LUKE'S CHOPHOUSE and OYSTER BAR

I'm on a roll and yesterday and todays' post are my favorite Singapore restaurants so far (in the almost ten months we've been here).  Luke's has been around for some time with its' original location near hip and happening Club street well-loved by many for the food, the drinks, the ambience and the fact that the kitchen stays open till midnight.  The new one opened a few months ago in a strange spot inside the renovated Robinson's department store at The Heeren building.  Once you walk through the store and enter the doors of Luke's, you realize why the location was right all along.  The place is sleek with black leather banquettes and cozy mini-booths for two lining the upper level and a long bar on the lower level with a floor to ceiling window overlooking busy Orchard road.

The menu is simple and spread out over two pages - one with items from the oyster bar, table snacks to be shared, a caviar service and starters then the second  for chophouse classics, chops and side dishes and a listing of specialty beers and cocktails.  The wine list is extensive with eleven of them, from sparkling to fortified, served by the glass.  

As soon as the order is placed, a plate of warm mini-cornbread served with a dab of sweet butter is served.  From the winter 2014 menu, we shared the smoked trout dip with crackers, celery and radish - a smoky almost dry shredded trout which we spread onto the accompanying extra-thin brown crisp bread and the oysters "lukefeller" (instead of Rockefeller) - baked oysters with spinach, Pernod and parsley.

It was hard to choose a main course from the selections offered but as I hardly get to eat steak tartar, its what I had even if it was listed as a starter.  This one came perfectly seasoned and chunky with capers along with toasted slices of rye bread.  A had a well-seared veal chop with anchovy marmite butter.  We shared several sides - the extra crispy Old bay seasoned french fries, green asparagus and the creamy lobster mac and cheese topped with ritz cracker crumbs.

For lunch one day with the ladies, I had a delicious caesar salad topped with fried oysters. There are also a few specials (like their famous hamburger) not available for dinner.  On another occasion, four of us dined on a couple of starters (tuna tartar and the smoked trout dip) followed by two orders of 400 gram USDA prime rib-eye "naked" (meaning just with salt and pepper) and a tableful of side dishes.  Desserts are few and the two we tried were ok but nothing to write home about - it's the only thing they could improve on.  Otherwise, the service, the atmosphere and the food are outstanding.  At Luke's, there is always something delicious to eat with no surprises or gimmicks, just real good food served simply.

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Luke's Oyster Bar and Chophouse
03-02, The Heeren (inside Robinson's department store)
260 Orchard Road
Singapore 238855
Telephone: +65 6733 4813
*Open Mondays to Saturdays from noon to 10:30 p.m.

Another one at:
20 Gemmill Lane
Singapore 069256
Telephone: +65 6221 4468
*Open Mondays to Saturdays from noon to midnight

CHELSEA MARKET

On my last day in New York, I met up with good friend, Brooklyn native and fellow foodie C, who said I couldn't leave the cit without stopping by Chelsea Market - which houses an enclosed food court with specialized food purveyors including a large Anthroplogie boutique, a Posman Books 

and a Bowery Kitchens, restaurant supply store where I finally found a large metal cake stand which I had long-admired in the Dean & DeLuca stores.  Also in the same building are the offices and production facilities of the Food Network which makes for a captive clientele of foodies who often lunch at the market.

We met right after noon and walked around the place scoping out the area and doing a tour of what was available before deciding on lunch from the specialty butcher Dicksons Farmstand  where the daily blackboard menu listed pulled pork, banh-mi, roast chicken and hot dogs.  C had the pulled pork sandwich and treated me to a banh-mi (a Vietnamese sandwich usually made with roasted pork belly) with caramelized ground pork stuffed in a soft baguette and topped with pickled cucumbers and carrots and lots of fresh cilantro along with a fizzy organic lemonade.  We managed to snag one of the few tables where we devoured our sandwiches before heading off in search of dessert.  

We finally ended up at Bar Suzette where we lined up for a takeaway lemon, butter and sugar crepe made with the pedigree ingredients of Ronnybrook Dairy Farm butter, fresh lemon juice and natural granulated sugar.  Wrapped up in a paper cone, we then exited onto to 16th street and climbed up to The High Line where we enjoyed our dessert while taking a stroll in one of the prettiest parks created out of an abandoned railway.  We grabbed a post-lunch coffee at the Blue Bottle stand where I had an espresso while C chose an iced coffee then we walked further on until we found a spot in the shade of The Standard Hotel and listened to a classical quartet while enjoying the summer breeze, the Hudson river views and several years of catching up. 

