Western Hut, Havelock Road Food Centre

These guys had mentioned on their social media that their chef was the person that used to be at No. 1 Western Food at Tanglin Halt. While I recalled that it was an old couple that was running the stall there, the guy at the kitchen here (#01-09 Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22A/B Havelock Road) was a young chap. They're located just next to Du Du Cooked Food.

This was their chicken cutlet with aglio olio pasta. Tasted like the same flattened chicken thigh with a crispy breading that didn't have excessive grease. Reminded me of the schnitzel from Marché if you could believe it. It was also an opportunity for me again to understand their sauce which I noticed this time round to contain cinnamon. Still don't think much of that sauce so I summoned my hot sauce on standby.

A few days later...

Tried their chicken chop. Pretty decent with a light crisp on the skin side. It was salted sufficiently that I didn't need their sauce. I'll see if I can get more coleslaw if I don't want the beans or even the fries the next time.

Foong Kee Traditional Charcoal Roasted, Keong Saik Road

We've been wanting to try Foong Kee's (6 Keong Saik Road) roasted meats but this place has been one of those that had been out of sight and out of mind which we had somehow never gotten to visit. Until now after reading that they're closing up for good so we came over to join the queue over the weekend. That queue was long. The wait was well over an hour before it was our turn to order.

Got some roasted duck which was pretty good. For some reasons, the breast meat was more tender than those on the drumstick.

It seemed that they had only one cut for their char siew which was 不见天  - the secreto cut if you would. Meat was tender and layered with fat. But the roast wasn't as well done as I had been imagining. Some parts of the char siew needed more caramelization so only the ones with the burnt ends were tasty.

Roast pork was very good. The crackling was crispy and not hard while the layered meat and fat were moist and tender.

Foong Kee also had wanton that was worthy of the 云吞 name. It was indeed like swallowing clouds. The dumplings were light, nicely flavoured and could almost be considered fluffy. Strange as the word fluffy might sound for something that was smooth and wet. What's more, that almost ethereal smoothness was paired with crunch from water chestnuts. 

What killed it for us was their sweet char siew glaze which was packed separately as a dip. Worked with all the roast meat which we had gotten with its caramelized sweet savouriness. Their chilli sauce looked ordinary - a sweet lime-y concoction which packed a respectable heat that many others don't. One could suspect with all the chilli seeds in the sauce.

Super Shiok Basmati Nasi Lemak, People's Park Complex Food Centre

We noticed Super Shiok Basmati Nasi Lemak (#01-126B People's Park Complex Food Centre, 32 New Market Road) the last time we were in the area and made a mental note to check them out. No idea if they are related to Super Shiok Nasi Lemak.

While their nasi lemak looked run of the mill at first glance, it wasn't. I noticed that there were ikan bilis that were cooked with the basmati rice as they were scooped out of the cooker - rice which still had residual coconut cream in some parts. The coconut flavour was pretty light though. I'm guessing not enough salt to bring out those flavours. 

There're the standard ikan bilis and peanuts to go along and even more ikan bilis in their sambal. Fishy indeed. Light on the salt too. Sambal was sweet, had a light heat from the spice and was also tangy; those and the flavour of onions were what I detected. 

The other items were so so. Otah was boring because it wasn't particularly flavourful from the fish nor was it spicy. There's chicken luncheon meat which I shouldn't have gotten on hindsight. The thin omelette was fragrant from the onions inside them. Chicken wings no longer had any crisp by the time I got home but there was a pleasant light turmeric flavour on the skin which was lightly salted. The meat was relatively tender and moist.

Banana prata with fish curry from ABC Food Corner

The pratas must have been squished either during packing or on the way back so the bananas oozed out and smeared their natural fruity sweetness over the prata. Also loved the warmth from the mild heat in the belly from the fish curry. From ABC Food Corner. 

Soon Heng White Bee Hoon (順興炒白米粉), Havelock Road Food Centre

This 白米粉 shop (#01-03 Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22A/B Havelock Road) took over the unit that used to be Soon Heng Hong Kong Style Charcoal Roast just next door to Havelock Turtle Soup. Are they the same people? 白米粉 for some reasons have trended in the recent years no small thanks to a certain Sembawang White Bee Hoon which has since expanded to a multi branched White Restaurant.

If you're thinking that this was another clone - well they are and they aren't. They are because the stall capitalized on the 白米粉 name which draws attention by association. It has nothing to do with White Restaurant. They aren't because their flavour was also different as far as I can tell. I was hoping that it'll be more intense from the seafood.

The gravy wasn't as flavourful. Not that it tasted bad. It didn't. It was certainly also not like the original Sembawang white bee hoon. Prawns were not fresh. Their sambal looked potent but it's not as scalp prickling as I had imagined. Made the bee hoon taste better though.

Dumpling (水饺) noodle with chicken claws (凤爪) from Xing Yun (幸運) Wanton Mee

Xing Yun (幸運) Wanton Mee was another stall that I've mistakenly assumed for being nameless - like the nameless Beo Crescent curry rice just a coin's toss away. Google as of now lists this stall as Lucky Wonton Noodles - not to be mistaken for Lucky Wanton Noodle at Tanjong Pagar. 

Have been wanting to come back for their noodles since the last time. I didn't realize that it had been five years since until now.

The noodles survived transit, albeit a slightly shorter one, better than the one from Hui Ji did; but I did notice that the proprietor had blanched the noodles in cool water before bagging it. Noodles had a nice aroma from the 猪油 but their 猪油渣 was no longer fresh. Those chicken claw didn't remind me of wet pork floss today. They were slurp off the bone tender and if not for the lack of intensity from the braising sauce, could have rivalled proper dim sum restaurants. 

With five 水饺 plus the 凤爪, I thought it was reasonably priced at five bucks.