A-One Signature, Tiong Bahru Plaza

A-One is known for their porridge and some cze char dishes. They've a number of branches around. I can't say if their porridges are one of the better ones because I don't know. But it's generally pretty okay. Offhand, the places I recall that makes good porridges which I like better were Zhen Zhen and Raan Jay Fai. I know it's not fair to compare it to the latter. Mui Kee does not make that list as much as I like their kanpachi yu shen and beancurd skin.

Have been to this outlet (#02-134 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) once before. First time trying their - or for that matter, any porridge with shredded chicken and cereals. The cereals clumped into lumps while I was trying to stir them into the porridge. Flavour was okay-ish. Every porridge option they have would probably taste similar because they're all flavoured with the same dried scallop base. The only variable to the flavour were the ingredients they added.

There was kung bao frog on the menu. The dish wasn't cooked in the claypot, just served in it. I knew because I could move the claypot with my hands. Flavour's also okay and I've definitely had better. Comparing it with the specialists would only disappoint.

Steamed egg with salted and century egg was decent. Quite a bit of minced pork in it. Reminded me of the one from Founder.

Bacon, egg and cheese on rye from Two Men Bagel House

It seems that I've been cozying up a little in the past week with Two Men Bagel House. That's their BEC on rye bagel. For reasons, it triggered memories of BKK Bagel. Maybe it was the flavour. Not bad. I personally thought it would have worked without the mayo and a stronger/saltier cheese type would have upped their game.

Xin Curry Fish Head Zhu Chao (鑫咖喱鱼头煮炒), Tanglin Halt

Possibly the first coffeeshop where I could say that I've tried the food from all the stalls because this one only has three. Xin Curry Fish Head Zhu Chao (Guan Kim Coffeeshop, 47 Tanglin Halt Road) is located in Guan Kim Restaurant (it's a local coffee shop) where Maria's Corner and Shen Ji Chicken Rice are at. The latter two are closed after lunch hours.

Bitter gourd in the omelette are in slightly thicker strips rather than thin sliced. It's okay. Not one of the better ones I've had but nothing to gripe about either. 

This deep fried salted egg chicken reminded me of the Ultraman chicken from Sum Kee Food at Telok Blangah. These were a little saucier and became a little hard after they were cooled down. The ones from Sum Kee were meatier. I found the ones from Sum Kee to be more addictive.

Stir fried nai bai was nice. Sweet, savoury and garlic-ky.

Those fried bits all over the fish were chai por (preserved turnip), not garlic. Fish was tender and flakey so that much can be said for the freshness. The soy sauce that they used was also a little sweet. I wonder if it's added sugar. Pretty good with rice though with the bits of fried chai por and slices of chilli padi. 

The rendition of sambal petai here had onions which added texture. Interestingly this rendition was also a little sweet. I don't know if that sweetness came from the onions or was it sugar. The flavour profile was different from the punchy savoury ones that Tian Tian Seafood and Sin Hoi Sai does because of the sweetness. Still very nice with rice.

It wouldn't be a cze char dinner without some rice.

Avo-baco from Two Men Bagel House

Bacon, avocado, fried egg, tomatoes, some greens and an aioli I couldn't quite identify between sliced Cheddar bagel for breakfast. Delicious and a little messy. The Cheddar bagel's not bad. I could actually taste some of the cheese. For reasons, this shop reels me back once in a while. So far the bagel experience is improving.

Pig's organ soup (猪什汤) stall at Toh Guan's Broadway coffeeshop

Have had lunch at this stall located at Broadway Coffeeshop (286E Toh Guan Road) a couple of times recently. If my memory serves, the stall sold pig's organ soup and soya sauce braised pig trotters. Their mee sua with mixed pig's organs with sliced bitter gourd (above) was pretty good. Nothing life changing but a straightforward tasty bowl of salty porcine deliciousness.

One could get the soup and rice option as well. Apparently a choice was provided between bitter gourd or salted vegetables for this. I got the latter. Loved the bits of fried garlic and its oil that they added to the broth. The soya sauce eggs and tau kwa were well flavoured too. What I didn't expect was that they used short grained rice rather than the regular longer grain variety. 

Shi Li Fang (食立方), Tiong Bahru Plaza

I'm generally not so big on hot pots. Not that I don't like them but the weather is usually hot enough as it is and I prefer if possible to eat in comfort rather than induced perspiration. There has only been a single experience when I've had these and never broke sweat and it is till this day a little surreal. I was curious enough about Shi Li Fang (#02-112 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road, tel : +65 6870 8898) a Taiwanese hot pot chain after having seen various of their outlets numerous times though.

One of the fun things about these hot pot places are the condiments available which one can concoct their own sauces/dips. Each time is a unique flavour even though the ingredients may not vary much. There's always something that you could decide to add on a whim, forget or even get wrong the proportions. Look at what I made for myself this time round.

Tried the Australian beef. Not so good. There was barely any beefy flavour so I'll skip these the next time or get the wagyu.

Pork was pretty decent. Because of the nature of its light flavour, works well as a platform for the sauces.

There's some prawn paste thingy with ebiko I believe. This was surprisingly good. The paste had quite a lot of prawn in it.

Luncheon meat was the unhealthy but usually welcomed option.

These were rolls of fried tofu skin which one could dip in the broth to soak up. The lighter tasting broths are usually better because the flavour of these tofu skins still get through.

The pictures on the menu showed scallops with corals. The actual serving didn't have them. Were frozen. But after we cooked them, they were delicious. Sweet even. Pleasantly surprised.

A couple more of tofu items. The ones on the left I believe are the frozen tofu (冻豆腐) and the ones on the right which were called mock chicken were actually 百页. The frozen tofu wasn't as good as those I've had before. These were a little thin and it ended up tasting a bit like tau pok.

O-b-l-i-g-a-t-o-r-y. But those nai bai were nice and even the Chinese spinach were surprisingly good after being cooked in the chicken collagen broth.

There was lamb so we had gotta get some. These thin sliced ones were good with its natural flavour from the meat. The better (or best) option to get compared to the next.

This lamb was marinated. Salted. Tenderised but fortunately not so much that it had become an unidentifiable protein matter. Didn't have much flavour of lamb though. Anything that didn't taste good on their own makes a good vehicle for the DIY sauces. Will skip these in the future.