Xiang Ji Lor Mee Zha Jiang Mian (香记卤面. 炸酱面), Old Airport Road Food Centre

Am usually not a lor mee person but seeing the bits of fish got me interested in a bowl from Xiang Ji Lor Mee (#01-81 Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road). Ordered mine with bee hoon and topped the bowl up with a dollar of extra fish. Enjoyed it, but that was after the gravy had lost most of the viscosity and the flavours from the garlic/vinegar/chilli paste had combined. Wouldn't mind eating this again but I'd like to give the other Tiong Bahru Lor Mee stall a try first.

Grilled 海老 and thoughts from Nakajima Suisan

Nakajima Suisan has progressed beyond just grilled fish teishoku for a while. We've had oysters, there's scallops and even large grilled prawns. Some of their old specials like the hon maguro nodo and fin (still hoping for the cheeks too) shioyaki have made their regular menu. Tried their prawns today and those were nice and meaty - meat easily stripped off the shells.

Those aren't taking over the mainstays anytime. People here still come for the grilled fish. The crowd seem to have gotten crazier. There are queues during off peak hours. Reaching the shop at opening hours simply means that you'd probably miss the first seating and have to wait in line. Here's still wishing that their kinmedai was bigger. 

Grabbing Shake Shack and their Common Man Coffee Roaster shake

Shake Shack has finally gotten their delivery act together and transcended beyond those kangaroos  and pandas that only do close proximity deliveries. They're now on GrabFood so we thought, why not? The food was boxed up so nothing was squished or moisturized by condensate. Tried their coffee shake for the first time. It's unique in the sense that they're using coffee by the local Common Man Coffee Roaster. Not bad a flavour from the espresso (I presume) - just a little sweeter than than I been expecting. 

Roast Paradise, Old Airport Road Food Centre

Wow, this was nice! I've been curious for quite a while now about what Roast Paradise (#01-121 Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road) has been doing for their meats and now I'm impressed. Tender layers of moist fatty pork supplemented by crispy cracking for the roasted pork (烧肉) and a shell of sweet caramelized surface for the char siew (叉烧). This was one queue I understood.

The stall has something called Hakka mee which I haven't seen or had from other roast meat stalls. Mee pok with minced pork, their concoction of fatty/greasy sauces and chilli paste which made a delicious bowl of smoky savoury noodles.

Li Li Kway Chap Braised Duck Pig's Stomach Soup, Tiong Bahru Food Centre

This (#02-28 Tiong Bahru Food Centre, 30 Seng Poh Road) was one of the stalls that was still open later in the evening when most of the rest had closed for the day. While my initial intention was to get kuey chap, I ended up being distracted by their pig intestine noodles. 

I enjoyed it. No alkaline taste in those yellow noodles. The braised intestines were firm and tasty, infused with the flavour of their braising sauce. The dollop of chilli paste added an appreciated warmth to their gravy. I'll be back another day to try something else.

Another annual ritual at Lawry's

This year's prime rib Lawry's came a little late. But - as how it is often heard, better late than never, yes? It's been a while since I didn't get one without the bone though. Honestly, I cannot discern enough of a difference in my meat to care. It's all good.