Nylon Coffee Roasters

Nylon Coffee Roasters is the latest kid on the coffee-block, opened by former partners of Papa Palheta / Loysel's Toy, Dennis Tang & Lee Jia Min. I've known this couple for a long time ever since my school days when I used to visit Papa Palheta and Loysel's, and they are always very passionate about serving only good coffee. Nylon Coffee Roasters is located at a small HDB shophouse at block 4 Everton Park, and is really non-descript, a small area to sit, the majority of the shop being the roastery. The opening hours are from 8.30 to 5.30 on weekdays, and up to 6 on weekends. 

They currently only have one blend available, the El Primero blend (First blend), and I ordered an espresso and a 50z milk drink (they don't do cappuccinos or lattes etc, it's just the amount of milk in the drink). Their blend is a mixture of Peru and Brazil, and upon further enquiries, I discovered that they source the brazil beans farm-direct, i.e. cultivating a relationship with the farm. That is the best way to go in my opinion, since it reduces costs tremendously and you can always ensure that the quality is there if you have relations with a good farm.

The espresso from Nylon Coffee Roasters was simply excellent, outstanding. One of the best in Singapore, I dare say. It had some toffee flavours, a candy-like sweetness, some fruitiness, and some dark chocolate at the back of the palate especially in the aftertaste, a very long finish. In fact, I believe even after 10 minutes, the long dark chocolate aftertaste was still there, even when the candy had long gone. Excellent espresso. (8.5/10) 

With milk, the coffee still retained some interesting flavours - quite chocolatey with that dark chocolate flavour, and still with some toffee notes. In my opinion, the blend is probably more suited to the espresso, but the milk was still good. (8/10)

Go visit Nylon Coffee Roasters soon, give Dennis & Jia min your support. Cheers! 

Club Street Social @ Gemmill Lane

Dinner was at one of the newest, hippest outlets to be seen in or around town, namely, Club Street Social, along Gemmill Lane. We had just finished oysters happy hour at Luke's oyster Bar and Chop house just across the street but the prices at Luke's were rather steep to continue the dinner, so we trooped over to Club Street Social instead.  The place was packed with mainly expats and we felt quite out of place but since expats are cool and everyone's cool and we're cool we decided to CHILL and GRAB A TABLE, which we did. I have posted photos of the layout and the decor which was really nicely done.

We had a crostini of duck rillette, green apple and fig compote, which was just amazing. The duck rillette went perfectly well with the green apple as the latter just paired beautifully with the rilette by giving it a nice 'crunch'; a real contrast in textures. The duck rillette had loads of flavour as well, being nicely robust and gamey without being too overwhelming. Outstanding dish. (8.5/10)

The star of the night, however, was undoubtedly the Lobster Panini, which came with Pan-Seared Lobster, Avocado, and Yuzu Mayo. It was just outstanding, mind-blowingly delicious. The lobster was first pan-seared with butter which really brought out the smoky flavours of the lobster, similar to what you'd get when you eat grilled lobster with mentaiko roe (?) - which paired beautifully with the yuzu mayo with just a subtle hint of yuzu, and the avocado which gave it a real creamy mouth feel. The combination was just delicious and the chunks of lobster in my mouth were just amazing - the natural taste of lobster being brought out by the pan-searing. I had the thought of ordering another [we shared this], but in the end decided to exercise some self-control. This was just a sublime dish (9/10).

I had a cocktail #7, which came with bacon, cognac, date, and walnut. It wasn't bad, pretty tangy, and with the smokiness of the bacon; almost like whiskey albeit made with cognac. Not bad.

Overall I'd say Club Street Social's a great place to have a really chill evening with drinks and the works, and of course the lovely sandwiches prepared with top notch ingredients and lots of love. Highly recommended. 

coffee roundup, may 2012

Just an update, here's my May 2012 list of best coffee places in Singapore. Note that the list normally changes from time to time just as my taste preferences [and the quality of the baristas] change. Here goes:

[Note: the list changes from time to time - I will post a new update in August 2012].

