Club Street Social - 29th June 2012

Dann had originally wanted to pick a place called Corner Stone in Ang Mo Kio (heck where issat?) for this week’s BML, but after much grumbling by the party including veiled threats to invoke the dreaded “samolah”, Dann did an about turn and re-hashed his plans, finally deciding on a place called Club Street Social. Being paymaster, he also invited Jason Chiang as a special guest for this week’s BML.

A bit on our guest -   

Age: mid 20s (I think)

Characteristics – Good natured, not ugly and very athletic (with legendary quads of steel apparently!)

Likes - An avid cyclist (yup as u can see from the photo, he probably cycled to the venue).

As the establishment’s name suggests, the venue was located in a lane just off Club Street. We arrived in 2 cabs 10 minutes from the office, and upon entering what was a relatively modest sized eatery decorated with a mix of French and Italian style café influences, there was rumblings amongst some members that they could not feel the air conditioning and whether that constituted a breach of club rules.

So although the ambience was pretty nice, one could say that the start was not the most auspicious for Dann, especially after the menus were distributed. Dann, having obviously done his sums prior to arriving, said that we could each order up to a maximum of S$60 each since Jon was not attending. Looking at the menu however, we realised that this was;

1. Really a café.

2. The prices were such that hitting $60 may not be too easy since most dishes were priced in the mid-teens.

So Dann mentioned that since we were supporters of Samuel Adams, we were allowed to order a bottle of beer to go along with our lunch. To which MG chimed in to ask to reconfirm if the S$60 spending was inclusive or exclusive of GST and service. At this moment, slightly unsure of his original sums and taken aback, reverted to his true self on reflex and said that the S$60 included the ++.

So we collectively ordered the following:

(Breakfast choice by businessman) - Scrambled Eggs, Fontina, Chives with Smokey Bacon

(Salad) – Romaine, Radicchio, Parmigiano  and confit garlic

(Soups) - Lobster Bisque + Minestrone

(Crostini) - Goat Cheese, Thyme & Honey + Duck Rillets + Anchovy & Ricotta cheese

(Panini) - Proscuitto, Tomato, Mozarella + Ribeye, fontina cheese, garlic + Lobster, avocado + Duck Confit, Portobello mushroom

 (Drinks) – 4 bottles Sam Adams Boston Lager

We were first served our soups, salad and crostinis, and immediately upon our first mouthfuls, the party was overwhelmed with delight.

The lobster bisque was rich and flavourful, and was of a generous helping. The lobster flesh that was included in the soup was crunchy and tasty. It was definitely one of the better lobster bisque’s we have tasted.

As for the minestrone, this was definitely made from scratch. It was full of ingredients, with a base of roughly chopped mirepoix, beans and added vegetables. The soup was rich in flavour (with minimal salt) and you can tell there was hardly any artificial additives or enhancers added to this soup. It was home cooking style with full or stuff sitting in the soup. For anyone looking for a healthy, hearty and nutritious lunch, this is a perfect choice.

The salad was quite a serving as well and there seemed to be garlic paste that was melted with cheese drizzled all over, and further topped with shaven parmesan. The green romaine was crisp and the radicchio was slightly grilled and wilted which I think removed some of the bitterness that you get with radicchio. The dressing for this salad is really something different and interesting. Much more delightful than the usual olive oil and balsamic vinegar or vinaigrette dressing.

We then moved on to the crostinis which I had ordered. I had been looking forward to this as I was reminiscing about some of the really delightful ones I had tasted in Italy. The problem with Italian food in Singapore is that most restaurants do the same thing. Osso bucco, risotto, spaghetti vongole etc etc. So I was hoping in anticipation that this would be good, and I, in fact we all were not disappointed!

The duck rillets were really good and were well paired with the apple and fig compote which was sweet. The mix of ingredients on top of the crispy bread was perfect.

