Burgers and Milkshakes

August 28, 2019, 25 degrees Burger joint, 200 Middle Road, Singapore

Today marks the first day of leaving full time work. What beholds in the future, I have no clue. I may do part time work or go back to full time work – that’s a possibility. At this point in time, I am quite mentally tired and am looking forward to a long break.

Back to my food blogging. Started thinking about lunch around 11am. Only had a nutty bar after a 7km run this morning. So was feeling peckish. I left it too late in the day to wander to popular lunchtime places as I could not face the office lunchtime crowds, not when I am not working. I started googling places for best burgers and most of the recommended locations were tad too far except this 25 Degrees Burger place. Middle Road is only a number 48 bus ride from my place, so relatively convenient. The reviews were quite good, so here I am.

It is located on the ground floor of Hotel G, with great street frontage. The single bar seats face the Middle Road Bencoolen St junction, so great for people watching.

The burgers are given numbers rather than names, no 1, no 2 etc.

They had a lunchtime burger set for $12 which comes with their signature burger and French fries. I asked if I could swap the fries for coleslaw but was told that I can’t. The fries was priced the same as the coleslaw so I am not sure why they could not swap for me. I suspect that because it is a lunch set, the portion of the French fries is smaller than the standard size and the kitchen probably could not do an equivalent smaller portion of the coleslaw. Just another example of no initiative, pure laziness or just sheer ambivalence.

Back to the burger- I ordered Burger no3 which has jalapeño- wanted something with a bite. When they brought the burger out, the chargrilled smell of the patty was divine. They really did a great job there. The patty was cooked medium rare and quite flavour some and juicy. They use brioche buns which I found it too soft for my liking.

I also ordered milkshake, wish they have cream soda.

Overall it was a decent meal. The standard size burger was not too huge, so I did not feel bloated full.

Looking at their menu, they have decent breakfast brunch offerings. So could be a place to come for weekend brunch.

Burger no 5 is buttermilk fried chicken burger- something to try next time.

They also have cheesy mac which looked wicked.

Need to plan my meals and not over indulge now that I am not working.

Kub Kao Kub Pla – rising Thai restaurant chain in Bangkok

I was in Bangkok on the weekend. It has been nearly 12 months since I spent few days vacation in Bangkok, a city where I spent four years working and living from 2010 to 2015. It was good time to catch up with friends and to try new places.

Friend mentioned this new Thai cuisine restaurant chain that has become quite popular, with branches in most of the key shopping malls in Bangkok including the newly opened Icon Siam. I walked past the Icon Siam branch on Sunday lunchtime and there was a queue waiting to get in.

So today I decided to head to the branch at Emquartier for early lunch to avoid the lunchtime crowd. It says on the website that their restaurants open at 10am, so 11am would be just ideal.

The menu is quite extensive with mainly Thai food but it also have pasta dishes done in Thai fusion.

So many choices but a solo diner can only try two dishes – I can’t let food go to waste so mere sampling of dishes would not do for me. It is also sacrilegious to let food go to waste when hunger abounds.

After harrumphing for 10 minutes I finally settled for pomelo salad with crispy prawns ( have had somtum at Somtum Der the past couple of days) and beef green curry with small bowl of rice berry rice.

The pomelo salad serving was very generous with large chunks of pomelo. The crispy prawns was crunchy. The sauce that came with the salad was not your typical Thai fish sauce with lime and chili. Rather it was caramelised sweetness to it with bit of heat. It initially tasted good but after a few spoonful, it was just too sweet and thick. I have to reached out to the pomelo to use the freshness to cut down on the sweetness.

The beef green curry appeared halfway through me getting through the sweetness of he pomelo salad.

When I first arrived in Bangkok some 8 years ago and ordered my first green curry, I was taken by surprise how watery the green curry was. In Australia, the green curry like the rest of the yellow curry, red curry and panang curry were thick and sweet. The thought was that the sweetness was to cater to the Australian taste – helps to cut down the heat.

At Kub Kao Kub Pla, the green curry was thick and dense and very sweet. The beef was tender and generous portions. The green eggplants were nice and plump. But alas, the sweetness was too overwhelming for me.

Given my limited sampling, I must say that the ingredients used by the restaurant are good quality and they are very generous with the portions. But they need to cut back slightly on the sweetness of their dishes to make it less overpowering and more enjoyable. I always equate Thai food with light tangy taste especially the salads which open up one’s appetite but unfortunately the salad I had today did the opposite.

