bittergourd pork ribs very good very tender 

had a very nice world cup knock out stage results 11pax lunch @ hk street old chun kee at Commonwealth crescent on 10.8.2018. ^^

we ordered 9 dishes including assam fish head & song fish head 松鱼头 for S$157 for 11pax 👍👍👍

only the mixed vegetables & oyster egg mediocre or below par..the rest dishes all good👍👍

(just a note=the barley water here undrinkable, totally diluted no barley taste at all & sweet!)

after lunch OBT bought cheng tng at the market food centre & LKY & DSingh joined us

bittergourd pork ribs very good very tender

bittergourd pork ribs very good very tender CL liked the black bean sauce taste. 🙂

minced pork eggplant good 👍

minced pork eggplant good 👍

minced pork eggplant good 👍

mixed vegetables average not worth the price

mixed vegetables average not worth the price

mixed vegetables average not worth the price…

oyster egg below par..

oyster egg below par..

oyster egg was much below par..i think they use frozen oysters…

cannot c/w a good orh lua at hawker centre where they add very large, plump, very fresh oysters.

salted egg 排骨王not as good as last time

salted egg 排骨王not as good as last time

salted egg 排骨王ok, just not as good as last time. i think everyone still liked it. 🙂

sambal sotong..sotong done well not overcooked.

sambal sotong..sotong done well not overcooked

sambal sotong..sotong done well not overcooked..sambal taste standard. 🙂

song fish head always good

song fish head always good 

the song fish head 松鱼头always good here.

assam ang kueh fish head

assam ang kueh fish head 

since we had 11pax, i ordered a larger dish, assam ang kueh fish head.

assam ang kueh fish head..many YKK J etc like the assam gravy..a change from the usual curry… 🙂

best har jeong gai 虾酱鸡 

YKK added  a large order har jeong gai 虾酱鸡14 pieces – like the best i had..lightly flavoured, chicken wings felt fresh but not likely? batter was excellent!

complimentary strawberry ice cream nice touch

hk street gaev complimentary strawberry ice cream nice touch.

best har jeong gai 虾酱鸡

the best dishes for me were bittergourd pork ribs, har jeong gai 虾酱鸡, and  song fish head 松鱼头.

overall everything was good, a very nice & enjoyable lunch for 11pax of us just for S$157! 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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

Kopi Kia  (hong kong street old chun kee 香港街老珍记）
Blk 117 Commonwealth Drive #01-733 Singapore 140117
Tel: 83606663
Email: enquiries@kopikia.com.sg
Operating Hours:
12.00PM – 10.30PM (Monday to Sunday)

8pax RI bros lunch @ noodle place

my RI bro organised a 8pax RI bros lunch @ noodle place at orchard gateway on 7.8.2018. ^^ the restaurant is owned by his cousin chef xu..

i had been noodle place only one time in 2013 also by invitation of KY.

at the time i wrote-

” i was lamenting that we were missing hk standard 牛腩面. the shanghainese/ taiwanese version 牛腩面 at crystal jade lamian xialongbao & sicc were well & good, but not my preferred hk version. the ones here though were excellent. they did not quite serve the beef belly type cut, but the brisket was indeed very good & it is true that most Singaporeans would prefer this leaner cut. 🙂”

that was still true today..in fact i was more impressed today with the beef brisket noodles 牛腩面, maybe because i forgot already how it tasted here & i still hold singapore  beef brisket noodles to be substandard vs hk beef brisket noodles.

1/2 roast duck

the 1/2 roast duck was exceptionally good, so flavourful.

it was a large serving for 1/2 duck. i not sure if this was the regular serving or the chef gave us a larger portion because of his cousin?

this one of the best i had in singapore, comparable to –

1. tunglok’s roast london duck &
2. xin cuisine’s tea flavoured roast duck,

very authentic hong kong taste like eating in HK.

char siew & siew yoke

the char siew & siew yoke also very good standard, just that many restaurants do it just as well.

HK kuen kee ngau lam meen 牛腩面

i asked chef xu why hawkers & restaurant here do not serve the belly cut with 胶 layer which they served in hong kong 崩沙腩 (=according to wiki a skirt steak)?

