Tash Tish Tosh Part III

Is it my imagination or is it every time we visit Tash Tish Tosh, the food keeps better and better?
Since our last review, they have actually shifted operations from Onan Road over to Alibabar in Katong. Well, you'll be glad to know that the change in location has not lowered the standard of the food being served!

And when the Hungry Go Where Guest Instagrammer project came along, we knew it was time to visit TTT once again in search of Halal pasta!

White Star ($14.90 for 9-inch / $19.90 for 12-inch)

You're probably thinking back to our last post on TTT and saying to yourself "Eh... I thought you all already makan this White Star pizza... The one with the Shittake Mushrooms right?"
Well, you're right to say it's the same pizza but with one major difference!

In our last post, we showed you how thick the dough was for the pizzas at TTT.
Well, they've decided to make a change...

YEAH!!! THIN CRUST!!!
All pizzas at TTT now come in a thin crust which is the bomb! It's still ooey gooey and it's still plenty tasty but you won't need to have a chewing battle with the dough anymore. Important to note it's not a crispy thin crust but still a thin crust nonetheless.

Mr Porno obviously agrees with the decision as you can see.

Allo Allo ($8.90)

We decided to try the pasta at TTT for the first time and we started with a classic Alio Oglio which was renamed and jazzed up with some chicken ham and shittake mushrooms. And yes! Those are chilli padi slices waiting for you to chomp down!

But don't worry it's not that spicy. But it is pretty filling being pasta and all.
And does anyone else get the pun with the name? (Think British comedy!!)

Beef Carbo ($8.90)

You might remember this from our Guest Instagrammer feature spot on HungryGoWhere. Definitely the first pasta of its kind that we've sampled I can tell you that much.

A creamy based pasta with asparagus and beef bacon. Haven't seen that combination anywhere else I'll say that. Definitely unique! Generous serving with everything on the plate so prepare to be stuffed!

But no matter how stuffed we are...

We'll always have space for the famous TTT Buffalo Wings aka THE BOMB

Adam's Verdict:
White Star 4.5/5 -- Allo Allo 2.5/5 -- Beef Carbo 3.5/5 -- Buffalo Wings 5/5

Azlan's Verdict:
White Star 4/5 -- Beef Carbo 3/5 -- Buffalo Wings 5/5

Raffiq's Verdict:
White Star 3/5 -- Buffalo Wings 4/5

A more laid back environment at the new location so you can go and lepak with your friends and family and have a chillax time-out. Buffalo Wings mau lebih!!

PS check out their new and improved menus! Complete with quote from The Halal Food Blog!
Hebat!!

And don't forget to check out the article at HungryGoWhere.com for the 5 Halal pasta dishes you MUST try featuring TTT!

Tash Tish Tosh

125 East Coast Road (inside Alibabar)

Tel: 90095628
www.facebook.com/tashtishtoshps

Operating Hours:
12pm to 2pm / 6pm to 10pm (Mondays to Fridays)
12pm to 11pm (Saturdays and Sundays)

Pizza Hut Signature Series - Pesto Gusto & Wild About Mushrooms

So my darling wife and I were headed home from a check-up one day and we decided to grab some makan before making our way back home. We were actually at a loss and didn't know what to eat.
And then we remembered something special cooking at Pizza Hut.

The Pizza Hut Signature Series is a special range of pizzas which features a special "hand-stretched thin crust" topped with some special toppings for our makan delight.

They had 5 special pizzas.
We decided to try the 2 which seemed like the ones we would enjoy the most.

Pesto Gusto

Pesto Gusto is a pesto-based pizza. It also includes BBQ chicken slices, cherry tomatoes and also almond flakes. And of course - Cheese!

Well, this definitely counts as a unique pizza created specially for this Signature Series but I'm not so sure I quite enjoyed it... I guess the pesto base was not bad and a change from the usual tomato sauce-based pizzas we are so accustomed to. Maybe that's what the cherry tomatoes were for?

I personally felt that the worse part of this pizza was the BBQ chicken slices.
They were pretty tasteless and were actually sliced a little bit too thick maybe?

Wild About Mushrooms

Now this was definitely a pizza I quite preferred.
Most probably because I am literally Wild About Mushrooms!

Here you have a cream-based pizza with truffled mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, arugula (aka rocket).
This pizza actually has 3 of my fave things to eat - mushrooms, cheese and Arugula.
I am so the Mushrooms and Arugula guy by the way.

The mushrooms did have a hint of the truffle oil and definitely had a nice woody and earthy flavour to them. I quite like them this way but I can imagine a few who might not enjoy such a strong mushroom flavour. Again the cherry tomatoes did nothing for me and the cream base went well.

But I must say... A little stingy with the Rocket are we eh Pizza Hut???

