Tonkatsu, another not for takeaway or delivery

Previously I was mentioning about resisting takeaway ramen because they were best eaten freshly prepared. Tonkatsu is another one of those things that fall into that category for its own reasons too.

How would one run through refills of the shredded cabbage without eating at the restaurant?

The fried panko crust surely couldn't stay as warm and crispy.

Delicate items like scallops might either overcook or stiffen because of dehydration during transit.

Yeah, tonkatsu is one of the things I had been missing during the HA. I never thought so much about them as the times when I couldn't eat them at the restaurants. If anyone was wondering where these were from, it's Ginza Anzu.

Winter black truffle cheeseburger from Meatsmith

I haven't had the cheeseburgers from Meatsmith for some time. Not since their $10 cheeseburger Tuesdays which they sadly do not run anymore. Oh wait, maybe it was that beef marmalade cheeseburger with Burnt Ends. 

What they do have recently was the option of having winter black truffle (from Coomer Truffles in Manjimup, Western Australia) shaven on their cheeseburgers. It was $10 for 5 grams of the truffle and we were recommended to get 10 grams for more flavour. I also wisely decided to get them burgers without the sauce and with pickles on the side so that I could actually taste those truffles.

Burger was a little small but I enjoyed it. This was definitely one cheeseburger where the aroma of the truffles came through along with that salty crusty brisket patty and cheese. 

BurGrill, Hong Lim Food Centre

Herein lies another banker to hawker story but that's a story for another place. I came to check them (#02-09 Hong Lim Market & Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) out because they were serving rosti. It was delicious. From the creamy scrambled eggs to the crisp shredded potatoes but it needed a bit more salt. Or salted butter. The bratwurst on the side was more flavour rich being smoky, salty and meaty at the same time. I would come back again.

Lucky Chicken Rice, Lucky Plaza

I hadn't eaten at Lucky Chicken Rice (#02-110 Lucky Plaza, 304 Orchard Rd, tel : +65 6738 4175) since I was a student. Without going into specifics, it was a very long time back. It used to be "the chicken rice stall" to eat at along with Hainanese Delicacy at Far East Plaza when you were a student hanging out in town without much money to spare for lunch.

Naturally, I have forgotten much of how their chicken rice tasted like. I only remembered that it was 'nice'.

Rice was they beady textured type with light flavouring from the chicken oils and garlic. This only meant that there was no dilemma between chilli or no chilli. Speaking of which, the chilli sauce was not bad.

We ordered half a roast (deep fried actually) chicken. It costed more than what many places charged for a whole chicken but I suppose this was Lucky Plaza. What did that mean? High rentals and adjustment for many non-locals that eat here. The meat was moistened by the sauce which was pretty salty. Skin of the bird look shrunken and wrinkled all over and didn't have any crisp at all. But it tasted very much the roasted chicken flavour.

Livers were creamy and gizzards were crunchy. At this point, I realized that what this shop doesn't do is good quality sesame oil over their food.

Eggs.

The Hainan Story Chapter One, Hotel Boss

This place (#01-09 Hotel Boss, 500 Jalan Sultan, tel : +65 6291 1969) used to be one of the Founder Bak Kut Teh branches until it wasn't anymore. Not that I was sad to see them go. I wasn't. Not the slightest bit. It's now The Hainan Story Chapter One, a multiple food stall in one location restaurant which purports to celebrate the love of Hainanese food. We came over to pig out.

Ordered their white kway chap set with salted duck.

Kway came in a white broth unlike the usual brown one. A more prominently sweet and not as savoury white broth which was quite delicious. Not so herbal tasting but I couldn't otherwise put a finger into what was inside.

The salted duck was marinated in spices which contained sugar - that much we could tell from the sweetness in the meat. Not bad tasting. That marinated egg had a robust soya sauce flavour. 

We had pumpkin porridge. This one was with three eggs and pork meatballs. Those eggs (raw, salted and century) added flavour and richness to the porridge which had a light pumpkin flavour. It wasn't just colouring. Meatballs were tender, porky and good quality. Wouldn't mind getting this again.

Their pork satays were hefty. Meaty and had that bit of scorched fat in between the chunks of meat. But at $15 for 10, it was also more expensive than many. Flavour of the marinate was nice - reminded me of the satay I had eons ago.

Satay came with two sauces. Left was the regular peanut satay sauce - the peanuts were more finely crushed and it had enough peanuts for the flavour to be good. Consistency was also properly thick so it clung on well to the satay when you dipped. Right dip was a pineapple puree and tamarind which was also delicious. Flavour was sweet and tangy. Different from the old Hainanese stalls that used to give just fresh pineapple puree.

Barbequed stingray was not bad. The meat was super firm (for stingrays that is) and less tender than what I had imagined because it wasn't so easy to scrape them off the cartilage. Flavour from the sambal was not bad - in a way that it reminded me of the better ones I've had in Newton Food Centre many years ago. I haven't had good barbequed stingray for many years though.

We kinda let ourselves loose with the desserts. Tried their coconut pandan Swiss roll. Wasn't bad and I think many people who have tried the ones from Rich & Good Cake Shop would compare. The Rich & Good Cake Shop ones are a slight notch better in my opinion.

I wanted to know how they would fare with their durian Swiss roll since they had the testicular fortitude to mention the use of old tree mao shan wang. I think it needs a lot more durian pulp; say like the amount that is desserts stalls that make proper durian desserts. I couldn't with any certainty at all tell that this Swiss roll even used msw. Wouldn't get it again. It's more expensive than the other Swiss rolls.

Tried their rum & raisin butter cake. Rum flavour was present and obviously so for the raisins as well. I've previously mentioned what I had thought about commercial butter cakes today and I think the one from Little House of Dreams is nicer.

This was kaya toast with butter. Kaya was infused with gula melaka. Nice! Bread was soft.

I think they did well with their coffee. It's Hainanese styled coffee if anyone was still wondering at this point. I had it di lo and they offer the option for them to be butter-ized. I made up the last word but you get the point. No need to scramble for seats with Instagrammers at Heap Seng Leong anymore.

Lee Kheong Roasted Delicacy (李强烧臘), Hong Lim Food Centre

I remember eating at Lee Kheong a couple of times back in the day when they were at People's Park Food Centre. I remember them being quite nondescript apart from the queue and the stall looked old. Kind of forgot about them for years until I learnt that they relocated to Hong Lim Food Centre (#02-47 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) so I wanted to revisit.

As if déjà vu, it was quite nondescript apart from the queue and the stall looked old. Got myself a $4 plate of char siew and roast pork. Not bad if I might say so. Kinda liked the sweet sauce and their tangy/sweet/spicy chilli sauce that had a roasted flavour. Will come back another time.