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.

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

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.

More eating at Hajah Maimunah @ Jalan Pisang

Was looking forward to this lunch back at the flagship of Hajah Maimunah. Will just be pointing out a few of the notables.

Rice with rawon gravy and serunding. Gravy was a lot less intense than I imagined for something that has buah keluak as part of the ingredients but the serunding compensated with its spicy sweetness. One thing that's definitely not lacking from the food here is flavour.

The stingray here was not as good eating as the one we had at their branch at Clementi. It's not bad by any stretch. Meat's stiffer than what I had expected.

Paru belado was outstanding. Believe it or not, the first thought that came to mind was tenderloin.

Pacuk paku masak lemak - fiddlehead ferns in a coconut rich spicy gravy.

The gravy for their tahu telur seemed different...unless I remembered wrongly. I was anticipating something like kecap manis but this was more like rojak sauce with the belanchan in it. Love it though. Tofu was crispy on the outside and wobbly tender on the inside.

Our first pengat pisang....a sweet coconut soup with sweet potatoes and bananas that were on the verge on disintegrating in it. The tanginess from the bananas had seeped into the soup. Damn this was good.

I'm not sure if these were kueh salat or if there's another name for them. The one with the white bottom layer is made with sago and coconut and the other was pulut hitam. Nice.

Saayang Sayang Indonesian Nasi Padang, Kopitiam @ Changi Airport Terminal 3

Nasi padang at the food court (B2-03 Terminal 3 Singapore Changi Airport, 65 Airport Boulevard) in T3. Got me some sayur lodeh, sambal goreng and paru belado. Paru was chunky and meaty while the gravy from the sayur lodeh had the pre-requisite lemak-ness. Kicked ass with the sambal. I enjoyed this.

Hjh Maimunah Mini, Boleh Boleh! @ Clementi Mall

Another branch of Hjh Maimunah Mini we came across at Clementi Mall (Boleh Boleh! food court, #04-20 to 22 Clementi Mall, 3155 Commonwealth Avenue West). Food's pretty good though I'm not sure if they have same spread as the one at City Square Mall or the flagship at Jalan Pisang.

Not that it's bad but I thought the paru belado didn't seem to taste like I recall. Tried a few items which we haven't before like the ikan pari (stingray) which was thick cut and satisfying. There was also sotong hitam that was both spicy and rich. I thought they did pretty decent fried chicken too. Pretty glad they're more accessible these days.

Two Sons Bistro, Pavilion, Kuala Lumpur

Lunch at Two Sons Bistro (Lot 6.44.00 & 6.45.00, Level 6 Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, 168, Jln Bukit Bintang, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, tel : +60 10-222 8282) while waiting for our tea from Chagee next door. Restaurant exuded a vibe that seemed to convey that it was once popular but they're no longer so much. Like a fading star. Or maybe I'm just over-imagining.

Nasi lemak sambal paru petai.

Rice was decent. A little dry, some lemongrass and adequate salt. Sambal's sweet from the onions and infused with flavour from ikan bilis as was expected; just like how the textbooks would have described. Just like the textbooks as well, it felt uninspired. 😂

We were mostly intrigued by the paru goreng petai dish on the side with the nasi lemak. Flavour was sweet and salty but the lungs weren't marinated much. Not tasting any of the spices I normally taste in paru goreng nor did they taste beefy. Also noticeably more chewy than I think is appropriately done like.

Laksam Kelantan.

Broth had plenty of coconut and fish flavour. What bothered me was the raw tau gay. 😅 Rice rolls had the texture of a composite with more rice flour than other flour but the flavour didn't taste particularly rice-y. Not a bad tasting dish but the tau gay was almost overpowering everything else and the sambal belachan on the side definitely helped us get through the plate.