Marco Polo HK @ Harbour City 3-6Apr2015

Posted on April 9, 2015 by chefquak

view from marco polo hotel room

we stayed at marco polo hong kong hotel (located at harbour city kowloon) during this trip 3-6apr2015.

there are 3 hotels at harbour city belonging to the marco polo group. there is prince hotel nearer to kowloon park & haiphong road (where we stayed last time), gateway hotel in the middle & marco polo hong kong nearer star ferry terminal.

this time son was travelling with us. singapore airlines return airfare from london to hong kong was like £50 more than return to singapore, and the timing coincided with our trip to hk, which was bad really as we would have preferred to stay in singapore with our son, but anyway we made the best of it. 🙂

hotel room

we stayed at the continental club floor, which is kind of expensive for me, but it has its privileges.^^

at the other hotels, room are small & do not accept 3pax so you end up paying for 2 rooms. here we have a 500sq ft room at the 17th floor, which is very spacious even with the extra bed.^^

and view was great. we were directly overlooking 1881, which was formerly the navy police headquarters. and the victoria harbour. 🙂

tray of nuts

& the food was amazing. there was complimentary daily breakfast, afternoon tea and evening cocktail with hors d’oeuvres.

i stayed on many a club floors in my time working for various companies. the best food i had was a family staycation at ritz carlton in singapore like 20yrs ago. the food, wine & cheese were just incredible. i cannot really remember now except that it was very good, but this marco polo club floor food, wine & cheese were just as great!^^

wine & coffee

you can order coffee (flat white, cappuccino etc) but i am now taken by nespresso so i had a restricto (10) with creamer after many a cuppa with my good friend after our weekly 10km runs. a real enjoyment, this. 🙂

there were white & red wines. i liked the chateau los boldos, a chilean red, but the australian red was just as good. 🙂

cheese, a chive dumpling, pressed foie gras cone, another cheese

the cheese were excellent! the chinese dumpling was very good. i took a second, and the chinese dimsum next morning was great too.

mushroom vegetable skewer

the skewer was very good.

classy spicy dumpling 抄手

and what a classy way to present a spicy dumpling 抄手. ^^

fruits, fish, goat cheese cherry tomatoes skewer, spicy dumpling etc

goat cheese cherry tomatoes skewer

mango scallop

vegetable skewer

fruits

the magnificent hors d’oeuvres started at 5.30pm. made life difficult for us as we had to plan around it, after all we wanted to eat out in hong kong. haha!^^

on the first day 3.4.2015, it was quite perfect though.

we arrived 12.30pm at the airport, took the airport express to elements & the complimentary bus to marco polo & checked in at the club floor. so our plan was to have dimsum at timhowan at shamshuipo at 3pm.

so the 5.30pm hors d’oeuvres came in nicely as our next was a late night dinner at budaoweng at 9.30pm. ^^

smoked salmon & parma ham

smoked salmon & parma ham

smoked salmon & parma ham

breakfast was equally scrumptious.

steak breakfast

there was a breakfast menu which include steak, egg omelette, wanton noodles etc.

on the second day we were having a heavy weekend brunch at amber so i had a light breakfast. on the last day 6.4.2015, i ordered the steak. it was good, not like super super, but good.

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Beef Hotpot @ Budaoweng 不倒翁 iSquare on 3Apr2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by chefquak

USDA beef

as planned on the first night, we went to budaoweng 不倒翁 hotpot at isquare near our hotel at 9.30pm on 3.4.2015. this late night discounts used to be 40% before, but now it was 20% for the entire menu including drinks.

since we had a late lunch at timhowan shamshuipo, this was rather a good arrangement, except that we also had a bit to eat at the club lounge at marco polo hk hotel. 🙂

we had the usual must-order large portion 金牌肥牛 at HK$368, which was the USDA marbled beef.

budaoweng 不倒翁 hotpot

HK$758 geoduck, bamboo clams & grouper

geoduck

bamboo clams

we decided to have geoduck sashimi. it was very expensive though at HK$48 per tael (两) 37.5g。that would make it HK$1280 about S$228/kg = really ex man!

we decided to take their promotion platter which had a portion of geoduck sashimi, grouper head & belly & roar clams. that was HK$758 before 20% discounts. this also very ex. not that much geoduck sashimi, 2 pieces of razor clams & some grouper 头腩, which is a really cheap dish in HK.

