S$2 Sungei Road Laksa on 10Aug2014

Posted on August 10, 2014 by chefquak

Sungei Road Laksa S$2

first came to this sungei road laksa stall at jalan shui kopitiam at jalan berseh>10years ago.

have not been here for several years. today though 3 of us were enjoying the fu he turtle soup at berseh food centre, so decided to drop by for the laksa.

Sungei Road Laksa

there was a 15pax queue at 2.30pm on a sunday. i waited about 15mins. stall is closed every 1st & 3rd wednesday of the month.

Sungei Road Laksa

the stall had 2 ladies preparing bowls of laksa & taking orders, and an older men cooking the noodles & ladling the gravy goodness from a charcoal fire pot.

laksa was S$2, with slices fish cakes & cockles, served with spoon & no chopsticks. i added cockles so it was S$3.

Sungei Road Laksa S$2

gravy was light, not too lemak nor spicy, but quite flavourful & intense, very satisfying. i also ta pao (take-out) 2 packets back.

there is another sungei road laksa at nearby kelatan lane but i have never tried it. will give it a try next time i am here, which unlikely to be soon though.

c.h.e.f andy

Good HK Standard Beef Brisket Noodles @ Lao Jie Fang 老街坊 Mei Chin FC on 8Aug2014

Posted on August 8, 2014 by chefquak

went to queensway shopping centre to replace a pair of plastic spectacles frame which i broke in amsterdam during my april2014 trip. it was done on the spot, just pay money of course!

decided to stop by mei chin market & food centre. the fishball noodles at xin lu (新路) teochew fish ball noodles & hup kee were both quite ok. 🙂

saw the lao jie fang 老街坊 cantonese beef brisket noodles at stall #02-15, and decided to try it instead. unfortunately did not bring phone so no photos. 😦

牛杂面 at HK street stalls

i love the beef brisket noodles 牛腩/杂面 at HK street stalls. regrettably cannot find any in singapore even remotely similar, the hainanese gluey beef noodles not really my cup of noodles, anyway have never taken them for years now.

beef brisket noodles 牛腩面 – S$8 @ noodles restaurant

the nearest i had which was pretty good really was the beef noodles at noodles restaurant, only thing missing was the mixed innards 牛杂. i just imagine that because of that somehow the taste of the soup was not as good.

at this lao jie fang stall, they have beef briskets at S$3.50 & briskets + tendons at S$5. the stall owner offered dry. in HK you usually take soup but anyway i gave it a try. the noodles was very nicely done, very QQ (al dente), not mushy, & the chilli & overall flavour was good. there was a good helping of briskets & tendons – 3 large pieces of tendons & 4 briskets.

i would rate this almost as good as the one at noodles restaurant, except this came with tendon so more satisfying. soup was good too but even further from the real thing in HK streets than the noodles restaurant.

this a stall i would definitely try again. when i happens to go there again, i will try the soup version. but somehow w/o the 牛杂, cannot revisit the same shiok factor as in HK streets, so maybe i should try cooking up my own beef brisket noodles 牛腩面. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Great Lunch @ Ristaronte Pizzeria da T Levanto on 20Apr2014

Posted on August 7, 2014 by chefquak

frutti di mare – seafood salad

we decided to trek to levanto on 20.4.2014. 🙂

many parts of the sentiero azzurro (blue path) coastal route no. 2 were still closed. anyway we walked the incredibly scenic route to vernazza on 19.4.2014. the route to levanto was longer & took us 3.5hrs. the view was marvellous though looking back at monterosso beach was not quite the same as looking at the postcard picture perfect vernazza town when approaching from moneterosso. 🙂

frutti di mare – seafood salad

we were strolling along the streets close to the sea on arrival at levanto around 1.30pm. the ristaronte pizzeria da T levanto was filled with locals & looked quite exciting.

grilled prawns

we ordered the seafood salad (around 11euro) & the grilled large prawns (around 15 euro) which we saw many tables were taking. both were very good, fresh & tasty. 🙂

mussels pasta

prawn pasta

we ordered 2 pastas, one with prawns the other with mussels. both were very tasty too, but there was a negative part – both were much too salty. if we could eat more pasta, maybe we could have asked them to toss in more plain pasta – just a thought. haha! 🙂

panna cotta

complimentary sweet cake

the panna cotta was poor though. my daughter & i were still thinking of the fantastic panna cotta at pizzeria balognett at tremezzo lake como, but this was a far cry, no better or worse than the ones in singapore, the reason i hardly ever ordered panna cotta.

surprising we were offered a huge helping of complimentary sweet cake. it looked very sweet & it was, but it was much better than the panna cotta.

c.h.e.f andy

Tak Shiok! (No Thrill) Dinner @ il Ciliegio Monterosso on 19Apr2014

Posted on August 7, 2014 by chefquak

scampi pasta

we arrived at monterosso about 3.50pm on 18.4.2014 after returning the car (we drove from tremezzo lake como) at malpenssa airport & taking the malpenssa express to milano centrale to connect the train to monterosso.

we were booked at the very nice ballembra hotel in the old part of town & walked about 700m from the station. it was very pleasant as monterosso has a nice beach & there were lots of shops & gelato stalls.

for the first evening we had earlier made reservations & enjoyed a super dinner at miky, after strolling around.

