Yummy Buddies

大黒家 DAIKOKUYA Ramen paragon!

2012-01-31T00:19:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since writing for yummybuddies as suffered a serious writer block. However am pleased that the feeling of spreading the good word of food is back again.

Today i bring to you one of the ramen joint that i personally find really good and authentic.

With so many different kind of ramen store boasting of being the #1, different marketing advertisment. Sometime it just boils down to the basic taste of the soup. Ramen itself offers different choices and everyone has its own favourite soup that they prefer. I prefer the 'black ramen' as always find it very interesting to have 'black noodles' My only issue is that sometime they add too little of it and it hardly darkens the soup.

Another good reason to eat daikokuya is due to the fact that it is just beside paragon Ding tai fung and the swelling crowd is always a turn off when you are hungry.

The best mentai gyoza i have eaten, crispy yet not burned.

Soft side is chewy and thin! Doesnt break when you pick them up with your chopsticks. The worst thing that can happen is those gyoza that breaks when served. Certainly takes skill to cook this right!

The combo of japanese mayo+ spring onion + mentai is just perfect and i could just have a dozen of this easily without even talking about the ramen yet.

Here we are~~

As you can see from the pictures, i could have it slightly darker.

One of ramen unwritten rule is to eat it quickly to maintain the taste. Soup is creamy and has a hint of perfection. It is light yet you can really taste the essence of it.

Japanese ramen are known to having their soup broth brewing for hours and hours, one taste and you would know that this certainty didnt take any short cuts.

However, overall taste nantsuttei still edges it. But that is for another day review

Address: 290 Orchard Road, #B1-47 Paragon Shopping Centre

Tel: +65 6737 5416 | Website | Email

Opening Hours

Daily: 11.30am – 10.30pm

No Signboard, Where Is Your Signboard?

2011-08-22T01:52:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, when the world only knows chilli and black pepper crab. There was a store that was quietly gaining fame and crowd for its special white pepper crab, the reason that white pepper crab is not well known (or rarely eaten anywhere else) its that there is only ONE store that does the legendary white pepper crab.

No SignBoard

Ask any decent foodie around and he will tell you, if you are looking for white pepper crab either eat it at no signboard or dont eat at all. Because most of the compeition who tries to create it will fail miserably and all you get for dinner is a choking peppery crab.

Those were the days.

I used to get my white pepper crab fixes @ the national stadium 'jetty' No signboard branch (No longer there). Not only was it facing the kallang river, it had open sitting and air con sitting depending on your meal companion.

Being able to avoid the crazy peak hour traffic @ geylang was also a great plus point.

Lazy foodies rejoice!

Valet was going @ $4 which i think was great, its really more of paying for the conveniences as parking at geylang is really a driver's nightmare.

P.s i think they park the cars @ national stadium as had to wait 8mins to collect the car upon dinner.

Claypot beancurd

As it was a family dinner gathering we had slightly more dishes than just crabs, to be honest i really dont remmeber any other dishes @ No signboard other than its white pepper crab.

So for starters we had a claypot beancurd, the stock was great and rich that i was sipping the gravvy even without rice. And the fact that it was seafood made it healthier to enjoy the gravvy.

Our Vegetable dish of the night, mushroom with asparagus.
Somehow anyone who loves kailan will love this dish too. The crunchy slight bittery taste off asparagus and oyster sauce over mushroom was a nice combination. A light dish to start your palette up for next to come, definitely a better choice like sambal kangkong which most of the time is too oil, heavy and bad for dates. (I.e kangkong struck in between teeth)

Surprise package of the night. You tiao salad

I dont believe that i have tasted a better Youtiao salad like this before. The effort of making a decent and good dish has been taken. This is not like those sloppy hard and lightly smeared fish paste that you will find in most Sze char store. It was amazingly soft and the generous serving of fish paste in it made it felt more like eating fishcake rather than you tiao salad. Definitely the best you tiao salad in my books (A pity not much people will go back to a place for meal just because of its salad youtiao)

Yam Ring

Persoanlly i am not a fan of this dish. The fried meehoon is what makes the base, deep frying yam paste is like eating deep fried durian. Double heatiness. I just like the stir fry chicken in the ring as they usually take great, as compared to fried peanuts & corn.

Venison in No signboard sauce

I wonder if its called no signboard sauce because no sauce was in it, it looks nicely done up but totally blant.

I couldnt identify what was the sauce but going by the taste it wouldnt interest me either, i believe a normal hot plate venison would be better in this case

Pork ribs (Pai Ku wang)

First of a kind, wrapped and baked? i guess, nicely seasoned with a small dose of sweetness. Meat was tender and meaty, no fats or much bone spotted. A dish to cover if you are here, most diners around us had this too.

Fried Ee mian

If i remembered clearly, there was a fanciful name to this dish as well. Turns out that it was just normal restaurant standard. No comment about this, a forgettable dish.

And now i present to you, the disappointment of the day. With high expectations come high hope, and in return big disappointment.

A shadow of its past, one taste of the sauce and it was clear that no gentle sweetness or fragrant smooth white pepper. What we have here is a overdose of pepper crab.

I understand that chinese crusine is one of the hardest dishes to master due to the complexe amount of sauce, wok, heat level, constant frying. It certainly not as easy as rubbing seasoning over a steak and flipping after 2 mins.

But truly i have to say that it is a disappointment. I barely touched it after eating 1 piece of the crab, my fellow diners agreed and it was infact the worst out of the 3 crab dishes we had.

Salted Egg crab

This came together with the white pepper crab and we unaimously agreed that it was better than the signboard 'white pepper crab' the salted egg was delightful and not overly strong, traces of diced egg white added additional flavouring. The salted egg was also creamy and definately yummy, only drawback was the crab meat sticking to the shells at times.

Chilli crab

The saviour dish of the night. Without a somewhat disappointing crab dishes, we wasnt prepared to leave feeling disheartened, hence ordered the standard chilli crab dish. Why i meant standard is because almost all decent cze char store can whip a decent chilli crab. And luckily for us, this didnt disappoint, meat was firm and easily detachable, gravvy was yummy and balanced. The small mantou made a fail prove great combination.

Conclusion:

Pricing wise this outlet is definitely the cheapest compared to the other outlets @ East coast/ Esplanade/ Vivocity. But i cant help but think in a business way about the chefs allocation.

Picture this, if you are going to charge patrons $75/kg of crab @ i.e esplanade branch. Would you send your best chef to the outlet @ esplande or geylang branch?

Your guess is as good as mine.

I am going to try the white pepper crab again and this time i will be trying it out at other outlets hoping that i will again taste the real White pepper crab that meserised me years ago.

Heavenly Garlicious Dishes @ Mad For Garlic (Suntec)

2011-08-12T02:33:00.000-07:00

I am a self proclaim garlic lover and man am i proud to say that i have finally tasted a authentic garlic joint.

Ever since hearing about this place i had always wanted to give it a taste, made a reservation on a lazy saturday noon for lunch. In most dish garlic is like the soul of the dish, its presence is required as much as the standard salt and pepper. It is like durian, either you love it or you hate it.

This 'painting' is actually the menu cover, first thing you will notice about this place is the exquisite design of the place. From the fake garlic ornaments to the empty wine bottle, it was a suitable place for anyone. Comfortable for the family dinner or exclusive for a business meal (Absolutely no garlic breath after the meal)

Service staff was great too, even though there were waiters around the manager was the one who took the orders. We even had the assistant manager bringing our the food to us, not too sure why it wasnt the waiter. But either way it is great service for customers like us due to prompt service.

First up we had the mushroom risotto with chicken. I only have 1 word for this dish.

A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!

First mouthful was full of flavour, the stock of which they use was close to perfection. It was neither too salty or heavy. The correct word would be RICH in flavour, there had no less than 2 different kind of garlic that wasnt strong but flavour strong enough to make you want to look for more.