(see the incredible HK kuen kee ngau lam meen 牛腩面 in above photo)

his reply was that those were frozen. i still think more likely that singaporeans would prefer the leaner beef brisket.

noodle place 坑腩 beef brisket noodles 牛腩面

he said he served 坑腩（=according to wiki a boneless short rib).   he said it was not stated on the menu but he would serve us that.

of course a short rib cut would be more expensive & better than a skirt. but for the beef brisket noodles 牛腩面 i guess for me, 坑腩would be the second best. 🙂

& this was really good. either it was better this time or i forgot how good it was in 2013. lol! 🙂 very 爽口 ie tender not sinewy excellent bite & mouth feel. fantastic!

i will come back a lot more i guess….

mixed congee 及第粥

fish, cuttlefish congee 艇仔粥

both the mixed congee 及第粥 & fish, cuttlefish congee 艇仔粥 were very good, but i guess no better than say crystal jade kitchen…

porridge not my favourite even in hong kong & shenzhen..i guess this would come close or same standard as in hong kong. 🙂

chai sim

all my friends thought the chai sim was better than the kailan, more crunchy, juicy less dry & “siap” = astringent…

complimentary dumpling soup

chef xu served us a complimentary dumpling soup. competent. not special.

bill S$170 for 8pax

the bill came to S$170 for 8pax include drinks even after 15% discounts. not really cheap, but i enjoyed the lunch very much.

will come with family & OPS friends.

noodle place 炕腩beef brisket noodles 牛腩面

one for all, all for one 

we have this 14 RI bros dinners we organised to celebrate birthdays of our bros.

this evening KWL & YKK were the 2 main protaganists, and we had a really nice 14pax dinner at tasty loong by chef pung in orto on 3.8.2018. ^^

orto is a 5 hectares multi-recreational park that is open to the public 24 hours a day, formerly bottletree park. there is prawning, futsal, paintball & go-karting etc…there is a lake & lakehosue with  old kampong charms and rustic feel.

in fact several bros went for the go-karting before dinner.

i went for dinner, had some difficulty finding tasty loong as the the signboard at the orto lakehouse shows long jiang chinos among many eateries but not tasty loong…seems that they are one & the same as the address is the same #01-06…maybe chef pung rebranded or there was some restructuring…whatever..

it was a great experience. food was good, there was a lake backdrop, pleasant ambience, good service & a engaging humorous server – my understatement. 🙂

great find by KWL! seems that he came specially to try the food, a jolly good excuse to enjoy good food. lol! 🙂

deepfried fish skin

deepfried fish skin 

KWL ordered the food. good stuff…👍👍👍

deepfried fish skin not so much my favourite. this was very well done, crispy, good salted egg flavours..

kurobuta char siew 

the kurobuta char siew very tasty…means very unhealthy la..

kurobuta char siew

kurobuta char siew 

heavenly sinful delicious…made sense?

crispy sotong 

crispy sotong…also not my favourite…a long time seafood restaurant popular dish..

crispy sotong

again done very well…

claypot sea cucumber 

the claypot sea cucumber very average for me…

i guess all the 一品煲kind of dishes doesn’t quite excite me, unless they are very tasty…

this one somewhere between competent & pedestrian..

beef cubes chinese style

chinese style beef cubes was well done too.

i am the western steak or yakiniku or tagliata type, so chinese style mostly tenderised (this one maybe a good cut not tenderise not sure) doesn’t excite me also…

smoked duck 

the smoked duck was quite excellent, very tasty smoked flavours.

probably not the ntuc type i think?

smoked duck 

i would certainly order this again…

roast london duck 

the roast london duck was very good, very tasty & the was a nice mago sauce…

roast duck in hawker stalls & coffeeshop in singapore cannot compare with hong kong or london or even JB. the restaurants served better roast duck & this roast london duck among the better ones.

the best roast london duck (irish duck) i had was at tunglok signature.

& the tea flavoured roast duck at xin cuisine is just as good but different from tunglok (not the small fatty irish duck but just as good).

1/2 salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡

the 1/2 salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡 was very good, very tasty.

quite coincidentally i just made my first experimental salt baked chicken 盐焗鸡 few days back on 31.7.2018. 

and subsequently i made a second time & it was very good, though still not as good as this one…will put up a recipe later…

sliced fish soup

sliced fish soup 

the sliced fish soup was very tasty & the fish were firm & sweet.

i thought it might be snakehead but i think it was seabass. anyway a good dish a bit expensive side i think S$40+

sambal kang kong

kang kong was good..

QTC birthday cake

LKY birthday cake

and of course the organisers got 2 very nice birthday cakes for QTC & LKY. 🙂

we all had a wonderful evening, fun & chill with RI bros.

dinner came to about S$400 for 14pax, quite ok price but we also did not order fish or other expensive dishes. quite ok for such nice food, ambience &fun.

c.h.e.f andy

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

m.me/tastyloong

Call 9472 6210

S$30 claypot trutle soup @ very lucky turtle soup 

had turtle soup at very lucky at jln berseh food centre with RI bros on 2.8.2018.^^

some bros had tennis & squash at CL’s condo. there were 8pax for lunch. 🙂

i don’t come often but always take from this stall when i do.

the S$30 was quite ok, very substantial for 2-3pax, good amount of meat & gelatinous parts.  soup was very good. i asked & the stall gave us a a refill. we shared among 4pax.

