of mojitos and other madness: revisited...

to me, a true test of a good makan place is whether the second or third or any subsequent visit for that matter, still puts that same smile back on your face and you leave satisfied and happy. over the past few months, it is of course inevitable that i revisit some of the places that i have raved and not so much raved about...so i thought it might be worth posting a quick revisit post and see if this girl is still happy with the scooppie ratings given out before.

1. cedele

this is one place you can trust for good hearty food...i was there once again for brunch and then at a later date for tunch...and cedele's food and desserts still get the nod from me. from the fusion tofu salads and nourishing soups to the decadent pieces of cake, cedele rocks! big bonus that they banish trans fat and use unsalted butters, organic unrefined sugars and cold pressed extra virgin olive oils! the summary must trys? brekkies (as posted earlier), any and every of their soups (the cream based ones especially!) and definitely the chocolate truffle and carrot walnut cake cannot be missed!

cedele by bakery depot

501 orchard road
#03-14 wheelock place
(65) 6732 8520
www.cedeledepot.com

2. the cathay

despite starting out as a restaurant serving european fare back in the 1940s, the cathay reopened in the 1951 and became singapore's finest chinese restaurant. speed ahead 46 years, the cathay has since re-established itself as at handy road, fusing the past and the present and serving up authentic and yummy shanghainese and cantonese fare and pretty reasonable prices. granted this girl has always only had the dim sum, but the food is good that the cathay has been revisited twice already for more double boiled shark's bone cartilage and fish maw soup and fresh yum cha. the soup is so outstanding that now g and i no longer share a bowl but have one each so that we both get a bowlful of goodness! as for the dim sum, same traditional flavours are enhanced with refined cooking techniques, making the feng zhao, pai guat (g was in pai guat heaven!) and xiao long bao the three must order dishes at the cathay.

the cathay restaurant
#02-01/02/03/04 the cathay
(65) 6732 7888
www.thecathayrestaurant.com.sg

3. food for thought

after reading about the last post on food for thought, g suggested that i 'take him there in tow'...so sometime back in late november, we weaved our way past the busy bar counter and plonked ourselves down in one of the booth seats. the menu was quite extensive so it makes choosing what time have a little hard. but the owners probably figured that people can't really decide so they came up with soup and salad combis and soup and sandwich combis which allows one to literally kill two birds with one stone and not feel overally stuffed after! i had the potato leek bacon soup and chinese caesar salad combi, while g had the shitake mushroom fennel soup with half a cuban pork and ham steak sandwich. the soups were okay... very home-styled but i guess i kinda am more used to the richer thicker flavours like those served up at cedele so i wasn't too blown away. g's sandwich was not bad, although the choice of bread used could be improved to further enhance the cajuny flavours of the pork and ham. the salad was a refreshing change from the creamy caesars, with a poached egg and ikan bilis. all in all..whether it is dine in or take away, food for thought is truly not bad for a little corner indie diner.