Monthly Archives: November 2013

Very Good Wanton Noodles @ First Centre Serangoon Avenue 4 on 6Nov2013

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wanton noodles

wanton noodles

went to first centre @ serangoon avenue 4 to install thinkware fxd 900 car cam dvr. had to kill time (about 1.5hrs+) & no place to go so had to while away at the small kopitiam with just 3 makan stalls + drinks.

5 tasty wantons & soup

5 tasty wantons & soup

wanton noodles

wanton noodles

tauyou fried noodles, ngoh hiam & fish cake

tauyou fried noodles, ngoh hiam & fish cake

tauyou fried noodles, ngoh hiam & fish cake

tauyou fried noodles, ngoh hiam & fish cake

the S$3 wanton noodles turned out surprisingly good! 🙂 there were so many pieces of char siew & they were juicy & tasty. PLUS 5 wantons & very tasty, with the soup too. & the noodles the usual qq (al dente). A really great find! and a wanton noodles i will go if in the vicinity, like the 1 i like at tembeling road (unlike bakuteh & curry chicken noodles, wanton noodles & bakchormee i like but won’t drive out of the way just to eat).

the kopitiam tables were continuously packed with workers working there. while having my noodles, i saw some indian workers taking the tauyou fried noodles which looked good. wanton noodles couldn’t take up 1.5hrs+ idling time, so while very slowly seeping kopi-c gosong tilor, i decided to try the S$1 noodles topped with ngoh hiam & fish cake (total S$3). the noodles were quite good, but really this something i could skip.

c.h.e.f andy

Good Teochew Dishes @ Chui Huay Lim on 4Nov2013

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a friend & fundonate partner bought 5pax lunch @ chui huay lim restaurant on 4.11.2013.

chui huay lim is a club with history – all 168years! it has been called a “teochew gentlemen club” or to us a teochew towkay club. 🙂

anyway the restaurant is part of the jumbo group, which has also acquired ng ah sio bakuteh (黄亚细肉骨茶), which now has an aircon branch located on level 1, which chui huay lim restaurant is also located. 🙂  i tried a few very good set dinner promotions in the rooms with karaoke set in 2012 not long after the restaurant started, they had chefs & servers from shantou. the food was generally good though not better than the other good teochew restaurants in singapore.

teochew braised goose

teochew braised goose

crispy sea cucumber in brown sauce

crispy sea cucumber in brown sauce

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steamed red garoupa with chye poh

steamed red garoupa with chye poh

we had the ter ka tan (猪脚冻) pork trotter jelly – top photo. it was good here as usual – flavourful, nicely set & presented.  i had not been here for maybe 1 year, it used to be harder to get braised goose (i had duck the last few times here), however this time there was no problem & my friend ordered the goose. i must say it was “underwhelming”. i prefer braised duck or goose to be served with little sauce & not drenched in them & most important is the “pang” flavour. this goose was to me quite average, & the few times i cooked braised duck (though i was not 100% consistent & made mistakes), my duck was more “pang” than this “wet” goose.

the crispy cucumber with mushroom & brocoli was excellent, both taste & texture with excellent brown braising sauce. it was not better than what i had at tunglok signature @ central though. the prawn rolls & liver rolls were ok, i guess competent (ordinary?).

the red garoupa (very large one almost 1 kg) with chye poh (salted dried radish) was excellent! very fresh, tasty, great sauce & chye poh condiments. 🙂

jumbo was having an amex promotion where you get a S$50 voucher for every S$100 spent, and a S$50 voucher can be redeemed next round for every S$100 spent. the bill came to S$230, so my friend was able to redeem S$100 & paid S$130.  w/o voucher redemption lunch was S$46pax net. i guess it was not too ex but not cheap either. i will probably come again as i have the jumbo card & some jumbo $ to redeem before they expire. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Dinner @ Fukuichi Level 2 Triple One on 30Oct2013

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good bento S$40

good bento S$40

very good friend of mine insisted on buying me birthday dinner. i had many meals already last few days so suggested crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao etc. he would have none of it. he wanted to go nandaman or keyaki. i was not keen for him to spend money at those places (nandaman i didn’t want to go at all, and i would only go for nice sunday brunch mini kaiseki at keyaki &  very occasionally for kaiseki dinner depending on what was served on the menu). i told him if he was buying me dinner he should at least listen to what i wanted, but he just waived away & said when i made those suggestions, it was to be discounted & not to be listened to..hahaha. 🙂 anyway the compromise was fukuichi. 🙂
Fukuichi was located at level 2 of triple one. we arranged to meet at 8pm on 30.10.2013 as he had to finish a phone conference. i was having repeated problems with my dell pc even though it was only 1.5yrs into a 3yr warranty & the motherboard had already changed once. i had to make 3 factory image restore and wasted away hours. that was the last straw & i decided to get a mac. i arrived 20mins early & walked over to epicentre @ 313 just across the road. good side trip & i kind of decided on which mac i wanted. 🙂
fukuichi @ triple one level 2

fukuichi @ triple one level 2

fukuichi @ triple one level 2

fukuichi @ triple one level 2

kobachi - complimentary chopped tuna appetizer

kobachi – complimentary chopped tuna appetizer

salad with ponzu dressing

salad with ponzu dressing

bento (sashimi, sushi, maki)

bento (sashimi, sushi, maki)

kani tofu

kani tofu S$6

hoba beef S$38

beef hobayaki S$38

hoba beef

beef hobayaki S$38

we decided to order a bento each. my friend was not satisfied & insisted to order a sake (he was evidently in greater birthday mood than i & took 90% of the sake as i told him he would)  & beef hobayaki S$38. i ordered a S$6 kani tofu to share as i read about it & wanted to try.

