Start Your Sunday Morning Right - Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok

Teh C

What a name! Word had it that the noodle stall was previous located at Jalan Tua Kong before shifting to their current location at Simpang Bedok. But I digress. My idea of a perfect Sunday morning is quite simple really, just a good cup of tea served in a ceramic cup and a lip-smacking bowl of Mee Pok (dry noodles). I love my Sunday brunches, but you know and I know that we can't get mee pok like this anywhere else. Here's my confession: I only get coffee/tea when they're served in ceramic cups - the thickness and smoothness feels great against the lips and somehow it does taste better. Am I alone on this one?

Mee Pok, $3.50

The Mee Pok, as usual, was truly fantastic. The ingredients were as fresh as can be, but the magic really laid in the noodles, sauce, and healthy dose of lard. Excuse the oxymoron. The sauce was truly a mastery mix of spicy and savoury. Even the soup was a notch tastier than your average fish ball noodle soup. This bowl of Mee Pok is all I need to start my day right. I'm lucky because my dad has been bringing me here since I was little. Granted, it was a good twenty minute wait, but M and I hit up the place at lunch hour (our idea of Asian Brunch), so we weren't expecting anything less. Well worth it, I'd say. Grab the daily newspaper, get some coffee or tea, and just take things slow. It's a Sunday breakfast, after all.


P.S. Are you heading to Hong Kong anytime soon? I'm working on a guide and will be posting it in the next few days!


Jalan Tua Kong Lau Lim Mee Pok
306 Bedok Road
Bedok Shopping Complex
Singapore 469469
Opens daily: 7.30am - 5pm
Tel: +65 6241 0201

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Peach Garden at Novena Gardens, Singapore - Homely Cantonese Fare with Slight Modern Twists

Sliced Roasted Duck accompanied with Wasabi Prawn in Golden Cup

I love good chinese. Yes, I do. The opulent settings, classy china and multi-layered cuisine really strike a chord with me, not least because this is the primary cuisine I grew up with. When it's good, it is so darn satisfying, don't you think? For my mum's birthday this year, I was tasked with seeking out a chinese restaurant we've never tried before. There were so many, but we eventually decided on Peach Garden. At $48/pax for 6 courses, we really couldn't resist. The first course already won me over - excellent roast duck sporting both crispy skin and juicy meat, paired with a huge prawn lightly battered, deep-fried to a golden brown and smothered with wasabi mayo. I absolutely adore prawns prepared this way, with or without the wasabi mayo. The latter definitely gets a bit more tricky if you're looking for a crowd pleaser. My sister, for one, had no kind words for the wasabi mayo but I actually enjoyed the kick. It was pretty balanced and not at all overwhelming.

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Lee Do (Cold Crab) Restaurant, Ubi Avenue, Singapore

Cold Crab (Small), $34

Man, cold crabs really get me going. I don't know what it is about them - maybe the aromatic chinese seasoning, firm flesh, or incredibly umami roe. Maybe everything. But at $34 a pop for a cold crab so small it can lie in two parts on my palm, I probably won't be heading to Lee Do everyday. Instead, I've resolved to nail this in the kitchen. Tip: Scroll to the bottom here to learn how you can make it at home.

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Paradise Dynasty - A Modern Take on Xiao Long Bao, Ion, Orchard

Signature Dynasty Xiao Long Bao, $13.80 (Original, $6.80)

Food is a funny thing. It originates somewhere, but eventually ends up pretty different when it lands elsewhere after a couple of coats of local touches. The irony really kicks in when you find yourself digging the transformed product more than the original itself. A friend once commented that he really doesn't give a damn about authenticity as long as the food tastes good. I vehemently disagreed then, mainly because he was gushing about a Thai restaurant in Europe which really had me yearning for a plane ticket straight to Bangkok. But you know, in this context, he may just be right. I remember being full of anticipation when I visited Shanghai for the first time - the land of these little soup dumplings! Yu Garden (Yu Yuan) was my top priority, because that was where it all began, wasn't it? At Nan Xiang Restaurant. Unfortunately, my first bite left me aghast - thick, starchy skin, meagre soup fillings. That, that, was the original?

