Tow Kwar Pop!

Literally the title is the sign board of one of the best Rojak Stall in Singapore (i came across).

Colourful and eye catching sign board, clean and neat looking stall front, nothing will go wrong with this stall.

The rojak set ($4/$5) is really the only thing that i consider a "DIE DIE MUST TRY" item in Tiong Barhu Food Center.

Visual wise, vibrant looking with height and look very appetizing. The Rojak consist of your common Fried dough fritter, pineapple, cucumber, beansprout and turnip with other not so common ingredient like apple, green payaya and most importantly...

The tao pok sandwich! Absolutely delicious with great texture and refreshing cucumber and beansprout wrapped within.

With all the ingredients mention, still could not make you a good plate of rojak. The heart and soul of the rojak is its sauce. A dark sweet sauce with a little hint of sour (probably tamarind juice) and seductive shrimp paste which is not overpowering but distinctly obvious. The combination provides the of taste of umami.

A dish that will have an everlasting impression...

Address:

Blk 30 Seng Poh Road,

#02-06 Tiong Bahru Hawker Centre

Opening Hours

Mon–Sun: 11.30am – 10.00pm

Leon Kee Pork Rib Soup

After an unproductive gym session, i need some Comfort food to make me feel good...

A braised pork large intestine starter. Nothing special, slightly over braised, in other words loses texture. But flavor wise not bad.

Braise pork trotter with Shiitake mushroom. Looking at the portion, you probably won't guess its only $4! Nicely flavoured braising liquid. The pork is tender but not overcooked till very soft. It retains some texture and the pork meaty flavour. Mushrooms were well braised and completely absorbed the braising liquid. Nice...

Looking at this makes me hungry again...

Now comes the star item on the menu, Dang Gui Bah Kut Teh (当归肉骨茶). This is not the common peppery bah kut the you will find almost island wide. The soup here is with some herb, pepper and dark soya sauce. Nice and robust broth, not a single element is overpowering. Meaning you can't really taste either one of the ingredient distinctly but the elements combines to be a very delicious broth.

Address:

Blk 20 Bukit Merah Lane 1,

#01-18 Alexandra Village Food Centre

Note: Not easy to find parking, avoid peak hours.

Burger Bench & Bar

I am not shy to say i still eat fast food but i'm very selective about my fast food. I'm pretty regular here and finally feel that i must write something about BBB.

I frequently have the saute mushroom burger with beer. Actually if you are having the beef burgers, the topping doesn't really matter.

The real star of the show is the beef patty.

Today i had the caramelized onion cheese burger with extra patty. Maybe its because i frequently make caramelized onion, i feel that the onion are not properly done, not caramelized enough.

However the juicy beef patty never fails to satisfy me. Nicely seared on the outside and not overcooked. Although this burger alone can cost probably 4 or 5 double cheese burger from MCD but the shitty double cheese burger MCD serve can never be compared with this. You actually pay for real minced beef not the high percentage of binder in MCD patty.

Love to sit at the angle that can see the kitchen. Don't know why i love to see other kitchen ever since i started working in one...

Address: #01-02, Cathay Cineleisure

Opening Hours

Sun–Thu: 12pm – 11pm
Fri–Sat: 12pm – 2am

328 Katong Laksa

Well I love laksa. I treat Penang Laksa and Noyna Laksa as different dish. However i do love both types of laksa.

Flavorful with depth, little spicy kick and satisfying comfort to the soul. This is what noyna laksa is all about. Off all noyna laksa, i think Katong Style of laska is the best way to enjoy laksa.

Rich coconut and robust gravy with fresh prawns and cockles, short strain of thick rice noodles with some fish cake, a sprinkle of minced laksa leave all on one spoon. This spoon into the mouth will bring you to a place call heaven.

Chilli Sauce is optional but i love to add some to bring up the kick!

I will never stop loving this dish!

The Large bowl ($5.50) will satisfy big eater like me.

Address: 51 East Coast Road (Park at Ceylon Road)

Tel: +65 9732 8163

Opening Hours Daily: 8am – 10pm

Tonkichi (Ngee Ann City)

I am a fan of pork, i love them in any form other than raw :) If prepared correctly, they have nice meaty flavour and excellent texture.

In Singapore, there are many specialization shops. Like Burgers, Ramens, Pizzas... For my Pork Katsu carvings, only one place in Singapore can satisfy it....

Welcome to Tonkichi. Very simple menu, not much of a selection. I remember the first time i tried it was in Taipei (Conveniently named Tonkatus) when i was traveling with my sister. It left a deep impression not only because of the food, the way we make our own sesame sauce was pretty fun. It was an aromatic therapy for diners before meal.

