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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

OPS friend’s homegourmet makan

my OPS primary school mate invited 6 of us for dinner on 6.6.2016. ^^

including his family of 4, we had 10pax.

OPS friend’s homegourmet makan

i was 15mins late, last to arrive. it was raining cats & dogs & my GPS actually led me astray (strange!) & i passed the KJE exit, hesitated as google map showed the next exit. stopped by on the road shoulder to check the map. it was clearly wrong & i U-turned at mandai exit to get back.

after that was ok except that i passed micasa condo instead of turning into CCK ave3, so had to again U-turn back.

should have checked the map clearly instead of just relying on google directions w/o a mental register of the location.

friend’s fish head curry lagi shiok!

my friend made a good curry chicken. i had it twice most recently at another bigger OPS primary schoolmates makan & chill session on 21.5.2016 at another friend’s place.

just sidetrack a bit – i said in that blog post “little did we know what our friends were capable of. the food were absolutely better than eat out or catered – no question la!^^”

this first time i tried his other dishes.

the fish head curry was excellent! quite unique, some special nonya flavours, must get recipe from him la..

another friend kapo my fish eyes when i was not looking! now got competition liao…just kidding haha! 🙂

friend son’s cereal prawns

friend’s 24yr old son made cereal prawns.

it was good standard! taste was good (which is key), prawns fresh & shell crispy enough. i ate with the shell.

really not bad for a young man. i tried cooking this dish only once 2 years back, not as good as this. yet to try it since.

braised chicken

braised chicken was a good comfort food. one friend said she didn’t take thighs.

bakuteh

bakuteh was another good comfort food, and it’s also easy to make. the prime ribs were fork tender (we had a private T-rex joke 🙂 …).

i actually prefer pork ribs & pork in general to have a bit more bite myself, but most people would love it fork tender. i took a second piece. this was softer than the first so i liked the first more.

french beans to hae bee nonya style

i think this dish was french beans. & i heard something about minced haebee (dried prawns)…probably chatting other things, forgot to ask. will find out later.

french beans to hae bee nonya style

most importantly it was very tasty, also some nonya taste.

maoshanwang 猫山王 – S$15/kg

a friend brought durians for tiong bahru, like 2 maoshanwang 猫山王 – S$15/kg, 2 red prawns 红虾 – S$13/kg, and 2 D13 – S$12/kg. must have cost him S$140, so costly to eat durians in singapore nowadays.

but….everyone is buying more not less durians. maybe 1 of us should start a durian stall la, like ah seng at ghim moh…

maoshanwang 猫山王 – S$15/kg

one friend must have been waiting for durians the whole dinner, proclaiming it the highlight of the evening.

what was she thinking? not politically correct la…dinner was the highlight of the evening…haha! i sense she going to hammer me liao….

just kidding la… we lucky folks had 2 highlights in one evening. lol!!!

moral of the story = we must have more durian parties!

red prawn 红虾 – S$13/kg

for me MSW was the best.

the red prawns & D13 were very good though, and all agreed the MSW was actually not as good as some better ones we had tried. still for me, not the best MSW still better than the best red prawn & D13, so creamy & tasty.

D13 – S$12/kg

the D13 was also very good. my friend’s daughter preferred it the most, though she said the red prawns also very good after she had taken the MSW.

another friend’s konnyaku jelly

another friend brought the konnyaku jelly. she brought last time also at the bigger makan & chill on 21.5.2016.

another friend’s bachang

she also brought bachang.

one friend, mama mia, took 2 bachang before dinner (although it could be other friends teasing him & he only took 1 before dinner…don’t know who to trust these days & when it is banter & when serious…hahaha!)

he said it was better than his mother’s. don’t know what he would have said to girls when he was younger. lol!!! i learned the words “just kidding” from this friend…

another friend’s bachang

i took one. i was already really full, but it was ok.

a fun evening with good friends. all these began only end of 2015 when a primary schoolmate visited from USA. we have been spending lots of time together ever since, thanks to group whatsapp, daily chat & greetings.

i really enjoyed it!

c.h.e.f andy

S$4 bowl fish soup + S$8 for tau gua tau pok kong bak

after bathesda bedok bread of life (BOL) community lunch, 4 of us went over to bedok north food centre for lunch on 4.6.2016. ^^

last we had here the-

• teochew porridge &
• yong tau fu.

hougang lee chen cooked food fish soup

the fish soup here is good.

hougang lee chen cooked food fish soup

one friend (who bought us lunch) went to queue, the rest settled at one clean table at the centre portion which was windy.

