chili’s, clarke quay

as-you’d-expect – which is to say, good for simple, filling meals – at this american tex-mex chain outlet at the central in clarke quay. let’s cut to the chase: this isn’t gourmet, and it’s not trying to be. it’s full-on american diner-steakhouse type food served in large portions, and it (almost singlehandedly, actually) fills a niche gap in the singapore dining scene that I think many of us didn’t know existed.

it’s casual dining in a large space with very-american-style diner booth seats, incredibly enthusiastic staff, and a boisterous atmosphere that lends best to loud gatherings (impression fostered also by their myriad alcohol promotions) – but all that aside, this place has a killer bread pudding: one of the best, most satisfying non-chocolate puddings I’ve had in a while.

cha cha cha mexican restaurant, holland village

agreeable tex-mexican at this open-air restaurant in holland village. I don’t have much experience with south american or mexican food – and tex-mex is probably the closest I’ve been (since this year).

it was a reticence set off by a traumatic carbplosion of an experience with my first ever burrito: beans and rice and guac and not much meat enveloped in a thick shroud of a tortilla – nothing I cared for a repeat of. so – I came with low expectations, and while I’m pretty darn sure the food here isn’t anything fantastic, it went down easily enough.