1/2 order prawn dumplings – HK&88

we had 1/2 order (4 pieces) of our favourite prawn dumplings. it had 3 huge prawns inside.

vegetable tray

& a vegetable tray.

condiments & sauces

there were very good condiments & sauces. they charged like HK$22pax.

fruit & jelly

they served a complimentary fruit & jelly.

dinner was very enjoyable, but came to be rather expensive after 20% discounts (HK$1800 for 3pax) as we also ordered an expensive sake.

the service was very good actually. servers were polite & responsive. but they tended to push things. one served poured the cane drinks 竹蔗for us. the difference now was that we said we didn’t want it & she took it back. in the past servers in HK would show you a black face. they may still do now at other places. this one was ok.

another practice both here & at lei gardens, the servers tended to hang around, the body language expecting tips. but there was already 10% service, especially when they charged for everything from soup base to condiments & for here sake was very ex too. anyway they do what they need to do, we tip when we feel we want to tip…hahaha!^^

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Dimsum @ Timhowan Shamshuipo on 3Apr2015

Posted on April 5, 2015 by chefquak

crispy char siew bun

had excellent 4pax dimsum at timhowan at sham shui po, fuk wing street.^^

last time i dined here was in 2013. just as good this time.

son arrived HK airport 1/2hr later, and we managed to take airport express & hop onto the free bus transfer & checked in at marco polo hk at harbour city by 2.30pm.

timhowan shamshuipo

we were at timhowan at sham shui po at 3pm. there was a queue (this was good friday & we waited about 15mins).

fried carrot cake

liver fun cheong

we ordered 3 of the 4 signature dishes, namely the crispy char siew buns, the panfried carrot cake, and the liver fun cheong.^^

they were all good. somehow the crispy char siew funs were much better than singapore, very crispy & not so sweet. panfried carrot cake was kind of standard.

char siew fun cheong

both the liver & char siew fun cheong were very good, very smooth & the sauces was just great.

pork rib chicken feet rice

we loved the pork rib chicken feet rice. it was excellent! we had 2 orders to share among 4pax.

steamed pork ribs

chicken feet

we also had the steamed pork ribs & chicken feet separately. they were both very good. the chicken feet was the usual deep-fried ones & very different from the abalones sauce ones we had the next day at lei gardens which cost more & not so nice.

咸水饺

we liked the hamshuigok 咸水饺 too. nice!

har gau

& we had 3 orders of har gau. these were very good, same as what we had in crystal jade, imperial treasure & canton paradise in singapore.

we had one later at lei gardens times square & it was quite below par, really what we came to expect in HK.

shamshuipo market…lots of electronics & gadgetry

price came to HK$302 (S$54) for 4pax, higher than the usual S$8 to S$10 here because we ate a lot.^^

it was a great makan first stop for us in HK.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Lunch Sets @ Kuriya Dining on 25Mar2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by chefquak

jap wagyu uni ikura don

had an excellent lunch with wife & daughter at kuriya dining, great world city on 25.3.2015.^^

sake

wife always have sake with japanese food.

jap wagyu uni ikura don

we ordered a very nice S$68 jap wagyu uni ikura don. you can also order the set which comes with ebi tempura, chawanmushi & udon for S$88. we were happy just to have the beef don.

wagyu was so marbled & flavourful. uni was very sweet & smooth.

chirashi don set

we ordered 2 sets of chirashi don.

it came with a double-decker bamboo tray like tiffin carrier.^^

chirashi don

one tray had anago (conger eel or sea eel), tam ago (egg roll), ikura, tobiko etc.

chirashi don

the other tray had uni, negi toro (minced toro), ama ebi (sweet prawns), and many fish over bed of vinegared sushi rice.

the sashimi was top quality. it was as good as the chirashi don at mikuni. it did not have the botan ebi & otoro like mikuni’s but had bigger serving of uni. there were many slices of hotate & lots of sashimi including salmon, hamachi, maguro, kajiki, tai

chawanmushi

there was chawanmushi, good quality.

black sesami ice cream, mochi+fruits

fruits & sashimi ice cream + a very poor mochi.

coffee

and coffee.

mikuni chirashi don is still my favourite at S$90 (S$45 after 50% feed at raffles discounts) & i don’t really need a set, ala carte is good enough.

however at S$62, this chirashi don had very good sashimi cuts & larger (maybe 25% more) so it was a very good match for mikuni & i will be quite happy to have this again.

c.h.e.f andy

My Favoruite Wah Kee Big Prawn Noodles on 2Apr2015

Posted on April 2, 2015 by chefquak

S$15 big prawn noodles

a friend had to go for big prawn noodles today. not sure where the sudden cravings came from. we were at first planning to go to why eat har, a very good new big prawn noodle house started by a mutual friend’s brother. but was told that he was away & the stall was closed today.

S$15 big prawn noodles

wah kee big prawn noodles

anyhow, we decided to go to wah kee big prawn noodles at pek kio food centre at cambridge road. i was there at 11.30am today, a thursday, 2.4.2015 (wah kee is closed on mondays).

this has always been my favourite big prawn noodles stall though i had not been here many years.

i queued for 30mins+ & we waited another 5 mins for noodles to be ready. the “famous” lady serving told us that the prawns today were too big for S$10, and she had to charge S$15. we decided to take her suggestion to order 2 bowls S$5 & 2 bowls S$15 for 4 of us.

