Hoe Nam Vintage, Tiong Bahru Plaza

Hoe Nam Vintage opened up at the lot vacated by Lee Lai Jiak. The last time I've had prawn noodles from Hoe Nam was ages ago. Have a vague recollection of finding them okay-ish. I have mixed feelings about these guys here (#02-105/106 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road).

The impression I had gotten was that the crew were taught how to prepare the food they were serving and might not have much real exposure to how some these dishes were actually like.

And the kitchen was apparently dealing with some order issues that resulted in long waiting time.

This bowl featured small prawns and thin sliced pork belly. The latter was pretty good by the way. Saucing was...I don't know. Not bad but not what I expected from dry pork noodles. Then again, I haven't had Hoe Nam's prawn noodles for ages so maybe it's always been this way. The soup was pretty good, refillable and left an aftertaste like monosodium glutamate does.

What happened was we wanted to try their claypot dry bak kut teh. It never arrived and after about an hour, they informed us that we'd have to wait quite some time if we still wanted it. At this point, we didn't.

Tau kee's nice. The pickled mustard greens were the first sign that maybe, these guys weren't acquainted with what they were doing. There weren't very salted and were also fibrous and crunchy. 😮‍💨

One week later......

Prawn kuey teow soup's pretty decent. Portions were kinda small for a large bowl. These featured their "regular" prawns which were larger than the tiny shrimps from last week.

Okay-ish pig's stomach soup. Didn't taste exactly like what I imagined of it because the flavour was just a little different. Why is there 芹菜 in it?!

At $3.10, the pork liver rolls looked sad. Not nice. Not very livery. A knee jerk reached out to the memories of those superior ones from China Street Fritters and He Ji Wu Xiang Guan Chang. These ones here weren't close. Wouldn't get them again.

Their fried pork lard were freshly prepared but was oddly lacking in flavour. Hmmm......🤔

Managed to get the claypot dry bak kut teh this time round. I don't remember if I've ever had these so I have no frame of reference. This rendition was pretty good. I had expected the flavour to be more akin to dark soya sauce but these didn't quite taste like that. Still enjoyed it though. Pork ribs were tender with meat easily pulled off the bone. Love the thin sliced lady's finger. Would have been great if they sliced the chilli into smaller bits.

Yuen Kee Dumpling (袁记云饺), Funan

Finally got to try Yuen Kee Dumpling (#02-3 Funan, 107 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 8931 9588). I must have walked past their shops at least a couple of times in my last trip to Hong Kong and Taiwan. There's barely anyone in there. The ones here are on the other hand, often packed. 🤔

Tried their shrimp and crab roe wanton with the viral sauce. Maybe viral in the context of the sauce means common or ubiquitous. It's a little spicy but not special or great and surfeit crept in pretty fast from the peanut sauce. Thankfully, there's vinegar and chopped garlic from their condiment section which made inhaling this enjoyable. Not bad wantons.

The other dumpling they had were 饺子. This one was stuffed with vegetable, shrimp and pork. Skin's hardier and less smooth than the wanton. The amount of garlic from the garlic sauce was pathetic.

I don't mind coming back only if I don't have to wait more than a few minutes in line for it.

Yang zhou fried rice from Jumboree

Back at Jumboree. Got the yang zhou fried rice from the Jumbo zi char stall today. Since it's by Jumbo, one gets real char siew instead of crab sticks or worse - fake crab sticks. It's a competent plate though a little more oily than I prefer. Flavour's decent but nothing in particular was outstanding.

Nan Yang Dao (南洋岛), Tiong Bahru Plaza

Some stuff we had from Nan Yang Dao (#02-115 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road).

I had initially scoffed at the pat of butter with their butter coffee which I thought was kinda small.

Turned out to be pleasantly adequate. Not bad Hainanese coffee by the way.

Decent tasting egg tarts they have. I just wished the crust was bit more buttery and the custard a bit more eggy. Not of the same standards as those from Oriental Kopi if anyone was wondering.

Kolo mee wasn't bad per se but the sauce didn't taste like those we've previously had and there was something about the texture of noodles that was off. These just weren't as springy. If I had to describe, this bowl tasted like an imitator with leathery char siew jerky.

Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice (天天海南雞飯), Clementi Central

Did not realise that Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice has an outlet at Clementi (450 Clementi Avenue 3) until recently. They're located in the same coffeeshop as Golden Rooster. This was thigh meat for two with eggs, liver and tau kwa. Not bad tasting for the most of it.

