garlic steamed razor clams – S$8.80ea after 40% discounts

had a really delicious meal at ah yat seafood @ grandstand with wife on 1.7.2016. ^^

ah yat seafood @ grandstand 

my brother hosted a 2-tables birthday dinner here recently on 13.6.2016.

wife & i craving for the claypot alaskan crab tanhoon since. 🙂

actually, ah yat turf city was 1 of our favourite makan stops many many moons ago when children were young. that time prices were a lot lower. they had 50% discounts weekdays & 40% weekends. bamboo clams were S$4.80 & frogs S$3.50, pating fish S$30/kg & crabs like S$20/kg. i guess that was eons ago…haha! prices increased a lot so we hardly come here except for some set meals during birthdays.

but prices have gone up everywhere. crabs are like S$78/kg at red house, S$68/kg at uncle leong jurong, S$55/kg at yi jia, so i guess ah yat prices actually ok….

claypot alaskan crab tanhoon – S$32

we had to order the claypot alaskan crab tanhoon!

it was so very good!!!!!

claypot alaskan crab tanhoon – $32

the tanhoon was just so, so tasty, flavourful, excellent stock, pepper, garlic, coriander.

claypot alaskan crab tanhoon – S$32

there were lots of crab legs. at S$32 i think it was a lot more worthwhile than lobster, crabs or prawns.

garlic steamed razor clams – S$8.80ea after 40% discounts

we had always like the steamed razor clams here, even at S$8.80 each now. we were greedy so ordered 3 razor clams for 2pax. ^^

garlic steamed razor clams – S$8.80ea after 40% discounts

many seafood restaurants here like jumno, long beach etc made good razor clams. still ah yat’s is one of the best!

garlic steamed razor clams – S$8.80ea after 40% discounts

even c/w say (below) which were 1/2 the size & fraction the taste –

• steamed razor clams at red house
• steamed razor clams at tunglok signature orchard parade

HK steamed tua tau – about S$11 after 40% discounts

usually we take chilli or sambal fried tua tau at zi char stalls or restaurants.

but recently i had very good hk steamed tau tau at yi jia seafood.

HK steamed tua tau – about S$11 after 40% discounts

so wife & i decided to have it steamed this time.

it was excellent, very well done same as yi jia. also had either a but of sand or tiny broken shells (more like sand) just like yi jia…

bill 

it was an excellent meal, really enjoyed it!

c.h.e.f andy

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teochew muay dishes 

went with sis & bil to 光明山 this morning on 1.7.2016.

supposed to go earlier, anyway today is good! 🙂

i prefer to go at this hour, 11am+ no crowd, no people basically, still the open lots were taken up. i had to park at the multi-storey. very smooyh, pay respects then off.

after 光明山 we went nearby to gimtim at amk ave 4. were there about 11.50am.

teochew muay dishes 

they have a simple buffet at S$13.80nett pax.

last time i came was with my RI friend on 9.5.2016.

teochew muay dishes 

it’s a small buffet. there’s no duck, mullet etc, kongbak (kuay chap kind stuff) also quite limited.

only simple small dishes.

teochew muay dishes 

& not many dishes.

the dishes they have were quite ok though.

teochew muay dishes 

my sis think that it was passable, not cheap not expensive.

she thought ye shanghai is much better. have to agree with her.

for our recent lunch at ye shanghai, we had 8 dishes including 1 mullet & 2 pek tor (rabbit fish) for 3pax was just S$24. this c/w S$41.40 here.

still, can’t just eat at ye shanghai everytime, ok to do this once in a while.

c.h.e.f andy

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GIMTIM

Four Seasons GCT Chendol

after lunch at sicc bukit 19th hole, we went in one car to toa payoh lor 8 to take the four seasons chendol on 30.6.2016.^^

this the stall frequented by mr goh chok tong & quite a few ministers.

Four Seasons Chendol

this four seasons chendol only sells chendol.

however a friend told me later that there is another four seasons stall at the other end that sells cheng teng.

Four Seasons GCT Chendol

the first time i had this four seasons chendol was on 30.4.2016.

