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

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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

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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

1/4 roast duck S$16

my OPS buddy bought 3pax dinner at 劉強烤鴨店-House of Roasted Duck at Bugis+ on 16.6.2016.

plain porridge & 1/4 roast duck

roast duck is their specialty.

as we ordered a few dishes, decided to go light on carbs. in any case my this friend didn’t take any at all, even lower carbs than me, lol! 🙂

had just 1 plain porridge to share between 2. it was really good, very smooth, consistent, tasty, absolutely hong kong standard. just the right 火候&功夫!

kong kong chef lau wai keung was previously with excelcior hong kong, no wonder right?

1/4 roast duck S$16

roast duck was good. my friend ordered the drumstick quarter S$16 on the menu.

it seemed very large serving, maybe special for my friend who is a regular customer.

skin was very crispy, flavour was ok but not the very “pang” ones i had at－

• JB ya wang 鸭皇,
• tunglok signatures,
• xin cuisine or
• canton paradise.

the meat looked very slightly old老 in the photo & was not as smooth, tender, moist as the other places. price for 1/2duck was S$28, more ex than canton paradise, cheaper than xin cuisine & tunglok signatures.

so for me, the duck was ok but did not quite impress.

deep-fried big intestines S$10

the deep-fried intestines were very good, totally hong kong standard, very crispy 脆 & tasty.

deep-fried big intestines S$10

i think may not get this standard also in many places in hong kong, street or restaurants.

it is NOT my favourite food though. i much prefer the braised big intestines at the kuay chap stalls.

the best siew yoke 烧肉

the siew yoke 烧肉  was the best. skin was very crispy 脆 & fine, very thin, not chewy at all.

the best siew yoke 烧肉

texture & flavours of the meat & fatty parts were superb. one of the best i had. may not really be better than (say) imperial treasure, but this would up to any la…

this my best dish for the evening.

some 韭菜饺

the 韭菜饺 was so-so, a part of the skin broke also…

siew mai 烧卖

siew mai 烧卖 was pedestrian also…

i think red house (prinsep) dimsum a lot better than here. currently with 40% discounts, cheaper too.

杨枝甘露

the 杨枝甘露 was very good. 杨枝甘露  is very common in restaurants & most very average. this one was really good, just the right tangy sweetness, lots of pomelo & nice mango taste & smooth consistent texture.

dinner was S$64 for 3pax. pretty good.

i like especially the roast pork & porridge, will come back here with my sis for the “hong kong” experience. maybe also with the friends on our jan2016 hong kong trip also. ^^

c.h.e.f andy

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passion fruit meringue tart & earl grey lavendar loaf

today a good friend’s birthday on 15.6.2016. ^^

we were wishing happy birthdays on whatsapp. then another friend offered his chauffeur driven service on his new car. & they decided to drop by my place. not exactly sure how that worked out. 🙂

mao shan wang 猫山王 & tawa from ah seng

anyway i happened to be at ah seng to check on the reservations for a 20jun durian party. it was kind of complicated. ghim moh market closed for cleaning on 20, 21jun so a friend reserved the durians on 19jun. some of us wanted to hedge a bit rather than getting all the durians one day earlier & kept in the fridge so decided to 1/2 the orders. evidently too complicated for ah seng also so just as well i went to check & got the numbers right.

anyway ah seng has 2 deliveries at 1.30pm & 5.30pm. i was there at 1.45pm & all mao shan wang 猫山王were sold out only left 1 already vaccum packed. i figured it was the ok leftovers saved from not so good durians??

anyway ah seng himself got me to buy 2 tawas (S$19 for 2 fruits) & WTH i just buy the last packet S$25 also. 🙂

so these 2 friends came to my house & we had some durians. fortunately both the mao shan wang 猫山王 & tawa (bitter & very tasty not as creamy as MSW) were very good. these 2 too kek ki insisted on leaving for my family so we didn’t eat much though.

passion fruit meringue tart

we went nearby for coffee. decided on carpenters & cook as assembly coffee closed & one friend had tried dutch colony before.

i ordered the tea for 2 S$19.50 which included 2 cakes.

the server recommended the passion fruit meringue tart.

earl grey lavendar loaf

& the earl grey lavendar loaf. & we had 2 flat white. she said it was S$3 cheaper to get the combo, & it was!

