Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Weekend Getaway @ Singapore - Glorious Food Hunt!

Spent the last weekend in Singapore, and was brought around for nice foods! One thing that is special about Singapore is is has very unique food court/hawker centre which sells nice and affordable foods and beverages, cater mostly to HDB folks. Different hawker centre has its own famous specialties, and sometimes there are a few nice eateries under same roof....just couldn't have the big stomach to try all...keep the craving for next visit =)
Changi Village Hawker Centre

Started off with sugar cane juice + lemon - SGD1.20

More refreshing with the zest of lemon....


Mizzy's Corner Nasi Lemak
SGD4 (with otak-otak)
Everyone in Singapore seems to claim that the best nasi lemak in town is in Changi Village, and Mizzy Corner is 1 of the best.
Contrary to M'sia nasi lemak, this one does not have peanut accompanied. Nevertheless, it has the standard condiments like ikan bilis, cucumber, egg and the most important - sambal.
I like the sambal here, sweet and savoury, but still lack the level of spiciness that i love...tak cukup pedas!
The fried chicken was well marinated and very crispy too...
Rice wise, very fragrant and flavourful ~~~

Fried Chai Tau Kway 菜头粿
From 1 of the stall in the hawker centre
Very different way of cooking method for this carrot cake. Basically only eggs and 菜圃 added, and they like to mix with black soya sauce. A pretty amazing dish if you ask me, at least the taste is slightly different with Malaysia style which has more ingredients like taugeh....and enough "wok-hei"!





Took a stroll along the Changi beach. Apparently this is the best place to view airplane since it is very near to Changi airport....a very good place to hang out, dating and wondering at the plane if you are moody...haha....
Toa Payoh Lor 1 Hawker Centre


Tian Tian Lai Fried Hokkien Mee
Featured in many newspapers, mags and tv shows.
I think this is Singaporean's most favourite dish.



SGD 4
It didn't look appealing, but it smelled tempting!
Noodles were well fried, with rightful amount of "wetness" that has got it's oomph!
Strips of prawns and squids only served as garnishing. Expect to get pork lards here too! Probably this is why it tasted so good ehh?
A satisfying plate of hokkien mee, accompanied by the sambal belacan to complete this gastro delight ~~~
Now i feel the Tyhe Cheong Prawn Hokkien Mee in Pavilion is just ordinary.....haha....





Mr Bean
Got this around Toa Payoh MRT Station
With many types of filling, i chose peanut filling...
Very fluffy, best eaten while hot...
The pancake version that i love....




Margaret Drive Food Centre @ Mcpherson


Huge crowd at Level 2 of this food centre, with majority of it waiting anxiously for Tai Liok Claypot Chicken Rice. We waited for more than half hour for this claypot rice as they only start to cook from scratch when order is received....



Similar to M'sia, this eatery does sell double boiled soup too.
We ordered Old Cucumber soup and Chicken feet with peanut soup.
While the old cucumber soup was perfectly refreshing, the chicken feet soup was a bit thicker as the peanut was already boiled until very soft....

Waited so long for this....
We were given the oil and dark soya sauce to put by ourself according to our liking.
Honestly, i didn't see any specialty in this claypot rice. Although generous amount of chinese sausages were included, i felt it tasted a bit plain.
Probably been used to M'sia version that is cooked together with dark soya sauce....
Telok Blangah Food Centre near Harbourfront

Hong Ji Mian Shi Jia
Good food need queuing

SGD 3 (smallest plate is SGD2.50)
This wanton mee is translucent and really thin. A bit similar to Hong Kong version wanton mee, although not exactly the same.
Sauce was a bit oily to my liking, but it was hell very appetising, especially with the accompanied chili.
Charsiew was juicy and succulent enough, and was told that it was home-made using charcoal oven.
Wanton was a let down. Full of wanton skin with little mince. Probably the owner does not want to focus on this wanton la....
Had a short walk at this nearby Telok Blangah Hill Park, a hidden gem in Singapore i would say...
Looks like a reserve forest to me....

It has a connecting bridge linking the small hill from Telok Blangah Hill Park to another hill in the opposite.
It's an alternative place to go hang out at night too...can expect nice view of Singapore harbourfront...


Vivo City Harbourfront
I miss Pacific Coffee ever since i tried it in Hong Kong.
The coffee taste just suit to my liking...
When are they venturing into KL someday???


Had an early dinner at Han's before i catched my flight back to KL.
Heard that it is a Hainanese concept restaurant so being a hainanese myself has decided to give it a try...
But we were so disappointed....


We ordered Hainanese Pork Chop and Chicken Chop set
Served together with drinks, soup and fruits at SGD10.90 per set
We strictly felt that it does not worth the cent!

Chicken chop was just ordinary, nothing special. Given the price, i would expect a good bargain in getting a value-for-money steak at Aston.



Hainanese Pork Chop
More like a sweet & sour pork chop to me
The gravy did not look like the version that we used to see here eg at Yik Kee Dang Wangi.
The Pork Chop was re-fried (which we seen by ourself), which made it a bit hard to bite....
Were totally not satisfied.
Given many outlets that it has opened in Singapore, i do not understand why it has still attracted many patrons. Probably different outlet different quality....
By the way, their pastries look tempting. May try it next time though....
Oh well, when is the next Singapore food hunt? Anticipating ^_^

Friday, October 16, 2009

Hi Tea @ Jogoya

Was on my 1 month holiday break until early November....hehe....got to know that Jogoya is having a promotion for ladies, the second ladies only need to pay RM19.90++. So i drag Esther who is on holiday too to have our feast! We went during hi tea which is from 2pm to 4.20 pm. Altogether was only RM101, ie approx RM50 per pax. I think this is at a steal given the foods served that are the same with dinner time. I think i do not need to blog more about Jogoya anymore since many would have visited this famous buffet Japanese restaurant. Let's see what we had....

