PODI @ Raffles City Shopping Centre

Today marks the official opening of PODI at the basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre by The Bakery Depot Pte Ltd, the same company that brought us Cedele, Toss & Turns and P.L.T Sandwiches. PODI which stands for Pure, Offbeat, Delicious and Infusions offers all day breakfast and grills on the menu.

The restaurant has a casual and relax ambience offering a dine in section as well as a quick service/retail counter for takeaway. If you love a cup of coffee, you will not be disappointed. PODI offers freshly grinded and roasted coffee beans from Smitten as well as various flower tea.

Shoestring Fries 3/5

For some light snacks, the Shoestring Fries with Seaweed Nori / Truffle Oil will be a good choice. I thought the Shoestring Fries with Seaweed Nori was more of a gimmick lacking in flavour. Given a choice, I would spend my money on the Shoestring Fries with Truffle Oil

Baked Egg Pot 3.5/5

Breakfast definitely can't do without eggs, at least for me. The Baked Egg Pot definitely looks very appertizing with baked runny eggs and chorizo in a tomato based sauce. The menu mentioned that there is goat cheese in the dish but it was definitely missing for me. Flavours wise the dish was still good but it could have been better if the goat cheese flavour was stronger.

Duck Berry Waffle 3/5

It sounds quite bizzare to put a savoury and sweet dish together. The Duck Berry Waffle comes with a waffle topped with duck confit served with egg, blueberry compote and maple syrup vinaigrette. I have a bit of everything together but the combination did not have that wow factor. As a dish, I was puzzled with the concept. Individually the duck confit was flavourful and tender. The waffle was also fluffy and delectable with the beautiful blueberry compote. My comfort was that I got both main and dessert on a plate.

Stuffed French Toast 3.5/5

The Stuffed French Toast is made with spinach brioche with eggs and stuffed with smoked ham and brie cheese, served with garden greens and maple syrup on the side. Nicely toasted the french toast sandwich hit the right spot for me with the cheesy brie. My only request is to add spinach in between the 2 slices of toast. That will complete the whole enjoyment.

Beetroot Carpaccio 4/5

I actually quite like the Beetroot Carpaccio. The beetroot was beautiful seasoned, hardly can taste that earthy taste of it.

Prawn and Crab Spinach Salad 4.2/5

Surprisingly the Prawn and Crab Spinach Salad was the best dish for me. A clean and refreshing plate of greens with baby spinach, grilled prawns and crab meat. The zesty peppermint and lemon vinaigrette was the star that brought the whole dish together, whetting up the appetite.

Chicken Pot 3.5/5

Chicken thigh simmered in a pastry pot with potato and seasonal vegetables served with toast. It was an interesting cooking technique where the Chicken Pot was sealed around with pastry to lock the heat inside. The chicken thigh was cooked perfectly, moist and tender. Although I spotted rosemary in the pot, the herby flavour was non existence.

Argentina Sirloin Steak 2.8/5

When I have a hard time cutting into the Argentina Sirloin Steak, I knew it was going to be an disappointment even before biting into it. At least the chimichurri and mustard cream sauce managed to redeem some credits to the dish.

Spicy Prawn Konbu Pasta 3/5

Suitable for the local palate is the Spicy Prawn Konbu Pasta. The hearty aglio olio pasta was tossed with spicy prawns, konbu ad prawn oil. Spicy and bursting with flavours, the only complain was its too oily.

King Prawn with Herb Butter 2.8/5

The King Prawn was baked in garlic, butter, cheese, herb, orange peel and finished off on the grill. It was a nice smokey aroma when served. Unfortunately the texture was mushy which spoilt the enjoyment.

Whoopie Pie 2.8/5

The Whoopie Pie is made up of 2 cake like cookies with a creamy, orange earl grey flavoured filling. I did not enjoy it, I thought it was quite one dimensional and there was no excitement in it. The filling had a lot of the orange zest but the earl grey flavour was definitely non existence.

Mexican Spiced Hat 3.5/5

The Mexican Spiced Hat comes with Nigella spiced meringue thins with 2 scoops of ice cream. A pretty decent dessert to end the night on a sweet note.

The all day breakfast and grill is not ready a new concept, missing a pull factor for me. Food wise, there are still rooms for improvement given that it's only their pre-launch when I tried their food.


PODI
Raffles City Shopping Centre
#B1-45
Singapore 179103
Tel: +65 63365648
Website: http://www.podifood.com
Nearest MRT: City Hall (EW Line, NS Line)

Opening Hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am - 10pm
Sat-Sun, PH: 9am - 10pm

Direction:
1) Alight at City Hall MRT Station. Take Exit A. Walk to basement of Raffles City Shopping Centre. Journey time about 3 minutes. [Map]

Old Geylang @ Geylang Lorong 23

Nestled along the stretch of Geylang Road, the huge compound of Old Geylang housed a 3-in-1 concept of Old Punggol International Seafood Restaurant, Turtle House as well as a durian stall. What a steal for food lover as you can savour the delectable food from all the 3 establishments at one venue.

It was quite unfortunate that during my visit, the durian season was over. The stall only has those Thailand durian breed so we gave it a miss.

