This features cubes of tender braised beef, crisp leeks, and crunchy smoked young bamboo shoots, served in braising gravy and garnished with coriander.
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Practically needs to be paired with white rice, for its rich full-flavoured meaty vegetal salty savoury sweet herbal flavour, yum.
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Invited tasting.
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Sichuan Alley
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2023/06/sichuan-alley-tasting-session.html

Ambience at Sichuan Alley is casual and relaxing. Styled like a traditional noodle house, the cafe-lounge is warmly lit, with traditional lanterns hanging from the ceiling.
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Service at Sichuan Alley is friendly and efficient. Staff are quick to greet and seat guests. They accord each table good attention (provided you catch their attention first), and respond promptly.
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Food at Sichuan Alley is traditional Chinese Sichuan / Szechuan cuisine, focused on the classic Mian Yang rice noodles and accompanying appetisers and sides associated with the dish. Chef Eugene See brings his culinary expertise, re-creating authentic bowls derived from painstaking research and established business connections.
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Some of the appetizers we tried include:
- Guo Kui Braised Pork Belly (SGD $8.50)
- Mala Black Fungus (SGD $5.50)
- Roasted Yu Xiang Eggplant (SGD $9)
- Fried Pig Intestines With Onion (SGD $7.50)
- Smoked Pork Liver (SGD $7.50)
- Zhang Fei Beef Slice (SGD $11)
- Braised Ox Tongue (SGD $11)
- Hot & Sour Vermicelli (SGD $7)
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Invited tasting.
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Sichuan Alley
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2023/06/sichuan-alley-tasting-session.html

Marinated with garam masala, the grass-fed USDA-grade beef brisket is slow smoked for over 20 hours using lychee wood and charcoal.
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There are 2 cuts; the Point End (SGD $16 per 100g, SGD $48 for 300g) has a higher content of fat, giving it a juicy succulent chew to texture and bold smoky meaty savoury sweet spice flavour.
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The Naval End (SGD $16 per 100g, SGD $48 for 300g) is more lean, giving it a tender moist firm chew to texture and robust smoky meaty savoury salty spice flavour.
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Served with juicy crisp pickled cucumber and chili, lending vegetal sour sweet spice flavour.
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Blue Smoke
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2023/06/blue-smoke.html

Loved the Dirty Basmati Rice (SGD $8), which features loose fluffy basmati rice flavoured with meat drippings from the roasting process, garnished with juicy golden raisins and tender chickpeas.
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With bold smoky meaty salty savoury sweet earthy fruity grainy flavour, this was addictive and delicious.
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The Pineapple Smoked & Grilled (SGD $10) was excellent.
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Rubbed with a bit of paprika and powdered cumin, then smoked and grilled, each long wedge of juicy pineapple carries addictive smoky fruity sweet spice flavour.
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Blue Smoke
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2023/06/blue-smoke.html

The Miso Shiitake Brioche Buns (SGD $8) is a must-have starter, a umami flavour bomb.
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A pair of fresh buttery brioche bread buns, soft chewy with bready sweet savoury flavour, are filled with a creamy chunky blend of diced smoked shiitake mushrooms with miso paste and brown butter, bursting with vegetal salty earthy savoury buttery sweet flavour.
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The Charred Napa Cabbage (SGD $14) is certainly not an underdog here. The sliced napa cabbage is beautifully charred, garnished with fried shallots and fresh spring onions, crunchy juicy with smoky vegetal sweet flavour.
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Paired with a creamy roasted black garlic aioli, lending a lovely smoky herbal salty savoury note.
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The Smoked Iberico Pork Belly (SGD $22) features a good ratio of fat to lean pork meat. The Iberico pork belly is first smoked over lychee wood, then roasted over charcoal, resulting in a crisp crunchy skin, with a moist tender texture to the meat. Carries smoky savoury salty flavour.
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Served with a rich wasabi sour cream that tingles with herbal spicy sour milky flavour.
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The luxurious Char-Grilled Wagyu Ribeye (SGD $28) is grilled over charcoal to a perfect medium-rare, springy moist chewy in texture, with smoky meaty savoury salty flavour.
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The wagyu beef ribeye cuts are served with chunky coriander pureé and crunchy pistachio crumble; combining for a mild vegetal herbal earthy nutty sweet flavour.
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Blue Smoke
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2023/06/blue-smoke.html

