A lontong special for breakfast from IAAI Malay Food

It's not a special from the stall per se. Just their lontong to which I added a couple of epok epok because I wanted to have both and not have to choose between the two. What I also wanted was to be able to dip those puffs into their hae bi flavoured lontong gravy for that extra flavour.

Trying the strong dashi broth at Enishi

Enishi has changed. Shaken up a little. Seems that they're doing 100 bowls a day now. I wanted to try the stronger dashi broth from them because we picked the regular option previously and thought a bit more intensity in the flavour would be great. This stronger broth was not bad. But that's not all to the story. Enishi has really changed. The knee jerk was to attribute it to the fact that the Japanese chef wasn't/is no longer around and the current person just did things differently. 

How exactly was it different you might wonder? Different enough that I regretted ordering the 'special' bowl for the extra ingredients.

Charshu was disappointing. I upsized my bowl to the 'special' imagining that the charshu would be as I recalled, the tender and crumbing in your mouth experience. This was thick sliced and hard. Wasn't sure if the long torching session had anything to do with it. I tried to finish it but in the end, I had to leave that bit behind because it simply wasn't worth it. Duck was tender and chewy. The rest of the bowl was fine. Today's dan dan noodles has crushed peanuts in it which I didn't recall from our last bowl. Seemed that they've decided to go crunchy instead of just smooth - like peanut butter.

Johor Road Boon Kee Pork Porridge, Veerasamy Road

This was the another popular stall located at the same coffeeshop as Mui Xiong. They sold porridge and like Mui Xiong, one ordered and then waited patiently for the order to be processed. These guys had a order chit and a number panel to let you know if it was your turn to collect. 

So don't mistaken the lack of a queue for a short wait time. There was only one person in front of me ordering and it took about 45 minutes to get our porridge. Ours were pork and cuttlefish. Chock full of ingredients and wasn't bad tasting. I didn't like that they added ginger and there was an odd sweetness to the porridge I couldn't identify. I wouldn't mind if I didn't have to wait but there's little chance of that happening - it's not good enough to be worth so much wait time.

Char siew noodles from Malaysia Chiak at Great World

This was from the KL char siew stall at Malaysia Chiak which had char siew rice and noodles. I had originally intended to get the rice after looking at the picture they had at the stall because it looked like chicken rice but after inquiring, they confirmed it was just regular rice so hence the noodles. 

It wasn't bad. Had some bite. I would have preferred more intensity from the dark soya sauce. The noodles ended up tasting better with their chilli (either the pickled green or red sauce or both) added. But char siew was disappointingly dry and boring. Not what I expected when they advertised themselves as KL styled char siew.

Back at Murugan Idli Shop

It's been a while since we were last here. We were actually intending to stop for some masala tea but ended up with a second breakfast. Murugan Idli Shop doesn't serve masala tea by the way. So it was meduvadai, dosai and idli. Now I remembered why I loved those ghee podi idli - the podi along with the buttery ghee made it taste almost cheesy. A little pricey but delicious.

We had butter dosai too. Nice tangy batter with crisp sides that was so good with the chutney. Speaking of which, I need to come here more often to try more things. But it's gonna be hard passing up on those ghee podi idli.

Jin Xi Lai (Mui Siong) Minced Meat Noodle/金喜来(梅松)肉脞面, Veerasamy Road

We've been hearing quite a bit about Jin Xi Lai (Mui Siong) Minced Meat Noodle (Yi He Eating House, 638 Veerasamy Road). Or simply just Mui Siong. From online and even from friends. I admit that I was a little skeptical at the start but the minced meat noodles made me a believer. 

The mee pok's kinda good with a likeable springy texture that had bite. This was with chilli and it wasn't very spicy. But what people talk about are their thick slices of pig liver which was the source of my initial skepticism. I was afraid that it wouldn't be well cooked or that it would have a texture that didn't agree with me. It was good. I loved the texture from the well timed doneness - not chewy of powdery nor crunchy because it was undercooked. I'd go for just the livers and minced meat the next time. Nothing special about the fishball and fish cakes.

