Pause (Oxford Dictionaries Online): interrupt action or speech briefly , a temporary stop in action or speech
Pause (Merriam Webster Online): a break in a verse; temporary inaction especially as caused by uncertainty
Pause (Foodsmiths @thewordfood): Cool new coffee place at Bukit Merah (also both definitions from Oxford and Merriam-Webster, in relation to my writing on this site)
So Singapore is building up a cool little coffee culture (not to the extent of Melbourne of course), and we are beginning to have quite a few little indie coffee joints popping up at the most random of places. Amongst others, Papa Pahleta at Bt Timah Road, Forty Hands at Tiong Bahru, and the newest find we picked up this weekend, Pause, at Jalan Kilang.
Pause is housed in a very cool townhouse-like building in the midst of a whole bunch of commercial warehouses. It shares the 4000-odd square feet space, known as Dominic Khoo 28 Fevrier, with not just Dominic Khoo’s photo gallery, but also Kelvin Seah, a bespoke tailor, and Ed. Et. Al., a bespoke shoe maker run by Edwin Neo.
At the counter, where you order your wonderful coffee, a little handout reads “Let’s Pause, for a little special something”. And that’s true. We paused, and took in the special little gallery cum retail space, cum cafe, and were sold.
The coffee at Pause is great (although perhaps not the greatest). The effort the barista took, however, in painstakingly putting together a bunny (squeal go the foodsmiths) motif on the foam, was worth the visit.
We didn’t get to try any food on our little afternoon sojourn, but the owner (or manager – sorry didn’t get his name this afternoon), said that they do do food items, just not today. Ah well. But no matter, because we’ll be back!
For people who don’t drink coffee, there are a number of iced teas available (and they even sell aged ginger tea, which apparently helps a windy tummy, if you get the, ahem, drift).
And for those who just want to see a little interesting something, head down to Dominic Khoo 28 Fevrier (yes it’s a mouthful), just to see the chairs (from flexible love) and partitions (from molo design), which are totally made of recycled cardboard. The pictures below give you a sense of the place, and we’re sure you’ll be sold once you visit it. So Pause, and take in a little special something.
Dominic Khoo’s 28th Février
Add: 5 Jalan Kilang,
Tel: +65 63664642
Mon – Sun:9:00 am-10:00 pm
We also had the Savoury Blinis with Bacon and Mushroom Ragout. Again, the bacon was great (by great, I mean lean-ish, but crisped up and not quite so salty), and the mushroom ragout was flavourful and had a slight sweetness (sherry or martini perhaps?). I didnt quite like the blini texture – slightly on the dry side, and I’d envisaged smaller blinis (though to be fair they never said “minis”). Overall still a nice dish with well-executed accompaniments.
The piece de la resistance (or pieces de la resistance) at Antoinette, however, must be the cakes and macarons. After all, Chef Pang IS the sugar (and macaron) daddy of the Singapore pastry industry. The macarons reminded us of (gasp!) Pierre Hermes in Paris – we had the Antoinette and the Grand Cru. The Antoinette revealed a berry centre, and married the tanginess of the berry well with the sweetness of the macaron shell.
We also tried the Antoinette, which was an earl grey infused mousse with a (very interesting) raspberry coulis wrapped in a gelatin pouch on the top. This was a very nice balanced cake, with earl grey permeating each mouthful. It was not heavy on the palette and each bite reminded us of why we’d missed Chef Pang so much in the past few months!
In the name of blogging (hurhur), we made a special trip down again this evening after work just to try more of Chef Pang’s new creations. We ordered the Chocolicieux and the Cafe Caramel Tarte. Unfortunately, we didn’t get pictures of either, but the Chocolicieux is a chocolate lover’s delight. A dense chocolate cake enveloping chunky hazelnuts and covered with a chocolate and nut coating, this looks exactly like a magnum icecream bar, and the taste of it will linger in your senses for some time (yes, it’s THAT dense). The tarte was equally delicious, with the caramel having a delicious burnt flavour with a hint of coffee that drags the caramel-ly flavours just oh-so-much-longer.