The prices are quite reasonable given the generous portions. Two dishes with small bowl of rice and coconut smoothie cane to less than THB800 or SG32.

Chef Chew Kitchen Section 19, PJ

Heard about this place from friends. Was on KL for the weekend, good opportunity to give it a go. Could only book for an early lunch at 11:30am and was told that we have to give up table by 12:45pm.

Ordered the charcoal bean curd in golden pumpkin sauce – black against golden yellow – pretty

One of their signature dishes was steamed kampong chicken with ginger rice. Minced ginger which was mixed into chicken rice.

Another signature dish we ordered was their 冰镇咕咾肉sweet sour pork embedded in bowl of ice

All up, great lunch. Was not disappointed. Will return in a larger group to try more dishes. A keeper.

Gaggan – S Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurant No.10, 2015

Belated birthday dinner for my sister, Fun. Gaggan was recently voted no. 10 in the S Pellegrino’s World’s Best Restaurant. Progressive Indian cuisine – using molecular techniques. We managed to get the Chef’s table which looks into the kitchen – had the kitchen staff doing most of the dessert preparations in front of us. Gaggan Anand, the brain child behind this, was at the restaurant – gregarious and friendly guy, energetic and seems to be always on the move. Overheard him telling the guests at the next table that he would be opening something in Japan in the next few years – and it wont be Indian cuisine. Looks like he is going to re-invent himself again. The dish that really caught my fancy is the Charcoal dish – well, I could not guess what it was. The Bengali Mustard with seaweed was amazing. His curries were well balanced – not too heavy or rich. The lamb was cooked to perfection and the presentation for that dish was quite cheeky – he had spooned beetroot sauce on the plate to resemble spilled blood. Of course the yoghurt explosion is always a great beginner’s intro to molecular gastronomy. At THB4000++ per person, 23 sense-tantalising dishes and perfect view of the kitchen – worth the evening.

OSHA Bangkok

San and Siew Yoong were in town 3 May 2015. Decided to treat them to a top end Thai restaurant. Osha is considered one of the top high end Thai restaurants that just recently opened in Bangkok. No longer confined to street food or standard green curry or pad thai, Thai cuisine is now given this 5 star treatment – fresh and expensive ingredient, modern presentation and new infusion of western style. This means that the prices are definitely much higher than your ordinary street food, hawkers and even the likes of Kalpapreuk. Located not far from the American embassy, it is in a quiet neighbourhood in the evening. Very posh and elegant interior fittings, very much sembling a top tier restaurant. we were seated in one of those divan seating – which is not my favourite seating arrangements – I like just basic round table. Food were very well presented and top end ingredients. The tom yum goong was done at the table – using the double bulb coffee suction paraphernalia – the lower bulb has the soup and was heated by blow torch so that it then rises to the upper bulb which had the lemongrass etc, and then filter back down to bottom to pour out into bowl for consumption. It took the attendant quite some time to heat up the bulb and the amount of time the soup spent with the lemongrass etc was quite brief, so wondered whats the point?

Overall a great evening with good friends in an elegant surrounding, but well, the food was not mind-blowing enough for me to say, wow.

Yum Cha in Hong Kong Nov 2014

When in HK 2 weekends ago, my HK friends treated me to a nice yum cha at Tsui Hang Chuen (which is now located in Lei Gardens, Causeway Bay. The reason for their choice of restaurant was that Tsui Hang Chuen was awarded the Gold Award for its Shui Mai set of four.

炖鲜奶

翠亨邨 －烧卖四兄弟

XO酱炒肠粉

顺德鱼皮饺

red glutinous rice

红米荷叶饭

流沙奶黄猪仔包

黑鱼子虾仁烧卖，松露带子烧卖，XO酱焦糖和牛烧卖，三文鱼子糯米猪肉鬆烧卖

chinese pancake – buo chang – mum used to make.

腊肠炒糯米饭

桂花糕

桂花糕

Cantonese Opera November 2014

I was introduced to Cantonese Opera in the early 70s by my mother. Growing up with Redifusion丽的呼声 in the 60s and 70s, we will be blared with Cantonese opera around 3pm each day but somehow I did not catch the bug until my mother took me to see 紫钗记 starring 龙剑笙 and 梅雪诗 who are the proteges of HK’s top Cantonese opera proponents 任剑辉 and 白雪仙。In the past 5 years, I had accompanied my mother to more performances and these assisted in solidifying my keenness in this medium. This year is the 25th anniversary of任剑辉’s demise and earlier this year, in commemoration of this,白雪仙, who was her long-standing performance partner organised performances of 再世红梅记，one of the last opera written for them by young talented composer, 唐涤生，who had also composed the most popular cantonese opera, 帝女花。陈宝珠 and 梅雪诗played the leading roles.The leading man role should have been played by龙剑笙 but for some reasons it did not. Speculations were that she was getting old and did not have the energy to perform full opera.

