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Is it possible to find traditional Singaporean food on Orchard Rd?

As many of you know, Singapore is an example of a country that's gone through light-speed economic development in the past 30 years. I've been returning to Singapore almost yearly since I've lived there in 2008, I'm still surprised how many things continue to change on a yearly basis.

The new Duxton HDB complex provides a huge contrast to the old shophouses in the Chinatown area

It's hard to imagine that Singapore's food culture, maybe about 40 years ago, looked like Penang, with open carts in the streets, hawkers organizing themselves in a car park after hours. In fact, a number of Singaporeans are worried that their food culture and heritage is getting lost, especially with the explosion of blogs and articles on Singapore's vanished hawker centers. 

Link: http://remembersingapore.org/2012/08/27/singapores-vanished-markets-and-hawker-centres/

 On my most recent trip, I thought I'd try to find some "old fashioned" food on Orchard Road, Singapore's most premium shopping street, filled with mid-end and high-end malls. Although Orchard Road does have many fine restaurants, like Ding Tai Fung's soup dumplings in Wisma Atria, most choices are all air-conditioned inside a mall.

While shopping on Orchard Road, I asked the young cashier if there's any good places for chicken rice, but in a hawker center setting. The response surprised me - he said there's a good place down the road, but he was concerned it would be too hot, as it was an outside setting. A hawker center on Orchard Road? Seems out of place!

I walked about 2-3 blocks (considered far in the cashier's mind), to the corner of Orchard and Cavenaugh Road, next to the Concorde hotel, I came across a hawker center, nearly invisible and ignored under the towering malls and hotels nearby.There were only a few patrons eating lunch there, maybe because it was already past lunch. And as the cashier mentioned, it was warm, but nothing out of the ordinary in Singapore. Fans throughout the hawker center helped to keep the air flowing, and send enticing aromas my way..

Sure enough, there was a Boon Kee chicken rice stall, with a full set (chicken, rice, soup, vegetables) was available for only S$6.50.The stall next door, selling oyster omlettes, another favorite of mine, was not yet open, but it was clear the operators were preparing for the evening, with the trays of brown chicken eggs occupying most of the counter.

I had only 24 hours in Singapore, and having Hainanese chicken rice was on the top of my list. Fragrant rice, flavored with chicken stock and pandan, served with a side of soft slices of poached chicken, with ginger and chili sauce on the side. A plate of vegetables and a light chicken soup helped to round out the meal. My lunch craving was satisfied!

Of interesting note - the previous picture of the stalls still has the old name of the oyster omlette store as "Orchard Road Car Park Fried Oyster Omlette".  According to the previously linked blog, the Orchard Road Car Park hawker center was demolished in 1978, and the hawkers were re-settled into another location. I find it interesting that 36 years later, the stall still retains the name of the old stall as "Orchard Road Car Park". As Orchard Road (and the rest of Singapore) continues to develop, what will happen to these old hawker centers? Will they disappear into modernization? Although I appreciate the convenience of eating inside an air conditioned food court in a mall, there's something special about eating in an outside environment that hasn't changed in years.

Location:
Boon Kee Chicken Rice, Hawker Center at the corner of Orchard and Cavenaugh Road, next to Centerpoint Mall and the Concorde Hotel

Amazing fish soup specialists. Either hand made fish meatballs or silky soft slices of  fish. They add some milk into the soup too. Fresh ginger and onion makes the soup feel very light..

Are there affordable mid-range restaurants in Stockholm?

A few weeks ago, we were fortunate enough to have a chance to visit Stockholm, Sweden, for a long-weekend trip, and two friends from work also joined us as well. It was my first time to Sweden, and I knew that the Scandinavian countries were going to be expensive, especially when it came to dining out.

Our first night after arrival, we explored Ostermalm market, which is a beautiful old-European style market (like a grander version of Westside Market in Cleveland), with vendors selling all sorts of fres groceries, but particularly with a focus on seafood

Ostermalm Market in the evening

In the evening, some of the walkway areas are converted into table spaces, and a number of these vendors offer a full dinner service, or "after work", as they called it, seemingly like "Happy Hour" in the US. The evening crowd is quite interesting... small groups of well-dressed people, enjoying a wine and snack at the bar, or small groups huddled in quiet conversation around the tables.

