Traditional Rui Ji Chicken Rice & Laksa Chicken Noodle (瑞记正宗鸡饭 叻沙鸡面), Hong Lim Food Centre

Don't know if this stall (#02-27 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) has any relation with any of the Swee Kee chicken rice brands around. They're just next door to The Noodle Memories.

Chicken rice was serviceable but not memorable. Rice was light on flavour and not moreish. Chilli's watery and had a pretty run of the mill taste. The soup changes daily apparently and it's Sichuan mustard green today.

Boon Chiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (文昌海南雞飯), Ubi

A decent rendition to be had at Boon Chiang Hainanese Chicken Rice (302 Ubi Ave 1) which featured succulent cuts of dark meat (白尾) and creamy livers with some bits of toasty fried garlic bits. Soup on the side's lotus root - flavourful but not thick. What's not impressive was the rice. Beady textures and pretty mild flavouring. This one falls under the category of don't mind having if I'm in the vicinity, but wouldn't travel here specially for them.

Geylang Claypot Rice, Beach Road

Geylang Claypot Rice (361, 363, 365 Beach Road, tel : +65 6744 4574) has been on my radar a while. I've been asked if I've had it and if I hadn't, that I should give them try. We've been indifferent about it for reasons - while we enjoy claypot rice at times, we aren't that big on them. That and that we've never liked their brand of "socarrat" which many bird brains love gushing over.

One day, we came across their beef bone marrow claypot rice on social media. 😲 Nothing ignites a call to action like curiosity.

We finished a claypot kailan with prawn paste and pork lard while waiting for the claypot rice. Not bad tasting. There were adequate flavours from the prawn paste and lard (猪油) but the fried lard (猪油渣) were mostly soggy.

Like regular claypot rice, the beef bone marrow rendition was brought to the table for the final flourish.

Which included the adding of eggs yolk and bone marrow into the pot of beef short plate, spring onions and rice...

The ingredients are folded through the sizzle and crackle as the aromas emanate.

Not bad tasting. Not a fan of the burnt rice bits still. Apparently, one can request for less of the burnt rice which is something we will definitely ask for the next time. Will consider coming back to try other dishes.

Kuey teow 白 from 参香肉脞面 (San Xiang Bak Chor Mee)

Trying another configuration of kuey teow with vinegar and no sambal from San Xiang Bak Chor Mee.

Sliced red chilli and light soya sauce provided a clean heat. Nice.

Ah Jie Hokkien Mee (阿杰福建炒虾面), Ang Mo Kio

Pretty good tasting plate from Ah Jie Hokkien Mee (#01-2811, 721 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8). The stock had more flavour going on compared to the one from S.Park Kitchen. I also liked how eggy it was. Would be remiss of me not to mention those fragrant nuggets of golden brown fried lard which might be one of the better if not the best ones I've had on Hokkien mee. Not averse at all to coming back again.

Hong Ji Claypot Herbal Bak Kut Teh (宏记砂煲药材肉骨茶), Ang Mo Kio

Hong Ji Claypot Herbal Bak Kut Teh (First Coffeeshop, #01-138, 107 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4) is in the same coffeeshop as S.Park Kitchen. They serve the herbal style bak kut teh here.

This was an order with small/sweet intestines (粉肠), pig liver and stomach with a side of 油条. Offal were arguably tender and the broth was...not overly herbal. Don't mind eating again.

I was today years old when I realized that I could upsize at Good Pig Trotters Fried Bee Hoon (好猪脚米粉)

So I asked for 加米粉 at Good Pig Trotters Fried Bee Hoon today and realised that there's a larger serving which has always been available. Now I know.

S.Park Kitchen, Ang Mo Kio

S.Park Kitchen (First Coffeeshop, #01-138, 107 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4) blipped on my radar recently. They're a local western food stall with a couple of things that piqued my interest. Garlic butter sauce and Hokkien mee. Yup, Hokkien mee at a western food stall.

Said garlic butter sauce looked much like a chopped garlic salsa. It's deliciously salty, garlicky and buttery. Pretty good with their crunchy chicken cutlet which was well fried without excessive grease on the breading. Nice coleslaw and decent fries on the side too. Portion was ample.

I'll classify their Hokkien mee as competent but not the most memorable. Not bad tasting but I prefer more punch to the flavours. The stock's gentler than I imagined from appearances. Didn't pack the same intensity as say Shiok Hokkien Mee and definitely could benefit from more salt. No complains otherwise. Chilli's pretty good. If anyone was wondering, that was the $8 plate with an extra portion of lard (猪油渣) which is chargeable.

