The Kilo compound has shifted from their Kampong Bugis home of eight years, to their new enclave at Duxton Road, with the new Kilo Kitchen located just steps away from their sister property, Kilo Lounge. The menu takes on a wood-fired focus with most of their Latin American-Asian flavored dishes being cooked in their wood-fire grill for that extra char.  

We started off with Kilo’s Seafood Ceviche ($23), a wonderful reminder of the chopped seafood salads that we had in Peru. We enjoyed the good mix of crunch from peppers, corn, and octopus too. 

We each had a small Beef Tongue Taco ($18 for 2pcs/$35 for 4pcs) with a mix of green apples, miso, and jalapeño-garlic tallow. The tacos are made with buttermilk and flour, which gave them a nice chewy texture and a slight butter note. However, the tacos were on the thick side and that took away the attention from the filling, which would otherwise have shone brighter with the balance of acid and fat. 

The folks at Kilo also tried to make lentil more up-class with their Atas Lentils ($26), by adding shaved Manchego, bacon, truffle, ibérico, egg yolk to the mushy nosh. Not one to eat lentils on its own, I thought that some chips would have gone perfectly with this saucy mix, which strangely had a hint of tomato when none was used.

The Squid Ink Rice ($29) took the classic paella and put it in the claypot but that was all to it. The dish was tasty with crusty bits, probably from cooking it the paella way but definitely not attributed to the claypot. Non-so-usual pairings of lightly battered octopus and ikura provided the slight variation from the typical black rice. 

I took one bite of the Ricotta Gnocchi ($26) and left it alone, due to the raw flour taste in the dumplings. The mushrooms were also too salty. 

Large plates include the Grilled Whole Rainbow Trout ($46) served with confit tomatoes, basil & olive oil. Well it was decent, but nothing wow. 

Desserts took forever to be served, and we contemplated leaving without having any, especially considering that we had to sit through two blackouts during dinner. Turns out that the Coconut Tembleque ($14) with pineapple sorbet was not worth waiting for.

The Chocolate Terrine ($14) only appeased us a little, with the soft chocolate mousse and smoked salted caramel with a butter tuile.  

Maybe go to Kilo Kitchen for some snacks, or perhaps drinks. Their bar programme features an intercontinental selection inspired by drinking cultures around the world.

I was quite disappointed at the experience at the new Kilo Kitchen. Doubt i'll be back anytime soon.

Kilo Kitchen

97 Duxton Road Singapore 089541

Tel: +65 64673987/ 9625 0279

Tues- Fri: 5.30pm - 12am

Sat: 6pm - 12am

I love Mexican and Spanish food. While the Spanish food scene has been flourishing with all the haute tapas bars (think Esquina, Foodbar Dada, Catalunya), Mexican kinda has remained the way it is, the go to cousin for comfort food. Sadly, it has been hard to find chimichangas on our sunny island. Give me my salsa, guacamole and nacho chips with chili con carne!

I got really interested in El Toro after hearing my dear friend Alexis rave about it on her blog. Now, El Toro is an interesting place because it serves halal Latin American food. Sorry my porky friends! I'm a beefy one so it doesn't matter.

It's located next to Saveur along Purvis Street. Give this a shot if you are too famished to wait in line for French. 

Love the complimentary tortilla chips with their salsa. It's not too spicy and really addictive. We asked for seconds of the sauce!

A cold rainy day calls for the Brazilian Nutty Pumpkin Soup with Roasted Garlic ($4 for cup, $6 for bowl). I believe the pumpkin is pureed with chicken stock. I like that it's not overly creamy and you can still taste the grainy pumpkin in it. Pine nuts are thrown in to give it that nuttiness and crunch. The bowl is more than enough for sharing between 2. We didn't finish this.

For variety, we ordered the Plato Mixto for Two ($16)- 6pcs of mini cheese quesadillas, 4pcs el toro's special bbq wings and 2pcs jalapeno poppers. S loves the cheese quesadillas but i thought it to be too plain. Some meat would be nice. Then again, i'm too much of a carnivore. The wings are meh but the cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers are really interesting with the spicy vinegar kick.

If i had my way, i would have ordered the House Special Nachos Grande ($14), which is my perfect idea of a nachos with chili con carne. Or the Special Hard Shell Tacos ($10), similar to a chimichanga but with the stuffing served on the corn taco shell.

