Pan fried lamb skewer, fried egg and Myojo Char Mee

Lamb fillet skewer was from Huber's. Pre-marinated from their butchery. Pan fried and served with eggs and char mee. Nothing like this bowl of delicious-ness that one can get anywhere else.

Heng Heng Hainanese Chicken Rice (興興海南鸡饭), Maxwell Food Centre

This was one of a few chicken rice stalls (#01-44 Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street) at Maxwell that has adopted the blue and white signages which Tian Tian has. Along with the same gloopy sauce that all the chicken rice shops here seem to be doing.

It's not too bad. Tian Tian does have the better chilli sauce which was more assertive. Both seem to have similar type of rice which were easily surpassed by the likes of Hua Kee and Sin Kee. While Heng Heng isn't the top in class, I don't think they're that far away from their competitors that I'll over look them as an option.  

Guan's Mee Pok, Capitol Piazza

I first ate Guan's Mee Pok a couple of years ago. At least I remembered it to have been a couple of years back. That was in Maxwell Food Centre. I knew nothing about them then (they've apparently been around for quite a while) and merely saw them as another stall that wasn't shabby. Fast forward to these recent times, it seems that they've a few shops around. It's always curious how some of the "know it alls" out there attempt to justify their recommendations by vaguely writing a superficial timeline of events that seemingly is supposed to explain how good said recommendations of Guan's are. 

This bowl was from Food Republic at Capitol Piazza.

I got the fish maw bowl without chilli and with vinegar. Noodle's not bad - that being said, there're plenty of "not bads" out there as well. What worked for me personally were the marinated cut red chilli in soy sauce which was pretty kickass from the heat and saltiness; with both the noodles and those large pieces of fish maw which readily soaked them up. Loved that ni tamago which was a bonus. The prawn patties in soup were delicious. Reminded me of a chunkier version of those that Bai Nian does.

I don't mind coming back. These guys were pretty pricey though.

Laksa chee cheong fun from Chee Cheong Fun Club

I've been wanting to come back to try this for a while. While I usually prefer my laksa gravy to be a little more lemak but I thought this rendition from Chee Cheong Fun Club for their laksa chee cheong fun wasn't bad at all. There was enough flavour, heat and creaminess from the rempah which tied up nicely with the smooth rice noodles. I liked this better than the curry ccf.

Warming hearts and bellies from somebody's grandma's kitchen at Huber's Bistro

Huber's has a limited time menu (again!) which is themed 'From my grandma's kitchen'. Presumably the grandma of Thomas Kreissl whose name is on the menu.

Found in that menu was a salad of celeriac and apples with mayo, walnuts and air dried beef. And potato salad too. Not bad.

Their pan fried milk fed veal liver with glazed apples was delicious. The charred and tender liver had a tasty crust on the surface and edges that had great flavour. 

Another pretty awesome dish was their smoked ox tongue that came with a light dill cream sauce which was really good. Tongue was tender and smoky.

Nasi lemak ice cream from Tom's Palette

The nasi lemak flavour is the white half. The other half was a chocolate sorbet just in case I didn't like the nasi lemak and I'd still have at least a half cup of something that I didn't dislike. This turned out to be a very good decision on hindsight.

Not that I didn't like the nasi lemak ice cream. I did. Didn't taste out of place at all. Sweet and a little salty if I hadn't imagined it with a hint of lemongrass I think and peanuts in almost every spoonful. Ikan bilis added their aroma along with the sweet and spiciness that's suppose to be the sambal component.  The latter, paired superbly with the chocolate sorbet which I did not see coming.

Gin & Brunch from The Masses

It's been a while since we were last here at The Masses so we came by for their Gin & Brunch which was essentially the brunch menu for their weekends with a time limited option for bottomless....well, gin and other alcoholic beverages.

I had none of those. But I ordered a mojito gao. The gao option was a double dose of rum. Poorly priced, low in volume and not well made in my opinion. Pretty sure I've had stiffer drinks without exercising a gao option.

Their C&C&C&C pasta was good though. The umami combination of the ingredients with the bisque was delicious; almost like the last time we had them. This rendition was enhanced from those bits of chorizo.

