About the cardamom tea from M. Mohd Gani Cafe

I've been trying to figure out the difference between the cardamom tea and masala tea from M. Mohd Gani Cafe because they tasted pretty similar. I think I've finally got it. Both have pretty obviously cardamom flavouring. The cardamom tea's cleaner tasting while the masala tea has a warm layering from the spices and heat from the ginger.

Mom's Touch, 18 Cross

Mom's Touch disappeared from our shores some time back and have made a return. The last time we've had anything from them was their spicy chocolate chicken years ago. They're currently located at 18 Cross (#01-03, 18 Cross, 181 South Bridge Road), the building formerly known as Cross Street Exchange.

One of the Singapore exclusives is their Angus beef burger. This was the double. Pretty sure the beef was not salted because I could detect all the locked it beefiness in there that was begging to be released. If only they had salted the meat.

Then again, I got this sauceless and maybe that wasn't how they rolled. I'd classify this as edible but I'm not likely to get it again.

White garlic chicken burger's not bad. Chunky fried chicken thigh meat, ham, onions, pickles, lettuce, cheddar and some garlic sauce. Though pretty similar to that Incredible Burger I had from them years back, I enjoyed this more. Pretty sure it wasn't just because of that garlic sauce.

These were the least Cajun Cajun fries I've had.

Their banana milk coffee was nicer than the recent one from McD. More banana flavour and better tasting coffee. Shame on McD. What I did not like though was that even though I had opted for less ice, there was still a lot of ice. Like half a cup of it.

Revisiting Otter & Pebbles

I was drawn back to Otter & Pebbles by their PB & Otter mostly.

Osmanthus jasmine with cheese foam. This was nice. Light yet flavourful with nice velvety texture.

Otter's Minty Choco which was basically hot chocolate with mint. Starbucks has nicer hot chocolate and the mint was kinda weak.

I liked the soy milk udon for the broth which was savoury/umami. Pretty sure the salmon contributed to the flavour. Udon was ordinary. So was the salmon.

Like I mentioned, this was what got me back.

Blue cheese soufflé pancake again.

Their black sesame oat latte with an extra shot of espresso was pretty darn good. Loads of black sesame flavour on top of that thick coffee. Note to self: one shot will suffice.

Revisiting Pu3

Been some years since we last ate at Pu3. Came back recently for a plate of deliciousness which had (anticlockwise from 11-ish) begedil, assam pedas ikan pari, sambal goreng and lemak turi. Assam pedas packed more heat than I was expecting and was pretty peppery. 👍🏼 Love the savoury richness from the lemak turi too. Very satisfying plate washed down with a sweet creamy teh tarik.

I thought these were fried bananas but turned out to be plantains.

Revisiting Tiong Bahru Bakery @ Raffles City

Been a while since we were last at Tiong Bahru Bakery - mostly because I never liked what I had that much from them previously. Menu's updated a little since.

There's a coconut pandan financier (for SG61) and another one with hazelnuts. Pleasantly surprised that both these were kinda nice. They were buttery enough and I liked the pandan infusion from the former that wasn't overshadowed by coconut. Also liked that saltiness we were tasting from the hazelnut one.

Pretty pleasant custard-y canele.

Found a cream shio pan - gotta admit that I rather liked it. It's a little different from the one from Noci Bakehouse. Something about the cream maybe.

Okay-ish houjicha latte. This one was actually kinda smooth going down and a little more milky rather than a more robust tea flavour I was hoping for.

Taste Ipoh, Raffles City

Some food from Taste Ipoh (#B1-81 Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road). As the name of the eatery would suggest, they're doing Ipoh styled food and according to them, the menu's a "celebration of Ipoh's culinary heritage".

Tried their crispy poh piah which has dried shrimp (hae bi) flavour in it. We like this rendition better than the one from Auntie Mei's Crispy Popiah even though it didn't have as much crunchy bits. Did have more sweet sauce and was more competently wrapped.

That's something called Fragrant Spicy Dry Curry Chicken (Varuval) Bee Hoon Mee - not bad. Not understanding the 'varuval' part in the name but I'm guessing it's got to do with the chicken. Texture from the noodles were pleasantly firm and we kinda enjoyed the dark gravy flavoured with curry from the "dry curry" chicken.

Pretty good tasting Ipoh white kopi c. Coffee's fairly robust with adequate fragrance.

Dapo’ Khaleeda, Taman Abad, Johor Bahru

Big breakfast at Dapo’ Khaleeda (102, Jalan Dato Sulaiman, Taman Abad, 80250 Johor Bahru, tel : +60 18-776 6853).

This place serves breakfast/lunch and sells frozen cooked products.

A few items are on self service. Like their nasi lemak which one can help themselves with before heading to the counter for payment. Got one with paru belado, fried egg, fried chicken and some serunding daging. The last item's beef floss. Rice looked like basmati. Pretty tasty in an old school-ish way.

Lontong's also self service. Pretty lemak gravy there. This was topped with serunding daging as well. Not bad.

Satay can be ordered from their menu. That's chicken and maybe mutton. They're chunky and the meat on the skewer is alternated with chunks of fat. Gravy was deliciously thick and nutty with crushed peanuts.

One of they items they're known for is roti sarang burung. It's a variant of roti canai shaped like a bird's nest with a couple of eggs in the middle. One can get the regular version or with topping. This one's has sardines. Not bad tasting. Can't really make out what's that curry on the side.

Underwhelming teh tarik.

Chocolate banana cake from Secret Recipe @ Mid Valley Southkey

Stopped by Secret Recipe (LG-046, The Mall, Mid Valley Southkey, Persiaran Southkey 1, Southkey, 80150 Johor Bahru) for a slice of their chocolate banana cake. Came with a teh tarik as part of their tea set. Teh wasn't good. Tasted like it came from a packet rather than freshly brewed.

Kaya toast and drinks from Roast & Coffee - Retro Garden 1968's

Ducked into Roast & Coffee - Retro Garden 1968's for some drinks and sanctuary from the sweltering heat.

Ice lemon tea was suitably astringent, robust and lemony. I don't know if anything else here can top this for the weather.

Carrot milk's not bad. Got this sans ice. Creamy, carrot-y and cooling.

Not a fan of their kaya toast. Felt flimsy. Not using pandan kaya aside, the thin strip of butter was just sad.

Pine Chicken Rice (松香鸡饭), Taman Melodies, Johor Bahru

Heard good things about Pine Chicken Rice (161 Jalan Beringin, Taman Melodies, 80250 Johor Bahru, tel : +60 13-715 3211).

Lemon tea's pleasantly astringent.

Coffee's pretty decent too. Not as aromatic as I usually prefer but it's pretty robust.

That one sauce that we've never encountered before at chicken rice shops/stalls is the green one.

Got ourselves the lower quarter of their poached chicken which was basically dark meat. Bird's smooth, firm and tender. Nice.

Rice was nicely flavoured from their stock and not excessively greasy. There's adequate savouriness that one could inhale with or without the chilli sauces. Soup's pleasantly herbal.

Speaking of sauces...the red's not like the one back home. It's less punchy, less sweet and didn't seem to be lime-y but still pretty good tasting. The green one's deliciously lime-y. Nice.

Egg.

Otah's pretty good. Heard it's not made in house but that don't make us think lesser of it. Plenty of little chunks of fish in it.

In essence, Pine Chicken Rice was nothing short of competent. Would not mind coming back at all.