The Hungry Bunny

The September L.A. Lunch was held at Sushi Tei at China Square . This restaurant is perpetually crowded during lunches, and worse on Fridays. Because Sushi Tei doesn't take reservations, a few of us trooped down early and "reserved seats" by parking our butts along a stretch of tables. That way, by the time the rest arrived, we've got an entire section all to ourselves. I usually love going to Sushi Tei, but it was very crowded that day and I think the kitchen was overworked, so the food wasn't as good as it should have been. The quality of the dishes turned out inconsistent and sloppy.  We started off with the Shiretoko ($68) 6 kinds of sashimi, yellowtail, sea urchin, salmon, swordfish, tuna belly, sea bream. They were fresh, clean and sweet. The Ikura Shoyuzuke ($6.50) Salmon Roe was a burst of briny flavours, reminiscent of the sparkling blue sea. The Ootoro ($24) Tuna Belly Sashimi, whilst fresh, was a little too sinewy for my liking. It didn

We headed over to House for drinks and dessert after dinner at Don Quijote . I find myself frequenting House for post-meal hang-outs, as it's wonderful for chilling. The tranquil, spacious gastro-pub is open till late and serves up scrumptious sweets and small bites.  This was Lips' recommendation, Chocolate Toffee Cake ($12), a decadent confection of fluffy chocolate sponge cake with chocolate toffee fudge and blackberries. The burnt sugar edge of the toffee lent a smoky fragrance, whilst the tart blackberries cut through the richness of the chocolate, so this didn't feel too heavy. It's even better when the Warm Chocolate Toffee Cake ($14) is paired with vanilla ice-cream. The juxtaposition of hot and cold was as classic as peas and carrots. The Guiltless Chocolate Affair ($14), a flourless chocolate cake with salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream, was a lot more indulgent than you'd expect of something purportedly "guiltless". Sumptu

Lips had just returned from a whirlwind trip around Europe so we met for dinner to catch up. We decided to have Spanish tapas at Don Quijote Spanish Restaurant at Dempsey , the hangout du jour for glamour pusses and beautiful people. People don't walk here, they strut. Seriously. As per "standard operating procedure", I ditched the BF for a girls' night out on the town. We always chat till the wee hours of the night and I didn't need the distraction anyway. Don Quijote is fairly new on the local dining scene but doing pretty well as it's carved out a niche of its own. Mostly because it distinguishes itself from The Tapas Tree , a veteran of Spanish cuisine in Singapore, by serving different tapas. Spanish tapas is like Spain's version of Chinese dim sum, but at triple the price. I guess it's because Spanish food is just not that common in this part of the world. The Spanish diet relies heavily on olive oil and garlic, very Mediterranean, very hi

Every year during the Hari Raya season, the firm will organise a Hari Raya Lunch. We get to indulge in spicy Malay food for lunch. This year the lunch was catered from Absolute Catering at $9.50 per pax, which is ridiculously cheap. The food consequently was lackluster, with very few standouts. The Mee Siam Goreng, Fried Mee Siam  was not bad, the noodles weren't too dry, and it had that faint aromatic scent of tumeric and lime mee siam spices. The Nasi Tomato, Tomato Fried Rice , was yawn-inducing, the rice was clumpy and tasteless. The Fish Fillet with Black Bean Sauce was one of the better mains, the dory fish fillets were fairly fresh, but the batter was too thick and the black bean sauce was too starchy. The Ayam Masak Rendang , Chicken stewed in Rendang Spices, was bad too, the chicken pieces were dry and tough. The tiny prawns used in the Sambal Udang Madhura , Sambal Prawns, weren't fresh at all. The flesh was powdery and stuck to the shells.

My new resolution is to meet up with my friends at least once a month. That way, instead of seeing my friends just once a year, I get to see each of them at least 12 times a year. I met up with Kang over the weekend. It was just as well because he originally planned to eat Hakka beef balls at a coffeeshop near my house. This newspaper-endorsed Hakka stall selling abacus seeds, soon kueh, yong tau foo and beef balls does the most brisk business in this old-school coffeeshop. I usually hate beef balls, but these fresh handmade Beef Balls ($4) were devoid of any gamey taste and very clean in flavour, with the slightest taste of beef. They had a delectable bouncy, chunky texture and the clear soup base was also uncharacteristically delicate and light. The stall also sells Hakka Yong Tau Foo ($4), in a clear, light and clean soup base, sweetened by yellow beans. Unlike other yong tau foo stalls, the ingredients are standard and fixed. I liked the freshness of the ingredients and