Lemon chicken rice with 白鸡尾 from Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice

I had mentioned previously about trying their fried lemon chicken thinking that their's was probably like any other lemon chicken rice, with a lemon-y syrup/sauce drizzled over the breaded deep fried meat. There wasn't any of that. It was just fried chicken. Since I got this in the early part of the day, it was still pleasantly crispy. And yes, I added 白鸡尾 and a hard boiled egg to that. 

The Jolly Spaghetti from Jollibee

We've had fried chicken from Jollibee numerous times but have never ordered their Jolly Spaghetti because it never looked appealing to me. I've also heard comments about how it was sweet and that didn't help endear them to me. For some reasons, we ordered and tried recently and it didn't taste half as bad as I had imagined. There was a light beefy flavour to the slight sweet sauce and the noodles weren't as soggy as I thought they might have been. 

Food from Don Don Donki

Bought food from Don Don Donki recently. We've seen them every time we were there and have been tempted almost every single time. Most of the time, we just walk away. Not this time.

This packed sukiyaki gyudon was actually tasty. It wasn't excessively sweet as I imagined and those thinly sliced beef had sufficient fat for that beefy flavour. Will definitely get this again.

These beans were quite nice. Lots of crushed sesame in it.

Have previously mentioned their aburi-ed kanikama.

These cream filled rolls below were much talked about in the local social media group for Don Don Donki. Because of what killed the cat, we bought one to try. Not bad. Pretty light. The cream wasn't as milky flavoured or sweet so the former is room for improvement and the latter is a good thing. Don't thaw these completely from the the freezer so that there's still some frozen parts of the cream for the "crunch".

Sambal prawn fried rice from Chef Wang Fried rice

The queue at Chef Wang Fried Rice (王厨) hasn't abated. On an off peak hour during the weekday, in and out was still 30 minutes. Tried their sambal prawn fried rice this time. It's edible. Not much heat nor aroma to the sambal which was a little disappointing. What added to the disappointment was that I had to pay additional 50 cents for the sambal. Not worth that 50 cents. Wouldn't bother again even if it was free of charge.

Today's regular fried rice tasted different (opined from another box of pork rib fried rice). No longer getting the Din Tai Fung feel from the flavour. Which was kinda strange because the first time I had it, Din Tai Fung was the first thing that came to mind. If this was the first time I was having Chef Wang's, I wouldn't have even put them together in the same sentence as Din Tai Fung. I gotta stop talking about Din Tai Fung. So erm, I don't think I would rank today's above Wok Hey's even. 

Takeaway seafood congee from Reimondo

There's an ex convict to millionaire to hawker tale behind the proprietor of this stall (#02-07 Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre, 110 Pasir Ris Central). Anyways, they were written about recently for their seafood porridge which was suppose to be good. It's a not bad congee with seafood flavour (mostly smokiness from the bits of smoked salmon I believe) but it's just that. Not bad.

Heard of mention of prawn head infused oil but the flavours from the congee didn't taste as complex as all the ingredients might have suggested. Also not feeling the wok hei people are saying. There're small clams, a couple of scallops, a crab stick, a couple of prawns and some nice soggy you tiao inside. If we're talking about creaminess in texture, Mun Zuk did it better.

Mrs Reuben with egg in rainbow bagel from Two Men Bagel House

There's a rainbow bagel for Pride month in June from our neighbourhood friendly bagel folks. Here's Mrs Reuben serenaded into one. Plus an egg. My first repeat order from TMBH. Also my first rainbow bagel. New achievements accomplished. Dill pickles and spicy dressing responsibly cutting through the meatiness from the beef and richness from the egg and cheese. Smell the rest of the bagels here (一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 十一 十二 十三 十四 十五).

Man Kee Hong Kong Style Roasted (文記港式燒臘), Clementi West

Bought a whole duck from Man Kee Hong Kong Style Roasted (文記港式燒臘) (#01-247, 710 Clementi West Street 2)which makes curry roasted duck. What's curry roasted duck you say? 

To summarize what proprietor explained, their ducks were roasted with curry stuffed into the bird so that they would be marinated throughout the roast. After the roasting was complete, the duck would be sliced open to release all the curry that was in it and collected as gravy for the rice. It would be a duck flavour infused curry.

The roast standards were unimpressive. The roasted ducks were of average standards at best and there wasn't much of the curry flavour in most of the meat which were also a little tough. Not exactly what I had expected of "restaurant standards" as they had claimed.

Curry was nice - made good accompaniment to steamed rice even though we couldn't taste any duck in it. Pretty oily though.

Pandan Leaf Nasi Lemak, Tanjong Pagar Food Centre

I tried to get nasi lemak from this stall (#02-25 Tanjong Pagar Food Centre, 6 Tanjong Pagar Plaza) a couple of times over the past years but have never managed to because they open early and close when they're sold out for the day. Which can be quite early. Was surprised to see them still open recently while looking for lunch.

I liked it. Nice coconut flavour from the rice and the sambal had the flavour of ikan bilis. What stood out the most for me was the fried chicken drumstick. It's batter-less chicken like those from Ikea and had a savoury sweetness to the marinade which reminded me of fried chicken from my school canteen as a kid. Or a less salty version of the fried chicken from Babas Peranakan. I think I like this better than Makan Sutera Nasi Lemak Pandan Rice just around the corner.

Burger Bar New York, Amoy Street

A few years back, I came to this place (#01-03, 115 Amoy St, tel : +65 6221 8648) for burgers. They were Burger Joint New York then and I don't remember the bar section that they have here today. It might not have been there then. I also recall not being very impressed with what I ate at that time. We came back today because it seems there is pastrami on rye on the menu now.

