Laut – Supporting Local Food & Cocktails

Had a really enjoyable night with a plethora of delicious food, good variety of cocktails & even better company. I enjoyed listening to the unique stories behind each of these & I’m sure you will too. All part of the experience & good vibes here.

So the food at Laut – how do I summarize it, if that’s even possible. Each dish has a story of its own, inspired by local flavours, staying quite true to that yet managing to be unique/intriguing.

Sometimes, you just need to try a dish to really be wow-ed by it. Describing it doesn’t do it justice (or maybe it’s just me 😂). The Burnt Eggplant Dip ($12+) was that for me. It’s essentially that, with a tomato & onion relish – served with curry spiced papadums.

First of all, props to the papadums for being fresh & crispy, because there’s nothing like a soggy papadum to ruin your day. Secondly, what sorcery is exactly in this dip?? Such distinct yet harmonious flavours: The smokeyness from the char, creaminess of the eggplant, & flavourful spice (not heat!) from the papadums. This was a hot favourite for the original days when customers would order this during CB 1.0 for delivery. &, of course, it still is.

The Bergedil ($15+) is another dish that has a cool story to it. It does remain true to its tasty fried potato nature – with good fragrance & flavour which I believe is in part from the Madras curry oil, balanced with the earthiness from the trumpet mushrooms. But what truly takes the cake is what they call the umami soil. That’s where the story gets pretty cool to me! I’ll leave that to the good folks at Laut to tell it to you. I was quite fascinated as Damian took me through the narrative. 😍

I had a Malay-speaking friend who asked me if Laut was seafood-inspired cuisine, as laut translates to seafood in Malay. The scrumptious sharing plates I enjoyed had seafood as the main star. When dining restrictions open up, I’d recommend dining in with a sizeable group, so you can order more items off this sharing menu.

I hate it when squid/octopus are overcooked, rubbery & tough to the chew. Laut’s Squid Gado ($27+) was anything but that. The seared whole squid was done so marvellously that it was almost melt in your mouth… I had to pause to think about whether I actually put the correct thing in my mouth 😂 (just an excuse to have a 2nd bite, amiraiiii?)

& the “Gado” in the name – you guessed it – the peanut sauce in the Gado Gado we all know & love.

BUT WAIT, that’s not all. Introducing the Otah ($37+) – by far the most atas otah you’ve ever had… & dare I say, it is worth it. The mix of fish? Oh, no big deal, just some awesome barramundi, blended mackerel & squid. 🧐

This otah really left me wanting more. Its texture is bouncy & firm, & the rempah mix was on point with good flavour. I loved the Nyonya Achar on the side as well, which provided nice refreshing acidity in between bites. It actually also goes well with the otah in a single bite, too. On the whole, this was an addictive dish & one of my favourites of the night.

Now, on to the drinks. I tend to be wary when cocktails arrive at my table very pretty. I appreciate good aesthetics, but not at the expense of bad taste, i.e. saccharine sweet or artificially syrupy. This was anything but that; & the variety of bespoke cocktails here is quite impressive:

🔸Grass ($21+) – slightly savoury & refreshing 👌🏻
➡️ Gin, Ginger Flowers, Pickle Brine, 3 Grass Kombucha

🔸 Kopi O ($21+) – strong flavours, but thankfully I was able to sleep that night. Personally enjoyed the creaminess of the coconut oil that goes well with the coffee.
➡️ Trigona vodka, nitro charged Sumatra coffee, toasted bread vinegar, orange pekoe tea, coconut oil

🔸 Mata Kuching ($21+) – as a sweet treat, this isn’t my typical cocktail profile, but is likely an easy drink for some folks.
➡️ Aged malt, smoked longan distillate, rambutan & lychee soda, cat whiskers flower (they upsized our flower for us haha)

🔸Lengkuas ($21+) – refreshing, beachy vibes, feels like a summertime drink without the scorching heat or sunburn
➡️ Aged Malaysian Molasses, Citrus Granitas, Laut triple spiced ginger beer.