Except for their rice which has texture I'm not fan of that their lime-y chilli and fragrant dark soy sauce couldn't save. There's easily a handful of other stalls/shops out there I'd pick over Tian Tian just because of the rice. But I suppose I wouldn't mind eating it if I felt like chicken rice and was in the vicinity.

Mei Jing Sabah Sandakan Fried Pork Noodle (美景沙巴山打根炸肉面), Hong Lim Food Centre

Mei Jing Sabah Sandakan Fried Pork Noodle (#02-33 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) happened by way of recommendation. There was one thing that I wasn't sure of from my bowl of noodles and that was the sauce. I didn't know if that's the sauce that they used for all their noodles or did that come with the pork belly I added - which were pretty tender by the way. 

Anyway, that sauce grew on me as I ate. Love it with the pickled green chilli.

Not a fan of their fermented bean curd pork. It had plenty of flavour from the marinate but barely any crunch from the fried exterior. What bothered me also was that the meat was a little chewy. Noodle has a nice bite though.

I don't mind coming back but it won't be for the fried pork. 

TamJai SamGor (譚仔三哥) has changed

 

TamJai SamGor's menu seems to have changed. There's also something different about their food as well though I can't put a finger to precisely what. The quality appears to have suffered. 😏 Anyways this was the branch at Chinatown Point.

Here's a set that came with a bowl with the non spicy broth. Something about the thin broth felt mediocre. Those French beans on the side were pretty fibrous. 😓

This was their Chendu spicy beef and duck bowl. They actually forgot about the beef and served it separately after I reminded them. The broth from the noodles tasted like spicy luncheon meat soup. Didn't think much of it. Smoked duck tasted like it came out of a vacuum pack and the beef wasn't exactly beefy. Paid to top up with cuttlefish balls which didn't taste very good and were kinda small. 😓

Seemed like only the Tufei wings remained tasty. So sad.

I haven't had 7 Up in ages. This one had sour plum in it. What I didn't like was that the cup was almost 50% ice. This was a pricey for a cup of cheap sugary drink. 😓

Chicken rice from Jumboree

Jumboree (#01-02, 26 Tai Seng Street) is a food court by the Jumbo Group. They're at the spot previously occupied by B.E.D.. The zi char stall is run by Jumbo with the rest of stalls formed by tenants of various brandings. Everything can be ordered from QRs on each table and a notification is sent when the order is ready for collection.

This chicken rice was from Bao Zai Chicken Rice (宝仔鸡饭). Pretty good tasting. Comparable to the one nearby at Food Republic. Adequate oiliness in the grains without being excessive and good enough flavour to eat without chilli. Chicken's tender. Chilli was bright, sweet and lime-y. There was pandan in the soup. My only gripe was that the plate was a little pricey for the portion. This was $7 and I could easily down another.

Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice (三龍街海南雞飯), Verdun Road

I've been wanting to try Sam Leong St. Chicken Rice since they time they were just a coffeeshop stall. I know right? The owner has retired, Putien has bought the business over and basically relocated and revamped it into an air conditioned chicken rice restaurant (12 Verdun Road). Now I'm here. No idea if the taste is the same as before,

I like it. Chicken's tender, smooth and has some jelly beneath the skin. Bird's chilled. Rice was adequately flavoured that it's good with or without chilli for me. Speaking of the chilli, this concoction was garlicky without the lime and sugar which most places tend to use for theirs. Nice. Good dark soya sauce used here too.

Chicken liver's not bad.

Eggs be eggs.

I was expecting not to be impressed with the tau pok but it turned out to be pretty good. For some reasons, I kinda liked that hardy/chewy exterior.

Roast (fried actually) chicken was also not bad. If I had to gripe, it'll be their chopping skills for the chook.

Super Mummy Minced Meat Noodle (全能俏妈妈), Smith Street Food Centre

Super Mummy Minced Meat Noodle (Red Zone, #02-170 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) is just next door to 169 Hainanese Chicken Rice which was previously known as Super Mummy Hainanese Chicken Rice.

Not a bad bowl here. Tender sliced pork, not overcooked livers, a couple of types of fish balls, flavourful stewed mushrooms and lardy vinegary noodles. I prefer this to Ming Fa.