Gullible Travels

Arbite

POSTED ON Sunday, December 21, 2014 AT 5:01 PM \ leave a comment (0)

Serangoon Gardens is known to house many chill-out places and lots of good local and international food. Household names like Chomp Chomp hawker centre, Pow Sing Chicken Rice, Wimbly Lu and Dessert Bowl are always popular hangouts for residents and visitors alike. Joining this unique class of eateries is Arbite, a Western food joint that fuses Singaporean flavours into popular European dishes..

designed in a very casual and spacious setting on the second level of a shophouse, this simple definition of the term Arbite can be found within the restaurant. on top of coming up with fusion creations, another key feature for the food here would be their affordable pricing, thus going by the owners' ethos of bringing good food to the masses. we took awhile to pore through their menu, before deciding on a few of their favourites.

this Asian spiced lamb shanks served with mashed potatoes was recommended and was a pleasant surprise. we love lamb pretty much and there are not many places that serve really fresh cuts since its not the most high-in-demand kind of meat in Singapore. the lamb shanks served at Arbite is tender, has the spices well-marinated into the meat and tasted pretty good. another interesting dish worth trying would be the XO duck tagliatelle. the pasta base was prepared with XO sauce and some spice, giving the dish a kick that's probably inspired by mee pok. the duck slices turned out to be a surprisingly good accompaniment and this turned out to be one of our favourite dishes for the night.

Arbite serves an all-day-breakfast menu as well, also with a fusion twist. not wanting to go for the typical brunch food, we ordered a dish called Duck and eggs, which turned out to be essentially minced duck served together with poached eggs on a brioche bread with Hollandaise sauce. it's not bad, but doesn't stand out as much as their mains. maybe we can try something more unique such as the recommended Liu Sha french toast next time.

but like the other chill-out places in Serangoon Gardens, finger food, dessert and beer is a must. over here, there's the full works of truffle fries, oysters and other finger food to go with the draught beers. however, their highlight ought to be their desserts such as their specialty called 'My Wife's Chocolate Cake' and their panna cotta. Arbite is a nice place for a date or a chillax night out with friends, just don't miss out on their chocolate cake!

Arbite
66A Serangoon Garden Way
Singapore 555962

Opening Hours
Tuesdays to Fridays: 11.30 am to 3 pm; 6 pm to 10.30 pm
Saturdays and Sundays: 11 am to 10.30 pm
(closed on Mondays)

Inspired by Europe but rooted in Singapore

Uncle Leong Seafood

POSTED ON Sunday, December 07, 2014 AT 3:17 PM \ leave a comment (0)

traditional local seafood restaurants would always have a special place in our tastebuds. and we've seen the most enterprising of the lot such as Seafood Paradise along Defu Lane grow into the Paradise Group we know today. for the other more industrious ones, many have been serving up good local food for a very long time. and along with the likes of Mellben and No Signboard, Uncle Leong Seafood comes to mind..

like everyone else, they built their reputation starting out from coffee shops, with many of the seniors remembering them for the quality of their tze char. of course, crab and prawn dishes remain their specialty till this day and their restaurant is still a favourite place for family gatherings and dinners. in fact, their main outlet is actually tucked within an industrial building in Toa Payoh, and this has not stopped patrons from visiting the place.

one of their signature dish is this Shimmering Crab Delight, a fairly large crab prepared in pumpkin sauce and butter. other popular crab dishes would include their claypot crab bee hoon soup as well as their black pepper crab bee hoon. the crabs that they serve are larger in size and has enough flesh to go with their signature sauce, bringing out a very rich flavour.

regulars to Uncle Leong will also recommend you to try the Gold Coast prawns, which are essentially prawns fried with cereal and their signature sauce. there was a tinge of spice to it, but it was generally a tad too salty. we went for the Chye Poh Red Groupa instead. the fish was fresh and had ample meat to go around. the gravy and the chye poh somehow also went very well with the dish. for the more traditional ones, this fish can also be prepared Teochew or Hong Kong steamed style.

very rarely do the carb dishes get mentioned for such seafood restaurants. however, the Signature Hor Fun that is served here deserves some mention. unlike the typical coffeeshop fare for hor fun, Uncle Leong's version comes in their unique blend of sauce that is both aromatic and a little spicy. topped with seafood, sliced pork and vegetables, this is hor fun with a twist. in all, i guess i'd still rate Mellben slightly ahead of this, but considering the atrocious queues and mad-cap parking situations there, Uncle Leong is a very good alternative. and afterall, nobody has that special hor fun..

Uncle Leong Seafood
15 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, #01-01
Singapore 319262

Opening Hours
Mondays to Fridays: 12 pm to 10 pm
Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays: 2 pm to 11 pm

Somebody actually held their wedding party here..