Beef hor fun with black bean sauce from Quan Ji (權記)

I came here with the intention to get the sliced fish option for their black bean sauce hor fun. But the elder gentleman I was sharing the table with had this and I thought it looked pretty darn good. Hence I ended up with the same. I wouldn't say that I regretted it but at least now I know because I've tried it for myself. The tenderized beef was better flavoured than most, but unfortunately (for me) still unnaturally soft. And chewy. That's my main beef with it. Pun fully intended. Liked the sauce but I'll stick to the sliced fish one in the future.

SG Taps, Duxton Hill

We were kinda introduced to this place (#01-01, 13 Duxton Hill, tel : +65 6904 8474) which is run by a Japanese by another Japanese. The former, a Norihito Hirose who is a long time resident on our sunny island whom has woven together a house of mixed brews and way better than the average bar food which pays tribute to his and our cultures. Japanesingaporeasian stuff if you know what I mean.

Made sense to give their stuff on tap a try. They are SG Taps after all. This was Berry Berry Ume by a local microbrewery Daryl's Urban Ales. A blueberry umeboshi gose that's cider-ishly tangy with a berry citrus. Pretty easy drinking especially in our climate. But it seems they aren't into chilled glasses.

To the food! Ika nonkotsu karaage. I admit to being a little apprehensive in the beginning but I was won over. Deliciously flavoured crisp batter on some crunchy squid parts (presumably squid cartilage). Made good munching.

Loved the oysters that they smoked in house.

It would be remiss of me not to mention their smoked Camembert. Smoked in house as well. Was served with edamame and almonds that were also smoked in house. Almonds were sweet.

Tried their laksa pizza. The rempah was a little weak. What helped carry the laksa-ness through was the use of laksa leaves. This rendition had less seafood but was noticeably cheesier compared the one from Pizza Express which I thought had achieved a more Asian flavour profile. What I didn't get about this particular one was the onions. Didn't understand why there were onions in the pie or why they thought fried shallots was necessary. 

On the menu was something called Amami styled chicken rice. The short of it - it's a Japanese-y take on local chicken rice.

Served chazuke styled with shredded nori, sakura chicken and a very respectable chicken broth. I'll have to remember to ask them to omit the pickles the next time.

Watermelon & basil sorbet from Tom's Palette

This was not as refreshing as I had imagined. The texture of the sorbet was oddly lumpy and left a powdery aftertaste. I thought it was a little too sweet. Perhaps flavouring it with lime/lemon might have been a better idea.

Shuang Shun Chicken Rice (雙顺鸡饭), Geylang Lorong 18

This was a random find as I was in the vicinity. Pretty decent chicken rice in a coffeeshop at the end of Geylang Lorong 18 where it connects to the main Geylang Road (346 Geylang Road). Here's a plate with ji wei (鸡尾)/chicken thigh, liver and egg. This was a greasy one but in a good way. The rice was well oiled on top of the customary drizzle of sesame oil. Liver was creamy. Chilli had some lime and was lightly salted. As I said, pretty decent.

Founder Bak Kut Teh, Bugis

In recent years, Founder Bak Kut Teh has expanded their business into a few branches. With home grown businesses, branches have always had a thing with quality control. It's usually inconsistent or lower. This was Founder at Bugis (#01-01, 530 North Bridge Road, tel : +65 6255 3889).

If you're wondering if those premium long ribs of theirs looked dry - it was. Meat wasn't as tender as I had imagined. I suppose one could euphemistically describe them as meaty or hearty but I would definitely prefer something more tender. Their bak kut teh broth was also less peppery than I remembered them.

Stewed tau kee was quite nice. Sweet even. There was a robust star anise flavour from the spiced stewing liquid. But it looked nothing like the menu. This was much darker, dryer and chewier than what the pictures on the menu suggested. Those pictures could be construed as....misleading.

Mee sua (面线) was oddly al dente. It was firm, a little clumpy but not unpleasant. I don't know if that was the intention but I didn't dislike it; although I was expecting the texture of the vermicelli to be smoother.

We got an order of dough fritters/fried Chinese crullers/油条/you zha kuey for their bkt broth which was refillable. Crispy they were but not as soft on the inside as those from Old Street which did a better job soaking up the broth.

This was their trio steam egg, a dish of custardy steamed egg with diced bits of salted egg and century egg. Hence trio. Very nice. The soy sauce that they used over the dish was very pleasant; tasted like the better quality type used in Hong Kong styled steam fishes. 

I'm on the fence regarding this Founder.

Nana Original Thai Food, Golden Mile Complex

Back to Golden Mile for Thai food. This time round it's Nana Original Thai Food (#01-51/52/66A Golden Mile Complex, 5001 Beach Road, tel : +65 6297 8498). Apparently, this shop opens 24/7.

Liked their rendition of green curry with chicken. The curry was thin, spiced and....well, because it was thin it was drinkable like a creamy soup. There was a good hit of the aniseed flavour from the basil.

Couldn't pass on their som tam mamuang.

Couldn't pass on dressing it up further with peanuts and sugar.

Flavour was varied and pretty intense. There was the citrus tang from the crunchy strips of mangoes, pungent saltiness from the generous use of fish sauce, an occasional break of sharpness from the onions, some heat and a light crustacean aroma from the little dried shrimps. That along with the nuttiness from the crushed peanuts and sweet from the sugar. Party in the mouth? Sure.

Competent if unexceptional stir fried kailan.

Pretty good pineapple fried rice Nana has. Chunks of pineapple, raisins, some seafood, cashews and chicken floss. This could be one of the better renditions we've had.

Fried omelette which was also competent. No excessive grease here.

We had some grilled pork. Wasn't bad but these weren't freshly grilled. It was the only dish we had that wasn't freshly made to order. Could have been better if the jaew had also packed more punch.