Dear Ramly Burger,

Sometimes the smallest, most insignificant object can play a pivotal role in a person's life. A trinket or a memento from long ago; a battered old souvenir or a loved toy.

The Ramly Burger would be that one thing for me. I don't remember when I ever had my first one. But its taste and aroma evokes memories that would otherwise been forgotten.

The Ramly Burger, in essence, is the lowest quality burger that one could ever find. A meat patty made from suspect ingredients, wrapped in a thin layer of egg, smothered in sauce and spice, and drenched in oil. The flavours are so strong and overbearing that one can never tell what one is exactly tasting. And truth be told, that is the one true way.

I remember late nights at a pasar malam. And that one trip to KL which I made with friends from the Army. I remember always seeking out the same Ramly Burger man because his skill on the grill cannot be imitated.

The overpowering flavours mirrors the vibrancy and life of home. It brings to fore fond remembrances of friends and family. And it is this that makes the lowly Ramly Burger transcend itself, and become an iconic food not just for myself, but for many people back home.

Marshmallow Head Shot; Reach out and shoot someone with sweet, delicious gooey goodness

Why haven't I heard about this? And why don't I already have one? A marshmallow shooter makes so much sense I'm amazed I hadn't thought of it myself. Or sought one out.

The guys at the Marshmallow Fun Company are, and I daresay, geniuses.

The Chanel Cake

When does culinary skill become art? When you make cakes like these. This was an entry into the cake competition at the Royal Melbourne Show a month back. Can the thing even be eaten?

Obolo: Gourmet Cheesecakes - Patisseries - Desserts

Obolo: Gourmet Cheesecakes - Patisseries - Desserts

Audrea and I were walking along Joo Chiat Road just a few evenings ago, on our way to Parkway Parade. We were just strolling along, taking in the sights of the old town when we stumbled upon Obolo. It looked real nice from the outside, and wanting to take a break, decided to enter and sample their delights.

Anyone who knows me know I like a good cake, and I've been on a cake kick recently. I've tried a few places, like Canele, and Nectarie. And I always buy a few slices to share with the family. I'm a firm believer that you ought to get what you pay for, and good quality food comes at a price. And if an item is particularly well-made, then the cost is well deserved.

With that in mind, we decided to give Obolo a try, to see if their offerings justified their price, and if their products were up to par. And in this regard, I can give them a very well deserved, very firm "Meh".

Audrea and I settled down to a slice of their dark chocolate cake and were not overwhelmed at all. The cake had a very nice texture to it: crispy base, walnuts, dark chocolate mousse and dark chocolate sauce. But the flavour was a little bland, and far too milky and creamy, even for me; And God knows I like my cream. For a dark chocolate cake, there really wasn't much dark chocolate in it. Too sweet, too creamy, too milky, no bittersweet taste of a fine dark chocolate.

I took a number of other pieces home to sample: Tiramisu, Dome Exotique, Valencia, New York Cheesecake, and Strawberry Cream Cheesecake.

The Tiramisu, Valencia (chocolate mousse cake layered with orange creme), and the Strawberry Cream also weren't overwhelming, and not what I would expect at this price. And if I may say so, I felt that the cakes were fairly pedestrian, not outstanding at all.

But I did like the New York Cheesecake and Dome Exotique very much though. The New York Cheesecake was very rich, creamy and flavorful without being overly cloying. And the Dome Exotique was very very nice indeed. Consisting of a mango mousse, with a slight crisp outer shell, and a mango gelatine inside and dashed with rum on a biscuit base, the Exotique was an excellent balance of flavour and texture and flavour once again. The cake even just looks delicious.

So would I recommend this place? In a manner of speaking, yes. The cakes aren't terrible by any measure, and you could do far worse than Obolo. There are a couple of gems on their menu, and there are a number of things that are I'm tempted to try. They have another Dome cake which looks very good, as does a few of their other desserts (eg. their fruit tarts, and the Summer Berry Tiramisu). So I would probably give it a second shot. But if I'm not impressed on the second try, then I would say there's no real loss to you if you gave it a miss.

Bad food

It is a rare occasion that I would not finish my food, even if it is only mediocre. And so if it happens that I do not finish a dish, I must really abhor it. And once I have tasted something that is extremely unagreeable, I lose my appetite and I feel the need to wash my mouth out. With soap.

This happened once before, when I had a Thai beef noodles at a food court in Vivocity. The broth was weak, and had a really odd after taste, and the accompanying beed was tough and tasteless. I didn't finish it. It was bad.

This happened again yesterday, when I had a pasta dish at Cedele in Wheelock Place. It was the strangest concoction I've had in a long while, and I barely ate 2 bites of it. I told the waiter to remove it from the table.

Normally, I'm fairly satisfied by the food at Cedele; They have excellent soups, cakes and bread. So yesterday's meal was a revelation, to say the least.

I had the Crab Lime Pasta, which I did not enjoy at all. The taste of lime was too overpowering, and completely masked any other potential flavours. And do you know that bitter taste when you bite into a seed of a citrus fruit? The dish had that same after-taste, and it was very strong. The only other flavour that was not masked was the chilli. And so the pasta I had was sour, bitter and spicy. To my palette, that was not a pleasurable combination at all.

On the postive side, the serving was quite generous, and there were a lot of chunks of crab. But I did not eat much of it.

