Pepper Lunch

Category: Restaurants

Cuisine: Steak / Seafood

Location: Isetan Scotts, Singapore

Craving Score: 4 / 5 (You'll come back for more)

There I was peacefully eating my Hainanese Chicken Rice at a bustling food court when two ladies wearing skimpy shorts and boots walked by carrying a big smoking dish covered with paper. Of course I never noticed the ladies wearing the skimpy shorts (I noticed the skimpy boots though). The aroma that came from that smoking dish made me hungry (again) even after finishing my meal. So I spied a peek (no, not at the skimpy shorts - they were black) and found out that there was this stall called 'Pepper Lunch'. And I vowed on that day that I will eat something from that place (and I don't have to wear skimpy shorts).

Fifty or so food court days later, I finally got the chance to sit down properly and eat at Pepper Lunch. This time at the basement level of Isetan Mall at Scotts road. Choices included chicken, beef and an assortment of steaks all served in a sizzling hot plate with pepper rice. There were some weird pastas served the same way (minus the rice) and it really did not tickle my taste buds. So I settled for the Salmon Pepper Rice (which was on sale - a very good invitation). It was served in a round sizzling plate covered with a paper border all around. I guess it was partly to save the people from being fizzled by all that sizzling. Instructions on the piece of paper said to mix the pepper rice right away and infuse it with their super secret spices (nah, just some fancy thing they put in). I was looking for those sauces when I realized it was already part of the rice pepper mixture. So literally, they are telling you to mix the rice up as most of the meat is at the sides anyway and their spices are already in the rice mix. Since I'm not a big fan of scorching my tongue with uber hot meals, I decided to go for the salad first, which came in a plastic cup. Fancy, and quite good for a bunch of leaves and some corn. A great appetizer it's not, but it's a healthier alternative to french fries. On to the Salmon Pepper Rice then. It was a delightful munch. For a fast food steak joint, that Norwegian Salmon just melts in your mouth like it was done up by a chef. It is not the best Salmon steak I have had, but it is definitely top notch. For the money I paid, this was worth it. The pepper rice, which was supposed to be the core of it all, would take a back seat in your mouth's palate. But it does accentuate the taste of the meat. More so in the Salmon compared to their steaks. And this is a very welcome taste.

I have had other encounters with Pepper Lunch since then, and although it is pricier than the rest of the stuff I consume on a daily basis, this is one treat I always look forward to. The steaks are always a safe bet (rib eye! rib eye!), but the rest of the menu also serves great food. Don't be fooled by the name, this meal is neither chili hot like pepper nor is it just for lunch. One of the secrets of how this became fast food is the way their iron plate is heated up to cooking temperatures in 70 seconds and keeping the temp up for 20 minutes. Amazing fact. Amazing food.

Lewis Hamilton, My Story

Category: Books

Genre: Biographies & Memoirs

Author: Lewis Hamilton

Shelf Score: 2 / 5 (Better to borrow)

The Plot: This is the biography of Lewis Hamilton's career in Formula 1 as told by Lewis himself. Like most biographies, it starts off with his relationship with his parents and his beginnings as a Kart driver. For those not into the sport, Karts are baby Formula 1 cars. The bio highlights events in Lewis' life that he believed was important to understanding who he is. His family, his motivation, his struggles and his bid for the Formula 1 driver's championship. The book tells of the career steps Lewis took to become Formula 1 driver for McLaren Mercedes, from Kart to Formula Renault to GP2 and eventually Formula 1. Then there are race highlights for the 2007 season including the Ferrari controversy as seen through Lewis's eyes and not the media. All this ending in his excitement and disappointment as the season ended with Lewis one point short of becoming a Formula 1 Driver's champion in his rookie season.

The Review: I am not a McLaren Mercedes fan. I have always rooted for Ferrari because of the other Michael. With that out of the way, let me then start by saying that Biographies are a good start to learning about what goes on behind the checkered flag. The book in itself is not written as elegantly nor as polished as one would have hoped. There are some sketchy parts in the way it was told and some parts were bordering on being repetitive. In that respect, Lewis Hamilton may be a great Formula driver, but a great writer, he is not. Still, the book is not without it's good points. Like the saying goes, there are sides to every story. And this book plays the part very well of letting you in Lewis' life. Watching the races and interviews from the telly tells a different view of what was really happening in Hamilton's life and career. And while there are arrogant bits in the story, you can tell that he is sincere and honest in what he is saying. And you do have to think about it, that this is his story as told by himself.

The Verdict: I do understand the shortcomings of telling ones own story through ones point of view. There is a tendency to cram so much information and leaving some out. Some of these can be thought of as irrelevant by the reader but is actually the link tying the whole story together for the writer. As it is, the book is not written to grab your attention. It was written by a person like yourself who wanted to tell you everything good in his life while touching on the bad points just to show a little humility. But only just. If you are not a Lewis Hamilton fan, then you can forget about this book entirely. However, if you do follow Formula 1 as a whole, whether you are a Ferrari fan or not, this book is worth a look. Just keep in mind that this is only one side of the story.

