Jiu Jiang Shao La, Ghim Moh

I'm not really a religious person at heart. At least that's what I think of myself. But, I've picked up the habit of swearing with religious references at times.

And goddamned, this was a pretty awesome plate of mixed roasted meats and rice down at Jiu Jiang (20 Ghim Moh Road, #01-45 Ghim Moh Food Centre).

I came to this stall by way of referral and this was definitely one of the good recommendations. Three options of mixed meats pretty much inverted the ratio of meats to rice in comparison to what one normally gets. The char siew looks like pork chop here and the chilli on the side is definitely recommended! And I have colleagues that have been ordering from this stall for consecutive visits. Good call there.

Lunch at Old Airport Road Food Centre

This foray started out with us looking for lunch down at Airport Road Food Centre (51 Old Airport Road) and being pretty much overwhelmed by the options there.

While wandering and wondering, we happened by a little bread stall (#01-43) at the back and saw that what they sold was pretty tempting. The breads were being replenished with small and freshly baked batches and they were sold out almost as fast as they were made. So lunch kinda started with a bunch of stuff which looked interesting and we ended up with warm tiny loafs with banana, hae bi hiam (dried chilli shrimp) and an egg tart.

Being freshly made, the breads were sweet, light textured and soft. My favorite has got to be the one with a whole banana on the inside which has pretty much melted and molten like those found in banana fritters.

Then we decided on a bowl of pork ribs and intestine noodles from Albert Court Prawn Noodles down that was located at the front of the food center, facing the car park. The thick bee hoon was unexpectedly al dente. That along with the prawn infused crustacean sweetness and chilli powder in the broth will bring me back for revisits in the future.

Walking off the bread and prawn noodles with a stroll of 60 seconds, the paths of our feet were drawn to the queue of Blanco Court kuey chup (#01-136). Took me but a few seconds to decide that it looked good enough with the pots of steaming entrails, meat and egg. If I had to summarize, the kuey which was swimming in a light and shallot perfumed broth was smooth and very comforting. Plus points to this store including having pork tripe on menu and hard boiled eggs that were truly infused with the flavor of the dark sauce they were sitting in.

Will come back again for more since they ran out of pig skin and tau kwa this time round.

While strolling down the stalls, we spied goreng pisang and made a note to come back for them after the rest of the food. They were not bad. I liked that the batter wasn't overly soaked with the grease.

Salted egg yolk ice cream from Tom's Palette

Good stuff there! I don't think I would be exaggerating if I said that these things tasted half as potent in those salted yolk buns that one finds in dim sum places. And it was indeed refreshing to have those flavors on the opposite end of the temperature spectrum for a change. There were even tiny granules of the salted egg yolk in there.

Indian rojak with paru goreng

Hey, this stall down at Tekka Food Centre (Haji Johan Indian Muslim Food Temasek Indian Rojak, 665 Buffalo Road, #01-254) was pretty good. Though the activities in the back felt a little haphazard, the proprietor was whipping up an endless chopper frenzy dicing customer picked orders for the quick deep fry before serving. What I liked most from the variety of picks was the paru goreng (fried cow lungs) which was lightly crisp on the outside and chewy on the insides.

We had a pick of tempeh, hard boiled eggs, cuttle fish, fish cakes, fried cow lungs and even ngoh hiong that paired up with the sliced raw onions and green chillis with the sweet nutty dipping sauce. The stall and their operations definitely looked a old school compared to the templated Indian food stalls in food courts these days. Judging from the quick turn overs, the food was probably fresher.

A bánh mì from Baguette

If you're wondering if why this bánh mì looked a little unusual and haven't quite figured it out, it is because there is no coriander. That aside, this sandwich from Baguette (10 Sinaran Drive, Novena Square 2, tel : +65 6397 2078) was pretty good. I liked how the pickles, ham and pate lent additional texture to the slightly crispy loaf that was nicely warmed up just as they were making the sandwich. The unsubtle flavors were a nice riot of sour from the pickled vegetables, a bit of spiciness from the red chilli slices and a healthy dose of saltiness from both the meat and the fish sauce. If only they had cost less, it would definitely have given Subway a run for the money. These things don't really fill up as much as I would have liked. I don't mind coming back though.

A ox liver lunch from Colbar

I find this strangely addictive even after having had them for a few times already. Must be the nice char.