Yu Xing Minced Meat Noodles, Whampoa Food Centre

Nothing beats a good serving of minced meat noodles on a rainy afternoon. After a not so good lunch experience the previous time, I went back to the vicinity in search for better tasting food for my lunch. The reason why I chose this stall (Blk 91, Whampoa Drive, #01-29 Whampoa Food Centre) was because it was lunch time, crowds were forming everywhere else and because I wanted to have my noodles. They do serve other alternatives like fishball noodles, fish dumplings and laksa. The order of "Mee pok dry with chilli" came out like a chant. Lol. It was my usual order whenever I have noodles with the exception of prawn noodles.

Minced meat noodles

At $2.50 a bowl, this place serves a pretty good version as the mee pok was topped with loads of minced meat, pork slices, liver slices, fried wanton, 1 meatball (my favourite!), 1 fish ball, lots of mushrooms and no vinegar. I wonder why did they give only 1 meatball per bowl. The juicy mushrooms were thickly sliced. They were braised in a dark based sauce and were bursting with flavour with every bite. The meat and liver slices were on a slight chewy side.

Fishball noodles

This is the classic fishball noodles. Although this one has no vinegar added to it, it was just as tasty. There is no ketchup or oily chilli sauce base to these so you can easily finish the whole bowl without feeling jaded. The mee pok was not sticky, and has a crunchy and springy texture. Despite the fact that there was no queue, the food here tastes great, if not better than some other stalls. This is one of the better places that I have eaten for minced meat noodles. I wonder if their laksa tastes as good.

Lucky Prata @ Lucky Plaza

Mutton Briyani set
I happened by the vicinity to run some errands and the name of the shop caught my attention. Lucky Prata (304 Orchard Road, Lucky Plaza, Level 1, S238863) looked like a clean and nice place to have my lunch without having to deal with oily fumes that will leave my hair and clothes smell.

I have decided to try the briyani despite the fact that I was spolit for choice because of the variety of food that they were serving. I chose mutton as I liked my meat to have a slightly stronger taste. Their version of the mutton briyani comes with the meat cooked separately from the rice. The fluffy basmati rice was fragant and delicious with the accompanying gravy. The meat has a thick coat of gravy with spices and turned out to be a little tough. Think rendang. Nonetheless, I chowed down this tasty meal happily with no further complaints. The set also comes with pappadum and cucumber pickles (not achar) by the side.

What is more satisfying to complete the meal with a hot cup of teh cino? It helps to settle the food in the tummy without making you feel bloated and leaving a smile on your face. I would want to come back for more briyani and try out other items on the menu.

Magic Mushroom House

Voila! A magic mushroom house with fairies on the mushroom cap (roof). It was a friend's birthday and for this special occasion, her godfather ordered this cute looking cake (http://www.coffeebean.com.sg/coffeebean/) online. When the cake was delivered, it came in a huge box that looks like it could fit a microwave oven. Weighing at a hefty 3.2kg, it was the heaviest cake that I've carried in my entire life. Cutting the cake proved to be a challenge as it looked too pretty for the birthday gal to even slice it. In the end, it took 3 people to help cut the cake into odd sizes because they were trying to avoid the icing "fairies" on the mushroom cap.

Mushroom innards!

It turned out to be a fruit cake on the inside. Not being a fan of dried fruits, I was literally picking on the raisins and jellies. Everyone was on a sugar high because of the icing layer.

I think I would prefer a normal & yummy looking cake for my birthday instead of a pretty looking one.

Instant Gratification or a Long wait?

When I read about this place (Blk 91, Whampoa Drive, #01-26 Whampoa Food Centre) on the papers, I was thinking how can a simple dish of instant noodles manage to garner a growing popularity amongst those who bothers to wait. I had high hopes when I was queueing up because usually when the food tastes good, the queue will follow. After 5 minutes of queueing, I realised that no one at the stall are taking any orders. Someone actually cut my queue to shout out an order to the elderly lady tending the stall. I decided to do the same and went ahead with the order. They told me I had to wait for 30 minutes.

Like any tze char stall, this is the usual setting that one would find on their table. It reminds them that the food is coming anytime soon.

I don't usually drink during my meals. But after waiting for 40mins, I felt the need to drink. I was thirsty.

To my worst fear, they actually forgot my order! I only realised that when everyone around me had gotten their food. The friendly senior couple seated on the next table to mine actually reminded them to give me my food.

When it finally came after nearly an hour, it was just, simply put, instant noodles with dark soya sauce. Lucky for me to find prawn shells and a thick slice of pork in the whole plate of noodles. No charred taste as described in the papers. While it took me a long wait to get my noodles, I took a mere 5 minutes to chow down this simple dish of instant noodles.

I would definitely not be in any hurry to return for something that I can easily whip up at home.

Royal Copenhagen Tea Lounge

My first impression of this place (391 Orchard Road,Takashimaya Level 2, S238872, tel: 6735 6833) was that of a "tai-tai" cafe. Images of well dressed middle aged ladies sipping tea and having their scones immediately came to mind. Tucked at a quiet corner of the ladies' handbag section, the tea lounge looked like a perfect place for my coffee fix as it was not too packed. With the welcoming cake display fronting the lounge, I was tempted to order more than I could finish.

Here we have the warm scones with the accompaniment of butter, jam and whipped cream. Apart from being warm and crumbly, the scones were just plain by itself. I'd prefer if the scones came with raisins or flavoured with cheese. Its a personal preference. Having said that, the pastry was pretty tasty when butter and jam were spreaded on them. I was hoping that clotted cream was used instead of the weak whipped cream.

