MTR @ Little India

MTR is short for Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, and is a traditional South Indian restaurant located in Little India, an Indian based community in Singapore. It is one of the many South Indian restaurants in the vicinity and probably one of the best, in the area.

I felt this quaint restaurant a nice contrast from just Western and European food and I was very excited to go to this restaurant, which is extremely popular in India. The restaurant was functional and simple, and offered a variety of traditional South Indian food.

Vegetarian Pulau

The Vegetarian Pulau ($5) was a dish I was looking forward to try. I normally don't savour vegetarian food, but this pulau was extremely delicious. It was nicely spiced, which gave good heat to the dish, and the yoghurt (raita) added a sense of refreshment, which all blended in well and maximised the dish. The rice was however slightly overcooked which was definitely a bummer, but overall an enjoyable dish. 

Rating- 4.2/5

Uddina Vada

The Uddina Vada ($2) is basically a savoury Indian doughnut made up of a lentil called vigna mungo, and is meant to be crispy served with sambar, a South Indian supplemetary curry. This vada was served with a green chutney as well, which I found too salty, but the sambar was flavourful and served well with the vada. The vada itself was not as crispy as I had expected, and too oily, which would have made it soggy. However, the flavour was without doubt stunning. 

Rating- 3.8/5

Bisbele Bhath

The Bisbele Bhath ($6) was actually a dish I wanted to order, but they said they were out on it. The manager kindly gave me whatever was left of the bisbele bhath free of charge, which I really salute him for and which is why you must be wondering why the portion is so small. This is basically rice cooked in sambar, which is what I earlier mentioned as a South Indian curry. I like to call this dish the sambar risotto, as it tastes just like one! I thoroughly savoured this dish as the rice was perfectly cooked and the sambar flavours were wonderfully incorporated in this dish, therefore adding some heat and fragrance of lentils and other vegetables. Overall, an excellent dish.

Rating- 4.5/5

Sambar Vada 

The Sambar Vada ($3) is as I said an Indian donut, this time soaked in sambar. This is the first time I've ever come across this idea of soaking a vada in sambar, and I didn't find it great at all. When the vada is being soaked in the sambar, it loses its texture of being crispy and therefore making it soggy, which made it like eating plain sambar. The sambar tasted wonderful, but the vada should have been the hero of the dish.

Rating- 3/5

Honey-Saffron Lemonade

The Honey-Saffron Lemonade ($3) is one drink I really wanted to try out, especially as it had saffron in it. As you can see in the photo, there are small bits of saffron at the bottom of the drink that really elevated the flavours of the lemonade, which made this drink unique. The spice from the saffron and the sweetness from the honey contrasted well and blended well together in the drink. 

Rating- 4.5/5

Chapathi

The Chapathi ($4) is a simple Indian bread normally served with a few curries. However, I found the chapathi way to hard for my taste as it was slightly crisping when I tore a piece. The curries served alongside it was delicious. The curries included a vegetable curry and a green chutney. I felt this dish could be improved on, in terms of the cooking timings and texture. 

Rating- 3.5/5

Masala Dosa

The Masala Dosa ($6) is a traditional South Indian pancake-like dish which is very popular especially among South Indians. Inside the dosa is the masala which included potatoes which were spiced to give this dish elevating flavours. The dosa was cooked nicely and crisp on the outside, which was important for me, but however, could do with a touch more seasoning. Overall, I enjoyed this dish. 

Rating- 4.2/5

Plain Dosa

The Plain Dosa ($5) was similar to the masala dosa, but just without the masala. The Plain Dosa is usually roasted in ghee, and served alongside 2-3 curries. I found this dosa slightly burnt on one side, which made it taste slightly bitter. Neverthless, I found it wonderfully crispy in texture, which was absolutely fantastic. In my opinion, a dosa should be lightly browned to give out the best possible taste. This dish can be improved on in my opinion. 

Rating- 3.8/5

Idli

The Idli ($2) is like an Indian rice-cake served alongside a sambar and the green chutney. The idli was soft and fluffy, just as I would expect it to be; and the curries were delicious, and went hand-in-hand with the Idli. In the photo, the small bowl on the right is actually oil, which can be used to moisten the Idli if needed. I found this dish wonderful. 

Rating- 4.5/5

MTR is run with friendly service, with food coming out in a very timely fashion, therefore making our dinner easy and fast. The manager at the restaurant was very informative about their dishes and even gave us a sample of what they might implement in the menu. I enjoyed the service at MTR. 

