Shashlik Restaurant 10 years later

It's been about a decade since the last time we were here. Seems that time wasn't our last after all. Depending on how one interpreted that last post, it technically it still is because we didn't have any shashlik today. 😏 

The restaurant's ownership has been passed down to the sons of a previous co-owner. Things have changed a bit.

While the restaurant looked mostly the same, it also did look a little sharper.

Bread's as good as I remember. It's soft. And warm so that it melts the accompanying butter nicely.

The sweetness from the bread paired so well with the pat of salted SCS butter. Additional serving of bread and butter after the first complimentary one are 60 cents each. Because it was so good, we paid for it.

Borscht/borshch was not bad - with an extra scoop of sour cream. Beefy and tangy, smoothened by said cream.

Wanted to try some stuff that we've never had before. Like their stuffed portobello mushrooms, which were topped with minced chicken and I think bacon bits, slathered in a cheesy tasting milk sauce.

Finally tried the egg millionaire after seeing it on their menu for so long. It's chopped up hard boiled eggs with bacon and a bit of cheese that were baked in their shells. They taste exactly like how one would imagine them.

This was their baked fish in mushroom sauce. Menu states halibut. In a mushroom béchamel sauce. I'm not sure I can relate from the flavour of the sauce but it was creamy and not unpleasant as a whole. Did not taste bad.

What unexpectedly turned up as a pleasant surprise was their beef stroganoff. Tenderloin strips with a savoury brown sauce and soft melted onions. According to the menu, that's basmati chicken rice there but I couldn't quite tell. A little pricey methinks but it was delicious.

Duck confit from Eddy's

Yes, it's that same Eddy's which has shifted from the previous location to the current space (#02-13 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street). Their duck confit was mentioned often so I thought I'd give it a go. Meat's tender, nicely browned and pretty decent tasting with that brown sauce. Not as salty as I had imagined. I thought I tasted rosemary. That aglio olio it was resting on was garlicky with a nice bit of heat. 

Taste Fusion Hainanese Chicken Chop, Maxwell Food Centre

Never noticed this stall (#01-24 Maxwell Food Centre, 1 Kadayanallur Street) before so I'm guessing they're relatively new.

I was mostly intrigued by their "frizzy" looking fried meats so I ordered a savoury chicken chop rice. Upon closer inspection, I think the meat was egg washed before meeting its destiny in the fryer. Tasted much like how it looked. Meat's a little thin. That savoury sauce tasted like light soya sauce with some oil which I couldn't identify.

This was little like any Hainanese chicken chop I've ever had.

Rice came with coleslaw. That hot dog was an add on.

Do & Me Fried Chicken Western Food, Yishun

We've had the chicken cutlet from Do & Me (654 Yishun Avenue 4) countless times over years. It's never been mentioned in this blog. So here's one for posterity after many years of not having eaten at the stall.

The old uncle doesn't seem to be manning it anymore. He just hangs around. Their chicken cutlet tasted the same as if my memory serves and it's still pretty large. Though I got the impression that it's a little thinner these days.

Chef Hainanese Western Food, Margaret Drive Hawker Centre

I ate once at Chef Hainanese Western Food years ago back at Tanglin Halt food centre and haven't gotten any food from them since they've migrated to their current location (#01-32 Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, 38A Margaret Drive). I remember being not impressed by their mixed grill but it was a long time back. Here's a fresh start getting reacquainted.

Portions were huge. This was their Chef Set 4. Crinkle cut fries tasted potato-y and unexpectedly addictive. Cheap pink sausage was cheap pink sausage. Chicken chop's actually pretty good with nice charring and the meat wasn't overly thin or dried out. Not a fan of their breaded fish....think that's dory. Potato was surprisingly sweet and naturally flavoured. The coleslaw which didn't have any sauce/mayo was the weakest link. One actually has to pay a dollar for tartare sauce here.

IT Roo Cafe, Jalan Dhoby, Johor Bahru

We've heard about IT Roo Cafe (7 Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru, 80000 Johor Bahru, tel : +60 7-222 7780) and their talked about old school chicken chop with biscuit crumb batter so we decided to get some. This was the one with two eggs and mushroom sauce.

Not bad tasting. The mushroom sauce has some sliced button mushrooms in it but the sauce didn't have any mushroom flavour. Potato wedges on the side were sweet and potato-y.

The pleasant surprise was their bandung fizz. Yes it was indeed a sweet, milky and fizzy rose flavoured beverage. I will come back here for this.

Malaysia Boleh, Bugis Junction

Some stuff from Malaysia Boleh at Bugis Junction (#03/03A Bugis Junction, 200 Victoria Street).

Beef ball soup from My Seremban Beef Noodles. Not bad. Soup can be souped up further with some squeezes of lime and salted vegetables. Portions were kinda small though. Beware the salty chinchalok.

Poh piah's pretty good. Loads of sweet sauce and it was stuffed to the max. The wrapping wasn't tight with the stuffings and the rolls weren't even sliced through properly. Each piece was kinda falling apart as we picked them up. Not complaining here. The crispy stuff inside was nice. Will eat again.

Chicken chop aglio olio from Western Boy. The pasta was pretty garlicky. 👍🏼 Chicken chop's pretty flat but nicely browned. Not thick enough to retain much moisture.

Kopi peng is....drinkable. It's actually a little smokey. Not the better one around but this was one I can live with.

Holy Grill, Old Airport Road Food Centre

Have noticed Holy Grill (#01-27 Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road) for years but never tried their food until today. This was their grilled dory - a fish I wouldn't have picked usually because of the mushy texture and muddy flavour. It was the only fish that was available and in retrospect I kinda regretted not getting the chicken instead. Portions were pretty substantial and I liked the crust that they caramelized on the fish - but not the fish. Coleslaw was creamy with lots of mayo and baked potato was dry-ish.  

