Authentic Thai Meal – Quite Shiok! @ Nakhon Kitchen Hollandv on 9Aug2015

Posted on August 11, 2015 by chefquak

red curry beef

family decided to try out lunch at nakhon kitchen at hollandv on 9.8.2015.^^

(friend brought me to nakhon kitchen @ AMK recently. i enjoyed the authentic thai food very much).

place opened at 12pm & don’t take reservations, and has reputation of long queues, and parking at hollandv at 12pm is usually horrendous. wife said 1/2 the people were away on national day (in this case maybe also because of the many SG50 festivities) and true enough, carpark was quite empty at 11.50am.

nakhon kitchen @ hollandv

restaurant was also quite empty at 12pm but filled up soon enough.

nakhon kitchen @ hollandv

no frills decor, no frills prices.

mango salad – S$5

we ordered the mango salad.

mango salad – S$5

not to be compared with relish burger’s prawn turnip salad which was >2x the price, but it was ok.

chicken wings – S$8

the chicken wings were surprising very good.

chicken wings – S$8

and it’s comparable (almost i guess) to patara’s, which are >2x the price. that’s how good it was. 🙂

tomyam talay (seafood) soup – S$6

tomyam talay (seafood) soup was competent, maybe nothing to comment i guess for S$6.

my daughter prefers the tomyam noodles (S$6 student price) at le wu.

tomyam talay (seafood) soup – S$6

only 1 prawn so maybe so do tomyam gung next time instead of talay.

but i would rather have the S$10 one at thai gold food which we had recently.

red curry beef – S$8

we all loved the red curry beef. it was really good! ^^

for me the red curry was patara’s standard.

green curry chicken – S$8

the green curry chicken was much less good.

green curry chicken – S$8

it was ok, but strangely it seemed much thicker & from the photos looked completely different from vibrant, yummy one at nakhon kitchen AMK. that one i finished up all the curries.

deepfried grouper with thai chilli – S$22

my son wanted the deepfried garoupa. i had some doubts it would turn up like the really excellent dish at patara. the server said it was a favourite dish here.

deepfried grouper with thai chilli – S$22

it was quite small. but it was quite good actually, so i didn’t mind it. but i thought i could do this easily at home, only have to conjure up the right sauce. 🙂

the one at patara cost S$39++but is like 2x the size & sauce much better, so i think patara more worthwhile. 🙂

pad thai – S$5

pad thai was just S$5.

pad thai – S$5

it’s not my favourite dish, but it’s quite authentic here, not too sweet. overall quite good.

minced beef basil rice – S$6

son ordered the basil minced beef rice.

minced beef basil rice – S$6

taste was ok. cannot c/w with le wu’s fried basil beef but i guess not really a like for like comparison.

we also had a S$5 mango sticky rice to share. did not take photo. anyway sticky rice not fragrant, a dish i could do without.

lunch for 4pax came to S$80, or S$20nett, no service, no GST.

must say it was a very authentic thai meal, quite shiok!

c.h.e.f andy

Great Burgers @ Relish Burger Cluny Court on 4Aug2015

Posted on August 10, 2015 by chefquak

wild rocket burger

wife had a groupon that was expiring. son was in town & he loved burgers. so we arranged to have 3pax lunch at relish burgers by wild rockets at cluny court on 4.8.2015.^^

i don’t mind burgers. they are not ranked anywhere in my priority though. the last time i had relish burger was with wife at serangoon gardens in dec2014, also by way of groupons. haha! 🙂

relish @ cluny court

place was bright & pleasant. 🙂

relish @ cluny court

quite well patronised maybe because of groupon discounts?

prawn salad

wife ordered a prawn turnip salad.

prawn salad

it was very good. prawns were very fresh. salad was refreshing & tangy, very appetising. 🙂

wild rocket burger

wife & i shared a wild rocket burger.

wild rocket burger

it is true that the burger is excellent. charred outside, medium rare & moist inside, very nice flavours with peppers & mustard & onions.

blue cheese & william pear burger

son ordered the popular blue cheese & william pear burger.

