Our last meal in Singapore was the most expensive of the whole trip — and the least satisfying. This was at Makansutra Gluttons Bay, across the river from Marina Bay Sands. It had not been on our itinerary; that would be the Supertrees at the Gardens by the Bay, but a sudden downpour had us confined to our hotel room for the rest of the afternoon.
Makansutra is comprised of some dozen stalls supposedly showcasing the best of the region’s cuisines. That the Philippines is represented by Gerry’s Grill might make you question the other selections as well, but they could have chosen worse, in my opinion. Anyway, we were not there for Filipino fare — we got murtabak, chai tow kway (carrot cake), barbecued barinday (carpet-shell clams), and, of course, chili crab.
Now let’s get a few things out of the way: the crabs were well-seasoned, but where was the meat? They were so anemic. Definitely not worth $40. As for the murtabak ($13), they made us wait five (ten?) minutes, and still it arrived cold. Let me just say that I’m not a fan of cold mutton. That’s down $53 already.
The barbecued carpet-shell clams (in sambal) also bordered on lukewarm, the heat more from the chili sauce. It would inspire the libo-o dish I made once back home.
The highlight of that dinner turned out to be… omelette. As in carrot cake, Chinese-style, which has no carrot in it, but radish (hence the title of Olivia Law’s guide to Singapore street food, There’s No Carrot in Carrot Cake). And damn good (recipe coming up soon). At $6.50, also the cheapest item we ordered, if still pricey by the city’s standards. Compared to other street food venues we had visited, Makansutra is indeed fancier — a tourist trap. actually. Back at our room, I found black pepper chicken puff from Wang Wang I had left over from lunch at the Old Airport Food Centre. Cheap — and now cold. But still amazingly good, lah!
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