Service- 4.8/5

In terms of the food, I generally found their traditional dishes good, but there can always be some room for improvement, especially in some dishes. Classic dishes like idlis and the masala dosa didn't fail to impress me, and I'm sure I'll be back at MTR if I can.

Overall Rating- 8.2/10

MTR Restaurant

438 Serangoon Road, Opp. Sri Perumal Temple,

Singapore- 218133

Opening Hours

Tuesday-Sunday: 8:30 am- 3 pm & 5:30- 10 pm

(Closed on Monday)

Contact- 6296 5800

Nearest MRT- Farrer Park (NE8)

Directions- Take exit (turn left) to Farrer Park Station Rd, Turn right on Rangoon Rd, Turn left on Serangoon Road and walk until MTR (4 mins- 350m).

Fika @ Millenia Walk

Fika is a Halal Swedish cafe located inside Millenia Walk, a mall located in the heart of Singapore. It's the first time I've ever been here, as I haven't heard of this place before. I was quite excited to go to Fika, as I've never tried Swedish food, and also never seen or been to any Swedish restaurants in Singapore. Fika recently opened a new outlet here in Millenia Walk, with the original outlet being at Beach Road.  

Although, the location is at the heart of Singapore, and vulnerable to office crowd and tourists, the place was pretty much empty, which took me aback, and at one point, we were the only ones in the place itself! However, I was excited to see the menu and try some Swedish comfort food!

The restaurant was spacious, and had a similar layout to Lola's Café, with tables and chairs in front of a beautiful bar that showcased desserts and coffee to order. The menu consisted of traditional Swedish dishes, and also regular Western comfort food. We decided to go for the traditional Swedish dishes to get a taste of Swedish food.

Swedish Onion Soup

The Swedish Onion Soup ($6.90) was the Soup of the Day for Friday, July 11. This onion soup didn't fail to impress me, as the aromatic caramelised onion brought out a beautiful roasted flavour to the soup. The soup was quite watery, which I enjoyed as it matched with the flavour of the caramelised onions. I felt that the number of onion slices could be massively reduced, as it is not always a pleasurable feeling to have a mouthful of onions in each spoon of the soup. Nevertheless, it was a good way to start our lunch.

Rating- 4/5

Swedish Apple Tea

The Swedish Apple Tea ($7.90) was a drink I was fascinated to try, as I love iced teas in general. However, when I drank it, I felt that the balance between the apple and the tea, was not good, as there was an extremely strong bitter taste of the tea, and the apple could merely be tasted. This drink is one I wouldn't order again. Also, make sure you mix it well before drinking it, or you'll lose your appetite for the rest of the lunch. 

Rating- 3/5

Bread Board

The Bread Board ($7.90) was an assortment of Swedish bread, served in a small, rustic basket, along with some butter. The types of bread included the regular cylindrical loaf, the brown cookie bread, and the brown cylindrical loaf. The bread didn't have any taste in particular, but it was soft, except for the cookie bread, which was hard and unappetizing. Also, the butter was too hard to spread, as it hadn't melted enough. In my opinion, the bread could have been accompanied by a lingonberry jam, to make the bread more moist, and to elevate the flavours of it. I think this appetizer could do with some improvements, in general. 

Rating- 3.5/5

Swedish Home-made Meatballs

The Swedish Home-made Meatballs ($19.50) is a traditional combination of meatballs and a cream sauce with the mild sourness of a lingonberry jam. I felt that this simple combination tasted absolutely delicious, as the cream sauce gives the meatballs a heavy feel, and the lingonberry contrasts it with a light feel on the meatballs. The meatballs itself were slightly dry, but the cream sauce definitely made up for it. The contrast between sweet, from the cream sauce and sour from the lingonberry was delicious, which is what makes the combination so flavourful. However, I couldn't say the same for the sides. The potatoes were bland, as it definitely needed way more seasoning, and the salad was pretty awful, as it was unbearably acidic and sour for my taste, and you just couldn't enjoy it. Overall, the meatball is the hero of the dish, and not the sides, so I still managed to savour this dish. Also, as a notice, the dish is quite heavy, so sharing might be a good option, as the meatballs continued bouncing in my stomach hours later.