the friendly proprietor of ballembra recommended & arranged for us to have dinner at il ciliegio, 200m up the hills the next day on 19.4.2014.

gianni, il ciliegio’s owner, came in his MPV to fetch us from the town centre. he stopped near the top for us to take photos of the monterosso coastline in the sunset. 🙂

the service was excellent. the view was actually quite limited as surrounded with trees, mostly ciliegio. afterall the whole cinque terre & monterosso offered awesome vista everywhere.

regrettably, dinner @ il ciliegio monterosso = tak shiok leh…NO THRILL! 😦

grilled zicchini

swordfish steak

scampi pasta

food was quite mediocre & would be poorest if c/w miky OR even the cheap & very good trattoria scogliera at manarola.

scampi pasta was skimpy, 4 tiny scampis for 2pax portions (mike’s seafood risotto while 50% more ex had like 5times the ingredients so much greater value & of course superior taste & dining experience), trofie (a risotto like pasta that looked like our chinese “beetaimak”) pesto was totally plain, swordfish was ok, vege was actually good, very sweet.

il ciliegio has a nice setting, but almost no customers. only 1 other table was occupied.

the outside was pleasant. it was cold so more comfortable to dine indoors.

we took some photos of the monterosso coastline & also in the direction of vernazza in the sunset. 🙂

owners gianni & rosanna are very nice people. after dinner, gianni drove us back to town below. he turned & reversed his MPV like >50m in one fluid movement on the narrow path like in car chase movies, but he drove safely & not fast.

food was ok, & i am sure if you speak italian, the company & conversation would be most pleasant. just on food however monterosso was filled with nice restaurants, so regrettably i would not recommend this. 😦

c.h.e.f andy

Nasi Lemak @ Selara Rasa Stall No2 Adam Road on 4Aug2014

Posted on August 4, 2014 by chefquak

went with son to his favourite nasi lemak at adam road food centre, selara rasa, on 4.8.2014.

the sign proclaimed no.1 nasi lemak though the address was no.2 adam road.

it’s a monday & stall no.1 was closed. at 11.30am the queue was the usual 10+ pax. the other day when i fetched son from airport on 18.7.2014, we came here slightly earlier just before 11am on a friday. no2 stall was closed then & no. 1 was open & there was no queue, but soon after us the queue grew to 10pax. my son said no.2 stall usually has the longer queue.

selara rasa has a few creative touches. there is a LED ticker that says “self service” & “closed on friday” etc. the menus shows like fish meal, chicken meal, full house, royal flush & royal rumble. full house includes chicken wing & ikan kuning, royal flush adds on begedil & royal rumble adds on otak. anyway on this day there’s no fish so we ordered a chicken meal each & added another chicken wing each & my son added otak.

having tried both stalls, my personal preference is for stall no.1. apart from what 1 reviewer identified – that stall no. 1 serves kacang, but not stall no.2, i concluded that the reason i preferred stall no. 1 was (1) chicken wing batter for stall no.2 was too thick & crispy for my liking (2) stall no.2’s chilli was sweeter & less spicy than stall no. 1. those however were the reasons my son prefer stall no. 2, and it seems that more also prefer no.2 to no.1, so this a very subjective personal preference. also for me, ikan kuning is a key item i want in my nasi lemak, so no fish, no thrill. lol. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Cycling at Punggol PCN & Makan Break on 2Aug2014

Posted on August 3, 2014 by chefquak

bakchormee @ Blk 401 hougang Av 10

7 of us decided to go cycling along punggol park connector (PCN).

we gathered at sengkang swimming complex & took the PCN along sungei punggol past marina country club to punggol point & past coney island (or serangoon island). 🙂 we could see across the johore straits to pasir gudang with rows of kangaroo port container cranes.

we had a mix of bikes, from the top draw brompton to montague, giant, trek & my own dahon. there’s a cycling enthusiast among us travelled to new zealand to join cycling tours. he cycled all the way from alexandra to sengkang to join us for the PCN ride & carried on for a dragon boat rowing afterwards. rest of us mostly did very little cycling. for me it’s like the 5th time i cycled this year. i guess that’s not too bad actually! haha! 🙂

bakchormee @ Blk 401 hougang Av 10

we stopped at a coffeeshop at Blk 401 hougang Av 10, which was actually facing hougang Av 8 & punggol park. the bakchormee looked good so a friend & i tried. unfortunately it was very average, the friend thought it was below par, somehow didn’t have the kick! the ingredients were quite plentiful, including lots of minced pork which i liked. the meatballs were soft & i didn’t quite like the taste. my friend though thought it was good. i thought the vinegar was not enough & somehow the taste was not quite there. we shared a black fried carrot cake. it was also average, not crispy, tasty enough. and a bit sweet. the wanton noodles also looked good but we didn’t try.

