A Culinary MisAdventure At Nancys Kitchen

I loved long weekends away.  Every few months, my wanderlust would inspire me to pack my bags and head for somewhere not too far away, yet far enough to get my mind out of the office and my spirit recharged.

Last weekend, a few colleagues and I hopped across the causeway to Malacca for a culinary adventure.  We planned the trip quite rigorously to the point of making reservations well in advance at the famous peranakan restaurant, Nancy’s Kitchen.  Nancy’s Kitchen was touted to be the best restaurant serving Nonya food.  It was an institution.  When we got there, the queues were already forming at the entrance with people waiting for vacant tables.    

We started our meal with Nancy’s rice dumplings.  We had an education in the different type of rice dumplings at Malacca's best Peranakan restaurant. We ordered the Hokkien version and the Nonya version. My preference was for the latter which was sweeter and more fragrant.  I would also have preferred that they served the dumplings piping hot and straight from the steamer.  Her version of the Hokkien dumplings were firm and well-filled with pork and salted egg, but it tasted ordinary.  Her Nonya version was way too sweet and barely passable.

We did not stop at the rice dumplings. We ordered the Udang Lemak Nanas which was Prawns in coconut gravy.  I thought the prawns were over-cooked and the gravy lacked the piquancy of the spice and pineapples that was expected in the dish.

 

The Babi Pongteh or Pork belly braised with bean paste came with pork that was too hard although the gravy was quite tasty. 

 

The Popiah  or fresh spring rolls were huge, maybe because the wrap was way too thick.  The turnip filling within the spring rolls was also too sweet. 

 

The Bitter Beans with Squid cooked in Sambal  was a disappointment.  The dish was dotted by a few bitter beans that were barely visible and it might as well be just an ordinary squid sambal dish.  One would not know the difference. 

 

A Peranakan family’s favourite of Duck with Salted Vegetable Soup should have been the piece de resistance but it tasted like hot salted water with pieces of duck meat floating haplessly within the bowl.  My Peranakan great grandmother and grandmother would be turning in their graves for that one.   

 

The Otak or Spicy Fish Paste finally saved the day.  It was so good that we had to order another helping of it just to be sure we were truly on a culinary adventure.

I could not understand how Nancy’s Kitchen could be touted as the best Peranakan restaurant in Malacca. I thought it was overrated.  The quality of food was a slight to my Peranakan heritage. 

However as a dining venue for a group of giggly girls who just wanted to share some laughter and great memories over a so-so lunch, it was still a restaurant worth visiting.  One of the girls reminded me, “It’s a culinary adventure, remember?” Yes, I remembered that I needed to be a little more adventurous and be prepared for both the bad and good experiences along our journey.

 

Our Verdict?  -  BELLY ORDINARY

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

 

A Study Of Fine British Cuisine

12 May was a double celebration of our 15^th Wedding Anniversary and the hubby’s 50 odd birthday.  I would make that a triple celebration because the man survived all these years living with an oddball like myself.  So I thought the best way to celebrate was to honour his British roots with fine British cuisine. 

 

I would not have realized there was such a thing as fine British cuisine when all I have come to acquaint myself with British fare introduced to by my Scottish other half, was fish and chips at the local chippy, scotched eggs, haggis, tatties and neep, and black pudding. 

 

On recommendation from a friend, we visited The Study on Keong Siak Road and that experience blew my mind.  I would never laugh at the hubby again if he ever mentioned British Fine Dining.

 

We started our meal with a couple of starters.  His did not seem too British, but mine definitely was.  He ordered Scallops, squid ink and yoghurt.  My first thought when it arrived was, “Oh dear, so chi chi.”  He enjoyed his succulent scallops though and left none for me.  My starter was Scotch Eggs.  The sausage and breading around the egg was not too overwhelmingly thick and would make an even more  perfect starter if there was a little more seasoning.  The eggs were so perfectly cooked though and  good enough to pique my interest about my impending main course.