Thai coconut which is a must!



Oysters!


Assorted sashimi
I wallop a lot of salmon which i think it will costs more than RM50 if we had it outside...hehe...


Ebi Tempura
How can me miss this








We just love their assortment of desserts and the coffee
The cheese cake is great!


Haagen Dazs unlimited refill of ice cream!


Satisfied!
Worth every single cent!
Time for more exercise after the indulgence...haha....

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Charn Kee Tasty Corner @ Jalan Alor

Was supposed to bring the special one to try the famous Meng Kee Char Siew at Tengkat Tong Shin. Unfortunately it has been relocated to Jalan Alor next to Hotel Nova, and it was closed on the Saturday that we went. No choice so we hunted for nice food around Jalan Alor and we bumped into Charn Kee Tasty Corner, which i remembered it was featured in a particular good guide.




This eatery has been established for almost 19 years. Really couldn't notice it as it only opens for breakfast and lunch, and Jalan Alor most happening time is at night...



Claypot Seafood Noodles - RM5 +

Comes with the handmade fish paste and prawns....

Claypot Fish Paste Kuayteow soup - RM5+

Similar to the earlier version, i found the soup is real clear and suits to my liking. The soup is very fragrant and blends perfectly with the kuayteow.

Handmade fish paste is silky smooth, and 爽口

~ Superb ~


We ordered side orders too
Special homemade Pork Meatballs and Dumplings
RM0.80 each
Dumplings are just normal but the pork meat balls are something worth trying....


They also serves many other types of noodles such as nyonya curry noodles which is claimed to be very delicious too...
Maybe can try in next visit....
Definitely an eatery worth visiting

Add: 35 Jalan Alor, 50200 KL.

Opening hours: 7.30 am - 4.30 pm (closed every Monday)

Weekends at Singapore

Was at Singapore during early August before the China assignment. Spent the Singapore long weekend with the special one. It was their public holiday in conjunction with its National day. It has been long since i last visited Singapore. Walked to many places and i actually fell in love with the architecture design of the buildings in Singapore....

If i'm not mistaken, this place is called Chjimes
An old school that is converted into a hang out place at night, with many restaurants and pubs inside...what a good idea...



Art Musuem? Is a musuem la....
so nice


Clarke Quay at day...overlooking Boat Quay at opposite



Ion Orchard

New shopping mall at Orchard

Awesomely beautiful. When KL can have such design leh?


Clarke Quay at night

Happening area



Fullerton Hotel

I think is the most expensive hotel in Singapore. Imagine staying here for a night...hehe...


Enough of sightseeing photos. Let's move on to foods!

Had the traditional toast set in Changi airport upon arrival. Ya Kun is claimed to be very famous Kopitiam chain in Singapore, but i personally found it to be so-so only...


He brought me to this famous Hainanese Curry Rice Shop

Why is it called Scissor Cut Curry Rice? Just because the foods are being cut using scissors eg pork chop, vege and etc...

I wonder why every eating place in SG also need to queue la....

As a hainanese myself, i never know that Curry Rice is a hainanese specialty. Basically we just pick up the dishes like stew pork, prawn fritters, pork chop, egg and vege, then they will cut it, and the most important is the curry. The rice will be flooded with the curry gravy, the more the better....

Seriously i never seen this in KL....it is something like mixed rice that we used to have here, the only difference being the overflow curry gravy....

Buffee breakfast served at Ibis Hotel
Not too bad, at least they served bacon =)


We went to Aston Specialties, a steak house that specialises in steak at a reasonable price


Rib eye and Tenderloin
We can choose 2 side dishes according to our preference
The steak was very very juicy and tender. Cooked to perfections...
Awesome


Satisfied steak meal i had



We also went to Lao Pa Sat
The very famous Singapore Food court, famous to tourist not locals....
I found that the stalls here to be pretty normal, and very commercialised too...

Nothing special to have here since i found other food court serves better food, so he ordered claypot fish porridge which turn out to be surprisingly yummy ~~~



There is a long row of stalls in Lao Pa Sat selling sates...
You will be automatically greeted and wooed by the waiters as you enter into this sate zone...
Sate is not too bad by the way...but as a Malaysian, still think our local sate taste better!



Got the opportunity to watch the beautiful fireworks in conjunction with Singapore's National Day celebration....it has been long since i watch the fireworks directly...
That ended my Singapore weekend trip. Am going over this coming weekend too....woohooo ~~~


Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Sun Foong Bakuteh @ Imbi

Brought the special one to try our local bakuteh ("BKT"). Just to let him compare and see whether KL or Singapore's BKT is more delicious. We were at Pavilion on a particular weekend so the nearest BKT place would be Imbi area. Was planning to go Yuk Yat BKT but no idea where it has shifted, we diverted to Sun Foong BKT instead....


I always noticed this BKT place is packed with tourist. Guess they have special package/plan with travel agency. This shop has never been my favourite BKT place due to its pricing, but it has been many years since i last visited so finally decided to settle our dinner there....


Tofu pok
A standard accompaniment in any BKT


The signature BKT
RM23 for this pot
A mixture of pork and the "spare parts"
Soup was rich, thick and very herbal. And we can get refill of the soup as well...
Not disappointing


Ordered a plate of stir fried Yau Mak to go with the BKT

The meal costs us approximately RM40-50, inclusive of chinese tea.
I think is a bit pricy for BKT, probably this shop is more focus towards tourists rather than locals...
Still prefer Teo Chew style BKT that i tried in Kepong before and the price is very reasonable too. Gonna bring him there next time... hehe....