New update: I have amended a couple of things, plus I have put in some "taste notes" i.e. to see what you can expect (as of May 2012) in their coffees.

TOP TIER

Stranger's Reunion - by Ryan Tan, barista champion 2011 and 2012, located at Kampong Bahru Road. A new blend is in the works which should prove delicious, if Ryan's good tastes are anything to go by. the milk is always spot on, with incredible microfoam to create a smooth velvety mouthfeel. must order is the "magic", which is a double ristretto with milk. his 'magic' made from the terra firma blend was simply amazing.
Taste Notes: Ryan's "stranger's" blend is interesting, flavourful - bright and lively; the Terra Firma is what it usually is - darker and with a nutty taste.

Nylon Coffee Roasters - new outlet by Dennis & Jiamin. Small outlet, not much seating, more for takeaways. The El Primero blend is excellent - toffee, candy sweetness, dark chocolate aftertaste, long finish.
Taste Notes: see above.

Smitten Coffee - by Darren and Hong Yuan, slightly fruity coffees [on the light side] and delicious desserts. Serves plain vanilla cupcakes here. good if you like fruity, lively coffees.
Taste Notes: The thumper has notes of grapefruit and roasted nuts; the coffees tend to be fruitier and brighter. 

Jewel Coffee - single origin beans, but always done very well. expert baristaing, giving a robust cup that captures the tasting notes of what the coffee "should" taste like.
Taste Notes: depends on the beans that they use; the ethiopian sidamo is very lemony; colombia has alot of chocolatey notes; try the antigua if they have that.

Liberty Coffee - only open sometimes. excellent coffee, very bold and chocolatey. if you see pauline's chocolate cake on the counter, do order it. it is the bomb. 
Taste Notes: The Speakeasy blend is very chocolatey and rich. 


Toby's Estate - bumping it back to its 'top tier' status. Very good when the good beans are in, namely the COE (cup of excellence) coffees. when you are drinking the cup of excellence coffees, they are as good as the best in Singapore. Also of note are the speciality coffees apart from the COE, such as the Yirgacheffe Peaberry which tastes spicy, winey, of roasted nuts and cumin, and sweet. Sadly they don't always have COE or these special beans, which means that you're stuck with the normal coffees. the Rodyk blend is not bad, chocolatey, usual stuff. pretty safe. 
Taste Notes: The Rodyk blend is usually chocolatey and nutty; of interest is the COE coffees when they become available.

MIDDLE TIER

Sarnies - at telok ayer street, one of my regular joints for coffee. very good service, and competent baristas. pav makes an excellent cup of coffee and he is into roasting now, which means you're in for some treats. had an excellent yemen there, a great peru, and so on. when the house blend of costa rica and ethiopian is at its best [i.e. just the right amount of days from roasting], it is exquisite and excellent and goes with milk perfectly. sadly, as the house blend usually comes in 2 week cycles, it is not often as fresh as we would like it to be, hence the 'middle tier' rating. 
Taste Notes: The house blend which is a blend of Costa Rica and Ethiopian Yirgacheffe is excellent when in form - sweet, smooth, chocolatey and nutty with enough acidity to keep things lively.

40 Hands - used to be under 'room for improvement' but a recent experience has pushed it up. always get Harry to make the coffee because when he does it it's excellent. otherwise, it may be extremely bitter and you'll regret it. very very good brunch, though. 
Taste Notes: varies depending on the bean. make sure that they don't over-extract your coffee lest it becomes bitter.

Loysel's Toy / Papa Palheta - once top tier, but now very inconsistent due to the quality of the baristas, as it has expanded greatly. always look for a good barista [i.e. sean, perhaps] to make the coffee. if not, as i've experienced, you'll get quite bitter and overextracted coffee, or else, badly done milk. papa palheta was one of the founders of great coffee in singapore and is a household name in the coffee industry. 

Taste Notes: terra firma is dark, nutty, as mentioned.

