Eating it at where it's at!

Where's your favourite Yu Kee Duck Rice Outlet? I had a hungry mummy so she went ahead and bought this and was sorely upset when we kindly informed her that her $4 dinner order of roast duck and honey barbequed pork is from the same stall that we usually eat back at Bishan. Otherwise, she thought it was good.

Now daddy likes to associate himself with the Teochew Ah Hias. He's definitely on par when talking about pride. :) So he tried out their handmade fish and meatball meepok. Handmade for sure when you look at their balls of various shapes and sizes. Some smaller than others. Some just plain ugly. It's a taste that grows on you. I liked the softness of the fish/meatballs. Some people would rather it be bouncy. To each his own.

And it was a simple decision for me. No need to trawl the food centre. I know exactly what I wanted. 

Eating it where it's at. Bedok Chwee Kueh. :) It's an oily mess and even if it's made with vegetable oil, it's probably not ranking high on the healthier food choices chart. But how can I resist? I'm a kueh everything person. Savoury. That is. We're talking pumpkin, carrot, yam, chwee KUEH. I love them all. But I digress. The chai poh (preserved radish) topping was sweeter than I last remembered. Fragrant with the addition of sesame seeds. The kueh was soft and meltingly tender. A perfect contrast to the crunchy taste bursts of its toppings. Yummydelicious!

Tonight's rendition of the handmade ban mian wasn't what I remembered. It's still got its queues but the soup stock lacked taste. It's been too long since I've been here.

Mummy's made mental notes to try the char kway teow. Daddy's probably going to have the curry noodles. I guess we'll be back here soon enough. :)

What do you recommend at the Bedok Interchange Food Centre?

what's your favourite food and why?

 We had an activity on in church today. The objective was easy - getting to know someone better from the young adults circle. What better way but to bond over food. :)

We had an afternoon swim just before this, working up a healthy appetite. Lydia originally wanted a prata fix but decided to go easy on me with porridge. At Crystal Jade no less. Apparently she never was a porridge eater till she discovered these congee type porridge at Crystal Jade. Mmm. Preserved egg with lean meat on the left and Preserved egg with fish on the right. And a plate of roasted duck noodles in the background. Good food, company and conversation.

We ended our meal with a plate of 杞子桂花糕- osmansthus flower and wolfberry jelly slices that were a cooling treat for the throats. There's a current promotion for a drink and dessert at $3.80.

Today, I wondered if they used cornstarch in their porridge. Hmm. Anyone has any idea? 

Finally I've stopped in at the 7-11 outlet at Yio Chu Kang MRT Station to grab a freshly made waffle. For a dollar you get a freshly made pandan flavoured waffle. Taken plain or with a choice of filling- chocolate, peanut butter or kaya. Taste wise? A little too sweet. But it's got a light airy cake-like texture uncommon for a waffle and that's a deal for a dollar well spent.

And a quiet dinner with mum at the nearby Ang Mo Kio Block 628 Market and Food Centre. Xiang Ji Porridge. It isn't the 滑粥 (cantonese style smooth porridge) but it's a thick tasty gruel that has a value hard to beat.  

Fish porridge comes at a price tag of $2.20. Imagine that. At least 5 slices of thick fresh fish- might possibly spanish mackerel, and various tasty toppings of some fried dough stick pieces, fried shallots, spring onions, preserved radish and a dash of pepper. No additional soya sauce needed.

I survived yet another dental visit. Today's visit saw me nowhere near death unlike the previous visit but cost me an arm. Next visit will probably cost me the other arm and legs. So anyway, I don't hope for dreary weather everyday but today's overcast skies made it a perfect day to walk home.

A five kilometre stroll back to grandma's included covering the grounds of the newly renovated Bishan Park II. Therapeutic me-time. It's been a good day of slow morning jogs of 6km at the Macritchie reservoir cross-country trail and a ten lap cool off swim. It isn't a lot but it's enough. Endorphins from exercise. Feeling awesome has taken a while in coming. :) 

Starting over. On living.

Restoran Swee Ang, Jalan Kuning, Johor Bahru

Restoran Swee Ang at Jalan Kuning, Johor Bahru. Head along Jalan Tebrau parallel to Plaza Pelangi. Drive straight till you see Hong Leong Bank/Buddy Restoran, Jalan Kuning. Head a little further till you see an orange/black building. Make a left turn into the parking lots and you should see the restaurant on your left. :) They rest on Tuesdays, opening only at 11 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. on weekends.