Okay so anyways between the 2 pizzas it was actually not too bad.
You can also choose Seafood Symphony (Scallops, Prawns and Squid), Tropical Dream (Chicken Ham, Pineapple and Cream Cheese) or Pumpkin Garden (Pumpkin, Shimeji mushrooms and Cream Cheese).

But there's something else I'd like to point out...

Hand-stretched is one thing but I thought they said this was gonna be a THIN CRUST???
That doesn't look very thin to me buddy.

Adam's Verdict:
Pesto Gusto 2/5 --  Wild About Mushrooms 3/5
Maryah's Verdict:
Pesto Gusto 2.5/5
You can order a meal for 2 which comes with a pizza plus some extras for $28.
A meal for 4 is $48 or you can order the Hand-stretched pizzas a la carte for $19.90.

Pizza Hut

26 Restaurants Island-wide

Delivery Hotline: 62353535
www.pizzahut.com.sg

Cafe Le Caire

First of all, let me apologize for the quality of the photographs.
We used an actual camera but the dining area was very very very dimly lit so the shots turned out a little dark/blur in the end.

If someone were to say Cafe Le Caire, probably a handful of people would say they knew the place. But if I was to say Al-Majlis, I'm guessing more people would recognize the name. To be honest, I'm one of those people who didn't really take note of the actual name of the restaurant when I last visited.

Cafe Le Caire has been around since 2001 and is one of the more popular hangout joints in the Arab Street area. It labels itself as a cafe but it's more like a full-fledged restaurant. Lots of people visit to get a hearty meal and hangout with friends while smoking some shisha.

I've visited a few times in the past and figured it was finally time to feature it because it's definitely still one of the most popular hangout spots.

Hummus Bil Laham ($6.80)

Here at The Halal Food Blog, we love our Hummus to come with some meat. One of the best Hummus we've ever had was the Hummus with Minced Beef from Anar. In fact, we loved it so much that it's our profile pic on our FB page!

Here at Cafe Le Caire, you can have your Hummus with some pieces of grilled lamb.
The Hummus was creamy and quite tasty but unfortunately it was a little dry. Would have been nice to have more olive oil served with it I guess.

I think one of the biggest letdowns was that the roasted lamb was actually cold. It would have been nice if they had at least heated it up a little bit... But that being said, I have to say that the lamb was very very tender. I quite enjoyed it but would definitely have enjoyed it even more if it had been warmed up.

Mushroom Platter ($12.00)

Oh you all know I love mushrooms. And since I'm so greedy I went and ordered a 2nd appetizer! :P

The Mushroom Platter is a nice mixture of spiced and marinated Portabello, Abalone and Button mushrooms. This was at least served a little warm. Nice earthy and woody mushroom flavour. Very very tasty dish and a definite choice for mushroom lovers.

Just make sure you have someone to share with because the serving is bigger than it looks!

Kabsa Laham ($15.00)

The Kabsa Laham is available only on Fridays so we decided to grab our chance.
Hmmmm... maybe we should have thought twice.

Again, we were served a dish that was not heated up. The rice was cold and the lamb was warm at best.
I'm not sure if the server had taken too long to bring the dish to us? We didn't really have to wait that long leh...

Anyways the rice wasn't really that tasty. The lamb was tender but definitely strong on the spices (especially cardamom). If you like a strong spice flavour, this is definitely a dish you might want to consider. And the serving is very generous so you can share between at least 2-3 people and grab some other side dishes as well.

But overall, I think we were really expecting this dish to be the bomb since it's a specialty that's only served on one day of the week. Quite disappointing to be honest.

Cleopatra ($6.00) and Karkadeh Fizz ($5.00)

The Cleopatra is basically a fancy name for a mixture of Pink Guava, Mango and Orange juices.
Nice and strong citrus flavour for those who enjoy.

Karkadeh is actually Hibicus Tea. I remember having it the last time and quite enjoyed it so I thought I'd try the fizzy version this time. Unfortunately the fizzy water really took away from the flavour. I'd recommend to take the non-fizzy version if you wanna try.

Adam's Verdict:
Hummus Bil Laham 3/5 -- Mushroom Platter 4/5 -- Kabsa Laham 1.5/5 -- Karkadeh Fizz 1.5/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Hummus Bil Laham 2.5/5 -- Kabsa Laham 2/5 -- Cleopatra 2.5/5

Some of the dishes are quite value for money but I guess you can see that some dishes could be considered a little pricey. But remember, this is quite an upscale place in an upscale area so prices might be on the high side for some things.