All the dishes (yes, including the sorbet dessert) were very well executed pieces of Japanese cuisine. Our particular favourite was the tempura, where the batter was crisp and crunchy, yet light and non-oily. It was easily one of the better tempuras we’d had in Singapore in a long, long time (Inagiku could learn something here).
As part of our attempt to sample the food since we’d come so far into MBS (I know it’s a sorry excuse), we ordered the foie gras skewer (from the robata section) and some sashimi to sample (it’s just not enough to try sashimi chopped up in your chirashi sushi unfortunately).
The sashimi, as expected, was fresh and simply put, YUMMY. I did however, wish they hadn’t served salmon in the sampler plate (not when the plate costs close to S$60). After all, you hardly see salmon sashimi served in a good Japanese restaurant in Tokyo for an omakase plate. But still, it was decent, and the tuna belly (chutoro) and the yellowtail / hamachi had just the right amount of fattiness. Paired with freshly grated wasabi (i’m a sucker for restaurants that use fresh wasabi), the fish was elevated to a higher level altogether. As for the foie gras skewer, the charring was just what we were looking for on the outside, but I guess the coals were too hot for the foie gras as the interior was way overdone – it lost the silky smoothness that one usually expects with well-cooked (!!! i.e. slightly wobbly) foie gras.
Born in France, chef Daniel Boulud is probably most famous for his Michelin / NYT starred restaurant Daniel. He’s also put up a few more casual dining concepts around the world, and DB Bistro Moderne is one of such ideas that have come to fruition. Modelled after a French bistro, DB Bistro Moderne has a sleek interior (sleeker than most French bistros I’ve been to), with comfortable sofa seats providing a nice cosy feel.
At the recommendation of our server, we also ordered the Barramundi Grenobloise, which was accompanied by cauliflower, turnips, radish and topped with a brown butter sauce (I know the photo below suggests a sauce that is not browned butter – but it was. The dark purple sauce around the fish was a tart-ish sauce that went well with the vegetables). As barramundi always is, the fish was perfectly cooked and had a meaty flavour to it. While the dish on the whole was very well executed (and definitely not pedestrian in any regard), we were probably more enamoured by the juiciness of the beef patty in the burger that this did not leave as lasting an impression. The nutty flavour of the brown butter sauce however, was something that pulled the dish together for me.
In all, it was a pretty enjoyable experience at db Bistro Moderne. I’d say that the price point of the restaurant is about right for a nice meal out (but definitely not for a everyday meal), and you can count on them to provide well executed dishes that won’t disappoint. While desserts did not seem to be quite their forte, it could well be that we’d ordered the wrong desserts. Given the good quality savoury items, I think I’ll be back there to give them a second chance on the desserts, and at the same time, perhaps slip in another Original db Burger?
If you’re in the area, and craving some decent Vietnamese / Laotian food(interestingly I didnt see many (if at all) Cambodian dishes on the menu), Siem Reap II is a pretty good choice. Don’t be put off by the number of tourists outside and think it’s a tourist trap (it’s not), and give it a shot. Given that we don’t have that many joints that serve Indochinese cuisine (ex Thailand), Siem Reap II is worth a try. The prices aren’t low (the Bun Dac Biet is S$19), but they do have special offers from time to time on various credit cards (on our last visit there, there was a one-for-one on identical main courses with AMEX cards), which make it a whole lot more affordable.
The batter of the fish was light and crisp, and enveloped the fish perfectly. It was just slightly oily thus avoiding the “jelat” feeling one usually gets after finishing an entire plate of fried items. I should also add that the fish used was fresh and flaked lightly, just as it should be. The fries were also tasty and did not taste like it came out of a frozen store-bought packet of fries. I loved the fact that they gave us a side salad (dressed in balsamic vinegar) AND creamy coleslaw (which added to the calorie count here), both of which were excellent renditions. The dish was accompanied by a slightly pedestrian tartare sauce and a ketchup – chilli sauce mix (which I did not quite appreciate as much as I would have had it been pure ketchup).
Another standout for me at Inagiku is the very simple starter salad that they serve upon the ordering of a set lunch. I’m not sure if they have this on the a-la-carte, but I certainly don’t see why it wouldn’t hold it’s place there. Simple spinach leaves, topped with a crispy tofu skin, doused in a tangy sesame dressing really whets your appetite for the more good food to come.
