Old Hong Kong @ Square 2

In the mood for soup.

It's a permanent mood.

Sharksfin -Melon- Crabmeat soup.

Visible morsels of crab meat.

Diced vegetables.

And savoury thick soup.

Does wonders for the appetite.

Triple mixed meat platter.

The duck was the star*

Crisp skin, ohsodeliciously indulgent layer of fat and tender braised meat.

The char siew (BBQ Pork) was lean but I'd have much preferred more generously charred edges.

The roast pork although lacklustre in color,

more than made up for itself in taste and texture.

Crisp thick layer of skin, lean meat and just that little bit of fat in between.

All gone in a bit! :)

Handmade cuttlefish pieces with beancurd skin and assorted mushrooms.

The cuttlefish pieces were bland but the sauce complemented it perfectly.

This was a recommended signature,

but I'd recommend some other beancurd dish though.

And these lipsmackingly delish fillets of cod.

So there were three of us.

And no I didn't just stop at one.

Exercising absolute control- I had one and a half.

There. I shared. :)

But of course if I could, 

I would have...

Thanks for the birthday treat.

For two years in a row.

Old Hong Kong at Square 2 was perfect for a quiet night.

A much overdue dinner date.

You're a blessing indeed.

:)

<3 p="p">

ssikkek korean barbeque (2d1n soju bang)

This better be worth it.

From the fumes of the vehicles standing near the main road to the tantalizing smells of the meats on the hotplate. I was glad to advance in the queue. Albeit at a speed comparable to a snail's pace. But this was torturous. An hour and a quarter standing in queue. On wedges that I was tempted to take off. Everyone else it seemed, was well prepared. It was slippers or flats. 

We watch on as a special queue for the people who made prior reservations formed parallel to us. They were ushered in at what seemed like seconds. While normal peasants like us waited for what was eternity.

Finally, at 930pm we were shown to our seats. A table for four with just the two of us. Just as well.

And now there's no time to sit about.

Let's go!

She grabs the plates, I grab the cups.

A choice or cold Calamansi or hot barley tea.

Then there was also a cold korean rice drink/ dessert.

And the other dessert offering was sweet cubes of ruby red watermelon.

I'd seen it on so many tables while standing in queue that I had to get me some! :)

All this was housed in a small corner of the restaurant. It's the size of a kitchen in a studio apartment.

And amazingly, utensils, cups, bowls and saucers were all on shelves for ease of access.

And the meats of course.

Included a selection of pork, chicken and beef in various cuts and marinates.

Thin bacon strips. Full fat. Perfect for the grill.

Paper thin beef rolls. These were a hassle to unroll when you're a hungry monkey but they tasted oh-so- good, melt-in-your-mouth crazy awesome! Mmmm. :)

I did try to make things better wrapping these in lettuce but well, it's all about balance.

Short ribs galbi were good but too tough for me.

The scissors that they provided were just great for snipping these up into small portions.

I'd much prefer the thin cuts and chicken bulgogi though.
And chewy squid rings!

Lots of onion slices to stir fry till caramelized, handfuls of golden mushroom and inch-thick potato slices for the carbs that tasted great barbequed in the fatty juices of meat and addictively preserved radish discs that I threw onto the hotplate as well.

There was also a seaweed/minestrone/ginseng soup that were unfortunately cold with no refills given the late timing we were admitted.

There was a small tray of grilled chicken wings and corn apple salad that kept me happy while waiting for the food to cook.

And that's when she spilled the beans. Oh I am so happy for you my dear girlfriend! :)

Amidst the craziness of work, I'm so happy that you've found someone.

Good conversation, well marinated meats and tasty sides made good the time spent in the queue.
Unfortunately, the kimchi wasn't worth the mention.
What with this being a korean restaurant. Hmm.

We didn't eat much but everything we ate was worth the fat and calorie count.

And my eyes lit up when I saw these sticks of ice cream! Mango milk ice cream. It tasted like yoghurt sorbet. All flavours going at $1 each. Not included in the price of the buffet. 

It was a good ending to our meal. :)

Sitting indoors was terrible. Unfortunately, you don't walk out smelling like tantalizing meat. You just smell like refried barbequed. Not the most appetizing way to describe anyone. But believe you me, it takes two rounds of shampoo and some lifebuoy to totally eliminate the odour.

I'd make a trip here again, for the reasonable prices and good meats. But i'll be sure to make my dinner reservations, wear slippers/ flats and request for a seats outdoors next time! :)

Thanks for the dinner treat dear. A promotion and a happy life event!

Cheers to the long weekend!

There's nothing like fresh. Or generous for that matter.

I'd do sushi takeout from here anyday. :)

First time we are here at novena square 2 for sushi instead of the long favoured nihon mura. For convenience purposes more than anything else.

