Ma Li Ya Virgin Chicken (瑪莉亞處女雞), Chinatown Food Centre

I've been wanting to try the chicken rice from this stall (#02-189 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) for quite a while so here's a plate with a bit of almost everything. I'm glad it finally happened because I liked it. I'm impressed that the flavour and sweetness from their sauces permeated both the wobbly tofu (definitely worth considering) and even those chicken livers they had. Imagine. Sweet livers.

The chicken meat was tender with a similar light sweetness on the skin of the bird as the livers and tofu. And how fared the rice? They were good enough that one didn't actually need their garlicky chilli sauce. I did detect a hint of ginger in the rice there.

I'm thinking that this will likely become my go-to for soya sauce chicken in this food centre since I'm pretty sure that other Michelin starred one will continue to keep up their unbearable queues. While I'm readily admitting that they have a tastier soya sauce chicken, the truth is that it is no longer worth the time that one has to spend in the queue.

Economic bee hoon from Ye Xiang Fan (椰香饭)

The sign on the stall (#02-12 Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road) reads Ye Xiang Fan (椰香饭) while an online search with the same address gets me Ye Jiang Fan. I don't know what gives but here's an economic bee hoon from these guys.

I kinda liked it. The bee hoon was not bad but not as tasty as those from Hup Lee though. In spite of their lighter tan colour than usual golden brown appearances, those "fish filet" tasted quite freshly fried and even had a light crisp. The only thing that I didn't think much of was the otah which would have benefited from more heat and was also a little lacking in aroma.

Lunching at La Strada

We've only had lunch at La Strada once and that was a long time ago when the restaurant was a very different place from what it is today. Things are more casual, prices easier on the wallet and the outfit more rustic these days.

That's pork sausage and braised lentils. The sausages were tender, filled with bits of gelatinous stuff that probably collagenous and was pretty porky. Porky in a good way of course if one should be inclined towards salty porcine flavours.

We had some Tuscan styled chickpea and kale soup. Vegetables in a lightweight chicken broth flavoured with some cheese. This was quite good.

Braised lamb shank with artichokes. I couldn't decide if the broth was tangy or just meaty. The meat from the shanks were fork tender and had soft gelatinous bits. A dish that's hearty in every sense of the word but there was something missing that I couldn't quite put my finger too. So while I enjoyed it, I don't think I would order it again.

Their sea bream fillet was generously portioned and much more delicious than I had imagined. The firm and tender fish simply sat well in the tangy broth with peppers, tomatoes, olives and capers which reminded me of ratatouille. With those ingredients, the entire flavour profile of the dish was just so appetizing.

Dessert options at lunch included melons. These were sweet and fragrant. We expected no less from La Strada even for something as simple as sliced fruit.

Or their Limoncello tiramisu which was also much better than I had imagined from the description on the menu. The aroma from the liqueur was present but not overwhelmingly so. Those bits of passionfruit broke the monotony of the mascarpone with chocolate shavings. I think I might just eat this again the next time I come back.  

Hua Kee Chicken Rice revisited

I realized that I've been getting food in this hood quite a bit of late. But I couldn't forgo the chance for a second take at Hua Kee. This time a plate of their delicious chicken rice with drumstick meat. It was every bit as tender and tasty as I remember. This stall is fast becoming my next favourite after Sin Kee. If only the queue wasn't so excruciatingly slow. 

Blackened catfish from One Night Only

Here's a not so blackened looking blackened catfish from One Night Only. I can't say that I recall having these before so I haven't really got anything to compare them to. But, I did think that it was quite enjoyable. The catfish was so tender that I'm surprised it came out in one piece. I liked that it was sufficiently salted.

By the way those biscuits and gravy were way better than the shockingly mediocre ones from Clinton Street Baking Co. Creamed corn here was amazing for me. It turned out to be milky sweet instead of savoury and for something that was sweet, it was unexpectedly addictive. Yeah we did get creamed corn. You can see the couple of kernels that I accidentally dropped on the table on the top left.

Joo Chiat Beef King, Tiong Bahru Market

I got enticed by the beef tendon kuey teow from the Joo Chiat Beef King stall (#02-35 Tiong Bahru Market & Food Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road). It was only much later that I recalled that I had ordered exactly the same thing from that branch at Chinatown Food Centre previously. Well, one thing for sure, their soup was consistently quite lightweight. I would have liked a beefier flavour but I've nothing against this one. I thought those rice noodles were quite satisfying. The only difference between this bowl and the previous time was perhaps, the tendons this time round wasn't as tender. I didn't get any radishes in my bowl today as well.

Note to self, avoid the coffee from the coffee stall with a long queue nearby (#02-33) and also the one from the stall call L21(#02-21). Bad coffee.