S$5 pig trotters @ kelantan kueh chap 

added a S$5 pig trotters shared by 4pax. very good standard, good taste & texture, a substantial portion & good braise.

the other 4 bros took kueh chap from the opposite stall, kelatan kueh chap. and some took char kuay tiao etc.

sungei road laksa 

after that we walked over to sungei road laksa at jin shui kopitiam, 27 jln berseh. 🙂

there was a queue about 8-10pax…we order standard S$3laksa + S$1 extra cockles (above photo). 🙂

laksa was still good, very lemak, but i feel lack a strong savoury flavour like weiyi laks at tanglin halt.

cockles were really large & plum & juicy & sweet, quite excellent! 🙂

sungei road laksa

sungei road laksa 

there was like constantly a queue…but i guess during peak hours queue must be very long that’s why they had the tape & stand for queueing.

rojak 

CJ bought a rojak to share.

somehow today’s rojak like not so good.

sungei road laksa

the laksa was well worth the detour after a nice turtle soup lunch.

my friends & i liked al like the laksa, but i would not come specially for this.

ate too much, but really quite fun…i enjoyed the turtle soup, pig trotters & also the laksa.

c.h.e.f andy

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

(1) Very Luck Turtle Soup

(2) Kelantan

(3) Sungei Road Laksa

butter naan

daughter suggested 5pax family dinner at firebake. wife had her old coursemates get together. younger daughter had her dinner engagements. so it’s left with me.

daughter decided to go somewhere nearer, so we met at dabbawala at robertson quay for 3pax dinner – daughter, SIL, me on 4.8.2018. ^^

i decided to park at quayside, very convenient as dabbawala is right there on level one, but horrendous ramp & very narrow lots. anyway these days i just drive slowly & “inched” down & up the ramp, guided always by the outer curve ie near to the outer curve as that is easy to judge.

daughter has the entertainer app so 1 main course free. she ordered butter chicken, malabar fish curry, lamb biryani, one butter naan. SIL ordered a bee.

S$22 butter chicken

butter chicken was ok, i would say pedestrian.

daughter & i agreed the butter chicken we bought from delhi restaurant like 15yrs-20yrs ago for children home parties when they were young was much better. this one has no much favour & the chicken breast also quite plain & tasteless.

my own butter chicken 24.8.2017

i think my own butter chicken using dancing chef paste is much better la.^^

S$21 malabar fish curry

the fish curry was much better tasting. the fish though was soft & not so great, not sure what fish it was….

with the entertainer app, this lower priced S$21 fish curry is free.

my own fish masala 19.9.2017

my own masala fish curry using house brand ready gravy is a lot better.

i use batang fish (ikan tenggiri or spanish mackerel), fried first, firm & tasty & sweet. the curry also very good but can’t say better than this malabar curry flavour.

8 indian food dinner dishes

i did this as part of a 7 indian dish dinner for 10pax RI friends on 19.9.2018. ^^

S$26 lamb biryani

the lamb biryani also pedestrian. good enough biryani i guess but nothing great. the lamb was soft & sinewy rather than tender with nice bite.

my own supernice chicken biryani cooked in rice cooker 27.8.2017

again, my own chicken biryani is really much better, both the very tender chicken & very flavourful biryani.

S$81 for 3pax dinner

daughter bought dinner, S$81 for 3pax after entertainer app 1 dish discounts, inclusive of S$15 beer.

“no lava”! cake at laurent

after dinner we walked over to laurent..

i had a piccolo latte (not as good as the silky smooth one at tiong hoe).

daughter ordered a lava cake..

the 15mins (they say) became 1/2hr wait & there was ZERO lava (see above photo)..so brownie isit?

i told the server..she confessed that first time they took out of oven cake not ready so they did again in oven second time! no wonder no lava!

really not the right thing to do for a specialty pastry shop especially for a S$14.80++ lava cake. anyway they refunded so got back like S$16….

north indian dishes

it was a wonderful evening. we chatted usual family stuff & chill over dinner & coffee.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Dabbawala @ Robertson Quay (formerly curry culture)

wanton mee & braised duck

S$3 wanton mee + S$1 braised pork soft bones

we took jian kang S$4 wanton mee = $3+S$1pork soft bones..i asked for more chilli..

the noodles, chilli, char siew all very nice, & the braised pork soft bones especially..

i added a spoon of larpok for each bowl, very crisp & tasty too.