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Chelsea Market

75 Ninth Avenue (between 15th and 16th streets)

New York NY 10011

Telephone: +1 888 727 7887

*Open Monday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The High Line

Telephone: +1 212 206 9922

*Open daily from 7 a.m to 10 p.m. 

Access from the following locations:

• Gansevoort Street
• 14th Street (elevator access)
• West 16th Street (elevator access)
• West 18th Street
• West 20th Street
• 23rd Street (elevator access)
• West 26th Street
• West 28th Street
• West 30th Street (elevator access)

EL KABRON

Sometimes, I find a really good restaurant that's out-of-the-way and I'm reluctant to blog it because I'm worried it'll be ruined and become a reservations-only kind of place.  But then again, if I don't share it, it might shut down eventually and I would loathe for that to happen, so here's my summer restaurant discovery.

On a mid-week evening after drinks at the Bulgari bar, we decided to have dinner at this new Spanish restaurant, El Kabron, in Padang Padang that friends had been to recently.  They had raved about the paella and after over a year of living in Bali, we missed our Marbella Sunday paella on the beach.  It took us a while to get there as the road to Padang Padang at night is dark and we missed the turn-off.  We finally found the unlit sign for El Kabron and followed the one-lane winding road for about three kilometers until we saw a light through the trees.

El Kabron is down a rocky path then a brightly-lit entrance lined with railroad ties.  It's a simple, white roofed structure opening out towards the sea where some bean bags are scattered around a small all-white rock pool.  The vibe is definitely Spanish chiringuito (a simple beach side restaurant) mixed in with a touch of hippy chic with piped-in lounge music for the "sunset-drinks crowd".

Our group of six sat as close to the view as we could then proceeded to order several tapas to share and a large arroz negro for everyone along with a chilled bottle of the ubiquitous Spanish wine Torres Viña Sol.  Soon after, they served the tapas: gambas al ajillo (hot, spicy, garlicky prawns in olive oil), Txistorra (small pork sausages from Northern Spain),  pulpo a la Gallega (Galician-style octopus with smoky paprika), pan con tomate (grilled bread rubbed with garlic, drizzled with olive oil and scrubbed with fresh tomatoes), jamon Iberico from the owner's farm (paper-thin slices of Iberian ham on pan con tomate) and patatas bravas (fried potato chunks topped with smoky Romesco sauce and aioli).  We dug in and were pleasantly surprised at the authentic flavors.  This was like being back in Spain, only in the tropics.  After the tapas, our palates were stoked and our expectations higher so we eagerly awaited the arroz negro.  Paella is a dish that looks deceptively simple - it's just rice mixed with seafood or meat right? - but quite difficult to master.  Traditionally, it's a saffron, red pepper and sofrito (tomato, onion, garlic) infused rice made with either fish and shellfish or meat (chicken, pork, sometimes rabbit).  Although El Kabron had the classic paella de mariscos (shellfish paella), we opted for the more exotic arroz negro (black rice) which was served in a large paellera (paella pan) and came with squid, Manila clams and prawns.  The rice is black from the squid ink used to cook it and it retains the dark, smoky and distinct flavor of the squid which is an acquired taste.  If it's your first time, then by all means go for the orange-tinged seafood-topped paella de mariscos, but if you're ready for an adventure, have the arroz negro.  El Kabron's arroz negro was everything we craved and took us back to those long lazy beach lunches we used to have in Marbella so we weren't surprised to find out later on that El Kabron's Catalan chef Marc Torices used to work at the 3-star Michelin restaurant Sant Pau in Barcelona.  The food at El Kabron is authentic Spanish and probably the only place in Bali to have proper tapas with a cold beer.  So now, the secret is out.  Get there before the crowds find it.

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Chiringuito El Kabron

Jl. Pantai Cemongkak

Pecatu, Bali

Telephone: +62 361 780 3416

*Open daily for lunch and dinner and unset drinks from 4-6 p.m.

How to get there: From Jl. Uluwatu, go right on Jl. Labuhan Sait towards Padang Padang beach for 1.2 kilometers then watch out for the red and black El Kabron sign on the right-hand side of the road.  If yo get lost, call David, the owner.

AH HOI'S KITCHEN

A few days after my wonderful week in Paris, I had to do a quick trip to Singapore for doctor's appointments (we have become medical tourists since moving to Bali) and spent a couple of nights at the newly-renovated Ritz-Carlton Millenia.  As you can see from the photos, we had a fantastic view from our room on the 24th floor with the marina and the modern Marina Bay Sands complex right in front of us, aside from the famous view of the ferris wheel from our bathtub.

