cendol at the lookout/the eagle, sicc thomson

after the scrumptuous great-value lunch at silk, we adjourned to the lookout/the eagle for some drinks.

my OPS friends still fixated with cendol.

the server at silk told us the best is actually bobo chacha, but it is not available most times. she got them to inform her whenever they have bobo chacha, so she can order it.

anyway, today no bobo chacha as well.

my friends ordered cendol. the coconut milk was thick. the gula malaka though was the usual thin hawker centre type, totally mediocre, and no kidney beans…

way way below the standard of four seasons cendol (the best!) la!

& also not comparable to old town white coffee cendol.

ice kachang at the lookout/the eagle, sicc thomson

i was the only who took ice kachang.

it was much better than most hawker centre ice kachang, including the one at adam road food centre. & they have double the amount of ingredients, and generous serving of syrups & evaporated milk.

too big a serving actually, with this no need lunch actually.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

the lookout/the eagle

peking duck = S$26 for 2 eats

had great 5pax lunch with my OPS friends at silk on 27.12.2016.

was just here for dinner last friday with my brother & sil.

i ordered the 1/2 peking duck again.

the peking duck was competent, & the second eat crispy noodles was quite excellent, so at S$26 for 2 eats (2 dishes), it is like a must order for me. 🙂

garoupa fillet with cloud fungus, lily bulbs, sweet peas = S$24 for medium

i ordered the medium garoupa fillet.

there was like 10 fish cuts so 2 serving each. it was an impressive dish my friends like.

garoupa fillet with cloud fungus, lily bulbs, sweet peas = S$24 for medium

a great reparation.

& the sides were good quality – cloud fungus, lily bulbs & sweet peas. 🙂

black bean auce bittergourd with pork ribs = small for S$16

for the black bean auce bittergourd with pork ribs, i ordered small for S$16.

first time i ordered this dish here. it was very well done, very tasty & tender pork ribs & bittergourd was great too. this the favourite dish for all.

claypot froglegs = medium for S$24

i ordered medium claypot froglegs. another very tasty dish.

claypot froglegs = medium for S$24

all the dihses very good standard, well presented & tasty.

only thing the service here very average.

shredded duck meat crispy noodles – second eat for peking duck foc

& the foc second eat, shredded duck meat crispy noodles. my friends really liked this. & me too.

there was no service charge & sicc members got 15% discounts. so net for me including tea & appertizer (S$2each) was S$94, a very good price for 5 really good dishes.

though i have been here a few times already last few months, i still like this place as much. will be back soon!

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

jo karubi S$16.90 – prime ribs

went with wife to our usual haunt aburiya yakiniku for jap style korean bbq on 26.12.2016. ^^

enjoy it everytime!

jo karubi S$16.90 – prime ribs

we had the S$16.90 jo karubi – prime ribs.

jo karubi – prime ribs

it was very good as usual.

falbourful, nice lemon on seasalt dip & another beef sauce dip. 🙂

kurobuta platter _ S$25.90

we order the kurobuta platter which we like.

i like all the 4 meat cuts, from belly to jowl to collar & ribeye.

kurobuta

pork cooked a bit more.

kurobuta

nicely charred & very flavourful.

kurobuta

shiokalicious la!

bibimen S$11.90

we took the bibimen which wife likes and i too. lots of pork & other ingredients.

bibimen S$11.90

mixed well with gochujang.

kimchi chigae

we also like the kimcji chigae.

not too salty, very tasty, & good serving of kimchi, tofu, mushrooms & some belly pork.

enjoyed the dinner a lot.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++

cafe at bigbox

after lunch at joo seng teochew muay, my OPS friend drove us to bigbox for a cuppa.

nice ambience, i think it was the in & out cafe at level 2.

S$2.90 americano & S$3.30 regular

coffee actually so so.

the S$2.90 americano was an expresso shot with added water.

the server explained that the S$3.30 regular coffee (left most on photo above) had the same amount of coffee but prepared differently & tasted stronger??

anyway mediocre so-so coffee, considering you can get a cappuccino at mcCafe for S$2.90.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++

In & Out Cafe

lunch at joo seng teochew muay

my OPS friend parked his car at the public parking next to court, so it was quite convenient walking over from bukit timah hill, hindhede drive after our walk.

after 1.5hrs 3.75km walk up & down bukit timah hill, we were looking forward to having frogleg porridge at g7 sinma.

unfortunately g7 sinma forgleg porridge not open till 12pm.