The chicken itself was good enough to be a main course itself, if i am not wrong they roasted the chicken. It had a flavour that grilling couldnt bring out. Tender and juicy, together they make a perfect match. The lightness of risotto + the tastiness of the best chicken part available.

The rice tasted like pearl rice used in sushi, am not sure but it did felt soft, sticker and was shorter than normal rice. Excellant!

And now i present you, the dish i couldnt finish! This dish is a monster, Its like eating pizzahut stuff crust with a beef steak on top of the toppings. Its flavouring was stronger partly because we are talking about a tenderloin steak + cream sance. Initially i had no idea why they are it garlic hug steak, i thought that it was because of the sauce 'hugging' it. But i was too naive.

Garlic Hug Steak

This is definitely for amateurs eater or calories counters. There no french fries, salad etc just the real deal.

Basically if cows could swim, this is how they will look like. In a sea of cream cheese.

A good steak no matter done what way, should be soft and easy to cut. You can see the meat juice flowing onto the cheese above. I still didnt notice the catch until i was halfway through the dish.

The 'hug' Secret! Minced garlic inside a whole steak! Thats like finding bacon in a cheese sandwich.

If Cream cheese and beef isnt strong enough, i present you more garlic and more garlic. Fully soaked and cooked inside this piece of delicacy. Surprisingly the garlic wasnt strong at all, just a hint of its flavours.

In the end, i couldnt finish the never ending tower of stuffed garlic and had to dig them all out as it was becoming a case of every mouth too full.

Nonetheless i whack finished the beef with cream (the cream makes your go for more, very dangerous side dish)

This meal, by far is one more the better places i had been.

Location- Suntec city

Pricing- Wine and dine like fine dine but not its price

Food- Fantastic

Service- Attentive and prompt

Definitely a must go! If you are mad for garlic

Kiseki Restaurant, Japanese buffet with a punch.

2011-05-17T22:51:00.000-07:00

We braved though one of the heaviest rain in orchard for it (Thank god there wasnt any flood)

It was really a case of jacks place or kiseki but once we walked through the selection there was no looking back. Counter staff was courteous and friendly, we managed to get seat within 15mins on a saturday evening which was fairly decent considering that this is a buffet.

Buffet prices are always rising and it is harder to find decent buffet with decent prices, if you could spend $40 for a international buffet why would you settle for just a single country crusine? and in this case just japanese food?

Well Kiseki tells you why

Buffet reviews are a pain in the ass.. Firstly you have more than 50 selections of food, and most of time you will be starving before heading down. So in between juggling my camera, eating and shaky hands due to hunger i will allow this post to be more of a eye candy rather than lengthy taste discussion.

My absolute favourite, swordfish.. Salmon and tako are just too common in buffets that they kind of lost that exclusive food touch.

Cold frim and tasty prawns together with crab legs! Yummy and juicy!

Some random tori Q stuff, only peeves were that it wasnt as hot as we preferred it to be.

The WOW dish of the night, you cant go wrong with scallops + cheese + mayo sauce. Excellant dish that not only awaken your palette and the sweetness makes it a must have for any person with a sweet tooth

Just a nice prawn dressing with cucumber.

There is actually different kind of way to cook the dishes here, either grilled or teppanyaki style. The grill sotong was good and tasty, with a hint of charred bbq taste.

Grilled beef fillet.. Hmmmmm what can i say :D

A wide array of fried stuff

Garlic rice was prepared on the spot and placed in a cooker. Avoid if rice has been in the cooker for sometime as it tend to dry up, try to keep note when the chef is frying it on the teppanyaki grill. Get it fresh or dont get it at all .

On the spot prepared pasta, didnt really had much as try to stay away from heavy stuff like this and rice.

Rice was kinda filling and lack the punch though, sad to say as am a califonia roll fan :(

Cold soba covered in seawood

Around round of grilled scallops

Somehow i kinda missed a few plates, like the chicken chop and other dishes due to eating and forgetting to take pictures. (my apologies for the incomplete review)

After depleting the cold crab, they brought this killer out.. Lobster! Value is a definite here, throw in helpful and effective service stuff who clear your plates constantly. It made this meal a truly pleasant experience.

The last promotion i heard they even had oysters! Will definitely return again in the near future.

Location	260 Orchard Road, #B1-01 The Heeren
About	Kiseki, the MEGA Japanese Buffet at Mini Prices is now in town! With so many items to choose from, you will definitely find something that you like.So join us as a fan to receive news and promotions from Kiseki now!

Company Overview	Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant presents the MEGA Japanese Buffet at Mini Prices!
Description	Lunch: 11.30am to 3pm Dinner: 6pm to 10.30pm For Lunch: Monday to Friday - $19.80 (Adult) $12.80 (Children) Saturday, Sunday, Eve & Public Holiday - $26.80 (Adult) $16.80 (Children) For Dinner: Monday to Thursday - $29.80 (Adult) $14.80 (Children) Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Eve & Public Holiday - $32.80 (Adult) $16.80 (Children) * Children age 4 - 12 yrs old. * Service charge and prevailing taxes apply.
Products	We have... Some 200 displayed picks Piping-hot dishes prepared ala-minute Full salad bar Wide sushi and sashimi selections Traditional grill with scrumptious seafood and meats Teppanyaki chef in action Sinfully gorgeous desserts Refreshing cold drinks and hot beverages

Email	manager@kisekirestaurant.com.sg
Phone	Call 6736 1216 for reservations.
Website	http://www.kisekirestaurant.com.sg

Probably Deal of the Year Manhatten Fish Market $3.90!

2011-04-20T02:45:00.000-07:00

It all started with a $39 fish and chip ad that started the uproar.

What fish and chip would cost $39? And by the time we know it, MFM changed it to $3.90. Citizens delight, sometime the best marketing success comes from small changes like this

No fanciful marketing, no gimmicks just pure good food at a good price to reciprocate the favour. Not to mention it was good to see MFM Actively participating with its facebook fans. With many promotions to keep things interesting.

You may join in the fun and get certain online exclusive deals.

Like the page @

http://www.facebook.com/MFMSingapore

This queue started forming at 2pm on a weekday noon!

No cutting of corners! The exact same size the fish looks even on a regular pricing. I couldnt believe it when a faction of people were ranting about the paper plate. But Seriously for this kind of pricing i would gladly eat it on a napkin. Hell i would even walk to the kitchen to self serve if need be, or maybe even bring my own plate for such pricing. To be honest, if your food is going to be bigger than your plate, you are having a excellant problem. Instead of fretting over it, celebrate it!

Phweeee!!

It was a $3.90 limit to 2 fish per person.

No decoration no plating. Just pure good food for you. I would like to drench the whole fish in the sauce, they actually had a plus size bottle on each of the table. Generous i must say.

Well it was good while it lasted

On a sidenote There is a lot of comparision with fish n co but each to its own, ultimately we as consumers get more choice and end up with better deals. Just like pepsi and coke, yakult and vitagen.

930 Yishun Avenue 2, #02-06/07 Northpont Shopping Centre, Singapore

Tel: +65 6257 5507

Its BBQ Chicken 1 for 1!!!!

2011-04-20T01:36:00.000-07:00

I must admit, i am a sucker for 1 for 1 deals just the other 5233943 people in Singapore.

So when we stumbled across BBQ chicken 1 for 1 deal at northpoint how could i say NO? (Sorry teppanyaki express we were actually there for you)

Firstly i must say, this place serve some good chicken and the olive oil marketing makes you feel less sinful after devouring everything infront of you. What it does is gives you a sense of lesser guilt so you may eat more.

YES OLIVE OIL IS HEALTHY, dont that make you feel that you are eating a meal your doctor will applaud you for effort?

Haha but we like it.

