ALL ABOUT CEIL

Sunday, January 12, 2014

The Burgar Bar

It was a Sunday when i was there to utilise a voucher acquired online that will be expired on 15 January 2014.

This particular outlet is located right across the Pasir Panjang MRT station. When you cross the road, just look for the prominent signboard that is quite unlikely to be missed. We were there at about 1.40 pm. We expected it to be crowded on Sunday but there was only 2 other tables occupied then. We were quickly ushered to a corner table then presented with the menu rather quickly.

The value of the voucher is $20 so we decided to go with Royale with Cheese Burger ($12), Swiss Shroom Burger ($13) and a Root Beet Float ($5.50).

The Root Beet Float came first. I took a few pictures and left it aside.

Both burgers served at the same time. The friendly waiter pointed out the name of the burger respectively. Both burger sets came with fries, a slice of tomato and a leaf of lettuce. The patties were done medium well unless specially requested.

Royale with Cheese is a classic cheese burger with their supposedly hand crafted patty with a piece of aged cheddar cheese then smothered with BBQ sauce and onion marmalade served in between the sesame bun.

It was a simple burger with a pretty simple taste as well.

Though the patty was done at medium-well but it still left with a certain juiciness though the texture was not tightly packed as it broken into pieces when you cut it. Maybe, it just not meant to be eaten using the knife and fork as i was not done with pictures taking so i did not want to dirty my hands.

If i am to give a score then the overall rating for Royale with Cheese Burger is 3/5. It did not taste too fantastic but it was rather acceptable and if i am gonna compare it to the popular Quarter Pounder Burger by a certain fast food chain then this one tasted a little better.

The Swiss Shroom Burger consists of a beef patty, sauteed Shitake mushroom together with a piece of melted Swiss cheese with garlic aioli on a wholemeal bun.

The Swiss Shroom Burger tasted very much like the commonly available Mushroom Swiss Burger by another prominent Fast Food chain but slightly better. It was a tad messy when eating it as the bits of mushroom kept falling out.

Though Swiss Cheese used but it has absolutely no effect to enhance the overall taste of the burger. It was not too bad if lower down the expectations. The patty was done at medium-well too but the general texture was a bit too soft so it did not have much effect to hold the patty tightly. It crumbled easily into smaller pieces when cut it.

The patty has got little beefy taste. It tasted a slightly plain actually.

The overall rating for the Swiss Shroom Burger is 2.5/5.

The fries did not serve together with the burger but served it much later in a basket. Apparently the only item that left a slightly impression was the fries. The portion served was definitely generous. It was served unsalted and you are expected to salt it using the bottle of salt placed on the table. The crispiness was still there even after left it for a bit.

You might want to take note that the set lunches are only available on the Weekdays and not available on Weekends though there is no where stated in the poster.

FATBOY'S THE BURGER BAR

122 Pasir Panjang Road SINGAPORE 118544.

Friday, January 10, 2014

My Encounter with THE FAT ELVIS, the Burger.

I was there before attending a movie event nearby on a Wednesday evening. Though my favourite Chicken Rice is located in the same coffee shop but my purpose is for that humble looking stall that supposedly served one of the yummiest burgers in town. I was there for a few times but no luck since their relocation in August 2013 from Bestway Building near Shenton Way to this coffee shop at Waterloo Street.

It must be my lucky day on that day. I could not quite describe the overwhelming excitement then. It was the first time when i chanced upon them when the shutter of the stall is not down. No one was there at that moment. I spent a bit of time to study their menu board and decided what to eat. I waited for a few moments then i spotted a tall chap waving his hand while walking towards us.

That tall chap is the owner cum chef of this stall named Keith. He greeted us then to take down our orders. We decided to go with THE FAT ELVIS ($11) and BACON CHEESE BURGER ($9.50). We decided to upgrade the fries for one of the sets to Truffle Fries for a difference of $2 paid. We were informed that only 2 slices of pork bacon were left for the day. He offered to use the Turkey Bacon for one of the burgers and took out $1 from the price. We were asked for the expected done-ness for the patties of both burgers. We decided to have it at medium and medium-well respectively.

