foodie review - Ivin's
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
on a mission to review Ivin's Peranakan Restaurant at Binjai Park. 4 of us, namely selvi, mj, wl and yours truly went down to scope out the action. most of us being first timers at the famous establishment, we decided to get the owner to recommend us the house specialities. in the end we decided on ayam buah keluak, ikan masak assam pedas, honey pork, sambal kangkong and rice to go with the dishes, topped off with a glass of lime juice each. the owner wanted to recommend a few other dishes but we felt that our trim figures were at stake and thus decided to hold off on the rest.
the sambal kangkong arrived first. and it looked delicious. crisply green stalks with bits of sambal chilli. i was a little disappointed that it came before the rice as all we could do was sit there and watch the steam rise. however, the rice and other dishes arrived shortly after. the kangkong lived up to expectations. it was nicely spicy and the stalks were still crunchy, like how good sambal kangkong should be. mind you, i'm pretty picky abt my sambal kangkong as it is one of the few vegetable dishes i eat.
next dish: ikan masak assam pedas, which is basically assam fish. it was excellent! the tangy spiciness hits your tongue like a wake up call. and you can't help reaching for a second spoonful of sauce. the fish meat was flaky tender and there weren't many bones at all. perfect with fluffy rice!
selvi loved the honey pork best. convenient pork strips nicely marinated with a smokey taste that were great for popping into your mouth. i can't describe this dish. u have to try it for yourself. it's so good i saw a table ordering 3 of this same dish. i garantee u'll love it. oh, and i forgot to mention, selvi says she's the type that doesn't really eat pork. so her loving this dish speaks volumes. heh.
last of all, the ayam buah keluak. i've been wanting to try this dish for ages. every article on peranakan food mentions this dish. apparently this is THE dish that makes or breaks the menu. and yeah, this dish lived up to expectations. it tastes like chicken curry but with a slight twist, brought about by the buah keluak nuts. the chicken meat was superbly tender, it was fall-off-the-bone tender. YUM!
in the end, we decided to order desserts too. they were pretty normal stuff like pulot hitam, bubor cha cha, chendol and gula melaka sago. the coconut base for these was thick and flavourful. but i liked the bubor cha cha best. a nice sweet ending to our meal.
BLest amiga joined us later after her project meeting. and she ordered sambal sotong and mutton k... (forgot the name. sobz! lousy reviewer! forgets name of dish. sigh!). even though i was stuffed to the gills, i had to give the dishes a try, in order to give a complete review. heh. the sambal sotong wasn't too bad. i would have preferred it to be a little more fiery though. the mutton was good. the curry sauce that accompanied it complemented the mutton taste pretty well. mutton fans might wanna give it a try. for a more in depth review, ask ernie.
all in all, a very satisfying meal. and most reasonably priced. the total bill came up to $45 for 6 pple(correction: there were only 5 pple) and we got an additional 10% disc coz owner thinks we're cute *blush* hahaha. there are plans in the making to go back there for a spot check next time ard. due to the fact that owner says he purposely didn't cook as he had prior notice that we were dropping by. sigh! that's the only disappointment of our epicurean experience.
the economist agrees that Ivin's is a die die must try!
on a mission to review Ivin's Peranakan Restaurant at Binjai Park. 4 of us, namely selvi, mj, wl and yours truly went down to scope out the action. most of us being first timers at the famous establishment, we decided to get the owner to recommend us the house specialities. in the end we decided on ayam buah keluak, ikan masak assam pedas, honey pork, sambal kangkong and rice to go with the dishes, topped off with a glass of lime juice each. the owner wanted to recommend a few other dishes but we felt that our trim figures were at stake and thus decided to hold off on the rest.
the sambal kangkong arrived first. and it looked delicious. crisply green stalks with bits of sambal chilli. i was a little disappointed that it came before the rice as all we could do was sit there and watch the steam rise. however, the rice and other dishes arrived shortly after. the kangkong lived up to expectations. it was nicely spicy and the stalks were still crunchy, like how good sambal kangkong should be. mind you, i'm pretty picky abt my sambal kangkong as it is one of the few vegetable dishes i eat.
next dish: ikan masak assam pedas, which is basically assam fish. it was excellent! the tangy spiciness hits your tongue like a wake up call. and you can't help reaching for a second spoonful of sauce. the fish meat was flaky tender and there weren't many bones at all. perfect with fluffy rice!
selvi loved the honey pork best. convenient pork strips nicely marinated with a smokey taste that were great for popping into your mouth. i can't describe this dish. u have to try it for yourself. it's so good i saw a table ordering 3 of this same dish. i garantee u'll love it. oh, and i forgot to mention, selvi says she's the type that doesn't really eat pork. so her loving this dish speaks volumes. heh.
last of all, the ayam buah keluak. i've been wanting to try this dish for ages. every article on peranakan food mentions this dish. apparently this is THE dish that makes or breaks the menu. and yeah, this dish lived up to expectations. it tastes like chicken curry but with a slight twist, brought about by the buah keluak nuts. the chicken meat was superbly tender, it was fall-off-the-bone tender. YUM!
in the end, we decided to order desserts too. they were pretty normal stuff like pulot hitam, bubor cha cha, chendol and gula melaka sago. the coconut base for these was thick and flavourful. but i liked the bubor cha cha best. a nice sweet ending to our meal.
BLest amiga joined us later after her project meeting. and she ordered sambal sotong and mutton k... (forgot the name. sobz! lousy reviewer! forgets name of dish. sigh!). even though i was stuffed to the gills, i had to give the dishes a try, in order to give a complete review. heh. the sambal sotong wasn't too bad. i would have preferred it to be a little more fiery though. the mutton was good. the curry sauce that accompanied it complemented the mutton taste pretty well. mutton fans might wanna give it a try. for a more in depth review, ask ernie.
all in all, a very satisfying meal. and most reasonably priced. the total bill came up to $45 for 6 pple(correction: there were only 5 pple) and we got an additional 10% disc coz owner thinks we're cute *blush* hahaha. there are plans in the making to go back there for a spot check next time ard. due to the fact that owner says he purposely didn't cook as he had prior notice that we were dropping by. sigh! that's the only disappointment of our epicurean experience.
the economist agrees that Ivin's is a die die must try!
posted by J at 10:51 PM
11 Comments:
Indeed! Where's the sixth person???! Tsk tsk... or was there something I'd missed out?
my mistake! but i keep thinking there were 6 pple. heh.
*drools* Hey Jeanette! Where's Binjai Park??? How doyou get there??
yw??? hahah. u're the only one who uses my name ard here. it's at upper bukit timah rd, near KAP, on the dunearn rd side. buses 151, 66, 157 and a few other buses go there. it's in a housing estate so you have to walk in a bit before you can see the row of shop houses.
Yup it's me, forgot to sign off.
Haha, thanks for the info, i'm a foodie too! Remember to post more food reviews when you discover more eating places yeah?? :p
hahah. will do. glad to hear my foodie review is appreciated!
ernie hates the word "foodie"
por que???
Porque si
I was the 6th person J was dreaming about. *blush* oops...J's blest amiga would be jealous.
Nah, i'm generous. In fact, was freaking late there, tat i didnt even notice how many people were there at the table...
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