The Cuban Chimichanga ($16 with chicken, $18 with beef) was what i went to El Toro for. As you can see, it's fully stuffed with the minced Beef. This is the ultimate comfort junk food. The meat is really juicy and well flavored. I can't believe i'm saying this but there's a little too much meat. The juices from the meat made the fried tortilla soggy and i didn't get that flaky and buttery texture that i so crave. A little more of that cheese would be awesome too. Nice dish nonetheless.

Is El Toro good? Sure it is. I would come here instead of Margaritas anytime (terrible service and expensive food that is mediocre). I shall make it my mission to review all the Mexican restaurants in Singapore. Watch this space!

El Toro
7 Purvis Street, #01-01
Singapore 188586
Tel: +65 6887 4787
Weekday lunch: 11.30am -2.30pm
Dinner: Mon-Thu 6pm - 10pm | Fri 5pm - 8pm | Sat 6pm -11pm
Sunday: 11.30am - 10.30pm

I have a love hate relationship with eating seafood; love the salty sweet flavors but hate the mess that i get myself into. I'm a firm believer that food tastes better off your fingers (finger-licking good!) but I also thought it to be unladylike to eat with your hands in public. Solution to my quirks? Takeaway so i can eat in the comforts of my home where no one would be able to JUDGE me. But thanks to Cajun Kings, the seafood boilers, I can now eat to my heart's content in public without discriminating stares.

Specializing in the Cajun/Creole Seafood Boil, Cajun Kings welcomes their patrons to get low and dirty with their Dungeness Crabs, Maine Lobsters (Market Prices) and Red Sea Prawns, along with the rest of their shellfish. 

New dining rule: No cutlery. Method: Eat with your hands. Tools given: A plastic bib to protect you from the glorious juices of the shellfish and a waterproofed mahjong paper covered table top to dump the shells on.

The seafood is first boiled in Cajun spices, a mix of cayenne pepper and spice blends, then tossed into a plastic bag full more Cajun spice and/or Garlic Butter. The easiest way to reach the food is to simply pour everything onto the tabletop and just dig in. There is really no better way to eat seafood than this method. I'm dreaming of a tabletop full of hot steaming seafood of all shapes, sizes, textures and flavors.

There are 3 level of spice for the Kings Mix which is a garlic butter based cajun spice blend. If you like it spicy and packed with the full bodied stench of the garlic, this is what you could go for. We had level 1 and i was suffering from that dull heat already (spicy but bland). In fact, the spice didn't sit too well with my gf and i and we had queasy tummies for the rest of the night. :(

I much preferred the savory garlic butter though the aftertaste of the minced clove is sufficient to save you from lifetime of vampires (and maybe the next). I can easily finish 250g of Red Sea Prawns done this way (S$9/100g). Remove the head of the crustacean and suck on the creamy umami brain/roe/abdominal fats and juices. Undress the shells, dip into the butter gravy and then chomp on the succulent white flesh.  Do order the yeasty and salty French Petite Baguette (S$3) to soak up that roe infused sauce.

The Manila clams (S$8/100g) are more of a starter than a main course. I would say it's a good to have but not a necessity.

Other than the seafood boil, there are typical Creole dishes such as Catfish and fries (S$12), Gumbo, Buttermilk Frog legs and so on. I didn't quite dig the breaded catfish as the crust didn't have much flavor but my dining companions enjoyed it. We changed our fries to the Sweet Potato Fries (S$8) which were fantastic. This is one carb that i wouldn't mind eating. 

The Chicken and Andouille Gumbo (S$11), an everything-in-the-pot smoky stew thickened with Okra (lady's fingers), was a little overpowered by the commercial BBQ sauce taste. I couldn't really taste the okra as well. To be fair, this is my first time tasting gumbo so i'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be like. It felt like it was lacking in flavors. You could also order the smoked tender sausages on their own (S$5 for 6pcs).

Overall, it was a fun eating experience. Great place for a boys night out. Not quite the place to bring a date. I'm already looking forward to my next meal there. It's gonna be Lobsters and prawns in butter sauce (gonna request for less garlic)! Hop over to Wimbly Lu for some desserts after to complete your meal (it's just next door).

Cajun Kings
15-1 Jalan Riang
Tel: +65 6284 4426
Daily: 3pm - 10.30pm (closed Mon)

I love the eastern part of Singapore- it's chill, laid back, hippie and it has the highest concentration of good food. Tell me where else can you find streets packed with eateries, cafes, restaurants that are all filled? Colourful Geylang, traditional Katong and yuppie Siglap. Each one of these areas has its special personality. The boy and i kinda grew up eating at these places, attended schools here and still love hanging out in the East on our free days. True blue Easties are we. :)


Anyway, the boy and i have this problem of deciding what to have for our meals. It used to be a huge problem and often a cause of tension. I did a random poll with my gfs and turns out that this is apparently a typical relationship problem!