we were served a complimentary kobachi to get started – a small dish with chopped tuna. this was tasty, a good appetizer. the bento also came with a salad, simple cut cabbage that was very refreshing & enjoyable with the ponzu dressing. the kani tofu (basically pitan tofu with crabmeat) was good, tasty though i thought the one with tobiko at hokkaido sushi was better.

the bento was good quality. the sashimi (maguro, ika, sake) were all very sweet. the sushi & maki were competent. the pan-fried salmon was good, very tasty. the tempura were above average. 🙂

the beef (aussie) hobayaki(朴叶烧) with shitake mushrooms was quite good. i first came across this preparation at takayama. the local hida beef (飞弹牛) was an excellent wagyu, and was served on a magnolia leaf (朴叶). i would rate this beef as equal to that served at dozo, not as good quality as that served at the clan. 🙂

in all, a very enjoyable dinner. though we meet often, we had very good chat before calling it quits for the night.

c.h.e.f andy

Another Wonderful Lunch @ Tunglok Signature Orchard Parade on 30Oct2013

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razor clams

razor clams S$10.50 each

a good friend bought me an excellent lunch at tunglok signature @ orchard parade on 30.10.2013. according to the service staff, they wanted to promote their set menu hence they offered palate discounts only for set menus on weekends (i had an excellent dinner set here recently on 19.10.2013),  this was a weekday, we could only do ala carte to have the discounts. 🙂

lie tong

lie tong – S$14 for 1/2 pot serves 3-4pax

star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs

star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs S$38

lobster in 2 ways

lobster in 2 ways S$32 for 1/2 lobster

ala carte was good too. 🙂

we ordered the razor clams. this was steamed with the usual minced garlic. the sauce looked a bit darker than light soy sauce. the taste was good, and the bite was almost there though my friend felt it was still a wee bit tough. so it wasn’t perfect but still pretty good. btw, i also did a good steamed razor clam in garlic oil myself. 🙂

the lie tong as usual was super! 🙂 the 1/2 pot was enough for 4pax & we had 2 bowls each.

the star garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs were ok but missing the very evident wok hae, & the fish was not as firm & sweet as the ones i had recently at tunglok signature branch @ central.

the lobster in 2 ways – the flour gratin part was flavourful & the other was sweet & watermelon refreshing. 🙂 still, it was not quite worth S$32pax & both my friend & i would go with lobster steamed with superior sauce (上汤局) anytime. 🙂

durian ice cream in coconut

durian puree in coconut S$12

aloe vera with lime sorbet

aloe vera with lime sorbet S$6

testtube juice - 5 fruits

testtube juice – 5 fruits

for dessert my friend ordered the durian puree in coconut. i tried a teaspoon of the duran. it was excellent! i had the aloe vera with lime sorbet. it was very good too. i love it! 🙂 we also had some complimentary 5 juices in a test tube. 🙂

it was a very enjoyable lunch! the cost came to S$96 for 2 after 50% palate discounts. they only charged S$1.50pax for tea. we had pu er & tea was good tea too. they should see me around more often.

c.h.e.f andy

Dinner with Brother & Sister @ Chao Yue Xuan on 28Oct2013

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braised abalone, fish maw & brocoli

braised abalone, fish maw & brocoli

another quick update – went back for the S$38pax groupon 7-course set @ chao yue xuan wth my brother & sister on 28.10.2013. food was pretty much the same as the memorable lunch i had with 4 friends on 21.8.2013. most dishes were still good, especially the soup, abalone & kurobuta. this time however, the lobster was much below par. 🙂

chicken salad with goma sauce

chicken salad with goma sauce

star garoupa fillet in beer soup

star garoupa fillet in beer soup

steamed 1/2lobster in superior sauce

steamed 1/2lobster in superior sauce

pan-fried kurobuta pork

pan-fried kurobuta pork

tau kee & spinach

tau kee & spinach

yeefu noodles

yeefu noodles

the chicken salad looked pretty, was quite good though kind of heavy & sesame sauce a bit overpowering.

the soup was good, though not better than a good lie tong.

the abalone was excellent, good in taste & bite accompanied by the defining brown braising sauce. 🙂

the kurobuta was tasty & my brother liked it especially.

the 1/2 lobster though was a tremendous let down. the meat was not bouncy – seemed not live & overcooked (something that don’t happen much these days with all the controlled kitchen environment). this really took away the shine from this set – look at the corresponding photo of the lobster when i had it here on 21.8.2013.

the vege & noodles were run of the mill & i didn’t take the green bean dessert of the day included in the set. overall, the set was poorer in quality c/w what i had here previously though menu items were same.  i guess it was still very good value at S$38nett (chao yue xuan & ah yat though charged S$2.40pax for tea & peanuts whether or not you take them, & the tea was quite ok).

but price aside, the poorer quality overall made it less “wow”and just another good value above average set. so i would choose to go back to tunglok signature for the lobster & seafood set with palate 50% weekend discounts even though that cost a bit more.

c.h.e.f andy