1 of us was talking about life after re & taking drawing lessons & learning about negative spaces, and showing us how his “self portrait” looked like at the start & end of the first lesson. 🙂

after makan we cycled along the pavement & returned to sengkang swimming complex quite quickly. the park connector route was about 14km & the return route was abut 5km.

it was a good fun start to our cycling activity. 1 of us who looked very stylo said it’s the non-cyclist that dressed like cyclist…lol. 🙂 anyway it interested us enough to plan for do it again at east coast lagoon the next round. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Average Food Very Good Service @Praelum Wine Bistro on 1Aug2014

Posted on August 3, 2014 by chefquak

1 full pint of hoegaarden

couldn’t think of a place for dinner. looked at the palate outlets & decided to try praelum wine bistro at duxton hill. a slight put-off though thinking of the traffic & parking. anyway we decided to park at craig place carpark which charges hourly. came to S$4.50 for parking but at least no hassle.

it was actually a great watering hole, great place for a drink. praelum is latin for wine press for crushing grapes & extracting juice. but i don’t drink so that was wasted on me. haha! 🙂

praelum wine bistro

at the counter (praelum wine bistro)

old telephone

nice ambience & crowd. it was 8pm on a friday night & all the tables were taken up so we sat at the counter.

to their credit this place served & did not charge for water. my wife ordered one full pint of hoegaarden. it tasted great, i agree. 🙂

steaming hot baguette

the baguette was nice & warm! i guess we were hungry but this was good with the butter.

flamee tart

tarte flambe

we ordered mostly their recommendations. the young server was very helpful. the crispy crust tarte flambe was the french answer to italian pizza? very crispy dough. onions gave it sweetness & the egg some texture. wife felt the cheese was not “pang” aka flavourful enough. overall, quite edible maybe average or above cannot really c/w a good pizza.

herb escargot covered in baked cheese

the herb escargot was the best of the lot. it’s like a dozo cheese gratin escargot combined with a usual herb seasoning. quite excellent, and the bread went very well with the remaining sauces. 🙂

portobello topped with melted blue cheese

the portobello was a little strange. i liked both blue cheese & portobello but they didn’t seem to combine very well. grilled portobello with simple olive oil & sea salt is very nice & easy to do at home & someone the added blue cheese masked or reduced rather than enhanced the flavours. 😦

baby back ribs

i was ok with the ribs. i was expecting the sweet sticky version, not my favourite but an ok dish. wife though it was below average c/w say tony roma’s.

after amex palate 50% discounts for 2pax, the bill came to S$36++ for the 4 dishes. the beer was another S$14 no discounts.

while the food was not quite what i would crave for, it was competent 7 pretty ok for the price, after palate discount that is. 🙂

& i can see that many (young & old) would enjoy the ambience, crowd & drinking here.

must say something about the truly excellent service. the young partner is a wine specialist – he said he was in the trade from 16. & all the young servers were very very friendly & helpful. 1 lady asked if we would like to shift to a vacated table but we were quite happy to sit at the counter & let others have the table.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Value Wholesome Lunch @ Ristorante La Scogliera Manarola on 19Apr2014

Posted on July 29, 2014 by chefquak

seafood spaghetti

was raining in the morning & mid day on 19.4.2014. we were not able to take the sentiero azzurro (blue path) which is the coastal route no. 2 trek from monterosso to vernazza.

we were early in apr so not quite the peak. there was still some crowd, and later commotion when someone was apparently pick pocketed. some friends went later in may & commented that the cinque terre trains were late but our experience with it was good, fortunately.

we took the train to manarola. the views were excellent but again the sentiero azzurro (blue path)trek between manarola & vernazza was closed.

manarola was a tiny place so we had lots of time & decided to take lunch there. ristorante la scogliera manarola prominently displayed its 4 trip advisor stars. must say we were not disappointed. indeed cheap & good! 🙂

Ristorante La Scogliera Manarola

restaurant was pretty crowded. we were early so we were able to get a table after few minutes before the queue formed up.

seafood spaghetti

the lunch specials were all about 10euros & 11 euros, and the menu dishes not far off. my seafood spaghetti was about 11 euros, and it was really good very tasty dish. 🙂

grilled octopus

al the grilled octopus we had at lake como restaurants & at miky monterosso were all good, and so was this & it’s just 10 euros.

plate of mussels

this my idea of eating mussels – wholesome, hearty, a large pot or plate & very reasonable prices (& not the meagre 4 stuffed mussels at miky). haha. i think also around 10 euros. 🙂

scampi pasta in tomato sauce

my daughter ordered the scampi pasta in tomato sauce. and they really do their tomato sauce pastas very well in all the restaurants we’ve been, very flavourful & great taste of tomatoes. 🙂

this definitely a lunch place i would recommend for all visitors to manarola. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Most Unforgettable Dinner @ Miky at Monterosso on 18 & 20Apr2014

Posted on July 29, 2014 by chefquak

monterosso restaurant miky’s famous flamed seafood risotto

had been lazy to continue my posting on the cinque terre trip in apr2014.

did a number of posts on amsterdam and lake como after the trip & ran out of steam after a while..haha. time to pick up & write about the best restaurant & the best meals we had in italy. the best meal we had at amsterdam was at beulings. 🙂

we picked monterosso as our base for cinque terre (the “five lands” -comprising 5 towns – italian riviera along the lingurian coast) as it is the largest town, has a nice beach front, and of course good gathering of restaurants & shops. we managed to do the very nice trekking from monterosso to vernazza & also monterosso to levanto, both with incredible views.

monterosso restaurant miky

miky is located near monterosso station, at fegina in the new part of town.

i read a bit about restaurant miky at monterosso & their famous flamed pasta dishes, and i made a prior booking on 18.4.2014. we enjoyed the dinner so much we decided to go again on 20.4.2014.

