Oh Yum!

Larry and I went out for our usual saturday night 'dinner out'.  We debated our choices....our new favorite; Bali seafood?  No...we didn't want to get burned out on that....Mr. Prata (24 different kinds!!)  No....not in the mood....Pho?  No.....we had a very unfortunate experience there a few weeks ago, and it will take me a while to muster the courage to go back (insert gagging noises here)  Pizza?  Nah...I needed to get out.  Lar was feeling under the weather, but he agreed to go out...so not wanting to go far, we decided to try something in our new neighborhood.  We chose Ivin's Peranakan restaurant, right up the road from us.  It was a surprisingly mild evening, so the short walk from the carpark was nice.  We even saw a few kitties, none as cute as Frank, but still cute.

I didn't know much about Peranakan food (check this link out, tells ya all about it), and knew only a little of the culture from my visit a few months ago to the Peranakan museum.  I knew it was a mixture of Maylaysian and chinese...and that's it.  Ivin's reminds me of a local italian joint in MI.....families were there, enjoying family style portions of comforting food their Mama's probably made.  It was cheap, cheerful, and even though we were the only Ang Mo's, we were warmly welcomed.  The food was DELISH!  I was trying to figure out a way to describe it yesterday....it didn't seem very chinese...more Malaysian, which is normally roti prata, nasi goreng , that kinda thing.  We ordered a chicken dish that came in a VERY hot ceramic crock (Lar burned his finger....poor guy was having a rough night) it was hunks of chicken in  a rich red, tomato-ey sauce.  Not spicy at first, but it did pack a punch after a few bites.  It was served with white rice.  There were 2 large 'rocks' in the dish...Larry this they are to cool the dish down, thrown in after it is cooked.  We ordered to vegetable dishes, both super yummy.  One was a large slab of sweet potato cooked in coconut sauce, with the sweet potato leaves ( you eat them!  yummy!!  and think how healthy!) and one random shrimp...it was my favorite.  Then a curried vegetable melange.  I t had cabbage in it, but I still liked it.  Lar really wasn't feeling well,so his opinion was a little skewed...he drank  few cups of tea, and ate about half of his dinner.  He was patient with my lip smaking and ooh-ing and aah-ing though.  He only rolled his eyes once...

I LOVED this place...we will for sure be making it one of our regular spots.  Oh, and it was CHEAP!!  We are finding that more and more...the more local restaurants in our new 'hood are cheaper, the food is fantastic, and though we may get a few looks, we are always welcomed.  I'm loving exploring our new surroundings, and getting a more 'real' feel for the people and culture of Singapore.

  Two thumbs way up from the Grulich's!

Random Frank