The tools to make your own Simple sauce.

First you grind some roasted sesame seeds. How fine is up to you but i love to keep going because the aroma of the sesame is so fragrant due to the release of its oleoresin.

After you are done with the sesame, take a break, sip some tea :)

Add in the sauce on the table and give it a good mix. It is slightly sweet with some savory and acidic note, most importantly taste really good with the pork.

A Tonkichi set for 3 pax. Rice, Veg and soup should be free flow...

What I love about the pork katsu here is the way they prepare it till it is crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside. However the one I had in Taipei was much better probably due to the fact the pork variety is different. Some how the pork in Taiwan taste better!

This is the closest you can get to a good pork katsu. Any better you have to order the Korobuta pork katsu. I'm sure it will taste better, with a premium of course ;)

Address:

391 Orchard Road #04-24

Ngee Ann City

Singapore

Opening Hours

Mon–Sun: 1030am–10pm

Tel: +65 6735 7522

Le Chasseur

Having heard so much about this place from various people, i starting to wonder what is it all about... I have been here 3 or 4 years ago and it didn't leave much impression.

Still i decided to check this out to see what is so special about this place.

Firstly, the menu was pasted all over the wall with picture. I must say its quite a view. Simple yet delicious looking food is really the key to their success i think.

They trying to go traditional but what is with the shop name? Le "Char Siu" Hahaa...

After a really long and painful (aroma of the food from other table is killing us...) wait, The first dish arrived. It was a simple peppery soup with pork ribs and stomach. Soup was simple and delicious but i feel the pork ribs could be more tender. I like the way they make the pig stomach so clean and it was cook simply, perfectly.

Pork trotter with ginger and vinegar. Acquired taste but i love it. Pork was tender, nicely cooked with a sweet and lightly sour dark vinegar sauce. However i was disappointed to see some hair on the skin, not removed cleanly...

Prawn paste chicken. It was the perfect snack for beer! Boneless chicken leg cut into bite size, marinade with prawn paste, deep fried and serve with a power packed chili sauce. I have no complains for this dish!

Stir fry kai lan. A little disappointing as it is pretty dry and almost tasteless. It could probably get the healthier choice endorsement hahahaa... But the price is cheap, at $4.80, u can't find it elsewhere...

Next up is the Finale... the much raved about Claypot rice. Actually pretty much a disappointment. Probably because i have tasted the commonwealth avenue claypot rice when i was young, nothing could beat that. But the owner of that claypot rice is MIA now...

Anyway...

The service staff will first help you with mashing up the salted fish then drizzle a little dark soy over it then let us help ourselves. But $16+ for the large one is really expensive considering the pricing of their other dish. Anyway I'm not saying its not good. In fact, its pretty decent with wok hei, well separated basmati(long grain) rice and balanced flavours. I think it could do better with some lard infused in the rice and more salted fish for a more intense flavour. Good but overrated.

As for dessert, i chose to have a recommended dish which is the black fungus dessert. Nicely done, not too sweet. However if it was served with crushed ice instead of ice cubes, it would be much better in terms of mouth feel and connivence of eating.

I will be sure to go back to try more delicious looking dish like the fried pork knuckle and traditional soup.

Address:
31, New Bridge Road
Singapore 059393

Opening hours: 11am to 11pm daily

Tel: 63377677

Wee Nam Kee 威南记海南鸡饭餐室

If you ask me what if my favourite local food, I don't have to think to give you the answer. Its Chicken Rice! Nice and delicious rice which is so flavourful with tender steamed chicken (More like poached) or fragrant roast chicken (more like deep fried).

When ever i'm overseas, this is the first dish i'll miss and for sure after i come back to singapore, this is one of the priority dish to have.

My favourite stall is still Tian Tian Chicken Rice at Maxwell food center. However Wee Nam Kee which is near my place also serves up a good chicken rice without the queue.

This place is located near mediacorp so don't be surprise to see local celebrities. Other then chicken rice, they serve up some pretty decent Cez Char which is a good complementary if you want to have a wholesome dinner instead of just chicken rice.

Somehow i love the barley drink here. Love the thick consistency which has a strong flavour of pandan and barley.

As for the chicken, i always prefer the steamed chicken because that i think bring out the best of the chicken. Occasionally i love to order Yuan Yang, meaning both steam and roast chicken to pamper myself :) The sauce they have by the side is pretty standard; Chili Sauce, Dark Sauce and Ginger sauce. I love to mix all the sauce together to create my concoction.