Much of our time there was spent at Mt. Elizabeth and the rest on doing errands (stocking up groceries like bagels and Cheerios which we can't get in Bali) and doing a quick IKEA run for their colorful paper napkins and a few things for the kids.

On one of the evenings though, we managed to organize a family event with my aunt who was visiting, a cousin from my mom's side who lives in Singapore and another cousin from my dad's side with his young son and we all met for an early dinner at Ah Hoi's Kitchen at the Traders Hotel.  Ah Hoi's Kitchen is a mainstay for us in Singapore and a restaurant that we have been to several times (my younger sister used to work at the Traders Hotel and we had many meals here in the nineties).  Not much has changed interiors-wise.  The place is still an open-pavilion right by the pool area with lots of large tanks where fish and crab are displayed.  The reason we chose to have dinner at Ah Hoi's is that they have Sri Lankan crab, those extra large, meaty crab and the night, crab was what we wanted to eat.

We ordered the Sri Lankan crab, not chili-style as many in the group couldn't handle spicy food so we chose to have it cooked the milder way with ginger and spring onions instead.  We also had their famous  cereal prawns which is an original Singaporean dish of prawns stir-fried in a mixture of dry cereal oats and chili.  Along with that, we had their version of oyster omelet, another hawker center favorite, this time done with crab instead of oysters.  There was also some stir-fried pea shoots.  For the kids, we chose the sweet sour pork which was hot crispy sweet and sour at the same time, along with stir-fried broccoli and fried rice.  The food came out fast and luckily, the quality hasn't changed over the years - it was still as good as before.  I'm off to Singapore again in a few days and I think I may just have to take my husband and son to Ah Hoi's for another meal.

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Ah Hoi's Kitchen

Level 4, Traders Hotel

1A Cuscaden Road

Singapore

Telephone: +65 6738 2222

*Open daily for lunch and dinner

SCOTT'S

Dinner on our first evening in London had to be somewhere special and it was going to be difficult to decide where to go with so many restaurants to choose from. This decision was fortuitously taken out of my hands when Mrs. B kindly booked us a table at one of London's best seafood restaurants - Scott's.

Scott's is a century-old London institution that opened in 1851 and was famous in the forties and fifties. It moved to it's current Mayfair location in 1968 and was a mainstay in London's swinging sixties until it closed in 2004. It's oak-paneled walls were retained but the rest of the interiors have been given a dramatic renovation. After a successful reopening in 2006, it is once again one of London's most glamorous restaurants. Now owned by Richard Caring, Scott's continues to be an establishment restaurant along with The Ivy, Le Caprice, J Sheekey, Daphne's, BamBou and Rivington Grill, all part of Caprice Holdings.

We walked the few blocks to the restaurant on Mount Street and arrived a bit past eight-thirty. Since our table wasn't quite ready, we were led to the massive onyx and sting-ray bar where an immense sculpture-like tub of crushed ice and seafood made for an impressive centerpiece. We ordered some Prosecco but before we even took a sip, we were whisked off to our linen-covered table just behind the bar right smack in the middle of the action where we had a very good view of the well-dressed movers and shakers dining at Scott's that evening. Service was quick and attentive and menus were presented as soon as we sat.

After a quick look at the menu, we made our choices and were soon served some crusty bread along with some beurre demi-sel (slightly salted butter) which we had while we sipped our Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Brut Credde 2007 .

We watched the waiters rush around while the restaurant continued to fill up with a well-dressed crowd. It was fun being in a restaurant with a proper people-watching scene and enough to keep us entertained while we waited for our starters which arrived soon enough - a dozen Spéciales de Claire (oysters) for myself and a Girolle (chanterelle mushrooms) and broad bean risotto with Gorgonzola for T. The oysters were sweet and salty and ice-cold, perfect with just a bit of mignonnette (wine, vinegar, shallots and pepper) and some brown bread with butter. T's risotto was rich with the blue cheese, earthy because of the mushrooms and given a twist by the addition of the broad beans - delicious. I took my time savoring every oyster and making sure to get every last drop of oyster liquor left in the shell.

After a brief interlude, we our main courses were served: Cornish sea bass with lemon and herb butter for me and the Cornish hake for T. Along with these, we had two side dishes - creamed spinach and chips. My sea bass was split open, crisp on the outside an flavored with parsley lemon butter. It was very good. T's hake was pan-seared and came with some squid and what was called "Castilian potatoes" - which were potato chunks sauteed in paprika. The fish was fleshy and the spiced potatoes and seared squid were a delicious accompaniment to the fish.

