Revisiting Ping’s Thai Teochew Seafood Restaurant

It's difficult to break the cycle of the usuals at Ping's because they're all so good. Even though we've been wanting to try something else. We managed to trade the goong ob woonsen with the crab fried rice this time. It was pretty good too. Grainy and eggy with little shreds of crab meat. A little more salt would have done the dish more justice. 

I know I've mentioned this previously before but, those coconut jelly things they have for desserts are awesome for the weather!

Note to self : get the large portions for the stir fried fish maw the next time.

Victor's Kitchen, Chinatown Point

It must have been a decade ago since I last ate at Victor's Kitchen (#B1-33 ChinaTown Point, 133 New Bridge Road, tel : +65 9838 2851) and that was back in the days when there was just one shop at Sunshine Plaza. The memory's hazy and I only recall lots of custard buns.

A number of their items seemed to include cut chillis which I guess is a local thing. Like these braised chicken feet which were pretty flavourful already by themselves though not as "suck off the bone" tender as I was hoping for.

Their har gow wasn't too bad. There was more than just prawns in those dumplings but I'm not sure what. Maybe a little lard for fragrance? The skin was a little thick.

The spinach and prawn dumplings were also pretty tasty. Definitely not as well done as the ones from Tim Ho Wan though.

Char siew stuffed rice rolls were ordinary.

I thought that the fermented black bean pork ribs could have fared better if they were more tender and actually had black bean flavour.

Steamed radish cake was very nice. I was momentarily reminded of those at Wai Kee. I guess the ones here had less radish but also included stuff like dried shrimp for that extra flavour. On top of that, there was also a delicious XO sauce that came on the side if you needed that boost of umami heat.

Siew mai were unfortunately boring. The meat tasted lean and the fillings were packed really dense.

These guys also did a very nice milk tea which was chilled with a bowl of ice so that the drink stays cold and doesn't get diluted. I tasted some strength in the tea which I appreciated even thought it wasn't that aromatic. I'm adding this to my consideration the next time I decide if I want to come back. They definitely get points for this.

Da Shi Jia (大食家大大大虾面), Killiney Road

We came across the mention of this shop (89 Killiney Road, tel : +65 6732 1085) by a known restauranteur on social media praising the prawn noodles and we thought it was worth a go.

The wok fried prawn bee hoon, an almost misnomer, turned out to be pretty good. Almost misnomer because it wasn't wok fried as one would normally expect. Wok braised perhaps. The noodles were coated in what tasted like a reduction of prawn broth flavoured with bits of lard, garlic and sweet caramelized onions. Prawns were sweet. Portions were a little small. Prices were a little high.

But it was an enjoyable plate.

The soup bowl had a much lighter tasting broth than I had been expecting. While it didn't have the intensity as say, the ones down at Blanco Court Prawn Mee but I wouldn't write this off. I personally felt it was lightweight in a pleasant manner.

The restaurant has a freshly juiced apple and preserved sour plum drink they seemed to be keen on recommending. I kinda liked the sour and salty refreshing flavour.

White asparaguses at Brotzeit

Spargelzeit is in progress. In the enthusiasm, we kind went full retard spargel with the food this time round.

Like cream of white asparagus soup.

White asparagus wrapped in bacon.

White asparagus with a beef tenderloin.

White asparagus with pan seared barramundi.

And even white asparagus panna cotta. What? Well, it was just a spear of it that wasn't even sweetened that they placed with strawberries in the pudding. I'm not sure if this could be considered a proper white asparagus dessert per se but it was what it was.

I Want My Noodle, Shaw Centre

I've heard of these guys (#03-14/15 Shaw Centre, 1 Scotts Road, tel : +65 6235 2331) and their daily made egg noodles for a while now so curiosity finally got the better of me.

Tried their ba chor mee which was quite a close rendition to traditional bowls. There's fried lard and vinegar in the bowl to keep the flavours interesting while the egg added some richness. I liked the little heat from the chilli too. It wasn't an exact replica for flavour but it wasn't bad at all. Interestingly, one of the things that kept them tasting like a real bowl of bcm was their egg noodles which doesn't exist in any bowls anywhere else and those noodles were actually pretty good.

Unfortunately, the $3.80 add on char siew wasn't worth the money and came in sad portions.

There was a bowl of truffle noodles on the menu. The flavour was tired and those truffle oil that they used tasted especially artificial.  

Chic-a-boo Fried Chicken, City Square Mall

Chic-a-boo Fried Chicken (#01-30/31 City Square Mall, 180 Kitchener Road, tel : +65 6634 2723) if you didn't already know is run by Astons. They do fried chicken plates and those chickens aren't too bad if you asked me. The birds tasted like they have been brined with all the flavour that's in the meat and they were quite garlic-ky. But that's probably the only thing that's worth a mention since the options for the sides were dismal along with their poor rendition of cornbread. Even Kenny Rogers Roasters have better cornbread.

While I liked the fried chicken here, the other items on the plate reminded me of how big a loss it was for One Night Only to have folded their business.