& i have been quite keen to come here again.

2 days back, we went to JB. there were 11 of us. we had chendol at this teochew chendol place at city square. it was pretty good too, but i was quite sure this toa payoh lor 8 FC stall’s is better.

today just happened that my OPS friend suggested having this GCT chendol. it was quite convenient to get here from sicc bukit clubhouse, so after lunch we came by in one car.

& the chendol was better much better, coconut milk was thicker & the gula malaka was really intense & flavourful, & there were lots of kidney beans which i like….

i enjoyed this chendol thoroughly.

c.h.e.f andy

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Four Seasons Chendol @ Toa Payoh Lor 8 Food Centre (FC)

Address:

Contact:

–

ngoh hiang

i arranged a 3pax lunch with my OPS buddies today.

the club has a levy system so u need to spend $100 every quarter on F&B otherwise kena charged S$100.

i checked the other day & i was underspending by S$89 & june was running out.

so went with my sis & bil to silk at sicc island location on 26.6.2016.

we had a really nice dinner for S$57nett.

that left me with S$32 to spend by the end of today!

char kuay teow

1 friend ordered char kuay teow. it was good as usual, though i thought the portion has shrunk!

hokkien noodles

another friend ordered hokkien mee. i tried that too, and it was nice!

rojak

i was trying to limit my carbs intake. anyway had a rojak & ngoh hiang to share. they were both good as usual.

rojak is better than most.

ngoh hiang is ok but not really as fresh & appealing as what i had at kim san leng bishan.

c.h.e.f andy

chirashi don set – S$33.80

went to sun with moon at wheelock with god-sis on 27.6.2016. ^^

had been a while since i come here.

my last blog post on sun with moon was in june 2014!

chirashi don set – S$33.80

i ordered the chirashi don set.

it came with 14 pieces sashimi including chutoro, kajiki, hotate, hamachi, salmon, salmon belly, unagi, tamago etc. i think it is a really good chirashi.

the don (rice) itself was ok too.

pork nabe

the set came with a side dish.

i picked the pork nabe. next time i might try the grilled salmon belly.

& a free drink. i took coffee.

tempura set – S$22.80

mei mei ordered a tempura set.

quite good quality tempura with 3 ebi (prawns), fish & veg, and a selection of 3 dishes.

mei mei picked a pickle (bonito, spinach etc), adegashi tofu & a black sesame panna cotta.

i renewed my card, no charges. so i got 10% discounts & also points. after discounts, the lunch cost S$60. pretty good for the standard of food here.

c.h.e.f andy

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Sun with Moon (Wheelock)

Address:

501 Orchard Road, #03-15 Wheelock Place, Wheelock Place, 238880

peking duck – S$26

went with sis & bil to silk restaurant at sicc island location on 26.6.2016. ^^

this the first time i come to silk here at level 3 of the clubhouse. long long time ago, maybe >10yrs i had been to silk or whatever name the chinese restaurant was then, at the annex building.

silk @ SICC Island location

it’s quite a beautiful place, great ambience.

& surprisingly the service was pretty good. surprising becos just below at level 1 the lookout/the eagle the service sucks! the servers look past you there & you can wait 10-20mins for menu & service.

peking duck – S$26

we ordered 1/2 peking duck, S$26 & 2 eats.

i don’t take peking duck often – hardly is the word! this peking duck was pretty good la…totally competent. we all quite liked it.

shredded duck meat with sun meen crispy noodles

& the price is for 2 eats, which means you get an accompanying dish free, like noodles, fried rice or cabbage wraps with the shredded dick meat.

we took the san meen crispy noodles 生面.

shredded duck meat with sun meen crispy noodles

& the noodles were good.

these noodle hor fun dishes were like S$16 on the menu, so this was a good combo dish to order – peking duck + noodle dish free! ^^

shredded duck meat with sun meen crispy noodles

i quite enjoyed this noodles. 🙂

frog legs in chinese rice wine – S$16

we ordred 2 other dishes.

frog legs in chinese rice wine – S$16

the froglegs with chinese rice wine was very good, very tasty & fresh.