anchovies seafood platter 1

we had wonderful pickled herrings in the streets of amsterdam & also nice lake fishes platter at lake como restaurants. so we thought we would start with the fantasia of anchovies.

anchovies seafood platter 2

anchovies seafood platter 3

it looked wonderful & came with the 2 smaller platters i.e. 3 platters in a single order.

i would say it was something worth ordering for the first time. it was competent above average i guess but by comparison with alle darsene 7-lake fish platter or even street herrings in amsterdam, it was not as tasty & flavourful. for me the left & bottom 2 cured ones in anchovies seafood platter 1 though salty were the more flavourful.

roasted octopus tentacles

the roasted octopus with asparagus was good! very tender.

it was a different preparation but quite comparable with alle darsene octopus appetiser. both i considered very good dishes. 🙂

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stuffed mussles

the stuffed mussels not my thing, but wife & daughter liked it. i preferred sweet fresh & plentiful pot of mussels like the ones we had at la scogliera at manarola the next day, not 4 stuffed one..lol. the tomato base soup was very good though. 🙂

the flamed pasta covered pot of seafood risotto was the best outstanding dish. minimum order was 2pax @ 18euros pax so 36euros. the portions were good for 4pax & more seafood than risotto almost. the stock base i figured was chicken stock with prawn shells & heads & very flavourful.

the above photo was 1 of 3 servings for 3pax, and there was enough left in the pot for 2 more similar size servings including the seafood. 🙂

monterosso restaurant miky’s famous flamed seafood risotto

we went back again on 20.4.2014, the evening before our departure to milan the following day, and ordered the same risotto. just could not have enough! 🙂

this inspired me so much i came back & recreated the seafood risotto dish, and served it to my buddies for my lake como, cinque terre, milan grand tour tasting menu on 2.7.2014. they all absolutely loved it, though of course it was no comparison with the real thing at miky! lol! 🙂

monterosso restaurant miky

lobster, langoustine, prawns seafood platter

lobster, scampis, prawns seafood platter

the other excellent dish not to be missed was the 35euros lobster, scampis, prawns seafood platter. 🙂

the 1/2lobster was a large 1kg size not the usual 600g maine lobster in singapore, very sweet & tasty, but the scampis were even better. & the prawns were large & very good.

grilled seafood platter

when we returned there on 20.4.2014, we decided to try the grilled seafood platter instead. this was good too with grilled scampi, prawn, razor clams, scallop & fish on a bed of mesclun salad. in a way it was kind of different dish to the cold seafood platter but really in terms of quantity, taste, value the cold platter was lots better. 🙂

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monterosso restaurant miky

they were truly unforgettable meals we had, 2 times in a space of just 3 days. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Comfort Food 15pax Dinner @ Singapore Polytechnic Food Haven on 22Jul2014

Posted on July 25, 2014 by chefquak

#1 cereal prawns

we had our monthly get-together at singapore polytechnic food haven on 22.7.2014.

we had 15pax. the place basically served zi char food in an air-con restaurant ambience. we had 20% discount & no service charge as our organiser is a staff at SP. 🙂

#1 cereal prawns

#1 cereal prawns was pretty ok, competent, flavour was good, though batter a bit much.

#2 tofu soup

#2 tofu soup was ordinary like any tofu soup.

#3 steamed seabass

#3 i liked the presentation of the steamed seabass, like a fish swimming in the water. 🙂 it was done teochew style with mildly sour soup from salted vege & sour plum. fish was fresh & good as a seabass could be. 🙂

#4 beef with ginger & spring onions

#4 beef with ginger & spring onions (姜葱牛肉) was also competent, like a good zi char eating house. beef was tender OR should i say tenderised. 🙂

#5 claypot tofu

#5 likewise the claypot tofu. a good competent dish. 🙂

#6 sweet sour pork ribs

#6 sweet sour pork ribs was good too.

#7 fuyong egg?

& so was the #7 fuyong egg?

#8 sambal kang kong

#8 sambal kang kong was another common, simple, tasty dish i liked.

#9 red beans pancake

a friend commented that the skin of the #9 red beans pancake was too thick. indeed so! the dough flavour was good though so i did not mind the tucker skin. 🙂

#10 mixed fruits

#10 mixed fruits were good like any.

healthy fruits & nuts cookie

a friend brought some ‘healthy’ baked cookies. it had nuts (almonds & walnuts), raisins & cranberries, and not too sweet, so healthy indeed, for cookies that is. it was good! haha. 🙂

another very pleasant evening. time passed too quickly. a few friends did not join so often so it was good occasion for catching up. there were few other patrons & we almost had the restuarant to ourselves..haha. 🙂

food was pretty ok, competent. with all the staff discounts the cost was just S$12pax, cheaper than most coffeeshops zi char. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

D-I-Y Popiah Lunch @ Good Chance (好彩) Popiah on 25Jul2014

Posted on July 25, 2014 by chefquak

popiah condiments

a friend bought 7pax lunch at good chance (好彩) popiah on 25.7.2014. 🙂

good chance started operations in 1977 and is now managed by its 3rd generation. according to a server they moved to the silat avenue premises about 8 years ago?

the friend who bought lunch said they only accept reservations of 6pax minimum. strange rule? but i not complaining since i got invited as the lucky 5th or 6th person…haha. lol. 🙂 the d-i-y popiah dish was served in multiples of 6 (i.e. 6, 12, 18).

