Ayam Gepok Anakmak, Ang Mo Kio

Learned of Ayam Gepok Anakmak (#01-877, 215 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, Ang Mo Kio Street 22) recently and came to try their ayam gepok. What got my attention was the gajus (cashew) sauce which I haven't been seeing around here.

There're a couple of options. One can get it with regular fried chicken and or ayam berempah. This one's the latter. 

Sadly their ayam berempah was lacklustre. The meat was dry-ish and a little stringy even. Remember that this was chicken thigh. The flavour of the berempah wasn't particularly great. Rice was lumpy. Aside from tofu and tempeh, there's also fried cabbage on the side which I haven't had before. Tasted toasty and bittersweet.

I mentioned interest for the gajus sauce. That's accompanied by sambal. One can choose level 0-4 for spiciness with 0 being not spicy at all. This was a 2. And it packed substantial heat. The sauce was akin to a coarse cashew butter - nutty and oily in a good way. Pretty good with the sambal because the sambal has the salt. Any spicier this level and I probably wouldn't have been able to taste much of the food.

Labrador Malay Food, Telok Blangah Crescent Food Centre

 

I'm pretty sure I've been to Labrador Villa Food Centre at least a couple of times before they were demolished back in 08. Might have noticed Labrador Malay Food from back then but I don't recall. They've presumably moved to their current spot (#01-105 Telok Blangah Crescent Market & Food Centre, 11 Telok Blangah Crescent) from that point and have been here since.

Got a plate of nasi padang - from top right and clockwise, tapioca leaves in masak lemak, sambal hard boiled, paru goreng and a bunch of...shellfish. I'm pretty sure some looked like cockles. Then there were some that tasted like clams and some others, mussels. Anyways, they were all cooked in sambal with petai. Not much petai in there though. All pretty good tasting. 

Kreta Lembu, People's Park Centre

Kreta Lembu (#03-48 People's Park Centre, 101B Upper Cross Street) was one of those eateries which we've walked past numerous times and wondered if they were good. They're located just beside the bridge that links People's Park Centre to Chinatown Point.

Got a nasi minyak today with gulai lemak pucuk ubi (curried tapioca/cassava leaves), sambal telur and a dish of cubed paru with shrimps - a combination which I've never encountered before in a creamy sweet and slightly spicy gravy. Nice. Love the tender tapioca leaves in the lemak gravy and the buttery rice with raisins and sliced almonds. 

Nora's Kitchen, Amoy Street Food Centre

Happened by Nora's Kitchen (#02-91 Amoy Street Food Centre, 7 Maxwell Road) by chance and decided to try their lontong. Those brown stuff on the side were fried paru.

Not bad after the sambal and serunding have been swirled into the gravy. Decent lemak level with savoury sweetness and some heat. Their paru was pretty good - they looked like they might be hard but the insides were relatively tender and chewy.

Nasi Padang Beach Road, Smith Street Food Centre

This stall (Blue Zone, #02-225 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) is located at where Babas Peranakan used to be. Not bad tasting. Wouldn't be fair to compare them with  shops like Hajah Maimunah for the variety or quality so I won't. 😂 I think I also like the Babas Peranakan better. 

But...it's a decent eat. This plate had paru goreng, sayur lodeh and some achar. That and the gravy from the curried vegetables and a some sambal belachan which made it go down the hatch with ease. Don't mind coming back. Note to self: their sambal belachan doesn't pack much heat.

Revisiting Hameediyah Multi Concept Dining

How did we get here? Probably craving for nasi kandar.

To the uninitiated, both plates look similar. Rice drenched with curries/sauces with colourful toppings. To the initiated, it probably also looks the same. 😂 We got a bunch of stuff that we did from the last visit - like fish roe, curried squid roe, cabbage, mutton korma.

Carrot susu here's not bad. Thicker than the one from Pudu Pasar Wanton Mee.

Nasi lemak from Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food

Decent quality nasi lemak from Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food. Sweet and spicy sambal as per usual and savoury coconut rice which was adequately salted for flavour. Didn't find anything else particularly outstanding but I'd say they're an viable option for Malay styled nasi lemak at Chinatown's food centre if one has a hankering for a plate.