This meal was really a pain in a butt, i wanted everything. The pizza as a side dish looks good but my bff and me was so hungry we wanted all the dishes for ourselves. (in food you see your real friend colour)

I just wanted to whack the seafood pasta and the BBQ chicken, but the Marinara meatball was kind of tough to pass out. So was the mushroom chicken steak and everything else on the menu................

Truth be told, this is a korean food joint. But there is nothing korean about this place when i was here other than some cheesy korean MTV playing above.

The first thing i noticed, isnt this like 50% share of the food only?? When i saw the menu for the 1 for 1 choices it was supposed 2 chicken steaks.

Not that i wanted to sound like a cheapo but if you brought Mcdonald 's1 for 1 gourmet burger the other time when they had a promotion, you wouldn't expect to see half a chicken patty inside the buns right?

Anyway away from the misrepresentation, BBQ chicken marination is the best in its field. I am not sure how they make their chicken so firm and chewy.

This well was just 'normal' meatball tasted homemade too, not a bad thing but will definitely try the seafood pasta next time.

End result.. None was spared. We will be back

CATCH it before it ends

NorthPoint930 Yishun Avenue 2,#B2-17/20,Singapore 769098

Tel: 6481 3310 Fax : 6481 7780

Operation HoursDaily 11am - 10:30pm

(Last Order 10:15pm)

Please support and 'like' Many thanks
http://www.facebook.com/pages/YummyBuddies/201853799826596

The Art Of Beef Brisket Noodles @ Balestier Food Center

2011-04-05T03:08:00.000-07:00

I must admit i am not a big fan of beef noodles, the only beef noodles i can remember eating was the peppery beef hor fun at Geylang. And that was very good.

I was in the area for some projects and heard from friends that there is a very nice beef noodles over here.

One interesting point was that there isnt a signboard for the beef noodles here, other than No signboard restaurant i can hardly remember any place without a signboard other than foodcourt eateries.

This plate of beef hor fun looks really tempting, it was nice to see that the beef was chunks of it. Rather than slices which would be very sad if it was.

The gravy was just nice, it is very smooth and delicious. The heavy sauce blended perfectly with the hor fun noodles. I cant remember when was the last time 2 ingredients could blend so perfectly together. That is the beauty of eating, there is no limit to the taste of any food.

A stalk or 2 of vegetable to add that freshness into a otherwise heavy dish. I finished everything of it man, and not even the hot weather or super expensive coffee @ $1.50 could spoil this lunch of mine.

Soup tasted a mix of cow stuff that i didnt know, but was a 'good' bowl of soup as compared to a bowl of noodles.

Balestier Food Center

beef brisket noodles

Apologies for not having more information, i was expecting a 'normal' lunch

Pasta de Waraku (The Heeren)

2011-04-05T02:15:00.000-07:00

Heeren, once the icon of orchard. Remember the days when i was in secondary school i always come here to see girls with friends. And have coffee + cheese cake with girlfriend at the open air spineilli outlet

The backspace of streetwear were so packed and there were hardly any space to walk

Those were the time when heeren saw the better days.

With orchard bursting with charm from new icons like ION, Somerset 313. Only places with certain heritage could still retain the crowd like taka, paragon, cineleisure, tangs just to name a few.

Orchard central is still trying to pull in crowds at this time.

With the departure of HMV and other anchor tenants, the Heeren of today is seemingly different. If you are sick of dinner crowd queues, head over to heeren as the restaurant offer some tranquility from the bursting orchard road.

And so we did.

Now that is something different from the usual salt and pepper, the meal here is seemingly not as salty and spicy as other food outlet. Perhaps to entice you to manually season your food.

Mushroom and scallop Fried rice

When i took the first mouth i was not really a fan of it, perhaps thats the beauty of mushroom. First taste dont leave a impression. It is usually the aftertaste that makes you want to have another mouthful of it, no suprise that the japanese pearl rice makes it especially tasty.

Mixed Grill

This dish when brought to me was sizzling hot. Man i couldnt wait to sink my teeth in the beef patty.

The only issue i had with this dish was that the chicken skin being dry and facing me was kind of a turn off, chicken also felt old, dry and just not fresh. There was a kind of old chicken smell in it, just look at the sickly and pale chicken in the picture.

Other than that the egg was one of the best i had eaten. It could be that the juiciness from assorted meat became a natural flavouring for the sunny side up egg.

Sauage was 'OK' la. But if i was going to order this dish again it will be because of the beef patty (forgot to ask if i could choose how it is done)

But in the end, it didnt matter. The taste was good enough to be a star for a burger. Juicy and flavourful, if you were to use it as a burger i am definately going to be a fan of it

The potato wedges were kind of bland too, but was too hungry and troublesome to add the salt

In a episode i had mention about how some japanese resturant are a rip off when it comes to soft shell crab. In waraku i have found the haven for soft shell crab. This whole patter added up to like $12? i forgot how much it cost but it is really worthy dollar to dollar.

Taste wise it is basically just fried stuff and decent tasting starter. But what you get instead is value! But the amount of soft shell crab they dish out is really generous as compared to other places. I would prefer crispier soft shell crab though, lets see if i can get it the next time i dine there.

There was an assortment of curly fries, onion ring and waffle fries. This would work fine for the health concious diners but if you are a heavy taste person i am sure you will be busy shaking salt on this 'healthier' serving of sides. Just a tad lacking in season, it was leaning towards the blander side.

If you were to ask me, i am not sure if it is because the layout of the space made noise pollution an issue.

Yes you are seeing right, noise pollution. The back of the restaurant ends in a pocket like area, and the diners who were there talked loudly and someone it echoed it towards the whole place. It was just really noisy and really not a place you would want if you were dining with your date.

Other than that, if you are looking for a chillout dinner with your gang of friends, this would be the place :)

Address: 260 Orchard Road, #05-04 The Heeren, Singapore

Tel: +65 6834 1123

Opening Hours: 11.30am – 11.00pm

JB: Taman Sentosa Chui xiang yen Seafood BBQ

2011-03-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

I cant remember where did i say it with regards to all JB cze char is nice, irregardless of the location.

Sad to say today i found one that is of below average taste :(

Its just hot, spicy and painful.

One of the normal days where heading in for supper and petrol, we actually always ate a particular stall where just beside the BBQ stall they sell "orh luak" oyster.

But today thought of giving another stall a chance, bad move.

Prices in taman sentosa is quite standard other 4rm per 100g for stingray, we were heading for lok lok after this so didnt want to over order.

Decent looking menu fairly priced.

Different array of BBQ seafood, we order a stingray and sotong.

Ironilly the saving grace of the meal, i actually had cold sweat from the chilli. Urgh~

First up the sotong, i can only say one word. HOT. the chilli is really not for the faint hearted, it was way too spicy we all had to order additional sugar cane. No problem with the freshness of the sotong but the chilli was overwhelming. We had previously tasted another stall and it was much better

Did i mention that the rice was cold? :(

Thick coat of chilli paste, way too hot for average diner. Perhaps due to disproportional mixed of ingredient . My taste bud was literally numbed.

Only saving grace was that we ordered a additional sambal kangkong which tasted good, not too sure about the cze char but the BBQ is really not our cup of tea.

I am really tempted to try the cze char cooked food to see the standard before really passing my final verdict on this place.

But once beaten twice shy, im definitely staying away from the BBQ here

Gelang Pateh Meal With A View: Yeos Restaurant

2011-03-28T20:48:00.000-07:00

Today we bring you to truly asia for a seaside lunch (Subject to finding it) i had read about it in the web about this place own by a chinese muslim called yeos restaurant.

Saw from posts that many people couldnt find it but from pictures taken by other patron i felt that it was a worthwhile try.