2x$5 & 2x$15 prawn noodles

S$15 big prawn noodles

wah kee has always served the large prawns in a separate metal pot. looked impressive but more important of course was how good it tasted.

the prawns for S$15 were huge, probably >100g each, fresh and excellent. in my memory which was really quite many years back the S$10 prawns were also very big. anyway, it was quite ok just to try. i am not sure though i would want to pay S$15 for this if i come again.

wah kee big prawn noodles dry

S$5 prawn noodles

we asked for additional haebeehiam chilli. i added a bit to the noodles. the noodles & chilli mix was excellent, though the lady totally forgotten i ordered beehoon mee & we got 4 bowls of just mee instead.

for me, though why eat har’s chilli was also very good, wah kee’s haebeehiam chilli was really superb. we suspected that haebeehiam chilli was added which gave the large prawn soup (usual S$10 or today’s S$15) a lot more intense flavours than the S$5 soup.

the total dining experience (& by that i meant only the food visuals, flavours, texture, excluding ambience & service) was excellent, indeed the soup & large prawns are something i can think & crave for.

if i compare just the S$5 prawn noodles for wah kee, why eat har & ah hui, wah kee’s chilli was better, soup thereabout or better, so wah kee would still be tops. wah kee & ah hui had 2 prawns, whereas why eat har had 3, and ah hui’s prawns were smaller than wah kee’s. so if i want the big prawns, it’s wah kee, if i want the S$5 prawns, it’s wah kee or if want want more value than why eat har, and if i want pig’s tail together with prawns, then ah hui.

but all 3 are good for repeat visits.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Funghi Linguine

Posted on April 2, 2015 by chefquak

funghi linguine

did a fungi linguine on the second day of chinese new year on 20.2.2015.^^

my wife has a tradition of inviting our families over for homecooked dinner on CNY second day. we had 26pax.

my niece & her husband are buddhist & take vegetarian though they are not picky & will take vegetables even if they were done with meats. 🙂

in 1 of the dinners previously i made them a spanish omelette, a potatoes & onions egg omelette. this time i made them a fungi linguine.

funghi linguine

i would prefer button mushrooms but i only had shitake. still, the mushroom flavours were very intense. the linguine was al dente & just the right texture. i added about 3 tablespoons of heavy cream to about 200g pasta. it was smooth & not too creamy. pasta was quite excellent. my sister-in-law was also vegetarian, and my niece’s husband took a second helping, so it managed 4 average portions & 1 portion left shared by my nephew & wife.

recipe was straightforward, basically same as preparing fungi risotto-

mushrooms were first slightly caramelised with pinch of salt over medium heat.
then chopped onions added & softened.
linguine was done just slightly below al dente, placed in ice water to halt cooking & drained.
when serving, add browned garlic with olive oil to pan, add mushrooms & onions to pan, add white wine, add linguine & cream, off the fire & toss.
add sugar & salt if required to taste.

c.h.e.f andy

Fresh Pastries & Great Coffee @ Carpenter & Cook on 1Apr2015

Posted on April 1, 2015 by chefquak

banoffee, lemon tart, quiche

son was back from london for a very short break. 🙂

he did 10km run with me this morning with my good friend & weekly running partner.

my daughter made the arrangements & we managed to find time to go for a 4pax family coffee/snacks at carpenter & cook this afternoon on 1.4.2015.^^ excellent outing this! wonderful food & ambience. 🙂

carpenter & cook

retro display

there were price tags on the quaint collections (i spied an old typewriter at S$800!) which included some enamel floral painted plates on the wall, tables & chairs etc. hence carpenter – we were told by the proprietress shenn, who is a pastry chef who pulls the weights for the other part of the name – cook. ^^

banoffee pie

banoffee pie was excellent! there was a coffee infused top. shenn said it was rare. the toffee was freshly made, very mildly sweet & excellent flavours (different form what i learned for the internet boiling a can of condensed milk in water for 3 hrs).

well, shenn told us her bakery was just downstairs at the same premises & all the pastries were own freshly baked & not from a common supplier. ^^

my own banoffee pie was not too bad but this was of course better. 🙂

lemon tart

lemon tart was very nice also. very mildly sweet (which we liked) & nicely tangy, & a nice crisp tart base.

bacon quiche

both my daughter & i wanted to try the quiche. we picked the bacon quiche. i thought it was really savoury & nice. we all liked it. i tried a mini quiche previously, not too great, maybe i may try it again.

flat white

the flat white was smooth & silky, micro foam well blended, & great flavours.

it didn’t have the latte art of assembly coffee. well i guess no latte art at all.

taste wise, it was as good as dutch colony & assembly coffee. maybe chye seng huat was better, couldn’t really remember. it was good anyway.