Well, whether you like the food or not, Cafe Le Caire aka Al-Majlis is still a firm favourite.
There are so many things to try so we will probably visit a few more times. Hopefully the food will be heated up the next time we visit :)

Cafe Le Caire @ Al-Majlis

39 Arab Street

Tel: 6292 0979 / 6297 0573
www.cafelecaire.com

Operating Hours:
10.00am til 3.30am Sundays til Thursdays
10.00am til 5.30am Fridays, Saturdays and Eve of PH

Swensen's - Spaghetti Aglio Olio

Spaghetti Aglio Olio ($12.50)

Okay so Swensen's is not the first name that comes to mind when you think of pasta.
But since the revamped their menu a few years back, they have quite a few pasta dishes to offer.

Favourites include their Crayfish Pasta, Black Pepper Seafood Pasta and Baked Rice choices.
But one pasta dish that most people seem to enjoy is Aglio Olio.

The Spaghetti Aglio Olio at Swensen's is quite a generous serving actually.
The pasta was okay and the mushroom and garlic flavour really do come through very well. A little bit on the salty side though...

One thing to note is that it is quite spicy! If you look closely, you can see the cut chili padi!

Maryah's Verdict:
Spaghetti Aglio Olio 2/5

I guess there may be other places for you to have a better dish of pasta but if "you're SO going Swensen's" then you know that have a pretty decent one to offer if you really want some pasta.

Swensen's

Changi Airport Terminal 2
Mezzanine Level, Arrival Hall North,

Tel: 6542 8219
http://www.swensens.com.sg

Operating Hours: 24 Hours Daily

Swensen's - Breakfast

My darling wife tells me one day that Swensen's offers a special breakfast menu on weekends and public holidays. This is big news because they were offering a dish that I was absolutely obsessed with at the time...

So we put in our best efforts to wake up early on weekends when I wasn't working so we could visit Swensen's. It would only be like 2 months later that we finally managed to make our way down!
Would it be worth it?

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict ($12.90)

Eggs Benedict!
I'm a sucker for Eggs Benedict and I'm a sucker for smoked salmon.
So with this dish, I'm automatically a double sucker!

And it's pretty rare to find a Halal version of Eggs Benedict because it normally consists of ham or bacon instead of the smoked salmon. So thankfully there seems to be a new trend of this Halal version being offered at a few eateries so that's great!

Did you know that Eggs Benedict with smoked salmon (instead of ham) is actually called 'Eggs Hemingway'?

So how were the Eggs Benedict at Swensen's?
Well....

Unfortunately the eggs were not very well-poached. When I think of Eggs Benedict, I think of poking into the egg and the runny yolk just flows out and spreads the whole thing with yolky goodness. The yolk in this case was pretty much just about 4/5 cooked so it was mostly solid with just a little bit of runny parts left as you can see from the picture above.

The Hollandaise Sauce (normally egg yolks, butter and lemon juice) was a little bit on the sour side. Perhaps too much lemon juice I reckon? Plus it only came with some baked beans and no other trimmings like a side salad or anything like that so many might find the price tag a little hefty.

The best part of the whole dish was the sourdough bread the eggs are served on.
Swensen's still has some of the best sourdough I've ever had and that was the best part of this dish.

Hearty Steak & Eggs ($14.90)

The other dish we tried was the Hearty Steak & Eggs.
That's right. Steak for breakfast. Fierce or what!

It comes with a slab of steak (which is a pretty decent size) smothered in sauteed onions and mushrooms, a sunny-side up, BBQ baked beans and 2 special buns with a surprise inside!

In case you were wondering, those are the BBQ baked beans that come with both the Eggs Benedict and the Hearty Steak and Eggs. They're actually not bad at all!

The 2nd picture shows the steak all sliced up. Not really the thickest steak ever (well, it IS breakfast) but it's cooked well enough so that it's still tender and juicy. Unfortunately the sunny-side up was again a disappointment. I guess Swensen's just doesn't do eggs the way I like em...

Oh and I almost forgot the buns!

Surprise!

That's actually baked honey butter cream in the middle of a Ciabatta bun!
It's actually really tasty! Just think of soft butter with a sweet honey tinge to it!

Adam's Verdict:
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict 2/5 -- Hearty Steak & Eggs 3/5

Maryah's Verdict:
Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict 1.5/5 -- Hearty Steak & Eggs 2.5/5

There are actually quite a number of other breakfast items being offered. More traditional breakfast favourites like pancake, waffles, french toast, omelettes and even sandwiches!

But yet again, the service at the Tampines Mall Swensen's left a lot to be desired.
Not the first time but I sure hope it's the last time.

Swensen's (Tampines Mall)

Tampines Mall
4 Tampines Central 5, #03-30
www.swensens.com.sg
Tel: 6781 5489

Operating Hours:
10.30am-10.30pm (Weekdays)
8am-10.30pm (Weekends)