Macpherson BBQ Seafood and yet the place is not located at Macpherson at all! It supposedly serves one of the best valued for money stingray rice in Singapore. Macpherson BBQ Seafood is located along South Bridge Road. It’s very near to CBD. During lunch time, there is a huge office crowd. If you are working nearby in CBD, I strongly advise you to get there early.

For a price of $5.80 nett, you can get a decent big piece of BBQ Stingray, a poached egg and steamed rice. For this similar size of BBQ Stingray, it will easily cost $10 alone in most Cze Char places. Though the chili serves on top of the Stingray is not spicy, it does go well with the rice. This is especially good for those who don’t take spicy food as me.

Frankly speaking, I can’t complain anything about this thick Stingray for it given price and it fills my stomach. I strongly encourage those working in CBD do try the food here. Besides Stingray rice, it has many dishes such as BBQ squid for a very decent price as well.

Location
Macpherson BBQ Seafood
34 South Bridge Rd S (058668)
Contact no: +65 6533 3758

Opening hours
Daily:
1000hrs – 2200hrs (last order @ 2130hrs)
(Closed on Sunday)

There are so called many Hong Kong Café cafes in Singapore claiming to offer authentic Hong Kong Food. However, most of them are a disappointment to me. I have been hearing good reviews about this particular restaurant. I simply can’t wait to try them since I love Cantonese food so much. This Café De Hong Kong is operated by a real Hong Kong owner, Francis, who has been residing in Singapore for past 20 years together with this team of chefs from Hong Kong as well.

For the starter, we have the Roasted Crispy Chicken (Half chicken, $17+, pre-order). The skin is very thin and crispy, virtually no fats all. When biting on the chicken skin, I can feel the crunchy sound. As for the meat, I find it rather normal. It is the crispy skin that surprised me.

For those who like Chinese sausages, you might like this, Preserved meat combination ($30+). It consists of pork intestines and Chinese sausages. Personally, I am not a big fan of pork intestines. Thus, it’s difficult for me to gauge if this is good or not. Rather, I find the price slightly expensive.

Instead of the usual steamed rice, we order one of the Signature dishes, Fragrant Fish Roe Fried Rice (1.5x portion, $15+). This is a very colourful dish. I can taste crunchy fish roe in every bite of fried rice. Furthermore, the wok hei is good! This is a highly recommended dish!

Next, we have the Supreme Tofu (1.5x portion, $18+). There is a piece of scallop on top of each tofu. The tofu is simply soft on the side and yet remains crispy on the outside. The thick and fragrant gravy is very good to go along with the rice. Yet another highly recommended dish!

As a duck-meat lover, I ordered the Braised Duck with Sea cucumber (Half duck, $42+, pre-order). I am not wrong to order this. The meat is very tender. It just melts in my mouth when I bite on it. As for the sea cucumber, I find it needs to be cooked longer in order for it to be softer.

As there are many of us, and the portion is not big, we order additional Braised Bee Hoon with Shredded Chicken ($7+). The wetness of the Been Hoon is just nice; not too dry or too wet. It tastes similar to the Cze Char stalls. However, I feel that there is something extra in this dish that makes me wanting for more.

Oh yes, we order a vegetable as well, Stir Fried You Mak  Cai with Dace Fish (1.5x portion, $18+). Frankly speaking, there is nothing much about this dish.

Finally, we have our last dish that I always wanted to have, French Toast with Milk Tea set ($5.70+). If you are looking for best Hong Kong Style French Toast, looks no further. The BEST French toast is here in Singapore. The bread is thick and huge. Inside is filled with peanut butter and outside is soaked with honey and a piece of butter on top. After finishing this, all of us are full to the max! This set ($5.70) comes with a milk tea. I was hoping to get a similar milk tea taste that I had in Hong Kong. However, this cup of milk tea is localized to suit local taste. Nevertheless, this set is a highly recommended as well!

To conclude, this place serves very nice authentic Hong Kong food. If you are crazy about Hong Kong food just like me, here is the place for you!

Location
Café de Hong Kong (新天地小厨)
586 Balestier Road, #01-01 Eastpac Building S (329898)
Contact no: +65 6255 3865
(Near to Value Hotel)
Note: For special dishes, you need to call them up 1 day in advance for booking.
Only 10% service charge is chargable.

Opening hours
Daily:
1130hrs – 1500hrs
1700hrs – 0000hrs
(Closed on Monday, unless it’s a PH)

Calling out all parents all there! As a father myself, I fully understand the need to find a place when it is both child and adult friendly. Most importantly, parents can take part in the activities with their kids for better bonding. A majority of child friendly places such as indoor playgrounds have height constraints for adults. Most of time, we have a difficult time to join them since these places are especially designed for kids. After a while, our bodies start to ache because we have to bend and squeeze ourselves into those small tunnels. Furthermore, these indoor playgrounds have minimum food and beverages for adults since they cater more to kids. Recently, I found a very nice place located near Arab Street that both parents and kids can enjoy together. For those adults who born in the 70s or 80s, you might rekindle some of your childhood memories here.