Rating- 4/5

Panbiff

Panbiff ($19.90) is a Swedish beef pattie (like a steak) served with a cream sauce and lingonberry jam. You might think its the same thing as the previous dish, but its not, although it looks the same. The beef pattie indeed tastes different from the meatballs, and the sides include a garden salad and mashed potatoes. The beef pattie was however dry, as it was slightly burned on its sides. However, the same classic combination still proved to be delicious, and refreshing. The sides, unlike the meatballs, tasted fantastic; the mashed potatoes was at the perfect consistency and the simple salad was wonderful mainly because of the contrast of sweetness from the carrots and the acidity from the cherry tomato and the dressing. I thoroughly enjoyed the dish, although much can be done to improve the beef pattie. 

Rating- 4/5

Apple Crumble Pie

As we were coming to the end of our Swedish lunch, we decided to end it off with a simple dessert. The Apple Crumble Pie ($9.90) seemed to be the perfect choice for it. I absolutely savoured this dessert as it was absolutely perfect! The crust of the pie was crunchy and perfectly baked, and the sweetness of the cream was balanced with the sourness of the strawberry pieces and the syrup. The apple pieces were crunchy and crispy, which was just right for me. I felt that they could have increased the portion size, as the dessert was quite small, as you see in the photo. But whatever was served, was perfected!

Rating- 5/5

The service at Fika was decent, I wouldn't say great, as I felt they could have given out the food in a more timely fashion, especially because we were, at a point, the only ones in the cafe.

Service- 4/5

My overall opinion about Fika isn't that great, as there are many areas in their dishes they can improve on. However, their traditional specialities such as their meatball, were delicious and I recommend that you order some of their beef dishes, as I found it flavourful and delicious. I hope they work on improving their other dishes, as their other dishes are mediocre. I would however come back for their meatballs!

Overall Rating- 7/10

A set lunch is available from 11 am- 2 pm from Monday to Friday at $19.90 per person, with a choice of soup, main and a dessert. More information can be found at Fika's website (http://www.fikacafe.com/).

Fika Café (Millenia Walk)

9 Raffles Boulevard, #01-20, 

Singapore- 039596

Nearest MRT- Promenade (CC4, DT15) (Connected)

Reservations at 6336 7234 (Millenia Walk)

Opening Hours

Monday- Friday: 11 am- 11 pm

Saturday- Sunday: 12 pm- 11 pm

Otto Locanda @ Maxwell Chambers

Otto Locanda is an Italian restaurant located in the prime area of Shenton Way in the CBD, near the Red Dot. Due to its location, this restaurant attracts a lot of office crowd on weekdays and Friday nights, and regular customers on weekends. The restaurant opens up into a beautiful bar, with the tables and kitchen surrounding the bar.

The restaurant is managed by the Head Chef Marco Violano, who goes to each table, asking for your preferences in taste, texture etc. and will prepare a four course meal accordingly. Chef Marco was very welcoming, and even asked me to give him a call to work in his kitchen!

In a traditional Italian restaurant, there are generally four courses: First, the Antipasti, which are the appetizers, then the Pasta e Risotti, which includes pasta and risotto, as appetizers as well. Then the Secondi, which are the entrées, and finally Dolci, the desserts.

Burrata Cheese topped with Parma Ham and Italian Bread

Our first appetizers or Antipasti was the Burrata Cheese topped with Parma Ham and Italian Bread. The dish was beautifully presented on a rustic wooden chopping board, and screamed 'Italian!' This burrata cheese was creamy and extremely refreshing, and also giving a slight hint of sweetness, and in contrast the parma ham, gave a dash of saltiness to the dish. This sweet-salty combination balanced out the dish beautifully. The home-made bread was incredibly soft on the inside, and crusty on the outside, and the cherry tomatoes elevated the dish by giving a tangy kick to it. Overall, this is a five-star dish for me.

Rating- 5/5 

Proshuitto wrapped Scarmoza Cheese with Fritters

Firstly, apologies for the picture, as we already started eating it before the picture was taken, so don't judge a book by its cover! This dish was almost similar to the previous dish as it consisted of a combination of ham and cheese, and this dish didn't fail to impress me as well. The Scarmoza cheese has a firmer texture compared to the Burrata cheese, giving the dish more of a structure. A simple combination, however giving complex flavours, tingling every taste bud with the sweet-salty combination. However, I wasn't quite impressed with the fritters as they were quite soggy, and the filling was pretty much bland, for my taste and I feel it could have been replaced by another side dish such as a salad. Nevertheless, the tomato sauce served alongside the dish was absolutely delightful. Overall, a decent dish.

