Mini Wok Noodles, and also.. Abalone noodles?!

Shortly after I came back from Taiwan, I had to meet up with a group of friends for an event, and we decided to come to Marina Square for dinner. I noticed this stall, which I never seen before. My gawd. I've only been to Taiwan for 9 days, feels like Singapore changed to another era. Okay I'm just kidding.

Anyway, I've always been a fan of Mini Wok Noodles. You always get this soup filled with so much yummy delights, and you eat it with meepok / meekia / mee-whatever-you-like dry with or without chilli. What's not to like?

So apparently, this stall is pretty famous. I've seen pictures of like George Yeo, ex-minister of Aljunied GRC, among many other people. Anyway, that's not the point. I got attracted because it says "Ah Nan Abalone Mini Wok Noodles". Wa sounds cool right? Of course I'll jump onto the bandwagon! One Mini-Wok Please! ($5.80)

So when it was served, I began ransacking it for abalone. Then I realized, there is none! That was when my friend realized why I was so disappointed, and pointed out to me, the abalone noodles is actually $8, and is not a mini wok noodle at all. I have been scammed!

Anyway, onto the food. For the dish Mini Wok Noodle, I feel that they have relatively few ingredients, there's hardly any meat at this branch, there is only one meatball... Well they did have two ingredients you don't normally see: Fresh BIG prawn, and a piece of scallop in the meekia. The prawn is fresh, and rather enjoyable, except it's not peeled. Oh the agony of peeling the prawns! All in all, I would rate this as no better than an average Mini Wok, because even when they make up for the lack of quantity with variety, the quality still leaves much to be desired.

Food: 2.5 / 5

Presentation: 2.5 / 5

Waiting time: ~5 Minutes

6 Raffles Boulevard
Singapore 039594

3rd Floor, Food Court.

Vegetarian Delights of Kallang

As I mentioned in my earlier post, my adventures largely revolved around the East. In the afternoon, we met for lunch at Kallang Blk 5, this stall was unknown to me despite my somewhat frequent visits one of my close JC pals in the area. This coffeeshop just rests behind a bus stop facing the road into Geylang, the district of durians, delicious food, and.... some other things. As Block 5 has 2 coffee shops, this coffee shop is the one parallel to the MRT Track. You shouldn't have trouble finding it.

This is a picture of the stall. As you can see, they have quite a comprehensive menu, offering a number of vegetarian versions of LOCAL delights, such as Bak Chor Mee, Char Siew Rice... All vegetarian of course! (I said vegetarian version, were you expecting otherwise?) My vegetarian friend was the one who brought me here, and I really like the variety they offer.

I ordered the Vegetarian Bak Chor Mee [This means minced meat noodle]($3.50), because I was curious how it would taste like. It was very nicely served and placed in front of me, (I didn't even touch any of the plates and bowls when I took this photograph) and I like the way they arrange the food as well. It comes with fried mock pork oil (a very common ingredient among most local dishes), mock minced meat, beansprouts (Or as we call it, taogay. No the "gay" word isn't intentional.), vegetables and mock fishcake. 

Unlike your typical Bak Chor Mee, which is usually served in chilli/tomato sauce, this is served with soya sauce. Despite the difference, I really like how the food sits nicely on the plate, and behaves nicely in your mouth. The taste slowly dissolves (in the case of the mock meat) while other flavours let you teeth crunch happily away at them (in the case of the taogay [Again, beansprouts for the non-hokkien speaking folks] and the mock pork oil). This dish is an absolute delight for vegetarians who are keen to try some of the famous local delicacies but unable to because they contain meat.

Food: 4 / 5

Presentation: 4 / 5 (Look at how they place the chopsticks despite being a coffeeshop!)

Waiting time: ~ 5 - 10 minutes from ordering

5 Upper Boon Keng Road
Singapore 380005

Ze Char at Community Centre? Yes You Heard That Right!

Sorry! Been a while since I last posted. I went on a holiday to Taiwan (Will post some food reviews of it shortly too), and afterwards was just busy with school, school, school and volunteer work. While finally, today I manage to meet up my good friend, Alex, and our adventures today take us all over the island!

