An egg briyani and a disappointing gobi 65 from Junior Kuppanna

Came back to Junior Kuppanna for an egg briyani and a gobi 65 on the side. Briyani's delicious. But the cauliflowers were subpar - not much like those crispy ones we had here the last time. The flavour did not change but the texture was mostly spongy. These tasted like they had been fried much earlier and all the crunch has gone. I'm guessing they were microwaved for serving. 👎🏼

Sushi Dorobo, Bugis Cube

Got wind of Sushi Dorobo (#03-17 Bugis Cube, 470 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 8344 2811) and was intrigued by their aburi engawa don which was a lunch only item on their menu.

It looked a lot more impressive as a picture on the menu.

The first thing that came to mind was that it wasn't as aburi-ed as I imagined. I was hoping that it would be smokier. But it's savoury and unctuous with melty fat. That egg layered a smooth richness while spikes of brininess from the ikura cut through with some character to the flavours.

The engawa was not quite as exquisite as Sakari Sushi but way better than the one from Tsukiji Sushi at Avenue K.

Revisiting Paradise Classic

Back at Paradise Classic for more of their "classic" zi char. Started with a pretty smoky braised bee hoon with assorted seafood. One could see those scorch marks in the noodles and also the gossamer of eggs from the decently done up 滑蛋 in the gravy. 

Egg with sliced bitter gourd. Competent, a little greasy.

Kung bao chicken was sadly disappointing. The flavour leaned towards tangy and was missing body - not so much sweet, dark and assertive with heat like how I like kung bao sauce. 

Rising heat and another single serving bowl from Gong Yuan Ma La Tang (宫源麻辣烫)

We upgraded the heat from 小辣 to 中辣 previously at Gong Yuan Ma La Tang because we enjoy a bit of heat and I mean...this was mala tang. Recently, the heat has been seriously cranked up. This was apparent even at Zhang Liang. Is there a 麻辣 association that I didn't know about cracking the whip on what's acceptable heat standards in the local shops. We're now settling for 小小辣 because it's already packing as much heat if not spicier than what the 中辣 used to. 🥵

Sausage McGriddles with scramble eggs from McD

So now there's a limited time Sausage McGriddles with liquid scrambled eggs as opposed to the regular disc of round real egg. Didn't taste bad though. What bugged me was that the kiosk didn't allow for much customisation beyond adding chicken bacon. Technology has brought McD a few strides back, not improved them. Cements the sentiment that what the customers may want aren't as important to them anymore. 

Revisiting Choon Hoy Parlor (春花馆)

Came back to Choon Hoy Parlor because I wanted to try their chye ber which we missed the last time.

But first some spicy hot old ginger & red date tea.

That's the chye ber. The menu mentioned offcuts of the day with mustard greens. Pretty sure the pork trotters in there weren't offcuts. Not complaining though. The broth was delicious and tangy with loads of tender softened mustard greens. That and those trotters with meat and skin that's fall off the bone tender. Smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover...🕺🏻😂. Rice thieves!

More of their dou miao and tau gey. Mind still trying to wrap around the fact that these vegetables were dou miao because I kept thinking that we were eating kailan. 

Soup we had today was white pepper pig stomach collagen soup. There's winter melon, tau kee and goji berries in it. Tasted like how I thought it would but not as gao as I imagined. 

This, their claypot dry bak kut teh. The dried cuttlefish infused dark soya sauce was rich and kickass umami coupled with characteristical sweet & savoury. That and some heat from dried chillis. Ribs were meaty. Wished there was more lady's finger than those token few slices. Another rice thief!

Rice for the rice thieves!

Back to brunch at Wooloomooloo Steakhouse

I mentioned coming back here for their burger. 

The butter with the onion focaccia is like the icing on the cake.

Their crustacean bisque is always a good choice.

One of the first course option in the brunch was an open faced beef gyoza with avocado. Beef's really tender but the flavour was almost totally muted by the yuzu mayo.

There's a Australian wagyu carpaccio which was pretty good tasting. Not so much because it's wagyu but more of the combination flavours with the tuna sauce and sweet pickled onions. That and the textures from the diced onions and not too salty crispy capers.

So here's that double cheeseburger. Special sauce on the side.

Nice, hot and meaty between buttery buns.

Picanha from Pure Black cattle. Meat's beefy and metallic, tender and chewy at the same time. Much like skirt/flank. The sweet glazed carrots that came with it was awesome. 

Sticky coffee pudding with vanilla mascarpone to end. Pretty good.