blue cheese & william pear burger

it was very good too. the blue cheese left a very nice lingering after taste. 🙂

deconstructed strawberry cheesecake

the last time we liked the deconstructed strawberry cheese cake.

deconstructed strawberry cheesecake

i even tried making one myself, which was quite good really but maybe not yet up for comparison.

deconstructed strawberry cheesecake

that’s part of the fun for me eating out, tasting different food & making an assessment if i can reproduce w/o much hassle.

the lunch was S$77. somehow we could not locate the groupon so we paid the full amount & the restaurant (angie the lady we spoke to) agreed to let us used it the week after even though it would have expired. part of good service i guess.

c.h.e.f andy

Good & Cheap Teochew Muay 潮州靡 @ ye shanghai 夜上海 on 8Aug2015

Posted on August 8, 2015 by chefquak

teochew muay 潮州靡dishes

wife wanted to try the cheap havelock turtle soup at havelock food centre. unfortunately it was closed.

we passed by bukit merah view to see if ye shanghai teochew porridge 夜上海潮州靡 was open (i was here recenty on 16.7.2015). it was, so i parked & joined the short queue (4pax in front) at 1130am on 8.8.2015.

Ye Shang Hai 夜上海 Teochew Porridge

i got our food soon enough, maybe just 5 mins waiting in the queue.

Ye Shang Hai 夜上海 Teochew Porridge

by the time i sat down, the queue had grown to >15pax and remained so. the turnover though was quick enough.

teochew fishcake

i ordered 7 dishes. it came to S$11.40 including the 2 porridge. 🙂

the teochew fishcake here was nice, much better than the shi le yuan version.

taupok & taukee

wife did not like the taupok & taukee. they were not the very soft well infused with the lor flavours, but overall still ok for me.

salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼

the salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼 was good as ever, salted fish very flavourful, maybe shi le yuan’s version was better. our own salted fish minced pork 咸鱼饼 would be better than this.

eggplants

eggplants was the best! ^^

not sure how they do this. maybe will give it a try at home. 🙂

chilli ray

chilli ray was good, one of the dishes i like more. fish was great, so was the sauce. 🙂

chai buay

chai buay the usual good standards one, just mildly sweet not sour.

cauliflower etc greens

the cauliflowers etc were freshly cooked, nice & crunchy, nothing special i guess. only the price is special.haha!

very nice simple lunch.

c.h.e.f andy

Satisfying Dinner with Son @ Aburiya on 7Aug2015

Posted on August 8, 2015 by chefquak

kimchi chigae 킴치찌개

had a great family dinner with son (back for summer holidays) at aburiya on 7.8.2015. ^^ from my 3 previous posts, looks like i come here every 6 months, the last one in mar2015. could be more frequent than that & i did not post, but that’s the value of the posts for me, helping me to savour moments of joy. 🙂

yakiniku smokeless grill

aburiya has a good ventilation system & smokeless grill. i talked about this last time when c/w azmaya omakaseya which was poor in ventilation.

kurobuta S$16.90

we had the kurobuta.

kurobuta S$14.90

this time we did not take the kurobuta belly. the meat looked marbled. texture was great but more like a loin than the flavourful fatty meat.

karubi S$10.90

we take the cheaper beef, the karubi or short ribs.

karubi negi S$11.90

& we orderd karubi negi which came with a seasoned/pickled negi or leek for S$1 more. love the leeks.

jo karubi S$16.90

we also had jo karubi, the prime short ribs.

yakiniku grill

the meats were ok, not really special & my own homecooked steak dishes like tagliata di manzo are a lot better basically because i use very much better cuts like grain-fed black angus ribeye or striploin & sometimes aussie or even japanese wagyu. still it was very tasty & nice done this way even for cheap meats & we sometimes do teppanyaki ourselves at home, which is just as wonderful. ^^

kimchi chigae 킴치찌개

& i just love the kimchi chigae 킴치찌개 here. not even the kimchi nabe hotpot at shirokiya can compare with this in terms of flavours. maybe i will think of some ways to do this at home.

bibimen

and we also love the bibimen here.

bibimen

really like the noodles & the pork & cucumber condiments mixed in the ubiquitous gochujang sauce고추장. such a wonderful comfort food. maybe can try this at home too, not sure. the dinner sans the sake was about S$30nett pax, pretty ok. 🙂