I will leave directions there @ the end of the post, but we took a huge detour as came from causeway. It would be much nearer if you went via tuas. By the time we reached we had clocked 60KM!!! from woodlands to here, but a long journey on a off beaten track is always interesting subject to hunger intensity.

When i was in doubt i keep saying to use the GPS as i had brought coords with me, but my partner in makan was insistant of finding it by ourselves saying that the adventure was in finding without much assistance anyway credit to her that we managed to find it (another 30mins and she would have relented in using the GPS :)

You could imagine my delight at finding as it was getting late, and i really didint want to have a late lunch. The first thing i saw was the toilet! It is just located outside of the place by the side where all the cars park.

Personal 'car park' step out of the car for some fresh sea breeze, calm and cool air. You got to walk a 30m? length bridge, better than a red carpet entrance @ a upscale restaurant if you ask me

Now now guess what is that! My first time seeing jelly fish, i thought they were poisonous though, but in fact only a small minority of them are. Most are just harmless, talk about getting close to nature. What a pleasant surprise

Sometimes its really intriguing that people pay huge prices for seaview condos when most rural villages wake up to it every morning. Yeah the comparison is kind of off, but you get the point of it.

There was only about 5 tables occupied on a monday afternoon.

OK main point! The food, everything we had done would count for nothing if the food isn't worthy of the trip here.

First up baby kailan, my must call vegetable. Crunchy and garlicky, the sauce base is quite thick. Very flavourful but not too oily for the health conscious

I read online that the mee goreng was good, if not most of the time we would have gotten the hor fun instead. This dish is sum into one word. overwhelming! in term of oil!, seriously the remaining oil could easily be used to fry another plate. It kind of freaked me out, i actually had to tilt it up so that all the excess chili oil would flow to the other end. I decided not to take any picture of it as it would 'spoil' the 'good' look of it now.

Just remember to remind them LESS OIL LESS OIL!

Aha, what is a seafood lunch without any seafood? We only had 2 pax today so really couldn't go all the way with the menu. Note: they do not have salted egg.

So we ended up with butter prawns. Oh man, the freshness is heavenly. I don't know how the chef score with this dish of the outer coat being so crispy and yet the flesh of the prawns is comparable to those freshly steamed prawns.

This dish was also fried with bitter gourd that wasn't bitter, thankfully. But i personally find the butter taste to be of lower grade as there was a very strong buttery smell.

Now now guess what is that?

Crab Roe

Whoa, isn't that messy. As this is a Muslim restaurant, you can expect the flavoring to be on the heavy side as Malays prefer their food thick and strong. Note: Think mee robus, mee siam, mee soto.

There must be a fetish with salted egg that i have, i just find that if all seafood was done salted egg style it would taste very nice. Chilli sauce was OK but no buns :*( but freshness is so far second too none.

The chef timing for all this seafood is really good i must say, with such precise skill you can safely order it steamed and i bet the meat would stick to the shell.

Their pond of crabs, slightly smaller to my liking though. But price is affordable, we spend like 60rm here.

Restoran Makanan Laut Yeo Sekeluarga
Persisiran Pantai, Tanjung Adang 81550 Gelang Patah , Johor Bahru
Johor , Malaysia
Phone
+607 507 1897

Coords

N 01 20.915
E103 34.211

A close up shot of the jelly fish on the way out. Heading to Jusco Bukit Indah for the Waffle i missed the other time!

Catch it here

-------> Best of A&W

Dine at your favourite restaurant at The Heeren at a discount! Use your 30%-off voucher at any outlets like T.G.I.Friday, Pasta de Waraku, Jack's Place and more.

2011-03-21T23:31:00.000-07:00

Dine at your favourite restaurant at The Heeren at a discount! Use your 30%-off voucher at any outlets like T.G.I.Friday, Pasta de Waraku, Jack's Place and more.

Pizza Hut 30% More Cheese Vs Domino's Extra Cheese

2011-03-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Not sure if you are old enough but pizza hut used to have a buffet with free flow pizzas coupled with spaghetti, garlic bread, fruits and salad. Today the Pizza hut restaurant has transformed into a decent bistro eatery.

Anyway when i was a young kid i used to enjoy domino's more due to their thin crust with the 'half half' selection where you could have different flavours on each sides. They were than cut squarely and pizza when young too me was more square rather than triangle

As i grew older (and hungrier) pizza hut oily crust started to grow onto me and i really hated dry crust, somehow it reminds me of those frozen pizzas where the crust becomes really dry and crispy when you toast it.

As all big chain there is bound to be service lapse from time to time, from quality issue to food never arriving (Yes there were some issue previously from KFC and Mcdonald in the early days)

So anyway recently the of "supporting us for 30 years now we give you 30% more cheese" promotion somehow it became a incentive to order again!

The trademark Hawaiian pizza, cant go wrong with it and a pizza meal without it wouldnt feel like one. The additional cheese

The trademark fluffy thick crust, taste as good as good as the stuffed crust. Overloading of cheese!!

By the way just so that you know, the white triangle thing is put in the middle so it will not get crush in case of heavier stuff put on top. I kind of didnt know what it was till late teens honestly

Meat Galore, a mix of pepperoni + salami + beef balls. This is the stuff your doctor warn you about, but how do you resist the it? Full of melted white cheese, yummy! Makes me wanna pick up the phone and order 2 of this cardiac arrest inducing food. Just find that the presentation could have be done a little better.

The real pain of doing a food blog is that i cant sink my teeth straight into the food upon arrival, i alway have to arrange and take some nice shots. Can you imagine the pain ?

Who doesnt like pizza hut hot and spicy drumlets?! They make one of the best wings i have tasted, as flavourful as it is, they truly make a great side dish. Never seem to have enough of this lovely wings, not too sure why they dont make the mid joints as well. Would taste equally great i guess

The No 1 pizza delivery experts : Dominos

Before we get to taste wise, one of the main reason other than pizza hut being the pioneer in the pizza industry, is the marketing of the brand. You will notice that pizza hut delivers everywhere and their restaurant chain is almost everywhere. But dominos do not really have a proper restaurant and their food is strictly takeaway with limited delivery area.

We had a 2 large pizza with extra cheese, on a side note this pizza was kind of scantily dressed with cheese. Not very consistent as the other pizza was actually made close to perfect, i actually wrote in to feedback as we had actually got Hawaiian and pepperoni but they gave us both pepperoni. So far have not heard anything back from them with regards to this matter. not very useful with a feedback if they are not going to use it.

Generous with the ingredients, Dominos ingredient has the edge as they seem fresher and more tasty.

To be fair they do make a perfect pizza on their day, look at the evenly spread of cheese. Man i could swim in there. Noticed that pizza hut toppings were a little burnt, but these arent ?

Perfect on the left, inconsistency on the right.

Other than the little blip we have with the pizza, personally it is too difficult to seperate the 2 pizza chain.

I really love the trademark crust of pizza hut but the tastier topping Dominos provide makes it irresistible and missed from time to time.

As such guess i will be ordering Dominos when i am near one of their outlets and if i am not, i will just get the all-area pizza hut.

Best would be a family function so that i may have the cake and eat it :)

Hidden Chicken Rice @ Selegie Road: Thye San Chicken

2011-03-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

Was just having a discussion thread in The makan zone @ Hardwarezone the other day with people on 'best/good' chicken rice.

A true chicken rice foodie would never use the a roasted chicken rice as benchmark since the taste from white and roast is like comparing orange and apple when they are both fruits.

I mentioned in the thread on this particular place under selegie road blk 9 and got a PM from a member wanting to read the review for it so ask and you shall receive! Here you go.

I had lunch here a couple of time when am in the area for work, the first time i noticed this place when i ta bao a pack of chicken rice for family and they mentioned that the chicken was very good.

Hence the next time i had to try it for myself, this is a family run restaurant. Just a look at the wong fei hong style sign board and you will realise that this is definately a restaurant with history.