Assam laksa from Malaysia Chiak at Great World

I've been wanting to try the assam laksa from this Penang stall at Malaysia Chiak. Out of curiosity, also because I like assam in general and I thought it might be a good time to get re-acquainted with Penang styled laksa which I haven't had for a long time.

I liked it. I don't know how it compared to a regular bowl in Penang but I enjoyed both the savoury tanginess of the broth and the chewy noodles that they used. Wished that there was more of the hae ko (shrimp paste) and fish in there though. Now I just need to discover the other shops out there that make good renditions of it.

White asparaguses, lamb rump and scallops at Bistro Du Vin

Another lunch at Bistro Du Vin.

Bread's no longer in baskets but paper bags. What we didn't understand was that butter's on every table and those were somehow excused from hygiene requirements in this social distancing era?

I seem to recall having onion soup here and being not impressed with them but cannot be sure if I remembered correctly. We enjoyed the onion soup today. I imagined what made this work was a good balance between the wine, beef stock and spices.

White asparagus was on the specials board. Wasn't impressive because it wasn't as juicy off the grill. White asparaguses don't have much complexity so if they don't deliver whatever little they have, they don't deliver much. Also, if the restaurant hadn't mentioned that the orange bits on the plate were Mimolette, I wouldn't have known either. I expected better of this restaurant than this weak posturing.

The St Jacques scallops weren't bad but were also not impressive either. These were thoroughly cooked instead of having a sear on the exterior with the inside still rare. Don't think I'll get them again. Would rather spend the money on those Georges Bank ones at Luke's. 

They did handle the lamb rump well. Was another special from the board. The meat was tender, chewy and layered with a good bit of flavour from the jus. The jus was described to be lamb and truffle but I couldn't get the least bit of truffle from the flavour. Also pretty expensive for the pretty small portions at $52. 

By the way, those aren't regular peas, carrots and corn at the bottom of the plate. The green and yellow thingy were balls of green and yellow zucchini. The orange balls were still carrots. 

Mrs Reuben with egg in garlic rye bagel from Two Men Bagel House

Things have been hectic lately and I was struggling over getting out of bed for breakfast or snoozing in for a well needed rest. Mrs Reuben beckoned and her siren song serenaded me out to get some. Bagels. With eggs. Here's link to some other bagels I've had before. (一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 十一 十二 十三)

I liked this. Pastrami with dill pickled cucumbers, Emmental and spicy Russian dressing. Small but hefty and very satisfying. 

Whampoa Soya Bean & Grass Jelly Drinks (黄埔豆花水), Whampoa Makan Place

We've gotten soya bean curd and drinks sporadically from this stall (#01-52 Whampoa Makan Place, 91 Whampoa Drive, tel :+65 9138 7800) for years. I remember the time when the stall used to be buzzing with bees. For some reasons, the bees aren't around anymore. 

Today, we tried something a little different from the plain bean curd we normally get. Bean curd with red beans (or are they kidney beans?) and gingko nuts. Not so big on those beans but the gingko nuts were tender and sweet.

They have rose flavoured soya bean drink which was basically infused with rose (bandung) syrup. I liked that they added enough for that rose flavour to be apparent and yet one could still taste the soya bean flavour.

Treasures Yi Dian Xin (一点心), Raffles City

Treasures Yi Dian Xin is by the Imperial Treasure Group - a casual outfit with a bit of similarity to their Noodle & Congee House. There are the main stays of noodles, porridge and dim sum and and the rest of the menu differs from there.

Chance happened us across a dried oyster and salted egg congee that they had on menu. Not a regular item. This was nice. Love the mix of dried oysters and salted egg flavours that melded in balance within the creamy porridge. The yolk from the salted egg was the reason why the porridge was yellowish. Not as gooey as the ones in Hong Kong but I'm not complaining.