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Dim Sum at Royal China, Raffles Hotel, Singapore

Har Gow (Prawn Dumpling), $4.80

One more week to Christmas! Are you pulling your hair out thinking of what presents to buy? Because I am. But before I head to town to squeeze in with the happy and frantic crowd, here's a post on my current favourite restaurant for dim sum - Royal China. I suppose it's only fair to finally do a post after raving about it so long ago. What I really love about Royal China, other than its unique and classy decor, is its fantastic value for the quality presented. I was here with my family this time round, and we started with the har gow, which was very much perfect with the thin and slightly chewy skins encasing juicy, crunchy prawns. Delicious!

Siew Mai (Pork Dumpling), $4.80

The siew mai came next. I feel that my feelings for siew mai have gradually faded over the years. These days, they seem to be on the table only out of habit. Can any siew mai lover gush about these morsels to reignite my feelings? That said, they were tasty, and even rather unique with dates topping them instead of prawn roe. The skin looks dry in the photo but they actually weren't at all.

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Swee Choon Tim Sum Restaurant, Jalan Besar, Singapore

Interior

Have you guys been to Swee Choon? I only just found out about this place a few weeks back and I'm beating myself up for being such a latecomer to the scene. I mean, this place has been serving dim sum for almost 50 years! It's no frills dining, but some of the dishes they serve are surprisingly satisfying. Also, their opening hours are from 6pm to 10am on weekdays and 6pm to 12pm on weekends, which makes it the perfect spot for supper. I'll bet Wan Dou Sek just flashed across your mind. Yeah, that's where I've been going for budget dim sum supper until now and they are pretty similar. But I've always felt that heading to Wan Dou Sek was a sort of compromise between quality and budget. Of course, the quality of dim sum at Swee Choon can never be compared to that of a restaurant like Royal China (currently my favourite restaurant for dim sum), but the quality of their main dim sum dishes are definitely a notch higher than Wan Dou Sek's.

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Portugese Egg Tarts v. Pastel de Nata

Portugese Egg Tarts from Margaret's Cafe e Nata, Macau

There is a very good reason why the best Portugese egg tarts are found in Macau and not Portugal. Portuguese egg tarts do not exist in Portugal! Ever since I visited Margaret's Cafe e Nata in Macau, which serves one of, if not the best Portugese egg tarts in the whole of Macau, I've been dreaming of flying off to Portugal to eat these sweet, delicious, wobbly, crispy things at its source. Because everything is better at its source, right? Wrong. Portugese Egg Tarts and Pastel de Nata aren't even the same thing!

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Snapshot: Lai Huat Sambal Belacan Fish

Lai Huat Sambal Belacan Pomfret, $25

Mmmm. There's no other pomfret like this - insanely deep fried and coated in a dry, fragrant paste of sambal belacan. I like to scoop up extra belacan to go with every bite of pomfret. Surprisingly, the snow-white flesh remains moist. I have to say, the wicked combination of the addictively crispy pomfret topped with heaps of sambal belacan gives me a kick every single time.


Lai Huat Sambal Belacan Fish
72 Horne Road, Singapore
Tel: +65 6299 3024

387 Guillemard Road, Singapore
Tel: +65 6741 7218

223 Rangoon Road, #01-01/02 Rangoon View, Singapore
Tel: +65 6292 7375

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Mellben Seafood, Ang Mo Kio, Singapore

Mellben's Crab Bee Hoon

Ask a Singaporean to name our national dish and chances are "crabs" are gonna pop up nine out of ten times. It's true. We love our crabs. Not everyone digs oysters or blood cockles, but throw them a crab and you know they'll polish their plates clean with gusto. Besides, what better crustacean to celebrate, with National Day in two days? Every Singaporean has their personal favourite style of crabs, even if Chilli Crab is the only one that has made it big beyond our shores. And yet, this most famous rendition of our favourite crustacean has hardly stolen my heart. I stand by my black pepper crabs. And then there's salted egg yolk crabs, butter crabs, and lo and behold, crab bee hoon. I know how ordinary crab bee hoon sounds, but take a sip of the milky soup oozing with crabby creaminess and you might find yourself vehemently disagreeing. Or at least politely.