 

We ordered the Wagyu Beef Tomahawk for our main course, which the hubby touted as “Mother Of All Meats”.  It came with Roasted Potatoes, Vegetables, Couscous, Homemade Barbecue Sauce and English Mustard.   The beef was melt-in-your-mouth perfect, the roast potatoes was truly out of this world ( the man said it was the best roast potatoes he ever had and I thought I tasted Mother Earth in them), it needed more Roasted Vegetables but the couscous was way too salty and did nothing for the dish.

 

We finished our meal off with a lemon tart with compliments from the fabulous staff at The Study.  That lemon tart really capped the evening well as the tangy flavor balanced that very rich dinner.  I was so grateful that the thoughtful team made it extra special for David by piping his name on his dessert plate and served the tart with a candle.  

 

I would go back to The Study even when it is not a special occasion.

 

Our Verdict?  -  BELLY AWESOME

 

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

 

Breakfast Will Not Be Boring Again

I swear Singapore has got to be a nation of “Brunchers” promulgated by many restaurants which offer All Day Breakfast on their menus.  Many would not mind paying up to $24 for a plate of breakfast fare consisting of 2 eggs, a pallid strip of bacon and a couple of under-cooked chicken chipolatas in a restaurant that served All Day Breakfast.  I however, am so bored with some of the hits and misses with the same breakfast choice and often wonder how some restaurants could get the basic eggs-bacon-sausages-toast combo so wrong.

So we set out on a hunt for more unusual breakfast fare that could make our Sundays a wee bit more interesting.

 

Epicurious

Top on my list would be the breakfast served at Epicurious, situated along Robertson Quay.   Firstly, Epicurious would always be my favorite choice of a restaurant for brunch because dining by the river presented us with a perfect spot for people-watching as we sipped our coffee. Secondly, Epicurious’ spritely proprietor Helena, was always experimental with the food she served and she went by the principle that she would only serve food that she too could enjoy. That would explain why her dishes on the restaurant’s menu were always wholesome, healthy fare peppered with a bit of fun.  The current talk of town right now, is her rainbow cheese toast which my son is dying to try soon.  I truly enjoyed Epicurious’ pretty healthy dish of egg foo yong with shrimps, red rice and sauté potatoes. That to me, felt like I had come home to a hot plate of home-cooked goodness that Mom would prepare for me after a tough day at work.  I can hear the usual skeptical question, “Is that breakfast food?”  Hell yeah! There are eggs in there right? If there are eggs, it got to be breakfast food…my philosophy anyway.

Another hot favorite of the family would be the crispy poached eggs.  We often get our cheap thrill from taking a video of the moment we cut through a crispy poached egg.  We would get excited by the crackling sound as our knife sliced through the golden breading and watched in awe as the yolk oozed out like liquid gold.   We do usually lead boring lives as you might well realize.

 

Our Verdict?  -  BELLY YUMMILICIOUS, LIKE HOME-COOKED COMFORT FOOD PREPARED BY A BIG SISTER WHEN MOM AND DAD ARE AWAY

  

The Lokal

 

Another firm family favorite would be The Lokal, situated at the junction of Neil Road.  One of the dishes I thought ticked my list of being nutritiously filling without adding too much unnecessary carbs was the Baked Eggs which was made up of spicy beef or pork, 2 eggs, beans, potatoes, bacon, onions and mushrooms served in a sizzling pan.

The hubby tried the Black Pearl BLT which came with bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, and a fried egg served between toasted charcoal buns and a side of homemade tomato ketchup.  Well, you can be assured that BLT would not be a boring one. 

 

Our Verdict?  -  BELLY DELICIOUSLY UNIQUE

 

The Provision Shop

Nondescript is how I would describe The Provision Shop.  Located within the Everton Park vicinity, the area had quickly become a hot bed of hip cafes and restaurants that sprung up quite quickly. The Provision Shop is situated below a block of old flats and you can tell, they are more focused about the quality of their food than whether or not they are hip, chic and trendy.

