Ah Heng Duck Rice, Hong Lim Food Centre

Word on the wire (yes, it still comes from wires these days; in fact, more than ever) that the proprietor of Ah Heng (#02-64, Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) is the same person that used to run Heng Gi down at the Tekka Food Centre. In restrospect, the thin sliced duck did look rather familiar.

I'm gonna have to file this Teochew styled braised duck as good, but not great. Even though their constant queue belied otherwise. There was just something I couldn't put my finger to that could have made this memorable. I did enjoy the flat kuey chap with their clear tasting broth though even though the fried shallots were oddly lacking in flavour.

Nasi goreng mutton masala and pineapple cheese prata at The Roti Prata House

Here's another visit to The Roti Prata House down at Thomson for more plates of greasy goodness. This nasi goreng was pretty good stuff. While it might not be so apparent from the picture, the plate of fried rice was filled with very generous portions of diced mutton. This particular fry was done with the curry from the curried mutton so the flavours were all infused into each mouthful. It might not be the picture of a healthy plate of food but who are we kidding? We didn't come here to order this in the hopes of eating healthy. That's what other places are for!

Moving on, we scored ourselves their canned pineapple and plastic wrapped sliced cheese prata which was..... rather enjoyable actually. I liked it better than I had initially thought. It was the citrus sweet of syrup-ed fruit with the salty melted cheese together with the semi-crisp and chew in the prata that's the magic. One should feel free to eat this without curry.

Koh Grill & Sushi Bar, Wisma Atria

I have never eaten at this restaurant before because I couldn't make myself join the queue. Hence this was a first visit to Koh Grill (#04-21 Wisma Atria Shopping Centre, 435 Orchard Road, tel : +65 9180 3805). But years ago, this establishment was known as Hamoru Japanese Restaurant and they used to be located at the Food Republic at Suntec City. I've had that and so yes, I've had that shiok maki before.

Koh is home grown Japanese, somewhat like Akashi with differences. There's a more casual vibe. Not a place for Japanese food snobs because you're not getting that kind of quality nor skill here. This is the sort of place that one goes to eat stuff that one cannot get a "proper" Japanese joints because those are far too traditional/serious skilled and not localized. Generally not for Japanophilic food adventurers but who's to say eh? 

Koh Grill is known for their maki rolls though.

That's the pitan maki. A roll topped with diced century egg, a rich chilled century egg sauce and tobiko. For people who like century eggs and I rather enjoyed this.

Koh's shiok maki is iconic. A contemporary maki stuffed with unagi, draped with salmon, generously slathered with mayo (I think it's just mayo but I cannot be sure) enhanced by an aburi.  Seem to remember it feeling more shiok in the past when I popped them in my mouth. But maybe my taste has evolved since.

As the name of the restaurant implies, one can get grills. That's the foie gras on a stick. Pretty good, but it costed a bit more than Kazu. That means it's expensive here for the quality and quantity.

We tried the lamb yaki out of curiosity. That little rib of meat costed as much as a larger rib of lamb at Kazu. Didn't taste half as good. Admittedly, it was a fairly tasty marinated protein that was nicely grilled and chopped to bits but I couldn't really tell what meat it was. 

This where I re-emphasise on the restaurant being localized because such treatment of lamb is carried down from the previous generation(s). They marinate lamb to death because they think everyone dislikes their natural flavour.

This defeats the purpose of ordering lamb, no?

That's cod with a tobiko mayo crust. If that could be described as a crust since it wasn't very crusty. It actually tasted pretty good but the meat was a pretty thin and ragged for a fish like cod.

Here's their gyu yaki. To be fair, this wasn't doused with excessive seasoning. Just some salt and pepper which they got right. On the other hand, this was also one of the least beefy tasting beef I've had. And a little sinewy. So while it wasn't a third as good as the wafu steak from Tampopo, we paid almost as much.

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.