Oriole Coffee Roasters - very dedicated roasters serving delicious coffee, usually farm direct. i don't go there enough because the 'feel' of the place is somewhat lacking - the vibe, and all, the service, isn't that 'warm', perhaps because i'm not a regular there. maybe i should go there more often, but as of now, still good. go to the jiak chuan road outlet and not the others. the republic plaza outlet is a fail. 
Taste Notes: the seasonal espresso blend is not bad - quite bright.

The Plain - very very good brunch, i.e. poached eggs and all. the coffee is of the dark kind, i.e. dark roast italian style, so only if you like those kinds of coffee.
Taste Notes: Dark, dark , dark.

Maison Ikkoku - very nice joint at Kandahar Street, with many kinds of coffee and a passion for it. good, rich, coffee, a bit too bitter, but good. They have recently upgraded so it's time for me to go down and check it out again.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT

Highlander Coffee - used to be the creme de la creme, but sadly overtaken by other more innovative and newer joints. their coffee is very safe, but frankly isn't much to shout about. Note: The barista, Guoli (a friend of mine), is a class act, however - everything done very well including the milk. Just that, unfortunately, he hasn't got that much to work with. 

Artichoke - coffee here is a fail. don't order it.

Spruce - ditto. fail coffee.

Bronte - it's an ok cup. don't expect fireworks.

Orange Thimble - wasn't very impressed with the coffee here. okay only.

Selfish gene cafe - using highlander beans, so don't expect that much.

Jimmy Monkey Cafe and Bar - they really need to improve their roasting, as it is really quite bitter and has unpleasant notes. i'm just not sure what's wrong with it...if they could tweak it, it would be good.

Restaurant Ember

Went to Ember with the ever-beautiful and lovely S, and it turned out to be one of the best dinners I have had in my life, and for as long as I can remember. Not just the food (which was great), but the company was awesome as well. This is a food blog however so let's talk about the food.

Many people have raved about Ember since it's been open (and practically everyone boasts about its set lunches) and so I booked the restaurant for Friday night. The service was pleasant and effusive and I could make a few jokes without causing them to give me that "what are you doing" stare, which was a welcome change. We started off with an onion loaf shared between the two of us, pretty good. 

Next up, I had one of the signature dishes of Ember that blew me away - the pan fried foie gras with 1-hour poached egg, truffle oil, and morel mushrooms. This was seriously an explosion of sublime flavours, simply an awesome dish - rich, a heady mix of intense flavours that just go so well together. It comes with a parma-ham crisp that you are supposed to crack and mix with your poached egg - so as you do that, you eat the poached egg with the foie gras and the mushrooms. Yummy. I can still "taste" the poached egg and the foie gras as I write about it now, that's how good it was. (9.5/10)

S's dish was a crabcake - this was pretty good as well but nothing to hold a candle to the power of the foie gras. This wasn't bad - nice - with a bit of cumin. Pretty indian-tasting. (7/10)

S had the beef tenderloin which was done very well, I must say - it was cooked medium rare perfectly through, and very evenly done. Served with some sweet potato crisps and potatoes, it was a good competent showing. (7.5/10)

Next came the other piece de resistance of Ember, the pan-fried Chilean seabass with bacon and mushroom ragout and yuzu truffle sauce. Another dish that is soo delicious, the seabass was cooked expertly till it flaked perfectly as a whole large 'slice', and it came with a delicious yuzu truffle sauce that combined brilliantly with the fish. So delicious and tasty. What was nice was also the bacon and mushroom ragout. (9/10).

For dessert, S had the chocolate fondant - and this was very good as well, using very high quality chocolate. I had the apple tarte tartin, which was rather nice although the skin was a bit hard to flake. I expected better though! (7/10)

Overall, Restaurant Ember is a lovely restaurant that has been around for a very long time and boasts excellent cooking, a lovely ambience, professional service and several signature dishes that just make you go wow this is amazing. Just the sort of restaurant for any special occasion. 

