And the conclusion between China Street Fritters and He Ji Wu Xiang is......

So I was back at China Street Fritters recently and I was actually trying to discern the differences between the fritters and bee hoon between them and He Ji Wu Xiang. At least for the items that we obviously prefer anyways. While I could tell that they were a little different, I still couldn't precisely pinpoint what were those little differences. So in conclusion, it's not important. At least it's not for me. The take away is that we have two pretty solid wu xiang stalls in Maxwell FC.

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.