The lady boss is the one chopping and preparing the chicken rice They usually close around 7pm (chicken rice usually sells out around late noon)

Wanted to try the vegetable but they ran out of it :( i am a sucker for vegetable especially chicken rice style 'You cai'

There was a struggle between the rice and chicken curry, the familiar fragrant of curry lingering around the store really gave me a dilemma but since i am not going to be frequently here i better sort the chicken rice review while i can

They sell a mix of food here, just next door is a cze char outlet with a $9.80 per pax (min 4) value combo. The selection seems nice but wont go into details since i have not tried. And just next to the chicken rice stand is a seemingly good kway tiao noodles stall with all the newspaper cuttings.

Here it is the dish of the afternoon, they came with a lightly season chicken rice soup which was clear and cooling enough since chicken rice are usually very hearty. A problem usually associated with chicken rice is that the rice is very oily! A sticky chicken rice is a good indication that the rice is too oil for its own good, since it is cooked from the remaining water that was use to boiled the chicken

I have had my fair share of chicken so far but this place rank 1st in term of softness.

I have never had such soft and tender chicken breast, the last one which was even close was botak jones cajun chicken with whole chicken breast. It was very tender by itself that it could even pass off as fish, most stalls like to smash the chicken slices to make it look like a generous serving. By not doing so here, i could savour each slices of chopped chicken breast perfectly.

Rice seems longer compared to other stalls, the taste wise was light yet fragrant enough. Chicken rice are supposed to be balance out in the sense where chicken flavour accounts 60% and rice 40%. Nasi lemak is the opposite where the rice should be 60% while the remaining ingredient takes up 40% of taste, since the side dishes could go with normal rice, noodles as well.

All in all chicken taste wise this stall seems to win hands down.

Selegie Road Blk 9 (Just next to lasalle college of the arts)

Evergreen: Aston's Express Char Grilled Chicken

2011-03-09T20:38:00.000-08:00

This may come as an old entry considering that Astons has already entered and dominated the western food market in recent years with its trademark value steaks that could easily give jacks place a run for its $$.

Theres a particular thing about western food that seemingly makes it easier to maintain the standard, cant say the same about chinese crusine as we are all familiar how some top hotels/restaurant chef are the pillar of the whole kitchen operation. Lose them and likely the taste will not be the same. How many times have we went to patron the same nice store and find that the standard has dropped.

One can guess that it is easier to flip chicken and beef steaks marinated before hand at a constant heat every 2 mins.

Rather than frying, controlling the heat, adding all the many complicated sauces without measurement and basing the taste and time on your experience.

In short lets put it this way, we dont really care who cooked the steak as long as the steak taste good!

I was first brought to this place by my gf at the cathay orchard, 3-4 years back i never had a habit or queuing for food and it was one of those time when at 6pm there was already a snaking queue. Fairly rare does the queue start to form so early.

But my opinion has changed since the life changing queue i had at mellben crab.

Anyway things are different now, queue doesnt mean good food. Or it could also be that singapore didn't had 5million ++ population yet back at that time.

I have had my fair share of Aston all over the place, from the now defunct serangoon garden branch + woodland point branch (was there even one?? it opened and close so quickly most woodlanders didnt even know that there was one outlet there)

To amk, sembawang shopping center and the cathay branch.

One thing i can confidently conclude from all this different location is that the great same taste is there. The chicken is the same size, potatoes are as filling, sauce are as generous.

Say hi to the 3 brothers

It is the kind of confidence that consumers need knowing that when they order a double up chicken the standard will be upheld and that every meal ordered isnt like a russian roulette. Hoping and praying that the chef will cook it like he mean it.

Thank God for skinless chicken, wholly chargrilled chicken with the aroma and taste of bbq chicken. Exactly like how the korean BBQ Chicken put it. Its not bbq chicken, its Bar-be-que chicken.

I would never mention this chargrilled chicken as chicken chop just so that it is currently in a league of its own that by calling it chicken chop would be a seer insult to this close to perfection piece of meat.

How on earth does they make such nice potatoes salad but yet not as famed as their chicken and beef companion is anyone guess. It has become such a frequent trip that i dont bother looking at the menu no more, it would just be a chargrilled chicken, potatoes salad and onion ring.

If you really have to pick a side to forgo it would be this, not that it is bad but just that i cannot imagine a Aston Char Grilled chicken without the chicken or potatoes. The onion ring has become a victim of its excellent plate companion. Onion ring as compared to other restaurant such as Super dog @ Somerset 313

Trademark recipe mushroom sauce. It tasted like a brown cream of mush room sauce pleasant and not overwhelming enough mask the taste of the chicken. Only thing that puzzle me is that how does brown sauce come about? what makes it brown, do let me know if ya know the answer. And also why doesnt aston has a proper website, but guess he wouldn't be short of customer either way.

GOLDEN WALL CENTRE
89 Short Street, Golden Wall Centre #01-01 Stall 12
(KOPITIAM Foodcourt)
Tel : 6338 2511
1100-2200hrs

Chong Pang: Zhen Jie Desserts (Stay Cool In The Heartlands)

2011-03-09T19:39:00.000-08:00

If orchard is the heart of singapore, than Chong pang would be the heart of Yishun.

Having Studied, lived and played in yishun half my life it would also be safe to conclude that chong pang is the has the heartbeat of yishun. Others may argue but all one has to do is think with his stomach to know that you will be spoilt for choices at chong pang. It is not hard to have more than 3 coffeeshops in a single location, the hard part is good food.

Hand any tom, dick and harry a wok and he can cook something. Only freaking problem is whether it is tasty.

Anyway i am drifting too far away as this next entry on the table (literally) is not the main dish of the day, rather a side dish for any meal.

Desserts!!!!!!!

Happened to pass by the area for some AMD aka after meal dessert, was actually there for some cooling glass jelly considering that the weather recently is kinda on the hot side.

To be honest i really didnt notice this store at first, was my brother who suggested it. No harm though seeing that i am such a sucker for anything mango related.

I will never order any chng teng, dou suan, green bean, red bean soup outside as have had my life time share back in my army days

$2.50 mango dessert

Heartland prices are good, any dessert store in central area would easily be double of this. Of course portion isnt as generous but hey pay for what you get right?

You know how you always have fruit syrup over the ice and somehow the ice is just too much that the syrup cant fully sweeten the whole bowl? Well this is a place where you will not have such issue as the ice that they served are mango ice block! Hence you can taste the frangance of it with every bite, though it was (iced)

Overall was a good combination with the QQ balls in it, only peeve was that the mango was inconsistent. One would be soft and sweet the other would be sour and hard.

Same goes for my brother mango pomelo $2.50 serving, but his issue was rather with the pomelo as it was kinda sour..~~

Perhaps i should try their green bean soup with sagos?

105 Yishun Ring Road
#01-157 Chong Pang Food Centre S760105

Top Notch Yong Tau Foo: My Favourite Cafe @ Lucky Plaza

2011-03-02T23:21:00.000-08:00

Talk about Lucky plaza and first thing people come to mind is the gather spot for Philippinos shopping heaven with the amount of remittance shops. With their wide array of electronic goods and sporting goods, you would bet that there must be a good eatery somewhere hidden in this gem.

Today i present to you "My favorite cafe" literally my favouirte cafe as this is really the name for the place.

Located quietly on the level 6 (Do take the escalator as the lift comes every 8mins packed to the brim) First timer who didnt know this place would just take it as any other normal yong tau foo stall and head straight to the newly opened foodcourt just beside it.

The first thing you will noticed about this place is the queue, especially during the weekday lunch crowd. You can see all professions ranging from the suits to the kiliney shop t shirt.