That man was working all alone. I offered to make the payment first but was told to do it later. I was not quite sure whether self-service is expected so we decided to sit at the table right in front of the stall.

The waiting time was about 15 minutes or so. He approached our table with THE FAT ELVIS ($11) first. It is a tall burger nicely stacked with all the ingredients in between the buns held together by a satay stick. I was a little skeptical at first when i read the description of the burger stated on the menu.

This is their best selling burger and listed as one of the 5 fave artisanal burgers by Makansutra. It is actually a beef burger loaded with Peanut Butter, Crispy Bacon and the least expected Tempura Banana.

I honestly do not know what to expect from the combination of Peanut Butter with Tempura Banana. The taste of both is actually 2 extremes. I was skeptical. I quickly picked up my camera and shooting it. When seeing me doing so, Keith approached our table with a spray bottle consisting the truffle oil to spray a few times on the fries as he said the taste might not be too intense if the fries were left for a little too long. Such effort is commendable. I could feel his passion in presenting the best possible taste to his customers.

I continued to shoot another few pictures before deciding to take a bite of the fries. I could distinctly taste the flavor derived from the truffle oil. It still tasted good even after it turned soggy. The portion of the fries served was definitely generous.

I was eager to have my first mouthful with great anticipation. I decided to have it cut into halves to share it with my dinner partner. I tasted the peanut butter coated crispy bacon first. I totally never quite expect the sweet taste of the creamy peanut butter to complement the crispiness and the taste of bacon so completely. The harmonious combination further amazed me when i took a bite of it with slices of tempura banana. It just went well. The sweetness of the banana blended in perfectly. The patty was done nicely at medium as requested. It was still beautifully pink right within. It was grilled delightfully to give it the desired flavor and the texture. The freshly baked brioche buns tasted impressively soft with an amazing fluffiness.

The overall taste was quite uniquely unforgettable.

The BACON CHEESE BURGER is actually the upgraded version from their basic burger. The nicely grilled 120 grams all beef patty though requested to be done at Medium-well but it still has a pretty pinkishness in it. It was not overly done but still retained the expected tenderness and juiciness. A piece of melted cheese was laid on it before topped with strips of crispy bacon in between the freshly baked brioche buns.

The overall taste made this a worthy burger under $10. It definitely tasted good though not quite outstanding.

While eating, Keith came over to chat. He happened to visit Hong Kong in last December too so we started sharing our food experiences and some of those eateries worth visiting there.

I attempted to compare his burgers to another burger outlet located in a coffee shop at Bukit Merah. And, we actually enjoyed his burgers much more at a lower price range.

We were told to come back to try the BBQ PORK next round as it is one of the creations nicely crafted to give it the perfect taste. And, the next burger that i want to try is THE MUSHROOM burger.

We requested Keith to post for a picture and he spontaneously obliged. So, here is the handsome and passionate Owner cum Chef of meat packing district that served one of the better burgers in town.

UPDATE: It's rather sad to know that decision has been made to close Meat Packing District as announced by Keith on their facebook on 27 January 2014.

MEAT PACKING DISTRICT

Block 261 Waterloo Steet Food Summons Coffee Shop SINGAPORE 180261.

Monday, January 6, 2014

A Thai Affair.

NAKHON KITCHEN

212 Hougang Street 21 #01-341 SINGAPORE 530212.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Lunch at Tiong Bahru Food Centre

I was there on the last day of 2013 for lunch.

I'd think this particular bowl of messy looking Yong Tau Foo served with Fishball Noodle was quite a surprise. I was there rather late and most items have already sold out then. I was given the option of Mee Kia with Yong Tau Foo as suggested by the friendly Auntie at $4.

I did not get to choose the items. What i got was a mixture of everything like cuttlefish, green chilli with fish paste, bitter gourd with fish paste, tau pok with fish paste, fish dumplings, fishballs with kang kong.