Out of the blue in August, she suddenly announced that she was coming to HK to do 10 performances of opera excerpts as tribute to her master as well as her farewell performance, she being in the early 70s. My HK friends were good enough to queue up for tickets – they were sold out within an hour! So on the 15th November I found myself at the HK Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, listening to excerpts from 牡丹亭 and紫钗记. It was great to listen to excerpts from紫钗记, especially the most famous aria in that opera, 剑合钗圆，a perfect ending to the same opera that started my interest in Cantonese opera. I wished my mother was still around to enjoy them.

Sichuan cuisine

On Wednesday (26 November) I had to make a quick business trip to E-mei 峨眉which is around 2 hours drive from Chengdu. Thai Airways have a daily direct flight from Bangkok which takes less than 3 hours. E-mei is famous for the E-mei Mountain which is considered one of the 4 Buddhist mountains in China. At the top of E-mei mountain sits a 45m high 4 faced buddha. It takes around 2 to 3 hours to get up to the top by car and cable car. However I did not have time to do the summit on this trip.

Chengdu and E-mei are within the Sichuan province which is famous for its fiery chilli and mouth numbing peppercorn 麻辣花椒。Naturally this is what I had for lunch and dinner. Anantara E-mei where I stayed at has two chefs – Cantonese chef and Sichuan chef. My meals thus had a combination of cantonese and sichuan dishes. Below are pictures of the various dishes I had over several meals. Each casserole comprise the main catch of the day (fish or eel), chills, sichuan peppercorn, garlic, ginger slices, spring onions, coriander, tofu etc, and some will have noodles as well, so it is a full meal on its own.

Sichuan style eels

Sichuan style fish 3

Sichuan style fish 2

Sichuan style fish

Wontons but in Sichuan they are called 抄手。

crunchy vegetables (can’t remember what they were)

Eels and noodles Sichuan style

Sichuan Eels

Sweet dessert – texture is like mochi – chewy but more crunchy – sounds like chi ba.

vegetable omelette野菜炒蛋

麻辣冷水鱼

New York Delis Part 2 – Katz

New York Delis are synonymous with Rueben, Pastrami, Cream soda and cheesecake. And in the NY Deli Hall of Fame, Katz’s will be in the top 3 if not the top.

From Katz’s website:

HISTORY
Katz’s Early History
In 1888, a small deli by the name of Iceland Brothers was established on Ludlow Street in New York’s Lower East Side by the Iceland brothers. Upon the arrival of Willy Katz in 1903, the name of the store was officially changed to “Iceland & Katz”. Willy’s cousin Benny joined him in 1910, buying out the Iceland brothers to officially form Katz’s Delicatessen. Their landsman Harry Tarowsky bought into the partnership in April 1917. Katz’s Deli was moved across the street, to its present location, during the construction of the subway system. The vacant lot on Houston Street (pronounced “House-ton” after a Dutch emigrant of the same name) was home to barrels of meat and pickles until the present storefront facade was added between 1946-49.
In the early part of the twentieth century, the Lower East Side was home to millions of newly immigrated families. This, along with the lack of public and private transportation, forged a solid community such that Katz’s became a focal point for congregating. On Fridays the neighborhood turned out to enjoy franks and beans, a Katz tradition.
During World War II, the three sons of the owners were all serving their country in the armed forces, and the family tradition of sending food to their sons became the company slogan “Send A Salami To Your Boy In The Army” Tm.
During the peak of the Yiddish theater, the restaurant was forever filled with actors, singers and comedians from the many theaters on 2nd Avenue, as well as the National Theater on Houston Street. Although the age of the Yiddish theater has passed, Katz’s is still has its fair share of famous customers, whose photos now line our walls.
Recent History
The next change in ownership took place when Willy Katz passed away, and his son Lenny took over for him. In the late 70’s, both Benny Katz and Harry Tarowsky passed away, leaving the store to Benny’s son-in-law Artie Maxstein and Harry’s son Izzy Tarowsky. However by the mid-1980’s, the new generation of owners realized that they had no immediate family of their own to whom they could leave the store. Long-time friend and restaurateur Martin Dell, along with son Alan (who was a chef and a manager at a neighboring deli) and son-in-law Fred Austin, officially bought into the partnership in 1988 on the 100th anniversary of the store.