4 wanton 

and the 4 wantons very good too. 🙂

S$8 牛车水braised duck

S$8 牛车水braised duck 

WT went to order the 牛车水braised duck.

they basically closed shop liao, so we got whatever leftovers, looked like a wingstick plus bits & pieces. for S$8. 🙂

didn’t look like much but it was in fact a good serving & duck was very good 👍

my own teochew braised duck 2017

my own teochew braised duck 5.5.2013

i do a very flavourful (“pang”) braised duck myself but this meat was really very tender & sweet, unusual, among the best braised duck i think. ^^

wanton mee & braised duck

after lunch we went to my place for a cuppa.

a great time with a very close friend.

c.h.e.f andy

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

(1) Jian Kang Wanton Mee #02-77

(2) 牛车水braised duck #02-95

31 Commonwealth Crescent S149644, Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre

D24 i think

had corporate invitation for a durian tasting evening at fruit monkey on 1.8.2018. ^^

so after a shiok! ichiran ramen & bakuteh dinner at WM place

we came by to fruit monkey in rangoon road.

fruit monkey aircon area

fruit monkey has an airocn area.

there were like 25-30 other guests including ourselves. and some other individual customers.

D24 i think

we were told they chose fruit monkey because the durians were good & also they have aircon place…google review seem to be good..

we were served first D24 i think.

not yet MSW, but these durians were good, if they were D24. 🙂

there were 7 of us on the table. i think we were served 5-6 durians.

MSW

next came the long awaited MSW.

the MSW however were NOT good!

the first one we had was very good (above photo left side!).

there was one other durian pretty good. one or 2 more ok. and 2 others were literally not ripe. we didn’t eat!

the service recovery was NON EXISTENT!!!!!

the lady came to ask if durians were ok. we showed her the unripe MSW durians. she didn’t react at all, then she said she could bring us very good MSW (means she brought us not good MSW?). and one durian WT went to return, the guy said “can eat”, so WT told him “you eat lor”.

if it were Ah Seng at ghim moh, the unripe durians wouldn’t even be served, and anything below par Ah Seng will just replaced with more good ones, no question asked.

durians & rambutans

can’t understand these people, how they do business like that?

anyway it’s their prerogative how they want to run their business. customers will just vote by their feet.

perhaps they were good with usual individual buyers, don’t know how to handle big groups?

MSW

but there were at least 3 decent or better MSW =1 very good MSW, 1 good and one or two more MSW (except for the unripe ones) also quite ok edible.

after durians, we were served mangosteens & rambutans…on our table we were all quite full with the durians so we just took 1 or 2 to try…there were ok..the 2 mangosteens i had had the yellow patch part not edible..it does happen with mangosteens…

thanks to the invite, we OPS bros had a great time, a nice durian bonanza (cannot hiam really since we were invited), a nice home makan before that. a really pleasant evening to spend with very close friends & bros.

c.h.e.f andy

ichiran ramen

we had ichiran ramen + bakuteh 5pax dinner at WM place this evening on 1.8.2018.

my OPS bros HC & WM bought ichiran ramen packets when we were in kyoto/nara/osaka 5-13.4.2018.

we had a first round of ichiran ramen at HC new place on 8.6.2018.

WT was in shanghai then. this time, WT is back & also we got PK to join us for 5pax dinner. 🙂

6mins runny yoke eggs for ramen

6mins runny yoke eggs for ramen

i made the usual 6mins runny yoke egg. very good indeed!

i use the braise for braising the chashu & also the braised belly pork

(to replicate the excellent braised long soft bones experience at hanamaruken ramen (花丸轩) at dotonbori osaka).

ichiran ramen

ichiran ramen

beautiful, lovely ramen by ichiran! ^^

incredibly tasty tonkotsu broth, and ramen just al dente perfect texture..i made it 2.5mins.

we on low carbs, so shared 2 ichiran packets for 5pax.

the best bakuteh

i also did bakuteh.

i had a very good almost 900g prime ribs from sheng shiong last week, so this was a good occasion to have it. 🙂

just using the usual 30g pack of “ilc” bkt stock pack. all my friends use this, simple & really nice everytime.

the best bakuteh

i like prime ribs with layers of streaky fat.

heavenly sinful la! 🙂

the best bakuteh

i cooked it in the morning.

soup very sweet & tasty, natural sweetness of the pork.

& the pork tender & sweet, especially with the top grade chicken rice dark sauce with chilli padi.

the best bakuteh

placed ribs in boiled water, cleaned to remove scum. then added clean water, whole bulb of peeled garlic cloves, the ilc stock sachet, & the ribs, boiled for 1 hr.

after cool, i placed in carrier & kept in the fridge & transport to WM in the evening, after picking up WT.

chilled trotters

chilled trotters

i also did a chilled trotters.

