The Hungry Bunny

Cicheti (pronounced "chi-keh-tee") was highly recommended by Danielle , a regular reader of this my blog, and a fellow blogger herself. The pizzas at Cicheti are done Neapolitan-style; they're distinctively thicker and consequently chewier than the typical thin-crust pizzas we're so used to. An absolute nightmare for dieters but the Hubs relished its smoky accents imbued from the wood-fire oven. Seating at the tiny shop-house space is extremely limited so it's best to secure reservations, or be prepared to be turned away. Service was excellent though, attentive and friendly. Our water glasses were always kept brimming to the full. We started off with the Gamberi Grassi ($13), a quartet of fat juicy prawns grilled with smoked butter, and sided by a crusty baguette toast for mopping up every last bit of the luscious butter.  The Carbonara ($23) topped with bacon, fior de latte cheese, cream, parmesan, onions, black peppercorns and a sunny side up egg ...

Sorry for the radio silence, we're just putting the finishing touches on a deal at work, and life's been a whirlwind of events. This was a somewhat dated discovery of ours, in the sleepy old-school city-fringe mall Sunshine Plaza . Oven Marvel , a hole-in-the-wall shop a few doors from Victor's Kitchen, retails only 3 types of baked confectionery, namely chicken pies, chocolate muffins and curry puffs. With an enviable track record of selling out their wares daily, you could say that they are hugely popular with the masses. When we hit them up at 3pm on a weekend, they'd already sold out their chicken pies! So anyways, we got the next best thing, and bought up their remaining Curry Puffs ($2.80). These were done Malay-style, proliferated with sweet onions, tender chicken and potatoes in a manageably spiced curried paste and swaddled in a flaky puff pastry. Delicious, but strictly as a matter of preference, I much prefer the Chinese-style ones at Wang Wang . ...

The famed English cookie company Ben's Cookies launched with much fanfare a few months ago. We were waiting for the hype to die down before sampling their wares, as the sole store at Wisma Atria still sports a long queue of customers. But, a friend brought over a whole bunch of their cookies for dessert one luncheon a couple of weeks ago, and we were forever hooked. The Hubs actually went out that very weekend to satisfy his cookie fix! The cookies truly lived up to the hype; delightfully chewy, crumbly, buttery, generously studded with chocolate chunks and nuts, and surprisingly cheap. Apparently, 7 huge cookie discs retail at only $14! White Chocolate Chunk , laced with hunks of melt-in-your-mouth dark chocolate. By the way, the cookies may seem that they come in semi-circlets, but it's only because the Hubs actually ate the other halves. He was halfway through them all before he'd realised I needed to take pictures of them! My fave, Dark Chocolate and Nuts , spe...

Have I already said that the architecture of Orchard Central is the worst? With its haphazard layout and maze of a carpark, it's little wonder that mall traffic is so low. It's already frustrating trying to navigate the nightmare of a carpark, but when compounded with the inaccessibility of the mall from the carpark, morphs into a massively thumping headache just to patronise the mall. BUT, we wanted to check out this ramen place, Nantsuttei . The self-touted ramen champ had apparently disappointed quite the following when it'd wound the shutters down its first shop space when its landlord Parco Marina exited Millenia Walk sometime last year. So when Nantsuttei re-surfaced at Orchard Central a few months ago, I thought a visit was in order. Nantsuttei is known for slicking their ramen with a layer of inky-black roasted garlic oil, and tampering their rich tonkotsu broth with chicken stock. The deeply aromatic but delicate ramen is what made fans of its customers, and I...

Mellben Seafood is another heavyweight name in the local seafood and cze char scene. Having spawned a couple of branches in the east, we chose its original outlet, located in the Ang Mo Kio heartland for dinner. Related to Uncle Leong Seafood , this is actually my first time here at Mellben . I was always so deterred by reports of lousy service and legendary hour-long waits for food. As it turned out, the legends of hour-long waits for food, and to get seated, were true; so it's best to get a headstart when trying to get seats for dinner. Or else, nominate a friend to start queuing up for a table at least half an hour before the rest of the party is due to arrive. OR, if you really really abhor queuing, just call ahead and dabao for dinner! Another tip is to dine in larger groups of at least 8 persons, I noticed that there were more tables allocated to larger groups as opposed to small gatherings. While we're on the topic of slow service, I would have thought that having t...