But wow. When I saw salmon maki that looked like this,

I just had to grab it. Yum :)

They also do lunch sets for affordable prices of $10.80 and up which includes choices like grilled yellowtail head, unagi, codfish which comes with slices of sashimi, complimentary miso soup and green tea which applies for all dine in customers.

What was stopping us all this while?

Space.

A simple sushi counter with a seating capacity of probably not more than 20 pax. We had 9 and took up just about half the shop already.

Be prepared to wait too as the staff do everything from cleaning, cashier and of course cooking prep.

But wait you shall. And wait I will.

For quality food that I know will satisfy my tummy for sure :)

never belated. always treasured. :)

Reflected in the menu as squid paste but they probably ran out and we were advised that it would be prawn paste instead. We decided to give it a try anyway and were pleasantly surprised by the taste. Nothing too pungently seafood. The prawn paste was roughly fashioned and had a springy texture with ample bite. The gravy was well absorbed by the beancurd sheets making it a tasty vegetable dish. 

It was a toss up between the beef cubes or the venison of which we were recommended the latter. The wok hei was evident in the ginger and scallions but the venison itself saw either no addition of a tenderizer or that it was overcooked which resulted in a meat texture too tough for my teeth to handle. (Bearing in mind that my teeth are weak individuals, it doesnt mean that it's tough as rubber) :)

Cod never fails. This was a tasty treat! Juicy flakes of fish well marinated with a special sauce that we were advised to be a little sour but worked out sweet. It faintly reminded me of miso marinated cod. And by the way, the charred ends were deliciously sweet like the charred ends of barbecued pork. Now that, should be more than enough reason to order this. :)

The red bean souffle balls did not resemble the picture offerings in the menu. I was expecting dim sum styled deep fried red bean sesame balls but these turned out larger than golf balls. Thankfully though, they were not deep fried to a crisp. The egg taste of the souffle was very evident on my first bite. These were airy and very soft. Almost like sponge cakes. :)

The filling was too little which made the exterior seemed like too much dough. I think it would have been better had their dusting of caster sugar been icing sugar.

But this made for a sweet treat that isn't too heavy on the tummy.

Then of course if you wanted a more traditional chinese dessert, you probably want to choose this taro offering. :)

I didn't see the chinese namesake of this dessert but was intrigued by its unique presentation in a coconut and the fact that I really do like taro. When we made the order and heard that this was orh nee (芋泥) I was pleased as punch!

And when it arrived, piping hot in its shell, I was all too excited to open the coconut cover to reveal a milky mix of mashed taro and almond cream!

ohmyyum!

But this, should definitely be shared. With a few others preferably. I only had one dining partner to share with and she only took one small scoop.

And what's there left for me to do?

EATITALLUP. *licks the spoon clean

Once you pop, you really can't stop.

This was good relief for my cramps but way too heavy for a 930pm dessert option.

Eat first, think of the waistline later. :p

Traditional chinese restaurant settings tucked away in a corner on the second floor of novena square 2. This was a good place for a dinner catch up with it's relative tranquility (till a table of 10 sat at the tables next to us). Haha. This is a good venue for families and even for just friends who feel like doing good quality chinese food once in a while.

I had an awesome dinner with good food and great company.

Thanks SC for taking time off to celebrate my birthday for me year on year.

My spiritual, emotional and physical hunger are very well satisfied and blessed by your friendship. :)

Love,

the coffee connoisseur @ novena square

There were a few reasons for this.

One of the biggest was feeling terrible that Josh missed out on our Italian mayhem because of his utter devotion to the safety and security of our nation.

And the fact that it's mandatory of course.

At least he likes it. :)

Then there's also the countless times I've dined/ grabbed a cheesecake from TCC but my family probably wouldn't step into it. Just because it hardly looks like a dinner restaurant.

Of course things change after you've dined at all semblances of restaurants/ pubs/ bars for the past ten days.

I think two reasons were good enough.

There's more but then you'd sleep before the food gets to you...

Dad. Always needing a good soup. :)

Mum who eats beef while Dad doesn't so these are her rare occassions for that kind of red meat. Juicy. Medium well done. She liked it.

Josh had a yuzu salmon pasta. He was worried if the servings were big enough for a dinner meal and no, he won't be dining there with his friends in a hurry. This is the phase in life where buffets look awesome (he's been in that phase since dragonboat days and counting. how nice to have permanent excuses to carbo load.)

Nigel was suffering from a terrible jetlag. He could only deal with tasting. Not actual eating. Did well with the chicken though. Juicy, tender. Didn't taste much sherry but none of that affected an alcohol intolerant like I.

So new restaurant offering by the end of 2011. Last year was the ichiban line of restaurants that has seen our frequent dining attempts throughout this year. And hey, the family has TCC-ed! :)

I don't know about you but I love my family. :)