wingzone, bugis+

perfect-for-students and binge-day casual dining a few steps above regular fast food in bugis+. if you spent most of your university days (this applies more to men than women, and of course I’m generalising) surviving on take-out and fast food, this place will bring back memories (most especially if you did that tour while in the US).

conceived by two starving students in Georgia who just couldn’t fathom another slice of pizza, this place has nearly twenty years of experience behind it, and more than its fair share of expanded waistlines.

it’s no diet food for sure, but those wedges are well-worth any guilt.

sopra cucina, tanglin

hidden away by the pan pacific at cuscaden road, this nook of a restaurant serves up decent food. it has an authentic steakhouse feel, in that it is dark enough for dates, and full of wood and metal.

when we visited, there was a pretty large group that had booked out the alcove area for an event – and the atmosphere was both vibrant and convivial, which made this place a pleasure to visit. one can only hope that you experience the same.

although: the walk in from orchard road brings you past the more unsavory part of the shopping stretch, where you can either leer like some of the older men there, or stand and gawk like a prudish miss (I mean, you could just walk by, but let’s not lie).

saturday house, hougang

this is quite a homely cafe – it feels like a neighborhood bistro you would sit down at with a beer and pizza in hand. open air and communal feeling, it serves up unfancy, decent food at weekday-able prices.

california pizza kitchen, the forum shopping mall

decent-ish american pizza place – very much a comfort food sort of thing (if you grew up on american-type food), and not necessarily the best in execution.

I would likely recommend modestos or brewerkz if you wanted something a little higher on the quality, but this is the sort of relaxed american diner that sometimes is exactly what you want on a post-work weeknight.

and big portions – which quite positively is a reason to like this place.

las vegas, and some eating (part one)

nothing says las vegas like bright neon lights advertising a bit of harmless (or not quite so harmless) gambling.

I’ve got to admit, it’s not my favorite city. I associate las vegas with stale smoke, seedy joints (even the hotel lobbies feel seedy in nice places), and loud, aggressive people. the last time I visited this place, I was young enough that only the sphinx made an impression, and this time – I can add exorbitantly cut-throat expensive dining to that list of why-I’m-not-so-impressed.

I was there for work, which meant limited time to enjoy their many food options, although I did have the chance to try out what the land-of-blue-and-red is really known for: their not-quite-fast-food-(but-almost) diner-eateries.

brewerkz, dempsey

good, quick-and-dirty american food at this chain of restaurants across singapore. mostly popular with the drinking crowd (unsurprising given the name of this place, and their booze-making status), I’ve recently rediscovered this place, as well as my love for comforting, gut-filling american dining.

there’s a certain impatience that comes with age – it’s got to be age or disposition, and I prefer to blame the first – and a meal of ribs and burgers is exactly the thing when you’re not into a foamy, decorated plate.

I had the pulled pork burger – a mass of meat bound with barbecue sauce and topped with thick slices of pickled jalapeno. the chillis pack a mild heat that creeps up on you, and the sauce could be a little cloying if you’re going bun-less (so don’t). it’s quite a generous mound of meat, so eat whatever doesn’t fit between the buns with the crisp salad on the side.

you get a choice of sides – and I usually go for just a salad, but the onion rings are thick and pretty decent, even if it came slightly greasy this time. and if you’re into beer – their daily specials are usually a tad cheaper than the other menu options.

the dempsey hill outlet is a little dark and small – basically a porch with a couple indoor seats – and doesn’t have the character of the one at riverside point. but it’s still a decent place to get a meal (without overpaying, as the locale would typically require), and relax at the end of a long day.

Brewerkz Microbrewery
18 Dempsey Road
Singapore 249677
tel +65 6634 1229
$$: easily under thirty a person, which is almost a steal

&made burger bistro, pacific plaza

I am back! I’m going to pretend you are just about excited about this as I am – it’s possibly the longest hiatus between posts on this blog, and I feel a vengeance. you never know how obsessive connected you are to your electronics until you’re separated.

we’ll start the engine up with a set of rather out-of-the-ordinary photos taken at this okay cafe at pacific plaza. I’ve been here before (how has it been two years since!) – and it maintains its rather meh-but-edible status.

chopsuey cafe, martin road

fantastic, fantastic space, and really good food – chopsuey at martin road is a jewel in the p.s. cafe’s trove of consistent-though-expensive restaurants, and is one of my new favorite restaurants.

the place revolves around a menu that supposedly dishes up the american take on chinese food – and I say supposedly, because while that class of cuisine comes with gloppy sauces, overcooked meats, and rather tastes overwhelmingly of orange and sesame (I admit though, that panda express can be pretty good in the right situation), chopsuey instead serves a refined version without all those rather overwhelming characteristics.

the food is well-executed (chopsuey is like the asian take on the american take on asian, and we are asian, after all), the portions are surprisingly big, and the space lends itself to more than a little bantering with friends. very, very, very well-done.

dancing crab, the grandstand at turf city

great seafood – both cooked in a bag, and out – though a tad expensive, at this currently packed-to-the-roof seafoodery at the very-out-of-the-way grandstand at turf city. this is probably the only outstanding my favourite tunglok eatery – it’s a take on the american crab boil or new orlean boiled seafood in a bag concept that’s taking on in singapore.

it’s very trendy, so I had to wait a while to escape the hypeish period and land a table (reservations accepted, thankfully) – and I’m glad to report that while the boil-in-a-bag concept might be pretty gimmicky, it’s backed up by some stellar cooking. very much worth a visit, even with the price and location (which I think says a lot).

coq & balls, tiong bahru

so-so brunch at this small cafe-bar-bistro in tiong bahru. this place is kind of meh – the food is just about alright – in that I would visit if I were living just a block away – but otherwise, it’s not entirely worth the trip.

and, such a deliberately provocative, scandal-inciting sort of name. almost definitely thought up by men – if the joy had by my male dining companions were anything to go by.

n.b. that is a photo of literal twiddling thumbs because I had confiscated the coffee to photograph. the camera eats first!