Grub, Bishan Park

So, the double cheeseburger from Grub (510 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1, tel : +65 6459 5743) comes with bacon and the single one doesn't? That's a little odd. Still I thought it was better done than I had anticipated. No junk fillers nor needless seasoning in the coarse minced patty and the meat was a nice shade of medium. New Zealand grass fed I hear. There's very decent fries that came along with that and I did enjoy their mentaiko mayo dip there. And oh yes, a very small pickle too.

I think I like this place for their cheaper drinks as well. The staff were friendly and seats outdoor were actually pleasant if not for the sweltering heat. What didn't leave a positive impression was their over oily and overcooked sakura ebi pasta and churros which doesn't even have cinnamon. 

I can see myself coming back again just for the burgers and some beers though.

Sembawang White Bee Hoon, Jalan Tampang

That's the famous Sembawang white bee hoon (You Huak Restaurant, 22 Jalan Tampang) that many people wait in line for. It's not bad, but the queue generally puts me off so I don't eat there as much as I could have. It took me a while to understand what was the appeal of the bee hoon. But throughout the past few years, I've had them a number of times, so here's a few flavour profiles that one can get from the bee hoon. 

The general taste or flavour that most of the people get is gotten when the bee hoon is freshly stir fried and served hot. That bee hoon is stir fried in some stock. I don't pretend to know what it is made of, but I hear chicken, seafood, some say lard and it's fair to say that it's tasty in its own way. What works for most people who like it is that it's light and actually gets inhaled rather easily. The flavours do not dominate. It's also to me, the weakest flavour profile. I'm not saying that it's no good. Works nicely for old folks I guess. 

Then there's the option for squeezed lime. This enlivens the the bee hoon noticeably. And there's their pretty decent belachan chilli which also adds another dimension with fermented shrimp and heat. That's the third flavour profile if you've lost count. And then there is belanchan chilli and lime. More lime is needed if one still wants the citrus to be apparent in this case. To each their own ways and all are pretty good.

The last was discovered by chance. Some people don't like hot food. So waiting for the bee hoon to cool down allows the stock to be well absorbed into the noodles. The result is a dry and sticky wetness rather than a lightly starchy gravy. This is when the bee hoon flavors develops and tastes better than if you had them "fresh from the wok". There's also that fact that if it's not hot from the wok, one can generally taste it better. This cooled down bee hoon also works with any combinations of the limes and chillis.

You Huak also serves something they call Indo styled fried chicken wings. Marinated mid wings that are very nicely deep fried. Crisp, golden brown and little residual oil. Can be addictive.

That above is their bitter gourd omelette. It has the option of being done dry or wet and that's wet. It's also one of their very good dishes. The bitter gourd is thinly sliced, not overcooked so that it still has a little crunch and importantly, only leaves a bitter after note. It's not bitter when you eat them which is why I like them.

Soi 19 (十九街) Thai Wanton Mee, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5

I had read about this place (Blk 151, Ang Mo Kio Ave 5) from Makansutra recently and ended up heading down for two consecutive days of their wanton mee. Guess I must like them. In my visits to Thailand, I've never had wanton noodles. Ever. So I've no basis for comparison to determine whether these actually taste like Thai wanton mee or not. 

One of the things I liked about them was the texture of the egg noodles which alone, in my opinion, puts the stall ahead of many if not most wanton noodles in this entire country. There was a certain flavour to their seasoning which I couldn't quite put a finger to. But then again in the second visit, I had forgone those flavours with the dried chilli flakes, fish sauce and sugar. The carrot for ordering the large bowl of noodles from the stall are slices of sweet fat laden sausages which were really good by the way. There are two types of wanton from the stall. Deep fried ones that contain onions, served with the noodles and peppery ones which come with the soup. The latter is good.

Without condiments, this tasted quite local and even looked that way.

Noi's Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles, Jalan Datoh

Here's a large bowl of ba chor mee from Noi's. I've been wanting to try this stall (588F Jalan Datoh) for a while, having noticed the crowd on numerous occasions on the way to Balestier. As I've discovered later, half of that crowd were actually having ba kut teh from the neighbouring stall. Anyways, I would have liked for the vinegar in this bowl to have more presence and the mee pok with that bit more of bite. Still, this was a fairly satisfying and above average bowl which I wouldn't mind having again if I'm nearby. There's prawns instead of the the usual pig liver. Note to self, soup is forgettable.

Gayatri, Telok Ayer Street

Note to myself : I think I may have found my other favourite butter chicken in this location (212 Telok Ayer Street, tel : +65 6225 4221). We stumbled here for a late dinner on a Sunday evening. This particular outfit is not the same as the restaurant. It's an open air shophouse unit by the junction of Telok Ayer Street and McCallum Street where food is self serviced after selection from display troughs. This spot is what most locals would call "coffeeshop".

Why did this work for me? I guess it matches Jaggi's in term of rich creaminess while the undertones of the spices were a bit more robust. Explosion of flavours if you would. What was different was that the tandoori chicken that they used here wasn't deboned. Competent sambar and rasam on the side too. 

Ginza Lion Beer Hall, Rodyk Street

So this Ginza Lion Beer Hall (#01-01/02, 8 Rodyk Street, tel : +65 6634 9113) is an outlet of the first beer hall set up in Tokyo in 1899. The group that runs this place, Sapporo Lion, is also responsible for Tonkichi and a few other restaurants. The drink to have here is Sapporo draft. There're other imported brews, but I wouldn't really consider them for the price point. There is a 700ml option that's served in a boot shaped glass.

Food here's generally Japanese and their brand of western. It's mostly the latter and looks pub grub. Their Black Angus roast beef which is apparently a recommended item was pretty good. It's frills free sliced beef crusted with black pepper and flavored with shoyu, served with grated horseradish and wasabi. Oddly, no au jus. The caprese that they have was decent if otherwise unremarkable. Don't mind coming back again for some more drinks and the other grub on menu.

That reddish drink up there is the Red Eye, Sapporo with tomato juice. Kinda like what I had back in Mimigar which is just round the corner.