Peking Duck

I have my fellow food blogger friends, Celes (Celestialdelish), Samantha (BondingTool) and Tony (JohorKaki) joining me in the sumptuous dinner.

Peking Duck 4/5

The beautiful Peking Duck ($20 half/ $38 whole) has its crackling skin thinly sliced and wrapped in a delectable crepe like skin. Paired with  spring onion and cucumber plus a bit of the homemade sweet sauce, this is an excellent starter to kick start the dinner.

Stir Fried Shredded Duck Noodles 4/5

Adding another $10, the chef took the rest of the duck and wok up a plate of Stir Fried Shredded Duck Noodles. I wasn't expecting much from the simple presentation but I was taken away by how fragrant it tasted. I also like the fact that their version was more peppery giving it a nice aroma.

Herbal Turtle Soup 4/5

One of the item I was looking forward to try is the nourishing Herbal Turtle Soup ($20/$40/$60) service in a claypot. I was very privileged to have Mr Ong the founder of Turtle House with me for dinner. He has came out from retirement to help his children oversee the reborn of Turtle House under the brand of Old Geylang in a new dining concept. There was so much stories and knowledge he shared with us over dinner. I have learnt so much from him about food especially ingredients such as turtle and crocodile.

Back to the food, the Turtle Soup has a nice herbal flavour but not overpowering. Add a bit of rice wine to enchance the flavour. By the way, do you know which is the most delicacy part of the turtle? It's the turtle feet! I tried one and I liked it. It had a crunchy gelatinous texture some what like eating black fungus.

Braised Crocodile Tail with Mushroom 4/5

Mr Ong is not only an expert with Turtle. He is also an expert with crocodile. I was told that he has to teach the the farm where they get the supply how to slaughter and portion the crocodile tail. Each crocodile tail can serve about 3-4 portions. The Braised Crocodile Tail with Mushroom ($12 per person) was my first but definitely would not be my last. There is nothing to scare or worry about the exotic meat. The braised crocodile tail was braised to a texture that felt like eating Dong Po Rou.

Steamed Boston Lobster with Garlic 4.2/5

In my own opinion the best way to appreciate the Boston Lobster (seasonal price) was to steam it with garlic. The flesh was cooked to a nice succulent allowing one to enjoy the natural sweetness of the lobster. If you prefer other preparation styles, the kitchen can do it too.

Crispy Roasted Pork and Roasted Char Siew 4/5

The kitchen at Old Geylang does their own Hong Kong style roasted meat. The Crispy Roasted Pork ($8 per portion) and Roasted Char Siew ($8 per portion) was nicely executed. I preferred the roasted pork over the char siew as I disliked the fact the char siew was too fatty.

Deep Fried Soon Hock 4/5

The Soon Hock (seasonal price) was deep fried to a nice golden brown crisp. The moist fish paired with the special homemade brown sauce was a great dish.

Chilli Crab 4.5/5

Forget about the other Chilli Crab served at other restaurants. You just have to try the Chilli Crab ($52 per kg) offered at Old Geylang. The special gravy has a good balance of spiciness and sweetness in a sumptuous mix of eggs and crab roes. It was understand that the red dates and dried shrimps have been added to the gravy to gave it that unique taste.

Salted Egg Oyster 4.2/5

It was quite excited when I knew I was having Salted Egg Oyster. The Salted Egg Oyster ($8 each) was lightly battered and topped with salted egg sauce. I like the combination but the oyster that day was a bit too small to showcase the potential of the dish. Checked with the restaurant and its confirmed that the size of the oyster was not ideal. Usually it is much bigger.

Chilled Beancurd 4.2/5

Wrapping up the feast was a bowl of delicate Chilled Beancurd. It was actually quite a welcome dessert which was light, refreshing and smooth after the heavy meal.

Word is that the huge compound maybe adding a new Western fare concept to the umbrella arm of Old Geylang. I like the concept of Old Geylang of housing hierachy brands allowing foodies to be able to enjoy the delectable food of this traditional brands. The spacious restaurant has plenty of parking lots at the back of the building. To get to the carpark, access via Sim Ave onto Geylang Lorong 23. Turn right to the carpark after the new Singapore Badminton Hall. The restaurant also offers valet parking for patrons.


Old Geylang
1 Geylang Lorong 23
Highpoint Block 6
Singapore 38352
Tel: +65 68446041
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Old-Geylang/525332554158513
Website: www.oldgeylang.com.sg
Nearest MRT: Aljunied (EW Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 1130am - 2am

Direction:
1) Alight at Aljunied MRT station. Take Exit A. Turn right and walk to bus stop along Aljunied Road (Stop ID 81089). Take bus number 62, 63, 80, 100 or 158. Alight one stop later. Cross the road and walk to destination. Journey time about 5 minutes.

2) Alight at Aljunied MRT station. Take Exit A. Turn right and walk to Aljunied Road. Turn left and and continue down Aljunied Road until the traffic junction of Aljunied Road and Geylang Road. Cross the junction and walk towards New Cathay Hotel. Continue straight and walk to destination. Journey time about 10 minutes.