Paradise Classic, One Holland Village

Somewhat surprised that Paradise Classic (#01-33 One Holland Village, 7 Holland Village Way, tel : +65 6551 5558) delivers on its name. It serves classics from the zi char arena. Then again, what's classic might differ from one generation to another. This was recognisable as such for me at least. 

Ice lychee tea. It's classic styled. Tea and canned lychee, sweetened/flavoured with the syrup from the can. Quite nice.

Got a large yang zhou fried rice (扬州炒饭). I did not realise that large feeds 3-4. I was thinking 2. But it's all good since we could tar pow back what we couldn't finish. Decent tasting with real char siew and non-sus looking prawns. Would have been nicer if there was some fish sauce for some of that nuanced saltiness.

Another classic...sweet and sour pork. Crunchy surface, fat in the meat and pretty chunky cut. There's canned pineapples in there, no less. Not bad tasting.

A mixed stall breakfast at Chinatown's food centre

Breakfast at Chinatown!

Bee hoon from Chang Ji Gourmet. Flavour seems a little bit different but still good tasting.

Some braised duck, eggs, tau kwa and pig's skin from Run Ji Cooked Food.

Those bee hoon from Chang Ji Gourmet need to be upsized. While $1.30 appears relatively cheap, a decent portion would be double the regular serving which one could get in two orders and would total $2.60. Not so cheap for just bee hoon after all.

Qiji Traditional Fish Maw Soup & Minced Pork Noodle (麒记鱼漂汤 肉胜面), Sunset Way

Came across the menion of Qiji Traditional Fish Maw Soup & Minced Pork Noodle (#01-62, 106 Clementi Street 12). The noodles with fish maw soup sounded good. Sounded is the operative word.

These guys used a better mee kia than the mass produced factory ones. But I don't think it was handled well because after the saucing and tossing, the noodles ended up feeling a little slimy rather than firm and cleanly coated. While it looked like there were bits of fried lard there, we actually couldn't taste much of them.

Soup's peppery with a some sweetness, possibly from the cabbage. Liked it better with some of the minced garlic which made it more savoury. The fish maw was unmemorable - like soggy you tiao kind of unmemorable. Pork tasted floury and unnaturally textured. Not impressed.

More food from Maddie's Kitchen

Haven't eaten at Maddie's Kitchen for a while. Went zi char style with rice today.

Garlic kailan's pretty decent. Sauce with its savoury/salty garlicky flavour was great with rice.

There's sliced red garoupa with bitter gourd and fermented black beans. Did not expect the fish to be coated with flour and I would prefer that they hadn't been. Not bad tasting with those salty black beans.

Tried the minced pork omelette.

There's like at least as much onions as minced pork in the egg. Maybe more onions than pork. Tasted pretty good though. 

A breakfast of chee cheong fun, eggs and fish cake from Jia Ji Mei Shi (佳记美食)

I'm gonna say it, the bee hoon from Jia Ji Mai Shi is not great.

Ah Qing Traditional Lor Mee (阿慶古早味滷面), Smith Street Food Centre

So we succumbed to curiosity and tried Ah Qing Traditional Lor Mee (Red Zone, #02-094 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) because of the queues we've noticed about their stall. They're just next door to Jiakali.

This was the bowl with fried fish and fried chicken. Not a fan of how both fried meats were processed into small bits that they were textually similar, robbed of any intrinsic mouthfeel. That and the measly amount of protein for a $6 bowl. It was otherwise not bad once the sliced chilli, minced garlic and vinegar came into play.

Beef sang meen (生面) from Xing Long Food Stall (興隆菜社)

Possibly the first time at Xing Long Food Stall where the food was outright disappointing. This was supposed to be black bean sauce sang meen with beef. The sauce didn't taste like black bean sauce. At all. Beef was bicarbonated to death. Just on the threshold of morphing into an unidentifiable protein matter with blurry textures.

A note on the fried shallots at Shi Le Yuan (實叻園)

Revisiting Shi Le Yuan. Delicious like the last time. Note to self: their fried shallot in oil is really good with their kueh.

Revisiting 参香肉脞面 (San Xiang Bak Chor Mee)

Have been meaning to come back to San Xiang Bak Chor Mee for some time and that hasn't happened until recently. I hadn't realised that the stall has garnered a fandom. There were a lot more people in the queue than the last time. I wonder how much the loss of Mr Meepok contributed to it. 😬

Ended up with mee pok like the last time because it's been a while and the basic bowl was what I wanted to get back into what I remember enjoying about their noodles. The toppings were not in a separate bowl of soup like they were previously. Will try a noodle variation the next time.