苏小柳’s pig trotters

this was to replicate the very nice crystalline trotters dimsum lunch at 苏小柳, basement of crystal galleria 晶品.

texture of my chilled trotters was good. the way to do this is to overcook the trotters a little (i had it in a 130degC over for 6-7hrs), with a good marinate that became very tasty with the gelatine from the trotters…

then i kept in chiller overnight, so the trotters were tender yet had a good bite. 🙂

but to replicate 苏小柳’s pig trotters, i will use hock instead the next time.

chicken rice dark sauce for bkt + white vinegar mala sugar & stock dip for trotters

i had some chicken rice dark sauce for bkt + white vinegar mala sugar & stock dip for trotters.

trotters were ok, i like it..not the favourite dish for my friends though.

romaine lettuce & spinach

romaine lettuce & spinach

i fried 2 vegetables – romaine lettuce & spinach.

taste was good. the spinach a bit “sek” though ie a bit old & tough stems…

ichiran ramen

dinner was fun with close bros.

especially the ramen & bkt. not too heavy & really nice food.

after dinner, we rested a while & went to fruit monkey for durian tasting, courtesy of UOB. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

mutton rib soup @ chai chuan tou 

went with sis & bil to Chai Chuan Tou 柴船头@Bukit Merah View Food Centre on 29.7.2018. ^^

long queue @ chai chuan tou

recently straits times reported got onto michelin bib gourmand.

so? longer queue lor! 🙂

long queue @ chai chuan tou 

this is the michelin link! 🙂

mutton rib soup @ chai chuan tou 

i like S$6 mutton rib soup each for 3 of us. 🙂

ribs were very tender & tasty.

soup also good, but seems to be not as good as when i came with my OPS friend WM last week.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Chai Chuan Tou Chinese Mutton Soup 柴船头羊肉汤

chilli crab

my brother hosted 2 tables for his son’s 21st birthday at ah yat grandstand on 29.7.2018. ^^

the food here always pretty good la. 🙂

chilli crab 

brother ordered chilli crab. crab was ok the chilli sauce quite poor, swet not spicy & not tasty.

coffee ribs

coffee ribs 

coffee ribs was good like any zi char.

but not as good as the salted eggs ribs at hk street old chun kee commonwealth crescent. 🙂

steamed tiger garoupa

steamed tiger garoupa 

hk steamed garoupa here always good, and these days almost always good in most restaurant.

fish was fresh, sweet, texture was great, light soy sauce was flavourful. 🙂

claypot crab tanhoon

claypot crab tanhoon

the crab claypot tanhoon was good as usual.

wife & i always like the S$38 alaskan crab claypot tanhoon here because the tanhoon is so flavourful. today’s too.

tofu dish

tofu dish 

tofu was an ordinary dish, nothing much to comment.

fried hk kai lan

sambal kang kong 

the 2 vege were good. 🙂

longevity buns

the restaurant provided longevity buns 寿桃. and some red bean dessert too.

chilli crab

overall a nice dinner.

a very happy early 21st birthday to my nephew!

c.h.e.f andy

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

Ah Yat Seafood @ Grandstand

eel & belly pork

had 7pax family tapas dinner at foc to celebrate daughter’s birthday on 24.7.2018. ^^

foc

foc a tapas restaurant we really like.

but looking at my posts, we did not come here often.

we had a family dinner here 2 years ago, also for daughter’s birthday on 23.7.2016. 🙂 we came one more time a month later.

of course the other time that i came here was recently with my RI bro for the excellent 3-course set lunch also to celebrate his birthday on 17.7.2018. 🙂

cauliflower

for this evening, daughter ordered a few new items.

cauliflower was good.

jamon croquette & funghi croquette

the jamon croquette & funghi croquette were good as always, much better than any other place we tried. crispy outer & very tasty inside, both the ham & also the mushrooms.

eel & belly pork

the eel & belly pork was another new dish daughter ordered.

we all liked it & later order a second serving.

octopus galician style

the octopus galician style  was very good this evening, every tender & consistent. much better than what i remembered. 🙂

prawn ravioli

prawn ravioli

the prawn ravioli was another new dish ordered.

very pretty & great taste, we ordered a second serving also.

suckling pig & scallops fiduea

the suckling pig & scallops fiduea was quite perfect.

no crackling skin, but quite a lot of pulled pork in the fiduea, which was super tasty! 🙂

suckling pig & scallops fiduea

really top standard here. 🙂

squidink paella

the squidink paella with prawns & sotong also excellent.

i will likely do these 2 dishes for the family dinner the next couple weeks.

lamb rack

the lamb rack was excellent for me. so & wife found it gamey.

it was gamey but ok for me, a very flavourful lamb & nice mint sauce & salad. 🙂

iberico pork rack

iberico pork rack

the iberico pork rack was superb, always have been here, a must order dish for me.

i like the iberico pork rack and also the lamb here very much, both excellent dishes.

lemon tart & raspberry sorbet

we ordered one lemon tart & raspberry sorbet. lemon tart was sour & so the sorbet. my birthday daughter, E & i like it especially. the others were so so wit it. 🙂

dinner including a S$98 wine & 2xS$24 cocktail was S$520nett. with out the drinks it would have been like S$340-S$350 for 7pax, not cheap but ok for this food.

c.h.e.f andy

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

2 boston lobsters steamed in superior stock

my OPS bros 四兄弟 had 4pax dinner at ah yat grandstand this evening on 23.7.2018. ^^

WT is back from shanghai & a good time for 4 of us to try the S$29.80 again together.. 🙂

i ordered 2 boston lobsters steamed in superior stock 上汤焗. today though as WM said the flavours were a bit 淡, not as tasty sauce as we had some times.

lobster itself was live & so fresh & sweet. 🙂

2 crabs pumpkin sauce

2 crabs pumpkin sauce

i ordered 2 crabs (<500g size) – i think S$39.90 for 2.

i had pepper crab recently so for today i ordered pumpkin sauce, and 4 fried buns 馒头.