Next came the thyme, honey and goat cheese crostini. Whoa…. this was another fantastic concoction of rich, salty and creamy goat’s cheese infused with thyme and topped with a drizzle of honey. The creaminess of this crostini really gives you that feeling of satisfaction as you wolf it down your throat, and yet it is not overly rich to sort of put you off having another (there was none left anyway). The thyme and honey was lovely with the cheese. The thyme infusion sort of cut away a little of the edgier flavour of the goat’s cheese, whilst the honey balanced off some of the saltiness of the cheese. Half the party voted this the best crostini.

We were then served the anchovy and ricotta cheese. Whoa again….. the anchovies were lovely, fresh and not overly salty and it was wonderful with the fresh and creamy ricotta cheese. You could have 5 of these and not get sick of it. Delicious! The other half of the party voted this the best crostini.

At this point in our meal, everyone agreed that the air-conditioning was definitely working, and even if it was not, no one seemed to care. The head waitress, or possibly the owner of the restaurant came up to comment that the way we surrounded the food and gobbled it down like a pack of animals was quite a sight to behold and would’ve made for a fantastic camera shot.

We were then served Businessman’s breakfast selection. The bacon was so-so, but the eggs were done magnificently well. The cheese and chives that was added to the eggs mixture was really tasty and it was cooked to perfection. Absolutely goldilocks… neither over nor under cooked.

Then came the paninis. Of the 4, the one which we felt was a bit of a let-down was the ribeye Panini. There was nothing wrong with this toasted sandwich except that the beef, being a whole steak was a little hard to eat in a sandwich. We agreed that given a choice, we would prefer a philly cheesesteak sandwich over this anytime.

The lobster and avocado Panini was also given a mixed review. The filling was tasty, but some felt that there was not that much of a lobster flavour to the sandwich. I suspect it was because after the lobster bisque, some of the goons were expecting a concentrated lobster flavour explosion from the Panini. Overall I thought that this was quite a decent Panini.

The duck confit with Portobello mushroom Panini was superb and was a hit with the party. It’s the first time I have had duck confit in a Panini to be honest, and I suppose this is not common simply because diners always want the crispy skin on the duck leg to be intact. In a Panini however, that’s hard if not impossible to achieve, but nonetheless if you are in a rush and in need for a quick takeaway, this is one really tasty Panini you should choose.

Finally, we had the prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato Panini. This is typical Italian fare. Having had quite a few in my travels, I can safely say this is a high quality Panini. The ingredients were good and the Panini was toasted perfectly with the melted mozzarella and wilted tomato slices.

At this point, we highlighted to Dann that there was a small possibility that he may not have hit the minimum spending as per club rules as it was difficult to hit S$53 on the dot, and so most of us were below that threshold, and also that it would truly be a waste if given the food quality we have had so far he were to be penalised for such a technicality. He then murmured sheepishly that we had confused him and that it was his original intention for us to order S$60 before service and taxes.  So he decided to throw in dessert for which we ordered the following:

(Dessert) – berries with Vanilla mascarpone, lemon tart, nutella bread pudding with ice-cream

The vanilla with berries and mascarpone was given a so-so rating. I think most in the group were expecting something a little sweeter (as usual, the country bumpkins would have probably been happier with ice cream), but this dish is probably about pairing the slightly sour berries with the rich mascarpone.

We were then served the nutella pudding. This is one stodgy dessert. More brit style than Italian! I don’t particularly like stodgy desserts, so this was not for me, but to give it credit, it was well made and came piping hot with a big ball of ice cream on top.

The decision on the lemon tart was a bit last minute and we had it thrown in just for comparisons sake. It was lemony and slightly egg-y in flavour, and was not bad. The party agreed that it was better than the one we had last week at Cocotte but still not as good as the one at Au Petit Salut.

I hate to say this, but Dann definitely deserved to be referred to as D-man for his marvellous selection for BML this week. Despite the inauspicious start and the fact that it was a café, this is definitely one of the more memorable lunches we have had. The Sam Adams beer that was thrown in was also a wonderful accompaniment to the lunch and I would thoroughly recommend having some wine or at least a Sam Adams with the food here.

