Ponggol Nasi Lemak, Capitol Piazza

Ponggol Nasi Lemak is a local institution. They have been around just before John Lennon passed on and like a number of other local brands from that era, have updated their business and branched out. From what I gather, they are still well received. Me? I've never tried their nasi lemak until now. This was from their new outlet at Capitol Piazza (B1-36/36A, 13 Stamford Road).

This is where I slip into retrospect. I liked it more than I thought I would. To disclaim, I didn't visit with high expectations. I liked that there was sufficient flavour in their rice. Texture wasn't brought down by excessive moisture or dryness. I thought their sambal struck a good balance of (onion-y?) sweet and savoury for me amidst the mild heat but your mileage may vary. Deep fried chicken wings were delicious. They must be a signature of theirs. Loved the savoury dry crisp on the shell without excessive residual grease.

I added hae bi hiam. Those were a little crisp, unlike the softer flossier renditions that are more common. Found their ikan bilis with sugar very agreeable and the peanuts were nicely toasted. I'd be happy to come back.

Chapter 55, Tiong Bahru Road

I've been to Chapter 55 (#01-37, 55 Tiong Bahru Road, tel : +65 6221 2219) a few of times before and I did enjoy some of their food - hence worth a mention. The menu seemed to have changed recently though. 

Chapter 55 has their rendition of spaghetti vongole - one which is pretty garlicky with a bit of heat from the chilli. This version in my opinion has little focus on the quality of the olive oil or the clams. It's an unapologetically localized garlic and chilli rendition which I thought was quite nice.

Their pizza wasn't particularly Italian and definitely not Neapolitan. There's a thin crispy crust, not so airy and has a texture similar to crackers. Interestingly, there's one with duck and lychee for topping. Can't say I didn't enjoy this. 

Margaret Drive Chicken Rice, Havelock Road Food Centre

I saw this stall (#01-22, Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22A/B Havelock Road) open in the recent weeks and was initially wondering if it was another one of those that might have been taking advantage of an old branding to sell chicken rice. Tried it and I'm happy to discover that these guys tasted very much like how Sin Kee did. The chicken was the same slurp off the bone tender type and the rice was good enough on its own. The only difference was the chilli sauce. This one was noticeably more lime-y. Which I liked too.

After checking with the proprietor, they were under the same management as the shop at Holland Drive and...*Lars Ulrich drumroll*....who also happened to be the same people who are managing Hua Kee at Redhill! Dots just connected. The stall's open from 10am till 4pm or until they're sold out.

Two Men Bagel House, Holland Village

Two Men Bagel House has a new shop at Holland Village (17D Lorong Liput). I thought it was a good idea to check them out since I've been eating at the shop at Icon Village a number of times now (一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十). Because of COVID19, they're only doing take aways.

The outlet exclusive bagel that this shop has which the other branches don't is the chocolate chip. This is their Elvis on chocolate chip bagel. Caramelized banana jam, bananas, candied bacon and peanut butter. How could I say no to that? It's nice. Deliciously messy kinda nice and I felt that the bacon, yup the bacon, brought it all together in its own way.

Mademoiselle Chantal featured corned beef, honey baked ham, Swiss cheese with a sunny side up and some Carolina mustard. I liked it as a cold cut bagel with eggs and cheese. Not out of place with the chocolate chip bagel as one might initially think.

Cheeseburger with extra cheese, pickles and mushrooms from Five Guys

Another round of trying different combinations of toppings for the cheeseburger from Five Guys. Am trying to keep things as simple as possible. Am telling myself that I may have reached the state where I don't need the bacon anymore.

Today's shake was cherry and malted milk. Very drinkable combination but pretty sweet. What I foresee to be something that I could do with more regularity is the coffee banana - an arguable throwback to the banana spin that I used to get from Spinelli's.

Revisiting Uma Uma Ramen

It's been almost a year since the last time we were at Uma Uma Ramen. The lemon tori paitan bowl which I liked isn't on the menu anymore. What they do have is their bushi tonkatsu which featured bonito in the broth and lime along with some a curly yellow noodle which one would normally associate with Sapporo ramen. Broth was delicious. Smokiness from the bonito and a light citrus from the lime.

There was a seasonal bowl that featured shaven black truffle from Alba and tamago sauce. A dry bowl where there was just enough of the creamy savoury egg sauce to coat the noodles which were also flavoured with said truffles and bits of fatty cubes of aburi charshu. Charshu that was mostly fat and flavourful.