Capitol Bak Chor Mee, Food Republic @ Capitol Piazza

We noticed the ba chor mee stall (B1-20/27 Capitol Piazza, 13 Stamford Road) the last time we were here and thought it looked good enough that we came back to try it.

I'm inclined to believe that their bowl is setup to be similar with the ones from Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle. Yes, that Michelin starred one. And possibly also to Tai Wah Pork Noodle at Hong Lim. The wonton, the piece of ti poh, sliced pork with minced pork and meatballs, no stewed mushrooms and that cloudy bowl of broth on the side. This was what it reminded me of and the similarities end there.

My appraisal would be that this was a pretty decent bowl that I wouldn't say no to. Price aside, it beats the hell out of the majority of the generic stalls; but it is not Tai Hwa as much as it looks like theirs. For a start, my piece of dried sole wasn't fragrant and was inedibly chewy, the wonton skins are a little too thick and the zing from vinegar just didn't come through. And this was supposed to be the larger bowl going for $6. I could eat two of these in a seating if I was starving so yeah, decent but a little expensive.  

Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon Mee, Queen Street

I read that these guys (#01-236 QS269 Food House, 269B Queen Street) are the original branch of the Ah Heng curry noodle stalls so the other one at Hong Lim is an offshoot of this. While I have never eaten enough at both shops to make a proper comparison, the thing that that stood out for me was the same kind of tau pok that they used. That and the line that tends to form at the stall every now and then. This $6 bowl didn't quite feel as hefty as the one that I had Hong Lim though.

I suppose I feel the same way about this stall as the other. A decent eat which I would have no qualms going for if I didn't have to deal with a long queue. 

A räksmörgås and dillkött from Fika

Some Swedish food names that I've picked up very recently after visiting Fika; now that there's a better representation of their food other than what's available in the cafeteria at Ikea. The räksmörgås is basically an egg and shrimp sandwich, open faced. And in spite of appearances, it wasn't half as bland as it looked. The shrimps were lightly salted and there was some mayo for that bit of extra flavour. Otherwise it tasted healthy, if you catch my drift, in a clean flavoured manner. I did find myself liking it. However I was also expecting some fresh dill over the top like they do to almost everything else but that was missing.

Moving on to the dillkött - it is a lamb stew, flavoured with dill. In fact, that rich buttery sauce sauce that you see was dill flavoured. This was amazing - the herb pretty much made the dish and that came with pretty generous portions of cubed lamb that, thankfully, had the flavours of lamb. This was from their autumn menu and I hope that it makes it to the regular one!

Good Old Taste, The Arcade @ Collyer Quay

We happened by this little stall (#01-08 The Arcade, 11 Collyer Quay) recently and thought their chicken rice looked good and decided to come back another time when it wasn't during the midst of lunch hour.

This plate was ordered with half soya sauce chicken and the other half, boiled chicken (黑白). It came with some tired looking vegetables and rice that was garlicky and greasy. While that rice may be a prerequisite for some, I generally prefer it a little less oily. The meat of the bird was tender and passes muster easily, but their chilli was a little flat and had just a light prickle of heat. Could have done just fine without that brown goopy sauce.

Anyways, this would fall into the category of one of those that I wouldn't mind eating if I'm in the vicinity provided there isn't a long waiting line - once in a while. It's honestly not bad - just not good enough incentive for me to specially head back into the poorly ventilated greasy alley just for another plate. Not to mention that these guys charge at least 50% from what I'm used to paying. But this is Raffles Place after all.

Revisiting Keria Japanese Restaurant

This was actually the third visit back to Keria Japanese Restaurant. The last time we were here, we had their matsutake rice which was quite disappointing. It seems that we haven't been having much luck with those mushrooms.

The mentai cabbage here is good. While I can't claim that I've had all there is around, I'm pretty sure these guys do very good ones.

One of the things we remembered liking was their beef curry. Pretty enjoyable like we remembered it.

The accompanying soup today had chopped negi. Which kinda made it better than the last time.

There's battera zushi on the menu. Pressed sushi with saba and topped with flecks of yuzu zest.

We indulged in a little hon maguro. These were kinda pricey as expected in a joint like this. The servings came with akami and otoro.

There was deep fried shrimps which were actually pretty good if a little greasy. The shells were fried to a crisp that the whole thing could be eaten.

The treat for tonight was actually shirako which is in season now. These were boiled I believe and done just right. Just right meaning that they were neither over nor under cooked resulting in a soft creamy interior which was really good. I'll love to have these again.

Hot Butter Ball and Porchetta from Park Bench Deli

Park Bench Deli has got a couple of festive specials going on till the month's end. No prizes for guessing which festival those are for but the point is, both were pretty good.

There's a Hot Butter Ball which is basically sous vide turkey in truffled chicken jus and cranberry jam in rye. The gravy soaked meat was tender between the soft slices of rye which allowed us to inhale in short order. I tasted rosemary, not truffle though.

The other item was the Porchetta which featured pork belly in ciabatta with some good crisp from the crackling going on. I think there was supposed to be some garlic aioli and caramelized onions but we were only getting the pork and the arugula. Which was enjoyable the same.