These guys have a pulled duck chee cheong fun. The combination of the sambal, what appeared to be achar and balsamic vinegar was lively. Those rice rolls were stuffed with plenty of duck. With all the flavours and textures going on, it didn't taste anything like most chee cheong fun. It was tasty though.

I was looking forward to their uni and scrambled egg toast. Nice and buttery with some pickled shallots as a break from all the buttery creaminess. Pretty expensive. If I were eating only this I would have needed at least two orders. For what they charged, I had expected bit more uni and better looking ones too.

Tried the bone marrow with toast. I thought it would have been much better without distractions like the crispy bits. Or even those mushrooms. Won't be wasting money on these again. 

Finished with matcha and houjicha milk tea that's a collaboration with Matchaya. Nicely done foam. Tea was pretty good.

Purple sweet potato latte from Japan Rail Cafe

November's drink of the month at JR Cafe is a purple sweet potato latte. Like the previous drink of the month, it's a caffeine free beverage and unsurprisingly, it was delicious with the flavour of the sweet potato that it was made with. Topped with some cream for a touch of richness. Yum!

Hong Kong Jin Tian (香港錦田), Jalan Bukit Ho Swee

I recall eating from this stall years ago when they were located closer to the Tiong Bahru Market. It seemed they've relocated to this current location (#01-858, Blk 34 Jalan Bukit Ho Swee) after disappearing for a while so I thought they might be worth checking out. The liver sausage, which was the only thing I thought was enjoyable doesn't seem to be available anymore.

I'm partially at fault for asking for the burnt ends. Some of them were over burnt bits of bitter pieces. I had erroneously assumed that they would just include the edible burnt ends, leaving out the inedible pieces. Apparently, no such consideration was given. The meat was chewy and hard. Maybe I should be just asking for the fattier parts instead.  

More food from Nalan

We were in the vicinity and ended up at Nalan for dinner. I was originally thinking something light. Light became some dahi puri and a rava ghee masala dosai. 

The puri as usual were a party of flavours from the yoghurt, tamarind chutney, those green coriander tasting sauce and the spices. Chaat is generally not so much cooking than assembly skills and the quality of the ingredients. I thought the ones here weren't too bad.

Dosai was nicely flavoured with cumin, curry leaves and black peppercorn. Those, gossamer if you would, parts of the batter at the edges were thin, crisp and greasy from the ghee. Delicious. Very tasty with those chutney on the side and the little bowl of warm sambar and creamy masala potato filling.

The Red Spicy from Keisuke's Tonkotsu King

I've finally gotten myself a bowl of the red spicy from Keisuke's after that black spicy years ago. After all these years, the queue at the Tonkotsu King still hasn't relented much. We managed to get a seat in about 10 minutes during off peak hours.

I quite enjoyed the heat from this bowl. I'm thinking that I should give the black spicy another go to see if my opinion has changed since the last time.

Tomato pound cake from Pullman Bakery at Havelock Road

Pullman Bakery has for some reasons set up a shop in this area (741 Havelock Road). Unusual because they've only had that Millenia Walk shop for years and have never expanded. From out of the blue, this particular spot of the island? There's another shop at 100AM which is on the way if anyone is interested.

Anyway, we walked in one evening and I came across the tomato pound cake. I got a slice out of curiosity. I couldn't taste tomato in the cake so I was a little disappointed. But I enjoyed the dense crumbly texture of the slice which even had a bit of heft. I liked that it wasn't too sweet as well. 

Caffe Beviamo, Tanglin Mall

We must have passed by Caffe Beviamo (#02-K1 Tanglin Mall, 163 Tanglin Road, tel : +65 6738 7906) countless times and never thought of eating here until now. The food was grounded and not bad at all without trying to be fancy. Not big on their coffee though.

We had toast, scramble eggs and ham which were pretty much what they were.

A surprisingly delicious pasta, aglio olio styled, of peas, pine nuts and broccoli with spinach that reminded me of another vegetable pasta from P.S. Cafe that was equally good.

There was a vanilla and cinnamon risotto that was kinda nice too. It reminded me of a sweet dry porridge. The green stuff was stewed apple, not kaya.

