S$4 pork porridge

my brother invited us for a concert at lee foundation theatre, NAFA campus 3, where he is the conductor & arranged most for the songs & music pieces on 8.10.2016. ^^

we turned left into princep street from middle road & managed to park atNAFA campus 3 itself.

it was free seating. my sis & bil also attending. she went early & managed to get some seats in the front row.

it was a enjoyable concert with many old songs & several from the xin yao era新谣…

after the concert, we thought of getting a bite (we both did not take dinner). it was quite late, many places were closed including smith street roadside stalls (past 10.30pm).

anyway, we already parked at temple street so walked to keong saik & of course tiong shian porridge 长城粥品中心coffeeshop is open.

tiong shian porridge coffeeshop @ keong saik street

tiong shian porridge coffeeshop @ keong saik street

tiong shian porridge coffeeshop @ keong saik street

place was full but not crowded. sometimes there were queues to order food.

S$4 pork porridge

we ordered a S$4 porridge.

it still took 15mins to arrive.

S$4 pork porridge

we shared the S$4 porridge

porridge was ok, quite passable, but this the still broken rice, NOT the hong kong totally smooth style which we like.

so not as tasty as the plain (conpoy) porridge at royal london duck @ mandarin gallery i had recently.

or any of the crystal jade porridge & of course the hong kong street porridge.

about the standard of hong kee porridge at commonwealth crescent food centre i had recently.

ingredients good, like 5 tiny meat balls, quite a bit of sliced lean pork, 4 to 5 small pieces of liver & 3 small intestines – quite good for S$4.

this the kind of porridge that can be quite nice if you add a bit more fish sauce & pepper.

S$4 pork porridge

the crowd obviously like this place.

for me, for a S$4 pork porridge when other places are mostly closed, quite a ok place to come.

c.h.e.f andy

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Tiong Shian Porridge 长城粥品中心 Coffeeshop

garlic steamed seabass – S$21.90

a chinese friend bought lunch today at formosa delights 清香馆 along clementi road today on 6.10.2016. ^^

seldom come to this stretch of shophouses. it is next to the cheese prata shop & fei fei wanton noodles.

this place is at the junction with pasir panjang road & we all parked at the public barrier carpark across the road & walked back.

清香馆

place had a good crowd at 12.30pm.

service by a vietnamese girl who spoke ok english & mandarin was quite ok. 🙂

garlic steamed seabass – S$21.90

this place seems to be good with its seabass dishes, similar to the 重庆烤鱼type dishes.

& only uses seabass, no 鲶鱼, no snakehead fish.

don’t really understand the pricing, the hk steamed 港蒸is like S$25.90, the i think mala style is S$28.90. don’t make sense to me that garlic steamed should be cheaper than 港蒸, so i told my friend to order the garlic steamed. seabass has a bit of mud taste & more mushy meat not so good 清蒸w/o stronger condiments.

garlic steamed seabass – S$21.90

this was good. i expected it to be like you can do garlic or minced ginger with pating fish.

fish was sweet & nice with the garlic. think i will try this myself at home.

锅贴 guo tie – S$5

锅贴 guo tie – S$5

锅贴 guo tie was good too, much better than i expected. tasty fillings, good dough & nicely crisp.

fried asparagus – S$11.40

asparagus was quite a good serving.

fried asparagus – S$11.40

& done very competently. good wok hae, nice garlic flavour, sweet asparagus.

lunch for 3pax

lunch for 3pax was S$40. GST but no service charge.

this a place i will come back again.

c.h.e.f andy

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清香馆

Address:

20 Clementi Rd, Singapore 129749

Contact:

+65 67787398

Opening Hours:

Daily: 11:00 – 00:00

1/2royal london duck = S$25

a OPS primary school classmate treated us to 4pax dinner at royal london duck at mandarin gallery level 4 on 4.10.2016. ^^

the royal london duck was very good! very impressed.

this the smallish fatty irish duck that is making its round in many restaurants in singapore.

tunglok signature’s 1/2 roast london duck 

tunglok signature’s roast london duck

tunglok’s signature’s royal london duck was amongst the best i had in singapore.

this one at royal london duck was just as good, and very pretty! 🙂

we had like 10 dishes for 4pax dinner

the host ordered many dishes. 🙂

char siew

char siew here also among the best i had.

very tender tasty pork belly, with a sticky slightly sweet sauce.