i was guessing it would be like 2 frogs. somehow the quantity felt like more.

garoupa fillet – S$16

we ordered a fried garoupa fillet with sweet beans, lily bulbs, cloud fungus etc.

garoupa fillet – S$16

it was a well done dish, very competent.

garoupa fillet – S$16

& good thick pieces of fillet meat.

bill S$57nett

the best thing was the price. the whole dinner, 4 dishes for 3pax came to just S$57nett! that’s after an ongoing 15% discounts for ala carte orders. & of course no service charge. 🙂

just compare this with our recent dinner at whampoa keng fish head steamboat – S$68 for just 2 dishes. how ridiculous was that??? sigh!

we are planning to go back there this sunday for 6pax family lunch.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Silk

Address:

180 Island Club Road, SICC Island location level 3

Singapore 578774

Contact:

6431 8426

Operating Hours:

red garoupa fish head steamboat – S$50 

went with my sis & bil to whampoa keng for fish head steamboat on 22.6.2016.

it’s really expensive here.

the red garoupa steamboat for 1-2pax is S$40 & for 2-3pax is S$50!

we took the S$50.

luckily the steamboat was good. the red garoupa were thick cut fish fillet. i think we each have about 4 maybe 5 big pieces. the soup was very good – tasty, intense…even the refill soup was good.

and of course there were veg, seaweed, yam, ti poh etc.

whampoa keng 

the other room was closed, so now the space quite small & restuarant was crowded.

we were quite early around 6pm & we got seated immediately as we agreed to share table.

stirfried hk kailan – S$9 

the stir-fried kailan 清炒芥兰was very good.

dinner was S$68 for just 2 dishes for 3pax. for me that was far too ex.

i guess i rather pay S$50 for a really good fish head steamboat than S$25 or S$30 for mediocre or worse, still it was not quite matching my price expectations.

at this price point i would come very rarely if at all.

c.h.e.f andy

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

ye shanghai teochew muay 

had a great lunch with my sis & bil at ye shanghai on 24.6.2016. ^^

i was just back from my teban gardens friday community breakfast.

sis wanted to go lunch so we decided to go earlier. car park adjacent with ye shanghai is always full, but turnover was quick, i managed to park w/o waiting at about 11.30am.

chilled mullet 冻乌鱼 – S$8

sis ordered 8 dishes.

the chilled mullet 冻乌鱼 – S$8 was good if no better than my own chilled mullet 冻乌鱼.

pek tor – rabbit fish 

the pek tor – rabbit fish were just S$1 each, really worth eating.

big intestines 

we had the big intestines.

it was very good, no smell at all, looked really unhealthy better not order next time la…

5 vegetables 

my sis ordered 5 vegetables.

must say all were nice. i especially like the eggplant (which i do very well myself). all the others were very nice too – ocra, bittergourd, brocoli cauliflower etc…

we had 8 dishes for S$24. very good lunch! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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

Ye Shanghai Teochew Porridge (夜上海潮洲粥)

Address

#01-217, Boyang Coffee Shop, Blk 117 Bukit Merah View, 151116

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 – S$5

went to sheng shiong commonwealth to get something for a 12pax dinner the next day.

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 had only a short queue so i queued up about 15mins for a S$5 bowl of laksa & bought one back for my helper on 22.6.2016.

i ate here many times, the last i posted was on 25.8.2015…

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 – S$5

they have many different options/combinations of chicken, prawn, cockles, fried taupok, & different size $3, $5, $8.

my choice is always No.6 (chicken, cockles, taupok) & S$5, and thick bee hoon mee.

it was really an enjoyable, satisfying bowl of noodles, sweet chicken strips, very good soup gravy & taupok softened & soaked with gravy, cockles.

c.h.e.f andy

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Weiyi Laksa 唯一辣沙 @ Tanglin Halt Food Centre

crab beehoon – S$59

had a great 7pax lunch at yi jia seafood at macpherson road on 21.6.2016. ^^

we had 7pax, doing a birth month lunch ie belated birthday lunch for a good friend. 🙂

first time i come to yi jia.