it was 11am, so we walked over to joo seng for some teochew muay instead on 26.12.2016. ^^

braised duck S$13 – very good

the duck, a portion for 4pax, for S$13, was very good.

duck was soft, tender & the braise was very tasty, “pang” (fragrant).

just for the duck, this one at joo seng was better than the salty & not “pang” duck at ye shanghai we had 0n 7.4.2016.

chilli shark meat

the chilli shark meat was ok.

shark meat is a bit flat & tasteless, not as good as stingray. i guess the preparation & dish was ok, quite ordinary.

this minced pork failed

the minced pork was very poor.

shi le yan’s spicy black bean minced pork

no comparison at all with shi le yuan.

teochew fish cake ok

teochew fish cake was ok, i had better.

sichuan veg ok

sichuan veg ok, nothing to talk about.

heng chye with ikan bilis

heng chye with ikan bilis was good, tasty & sweet.

chap chye

chap chye was so so, sugar sweetness, had much better.

my OPS friend bought lunch. price was S$34 for 5pax. quite ok overall. minus the duck, S$21 for the other 6 dishes i would say on the expensive side.

certainly ye shanghai a lot cheaper & mostly better sans the duck.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++

Joo Seng Teochew Muay

S$3 wanton noodles + S$1 pork ribs 

after our relaxing, fun morning walk at macritchie, daughter just got back from church when we got home on 25.12.2016. ^^

we decided to go commonwealth food centre for wanton mee.

first discovered jan kang noodles 3 months back on 4.9.2016.

very much among the best wanton noodles i had. cheap & very good!

S$3 wanton noodles + S$1 pork ribs 

i always order S$3 wanton mee dry + S$1 pork ribs.

the noodles were super, stringy, al dente, and the chilli sauce very tasty. duaghter went to get more chilli sauce.

S$3 wanton noodles + S$1 pork ribs

the pork ribs were super as always, totally tender, well braised & very tasty.

and 3 pieces for S$1!

wanton 云吞  

the wanton 云吞  was very smooth, tasty.

this time the soup seemed not as good as the last.

dumplings 水饺 – S$3

wife ordered a dumplings 水饺汤. there were 5 large, plump, tasty dumplings for $3.

S$3 wanton noodles + S$1 pork ribs 

so in total we paid S$15=3 bowls of wanton mee S$3 + S$1 pork ribs; and S$3 for the dumplings 水饺汤. i think totally super value.

& it was very good too, among the very best. i think i only like kok kee better than this, but seems that the new kok kee at jln besar has again closed.

so i guess jian kang is my best wanton mee for now….

c.h.e.f andy

1/2 peking duck S$26 free second eat

had a really enjoyable dinner with my brother & sil at silk restaurant on 23.12.2016. ^^

fetched my brother at 7pm & then on the way sky opened up, very wet evening. fortunately school holidays no jam basically.

silk restaurant @ sicc thomson

restaurant ambience is nice outside & inside.

i don’t come here much. had a great dinner with sis & bil here on 26.6.2016.

service so-so. counter staff was on the phone & there were many servers inside but for a while no one to come to check our reservation & direct us to the seats.

1/2 peking duck S$26 free second eat

the peking duck was competent. pretty ok, nothing terrific. what was great was the S$26 price which included the second eat.

garoupa fillet with lily bulbs, cloud fungus & sweet peas – S$16

the garoupa fillet was excellent. all of us liked it. the small S$16 was quite enough for 4pax but can also order medium S$24 if required.

garoupa fillet with lily bulbs, cloud fungus & sweet peas – S$16

& of course it came with quite a good serving of veg – lily bulbs, cloud fungus & sweet peas, onions & carrots. great stuff!

claypot frogleg with sprong onions & ginger 姜葱田鸡 – S$16

the claypot frogleg with sprong onions & ginger 姜葱田鸡 was very good.

better than the wine preparation we had last time.

claypot frogleg with sprong onions & ginger 姜葱田鸡 – S$16

this would be my preferred preparation here.

gravy very tasty, frog very fresh, overall taste experience excellent!

garlic poached hk kailan – S$16

we added the garlic poached kailan at the end.

it was very good, so didn’t mind the S$16, well worth it….

very good wok hae, crunchy & sweet with excellent garlic flavours.

shredded duck crispy noodles 鸭丝生面 (foc)

we had shredded duck crispy noodles 鸭丝生面 for the foc second eat. competent good dish to round up the meal.

dinner was S$74 for 4pax 5 dishes after 15% member discount, also no service charge, very good for the quality of food & cooking.

