I'd been hankering to return to Humpback, and after repeated rainchecks taken by our flaky friends to revisit the Seattle-styled seafood restaurant together, decided to head there on our own. The Sugarhall-affiliate had recently launched their Sunday brunch menu, and I'm always happy to add another worthwhile brunch spot to my roster.

Perhaps it was Valentine's Day, perhaps it was the roll-over from Chinese New Year get-togethers, or perhaps it was the usual state of affairs, but Humpback was packed to the gills. Lucky for us, we made reservations before going down. Be sure to do likewise.

Service, much like Sugarhall, was bubbly and earnest, in no small part due to the fact that most of the staff looked to be in their early twenties (oh to be that young and possess the fat-burning metabolism of a twenties-gal!).

The food, though faultless, wasn't really my thing. We don't really eat oysters, and aren't keen on shellfish in general, all of which are precisely why diners flock to Humpback.

The Fried Egg ($14), with a sunshiny octopus-laced orzo, and spiked with tete de moine, was a recommendation by the tall hunky drink of water whose muscles were bigger than the Hubs' head. This was indeed awesome, and not because Mr Hunky Dory suggested it. The sous vide egg , breadcrumb-coated and fried to a beautiful crisp, stayed perfectly soft-boiled on the inside. Brilliantly finessed. Strictly as a matter of preference, I preferred the Scrambled Egg ($10) fluffy and moist, and complemented with crunchy asparagus, sumptuous ribbons of prosciutto, and toasted sourdough as an anchoring balance. I'm not the biggest fan of lobster, or mayo, so I was surprised by how much I liked Humpback's tobiko-flecked Lobster Roll ($39), rich and buttery and creamy and meaty and nuanced, set off against a whole lotta paprika fries and the obligatory frisee bunch.Humpback's brunch mainstay, the Buttermilk Fried Chicken ($10) with sriracha was southern cuisine at its most soulful. The touch of lime helped cut through the grease and potent heat of the chilli sauce.Humpback

18-20 Bukit Pasoh Road

Tel: 6750 4461 / 9772 9896

Open Mondays to Saturdays from 5pm to 12midnight;

Sundays from 11am to 3pm for brunch

Website: www.humpback.sg

For more food reviews, please hit up http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com

We were at Cuppage Plaza for a no-frills lunch. This old-school shopping centre is famous for 3 things, dodgy massage parlours, underrated restaurants frequented by Japanese expats so you know it's super authentic, and last but not least, hole-in-the-wall cze char and economic rice stalls that are dirt cheap.

Isle Café is one of many economic rice stalls, but it's distinguished from the rest by its longest queue, a sure-fire indication of good food. The food turned out more than decent. It wasn't particularly refined stuff, but it had that very-missed homecooked feel to it. Plus, 7 dishes for 2 persons cost us only $13! How ridiculously low is that?

Although, we did see a baby roach traipsing across the cashier's countertop. It was really gross but if you think about it, the reality is that roaches present at almost every hawker center. Just because you don't see one doesn't mean they don't exist. There's just no way to completely eradicate such pests. At least it was a baby one and not a full grown one. And no, we were completely fine after dining here. No tummy upsets or anything.

We had:

1) Ginger Pork: sautéed in a thick sticky dark soy and oyster sauce for a full-bodied flavour. The pork was very lean but it was sufficiently moist. This was great with steaming hot white rice

2) Curry Chicken: Thick, creamy, rich, with a manageable spiciness and completely droolworthy

3) Pepper Chicken: a tad tough, but still palatable

4) Fried Luncheon Meat: Cannot-go-wrong option. So full of artificial junk but so dependably good.

5) Fried Egg: whites were a little rubbery but the yolks were perfectly done. Considering that these had been sitting in the display for a bit, the soft, semi-runny consistency of the yellows was quite the feat. Great for smearing it all over white rice

See more reviews at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com

Revolution Coffee is another offshoot of Papa Palheta's ever-growing coffee empire. After the dismal experience at Chye Seng Huat (also owned by the Papa Palheta people), I wasn't too keen on this. But my coffee-loving friend, who's on this quest to try every single coffee joint on the island, dragged me all the way to the super ulu-fied Revolution Coffee. And boy, was Revolution Coffee ulu-fied to the max. It's near-ish Portsdown Road, which is already considered to be relatively out-of-the-way, seeing as there's no public transportation access. And, the building it's housed in is in the middle of nowhere. The next nearest building is a good 15 minute brisk walk in the blazing sun away. I can't imagine anyone but the on-site office workers patronizing this place. Which is why, I suppose, Revolution Coffee isn't open on weekends.