1/2royal london duck = S$25

the london duck was the best dish for the evening.

1/2royal london duck = S$25

if i have to make a comparison, i think tunglok’s was a bit more fatty so very fragrant & skin more crispy.

this one has very nice sauce. both were excellent!

pork trotters terrine 熏蹄

the 熏蹄 was very good too, very flavourful.

i would put this as tie with the char siew, second to the duck.

fragrant crunchy pork一口香酥肉

fragrant crunchy pork一口香酥肉 also very good, but just a bit salty.

i put this as 3rd best dish.

signature steamed rice roll – some springroll fun cheong

steamed rice roll an unusual dish, their signature item too.

it felt a bit like the 炸两, a hong kong dimusm i don’t much fancy, with yao cha guai 油条inside the fun cheong.

in this case spring roll fillings was nice & crispy too. good stuff! 🙂

xo turnip cake

xo turnip cake was good.

my youngest daughter favourite, not my favourite.

i had better xo turnip cake else where though eg mostly recently at full of luck club.

duck meat xiolongbao

duck meat xiaolongbao was ok, nice soup, nice fillings, skin didn’t tear except when picked up by my clumsy friend.. just kidding la…:-p

har gao

we ate har gao much later. the skin was rubbery.

maybe would be better if we ate when hot, but i think it was not as good as most dimsum places.

poached hk kai lan

poached kai lan very good.

poached hk kai lan

i ate many pieces, as the hostess kept serving to me.

conpoy porridge

our hungry friend ordered a plain porridge (he later ordered some kaya balls at yakun coffee place at paragon). it was a huge serving. i took 2 tablespoon to try.

it was among the best congee i had, so smooth, and when congee is done well so sweet for a plain item. this was as good as the congee in hong kong.

dinner came to S$100 for 4pax after 10% POSB/DBS discounts, quite good for so many dishes & very nice 1/2 duck.

i will come back with family & friends.

& we had a great evening makan & chat together, & later went over to yakun at paragon for a cuppa.

i didn’t notice but a friend’s daughter was at the next table. when she was leaving she came over to say hello with her daughter who just finished her PSLE. a pretty lady & her pretty daughter, a very well brought up well mannered & at ease little girl. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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chilled mullet pigs tail bkt pork trotters = S$40

went with sis & bil to 光明山to pay respects.

after that drove to seng kee bakuteh @ amk ave 10 chong boon food centre on 4.10.2016. ^^

we were there about 11.15am, no queue yet.

long queue at 11.30am

later while we were eating, the queue was about 7-8pax.

seng kee bkt

seng kee sells bkt, pig’s tail, pork trotters & fish.

today they have chilled mullet 冻乌鱼 selling at S$12 & S$17, and pek tor (rabbit fish) selling at 2 for S$8.

chilled mullet 冻乌鱼pigs tail bkt pork trotters = S$40

price was expensive for supposedly cheap food in a market/food centre stall.

we had 4 items ＝ chilled mullet 冻乌鱼，pigs tail， bkt  & pork trotters for S$40.

& that was after refusing a huge plate of pig trotters & accepting a $4 plate instead!!!

chilled mullet 冻乌鱼=S$17

the chilled mullet 冻乌鱼 was S$17!!!

it was nice, fresh, tasty, skin easily removed (as it should be).

chilled mullet 冻乌鱼=S$17

it’s a larger chilled mullet 冻乌鱼 than the size i prefer to buy at sheng shiong when there is offer like 2 for S$8.90.

for this size, maybe about S$5 each.