S$4 bowl fish soup

the fish soup was quite cheap, S$4 for a large bowl with plenty of fish. fish was fresh & sweet too.

S$4 bowl fish soup

the soup was bland though.

i don’t fancy this dish much & this particular stall was so so to me, apart from the fact that it was just S$4.

for a really good fish soup, try yu mei mei shi 屿美美食at havelock food centre, expensive but real good la! 🙂

kong bak + lor nerng

the kongbak, lor neng…

tau kua & tau pok

& also the tau kua & tau pok were all quite good.

S$4 bowl fish soup

the chai buay ok too.

all 3 side dishes cost just S$8.

so lunch was S$6 per head, S$4 for the fish soup & S$2 for the side dishes.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Hougang Lee Chen利珍 Cooked Food 

Address

#01-54, Blk 216 Bedok North St 1 Market and Food Centre,

Blk 216 Bedok North Street 1, 460216

fish head curry lots of vege

went with wife’s friends for a walk in the park 🙂 on 2.6.2016….

nice folks that my wife met at her yoga lessons, and they did a walk at macritchie together a short while back. 2 other couples & another of their friends joined. we were mostly around the same age group except for the younger couple – the guy is a serious tai chi exponent, teaching at an association. 🙂

weather was temperamental. what’s new?

wife & i were filling hot, humid, oppressive, and i actually put on sun screen & changed to my running attire. next minute sky was threatening to open up, actually rained quite a bit.

as it turned out, weather was quite perfect for the walk, cool & no rain so we got started.

happened that wife had some urgent stuff to attend to. she went off & joined us later for dinner. 🙂

we started from yarwood, trooped down to dunearn road, then rifle range, at some point before temasek club cut across to the trail at bukit timah nature reserve, walked under the forest canopy near to BKE then back to rifle range road then to the kampong trail to kampung chantek, then to binjai park & ending at hup choon for a very nice zi char dinner. 🙂

i started my endomondo a bit late, a bit after after we had crossed over to the trail. still it registered 6.15km & 58.5mins near hup choon, a bit surprise for me as normal slow walk about 4km/hr. i suppose we walked a bit brisk??? another lady clocked from beginning & about same distance & 8000+ steps so i guess it was quite correct.

hup choon zi char

i had been to hup choon many times in the past but mostly for coffee & bakuteh at the time eons ago, never really around dinner time for zi char.

the hostess ordered several very good dishes. this one of those zi char dinner that i really enjoyed. ^^

fish head curry lots of vege

fish head curry (with added vegetables) was very good.

my own fish head curry

it’s different (maybe more chinese version) from my own fish head curry, just as lemak, very enjoyable for me. i guess i ate the most la… lol! 🙂

prawn paste chicken mid-wings

prawn paste chicken mid-wings were tasty.

prawn paste chicken mid-wings

i not particularly fond of prawn paste chicken, but this i count as a very good fried chicken wing.

seafood treasures pot

seafood treasures pot was good.

seafood treasures pot

this mainly got to do with fresh seafood.

not sure how much it was here, at uncle leong jurong east which was very good it would be S$30 for this serving size.

i think uncle leong used a good stock base, maybe this one no stock, but still a good dish.

cuttlefish kang kong

cuttlefish kang kong“jill her eng chai” was good too, very competent.

it’s the kind of taste i am more used to than that at forture at old holland road across the other side of dunearn.

hae chor

hae chor was competent too, crispy, not too oily, good filling. i guess quite good though not my favourite dish.

hor fun

hor fun was also quite tasty. didn’t feel so much wok hae, maybe it was a large plate & i did not take it immediately. but it was good anyway, competent.

don’t know how much the dinner for 9pax cost. will come back again soon to try it la!

c.h.e.f andy

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

Hup Choon Eating House

baguette & walnut bread

wife bought nice anniversary dinner at cornerhouse in botanic gardens this evening on 1.6.2016. ^^

this my first time to cornerhouse. i had been to au jardin & taken the degustation several times previously but not since cornerhouse took over.

looking at my previous post, the last time we were here was for the new year eve dinner on 12.31.2016.

the photos were not so well taken (low lighting) but reading the post again i think the food that time was even better than this evening. more of that later.