More food from Pastaria Abate

What I like about eating at Pastaria Abate during the weekends is that it's usually not crowded. I definitely appreciate a peaceful sit down meal in this crowded city. There's a foie gras and mushroom pasta this past weekend on their specials. It was quite nice. Earthiness from the mushroom and the light liver-y taste from the foie. Those onions cutting through the grease worked. 

I was curious about the scallop pasta with some sort of lemon butter sauce. Those scallops were nicely browned and tender. I wouldn't mind a bit more char for flavour though. That savoury tasting sauce was tangy without being lemon-y and unexpectedly - also not buttery. That's as much as I am able to describe it.

Oh yeah, we tried their garlic bread. It says home styled on their menu. Don't know whose home. I wouldn't get it again. I think I can make better at home.

More of that duo of pork configuration from Blk 38 Curry Rice (#4)

Yes, more of that duo of pork configuration that's so delicious from Blk 38 Curry Rice. Today with their curried squids. Anyone noticed that there seems to be a herbal hint to those curried pork?

Yan Ji Seafood Soup, Alexandra Village Food Centre

If anyone was wondering, the seafood soup from this stall (#01-71 Alexandra Village Food Centre, 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1) was definitely not the same bowl as the one from Woodlands Centre FC. I've heard mentions on how this stall was opened by one of the workers that used to be from that original stall and that the real McCoy is the one at Marsiling. No idea what was the truth and I didn't really care.

None of it mattered since this was a much more convenient option and it wasn't too bad.

For a start, each bowl tasted a little different because of the ingredients since they were cooked to order. The broth from the first bowl on the top had a bit more crustacean-y flavour while the second bowl was infused with the aroma of fish maw which the crayfish bowl didn't have. And through the differences, the broth from both bowls lack the depth of the original at Woodlands.

There's more - those meat nuggets were less uniformly flavourful from the ti po (dried sole) and like the broth had less dimensions to their flavour.

What does this all mean? It could maybe just mean that if one didn't compare, this stall would still have the most flavourful seafood soup and meat nuggets for miles around. And while it might not have lived up to the old stall, it was pretty tasty in its own right.

A takeaway from Leek Hainanese Chicken Rice (力海南雞飯)

I've eaten from Leek (#01-73 Beo Crescent Market & Food Centre, 38A Beo Crescent) a few times but haven't had the chance to mention them. One of the reasons was probably because I've never ranked them highly amongst my list of options. Here's a take away packet of breast + chicken thigh (鸡尾) and an egg. The rice was just a little more greasy than what I like and a little less flavourful as well. For these guys, the chilli definitely helped as that rice wasn't exactly so good that you would want to eat it on its own. 

Still Leek was not bad in any sense of the word. They're just not exceptional. Just not something that I see myself looking forward to. 

Pork chop fried rice from Supreme Pork Chop Rice

We hadn't been here (#B1-01 Bulkhaul House, 67 Beach Road) for ages. So this was the first time I ordered the fried rice version of their pork chop with rice. Came with some cole slaw instead of the salted vegetables with corn/peas/carrot. It's not good fried rice if anyone was wondering. There was little flavour, the rice was dry so the dark soy sauce and chilli sauce were pretty much what saved it. I'll just be sticking to the regular white rice plates in the future.

Cheesy-licious Chicken'O from Old Chang Kee

Old Chang Kee has a new limited time curry puff called Cheesy-licious Chicken'O. Black pastry crust with base fillings that were presumably curried chicken and potatoes like their regular puffs. This one allegedly has mozzarella and cheddar cheese. The puffs were slightly cheesy but not enough to be food porn worthy. I still think lowly of their pastry to filling ratio. But hey, whatever the sheep love to pay for right?

Autumn sushi omakase with matsutake at Kuro Maguro

This wasn't so much of a traditional omakase as one would expect but a selection of the commonly available fish options for sushi at Kuro Maguro along with one matsutake nigiri. Going for $28.20 with the JPassport redemption rather than $70.50. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have paid that "usual" price. The sushi was reasonably tasty and their hon maguro - especially that otoro was delicious. I liked the matsutake but it was a little small to be satisfying. 

Sanma is in season so we got one grilled. I remember that these used to be bigger when I had them last year and that they had totally cleaned the innards. Today's smaller fish was filled with those fishy bittersweet dark bits of meat.