Hawker Food @ Food Republic Vivocity on 6Aug2015

Posted on August 7, 2015 by chefquak

thye hong fried hokkien noodles

went with son to watch MI5 – mission impossible (rogue nation) at vivocity on 6.8.2015.

we were early & collected the tickets about 6.20pm for a 7pm show. walked around a bit but nothing to shop. decided to go 1 floor up to the food republic at the roof top.

son took the fried hokkien noodles, think it was thye hong hokkien noodles. expensive leh S$5 for a small serving! guess i don’t go food court often and only reference hawker centre prices which are quite a bit lower.

the flavours was good though, very good wok hae!

chinese mutton ribs soup 羊排汤

i thought of having bakchormee, but somehow could not find a bakchormee stall. there was a stall selling some noodles with different variations that might include bakchormee.

(P.S. later i found out that there is supposed to be a lao da hua 老大华 stall there)

anyway i decided to take the chinese mutton soup. did not pay attention, i think it was chinatown beef noodles stall (they sell mainly beef noodles but also has mutton soup).

the girl told me they only serve mutton ribs, so i should call it 羊排汤. it was expensive too, at S$8 & what looked like a few pieces of meat floating around.

my favoruite is chai chuan tou 柴船头羊肉汤 at bukit merah view food centre & it’s only S$6 for the large serving.

the soup was good but when i first tasted it, i thought it confirmed my suspicion as the soup was not so good c/w chai chuan tou 柴船头羊肉汤.

but the mutton ribs, i think it was 崩沙腩，was really good, excellent in fact! ^^

it was very meaty, and still came with the collagen bits just like the very good beef briskets 牛腩i had in hong kong, except that this was mutton. & the texture was perfect tender but not sinewy. chai chuan tou 柴船头羊肉汤‘s mutton also like this but this ones here were a lot thicker & meatier. this is something i really like, so S$8 was quite worth it!

c.h.e.f andy

Really Fun 12pax Homegourmet Dinner on 5Aug2015

Posted on August 6, 2015 by chefquak

#4 headcheese terrine 猪头冻

had a very enjoyable dinner last evening. ^^

i prepared a 12-course dinner for my friends. every dish was good…

this mostly the pulau ubin durian picking group.
https://chefquak.com/2015/07/19/durian-picking-adventure-pulau-ubin-on-21jun2015/

wife & youngest daughter (who just finished her last paper in the morning) joined the dinner. 🙂

#1 wife’s quinoa pumpkin tofu salad

#1 wife prepared a nice quinoa pumpkin tofu salad for me. ^^

quinoa gave it a bit of texture & also savoury, some sweetnes from the agave nectar. a very nice salad.

#2 chicken ballotine

#2 made a nice chicken ballotine. this time i steamed for 11mins, so not overcooked. maybe even 10mins will do. nice tender chicken, & the bacon & onions, spinach made it quite tasty. 🙂

#3 oven roasted kurobuta medium rare

#3 was experimenting on the kurobuta.

used the vietnamese pork collar marinade. 2days in chiller. browned over high heat in butter then 18mins in a preheated 250degC oven!

texture was marvelous. the marinade flavours pretty good. & the colour a very pretty pink medium rare. it is pork though so some friends might be a little worried, but restaurants like salta parilla also served kurobuta steak medium rare.

#4 headcheese terrine

#4 my headcheese terrine was just superb.

i varied my usual pig trotters braising sauce recipe & added 1 cup of red wine. i used the slow crockpot roast method (starting from cold on low heat) for the 1/2head+hear i bought from sheng shiong, and texture was perfect in about 6 hrs.

#5 pig’s ear ragout served on toast

#5 for the pig’s ear ragout, i took out the ear & minced/chopped it, took out some sauce & heat the minced pig’s ear & reduced the sauce.

this was an excellent dish we had at dinner by heston blumenthal in london. i did not have the recipe so this is my very own concoction!^^

#6 flamed squid in spinach veloute

#6 one of my most impressive dish this evening was the flamed squid in spinach veloute.^^

i softened yellow onions, green pepper, leek & lastly spinach leaves in a pan & blend it with olive oil, chicken (or veg) stock & salt & pepper to taste. i added 1 teaspoon of tsuyu sauce.