Well okay, eventually our foodventures was largely East-centric, but still. Today we have Pasir Ris East CC, a place with extra hard to find parking (or maybe we just suay [that means "unlucky" for you non-local folks]). I highly recommend you park at the multi storey carpark nearby, since that was the one we found. Its located a Block 221, its a short walk to the CC from there, and you pay 50cents per 1/2 hour (coupon system).

Anyway. Onto the main story.

The above pic was blurry as I quickly snapped a photo while Alex made a turn. Well, its just a sign for where you need to find it anyway. Just to clarify, Pasir Ris East CC is the tall building, not the small 2-storey-like thing next to it with a very deceiving comunity centre-logo-like thing. 

And so, our adventures bring us to J.Hk Kitchen! It's a non-air conditioned place, but its surprisingly cooling despite Singapore's lunatic weather. (Okay to be frank, after going Taiwan during their summer season, Singapore's heat feels like a joke. The humidity on the other hand...) Then again, it could be because we went in the evening, so I dont know. The place is pretty cozy and decent to chill out, so you could spend some quality chatting time here after dinner if you like.

The first dish that was served is my favourite, CEREAL PRAWNS! I love it since I tasted it as a kid. (Okay confession time, I'm damn lazy to peel prawns. If someone peels prawns for me, I'll melt. Ok la, not melt, but I'll give extra brownie points. Teehee.) This cereal prawn ($12) is found under the Prawn section in the menu, although the chinese word for this dish is Cereal Prawn Balls.

This dish both came as a surprise and a disappointment. When you first take a bite into it (look below), the freshness and juiciness of the prawns just springs right into your mouth and dances around your tastebuds. Its a delightful taste, especially when I am severely sensitive to the freshness of seafood. As quoted from Alex, "It's as fresh as those prawns used in Dim Sum." Actually I think this tasted even better, and the prawn used is actually pretty big. So why my disappointment? The cereal was very powdery, and not the crispy savoury kind you expect in typical Ze Char. However, I would still give it a relatively high score, because the freshness won me over. Also, I think people who like to eat healthy would like to know, they don't seem to overload on flavour or sauces, so I think you would like this as an occasional treat without too much guilt.

Food: 4 / 5

Presentation: 2.5 / 5

Waiting Time: ~ 5 minutes (Even when we had 4 groups of people before us)

Yes that prawn dances gleefully in your mouth like a ballet dancer before the grand finale.

Next up, we have Coffee Pork Ribs!($8.50) Actually its more like Coffee Pork, since they already kindly removed the bones. The dark "Rojak"-like sauce is actually the secret coffee sauce, which was mildly bitter, and aromatic. This came as quite a surprise, because I didn't expect it to be boneless. But boy, did both of us have a good time enjoying it! Its also not very oily nor is it overly-fried, so I don't think there's much cause for concern for weight-watchers here. (Cause I also monitoring my weight like a prison warden. Heh.) While not the best coffee pork ribs I had, this is still highly recommended, as for the price, you get a pretty good portion of pork and its healthy (and tasty).

Food: 4 / 5 

(They removed the bone for you!)

Presentation: 2.5 / 5

Waiting Time: ~5 Mins

Of course, not forgetting our Ze Char Ee Mee! ($4 or $6 or $8. Above picture is $6.)  Basically its noodles fried in Soya Sauce, this dish really reminded me of those Hotel / Wedding Banquet style of Ee Mee, where there's chives and mushrooms. I would safely say this is definitely hotel / banquet standard, perhaps better. I was just a bit disappointed that there was no other ingredients, but Alex told me that was seafood Ee Mee. (Which I don't recall seeing on the menu, but not like I took a long time to study it anyway)

Food: 3 / 5

Presentation: 2.5 / 5

Waiting Time: ~5 Mins

And, both of us had Milo Smoothie ($2) to go with the meal. Quite an enjoyable meal I would say, if not for the fact I had to rush off to teach tuition right after, I would have enjoyed chilling here for a while. Give this place a shot, its definitely better than most of the Ze Chars out there in terms of standard and healthiness. 