We also had a carafe of 2007 Chardonnay from New Zealand's Dog Point Vineyard - its' citrus and oak flavor marrying well with the fish. We shared a lemon and raspberry sorbet to end the meal. We were so full that we didn't even have space for a coffee. We asked for the bill and received a surprise (a very pleasant one) when we were told there wasn't one, as our tab had been already been taken care of by the Mrs. B. Thank you Mrs. B for a wonderful first meal in London!!!

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Scott's

20 Mount Street

London W1 (Mayfair)

Tel: +44 020 7495 7309

Open daily for lunch and dinner from 12 noon

Valet parking

RAKU

Our last dinner reservation was a much-coveted table at Raku, a Las Vegas newcomer that managed to be an overnight sensation and a favourite for many top chefs living and working in Las Vegas. As we had already been to two other restaurants nominated in the 2009 James Beard awards (semi-finalists for best chef: Saipin Chutima from Lotus of Siam and Claude Le Tohic of Joel Robuchon at the Mansion), we were looking forward to ending our holiday with yet another James Beard semi-finalist for Best New Restaurant .

Raku is so far off-the-strip that it's location is almost a secret. It's hard to find and is in an ugly strip mall that it almost feels like we're not in the right place. My sisters and my brother-in law have raved about Raku for months now and made sure that they booked a table way in advance so we could eat there before we left.

We arrive on time for our very early 6:30 reservation and walk in to an almost full restaurant where chef Mitsuo Endo, former head chef of NY's Megu, stands behind the six-seater counter quietly preparing dishes so exquisite that it's a shock to the system. As soon as plates are set down, they are admired then inhaled and gobbled up in about three seconds.

Sticking to a Megu-inspired menu, chef Endo does what he knows best - several hot and cold appetizers followed by a long list of robatayaki items (grilled meat, fish or vegetables on skewers) and then a few other specials sprinkled in. There are also several dishes on the blackboard. That evening there was blue fin tuna: grilled robatayaki style or sashimi, razor clams and a few other seafood treats plus a separate blackboard for sake specials and choice wines by the glass.

We started out with two orders of tofu agedashi - here it is freshly-made and served in one large chunk, instead of the usual three or four smaller cubes, topped with bonito flakes, thinly shredded seaweed and scallions and some salmon roe. It was soft, creamy and crispy all at the same time. We ended up ordering a third since the first two went so quickly.

This was followed by a the blue-fin tuna sashimi - four thin slices of super fresh tuna, again gobbled up so quickly that a second one was ordered immediately. Soy sauce is made in-house along and presented on a lovely wooden tray along with Japanese spices, vinegar and pepper.

We shared a cold soba noodle topped with a raw egg and mixed in with the warm broth - a perfect blend of hot soup and cold noodles. My son also had a miso soup filled with seaweed and fresh tofu cubes.

Next came stick after stick of robatayaki (total of about twenty skewers for 5 adults and two children) - chicken, kobe beef - one with wasabi and another with garlic chips, pork cheeks, chicken wing, duck and scallion, salmon, hamachi (yellowtail), bacon-wrapped asparagus, mushroom, and eggplant with miso and bonito. Each skewer simply grilled but since the ingredients were so special: Kurobota pork, Kobe beef, nothing else was needed. I guess we saved the best for last (or one of the best, hard to say with Robuchon also topping our list). Raku is one of those places that will become a mainstay on my favourites list an with the prices they charge, I could eat there at least once a month. If only I had more time for another dinner at Raku. Next time I'm in Vegas and the jetlag hits, I may head to Raku instead of breakfast.

P.D. 24 Jan 2011
We booked a table for six on a Monday evening which is always a problem at Raku because all bookings of 5 or more are required to order the set menu.  We asked if we could pre-order our food instead of ordering the set menu as there were children in our table.  They agreed and asked us to contact them on the same day to email our order.  When we called to reconfirm the reservation and check if they had received our order (a detailed per stick order of Robatayaki items), we were asked to give our credit card number to ho,d the table (a first) which we did.  We were then rudely told by the female who answered the phone that ALL (a total of about 20 plus) our assorted skewers would be set on the table at 6:00 p.m. sharp  When we commented that this would mean our food would get cold, we were then told "Well, if you get here at 6:00 p.m. sharp then they won't be."  After speaking with my sister who had made the booking, we decided to cancel our table for that evening.  No apologies were made by the Raku staff for their unacceptable behavior.
Yes, Raku is always packed and they do serve good food but no restaurant is THAT good when the staff start to act like they don't need reservations or bookings.  If they continue like this, they will lose a lot of clients.
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Raku
5030 W. Spring Mountain Road
Telephone: +1 702 367 3511
Open Monday-Saturday for dinner only: 6 p.m. to 3 a.m.