I am told that Inagiku is also known for it’s tempura (do let me know if this isn’t the case though), but I’d have to admit, on my visits there, I’ve never been very very impressed by their rendition. Somehow, the batter always felt a touch thick, and a tad over-crunchy, but perhaps that is the way it is meant to be?
In terms of food, Taste Paradise’s flagship dish must be the Stone Bowl Braised Sharks Fin with Crispy Spring Onion Roll. For conservationists, the restaurant serves a “green” version of the sharks fin – that is, environmentally friendly sharks fin. Full of flavour, the sharks’ fin soup is thickened with lower grade fish maw and leaves a sticky layer around your mouth (if you’re a messy eater like me). It comes accompanied with a spring onion wrapped in popiah skin deepfried to perfection. For me, I don’t quite get how the 2 are meant to be eaten together, but both are tasty delights individually so I’m not complaining about whether they should be served together. Be careful about the stone bowl the soup is served in though, since it keeps the soup warm for 20 minutes, you can imagine how hot it’s going to be!
Amongst the other dishes we had that night was a well executed Braised Abalone with Dried Oyster and a slightly oily Deep Fried Eggplant topped with Pork Floss (forgot about the pictures). The eggplant dish is not something that is new – quite a few restaurants serve it these days, whereas the abalone and dried oyster dish is also something that is common place on most Chinese New Year menus at many good Chinese restaurants. I suppose what sets Taste Paradise apart from many other restaurants is that the food is generally well executed and does not deliver any unexpected / unwanted surprises.
Our final dish of the evening was a Pan seared Scallop served with Conpoy and Mee Sua in Superior Stock. This was slightly more unusual, with the use of crisped conpoy as a garnish proving to be a good choice on the part of the chef. The mee sua was al dente, while the seared scallop was as scallops should always be served – browned on the outside, tender on the inside. The stock that it was served in, of course, could not be faulted. A fish based stock that was light yet flavoursome, the lightness of the dish made sure that we did not find it overbearing at the end of a heavy meal. (As a side note, I should also add that I also had the chance of sampling a fish noodle dish garnished with prawns (something like what I had at 
Apart from the duck, we ordered a number of dimsum and dishes to share. We had the Tianjin Cabbage with Chinese Ham which was flavourful, yet simple. At S$20 for a small a dish, it was a touch expensive, though I suppose one could argue that in a restaurant like this, that would be the price one would expect to pay.
We also had a Cucumber and Chicken Salad with Sesame and Peanut Sauce which was a simple dish of poached chicken, on a bed of sliced cucumber and green bean sheets topped with a silky smooth sesame and peanut sauce. This hit the spot (taking into account the fact that I really like peanut / sesame sauces). If you’re not quite a sesame / peanut sauce fan like I am, it could well have been considered an above average dish only. I’ve seen a similar version of this dish jazzed up with a little apricot jam to give the sauce a slight tanginess and sweetness, but this wasn’t evident here. Still, being the “nutty” fan I am, I liked this.
Aside from the above dishes, we also sampled standard dimsum items like the Hum Sui Kok, Char Siew Cheong Fun, Lor Bak Goh and the Egg Tarts. All of these were well executed renditions of the items, and I particularly liked the Lor Bak Goh (or carrot cake), as it was nicely fried and stuffed with a good amount of lup cheong (waxed sausage).
Overall, I liked the food at Imperial Treasure Super Peking Duck. The Imperial Treasure group generally serves up well-executed Cantonese fare that keeps closely to the basics, and the food here at Super Peking Duck is no different. While the prices are nowhere on the low side, the dim sum is well priced for the quality of the food. Ordering dishes will, however, push your bill northwards. I should also highlight that when the restaurant gets busy, service levels suffer a little and on occasion, we found it hard to get the attention of the servers. When things slowed down, however, the staff managed the situation much better and got back on top of things. Still, in all, the food here was the star, and while I am told the Peking Duck can’t quite compare to that served in Da Dong or other Peking Duck specialists in Beijing, this rendition is pretty good and worth a try if you’re in the mood!