However, we have a bigger complication. He's an easy eater so he pretty much eats everything. I, on the other hand, is extremely picky and chooses food based on tummy cravings. I also like to pretend that i'm an easy eater. Problem with that is i usually end up not liking his suggestions even when i say i don't mind having anything. But of course, the boy would sense that and i usually end up having the make a decision (i hate picking because i am afraid that i'm afraid that it may suck or that i don't really feel like having it when we arrive at the restaurant). Girls and their indecisiveness i know. It got better over the years and S has become the worm in my tummy. He can somehow sense my cravings these days, sometimes even better than i do, which is awesome. 


Today was another indecisive Sunday BUT the boy said he'll just decide (after failed attempts to get me to choose) and he simply put me in the car. I knew the choice couldn't be wrong, after all we were headed towards the Katong area. I was quite surprised when he pulled into Telok Kurau, a residential area. 

We were greeted by the cute garden slug and sleepy cats chilling out on the benches and tables. Adorable much! 

The setting is very casual and relaxing. There was a old za2 huo4 dian4 (neighborhood grocery shop) just further down. It was almost like eating at a coffee shop at the old housing estates. The good weather calls for some alfresco dining, Also, i noticed that the seats inside do kinda smell of food but the diners don't seem to mind. 

The first thing that caught my eye was obviously "All Day Breakfasts". Breakfast is one of my favorite foods. I could do breakfast food anytime of the day, any day of the week. My future cafe is definitely gonna have ADB and tea (another of my favorite meals!). However, all the breakfast eating the past week has gotten to me so i ordered a pasta instead. I was secretly hoping that S would order from the breakfast menu so that i could steal some and he did! Worm in my tummy he is!

The fatty boy started lunch with a sundae of all things. Such a monster. Knickerbooker Glory Sunday ($12.50)- Vanilla gelato with Peach Melba, almond stracciatella, sea-salt dulce de leche & jaffa truffle bar. This is a very interesting eat. Every mouthful is a burst of flavors and the mixture was absolutely exhilarating and surprising. Some orange, then chocolate then REAL vanilla ice cream (with vanilla beans!) followed by the taste of sea salt caramel and then hitting the sweet notes with the Peach Melba again. This is a must try. 

Then came our mains. His Runny Salmon Scramble-Up ($12.50)- Creamy scrambled eggs topped with lots of smoked salmon, warm toast by side. This was heavenly. The eggs were runny as promised and had a rich creamy texture to it. Z would love this for sure! The salmon provided the slight saltiness that the dish required. Only downside is that the salmon didn't seem very fresh? Didn't have a very nice bite to it? Not chewy enough i guess.

My Juicy Shrimp & Roast Pumpkin ($14.90)- A rich pink sauce of tender baked pumpkin, shrimp and whole oven-roasted garlic cloves. The linguine was more on the cooked side but the plus point is that it makes it really easy to swallow (trust me that's a good thing). I was basically gobbling mouth after mouth of pasta. The sauce was light and not too sour, perfect base for a pasta marathon. I could go on eating this forever (ok i exaggerate.)

Look at the size of the dishes. It's twice the size of my stomach!

Of course, the only way the meal would progress is shown in the following sequence.

1. Me feeling all stuffed from eating my own food

2. S exchanging his dish with me

3. Me taking a few more polite nibbles and biding time while he finishes most of my dish

4. Me taking a couple of bites of my original dish

5. Me staring at my unfinished food with the most painful and pitiful look

6. S finally telling me to stop eating if i can't finish (to which i do a little song and dance. i kid you)

7. S polishing everything that's left (if he has space, which he usually does! Haha.) 

Obviously the pasta was too much even for 2 of us!

Happy us after a good Sunday lunch. The carb and sugar overload sent us home to our beds and we napped till the next meal. Piggies we are. 

In all, The Garden Slug provides high quality hearty meals. The service was also excellent, the servers extremely attentive to the guests and anticipated every need the diners may have. Serving plates were served without being asked because they knew we would be sharing. Quick, polite and warm service staff always helps in retaining and attracting new customers. This i feel TGS has done extremely well. I would certainly be back. :)

The Garden Slug

55 Lorong L Telok Kurau
#01-59/61 Bright Centre, Singapore
Tel: 6346 0504 
Mon–Tue: 6pm – 10pm
Wed–Thu: 10am – 10pm
Fri–Sun: 9am – 10pm