The concept is simple yet effective, if you are looking for a hour long lunch break with you colleague or friends please avoid this place. What you do is pick the food, find a seat , eat and get out for the next customer staring at your eating the last meatball in your plate.

Good thing is that no matter which peak hour you are here, you are definitely guaranteed a place. As long as you are ok with sitting next to strangers.

It is similiar to a dessert stall, chairs are uncomfortable, too close for comfort to you next diner but the appeal of the food makes you return for more.

Look at the abundance of food, specially prepared items are the fried meat balls and mushroom. It is just yummy, the beancurd and fish ball are not your usual run of the mill kind. Standard veggies aren't displayed but When u order your noodles , you are then given an option of kang kong, chye sim or tau gey. A pity due to the snaking crowd behind me and the fast serving auntie taking orders i couldnt get a better and wider shot. But am sure this sneak preview of this place would do just fine :)

Fresh and quality food certainly comes at a price, this stall charges a slight premium as just 6 items + noodles would set you back close to 5 dollars, add in the drink and you are looking at a sum of 6 bucks for yong tau foo fare.

Another interesting thing is that the boss employs a efficient all-female crew works behind the counter. It is like a fast food service in a hawker stall.

I must admit when first tasting the dry version i was a little overwhelm by the sauce they gave as i expected it to become very sickeningly sweet.

To my surpise this serving of sauce is actually just nice and tasted very fragrant instead of sweet, chilli wise wasnt too hot for it and instead brought out the flavour of all the ingredients.

According to owner Patrick Lim the differences lies in the sweet taste of the ikan bilis-based soup and that the sauces are all homemade.

Only catch is that noodles serving was a little on the stringy side, as while it didnt really bothered me. A diner behind me complained that the serving was way too little and the service staff immediately gave her another small bowl of noodles. And since we were seated so close, i noticed another male diner beside me paying $8 dollars for his mountain full bowl of goodies + drink.

But if you can live with the higher price, fast paced meal. This place surely wont disappoint you

My Favourite Café
304 Orchard Road
Lucky Plaza #06-46/47
Open 8am to 6pm (closed Sunday)
Nearest MRT: Orchard

Mcdonald's first gourmet dinner: Teppanyaki Chicken Mcgrill

2011-02-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

The settings:

It isnt everyday that mcdonald closes one of its outlet for something special. And today it was my pleasure to be invited to be one of the pioneer diners for this whole new menu they are going to launch soon.

Here we are at alocassia apartments, my guess would be with drive through service here the inconveniences caused due to closing for private event would be minimised.

And the MC of the night also mentioned that it was partly due to the place just being renovated.

All participants had to register and were given a small name tag with your name inprinted on it

Well well well what do we have here?

A setting you would have expected of a restaurant, there is something with black tissues that makes it look classy. The lighting was great too, the kind of atmosphere where you could have a dinner with your love one, a gathering or even a causal meal in one.

A look at the menu

Check out some food for thoughts from the VP of marketing and our chef of the day Irene Jansen.

She mentioned something interesting that i really agreed. Can you believe that Mcdelivery was only available in 2005. Prior to that there was no 24hrs delivery in singapore, imagine the inconveniences we would all have lose if there wasnt any 24hrs delivery. But yet it seems such a long time ago due to the fact that mcdonalds have always been a ever present restaurant to us with their continuous marketing and flyers promotions.

Every table had a 'cup' of white roses :)

The pre dinner speech and sharing, there were a few parties invited. From bloggers to winner of mcdonald facebook contest, hardwarezone the "makan" zone and mcdonald own private invitation.

Finally the food!!!!

First up Fish and corn quiche

The fish is actually fillet o fish meat. My personal favourite, as for the egg it is used from their breakfast eggs. Steamed with corn at the base, it was a very light starter. Picture a western chawamushi and you will get the taste, though the fish did give it a good bite, corn at the base was crunchy and fresh too!

Fresh Salad Green

In the past whenever i was eating their burgers with veggie the fresh lettuce is always a standout. And today we have a pure taste of the ingredients. With a side thousand island dressing, this dish clear your taste bud and leave it with a refreshing feeling for the next course.

Finally the star of the day,

The Teppanyaki Mcgrill Burger

This is by far the best burger i have eaten in mcdonald, the sourdough bread was the hidden star. It offered a very firm hold but yet soft and chewy. In term of meat cooking and marinating there is alot of stalls that can do a good job, but now mcdonald using this bread brings this burger up another level. Its like subway, the choices of meat is as important as the taste and texture of the bread you eat.

With a dash of bbq sauce, this truly brings up the mark in the looks department

And instead of chopped lettuce, another simple yet good change is that they use one fully slice lettuce.

The perfect brownish charred meat

Who can forget their trademark fries? when i saw the menu and didnt see the fries to be honest something inside me died, i was really expecting it. Luckily shortly after the main dish they send it up with a very nice plating.

Apple Yogurt Trifle

Mcdonald vanilla ice cream topped with strawberry sauce, apple dippers, cinnamon powder.

Tasty treat! The yogurt was just fantastic, the nicest dessert i tried in Mcdonald. Ice cream are sweet and too much of it would make you sick of it. But with a good shot of yogurt in it, there is a very good combination of sweet and sournesss in it.

Elevating your senses in a good way. I didnt have enough of it at the end :(

Mcafe cappuccino, standard taste .

Before we left, the mavellous staff of mcdonald gave each of us this collectible which added the final spark of a wonderful night. After this meal, i realised why after so many decades and such massive expansion all over the world mcdonald is still the number one.

Not only does it make and ensure good food, the management, logistics, crew and sales staff are equally proficient!

This shot belongs to TW14 of HWZ, i 'borrow' from him. Thanks ah terence:P

La kopi? How about some beancurd chill out @ Rochor beancurd ?

2011-02-23T21:01:00.000-08:00

Where do you hang out with your friends on a quiet weekday night or lazy weekend afternoon, at a heartland area for a light supper snack while chilling?

Today we present to you rochor road beancurd, ironicly it is also best known as the selegie 'tau huay'

Today we visit the branch @ upper thomson, parking is usually a pain here due to not having proper lots and most of the diners actually park at the residential area. Causing many frustration to the residents living there (Sorry) You can even see many resident guarding their lots with flower pots, dustbin and other bulky misc stuff that they can move.

The wall of fame with owner david and many local artiste, i have to admit that it is very impressive and good marketing tool as even before eating your expectation of the place would be increased significantly.

But having eaten the 'selegie tau huay and upper thomson branch somehow i felt that the branch @ selegie tasted nicer.

The perfect light tea meal. Balanced combo for a high tea. The popiah was crunchy and ingredients filling.

I always prefered eating from a proper bowl rather than the disposable kind. Not sure why maybe because this sort of retro bowls give you a homely feeling.

I also order a Dou Hua Jia Shui. Tao huay with water. Cant stand eating the pure sweet syrup at times, this gives it a good balance.

Is it just me or the You tiao seems a little longer than usual? Popiah was good though, but will skip the you tiao next time.

Not as fluffy as last time. But the best thing about stalls like this is that people just want to find a place to chill and have a drink rather than the standard coffeeshop la kopi or starbucks where if the prices dont annoy you the search for a seat will.

232 Upper Thomson Road
S574363 Tel: 64936905

Hardwarezone.com.sg - Mcdonald's first gourmet dinner experience invite

2011-02-21T22:28:00.000-08:00

Yummybuddies is selected to be part of a 10 men diner to experience this whole new concept of Gourmet dinner @ mcdonald.

Watch this space for a first hand review of the up and coming Mcdonald Gourmet!!!!!

JB City sqaure: Peri Peri Chicken

2011-02-21T01:13:00.000-08:00

I write with regret that the first entry to peri peri chicken was actually first tasted in JB city square mall

I present to you the legendary Portuguese flame-grilled PERi-PERi-chicken

I really wanted to give it a try in Singapore but constant queues like this made me change my mind. Though i strongly believe that good food are worth the wait but a hungry man is a angry man and a angry man usually wont enjoy his peri peri.