anyhow most reviewers including soshiok mentioned that the fillings were more than enough & one should just add the skin, which was what we did. in the end i took 3 helpings. 🙂

popiah fillings

d-i-y popiah

the fillings were the usual ban kwang (turnips) and carrots, the ingredients/condiments included the usual garlic soil, chilli, lettuce, tao gay (bean sprouts), shredded omelette, chopped peanuts, sweet sauce. skin was thin & quite good, the fillings were just average & i thought somewhat not as tasty as usual popiahs i had, which was like very rarely.

several of us were missing the prawns & lap cheong. for me i also missed the hae kor (prawn paste) which we used to have when my wife or her friends had popiah parties when my children were very small. most of my friends though did not have hae kor for their popiahs.

there were some techniques in folding the popiah as some friends tried to educate me. that reminded me in the early years i could actually fold a thinner long popiah & actually cut them into 5 pieces etc as some hawker stalls served them. now though it mattered not as i was eating the whole piece..haha. 🙂

yam fish head soup

the yam fish head soup was pretty good, though it would not really compare with having a yam fish head steamboat, and a glance at the prices suggested it was not cheaper either.

hae chor

most commented that the hae chor ingredients were too smooth & not chunky enough. one friend said the hae chor at lee do was much better. not that i remember much, but hae chor at lee do, yuan xing, chui huay lim, lee kui (ah hoi) etc all tasted about same to me. i do agree these ones here seemed not as tasty. also they looked quite different from the nice hae chor at chui huay lim and yuan xing (appetiser platter). 🙂

yam kong ba pao

braised belly pork & yam

the kong ba pao was i guess also competent. the braised yam was a good addition to the belly pork. otherwise the dish did not taste any special to me. my memory of westlake kongbabao (which i had not been for maybe 15years) seemed better than this, and the ones a friend packet for me some months ago were certainly better. i think my own braised belly pork or the ones at kuay chap stalls would also be tastier & better textured than this.

overall, it was a usual zi char place with an aircon environment. the prices also looked like usual zi char places. i supposed the d-i-y popiah was a welcome variation & added attraction for the place. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Steamed Oysters with Light Soy Sauce & Olive Oil

Posted on July 24, 2014 by chefquak

steamed oyster with light soy sauce & olive oil

this an excellent, cheap, tasty 2-minute dish that i created recently.

i served it on several occasions, namely my lake como etc grand tour tasting menu on 2.7.2014, 12-course homecooked fine chinese dinner on 15.7.2014 and best teppanyaki at home on 23.7.2014, & everyone loved it. 🙂

IQF (individual quick freeze) plump oysters from China

i had earlier bought IQF (individual quick freeze) oysters from sheng shiong. they were large, plump & cheap, only S$11.90 for 1kg. 🙂

i had wanted to try out the crispy orh jian similar to that at beng thin & also sticky orh luah at hawker centre. they both turned out ok but not really special. i personally liked the sticky orh luah better & also i could not produce the very thin crispy orh jian or oyster egg at beng thin.

steamed oyster with light soy sauce & olive oil

steamed oyster with light soy sauce & olive oil

anyhow i tried out a steamed cod after my friend bought me lunch at boon tong kee recently. i used just light soy sauce & olive oil & the steamed cod turned out quite well though not yet of the standard of btk. i will evolve the steamed cod recipe a bit more before i make a post on that.

i tried the same on the oysters & they just turned out fabulous every single time, and it was so very easy to make.

for 8 oysters, i used 2 teaspoon light soy sauce & 2 tablespoon olive, added 1 cut chilli padi & sliced ginger, placed on a glass dish so the sauce covered about 2/3 of the oysters & baste them. then i placed the dish in a steamer (water boiling) & steamed for exact 2 minutes. then scooped the oysters on individual soup spoons together with the sauce.

that was all to it. &i got my plump, juicy, very tasty oysters every time. the marinade also smoothed the strong sea taste. lovely dish especially when so easy to make. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Simply Fabulous 4-course Set Lunch @ Les Amis on 22Jul2014

Posted on July 22, 2014 by chefquak

crispy brittany langoustine

went back to les amis for lunch on 22.7.2014.

the 4-course set lunch was excellent the last time i came on 1.4.2014. 🙂 & today again it did not disappoint. 🙂

white pinot noir

wife ordered 1/2 bottle white pinot noir.

bread basket – baguette, brioche, sour dough, roll

brioche with sundered tomatoes

the bread basket was good. baguette, brioche & sour dough were all good. the roll wife said not good. i did not try.

#1 crispy brittany langoustine

#1 the crispy langoustine was excellent packed with meat tasted just like very tender lobster, & it was such a large helping.

#2 pan-seared foie gras, french river eel, cherries

#2 the foie gras was kind of monstrous. & it was very good too. so was the smoked eel (super!) & cherries.

#3 wild scottish salmon confit & tartare

#3 beef tartare

#3 the 2 main course options were wild scottish salmon confit & tartare OR beef tartare. beef tartare is 1 of my favourites for appetiser. this one though was a main & it was quite tasty. this preparation had quite a bit of herb. it was very good but i would prefer to have less herb & a more dominant sweet tasting beef.

the salmon confit & tartare was very good as well. a poached or baked salmon tends to be more chunky. this confit was medium rare & had a bit of the texture of cured salmon or sashimi. very nice. 🙂

french fries

beef tartare came with a good french fries.