You Yi Minced Meat Noodle (友谊肉脞面), Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre

Came across You Yi Minced Meat Noodle (#01-84 Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, 115 Bukit Merah View) a couple of units from Lee Shan recently and got a bowl of their signature minced meat noodle. 

This was $7 and the portion was pretty huge. Not to mention the load of toppings like sliced pork, minced pork, some ti poh and fried lard all over a huge ball of mee pok. Nice clean heat from their sambal. Gotta ask for more next time.

Soup on the side has some forgettable fish maw, a couple of fish dumpling and non-stinky meatballs. Soup's decent. Will go with the smaller bowl in the future.

A prawn only bowl from Blanco Court Prawn Mee (白蘭閣街大蝦麵)

Haven't had hae mee from Blanco Court Prawn Mee in a while. Here's a bowl with just prawns. This was still as satisfying as we remember it. Great crustacean-y broth and texture from those firm thick bee hoon layered with the aroma/flavour of both fried lard and shallots. Umai!

Breakfast and thoughts at MTR 1924

I remember back in the day when MTR first opened up, I was trying to figure out their menu online because they had a different selection every day of the week which was then further split between breakfast, lunch and dinner. The variety was noticeably larger then. Fast forward to today, it appears that there's a fixed menu that doesn't vary like it did. I sense fatigue there.

Got ourselves a bisibele bath to remember how good it tasted.

I recently mentioned being on the verge of declaring my favourite rava idli at Bangalore Cafe after getting the one again here for a fresher comparison.

I've decided that there will be no declaration. I like them both as much. 😅

We also had a chow chow bath today because it's been a while since I last had it here.

It's still delicious if anyone's wondering. The coconut chutney was good with both the khara and kesari portions.

Revisiting Dian Xiao Er Prestige (店小二臻选)

Back at Dian Xiao Er Prestige. The duck of choice today was the Ten Wonder Herb (十全药材烤鸭); a departure from our usual Angelica flavoured one. Flavour's different but had a similar herbal sweetness in the sauce. Couldn't say I didn't enjoy it but I have a feeling we'll probably end up choosing the Angelica again the next time. 

Pretty good tasting seafood bee hoon with fish sauce (海鲜鱼露米粉). But I'm not so sure about the fish sauce part because I'm not tasting it. Note to self: Gotta ask them to exclude the 芹菜. 

One week later......

Didn't get duck today. That's the claypot shrimp paste cauliflower (虾酱干锅花菜) - savoury and garlicky with a hint of ginger and a bit of heat flavoured by small dried shrimps and bits of pork lard. 

Sliced fish with soy sauce and fried shallots. Decent tasting but portions felt kinda tiny. The cooking method was simple and the dish was light that we inhaled those slices of fish with ease. 

Not bad Iberico char siew. Nice caramelization and one could taste the nam yu flavour on them. More savoury than sweet so they appeared to be more Hong Kong styled than local/Malaysian style.

Noticed their steamed white rice for the first time. The texture was grainy yet moist and tender. Nice.

Khoon Kee Tasty Prawn Mee (坤記大蝦排骨麵), Redhill Food Centre

Pretty good tasting hae mee from Khoon Kee Tasty Prawn Mee (#01-58, Redhill Food Centre, 85 Redhill Lane). Prawns where fleshy and sweet while the saucing was deliciously salty. Will come back again.

Revisiting Cenzo

We finally made it back to Cenzo.

Sparkling water is a couple of bucks and bottomless.

Wagyu tartar cannoli wasn't memorable. Wouldn't have known it was wagyu if the menu hadn't mentioned.

The lardo tigelle with truffle honey which we liked from the last time has become garlic bread whipped lardo burnt honey. This one was nice...cheesy, savoury and tinged with sweetness. But I couldn't shake the feeling that the tigelle was nicer. 😅

There's a lot of pistachio stuff going around lately. Most of them are second rate. I'm also being kind by just labelling them second rate because the honest description would conceivably be 'con job'. Not this gramigna with pistachio pesto though. It's not just nuttiness in the pesto, it's pistachio specific nuttiness here. With actual crushed nuts. Enriched by burrata.

What I had been looking forward to was their lamb porchetta. You read that right.

This was awesome. Serious crackling cushioned by a layer of flavourful lamb-y fat over meat. That and its unique blend of bite, greasiness and crunch. Why so? It doesn't have the same mouthfeel as regular porchetta because of the size. Pretty rich and heart clogging. 👍🏼

Tiramisu to end.