The Hungry Bunny

Mrs Pho is the one of the many in the wave of hipster restaurants gentrifying the Kampong Glam enclave. At first blush, a little Vietnamese hole-in-the-wall may not sound hipster, but the low-frills eatery, tricked out to look like a Vietnamese alleyway, is kitschy and artificial, almost gaudy. That said, it does resemble at the street stalls of Vietnam. Just a lot spiffier. Though a squishy tiny place, service is speedy, friendly, and helpful. Our dishes arrived barely 5 minutes after orders were taken, in quick succession. The traditional fare at Mrs Pho may be a little clunky, but had a rustic, homestyled, authenticity to it. The Hubs loved the Cha Gio ($3) Vietnam's answer to the Chinese spring roll. A lovely chunky texture, with wonderfully juicy porky flavours. The Nem Nuong ($3.50) purportedly "Mama's secret recipe" of Hanoi pork meatballs, were decent, but failed to leave an impression, in light of the most amazeballs minced patties in Hanoi just

My Little Spanish Place is yet another restaurant that sprouted from the ashes of now-defunct Santi. Located along Bukit Timah, embedded within the row of shophouses adjacent to Coronation Plaza, this cosy spot is homely and charming. In part credited to the gregarious familiar service. And that impressive jamon bar. Also, I found it so winsome that, when informed of my aversion to parsley/cilantro/coriander, the manager actually came over to commiserate. Hey, we of the OR6A2 gene have to stick together! Our shared hatred of these herbs, alone, is a plus point for My Little Spanish Place , in my book. Hur No visit to My Little Spanish Place is complete without indulging in their jamon, of which they have 5 types. The most luxe, the Joselito Guijuelo Iberico Bellota ($25 for 25gram serving), cured for a whopping 48 months, was decadent but so worth the cholesterol. The Gambas al Ajillo ($16), fresh sweet shrimp sizzled with olive oil, fried garlic chips, and chilli pepper, was

There's been a slew of roasted duck heavyweights launched over the past few months; London Fat Duck being one of them. Part of the Akashi Group, this casual Cantonese eatery marks the Japanese-centric group's first foray into Chinese cuisine. Here, the unique selling point is the use of Irish duck, renowned as the "wagyu of ducks". The small-ish restaurant doesn't take reservations at this point in time. As expected, there are long queues at peak dining hours. So I suggest dining at an inopportune time or hold off till the new-ish gleam of the restaurant dulls and the crowd fizzes out. If you're inclined to wait in line, turnover is high and service expeditious (albeit frenzied), so unless you're dining in a large group, waiting times don't exceed half an hour. Long queues aside, the Scotts Square tenant is an occupiers-liability lawsuit waiting to happen; the floors were so oily that, even with my rubber-soled heels, I had to hold onto the Hubs f

I may have ranted about this before, but really, it's become frustratingly difficult to hunt down snow skin lotus paste mooncakes these days. I'm a traditionalist, so like rice dumplings, I like my mooncakes traditional. But wow, has it become near impossible to find lotus paste-flavoured mooncakes, with just about every restaurant trying to out-do the other with new-fangled creations. Aren't these durian/ice-cream/chocolate/alcoholic mooncakes just mooncake-shaped cakes?! Anyways, we managed to find my favourite snow skin lotus paste mooncakes at the venerable Li Bai , a Cantonese restaurant that's the very bastion of classic traditionalism. Even so, out of the 10 or so mooncake options, there was only one that was of the snow skin lotus paste variant. These White Lotus Seed Paste Mini Mooncakes with Salted Egg Yolk ($56), dotted with golden raisins, were perfectly nuanced. These mint green babies were so addictively good, I devoured half the box in one sitting.

Com Nam is the sister restaurant to Nam Nam. Located next to Nam Nam at Raffles City, its menu is centered around rice-based dishes. But, unlike the never-ending queues at the pho-oriented Nam Nam, Com Nam hasn't quite taken off. There's hardly a queue to get into the self-serviced eatery. Perhaps the "broken rice" concept isn't quite as distinguishing as Vietnam's national dish - the comforting pho. The Spicy Beef Rice Noodle Soup ($9.90), loaded with beansprouts, and pork balls, was a robust mix of tangy and spicy flavours, but let down by the tough chewy thick slices of beef and undercooked beansprouts. A must-try, the Vietnamese Sizzling Crepe ($10.90), swaddling thick slices of tender pork belly, and succulent prawns, was excellent fodder for fresh lettuce, pickled radish and julienned cucumbers. Skip the beansprouts, these had an undercooked alkalinity. Another excellent option was the Napa Cabbage Soup ($5) sweet and delicate, and choc-a-

Bochinche is our new favourite restaurant. And not just because of their $10 Happy Hour offers. The hearty Argentinian cuisine is a meat-lover's dream; the convivial atmosphere buzzy and lively; the personable service warm and welcoming - overall, a winning formula for the full-house most nights.  Argentinian cuisine may not be known this part of the world, but it's really just Mediterranean-influenced South American fare. The typical Argentinian diet is beef-centric, with lots of Spanish flavours, and the grill being the favoured style of cooking. Reservations at boCHINche are advised, especially if dining in groups of more than 2 persons. If possible, try to hit up the restaurant before 7.30pm on weekdays, the wines are $10 a pop till then - an excellent (and extremely affordable) way to unwind after a hard day's work. We've been here twice in under a week, so you can tell we really like it here. Another thing I appreciate about Bochinche - the chef always ap

Spicy sesame noodles, an amalgamation of western preferences and traditional Asian flavours, is a staple of most Chinese restaurants in the States. Like most of my recipes, this is a cinch to make, and because it can be served hot or chilled, prepped way beforehand on busy weeknights.   Ingredients (feeds 6 pax): a packet angel hair pasta, dunked in salted boiling water and drained 8 tbsp white sesame seeds 2 tbsp hoisin sauce 2 tbsp peanut butter 2 tbsp peri peri sauce 1/2 cup toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp chilli oil 1 tbsp olive oil 5 tbsp light soy 8 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp five-spice powder Directions: 1) Fry garlic in olive oil until just turned a shade darker. 2) Turn off the heat and whisk together the sesame oil, chilli oil, hoisin sauce, peanut butter, peri peri sauce, soy, and five-spice powder. 3) Toss the drained pasta in the sauce and serve with sprinkling of sesame seeds.