Itaewon Jjajang, Peck Seah Street

Korean Chinese food here at Itaewon Jjajang (64 Peck Seah Street, tel : +65 6223 1600). Have noticed them numerous times whenever we're around the vicinity.

Their banchan look poised to cut grease (or attempt to) from our palates. Each one of them was a pickled vegetable. The last dish was their rendition of Sichuan preserved mustard greens (四川菜).

I was curious about their jjampong. Clean seafood flavour from the broth where one can choose from 3 levels of heat. This was level 2. Was manageable at the beginning but was definitely burning by the time we were done. Heat was cranked up by chilli padi/bird's eye chilli. Seafood's pretty good quality. Don't have anything against it but I don't think I'll get it again. I like the smoky rendition from Jeong's Jjajang much better.

Saeu bokkeumbap's a little bland on it's own but maybe the intention was that we should be having every mouthful with the jjajang - which by the way was velvety, full of bean flavour and layered with the aroma and sweetness of melty onions

Those pieces of fried pork from their tangsuyuk were coated with a layer of something soft and chewy... like mochi.

Boon Chiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (文昌海南雞飯), Ubi

A decent rendition to be had at Boon Chiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (302 Ubi Ave 1) which featured succulent cuts of dark meat (白尾) and creamy livers with some bits of toasty fried garlic bits. Soup on the side's lotus root - flavourful but not thick. What's not impressive was the rice. Beady textures and pretty mild flavouring. This one falls under the category of don't mind having if I'm in the vicinity, but wouldn't travel here specially for them.

Revisiting Rustica

Back at Rustica.

Double shotted their bandung latte today. Liked it better than their regular single shot concoction because stronger coffee.

That's a basil and watercress pesto mee hoon kueh called Green Blanket. Blanketed by chopped kailan and some walnuts. Pesto's gentler than the Italian styled ones which are generally fortified with cheese and olive oil. This one was less rich and salty. Not bad tasting per se but also not moreish. 

Tried their seafood dry laksa which featured rempah without coconut milk. Understandably, it's not lemak. Not bad tasting and the seafood's good quality. 

The other item we had was their white pepper clams & fish soup. Soup's flavour was intense, had hua diao and was creamy. There's bee hoon in there as well. What I did not expect from it was sweetness. Couldn't put a finger to what that sweetness was. Had to soya sauce it to move the flavour spectrum towards savouriness which then made it pretty good. The slices of barramundi in it were lightly floured and fried. I liked this.

Birds of Paradise, Beach Road

Ducked into Birds of Paradise (263 Beach Road, tel  : +65 9820 5763) for sanctuary from the sweltering humidity.

Picked up a couple of scoops in their eggy rosemary flavoured cone. Top's osmanthus pear and bottom's sea salt hojicha. Nice.

Geylang Claypot Rice, Beach Road

Geylang Claypot Rice (361, 363, 365 Beach Road, tel : +65 6744 4574) has been on my radar a while. I've been asked if I've had it and if I hadn't, that I should give them try. We've been indifferent about it for reasons - while we enjoy claypot rice at times, we aren't that big on them. That and that we've never liked their brand of "socarrat" which many bird brains love gushing over.

One day, we came across their beef bone marrow claypot rice on social media. 😲 Nothing ignites a call to action like curiosity.

We finished a claypot kailan with prawn paste and pork lard while waiting for the claypot rice. Not bad tasting. There were adequate flavours from the prawn paste and lard (猪油) but the fried lard (猪油渣) were mostly soggy.

Like regular claypot rice, the beef bone marrow rendition was brought to the table for the final flourish.

Which included the adding of eggs yolk and bone marrow into the pot of beef short plate, spring onions and rice...

The ingredients are folded through the sizzle and crackle as the aromas emanate.

Not bad tasting. Not a fan of the burnt rice bits still. Apparently, one can request for less of the burnt rice which is something we will definitely ask for the next time. Will consider coming back to try other dishes.

火山 Chicken Rice Wanton Mee, C&L Cafe @ UB. One

Another chicken rice stall has taken over Soon Soon (yes, that hot dog chicken rice stall) right next door to Aneka Ulam. This current one serves a pretty competent rendition and their soup's quite nice.

This was 烧鸡尾 with extra portions of meat.

That's 白鸡尾 + roast pork and egg. Did not expect the chicken jelly there.