Overall I think the best thing about this establishment are the crostinis. Really a wonderful treat. If I were to come back here in the evenings with some friends, it would be a bottle of wine and all the crostini’s on the menu. Reminds me a bit of Spanish tapas as well. Next best thing are the soups. Following that would possibly be the duck confit Panini and the prosciutto, mozzarella and tomato Panini.

The total damage was about S$360 once the guest’s cost was excluded. Dann had it good this time as the nice lady who served us waived all charges for the 3 desserts we selected. The party suspected this good fortune was due to my good looks J rather than our generous lunch order. Thanks guys!

By: Club Scribe

BMC Presidential Inauguration - 6 January 2012

So after a long and arduous journey, resulting in many a broken wallet, exploding waistlines and the witnessing of much subterfuge, the club and its 6 esteemed members have finally concluded the race for the newly elected 2012 BMC president, and the winner is none other than …….. Jonathan CHOO Jon Neng, aka Juice or Merc E350. (But now demanding that he be referred to simply as Prezzie or if u must use an acronym, TKY)

And lo and behold, as with all good traditions, much like the significance of wearing the yellow jersey in Tour de France, or the smashing of a bottle of champagne at the launch of a ship, the party made its way to what is now legendary hallowed ground….. SKCR (pls see pic with the 2 goonsters who are respectively now club P and VP) for the inauguration.

As with tradition, and as a show of presidential magnanimity, all club members are allowed to eat their fill to their hearts content for all food items served not only at the SKCR stall but also from any stall in the Mei Chin Food Centre, save for one condition, which is there be no wastage of food ordered. Should there be any food left over, the person who made the order will have to pay for the order.

So being the hungry beasts that we all were, the orders were made fast and furious. But some mistakes were bound to be made, and Jason Lau aka Businessman, as usual had to order his carrot cake (its like a religion for him) and in addition, 2 bowls of fish ball soup (at the instigation of Maigai who agreed with Jason that there should be some soup) and was of course left having to eat up whatever he ordered since no one else wanted to help out, except for Maigai who sheepishly helped out with the soup but not the fish balls.

I then proceeded to order 2 whole chickens, 6 plates of rice (+ additional 2 bowls), 3 plates of vegetables, and a fried grouper from one of the other stalls as SKCR had ran out of Yu Sheng.

Having polished off the entire meal save for some scraps of carrot cake and the bulk of the fish balls (poor businessman had to pay…. in my view he definitely was NOT practicing our club motto of “avarus non bardus”), we proceeded to take a healthy stroll of no more than 20m to a cleaner table to have coffee and trash out the new terms and amendments to our club constitution as proposed by the new Prezzie.

To be fair, our newly elected President, Jon came fully prepared for his proposed amendments to be made towards the club constitution. Whilst not quite on par in insightfulness with Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, or as charismatic as Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech, we were still all ears to what he had to say.

First off, Jon started off by clearing off all the easy amendments, which provoked no significant negative responses. These are that -

1.  All BMC Lunches aka BML (save for presidential winner’s address at SKCR) had to be in an air-conditioned location.

2.  The respective paymaster for the week is allowed to bring a friend, subject to the paymaster being responsible for his friend’s tab.

3.  That the presidential title will be held for a period of 1 year, and following this, the next election cycle will begin.

4.  That the minimum spending per session will be fixed regardless of how many members are in attendance.

5.  That the minimum spending will be changed to as follows: 

a.    Spending will be set at a minimum of EURO 30 per member.

b.   Since we have 6 members as of the date of this publication, the minimum spending is set at EURO 180 per BML session.

c.   Verification of minimum spending condition being met will be calculated based on the prevailing EUR/SGD FX rate on our I-phone Bloomberg app (or its equivalent) as at the point of payment.

d.    There is a dual level knock-out feature (personally I think this is rather daft, but I could not get a unanimous agreement from all other members to oppose this measure). Should the EUR/SGD trade above 2.50 or below 1.00, the minimum spending condition will lapse and we will collectively agree on a new formula.