after dinner brother & sil dropped by & we had some cheese, wine & coffee, and family chitchat.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

chinese wine braised chicken 黄焖鸡 + celery with salted fish

a good friend came for lunch today on 22.12.2016. ^^

everything was quite ad hoc.

he whatsapped at 10am whether he can join any lunch appointment today, so i said – just drop by, do you want fish, chicken or bkt?

i was doing a 6pax dinner this evening for wife’s friends. this friend quite busy, many a times we had RI friends lunches he couldn’t make it so since he could today, just do lor…

i took out 1/2 chicken from freezer at 10.10am. not enuf time to defrost fully then debone plus marinade & set aside, so i debone the partially defrosted 1/2 chicken & left the drumstick & wingstick not deboned.

costa rican coffee

friend brought me packet of costa rican coffee. this living with a suitcase guy just came back from there.

chinese wine braised chicken 黄焖鸡

i did thechinese wine braised chicken 黄焖鸡  same way as i did for teban gardens on 9.12.2016.

that was 2 chicken. this was 1/2. same principles apply-

• corn flour to make it smooth
• not overcooked to make chicken tender, &
• very tasty marinade to make chicken tasty.

result = very tasty chicken & great wine flavours

celery with salted fish

the celery with salted fish was pretty good, though not as good as what my sis made & what i made other times. still great!

2pax lunch was simple not much effort.

we had a great chat afterwards, sharing about parents, family & friends. should do more of this.

c.h.e.f andy

S$3.60 yong tau foo = 6 items 

passed by commonwealth drive blk 115B on 21.12.2016. ^

often passed by here going to commonwealth crescent food centre. thought i will stop by & look at the stalls.

the char kuay teow/hokkien noodles/oyster omelette stall seemed ok.

meixi’s kitchen yong tau foo 美茜酿豆腐 

anyhow i decided on ytf.

meixi’s kitchen yong tau foo 美茜酿豆腐 

5items + noodle = S$3.60 looked ok.

meixi’s kitchen yong tau foo 美茜酿豆腐 

& the items looked fresh, with good size fillings, not like say SGH kopitam which quite tiny, pathetic (so i toook fish balls etc instead of 酿items.

S$3.60 yong tau foo = 6 items 

& the chilli was excellent! very tasty, good kick…

the fried items here all tasted great…especially one with like 5 short ocras wrapped in tofu skin. best!

S$3.60 yong tau foo = 6 items 

overall i think i still like hillview ytf at mei chin road food centre better.

taking ytf a bit more these days. these 2 places i will go back.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Meixi’s Kitchen Yong Tau Foo 美茜酿豆腐

Address:

Blk115B Commonwealth Dr food centre

4pax lunch @ gayatri

my OPS friend bought 4pax lunch at gayatri today on 19.12.2016. ^^

gayatri @ race course road

gayatri @ race course road

restaurant is located at race course road.

today monday, school holidays, traffic was smooth along dunearn road. i saw an empty lot next to banana leaf, parked & walked further down & was at gayatri at 1pm.

pepper prawns

madras chicken

we took a look at the food display & ordered our food.

lime juice S$3

lime juice S$3 a bit expensive, quite good, so ok.

we ordered 4 dishes (include fish head curry)

pepper prawns S$18

for me, pepper prawns was the best dish for lunch.

large prawns, very fresh, plump & bouncy, good serving size & excellent sauce. all for S$18.

madras chicken – S$11

the madras chicken was not bad.

again sauce tasty & aromatic with the herbs.

madras chicken – S$11

cannot tell if masala chicken or butter chicken maybe better. anyway this was amply ok.

dhal S$7

we ordered 2 garlic naans (S$7.50). we only finished one.

i had wanted chicken with sauce instead of chicken tikka the server suggested so could go with the naan. anyway still felt not enough sauce & asked server for some butter chicken gravy or dhal.

he came with the big plate of dhal. not the best for naan but i thought it would be complimentary. he charged us S$7. might as well order a large dish of butter chicken or squid at S$11???

fish head curry promo S$17 on mon & wed

we ordered the S$17 fish head curry promo.

it was whole head, not 1/2, but a small head.

fish head curry promo S$17 on mon & wed

this was actually a very good indian fish head curry.

miles better than banana leaf apollo we had on 4.11.2016, but that was a bad example as it was really poor – the curry was very sour, and not sweet & tasty enough!

fish head was very fresh & fish meat tender. the curry i had to go back to getting use to, but after a while, i quite liked it. thought it was very good too…

overall though, i think i am out of indian fish head curry these days. seldom take it but now not so attracted as before c/w say-