Thanks Damian / @drinking_noodle for the invite & hospitality! 💕

💳 Accepts credit cards
🌬 Air-conditioned seats only
🙋🏻‍♀️ Service charge applicable
🚫 No GST

@haydenyja’s Scrumptious Rice Bowls

Don’t shoot me, but.. I’m a bad Asian. I’m not a rice lover. I can go for months without rice. But I loooove rice bowls when they’re done right.

I DM-ed @haydenyja to place an order & made payment via PayNow a day in advance. Picked these babies up from D’Leedon & went straight home to feast on lunch. Heated them up a little in the microwave – & the first bite was heaven..

.. Right until the last bite.

In fact, despite finishing the grass-fed ribeye slices before the rice, I still ate the rice on its own. That’s not something I do often. I had to, because it was cooked perfectly fluffily, the sauce was delicious, & with the perfect runny onsen egg mixed in..? I can’t waste any of that.

I tried the smoked black pepper duck slices as well; they were good. Not too heavily peppered & doesn’t assault the tastebuds offensively. Common to all 3 options: Pickled onion to refresh your tastebuds as you make your way through your meal. Lovely.

I’d order both the Beef ($12.90) & Duck ($11.90) again for sure!

Unfortunately, I did not get to try the Unagi ($12.90) because it was rudely wolfed down by the person I brought it home for. I was so upset, especially because that came highly recommended & I wanted to try at least one slice. & it looked hella good. Maybe next time!

Check @haydenyja’s Instagram for his latest menu as it updates often. I already missed the first round of salmon 😭 But hey, the beef, duck (& I’m sure unagi) more than made up for it.

Ah Li Mee Pok – Japanese Fusion Bak Chor Mee

My all-time favourite bak chor mee (BCM) is the one served by Ah Li Mee Pok. A disclaimer: This isn’t your regular BCM. It’s an elevated, fusion type of BCM that still retains some local elements of traditional BCM.

I’ve been patronizing them for years; on weekdays, the lines get snakingly long by the time 12PM rolls around. I’m always here early to beat the crowd.

Anti-clockwise from top left:

Bombdiggity soup for 4 pax
Shoyu Mee Pok ($6.40 nett)
Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles ($4.40 nett)
Special Mee Pok ($4.40 nett)

I love their Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles/BCM because:

It’s affordable!
It’s flavourful & delicious. Texture of the noodle is good; vinegar, chilli & sauce live in umami harmony.
They are super generous with ingredients – sliced pork, pork balls, minced pork, abalone, & pork lard. I find that I finish my noodles way before I’m done with the ingredients. So rare!
Their soup is THE BOMB, actually has a delicious umami taste. There is a pleasant kind of sweetness that maybe is from clams or prawns or some kind of seafood?

During this #circuitbreaker period, they accept online orders for self-collection & delivery. By default, you pay for a packaging fee of $0.20 per bowl. To my surprise, I received a refund of my packaging fee ($0.80 total) with a kind note explaining why – it’s because I brought my own clean containers. Very appreciated!

Ordering online is simple; & you can indicate your preferences before adding to cart:

Noodles – Mee Pok/Mee Kia/Kuay Teow
Style – Dry/Soup
Chilli Level – Yes/Less/No (their chilli isn’t very spicy)
Vinegar Level – Yes/Less/No

If you’re opting for the dry variant, do indicate that you’d like to takeaway the soup as well. You really can’t miss out the soup, trust me on that.

Special Mee Pok (background) & Bak Chor Mee (foreground)

For variety’s sake, my family ordered a Special Mee Pok just to try it out. Unfortunately, it was comparatively disappointing & fell quite flat. The sauce wasn’t as tasty & there wasn’t a lot of it so the dish was pretty dry. The only plus point was the prawn as an ingredient… Which I can do without.

Will stick to my usual favourite next time. To me, the star dish really is their Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles.

Taco Mantra Serves Indian-Mexican Fusion Food Perfect with Freehouse’s Beer

Freehouse turned 4 recently (time flies – congrats!), but Taco Mantra taking over their kitchen was something that happened only recently.

Serving up Indian-Mexican fusion cuisine, their tacos (2 for $12, 3 for $15) are characteristically packed with lots of flavour, with ingredients nestled in a single soft flour taco.