WT & WM felt 1 crab had a strange slight bitter taste. i didn’t feel it myself, but i felt the 2 crabs were not sweet like sri lankan crabs. quite odd that fresh live crabs not sweet, not sure they were indonesian mud crabs or vietnamese crabs. i though all crabs are sweet!

the sauce was good, and quite good with the  fried buns 馒头. the crabs were ok, just that somehow not the very sweet crab meat one expects.

steamed patin fish with minced ginger 姜蓉

the steamed patin fish with minced ginger 姜蓉was excellent!

patin my favourite fish & i like this preparation.

WM maybe preferred the hong kong steamed style, just very “pang” flavour of light soy sauce. i like HK steam style too.

4 frogs gongbao style

we had 4 frogs done gong bao style. we asked for less sweet.

froglegs were done well. sauce this evening just ok, somehow not as good as previous times i had.

4 dishes @ ah yat grandstand

dinner for 4pax was S$193nett. nothing to complain about for the dishes we had.

the dishes also tasted not too bad, just that my expectations a bit more than what they delivered this evening.

another problem was the long delay for the dishes to be served, about 40-45mins for the first dish in a quite low patrons evening, we think because the 2 servers who took our orders separately did not co-ordinate well & forgot to activate the kitchen to start cooking our orders.

c.h.e.f andy

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Ah Yat Seafood @ Grandstand

S$4.50 dumplings & wanton noodles

went with wife for lunch at empress road food centre on 21.7.2018. ^^

we were late nearing 1pm.

there was a 7-8pax queue, and when it came to my turn (20mins), they ran out of char siew.

so i ordered the S$4.50 dumplings & wanton noodles.

noodles were great, qq, and dumplings had wjole prawns, excellent! 🙂

wanton

wanton was good too! 🙂

ah wing’s wanton mee at empress road food centre

ah wing’s wanton mee at empress road food centre

S$3.50 for 5 dumpling soup

S$3.50 for 5 dumpling soup

ordered also the S$3.50 for 5 dumpling soup (S$6 for 9 dumplings). 🙂

a nice lunch with wife on a saturday.

c.h.e.f andy

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Ah Wing’s Wanton Mee

Address:

expensive teochew lunch S$30 (by previous ye shanghai standard)

came with sis & bil for teochew muay lunch @ ye shanghai lengkok bahru

kena charged $31 for the dishes-

where according to my records 1yr ago with 1 fish & 6 veg we were charged S$14.60 on 3.6.2017. 😡

maybe $31 still not too expensive c/w other expensive teochew muay places & if this is ye shanghai new business policy it is their prerogative & i only vote with my feet in future= never come again la!

anyway as S$31 didn’t make much sense, i ask the guy to count for me = S$10 for yellow croaker, S$9 for mullet, S$2 for leek bigger plate (i think ridiculous), 6 other dishes S$1 each, 2 porridge= total S$28 not S$31! then the guy said they charged GST! & still it was

they also charged GST w/o issuing receipt..i wonder if a business is allowed to charged GST w/o issuing receipt?

chilled mullet S$9

leeks S$2

egg plants

chaipoh egg

winter melon?

luffa

long beans

heng chye aka chinese spinach

chilled yellow croaker S$10

food wise i guess it was still ok.

chilled yellow croaker & mullet still good. the veg were ok but also.

the price matters though. this a place all the taxi drivers come for makan because good price for the dishes they put out, not sure it is wise for them to do so, but it is their business so their perogative, as long as they charged GST legally.

c.h.e.f andy

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tiang chye birthday lunch

today birthday of my RI bro.

i went to his office, then we went for lunch at foc just across the road at hong kong street on 17.7.2018. ^^

foc S$38pax set lunch

i saw foc offering a singtel promotion set lunch 3-course at S$38pax.

i called to book and checked that payment can be made by any card.

foc

foc means “fire” in spanish.

the food here is exquisite & my family came here a few times for dinner.

when i checked my post, last time was quite a while ago on 18.8.2016.

kale, belly pork & mash

kale, belly pork & mash

for today we picked the kale, belly pork & mash, and the mixed croquette for our first course.

the crispy roasted kale was excellent, and the mash was super.

later i recreated this dish at home & it was pretty good. i think my flamed red wine slow braised belly pork was better actually! & my wife & daughter thought my mash (first time) was excellent too!^^

ham & funghi croquette

croquette

the croquette at foc always nice. excellent crust & flavourful fillings.