#4 dessert of the day

#4 the dessert of the day was very good too. 🙂

I really like the quality set lunch here, and it offered good value at S$45++pax, similarly to their sister outlet au jardin which had regrettably ceased operations.

c.h.e.f andy

Quality + Great Value Alacarte Buffet @ Zen on 21Jul2014

Posted on July 21, 2014 by chefquak

salmon sashimi

bought 2xS$33.80 groupons & went with sis to zen at ue square for ala carte lunch buffet on 21.7.2014. 🙂

normal lunch buffet is priced at S$42++pax. i had also taken their lunch sets starting from S$16++pax (but some years back) & they were pretty good. quality of food & cooking had always been good here.

for the ala carte buffet, the main event was the wagyu shabu shabu. there was also pork & whole array of jap dishes. only set back was the lack of good sashimi other than salmon for the buffet. you could order them as additional ala carte orders & they were at good discounted prices too e.g. what looked liked a very good 10 piece sushi set was going for like S$18. i wouldn’t order that while i was having a alacarte buffet lunch though.

aburi salmon sushi & maguro susghi

aburi salmon sushi

the salmon sashimi was good, probably about chikuwatei & momoya standard. anyway these days many places served good salmon sashimi. the aburi salmon sushi & maguro sushi were both good but the rice was so huge you could not order more w/o leaving the rice. anyway i set aside the rice for later dishes like the kimchi buta & ebi ika basil dish. 🙂

kaki hoba yaki

breaded oyster

both the broiled oysters & the breaded oysters were good. we did not order additional as could not finish so much food!

also ordered 2 pieces ebi tempura (forgot to take pictures). good too. flour a bit much. we did not add orders.

steak

unlike the sister restaurant en japanese dining bar, they did not serve beef carpaccio, but the wafu steak was really very good, very tender & sweet.

thai style basil prawns & squid

kimchi buta

the 2 thai & korean dishes showed the quality of cooking here. kimchi buta was just ok but with lots of pork & belly pork. the basil prawns & squid was very good, the standerd of a good thai restaurant. i kept my rice for these dishes. 🙂

zen at UE square

shabu shabu

wagyu for shabu shabu

kutobuta pork belly for shabu shabu

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vege set for shabu shabu

for the main event wagyu shabu shabu, the beef was excellent. perhaps azmaya was better. hard to tell, but this was very good anyway. 🙂

it came in 1/2 & full portion (200g). we had the full portion for 2pax but could not add more. we also ordered 1/2 portion belly pork. it was just 6 slices & it was very good. we just could not add more.

unagi chahan

decided to take 1/2 portion of unagi chahan to share. it was still very large portion & we took about 70%. it was very flavourful with unagi pieces but no better than a good fried rice at imperial treasure or crystal jade lamian xiaolongbao.

tofu cheese cake

creme brûlée

also shared a tofu cheese cake & a creme brûlée. both were good. creme brûlée a bit sweeter & we did not finish it.

the normal weekday lunch buffet price is S$42++pax & dinner S$52++pax. still ok i guess if you take a lot of beef. the S$33.80nett groupon deal was of course superb value. 🙂

just to add that the service was overall good. not always the most attentive, but very polite friendly when they served you. ice water was free unlike other places (tajimaya does not serve tap water & charges S$5.90 for 1 litre bottled water), so the S$33.80 groupon was all we paid.

c.h.e.f andy

Good 3pax Yakiniku Dinner @ Tajimaya Vivocity on 20Jul2014

Posted on July 20, 2014 by chefquak

yakiniku @ tajimaya vivocity

we had always gone to aburiya. maybe it was familiarity & convenience, even though we knew that tajimaya by the creative eateries group had amex discounts.

this the first time we were dining here. amex offer was 1person off, so 33% discounts for 3pax alacarte exclude drinks. 🙂

looking at the menu we felt the prices were kind of expensive. another negative point was they did not serve tap water. so only 2 options – pay S$5.90++ for 1litre bottled water OR S$3++pax for tea (refillable). we ordered 3 tea, but if i go again, i am quite prepared to go w/o water during the meal. 🙂

i am ok with restaurants charging for water. however i think it should be like S$0.30 or S$0.50 or max S$1 & refillable, NOT S$5.90 for 1 litre water (bottled or tap).

kuroge wagyu karubi – S$54.90

we added the wagyu towards the end decided that since we were there, might as well gave it a try. the kuroge wagyu (黑毛和牛) karubi (short ribs) was good. not sure if worth money even with 33% discounts but it was good. 🙂

ribeye 120g – S$25.90++

karubi 120g – S$25.90++

kurobuta pork jowl – S$18.90

our first orders were the USA ribeye & karubi, and the kurobuta pork jowl. all were good though my wife preferred the beef shio (just salt) so we late had the wagyu order shio.

for me, both beef were good, and the kurobuta was best. 🙂

yakiniku @ tajimaya vivocity

beef ishiyaki don – S$15.90

belly pork ishiyaki don – S$13.90

we had the beef ishiyaki don. we must be hungry as we added also the pork ishiyaki don.

