Allo – Delicious French Food

Allo is a French bistro located in shophouses along Desker Road, Little India. I was attracted to Allo when I saw a posting on Allo’s dish on social media and added it to my list of places to try.

Allo

When you reach the front door of Allo, you will be welcomed by a nice al-fresco dining area, complete with rattan chairs and white round tables, just like those found in France. The indoor dining area is separated by white steel doors with glass windows. In the evening, the ambient of the indoor dining area is dimly lit. It is furnished, with square tables, rattan chairs and long banquette seats, for seats against the wall. Though not an open kitchen, through the pass, you can see the chefs at work in the kitchen.

Allo's Al-fresco dining area

We started the meal with Pan Seared Foie Gras [$26] - Pan-Seared Foie Gras, Figs Compote, Rice Crackers. A generous serving of foie gras, cooked to perfection. It has a lovely crisp externally, smooth and creamy internally. The figs compote is sweet and bodes well with foie gras and crispy rice crackers.

Pan Seared Foie Gras 

Warm Oven Truffled Camembert with Figs Compote [$28] - Camembert Cheese, Truffle Paste, Figs compote. The camembert is sliced evenly like a muffin and generously slathered with truffle paste. It is then baked, to the point where the cheese is warm and gooey. Eaten together with crispy sourdough and figs compote, it is just delicious.

Warm Oven Truffled Camembert with Figs Compote 

Moving to mains Wagyu Sirloin Steak with Pomme Puree & Seasonal Vegetable [$38] - Sirloin, pomme puree, brandy sauce. The steak is cooked to medium-rare, as ordered. It is nicely seasoned, juicy and succulent. The pomme puree (French mashed potatoes) is creamy, velvety and ridiculously delicious complemented by the crunchy seasonal vegetables. Yummy!!

Wagyu Sirloin Steak with Pomme Puree & Seasonal Vegetable

Beef Tenderloin with Potato Dauphinoise & Seasonal Vegetable [$38] - Brandy Sauce. The thick beef tenderloin is meaty and succulent. Unlike the sirloin which has more fats, the tenderloin offers a nice meaty texture. The Potato Dauphinoise (Potato au Gratin) has a crisp exterior, followed by a creamy interior, which complements the beef tenderloin nicely. The seasonal vegetables are crunchy, while the brandy sauce binds all the ingredients nicely.

Beef Tenderloin with Potato Dauphinoise & Seasonal Vegetable 

The service is friendly but minimal. On that night, we only have 1 service staff covering 4 tables.

Overall, Allo served delicious French cuisine in a French café atmosphere. The food is fairly priced and we will surely return for more. Santé!! Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 8/10

Value: 8/10

Service: 6.5/10

Ambiance: 7.5/10

Budget per Person: $26 - $50; $51 - $80

Allo French Restaurant

72 Desker Road

Singapore 209595

T: +65 8897 9230

W: https://allo.com.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/allo.com.sg

IG: @Allo.com.sg

OH:

Tue – Thu, Sun: 11.00 – 15.00, 18.00 – 22.30

Fri – Sat: 11.00 – 15.00; 18.00 – Midnight

Closed on Mondays

[CLOSED] Kelo Food – Joy of Healthy Gourmet Eating [MEDIA INVITE]

Welcome to Kelo Food, co-founded and helmed by Chef Charlie, to provide delicious and affordable healthier non-repetitive keto and low-carb substitutes in fulfilling your ketogenic diet. Chef Charlie creates amazing recipes that would allow people to build more wholesome relationships with food, without compromising on their cravings.

Kelo Food

The seeds for Kelo Food were initially planted by NuCarbs, which provides keto and low-carb meal plan subscriptions for those on this food journey. NuCarbs then evolve to Kelo Food this year, a 60-seater restaurant for all to experience a wider menu and pet-friendly alfresco area. Kelo’s food is not only 100% preservatives-free, sugar-free and MSG-free but also 100% original as the recipes and sauces are made from scratch in-house.

Part of Indoor Dining Area

Kelo Food’s menu will feature Asian fusion main dishes by day, and tapas & skewers by night. LD and I attended our tasting in the evening.

Dinner Menu

Side Dish

We started with Fresh Japanese Oysters ($17 for 6 pcs, $32 for 12 pcs). We ordered half a dozen with different flavours. 2 pcs Standard Raw, 2 pcs Roasted Garlic Butter Red Misso (+$1) and 2 pcs Green Herb Yoghurt Sauce (+$1).

Fresh Japanese Oysters

Fresh Japanese Oysters

For the standard raw, we just squeeze a dash of lemon to enjoy the fresh, plump and juicy Japanese oysters. The green herb yoghurt sauce is creamy and pack with herbs; However, it is light enough, so we can still taste the natural flavour of the oysters.