After a failed trip on a previous Tuesday, my aunt made plans to bring us to this place on a Wednesday instead. We arrived at 9.15 only to find that the shutters were still down. Heading over to Larkin Market, we looked for their previous neighbouring stallholders to ask for their contact numbers. That's where Swee Ang started. A humble shop in a badly ventilated bus interchange/ wet market food centre. The first time we've patronized this stall must have been a good ten years ago. Then the market underwent a revamp and they were elusive for the entire period. Only when we returned and spoke to their friends who still ran their drinks stall and porridge stalls in the market were we able to make contact and recce our way to their very own shop at Jalan Kuning. For my aunt and grandparents, this wasn't their first visit at the new shop. For my mother and I, we were looking forward to this. Their signature crab meat/ minced pork patty soup. :) So when they answered the phones at 1230 pm, we headed over immediately for our lunch.

Not one to stinge on ingredients, crab meat tops the minced meat patty in a soup i've long since come to recognize as one with a certain umami taste.

A fluffy shrimp omelette with crispy edges. Simple dish well done. :)

Pig trotters. Doesn't look it? Where's the skin and fats? Healthier choice version. You can ask for lean meats and no, you will not be disappointed. Tender pork braised in an aromatic gravy that does not have a salt content to keep you from drinking this on its own. Warning: May lead to one's consumption of copious amounts of rice.

 滑蛋河/ wat dan hor or simply egg drop hor fun. First time trying this in JB. For a RM$5 portion, you get substantial amounts of thin flat hor fun noodles fried in dark sauce before being drowned in tasty seafood gravy. If oil and carbo loading makes you faint hearted, you probably would want to skip this dish. Lacking wok hei, what it makes up for in quantity, it doesn't make up for quality. Everything else but the wat dan hor on my repeat visit.

This isn't in my neighbourhood but having patronized this stall since ten years ago, following them in their shift in locations. It's not just a die hard fan relationship with this stall. It's a genuine passion for good food that keeps us coming back. Familiar faces and delicious soups.

Try it yourself.

Jimbaran sunsets.

My idea of Balinese/ Indonesian offerings in Singapore have been limited to Tambuah Mas and Ayam Penyets till today.

A gorgeous appetizer platter of bergedils (potato patties with minced beef), vegetarian spring rolls, barbequed prawns and chicken sate. But it looked a lot better than it tasted. I've been told it's a favourite snack order with drinks for the night crowds.

The bergedils were not heavy on taste even with the addition of minced beef, which isn't very characteristic of Balinese food. The chicken sate was made of lean meat which was too tough for my teeth to handle. I'd have expected a more tender offering with my previous experiences of sate ayam. The prawns were satisfactory but the spring rolls were totally uninspiring. It might have been because I took them cold.  

All was saved by Tom Yum Talay. It was a little odd in a Balinese restaurant but I could be none the wiser. Does this count as Balinese? Packed full of seafood goodness and young coconut flesh. It was a treat that was best taken hot. Spicy hot, temperature hot. :)

And we're still on the appetizers with a signature Gado Gado. The fried vegetable toppings added a nice crunch and a little indulgence to this healthy boiled vegetable salad drizzled with peanut sauce. They even had an extra bowl of peanut sauce. Just in case you needed more.

Bebek Betutu- something I had to place a deposit on at a restaurant in Kuta area last trip I was in Bali. I had to remind myself that I was eating duck then. Moist shreds of tender duck falling off the bone.This version was a lot less moist but it was a tasty and flavourful offering of duck if I tried to describe in words, it would be somewhat similar to a thick otah paste on duck. Hmm. If it less dry, it might have just been the dish that did it for me today.  

Ikan Bakar Bali. Nothing conjures up my smoky Jimabaran sunset picture like a fresh fish grilled on coconut husks with minimal fuss and a sweet spicy sauce packed with a punch that seeks only to enhance the delicate tender freshness of the fish. There probably was no coconut husk grilling involved. But there was however, a sweetness of tender fish meat confirming the freshness of the fish with a side offering of sauces- kecap manis, sambal and green chilli. Now, THIS was the dish of the day for me.

Bayang Balinese Restaurant offers a cosy setting and signature offerings that make it worth the money spent. New place on the list for Balinese food. :) And what was it again that we concluded? An ideal place for lunch gossips. Ideal. Lunch. Gossips. Perfect afternoons are made of these. Quietness has its perks. And only in the afternoons.

At night? You probably shouldn't be surprised to turn around and find your bosses in the same place unwinding in its relaxing atmosphere and Enya soundtracks so hold on to your gossips and eat up instead! ;)

heart bistro

It was a mad rush to get to Palais Renaissance for a dinner appointment tonight. I gathered my frazzled senses- no thanks to the power walk from Orchard MRT, as I walked the stairs down to the restaurant. I was LATE. Hmm. Only two tables occupied. One of which was my dinner appointment. Mmm. What I would give for a moment's respite amongst the dinner queues and hustle/bustle of town. :) A refreshing shot glass of juice was served to cleanse the palate. Between the three of us, we shared-

Poached seafood with buckwheat soba in clear soup. A dish by any other (preferably shorter name) would taste just as healthy. :) Nice medley of fresh seafood but they could be more generous with their offerings in tandem with their price tags. The greens were green, less of the fact that they were fresh, more of the fact that they were undercooked. The soup was surprisingly tasty given that it was a clear soup base. A light yet tasty main choice selection.

