secrets at sunset

it is kinda cool how suddenly in the midst of a seemingly quiet neighborhood, out springs a row of eateries that quietly but quickly becomes the throbbing heart of activity in the area. first there was greenwood, then siglap and now...the slightly newer kid on the block, sunset way. with two trips under the belt, this girl has to admit that there is a quiet appealing vibe about the place. behind the local kopitiam, and flanked by two chinese joints (one seafood and one hongkong styled) there are a few interesting outlets, covering everything from thai food to new zealand delicatessen.

our first experience was at peaberry & pretzel. supposedly german inspired, the joint served up pretty decent entrees. between g and myself, we had a spinach salad and pot of mussels. the salad was not bad, with a simple dressing, sweet tomatoes, fresh spinach, hard boiled eggs and a sprinkle of bacon bits. it could do with a hint more honey mustard just to add that bit of twang in my opinion..but was a nice light side to accompany the slightly rich pot of mussels in white wine cream sauce. with the benchmark for mussels set to that of belgos london, peaberry & pretzel fared pretty well. mussels were fresh (less the 3 that g encountered tasted odd), sauce was hearty not fishy and the fresh bread served prior to the mains coming went pretty well with the sauce. only down side is the lack of frites (or fries)…if only they threw in thick cut fries with the pot, we would definitely be back to satisfy those mussel cravings!

the highlight of the meal was the dessert. we had the apple rhubarb crumble..and while it is really no match to auntie’s ta crumble, this girl would have to give them credit for good effort. the crumble bits were coarser then i would have liked, but they had a good mix of crumble and fruit, which was served hot and topped with a generous portion of vanilla bean ice cream. with nice and attentive service stuff, peaberry & pretzel is really not bad a place to spend an evening with a small group of friends or for tea with the gals.

peaberry & pretzel
block 106 clementi street 12
#01-52
www.peaberryandpretzel.com.sg

trip number two was for some classic italian pizzas and pastas at good old rocky’s. it must be what, a good ten years at least since this girl last had rocky’s but one taste of the pasta immediately brought back memories of the familiar old school homestyle goodness of the cooking. the spaghetti meatballs was done al dente with homemade marinara sauce and meatballs rich in italian spices. g’s lasagna was similarly good with generous portions of bolognaise filling up the spaces between layers of pasta and mozzarella. despite how full we already were, g and i indulged in a slice of the classic deluxe pizza. simple but awesome with only marinara sauce and mozzarella overflowing over the chewy pizza base. it is really no wonder why rocky’s still rocks after over twenty years! this girl really hopes they deliver to the east side…fingers crossed!

rocky’s pizza
block 106 clementi street 12
#01-60
(65) 6466 8696
www.rockyspizza.com.sg