sliced fish noodles soup – S$6

i didn’t have a good experience with new food town seafood zi char dishes the last time.

my youngest daughter didn’t want the master tang wanton noodles after looking at it, and nothing much else to order here, so decided to have the fish soup at new food town fish soup on 23.10.2016.

interestingly, this fish soup turned out to be very good!

broth was tasty, sliced fish was good, & daughter picked a slight brown stringy noodles, not the usual mee kia, and that was very good.

new food town fish soup

this stall i will come back & try myself.

c.h.e.f andy

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NEW FOOD TOWN FISH SOUP 新食城鱼汤

wanton noodles dry – S$3.50

daughter wanted to try master tang wanton noodles, so 5 of us went to kopitown at 6th avenue on 23.10.2016.

so much good reviews by so many writers.

so much good things written about mr tang. at 84, among the oldest master hawkers in singapore, 20 years as chief kitchen trainer at crystal jade, makes his own noodles, hong long style noodles etc….

too bad i really dislike this noodles.

i think it’s the worse wanton noodles i have taken!

the much written about S$3.50 wanton noodles dry has no char siew. i did not take the wanton, but the noodles were really “dry” & tasteless, hardly any sauce & only tasted of oyster sauce, which as a standalone taste something i do not like…

it looks nothing like the S$3.50 wanton noodles dry photos in so many other reviews.

master tang wanton noodles

must be a bad day la! boss not around..

wanton noodles soup

i don’t think anything of the noodles soup either!

dumpling soup 水饺汤

the dumpling soup 水饺汤 for me mediocre at best la…

for me the jian kang wanton noodles, pork ribs, dumpling soup 水饺汤 (in every department) were so many times more superior.

normally i would not go back to such a stall…but there being so many good reviews…maybe i will give it any try some day..not so thrilled about going back too soon though…

c.h.e.f andy

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#1 lobster ball with chef’s special sauce

had dinner with wife at tunglok signatures orchard parade on 22.10.2016. ^^

been here several times lately, & enjoying it everytime. 🙂

6-course dinner set

we just had an excellent 6-course dinner here 3 weeks back on 2.10.2016, so was quite disappointed to see a change of menu!

as it turned out, the new menu was very good too.

#1 lobster ball with chef’s special sauce

first course was a deep-fried lobster ball.

very good! not as good as the lobster steak in the last menu, but still very nice. chef’s special sauce quite special, a bit japanese.

#2 flambe tan jia sharksfin soup

flambe sharksfin was good as always.

#2 flambe tan jia sharksfin soup

good serving of sharksfin & very good stock.

#3 star garoupa fillet

the steamed star garoupa with preserved veg was excellent!

star garoupa fillet

very very good.

i think i will try this style (with preserve veg) with red garoupa at home.

#4 belly pork

wife generally doesn’t prefer lamb rack.

so we asked for a change, and they served her a belly pork dish.

#4 belly pork

it was very good.

very tender & crackling skin.

not really that much different from my own gordon ramsay slow braised crackling belly pork.

#4 pan-grilled lamb rack

but the lamb rack was better!

wife liked it actually after she tried, though she wouldn’t take 1 serving by herself so the change was still a good one, so we could try both dishes.

#4 pan-grilled lamb rack

it really is the best chinese styled fine dining lamb rack i have taken.

not the usual sickly sticky chinese sauce. quite western actually or fusion…

this also i can think of doing at home.

#5 sliced abalone noodles

the very thick slice abalone quite impressive. 🙂

sliced abalone noodles

noodles were prefect!

& mushrooms, spinach all very good! 🙂

#5 sliced abalone noodles

the lobster steak noodles was still better than this though.

#6 aloe vera with lime sorbet in young coconut

we didn’t want the pulut hitam dessert, so changed both to aloe vera with lime sorbet.

#6 aloe vera with lime sorbet in young coconut

this really refreshing & enjoyable.

not better than the usual 雪中情怀we used to have but a very good dessert on its own right la! 🙂

overall dinner was S$126 (or S$63pax nett) after amex love dining 50% discounts. very good value top quality dinner set!