c.h.e.f andy

Curry Chicken Noodles Cravings @ Ah Heng Hong Lim Food Centre on 31Mar2015

Posted on April 1, 2015 by chefquak

curry chicken noodles

was in town & went to eat curry chicken noodles again at ah heng, hong lim food centre on 31.3.2015. a losing battle with cravings. really like it! ^^

they were out of drumstick so i had the chicken thigh or 鸡尾. 🙂

last time i had this irresistible curry chicken noodles here was 19.1.2015.

i have tried heng kee which was good too, but of the 2 my preference is ah heng.

curry chicken noodles

the curry gravy was simple excellent, so tasty & savoury. the taupok was just right & well infused with the curry flavours. the chicken was among the very best of any chicken rice stalls.

my own curry chicken noodles

my own poached chicken 白斩鸡

i was enamoured enough with this to try my own curry chicken noodles (which was not so easy). my own poached chicken 白斩鸡 is certainly as good. the curry gravy though pretty good as well is still not quite comparable.

c.h.e.f andy

A Nation Bids Teary Farewell To Mr Lee Kuan Yew on 29Mar2015

Posted on March 29, 2015 by chefquak

always Singapore first

i am truly glad that i went to parliament house with a good friend in the wee hours of 26.3.2015 to pay respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

i am very proud to be a singaporean, to witness & be part of the spontaneous outpouring of grief & gratitude for such a great man who devoted his entire life to singapore, to us.

i am very happy that i teared & wept many times over the week of mourning like many singaporeans who also found love & gratitude in their hearts & poured out their feelings unreservedly.

i am inspired, comforted & felt bonded with the exemplary, caring & earnest from the heart behaviour of singaporeans united in grief, gratitude & respect for Mr Lee, captured so well by yvonne ng, an ordinary singaporean (only with Facebook access) –

(quote) Mostly, we are impressed beyond words, by our fellow countrymen who came and bond together, and the unspoken heroes who provided drinks, cakes, bread, flowers and more along the queues. We are amazed by the quiet queues that just kept forming, and the quiet resilience displayed through a simple action like this. We are impressed by the seemingly seamless arrangements made by the authorities, and the amount of work and sleepless nights for those on duty.

We are touched by the love, care, respect and the wonderful “Singapore Spirit” displayed by Singaporeans, in this difficult time. A spirit we never really knew existed until now.

We did not practise this, nor did we choreograph this. It is just so simply…Singapore.

We have always been searching and asking about the Singaporean identity. This is it.

Fifty years ago, a man brought us together as one united people.
Fifty years later, he brought us together again, and we stand united as a nation.

This is Singapore.
This is Home.
And I am so proud of being a part of it. (unquote)

as yvonne (who i do not know) famously described, this is the last contribution by Mr Lee to Singapore. even in death, he has united the whole nation & helped us unlock the deep feelings, purpose & resolve for the country.

this morning, my wife, my daughter & i were at the clementi community tribute site & i managed to pay my last respects to Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

Rest in Peace Mr Lee. as PM Lee Hsien Loong said, you were the guiding light for the nation, and your values & ethos will continue to inspire us & be our guiding light.

c.h.e.f andy

Cherian George – Singapore please listen to him!

Posted on March 27, 2015 by chefquak

i said on my Facebook-

Cherian George…you are my new idol!

NTU don’t know what they missed that such an outstanding person as yourself could be denied tenure & have to find employment in HK..

PAP leaders should seriously listen to you!

such fairness, moderation, balance, intellectual honesty & calm & incisiveness!

all my friends, please listen to this guy…

agree with & learn from everything you said, in particular LKY’s incorruptibility & how Singapore is so lucky to have him!

i had expected a very professional analysis but with the usual fashionable western liberal emphasis on mr lee’s intolerance towards alternative views. after all cherian george does have some very recent legitimate grievances with NTU denying tenure.

it is NTU’s & Singapore’s great loss that the man is now plying his trade in hong kong.

instead his depth & incisiveness demonstrated true intellectual honesty, moderation & balance in examining the issues and also genuine care for singapore’s future. it is a fair & balanced mind with respect for the truth (& equal respect for other human beings with difference of opinions) that is constantly considering, weighing alternative viewpoints & angles, & new facts & information.

cherian spoke as he believed. his was not some shallow piece beautifully crafted to appear to be balanced & fair in order to look good or to impress, which i see often these days circulated on the social media.

i liked his observation that mr lee was in fact more liberal & ahead of the curve than the present PAP leadership, that it is in fact the present leadership that is dogmatic clinging to past formulas of success rather than working from basic pragmatic principles of service & what’s good for singapore. in contrast, the founding fathers under the leadership of mr lee had been truly pragmatic, serving & delivering what was good & what worked for singapore & not constrained by dogma & ideology.

cherian’s humanity & generosity of heart really resonate with me. mr lee & his generation of leaders were pragmatic because they cared so much about the well being of the people of singapore.

c.h.e.f andy

Outpouring of Grief & Gratitude for Beloved Mr Lee Kuan Yew

Posted on March 27, 2015 by chefquak

last night, i went with a good friend & started queueing for almost 2hrs from 2.35am to 4.30am to pay respects to our beloved first prime minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

i shared this on my Facebook-

Standing in queue at padang at 2.46am… about 2hr queue?