And I have to note that the staff at Cedele are very good, and offered to exchange the pasta for something else on the menu for free. I declined, as I really did not have the mood for food. But I did accept their offer of a slice of chocolate cake. Service at Cedele is excellent.

Original Sin

Audrea and I went out to dinner last night at a rather decent restaurant: Original Sin, at Jln Merah Saga. It's located near Chip Bee Gardens, near Holland Village. It serves vegetarian food, done in a mostly western style, meaning pasta, pizzas amongst other stuff.

Decor

It has a very pleasant decor, with a slight Mediterranean feel to it. The walls were painted a warm orange, tan coloured floors and dimly lighted with candles on each table. The kitchen and bar are both visible to the dining area. There's also an alfresco dining area. The overall setting makes the dining experience a more relaxed and comforting one. The thing I didn't particularly like were the seating arrangements, particularly the indoor seating. What I didn't like was that there were a couple tables set right at the door, and there'd be people milling about at all times.

Service

Service was excellent, and each person that served us was very attentive. They were prompt with requests, and were very polite. Plus they were easy to pick out in a crowd, as they were dressed in blue. Their uniforms clashed in colours with the rest of the restaurant, but it did make them easy to spot.

Food

They had quite a varied menu, which slightly surprised me as I didn't really think you could do quite so many things with vegetables. The appetisers looked rather interesting with a selection of bruschettas and salads. They also had a couple novel items like an Eggplant Tofu Gratin. Mains included vegetable stew, baked tomatoes, and moussaka. Audrea ordered the lasagna, and I had the Quattro pizza.

The lasagna was layered with spinach, onion, zucchini, mushrooms and capsicum amidst sheets of pasta. It was quite tasty, though I did find the tomato sauce a little over-powering. When a particular mouthful wasn't full of veges, you could only taste the tomato and pasta. But overall, a decent dish.

The pizza was quite good. It was served with 4 quarters of different ingredients, including feta cheese, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, asparagus, roasted capsicum, tomatoes and olives, on a tomato sauce and mozzarella base. The pizza bread is not the super thin type that you find at some Italian restaurants (like Al Dente Trattoria), but it was still quite good. Having 4 distinct flavours was quite delightful, and I enjoyed this one very much.

Overall

The meal was quite a good one, within a comfortable setting and excellent service. The entire meal cost us $52 (including tax). It's not overly expensive, but it does place itself in the upper tier of eateries. One other review I read noted that the ambience was a romantic one, but I'd have to disagree; it feels more casual, relaxed, and unassuming. A good choice for a quiet evening, and pleasant conversation. Not a place to impress the ladies with, but it real nice place to get to know someone. But do not get that table by the door; it's a real buzz-killer.

The V Tea Room

I went to The V Tea Room at the Esplanade earlier this afternoon with Audrea for afternoon tea. It's a really nice place, though it is a little pricey. It's definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a place to indulge yourself, and to treat yourself to some very nice tasties.

The decor is very Victorian-inspired and creates a warm, inviting atmosphere without being over opulent. Floors are most probably fake parquet, and the walls are painted a textured red to give depth to the room. The cafe is not a large area, but with the finishings, manages to look very cosy. Furnitures are mostly wood; The chairs are highbacked and well cushioned, the tabletops are marbled.

The service was really good, with multiple staff ready to serve you. They are also very friendly, and look for all ways to accommadate you. I didn't have to wait long for service, and the staff was also very well-informed about the various menu items. When we arrived, there wasn't a table available inside and we were only offered a slightly less nice table ouside. I requested for us to be seated inside once a table opens up, which was quickly seen to. Other notable things about service was their insistence on pouring the first cup of tea, and distributing serviettes with a pair of tongs.

The food is quite good. We ordered a pot of tea, a quiche, and a melt cake to share. The tea was quite good, though as you already know, leaving the bag in the pot will render the tea a little bitter at the end. The quiche was quite tasty, and was quite a healthy portion. The melt-cake was very delicious, with a very interesting texture to it. The staff told us that the melt-cake was their own concoction, being essentially a half-baked cake, with had equal parts of firm and gooey cake. It was quite a good combination, and though they said it was a half-baked cake, it didn't taste undercooked at all. The gooey parts taste more like a sweet yoghurt, and complimented the firm bits very well. It comes in various flavours (Chocolate/durian, hazelnut, strawberry, raspberry) but we had the blueberry one. It is served with bits of fruit, biscuits and a small glass of liquer. We also had a Gula Melaka flavoured ice cream to accompany the cake.

It's not cheap though. Tea for two costs $12, the quiche costs $8, and the melt-cake costs $22.50!! The ice cream costs $5.50. The total bill came up to about $60! Other items on the menu aren't quite as expensive as the melt-cake, with each individual item ranging between $8 to $15.

This is a really nice place for afternoon tea, and I would most definitely give it a try again. The cost may be off-putting, but I'd suggest that you give the melt-cake at least a try once. It's quite different. The rest of the items on the menu look very intriguing, and there is quite a high level of quality. Sometimes you have to pay for quality, and The V Tea Room has that in spades. With the decor, staff and food, you're getting your money's worth. And if you are a tightfisted miser, you can just sit there for hours and keep asking for hotwater to refill your tea. The staff will still treat you like a privilieged guest.