i had been to (1) swa garden (2) ming kee both restaurants next door & they were pretty good.

crab beehoon – S$59

yi jia has a promotion. 2 crabs for S$50. we decided to have crab bee hoon. they charged another S$9 for bee hoon so total S$59.

i asked the price of crabs. they said S$55/kg, pretty good also.

anyway the 2 crabs turned out to be pretty big, maybe 700g each, so promotion price ok la…

beehoon was well infused with flavors very “yup mei” 入味!^^

subsequent to this i made a very nice crab beehoon for a 12pax OPS primary school gathering, i think equally tasty & flavorful (my very first attempt on crab beehoon)! ^^

assam fish head – S$24?

assam fish head was fresh & assam taste always attractive, the slight sweet tangy taste.

assam fish head – S$24?

fish head was small though.

& for me the thai style fish head at forture always better.

pig trotters – S$28

the pig trotter was a huge helping.

gelatinous parts were very nice, tasty, and i ate too much this unhealthy stuff.

some parts of the skin was a little dried up.

pig trotters – S$28

meat was a bit overcooked, so just a bit sinewy not so good bite.

one friend quite liked the meat but thought the sauce was gluey. i was ok neutral on the sauce.

anyway it was much better standard than the one i had at curry wok.

fried tua tau

the tua tau was nice. everyone liked it.

a bit sandy, so not washed & drained properly.

fried tua tau

it was a nice dish. nothing much in the preparation, just minced garlic oil & steamed, but most importantly tasted good la! 🙂

fried hk kai lan

stir-fried hong kong kai lan very good, nice wok hae.

lunch was S$181 for 7pax, so price quite ok too…

c.h.e.f andy

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

Yi Jia South Village Seafood Restaurant

Address:
550 Macpherson Road Singapore 368229

Contact:
67478263

Opening hours:
Daily: 11:00AM to 2:30PM
4:30PM to 11:00PM

zi char dishes at hup choon binjai park

was here at hup choon just few weeks back on 2.6.2016 with some wife’s friends after a pleasant forest walk.

food was pretty good.

so this time after our 12pax durian party, 9 of us decided to come here for dinner.

zi char dishes at hup choon binjai park

we ordered 8 dishes for 9pax.

dinner came to S$132.5, like S$15pax nett, inexpensive & pretty decent food.

fish head curry S$25

fish head curry one size at S$25.

other dishes we ordered medium, mostly like S$13 to $16 price rabge.

fish head curry S$25

fish head was the best dish.

nice curry, fresh fish, not better than but certainly as good as any.

for me, i still like forture’s thai style fish head curry best! that one is memorable. this one is very competent!

kou rou 扣肉 S$15

the kou rou 梅菜扣肉 S$15  was pretty good, competent i guess.

kou rou 扣肉 S$15

belly pork texture was ok (still not tender enough), taste quite good.

but honestly, my own 梅菜扣肉 is better by miles!

har jeon gai – prawn paste chicken

har jeon gai – prawn paste chicken here is one of the better ones. as i said last time, better than most fried chicken wings.

lala

lala dish?

not sure if i should say this was passable?

for me the la la was ok but the sauce was poor, but actually one friend specifically said the sauce was nice like chilli crab. so i guess it is down to individual taste.

lala

for my own taste preference, this NOT a dish i would order la…sauce sweet gluey odd actually!

again my own la la is miles better la!

orh jian – oyster egg

orh jian – oyster egg was a dish i thought was quite good here, quite “pang”!

orh jian – oyster egg

oyster good too…

salted fish tau gay

& the salted fish tau gay also very good!

salted fish tau gay

one of the dishes i would order here again..

cuttlefish kang kong

cuttlefish kang kong was quite bad…

cuttlefish kang kong

quite strange really..

i commented the last time that it was good here precisely becos it did not tatse like that.

this sauce was exactly NOT the sauce to have la!

looked at the previous photo…it could be simply a case of adding too much the reddish sweet sauce overpowering the the milder chilli & sweet sauce taste!

seafood tofu

seafood tofu

the seafood tofu had good, fresh ingredients.

