5 April 2008

B Bakery - A Quaint Little Find

Some time back I visited this quaint little restaurant (less than 10 tables inside and 4 outside) in Bussorah Street which is within the Arab Street network for a friend's birthday dinner. The food was pretty decent and I liked the fact that the owners took effort to ask for the group's (10 of us) food order in advance so that they can handle the orders, as well as providing a non-public menu for our selection. Not too sure if this menu is now printed, so when you do go, ask the staff about it.

The food was served rather quickly thanks to good planning by the restaurant even for such a small group. These are what I managed to try.

Grilled Vegetables & Hummus Platter - $5
Grilled Vegetables & Hummus Platter

A very interesting starter. Deceptively simple in preparation. All the vegetables used were grilled just right for that soft mashable texture. Though some of the vegetables were quite badly charred, like the onion on the 9 o'clock position. But still worth the mention was its surprising sweetness and the absence of spiciness. The hummus in the middle was great with the default basket of bread. A colourful, cheerful, healthy appetiser. I do wish that the portion would be larger. But at $5, maybe I will order 2.

Water Melon, Feta Cheese & Rocket Salad - $5
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I almost forgotten about photographing this! Nevertheless, I must say is is a wonderful salad that cleverly combined watermelon with feta cheese. The strong taste of the former was nicely complimented by the refreshing crunch and sweetness of the latter. Both together made the salad eating extra enjoyable and fun. Clearly another happy and comforting dish.

Braised lamb shank in wine sauce, mashed potato, sauteed vegetables - $20
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What's this thing about braised lamb shank that every restaurant seems to be serving? Not that I am complaining, though. Anyway, the one here tasted pretty much like every other decent braised lamb shank with exception to the wine sauce which tasted sharper and might take a little getting used to. The fibres of meat could have been more tender and moist, but if the texture is your thing, it was done just right. I do wish the lamb shank had a little bit more of the tendons though.

Salmon papilote (oven baked in paper), vegetables, capers - $18
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The salmon was nice, moist and flaky thanks to the way it was prepared. Unfortunately, zesty sauce used was not necessarily the best thing to go along with it, in my opinion. The saltiness from the pickled capers masked taste the fish by a bit too.

As for ambience, I like it for being small, quiet and personal. Perhaps the name, B Bakery also wanted to suggest its humility.

Lastly, the recommendation is to make reservations and order in advance as their inventory for dinner is quite limited.

Also note that they are open for dinner from Thursdays to Saturdays, 6pm - 10pm only.

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