Standard Raw Oysters

Green Herb Yoghurt Sauce Oysters

The roasted garlic butter red miso is the strongest sauce of them all. It is sweet, thick and earthy. This red miso sauce is delicious; however, it blanketed the natural flavour of the oysters.

Roasted Garlic Butter Red Miso Oysters

Next up are the sticks / bbq skewers. We ordered Chicken Leg Cube ($3.5) with Yuzu Teriyaki sauce. Shiitake Mushroom ($2) with Red Garlic Butter Red Miso; and Tiger Prawn ($4.50) Tangy Thai.

Sticks: Tiger Prawns, Shiitake Mushroom & Chicken Leg Cube

The Tiger Prawn paired with Tangy Thai sauce is a flavour that we are familiar with. Inspired by Green Chilli sauce that is normally accompanied with Thai seafood dishes. Spicy and appetizing. The prawns are grilled to perfection, I deshell it effortlessly.

Tiger Prawn - Tangy Thai

The shiitake mushroom is crunchy, moist and packed with umami flavour thanks to the red miso sauce. The chicken leg cube has a familiar taste from the sweetness of teriyaki sauce; however, the yuzu elevated the flavours further by giving it a refreshing twist to the familiar sauce.

Shiitake Mushroom with Red Garlic Butter Miso &
Chicken Leg Cube with Yuzu Teriyaki

Roast Adobo Pork Tomahawk with Adobo Gata (Coconut, $26) plus Cauliflower Fried Rice. I like the rustic presentation. On my first bite, I got the fatty part of the pork, which is filled with a lovely charred aroma and the fats just melts in my mouth. While we find the middle part of the meat a bit dry, the flesh closer to the bone was juicy and super tasty. Not sure why the meat is very inconsistent, hopefully, they can solve this puzzle and this dish will be amazing.

Roast Adobo Pork Tomahawk with Adobo Gata

Roast Adobo Pork Tomahawk with Adobo Gata

The Middle Part

Our pork tomahawk is accompanied by Cauliflower Fried Rice. The fried rice is just superb, with a combination of fragrant aromas from the fried egg and garlic. The cauliflower is juicy and bursting with flavour. A total flavour bomb!! A must-order at Kelo.

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Pan Seared Beef Cube with Garlic Confit & Green Herb Sauce ($18). The beef cubes have a nice crust on the exterior, however, we find the interior is cooked beyond the medium-rare point. Instead of juicy and succulent beef, we get juicy and chewy meat. The garlic confit is sweet and the yoghurt green herb sauce paired nicely with the beef. The combination of the drippings from the beef cubes and yoghurt sauce made a nice dressing for the salad below.

Pan Seared Beef Cube with Garlic Confit & Green Herb Sauce 

To accompany our meal, we enjoy the low-carb mocktails made with monkfruit sweetener. I have the Creamy Limonada ($8), a mix of lime, heavy cream, monkfruit sweetener and Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar. It is creamy and uplifting. LD ordered the Sparkling ACV Lemon Lime ($8), a mix of lime, monkfruit sweetener, Bragg ACV, lemon water and mint leaf. Her mocktail tangy and will wake you up.

Creamy Limonada

Sparking ACV Lemon Lime

On top of the low-carb mocktails, Kelo’s gastrobar drink menu is also designed for fellow drinking kakis who are unable to give up on their love for alcohol. Kelo offers Keto Impossible Ale and Lo-Carb Blondie at JUST $7 per half pint and $11.50 per pint, specially brewed by LeVeL33 urban microbrewery. For those who like to go hard, they can opt for the Signature Cocktails, all concocted using monkfruit or allulose sweetener and ZERO carbs spirits like Gin, Whisky, Rum, Tequila and Vodka (yes these have no carbs). Even Sake which is made from rice, koji and water is suitable for the ketogenic diet.

Non-Alcoholic Drink Menu

There are two seating areas in Kelo. The indoor is very cosy, almost like a lounge & bar seating style. Meanwhile, the alfresco seating area is airconditioned, covered by glass windows and glass ceilings. A nice place to enjoy the scenery outside complete with natural lights and the benefit of air-conditioning.

Part of Indoor Dining Area

Part of Indoor Dining Area

The Bar

Alfresco Dining Area

Overall, we enjoy the food served at Kelo Food. From a non-ketogenic perspective, we find the food to be tasty, enjoyable, creative and big on flavour. We totally did not miss the carbs and sweets on the night. Cheers!!

Thank you very much Protegie and Kelo Food for the media invite.