1. hup choon’s good nonya fish head curry
2. forture’s the best thai style fish head curry,
3. or for that matter, my own excellent nonya fish head curry.

mutton dum briyani S$11

the mutton dum briyani at S$11 was a good value dish.

rice were separate, single grain, very nicely done.

mutton dum briyani S$11

there was a huge serving of mutton, like maybe 8 large pieces.

mutton was tasty & tender, but still a bit robust & some gamey taste, no comparison with my friend’s wife’s homecooked super tender, super tasty rogan josh.

mutton dum briyani S$11

i had better briyani at other places, notably chat masala. still it was a great dish & all of us liked it.

lunch bill

had a really good lunch & fun time together with my old pals from primary school thanks to my friend!

************************

an indian friend i showed to thought the bill was expensive, but then the individual prices were not ex really, except for S$3 lime juice, $7.50 naan (which were also not outrageous) & the S$7 dhal (which for me was outrageous)..

my friend who paid for lunch had a S$50 groupon, so i guess lunch was about S$80nett, which was pretty ok for the food.

kopi-c gosong @ old town white coffee S$2.30

after lunch we walked over to old town white coffee at city square mall.

my recollection based on a coffee i took like 10 yrs ago at the big splash was that it was undrinkable!

but there was no original cendol today as they said the ice machine broke down, so i took the kopi-c gosong.

it was very good actually!

strong & much more flavourful (& foamy) than the toastbox kind.

soya milk cendol S$2.90

soya milk cendol S$2.90

a friend had the soya milk cendol for his fix.

he thought it was ok.

bill – old town white coffee

a bit more ex than toastbox i guess, but i would prefer this.

i enjoyed the coffee time together!

the new world

we got up the escalator to the serangoon road junction, still some distance walk back to race course road.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Gayatri Restaurant

spanish omelette

wife had a 8pax hen’s party this evening on 16.12.2016.^^

pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken breast + thigh

pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken breast + thigh

oven grilled teriyaki salmon belly/trimmings

tiramisu

tiramisu

made a few dishes for her –

1. spanish omelette
2. pan roasted “sous vide” brined chicken breast + thigh
3. teriyaki salmon belly/trimmings
4. tiramisu

S$4 kueh chap

was going to skip dinner myself, but last minute decided to go out & forage at 9pm.

not many places open at 9pm on friday night. didn’t want to go adam road food centre. holland drive food centre was closed, already past 9pm. anyway already parked my car. most stalls at the coffeeshop where red ring wanton mee is located at blk 46 holland drive were closed.

went over to HL43 food house coffeeshop at 43 holland drive.

康乐kueh chap @ HL43 Food House coffeeshop

saw this stall, have not tried before.

was deciding whether to take the S$3.50 pig innards soup. the look of the kong bak, pig intestines, pork trotters 卤味 attracted me, so ordered the S$4 kueh chap.

S$4 kueh chap

not disappointed!

there was kong bak, pig skin, small intestines, large intestines, 1/2 egg, taupok, tau kua. all for S$4.

and the kueh was very good, or at least very competent like any good kueh chap stall.

S$4 kueh chap

imo, this was better than cheng heng at holland drive food centre which has very long queue.

**********

but i still think the happy duck bukit merah view FC is best!

S$4 kueh chap

so maybe this kueh chap is just competent. but for S$4, this was very good standard.

i think i will come back for the pig innards soup & also the ter kar.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

康乐kueh chap

the dishes while waiting for the fish soup

my good RI friend organised a 6pax lunch at ng soon kee fish soup on 15.12.2016. ^^

we arrived at geyland east centre food centre, 117 aljunied ave 2, about 11.40am.

ng soon kee only starts 12pm. so we ordered medium 4x$5 fish soup + S$10 braised duck, got a table at the nice airy outside next to ng soon kee, & few of us went round to look at other stalls.

aik kee haslet soup

S$1.50 ngoh hiang

the ter huang kiam chye = pig organ soup stall, aik kee, was listed as one of the fav 5 in this geylang east centre fc.

we considered roastmania, but decided to pass on that this time.

$5 ter huang kiam chye = pig innard soup

the pig innard soup was quite tasty, good standard.

the ingredients not too bad too, quite ok for S$5.

S$1.50 ngoh hiang

the nogh hiang used to be like such great thing in some reviews.

but really, it is nowhere near the standard of any ngoh hiang stalls, or even some S$1 beehoon mee stalls.

i guess it was passable but even our friend’s helper did a better, tastier ngoh hiang i had recently at his housewarming lunch.