As expected, the brews here are of a pretty high standard, but it isn't something that I can't get from a decent coffee joint in town. Also, their food's tonnes better than CSH, which isn't saying much as CSH's stuff was so disappointingly sub-standard. That said, the fare here at Revolution Coffee isn't good enough to draw me back there on its own.

We had:

1) Mad Chef's Sticky Date Pudding ($9.90): pretty damn good. The pudding was moist and rich and had a delectable smoky sweetness derived from dates, buffeted by the rich smoky sweetness of gula melaka butterscotch sauce. A scoop of icy French vanilla ice-cream further upped the comfort level of this heart-warmingly rich dessert.

2) Revolution Coffee Affogato ($6): also memorably good. Perky extra-strength espresso, Premium French vanilla ice-cream, house-baked cookie crumble and a dusting of chocolate powder, what's not to like?

3) Spaghetti Amatriciana ($9.50): while ginormous in portion, it was a bit amateurish. Overcooked spaghetti was tossed in a supposed-to-be-spicy-but-not-really-so tomato basil sauce and loaded with bacon. The fact that the bacon was in bountiful supply couldn't quite detract from the lack of finesse in this. Still, this was a commendable effort.

4) Cafe Latte ($5.50): love! It was creamy, full-bodied and had the perfect amount of froth at the top.

Read more reviews at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com

Penang Kitchen, together with Thai Noodle House and Curry Wok, round off the trio of eateries along Coronation Arcade that have fast become our go-to for cheap and good food. We takeaway our dinners from the restaurants here at least twice a week. While parking may be virtually non-existent, surprisingly, it doesn't quite deter us from the fabulous food here. You can count on eating like a king for under $15 per person.

Penang Kitchen is a no-frills, no-fuss eatery. Although most Penangites would dispute the authenticity of the Penang cuisine served here, it is admittedly more-than-decent. The fare here is generally hearty and comforting. Especially in light of the fact that the food here is so affordable.

We had:

1) Penang Sampler ($13): a duo of Penang Lor Bak and Belachan Chicken Wings. The fried beancurd skin rolls stuffed with sinfully fatty pork belly was flavoursome without being oily. The fried chicken wings, thoroughly marinated with shrimp paste and tumeric and cumin and other aromatics for full-on flavour, was no less addictive.

2) Stir Fried Baby Kailan with Garlic ($8.30): simple and tasty with a garlicky accent, topped with fried shallots for a roasted sweetness.

3) Penang Assam Laksa ($8.30): a little unexpected. The heavy use of belachan made for a pungent finish, and it was enlivened with tangy pineapples, spicy cut chilli padi and peppery basil.

4) Penang Char Kway Teow ($8.30): deceptively spicy. Good wok hei, with plentiful eggs and beansprouts for a refreshing crunch. A must-try here.

5) Nasi Goreng Kampong Penang ($8.90): equally spicy, but its robust peppery heat is more of a slow burning one that hits you in the gut. The rice was well fried, with a rounded, full-bodied flavour. The piquant achar was a nice counter-balance.

Read more reviews at http://thehungrybunnie.blogspot.com

If you're a fan of thin-crust pizzas, Spizza would hit all the right buttons. The pizza crust here is very thin so when baked, it attains a crisp, almost biscuit-like texture.

We had:

1) Calamari ($13): served alongside a refreshing pizzaiolo dip. This was largely decent, but the rings were a tad more chewy than I'd like. That being said, at least they weren't rubbery.

2) Mozzarella ($11): layered with strips of basil for a peppery accent. The tongue-numbingly hot salsa provided a zesty lift to the creamy fried balls of cheesy goodness

3) Portobello Al Forno ($12.50) was a little lacking in salt, even if the bolognese topping was pretty hearty. We had to heap several teaspoonfuls of parmesan cheese onto these to up the sodium content

4) Isabella ($20 medium): parma ham and rucola salad.

5) Quinta ($18): a perfectly baked egg and heavenly black truffle paste