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Snapshot: Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow

Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow, $3

Just a lip-smacking photo of Lao Fu Zi Char Kway Teow at the classic Old Airport Road Food Centre. I've never actually been a huge fan of char kway teow so I was a little surprised at myself when this was the first dish I craved for when I came back from Europe. Somehow, I couldn't resist the tantalizing picture of char kway teow in my head - a sweet and savoury mix of smooth kway teow noodles, the addictive acquired taste of barely cooked cockles, crunchy bean sprouts and lots of sliced lap cheong (chinese sausage). I was definitely pleased that the decidedly long queue rewarded me with a plate of char kway teow noodles that fitted the image in my mind to a T.

Do you have a favourite stall for Char Kway Teow in Singapore?

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My Favourite Black Pepper Crab, Eng Seng Restaurant, Singapore

Sotong Youtiao (Chinese Cruller with Squid Stuffing)

After an almost month-long disappearing act, you may not believe me, but I miss blogging. I've been travelling, and travelling, and travelling. When I'm not travelling, I'm attending classes. And when I'm not attending classes, I'm catching up on sleep. Gee. Some highlights: a beautiful slice of Black Forest cake I had in the Black Forest, getting lost in the ever-picturesque Venice, strolling up and down cliffs amidst crashing waves in Cinque Terre, going up to the spectacular Jungfraujoch - the highest railway station in Europe, taking in the sights and sounds in Zurich - Switzerland's hippest city, checking out the latest street fashion in Milan, and a road trip down the Romantische Strasse in Bavaria, Germany. Before I start on all these though, here's my last Singapore post for the next few months. I had to have my last meal here right before flying off to Germany. Their Black Pepper crab is a stunner, but most of the other dishes they offer are very competently executed too. Their Sotong Youtiao is a hot favourite - wonderfully crisp and generously stuffed with Sotong filling, it's really hard not to like this one.

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Piao Ji Fish Porridge, Amoy Food Centre, Singapore

Sliced Fish (Pomfret) Soup with Prawns, $10

This is my favourite fish soup in the whole of Singapore. I know it has been two weeks since I came to Germany and I haven't started sharing anything about it, but I promise I'll do it all today! Back to fish soup. Apparently the cheapest bowl of fish soup costs $5 here, and the one I had was basically double the price, but it had the goods - exceedingly fresh pomfret and huge, fresh and crunchy prawns. The soup is addictive - clear, sweet (from the fish and prawns) and really tasty. It's absolutely perfect with a steaming bowl of rice, and you can even get a snack of oyster pancakes after. The price does seem a little bit steep, but they do use quality ingredients and each bowl is cooked individually, so it's actually pretty worth it. Try it and let me know what you think!


Piao Ji Fish Porridge
#02-100 Amoy St Food Centre
Opening Hours: 10.30am to 3pm
Closed on Thurs

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The Almost Extinct Oyster Pancake

Fuzhou Oyster Pancakes

If you're a fan of oysters, you have to be a fan of Fuzhou oyster pancakes. To me, this is as natural and certain as the law of gravity (or any other law you can think of). So, imagine my surprise when I found out that this incredibly savoury snack just isn't as popular as I thought it should be. You will never have a problem finding a Chicken Rice or Hokkien Mee stall in Hawker Centres or Food Courts, but a Fuzhou Oyster Pancake stall? You can probably count the number of stalls in the whole of Singapore with your fingers. As a kid, my dad would return from work on some days with small brown paper bags of Fuzhou oyster pancakes that would fill the house with a wonderful aroma of fried batter, oysters and pork. Imagine that! I would be extremely thrilled every single time, and finish my dinner as quickly as I can just to crunch into my favourite snack. My dad always buys at least three pancakes, so I would secretly hope that my mum wouldn't feel like eating hers, because then I'll get to have two instead of just one.

Even when I grew older, and started missing dinners and going home at late or unearthly hours because of school, I would return home on some days to see a small brown paper bag on my desk, and feel an incredible warmth in my heart because to me, that oyster pancake has almost become a symbol of my dad's love. I simply don't know how anyone can resist the combination of oysters and marinated minced pork enveloped in a crispy batter. How can you say no to such a beautiful combination of flavours? But if I'm having an oyster pancake, it has to be Fuzhou Style oyster pancake - there must be pork. Any other version just falls short. Granted, this snack is probably not the best thing for your health, but it's so worth the occasional calorie splurge.

