EATS BEFORE THE END.....

Yes yes, it has been insane, but I have resigned myself to insanity being the norm, and sanity making an occasional appearance. Life. A taste of the goodness of Cork is in order (best at the English Market, above). But Ireland is only slated for the summer. Siiiighs. Singapore's in the grip of this dengue epidemic, and its been long days and longer nights. We're just hoping and praying it doesn't get so serious that 1) one of us gets sick (touch wood), or 2) one of us can't get away for our planned break next month. The plan right now is to - if we finally graduate from the unending waiting list for flights - to attend Kishore's wedding in Bali. *Fingers crossed*. Anyways, Pete and I were inspired enough by food blog The Traveler's Lunchbox to experiment with the meme Five Things To Eat Before You Die. Its been done by everyone from Chubby Hubby and The Domestic Goddess in the aim of creating a Foodbloggers' Guide to the Globe. In any case, we've decided we will do it too, and we hope that you'll add your fav five in the comments section. Heck, death is the inevitable end point anyway, so we might as well be sharing the best and most gastronomically satisfying routes... So here goes... There's 10 between us (well, duh). Besides, while I completely agreed with Pete's five, I had a few others I simply had to include. 1. Poached to perfection eggs Benedict at Odessa, Dublin 2, Ireland. You haven't lived till you've tried this one, especially with their great homemade Hollandaise sauce. Had mine with salmon and the meal alone made the trip worthwhile. A close second is the poach eggs on toast at the Hick's Brasserie at Cotswolds House Hotel, Cotswolds, England. Amazing stuff. 2. Banh My Pate, or pate and baguette, flavoured with pickled cucumber, coriander and chilli sauce from a streetside stall in Saigon. The old lady near Ben Tanh Market is oh-my-god to-die-for good. The French would freak out. Now wouldn't that be fun to watch haha. 3. The crispy fish salad at Song Trang, undeniably the BEST restaurant in all of Saigon. The greatness of this dish even escapes description. The only problem is that its so popular now that you have to book a table like waaaay in advance. Ah well. (Make sure you try the lemongrass escargot as well, its phenomenal). There used to be one in Singapore, but it came nowhere close to the real one. Ask any local where to find it coz its kinda off the usual tourist radar. While we are on the topic of fishy business, the seared black cod at Brasserie Wolf, Robertson Quay, Singapore, is divine. 4. Anything at all from The Stinking Rose in San Francisco, California. Just follow your nose to this one. Its all garlic, all the way. Apparently, they serve something like 3000 pounds of the good stuff a month. Amazing stuff. The garlic dip with the bread was smashing. For a main, I had the Garlic Encrusted Baby Back Ribs, which were phenomenal. Pete had the 40 Clove Garlic Chicken, though he still complains it didn't quite have enough garlic. Madness. Quite fortunately, of course, both the boy and I love the pungent stuff, so it doesn't cause any, erm, tension. Ha Ha. Checked out the most recent menu and they now have a "Roasted Garlic Potato Onion Soup". And if anyone out there has anything close to a recipe, PLEASE PLEASE share. 5. Hainanese Delicacy for its chicken rice, top floor of Far East Plaza. Been eating there for yonks and finally introduced it to Pete earlier this year. We are both chicken rice fanatics, and anywhere else has since paled in comparison. The oyster sauce veg is great, second only to the salted vegetable soup. 6. Crubeens (crúibíní in Irish). Wikipedia calls em salted pig's feet or trotters, boiled/braised, and best eaten with cabbage, and either mashed or baby potatos (Goodbye Atkins). Pete calls em heaven. Best after a few drinks. They are traditionally eaten using one's fingers - yet another link to these Indian-Irish union. Made to be together we are, I tell ya. While we are in the Cork region, the clam chowder at the English Market, Cork, Ireland, is one of those die die must try things. Great chance, too, to load up on real Irish salmon, black n white pudding and amazing cheeses. The stuffed olives