Pura Brasa at Tanjong Pagar Center

Pura Brasa is a new restaurant in the new Tanjong Pagar Center.  New in the sense that it is there for only about a year or so.  The interior is cosy, with all the warm lights around, it is very suitable for a couple of friends to sit down, chit chat over some Spanish food and a pint of beer.

I was there on a Saturday night, about 6pm.  The place was still quite empty, but after around 7.30pm, the place was almost full.  Groups of friends and some big families came here for their weekend gatherings.

Estreella Beer, 1-for-1 at $15.00++

They had this Estrella beer promotion, if you order a pint, you get another pint free.  It was perfect for friends gathering.   The beer was light, and smooth.  Even under Singapore's hot weather, it didn't turn bitter.  Thumbs up for the beer!

Charcoal Rice Paella, $36.00++

We ordered the charcoal rice paella to share for the two of us.  I asked the waitress about the portion, she assured me that portion was meant for two to share.  When the paella came, the portion was really small.  It looked quite a lot from the picture, but the rice was just a thin layer.  Probably the waitress meant was for two small eaters to share, not two pigs like us....haha....

In terms of ingredients, there were 3 prawns, 3 mussels, and some peas, tomatoes slices, etc.  The rice was cooked to the Spanish standard, which means it was wet, but the core of the rice grain was still hard.  I was sure I didn't have a blocked nose that day, but the rice didn't have any seafood smell.  It probably was a good thing.  And it was not salty!  But somehow this paella tasted very plain, but lacked the punch it should have.

If you are going to order many other dishes, then you can just order 1 paella to share for two; otherwise, better get one for one person only, especially for guys.

Grilled Iberico Secreto, $35.00++

On recommendation from some local food blog, we also ordered the grilled Iberico secreto.  The meat is from the armpit area of the pig so it is supposed to be very good.  Indeed, the meat was pretty tender, with lots of juice (fat).  The fragrance of the fat makes this dish almost irresistible.  However, they probably used sea salt as the seasoning for the meat, so it was on the salty side of the taste scale.

Overall, I think the food is decent, but tend to lack of some wow factor.  The beer is good, if I go there again, I will go there for the beer.

By the way, this restaurant is from a Spanish restaurant chain that seems like to be quite well-known.

Hattendo Singapore

Hattendo (八天堂) Cafe is a new Japanese cafe that opened its first shop at the brand new Tanjong Pagar Center in Singapore.  It is hidden behind the Japan Rail Cafe, so you have to make some effort to find it.   The space is quite small, a small counter where you can order your buns and coffee, and then some 10 or so small tables for patrons to sit down and enjoy their coffee and buns.

I had never heard of Hattendo before, until one day their instagram "like" one of my posts, then I started to find out what Hattendo is.  They are said to start their business in Hiroshima, Japan, back in 1933.  Well, impressed, that means they survived the atomic bomb which was dropped in Hiroshima on 9 Aug 1945.

Back to topic, their signature dishes are the 5 types of cream buns: Custard, whipped cream, matcha, azuki beans, and chocolate.  Each bun costs $2.50.  We ordered their matcha and azuki beans.  Just in case you wonder what azuki beans are, they are red beans.  We also ordered a cafe latte and a caramel latte. 

Matcha Cream Bun

Dangdangdangdang, here is the matcha cream bun.  Well, the bun seemed to have been left on the shelf for quite a while, and appeared to be soggy.  Matcha is supposed to have some bitter taste, but in this case, it was all sweet, the bitter was almost undetectable.

Azuki Beans Bun

Next came the azuki beans bun.  There were some red bean paste litered among the creams.  As both the cream and red beans were sweet, so I think this is quite a perfect match with the coffee.  It neutralized coffee's bitter, leaving a pleasant sweet after taste in your mouth.

Overall, I think the cream buns can be a good companion to the coffee.  However, this cafe's environment is not very cozy for friends to sit down and enjoy a romantic or free spirited afternoon.  I kind of wonder what kind of market niche that they wanna craft out.