#6 flamed squid in spinach veloute

i first did this for my anniversary dinner after our recent cornwall trip. we had a great lunch at porthminster cafe in st ives & saw a photo of the dish. i did not have the recipe so i concocted my own.

#7 shellfish bisque

#7 shellfish bisque was excellent too! ^^ very intense, smooth & flavourful & excellent brandy flavours.

it’s similar to my lobster bisque. i had a vegetable base to balance the intense stock from prawn shells & heads. i used carrots, onion, leek, red pepper, & the leftover spinach stems.

#8 tagliata di manzo

#8 tagliata di manzo is my regular dish. i had 100D grain-fed black angus striploin this time.

i had ribeye recently for my daughter’s 30pax home party which was better, but striploin done medium rare was still very good. 🙂

#9 pistachio rack of lamb

#9 for the second main, i did a pistachio crusted lamb.

#9 pistachio crusted rack of lamb

i don’t do this often. lamb rack is very expensive. i bought the cheaper ones which were still frenched but with caps on. the denuded ones were too expensive. so i had to cut away like a ton of fat, a bit tedious.

anyway, the pistachio rack of lamb was really excellent, no strong gamey taste, nicely medium rare to medium & excellent with the pistachios.^^

#10 funghi linguine

#10 for the pastas, i made a funghi linguine. it was good but my wife & daughter told me it was not as good as the one i did for my daughter’s recent party.

#11 prawn spaghetti in pinck sauce (creamy tomatoes)

#11 they thought the prawn spaghetti in pink sauce was the best. and yes, it was very tasty & flavourful.

crayfish pasta was a dish which my wife does very well. and i am just trying to model after, using small prawns instead of crayfish.

#12 banoffee (banana toffee) cake

#12 for dessert, i did a banoffee (banana toffee) cake.

it was very good. i put about 1/3 of the caramel i made after heating a can on condensed milk for 4hrs, and lots of bananas. so it was not too sweet & an excellent combination of flavours & texture. 🙂

very expensive “black gold”durians – 2x price of maoshanwang!

a friend brought very expensive “black gold” durians.

it’s like 2x maoshanwang 猫山王 prices, so the 3 durians he brought probably cost $200!

very expensive “black gold”durians – 2x price of maoshanwang!

it was super nice, very creamy, small seeds & bitter. better be! at such astronomical prices…

mangoesteen

& mangosteens too, very good ones. 🙂

another friend brought an entire box 15kg of mangoesteens! i managed to get the guys to bring back so i probably kept about 3 to 4 kg.

my very good friend who took the nice photos brought a sparkling wine. and some friends brought fruits.

konyaku jelly

another friend brought konyaku jelly.

oat shortbread – it was really good!

& a personal gift for me – a very nice oat shortbread! ^^

very fun evening with good friends, and the food turning out very well too! haha! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Enjoying My Chirashi Don @ Kuriya Dining on 1Aug2015

Posted on August 6, 2015 by chefquak

chirashi sushi zen

a quick post. wife wanted to go kuriya dining for lunch on 1.8.2015.^^

last time we came was 2 months ago. we took the same chirashi sushi zen set. this time though we did not want to eat too much so ordered 1 set to share. 🙂

salad with goma dressing

chirashi set included a salad with goma (sesame) dressing. refreshing as usual.

grilled spanish pork

we decided to share a grilled spanish pork, think it was like S$28. 🙂

grilled spanish pork

the pork was really nice, very flavourful& very tender.

grilled spanish pork

roast garlic bulb though was not too great, not softened enough. the pan-roasted garlic cloves in olive oil i do for my pastas etc a lot better than this. 🙂

my own oven roasted kurobuta medium rare 5.8.2015

i wanted to try it at home. i did a oven roast kurobuta medium rare 250degC 18mins (there was a kurobuta bought from mmmm in the freezer for several months to be used).

i used my vietnamese pork collar marinade. the result was good, very nice kurobuta, but not quite the same experience. will try the spanish mustard beef marinade on a pork collar, see if that comes closer.