Chef Jason Tan’s Menu Degustation

for this evening we had a 5-course degustation menu at S$188++

glass of white wine

i don’t drink. wife always order wine.

we looked at the wine menu. a 1/2 bottle red was S$188. wife decided not to order as she said previously it was like S$80+

looking at the 2013 NYE degus dinner, our red a grand cru classe was S$85! wife had good memory la!

anyway she decided to order 1 glass white followed by 1 glass red, probably S$70 in total. both wines were good.

looking out of the verandah

looking out of the verandah

looking out of the verandah

i asked for one of the 2 verandah tables seating looking out at the gardens.

it was really nice.

amuse bouche

amuse bouche

the amuse bouche comprises 3 items.

couldn’t really remember…they were all good la! this one quite unique taste.

amuse bouche – salty fish crackers with tobiko (flying fish roe)

amuse bouche – salty fish crackers with tobiko (flying fish roe)

this a prawn cracker with tobiko. great!

amuse bouche – bitter cucumber terrine

last a amuse bouche – bitter cucumber terrine. we enjoyed all of the them. 🙂

#1 carabinero prawn (scarlett prawn)

#1 carabinero prawn (scarlett prawn)

the first course, carabinero prawn, scarlett prawn from mediterranean, was simply awesome!

the variations of seasonal tomatoes, with basil, olive oil & another falvour were sublime.

the prawn was steamed & chilled, very sweet, tasty & firm. told wife the texture felt like lobster. & there was a tomato sorbet, basically a very flavourful gazpacho, at the top, 12 o’clock! ^^

later i saw on naked fins a nice pic. 

it was a very large prawn, and in some sites they mentioned it tasted like lobster.

#2 white asparagus with 24mths comte, ikura

#2 white asparagus with 24mths comte, ikura

second course was white asparagus with a 24mths comte cheese & ikura.

such an artistic presentation! ^^

the white asparagus (confit maybe?) was par excellence, very tender & sweet. overall while the dish was very tasty & enjoyable, it made less impression than the tomatoes (& prawns).

#3 maine lobster, riso, bottarga

#3 maine lobster, riso, bottarga

the 3rd course, maine lobster, was quite sublime, out of this world! ^^

#3 maine lobster, riso, bottarga

lobster was firm, sweet, tasty, riso (a risotto like pasta) was great & the sauce was just fantastic! (from bottarga the salted fish roe i think?).

#4 japanese toriyama wagyu, horseradish mash

#4 japanese toriyama wagyu, horseradish mash

the 4th course, japanese toriyama wagyu was like any top jap wagyu, simply fabulous, so much better than australian or USA, & horseradish mash was excellent with the beef.

#5 chocolate earl grey

#5 chocolate earl grey

the last course, chocolate earl grey dessert, was good.

i mean the chocolates were great really, the sorbet too, among the best i guess, not exactly my favourite dessert. wife & i not particularly hot on chocolates & if chocolate i prefer the really dark intense chocolate type rather than just smooth with earl grey flavour etc….

petit four

petit four – salted eggg macaron

petit four – chocolates 

petit four was pretty good.

they charged for coffee. i always felt coffee should be just included in a degustation & green tea too in a japanese kaiseki, a touch of class not to charge extra…anyway just my persona views..

we skipped the coffee.

dinner 2xS$188pax + 2 glasses of wine came to S$513.

it was an excellent dinner very enjoyable so money well spent. looking back at the 2013 au jardin NYE degustation, i think that offerred a bit better value not this time we had lobster. hard to compare i guess.

