Pretty OK Club Food @ SICC Bukit Cafe on 20Sep2015

ngoh hiang

ngoh hiang

3 of us went to sicc for some makan on 20.9.2015.

it’s F1 race day. lewis hamilton not doing well, starting 5th on the grid & later retired.

ngoh hiang

ngoh hiang

we have never tried the ngoh hiang here.

turned out that it was pretty good for S$9.50. i can have this again.

char kuay teow

char kuay teow

char kuay teow is always good here, S$7.20 but a large plate. the wok hae is legendary, very good here!

char kuay teow

char kuay teow

we ordered extra “hum” (cockles). they were very cooked, safely cooked, so more or less cockles didn’t feel much different.

tandoori chicken

tandoori chicken

tandoori chicken, very average for me. quite good marinade flavours i guess.

tandoori chicken

tandoori chicken

not my favourite for standalone dish, but don’t mind it if come with other curries.

garlic naan

garlic naan

naan was tasty but again eating dry w/o dhal or curries not my preference.

cheng teng

cheng teng

wife & daughter had the cheng teng.

cheng teng

cheng teng

it’s always good here.

i didn’t take any – ice kachang, ice jelly all good like the cheng teng, but they all quite filling.

dinner was S$40 for 3pax. more ex than hawker centre but pretty ok.

c.h.e.f andy

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3 Days of Non-stop Feasting @ Chinese New Year 2015 (19-21Feb2015)

as usual, had a very foodful chinese new year. it was just a spate of continuous eating, meals & snacks. no matter if i skipped meals, as there were continuous munching of snacks to fill the gaps, so weight watching was quite simply a lost cause.

my happy chinese new year blessings to all my friends here

CNY Eve

for CNY eve we had our reunion dinner at my elder brother’s place.

this year i made buddha-jump-over-the-wall(BJOTW), 1/2spicy duck 盐水鸭 & using the same marinade, a spicy belly pork.

buddha jump over the wall ingredients

buddha jump over the wall ingredients

buddha jump over the wall ingredients

buddha jump over the wall ingredients

the BJOTW was a poor man’s version. apart from a can of 6 pieces small abalones & good thick mushrooms, the other ingredients were cheap (limpets) and mostly unhealthy (pig trotter, pig ear, belly pork, pig head meat).

look was impressive (top photo), taste was pretty good. but i was not overly impressed with my own effort. there was too much food anyway & didn’t really need more unhealthy food – will skip this next CNY.

pencai 盆菜

pencai 盆菜

pencai 盆菜

pencai 盆菜

my sis brought the pencai 盆菜. flavours was very good, and the small abalones much better than what i had. this year pencai 盆菜very expensive everywhere. hers was a very much cheaper one only S$138 for 6pax.

hoe see fat choy2 蚝屎发菜(好事发财)

hoe see fat choy 蚝屎发菜(好事发财)

hoe see fat choy 蚝屎发菜(好事发财)

hoe see fat choy 蚝屎发菜(好事发财)

my wife made her usual hoe see fat choy 蚝屎发菜(好事发财), and as usual very nice, though the ones she made later on Day2 was even better, tastier.

braised pig stomach

braised pig stomach

my s-i-l’s mom made the braised pig stomach (though nowadays the person actually making it was the helper). this a dish i always like.

char siew & roast pork

char siew & roast pork

my niece made very good char siew & roast pork. she made a small business of it, selling 20kg of the tasty dish over the internet.

my spicy duck 盐水鸭 was good too. it was a lighter version c/w my teochew braised duck. in fact this dish is served as appetiser in shanghai, nanjing, jiangnan locality.

spicy belly pork

spicy belly pork

i used the same spice to do the spicy belly pork. this was ok but not great. i did this again on Day2 & that was miles better!^^

mantis prawn

mantis prawn

chilli mantis prawn & pomfret

chilli mantis prawn & pomfret

my brother bought very large mantis prawns, 5 pieces for S$35. i did not take any. it wasn’t too great also but certainly looked nice. the chilli though was very good, better than most chilli crabs. 🙂

pomfret

pomfret

pomfret was usual. i did not try it either, just too much food.

tofu with leeks

tofu with leeks

tofu with leek, and broccoli

tofu with leek, and broccoli

i liked all the vege.

my brother tried eating out for 3 years for CNY eve. we went to joyden (previously called west coast seafood). food was quite good & not too expensive, however with say 13pax or more, it still came to >S$600. all of us cook, so it was so much more fun just to cook some dishes & bring over. i definitely preferred our own homecooked CNY eve dinner. ^^