Really proud of my fellow Singaporeans standing in queue to pay respects. That so many understand gratitude & respect. .

Thank you Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

You cared so much for us. Did so much for us. devoted your entire life to Singapore.

It is so very sad that such a great & wonderful person like you is no more..

rest in peace SIR!

my feelings were no different with so many singaporeans from all walks of life who said that waiting in line for whatever number of hours was the least they could do for Mr Lee who had given his entire life to singapore & made our lives immeasurably better!

my friend & i were really happy that we came to be part of this spontaneous outpouring of grief & gratitude for mr lee.

there were endless accolades from world leaders. i liked the tribute by henry kissinger especially.

both the new zealand parliament & australian parliament passed tribute motions & had many tribute speeches by leader of various parties.

singapore also had a special session of parliament with many moving tributes from minsters, PAP MPs, mr low thia khiang, leader of the opposition workers party, and NMPs. i was very moved that sylvia lim chairman of workers’ party (and like everyone else) were in tears.

genuine emotions are to be treasured. i never thought i would tear myself. but listening to the speeches & tributes, and what ordinary singaporeans said & the open display of emotions, i am very happy that i cried just like anyone else.

today i watched the rappler interview with cherian george, a singaporean writer and academic based in hong kong, to assess Lee Kuan Yew’s legacy and to take a peek at what’s ahead for singapore. he was just so good!

c.h.e.f andy

Among the Best Weiyi Laksa 唯一辣沙 @ Tanglin Halt Food Centre on 24Mar2015

Posted on March 24, 2015 by chefquak

S$5 laksa

had been trying out laksa at different places last few days.

today i went to tanglin halt market & food centre & try out weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙 on 24.3.2015.^^

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙

i was there at 11.55am but there was already a queue of 15 people.

the queue went plus minus a bit but when i finished at 12.30pm queue was just as long.

so many people cannot be wrong, can it?

i queued for 25minutes. weiyi had a good system with a board with numbers for the combination to order & the prices. & the guy was friendly, knew how to smile & be happy, which was sometimes lacking in other sellers.

weiyi also sells prawn noodles. today there was a sign “sold out” (at 12pm??). anyway i came for the laksa.

S$5 laksa

i asked for no. 6 which was chicken & cockles & taupok, S$5 bowl, & thick beehon mee. 🙂

there wasn’t a number combination with just cockles & taupok. there was no purpose for me to try prawn combination. chicken with laksa was most uncommon so i wanted to try it.

S$5 laksa

the laksa gravy was excellent! a lot of hae bee as well. anyhow the combination of flavours – lemak, spiciness, taste – was excellent. i finished almost all the gravy. ^^

cockles were fresh & plump, taupok was soft & well infused with gravy & not falling apart. chicken was a lot better than i expected, very sweet & tender.

but of course, however good the chicken might be, it was no comparison with the poached chicken白斩鸡 at ah heng curry chicken noodle at hong lim food centre. likewise for heng kee curry chicken noodles.

& if it is between the excellent laksa gravy & excellent curry chicken gravy, i will go for the latter every time. just my personal preference.^^

weiyi laksa 唯一辣沙

just comparing laksa with laksa, this would beat the #02-141 stall at bukit timah food centre hands down.

it also made me appreciate the teck hin laksa stall at food loft @ clementi. i was asking myself was this really better than teck hin’s. i think the difference was quite infinitesimal. the taupok was much better becos the taupok at teck hin was still hard & not well infused with gravy. the gravy might be tastier overall, but really not by much. there was no queue at teck hin when i visited at 5.30pm & i don’t expect it will have a 15pax queue at 12pm. 🙂

& compared with sungei road laksa at jalan shui kopitiam at jalan berseh? it’s kind of difficult to compare. this weiyi version, like teck hin’s, was a lot more savoury & substantial. sungei road had more lemak & sweet gravy.

c.h.e.f andy

OK Laksa @ Bukit Timah Food Centre

Posted on March 23, 2015 by chefquak

laksa lemak

had a S$4 laksa at bukit timah food centre earlier today on 23.3.2015.^^

it was 3.30pm. carpark was empty & many stalls were closed.

last time i came here was with a group of friends on our own hawker food tour in 2013.

stall #02-141

saw this stall #2-141 & the photo of laksa looked great, so decided to try it.

