Friday, October 21, 2005

Foodie

I've finished watchin every single dvd in the house including the borrowed ones and last night I finally got to the end of "stairway to heaven". Might I digress, the part where tae wa commits suicide but protects his eyes so that they can be donated to his blind step sister, whom hes in love with, jus totally freaked me out. As I was sayin, I finally ran out of shows to watch late into the night so why am I still awake and bloggin at that? I could not bring myself to sleep early, hence stayed up surfin the net in search for me next gastronomical adventure.

Ok so the choices are between Equinox, Zambuca and Da Paolo Il Giardino. The view at Equinox is "charlize theron-ish" breath taking and I simply must go back there seeing that the last time we didnt get any pictures taken. Zambuca, I've yet to try but their website looks promising and hey, you can't go wrong with the Michelangelo's group. Da Paolo will be the cheapest of the lot but I've a feeling it'll be the best choice. The atmosphere is cosy yet elegant at the same time and the food there's definitely better than at Equinox. Still recall the last time I was there, my whole family was kinda under-dressed and yet they kindly sat us. Definite bonus points scored.

3 excellent restaurants to choose from, any of which will burn a hole in me pocket. Haha maybe I should turn to hawker fare to make up the experience of the journey instead of gourmet cuisine, no? After all, a simple dish like the Hill St Tai Hwa Pork Noodles(mee pok, tah, ai hiam) is likely to kick the ass of many of the dishes on the menus of those restaurants. Jus as likely is the Famous Geylang Beef Hor Fun followed after by the delicious tau huay jus beside it likely to kick some pasta ass from Zambuca.

Yeah, I know, gourmet cuisine is an experience encompassed in a package which includes the atmosphere and savouring of the coming together of quality ingredients painstakingly put together by a chef with a fancy title. While hawker fare on the other hand involves atmosphere of a whole different kind, think sweat and smoke coming together with the resultant infusing itself into your garments. Wiping your face and mouth with packet tissue, smacking your lips together in delight and den downing a mug of tiger all this while seated beside a group of drunk ah peks with their legs taking up position on where one half of their butt cheeks should be and you've jus traversed the unglam yet fulfilling road of hawker fare.

Know why they charge so much for gourmet cuisine? Apart from the atmosphere, ingredients, the operational costs and the chef being an ang moh with a fanciful title as opposed to jus plain ol Tan Kim Chye, best char kuay teow seller, theres one more vital factor. It has to do with the naming of the dish. "Whats in a name?", is the name of this game. You're charged $3 for char kuay teow preciously because its jus char kuay teow. Whereas risotto - vegetable primavera, sundried tomato, basil chiffonade at Equinox will set you back $20 ecluding taxes and service charge.

Wanton noodles , $3. Capelli di Angelo con Rucola - Angel hair mingled with fresh chilies, Pinoli nuts, arugula and roasted capsicum pesto with white wine in Napolitana sauce, $24. FYI, angel hair is a type a pasta and notice that theres pork in the wanton and char siew in the noodles but not a single meat in the pasta dish. Perhaps Kok Kee Wanton noodles shld make it, Wanton noodles - hand tossed egg noodles made with egss containing omega-3, bbq pork marinated in a Lee Kum Kee special sauce, greens fresh from a farm in China, minced air pork wrapped in crystal clear smooth as silk flour wrapping, $10. Price cannot be too high, after all the stall is still situated in a hawker centre. There you have it, me next radical business idea: hawker food with fancy names!

Ok, I've come up with all that bullshit but have yet to make a decision on a restaurant. Guess I've something to keep me occupied with tomorrow.

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