Hunger unfriendly queues

One Fine day on a quiet afternoon, before a good massage i stumbled across a half empty Nando @ Citysquare Mall (JB)

God Sent a message

Ambience was good, noticed couple students having their lunch here. Could also be due to the student promotion, anyway the main thing now.

CHICKEN, i settled for the 1/4 chicken top with the non spicy lemon and herb sauce with 2 sides. Heard from reviews that the rice was nice and went with the mediterranean rice and 'old style chips' AKA french fries to

Rice was sticky and soft, nothing like i had tasted before, could be due to the Portuguese nature which by far anything Portuguese to me was just the egg tart.

No comment about the fries they were just standard fries.

CHICKEN TIME: Tender and fresh, taste was refreshing due to the lemon sauce and herb. It was piping hot as well.

But how could you miss out on its famed peri peri sauce?

Just looking @ them i feel hot

I have to confessed that i am not really a chilli person. And this stuff are hot! even the mildest gave a very fiery burn to my lips and tongue. No joke but if the chicken was drenched in this Hell sauce i would just give up and call for the bill.

P.S Do not try to impress your friends by ordering the extra hit peri peri sauce. It is no joke!

Next in line

My companion ordered the Espatódea chicken.

I didnt really touch the sides but there wasnt much impression made (grilled vegetable and coleslaw)

The chicken was very tasty though, not to mention it was all meat without bones like the other main dishes. Very date friendly without missing out on the taste itself. Decoration was fanciful too.

We actually saw another table having this which really made an impression.

Verdict

Overall taste wise was good but no where near legendary as marketed. Could also be due to the marketing where it really raised peoples expectation, given the chance i will try it again but this time in Singapore and compare.

J.B City Square Mall
10am-10pm
B1-07
Next to HK Kim gary

A&W~~~ The Good Old Times

2011-02-21T01:08:00.000-08:00

Today i present to you a fast food familiar with the slightly older people :(

The first A&W store opened at Dunearn Road in Singapore in 1966 as the first fast food restaurant from the U.S.A. in that country. The chain expanded in the later years, including one at Singapore Zoo which closed in 1999. The chain's Singapore operations dwindled by the beginning of the 21st century, and by 2002 it had only 7 outlets around the island. A&W finally closed in 2005 with the last outlet in Vista point woodlands. They were the pioneer in curly fries and, root beer with ice cream and really good waffles.

The waffles are the kind that wont turn soft and mushy even when the ice cream melt, that is how good it is. Sad to say the burgers wants really a standout and eventually with the high cost of sustaining a fast food restaurant the chain started closing one by one.

A&W was the first place that made me fell in love with ice cream waffles, and no gelato store can bring back the same taste of it when i first tasted it.

It has become a "must eat" for anyone traveling oversea, making your own root beer + vanilla ice cream at home just dont cut it. You must have their authentic version.

It was a slow tuesday afternoon in Jusco though

The trademark drink of A&W

It was a pity i had a really filling lunch and all my stomach space could muster was a waffle ice cream cup :(

I will be back with a empty stomach again and bring back the good old memories that it had once given me

Continued~~

The taste, is nothing found in Singapore! No Gelare can compare when put beside a actual A&W waffle.

This is really my comfort food, taste exactly the same when i had it ages ago, or even in batam.

Consistent taste

There are many different taste of eating a waffle, i personally like to spread them evenly around the whole waffle before cutting up cube by cube to eat. Mmmmmmm~~

Only question is, why do i have to cross a custom to have these?!

Heavenly Crabs off the red dot: Tian Lai Seafood @Gelang Patah

2011-02-15T05:57:00.000-08:00

There is always something that fascinate me in Malaysia and that is their cze char stall and seafood.

Appearantly it doesnt matter where you are but all you need to do is walk into any cze char shop and chances are the food is fantastic in a way or so.

I have been to Satu malaysia countless time and no matter where i am, every time we intend to be adventure we will most probably find a new nice dining spot.

And today i present to you one of the nicest find just across the causeway. One thing that seperates the best and mediocre eateries is not only good food. But consistent good food, reputation and past review counts for nothing if you are going to eat and praying that it will taste the same. Good food is like good sex, no matter where , how and when you do it it must be good always and looking forward to the next round.

Here we are! At truly asia, it is sometime so refreshing to know that you can practically park anywhere without worrying about coupons and stuff. Just drive in slot in and go. I will leave directions at the end of the post.

Been here couple of times and this signage is becoming somesort of trademark already. The eatery seems like family own as you are actually just infront of their house. Somewhat like a bungalow where the front pouch has been transformed to a kitchen area + dining area. During the weekends they will even use their neightbours access area and you could easily see children playing inside the house. That could also explain the ambience's of being casual and relax unlike high end eateries where everything is very professional and purely commercial. Not that it is bad but situational depended.

Ok now pay attention to the following words, you see the bundle full of crab the staff is taking out from? Follow by the 10 over basket there.

It is all LIVE CRABS, and chances are they will sell out by the day!! And we are talking about it being a normal thursday. The waitress we spoke too mentioned that every basket has average 25 -35 crabs depending on size. That is a whopping 250 crabs easily on a weekday.

Random and old signboard nonchalantly displaying their recommended dishes.

Fresh thai coconut juice, i prefer this sweetend version to the other Green colour coconut.

This plate actually cost just 6rm, crunchy fresh vegetable. The aroma of freshly stir fried garlic with oil was just perfect. I realised that some dishes like vegetable taste better when the garlic is smashed rather than chopped.

Difference in chopped and smash garlic, with me preferring the latter.

Ok First dish up deep fried crispy baby sotong, i am not a fan of this dish and noticed that older people actually prefer this dish ? not sure why though. It was a tad small serving though, was a little over fried though. Was supposed to be crispy but it was a bit hard this time.

Hor fun as one of the main dish! Whenever we come here we will definately order a big serving of this, the prawns and fishcake is nothing to shoutabout but the hor fun is very smooth and chewy! That is something that i have yet to find in Singapore yet. You know usually when you order from random neighbour cze char store the gravvy is always watery and after a while it will start turning dark brown due to the hor fun dark soya sauce spreading to the gravy itself. In this plate you dont have such a problem! Even though it is soupy but there is the distinctive 'wok hei' wok breath in this simple delicacy.

Giner and spring onion deer meat

For this dish i actually prefer singapore version as i find that our 'deer meat' is usually much more tender, not really sure if they use tenderiser here but at times deer meat is actually nothing more than pork meat.

Deep fried grouper in sweet and sour sauce

This dish cost about 100g 6rm if i remember correctly, but taste wise was just average and the sauce was a little on the less side. Next~~

Now now, the previous dishes were nothing more than the opening dishes for the main star.

The Salted egg crab (1kg 55rm for small, large crab goes for 65rm)

This dish is by far one of the nicest crab i had tasted. The saltness egg fried with butter is amazingly nice, with a very balanced taste of sweet and saltiness.

The salted egg gives it a very distinctively nice mix with seafood. In all fairness, a fresh ingredient is as important as the flavoring of the dish itself.

You could still taste the juiciness of the crab while savouring the flesh, good crabs should be firm yet easy to peel the meat off. No matter how good the sauce is, if you have to scrap the stuck meat off the claw it is a FAIL.

Thankfully we do not have such a problem over here. The only problem you will have is just the smell of crab lingering after your sumptuous meal

Tian Lai Seafood Garden
158, Jln Leong Bee, Gelang Patah, 81550 Johor Bahru
TEL: 07 510 1521
Daliy 12pm to 11pm
Closed on Alternate Mondays

Getting there is quite easy, Take 2nd link
After R&R there is exit to Gelang Patah town, drive straight till a T junction where you see a big globe,
make a left turn, drive pass many shop house till you see a Shell petrol Stn,
make a right turn after the petrol station,Tian lai should be about 100 metres from there on the left.
you can park right infront of the restaurant or along the road.