Tonkotsu King by Keisuke @ Orchid Hotel

Food lovers in Singapore will know that this place has hands down the best ramen in Singapore - and I'm not kidding when I'd readily give it such an accolade. It is everything a good ramen should be -- good springy noodles including the ability to customise the 'hardness'/doneness of the noodles, rich creamy thick robust soup which comes in 3 different forms, either the normal tonkotsu, with black garlic oil (super yummy) or with red oil. The eggs are done perfectly as well - creamy on the inside, with an intense egg flavour. The pork is alright as well (would be nice to put in some of Santouka's pork cheeks). But overall this is the best ramen in Singapore. Excellent! Only grouse is that the seating area is very limited hence there's always a long queue to eat this during lunch hours.

Exceptional: (9/10)

Tonkotsu King 

Orchid Hotel

Taling Pling, Central World Bangkok

Just came back from our firm trip to Bangkok - and can you believe it, it's my first time there! Clueless, I managed to get some foodie recommendations from a friend who works in Bangkok. I managed to try 3 of the restaurants there - this was the first. Known as Taling Pling, the original is at Silom Road, and this is its posh offshoot at one of the biggest malls in Bangkok, Central World. 

First up - some pomelo salad - this was very delicious: spicy enough with the heat from bird chillis and lovely mixture of sweet, salty, spicy, and sour, from the lime juice, fish sauce - loved the coconut slices! [8/10]

Some dumplings to carry on the meal - this was alright; quite fresh, with the chopped pork and mushrooms. But nothing to wow me over. 

(7/10)

Green Curry with beef 

The green curry arrived next, with beef, and this was really good - the green curry was very flavourful and the beef extremely tender. Good quality meat. (8.25/10)

The pad thai had enough wok flavour and was delicious enough on its own. (7/10)

We were very enthralled with the Pork shoulder with Tamarind Sauce which was just delicious. Lovely tasty cuts of meat with fat at all the right places, just delicious with the tamarind sauce. (8.25/10)

The tom yum soup (this version with coconut milk) was quite delicious as well - fresh seafood in tom yum, the quintessential thai dish. (8/10)

Last of all - fried soft shell crab. Not bad, although I prefer Thai Express's curry version. haha.

Overall Taling Pling was quite a good place for lunch - consistently good food and in a convenient location, at one of the biggest malls in town. 

Teppei Japanese Restaurant

Perhaps I shall let you into my little secret - this little hole in the wall in Orchid Hotel, next to the famous ramen place i.e. Keisuke Tonkotsu King, serves the most awesome Japanese food, especially their tempura and deep fried items, as well as other lovely dishes such as their bara-chirashi. It is all counter-seating, where you can watch the chefs expertly fry their tempura, prepare the chirashi, etc. Teppei himself (the head chef) runs the show, and hails from Fukouka and used to work in Tokyo before setting up shop here. As per the best fastidious Japanese chefs, the quality of the food here is fantastic. He uses top grade quality Japanese rice (he proudly puts it on the wall) and also all sorts of good ingredients.

I would usually come here alone after my gym sessions (They open until 11pm) to eat alone, revelling in some alone time. Love the bara chirashi, which is what I usually order. It's a kaleidoscope of prized cuts of fish already marinated in soy sauce (which means it's good to be eaten), garnishes, that famous Japanese rice, and lovely bursting-with-flavour Ikura for the final touch. Yummy. It may not be the biggest but it's certainly one of the most satisfying. (8.5/10)

A shot of Chef Teppei looking all charming:

As you can see from this photo on the right, the place is relatively small and everyone sits around the chef. 

Big prawn kushige

What this place is famous for, however, is its tempura and deep fried items. The big prawn kuishige is breaded and then deep fried to a crisp, while retaining the prawn flavours and succulent meat inside. One of the best. (8/10)

And you shouldn't miss out on the tempura - it's just yummy. Very light batter and very delicious, each piece is deep fried to order. The sweet potato, especially, is an item of beauty - so crisp on the outside and sweet on the inside, as it comes from Japan. Lovely, lovely stuff. (8/10).