Alan’s son Jake officially joined the store in late 2009 and is currently in charge of all major operations.

Of course, Katz’s was made more famous to the whole world when Harry met Sally there, and Sally proceeded to fake an orgasm in Katz’s to piss Harry off.

I was first introduced to Katz’s on my first trip to New York by my English friend, Catherine, who was living in NYC at that time. And it was my first time having a hot pastrami sandwich and cream soda. That started my culinary journey into finding best pastrami sandwich outside of NYC and that would prove to be a futile exercise. Katz’s pastrami is warm and moist and laden with black pepper thus giving it a zing. The others are dry and flavourless.

The moment one steps into Katz’s, it is as if one has stepped back in time. At the door, you are given a docket which you need to present to the food counter to order your food. You then scan through an entire wall of their menu, trying to figure out what you want to eat. I wanted a Reuben with Pastrami and cream soda to wash down. You then approach one of the guys behind the food counter and placed your order. He will then prepare the sandwich for you by first cutting off a few slices of the hot pastrami and hand to you to sample while you wait. Warm moist pastrami decked with black pepper teased your senses whilst you eagerly await the sandwich. Once the food is ready, you hand the guy your docket and he will then write the price on the docket. You pay on the way out but you tip your food preparer at the counter. There are rows of tables for you to sit but the row adjacent to the walls are reserved for waiter services (which you pay extra and you don’t have to line up at the counter).

I wish I have 5 stomachs to completely try all the food Katz’s offers!

Pictures paint a thousand words. Please enjoy.

The world famous Katz’s on Ludlow Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan, NYC

Reuben combo (with pastrami), pickles and egg soda

Reuben and pastrami combo

giant pickles!

vanilla egg cream soda

Katz’s food counter

Inside Katz’s

Wall of celebrities

they throw sawdust onto the floor!

From their extensive menu:

All Day Specials
All specials come with bread and pickles
Hot Open Faced Sandwich Plates 19.95
Brisket, Roast Beef, or Turkey Served with (choise of 2):
steak fries, potato salad, cole slaw, macaroni or beans
3 Meat Platter 33.95
(Feeds 3 tourists or one regular customer)
Generous portions of hand sliced pastrami, brisket and corned beef
Dinner Platter 25.75
Start with a bowl of our matzo ball soup, then feast on this platter of
hand sliced brisket with potato pancake and noodle Kugel

Traditional Favorites
Potato Latkes (3) with sour cream or apple sauce 12.25
Blintzes (cheese with fruit) 12.25

Sandwiches
Ours are the largest and best you’ll ever have..
We dare you to finish one
Hot Sandwiches
Katz’s Pastrami 19.75
Smoked to juicy perfection and hand carved to your
specifications (ask for Mayo at your own peril)
Katz’s Corned Beef 18.75
Our secret “dry cure” pickling formula requires a full month
to be ready to serve. The secret to finishing one is to pace yourself
Katz’s Brisket 18.75
Baked, try a little tenderness
Katz’s Knoblewurst 14.95
Our garlic beef sausage – not for the faint of heart
Rueben 20.25
For years we’ve been keeping our Corned Beef, Swiss Cheese, Russian, and Sauerkraut combo under wraps. Now we’re ready to go public
Turkey 18.75
Hot Moist and Tender
Combos 20.75
as a Reuben 21.75
Cold Sandwiches
Katz’s Tongue 18.95
Either center cut or tip, this is the finest example of this delicacy.
Our specialty, cured in-house
Katz’s Original Recipe Salami Soft 13.95 Hard 16.25
Our Salami is famous all over the world. Choose either soft or the
harder aged and see why people have been sending this Katz’s staple
to loved ones for years
Bologna 12.95
Roast Beef 17.95 Fresh Daily
Chopped Liver 14.25 Like Grandma Made – only better
Liverwurst 14.25
Egg Salad 11.95 Tuna or Chicken Salad 13.95
Cheese 11.30 Swiss, American, or Muenster.