Don't you just love the looks of it?

Address:

275 Thomson Road

#01-05 Novena Ville, Singapore

Opening Hours:

10.30am-2am

Le Bistrot du Sommelier

For Christmas gathering with my favourite bunch of foodie, we chose a place that people rave about and we all wanted to try. Le Bistrot du Sommelier has loads of story within our group. Afterall this industry is really small rofl... Our group happen to know the chef hehehe...

We had a pretty big group but the chef philosophy of sharing is what we really enjoy about the restaurant. The chef even joked about "We don't know the meaning of small". The portion is pretty big! So if you go with a group of 3 just order 2 main to share so you have space for appetizer and dessert.

First we had a dozen of escargot which is simply done but just taste great. We tried to dig the recipe out from the chef but his lips was pretty tightly sealed. Hahaha... Simply replied with garlic, parsley, butter and tomato seasoned with salt and pepper. I'm very sure there is more to that but i should be so rude to keep pressing the chef.

Duck pate is pretty decent, nicely seasoned with sea salt flake and fig jam on the side. I love it but i still prefer my duck liver pan seared :)

Note to Matthew: I tried but raw endive is still not my thing.. Hahaha....

Chicken liver pate is some sort of an acquired taste. Some might not like it but i kinda like it :) Rich and flavourful, the cornichon (gherkin) on the side was perfect to refresh the palette.

Chef special pork terrine (not on menu) is really good. It reminds me of the chinese "猪脚冻" but this is done in a very refreshing way. Simple and lightly flavoured, a nice refreshing tangy ting to it and sweet chopped onion with fresh herbs gives this dish a simple yet memorable flavour. I has a very nice texture too. My ultimate favourite appetizer of all!

For my main course i had Steak Tartar which is really unique and different from the other steak tartar i had elsewhere... Don't ask me why but i love my beef as simply prepared as possible, even raw is fine... All the ingredients where hand chopped which gives it a better texture as compared to blended with a food processor. It was nicely flavoured however i don't like the fact the italian parsley inside the tartar is too roughly chopped. I would prefer it to be finer without the stem. About the fries, was pretty disappointed its just regular frozen shoestring fries(becasue shoestring fries are exceptionally good in absorbing the flavour of the deep fryer oil which i think is pretty disgusting. I love oil like butter, lards and olive oil but not deep fryer oil.). Hand cut fries or just a few paper thin slice of bread would be a better option.

Braise Pork knuckle. The pork knuckle is fork tender and very nicely flavoured with various herbs and spices. The sourish sauerkraut with juniper berry really lends a great flavour to the pork knuckle. Excellent execution of this classic dish.

The Braised pork cheek is also another real beauty! Nicely flavoured with wine and herbs, braise till fork tender. Cheek is not an easy part to prepare, require the chef to understand how to control temperature and time of cooking. Don't waste the sauce, dip it with some bread :)

Poulet au vin with 40 garlic clove. I forget where i read about the 40 garlic clove but it has a meaning to it. Go find it out for yourself :) Anyway the garlic is really nice to go with the chicken. What i respect about the chef is the use of herbs and wine in this dish. Heavy yet simple in flavour with natural sweetness of the wine. Nice...

Thanks to Peter who part timed for the chef a couple of time, desserts were complimentary :) hehehe... Anyway the chef was rushing to the airport (back Switzerland for christmas) straight after work if not it will be good to have a nice chat with him.

Chocolate creme brulee and classic Vanilla creme brulee. Nice and classic, sweet and smooth. Love the crunchy layer of sugar.

A chocolate mousse of some sort and chocolate profiterole with vanilla ice cream.

Bitter sweet chocolate with whipped cream. Simple nice and sinful. But i prefer the other dessert...

Chocolate profiterole with vainlla ice cream is really good. Nice and crust with soft inside for the choux pastry and large scoop of vanilla ice cream. the highlight was the homemade chocolate sauce with almond flakes.

Great bunch of foodies who really cares about quality of food :) Looking forward to the next food adventure.

Reservation is a must :)

Address: 46 Prinsep Street #01-01

Prinsep Place Singapore

Tel: +65 6333 1982

Opening Hours:

From Monday to Saturday

From 6pm to 11pm.

Closed on Sunday

Ming Chung Restaurant

I try my best not to write review for a place i went only once. For this restaurant, after several visit, i think i must write one. I wouldn't say its food is damn good. However this place certainly knows how to do comfort food. At least in my humble opinion it is very homely feel and i feel really at ease. Henghua cuisine in singapore is pretty rare according to my friend who is of heng hua origin. This place he claim served one of the better ones in Singapore. No doubt the dishes does have standard, flavour profile is very suitable for singaporean.

