Singapore – June 16

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June 18, 2016 by Wayne.

(Scroll down for the Best Of Singapore list)

 

Things that happened over 2-3 days

I left JB at around 1, got on the bus through CIQ and reached at my hostel at around 3pm after getting hopelessly lost because I forgot to find out how to get there beforehand. Got my hands on a Singtel tourist SIM though which was a lifesaver ($15 for 5 days of 4GB data, 500 mins of local calls, 30 mins int’l calls, 100 SMS).

Chilled at the park bench opposite Orchid Hotel while waiting for Keisuke Tonkotsu King to open for dinner.

Jesus may have turned water into wine but good luck trying to replicate this beautiful broth. Still the best ramen I’ve ever tried although the “black spicy” may not have been the best choice – pepperified the whole bowl. Go for the original and pick a strong broth + hard noodles. You get unlimited eggs and marinated bean sprouts (the latter is amazing btw).

7pm was Bitters & Love time. I was there on Friday night – the very next night, Angel from PS150 was there as a guest bartender too.

Bitters and Love is a pretty cool place with a pretty stunning collection of bottles. Not the kind of place you want to go to alone though. Also, the music is horrendous and teeth-rattlingly loud. On the upside, they dish out some truly inventive drinks. Take the Kaya Toast for instance which features kaya jam, honey, lemon, Mount Gay rum and English breakfast tea. Plus a slice of toast and kaya on top.

At 8.30, I went to City Square Mall and bought a 10.15 ticket for Conjuring 2 (twitter-length review here). Then I had a McSpicy burger. Hilariously enough, it’s actually a good deal tastier than their hawker fare. Think of a Zinger burger but, well, good in all the ways that a Zinger isn’t. It’s also pretty damn spicy.

I had the burger while walking to Druggists, by the way. More on that later.

Short review of 7 Wonders capsule hotel:

• The showers are clean, relatively spacious, and feature both a rainforest-style sprinkler and a handheld one. Good water pressure too.
• No lockers per se, only a small space under the capsule which is about 1/2 the width of a single bed per person. Which isn’t great. I resorted to keeping my backpack on the bed at night.
• There’s no fan beside the bed. Woke capsule has fans, which helps to drown out sounds on the outside.
• It’s still a pretty good capsule hotel in a pretty good location though.

 

The next day, I headed to Ah Bong’s Italian for breakfast.

Great options that get changed up day to day. Went with the duck ragu which was perhaps the most mundane of the ones on offer, but hey it was delicious. The confit in particular was sublime.

Next it was time for a quick jaunt to Books Actually, where I picked up ‘We Were Always Eating Expired Things’

And then it was off to my fave bookstore in SG, Littered With Books:

And after blasting through my book budget, I stumbled onto Hokkaido Izakaya:

The cold soba is made from buckwheat from Hokkaido. Good stuff. But the ikura don was the standout for me. The ikura was pretty much the best I’ve ever tasted, with the membrane of each sphere giving way into a warm creamy, almost perverse ooze.

After that, it was off to Druggists for the rest of the night.

Druggists is my new fave place in SG. Unassuming, unpretentious (kinda) and unbelievably amazing.

Reviews of some of the drafts I tried:

• Brave New World from Tempest: Crisp and controlled with a strong fruity body. Blooms in the back of the throat, not much of an aftertaste though. Silky mouthfeel.
• Fuck Art – This is Architecture from To Ol: Fruity, zesty, shockingly fresh. Oh, and a bit funky too.
• Magic Rock Common Grounds: Toffee, coffee, tasty. Slightly oily mouthfeel.
• Kaiju! Where Strides the Behemoth from South Easy Brewing Company: Best beer I’ve ever tasted. Rich oily coffee spicy toasty pine mouthfeel for a while but it dissolves into wait this is 10.5% ABV? This is so fucking good I can’t holy fuck this goddamn double black IPA
• Fire and Flames: Sturdy IPA

They do food too. And the food is good. These are the marmite cheese sticks, which are a flavour bomb of umami and gooey goodness.

The har cheong gai are (is?) great too.

Headed to Chye Seng Huat the next morning.

This place is stunningly beautiful. I still think Pulp is one of the prettiest cafes in Malaysia but their home base takes it a step further.

And this Yukro hand brew is delicious. Fruity with only the slightest hint of acidity, and a silky mouthfeel.

Teppei Syokudo once again, this time at ION Orchard. This branch offers the option of a DIY kaisendon – I got salmon, tuna, swordfish and yellow tail for $15.80. Comes with ikura on top too. The seafood is sublime as always. Oh and there’s grated real wasabi. GOAT

 

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Best of Singapore

• Chye Seng Huat cafe
• Plain Vanilla cupcakes/bakery
• Druggists beer bar
• Ah Bong’s Italian
• Books Actually bookstore
• Littered with Books bookstore
• McSpicy chicken burger @ McD
• Teppei Syokudo – kaisendon
• Keisuke Tonkotsu King @ Orchid Hotel – ramen
• The Projector indie cinema
• 4 Fingers Fried Chicken
• Iskina Cebu roast pork