& the chilled mullet 冻乌鱼 i made at home is equally nice as this one.

i forgot to take a separate photo for the bakuteh. it was S$7, NOT the excellent long prime ribs龙骨served by rong cheng 榕城 bakuteh at sin min road….

anyway bkt also quite nice, and soup very competent…

but really, no better than the cheap S$10/kg frozen prime ribs bkt i made myself at home. my soup just as good & really my prime ribs outright better lor! ^^

pigs tail = S$8

the pig’s tail was S$8. I guess quite ok price. a pig’s tail this size cost S$3+ at sheng shiong.

soup was good not super. pig’s tail was good!

pork trotters = S$4

& the pork trotters was good! excellent texture & flavours too.

so the food was actually pretty ok, the price (on the boards) were quite ok for trotters etc. & there was quite long queue so people do like the food.

but i really don’t like the attitude=pushing my sister a huge plate (which we rejected) like 2.5x to 3x the serving of the S$4 trotters when my sis asked for small. when i asked them to give the S$4, the second women said S$4 was for 1pax.

for this i myself will not return to this stall, at least for a while….

c.h.e.f andy

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Seng Kee Bak Kut Teh (Ang Mo Kio)
Address:

453A Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10#01-06
Chong Boon Market & Food Centre

Opening Hours:

Mon – Sat : 11:45am – 08:30pm

#1 panfried lobster steak 

went with wife for dinner at tunglok signature orchard parade on 2.10.2016. ^^

had a nice 6km almost 2hrs walk at hort park this morning followed by a not so nice bakchormee at ah hoe meepok.

now looking forward to a great dinner.

6-course set dinner menu = amex lovedining 50% discounts for 2pax 

tunglok is our regular haunt & part for amex lovedining.

for weekends the 50% discounts for 2pax apply only for the set menu.

we had among the best 6-course dinner here in 2013. and had it several times since. 🙂

the menu changed recently, so we decided to try the new 6-course menu= S$98pax at 50% discounts.

it was simply superb! ^^

#1 panfried lobster steak 

we started with a lobster steak.

it was a big helping. 1/2 of a decent size live lobster, very flavourful with a nice sauce with a hint of wasabi & salad. 🙂

i may be able to do this myself using crayfish…

#2 flambe sharksfin 

not sure what the flambe does? look nice of course, & a hotter soup (it does boils the side) always good. 🙂

#2 flambe sharksfin 

anyway it was the usual tan jia preparation, very tasty broth, smooth & pleasing.

#3 green chilli steamed red garoupa 

the green chilli steamed red garoupa was outstanding, a surprise for me.

tunglok always do excellent garoupa fillet dish. this was though quite exceptional.

really nice individual serving presentation, large serving of very fresh & tasty garoupa & a quite spicy (a great kick!) really lovely broth.

i am thinking how to do this myself…fillet a 1kg garoupa, make a sauce (boil the head & bones with some spinach (blend??) & chilli padi & reduce), steam the fillet…

#3 green chilli steamed red garoupa 

such a wonderful dish! 🙂

#4 panfried spanish kurobuta steak 

the panfried spanosh kurobuta also exceed my expectations.

chinese style beef, lamb rack, kurobuta tend to have too sweet marinades.

good ones like it is done here i mostly like but still i like the western preparations better.

#4 panfried spanish kurobuta steak 

this one was very good, nice, tasty, peppery, & nice asparagus.

for this, i can probably vary my reverse sear mock kurobuta recipe & adjust the marinade…

#5 scallop noodles 

scallop noodles very nice too.

not the best noodle dish here, but very good la! 🙂

scallop noodles 

great stock, nice, plump scallops, small amount of noodles, just nice to round off the meal.

this should be easier to replicate.

not as difficult as the prawns in golden braising sauce (黄焖大虾面)

#6 aloe vera & jelly with sorbet in coconut 

this aloe vera lemon jelly dessert excellent too!

i always like the 雪中情怀 here = which is a very nice 杨枝甘露 topped with vanilla & coconut ice cream.

this one with lychee sorbet was not better but just as excellent! 🙂

complimentary juice

we had the usual complimentary juice.

dinner came to S$125nett for 2pax after amex lovedining discounts.

these days they charged 10% service on the undiscounted bill. also no more free parking. so S$4 for evening per entry parking.

for us, a really excellent dinner & superb value.

c.h.e.f andy

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Tunglok Signatures @ Orchard Parad

Address :
Orchard Parade Hotel #02-18
1 Tanglin Road
Singapore 247905

Contact :
Tel : +65 6834 0660
Fax : +65 6834 0550

Opening Hours :