Rice rolls with the regular sweet sauce and sesame sauce. Not bad.

Decent har gows. Theirs has always been. Though I do get the impression that the ones that are served at their Fine Teochew Cuisine are nicer.

Char siew baos were okay. Not particularly outstanding for the fillings but not bad as well. The porridge was the most memorable item we had this time.

Keat Lim Vegetarian Food (吉林(齋)素食), Whampoa Makan Place

There were two Chinese vegetarian stalls along this stretch at Whampoa food centre. We went for Keat Lim (#01-48 Whampoa Drive Makan Place, 91 Whampoa Drive), the one with a much shorter queue. It was okay as Chinese vegetarian noodles go. Wasn't bad but we've had better tasting ones. Like Seng Kee which was also much oilier or Ding Shan at Tiong Bahru FC. Maybe I'll try the other stall the next time which looked like they have nicer looking vegetarian goose.

Dong Bei Xiao Chu (东北小厨), Upper Cross Street

Have seen Dong Bei Xiao Chu (12 Upper Cross Street, tel : +65 6220 6876) a number of times while passing Upper Cross Street. Finally got curious enough to come by to try their food. Not to be confused with the popular Dong Bei Ren Jia (东北人家) less than a minute's walk away.

I think this might have been my first Xue Hua (雪花). It's a light lager for easy drinking which works for the food that we were going to have. Not as light as a particular Yanjing beer I've had previously though.

Nice sour and spicy potato strips (尖椒土豆丝). Had a good heat (more than the one from Tian Fu I have easier access too), prerequisite crunch and tanginess to make the dish.

Their skewered grills were competent as well. These platter had quail eggs, lamb and chicken hearts. Will come back for them because they were delicious.

There's cold noodles (冷面) on the menu. These were buckwheat noodles which looked and tasted like the Korean naengmyeon - broth was sweet/tangy and the noodles were slurpiliciously smooth.  

Corn kernels with savoury and sweet salted yolk. Each order needs to be shared with a few people or will be surfeited easily. Otherwise quite addictive.

That's their home made pig skin jelly. Their rendition of pork aspic in a mildly spicy, tangy and garlic-ky sauce. Nice.

This was called egg tofu in English on the menu. Chinese name's 风味鸡蛋干. Tasted like tau kwa with a firmer and smoother texture.  

We had 东北拉皮 - a chilled noodle salad with black fungus and julienned cucumbers. Don't know if these flat transparent noodles were made with mung beans or potatoes. Flavour was mildly spicy, sweet, nutty and tangy at the same time.

Mutton and winter melon soup. They managed to coax the mutton flavour into the soup. Also the clearest mutton soup I've had that hasn't been heavily spiced or herbed. Not bad.

Stir fried pickled cabbage with pig intestines (酸菜炒肥肠). Tangly, slightly spicy, savoury and offal-ly. We couldn't finish this and packed the remainder home. Mixed those with some of the leftover cubes of mutton from the soup above and scissored up cumin-ed grilled squids from them - made a super good dinner with instant noodles. The best you've never eaten!

Love their grilled shishamo too. An order of eight for $8.

Will definitely come back.

Loy Kee Chicken Rice & Porridge (黎记雞飯粥品), Whampoa Makan Place

I've eaten at Loy Kee at Balestier many years ago but don't remember if I've had their chicken rice at the food centre (#01-49/50 Whampoa Drive Makan Place, 91 Whampoa Drive). 

Ordered boiled chicken drumstick (鸡腿) with liver and egg.

The food had the hallmarks of a competent/experienced chicken rice stall. What am I saying? These guys are pretty well known. Chicken was smooth and relatively tender with liver that wasn't overcooked. In my head, the old Sin Kee still beats this. But I'll get over them.

Rice had a mild hint of ginger in it but not so much that it put me off. In fact, I liked Loy Kee's rice. Their chilli sauce was salty and garlic-ky without lime. Wouldn't mind eating from them again.