The main draw of this place is crafting. Both kids and parents can sit down and perform some crafting together. This is a real bonding session and let you creativity juice flows! The charge is only $5 for 2 hours session for unlimited amount of crafting

While exploring around in this shop, it certainly bring me back some good old memories. I remember having these Doraemon (Ding Dang) chocolate balls for snacks when I was a kid.

Besides crafting, they sell food as well. That’s why I am here (food blogger) as well.  They have a mixture of Thai, Vietnamese and Western cuisine. I ordered the Mango Frosty ($6 nett) and Pulled Chicken Sandwich ($12.50 nett).

As for the desserts, we have the Nutella Cheese Tart ($3 nett) and Banana Nutella Muffin ($3 nett). Frankly speaking, the food is not bad after all. Mango Frosty is thick and mango serving is generous. When I sink my teeth into the Chicken Sandwich, for the moment, I thought I was having a Pulled Pork Burger. The meat is quite tender and feels like having the meat from the pork ribs. However, I find the desserts so-so.

For my Halal Friends, this place serves No Pork, No Lard. Rest assured you can enjoy here as much as I do.

Personally, I feel that the main drawing point of this place is still the crafting. I really enjoy the nice ambience and watching my kid performing his own craft. This is definitely a good place to bring your kids to showcase his/her talents.

Location
Eatplaylove Café
Facebook Fan Page
28 Aliwal Street #01-07, Aliwal Arts Centre S (199918)
Contact no: +65 6444 6400

Opening hours
Daily: 1200hrs – 2200hrs

Recently I visited this small Ramen eatery in Boat Quay. It is located in one of the Two Storey shop houses near to UOB Plaza in Raffles Place. As the name implied, this is a Ramen Bar and hence, the place is very small. I was there in a group of 6 including myself and might find it quite small to accommodate our group.

The dining concept here is similar to Tonkotsu King Ramen. Customers are given a piece of ordering paper. Tick against the choice of items that you wanted and submit to the waitress. Free flow of hard-boiled eggs are placed each table. If you prefer steamed rice, you need walk to the centralized table and grab it yourself (self-service). Seasoned bean sprouts are ONLY served during lunch. Free flow of Oolong tea is served as well. Only CASH payment is accepted here.

I ordered the popular Ramen, Sakura Pink ($14.90++). Before I continue, during dinner time, ONLY 10 bowls of Sakura Pink will be served. Once 10 bowls have finished serving, you have to wait for next day. You have to be here early to try it. When this bowl of ramen is served, it has a strong aroma of shrimp’s broth. Unlike the normal Tonkotsu broth, this is a shrimp broth filled with plenty of small pink shrimps. I guess that’s the reason for it to be called as Sakura Pink.

The noodles are finely cut and thin. To give you an idea, the thickness of the noodles is similar to the Chinese Mee Sua. There is only 1 slice of Chashu and furthermore, this is very thinly sliced as well. I wanted to take the picture of it. However, the Chashu is so thin that it torn almost immediate when my friend picks it up with his chopsticks. I repeat the same for another bowl of ramen and same results prevail.

I ordered another different ramen to be shared. It is the Spicy Dipped Ramen (14.90++). The small ball lying on top of the noodles is not a meat ball. It is actually a Chili paste ball. Once the ball breaks, the chili paste is scattered and you just need to mix well with the noodles. The noodles are slightly thicker and have a springy texture compare to Sakura Pink. The dipping broth taste better than above Shrimp broth. Frankly speaking, I prefer this dipping noodle over the Signature Sakura Pink.

To conclude, the place is rather small and warm especially during peak hours. The Chashu is the thinnest slice that I ever come across. Personally, if they can do away with the free items such as hard-boiled egg and steamed rice and provide 1 more piece of Chashu, it would be good. They have some other special types of ramen such as Ramen with cheese filling. Maybe I will be back to try again.

Location
Ramen Bar Suzuki
Facebook Fan Page
61 Circular RD #01-01, S (049415)
CASH Payment only

Opening hours
Mon – Sat: 1130hrs – 2200hrs
Closed on Sunday and Public Holidays

I guess it is no secret for now that Bakerzin is well-known for its desserts in Singapore. It serves high tea as well in case if you are looking for one.

Today I am here just to have the dessert. We order a Warm Chocolate Cake ($11.50) with a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream on top and strawberry sauce surrounding the cake. It will take about 10mins before the dessert is served upon ordering. As the name implied, the cake is indeed warm and rich in chocolate. The chocolate starts to flow out when it is chocolate sponge “breaks”. It is very similar to the chocolate lava cake. Overall, the taste and texture is fine. However, the only complain I have is that this chocolate cake is quite small in size. Given the price of $11.50++, I expect it to be bigger.

Over the years, there are many new competitors springing up offering almost the same concept as Bakerzin. Hope Bakerzin can be more innovative and creative ideas to attract and retain customers.

Location
Bakerzin
Facebook Fan Page
Jurong Point, #03-58 Singapore 648331
Contact no: +65 67912155