from the deli are amazing too. 7. Seafood (especially the grilled and soyo sauce fish) in Hua Hin (where the Thai king vacations). The restaurants are built on old piers where the fishermen used to offload, and while we can't quite remember the name of the one we went to, it was the third one down from the end. The food was phenomenal and I am sure the name of it will come back to me at some stage. We kena scolded by the waitress too - she said our eyes were bigger than our (collective) tummies and we were ordering too much. At the end of the day, we just let her pick and were happier for it. Only downside to Hua Hin - its a bit of a trek to get there (even though its only a couple of hours outside Bangkok). Its well worth it though, and it means a lot of the trash-tourists are nowhere near. Heaven. Closer to home, I would say a near second best would be the soya sauce whole fish at Ubin Seafood. at the Bukit Timah and 6th Ave junction. I have no idea what its called on the menu, but its done with ginger and spring onion. Pete's throwing in a third contender - the kopitiam across the street from the office that I only know as Wy Wy's Grandfather's Coffeeshop (Thanks, Alison). If you're familiar with the neighbourhood, its in the same block as Aroma but on the other end. Not bad at all for something near enough to work. The wait for a table can be endless, though. God, I am getting hungry. 8. Soto Ayam from a streetside stall in Bali. Words simply escape me. It's just different. Don't ask, just try. Two places come to mind, both of which I don't have names to. First one is near the Bali Hyatt in Sanur (Walk towards the beach, turn right, 100 metres down. Its the one with the blue sheet of canvas over it. If lazy, the soto ayam served by the hotel's Indon restaurant to the poolside passes the test) and the second one is near the Santika resort in Tuban (get out to the beach from the resort - oh, and the restaurant bordering the beach is Ooh-la-la too - but anyways, turn left and take a stroll along the beach. About 100 metres down is a restaurant on the beach front. It actually fronts a backpacker/budget hostel area. Very good stuff and the only cheeseburger in Bali pete gives three "beers" to. Considering how particular this boy is, that is generous). Try. 9. Samosas and coriander-mint chuntney at Rita's Kitchen, East Coast, Singapore. Don't bother asking for the address. This one's Mum. :) Haven't met a samosa or chutney I can take seriously other than hers. Revolutionary. I mean, at least one son-in-law wanted her samosas as dowry instead of anything else- and got it. Another son-in-law kicked himself for not being able to do the same at the risk of sounding unoriginal. Need I say more? Other dishes that stick in the mind - Mum's chilli fried rice, serve with fried chicken winglets, fried lady's finger doused in masala, and homemade yoghurt. Yes yes, a fried frenzy, heart attack in a plate, whatever. Awesome. Another one that comes to mind Mithi Loli - a kinda sweet crispy pancake, which Mum spoiled me with when I got chicken pox. Why, I have no idea, but it sure sweetened a shite period in my life. Oh, and mum's rice cooked in dahl. And finally.... 10. Curry chips from Aroma II, Wexford Street Dublin. Note that these have to be eaten at 4am, when one is pissed enough to ignore the cold, and stupid enough to wanna walk all the way there when the bar is just up from the hotel. "One" (being Pete) also has to be smart enough to send one's wife in for the fine stuff, just so she knows what queueing with drunk thugs in a foreign land. The chips - or at least the first five (until they complied with Irish winter weather and got cold) - were good though. Sighs, I could go on.... I don't even have Chin Wah Heng's pepper crabs in there, or Bak Kut Teh, or Mussells from Brussells.... How can one only pick five/ten things.... Ah well. Okay, your turn. I'm already tagging Gnat, Wei, Ling , Jonno, and the independent-for-a-few-more-days Gene. Everyone else, please please do join. Hugs, TW Note: Some of the pictures on this post are from http://www.noodlepie.com/ and from the WWW. Those lovely ones of the olives and the English Market and such are Pete's though.. Thanks to all.