Negi shio rosu katsu with soft boiled egg teishoku from Katsu An

I was half hoping that negi shio rosu katsu from Katsu An would feature Japanese negi. Half because the other half kinda already expected local spring onions. The other half was right. I wasn't disappointed though. 😏

Because this wasn't half bad - those chopped spring onions paired pretty well together with the mustard, layering a sharp savoury saltiness on the fried pork. Pity the cheese sauce katsu isn't available on the menu anymore.

Dan Lao, Kopitiam @ Changi Airport Terminal 3

Dan Lao was started by some folks that used to be chefs at Eggslut. Tried their scrambled egg rice with luncheon meat at the food court in T3 (B2-03 Terminal 3 Singapore Changi Airport, 65 Airport Boulevard). Not impressed by those eggs. Visually, it's kinda obvious that they're loose and a little watery with appearances similar to curdled milk. They also didn't taste particularly eggy. Generous with the portion of luncheon meat though.

Apple Fizzy Americano from Luckin Coffee

I've previously had the orange americano at Luckin Coffee. This was the fizzy apple rendition which I enjoyed as much if not more than the orange counterpart. Just apple juice, sparkling soda and coffee from what I've read.

Myojo Char Mee with tobiko and sweet tamagoyaki

Tobiko and tamagoyaki were from Donki. There's enough tobiko that the briny flavour of the roe came through the salty spicy seasoning of the char mee. And yes the tamagoyaki was chilled. A sweet contrast with the noodles which were warm and savoury.

Saayang Sayang Indonesian Nasi Padang, Kopitiam @ Changi Airport Terminal 3

Nasi padang at the food court (B2-03 Terminal 3 Singapore Changi Airport, 65 Airport Boulevard) in T3. Got me some sayur lodeh, sambal goreng and paru belado. Paru was chunky and meaty while the gravy from the sayur lodeh had the pre-requisite lemak-ness. Kicked ass with the sambal. I enjoyed this.

More plates from Shiok Hokkien Mee

Previously, I had this in the $6 portion. Today's is $8. There's a large one going at $10. Definitely bigger serving than the last time and there's an additional prawn. This larger portion was actually pretty substantial. Lard (猪油渣) has to be requested for and I love the chilli. These guys are super fast. I waited like a minute for this.

A week or so later...

Small plate with extra chilli and lard. This time, it was a 20 minute wait. Seems to be less wet as we go along. I'm liking this so far.

And hence like sheep we are herded into Prosperity part 2

There's a variant to the Prosperity Burger this year called Fortune Prosperity Burger. There's an egg in it. I got chicken instead of the usual beef just to try. Sauce was pretty peppery as usual so I couldn't tell it's chicken. 😅 The egg also barely registered through that sauce.

More prata at Master Prata

Been a while since we ate at Master Prata.

This was masala prata with banana. The masala being the curried potatoes like what one can get in masala thosai/dosa - not to be confused with bananas that are infused with masala spices.

It was an uncommon mixture of spiced sweet and savouriness. Their masala like I mentioned previously was wet, not thick and dry; which made an easy pairing with the aromatic sweet melty bananas. The insides of this prata was piping hot and creamy.

Flavour grew on us. I like it. A brand of spicy and sweet we haven't had before. This isn't exactly on the menu by the way. Masala prata's available but the bananas were added on

There's garlic prata on the menu. Note to self: pretty garlicky and don't bother getting the ones with mushrooms the next time. Those mushrooms tasted even worse than what I imagined of the regular canned variety.

Revisiting Gochi-So Shokudo at Chinatown Point

Lunch at Gochi-So Shokudo in Chinatown Point. Got the Duroc rosu and Iberico char siew set. The latter was sweet, tender and melty while the former was less tender with a strip of fat on the side that was not exactly flavourful. Why so? Remember me mentioning that they don't salt their katsu?

Looking at their portions in retrospect and with most things considered (including soups and sauces and salads), these guys are easily the same price if not more costly than Tonkatsu by Ma Maison. Which conversely implies that Tonkatsu by Ma Maison’s price point makes them a better deal. I believe I have my conclusion here.

