Fill-a-Pita revisited

I realised that Fill-a-Pita falls under the tripartite of labels that I don't make use of individually very often. Which are for the mediterranean, middle eastern and vegetarian food. It could be argued that there is probably not much in those combination of options here that have gotten my interest. So I guess that a this revisit symbolises a new hope for a class of cuisine that doesn't get very much attention in spite of their big flavours.

So today, we came back to try their light citrusy hummus and chomped on a pita filled with those delicious spice fava beans and tahini. Lots of red cabbage for the crunch to marry with the aromatic spices that really kept the texture from becoming mushy and boring and there was also a special on the board - koshari rice. A Friday special it seemed. Rice, macaroni, lentils and fried onion with a spicy tomato sauce. Textures of grains and starch with heat. I'm not familiar with them, but the bags of flavour from those humble ingredients screamed street food. Awesomely delicious.

Arnold's Fried Chicken, Yishun Golden Village

Man, these were still as good as I remember them. Crisp seasoned skin on the surface and tender meat underneath. They (51 Yishun Central 1, #01-04) even have their own fried chicken rice these days. Before anyone knocks them off, the rice was actually pretty good. There was a balance of aromas from both garlic and ginger infused into them and I surprised myself by inhaling till the last grain even though I have an aversion to ginger.  

Liang Kee Teochew Restaurant, Whampoa West

Great food coming from this old school Teochew restaurant (#01-27, 34 Whampoa West, tel : +65 6297 7789). There were quite a number of dishes that sounded appealing tand we simply couldn't try them all in a single seating, including the usual favourites that most people can't steer away from. 

These cold crabs were very good. Chilled, firm and sweet flesh underneath the soft shell along with the rich crab liver.

Don't they remind of a scene from Aliens?

Chilled pork aspic which is one of the favourites that I had mentioned. These jellied odds and ends of pork were served on a bed of ice cubes. Tasted pretty decent, but I thought the flavour came through better if they were slightly less chilled. They were also not as spiced up as the ones from Ban Heng.

That's the oyster omelette.

And the fat juicy oysters underneath.

Liang Kee is apparently known for their sambal crayfish. I haven't had good Chinese sambal in quite a while and these here were pretty tasty. One of those gravies that would make one consume copious amounts of rice. And to top it off, the crayfish were plump and fresh. Easily stripped off their shell.

The starch was their hor fun stir fried with cai por. This was quite good too. If you are into wok hei, this has plenty of it.

Dessert was even more starch. Orh nee (yam paste) with pumpkin and ginko nuts. Not bad.

Fill-a-Pita, Shenton Way

This was good. I'm going just say it up front that I enjoyed everything we've tried so far here from Fill-a-Pita (#01-02 Shenton House, 3 Shenton Way, tel : +65 9835 1446) on the first visit. From the heavyweight falafel filled pitas, mouth watering spiced fava beans with tahini to the salty halloumi cheese (also in pita). I had actually stumbled upon their existence by chance through Hungry Ang Mo. Total happenstance and long live Sir Tim Berners-Lee. Here's also a thumbs up to the very affable Mark Ruffalo-esque proprietor of the shop.

I'm not so familiar with some of these stuff here, but the falafel tasted more bean-y rather than chick pea-y here. Very delicious and hefty stuff that sticks. And having halloumi cheese my friends, are the closest thing that one can get to eating bacon without actually eating meat. That came with their invigoratingly spicy house made sauce which was right up my alley. It's just too bad for me that I'm almost never near this locale.

And yes, we got a couple of sweet dates for desserts at the end too.

Burger Up, Yishun Golden Village

Burger Up's a rather new shop (51 Yishun Central 1, #01-03 Yishun Ten Complex) that took over the space that Wendy's left behind. That was certainly good riddance. If I had to describe what this current joint was, I guess it'll be local fast food? With an electronic ordering kiosk that allows a modicum of customisation for your meal that prints out an order chit for payment & collection and subsequently notifies you when your order is ready by flashing the chit number on the display screens around the restaurant. 

Here's their beef patty and rice meal. Mine came with puny coleslaw (with diced canned pineapples) and a hot chocolate (tasted like Swiss Miss). The meat was basically a well done (technically) and un-fancy disc of dry-ish fast food quality ground beef patty that had a nice chew - some gristles. It actually tasted beefy in its un-fancy kind of way. Rice was a ubiquitous butter garlic flavour.

This doesn't pretend to do more beyond a basic grab, eat and go plate of food. And it actually tasted better than Wendy's.

Masa Steak & Hamburg, Robertson Walk

Been wanting to visit Masa (#01-03, Robertson Walk, 11 Unity Street, tel : +65 68362529) for a long time. The restaurant serves mainly wagyu, so eating here is - generally for people who are willing to shell out big dollars for prized quality meat. Me? I was mainly drawn in because they also do hambaagu, or Japanese hamburg. A noticeably less expensive proposition which was also made with wagyu beef.

We supplemented our 200g hamburgs with their gyutoro don which featured hand chopped beef with an egg yolk over Japanese rice. That was really good by the way. To the meat of the matter (pun intended), the quality of the beef was irrefutable. To be tried to be understood.

The hamburgs were quite good. A shell of nicely brown sear encapsulating a juicy interior. Their meat was packed dense, wasn't crumbly when cut and yet still arrived tender at their medium doneness. The mince was quite fine, somewhat like how Morton's does for their Prime burgers. So don't expect the chew that comes with gristles because they don't do the meat that way here. While it wasn't exactly my preferred composite for the mince, I liked it enough that I wouldn't mind having them again.