2003 August | Goodies First

Aug 14

Killiney Kopitiam

My first meal in Asia, and appropriately traditional. Coffee filled with
condensed milk, kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs, of course. It was one of
those protocol experiences, like how do you eat the eggs without making a
mess (it seemed like everyone else was eating them from a bowl with soy
sauce)? Do you dip the toast in the eggs? Do you sit and wait for service or
order at the counter-and when do you pay? I was quickly initiated into the
fact that napkins are not provided at most restaurants in Singapore. Mini
tissue packs were purchased rapidly thereafter. The toasted bread filled
with thick, melting butter and coconut jam was a near obscene treat. I've
since taken to eating kaya and peanut butter sandwiches.

Killiney Kopitiam * 67 Killiney Road, Singapore

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Aug 2

Nar

I'm always wary of those little restaurant write-ups in Time Out NY
or New York Magazine. Not of their validity–whatever–they're trend
fueled, but that they'll create artificially huge crowds the week they
appear. Such was my fear at Nar. Showing up prime-time on a Friday night
posed little problem, however. The place was empty. Absolutely patronless.
That makes me even more wary. No matter how much one hates crowds, facing an
empty restaurant is even more unnerving.

We only ordered a couple things, an eggplant puree not unlike baba
ganouj, fried calamari and a special of meat dumplings in a sour cream-esque
sauce. Nothing was hideous, nothing was amazing either. I like Allioli and
it's the same owners, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I was heartened by little touches like how they used a Turkish(?)
newspaper to serve the calamari in, fish and chips style. That's the sort of
tiny flourish I'd employ at a party, and no one would notice, and I'd come
away feeling like I'd really, really wasted my time. (8/2/03)

* Swiftly gone and probably already forgotten. Now it's Zipe Zape.
(8/23/04)

Nar * 152 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn, NY

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Aug 2

Goody’s

I knew the name, I was aware of the place, but I'd never been inspired to
pay a visit. But for some reason James was bitten by the Goody's bug (it's
one of those deals where he reads about or sees something on TV about a
restaurant and freaks me out by out of the blue telling me that's where
we're going). He'd heard about some Sichuan shrimp dish. I thought they were
known for soup dumplings. To cover all bases we ordered both. The garlic
might have been a bit charred on the shrimp, though I still liked them (they
were sort of orangey, clovey and spicy). The dumplings were properly soupy,
and an impulse order of sesame noodles was the perfect antidote to the
sub-tropical NYC summer heat.

Goody's * 1 E. Broadway, New York, NY

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