laksa lemak

the laksa that came did not look quite as good.

i added S$1 “hum” i.e. cockles so it was S$4. cockles were good, fishball & fishcake ok, taupok was ok.

the laksa gravy was a bit too pasty. it did have a lot of haebee was flavour was ok.

by comparison, the laksa at teck hin fishball noodles at food loft @ clementi was distinctly better than this.

and sungei road S$2 laksa still the best.^^

laksa lemak

this laksa was not too bad really. but it is probably a standard of laksa you can get anywhere, and many places also better than this, so it was just ok, passable.

c.h.e.f andy

Quite OK 3pax Lunch @ Chickenwok 鸡之味 on 21Mar2015

Posted on March 22, 2015 by chefquak

brinjal tofu salted fish

went to visit a chinese friend & look at his new Beacon LED office/store at tradehub21 on 21.3.2015.

chickenwok 鸡之味

he arranged for another mutual friend to meet at chickenwok 鸡之味 downstairs his office, and bought lunch.^^

we were early (intentionally) at 11.15am so the place was empty & we were the first & only customer (at the time we finished about 12pm).

i have seen chickenwok 鸡之味 S$15 for S$30 groupon vouchers many times before but did not consider to try. for today we did not have vouchers. & a check at groupon showed that the vouchers had sold out, but i know they always come back. seen it so many times liao. so next time if i come, i will be armed with vouchers. 🙂

we ordered 5 dishes. they were all pretty ok, no bad dishes, tasty enough, quite inexpensive.

all except the S$8 romaine lettuce, which my ancient upbringing think quite ridiculous vs other dishes but my wife had enlightened me that there was no basis in the first place for me to think that vegetables should be cheaper than meat! 🙂

and i do marketing, so i know the average amount romaine lettuce cost S$2.50 (2 bunches) to S$3.50 (3 bunches) in sheng shiong, and more in chinatown. well, so it’s S$8 in an inexpensive restaurant.

the best dish (kind of just slightly better than the rest) i found (top photo) was oddly the brinjal & tofu. the salted fish gave it a very interesting flavour & overall the dish was tasty.^^

curry chicken

curry chicken was good.

curry chicken

good as in c/w any economic rice stall or nasi padang stall, but cannot compare with the lemak green or red curries at good nasi padang stalls e.g. river valley nasi padang (now closed). 🙂

this the thicker more pasty curry & not so lemak kind.

curry stingray

curry stingray also good, better than curry chicken, basically like any good homecooked curries or coffee shop stalls, which means not too bad la…^^

claypot braised belly pork 东坡肉

the claypot braised belly pork 东坡肉, not really 东坡肉 (the top restaurants seldom serve this swimming in braising sauce, always bunched standing up with or w/o sauce though i had tried the wet version also at kamjiazhuang recently, anyway tasted different in texture & flavour), was better than i expected. in fact it was rather good braised belly pork, nice soft texture retaining some bite not falling apart & quite tasty. 🙂

romaine lettuce with shimeji

romaine lettuce was good. to me, still too expensive vs a S$6 braised pork belly & S$6 stingray. still not attuned to the times, haha! 🙂

the prices

there was no GST & service. they charged S$0.60 for ice water. for me that’s quite ok. guy got to make a living. 🙂

& if you get a S$15 for S$30 groupon voucher, then this is better than coffee shop & food court prices.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Good Interesting 2pax Lunch @ Immanuel French Kitchen on 19Mar2015

Posted on March 21, 2015 by chefquak

duck rillette & kakuni belly pork

went with a friend to try out immanuel french kitchen at salute coffeeshop at alexandra village on 19.3.2015.^^

my interest was piqued by the saw a write-up on ST Life on enochximmanuel 6-course dinner menu 3-day event.

i did not managed that but did went with my wife to enoch’s the evening before. so today, it’s time to try out immanuel french kitchen.

it’s not easy to get parking even at 11.45am. anyhow i managed to parked at SCAL (singapore contractors association limited) building.

salute coffee shop

salute coffeeshop is really an interesting concept. all the stallholders are “boutique restaurants” in a non-air con environment.

the “people in white” wearing the stew kuche tees seemed to be policing the place. i was early & place was quite empty so i sat at a 4-seat table. they asked me to move to the next 2-seat table. reasonable ask, good practice i guess – so comply, not that there was a choice!

they did that to a young couple again who came to sit at the table i vacated. well, at least it was consistent & diligent.

immauel french kitchen menu

we came mainly for immanuel french kitchen. chef immanuel tee has rather illustrious pedigree, having worked at jaan with chef andre chiang, restaurant andre (where he met & worked with chef enoch teo), michelin starred guy savoy & pastorale, & keystone.

young chef was busy. there were another 3 helpers.

we ordered the duck rillette & the kakuni style braised belly pork. both were good!

kakuni style braised belly pork

the belly pork was excellent. i guess sous vide, & very well done for taste, texture, with the onset egg & croutons. very enjoyable dish, big for 1pax & quite perfect to be enjoyed by 2pax or 3.^^

duck rillette + gerkhins

duck rillette

i love the duck rillette. it was a very good helping too, & served with pickled gerkhins, which i liked too. the baguette was good too & excellent taken together with the duck rillette. i want to eat this again!

mussels pot

the stew ruche menu did not look exciting. we were not going to take the knuckles, & the pasta did not look great. of course could not tell until you tasted it but on photos alone, think my own pastas are better than any of them.

