Any foreign food remind you of home?

[malcontent]

For me, it’s katsu curry. I grew up in the Midwest US with lots of meat & potatoes... something about katsu curry, it’s kind of like country fried steak topped with beef stew... but better! And, I’m not even a big fan of Japanese food.

I just devoured a set from Tonkichi and... man... oh man was it good!

[sundaymorningstaple]

Thanksgiving & Christmas when I deepfry turkeys! I've still got a 3rd one in my freezer!

[malcontent]

Sounds like you’re ready for Easter!

Once my oldest was about 4 or 5, I taught myself how to make the entire spread for Thanksgiving. The hardest part was pie crusts. Over the years I’ve learned to substitute butter for Crisco, it’s cheaper and better. I use a layer of plastic wrap on the top and bottom to roll out the crust... only way to keep the crust from sticking in this weather, it also makes it easier to flip it into the pan.

The other thing I do around St. Patrick’s Day is make Shamrock shakes. I always buy mint flavoring every trip back to the US, because they only sell peppermint here and that doesn’t work (found out the hard way).

[Lisafuller]

for me it’s definitely some good southern barbecue. I grew up in Florida, so some coleslaw, ribs, corn on the cob, and mac & cheese just reminds me of home.

[malcontent]

Speaking of ribs, it’s too bad Tony Roma’s closed down here, they truly had the best ribs in town back in the 90’s and 00’s... but after that, started going downhill... no surprise that they closed. Sad to see Chili’s leave (for the second time), but Santa Fe Tex Mex has always has better fajitas anyway... I haven’t been to Santa Fe since they moved out of their Mississippi riverboat, need to look them up again.

[sundaymorningstaple]

Thumbs up on Tony Roma's. Damn shame they closed.

[Lisafuller]

Speaking of ribs, it’s too bad Tony Roma’s closed down here, they truly had the best ribs in town back in the 90’s and 00’s... but after that, started going downhill... no surprise that they closed. Sad to see Chili’s leave (for the second time), but Santa Fe Tex Mex has always has better fajitas anyway... I haven’t been to Santa Fe since they moved out of their Mississippi riverboat, need to look them up again.

Towards the end of their time in Singapore, I found that the ribs and most of their other meats declined in quality, maybe that had something to do with the fact that they ended up closing.

[malcontent]

I agree... such is the fate of many US based franchise restaurants here. Outback Steakhouse and California Pizza Kitchen are two live examples that are in decline as I write this.

I think more restaurants in Singapore need to adopt the “fast casual” concept given the labor shortage. I reckon most people don’t mind bringing their own food to the table and even getting their own cutlery and condiments. If it makes the difference between a good restaurant staying in business (like Chili’s for example), it’d be well worth it!

[the observer]

It’s all pretty basic economics.

1. Competition, there’s way too many restaurants to choose from that caters to American/European taste buds.

2. Majority of these setups love to congregate near and around places with the highest rents in Singapore, and basically lie at the mercy of the land lords.

3. The western expat crowd isn’t growing as much as the East Asian crowd. But the number of western options has mushroomed quite a fair bit.

4. The East Asian blokes used to splurge on celebratory dos at western joints. These days, the hai di laos have nailed a chunk of that pie.

To survive, there has to be a sufficient customer pool.
I don’t think there’s enough, and they probably need to venture further out of central to bring their costs down.

[malcontent]

For western, I’d say too much quantity of restaurants but not enough quality.

Just look at how Blu Koizina took off, from a small place on Bukit Timah they moved into a larger space in Dempsey and then doubled by taking over the vacant restaurant next door. Why are they wildly successful while others struggle? Simple, they don’t compromise on quality and serve genuinely authentic food.