oysters – otoshi for chirashi sushi set

the oysters otoshi was ok, so-so.

snow crab chawanmushi

the crab chawanmushi very tasty, good as always.

chirashi sushi zen set

the chirashi don zen was just incredible.

chirashi sushi zen

you can see so many different quality cuts including a heap of uni (sea urchin), i included the details in my earlier post.

chirashi sushi zen

i can have this again!^^

chirashi sushi zen

so sumptuous & yummy!

c.h.e.f andy

Shiok as Before 2pax Dinner @ Tunglok Signature on 4Aug2015

Posted on August 5, 2015 by chefquak

S$12.80 steamed razor clams with tanhoon

had not been to tunglok signature at orchard parade for a while. last was in sep2014.

was deciding where to eat out for dinner. we had japanese recently at kuriya dining, and tomorrow i am cooking 12pax dinner at home which is mostly western/italian.

so we went to tunglok signature at orchard parade hotel for dinner this evening on 4.8.2015.

for me, the food never dissappoints, just as shiok as ever.

tunglok signature orchard parade hotel

don’t think other diners share my views though. the place had just few tables, quite empty.

S$8 garlic pork 蒜泥白肉

we ordered the garlic pork 蒜泥白肉.

S$8 garlic pork 蒜泥白肉

it was good. i liked it & would order it again, but honestly it was not better than my own garlic pork 蒜泥白肉 though the style was quite different. i like my spicy garlic pork 蒜泥白肉 more in terms of the flavours & tenderness of my belly pork but this here was good & looked very nice too.

S$16 lie tong 例汤

we had the lie tong 例汤.

S$ 16 lie tong 例汤

it was really good! ^^

my helper made very good lie tong 例汤 at home quite often, so this had to be really good to impress us. they had old cucumber & dried cuttlefish & pork softbones soup base. it was really tasty! 🙂

lie tong 例汤 ingredients

we ate up the 3 large pieces of pork softbones before remembering to take photo.

S$12.80 steamed razor clams with tanhoon

the steamed razor clams with tanhoon was really good too. this was as good as the ones we often had previously at ah yat grandstand & very less frequently at jumbo and long beach at dempsey.

steamed razor clams with tanhoon

top restaurant standards & very much better than the ones we had at the daipaidongs 大排档 in hong kong.

S$42 garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs 百合

we ordered the garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs 百合.

garoupa fillet with brocoli & lily bulbs 百合

this was excellent too.

wok hae was very good. the garoupa fillet & vegetables – brocoli & lily bulbs 百合- were very well done.

i can definitely do this dish at home, maybe i will start with a vegetarian one for my niece’s coming brthday. 🙂

S$28 lobster noodles

i was looking forward to the lobster noodles.

S$28 lobster noodles

it was still good, but a far cry from the lobster noodles we had here previously(just looked at the previous photos here), or at any good restaurants eg xin restaurant.

lobster noodles @ tunglok orchard parade 29.11.2013

just look at the old photos of the “real” loster noodles. that’s how it should look like!

S$8 dessert 雪中情怀

& i always like the dessert 雪中情怀.

dessert 雪中情怀

it did not dissappoint. really excellent, the combination of fresh coconut, mango, grapefruit, vanilla & coconut ice cream was super!

i take this everytime!^^

with 50% for 2pax amex palate discounts the food came to S$100nett for 2pax & we got free parking as well.

c.h.e.f andy

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Monthly Archives: August 2015

Authentic Thai Meal – Quite Shiok! @ Nakhon Kitchen Hollandv on 9Aug2015

Great Burgers @ Relish Burger Cluny Court on 4Aug2015

Good & Cheap Teochew Muay 潮州靡 @ ye shanghai 夜上海 on 8Aug2015

Satisfying Dinner with Son @ Aburiya on 7Aug2015

Hawker Food @ Food Republic Vivocity on 6Aug2015

Really Fun 12pax Homegourmet Dinner on 5Aug2015

Enjoying My Chirashi Don @ Kuriya Dining on 1Aug2015

Shiok as Before 2pax Dinner @ Tunglok Signature on 4Aug2015

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