I must confess that because I had been newly acquainted to this café, I had not tried a lot of their items on the menu.  It was by accident that I stumbled into The Provision Shop after a tough session at the gym and a fight with my personal trainer when he nagged me for not taking good care of my diet.  He muttered something like “Abs are made in the kitchen, Jo.” So to my delight, the team at The Provision Shop suggested that I tried their homemade granola served with coconut water.  How could something so healthy be so delicious? This was definitely breakfast of champions.  I think I might be back at The Provision Shop to try more items on their menu.

 

Our Verdict?  -  BELLY-PROMISING

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.

 

Smokingly Hot

 

The hubby and I stumbled upon Red Eye Smokehouse along Cavan Road while out for a walk around the bustling Jalan Besar area.  We spotted new cafes popping up around this estate in the last year but this American-style barbecue restaurant caught our eye and what a gem of a carnivore's fantasy it was!

 

The glass counter had a wide array of meats which one could choose from according to weight.  That could possibly be too difficult or too easy a choice to make depending on your personality.  My brother would have said, “Let’s have 500g of everything please.  Go large or go home.” I preferred to remain prudent with my options so that I would not end up with food coma. 

On the recommendation of the serving staff, we enjoyed an awesome beef brisket that was so full of smokey goodness, pulled pork that was ultra tender and sides of crunchy broccoli salad, burnt-end beans and sweet potato fries. This was enough for 2 to share.  The piece de resistance really was the beef brisket.  It was flavorful with that char on the sides of the meat and it was melt-in-your-mouth tender.  Although each table had a bottle of homemade barbecue sauce on it, we felt it was unnecessary and even a waste to douse the well-prepared beef brisket with that sauce.  So please don’t bother.  The pulled pork would usually be better served between a toasted bun but this was so good on its own.

The hubby could not get enough of the beef brisket so he ordered a second helping of it.  He also ordered a few barbecued chicken wings for me.  I found the wings way too dry and could have gone for a third helping of beef brisket if he had not stopped me.

 Amongst the side dishes we ordered, the broccoli salad was amazingly fresh and crunchy.  That was my little dose of healthy goodness which I could use as an excuse to justify our dinner as being “guilt-free”.   The burnt-end beans however, was way too sweet for my liking.

Red Eye SmokeHouse has been opened for just 6 months and already drawing a steady crowd of regulars who know their meats well. I spoke to some of them at the counter and they seemed to treat this place like their little well-kept secret.

 

Our Verdict?  -  BELLY-PROMISING FOR THOSE WHO ARE NOT PARTIAL TO MEAT.  A BLESSING TO THOSE WHO ARE.

 

About The Writer:

This blog post was co-written by my brother Jerome and I. Although we are siblings who grew up 11 years apart, shaped by differing experiences to see the world from different perspectives, we do share a common obsession – FOOD.  We celebrate our passion for life with food.  However, our attitudes to food are quite different and the way we celebrate our love for food are also quite different.  Jerome lives to eat and hoovers everything edible that crosses his path.  As he shovels food into his mouth with that fork in his right hand, he takes photographs of what he eats, and posts pictures and notes up on Facebook with his left.  Often, his beautifully written prose about what he had eaten would be 7 paragraphs in length and would not have any punctuations in between because he had been too busy multi-tasking. 

I, on the other hand, eat to live. It is not just about my attempts to eat healthily. As I am a “cam-whore” and “social media hussy”, I spend about half an hour styling my food, taking photographs, writing notes and posting them across my social media platforms before eating them, right after the hubby has paid for the bill and is about to head out of the restaurant.  I enjoy reading all my posts about what I had eaten because I know that I had lived fully in spite of watching what I eat.  Welcome to the foodie world of the quirky Ong siblings.