how did tajimaya match up with aburiya. we missed our favourite kimchi chigae & the bibimen (cold spicy noodles) at aburiya. the ishiyaki don here i would rate as better than aburiya’s bibimbab as it had a lot more ingredients – quite substantial beef & pork. meat wise my wife still preferred aburiya. i am ok with both.

our dinner was S$186nett for 3pax after discounts. that though included the expensive wagyu & also S$30++ for sake & S$9++ for 3 tea.

for me, tajimaya was too ex w/o discounts. with discount, it was an alternative to aburiya though I preferred aburiya also for the kimchi chigae & bibimen. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Good Thai Food @ Patara Fine Thai Cuisine on 19Jul2014

Posted on July 20, 2014 by chefquak

tomyam talay

had not been to patara for a while. the last post on patara was almost a year on 29.7.2013.

we decided to take advantage of the ongoing amex promotion which gave 1 person free or 33% discount for 3pax.

tomyam talay

the tomyam tally (seafood) was chokeful of ingredients, prawns, scallops, sotong & sliced coconut. flavourful but we thought it was far too spicy this time.

stuffed chicken wings

thai stuffed chicken wings not my favourite but they were good standard.

belly pork curry

we asked the chief waiter whether we should order the roast duck curry or belly pork curry. he recommended the later. it was a very good recommendation. the belly pork was very tender & the curry flavour was excellent.

alaskan crab legs in yellow curry

we decided to skip the whole garoupa dish which we ordered every time & try something new. we picked the alaskan crab legs in yellow curry. it cost S$39++ same as the garoupa. we would have been much better off with the garoupa. this dish was very expensive with just about 5 crab leg sections. the yellow curry was too thin. to me it was not worth the price even with 33% discount.

thai olive rice

patara’s olive rice was as perfect as ever. 🙂

overall the cost came to S$105nett after 33% discount, which was quite fine for 5 dishes, though i was not much into the stuff chicken wing & the alaskan crab was a rip-off!

c.h.e.f andy

A Close Friend’s Birthday Dinner @ Ah Yat Abalone Forum on 16Jul2014

Posted on July 17, 2014 by chefquak

#1 sharksfin soup

a close friend celebrating his birthday. normally we would buy dinner. but this time somehow he bought some groupon deal & insisted on buying dinner @ ah yat abalone forum at hotel grand pacific on 16.7.2014. we bought him a cake instead. 🙂

#1 sharksfin soup

i had not been to ah yat abalone forum (but was a regular visitor to ah yat turf city for past many years until about 2 years ago), so this was a good choice for me to try out the food here. 🙂

#1 the sharkskin soup was very good (a surprise actually as usually sharkskin in such sets are no better than, or i should say usually poorer than a good lie tong), a very tasty stock, and much better than ah yat turf city. 🙂

#2 sliced chicken with veg

#2 sliced chicken with veg – this had to be the poorest in the set, quite edible but essentially a nothing dish, i guess understandably to make up the numbers…haha. 🙂

#3 deep-fried fish fillet with thai sauce

#3 the deep-fried fish fillet with thai sauce was again above my expectation. i had this couple times at chao yue xuan (a ah yat group restaurant at mohamed sultan) & they were mostly sickly sweet. this one was crispy & good. 🙂

#4 chinese cabbage with golden mushrooms

there is nothing to say about the #4 chinese cabbage with golden mushrooms, competent like any usual veg accompanying a set.

#5 small abalones baked rice

#5 the baked rice with small abalones & mushroom was good. came with 3 small abalones & a thick slice mushroom. 🙂

#6 glass jelly with dried longans

#6 glass jelly with dried longans was i guess better than the red beans, green beans often served at ah yat turf city & chao yue xuan just to make up the numbers for the set. 🙂

birthday cake

a friend went to pick up a nice looking cake from flo at taka food hall. 🙂

the groupon was i think S$29.80, which i considered a rather good deal for the quality of food, better than ah yat turf city S$156 for 4pax set on account of the much better quality sharkskin & baked abalone rice but not better than chao yue xuan’s S$38pax 8-course set. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

P.S. several photos courtesy of a friend

Xing Ji (興记) Bakchormee at Fengshan Food Centre on 13Jul2014

Posted on July 14, 2014 by chefquak

xing ji (興记) bakchormee

a lot of late nights & day zombies lately. 🙂

went to a friend’s place to watch the germany – argentina world cup finals at 3am 14.7.2014. we arranged to meet at 10.30pm for supper then back to friend’s place to watch a movie. that would bring us nicely to 3am to watch the WC finals. 🙂

i supported argentina though it was an uphill task. both sides had good chances, however argentina lacked good finishers. messi was heavily marked & mostly in midfield with several lightning dashes down the right flanks but there was no centre forwards to receive his crosses & pullbacks – angela di maria was injured, aquero was not game fit & missing his speed & touches, gondola higuain missed a sitter & badly fluffed a superb lavazzi’s cross with an offside goal! & manual neuer the german goalkeeper smothered palacio’s once chance. anyway, in the end i guess the best team won! 🙂

before the WC finals we watched zero dark thirty, a multiple award winning film (oscar, bafta, golden globe etc) about the hit on osama bin laden. it was a good movie but for me it was not among the best & it was also hard to follow (need to read up first to understand the movie).