1 Pasir Ris Drive 4
Singapore 519457

Fruit Juice Mee Siam, Mixing Health with Tradition

Today, my humble adventures bring me back to my usual eating place, this stall (#02-66) at Hong Lim Food Centre. I first came across this stall a few months back, when I noticed the unique dish labelled "Fruit Juice Mee Siam". I love Mee Siam, for it brings a unique flavour of spiciness with delightfully boiled soup to your tastebuds. And ever since I tried it, I couldn't stop myself from craving it since then. Therefore, this is one of my MUST TRY items.

Fruit Juice Mee Siam comes at 3 prices, ($3, $4, $5.50). The prices correlate to the amount of ingredients. At $5.50, you get delicious Crayfish, Prawns, Sliced Hard-boiled Eggs, Home-made Hainanese Style Chicken, along with small dried shrimps and the trademark taupok in Mee Siam. Their soup is cooked with fruit juice, which they were unwilling to reveal, but managed to tell me they used green lemons to add to the overall flavour of the soup, as well as boost your appetite. (I am a fairly regular customer there.) Also, since it is cooked with fruit juice, its extra healthy compared to other mee siams, and also more tangy.

Also, the stall owners are a very friendly couple. They love to share with you how they cook the ingredients with intricate detail, from the chicken, to the soup, to the delightful bowl sitting in front of you. They also won't hesitate to introduce you to their two other delights, Mee Rebus and Laksa. Unfortunately, I have been a sucker for their Mee Siam, so good luck catching me on their other buses. For those who wants to try their Mee Siam, be sure to go there BEFORE 2pm. They get sold out really quickly, because its nice, and also he doesn't want to cook any extra as it is very tedious work.

Food: 4.5 / 5

Presentation: 3 / 5

Waiting time: ~5 - 10 minutes

Look at how clean my bowl is!

Wu Xiang, The Five Fragrance of Chinese Cuisine!

Today, my adventures bring me to Maxwell (prior to that I was at NTU, but thats a different adventure), where it houses two very different crowds at different timings. In the day time, Maxwell houses a myriad of food that serves to keep nearby office workers taste buds fully satisfied. In the night, Maxwell opens itself to the supper/clubbing/pubbing crowd, housing less selections but a unique ambience.

Maxwell has actually quite a few places I fancy. Ho Kee Pau is one, then there is also Lao Ban beancurd and Soy. Among all that, there are a few lesser known stalls but still equally delectable. However, today I decided to try my hand on this Wu Xiang, which I have been craving for some time. Its not easy to come by Wu Xiang stalls in Singapore, and it is relatively unhealthy since most of the food is fried (which makes even fewer Singaporeans go for it), so I decided to try this. Apparently they have been awarded several things, like Channel U most popular places to eat and even President S.R. Nathan has come to grace his support for this stall as well! Located at #01-34, this stall is located in the middle row, right towards the end near the URA building.

Coming to this stall, I realized I only had a limited selection. They only had fish balls, century egg (ew), egg(cake) slices, a chinese-style sausage, tofu and the famous Wu Xiang roll, which is minced meat with prawn/fish rolled using a tofu skin. Apparently they are famous for their chinese sausage ($2), so I ordered that with Wu Xiang (70c), fish balls (40c per piece) and their egg(cake) slice (70c). The lady boss highly recommended their egg(cake) slice, which seems to be egg mixed with some other ingredients and then laid out in a fishcake style, before they fry it. I had all that together with bee hoon (70c).

As with most Wu Xiang, they are usually served with chilli sauce and housemade special sweet sauce. However, their sweet sauce was horribly bland and extremely starchy, which was not to my liking. Their egg(cake) slices were very crispy though, and they gave quite a good serving of sausages. I was quite disappointed with their Wu Xiang though, as it was very tiny (just beneath the rectangular eggcake slices in the picture), and hardly enjoyable. All in all, I think this could be highly improved.

Food: 2.75 / 5 (Their sausage and eggcake was their redeeming factor)

Presentation: 3 / 5

Waiting Time: ~ 5 minutes depending on crowd

Settlers Cafe, Get some board game fun while you are at it!

Today, as part of a gathering of friends who havent met for almost half a year, we decided to go to a place where we can chill and play awesome board games.... Settlers Cafe @ Clarke Quay!