The cake of the month, as I was informed, was banana cheesecake with white chocolate. The name was interesting enough to make me find out more. The cake was not as dense as I half expected it to be. The texture was rather light and airy with just a hint of cheese as most of the cake is artificially flavoured by banana essence. I cringed a little when I took the first bite. Only the white chocolate ball tasted decent.

Next up was the Royal Copahagen brew. I like my coffees to be strong and aromatic. Brews are usually not that strong but I will give thumbs up for this one as it because it was much thicker and stronger than expected. It is not the best but definitely one of the better ones that I have tasted so far.

It was an affordable and cosy place that would make me want to come back for more cakes and perhaps tea the next time.

The Song of India, Scotts Road

I've been wanting to visit Song of India (33 Scotts Road, tel: 6836 0055) for a while. It turned out to be quite the idyllic sanctuary for lunch on a weekend. Located just at the fringes of town in an old bungalow, stepping into this place felt like a reprieve from the urban hubbub. The restaurant on a quiet Saturday spelled tranquility. A tranquility enhanced by new aged Middle Eastern/Indian ambient music piping gently in the background (think a less sophisticated Delerium!).


I haven't really heard very much about this place apart from some reviews and the ancient history of the former chef of Rang Mahal, Milind Sovani. The man helming the kitchen of the restaurant on the mission to showcase modern, yet heritage bound Indian cuisine in an elegant light. The chef was kind enough to accommodate a degustation for lunch even though it was normally available only for dinner. Service in the restaurant was great. I was also glad that the wait staff actually knew about the food that the restaurant was serving. I'll skip the rest of the gloss and go straight to the food...

some spicy cracker rolls

amuse bouche of potato cake with mint chutney

spiced foie gras with bean/pine nut salad

This was certainly a differently interpreted foie gras from the usual grilled or pan fried rendition. I didn't expect foie gras to be served in an Indian restaurant but I guess since it's a modern fine dining restaurant, the inclusion shouldn't be too much of a surprise. The entire liver tasted salty, much like a pate and was very, very soft. So soft that I was wondered how they had gotten it onto the glass plate without destroying it. There was the requisite rich livery flavour, but in terms of texture, I would have much preferred the pan fried variety that has a crisp exterior. The warm salad on the side was pretty good though.

gucchi mushrooms lentil soup laced with truffle oil

The name of this soup caused me to chuckle inwardly initially. The name sounded pretty expensive, but the morel mushrooms in them have nothing to do with a similar sounding brand that is often associated with handbags. I'm not sure how to describe the flavour, but it was very good.

soft Awadhi lamb kebabs, tandoor toasted broccoli and peppers, pear, clove chutney

These Awadhi lamb kebabs are suppose to be a form of delicacy. They didn't quite grow onto me. As kebabs, the portions were quite small. The slightly crisp shell gave way to a lamb paste which I thought was too soft. It wasn't the grounded meat that I had thought they would be. Those would have been more satisfying. The fragrant tandoor vegetables were much more interesting as was the bean salad on the side. It seemed that these guys do very tasty bean salads.

palate cleanser of lime and passion fruit sorbet sprinkled with cumin

This sorbet with cumin was very good. I had initially thought that the taste would be strange but it turned out to be very refreshing as it was suppose to be. The spice seemed to have created a new airy dimension to the sorbet. I think I should try making this at home.

lemon chilly lobster, Kerala Moily sauce, asparagus and edamame stir fry

I had gathered that this was suppose to be a signature dish here from their a la carte menu which also indicated that they were running at $55 for a portion. The lobster wasn't as juicy or sweet as one would normally expect for a fresh one. The baked meat was dry inside and noticeably in spite of it being blanketed in the tasty Moily sauce. That sauce though,was thick with coconut flavor. The kind of sauce that make you want to eat a lot of naan or rice. Or to mask seafood should they be not be fresh. But since this was the makeup of the dish, I don't think the intention was the latter. It was quite unimpressive and I found myself liking the stir fried edamame beans and asparagus more than the lobster. What was mention worthy was the semolina cake with mustard seeds on the side. It was a slightly sweet with the texture akin to couscous, cooked in soy milk and tasted freshly made. Like a warm and light tasting moist cake of sorts. That was very good. I detect the trend of the sides being much more tasty than the main items.

The naans were light and quite fluffy but otherwise quite ordinary. Those sesame and saffron flavored ones lacked flavour from saffron but the sesame seeds got their flavours through. Enjoyable as naans go, but otherwise unexceptional.

garlic and sesame naan with saffron wash

choco chikki torte, vanilla ice cream with cracked pepper, fresh fruits

The choco chikki torte was a thick chocolate mousse with a praline base. As with many Indian desserts, I found it too sweet. And in spite of small the portions, was quite the sugar overload for me. At this point, I was actually searching for something along the sides to intrigue me. See where I'm heading? I found the vanilla ice cream with a sprinkle of fine cracked pepper to be quite good. The fragrance from pepper wasn't something one would normally associate with ice creams, but it turned out to be a pleasing pairing which gave the dessert a nice aroma.

This degustation by the Song of India didn't turn out to be as impressive as I had hoped. As I've said earlier, the accompanying sides outshone the mains. Still, it wasn't unenjoyable as an experience. The a la carte menu looked interesting. Stuff that you probably cannot find in Little India. I could come back to try those.