Fast breaking roundup

This one is just about some fast food breakfast options that we have here. They've been around for years mostly and I haven't really paid attention to them until lately when I had the sudden urge to.

   

I forgot what this is called but it's a sourdough sandwich with bacon, eggs and cheese. Possibly one of the better, if not best amongst the small realm of fast food breakfast sandwiches. The real bacon scored since we have too much turkey bacon around. What's nice about the sourdough sandwiches from CJ was that it came buttered. Those little wheels of hash brown nuggets were actually pretty addictive. I remember that they used to have some bacon cheese burger that uses these sourdough bread slices in the past, but it's no longer on the menu. I thought those were pretty good.

The bacon and eggs burritos were disappointing in terms of size. I was fooled by the menu into thinking that they were thick rolls filled with creamy scrambled eggs and bacon and cheese. The burrito itself was skinner than I had thought though it didn't taste too bad. Though it was more of an omelette than scrambled eggs.

A breakfast croissant from BK that tastes really bready rather than what a croissant should be like. It was tasty mostly because of the salty ham, but this is something that I probably could make at home.

These are a couple of "big" breakfast sandwiches from Burger King. Of course, it would be just wishful thinking on my part to expect them to be big because they are anything but. Again it was probably the generic salty sausage (tastier than McDs it seems there) patties that made them good to eat. I still dislike those fake bacon strips. What was clearly different were the hash brown nuggets here in comparison with CJ. These just didn't taste as good. Not even close.

The Banana Leaf Apolo, Race Course Road

I don't remember if I've ever visited Banana Leaf (56 Race Course Road, tel : 6293 8682 / 6293 5054). We came over for dinner with some friends who're back from Ozland missing the flavours of spicy local food. Not sure what was defining of their supposedly signature curry fish head. Not sure how are they much different from Muthu's as well. Also couldn't tell if the fish head was of better quality or not. That being said, the food wasn't bad. I have heard from friends whom have eaten here in the older dinghy days that the quality of the curry fish head were much better. Unfortunately or fortunately, I cannot relate. The premise does have an air of commercialism.

To the food - their rice was fine, but it took a long time to get refills. The vegetables didn't look nor taste as good as Komala Vilas. We had masala chicken which was generally fine in the most casual sense of the word.

Buddy Hoagies, Bt Timah

I came upon this place (170 Upper Bukit Timah Road, #B1-05 Bukit Timah Shopping Centre, tel : 6466 1505) recently and amongst the things to be had, the sandwich was surprisingly one of the better here. Food was quite affordable but you do get what you pay for. Their NY strip steak looked like something from Astons but didn't taste like it. Quite a far cry from that. It was a letdown from the start, arriving undercooked and had to be redone. The brown sauce on the side was on the other hand much better than I had thought. Tasted like something I could get at Hog's Breath.

I wasn't able to get a good picture of their mince beef and bacon sandwich which was pretty good. Without much frills as well. There was a delicious minced beef patty and real bacon amidst the vegetables, some cheap sliced cheese and mayo. Beats those fake strips of bacon at BK anytime.

A key lime pie from CPK

This was not what I had in mind after having that one at PS Cafe. California Pizza Kitchen's rendition turned out to be excessively sweet for me with a sugar rush in a bad way. While I agreed that there was a discernible flavour from the lime, the lack of the limey zest was quite obvious and the curd-y fillings tasted pretty milky. The crust was also pathetic - excessively sweet with the taste of honey, there wasn't anything crusty about it at all. Texture felt like a soggy muesli bar. I remember having had this years back and I recalled that it was enjoyable then. Something must have changed over here. It's either my taste or a changed recipe at work.

A hiyashi chuka from Ohsho

There has always been some appeal at Ohsho. For me it's the fried rice. For others, it could be the old school charm of a cze char environment. Seems that I've found something else about them which I like. This cold noodle from Ohsho was pretty good. Not that I've noticed it on menu before which makes me wonder if this was an addition to the menu from recent times. 

What was enjoyable about this hiyashi chuka for me was the firm and springy noodles in that shoyu sauce which was perfumed with yuzu zest. The omelette strips on the side were still warm as it was fried and shredded as they were preparing the noodles.

I wouldn't say that this can displace Ken's cold ramen anytime. The ingredients were a little different (e.g. ham strips here versus real strips of charshu at Ken, different style of eggs) but I think it's good enough as an alternative. There seems to be a sesame flavoured version so I don't mind coming back another time for that. Something else to look forward to apart from their fried rice.

Four all beef special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions in a sesame seed bun

Well, it's really just an additional slice of the beef patty in each deck of the sandwich and though that I had suspected it was probably psychological, the patties felt thinner. So it's a four all beef special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions in a sesame seed bun now. The nice thing about the Mega Mac over my favourite bite from McD is that it has vegetables. I believe I'll still stick to ordering the latter for any fast food fix from this particular joint.

Five Star Hainanese Chicken Rice, Bt Timah

I had almost missed this place (6/7 Cheong Chin Nam Road, tel : 6466 3000) walking past despite knowing roughly where it was located since I had noticed it on numerous occasions previously. Five Star certainly didn't look like a very chicken rice place at all now that I've taken a much closer look with the plethora of other cze char items found on the menu.

 

I don't know if all that diversification is doing the place much good for their core specialty since everything else looked pretty mundane and for a place that is supposedly well known for their chicken rice, it was nothing outstanding in my books. Now I'm not saying that it's bad but I don't suppose I would head out here again or even think about wanting to have chicken rice when I'm in the vicinity. The preserved vegetable with pork (mei chai kou rou) wasn't quite what I had hoped soaked in that mildly viscous gravy. There are places that have diversified and done a much better job at the preservation of their core dish. I'm surprised that no one has ever mentioned that their chilli sauce is way too salty.

Chellas ella ella, eh eh eh.....

It seemed that my favourite spot for masala chai has gone upmarket. Prices of their tea went from $1.50 to $2.50. That's a whopping 66.6% increase. Besides changing cups nothing had changed with the tea. This was an unexpected surprise after having not been visiting for a while. There was an updated menu, a bit of new decor and the place was still as crowded as ever. I may have to search for a new spot for a similar cheap beverage. The only thing that I'm gonna miss I never come back is the masala milk.

A recent eat at....

...guess where.