I thought the Kerala Beef & Chicken Tikka tacos were ordinary; my favourite was Ma’s Fish! It wasn’t too oily & the fish was tender, flaky & moist inside. The fruit salsa complimented the fried fish well, too.

A 4th variant, the Pulled Karana Jackfruit, was out of stock when we visited.. But it is meant to mimic pulled pork slathered in barbecue sauce. Would be curious to try it after seeing all the veganized food videos on YouTube!

If you & your friends are looking for finger food to go with the plethora of craft beer that Freehouse has on tap, you can consider Taco Mantra’s sharing platters. This one, the Platter for 2 ($60), has ribeye steak, fried pork belly (sio bak), chicken tikka, mantra wings & samosas. All platters are served with slaw, poppadum chips, mint yogurt & house sauce.

For more manageable portion of snacks, you could opt for the Pachos ($15) – their version of poppadum nachos, or Quail Egg Sambal Fries ($15). The Grilled Cheese Naanwich ($15) isn’t an appetizer, but is quite highly snackable.

Personally, though, I wasn’t a huge fan of these. I prefer the crunchiness of original nachos (the poppadum quickly became soggy where the sauce hits), & the sambal fries were too peppery for my tastebuds. I did love the bouncy quail eggs though, hehe.

Finger food does go well with beer, but as someone who isn’t much of a snacker, I’d rather spend my money on the tacos. Or, even better…

.. THEIR BURGERS. Taco Mantra’s burgers really stood out to me. The crowd favourite was the Spiced Lamb Burger ($20), & that was mine too. The lamb patty had the slight gameyness that I love, yet it’s palatable enough for others as it doesn’t overpower the flavours of the dish. Topped with a cool mint yogurt for good balance. I would order this again in a heartbeat.

The Double Cheeseburger ($24) was also good, with 2 juicy beef patties, cheese, sweet bacon onion jam & tangy dill pickle mayonnaise.Their patties are fairly thick, so IMHO a single patty would suffice. A Single Cheeseburger goes for $20.

Spiced Lamb Burger & Double Cheeseburger

Thanks Taco Mantra for the hospitality & Burpple for the invite! 💕

💳 Accepts credit cards
🌬 Air-conditioned seats only
🖥 Accepts reservations on Chope (Freehouse)
📱 FavePay accepted
🍽 Shopback GO partner
⬆️ Located on the 2nd floor

Eat at Seven’s Udon Kamon – Scrumptious Fusion Udon

Udon has grown on me in recent years – especially when I’m craving for something carby. The new menu at Eat At Seven’s Udon Kamon is right up my alley, with hawker-inspired udon dishes.

Local twists on high quality udon

Walking that fine balance with the innovativeness of local cuisine, yet staying true to its Japanese roots, diners have 3 specialty dishes to indulge in:

Dark Sauce Dry Udon

The Dark Sauce Dry Udon ($10.80++) has such a simple name that doesn’t fully capture how delicious it is. This was a hot favourite amongst everyone at the table, quite closely following its inspiration of KL chilli ban mee.

The spicy & sweet dark sauce coats the udon very well. With ingredients like with minced pork, crispy anchovies, vegetables & half an ajitsuke tamago – dare I say this is a pretty dang balanced dish!

Ipoh Style Chicken Udon

The Ipoh Style Chicken Udon ($10.80++) is my personal favourite, subtly reminiscent of Ipoh-style hor fun. Imagine their signature sanuki udon in a delicious soy-based gravy that is light on the palate & fragrant, with plump mushrooms providing that earthy flavour, & juicy texture. The silky smooth sliced chicken thigh is steamed with ginger & Japanese leek, & thereafter drizzled with light soy sauce & black sesame oil.

Are you salivating already? The multi-dimensional layers of flavours are why this was my favourite dish of the night 😍

Truffle Beef Ying Yang Udon

Last but certainly not least, tantilize your tastebuds & noses with the Truffle Beef Ying Yang Udon ($15.80++). The sauce, made from XO sauce, truffle & bean paste, is umami & thick though not overwhelming. The truffle smell is pretty strong though 😉

I didn’t expect the interesting double-texture of the udon noodles to work so well. Half of the udon is flattened & fried such that it is slightly crispy, even after soaking in the sauce for a while.