1 reviewer commented that the ramen burger had nice bulgogi but the burger tasted like maggi instant noodles snack!

my friend decided to try the mussels pot from seasalt. this was poor really! & such a simple dish to make. mussels were just slightly overcooked & not so juicy & succulent. the sauce gravy was ordinary.

worse, 1/2 the mussels had beards that were not removed, quite “dirty” really. no chance i would try this again.

c.h.e.f andy

Chicken Rice 白斩鸡饭

Posted on March 21, 2015 by chefquak

poached chicken白斩鸡

been doing poached chicken白斩鸡 quite a bit, most recently for a 9pax homecooked lunch on 9.3.2015.

1 of the delectable dishes i made was “hong lim FC curry chicken noodles”. basically i used the same method to make the poached chicken白斩鸡, just that the chicken stock needed to be more intense to produce a tasty chicken curry gravy.

though i have made the poached chicken白斩鸡 many a times, i had not gotten around to making the chilli sauce & the rice. recently my son in london shared on family whatsapp the chicken rice he made for his friends. that finally got me to try out my own chicken rice.

poached chicken白斩鸡

so i followed my trusted poached chicken白斩鸡 recipe & made another tasty, moist, tender chicken.

this was my very first time though to attempt the chicken rice.

chicken stock

after i deboned the chicken, i put pack the bones to the stock & boiled for another 2 hrs, reducing to a very flavourful chicken stock. i was cooking 2 cups of rice so took out 2 cups of chicken stock to cool down.

chicken rice after frying before cooking

1 browned 3 chopped shallots, then added 2 teaspoon minced garlic & slice ginger (3cm piece) & fry for short time to get the fragrance aroma, then i added the 2 cups of rice and mixed thoroughly. i removed rice & put in the rice cooker & wait for the stock & rice to cool.

chicken rice cooked with stock

then i cooked the rice in my regular rice cooker.

chicken rice

the rice tasted a tad soft at first, but when eaten with the chicken, chilli & black sauce (& even overnight), it tasted pretty good.

soup – chicken stock

the stock was heavenly!

chilli

i wasn’t sure about the chilli. i picked 1 recipe but did not have 6 large red chilli, so i made do with 3 chilli padi + a large red tomato. the blend needed the bulk. i reduced lime juice to 1 tablespoon (from 1/3cup or about 5 tbsp), added 1 tbsp mirin, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, then blended. and after tasting added 1 tsp tsuyu.

chilli taste was pretty ok. daughter said it tasted good but different from the chicken rice chilli. wife though i had too much shallot, no sesame, & just above average kind of good. i guess that was ok for my first try.

it was basically just inertia that i cooked many times poached chicken白斩鸡 but avoided the rice & chilli. anyway will do more chicken rice soon!^^

c.h.e.f andy

Good 2pax Dinner @ Enoch’s on 18Mar2015

Posted on March 21, 2015 by chefquak

sous vide leg of lamb

saw a write-up on ST Life on enochximmanuel 6-course dinner menu 3-day event.

i called up but it was the last day & i wasn’t free that evening. it was fully booked anyway.

i did the next best thing & booked a dinner at enoch’s on 18.3.2015. good to support these young aspiring singaporean chef.^^

young chef enoch teo honed his skills at restaurant andre (where he worked with another young chef immanuel tee), absinthe, bistro du vin.

the restaurant was previously known as le petit paradis (“the little paradise” in french), which started out at alibabar hawker bar for two years before moving to its current premises on east coast road.

managed to park at marshall road 2 side roads before enoch’s at 7pm. it was free parking too after 5pm.^^

enoch’s

place was the minimalist deco type, bright & pleasant, which was the right way to go. there were 2 other tables, a quiet evening.

mushroom cappuccino

i ordered the set, which came with the truffle asparagus, their signature dish, choice of lamb or seabass (i had lamb), and dessert (which was an apple crumble).

wife ordered mushroom cappuccino & truffle asparagus from the ala carte menu.

surprisingly, the mushroom cappuccino was very much below par. it was firstly too salty. apart from the foam & the nice crisp crouton? the soup was very average tasting, did not feel any intensity or flavours standing out. i do my soup better!