Lunch :11.30am – 3.00pm (Daily)
Dinner :6.00pm -10.30pm (Daily)

japanese fusion mee pok – S$6

went to ah hoe mee pok after our 6km almost 2 hrs early morning walk at hort park on 2.10.2016.

long queue at ah hoe mee pok = 45mins 

the same long queue.

i queued from 9.45am to 10.30am = a full 45mins.

online orders 

there was a sign saying you can skip the queue by ordering online.

different offers at ah hoe mee pok 

ah hoe actually offer quite many noodle styles.

there is the fishball noodles, the bakchormee (my usual orders), the S$10 crayfish noodles & the $10 bg prawn noodles.

today i also ordered the S$6 japanese fusion mee pok(only available on weekends). they have miso & shoyu (i picked miso) & basically gave the chasu (braised pork). See top photo.

i had enjoyed ah hoe mee pok the last few times i came, most recently on 16.9.2016.

unfortunately today’s noodles were not nice.

the jap owner rested & a woman then a guy took over when i got to 5th in the queue. don’t know if it made a difference. but today the vinegar was excessive & overpowering & in a way destroyed the dish.

the japanese fusion noodles was not as good as the usual dry mee pok. but at least it was soup so did not have the overpowering vinegar today. the chasu was ok but NOT comparable at all with the real ramen chasu.

overall it was still a nice mee pok but as a soup mee pok no comparison with the xing ji (興记) bakchormee fengshan food centre, which is like the best soup mee pok for me.

wife did not like it. she preferred the jln tua kong mee pok tar at 6th avenue. that we are absolutely in agreement.

i though had liked this ah hoe mee pok also & had it several times but today it was just NOT good la.

c.h.e.f andy

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Ah Hoe Mee Pok

japanese wagyu 

we decided to try nabehide where amex lovedining offers 50% discounts for 2pax this evening on 1.10.2016.^^

nabehide 

restaurant was quite with few customers at 7.30pm on a saturday.

server told us restaurant closing/shutting down on 23.10.2016. no business i guess.

palate (lovedining) menu 

the usual lovedining conditions require minimum order of 2 main courses.

unlike most lovedining restaurants where you can order 2 mains from the ala carte menu, nabehide restricts the 2 main courses to a small palate (now lovedining) menu.

japanese wagyu 

we were uncertain of the quality of the Jap wagyu, so we started with 1 order.

the 250g wagyu was served in 2 trays, 9 pieces.

wagyu was tender & flavourful. quality was very good. 🙂

japanese wagyu 

the wagyu came with complimentary vegetable platter. or choices of 3 items from the veg menu.

vegetables 

we picked the platter for our first order.

charcoal-hotpot 

the hotpot came in a cast iron pot over a smokeless charcoal stove.

charcoal hotpot-konbu & goma soup base

the server told us the S$5 goma (sesame) dashi the most popular. the knobu dashi is free, so we had the 鸳鸯 duet dashi. there s no 50% discounts for the $5 dashi.

japanese wagyu 

we were happy with the wagyu so we order a second serving, plus we tried the S$8.90 pork collar as well.

this time we had 3 veg=tan orh, king oyster mushroom & shitake. 🙂

pork collar was pretty good actually, just that we didn’t really need it, just to try only.

very tasty goma dashu 

the goma dashi after infusing all the wagyu goodness, was super tasty.

japanese normally don’t take soup from shabu shabu. but this goma dashi obviously for drinking & it was very good.

the damage (at S$160nett for 2pax) was substantial, even with 50% discounts…haha! 🙂

of course one can be paying S$350/kg for jap wagyu steak at isetan supermart. for shabu beef maybe S$200+/kg, and we had 500g wagyu for 2 servings, should be almost 500g anyway for the 4 trays.

they charge service on the full price (so that’s S$22.60). restaurant need to make some money la…so nothing to say.

the sake at S$22.80 was poor/average quality…

nothing like the S$15 for 4 sake smapler at sun with moon.

i think dinner was ok, not great value for money (mikuni’s S$48 wagyu sukiyaki + 50% discounts would be better value) but quite ok.

c.h.e.f andy

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