Dining out in Scandinavian countries always appears as a very formal and elegant experience. Men in their jackets, women nicely dressed for an evening out, even if it's just eating inside a covered market. In fact, while having dinner at this market, we even saw a "night out" between a father and his young 5-8 year old daughter, who was dressed very nicely for what appeared to be a dinner out with dad.

While these dining experiences are enjoyable, it can get quite expensive as a tourist to be eating out so often. And in my previous experience in Denmark, as I noticed in Sweden, it's hard to find mid-range restaurant choices. Even for us, a meal inside the food market costed nearly SEK200 (US$30) per person, including drinks. And on lower end, there are kebab shops, and while tasty, they're probably not that good for you (ie, lots of salt in kebab meat), and still not that much cheaper at SEK100 (US$15). Were there any mid-market restaurants where we could find something that was better than a kebab, but cheaper than a full restaurant (or even market) experience?

Before our trip, one of Sen's colleagues, a native of Stockholm, had written down a place called Bakfickan, and I had also heard about it on the CHOW.COM forums, and on our last day, we decided to give it a try. I had some high hopes - Bakfickan, meaning "in the hip pocket", is a type of restaurant in Sweden that typically shares a chef or kitchen with a more well-known restaurant. In our case, Bakfickan was located in the bar behind the restaurant Operakallaren, with set menus starting at SEK995 (almost US$150 per person!). Instead of haute cuisine, Backfickan specialized in Swedish home cooking, like Swedish meatballs, something I could recognize from IKEA.

Finding this place wasn't easy - and it didn't help that we had to backtrack from our original location, because I had the wrong address in my head. The restaurant was near the Opera house, but the entrance wasn't as obvious as the Operakallaren. Maybe this was by design from an MBA graduate who wanted to make sure that Bakfickan didn't cannabalize the business from the higher-end restaurant next to it. After going around the side of the opera house, we finally found the door, and when we opened it, we saw this:

Dark wood paneling, accentued with a blue and white tile pattern along the walls, with a bar around the center, and high-top tables around the sides. The tables were designed for small, intimate groups, maybe 3-4 people at a maximum. The restaurant was quiet when we arrived, only 2 people sitting on a table overlooking the outside, with 2 staff members quietly working in the background. The day's two menu choices were written on the chalkboard behind the bar, but one area appeared erased, as Sen noticed, indicating the dish (a type of salmon) was sold out, as confirmed by the waiter. In addition to the day menu choices, there was a standard menu as well. Surprisingly, there was a section of the board that had a listing of vegetarian options as well! Unfortunately, if I'm paying expensive SEK, I should be buying meat instead of vegetables.

Knowing it was our only Swedish "home cooked' meal opportunity, I ordered Swedish meatballs, which came presented with a very smooth rendition of mashed potatoes, and Sen ordered a very tasty smoked sausage dish, also with a side of mashed potatoes and sauerkraut. Great value for the quality and presentation, as each dish was ~SEK150 each. Definitely healthier and better prepared than kebabs, and cheaper than going out to a full-service restaurant. After a long day of walking in the cold, these winter dishes were exactly what we needed for our last dinner in Stockholm before returning to the US

As we finished our meal around 9pm, a large group of male, English-speaking businessmen arrived, for what appeared to be a late after work meal. It was quite an international group, and including two younger people probably in their late 20's or 30's. I imagined that maybe these were some consultants (McKinsey? BCG?) getting dinner after work. Who doesn't enjoy a good meal after a long day?

Location: 
Bakfickan
Karl XII:S torg, adjacent to the Opera House
Stockholm, Sweden

Barcelona Part 3 - Seafood Dining

When going to Barcelona, I never thought that it was a seafood city, despite sitting on the northeast corner of Spain along the Mediterranean ocean.. it's more of a sign of my poor geography in that region. Certainly Spanish tapas was known for it's use of seafood (like calimari), but it didn't really come to mind as strongly as my association of Spanish food with ham and pork

Nonetheless - my European colleagues had booked a seafood dinner for us, in an appropriately-themed nautical restaurant called Botafumeiro. Apparently, the botafumeiro refers to the swaying chalices with smoke that were used in Catholic churches in the olden days, and can be seen in the restaurant's logo on the outside.