The Wood-Fired Basque Cheese Cake (SGD $18) is so good. The creamy soft cheese cake is smoked with lychee wood, resulting in a smoky cheesy milky sweet flavour.
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Served with a blueberry and honey compote, thick and juicy in texture with bright fruity floral sweet flavour.
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As we were celebrating a friend's birthday, staff surprised us with a candle and song.
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Blue Smoke
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2023/06/blue-smoke.html

This has long silky spaghettini pasta noodles coated in thick tender pork ragout and creamy peanut sesame seed butter, crowned with a runny soft-boiled onsen egg, and fresh leafy kale.
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Mixed together, this has meaty savoury salty vegetal herbal sweet spice nutty flavours, yum.
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So good we ordered it again on a repeat visit.
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Halcyon & Crane
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2019/07/halcyon-crane.html

Delicious, and feels wholesome.
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The large crunchy juicy tiger prawns are partially deshelled and well grilled, with savoury salty sweet flavour.
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The sticky soft multi-grain risotto, comprising corn kernels, pumpkin, zucchini, barley, and black fungus / wood ear fungus, has lovely vegetal earthy sweet flavour, so addictive.
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While the crisp porous toasted sourdough bread was properly bready sour sweet in taste, I felt this could have been excluded as the dish was quite substantial already.
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Halcyon & Crane
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2019/07/halcyon-crane.html

This features chunks of clean-tasting bouncy squid, coated in a crisp batter, spiced with black pepper, Sichuan chili, cumin, and fish sauce.
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Served alongside slices of juicy battered green chili, each bite carries a burst of sweet savoury salty spice flavour.
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The sweetness tends to be more pronounced here, but I like it.
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Halcyon & Crane
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2019/07/halcyon-crane.html

The thick fluffy soft wedges of egg-layered toast bread is coated with a sticky crunchy garnish of nutella spread and crushed peanuts, stacked with soft banana slices, rich mascarpone cream, and crisp almond flakes.
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Has lovely chocolatey nutty bready sweet fruity flavour, so tasty.
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The plate is decorated with juicy seasonal berries (strawberries, blueberries) with fruity sweet flavour, edible flowers, a mint leaf, and a creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream with floral earthy milky sweet flavour.
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Halcyon & Crane
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2019/07/halcyon-crane.html

Highlights the collaboration in its simplicity.
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A straight bowl of their signature hand-blended 'Apricot, Pecan, And Orange' granola mix, crunchy and chewy with beautiful grainy floral fruity earthy sweet nutty flavours.
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The blend consists of organic rolled cereal oats, organic maple syrup, organic coconut sugar, dried apricot, pecan nuts, pumpkin seeds, orange extract, sea salt, and sunflower oil.
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A pitcher of luscious chilled fresh milk accompanies.
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Halcyon & Crane
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2019/07/halcyon-crane.html

This features a base of Japanese short-grain white rice, topped with soft tofu bean curd cubes, spongy tofu bean curd puffs stuffed with minced chicken, and tender minced chicken meat balls.
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Also crunchy long beans, wispy sauropus androgynus / mani cai / cekur manis / star gooseberry / sweet leaf, crisp nori / dried seaweed strips, creamy house special mayonnaise sauce, and bits of sesame seeds.
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Combined, this has grainy savoury salty sweet vegetal meaty herbal earthy spice milky nutty flavours. More filling than it appears to be.
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Ah Lock Tofu
More details:
https://ivanteh-runningman.blogspot.com/2018/06/ah-lock-tofu.html