Tip Top - The Puff Daddy

While searching for a plastic Xmas tree to transform Singapore's equatorial climate into a cool Alpine forest, I happened upon Tip Top - The Puff Factory, in Plaza Singapura. Being English, I'm a bit of a curry puff fan; it combines two of England's national dishes into one - the crimped pastry case of a Cornish Pasty and the spicy warmth of an English curry. Tip Top goes a step further by chucking a hard boiled egg in there for good measure.

The puff is crisp yet yielding in texture, with a filling that is dense and moreish. The curry is deep hued and perfectly seasoned with the egg-citement of it's additional surprise ingredient. Some commentators have noted that the prices have gone up recently, while the size has diminished, but in my mind these are certainly the best Curry Puffs I've tasted in Singapore.

No Senso

When the search for great food starts to feel like climbing Everest, you need a 'Food Sherpa' who's going to get you to the top of the gastronomic mountain. You need a guide; a waiter who knows the menu back to front. What you do not need is some kind of 'yes man' servant who gives the impression of lightening your load, yet allows you to fluff the directions, ending with you both perishing in a culinary wasteland...

Eating out should be an adventure. I like to be whisked away for few of hours, to a faraway place where the food, atmosphere and service seamlessly interact. Service should add to the illusion rather than detract from it. Constant re-filling of water/wine, cutlery fiddling and napkin straightening, bordering on OCD, can be seen as 'attentive' - or just plain annoying.

Good service for me is a smile, and, yes, an opinion. I want a bit of passion, not a fawning “whatever Sir desires” while I try to choose one of the eight dishes I have narrowed the menu down to. Even in 2 and 3 Michelin star restaurants you get a smile and an opinion – it's not all starch and stuffiness. Non-committal just gets my (mountain) goat.

So this is what goes through my head as I sit wincing to the soundtrack of waiters clattering my cutlery, cutting the atmosphere of Club Street's up-market Italian restaurant, Senso, like a pick axe.

Senso's opulent menu bulges with Lobsters, truffles, Barolos and Brunellos, but all I want is something a little more 'rustic'. I order the Homemade Ravioli stuffed with braised Veal shank, served with Porcini Mushrooms sauce ($26), while my dining partners get into the Lobster and truffles with Homemade Taglierini Pasta with Boston Lobster and fresh Basil ($32) and Homemade Fettuccine Pasta in Butter sauce with Italian Summer Black Truffle ($ 30).

I know the ravioli is homemade because, sadly, the pasta is too thick. It is less of a fluffy pillow than a sack made of window putty, but the sauce and filling are tasty nonetheless. The Lobster and truffle choices get a reluctant thumbs up from my table guests – it seems the non-committal response is rubbing off.

The luxurious truffle seems to permeate every corner of the menu from the fettuccine starter to the fillet beef main with it's black truffle sauce, Filetto di Manzo Australiano con salsa al tartufo nero, verdurine e Gnocchi alla Romana ($38). Over-truffling your menu, like over-attentive service, is just over-compensating as far as I'm concerned. The pretentiousness hides the sad truth that the food just isn't good enough.

I do get a glimpse of some personality from two of the waiters as they arrive with my main of Traditional Veal Ossoboccu with Lemon 'Gremolata' on Rosemary Polenta Mousse ($38). One of the guys hides the individual pot of ossobucco while the other wishes me “buon appetito” with my polenta. As I'm about to question the whereabouts of my slow-cooked veal the little joker produces the pot from behind his back with a chuckle. The joke would have been funny it it weren't for the dried up piece of veal that I'm served that has the consistency of a hiking boot.

James Martin - Dish Of The Day

Heartthrob chef and fulltime Yorkshireman James Martin from BBC Lifestyle was in Singapore recently for a food and wine event that was less about food and wine and more of a battle of who out of the female ex-pat crowd fancied James the most.

James seemed to be used to the attention but even he appeared uneasy at audience questions that included 'James, will you marry me?' and 'James, can you fertislise my eggs please?' At least no one asked him to get out his meat and 2 veg...

StarHugs

Although James' food was actually rather tasty, neither the home crowd of Singaporeans nor the expat contingent were eating anything. While the ex-pats were lustily necking back the wine, the Singaporean girls were busy watching their weight and staring open-mouthed at the sight of half-cut Brits launching themselves at James.

James - I wanted your plums...

The food was matched with wines from Beringer, a company that obviously had a pretty good idea of the crowd they were catering to. Lashings of sparkling White Zin were gulped down by the waiting throng who were taken by the comforting flavours of what tasted like strawberry cordial with bubbles.

With the Asian-influenced risotto of crab and chili, Beringer's Ambassador had matched an oaky, smoky Beringer Founder's Estate Chardonnay, a marriage that was the most welcome of the evening. Notably, even the bawdiest of Brits tucked into the food and resisted the urge to blurt out any crab-related jokes.

The least adventurous of the food and wine pairings was the Beringer Founder's Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with Slow Roast Beef and Wild Mushroom with Smoked garlic pommes puree, which seemed more of a palate cleanser than a food match. While the updated Brit beef classic with it's Gallic twang showed flair, the wine lacked real personality with it's pedestrian blackcurrant flavours and smooth, yet bitter finish.

Ironically the dusted-strawberry sweetness of the sparkling zin was not misplaced as a match for the 3,000 calorie White Chocolate, Whisky and Croissant Butter Pudding with vanilla ice-cream and a second pudd, Caramelized Lemon Tart with Crème Fraiche. To his credit, James held back any compulsion to make an amusing reference to 'tarts' that might have ended the cash-cow that is his live food circuit – he knows which side his bread and butter pudding is buttered on...

However, he did manage to slip one in there - a joke of course - about Balsamic vinegar, likening it to an older women. Apparently, as it ages it 'gets more expensive and thicker'! Brilliant! The crowd seemed too inebriated or mesmerized by James' cheeky yorkshire brogue to care.

I made the effort - long trousers

As the ladies stumbled off into the night I thought it a shame that it may have been a wasted opportunity to try James' food at it's best, and also to sample some higher-end Beringer wines that were in their portfolio. I'm sure I was the only one – everyone else seemed to be having a whale of a time regardless! The only dish they were interested in was James...

Check out the photos from Starhub right here:

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