truffle asparagus – S$17

asparagus was good. but parma ham was salty, not a very good grade. onsen egg (sous vide egg) was great texture & silky as it should be. asparagus was done very well, cooked, tasty & still having the bite, not soft.

it was overall a pretty good dish, of course not in the class of Jaan’s 64degC 55mins sous vide egg with iberico chorizo.

but it was a small dish, i think at most S$10, so S$17 was too pricy for this dish. the lady server from myanmar mentioned the tiny piece of truffle. i guess that is individual preference. to me the tiny piece of truffle added nothing to the dish & it was better off with just a dash of truffle oil (which many restaurants do) that would add great flavours to the dish.

sous vide leg of lamb

the dish that stood out was the sous vide lamb. it was tender & tasty & the pesto sauce also enhanced the taste. a great dish!^^ & a large helping too.

apple crumble

i commented to my wife “hope it is not too sweet” before i dipped into the apple crumble. and first bite – it was too sweet! but actually after a few bites, it was quite ok because the apple was actually quite sour & the sweetness (slightly & not sickeningly sweet) counteract the sourness.

overall, other than the sous vide lamb, the dishes were just average and i think below what saveur offer.

c/w concetto also, i think concetto dishes were much better crafted & plated, and much lower prices.

price wise meat dishes were ok but the asparagus was overly priced, and the mushroom cappuccino was just not restaurant class.

service by the myanmar lady server was ok. chef enoch was a bit shy & did not come to talk to us after taking the orders or he was much in conversation with the other table.

it is an ok place which i don’t mind returning to after a while, except it is a bit farther & not the most convenient for me.

c.h.e.f andy

Excellent Xiaolongbao 小笼包 @ Joyful Palace 怡乐坊 on 19mar2015

Posted on March 19, 2015 by chefquak

S$3 xiaolongbao 小笼包

met a friend for a chat at food loft clementi ave 3 blk 443 this evening on 19.3.2015。

S$3 xiaolongbao 小笼包

i wanted to try the laksa and order a S$4 bowl from teck hin fishball noodles for myself. my friend was having dinner at home afterwards, so we decided to just order a S$3 xiaolongbao 小笼包 from joyful palace 怡乐坊 to share.

this S$3 xiaolongbao 小笼包 (for 5 pieces) turned out to be pretty good.^^

the soup was very sweet, as good as any of the restaurants crystal jade, imperial treasure, canton paradise. skin was ok not the smoothest but pretty good still. meat was tasty, kind of a bit big but then what was there to complain if it was nice?

joyful palace 怡乐坊 dimsum

joyful palace 怡乐坊

joyful palace 怡乐坊 is located at the food loft @ clementi ave 3 blk 443.

in addition to dimsum it sells the hong kong roast meats and also ramen with the roast as well as dan dan mian & mala chicken ramen.

not sure if i would try those if i am there, more likely to take the laksa.^^

c.h.e.f andy

Good Laksa @ Teck Hin Fishball Noodles at Food Loft Clementi Ave 3 Blk 443 on 19Mar2015

Posted on March 19, 2015 by chefquak

S$4 laksa

met a friend for a chat at food loft clementi ave 3 blk 443 this evening on 19.3.2015.

teck hin fishball noodles

food loft clementi ave 3 blk 443

decided to order the laksa from teck hin fishball noodles & a xiaolongbao 小笼包 from joyful palace 怡乐坊.

S$4 laksa

laksa was S$3.50 & i asked for additional “hum” i.e. cockles, so S$4.

these days, there are so many katong laksa around and many places sell good competent laksa. this laksa easily belong to the quite good category.

the cockles were fresh & plump, the laksa gravy was lemak & fragrant. there were lots of fish cake and taupok, only thing the taupok were not soft enough so not absorbing the gravy well enough.

need less to say, it was no match for the S$2 sungei road laksa. still on the whole, this really was a considerably good laksa. i would certainly take this again here.

c.h.e.f andy

Very Good Wanton Noodles @ Balestier Food Centre on 17Mar2015

Posted on March 19, 2015 by chefquak

waton mee

sis & i had a great S$5 prawn noodles dry & prawn+pigtail noodls soup at ah hui @ balestier food centre on 17.3.2015.^^

my bil opted for a S$4 wanton noodles.

i was very impressed with the good serving of char siew which looked delicious & tempting, so i tried a piece. it was very good, tender & tasty.^^

waton mee – soup

waton mee

according to my bil, the noodles were good too, qq & with very good chilli mix. wanton were smooth.

6th avenue wanton noodles at good good eating house is my recent favourite but this looked really good & i will be back to try it myself.

kok kee wanton noodles (formerly at lavendar food square) was the best i had tried bit not sure where it has moved to? apparently to a coffee shop is on the ground floor of nearby hoa nam building, but still to check out.

c.h.e.f andy

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