They have the classic pastrami on rye, the Reuben and the Rachel. The latter had spicy coleslaw stacked on the pastrami instead of sauerkraut. I kinda liked that spicy coleslaw for the heat which was respectable - respectable can also be read as more than I had expected. There was also a nice smokiness and pepper coming from the pastrami as well. Better than the defunct Sacha & Sons but no, it's not Katz's. Not as moist nor as tender.

Cereal fried rice with sliced fish from Tang Kay Kee

There's been a bit more fried rice than usual in the past month. Here's one from Tang Kay Kee. The local rendition that doesn't get as much media coverage as say Din Tai Fung or King of Fried Rice. Local styled fried rice can be reasonably tasty - you just need to know where to find them.

This was their cereal fried rice. One with onsen egg and a light breath from the wok. Topped it up with sliced fish. Menu mentioned crab meat but what they actually put in were crab sticks. Still nice though. There was a bit of sweetness from the cereal and lup cheong bits plus pickled green chilli for the sour. I liked the onsen egg because you could get richer flavour and a creamy texture to the rice by stirring them in. 

Pickle Bakery, Everton Park

Heard about this bakery (#01-61, 2 Everton Park, Whatsapp : +65 8322 9500) so came over to pick up something for breakfast one morning. A number of items that sounded interesting but I had limited space.

Ended up with something that sounded savoury. A pastrami and egg salad pide with sauerkraut.

Only a little bit of the pepper and smokiness came through for the pastrami because there wasn't much of it. Most of the flavour came from the tangy egg salad and their house made sauerkraut. I liked the nice toasty flavour from the sesame seeds on the greasy (pleasantly) pide.

Speaking of pide, it didn't taste freshly baked even though I bought this at 9am in the morning. Hmmmm....I had assumed that if one bought stuff from a bakery in the morning, the bakes would be fresh and would taste fresh. Bread was a little chewy and cold.

Happy Ending Pizza Parlour

I was intrigued initially by the name and subsequently the toppings of the pizza from Happy Ending Pizza Parlour (#01-35 City Gate Mall, 371 Beach Road, tel : +65 8912 1408). While those weren't all new, it seemed like some thought had been put in. Pizzas were kinda small though.

Here's a safe marinara. Tomato sauce, garlic and oregano. The menu mentioned basil but there wasn't any of it there. Couldn't taste the EVOO as well. So we now know what kind of pizza place they are.

One of the toppings I was curious about was the one with blueberry, bacon and ricotta. Not bad tasting. Came with bacon jam on the side that for some reasons reminded me of the pork miso from Nirai Kanai.

Their Hawaii 5 O is a Hawaiian pizza with pancetta instead of regular ham and cinnamon on their pineapple ring. It said "whole pineapple rings" on the menu but there was just one ring. Just that one with cinnamon. Would have made sense if all the pineapples had cinnamon to save us the pain of divvying up that one ring. What the hell were these guys thinking?

友發鸭饭 • 粿汁 (You Fa Duck Rice • Kway Chap), Dover Crescent

Delicious kway chap from You Fa (Jumbo Coffee Hub, 19A Dover Crescent). Seems that this stall was previously operating at Maxwell Food Centre. While the Chinese characters of the stall read 友發 (you fa), their social media seems to say Yu Fa. I'm a little confused here.

We got a takeaway portion for a few people. No complains about the braised duck and pig innards - notable mention goes to their braised gizzards which were remarkably tender. Maybe we could skip the pork belly the next time.  Love the velvety flavourful brown sauce which they packed on the side.

Rice-y tasting smooth sheets of kway in a light savoury broth.

Bak kwa bao from Kimly Dim Sum

Read about the bak kwa bao from these guys a couple of years ago. They're sold as a collaboration with Peng Guan Bak Kwa as a supplier of the bak kwa fillings for the bamboo charcoal infused buns.

Look at them silent stoic grey buns......

......filled with delicious smoky sweet char siew glaze/sauce, bak kwa bits and sesame seeds. I admit to being a little apprehensive before but these were quite nice.

Breakfast fish sandwich from Long John Silver's

I remember having breakfast sandwiches a long time ago from Long John Silver's. A long time like maybe almost decade back? Anyways I got one recently because I haven't had it for ages and didn't mind reminding myself why I don't eat it of how they tasted like. This was their fish sandwich - not the same fish as their regular menu because this one was breaded and not battered. A few criticisms I have. 

The tartare sauce (weak and mostly mayo) overwhelmed the cheese and even the butter on the bread. So note to self, no tartare sauce the next time. Coffee was not nice. No a la carte option was available so I was forced to buy the sandwich as a set with the tater tots and coffee which I know they charged me for. I see this as poor business ethics, nothing more.

How I ended up with a $12 packet of Beo Crescent curry rice

Now what could add up to $12 for a packet of curry rice at this affordable and popular kali png pitstop one might wonder.

I wanted to shake things up a little and break out of the pork chop/chap chye routine. This was originally intended to be just a fried egg, beans, sotong and fried prawns. Then I saw fish eggs *cues halo glow*. Something I had never seen from the Beo Crescent curry rice stall before.*gasp*

The single portion of fish eggs they gave was puny so I asked for an extra portion. And that was how I ended up with a $12 packet of curry rice.

Nutella pistachio with bacon in jalapeño cheese bagel from Two Men Bagel House

This marks my first time ordering out of the "packaged" bagels from Two Men Bagel House's menu. Not that I thought those weren't good enough. You know it (一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 十一 十二 十三 十四). Felt like breaking out of the routine for a bit and got this jalapeño cheese bagel with Nutella, pistachio and for good measure, some bacon. I liked it. The salt from the bacon/cheese and the chocolate sweetness from the Nutella definitely paired. A bit of heat from the jalapeño gave it a light kick to keep the palate on the toes.