Food & Drink: 7.5/10

Value: 7.5/10

Service: N/A (Media Invite)

Ambiance: 7.75/10

Budget per Person: $11 - $25; $26 - $50

Kelo Food

134 Jalan Besar

#01-00 K2 Guesthouse Central

Singapore 208852

T: +65 8920 2007

W: https://kelofood.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/kelocafegastrobar

IG: @kelocafegastrobar_sg

OH:

Wed & Thu: 16.00 – 23.00

Fri – Sun: 11.00 – 15.00; 16.30 - 23.00

*Open from Wed – Fri for takeaway during lunch till dinner

Closed on Mon – Tue

Marmaris – Hidden Treasure in Little India

Marmaris is Authentic Arabic, Mediterranean and Western food in Singapore’s Little India. A quick google search will show that it is one of the highest rating restaurants around Little India. Since we were looking for something different, we decided to check out Marmaris.

Marmaris

When you arrived at the location, you will be greeted by two vertical rotisseries, commonly found in the Middle Eastern grilling the meat. In the middle, there will be the ingredients bench, which looks similar to the one in Subway store, where the staff assemble the shawarma, salads and other items on the menu.

Shawarma

For dine-in, you can go to the 2nd floor. It is air-conditioned and simply furnished with wooden tables and chairs. The lights and the walls are decorated with Middle Eastern lights and Middle Eastern motifs wallpapers. There is also al-fresco seating on the 1st floor.

Dining Area 2nd Floor

Decor and Lights

We started the meal with Hummus Salad Platter ($8) – Served with Arabic Bread, Veg Salad and Muhallal – Arabic Pickle. The hummus is smooth, creamy and packs with chickpea flavour. The Arabic bread is warm, soft and pillowy. We just can’t stop scooping the hummus with it. The salad on the side is simple yet refreshing. In no time, we polished off the platter.

Hummus Salad Platter

Falafel (1pcs, $1.50). From the look, we thought it was going to be hard and dry. Surprisingly, it is crispy externally, while it is moist and soft inside. Very good.

Falafel

Al Faham (Grilled Chicken, Signature, $15.50 half, $28 full). We ordered half, as we also ordered a rice dish. According to the menu, the chicken is slow-grilled with special herbs. It is served with Arabic bread, veg salad and garlic sauce.

Al Faham

The exterior of the chicken has a nice charred texture and flavour, followed by juicy and succulent flesh, including the breast part. Though the marinate of the chicken looks fiery red, it was not spicy at all. The chicken is very tasty and the garlic sauce just enhances the flavour of the chicken and herbs further. It is served with lovely Arabic bread as well.

Al Faham

Lamb Shank Briyani ($17.90, 1 pax). I just can’t say NO to a lamb shank briyani. Cooked in a claypot dum, the aroma just entices us when it was brought to our table. Of course, the bone sticking out just add the WOW factor to the dish. The rice is fluffy, sweet and tasty. The lamb shank is juicy and without any gamy flavour, however, it is a bit of a challenge ripping the meat off the bones. I think the lamb shank can be cooked longer, before mixing it with the briyani. My best experience with lamb shank briyani is when the meat reaches the point of fork tender and falls off the bone. I’ll probably order the mutton briyani next time.

Lamb Shank Briyani

Lamb Shank Briyani

Lamb Shank Briyani

We end our meal with Kunafe ($12) - A traditional Middle Eastern dessert made with cheese and thin noodle-like pastry soaked in sweet, sugar-based syrup topped with crushed nuts. I like the crispy texture of the Kunafe, combine with the sweet and savoury flavour in it. The sugar-based syrup is served separately. Though the syrup looks milky, I find it too watery and does not blend well with Kunafe. Instead of pouring the syrup into the pastry, it is better to dip the pastry into the syrup.

Kunafe

We had Mango Lassi ($4.50) and Fresh Lime Soda ($4.50) to accompany our meal. The bottled water is already on the table, so if you open it just let them know when you make the payment on the 1st floor.

Drinks

CBK verdict: it was a great Arabic Middle Eastern food. Very tasty, flavourful and pocket friendly. The winners of the night are the Hummus, the chicken & the garlic sauce. We’ll definitely come back to try the Shawarma and the rest of the dishes. Cheers!!

Food & Drink: 8/10

Value: 9/10

Service: 6/10

Ambiance: 6/10

Budget per Person: $11 - $25; $26 - $50.

Marmaris

111 Dunlop Street

Singapore 209430

T: +65 6291 3001

W: https://www.marmaris.sg/

F: https://www.facebook.com/marmaris.sg

IG: @Marmaris.sg

OH: Daily 11.30 – 22.00