Thanks @alhsx for the invite & Brand Cellar + Udon Kamon for the hospitality! 💕

💳 Accepts credit cards
🌬 Air-conditioned seats only
🖥 Accepts reservations on Chope & Quandoo

Good Deal But Inattentive Service at Deli’s Kitchen

Came to Deli’s Kitchen with the intention of using Burpple Beyond (we were an odd-numbered group, which made it a bit awkward 😜), but we spied a Chope value meal promotion menu tucked away in the corner… & asked about it.

We ended up opting for the 2-course Beef set meal ($12.35 nett) on ChopeDeals. There is an Unagi-equivalent option of a set meal ($14.71 nett), but beef >> unagi forever.

How ChopeDeals works: Purchase your voucher online, make a reservation on Chope (we skipped this step but they said it’s ok), dine at the outlet & redeem your voucher. It can be a printed or electronic voucher – I do the latter because #gogreen.

Their a la carte menu is crazy extensive, but it isn’t priced as affordably as the ChopeDeals set menu, which is redeemable daily from 11:00AM – 8:45PM (essentially all day erriday). However, if you swipe Burpple Beyond, the prices aren’t as steep. So I’d go for that if the ChopeDeals don’t tickle your fancy.

Takoyaki were good – bear in mind you only get 2 per set, & they serve the entire table’s order in 1 bowl

The ChopeDeals beef set meal comes with a main – choose from the Wagyu Hamburg Steak Set, or the Roast Beef Don (100g). The other course in question is an appetizer of 2 takoyakis, which were pretty nicely done – served warm, with chunks of seafood inside.

The Roast Beef Don itself was not too shabby; it was in good proportion & mostly cooked well. The onsen egg on top was perfectly ooozy runny, & the beef was yummy, thinly sliced & tender. The rice was very ordinary – plain, & too sticky for my preference, but I did finish it all, together with the beef & egg.

The downside to dining here – service is quite dismal. We waited a long while to get seated, & also served. Our food was served without utensils & even though most of the crowd had dispersed by then, it took a long time to actually get utensils… So much that we got up to walk to the next table to grab their (unused) utensils.

So that was pretty off-putting. If they can improve on the service, that would be very beneficial to the overall experience.

Also another pet peeve of mine: Don’t freaking label your WiFi as “[Insert Name] Guest” when it’s meant for your POS & not public use. Nothing like WiFi misrepresentation to cheese me off, ESPECIALLY when my phone/data connection is already crummy in the premises. A simple renaming would save your staff & diners a lot of unnecessary enquiries & explanations. But that’s just my own pet peeve (or is it yours too?).

💷 Cash/NETS only
📱 Accepts GrabPay & FavePay
🖥 Accepts reservations on Chope
🍽 Burpple Beyond partner
📶 Pretend free WiFi (actually cannot use one)

Korean Pasta for Me at Nipong Naepong

Oops I did it again. Shopback GO brought me here with their 20% cashback deal. I’ve dined at Nipong Naepong before – I am a sucker for pasta & I love soupy things, so their menu is right up my alley.

Before you even order, you get a little plate of appetizer served to you. This whet my appetite as I eagerly waited for my meal.

I looked around & noticed each table had a clean container for diners to put their mussel shells in. Makes eating very convenient.

Interior of Nipong Naepong – spot the mussel shell container

Being a seafood lover, I ordered the Il Pong ($15.80++). Not much to plating or instagrammability here, which I don’t care much for. Huge mountain of pasta under the seafood ingredients – I initially thought this was disproportionately carby, but as I ate on, I realized a good amount of seafood was at the bottom.

The dash of chilli oil gives this dish a decent level of spice that might cause the average person to break out in a sweat, though I personally found it pleasant & enjoyed it. If you don’t like spicy food, try ordering something else; they do have non-spicy options.

Il Pong – soupy, seafoody, slightly spicy

You WILL be very full after this meal; small eaters be warned!

💳 Accepts credit cards
🌬 Air-conditioned seats only
🍽 Shopback GO partner
📶 Free WiFi available (JEM‘s WiFi)