Located at quite a convenient yet relatively peaceful location, this settlers seems home to many a fun nights for many boardgamers. And being a person who love boardgames, I love such places! (I'll do an article on my favourite place, Playnation, soon!) 

So tonight, we decide to take a gaming set ($8.90 inclusive of free flow drinks from 6pm - 10pm), as well as order our dinner. I ordered Chicken Chop with Pepper Sauce ($9.90), and I wasn't expecting much from a boardgame cafe. I mean afterall, you are specializing in boardgames... not food right? WRONG! This chicken turned out to be surprisingly tender, and the sauce is a good match. Just decently spicy for a person who doesnt really take spicy food, the chicken chop and sauce makes a decent match. And without me asking for extra gravy (which I always do), they gave me ample amounts of gravy to go with my vegetables and fries.

Also, I'm NOT a huge fan of non-leafy vegetables.  But their broccoli is so soft and not yucky tasting, so it was extremely easy to go down my throat. All in all? A pleasant surprise!

Food: 4 / 5 for a boardgames cafe

Presentation: 3 / 5

Waiting time: ~10 mins

Also, with my food, comes the trident of awesome power! I dont know why they have three-pronged forks mashed in with four-pronged, but anyway, as Sheldon Cooper says, You don't eat with a trident! (I ate with it anyway.)

Overall its still a decent surprise, as all my friends enjoyed their food. But their boardgames selection and staff could have been much better.

Boardgames: 2 / 5 (I'm quite dissatisfied) 

Urban Bites, Mediterranean Cuisine for all folks

Today, we are going to talk about Urban Bites! A Mediterranean cuisine place introduced to me by my India foodie friend, this place is located at a seemingly bustling street (I presume. I went there on an evening) in an area surrounded by offices. It's a cozy restaurant, as seen from the photo, with a chef who prepares the Pita bread fresh right from the oven in the corner. You can feast your eyes on its preparation methods if you are lucky.

First off, we had Mezza Platter ($18)! It consists of Mediterranean dips; hommos, motabal, tabbouleh, fattoush, and falafel (fried chickpea croquette). From the top, that's tabbouleh, a mix of a variety of vegetables and lemon juice. Going clockwise, the next is Hommos, followed by slices of Tomatoes, Motabal, Fattoush, and the circular round things that look like cupcakes are Felafel! And in the middle, we have fattoush. (I think)

My first encounter with felafal (not eating it) was in How I Met Your Mother. Instead of saying "I love you" to Ted, she said "Felafel", and boy, I never knew it tasted so nice! Its extremely crunchy, and for you health-conscious eaters out there, Mezza Platter is extremely healthy, for it is pure vegetarian. Order some Pita Bread and enjoy this meal!

One thing though, if you don't like sour food, you shouldn't order this. Both tabbouleh and motabal are pretty sour due to the use of fresh lemon juice. I'm still not quite accustomed to the sour taste, but overall, it sated my appetite and my vegetarian friend loves it! Not to mention another friend of mine who kept going on and on about it for weeks after first trying Tabbouleh. (That and he found the name funny.)

Food: 4 / 5 

Presentation: 3.5 / 5

Waiting Time: 5 - 10 minutes, dependent on crowd.

Next up, we have Zaatar with Cheese! ($6) Zaatar is a Lebanese bread topped with dried thyme and sesame seeds. While it looks deceptively plain, you will experience a whole different feel once you put it into your mouth. Your tastebuds will thank you for the burst of fragrance, and leave you craving for more. Simply put, I will easily put this as a MUST TRY item if you decided to visit.

You can order Zaatar ($5) on its own, as I felt that the cheese was barely noticeable. Zaatar has a strong taste on its own, so you don't really need cheese. My friend disagreed with me though, saying that he likes the cheese, while I (a fellow cheese lover) cannot taste the cheese over the overwhelming taste-plosion this provides. 

Food: 4.75 / 5 

Presentation: 3 / 5

Waiting Time: 5 - 10 minutes dependent on crowd.

Decided to try? Do have a look at their website, www.urbanbites.com.sg 

Do remember to make a reservation, or you might not get seats!