Wheels & Wieners, 25A Perak Road

What better way to end a long and shitty day in the office, than hot dogs and alcohol???

If not for   chancing upon this place in a night out at little India, we would have missed quite a find! Tucked away at Perak Road (somewhat between Little India Arcade and Sim Lim Tower), this classy deli place is a popular spot for bikers, hence the name.

 The decor of the place is reminiscent of old-school American diners, with the polka dot tablecloth, vintage posters and chalkboards (kinda like Billy Bomber's, just done correctly).

Serving up 10-ish varieties of hot dogs, they also do other classic American favourites like southern fried chicken - no doubt that'll be on my next to-eat list! We each ordered a dog and decided upon a spiked milkshake to share.

{ Key Lime Pie Milkshake $14) }

Gin, lime juice, Graham crackers, vanilla ice cream, topped with whipped cream

 Man, if you ever thought a mixture of gin, lime juice, biscuits and ice cream would taste strange, don't, cos this was AWESOME. Admittedly a lil' pricey - given I could only taste a faint whiff of gin, the combination really did, indeed, taste of key lime pie, with the right amount of sweet and sour. Add whipped cream for added sin (we gave it a pass).

 I made a face when  ordered this, but hot damn was this good! It's key lime pie in liquid form! What witchcraft is this?

{ Warpig ($18) }

Grilled spicy pork sausage, pulled pork with Texan mayo and candied pork belly bits

 Spicy pork sausage, pulled pork, AND candied pork belly BITS??? Sign me up. And wow, this was easily ... the porkiest hot dog I've ever tasted. The sausage was really great, good quality meat in the sausage with that little chilli-ed kick. Pulled pork sweet and chewy and that pork belly bits ... out of this world. Add to all that, the lovely mayo and you're got yourself a winner (  wiener? ha!). My only gripe was that bun was so fried, and piping hot and oily I couldn't hold it in my hands.

We heard so much about the sweet potato fries - sadly we forgot to get them swapped when we ordered! So both of us ended up with regular fries, which were still good.

{ The Junkie ($16) }

Grilled jumbo beef dog, grilled portobello mushrooms, onions and melted swiss cheese

 Argh choices! I settled for the Junkie simply because mushrooms and cheese. I enjoyed this hefty and tasty beef dog (with lashings of mustard and ketchup) but then thought I should have gone for something a bit more exciting/different. Eating was a challenge - but a fun one! I generally struggle with things on buns (burgers, hotdogs namely) and had to maneuver a fork and knife in the basket (the basket by the way is too cute) How I managed to finish everything, including half a shake, is quite a miracle.

 The drinks are good, beer isn't too expensive, but the hot dogs are where it's at. They serve mega-jumbo sized hot dogs as well, pay them a visit to see for yourself!

 Come for the big bikes display as well :)

Wheels & Wieners

25A Perak Road

View Larger Map

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/WheelsandWieners
HGW Link (100% recommended at time of posting) : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/Wheels_and_Wieners/
Rating (out of 4) : 

Poulet, Bugis+

 With quite a number of 'specialty' chicken places already available, I was still pretty curious about Poulet's promise of 'amazing french roast chicken'. There seems to be a leaning towards affordable french food these days..

We went to the Bugis+ outlet after a movie one weekend (believe there's another one at Great World City).

 No queue around 7pm, although most tables were occupied.

{ Sauté Wild Mushrooms ($7.80) }

Sautéed button mushrooms, Shimeji mushrooms and King Oyster mushrooms

served with poached egg

 Hungry and needing nibbles, we ordered the mushrooms to start. I thought these were succulent, earthy and quite nicely sauteed. Yum. The poached egg was a bit of a fail though - it was closer to hard boiled! Someone in the kitchen needs to watch this video.

 Yeah the poached egg was completely non-runny ... which was a shame, but the mushrooms were great.

{ Poulét Roti ($28.80 for whole) }

Slow roast rotisserie chicken with home-made mushroom Chardonnay sauce

 Decided to order a whole bird for both of us - somehow I expected it to be smaller and without any accompanying leaves/gravy - so hey good news all around! The chicken was moist and tender and the creamy, tasty sauce at the bottom gives a nice flavour. The mushrooms paired excellently with the chicken as well and at one point we were deliberating on ordering some warm crusty baguette to soak up the sauce (we restrained ourselves!).

 Dare I venture to say Poulet lives up to its promise? I do think so!

 The portion didn't look like much when we saw other peeps eating it ... but that whole chicken for  two people was really than enough. More mushrooms underneath, in that lovely earthy, creamy and sweet mushroom chardonnay sauce AND rocket on the side ... it's a complete meal by itself! And at under $30 for this quantity and quality, it really is a steal (and reminds me of why Nando's is kind of a ripoff). I would definitely recommend going for some crusty bread to lap up the sauce, instead of more mushrooms which was overdosey for us.

{ Profiteroles ($6.80) }

Choux puffs with vanilla ice-cream, warm chocolate sauce and almond flakes

 Now onto dessert (of course) and all around us we could see the tiramisu on (almost) every table. On hindsight we should have gone with the crowd favourite but we wanted to be 'different' and got the profiteroles instead. This was a bit disappointing.. the choux puffs were clearly of the frozen variety. Although quite generous with the chocolate sauce. We lapped everything up but wished the dish had a bit more soul.