A wall full of past glory... This is a very clear message why this place is so pack at peak hours and the staff will require u to share table with other customer. First impression of the staff? Very "Dao". But seriously it is because they are very busy. If you can manage to chat a little with them u will find that they are actually very casual and friendly.

Very old school fitting, probably looks the same in the past decade. Except for the LCD TV of course :)
A little Malaysia feel of washing the cutlery with hot water. Oh i'm not having any limited edition of Corona which is black in colour, its actually black vinegar for the Star Dish of the restaurant!

Star of the restaurant.... *Drum Roll* White Lor Mee! Delicious broth made into a flavourful soup top with fresh clams, slice pork, prawn, special tao pok, veggy, squid and the main ingredient that qualify it as lor mee, the awesomely flavoured lor ba (Braise Pork Belly)! With the strong flavour of the braise pork belly it really somehow taste like lor mee. Without that it taste like a delicious seafood noodle :) Best eaten hot slurping down on a cold rainy night. Shoik!

Sambal Kang Kong with Cuttlefish. One of my favourite dish which has a fatel flaw in the dish. The kang kong is simply blanch but they did not drain the water off properly :( End result will dilute the awesome sambal sauce. What i do is to let the dish sit for awhile then drain off the excess water :) Simple solution for a simple problem! However if you are dining with someone who doesn't take spicy food, best to toss it around with the excess water. So in other words the excess water not that bad afterall :) The cuttlefish was also done properly. Many places uses shortcut by rehydrating cuttlefish with alkaline water. But overhere, either they prepare it in such a awesome way to completely remove the alkaline taste or they just simple do it the normal way of soaking in water for a longer period of time.

One of their signature is this Stir fry LaLa (Clams). Fresh and without sand, naturally sweet. Nothing wrong about the flavour which is well balance with the sweetness of the clam, savory of the sauce with a ting of spicy note. However i still prefer the one i had at Seng Kee 511 which has a hint of refreshing acidity...

Har Chiong Gai (Prawn Paste Chicken) is one of my favourite dish. This dish over here must be consume immediately after its serve to ensure the best of flavour. Nice and crispy when hot! However the one i had at Hong Kong Street Zhen Ji was better marinaded and also serve with a great chilli sauce.

Pretty late closing time so its great for late dinner or early supper :)

Its located near quite a few sleezy pubs so i would not advice ladies to travel alone. I'm always available for company :) And also very crowded during dinner time and may need to wait for and hour or more if u are unlucky...

67 Maude Road (Beside jalan besar shopping center)

Tel: 6296 3428

Hua Nam Restaurant 华南菜馆 A Nostalgic Place To Dine....

Initially wanted to go for prata late dinner but the dim sum looks good and looks very inviting so we decided to try this stall instead.

From the outside it looks very old school.

Even the Dim Sum were those few simple old school type.

Something not very common in Singapore anymore, a "Ma Ti Gao" Waterchestnut Cake.

Assorted Puff Pastries and "Lo mai kai"

A retro selection of menu.

Really simple decor, i think it hadn't changed for ages...

One of the most awesome beef horfun i had. The horfun was cook till fragrant with ample amount of wokhei every bite. Sauce was not very salty with nice consistency and flavour. Beef was very tender. Whats best? The plate it was served in is also very retro!

"Hei Zhou" Every place i go i love to try this dish because i think my grandma and mum make the best in Singapore. This was definitely decent but the flavour of the spices a little too strong, masking the natural flavour of the meat inside.






The Dim Sum was all pretty simple. Mainly consist of pork, chicken and prawns. Different ratio, different seasoning. But still after a few u can find similarity in some of them.

Food Rating: 6/10. This place is not the middle to high end restaurant u are looking for. The food quality seriously is just average. However i'll still be back for supper.

Service: The boss and lady was warm and friendly. I ask the boss how come the "Siu mai" sold out so quickly, he went to make some and steam... It was 11pm already! They just go all out for the customers! Love them :)

Value: Each dimsum is priced at $2 while a simple horfun is price at $4. Very decent price i must say. Eating alone or in big group should spend aroun $10-20 to truly enjoy the food and ambiance here... (However i feel the indoor seating might be a little too warm for most people so grab the outdoor seating if you can manage to secure any...)

Address:
244F Upper Thomson Road
Thomson Garden Estate
Singapore

Opening Hours:

This place close at 11:45pm, new place for supper :)

Telephone: 6453 3645