Rating- 3.5/5

Mushroom Risotto and Lamb Ravioli

This was another dish customized by Chef Marco, combining two of his dishes, which was the creamy mushroom risotto and the lamb ravioli, which he had recommended to us. This dish was the beginning of the next stage of our four course meal, which was the Pasta e Risotti. As evident in the photo, the dish was beautifully presented on a long plate. The mushroom risotto was cooked perfectly and the creaminess was just right, and therefore the dish was light and not too overwhelming. Another good feature about this dish is that the natural flavours of the mushroom were brought out, which for me, is the most important aspect of the dish. The lamb ravioli was also presented beautifully and a nice meaty texture was nicely contrasted against a smooth pasta texture. The ravioli was soft and tender, which made it extremely easy on the mouth, and is always delightful. However, I felt that the ravioli could be seasoned more to elevate the flavours of it. I generally enjoyed this simple dish.

Rating- 4.5/5

Roasted Octopus with French Beans Marinated Cherry Tomatoes

I apologize once again for the picture, as we were so excited to eat it and so I forgot to take a photo when it first arrived, as it was our first Secondi, or entrée, and we were extremely hungry at that point! Trust me, the dish tastes much better than it looks in the photo! This was probably one of the few times I've had octopus, as I don't usually like it due to its fishy taste. However, the roasted octopus tasted immaculate as I tried my first bite of it. It was flavourful, and as it was roasted, a slight charred flavour was hinted in the octopus, which I absolutely enjoy, in general (others may not though). I felt that stronger flavours could be incorporated in the octopus to improve this dish, but a pretty well-rounded dish nevertheless. The vegetables were deliciously marinated with the cherry tomatoes, and they tasted wonderful, but I felt that the French beans were too soggy for my taste, as I expected it to be crunchy in texture. Overall, this dish was delightful.

Rating- 4/5

Meat Trio with Potato Cakes

This dish, is another one customized by the chef, consisted of a trio of meat served with potato cakes. On the left was the Pork Cheek, and Rack of Lamb, stacked on top of each other, over the potato cakes, and on the far right of the photo, is the tender Beef Sirloin beautifully sliced up. The sirloin and lamb was cooked absolutely beautifully to a nice medium-rare temperature, which made it tender and moist, but however I couldn't say the same for the pork as it was unfortunately dry and chewy, as it was slightly overcooked. Overall, I felt that the meat could have been given more of a flavour, as I didn't find any particular stand-out flavour in the trio; and it was a pity as it was cooked and seasoned to perfection (except the pork cheek). The pork cheek, in my opinion needed major improvements, as I didn't enjoy it as I thought I would, as I generally savour meat, and especially red meat in particular. The potato salad was unfortunately dry, and tasteless, and needed a lot more seasoning in my opinion. Overall, I expected more than I tasted in this dish. 

How it looks on a plate: (Clockwise order from top left: Pork Cheek,

Potato Cake, Beef Sirloin and the Rack of Lamb) 

Rating- 3/5

Tiramisu

We finally arrived at the sweet, sweet desserts, or Dolci, in fancier terms! A simple tiramisu is always the perfect way to end a dining session. The tiramisu was extremely chocolatey which was a wonderful element of this dessert, as it added the slight bitterness and alcoholic element to the dish; therefore elevating the flavours of it. However, I felt that the tiramisu was too creamy, and it would have been better if there was a bit more substance to the dish, as it felt like eating whipped cream. It's a pity as the tiramisu tasted fabulous in my opinion. It's just these little things that can make to huge difference in this dessert. 

Rating- 4/5

Raspberry Sorbet

As you can see, we weren't done with the tiramisu mainly because I heard they had sorbets, and especially a raspberry sorbet! I can't explain to you my love of berries; name it, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries (especially), I'll eat it! As you can see in the photo, the colour of the sorbet in a mouthwatering hot pink. You will surely know when a raspberry sorbet is good when it is in that colour! They had other choices of sorbets which were lime and mandarin; which I can only imagine how picturesque it would look as a neon yellow/green and a neon orange. I absolutely loved the sourness of the raspberry which was beautifully balanced with the sweet raspberry syrup drizzled over it, and the minced almonds. Writing to you about this makes me wanting to eat more of this excellent sorbet. In general, I enjoy sorbets way more than ice-creams, because I find sorbets lighter on the stomach, simple, and vibrantly flavourful in taste. This, for me is definitely a five-star dessert.