iberico pork

the iberico T bone was just fantastic! so tender & flavourful la! 🙂

lamb paella

lamb paella

lamb paella

& the paella of the day (a lamb paella) was very flavourful, tasty. it was just excellent! 🙂

the rice was very al dente…i must try this again & make my rice more al dente like here. 🙂

foc complimentary cake for our birthday lunch

the restaurant arranged a complimentary cake for my friend the birthday boy!

great gesture! quite expected of a good class restaurant like here. 🙂

french toast with hot chocolate

roasted pineapple

the dessert were more ordinary.

still nice dessert, both the french toast & the roasted pineapple…

roasted pineapples at portsminster cafe st ives in cornwall on 14.5.2015.

digressing a little-

the best roasted pineapple i had was at a delicious lunch at portsminster cafe st ives in cornwall on 14.5.2015. ^^

later i experimented this roasted pineapple for a 4pax 6-course anniversary dinner on 28.5.2018. not so great too!

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after lunch we went back to the office, the staff arranged a birthday cake, so we had cake cutting & eating & singing birthday song. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

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black bean sauce song fish head

my RI friends bought 5pax dinner at hong kong street old chun kee on 9.7.2018. ^^

i ordered 6 dishes. 🙂

the signature black bean sauce song fish head no need to say was excellent la! could do with more larpok crispy lard lol! ^^

fresh, tender, tasty. the fish itself was more fresh, better than joo heng that day, and i prefer the blac bean sauce style to taujeon.

salted egg pork ribs

salted egg pork ribs was great. all my friends liked it. very tender & tasty

it is a good variation from 排骨王, which also tender when done well but with sweet, sticky sauce.

deepfried pork marinated with fermented beancurd 腐乳炸肉

the deepfried pork marinated with fermented beancurd 腐乳炸肉 was below par.

fermented beancurd 腐乳 taste was nice but pork was very “porky taste”..ned to boil & wash with salt to remove the taste la..i guess can’t expect to do that outside what i would do at home. 🙂

minced pork egg plants 鱼香茄子

pete wanted the minced pork egg plants 鱼香茄子.

it was very good, an excellent dish to order. tasty!

fish belly thick beehoon soup

fish belly thick beehoon soup was good.

good amoutn of fish belly, very nice tasting soup.

sanloh horfun 三捞河粉

sanloh horfun 三捞河粉 good as usual…good wok hae!

bill S$70 for 5pax 6 dishes

black bean sauce song fish head

dinner was pretty good!

bill S$70 for 5pax 6 dishes… nice enjoyable dinner.

after makan, we went to koufu at tanglin halt (commonwelath MRT location) for ice kachang etc dessert. i bought dessert as the friends bought dinner. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

fish head curry

KH bought 10pax RI bros world cup lunch at yalong bay on 10.7.2018. ^^

first time here for all of us, but KH sis been here & as we also found out it was good. 🙂

fish head curry was good. fish was fresh & curry was tasty. these days i prefer assam & thai style fish head with more tangy taste than the usual nonya curry.

fish head curry

KK thought it didn;t go with the other dishes. for me it was ok la…

lala horfun

the lala horfun was quite outstanding..something different.

lala horfun

very tasty & super wok hae, maybe just a tad salty. 🙂

lala horfun

the medium serving S$19 enough for 10 of us..

minced pork tofu

the minced pork tofu was poor, below par.

minced pork tofu

this the preparation in many zi char places.

no comparison with sik bao sin prawn tofu dish.

and also silk @ sicc truffle tofu dish (S$16) which is cheaper than here (S$18).

world of difference actually!

seafood soup with snakehead (toman) fillet

the seafood soup with  snakehead (toman) fillet was pretty good. 🙂

soup with snakehead (toman) fillet

soup with snakehead (toman) fillet

just S$14 for medium & quite a good serving of snakehead (toman) fillet.

fried chives 青龙菜with tau gay

fried chives 青龙菜with tau gay

the fried chives 青龙菜with tau gay was expensive at S$18. was good but ex.

it was S$3 at benson salt duck at toa payoh lor 1.

some root vegetables

some root vegetables

same for the root vegetable…quite nice, not special, price ex.

frog legs with XO chicken essence S$40

the frog legs were nice, and quite flavourful & tasty with the chicken essence.

frog legs with XO chicken essence

S$40 a bit ex too maybe can do w/o the chicken essence next time.

signature flambe chicken S$32

signature flambe chicken S$32

their signature is the flambe chicken.

you need to order 1 day in advance.

me cutting the signature flambe chicken

need to cut & serve yourself. 🙂

roast chicken was pretty good., above average, ok at S$32.

flavour was quite good, with the roasting oil, the breast meat still not the most tender & moist, about loong hua standard which the RI makan group had recently on 26.6.2018.

