A disappointing experience with Hougang Jing Jia Mutton Soup

I remember this stall being good in the previous times I've ordered from them. It has been quite a while since the last time. Today's mutton soup was disappointing. We had a bowl with tendon and brains and another bowl with just ribs.

The herbal flavour was stronger than what I remembered. Thumbs down to that because the light and moderated herbal quality was what attracted me to them in the first place as that didn't threaten the flavour of the lamb itself. Soup was bland. Needed salt. There was a layer of oil on the top which I have never noticed before. Something has changed and I didn't think it was for the better.

Project Penyek, ABC Brickworks Food Centre

Came across this stall (#01-25 ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah) and decided to give them a try. They've an assortment of fried items like chicken, prawns, squid and crab which was served with rice. I was a little wary since everything was all fried so we went for the safe option of ayam penyet.

It turned out not bad. The battered (literally) and fried chicken was refried on order, served crispy. Rice had a light chicken/garlic flavour and was a little dry. The plate was even accompanied with a bowl of real chicken soup which was unexpectedly tasty. Speaking of which, the ginger flavour in the soup reminded me of sweet potato soup for some reasons.

Tiong Bahru Lor Mee, Old Airport Road Food Centre

I mentioned wanting to come by to try Tiong Bahru Lor Mee (#01-124 Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road) because I noticed them the last time we were here.

Not a bad bowl. This was the $4 portion. Came with some chunks of fried fish they scissored into the bowl. The aftermath of mixing was heat from the chillis, sour from vinegar and flavour from the garlic. Not bad at all.

This was $8 of fried fish roe. The real reason why I wanted to visit this stall. Because of the fried fish roe, this might just have become my favourite lor mee stall. Need to be here early though since since the roe runs out quickly.

Chinatown Beef King (牛车水牛腩王), ABC Brickworks Food Centre

I was drawn to this stall (#01-115 ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah) by the simplicity of the setup. Did not noticed them previously and I wasn't sure even if they were doing the commonly seen Hainanese styled beef noodles. Anyways, I went with a bowl of dry kuey teow with tendons. Changed the profile of the gravy I did, with a couple of splashes of vinegar and the pickled vegetables. In a good way that is. Delicious then. With the tender bits of tendon and slurpy kuey teow. Will be back another time.

More サラダ (home made)

We threw together yet again another bunch of ingredients and fruit from the fridge. This time we had some seedless Kyoho grapes, baby spinach, Swish Chard; along with the tomatoes and cucumber left over from the last time. Those, some toasted pine nuts and the Stilton too. Dressing was made with a gift of home made orange marmalade.

Fatty Cheong (肥仔祥), ABC Brickworks Food Centre

I remember having eaten at Fatty Cheong (#01-144 ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah) at least a couple of times previously. For some reasons, it's never been blogged. I could have thought them unmemorable and not worth bringing up. I cannot be sure. They get mentioned now and then because of popularity and after a while, my curiosity got piqued again. This time, I thought I would so to speak, put the pen to the paper. I could spare a little ink.

The food was not bad per se. Roast pork passed muster but isn't at the level of CH叉R or Roast Paradise. Not the tenderness, flavour nor crunch from the crackling. Roasted duck was relatively tender but very chewy and was not so easily removed from the bone. I'm of the opinion that boned in meat should be with minimal effort stripped off from the bone. I was sweating through my fork and spoon with this one. Brown sauce was okay. Chilli wasn't very spicy but had a nice flavour. 

And that was all she wrote.