Cafe Salivation, Space@Humble House, Cafe Domus

K and i 's grand plan was to scot off to Wild Rocket so we can check out the Mount Sophia area -Sinema Old School and the new Timbre @ Old School during our long long lunch break but we got so lost in the Mackenzie area and it was very very late , close to their last order and closing time + ERP -> Little India/ Golden Mile...the former cos I really didn't wanna sweat cos I'll be out for dinner/ supper too although I'll def make a trip to Golden Mile soon to try the ROC pizza, Ice Queen and Belgian waffles!!

there was a recent article in the Sunday Times about how all these non Indian eateries are popping up all over Little India and diluting the Indian culture there...i totally disagree cos these places add a dash of vibrancy to that area and its not as if the Indian culture is that easy to dilute lol

Situated along Syed Alwi which is this lane of traffic (and PARKING!) madness alongside Mustafa (which I havent entered before - there's a new Mustafa building -which has no snacks!! -beside the older Mustafa ), Cafe Salivation is this new chic and GIRLY (wallpaper screams pink everywhere) cafe offers a smorgasbord of Western vegeterian fare - pasta, sandwiches, burgers, wraps. Some of the food has some Indian influences - spices, although there was no curries nor Indian-named dishes like Idli or rice dishes.

Mezze Platter - Cream Cheese Pate, Tsatziki(raita), and Hummus

Served with Pita bread $7

We started off with this Mezze platter which I always order in a middle eastern restaurant. I love the fact that the Pita bread was toasted and nicely warm.

The cream cheese pete (the orange one on the right) was new for me, and this tasted quite like Philadelphia cheese with an onion aftertaste.. there was red bits which we were trying to figure out what they were.

the Tsatziki is actually a yoghurt (the white one on the left) - another first pairing bread with yoghurt for me (always granola and yoghurt!)

the Hummus (the middle dip) was the best, although there was quite a large proportion of olive oil in it! We mopped up every bit of this, with the fries and burger bread which was in our Soya burger.

Soya Burger - spicy soya granules formed into patties and seasoned with spices $5

Being fans of soya beans (and I a burger fan!) we couldnt resist choosing this - although the manager recommended the feta cheese burger. well we concluded...always follow the manager's opinion =P we couldn't really taste much of the soya beans as it was overwhelmed by the curry spiciness and in the end it tasted like a fried curry potato cutlet =P a first for me trying a vegeterian burger man, can't fathom burgers without the meat patties.. i can never figure out how people can order the Portabello cheese burger from Relish man..

although there's this tempeh burger that was featured in the same Sunday times article, this cafe in Little India called Food03 that offers this...sounds interesting!

Enchiladas Remo

Tortillas stuffed with stirfried vegetables and topped with tomato sauce, white cheese sauce and baked in the oven $7

Enchiladas is a Mexican dish and this turned out to be the best dish - maybe cos we are fans of anything that has flour and cheese and tomatoes ie pizza. but i must say the vegetables, despite being stirfried, retained its crunchiness and they added some raw red capsicum as well, so it went well with the tortillas that was softened with the cheeses and tomato sauces.

in honour of dr annapoorna...
we were bored with walking around Mustafa so we went off to our usual threading place Vanessa along Buffalo road and we decided to henna our backs (although the plan was to henna the legs) ..the dye requires a down time of 30 minutes at least to dry and because we were in a rush to get back to KK by 430... it was hilarious because in an effort not to smudge the tattoos and not to kena my car seats..we didnt belt up and we were leaning forward during our entire speedy drive back! crossing our fingers the entire time the lecturer was gonna be late - and i couldnt not go cos i unfortunately attended his morning clinic.

the dye will actually peel off leaving a brownish stain on your skin and lasts up till 7 days..K and i thought it'll be interesting if we go tanning and we'd have interesting tan lines but since I don't go under the sun now, K will tell me if it works!

then for dinner, i continued onto Space @My Humble House for dinner with short and doms..short and i were very amused by this sign in Esplanade.

been wanting to try out this place after ian raved about their fish soup and m raved about the lamb bakuteh, which is possibly the only bakuteh i can ever eat (despite the fact that i can just buy the herb off the shelves and cook with whatever meat i want).

Oh yes this place has the dumb NO PHOTOGRAPHY policy too (bad reviews?copycats??) i mean, whats wrong with photography?? its publicity all the same (good or bad, still publicity means some talk about your restaurant) and copycats are the best form of flattery anyway. but still managed to get some shots, despite being eyed by the waitress in her very short short qipao blouse. the waitresses from the more expensive humble house have skirts with slits all the way to the hip bone man, must be incredibly stressful being a waitress there being careful not to zaogeng all the time (or maybe they have instructions otherwise, shudders).

we ordered these 3 items...there were 3 more items behind but we didnt order those...

Rice Noodles with fish fillet - Crisp fried fish fillet, salted vegetables, tomatoes, coriander, lettuce, spring onions and fried onions with rice noodles in a fish consomme, $12

this was nat's. well I'm always eating fish soup with rice and since this was highly recommended by ian i tried some of the soup but alas, the fish soup was tainted by the sour twang from the zealous addition of tomato. tried the fried fish too but again it was nondescript. I prefer the Jinhua fish soup rice over at Maxwell Market, anytime.

