Lau Sum Kee Noodle (劉森記麵家), Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po

Lau Sum Kee is famous for their noodles tossed with prawn roe (蝦子撈麵). The noodles from what I've read, are made daily and the dough is kneaded traditionally with a bamboo pole. Man made with blood, sweat and tears. That alone warrants a visit right? We came by their other outlet (G/F, 80 Fuk Wing Street, Sham Shui Po, tel : +852 2386 3533) simply because. It was either the original older shop on the adjacent street or this one and I picked this.

We liked this. And I think I liked it mostly because of the texture of the noodles which were hard and chewy and that there was a generous bit of that prawn roe that's tossed into those wiry noodles. That in itself took the centre stage in comparison with the other ingredients that one might have chosen or added. Sure the wontons were decent and braised beef briskets acceptably so, but whom are we kidding? I'm pretty sure the majority didn't come here for those. They came for those noodles crusted with the savoury briny sweetness of the millions of unborn offsprings of shrimps.

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.