CNY Day 1

breakfast spread

breakfast spread

again our family tradition, on CNY Day 1, we went over to my brother’s place for breakfast.

hoe see fat choy2 蚝屎发菜(好事发财)

hoe see fat choy 蚝屎发菜(好事发财)

tanhoon fungus

tanhoon fungus

many of the dishes were leftover from CNY eve dinner.

rabbit fish & salmon sashimi

rabbit fish & salmon sashimi

there were too much food on CNY eve, so we kept the prawns for Day1 breakfast, and added the rabbit fish知县鱼 (very sweet) & the salmon sashimi my wife bought (very good too!).

tofu & leeks

tofu & leeks

leftovers from last evening!

mushrooms & greens

mushrooms & greens

& some more vegetables. ^^

CNY Day 2

CNY Day2 is my wife’s tradition. she would invite her brothers & sister & their families (nephews & grand nephews & grand niece).

this year we took a family photo. & there are 26pax + our dog rusty. ^^

i made my usual poached chicken 白斩鸡. this time it was especially good – colour, texture, sweetness! everyone just loved this dish.^^

the miso pork was very good too. this the longest i put in the oven, 8hrs at 90degC/85degC.^^ the result was excellent. the miso marinade gave it excellent flavours & the slow low-temperature braise an excellent texture. i have learned that 90degC is the optimum temperature to convert collagen to tasty gelatine & texture, so this made the miso pork texture & bite really good!

flavoured pork 风味五花肉

flavoured pork 风味五花肉

i did the same for the flavoured pork 风味五花肉, and this was excellent too, with a different sichuan spice marinade.

tanhoon fungus

tanhoon fungus

we had the same tanhoon fungus.

chilli pork ribs

chilli pork ribs

& my helper’s chilli pork ribs.

deepfried chicken wings

deepfried chicken wings

some chicken wigs for the young ones.

funghi linguine

funghi linguine

funghi linguine

funghi linguine

funghi linguine

funghi linguine

for my niece & her husband who are vegetarians, i made a funghi linguine. also for my wife’s sister. it was really good. they all loved it, and there was a bit of leftovers for the nephews.

after that it was my tofu cheese cake & tiramisu, which disappeared in no time.

ice jelly with longans, palm fruits

ice jelly with longans, palm fruits

i especially liked the ice jelly with longans, palm fruits my wife’s sil made. she always bring that for our gatherings. very refreshing. i had several helpings.

c.h.e.f andy

13pax ala Carte Buffet Dinner @ Peach Garden Miramar on 30Jun2014

#1 char siew

#1 char siew

#2 roast pork

#2 roast pork

our dinner group decided to have get-together at peach garden miramar on 30.6.2014. food was ala carte buffet at S$30.80++ and 3 paying 1 free, quite good deal really. 🙂

the food was generally good, better than our last group dinner at ban heng orchard central on 25.4.2014. the service was very good too, friendly & jovial, and we all decided to give a substantial tip afterwards. 🙂 it was also 1/2 the price & better quality than the one i had recently at restaurant home on 25.6.2014.

#1 char siew (a charcoaled grilled pork neck) was good as usual.

#2 roast pork was good this evening, crispy & tasty, with the mustard dip.

#3 pork floss egg plant

#3 pork floss egg plant

#3 pork floss egg plant was good here. the egg plant batter was very light & the texture & taste combination was excellent.

#4 drunken chicken

#4 drunken chicken

#4 drunken chicken looked processed in appearance. taste was ok with wine infused flavour.

#5 yuzu prawns

#5 yuzu prawns

#6 wasabi prawns

#6 wasabi mayo prawns

#5 yuzu prawns was very good, crispy, prawns were fresh & the slight citric yuzu flavour was great.

#6 likewise the wasabi mayo prawns.

#7 fish fritters

#7 fish fritters

#7 fish fritters was average. fish was so so, the crispy batter was quite well done.

#8 sharksbone soup with lobster claw

#8 sharks bone soup with lobster claw

#8a crab meat/roe sharksfin

#9 crab meat/roe sharksfin

there was a limit of 1 order of soup per person.

#8 the sharks bone soup was ok. i had it the last time. i thought the lie tongs (例汤), soup of the day, at tunglok & imperial treasure were better.

