DB Moderne Bistro

Came down for the famed db burger. Walked in at 9.15pm on a sat night without a reservation and got a table in 10mins. Crowded. Table:staff ratio could be tweaked up for better and more prompt. The burger was smaller than I expected. The short rib added an interesting texture to the succulent and juicy sirloin patty (medium rare), but the foie gras did nothing for me. Unfortunately, although the combination of flavours was delectable, the beef patty itself was a tad bland. The fries was also another failure. Mine were cold and potato-tasteless. In all, price is not equivalent to quality.

Return policy: Will come again if I'm in the area with nothing else that intrigues me, or if someone wants to try it out.

DB Moderne Bistro
Marina Bay Sands
10 Bayfront Avenue, 018956
tel: 6688 8525


Opening Hours
Weekdays 5:30pm-10:30pm;
Weekends 11am-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm

Captain America: The First Avenger [Digital]

First thing first! Stay to the end for a "The Avengers" teaser!! Woohoo!! Snarky Tony! Intense Hawkeye! Broody Thor! Evil Loki! Go Joss Whedon!!! Now that that is out of the way...Captain A is a fun superhero/WWI romper, that is a bit draggy in the middle third, but ultimately feels like a preamble for the ultimate fanboy flick next year with the producers daftly weaving in Thor's (Odin! Cosmic Cube!) and Iron Man's (Stark Enterprise) mythologies into the storyline. Chris Evans definitely fits the role of Steve Rogers more than he did as the Human Torch, giving Cap more than just a hint of vulnerability and humanity. Joe Johnston does a decent job directing; origin stories tend to be draggy in the beginning, but here the backstory feels appropriate and the dragginess only comes in somewhere in the middle third. The love story between Cap and Peggy Carter (know another Carter in the universe? heh...) is typical of the genre, slightly poignant but not nauseatingly sweet. Tommy Lee Jones gets the best lines and Hugo Weaving is cooly scary. Sadly the score, though US-patriotic with the snares, does not pack enough Oomph! befitting a superhero flick. Now...imagine if this was hybridised with "Inglurious Basterds"...ace!! Heh!

Kaiho Sushi

Not the best: in terms of service or quality, but at least not too expensive. The chirashi lunch set had 4 fishes, 1 crustacean, 2 mollusces and 2 eggs (1 poultry and 1 fish). The chef/owner claims the fish are from Japan. Maybe? Maybe not. I definitely have my doubts regarding the non-fishes. At least the slices are chunky. The set came with a bowl of miso (blah), a chawanmushi (blah), and a scoop of ice-cream (blah). Service was on the slow side, was the kitchen overwhelmed with just another table of 3 next to us, plus 4 counter seats? By the time I was done with my chirashi, the tempura mori just arrived. The maguro yamakke was also disappointing. Yam was not sticky enough (japanese?) and should have added a touch of wasabe (which I did, from my chirashi...unlikely freshly grated). Sadly, it had lots of great buzz about it previously, but perhaps the radiation disaster affected them too.

Return policy: Unlikely to return, unless all the other Japanese restaurants in Cuppage Plaza are unavailable.

Kaiho Sushi
Cuppage Plaza
5 Koek Road, #03-01/02
Singapore 228796

tel: 6738 1315

Opening Hours:
Tues - Sun: 12pm - 2.30pm; 6.30pm - 11pm

Rubato

Modern Italian Fare. Good food, good service. Not cheap though. The charcoal grilled squid (Italian イカ焼き) was fresh and grilled to just the right texture; the smokey taste was enliven with a squeeze of lemon over the olive oil. The risotto with ribeye & mushroom had an excellent broth and rice was cooked to the correct texture, however the ribeye, I felt, was a bit extraneous: too chunky and may have been better skipping the beef chunks or changed to a ragout. Conversely, the chunky mushroom was a delight. And now, the pizza...lovers of the thin yet chewy pizza crust rejoice! The bismark had a nice tomato base but otherwise not striking. I wonder if the egg was left still a tad runny would it had been better. Lastly, the chocolate fondant was definitely better than most of the other subpar ones out there. Now, if they only had a better wine list, and accept AMEX.

Update (27 July 2011): Went back for lunch. The executive lunch set was attractively priced but unfortunately, the meat balls were out. In the end, I just ordered the parchment wrapped seafood linguine. The pasta was good, as was the sauce. The seafood was fresh, but as I am allergic to crustaceans, there were no prawns (and crayfish, though I only told them "No prawns, pls."). So unfortunately, without the crustaceans, the price does not commiserate with the quality and quantity.