At first brush, this dish sounds like a recipe for some type of human-repellant, but I think, it's time to bring this classic French casserole back in vogue. Garlic, on its own, is anti-socially sharp and pungent, but once caramelised, mellows out into a rounded, buttery sweetness that's incredibly tantalising. I love making this for dinner parties, it's a sure-fire crowd-pleaser, and appears a lot more sophisticated than it really is. Best of all, it can be whipped up in a cinch and requires minimal ingredients.  Ingredients (feeds 2-4): 4 chicken thighs (budget 1-2 thigh(s) per pax) 40 cloves garlic (approx 4 heads), peeled and left whole 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay or else, vermouth is a viable substitute) 1 cup chicken stock 1 tsp herbs (I used a mix of dried rosemary and thyme; you can also use tarragon or fresh ones) 2 tbsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste Directions: 1) Heat olive oil in pan on medium heat. Brown chicken that's b...

There's nothing else like having breakfast eggs late at night for dinner. We both had a particularly frenzied day at work, and were in need of comfort food, so it really was a no-brainer to head to Wild Honey , our go-to restaurant for the best eggs this side of the equator, for dinner. The Spanish Hash ($24) was a carb-laden medley of fried potatoes, chorizo, and house-corned beef, crowned with 2 perfectly poached eggs and blanketed with a velvety hollandaise sauce. Truly excellent stuff. I'm ranking this a joint first-place at Wild Honey, together with the Tunisian. We'd been craving cubanos ever since we salivated watched the food-porn flick, 'Chef', so we deviated from our usual eggs and got the Monte Cubano Sandwich ($22). Not sure if this was authentic, but the toasted ciabatta layered with spiced pulled pork, virginia ham, dijon mustard, dill pickles, swiss cheese arugula and mayo was decently scrumptious. We also got our usual, the English ($25...

Have I said before that how much I love my foodie friends? If not for A1 and A2, I'd never have known about Sushi Mitsuya , a hole-in-the-wall Japanese setup so boutique it's got a capacity of just under 25 diners. The zenned-out, pinewood-ed galley restaurant is flush with a serene tranquility, and diners converse in hushed tones. A tip is to sit at the chef's table, where you get front row seats to all the action. And attention from the big boss himself. As we were seated up front, we were served personally by the affable head Chef Harada, who explained every course (in his heavily accented English...I'm embarrassed to admit that I had to ask him to repeat himself several times just so I could take notes of what I'd ingested) and allowed us time to savour every mouthful. I'd noticed that he'd wait for me to chomp down each sushi before serving the next one. Sushi Mitsuya offers just 3 sets for lunch (there's no ala carte menu here, for lunch or di...

Nando's is my favourite grilled chicken spot. I think they're the best purveyors of grilled/roasted chicken, and with an almost perfect hit rate, they reliably deliver up the juiciest and most flavourful grilled chicken. I always opt for the lemon and herb one, as it's the most like a classic Sunday roast, redolent with fragrant thyme, garlic and the lift of lemon. I know, I know, it's like the most wussy flavour there is, but I prefer its delicate seasoning, and besides, you can always layer on the various Peri Peri sauces separately for a customised heat.   Unlike their outstanding chicken, Nando's sides are a little ho-hum, so unless you need a little levity from just chicken, it's best to avoid them and load up on a protein-centric meal. The 1/4 Lemon & Herb Peri Peri Chicken ($13.90) was, as expected, lipsmackingly delicious, and it was sided by a rather pedestrian fino (read: premium) bowl of Afro-Portuguese Spinach sauteed with onions and toma...

Regular readers will note that I always make fun of the Hubs' cooking skills, or lack thereof, but surprise surprise, he's apparently got reasonably commendable, and extremely well-hidden, cooking chops! I'd woken up one weekend afternoon to loud clangs in the kitchen, and found the Hubs busy trying to whip up kaya french toast. As usual, his rudimentary handling of the utensils irked me so much that I tried to take over (he was whisking the egg mixture with a fork when we had a proper whisk, and making lumps of the spices, the horror!), but he'd actually kicked me out. Yes, I got kicked out of my own kitchen! As it turned out, he did pretty well. No fires unwittingly set, the kitchen was left in the same spotless shape it'd been in before the Hubs started cooking, and the toast was, objectively, good. I probably can't be in the kitchen with him whenever he cooks, because the compulsive control freak in me would likely attempt a hostile takeover, but it's ...