The nautical theme in the restaurant could be seen everywhere, from the wood and brass finishings inside the restaurant, to the navy-like white uniforms of the waitstaff. If you looked carefully, you could find the captain's wheel or brass speed indicators used as a lamp base.

Given that this restaurant was "restaurant marisqueria" (seafood restaurant), we had to order their seafood! But first - an appetizer of jamon iberico

Can't start dinner without some ham first

The restaurant's signature plate was a shellfish plate, which was waaay larger than expected, but delicious. Surprisingly, the shellfish tended to be more grilled, similar to a style you'd find in Malaysia/Singapore, instead of the more French style of boiling or lightly cooking in butter. Our plate had nearly everything: crabs, lobster tail, calimaris, huge prawns (actually, more correctly, langoustines, which are like prawns with claws), scallops, mussels. Pretty much if it had a shell, it was on the plate!
 

Does it have a shell? If yes - it's on this plate.

Since we were there for a conference, this restaurant did pretty good business for corporate clients, as a pharma company had booked this amazing looking library room for their guests. As expected for a place like this, it'll be definitely pricey. I think my colleagues felt a bit embrassed about the size of the bill, especially since we were on our own and not with customers. 

Private "Library Room" dining - don't think any librarian would approve of eating near books

In the end, a nice introduction for Spanish grillled seafood, a break from the typical tapas menu, and a fun night with colleagues.

Restaurant Botafumeiro

Carrer Gran de Gràcia, 81
BARCELONA
http://www.botafumeiro.es/en/home

Barcelona - Part 2 - Eating around town, beginning with tapas

Cervecería Catalana – was a hidden gem of a tapas recommendation from a friend who often travelled to Barcelona. We were already walking near the Passieg de Garcia area, near the Ramblas, and my colleagues hadn’t set any plans for dinner, so I suggested that we try this place, based on my friend's recommendation. 

If you’re not already familiar with tapas, they are Spanish “small plates”, almost like appetizers. There’s some debate on the origins of Spanish tapas, when literally translated means “covers” but one commonly held belief is that in the olden days, in order to prevent flies or other insects from getting into one’s drink, you could place an edible “cover” that would go over your drink, and these small appetizers would be placed over that cover. There are both warm and cold dishes, like patatas bravas, thinly shredded pan-friend potatoes, the incredibly tasty jamon Iberico – cured Spanish ham served with toastpoints, or cold dishes like calamari, tossed in olive oil. 

Jamon Iberico - best ham ever!

Set on a side street of one of the main tourist avenues, it’s a difficult to miss tapas restaurant. As we arrived for a typical late Spanish dinner around 8pm, there was already a long line of people waiting for tables in this tightly packed bar/restaurant, with the tables spilling onto the sidewalk for al fresco dining. There was this strong energy to the place – waiters moving quickly to serve their customers, a noisy bar where smaller groups were chatting and enjoying their drinks and tapas, all amid a very modern sleek décor.

 

There was about a 30 minute wait for a table for the four of us, so we took our drinks outside and were chatting, when we suddenly became the magnet for other Americans who were either ordering or considering eating at this place! Quite funny – as our group consisted of two Americans (including myself), and a Belgian and German colleague. Somehow, our group must have looked like some kind of eating experts, as one of the diners sitting outside near us started to ask us which dishes they should order!! (patatas bravas and the jamon Iberico were our recommendations). At nearly the same time, a couple from New York, who probably stumbled upon the place when hearing us talking about waiting for a table, and we struck up a great conversation with them, which made our waiting time go by very quickly!

Ordering here is quite easy – if you’re eating at the bar, the various plates are set on top of the bar, and you can just point at any of the dishes, or if you decide to eat at the restaurant, you get a proper menu. Note: if you want a table, make your way past the busy entrance and bar, until you see the restaurant manager who has the waiting list.

Cervecería Catalana

Carrer de Mallorca, 236, 

08008 Barcelona, Spain ‎