Hajah Maimunah Mini, Hawkers' Street @ Clementi Mall

The last time we ate at Hajah Maimunah Mini in Clementi Mall, the food court was Boleh Boleh!. It's now Hawkers' Street and Hajah Maimunah Mini ended up being located in the same spot as they did previously. Anyways we got a plate with some favourites -  ayam goreng, sotong hitam, quail eggs sambal and sambal goreng. Still as delicious. Am pretty sure the food quality's better at the flagship but we took what we could get here.

Aziz Jaffar Muslim Food, Smith Street Food Centre

Came across this stall (Green Zone, #02-070 Chinatown Complex Market and Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) recently. We saw people getting their lontong which I thought looked good. Came over for a weekend breakfast. Not bad tasting lontong. It's less lemak than what I normally prefer but also tasty enough that I wouldn't mind coming back. Unexpected find in Chinatown. Too bad their ketupat's not fragrant. 

Haji Lane Food Corner, Haji Lane X North Bridge Road

Came across Haji Lane Food Corner (674 North Bridge Road) recently.

There's an outpost of Haig Road Putu Piring here. There seem to be more flavours these days. We got ourselves an order of the one with gula melaka for nostalgia; that and because it's probably the best tasting flavour anyway.

There's a Bon Bon Matcha with something called iced coconut matcha cold foam. Refreshing. So good that we got seconds. Also because the cup was kinda small.

初二 lunch from Hajah Maimunah @ Jalan Pisang

Been a while since we last ate at Hajah Maimunah. 初二 of CNY was a good time as any and it also coincidentally marked the last day of their operations for this location before it will be closed for a month to focus on tingkat deliveries during the Ramadan period.

The food has mostly been good pretty much every time we're here - barring occasional inconsistencies which aren't common. We've had most if not all of these dishes before so there won't be much to say.

Except maybe for the terung belado which was squishy and tender. Nice with that belado salsa.

Perhaps just a reminder to self that we'll need to break out of the routine stuff once in a while...

...like their paru belado which I don't want to say no to. 😂

Today's assam pedas ikan pari was nicer than the last time. Stingray meat was less stiff.

We finished with some lopes and a green bean soup with coconut milk

Breakfast during 初一 and 初二

初一 Nasi lemak with extra chicken wings from Queenstown Lontong. I got a piece of tau kwa with it today which was unusual because it's not something they, or other nasi lemak stalls for that matter, include in nasi lemak. Not complaining though. I do feel that the rice tasted better when I had it in their old location at Tanglin Halt. I don't see many of the add ons that used to be available anymore too.

初二 Egg, onion & cheese prata from Prata Saga Sambal Berlada (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七). Red onions lightly cooked down in the prata with milky saltiness from the cheese which is subsequently layered with a mutton-y dalcha and their signature sambal. Nice! 👍🏼

Bona Aroma, Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre

Bona Aroma (#02-66 Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre, 31 Commonwealth Crescent) was another one of those stalls at Commonwealth Crescent Food Centre I've noticed numerous times and kept reminding myself I should give their food a try.

Never happened until recently when I noticed that there's a ketupat rendang which I've never had before. 

Tasted as good as it looked. There's mutton rendang (relatively tender lamb), sambal goreng, an egg and serunding all over some ketupat. This was a medley of savoury, sweetness and heat from the sambal and creamy nuttiness from the rendang. Paru was an add on. Not bad, I enjoyed this. Even though I wasn't getting any aroma from the ketupat.

Nasi lemak from Aini Muslim Food

It's been shockingly (for me) almost a decade since I last ate at this stall. To think that I actually mentioned trying their other food at that time and that has happened after almost 10 years. 😱 Anyywayyys, nasi lemak with fried chicken. Decent tasting. No surprises and nothing particularly special to mention. I prefer the fried chicken from Madam Lim's Nasi Lemak in the same food centre but I like the rice here better.

50 cents serunding from Aneka Ulam

Just realised that I got exactly the same thing as the last time. Anyways, I noticed a tub of serunding and asked for some. They charged me 50 cents for that little pile. First time paying for serunding. Don't recall if they charged for it the first time I ate here. These shredded spiced coconut have been part of condiments (for the stalls that make them) as far as I know. Food's still delicious but I'm not paying for the serunding the next time.