Beefeater

Meant to post this earlier; it's been sitting in my drafts... drat! すみません!

I had beef twice this week (lucky me).

On Tuesday, I ate at Ma Maison (Bugis Junction). Ordered the Australian tenderloin steak don. I asked for the steak to be done medium rare, and they did not disappoint (yay!). Look, what a clever bowl!

The setto comes with a salad, miso soup, and coffee or tea, all for $15.50.  There were many interesting goodies in the miso soup. I had to drink two thirds of it before taking this picture (that’s chicken meat):

There is something about the floral table cloths Ma Maison uses, that reminds me of the restaurant in the Japanese Drama, Oishii Kankei.

Ma Maison serves set lunches that change daily, and it’s good stuff! Soup, Main, Bread or Rice, and Drink, for around $12 or $13. No surprise that the place fills up by 1 pm. In addition to daily set lunches, they have several other interesting specials / seasonals – the pile of laminated menus of various sizes will attest to that. It’s not easy to decide!

The daily set menu is here. (Unfortunately, there does not seem to be an English version). Main website (or what they call Top Page) here (also in Japanese). 

Ma Maison

#02-51 Bugis Junction

200 Victoria Street (188021)

6338-4819

Daily 11.30 ~ 22.00

* they have another (newer) branch at The Central

On Thursday, I ate with my dear friend T at Uno Beef House. T recently started a job that has its offices in Toa Payoh. (Out of respect for T, I will omit the story about her iphone google map here.) So many people have blogged about Uno Beef House, and rightfully so! This place obviously does not need to advertise, as their satisfied customers will do it for them. And isn’t that the best way to get word around? Some write-ups date back to 2006. (If not for T, I would still have been in the dark!) At the time of writing this blog, I discovered the Dover branch is no more... I wonder why?

Uno also serves fried chicken, lamb chops, sausages (mostly with fries) – typical of local 'Western' food stalls. Other items available include fried rice – I will try that another time. [I really must try the other things. I tend to order the same thing over and over, especially when I find something I like. I go with every intention of trying something else, but I hear myself ordering whatever I enjoyed on previous visits. Eg, I always have the special fried rice at Colbar, Aglio Olio at Peperoni, etc]

Finally – a place where medium rare is JUST THAT. うれしい!! I have become quite accustomed to asking for medium rare and being served something closer to medium (or closer to what I would call a waste of meat, and money). I was very pleased to receive my steak beautifully purple inside, with a thin brown coat where the meat had been on the grill. Gorgeous. It was served with bubbling black pepper sauce, a tomato slice, baked beans and this rather fabulous potato croquet, which T was talking about while we made our way. It resembles a globe-shaped hashbrown, but with mash inside instead of shredded potato. The filling is sweetish, which is unexpectedly nice (they only give you one per plate!). I wonder if they'll accommodate requests to swap the baked beans for a second potato ball. I had to order the dish without onions (I love onions) this time...

** I’m afraid I was enjoying my steak too much to pause even to take a picture after the first cut. I think next time, I will come here alone and ahh…..!

I have paid more for smaller portions and lousier stuff, so while I read (in blogs) that Uno had raised prices recently, $10 is really quite reasonable for the quality / quantity of sirloin served steak here. I will be coming back to savour the steak (with its accompanying onions this time, of course). What a big, generous serving! You can choose from sirloin, tenderloin and rib eye. I picked sirloin – I like the fragrance that comes from the slight fattiness of sirloin.

How could I not be back for more?

Uno Beef House

Block 51 Toa Payoh Lorong 5, #01-60

Tel: 96776007

Daily (I think) 11.30 ~ 22.30

Dinners at Peperoni / L'Estaminet

Looking through our collection of food pictures, I realised we have visited the Peperoni Pizzeria half of Peperoni / L'Estaminet five times over the past two years. Somehow, we tend to order the same stuff (we like it so much!), so today, we ordered one different pasta (how's that for change!).

I had the Funghi & Pollo Pasta [Button mushroom and chicken in a brown sauce]. Not that I'm complaining, because I ate everything on the plate, but this seems to be a larger portion than the other pastas we've enjoyed here so far. I'd just like to say that calling it 'brown sauce' hardly does any justice to the dish. It was a gorgeous, creamy sauce, that, together with the angel hair pasta, was gone before I knew it!! I found myself with mainly the mushrooms and chicken towards the end. That's how good the sauce was. The mushrooms were tasty and juicy too, but somehow, the chicken was a little harder than I'd have preferred.

Beloved had the Aglio Olio & Peperoncino [w extra virgin olive oil, garlic, red chilli], with an additional serving of Bacon. While we almost always order this, tonight's version was not up to Peperoni's usual standard. (the sharp-eyed will have noticed that the date on this picture is from an earlier visit - we wanted to be fair to Peperoni's.) Don't worry, dear Peperoni, we will still be back, and we will continue to sing your praises to our food-loving friends. (So please don't morph into something else, like Coq n Bull did!!)

This evening's dessert was Sformato - Oven baked ricotta cheese and lemon cream in hazelnut caramel sauce. This is one of the fabulous desserts on offer here. The ricotta cheese is nicely baked, reminding you somewhat of light japanese-style cheesecakes - only sformato is more solid; its sweetness lingers on the palate even after you have swallowed the last bite (believe me, you will finish the whole thing - or someone else at your table will). Serving size is Italian (ie, hearty!) - two or three people could share this and be quite satisfied. But bear in mind that there are several other delectable items on the dessert list...

Though we didn't order pizza this visit, we have tried several items on Peperoni's pizza repertoire, such as the Vegetariana Pizza - Tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Shiitake, Artichokes, Zucchini, Eggplants, Bell Peppers, Black Olives

Suprema Pizza - Tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Shiitake, Chicken, Sausage, Onions, Red Chilli (taken using mobile phone camera)

Ham & Mushroom Pizza - Tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Ham & Mushroom (again, w mobile phone camera)

Funghi Pizza - Tomato sauce, Mozzarella, Mixed Mushroom (Button, Shiitake, Porcini) [yay! newly-acquired Canon Ixus!]

Wait!! Here are some starters we've had... This is the Oven Baked Eggplant with tomato, mozzarella, parmigiana style. I have no idea how this one could be classified as starter!! Better share this - you WILL be full and not have space to savour other things.

And the Caprese - Sliced tomatoes, Mozzarella, Basil. Just perfect to whet the appetite.

To desserts. The Pannacotta - Delicate vanilla flavoured eggless custard (thanks to a recommendation by one of the staff). This is probably the lightest dessert, suitable for people who have given too much stomach space to their Mains. Of course we know dessert goes into a different stomach, but sometimes the budget over-runs, doesn't it?

... and (whew!) finally, the Creme Brulee - Smooth custard covered with caramelized sugar. Again, this is Italian-sized, so it's better to share this one.

There is also a Snack Menu, but strangely enough, we never have enough space to try that.

Peperoni Pizzeria [happily, they have a pick-up service too]

6 Greenwood Avenue, Hillcrest Park, Singapore 289192

L'Estaminet Bar

4 Greenwood Avenue, Hillcrest Park, Singapore 289192

Tel 6465-1911