bill S$190 for 10pax

overall S$!90 for 10pax was pretty ok, not ex.

though if you analyse the individual dishes, also not particularly cheap zi char prices.

frog legs with XO chicken essence

the best dishes for me were the lala horfun and the frog legs.

the cheapest dish which was quite good was the seafood soup.

chicken and fish head curry were good so there dishes i may order if i come again.

the veg were competent, nothing much to comment. worst dish was the tofu.

after lunch, we went to lor 8 nearby to have fours seasons chendol…good as always!

c.h.e.f andy

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charcuteri board meat & cheese platter

eldest daughter bought 8pax family dinner treat at cibo italiano on 8.7.2018. ^^

cibo italiano

cibo italiano

place had good wine selection. we brought a wine ourselves. it’s 1 for 1 so we bought 1 wine & no corkage for the one we brought.

the wine my son & sil picked was better than what we brought actually. 🙂

cibo italiano

some cakes & pastry.

cibo italiano

we left about 9.30pm, place was well take up including the al fresco area.

burrata

the burrata was ok, not the standard of rubato, but this was like S$28 whereas rubato was like S$45 but came with parma ham.

the charcuteri board meat & cheese platter (top photo) was quite good. a large serving of salami, ham & cheese.

truffle fries

truffle fries was great.

brussel sprouts fritters

the brussel sprouts fritters were very good. everyone liked it.

lobster ravioli

lobster ravioli was good standard. sauce very good taste.

seafood tagliatelle

the seafood tagliatelle was good too, sauce a bit light in taste.

i think my own squid tagliatelle i made for my friends recently on 3.7.2018 was just as good & tastier.

salami pizza

the salami pizza was really good, very tasty better than what i expected.

quatro formaggio pizza

the 4 cheese pizza was the usual good standard, nice cheesy flavours.

braised beef cheeks

one surprised package was the braised beef cheeks.

the meat mains were quite ex so we ordered this..this was done really well, very tender & excellent taste.. even wife liked it..we usually don’t go for braised dishes.

lava cake

we shared a lava cake. daughter liked it. i didn’t think too much of it actually.

i have not made lava cake for the longest time now but i think my dark chocolate lava was much more flavourful than this.

dinner for 8pax came to S$390 including i think a S$100 wine. quite ok. we had a great time and all the dishes we ordered were of good standard.

c.h.e.f andy

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Cibo Italiano

dinner dishes @ joo heng

had 3pax dinner with my OPS bros HC & WM at joo heng on 6.7.2018. 🙂

food so so & quite ex.

best dish was the liver 姜葱猪肝..the song fish head was of course good..i think that mine better though..will try making the liver dish also..the pork ribs bitter gourd not tasty though & ribs not tender enough

afterwards we went WM’s place & ate MSW& watch france vs uruguay WC match.

joo heng

joo heng an old name to my friends…,y first time.

tau jeon song fish head

the taujeon fish head was good…the head though not super fresh but still ok.

i think my own song fish head is just as good or better la….

fried liver with ginger & spring onions

fried liver with ginger & spring onions

fried liver with ginger & spring onions was the best dish, not better than the song fish head, but very good dish that i don’t usually eat or order.

liver was done just right, tender, pinkish & tasty.

i did this couple times at home later. i think mine also just as good.

pork ribs with bitter gourd

pork ribs with bitter gourd

the pork ribs bittergourd not that good.

not tasty enough, the black bean sauce not into the bittergourd enough & the pork ribs not tender enough.

i made this afterwards for my friends, using green pepper. my pepper flavours was good but my pork ribs also not tender enough, so mine not better.

prawn paste chicken

prawn paste chicken quite pedestrian.

sambal potato leaves

i like sambal potato leaves.

this was good, but the usual zichar standard so nothing much to say la…

S$84 quite ex 3pax

price S$84 for 3pax too steep for this kind of food la…won’t come back here.

tau jeon song fish head

i really like song fish head as a dish.

any preparations still very nice, even if it was no better than elsewhere, it was still very nice here.

c.h.e.f andy

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Joo Heng Restaurant

hokkien prawn noodles S$6

went with wife & sis & bil to meiling street food centre.

the xinlu fishball noodles was closed so we had to try other stalls.

wife ordered the hokkien mee S$6.

it was very good, both in taste & also the ingredients and quantity.

yongtaufu S$4

i ordered the yongtaufu, but today somehow it was not great…maybe not good..pedestrian…

1/2 braised duck S$18

sis ordered 1/2 braised duck S$18.

this one of the the worst braised duck i had. duck had no taste, texture on the soft side was ok but not sweet or tasty…odd actually as the braising sauce tasted ok.

i would never buy from this stall.

hokkien prawn noodle

best dish we had still the hokkien mee wife bought la…

c.h.e.f andy