The Hungry Bunny

A recent dining experience at OSO reminds me of how the boys used to say that a lot of the local girls are "nice from far but far from nice". You know how it goes, like when a friend gushes about how hot some girl is and yet when you see her for yourself, it's like, "meh". I've long heard rave reviews about OSO Ristorante . Way before the revitalisation of the Bukit Pasoh/Keong Saik area, OSO was the reason foodies flocked to that area. They were one of the earlier purveyors of refined Italian haute cuisine. But having dined at the restaurant recently, I cannot quite understand diners gushing about this place. Mind you, the food wasn't awful. In fact, it was quite good. It was just not great. For all of the hype, I'd expected perfection. There were just about as many misses as there were hits.  Service though, was almost  faultless. They were impeccably professional, yet warm and spontaneous at the same time. For people who don't want to sp

It constantly amazes me how Singaporeans will readily travel far and wide for food. E-Sarn Thai , a casual Thai eatery hidden deep within the dated Ridgewood condominium, is still doing a roaring business all these years despite the lack of foot traffic. Where we're living now, apart from Thai Noodle House , E-Sarn at Ridgewood is probably the only other place that's nearby to hit up for relatively cheap Thai food. We were craving some Thai food late one night and since Thai Noodle House was closed, we headed for E-Sarn instead. Having recently tried their branch at Upper Thomson , it was quite evident that the Northern outlet serves up better food than this one in Ridgewood. The food in the North is generally spicier and dishes are generally better executed, whereas the fare here at Ridgewood seems a bit too watered down and insipid. That's saying a lot, because I thought that the one at Upper Thomson wasn't spicy enough. The chilli-averse will probably love it her

Adee and I drove out of the CBD to meet up with Jal for lunch. These 2 guys were the funniest guys in my jc class so meeting up with them is always so jolly and fun. I always find myself looking forward to meeting up with them because they're such sunshiney persons to be around. It was non-stop laughs the second we met up. My sides were hurting by the time I returned back to the office in the afternoon. To accommodate Jal's dietary requirement for halal food, we headed to BaliThai , a casual eatery serving both Thai and Indonesian cuisine. The fare here is homestyled and unpretentious. As long as you don't go in expecting authentic fine-dining, you should like the simple stuff here. BaliThai is more like a bastardised take on Thai and Indon fare. I like to think of this as a slightly upmarket cze char eatery, by virtue of its comfortable air-conditioning, less-than-bustling ambience and slightly higher pricetags. Despite its less than saliva-inducing appearance, the Cum

Is it just me and my unrefined childhood tastebuds, or did the food in my canteen taste awesome? It may be a selective/tampered memory, but in my mind, the 50 cents fried chicken wings, 50 cents fried bee hoon and 50 cents mee rebus were the most awesomely delicious stuff ever. A quick check with my friends reveal that they all thought their canteen food was awesomesauce as well. In a bid to relive those very fond memories of tucking into simple homestyled fare, we dined at  Old School Delights . This new-ish casual diner attempts to lead you down the hallways of nostalgia with their hawker heritage dishes and 70's and 80's memorabilia. While they certainly succeed in the knick-knacks department, what with their five-stones,  flag erasures, marbles and Donkey card games, the food here was quite the letdown. Most of the stuff seemed to be served up by a novice home cook. It's not terrible, but a lot of their dishes were not even on par with those in the hawker centre, and

La Villa is the casual country barnyard sibling to Senso's sophisticated classy downtown. The fare here isn't super refined or mind-blowingly great, but appeals in a rustic homey way. Also, the very affordable prices and cute old-school garden setting ups the ante in the charms department. Oh, the parking here is fabulous in that there's loads of it! Be sure to inform the staff  accordingly though, because they will discount the parking charges off your bill. We started off with the Calamari Pirata ($19), which was very well done. The light batter coating was fried to a flaky crisp while the squid rings remained soft with a chewy yield. A fairy dusting of sweet paprika and a refreshingly chilled salsa was added seasoning. The Merluzzo ($34) a fleshy, smooth and oily grilled cod fish would have been nicer if the skin was paper crisp for a contrasting texture. A drizzling of piquant balsamic reduction lent flavour. The saffron and rosemary mash was flavoursome but

We drove out to the Esplanade for lunch one stormy afternoon. We were all wearing pretty shoes and didn't want to get them wet walking to any of our usual lunch destinations. Drizzle on suede and ponyhair is a total disaster man! It could have been the heavy rain that deterred the masses, but the Esplanade was like a shanty-town in the day. Restaurants were either closed or barely occupied, shops were devoid of foot traffic, and the entire place was just so eerily quiet and sleepy. A little depressing, really. Apparently, the Esplanade comes alive only when the sun begins setting. Ah well, all the better for a peaceful lunch with (probably more) attentive service. No need for reservations, joining in a queue or jostling with a crowd. Thai Express was one of the few restaurants that was open for lunch, manned by a skeleton crew. I sat down to moderate expectations but I was very pleasantly surprised by the above-average quality of the food. Every dish was relatively well-exec

Our April L.A. Dinner was held at Jumbo Seafood at Riverwalk . The Riverwalk outlet is nearest to the office, so in the event that taxis aren't available (FYI, it's notoriously difficult to hail a taxi in the CBD on Friday evenings, and even calling for one is quite an exercise in futility), walking to the restaurant is always a viable option. I love the seafood at Jumbo. It may be a little commercialized, in that food seems to be churned out like a production line, and service is run like a well-oiled machine with cyborg-ish wait staff, but the food's still consistently delicious. A tip is to make sure you get advanced reservations (best to call at least 2 weeks in advance for peak days), otherwise, be prepared with alternative plans. We got a private room to facilitate the chatting. The restaurant's such a bustling hive of chatter that you'll find yourself straining to hear each other across the table. A private room ensures the yak of the other diners gets