What really bothered me about this visit involved salt. I asked for some because the tonkatsu was bland and I didn’t feel like having them with sauce. I asked if they had salt or shoyu - a requested that required little IQ to fulfil. The wait staff guy looked baffled and appeared not to understand what I wanted. He later returned with a bowl of salt from the kitchen. The salt in the picture up there was after I was done. Who the hell in the right mind would bring so much salt to a customer in a tonkatsu shop asking for some?

Shake Shack, Jewel Changi Airport

Double Shackburger from the first Shake Shack in Singapore (#02-256 Jewel Changi Airport, 78 Airport Boulevard). Extra pickles, lettuce, onions and tomatoes. Extra plot. I'm still loving it. 

Tai Wah Pork Noodle (大華肉脞麵), Singapore Food Street @ Changi Airport Terminal 3

This was mediocre. 👎🏼 The standards of Tai Wah appear to vary from individual branches and can be inconsistent even from the same branch. This one from T3 (Singapore Food Street, #03-11 Changi Airport Terminal 3 Transit, 65 Airport Boulevard) was likely to be the worse of the lot from what I've had. Mee pok was overcooked and felt slimy. This extra spicy bowl wasn't very spicy and the chilli had an underlying sweetness instead of being just straight up savoury. Even the meatballs tasted odd and without the flavour of dried sole. Didn't finish the noodles.

This outpost by virtue of location is supposed to be a showcase of local flavours to visitors?

$4.50 portion from Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice (中峇鲁海南起骨雞飯)

For posterity and record, $4.50 portions. I just realized that the one at Smith Street is called 中峇鲁起骨海南雞飯 while this stall at Tiong Bahru Food Centre and the one at 111 Somerset is 中峇鲁海南起骨雞飯.

Hjh Maimunah Mini, Boleh Boleh! @ Clementi Mall

Another branch of Hjh Maimunah Mini we came across at Clementi Mall (Boleh Boleh! food court, #04-20 to 22 Clementi Mall, 3155 Commonwealth Avenue West). Food's pretty good though I'm not sure if they have same spread as the one at City Square Mall or the flagship at Jalan Pisang.

Not that it's bad but I thought the paru belado didn't seem to taste like I recall. Tried a few items which we haven't before like the ikan pari (stingray) which was thick cut and satisfying. There was also sotong hitam that was both spicy and rich. I thought they did pretty decent fried chicken too. Pretty glad they're more accessible these days.

GO Noodle House, Changi Airport Terminal 2

Hmmm....the broth from this milky pickled vegetable soup from GO Noodle House at the airport (#03-24/25-01 Viewing Mall South, Changi Airport Terminal 2, 60 Airport Boulevard) was so good. Sour, savouriness and a bit of heat. I had this bowl with sliced Spanish mackerel with added on Spanish pork belly. Can't tell the difference with that pork belly and any others but it's not bad tasting Also first time getting bee hoon which was I kinda liked, broth considered. 

Hua Zai Hong Kong Style Roasted Delight (华仔), Havelock Road

We've been recommended Hua Zai previously but never had a chance to try their roast meats. They have some branches scattered across the island and from what we've noticed before, they look pretty decent. Came by this outpost in the coffeeshop near Havelock Food Centre (22 Havelock Road)

Triple roast here with tau kwa and egg. They're decent - better than run of the mill but not exactly outstanding. Pretty meaty stuff so no melt in your mouth kind of experience with the roast pork and char siew. Shops like Mei Mei Roast, 88 Roast Meat or Roast Paradise beats this.

Not a fan of their sauce as well. It's not a bad tasting sauce per se but I prefer the sweeter and more intense types. Perhaps some akin to the char siew sauce/glaze that the old Foong Kee had.

Not bad cabbage and corn soup.

Caffe Pralet, Eng Hoon Mansions

Have passed by Caffe Pralet (#01-04 Eng Hoon Mansions, 17 Eng Hoon Street, tel: +65 8318 0698) a number of times in the past and haven't noticed much about them until people started talking about their square donuts.

There're a bunch of flavours for those square donuts. This one was burnt butter honey glazed. What I discerned of the flavour, tasted somewhat like butterscotch. No fried bread taste to it as well. 

The pistachio and raspberry one looked good. Tasted nutty. That being said, it was also neither particularly aromatic nor distinctively pistachio.

Coffee was sad. Diluted, no body and not fragrant. Just sad.

