One Dim Sum (一點心), Playing Field Road, Prince Edward

We were introduced to this dim sum (Shop 1 & 2, G/F, Kenwood Mansion, 15 Playing Field Road, Prince Edward, tel  : +852 2789 2280) joint by a friend. If not for that friend, we wouldn't have known that this place existed or that it actually has a Michelin Star. That being said, don't walk in expecting anything fancy. The food is solid, properly done and is made to fill bellies - not blow minds. These guys just cover the bases of the usual stuff or what's popular for Cantonese dim sum with no frills and an affordable price to match.

This was called Steamed Chicken with Four Combinations on the menu - essentially bean curd skin blanketed over chicken, fish maw, mushroom and what appeared to be sausage or ham; I'm not sure about the last item. I liked this. 

Siew mai was very competent. The flavours of the individual components of the stuffings stood out and the dumplings were tender. One of the more enjoyable siew mai I've had in recent times.

A competent pan fried radish cake, but I thought that the ones from Imperial Treasure actually outshone this one. Those were creamier.

The one item that we felt didn't quite make the cut was the har gow. We've had better even back home and we definitely weren't judging the standards of the food here based on a Michelin Star. The stuffings on the whole didn't taste as savoury as we would have liked and the shrimps didn't quite pack the crunch.

There was an enjoyable steamed rice with pork ribs and chicken claws. The fatty ribs were pretty tasty, generous in portions and the chicken claw was delicious that we ordered a plate of it after this.

There, One Dim Sum has competently done phoenix talons which were tender and easy to slurp off the bone.

And a ma lai gao to wrap up this post flight late lunch. These cakes (kinda like an eggy chiffon cake) were served piping hot in the bamboo steamers. Jiggly and light they were. We couldn't ask for better.

A sushi lunch from Meii Sushi

I though since this place was call Meii Sushi, why not give their sushi set from their lunch menu a go. The range of seafood was exactly the same as what one would get from their chirashi don. Maguro, sake, hotate, amaebi, akagai and a couple of fishes which I can't tell. Didn't know if there was any difference between the two pieces of tuna which was on the platter. I suppose it was pretty decent, but nothing extraordinary that I'd make my way down just for again. Lunch was certainly a different thing from dinner and they didn't even entertain any upgrades for better nigiri on the set unless we took the omakase option which I didn't feel like spending on today. The thing that hit me about today was that Chef Hong was a little heavy handed with the wasabi. That detracted from the natural flavours of the fishes.

More tasty stuff from Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐)

This would be a second part to an older post on a couple of my favourites from Din Tai Fung. Not to worry though, there aren't going to be many parts.

The above is their roselle drink (洛神花冰); made with a frozen ball of roselle tea. This was one drink packed with flavours. The first time I had them, I could have sworn that I had subsequently emptied at least two full cups of tea onto the ice to make two full glasses of roselle flavoured iced tea after I had finished the drink. Very nice. Exceptional even when one is parched.

These are dried red dates stuffed with chewy glutinous rice (红枣圆). They're from the small plates/appetizers section of the menu, but could have easily been a dessert as well. For some reasons, I like them.

What I felt was underrated were their steamed vegetable and pork buns (菜肉包). These savoury but light tasting buns were stuffed with a lot more vegetables than pork, but that was what I liked about them.

Peachy In The Secret Hideout, North Bridge Road

Interesting name for a halal local western food joint which was almost hiding in plain sight (803A North Bridge Road). Food portions are pretty generous and nothing costs above $10 here. So one can easily see how this place can be a hit with students on a limited budget and need an cosy corner for food that actually fills you up. That cheesy chicken cutlet was pretty decent and loaded with mozzarella cheese. Our local chicken parmigiana grease plate if you would. My only complain was that the pasta on the side really needed salt. Or/and sprinkles of Tabasco sauce.

333 Bak Kut Teh, Balestier Road

We've passed by this ba kut teh shop (333 Balestier Road) on numerous occasions and have been wanting to give it a go, but it had never happened for some reasons until today. As of today, this would be the second ba kut teh shop that I've eaten at along Balestier. The first and only other being Founder. 

So here goes the number of half the Beast. I thought we liked pretty much everything we've ordered. What we could pick on were the stiff fried crullers and their dry and beady rice. Both weren't so great at absorbing all the drippings and broths. Those preserved mustard greens could also do with a lot less grease.

Otherwise, their tender braised intestines were superb and flavourful; tau kwa was oddly textured but full of the goodness from its braising broth and the pork ribs were so tender that I could swipe the meat off the bone with chopsticks. The main broth for the ribs was peppery and garlicky altogether, but for some reasons felt a little flat. I've no qualms eating here again if I'm in the vicinity though.

Double cheese ramyeon and other stories from ChoWon Garden

It's been quite a while since we last dropped by ChoWon Garden. So here's a quiet lunch of Korean food in a family restaurant at this little corner of the business district.

If the double cheese ramyeon had piqued any curiosity, it's actually their regular cheese ramyeon. Part of their lunch sets. Plastic wrapped processed diary over a bowl of hot, probably instant noodles in a savoury and slightly spicy broth. I merely requested for an additional slice of cheese. How was it? Very tasty comfort food. This brought extra gooiness and cheesiness to the noodles while turning the broth milky. I drank it till the last drop.

We had pan fried zucchini fritters, hobak jeon. The slices of zucchini were coated with an egg batter. Greasy, but tasty. Better with their dipping sauce because the salt helps.

There was a nurungji tang. A burnt rice soup. The soup component was quite bland and tasted like rice tea. I wonder if it was meant to be that way.

That's a clear oxtail soup. The broth was quite beefy and very enjoyable.

I forgot what this was called, but it looked like Japanese tamago stuffed with kimchi from the menu. How it arrived was totally different. It turned out to be a pan fried omelette (imagine fu yong omelette); a greasy one, stuffed with kimchi. The same young kimchi that they served as part of their banchan. Not that it was bad, but I thought it would have been a much better idea to get something more sour, more aged to cut through the grease from the omelette.