i still miss jaan, since that they withdrew feed @ raffles benefits, we were unwilling to pay the full fare & also the menu still looked the same after 2 rounds, andre chiang & julien royers having left…

c.h.e.f andy

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

CORNER HOUSE

ADDRESS

1 Cluny Road, E J H Corner House
Singapore Botanic Gardens
(Nassim Gate Entrance)
Singapore 259569

CONTACT

T: +65 6469 1000
F: +65 6469 0136

HOURS

TUESDAYS – SATURDAYS
Lunch: 12 pm – 3 pm
(last order 2.30 pm)
Dinner: 6.30 pm – 11 pm
(last order 10 pm)

SUNDAY
Brunch: 11.30 am – 3 pm
(last order 2.30 pm)
Dinner: 6.30 pm – 11 pm
(last order 10 pm)

DRESS CODE
Smart casual
(Short & Bermudas is allowed with Shoes or Loafers. No slippers)

sauce chicken豆油鸡 – S$13

my OPS primary school mate found this canto jumbo 广东珍宝 place driving by recently. we decided to go there for 6pax dinner on 31.5.2016. ^^

the coffee shop zi char joint is only 2 months old. i found only a single blog write-up on it.

sauce chicken豆油鸡 – S$13

we ordered 1/2 sauce chicken豆油鸡 S$13.

it was among the very best chicken i had, even the chicken breast were very tender, moist, tasty.

have to admit that it’s probably better than the poached 白斩鸡i made la..

spicy fried fish head金香鱼头

my friend ordered a spicy fried fish head金香鱼头(i think it is the same as干香鱼头). i think the proprietor said ang chor (golden snapper) fish head.

i have never tried this preparation before, & was not expecting much. generally i prefer steamed fish head or curry fish head.

spicy fried fish head金香鱼头

actually it was quite tasty for me, better than expected la…especially with the sauce & onions…

i think i will try to cook this, does not seem to require deep-fry, i avoid deep-fry if i can..

my friends (all 3) said the tampines 844 one is better.

well, it means i have to go try tampines 844 again la…

salted fish steamed belly pork

this was a surprise!

thought it was the usual 咸鱼饼salted fish steamed minced pork, but the server told us when we ordered that it was belly pork.

it was very nice for me. i liked the salted fish & thought the belly pork was good. my more picky friend though thought the belly pork was too tough for his high standard la…lol! 🙂

3 mushrooms tofu

3 mushrooms tofu was just ok for me. the only review i found said this was 1 of the 2 good dishes he tried, but for me any of the zi char tofu dishes at (say) kok sen etc would be better.

mushrooms for chicken pot

the chicken pot was their signature dish 招牌菜, came with tongkat ali & all manners of mushrooms.

chicken pot

was it good?

the soup was very tasty. one friend had 6 bowls (after learning that there was tongkat ali?)

chicken pot

the kampung chicken though had not much taste nor texture. it maybe that the focus was on a tasty soup & the chicken was to flavour the soup & by the way & not consequential.

samgyaetang 参鸡汤

i would think my samgyetang soup was just as good though different & my chicken was far superior.

string beans?

not sure it was string beans as it tasted like regular long beans.

dish was ok, competent, nothing special.

crispy san meen 生面 – S$8

the crispy san meen 生面 came with quite a bit of ingredients, liver, pork etc…

crispy san meen 生面 – S$8

it was ok, no stand out & becos one friend mixed up the sauce, that took away some crispiness so like eating yee meen…lol! 🙂

overall the dinner for 6pax – 6dishes + chicken was S$104.80 nett + S$13 for chicken, so less than S$20pax. quite good value (not sure how long it will stay that way) & more importantly good tasting food.

a friend paid for drinks. he also brought some salted egg croissant. we adjourned to another friend’s place to enjoy the croissant with coffee & tea.

very fun evening & time with good friends.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Canto Jumbo 广东珍宝

Address-

13 Old Airport Road Singapore 390013

Contact-

HP=84262152

Opening Hours-

Mon to Sun

11am to 2.30pm

5pm to 11.30pm

my buffet plate

a very good friend was celebrating an occasion & decided it was a great excuse to buy 10pax lunch at sun;s cafe oon 30.5.2016. ^^

none of us argued with him…

i have been to ah yat abalone at hotel grand pacific but never try the sun’ cafe buffet.