玉光熟食物潮洲魚圓肉脞面, Kukoh 21 Food Centre

I've seen this stall (#01-05 Kukoh 21 Food Centre, 1 Jalan Kukoh) identified as Yu Guang Cooked Food Teochew Fishball Minced Meat Noodle or as Google does, Jade Light Noodles. They're next door to Twelve Hainanese Chicken Rice. What caught my attention was the tang hoon soup on their menu which seeded me the idea of getting a bak chor mee with tang hoon instead of the other noodles. Yes, it's my first bowl of bak chor tang hoon.

Chilli didn't pack much heat. Lots of vinegar in this bowl and otherwise, pretty run of the mill flavours and ingredients. It's not visible in the picture but there're slices of lean pork and a fish dumpling in there. Not a bad bowl with tang hoon.

Pig's organ noodle (猪什面) from Ri Tao Fu Teochew Pig's Organ Soup (日饕福潮洲猪什湯)

Just noticed that Ri Tao Fu Teochew Pig's Organ Soup has pig organ soup noodles which featured soft instant noodles - something I normally am not into. I didn't mind this one because the flavours of the broth were soaked into the noodles which kinda made up for the texture. Notice that even for the soup noodles, these guys were still generous with the cuts of meat/offal.

Note to self: Don't get the pork belly the next time. They aren't tender.

Sri Aachi Aappakadai, Chander Road

I knew that Sri Aachi Aappakadai Pte Ltd has an other outlet and from what I could Google, there appeared to be more to the menu than what's available at the stall in Tekka Food Centre. So we came to Sri Aachi Aappakadai (45 Chander Road, tel : +65 8698 1317) for breakfast in hopes of getting some of those stuff that's not at Tekka Food Centre. Menu that can be found online and those at the shop (the pictures up on the walls are the menu) differs. Kinda.

The shop's right next door to Swaadhisht.  

There's podi idly. These were pre made and served out of a tupperware on order. Not bad tasting and also not the podi-est we've had but no complains here. Noticed that these had cumin. Love the sour in the rice cakes.

Pongal was a pretty big serving and not as flavourful as I was hoping for. Couldn't taste ghee in this. This rendition in terms of flavour was more akin to the one from M.M.H Tiffin Centre than say those from A2B Veg Restaurant or Komala Vilas.

Standards of their appam also differs compared to their stall at Tekka Food Centre. This one appeared more rustic and one couldn't help but also feel that food from latter location was handled with more finesse. I'm also not sure what happened with this cheese appam I got but most of it was room temperature except for the middle with melted cheese which was hot.

One of the menu pictures showed something called chicken masala dosa. We ordered it as such but noticed that it was billed as chicken kari dosa. Not much difference I would think between the two anyway. This was pretty good. Inside the rice floor pancakes were tender curried potatoes, egg and tender chunks of chicken. I thought I tasted ghee in this. Quite delicious with and without the chutneys.

Drips Bakery Café, Tiong Bahru

Have seen Drips (82 Tiong Poh Road, #01-05, tel : +65 6222 0400) around but never gotten anything from them until today after seeing their bakes.

I think this was a vodka mint hot chocolate. Surprisingly couldn't taste much of the vodka. Mint wasn't strong. Not very chocolate-y for a hot chocolate as well. 👎🏼

Their luncheon meat brioche was kinda nice.

Luncheon meat was thick and brioche was soft.

Noticed that Drips doesn't call their Black Forest a cake - which was kinda it because it doesn't have much actual cake in it. The description on their website "Indulgent French chocolate sponge soaked in cognac" was what I didn't understand. Did the copywriter even know what was being described?

Texturally, it differed from a traditional Black Forest cake because as I mentioned, not much of it was cake. The middle layer of white tasted of orange and was lightly gelatinous - I couldn't call it vanilla cream because it wasn't. Then there was a base of hazelnut chocolate with crispy bits. Not much of this Black Forest was actually like a regular Black Forest. Maybe the just the brandy soaked cherries.

I generally don't have anything against re-imaginations of classics but we couldn't finish it. This made me miss the ones at Corner Grill/Atout/Stuttgart.

The pears from the French Pear tart was not bad tasting. But I'm generally not big on tarts with such a high frangipane & pastry vs fruit ratio.