Happy New Year! Happy is subjective, so is Taste

Happy New Year!

Its going to be another Great Makan Year ahead and I am looking forward to discovering old favourites and new things to eat.

I thought it would be appropriate to start the Year by introducing to you the people whose pen names you frequently come across in this blog. The reviews in this blog have slowly evolved over the months from being my just my own opinion to one that is still my own opinion but balanced by what my other makankakis say. It is my hope that the ratings will reflect that of the general population, bearing in mind the familiar aphorism that "Taste is subjective"

Allow me to just say my piece on the two most commonly used phrases that I come across when reading feedback both in this blog and in the forums. viz: "Taste is subjective" and "Overrated"

Amazingly, the same people who stress that "Taste is subjective" would also comment that certain foods are "Overrated". The two phrases are mutually exclusive in my opinion. If you stand by the fact that "Taste is Subjective" then you can't really complain when other people rave about certain dishes that you only found to be quite ordinary. I rarely use the phrase "Overrated", and if I had in the past, I have decided that the phrase itself is "Overrated". All it means is that even though there is a queue of people lining up for that food, you don't think that it is worth waiting for it. But that does not make the particular dish bad, since there are still many people who would queue for an hour for the dish, to them, the dish is really that good.

So in order to provide a well balanced review which gets around the problem of taste subjectivity, I try to provide opinions from different individuals. So let me introduce you to the people whose pen names you often come across in this blog. I want to stress that we are all laypeople and not professional food critics. So the reviews are not an "expert" opinion of the food, it's how the ordinary, run of the mill Singaporean foodie thinks of the dish.

Here then is our panel of makankakis in descending order of seniority:

smart: This uncle is semi-retired and so has lots of free time to find stuff to eat in Singapore. He is constantly coming up with new surprises and seems to know lots of good stuff to eat. He does not like things that are too sweet and usually marks down dishes that contain additional sugar.

liverpool1965: You can guess how old this makanbro is from his penname. He is a cafe owner and often sneaks out to have a late lunch with us. Like me, he is just starting to discover all the good stuff to eat in Singapore.

iwatch_ueat: Our dessert Queen. The "expert" in chocolates, ice-creams and everything sweet. Only eats "Godiva" but would give other lesser chocolates a try. Any desserts that gets past her is sure to be good.

Damien: A partner in a eatery and also involved in stock photography, this guy loves food and has been a foodie since he was knee high. He has many gems up his sleeves which we will be reviewing this year.

tamago: Mr Egg has his own blog (tamago - what else?) and is also an avid photographer. Between tamago, smart and myself, we have 3 sets of cameras (2 Nikons and 1 Canon) interrogating (and terrorizing) that innocent bowl of noodles.

holydrummer: A student with a ferocious appetite, we always depend on him to finish up all the food. A real foodie who knows lots of places to eat and has several firm favourites which he will defend in court if the need arises!

bellecharlene: A part-time freelance food journalist and a student, she is real passionate about her food and would even line up for half an hour for something as benign as Hum Chim Peng and spend only one dollar on it.