 Great pricing, great food, great location, and not even a queue on a Sunday night.

Poulet

201 Victoria Street, Level 4 Bugis+

View Larger Map

HGW Link (87% recommended at time of posting) : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/poulet/
Rating (out of 4) :

Gunther's, Purvis Street

T'was an evening shrouded in mystery. With only vague suggestions of "the letter G" and "meet at City Hall MRT", I was extremely curious and excited to know what  had up his sleeve. I had some suspicions but was led to Gunther's instead (which is located right next to Garibaldi, my initial guess)!

 I was a bit overwhelmed by the prospect of dining in the one of the world's best restaurants. However I knew this was a (surprise) special occasion so we both relished in the experience. Stepping into the restaurant I knew that service was not going to disappoint!

 After a bit of deliberation we both decided to go for the tasting menu. This would be a great way to sample what Gunther's have to offer.

To our delight (more of mine I think!) the friendly maitre d' introduced the day's specials by bringing out an entire tray of fresh, quality ingredients and talking through each one. I fought the urge to approach the tray and pick things up to feel in my own hands.

{ Tempura prawn }

 We hardly waited a few ticks before the bread & amuse bouche arrived. The bread was served warm alongside room-temp butter (so important!!) and was excellent. I thought the amuse bouche - nicely fried tempura prawn - was okaay but maybe a bit boring.

 The bread was absolutely brilliant - a mini-baguette if you will, crispy, sweet and chewy and the butter was awesome. Unfortunately no flattering photo of the simple bread made it past the lens! The prawn was really fresh and just lightly battered.

{ Cold angel hair pasta, Oscietra caviar }

 First course was their signature caviar pasta. Every bite was full of flavour (that is quite distinct from the japanese roe variant I am more familiar with) and there is a slight oily richness that could have been 'too much' if the portion was larger. I thought that the pasta was just a tad too cold and chewy.

 Whoa ... this tiny portion was surprisingly heavy. Lovely texture on the pasta and the caviar adding that sprig of sea-saltiness to every bite. The plate was ice-cold and I think the coldness really made the oil denser and richer somehow (?) but it realllyyy brought out the flavour.

{ Crispy egg with truffle (+$30) }

 For myself, the next course containing egg I requested it to be changed to this funky crispy version with a hillock of truffle. It's actually deep fried hard boiled egg, which turned out quite interesting considering the heat from the deep frying should technically cook the egg through - but there was still runny yolk! I very much enjoyed this combination. The truffle bits itself looked quite abundant but the aroma wasn't as strong as expected.

 I had the regular egg dish on the degustation - unfortunately again no flattering picture made it past the lens! A poached egg with iberico ham and celeriac - I thought it was an interesting combination but tasted just quite alright.

{ Roasted Carabinero gambas, tomato pilaf  }

 Next course was roasted shrimp with pilaf rice. I made a small mistake of beheading the shrimp, letting the wonderful essence in the shell flow all over the plate. Very fresh and tasty! Rice was really good too, having been cooked in the juices of the shrimp. A standout dish for me.

{ Wagyu (Kuroge) Steak (+$65) }

 I had intentions to upgrade the "Cocotte of French Chicken" main to a beef main - not sure if it was a curse or a blessing that the only available for swap was the Kuroge Steak which was part of the daily special. $65 top up was hefty!!!! But I've always wanted to try Japanese Wagyu done proper steak style ... and what better time to just go for it. The plate arrived rather bare, and with good reason - there is no need to dress up this unassuming yet sumptuous piece of meat. The rich marbling, tasty fat and how delicate the meat breaks as you chew ... I feel myself salivating as I write. Definitely glad I made the switch!

{ Pan Seared Cod }

 For my main course I opted for fish. I was not expecting much of pan seared cod but when this was placed under my nose I was won over by 2 things: the presentation (I liked how the vegies are spread out - too many places shove vegies under the fish - highlighting the cod in the middle) and that crispy skin (look at that colour!) The cod was fresh and delicate. Just the perfect 'lightness' of flavours I wanted.

{ Plateau of French farm cheeses }

 At this point I was quite full already but how can one not look forward to dessert? :) the cheese platter had 4 different types of cheese and all pretty good! My favourite was the creamy one.

 Silly silly me, when presented when the option of "Cheese and Apple Tart", I expected to get a cheese tart and an apple tart. Till they wheeled out a small cart with 4 different farm cheeses - can't say I remember the names but I remember them as "Creamy", "Gooey", "Hard" and "Blue". All went great with dried fruit and crackers.

{ Fine apple tart "a la dragees" w/Havana rum raisin ice cream }

 We also chose the apple tart which was done quite differently in a kind of filo pastry and served with a rummy R&R ice cream. Very good! Sweet and delicious.

 You know the pacing and portion for this meal is just right when the coffee comes and you have just the right amount of room left to enjoy it.

{ Petit fours }

 And ending off with the petit fours, the macarons were a little too sweet for my liking, but hey, it's dessert!

Lovely dinner for a lovely occasion! Gunther's pride themselves for fresh ingredients, and S$128++ for a tasting menu is one of the more affordable ones you can find this part of the world.

Gunther's

36 Purvis Street

View Larger Map

Main website : http://www.gunthers.com.sg/
HGW (72% recommended at time of posting) : http://www.hungrygowhere.com/singapore/gunther_s/
Rating (out of 4) :