Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice, Maxwell Food Centre

The queue bordered on crazy. If I hadn't been here specially to eat at Tian Tian (12 Murray Street, #01-10 Maxwell Food Centre), a queue like theirs would be a guarantee that I would not have bothered. By the way, I have no recollection of having eaten at their stall before. Their christening by a certain celebrated chef formerly from Les Halles Brasserie some years back as a shrine of chook and grains did much to cement their reputation.

If I had to say it, this was not bad as chicken rice went. What was also true was that a significant measure of the reputation at Tian Tian was overblown by the media. The chicken was deliciously tender and the grease soaked grainy rice was pretty hearty. It's nice but I wouldn't say it's the best. Whatever that best might be. What was arousingly refreshing was the lime spiked chilli sauce that was invigorating with heat and citrus. I smell a winning formula here.

We also had a side of crunchy blanched bean sprouts was expertly done with no indication of rawness. Would I come back for this again? I wouldn't say no, but there are other chicken rice options aplenty.

Monster Mash Cafe, Holland Village

smokey pork and apple w garlic & mushroom mash

I had the distinct impression that the retro styled Monster Mash Cafe from Edinburgh (26A Lorong Mambong, Holland Village, tel: 6463 4610) was British, but apparently from what I saw over at the place on a little bit of their history, the owners hail from Scotland. Nonetheless, the idea of the "cafe" seems to be of straight forward food with minimal frills and elaboration as evident from the menu. They even mention the Bird's Custard and Wall's ice cream that they use. Generally, the main draw of this place is their sausages and mash amongst a bunch of other fare like pies, burgers and British styled breakfast. I saw some vegetarian haggis on the menu which I didn't think to try since it was vegetarian.

One basically just chooses from the list of available sausage, mashed potatoes (real mealy mashed potatoes) and gravy from the menu and whatever's up on the specials on the blackboard. Unexpectedly, the accompanying gravy tasted a little bland. I was thinking that the flavor would be robust or at least, more salty. The onion gravy option did differ from the regular monster gravy by being noticeable sweeter from the onions, but that was pretty much it. The sausages were quite decent with the morrocan lamb being more flavorful than the other.

moroccan lamb

The bread pudding was frankly, very enjoyable with the piping hot custard that came on the side. The afternoon rain probably contributed to that, but I was quite surprised that nothing was excessively sweet. There wasn't the usual feeling of sugar overload at the end which was a good thing for me. That goes for the Baileys caramel shake which while wasn't the coldest or creamiest shakes around, was quite enjoyable with the flavor of the namesake liquor.

I've no qualms coming back again for more of their food. The cheese burger from the kid's menu on the neighboring table looked pretty good too. Lol.

Pow Sing Restaurant, Serangoon Garden

This was an old school restaurant (65 Serangoon Garden Way, tel: 6282 7972 / 6286 4813) that serves, and is known for their Peranakan food and Hainanese styled chicken rice. Part of the reason I was drawn to this place was because of the way it looked and the pictures of dishes that were displayed at the front of the restaurant. Besides, the crowd density indicated that things cannot be that bad. I hoped. In the end, this turned out to be a good call (a revisit in order!) as the food was indeed tasty and prices were very affordable.

Another reason that drew me into Pow Sing was the chicken rice which looked good already from the front of the shop. Behind the glass screen,the chef was carving the birds onto platters for serving. No squashing of the chicken meat with the cleaver in this place. As it turned out, the chicken breast which was ordered was quite tender and dare I say, succulent. Paired with a none too heavy rice that held a prerequisite greasiness and sufficient aroma, I was pretty much already sold.

Still we were compelled to pick some other items from the menu.


The Nonya deep fried tofu was deep fried egg tofu. Was not bad. If there was additional flavouring added to the exterior of the fried skins, it was lost to me. This dish was recommended by the server as a popular item and I could guess why after the first bite.


This was described as a sweet and sour duck on the menu. We wondered at what the dish was about so we ordered a portion of it. Didn't turn out far from the described name but the sauce wasn't the sweet and sour variety that was commonly stir fried with pork and sliced fish that I had in mind. This was stewed duck in a broth of some spices and shredded onions that were boiled to a pulp. The onions gave the sweet taste but I couldn't identify what made the dish slightly tangy. This wasn't too bad - the meat was just a little tough.


