The Battle of the Pork Knuckles

I did not think that it was such a good idea afterall, so please do not follow what I did- I had German Pork Knuckles and beer for 2 consecutive nights!!!  Yes, the deep fried, crispsy, oily, dripping with excess and unwanted calories, yet super duper yummy, German Pork Knuckles.

Let's compare the 2 pork knuckles that I had.  The first one was from baden Restaurant & Pub in Holland V, and the second one was from Brauhaus in United Square.

Both were served with Sauerkraut, which means sour cabbage.   The process of making was similiar to making pickled cucmbers and kimchim using lacto-fermentation.  I think it complemented the pork knuckle very well with the little sourish flavour, take away the oiliness from the knuckles.

Both pork knuckles were fried to golden brown, with crispy skin.  And under neath the skin, you could see the thick layer of fats...

The difference was in the potatoes.  Baden's potatoes were baked, while Brauhaus's were boiled.  I prefer the boiled version.  However, the Baden's version had salad to go with it, made you less guilty haha..

The main difference that separate the 2 was the beer.  In Baden, they served German light lager, while in Brauhaus, you can order from a wide selection of beer, and I chose the Belgium fruity beer.  Their beer were pricy, each beer (about 330ml) cost between $10-$13.  Well, I guess you have to pay a price for choices.

Price wise, Baden would be a better bet.  We had 8 mugs of 500ml beer, 1 pork knuckle and the total damage was S$100; While in Brauhas, 4 bottles of fruity beer, 1 pork knuckle and 1 dozen of escargots set you back by $131.  So i would definitely recommned Baden if you want a fix for the pork knuckles and beer without damaging your pocket.

Ambience. 
Baden is the typical pub ambience, and Brauhaus supposed to have a better ambience since it was neat the fountain.  However, I was visited by 2 roaches that totally killed the mood!!  I don't think i will return to there soon..

Baden Restaurant & Pub
42 Lorong Mambong Holland Village Singapore

Tel: +65 6463 8127


Brauhaus
101 Thomson Road #B1-13/14 United Square Singapore

Tel: +65 6250 3116

Happy Hourssssssss

I love Happy Hour.  Wiki defined Happy Hour as Happy Hour is a marketing term for a period of time in which a restaurant or bar offers discounts on alcoholic drinks, such as beer, wine, and cocktails.  Typically, it is in the late afternoon Monday through Thursday, usually taking place at some period between 4 PM and 7 PM.  The term originated in the United States Navy. In the 1920s, “Happy Hour” was slang for a scheduled entertainment period on board a ship during which boxing and wrestling bouts took place, this was a valuable opportunity for sailors to let off the steam accumulated during the long periods at sea. “Happy” in this context meant slightly drunk.
For me, Happy Hour is a nice time to catch up with your friends or colleagues, complained a bit, joked a bit, relax and drink.  When I was in one of the Telco, we used to have Happy Hour once a week, sometimes twice.  It will start at 5pm, and end about 8pm.  I would usually join them for a drink, and leave about 7pm.  It was also known as the "Horns Sharpening Session", because during these Happy Hour, we would get very evil, cracked all sort of evil jokes.  No evil intention of course, it was a very good stress reliever!

I had couple of Happy Hours past 2 weeks.  First one was in Paulaner, German beer with sausages with Polo and Demure.

The next one was with Prof at Durty Nelly's.  Pre St Patrick Day celebration, with 2 pints of Guinness, hot & spicy drumlets, crispy whitebaits and steak cubes. 

The last one was a huge party at Countryside cafe at Little India.  It was a pity that I did not have any photo as I was out for client's meeting, could not carry my bulky camera.   Anyway i totally forgot about my diet at the Countryside Cafe, had Tigers, Naan, Curry and Brownie with Ice Cream!!  I will return for the photo :-)