So how could we resist a bit of indulgence with the beef cheeks? On contrast, a very uninspiring name for a dish many have raved about as a signature offering. It was served warm. Perhaps simply reheated? The top of the meat offering was too dry. There was the forked tenderness many have spoken of, but its uncanny resemblance to the braised pork trotters left me feeling disappointed with this choice of mains. The bed of mash was tasty. Fluffy light potatoes, seasoned with herbs. The mushrooms were a nice addition as well.

 

We finished off dinner with the sticky date pudding. Not high on date content. Pun not intended. It would've been much better off with more palatable offerings. Random green pistachio bits added on to a brown sticky date and white vanilla ice cream took earth tones to its bare minimums along with our appetites for dessert.

Perhaps I would return. Perhaps.



Homestyled kfc a.m. porridge/ Duck Tales!

A handful of chinese mushrooms; soaked and sliced

A cereal bowl sized offering of yesterday's shredded KFC :)

Some chinese kale blanched with a few drops of oil, an egg and there we have a pseudo KFC a.m. porridge meal with proper greens. Not spring onions. :)

Crunchy lotus root fried with chestnuts, snow peas, carrots, gingko nuts and macadamia nuts. a small offering and I managed a tiny bit of macadamia. it was a pleasantly refreshing vegetable dish :)

The restaurant's signature duck offering. We had the whole roast duck in Wild American Ginseng.  

The crispy skin was flawlessly executed. Most of the duck was accompanied by minimal levels of fat to give that glistening shine and tenderness to the meat. It was a dish even my stressed teeth could handle :) 

  

Old style fish slices. This was tastier (albeit a little on the salty side) than the ones offered at The Soup Restaurant. There was a generous serving of mushrooms, lean meat, pickled vegetable strips, spring onions and sliced red dates.

And at the end of the day, our mystery was solved. These roast ducks at Dian Xiao Er do not come with duck wings nor the neck and head. :) Whatever happens to the wings then?

Pricier than The Soup Restaurant but draws equal crowds. I suppose it's whether one is looking for duck or chicken as their main dinner offering.

Which would you prefer?



we're going to the zoo!

 The Splash Safari show at 1030am. :) Phillip the sea lion says hi with a flipperstand!

Feeling a little hungry after the show, we headed over to Ah Meng cafe for a quick bite. 

 And oh boy, was it a quick bite. The Dim Sum combination came at a pricey $9.80- for a personal basket of dim sum items consisting of a charsiew (roasted pork) bun, 2 siew mais (pork dumplings), 2 har gows (prawn dumplings) and a crystal pau (with turnip and black fungus). None of them were edible. Neither was the small bowl of chicken porridge accompanying the bamboo steamer of dim sum. The good news however, was that the other local treats on offer, the laksa and nasi lemak looked and smelt a lot better from what my nasal senses have gathered from the neighbouring table. :)

On to the next show at the Asian Elephants at work and at play. That's my hand with a banana treat :)

This area was made up of small little huts, probably 5 of them and they were brimming with enthusiastic tourists or employees of Far East Organization at their Family Day Event at the Zoo.

We got our chance at up close and personal after the show which we had to watch while standing up since there weren't any seats left. But happy campers we were. For $5 a basket, we had an assortment of carrots, apples, bananas to feed the elephants.

 And we caught our third and final show of the day, The Rainforest Strikes back, right where we started at the Shaw Amphitheatre. Since it was raining, we stayed on for the photo taking sessions with the cast of the show, including a pretty gentle snake. It was a first for me. And nothing like the usual cold leathery feel. It was cooler than I for sure and smooth to the touch. Nothing traumatic. Look at how pleased I was! :D

My dinner offering was a Salmon Cheese :) Still unable to bite much. If at all.

Pop's Ten-Don. :) Perhaps not the healthiest choice for a 9pm late dinner. But he enjoyed it.

And Mop's Chicken Katsu Don. Not healthy either. It was a real treat to a ravenous woman though. ;)

 And what may this be? Shredded KFC. I have 12 of these chicken pieces in my fridge and I'm thinking of cooking some chicken congee for tomorrow's lunch. :) My idea of a healthy KFC diet.

And if you thought just a Salmon Cheese was too sad for a dinner, I'm happy with my mashed potatoey goodness back home! :)

Semi-liquid diet for now.