Rail Tale

I was at Rail Mall last night. The lottery shop was over flowing with people desperate for a last shot at winning the 10 million dollar Toto draw. My friend thought she should buy some tickets so that she could retire pronto. But we didn't think we could get to the top of the queue before it was too late. So we spent our money on some food at A-mei Kaya Toast instead.

Before getting there we checked out some of the other food places and found some cheap pub grub that might be worth a try one day. One pub had a special for the night - grilled fish with chips and salad - for 10 dollars. The special changes daily so you might just get lucky one day. I suppose the special is just the bait to lure you into drinking beer all night.

But if it's wine you want, there is another place where you sit on crates and stools to drink. No food here. Just wine by the glass. And bottle too, I suppose. This was very crowded. Full of people trying to look posh while getting drunk.

Nearby there's another shop that serves pasta and other vaguely Italian stuff which looked quite ok. All under 15 dollars.

After looking at all these, we decided to eat roti prata at A-mei. This turned out to be a mistake. The prata was soggy and the mutton curry that came with it was ringed with a thick layer of gleaming oil.. The chicken murtabak was a greasy lump of fried dough. We gave up eating.

The moral of the story - do not eat anything other than kaya toast at a kaya toast shop.

Still hungry but reluctant to leave so soon after all that trouble fighting off lottery-crazy people for a parking space, we decided to check out the farther side of Rail Mall. This is where we struck gold.

Right at the corner next to a Chinese restaurant is a deli run by a true-blue Italian. The chef and owner told us he opened two months ago. He had worked in Italian restaurants in Singapore for several years and is married to a Chinese Singaporean. Just that day, a MediaCorp crew had been for a shoot and you can see the result on 23 February. Which channel, he doesn't know except that his wife was interviewed in Mandarin while he cooked.

This is what he had on display - lasagne (different sorts), 8 dollars a portion; spinach quiche, 2.50 each; lavender cheese cake, 3.50/slice; chocolate cake also 3.50; stuffed eggplant, 2.50/100gm; pasta salad,2.50/100gm; salmon in puff pastry, roasted zucchini and peppers; roast beef, etc, etc.

I bought the quiche which I had for lunch today. It was the real deal. Not like the factory stuff you get at Deli France. You can choose whatever you want from the counter and eat in the deli. The chef told us he will soon serve lunch and dinner too. He can also do dinner parties at the deli for 30 or 50 dollars a person for a 3-course meal. He already has a booking for a party of 20 later this month.

If you are wondering where to go for lunch or dinner, give this a try. Help to keep him in business so we can eat authentic Italian food anytime without having to go to town.

The bread there is good too - we got a free loaf.