6 pieces and more than 5 years later at Chic-a-boo

It's been some years since we last ate at Chic-a-boo. Nothing much seemed to have changed.

Which was not a bad thing in an important way. Still good quality spicy garlicky fried chicken that wasn't excessively greasy with a nice crunchy exterior. Bird on the inside was moist and tender. While the sides still don't look attractive, it's the fried chicken that we're coming for.

Christmas salmon and coleslaw at Han's

Saw this on their menu and thought they had gotten their act together by actually coming up with something that looked like it was worth a try. They did put on an act instead of getting it together. Getting professional product shots of products that actually don't look like the pictures. I should have known, right?

Didn't taste anything remotely honey garlic in it. I don't think it was a sour cream sauce either. A sour cream smudge on the salmon sounded more accurate. That cranberry almond "crust" - I saw them carefully pour out dried cranberries and almond flakes onto that smudge of sour cream. That was the "crust". Fish was dry. Carrots and broccoli were unsalted and hard but I think we all know that's just their signature. Hard and bland broccoli and baby carrots.

I'm not sure why the coleslaw is on the Xmas menu. Should be a mainstay and half of what they were charging because it was actually decent.

Original Botak Jones, Depot Road

Came by the Depot Road branch of Botak Jones (Yue Hua Coffee Shop, 118 Depot Lane) for some grilled chicken. It's that same place where Wong Kee Noodle is. I remember the days when they would breathe bustling life into the location they set up stall. Things are very different today.

Anyways that's their Lots of Chicken Platter - I got it because all the three grilled chickens they have on menu are on it. I was also hoping to relive some of their Cajun Chicken nostalgia. There's the option for chicken thigh instead of breast meat these days.

Today I learnt that I don't understand what made me like their Cajun Chicken in the past. It's not a bad tasting chicken but it's not great either. Something to do with the sauce just like the BBQ piece which wasn't the BBQ flavour I had in mind. That made the black pepper piece the better tasting of the lot as simple as it looked/sounded.

Beef steak from Wow Wow West

I haven't had steak from a local western food stall in a long while. Chance would have it that I noticed someone eating one from Wow Wow West at neighbouring table and I thought it didn't look bad. It didn't taste bad. Just pretty chewy. The texture on the surface was unusually rough and for a moment, I thought their beef steak was a giant beef patty. But it's not.

The stall asked if I wanted 半熟 which I agreed to. No idea if that meant medium or medium rare but the meat turned out somewhere medium well. I kinda like the flavour imparted by the char on the surface and it didn't taste half bad with the sauce.

Charr'd The Hawker, Golden Mile Food Centre

My attention was drawn to the sotong hitam pasta from Charr'd The Hawker (B1-01 Golden Mile Food Centre, 505 Beach Road). This wasn't just cooked with regular squid ink sauce but instead, rempah from the sotong hitam dish. The flavour tasted like the lighter and less intense version of that gravy but still recognizeably so. Detected lemongrass in it as well. Squid was tender but pretty chewy. I liked this plate. Especially with the spikes of heat from the red chilli they threw in.

Texas Lone Star, Clementi Central

Pretty decent chicken chop from Texas Lone Star (#01-271, 450 Clementi Avenue 3). They're a local western food stall in Kopitiam. What made this memorable was the creamy mushroom sauce the slathered on top of the meat. Tasted like the ones from Botak Jones. Coleslaw's a little more sour than I imagined and that pilaf rice on the side tasted mostly of the brown onion-y sauce. This plate was a bit more pricey than I expected for a coffeeshop.

More food at The Hainan Story Chapter One

It's been a while since the last time we were at The Hainan Story Chapter One. There're some limited time Milo themed stuff on their menu.

Like their Hainanese Three Treasures drink which is iced yuan yang + Milo. Pretty impressed that this drink succeeded in balancing the coffee, the tea and the Milo flavours.

Hmmm......fried chicken with Milo. A familiar combination. Methinks the Milo chicken cutlet needs more Milo powder for a more robust malty chocolate taste. That tangy/sweet/slightly spicy bbq sauce on the side paired pretty well with Milo chicken cutlet. If I were to venture a guess, I'd think it was spicy ketchup with Worcestershire sauce. Fried chicken was passable but not impressive. Fries were forgettable.

I like the light tomato flavour in the local Hainanese borscht profile of the beefy oxtail stew. Paired nicely with the buttery mash. Pity the dish failed with the tenderness of the oxtail. It's a pain in the ass dealing with meat you can't easily remove on such bony cuts.

Garang Grill Express, City Gate

Garang Grill Express (#02-29 City Gate, 371 Beach Road, tel : +65 9740 6870) is by New Ubin Seafood. Local western food, burgers and pastas is their game.

And also the most competent lamb chops for local western we've come across. Wasn't overcooked into dry stringy leather clinging onto bones. This one was moist and fatty with those fatty bits an awesome pairing with the buttery mash in each mouthful. What made those chops also outstanding was also the flavoring. No rosemary - just salt and pepper. Black pepper sauce on the side tasted like the less spicy version of the ones used for Prosperity Burger. Liked the chilled coleslaw too.

We were also drawn in by their burgers - burgers with smoked beef patties. Got the regular cheese burger minus the exotic toppings. They're nothing to scoff at. Tender beef patties done medium with properly melted cheese, sweated onions, pickles and some sauce for acid between soft squarish buns. Would have been great if they rested the patty a little more but I'm not complaining. Fries were addictive. Will come back.