Men-Ichi Japanese Ramen (Northpoint)

2011-02-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

I always remembered this ramen shop due to a very interesting dish, the kanitama ramen (Whoa the name sounds foul) The one where the egg covers the whole bowl in a red sauce that taste like chilli crab

Ramen bowls are known to be big, and this ramen topping of egg could actually cover it! Not to mention the omelette's fairly thick as well.

But anyway no having that today, just explaining why i remember this place :)

Look at all those additonal sauces! You have japanese chilli powder, pepper, chill oil, vinegar, wasabi & pickles to get your appetite ready. Only thing missing is the garlic powder which i sorely miss from Aijisen.

Free flow of this stuff, good to know that you dont always have to pay for the small side dish. And definitely better than some $2 plate peanut that some restaurant charge

But today i decide to try something new,

kyofu tonkotsu ramen $14.90

My main dish of the night, a must do before eating any ramen is to mix and eat the seaweed IMMEDIATELY. The first time i added seaweed in and let it soak too long, making tthe supposedly chewy and sweet seaweed to become mushy and somewhat disgusting to eat (picture cereal)

First mouthful of soup is the most important, the first taste as all first impression will let you know immediately if it is good. One mouth and my verdict was that it tasted like a chinese ramen! Wtf?

Most ramen and chinese la mian soup based are actually pork bones broth. And the main ingredient that seperates a japanese ramen and chinese la mian is actually the soya sauce and miso.

This taste has a uncanny resemblance to a chinese soup like noodle. I have to admit i found it ironic, not that the taste was bad. But i am in a japanese ramen shop and would had preferred if the taste didnt taste like chinese soup.

Taste like really thick "bak chor mee" soup. Taste wise was ok but image wise totally wrong.

Soft Shell Crab $5

Holy Crab! We singaporeans love our crabs.

Soft shell, salted egg, black pepper, white pepper, chilli, butter, steam, hot, cold. You name it we eat it.

Just in case you were wondering

Soft-shell crab is a culinary term for crabs which has recently molted their old exoskeleton and are still soft

It is seemingly easy to make yet hard too really get it taste right and consistent, to be able to make the outer crust crispy and yet inner meat soft, juicy and munchy. I really give a thumbs up to Men-ichi for charging decent price with good size crab.

Not mentioning names, the last ramen shop i ordered soft shell crab charged like $6.90 for 2 miserable piece of overfried crab with some fanciful sauce over it.

Dipping not soaking in a warm bowl of miso soup to further enhance the taste since it is only lightly coated with tempura flour.

930 Yishun Avenue 2
#01-22/23 Northpoint
Singapore769098
Tel: 6755 5719
Daily: 11.30am -10.00pm
(Last Order: 9.30pm)

What do you think? Help me improve this blog by Dropping me a comment below. Thank you for reading

Late Night Supper @ Xin Wang Hong Kong Café (Yishun Northpoint)

2011-02-10T06:03:00.000-08:00

With the emergence of late night cafes like xin wang, having a late night chill out spot with good food and air con didnt have to be at Macdonald.

Having had a late night movie watching the CNY jack neo film "Home coming" it was nice to see Xin wang opening so late.

Usually i am not really a fan of xin wang but had a sudden urge to have it for supper, could also be due to the fact that i did not want to eat at a coffeeshop considering that it was quite a warm CNY night.

Even before reading the menu i had already more or less know what was i going to get. Considering that it was kind off late all i wanted was some comfort food, some small bites to end this wonderful night on a FULL

Iced milk tea

What could be a better time for this cold "Iced Milk Tea". The best thing about having such basic drink in a restaurant is that you can be assured of the standard, unlike those coffeeshop version where they would sometime either be too sweet or the tea too thick hence making the drink weird. Ice milk tea is one of those drinks where it is so simple yet so hard to get a good and consistent version. The next better milk tea would have to KOI cafe, but thats another issue.

Po Luo Bun

I was actually quite tempted to have some pork cutlet burger but the menu of this Po Luo bun made me change my mind. It was huge with a thick slice of butter in between the buns, when it was delivered the buns were still hot and fresh i must say. Even the top coat of sweet pineapple cust wasnt hard yet at that time.

Taste wise was filling, the bun tasted somewhat sweet and it was very chewy too.

prawn paste chicken

The Must order in Xin Wang for me, this prawn paste chicken is very similar to those thai pandan chicken where there isnt any skin and the chicken part are all thigh meat. The juiciest and most succulent part of a chicken. Lightly coat and perfectly fried, with every cut oozing out fresh chicken oil.

Not really good any calories watcher, but taste wise is definitely better than normal cze char prawn paste chicken wing since it is boneless and makes eating this much more convenient

Luncheon meat egg sandwich

This wasnt a dish that i ordered actually but my partner couldnt finish hers so i took half of it.

Usually having luncheon meat with cucumber in it would have tasted weird but since it was a sandwich somehow the taste merged perfectly.

Luncheon meat wise was a little thin ( Considering that i had just devoured some really fat chunks of meat in the prawn paste chicken)

Bread was exceptionally soft, but it definately looked like those white bread where you buy from some confectionery shop. Overall taste wise was ok, i was just stuffing my face as the previous 2 dishes had filled me up.

Xin Wang to me is always a nice spot where i can chill with friends having their towering mango dessert and now some late night snack :)

Northpoint Shopping Center
930 Yishun Avenue 2
#01-45/46/47/48
Singapore 769098
Tel : +65-6752 3280

Operating Hours:
Monday to Thursday - 11am to 2am
Friday, Eve of PH - 11am to 3am
Saturday - 10am to 3am
Sunday & PH - 10am to 2am

What do you think? Drop me a comment below

Xi Shi Rou Gan / Cecilia Minced Pork?? 西施

2011-02-10T04:47:00.000-08:00

Well if the 中国古代四大美女之首西施 (4 Beauties of ancient china ) had an english name i would bet she wouldnt be mind calling cecilia.

But to name it after a Bak Gua product i dont think she would be too happy..

Well well anyway was visiting during CNY and stumbled across this never seen before by me bak gua. Wrap nicely in a presentable packaging, vacuumed and ready for consumption.

How to resist blogging about this new find? irregardless of the taste.

Convenient packaging

vacuumed and easily marked

Packaging is very important, but it would count for nothing if the taste is not up to standard, one stand out point from this bak gua is the thinness. I believe this is by far the thinnest bak gua i have eaten, not only is it light but yet also soft. I couldnt get it up straight for a decent shot of the whole slice as you can see from above.

Taste wise it was light and chewy, there was a pleasant after taste as well. Meat somehow felt sticky though , not really sure why.

Flavoring was decent to me, light and soft. But nothing really stood out.

The packing has a zip lock which makes it very convenient for storage.

Close up shot of the meat, the fats look more obvious due to the bak gua being thinly sliced though. Not sure whether is it a good thing. Another point to note was that i had just opened it up and ate it straight away, i was certain that it would taste much better had it been the fresh version unlike this vacuumed package.

Overall it was still a delight to have other flavours of bak gua in this market where there are only this many, packaging is really a thumbs up, taste wise also refreshing as you dont get to eat this brand in the market usually.

Do give it a try if you happen to be around the area as woodlands terrace is known for many factory outlet items :D

Cecilia Minced & Dried Pork Food Trading

Blk 15, Woodlands Loop, #02-37, Singapore 73832

Tel:	6756 6696
Fax:	6752 1502
Email:	contact@xishibakkwa.com

http://xishibakkwa.com/

What do you think? Drop me a comment below