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)

chai buay, tau kee & pig trotters

my OPS primary school classmate bought 3 pax lunch at joo siah bak koot teh today on 19.10.2016. ^^

joo siah bak koot teh 裕城肉骨茶

joo siah quite well known, but i have not tried before.

we were there at 1.50pm.

no queue at this time but the long排骨sold out, so friend ordered 肉骨.

kai xiang food centre

joo siah is located at a coffeeshop kai xiang food centre. 🙂

bakuteh

the bkt was better than i expected.

actually i was not expecting much, as i can make very good bkt myself easily with cheap ingredients.

bakuteh

joo siah’s soup was good, better than mine i think.

my frozen prime ribs better than this 肉骨 though, as it is prime ribs. prime ribs are more fatty & have better bite, whereas the pork ribs have large part of lean meat not so flavourful & poorer texture.

liver, kidney, small intestines

liver, kidney, small intestines was pretty ok.

on balance, i like seng kee (amk ave 10)’s pig’s tail soup better.

pig trotters

pig trotters quite flavourful. the gelatinous part was good. there was a lot of lean meat though & texture average though taste was good.

by comparison, seng kee (amk ave 10)’s pig trotters would be the kind of standard i prefer.

tau kee

tau kee was good.

chai buay

& chai buay ok too. i would prefer the teochew type chai buay but i guess they were quite different dishes.

lunch for 3pax was S$42.

don’t know if it was expensive. guess it is like the going price in a good bkt place, that’s why i feel quite happy having my own bkt at home.

lunch was fun. we chatted for quite long after makan. then the friends adjourned, came to my place for some kaya toast & more coffee chat.

c.h.e.f andy

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Joo Siah Bak Koot Teh 裕城肉骨茶 

Address:

lobster steak noodles 龙虾扒面 S$28

had an excellent dinner chat with my brother this evening at tunglok signatures orchard parade on 18.10.2016. ^^

a place wife & i like & i enjoy many makans here with family & friends.

i was going to order the excellent london duck but now they priced the duck at S$26 (no discounts) c/w S$30 & 50% amex love dining discounts for 2pax i had just recently on 7.9.2016.

no point for me to order that as it would equal a S$52 order for other menu items entitled to discounts.

pumpkin soup － one of many excellent lie tong 例汤 (S$16)

we had the lie tong 例汤. tunglok is excellent for lie tong 例汤. i think better than many sharksfin soup.

& this is one of many very nice lie tong 例汤. my helper can make many of these soups very well. this one though was really super here.

pumpkin soup ingredients － soft bones + pumpkin (S$16)

simple ingredients pork soft bones & pumpkin.

pumpkin soup ingredients － soft bones + pumpkin (S$16)

we finished all of them la….^^

roast pork 烧肉 – S$12

one look & you know this roast pork was excellent.

roast pork 烧肉 – S$12

skin could not be more crispy & yet so fine. & the meat texture & taste simply perfect!

prawns in 2 ways – wasabi & salted egg (S$10)

i ordered 1 portion.

prawns were fresh & well fried. this one the batter not the best.

sauces were just nice not overpowering. tomato was excellent.

rack of lamb S$15

this is one place that serves the very best chinese rack of lamb in fine dining presentation.

rack of lamb S$15

usually chinese styled lamb rack is too sickly stickly sweet. this one just perfect.

lobster steak noodles 龙虾扒面 S$28

& the lobster steak was just par excellence. very fresh, bouncy, sweet, tender.

scallop noodles S$10.80

the scallop noodles was fine too.

but of course paled in comparison la…

complimentary beetroot cocktail juice

the server told us this was beetroot, with apple, lime etc.

most mistook it as watermelon. me too la! 🙂

scallop noodles S$10.80

dessert here very good, but brother too full to add a vegetable dish or dessert.

2pax dinner came to S$59 after 50% amex love dining discounts. now they don’t offer parking so it’s S$4 per entry parking for dinner. manageable. 🙂

we stayed & had long chat after dinner. never fail to enjoy great makans & outing here.

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)

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

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

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

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

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