To the best of my knowledge, the stalls at Amoy Food Centre (pictured) and Maxwell Food Centre churns out the best oyster pancakes. Those are the ones my dad brings home for me. I also get really excited whenever I chance upon an old couple selling Fuzhou oyster pancakes in the really huge pasar malam held in Bedok Central from time to time. It's a tiny stall that only sells oyster pancakes (and recently fried drumsticks too I believe). Sometimes, I wonder just how much longer I'll get to eat their oyster pancakes... Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that the Fuzhou oyster pancake trade might just disappear one day? I really am.


Amoy Road Food Centre
Hong's Oyster Pancake Shoppe, #02-102,
7 Maxwell Road, S069111

Maxwell Road Food Centre
Maxwell Fuzhou Oyster Cake, Stall #22
10am to 6pm daily

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Dim Sum at Crystal Jade Palace, Takashimaya, Singapore

Deep Fried Shrimp Dumpling, $4.80

Dim Sum is one of those meals I love having with my family. It feels so special (and zen) just to dedicate an afternoon to yum cha (literally drinking tea) leisurely with loved ones. The small dishes come one by one, the assortment of flavours varied and tantalizing. Almost a performance of sorts where my favourite prawn and pork are stars. At Crystal Jade Palace, the lavish decor complete with crystal chandeliers almost make you feel like royalty, as you enjoy exquisite dim sum over tea. How amazing does this deep fried shrimp dumpling look? It tasted equally amazing - perfectly golden, packed with shrimp and bursting with flavor. Possibly my favourite dim sum that afternoon!

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Ah Chew Desserts, Liang Seah Street, Singapore

When I spent the summer in Hong Kong this year, I was surprised to find out just how much Hong Kongers love their desserts. More accurately, they call it 糖水, which literally means sugar water. A typical friday night for the non-alcoholic crowd would consist of strolling the varied streets of Mong Kok, and having desserts in the multitude of stalls scattered along the crowded streets. And desserts aren't just about mango over there (don't we all love Hui Lao Shan), the more nutritious variants that incorporate papayas and hashima are hugely popular too, and everybody loves the delightful shuang pi nai (double skin steamed milk pudding)! Of course, in Singapore, we love our desserts/supper too. While we don't necessarily have streets and streets focused on food and shopping that comes vividly to life at night, we have our fair share of amazing (albeit scattered) supper destinations all over the island! So when M and I headed to Ah Chew Desserts on a Monday night and found it fully packed, we weren't annoyed, but were instead pleasantly surprised. It felt right to be having desserts amidst enthusiastic and happy chatter. Sometimes, crowds can be a good thing.

Bubur Pulut Hitam with Rice Dumplings (top), $3.80, Almond Paste with Rice Dumplings (bottom), $3.20

Instead of mango, we went for pulut hitam and almond paste, which were both very decent. The pulut hitam (black glutinous rice dessert), which is incidentally one of my favourite desserts of all time, had the bite and texture (attributable to the glutinous rice) that I love, and the drizzle of coconut milk contributed a tinge of salty milkiness that I believe is what makes pulut hitam so great. Have I mentioned that I love coconut milk? The almond paste was smooth, creamy, and had just the right balance of sweetness. We added rice dumplings to both (an additional $1.10), and really enjoyed them too. I loved that the fillings would literally gush out... The black sesame and peanut dumplings especially, were really great stuff.

Are there any other dessert stalls you would recommend?

Ah Chew Desserts

#01-11 Liang Seah Place

1 Liang Seah Street, Singapore

Tel: +65 6339 8198

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Chong Pang Nasi Lemak, Sembawang, Singapore

Nasi Lemak with Chicken Wings, Otah, Curry Vegetables and a Beautifully Fried Egg

School has been holding me hostage, but I escaped to say this: You need to try this Nasi Lemak if you haven't already! Perhaps a trip specially down north to get a beautiful plate of nasi lemak might seem slightly unwarranted, but if you're hungry at 3am and suddenly crave nasi lemak, this is the place to go. They open from 5pm to 7am everyday, and is pretty much a perfect supper destination.