so did not stand out but then as the price is quite inexpensive so a rather good dish to order.

wiped clean

anyway we wiped clean the food la…

i think a pretty ok dinner place.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Hup Choon Eating House

12pax durian party

friends gathered at my place for a 9pax claypot rice + crabby lunch recently on 7.6.2016. ^^

after lunch, we decided to organise a durian party on 20.6.2016.

a friend went to check on ah seng but ghim moh market was closed for cleaning on 20 & 21.6.2016.

to hedge, we decided to book 6kg 猫山王MSW & collect on 19.6.2016. i collected 6.4kg.

the friend went to sin kian choon in tiong bahru on 20.6.2016 morning & queued to get the durians. she bought 6.8kg 猫山王MSW & 3.5kg 竹脚. so we had 16.7kg in all for 12pax.

12pax durian party

singaporeans lagi rich!

猫山王MSW is sooooo expensive! & ah seng is booked out everyday for both 1.30pm & 5.30pm deliveries.

when i was collecting at seng i asked for 1 more MSW  than what i ordered but they didn’t have any to spare la..& collection is a queue, since after opening & weighing durians, another guy need to vacuum pack the durians.

猫山王MSW & 竹脚

ah seng 猫山王MSW

ah seng is so successful they invested in the vacuum machine for several years now. it is good as basically no smell in the car or fridge (even left overnight in our case). & the overnight durians were just as good.

ah seng 猫山王MSW

i tried buying from the clementi mall shop.

last year my experience was good, but this year it was hit & go, mostly ok but not great. if you are paying S$15/kg & almost S$30 for 1 durian, mostly ok not quite good enough leh…

so far experience with ah seng consistently good, some durians are better than others, some times are better than others but the bottomline is, always good.

sin kian choon tiong bahru 猫山王MSW

quite a few of my friends buy at sin kian seng in tiong bahru.

one of my OPS friends there like everyday!

sin kian choon tiong bahru 竹脚

today the 竹脚 my friend got at S$12/kg was very good, very nice bitter taste, and actually it was very creamy too, but then when you take MSW, MSW still creamier. 🙂

mangosteen

another friend brought a box of mangosteen. good mangosteens from thailand. 🙂

coconuts

the host prepared some coconuts, sweet young coconuts though 1 friend had one that was a bit old. 🙂

how to describe MSW. basically very shiok la! no wonder people willing to fork out so much.

after durian party 9 of us decided to go hup choon at binjai park nearby for dinner.

c.h.e.f andy

just another homecooked makan 

it’s father’s day on 19.6.2016.

wife & youngest daughter away. eldest daughter bought me a really nice T. she asked if i wanted to go dinner. it’s our practice not to go on the actual day, almost guaranteed poor food poor service pay a lot la!

i told her might as well go when the others are back. so daughter had her own program.

sis & bil were away in chiang mai, chiang rai for 4 days break. got message that they were back last evening. anyway all 3 of us got nothing on, so might as well they come my place for dinner.

i bought song fish head松鱼头 & mullet乌鱼  from sheng shiong day before, so just grabbed what i had in the fridge la.

just another homecooked makan 

we had 4 dishes, 2 fishes + the 2 veg.

hk steamed song fish head港蒸松鱼头 

i did the standard hk steamed song fish head港蒸松鱼头 – ginger, chilli padi, spring onions; & light soy sauce, olive oil mirin. then 13 mins in steam oven, voila!

very nice, we just love this fish head. of course the spicy black bean sauce is better. i will have to experiment that in due course, currently only sure of hk steam港蒸 la…

teochew chilled mullet冻乌鱼 

teochew chilled mullet冻乌鱼 like easy to prepare. no effort really. steamed 11mins, cooled down, put in fridge for 1 hr.

mullet was wonderful especially with tau jeon…

stir-fried kang kong

stir-fried romaine lettuce 

stir-fried veg the usual also.

very fresh tasty veg, got wok hae, may not be good like a good zi char but competent enough la.

a good fun if quiet way to pass father’s day also… 🙂

c.h.e.f andy