well, i quite enjoyed it. i think the food is quite good.

roast duck & curry chicken

for me the roast duck was the best, maybe because i had a 1/2 drumstick portion each time for my 2 helpings.

duck was flavourful & the plum sauce enhanced the taste. texture of meat & skin were great.

curry chicken was probably second for me, and i made a good curry chicken myself.

curry was intense & tasty, perfect on the rice & chicken was tender. the breast meat looked slightly overcooked (usually the case & especially in buffet) c/w mine, but i had limited capacity so jus took the thighs both times la…

prawns & sotong

i took sotong first round.

the curry & sotong looked pretty, but tai kor (a good friend) & i concurred that the sotong texture felt artificial & not right. later i spied another friend having a heap of sotong on his plate. he must have liked it. 🙂

i decided to take the prawns for my second helping. it was quite competent actually. prawns were fresh, done well, slightly spicy, good competent la..

chap chai & fried kuay teow

chap chai was usual. i think my own chap chia a lot sweeter, tastier.

kuay teow was good, got wok hae. i took just small bits for each of my first & second helping.

prawn fritters, fish, ngoh hiang

din try the prawn fritters.

the kembong fish looked good but was in fact the worst dish for me. tasteless, not sweet. i added some sambal etc but still bland. a friend thought it was not fresh, not sweet. i thought freshness wise ok, maybe not enuf salt to bring out the taste, no tumeric (yellow ginger) or sambal marinade before frying..

the ngoh hiang was pretty fine, especially with sambal chilli added.

i did not take a photo of the kueh pie tee. a friend brought a plate to share. i took one. it was good, especially with the chilli.

braised belly pork & assam fish

braised belly pork & assam fish

the braised belly pork did not look great, looked overcooked & the lean meat looked dried up.

i took a piece with lots of skin & fat. actually it tasted good! & the lean meat was ok.

i tried a second piece on my second helping. ok not so great. a friend thought the meat was too dry not tender.

sotong 

sotong as mentioned was a disappointment!

my buffet plate 

my buffet plate – second helping 

see i managed 1/2 duck drumstick in each of my 2 helpings. the best dish.

my buffet plate – second helping 

for second helping i heaped some chicken curry on my rice. a friend found it odd i was adding rice (even though it was just 1 tbsp each time). & i tried the sambal (very good) & sambal balacan (ok).

before my second helping, i took a laksa. forgot to take photo.

it was good. not out of this world, limited ingredients, no hum (cockles), shredded chicken etc. the lemak curry was intense & tasty. not as good as weiyi laksa etc, but still quite good.

also tried the pig stomach soup. everyone said very good, and i think it as very good too, very sweet. i took just small amount maybe 3 tbsp, with quite a bit if pig stomach, enjoyed it but did not want to add more.

ice kachang

ice kachang 

enjoyed my ice kachang as always.

the cream stuff was coconut cream (wrongly labeled). anyway then i realised i could make chendol too.

chendol 

so i went back to make chendol la!

thick coconut cream, flavoruful gula melaka, but no kidney beans.

i keep thinking of the GCT chendol at toa payoh lorong 8, must really go back for more. this one nearer to it but still cannot compare la…

rojak

rojak 

a friend & i decided to share some rojak.

it’s missing the best ingredients like yutiao & taupok. still quite tasty, i think i mixed it well haha, the unripe magoes, guava etc all quite nice la…

several friends were taking the red bean soup very smooth they said, no lotus seeds inside though. i decided to skip it, too much food already.

i had coffee (included in buffet). their coffee was pretty ok, quite nice flavour not those that turned bitter sitting on the warmers.

we had a good time chatting, bantering…quite good food also, maybe not really better than ellenbrught market cafe buffet, but a change & good in different aspects by comparison.

probably bring my sis here later.

the groupon voucher was S$19.90 (i made a check, sold-out currently). anyway the hotel offers S$38 1 for 1, so if you have even numbers, it is not a lot more ex than the S$19.90 groupon.

c.h.e.f andy

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

Sun’s Cafe