Chomping @ Chomp Chomp

Been a really long time since I last ate at Chomp Chomp (20 Kensington Park Rd). I recall that there was once upon a time when we would have visited at least a few times a year. This visit was probably the only one in quite a number of recent years. I'm not sure if it's just me but it has gotten a lot more smokier than I remember.

Here's a plate spinach wanton noodles from Swee Heng Wanton Noodle (#01-12). Pretty decent plate and what made it really palatable was their chilli sauce which packed some umami heat. Wantons were smooth skinned, had rather tasty stuffings and I liked those caramelized bits from their char siew. If they had been located somewhere else more accessible, I could see me eating this more regularly.

At the entrance of Chomp Chomp is a shop called I-Chai (#01-19) that is known largely for their poh piah, kueh pie tee and Fuzhou oyster cakes. The roll with visible stuffings is known as their sushi poh piah. They've added a seaweed wrap around the skin and some cheap but deliciously creamy melty plastic wrapped cheese. The other roll has century eggs in the stuffings. You know what? Both spring rolls were pretty good. But as poh piah went, this stall was also kinda pricey.

We ordered a dozen skewers from Chomp Chomp Satay (#01-34), the stall that was selling at 60 cents a stick when the rest of the other stalls were going at 50 cents. We told ourselves that we've interpreted that as confidence but honestly, I have no idea why these guys costed more. In retrospect we had no complains. Those satay was quite nice but we hadn't any idea if the others were as good since we haven't tried any of them.

Revisiting Sandaime Bunji

It's been quite some time since the last visit.

There was 50% off for their mixed sashimi and we took advantage of it. What they served was actually pretty good. There was akami, otoro, shime saba, some white fish which I didn't recognize, sake harasu and tako. The quality of the fishes were pretty decent and they provided grated wasabi.

Hmmmm...what have we here? Gyu tenderloin katsu set from the lunch menu? To displace Ginza Kushi Katsu's claim as the only gyu katsu shop in town? This was cheaper and on hindsight, a much more satisfying option than the one from Ginza Kushi Katsu. Personally, I felt that the tonkatsu sauce here was also more agreeable and we too get the sea salt option for the meat. 

While they didn't allow a specified doneness for the meat, their gyu tenderloin was well cooked, not dried out and still tender.

Sandaime Bunji has a black pepper ramen. A bowl that came with minced bits of peppery beef that tasted like it was some sort of corned beef and an oxtail broth. The white round thing on the side is not a ball of mozzarella but an egg. This was actually quite pleasant.

And because it was Sandami Bunji, we didn't pass on a plate of their yummy grilled gyutan.

Ji De Chi (記得吃), Plaza Singapura

We must have walked by this shop (#B2-53 Plaza Singapura, 68 Orchard Road) a hundred times and have never done more than a cursory glance at their menu. Something steered us in today and wow, have we been missing out. The durian sago & pomelo thing was pretty good. The mousse-like base was thick - much more viscous than the ice blended puree that Dessert Bowl makes. Both are good in their own ways, but if you're looking for something richer, this one is it. At the bottom is their ginger milk pudding or also commonly known as 姜汁撞奶. Basically warm milk that's curdled with ginger juice. The texture of this bowl was ethereal and the prickly heat from the ginger juice rocked. Will be back.

More good lunching from Old Airport Road Food Centre

We don't come by Old Airport Road FC (51 Old Airport Road) very often so every time we're here, we're spoilt for choice simply because there are so many things that look good.

I quite like the mutton soup from Hougang Jing Jia Mutton Soup (#01-123). While I don't patronize local Chinese mutton soup often, I remember liking this one as the balance of flavours from the herbs and the mutton work out for me. My stand is that the mutton is allowed to dominate the flavours, but the herbs should not. A balance is of flavours between the two is a compromise I'm willing to accept. Here's a bowl of the $10 portion of mixed parts which they claimed is for two, but I'm pretty sure I could finish it by myself.

I'm not generally a Hokkien mee person. There's usually too much sauce for my liking and while I don't actually dislike them, it's never on the top of my list. Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee (#01-32) works for me because their plate of noodles is not wet. The flavours from the stock are pretty good and there's more bee hoon than mee which creates a texture that I find pleasing.

I've been asked by a friend to give Western Barbeque (#01-53) a shot so here's their pork chop. This was actually quite nice. The meat was tender and juicy - the latter was certainly not something that one can claim of most pork chops from our local Hainanese styled western food stalls. It comes with their signature garlicky sauce (which is ladled over pretty much everything they sell) and a plastic bagged old school bun spread with margarine in between. Nice. I'm going to give their other items a go someday too.

Ebi katsu season is back at Saboten

Yes, the ebi katsu from Saboten (#B2-02/03, 313 @ Somerset, 313 Orchard Road) has been back for a while now till the end of the month I think. The last time they had these didn't seem to be at this time of the year. This time round, I've found that based on the law of diminishing returns, my threshold for enjoying them should end at about two prawn cakes.

Nanbantei Japanese Restaurant, Far East Plaza

This was our first time dinnering at Nanbantei (#05-132 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road, tel : +65 6733 5666). The previous times which we had been here were for lunch. Those were a pretty long while back. This dinner almost didn't happen since we were wandering around Far East Plaza and we did not have reservations. Surprisingly, we managed to get a table from walk in. On a Friday night, no less. Little blessings in life not to take for granted.