Rating- 5/5

The service at Otto Locanda was delightful, the servers were professional in their attitude and conversations with their customers, and therefore making the dinner wonderful to enjoy. The servers, answered all our 101 questions (they must have been annoyed inside), in an orderly, polite fashion, and therefore I would easily give the service a five star.

Service- 5/5

The overall experience for me at Otto Locanda was absolutely delightful. I thoroughly enjoyed the food, although some dishes can be improved on, and most of all the homely feeling you get in the restaurant itself. Chef Marco Violano, was very welcoming and made our dinner extremely pleasurable. Otto Locanda is one restaurant I'd come back to, if I get the chance. 

Overall Rating- 8.5/10

Pricing varies according to customization (optional). Prices of individual dishes can be found at Otto Locanda's website (www.ottolocanda.com.sg)



Otto Locanda
32 Maxwell Road #01-03
Singapore- 069115

Nearest MRT- Tanjong Pagar (EW15) (210m)

Reservations at 6224 0978

Opening Hours-
Lunch
Monday- Friday
11:30 am- 2 pm

Dinner
Monday- Saturday
6- 10 pm

Closed on Sundays

Lola's Café @ Kovan

I decided that I should explore the restaurants around my quaint area of Kovan across the stretch of Simon Road. There are restaurants like Ice Edge Café and Joe's Corner but since I've already tried out these places and was getting tired of the food there I decided to go to Lola's Café.

Lola's Café is busy almost all the time so it's quite hard to get a seat (also because the place is small). However, we went in for an early lunch at about 12:15 pm and we managed to get a seat. Lola's serves brunch from 10-3 pm and so we fell under that category. Although there were only 5 dishes in the menu, each of them looked good and tasty to me.

Farmer Bratwurst Roll (Funky Name!)

The Farmer Bratwurst Roll ($8) was rustically served on a wooden oven pan and consisted of a hot dog with ketchup and melted cheese in a sweet bun, with classic fries. The sausage was tender just like the sweet bun, but in my opinion, the cheese was a bit too heavy for a brunch. However, the tomato sauce was tasty and blended well with the hot dog. Overall, an elegant simple dish with generally good tasting flavours, neatly presented. 

Rating- 4/5

Mushroom Melt

The Mushroom Melt ($10) consisted of a brioche bread, baked with Swiss white mushrooms and mozzarella cheese, served with a simple garden salad, dressed with a balsamic dressing. The brioche bread was baked just right, giving it a crusty texture. However, I felt that the mushroom and cheese together was too overwhelming for a brunch as the mushrooms were extremely creamy, and therefore this dish leans more towards a lunch than a breakfast. The salad was delicious as the lettuce was crispy, but what really made it wonderful was the balsamic dressing, which gave a touch of citrus which really elevated the salad to a new level, and blended in beautifully with it. Overall, I felt that the dish was good, but a bit to heavy on the stomach for a brunch. I feel the dish needs to be more balanced generally. 

Rating: 3.5/5 

Iced Mocha (Home-made) 

Apart from the food, Lola's Café serves their own home-made coffee with roots from Brazil, El Salvador and other places. I like my coffee strong, and I was hoping to get a coffee that way, which was why I ordered a mocha instead of a latte. The coffee tasted quite strong, which I like, and there was also some chocolate content and cocoa powder. The iced mocha tasted fantastic, but I felt they could have reduced the milk and chocolate content of the coffee to bring out the natural flavours of the coffee. Overall, it is a coffee I would come back to drink. 

Rating- 4.5/5

My overall experience, at Lola's Café was fantastic, but a few areas of the food can be tweaked and improved on, but generally no major issues in the food; no wonder they're making great business. The service is friendly and the food comes out considerably quick. A good thing about Lola's is that they don't have the 10% service charge, and so tipping may be done. Lola's Café serves simple, non-pricey food, with nothing going over $16, and friendly service; definitely a place I would come back again.

Service- 4.5/5

Overall Rating- 8/10

Total bill- $30

Address- 5 Simon Road, S- 545893

Nearest MRT- Kovan (NE13) (180m)