Update (3 Apr 2014): Wow, it's been three years since my last visit and now Rubato has undergone a little bit of re-branding and re-located to Greenwood Avenue. Had the squid ink, seafood risotto for a late dinner (9.30pm) and the dish was served within 15 minutes (draw your own conclusion here), but the rice was definitely a mix of long and short grain. Asked for the chef to skip the prawns, but there did not seem to be any additional seafood added to it, just squid and 2 mussels, the latter of which was not exactly fresh. At the price, it was not really worth it.

Return Policy: Highly unlikely.

Hanna [Digital]

An arthouse thriller with very European sensibilities marred by insufficient backstory to underpin the characters' motivations.. Do not expect your usual American hollywood popcorn flick. "Kick Ass" this is not; Hanna may be as deadly as Hit-Girl, but there's no camp (or vulgarities) involved. Excellent acting from Saoirse Ronan: she presented the coldness and blase-ness of an assassin, but at the same time realistically portrayed the girl-out-of-the-jungle naivete and wide-eyed wonder. Saoirse is supported by the perpetually under-rated Eric Bana (I still like his Hulk more) and Olivia Williams (go Dollhouse!), and hunted by the deliciously morally ambiguous Cate Blanchett. The fight sequences were beautifully edited and underlined by the synth-electro music of The Chemical Brothers (yeah!). Only problem is the script. As said, the characters' motivations and back story were only briefly mentioned but were not given sufficient time to develop nor dwelt with for the audience to really contact with them. As such, I did not care enough about any of them to root for any party. Oh, and the characters' accents were distractingly all over the place.

De Burg

Another food court-based, deli-style western place. Big portions of burger that comes in 100g (MacD's cheeseburger) or 200g (BK's Whopper). The De Burg burger was a combination of bacon, cheese and portobello mushroom. The beef patty by itself, though hand chopped/pressed, was a tad tasteless and slightly overcooked, but the overall flavour complemented each other very well and the bacon was a pleasant surprise - crispy yet not burnt - but pity was too little. The chunky fries were a big disappointment: tasted cold and hard, and absolutely tasteless. The price sure did not commiserate with the overall quality and the location. And what with the buzzer? Additional cost, and not like the food court is that big.

Return policy: Will return, if I'm in the area and craving for a good burger.













De Burg
Blk 10 Ghim Moh Road #01-78, Stall #3
Singapore 270010

Opening Hours
Tues - Thur: 11.30am - 9.15pm
Fri - Sat: 11.30am - 3pm, 6.30pm - 9.15pm
Sun & PH: 11.30am -3pm, 6pm - 9pm

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 [IMAX] [3D]

One word: Epic. It all ends! Well paced, grand sets (that gets destroyed!), a befitting score by Alexandre Desplat, and a good mix of action and comic relief. Much better than the previous two entries, though the 3D adds nothing to the whole movie. All round excellent acting from the adult cast! Helena Bonham Carter is deliciously psychotic!! The kids sure have grown up and thankfully the epilogue was kept to a minimal with no over-wrought forced emotions. Any plot holes and gaps are all inherent in Rowling's books, so what else can we do but live with it. At least the producers are consistent. Won't win an Oscar unlike LOTR though.

Larry Crowne [Digital]

Tom Hanks' directorial debut is an earnest, feel-good rom-com. His screenplay with Nia Vardalos is smart and a good counter programing to the Summer's popcorn flicks. The premise starts off as a commentary on the economic and employment crisis in America but slowly dissolves into your standard middle-age, boy-meets-girl, rom-com that thankfully does not take itself too seriously. However, the laughs are still smooth, sincere and adult in a non-raunchy way, and this is mostly due to Julia Roberts and him both being ace graduands of Hollywood's school of rom-coms. They have an easy chemistry, and beautifully & effortlessly light up the screen. The supporting cast (esp George Takei) is just as brilliant and quirky and add to the overall enjoyment of this flick. It's cute how the director/writer's spouses (Rita and Ian) have hilarious bit parts in the show!     

Transformers: Dark of the Moon [Dig]

You gotta hand it to Michael Bay, the man sure knows how to make a good disaster/action blow-em up flick and he does capture some gorgeous scenes/frames. But a good movie that does not make. Though better and less ridiculous than part 2, the immensely illogical plot that is filled with holes the size of cybertron are too much for me! As hard as I try to dumb down I doubt I will ever reach the IQ this film was targetted at. The prologue had promised but the whole show was at least 30mins too long. The best scenes were those without dialogue and just accompanied by the rousing score. The poor cast was just second fiddle to the SFX! At least Frances McDormand, John Malkovich and Alan Tudyk were entertaining, and with Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Ms Fox is definitely not missed.