These were deep fried crispy squid. A no brainer with not much that can go wrong. Pow Sing's rendition was quite good. In fact, it was very appetizing after the a squeeze of that juicy lime.

Getting seconds of their chicken rice was a good indication of how much I enjoyed the food. Can definitely see myself making plans to return.

New York Strip from Astons Specialties

We've been to the newest outlet of Astons Specialties (2 Handy Road, #04-03 The Cathay, tel: 6887 5889) a couple of times in the past few days for steaks. I think they represented good value for what they charge. Still. Reliving the extra cut prime ribeye gave me a better experience this time round with a fatter looking cut and darker char markings. I also decided to try their New York Strip which was a 250g cut for an affordable $14.90. Had leaner meat than the ribeye and a very enjoyable strip of fragrant charred fat on the side. Thumbs up to them. This was the kind of entry level steak places that we all need without burning holes in the pockets. Service was a little spotty and the meat was a little more cooked than requested but there was little else to fault.

RK Eating House, Kensington Park Road

I happened to be wandering in Serangoon Gardens looking for dinner and came across RK Eating House (1 Kensington Park Road, Serangoon Garden Estate, tel : 6289 5379) and I thought to myself "cool, this could be someplace good". Almost subconsciously, I felt that I must have seen or heard of this place before. I made the call to step in for some bee hoon goreng and mutton murtabak.


Unfortunately, my instincts failed me this time. The bee hoon goreng didn't quite look as red as I had imagined and the portions were a little small. It packed very little of the spiciness I was hoping for and their ground mutton portions were so little that it would not have made a difference if they hadn't put them in. Didn't like those root end pieces of cabbage they threw in. The slightly soggy murtabak appeared quite generic and felt flat. There wasn't any additional pan frying to bring out those ground mutton inside and the onions were a bore. And there was an equally flat teh tarik which was made from a weak tea that didn't taste milky. Definitely the dampener here. I'll cross this place out for the future.

Tandoori Restaurant, Serangoon Road

This was a rich lunch I hadn't expect getting. It was also our first visit to Tandoori Restaurant (320 Serangoon Road, #01-26 Serangoon Plaza, tel: 6294 2232) which had been around for as long as I can remember. That I suppose warranted a visit. By virtue of long standing, I thought they ought to be at least pretty decent. The vibes when we sat down didn't feel quite the same as before we walked in. This restaurant felt a little westernized if you know what I mean. Despite appearances.

I was disappointed that their paneer tikka wasn't available for order so I had to settle for the closest substitute which was paneer butter masala. Along with the butter chicken, cheese naan, kashmiri pilau and some refreshing raita. We also had a glass of overly sweet lassi and very bland cup of masala tea.

butter chicken

paneer butter masala

The chicken and cottage cheese tasted much as I had imagined. If I had to describe a little more, their butter chicken wasn't "not spicy" as they had claimed. I was hoping for a mellow smoky version similar to Jaggi's (yes them again!) but this was still quite tasty even though the chicken lacked the smoky aroma from the tandoor.

Kashmiri pulao

Their Kashmiri pulao turned out different from what I had in mind. I was thinking dried fruits and nuts which are the common descriptions of ingredients. To my surprise there were also bits of pineapple, little round balls which tasted like papaya and even nata de coco (aka sea coconut). In the end, I found myself enjoying this fragrant fruit rice. So much that I ate them without any gravy. Portions were sadly quite small for a single order.

raita

cheese naan

The raita had onions on the side instead of in the yoghurt. There were barely any cucumbers. Wasn't quite what I had in mind when I ordered it. I had thought we would be getting a yoghurt drenched salad. Instead, we got ourselves just a refreshing watery yoghurt. The cheese naans looked deceptively boring like stale pizza rather than naan. Fortunately, it was quite delicious.

It's a tough call to consider this place again seeing that the lunch set us back by $55. I know there are cheaper options around, many of which I've yet to explore.