I was thinking really hard about whether I should share this post, cause the colours in the pictures turned out a little muted, but I decided that I had to rave about this (I'll probably update the post with nicer pictures when I next head back!). Imagine being spoilt for choice with platters and platters of goodies that you just want to all pile on top of the fragrant nasi lemak rice. Crispy and juicy chicken wings and drumsticks, addictive otahs, curry vegetables, fried taiwan sausages, fried eggs, fried fish...

The chicken wings were great stuff - very well seasoned and tasty. I just wish it came freshly fried and piping hot, which is probably a matter of luck since they fry everything in batches. The otah was really tasty and great with the rice. Everything was pretty decent actually, I really liked the curry vegetables too. The egg was nicely fried but I just wish the yolk was runny - could this be a matter of luck too?

I only just found out that nasi lemak rice is made by steaming rice that has been soaked in coconut milk. I love coconut milk, and this probably explains why I love nasi lemak so much - it's an amazing combination. Not the best thing for your health, of course, but occasional indulgences shouldn't be that bad, right?


Chong Pang Nasi Lemak
Sembawang Park,
447 Sembawang Road, Singapore
Tel: +65 6756 0048

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Makansutra Gluttons Bay, Esplanade, Singapore

Oyster Omelette (Orh Luak), Soon Lee Stall, $5

It feels kinda silly for a Singaporean to be having supper at Gluttons Bay by choice and not convenience (there are just so many other better options around!). But I remembered having a surprisingly good oyster omelette here once, a very long time ago, and I missed it, so M brought me here. The one that I missed was unbelievably crispy with huge and fresh oysters to boot. This wasn't it though. Do you think memory sometimes paints a nicer picture of what really happened? This was pretty mediocre actually. I need an oyster omelette fix.. Any favourite places to share?

Sambal Clams (lala), Boon Tat Seafood Stall, $8

The clams were pretty good though! The sambal sauce was more like a chilli egg sauce (that tasted almost exactly like chilli crab gravy) but it was somehow pretty addictive and went very well with the clams!

White Carrot Cake, Huat Huat Stall, $4

This was pretty interesting. The carrot cake looked like an egg crepe of sorts - the egg is basically cracked over the carrot cake and folded in, so you get a lot of egg, and the bottom browns nicely to give some crisp. I've never had carrot cake like this before actually, the traditionalist in me still prefers the way it's done normally, but I must say that this is pretty creative! And it tasted pretty good too!

Makansutra Gluttons Bay

#01-15, The Esplanade

8 Raffles Avenue, Singapore 039802
Mon – Thurs : 5pm – 2am
Fri & Sat : 5pm – 3am
Sun : 4pm – 1am

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Ah Yat Seafood Restaurant, Turf City, Singapore

Fresh Shucked Oyster

Is anyone here a fan of seafood? I am. My entire family loves seafood. So for my dad's birthday, we drove to Turf City, where you get to choose live seafood from over 60 tanks! I think my dad had a lot of fun picking out the live seafood for dinner. The fresh oysters were great (freshly shucked oysters are one of my favourite things in life) and I half-wished this was a seafood buffet so that these would have been free flow..

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Crystal Jade Kitchen, TM, Singapore

Roasted Duck (Half)

This was a surprisingly satisfying meal! You can always trust Crystal Jade to deliver a decent and relatively affordable chinese meal every time. Truth be told, I still can't believe M and I had noodles and congee respectively, and still managed to finish half a roast duck plus scallops. But it's not hard to finish everything when everything was so surprisingly good. The skin of the roast duck was so crispy! I almost felt like I was having peking duck. It was also pretty oily.. though I suppose it would have been okay if it was shared among 4 people (the normal thing to do), instead of just 2.

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Good Eats at Tiong Bahru Food Centre, Singapore

A few weeks back, M brought me to Tiong Bahru Food Centre, one of his favourite haunts for local eats! This food centre houses a truly impressive number of "branded" hawker stalls. We tried a couple of stalls and these were our favourites: 

1. Jian Bo Shui Kueh #02-05

Shui Kueh (Chwee Kueh)

Fantastic, fantastic! The Chai Poh (preserved radish) was extremely tasty and fragrant - the perfect accompaniment to the smooth and soft chwee kueh (steamed paste of rice flour and water). Very addictive!

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