S$4 hokkien mee

the S$4 hokkien mee was ok, above average.

stock was tasty, prawn was ok, belly pork strips & lar pok were all good.

quite good, not overly. eg a friend’s brother did better hokkien mee when we had gathering at her house in nov2015.

*******

actually talking about this, my own experimental hokkien mee also better than this la..

ng soon kee fish soup

this arrangement was quite perfect.

as ng soon kee does not start serving until 12pm.

so just nicely after we finished the ter huang kiam chye & hokkien mee, the fish soup & braised duck were ready.

S$5 fish soup

i had originally not intended to take the fish soup. i wanted to just try the duck though i know it was NOT the usual lor arh – brasied duck – that i prefer.

fish soup not my favourite, usually soup quite bland. i don’t mind the fish but it is nothing special to me.

S$5 fish soup

this fish soup though quite tasty.

there were quite a good serving of fish for $5, and the soup was tasty. i am happy that i took the fish soup.

S$10 braised duck

the braised duck was quite what i expected.

nice braising sauce. duck was tender.

S$10 braised duck

its was NOT the lor arh – braised duck – texture & feel that i prefer, just a cooked dish, like braised chicken pieces, very different experience from eating lor arh…

overall i would rate the fish soup best, the ter huang kiam chye next, hokkien noodles & braised duck about same for me.

bee chiam kueh

after lunch we adjourned to the inside rows for coffee.

a friend bought some bee chiam kueh to try.

the peanut sauce was quite good, but the dough was not soft, not fluffy, not fragrant..

after lunch, we drove in 2 cars to bukit batok to attend a very close friend’s mom’s wake.

c.h.e.f andy

++++++++++++++++++++++++

NG SOON KEE FISH SOUP

ADDRESS

#01-11 Aljunied Market and Food Centre, 117 Aljunied Ave 2,380117

OPENING HOURS

Mon – Sat: 12:00 – 21:00
Closed: Sun

ohmi wagyu mabushi set

went with wife to taka to polish my car today on 14.12.2016.

we decided to walk over to japan food town at wisma to have lunch while waiting for the car to be ready.

last time we had lunch at hokkaido izakaya on 27.7.2016.

it was ok, pretty good..

nabe seizan 2 michelin star lunch menu

this time wife wanted me to try nabe seizan. she had nice wagyu don here last time with daughter.

seizan is 2 michelin stars in tokyo, listed at 22 in japan top 50 restaurants.

ohmi mabushi set – S$38

server told us beef is ohmi, one of the 3 top japanese wagyus after matsuzaka & kobe.

mabushi is basically wagyu don, plus there is a dashi you can add to the rice & eat like a chazuke (tea poured onto rice), so described as dashichazuke.

prawn & spinach aapetizer + garnish

there were garnishes of chopped scallions & seaweed, & freshly grated wasabi to add to the don.

prawn & spinach aapetizer

& the set also included a prawn & spinach appetizer, which was ok, good not overly.

dashichazuke – wagyu mabushi set S$38

i must say we were slightly disappointed with the wagyu don.

we knew from the photos it was not steak quality, more like the gyudon kind of cut.

the beef i guess was pretty ok being ohmi, but it really has no “wow”.

just compare this with the S$88 omakase lunch at hachi i had recently on 3.11.2016, which is a 8-course lunch including 4 ohmi wagyu dishes, & each/every ohmi wagyu dish was just stunning!

here the overall taste of the wagyu don was mediocre, and overall experience/enjoyment actually poorer than the okinawa agu buta don.

it was better when i added the dashi. at least that made it a more tasty, delicious dish where before it was quite bland…

creme with pear & jelly

wagyu mabushi set came with pear & jelly on custard dessert. it was pretty ok dessert.

very good okinawa agu buta don – S$25

the okinawa agu buta don was very good!

very good okinawa agu buta don – S$25

the lady server replied that it was not kurobuta.

still the taste was excellent. great texture for the belly pork & overall very nice taste experience.

the buta don did not come with appetizer or dessert which were S$3 & S$5 respectively, which would add up to S$33. we ordered the $3 appetizer.

overall, this place was pretty good but would not be my preferred lunch choice.

& while i am generally very much partial towards ohmi wagyu, if i lunch here again, i would pick the S$25 buta don w/o appetizer & dessert over the S$38 wagyu don set because overall the taste experience enjoyment was better.

c.h.e.f andy

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Nabe Seizan @ Japanfoodtown, Wisma