for supper, we had the famous xingji soupy bakchormee, see video here.

we also had the ngoh hiang & orh luah.

xing ji (興记) bakchormee fengshan food centre

xing ji (興记) bakchormee

ngoh hiang

orh luah

xingji soupy bakchormee was every bit as good as featured in the video. it was very different from the mushroom sauce tai wah bakchormee, very shiok songfa bakchormee, and the teochew meerpok tar at jalan tua kong lau lim bedok simpang, & jalan tua kong 6th avenue meepok tar etc.

the ngoh hiang was a disappointment! 😦 sausage was poor & ngoh hiang not tasty.

likewise the orh luah was poor, much worse than the orh luah at east coast lagoon food village.

c.h.e.f andy

Meepok Tar is Back at 6th Avenue @ Jalan Tua Kong on 8Jul2014

Posted on July 8, 2014 by chefquak

meepok tar @ jalan tua kong 6th avenue

the jalan tua kong meepok tar is back at good good coffeshop 6th avenue! renovation over. 🙂

meepok tar @ jalan tua kong 6th avenue

noodles now S$4. picture looked good, noodles was qq, chilli was good & ingredients were good, but it was quite salty. 😦 otherwise it was fine, still good. 🙂

will try again to see if that was just one off! just based on today, it was not so great vs jalan tua kong lau lim meepok tar & the very shiok ming fa bakchormee at upper thomson.

c.h.e.f andy

Great Value Sushi & Sashimi Bento Dinner @ Momoya on 6Jul2014

Posted on July 7, 2014 by chefquak

tempra & udon set

went to friend’s house in the east again to watch wimbledon finals between djokovic & federer on 6.7.2014.

we decided to go another place for dinner. we had been going to east coast lagoon food village the last few times. 1 friend suggested momoya at jalan pari burong.

S$17 sashimi & sushi set

S$5 sashimi upsize – 9 pieces

must say they have very good & inexpensive sets here. momoya also serves ala carte buffet, S$31++pax for lunch & S$35++pax for dinner (same buffet menu).

1 friend ordered the tempura & udon set. the tempura moriawase included 3 prawns, i guessing 1 fish & 2 vegetables. i tried 1 prawn, it was ok, the batter just average not so great.

another friend & i ordered the sushi & sashimi set. there were 12 pieces of sashimi – 4 slices each of salmon, maguro (tuna) & hamachi (yellow tail). salmon was very good, comparable with sun with moon at wheelock & might be better than or about same as chikuwatei. hamachi & maguro were quite standard, probably about same as chikuwatei not as good as sun with moon wheelock. the 6 pieces of sushi were pretty good quality – salmon, maguro, kajiki, eel, amaebi & ebiko. the set included soup & chawamushi (very average not great). at S$17++ for 12 pieces of sashimi & 6 pieces of sushi of above average to good quality, it was really good value for money.

we added 2 upsized portions of sashimi. this was same as the sashimi in the set except that there were 3 slices each so total 9 pieces sashimi for just S$5.

i would say the sashimi was about comparable with chikuwatei so S$17 set for 18 pieces was a much better deal than the S$25++ chirashi don at chikuwatei, and adding the upsize 9 pieces sashimi, it was just S$22++. the sashimi were good enough that greedy me enjoyed the overdose of 27 pieces for just S$22++. the S$20++ chirashi don set at ginza kuroson offered better quality sashimi but portion wise would be 1/2 this mount.

i would do this again when visiting my friends in the east.

c.h.e.f andy

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Category Archives: Buon Appetito!

S$2 Sungei Road Laksa on 10Aug2014

Good HK Standard Beef Brisket Noodles @ Lao Jie Fang 老街坊 Mei Chin FC on 8Aug2014

Great Lunch @ Ristaronte Pizzeria da T Levanto on 20Apr2014

Tak Shiok! (No Thrill) Dinner @ il Ciliegio Monterosso on 19Apr2014

Nasi Lemak @ Selara Rasa Stall No2 Adam Road on 4Aug2014

Cycling at Punggol PCN & Makan Break on 2Aug2014

Average Food Very Good Service @Praelum Wine Bistro on 1Aug2014

Great Value Wholesome Lunch @ Ristorante La Scogliera Manarola on 19Apr2014

Most Unforgettable Dinner @ Miky at Monterosso on 18 & 20Apr2014

Comfort Food 15pax Dinner @ Singapore Polytechnic Food Haven on 22Jul2014

D-I-Y Popiah Lunch @ Good Chance (好彩) Popiah on 25Jul2014

Steamed Oysters with Light Soy Sauce & Olive Oil

Simply Fabulous 4-course Set Lunch @ Les Amis on 22Jul2014

Quality + Great Value Alacarte Buffet @ Zen on 21Jul2014

Good 3pax Yakiniku Dinner @ Tajimaya Vivocity on 20Jul2014

Good Thai Food @ Patara Fine Thai Cuisine on 19Jul2014

A Close Friend’s Birthday Dinner @ Ah Yat Abalone Forum on 16Jul2014

Xing Ji (興记) Bakchormee at Fengshan Food Centre on 13Jul2014

Meepok Tar is Back at 6th Avenue @ Jalan Tua Kong on 8Jul2014

Great Value Sushi & Sashimi Bento Dinner @ Momoya on 6Jul2014

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