Claypot rice in Consomme $12

Fragrant Jasmine rice is simmered with crabmeat, shrimp, scallops, straw and shiitake mushrooms and quail eggs, in a chicken consomme, sprinkled with fried onions and coriander

this was dom's and was the favourite dish of the night. the stock was flavourful - soaking up the seafood and chicken essences thoroughly. there was a generous serving of seaweed too, and it tasted oh so good with the soup and rice. the prawn was crunchy too. no wonder dom wanted this all to herself!

Rack of lamb bak kut teh $ 14

Airflown from New Zealand, the most tender and succulent baby lamb rack is cooked with mushrooms and Chinese herbs in a Bak Kut Teh broth and served with rice and kailan

This was mine. I like lamb alot, and the only other time I had lamb soup outside was at Foo House when I tried the Irish lamb stew. This was the Bak Kut Teh version of lamb soup, and the soup was also robust with the distinct lamb taste (but not to the point of being overly muttony). The lamb was quite tender too but it was rather small!! just 2 small pieces of lamb chop. definitely not enough meat. I soaked the rice (garnished with fried shallots and spring onions) in soup and it was warm, comfort food =) herbal soups really remind me of my grandma's cooking.

and because I left my week's worth of painstakingly handwritten notes in the MO room at KK..i drove back to KKH again crossing every possible finger i have cos i was so scared i wont find it!! im a horrible driver when im stressed so luckily i made it there in one piece...and after that we decided to cover ANOTHER place in Little India in the Sunday Times article - so yay 2 places conquered in a day!!- Cafe Domus which opens from 7 pm to 3am on Friday nights. Perfect for the late night supper...and desserts and drinks.

This place is really VERY ulu..its at Owen Road and at night (and at little india) it can be quite scary cos its totally desserted (no pun intended...read on). There are only shophouses there and plenty of lorries and suspicious looking cars. We almost wanted to run off to UDDERS (but I forgot what time it closes) but luckily I didn't because I found a gem in this quaint hangout.

gorgeous lights and pretty pinkish flowery wallpaper galore.. M actually told me that this place is a hippie homofriendly place but i totally forgot because I was so excited about the dessert offerings here. nonetheless, great music, boardgames and cards - great for a late night chilling out with the girls.

After Chong arrived ( and we alr decided before she did =P and dom found a fried food partner in crime) - and her strange request to have a pot of Earl Grey tea meant we ordered 2 sets of desserts (the desserts paired up with tea) and another ala-carte order of 2 scoops of ice cream.

Chocolate Pecan Pie - with I-scream, $9

This was the favourite of the night. The pecan nuts were plentiful and the chocolate was chewy. We had this with Nutella delight with oreos ice cream.

Cheese cake (Ferroro Rocher) $8.50

You should know by now that we are big fans of Gianduja or hazelnut flavoured chocolate. The cheese centre was really dense, and there was more chocolate brownie covering than cheesecake, and we thought it'd be better still if it was paired up with an icecream. A rather heavy going cake but delicous nonetheless. The black cherry cheesecake seemed interesting too, shall try that the next time i return.

2 scoops of I-Scream - Mrs Smith, Nutty Peanut Butter $6.20

I liked the nutty peanut butter alot, it was creamy but i wished there was more nuts! I actually found the apple flavoured Mrs Smith yummy as well, despite not liking sour ice creams much. The apple flavour was distinct, but not overtly sour like real green apples ( i hate those)

Oh the I-scream here is from Ice cream chefs. Anyone care to share the scoop prices as compared to the main branch? here there is no ice cream teppanyaki concept though, that is the trademark of Ice cream chefs in the east.

and every monday they have a i-scream buffet from 7pm to midnight and judgin by how much we enjoyed the ice cream here we'd definitely be back. It costs $10 per person and bookings are essential according to owners Fred and Jacq who say that they are usually full on Monday nights.

This place serves fried savoury platters as well, and M says their alcoholic drinks are potent. We had 2 pots of tea - Earl Grey and Cranberry infused tea. We should have tried their coffee liquer because all their combinations of coffee and liquer sound really good!

This place gives a real homely vibe. There is an alfresco area behind, and the layout is like that of a pebble garden (bamboo trees, minimal lighting..you get the idea) and there is a balcony area that is only open for private(hmmmmms....) events.

Even the desserts are home made. Jac's mom bakes the chocolate pecan pie and Fred's friend's mother bakes the cheesecakes. Oh it is my dream to own such a lovely hangout which opens only at 7 pm - imagine everyday waking up so late!! My friends don't think so though, they think that by the time the Cafe opens there will be nothing left to sell. Oh well.

Cafe Salivation 75 Syed Alwi Road

Space @ My Humble House 寒舍一隔 8 Raffles Avenue #02-25 Esplanade Mall

Cafe Domus 124 Owen Road