Ang Moh Dumplings, Tanjong Pagar Station

We came by Ang Moh Dumplings over the weekend. The pictures on their (#B1-39 Tanjong Pagar Exchange) website featured garnishes on the food which looked prettier than the real thing. What was obvious though was that the shop wasn't ready for business on a weekend because most of what they had were sold out so we ended up with just a couple of dumplings.

The ang moh dumplings they have are pelmeni. Pretty surprised that the the black ones which were stuffed with beef had coriander. I didn't like it and cannot will not give an objective opinion. It sucked. The other greenish one was stuffed with mutton and according to their menu, mint. I couldn't taste the mint and was barely able to discern the flavour of mutton from the stuffings. Tasted something like butter though. It's not bad but also not good enough that I'd want to eat them again. *sigh*

Hosay Mee Pok, Cantonment Road

The signage of Hosay Mee Pok (243 Cantonment Road) stated that they are endorsed by Ah Hoe Mee Pok. Don't know what's the relationship between the two stalls but I was curious enough to want to find out.

I have previously mentioned that Ah Hoe was about balance. Hosay is definitely a more local take with punchier flavours for their bowl of noodles. While very savoury and umami, the texture of the mee pok was unexcitingly ordinary. #disappointed Love those strips of fried stuff they added in there though.

The dry mee pok came with a bowl of cloudy soup with the other ingredients. The soup was flavoured, but nothing compared to the likes of Seng Kee. A few small slices of pork, liver, probably frozen scallops and a few clams with bits of cabbage that sweetened the soup. Drinkable stuff that's better than many but nothing memorable. 

I found Xing Heng Feng at Whampoa much more satisfying if I had to compare a non-ba chor mee pok.

We asked for lard and this was what they gave. Looked like deep fried pork belly strips that didn't have the fragrance of lard. After the tasting the mee pok with their chilli and a bit of vinegar, these fried bits didn't even taste like it had flavour.

Their prawn paste cake thingies were not bad though. Similar to the ones from Guan's Mee Pok and Bai Nian Yong Tau Foo. All of these renditions were tastier than the ones from Le Shrimp Ramen.

I don't dislike the food here but I didn't feel that there was much that would make me definitively like them either. Wouldn't come out of the way just to eat their noodles.

The Autumn Special at Tonkatsu by Ma Maison

Tonkatsu by Ma Maison currently has an autumn special - Kurobuta Mushroom Katsu which features their kurobuta rosu katsu with mushrooms on daikon oroshi that has been infused with truffle oil and shiro dashi. I'm glad they didn't go overboard with the truffle oil, using only enough to perfume the food.

Very nicely done like they normally do their katsu with a dry crisp breading and moist pork beneath. Since this was kurobuta, it was also nicely marbled with fat for that difference in texture and flavour. I thought the mushrooms were delicious, pairing well with the oroshi that was mellowed by the shiro dashi. Those went along nicely with the fried pork

Hawkerman, Funan

We noticed Hawkerman (#B2-18 Funan Mall, 109 North Bridge Road) the last time we were here and were curious. Warily so but curious nonetheless. So we decided to give it a try.

One of those things that got my attention were the sour plum watermelon cubes which I thought was awesome. They were exactly as the name described - sour plum juice infused watermelon that was refreshing and juicy. Loved these.

Tried their maki poh piah which was obviously a maki take on the local poh piah with a nori wrap. For something that had so much chicken floss, I was pretty surprised that I could barely taste them when I popped one of those oversized pieces. Most of the flavour came from the garlic heavy stewed turnips that made the stuffings - which was was oddly called 'rainbow fillings'.

The Tenderfresh spring chicken wasn't shabby. A little small though but the bird was pretty tender. The turmeric infused fragrant rice was delicious. Tasted just like chicken rice.

Hokkien mee was better than I had imagined. The seafood stock that they had used to stir fry the noodles was flavourful. Noodles weren't overcooked. Couldn't argue with that fried chicken. While this plate wasn't in the same league as the Serangoon Gardens Fried Prawn Noodles or Nam Sing, it wasn't bad at all. The lime and sambal added a much appreciated zest to it.

Yamanashi peaches and cream rolls at Don Don Donki

There was a station that apparently sold smoothies and fruit sandwiches at the Don Don Donki at Clarke Quay Central (B1, 6 Eu Tong Sen Street). We saw that there were Yamanashi peaches with cream on rolls so we had to get some. 

This was as good as I had imagined it to be. Peach was ripe and each bite was a deluge of sweet peach juices on cream. Damn, it was so good.

Some cold cuts, cheeses and pasta from Amò

Today was cold cuts, cheeses and pasta at Amò. 

From what the menu mentioned, the meat was house cured. Not bad. Cheese were also delicious from the fresh light mozzarella to the goat-y/nutty in-betweens (I don't know what they were but they were Gouda-ish) to the rich, salty and unexpectedly sweet Parmigiano Reggiano.

Came with some bread. Forgot what these were called. They were hard and crispy with texture like pretzels and flavoured with fennel. Surprisingly addictive.

Amò like Beppe De Vito's other restaurants lean towards an upmarket setup and tends to be assumptious. Did not appreciate that they split portions without the courtesy of asking.

But the cuttlefish tagliolini was nice. Liked the cuttlefish flavour that infused the sauce and the spiciness that gave the depth some breath. That being said, the squid ink on the side contended with the sauce of the pasta.

Casarecce was okay. Most of it was the creamy saffron flavour. Too little guanciale to be worth mentioning and for something that had black pepper listed as part of the ingredients, I tasted none.