& added a cappuccino.

the last time i came was a year ago on 10.4.2015. i thought the coffee was ok.

but today my flat white was very poor. very dilute not much aroma & not smooth, silky, velvety like a good flat white should be in the other coffee places. i am never taking coffee here again!

later 3 more friends came to join coffee.

the friends were divided on the cakes. some prefer the tart & some the earl grey loaf. the earl grey flavour was good. i too generally prefer a tart to a pound cake. the passion fruit meringue tart was a bit too sweet.

lemon meringue cake & chocolate tart

i bought some cakes back for my daughters. the chocolate tart was very good. the lemon meringue was again too sweet. of the 4 i think the chocolate tart was the best.

for me coffee was priority so not good coffee then not coming again la.

c.h.e.f andy

alaskan crab tanhoon

brother & sis celebrated their birthday at ah yat seafood restaurant at the grandstand on 13.6.2016.

i did their birthday dinners for last many years. this year my brother organised 2 tables & invited us.

he often host dinners here so they offered him a good menu at S$400 per table.

longevity buns 寿桃

we had the complimentary  longevity buns 寿桃.

roast duck

roast duck was flavourful, tender.

roast duck

quit good standard like canton paradise. tunglok etc.

la la

la la was ok.

la la

didn’t stand out.

steamed soon hock

the steamed soon hock was good.

steamed soon hock

very fresh, tender and disappear fast too.

scallops with asparagus

they gave lots of scallops.

this dish was quite good. frying was good, nice wok hae.

hot plate deer meat

deer meat was poor!

hot plate deer meat

i think at zi char deer meat mostly poor, kind of artificially tender with bicarbonate.

this one even poorer with quite strong gamey smell.

hk kailans

hk kailans was good, very competent.

alaskan crab tanhoon

the alaskan tanhoon dish was very good. very flavourful, pepper, coriander etc.

alaskan crab tanhoon

the alaskan crab meat was super, very sweet, & easy to remove shell too.

i am going to try out a prawn tanhoon dish for the first time tomorrow. read some recipes yesterday. 🙂

pepper crab

pepper crab was also top standard, very flavourful peppery taste.

pepper crab

don”t eat pepper crab much but this was a very good specimen.

not been to ah yat for quite long…had a great, very enjoyable dinner & chat with family!

c.h.e.f andy

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loo’s curry rice 

my busy jet-setting RI friend postponed his indonesian trip so free to buy lunch at loo’s curry today on 13.6.2016. ^^

i was here most recently on 27.5.2016. 🙂

loo’s curry eng hoon street 

loo’s curry at the other corner.

we were there at 11.30am to avoid crowd & parking. the tables were still close to being fully occupied.

hainanese pork chop

friend ordered the usual hainanese pork chop.

curry sotong 

& curry sotong. both nice!

onion eggs 

also onion eggs.

long beans with tofu 

tofu & long beans.

cabbage 

& cabbage.

we liked the hainanese pork chop & curry sotong especially. & the 3 veg items were all competent, quite ok.

lunch was S$21 for 3pax 5 items, quite ok. not so long queue maybe 10mins at this hour. nice makan & chat.

c.h.e.f andy

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Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice

7pax dinner dishes

daughter finished an exhausting term & asked me to do a dinner for her friends after their exams on 10.6.2016. ^^

i did 5 dishes & my helper did the excellent quinoa pumpkin tofu salad, a popular dish among my friends that my wife first made after having it at marmalade.

7pax dinner dishes

we were going to let them have dinner themselves.

daughter asked us to join dinner so we had 7pax dinner. 🙂

wife’s quinoa pumpkin tofu salad  

salad was as wonderful as it looked, very refreshing. 🙂

cherry tomatoes & mesclun

i bought some perino cherry tomatoes so my helper made another salad with mesclun. 🙂

spanish omelette 

i did the usual spanish omelette, not my best, but it was quite ok la…

prawn spaghetti in pink sauce

i did the 2 pastas an hour earlier as we were planning to go out & let my daughter & friends have dinner by themselves.

spaghetti was al dente & very tasty when i prepared it. i put it in aluminium foil to keep warm but it got a bit soggy. taste was ok but texture was out so overall experience not great.

squidink pasta 

squidink was much better, still al dente & tasted great. there was a bit leftover & wife told me it was still good the next day.

pan-grilled chicken thighs

the pan-grilled chicken thighs were excellent. very tasty. i had the usual thai yellow curry dip.

additionally, i experimented on a patatas bravas sauce as a dip for the chicken, a spicy tomato based sauce. every one loved it.

it’s an excellent sauce, i will record the recipe later. daughter’s friends used the leftover sauce to add to the tomato pasta.

pan-charred grain fed black angus ribeye 

i had my usual reverse searing pan charred ribeye steak, and i did a mock kurobuta using pork collar too.

this evening though these 2 meats were ok but not the usual excellent steak i made.

c.h.e.f andy