Annual Singapore trip day 1: choking with happiness

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I'm back in Singapore for an annual conference, and of course I took the opportunity to spend a little more time and hang with my friends.  Oh, and to eat, of course...

At the top of my list is, of course, Candlenut.  I've promised myself that I would hit this place on every trip to Singapore, and I just had to keep to that.  Fortunately Mr. and Mrs. Ho live a short walk from the restaurant, and they are more than happy to go back.

My friends left the ordering up to me, and I was pretty set on trying out dishes I haven't had before, so this worked out pretty well for me...

Omelette chincalok - the omelette looked pretty thin, but had an incredibly fluffy texture.  The flavors were very rich, thanks to the chincalok - a type of fermented shrimp sauce.  Simple but yummy.

Wild caught baby squid salad - pretty nice.  Flavors were almost a little like those Thai pomelo salads, with peanuts, fried shallots, lemongrass, and some acidity from calamansi.

Grilled pork cheek - hmmm... I don't think this is pork "cheek" but rather, what is commonly referred to as "neck" or "collar"...  Anyway, this was good thanks to all the marbled fat.  And I'm a sucker for things flavored with kecap manis (Indomie, anyone?).  The thin slices of green apple on the side added a nice touch of acidity to balance things out.

Sambal "choking" sotong - yes, we JUST HAD TO order this dish again.  I did almost choke on it while savoring its deliciously spicy and stinging flavors, and I did have a couple of hiccups in response to the spice, as usual...  Meanwhile, both Mr. and Mrs. Ho added additional sambal on top... Anyway, this was still voted the favorite dish by Mrs. Ho.

Sambal kacang petai - I'm not really sure why petai beans are called "stinky", because I didn't find the smell or flavors offensive.  There was a hint of bitterness, and the texture was slightly elastic and sort of gives in to the force applied by one's teeth.  Pretty nice with the sambal and the acidic tamarind.

Rendang with Australian lamb shank - Mr. Ho requested the lamb shank over the "beef gold coin shin" (whatever that is...), and I certainly had no objections.  This was beautifully presented, and the flavors were just amazing.  While most of us are just used to traditional beef rendang, Candlenut loves playing with alternative proteins.  We had a decent version with French duck breast last year, but this one takes the cake for me.  And for Mr. Ho.  The lamb fat with all the lamby flavors just blended so harmoniously with the complex flavors of the rendang.  Let's put it this way... Mr. Ho was tempted to order a second shank even though we were already pretty full...

Time for dessert, and Mrs. Ho announced that she'd like to have the durian soup all by herself.  Well, since I, too, wanted durian soup... I ordered one for myself, too!

Textures of Coconut - Mr. Ho's dessert.  He doesn't approve of durian, so he decided to try the new item on the menu.  A combination of coconut sorbet, espouma, jelly, grated, and flesh... this was an amazing dessert!  Incredibly refreshing with pure and clean flavors of coconut.  Actually, this was the perfect way to cap of a meal with heavy dishes.

Durian soup - soooo good!  Love the durian purée surrounding the scoop of durian ice cream, and the texture provided by feuilletine.  Hours later, I would be happily burping up this dessert...

Chendol cream - my other favorite dessert, which I also ordered to have on my own.  Well, the last time I was here, I did say that I wasn't gonna share this the next time I came... I made the mistake of taking the durian soup first, so despite rinsing my palate in between, the flavors tonight just seemed a little weaker than usual.  Still love my gula melaka, though...

No wine at dinner tonight, and I took a glass of lemongrass and ginger.  Very, very refreshing and nice.

Once again, there were three very happy little piggies at the end of dinner.  The food still delivered a very high level of happiness for us, and I can't imagine a day when I'll get tired of this stuff.  So yeah, I think I'll be coming back on my next trip, too...

...but one thing that annoyed me was the service.  The staff were very nice, and our waitress was a very cheerful young girl still with rubber bands attached to her braces, and she was incredibly helpful with suggestions and honest opinions.  However, the fact that all 6 of our savory dishes arrived within 5 minutes of each other is just not something I find acceptable.  How does the kitchen expect 3 people to finish all that food before it gets cold?  It's one of my biggest pet peeves when dining at Chinese restaurants, and I guess the kitchen here is run the same way... without regard for the diners' experience.  Sigh...