6.   That should any of the overseas members of the BML club (namely the HK president, Gilbert Chong or Shanghai president, Oon Sheng Lung)  be present during our BML, that they be offered to join us for 1 sitting - gratis, and the minimum spending for that session be raised by an additional 30 Euros.

7. Every member will be allowed one free pass to postpone his BML session to another designated date, with no questions asked. However every subsequent postponement will be at a cost of 50 Euros each to be added to his BML session’s minimum spending criteria.

Having warmed up, Prezzie then moved on to the following more dicey amendments -

8. That Dann Sim will be the official driver for all BML sessions. Jon however (wanting to cultivate the aura of magnanimity) offered to be the club driver for 2 out of the 6 sessions, for which one will be to drive Dann when he is the paymaster (in order not to be in breach of the original constitution), and for a second session of Dann’s choice. This however had to be pre-determined as Jon is of the view that Dann being a flip flopper, (oh my car is being polished today so cannot drive / will have a meeting in Tuas at 11am so no time to reach back to get the car in time / I decided to take public transport today cos I wanted to check if Lui Tuck Yew is doing his job etc etc). And so, after nearly 2 weeks, and as at press time, Dann had yet to finalise which member he wanted to designate to Jon to do the driving for. (It was Veg, then became Collin and so on and so forth).. Should the designated driver not be able to provide his vehicle for whatever reason, the driver will then be responsible to provide in full the taxi service to and from the BML location for all members.

9. That Collin Cheong is designated as the official camera man and BMC blog manager. For this he will have to ensure that a fully functional minimum 10 mega pixel camera be present at every BML session (there were some rumblings in the background that the minimum should be a DSLR camera, but that was dropped). Using a camera phone was strictly unacceptable.

10. That I (the club vegetable), had to be the designated BMC writer except during the turn when I am paymaster where Maigai the club VP will be the writer.

11. That the blog must be updated regularly and as such Club cameraman will be given 48 hours from the date of the BML session to provide the photos to the Club writer who in turn will be given an additional 14 days to provide the finalized content back to the Club blog manager (in this case also the cameraman) for his uploading within a further 48 hours.

It was at this point that Dann Sim - looking dazed for quite a while (pls see pic) after having seemingly felt how the winds of change had short changed him, and that looking back he should have seriously considered fighting on for the presidential title with more vim, vigour and $$$ - suddenly saw and pounced on an opportunity to up the ante for the Club writer and cameraman. He requested that a penalty of Euro 50 be imposed should the deadlines for updating not be met. My response together with CC was just as swift and we pointed out that if the club driver failed to drive (which is very much in his control since he drives to work daily), the penalty of the taxi fare for all members would not amount to even SGD 50 to and fro let alone Euro 50. His proposal was thus spiteful and not in the spirit of our club culture. Eventually, it was decided that the penalty be set at 10 Euros.

12. That Maigai other than being the club VP (we did not touch on the possibility that if something calamitous happened to Jon, would that mean that MG is prezzie?) is also the official Club Entertainment Officer for the club, and will be the back-up for the Club cameraman and writer during either person’s absence. His rather light responsibilities was a result of him being a so called “worthy opponent” during the title challenge, which resulted in him holding the second highest BML bill on record and in actual fact the highest total spending throughout the title challenge period. (It was definitely not his original intention to spend the most and not be a prezzie. It’s just that I think MG’s overall planning is sloppy and his mathematics is not so good)

13. That Businessman aka Jason Lau will NOT be allowed to take a ride in either the E250 or E350, since the maximum allowable limit per car is 5 persons. He will be responsible solely for his own transport to and from the BML location for all 6 sessions.

Following this, we ended our inauguration and left as a party of 5 (Jason had to go find his way back as Jon said that the new rules were immediately in force). The total bill spent by Jon at  Mei Chin Food Centre amounted to just $100.10

By: Club Scribe

The Businessman's Club Charter