#9 i tried the crab meat/roe sharkskin this time, it was quite ok.

#10 deep-fried soon hock

#10 deep-fried soon hock

#10 the deep-fried soon hock was good, better than when i had it last time. meat was fresh, moist & tasty. we had 2 orders.

#11 kurobuta pork

#11 kurobuta pork

#11 kurobuta pork was ok.

#12 sauteed beef

#12 sauteed beef

#12 the sautéed beef was overly sweet & artificially tender, edible but not much in demand by the diners.

#13 braised beef briskets & tendon

#13 braised beef briskets & tendon

#13 the braised beef briskets & tendon was quite good. we had 2 orders.

#14 pan-fried venison

#14 pan-fried venison

#14 pan-fried venison. this not really a favourite for me, no different from any coffershop zichar stalls.

#15 pating fish

#15 pating fish

#15 pating fish was a favourite for me. this time it was quite well done, very fresh & tasty. i suggested to the manager that for a live fish, it would be better presentation to serve a fish head portion or 1/2 a fish rather than in cut pieces. he said the fish   might be too big so they had it served in cut portions. hmm..actually most pating served here in singapore were 1kg or 700g fish.

#16 cauliflowers & brocoli

#16 cauliflowers & brocoli

#17 string beans with sliced scallops

#17 string beans with sliced scallops

#18 spinach with 3 eggs

#18 spinach with 3 eggs

we had 3 different vege. they were all good.

$16 cauliflower & brocoli was simple & tasty & great colour combination.

#17 string beans were good too, though the thinnest of sliced scallops didn’t contribute anything to the dish.

#18 spinach with 3 eggs was quite standard, mediocre actually & a very large portion.

#19 杨支甘露

#19 杨支甘露

#20 bubur hiram with ice cream

#20 bubur hitam with ice cream

#21 ice jelly

#21 ice jelly

most of us ordered 2 or 3 dessert each.

#19 i did not try the 杨支甘露. it should be quite standard.

#20 the bubur hitam with ice cream was a crowd favourite.

#21 the ice jelly was kind of plain.

another joyous dinner with good food, company, fellowship & memories. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy

Hawker Tour @ Bukit Timah Food Centre (BTFC) on 19Jul2013

or luah (fried oyster omelette)

or luah (fried oyster omelette)

for zi char tour, see cheap & good zi char on 10.8.2013.

a group of us makan kakis (for this round 4pax) decided to start hawker tours. we picked Bukit Timah Food Centre (BTFC) to start our journey on 19.7.2013. 🙂

food galore @ Bukit Timah Food Centre (BTFC)

food galore @ Bukit Timah Food Centre (BTFC)

for this day we ordered 8 hawker dishes. all were good but not one really stood out.

the HK style beef briskets & offals was very tasty, but actually quite different from those at street beef noodle stalls in HK. the chinese herbal mutton soup was good too, but i would say the amoy street hawker centre one was better & so was bukit merah view.

white fried carrot cake

white fried carrot cake

there were many foodie posts about the white fried carrot cake. it was good, crispy, quite tasty, but…didn’t see much difference from other hawker places or c/w with good black ones, say at ghim moh market. 🙂

if i had to pick, i would say my best was the or luah (but then again,many places did just as well), & after that the HK style beef brisket & offals. 1 friend was missing her favourite “jiu her eng chye” (cuttlefish kang kong) stall which was not open (we were there on a friday 2.30pm to 4pm). 🙂

1004478_10201452533372923_417212902_n 20130719_150958

the fried hokkien mee looked good in the photos, quite good ingredients, but probably rated lower..that could be because we were satiated as we had 8 dishes excluding dessert for 4 of us! 🙂

char kuay teow (fried noodles with cockles)

char kuay teow (fried noodles with cockles)

the char kuay teow had very good “wok hae” & tasty at the start but as it gotten cold it became much less compelling…

1004893_10201452555933487_1568337381_n 20130719_151518

rojak

rojak

both the popiah & rojak were good.

iced cheng chow with aloe vera & lychees

iced cheng chow with aloe vera & lychees

a friend had ice cheng chow with aloe vera & lychee (looked tempting). I had a plain ice jelly.

very satiated… after that 3 of us went to watch Pacific Rim (good enjoyable movie) at Cathay Cineleisure. 2 of my friends had the S$4 movie ticket + free coffee privilege. i had still to bear with paying S$10.50 movie tickets for the next few months. 🙂

c.h.e.f andy