myself, but the pastas & risottos here were really good i will come back for more.

See my full reviews & photos at = http://chefquak.com/2015/06/10/excellent-chirashi-don-set-kuriya-dining-on-9jun2015/
wife bought me an excellent chirashi sushi zen set at lunch at kuriya dining on 9.6.2015.^^ it was for early father’s day.

we had a mother’s day lunch at gurnard’s head on 10.5.2015 and a mother’s day dinner at mackerel sky at newlyn, cornwall.

set started with a salad with goma (sesame) dressing. there was a lot of salad, a bit little dressing. we asked for more. of course to be added in moderation. it was good.

the chawanmushi was excellent, especially with the very tasty snow crab sauce, though i felt the sauce was a bit starchy.

this was an excellent chirashi don for S$62++. i still cannot decide if this is better or mikuni’s better. i guess overall i still favour mikuni’s chirashi don but this was really really good too. anyway, i like them both.

you have in one bamboo holder uni, negi toro, salmon, tai, maguro, hotate, hamachi, amaebi on a bed of cubed salmon & maguro (like in barachisrashi don). on the other there was anago, ikura, tobiko, tamago on sushi rice.

a most wonderful, satisfying lunch.

there was dessert & coffee too. dessert was strawberry mousse, black sesame ice cream, and fruits. it’s actually kind of huge set for lunch, but on some days we are permitted to spoil ourselves.