On Club Bread 1.00 Lettuce or tomato .60 Cheese 1.00
Lean or Extra Lean 1.00

New York Egg Cream
Chocolate or Vanilla Syrup, Milk, and a “Spritz” Seltzer –
Heaven on Earth
Large 3.75

New York Delis Part 1- Barney Greengrass

A trip to New York is not complete until one pays a visit to one of the many Jewish delis in New York. I made a recent trip to New York for the 2014 New York marathon (2 November 2014). Before making the trip, I had gone on-line to get a list of the ‘best Delis’ to try, and of course this subject is hotly debated. On previous trips to New York, I have eaten at Katz’s (on my first trip) and because of the location of my hotel, couple of times at the Stage Deli. Alas, Stage Deli is now closed (or replaced by some other dining establishment). Katz is of course made (even) more famous by the movie ‘When Harry met Sally’ in particular the pivotal scene when Sally started banging the table ecstatically.

However on this trip besides the internet, I have also sought the ‘advice’ of a colleague who is not only Jewish but also lived in New York – cannot go wrong with his recommendations, I supposed. I also wanted to extend my repertoire beyond reuben and pastrami sandwiches, and so started asking about other Jewish dishes such as knishes, fish etc.

Given the limited time and the limited stomach capacity (as there are so many other dining places I want to try, I can’t go overdrive with food prior to the marathon, travelling with people who may not want to go jewish food etc), I was only able to grace two delis of steep traditions – having being in business for nearly a century!

Barney Greengrass – 541 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10024, United States (between W86th and W87th Streets)

Barney Greengrass is situated in the Upper West Side of Manhattan (far away from the Lower East side which houses some of the other famous jewish delis such as Katz’s). It is billed the King of Sturgeon and has been in business since 1908! Here are some ‘remarks’ on their website:

2009
ZAGAT SURVEY
12 Years in a row Rated #1 Deli in New York Zagat Survey
“You haven’t had a Nova on a bagel” till you visit this Upper West Side “institution”, which is once again voted NYC’s No. 1 deli thanks to its “blissfully authentic” “Jewish breakfasts”; if the “tumult”, “shabby” surroundings and servers’ “shtick” elicit an “oy vey”, “consider takeout”

1979
NEW YORK POST
Greengrass Customers
“…Alfred Hitchcock is another Greengrass customer. He orders ten pounds of “fatty” sturgeon & has it flown to Hollywood to help him maintain his shape”

March 1983
TRAVEL & LIESURE
The New York Deli, – Fred Ferretti
“exquisite whitefish salad; omelettes of Nova Scotia Salmon, onions & eggs… When Barney Greengrass died in 1956, one of his best customers, Groucho Marx, said, ‘He may not have ruled any kingdoms or written any great symphonies, but he did a monumental job with Sturgeon’…His descendants still do.”

July 29, 1985
NEW YORK MAGAZINE
Pick-Me-Ups, – Barbara Costikyan
“New York’s most tempting pick-me-ups. The serious sandwich is back. A Nova Scotia-and-sturgeon sandwich is a late morning breakfast beloved by New Yorkers, and the best place for it is Barney Greengrass.”

So on a cold and wet Saturday morning, after a quick run in Central Park, I dragged my cousin, Shwu Yi, and her husband (Cam) – they live in Massachusetts – and my Malaysian Indian colleague, Raj, to this institution for brunch. The restaurant is in the middle of block of shops, with the signage still done in old 1900’s style. At 11am, it was packed – a very welcoming sign. We were told that we had to wait for 15-20 minutes for a table or we could sit at the bar counter which faces away from the main food preparation counter but had a wide mirror where we can still watch the action of the staff preparing the food.

Barney Greengrass – Cam and Shwu Yi

Barney Greengrass – Raj and I

Barney Greengrass – packed at 11am – bar counter on the right

Barney Greengrass – main counter and blackboard menu

Sturgeon and Salmon scrambled eggs

I ordered the Sturgeon and Salmon with scrambled eggs. Salmon is not the smoked salmon type. They call it Nova which means it is salmon from Nova Scotia and it is brined, not smoked. I have not had sturgeon before – it is a white fish – very firm and tasty. Very happy with it.

Nova bagel with cream cheese

Raj ordered the salmon cream cheese bagel and he has been raving about one of the best thing he has eaten.

different types of bagels

Knishes – potato cakes

I wanted to try Knishes, not knowing what they are. It was a 10 minutes wait. Turns out to be nice firm potato cakes – not floury or stodgy. Very nice but by the time I finished my sturgeon/salmon eggs and bagel, I was quite full. Neverthless I still managed to finish the Knishes. But no room for any Matso ball soup, which will have to be another trip.

Barney Greengrass is a great find. I am glad that we braved the drizzle to head there and even though we had to sit at the bar counter, it was worth the cramped conditions. Awesome to eat at a place that has been opened since 1908.