SAM WOO

After a long day at Legoland, we were all too lazy to cook dinner and ended up making a booking at a large Chinese restaurant in Irvine, about twenty minutes away from Laguna Beach. As soon as we walked in to Sam Woo, we knew we were going to have a good dinner.

The place was packed with Chinese families sitting at large round tables enjoying their meal and it was a good thing we booked because there were no empty tables left and there were loads of people waiting at the front still waiting to be seated.

Nothing can duplicate the atmosphere of an authentic Chinese restaurant - the almost unbearable noise levels that kill any kind of conversation, the tight spaces between tables where waiters weave in and out with large trays of steaming hot platters, the brusqueness and briskness of the service which is all part of the charm. In any case, these kinds of restaurants are all about the food and not about the ambiance and the noise and mess is what you have to endure to have a good meal.

The menu is extensive with live seafood as their specialty so it took us awhile to decide which dishes to order. We started off with some sweet corn and chicken soup, not the usual hot and sour that we order since we were with kids. This was followed by a whole Peking Duck - make sure that you specify you want pancakes, like we did or it will be served with steamed white buns instead. Both arrived quickly - the soup sweetened by the corn and chunkny with chicken pieces. The duck came out on a trolley and was carved and rolled into pancakes with hoisin sauce, slivers of scallions and cucumbers. It's been ages since we've had Peking duck, one of the disadvantages of living in Spain where authentic Chinese food is just impossible to have.

Next came the steamed whole flounder with ginger and scallion - the fish was fresh and sweet and the soy sauce and sesame oil complemented it perfectly. Pork chops in salt and pepper, deep-fried crispy shredded beef (off the menu but I requested it anyway for my son), stir-fried greens with bean curd in oyster sauce and some fried rice were all served afterwards. The food was excellent and when the bill came, typical to Chinese restaurants, it was written out in Chinese characters so we didn't have a list of what we ordered but it didn't matter since the total price was so reasonable (about $10 per person) that we didn't even try to check it. I wonder when we'll have another Chinese meal this good next?

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Sam Woo

15333 Culver Drive, Ste. 720

Irvine, CA 92604

Tel: +1 949 262 0688

(*another location on 4215 Spring Mountain Rd. Las Vegas, NV 89102)

BRASSERIE STELLA

We had planned to do one bistro/brasserie for lunch and an Oriental (Vietnamese, Thai etc.) for dinner but after our lovely lunch at Itineraires, we were ready for another French meal at one of our old favourites - Stella. This brasserie has been here since the 50's and is a stand-by for locals who live in the 16th arrondissement as well as those looking for a brasserie open every day till late (they serve until 1 a.m.).

When I lived in Paris in 1992, I could hop on the 52 bus from outside our front door and get off right in front of Stella which is what I often did. Reopened in 2003, after a closure of two years, Stella is back to doing what it knows best - plateaux des fruits de mer (seafood platters), huitres (oysters) and other bistro classics like steak tartare, sole meuniere. No reservations are taken so we wrapped up warm and walked the few blocks towards avenue Victor Hugo and were given a banquette table in five minutes.

The place was packed and pumping for a Saturday evening filled with chi-chi locals from the neighborhood, a few young couples and some tourists. Most were tucking into large seafood platters. We settled into our corner table and ordered right away - half a dozen Fines de Claire to start and the rumpsteak au poivre (pepper sauce) for me. A had the soupe de poisson and a steak tartare for his main course with a glass of Beaujolais.

The soup came with the traditional rouille and crunchy toast. My oysters were perfect - freshly shucked and cold, they came with the classic mignonnette sauce (vinegar and shallot), brown bread and demi-sel butter. It's been ages since I've had fresh oysters since I was pregnant most of 2008 and came to Paris last year without eating any fresh cheeses, shellfish or raw meat/fish. I could have had another half dozen or would have liked to share a large seafood platter with A , but he isn't a shellfish fan so 'll save that for when I'm with my mom who loves oysters and shellfish as much as I do.

Next came the rump steak which was saignant (rare) and very peppery with hot, crunchy frites. The steak tartare was excellent - spicy and perfectly-seasoned and came with a green salad. Both dishes were very good and exactly what we wanted. To end the meal, we shared another classic - ile flottante (which A defended as a "healthy" dessert since it was made of egg whites). Espressos to finish and the bill which was surprisingly low. The food was delicious, reasonably-priced while the service was friendly and faultless which is why Stella has remained, after all these years, a neighborhood favourite.

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Brasserie Stella

133, Avenue Victor Hugo, 75016 (Tel: +33 56 90 56 00)

Open everyday from noon to 1 a.m., Valet parking