MOS Burger

Category: Restaurants

Cuisine: Asian

Location: Tampines Mall, Singapore

Craving Score: 3 / 5

The first time I noticed MOS Burger was because of a long queue at the counter and the tables full of customers busy munching about what seemed to be regular hamburgers, fries and soda. What piqued my curiosity was that this was happening in odd times of the day, which is to say, the numbers nearly double at lunch time.

So what's a curious epicurean like me to do? Queue up of course, and try to find out what the buzz is all about. So I queue up and browse through the menu. Interestingly, there are a number of burger choices from the run-of-the-mill cheeseburger to a somewhat eccentric rice burger. At first I was overwhelmed by the choices. I mean, let's face it, having to choose between a burger made of beef, chicken or fish was not that hard when I go to the big M.

So out of the 26 items (that's just the main course mind you) to choose from, we grab the MOS Burger, just to establish a base line. Chilidogs, Teriyaki Chicken, French Fries, Garlic and Lemon Mussels and Ichigo Bliss fill up the rest (for now at least). To be honest, there is nothing special that I find in the regular MOS Burger. But it's on the rest of the menu that they really shine. The Chilidogs were great, not too chili, but not too bland. And the Teriyaki Chicken burger was a treat. Not as real as real Teriyaki, but this is as close as you can get in terms of the taste on a sandwich. The Garlic and Lemon Mussels were deep fried mussels covered in garlic and bread crumbs. This makes them crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. I know we've all heard that before, but this gives that phrase a whole new meaning. The Ichigo Bliss we had for desert was a little less like-able. I mean, the concept was great, frozen strawberries with cream look really appetizing. It's when you realize that the 'frozen' part meant having to eat something that feels like ice that takes away the fun in it. Still, it's passable, considering most food chains only offer ice cream for desert.

Now, you might think, if the food is so great, why did I give it a so-so score? Well, you see, another part of the concept of MOS is cook to order. This means that the queue is not because they have so many orders at one time. It's because all of these orders are being cooked after the order had been taken. So you can imagine, if a group of 15 friends decided to order 2 hamburgers each, by the time they finish cooking for this batch, you could have ordered a Mega Mac, fries and Coke and start eating your ice cream before you get served at MOS. Don't get me wrong, the concept is fine, as it means you get freshly prepared and cooked burgers each and every time. But it also means that it's just like you had your maid prepare and cook a meal for you at home.

And perhaps that is where MOS sets itself apart. Where other hamburger joints advertise themselves as the biggest fast food chain in the world. MOS markets itself as the biggest hamburger chain in Japan. So it's a love it or hate it affair. If you have the penchant for good food and don't mind the wait, then by all means, MOS is a great place to eat in. However, if you just need a quick fix for your hamburger cravings, then the fast food chains are, well, faster.

Christ The Lord, Out Of Egypt

Category: Books

Genre: Literature & Fiction

Author: Anne Rice
Shelf Score: 4 / 5 (Keeper)

The Plot: Joseph, Mary, Jesus and his uncles finish off their carpentry work in Alexandra. At this time, Jesus was about ten years of age. He had been taught by his mother and father about what it's like to be a boy. But behind all of the boy-hood things that are happening all around him, there are also strange and unexplainable things. Things that he knows he can do, things he cannot understand why he can do and things he has been told not to do. Some of these as simple as predicting rain and some not so simple like bringing a sparrow to life. With their jobs finished, the family had decided to go back home to Nazareth. They had planned to reach there in time for the Passover and do the celebrations at home. From there, Jesus experiences the horrors that have come about from Herod's rule. The oppression of the people, the deaths of the first born and the mystery that is himself. In the temples, the Rabbis look at him differently, as if they know him and yet as if they don't. The more he learns, the less he knows, and this drives Jesus to find out things for himself. To unravel the mystery of himself.

The Review: Anne Rice has written a fantastic novel. It is tethering between fiction and non-fiction. The Bible has been teaching about the life of Jesus when he was born, and suddenly, when he was baptized as an adult. This novel by Rice attempts to bridge that gap. The story embraces Jesus as he was a child. A child learning to grow up and understand the world around him. But since he is Jesus, his powers have started manifesting themselves. Incredible power that has Jesus scared and excited at the same time. Wouldn't you be if you had the power to take and give life to anyone you chose? But he was scared only because he did not understand and he did not know how to control it. That and the fact that his humanity is a mystery to him and there were questions he wanted answers to. Credit to Rice for portraying Mary and Joseph as typical parents. Typical in the sense that they know what a child can and cannot understand at the age Jesus was in. Typical in a way that only loving parents give as much attention and understanding to their child.

The Verdict: It is a wonderful addition to our library. It is a great read. It blurs the line between what was taught in religion class and that question we may have had on Jesus' childhood. The only thing I had a beef with is that somewhere, somehow, the novel disconnects. There are chapters that you can't put the book down on, and suddenly it veers off and it becomes bland compared to the rest of the book. It's probably because I was reading in batches when I commute, but it's still the same when I read it before going to sleep. Overall, it's a very good book. It's probably just the way that I read through the book.