Kuih Jongkong from Queenstown Lontong

Queenstown Lontong was closed for a while recently to make this kuih jongkong which they mentioned is sold only a few days a year. From what I gathered, this steamed kueh was made with coconut milk, tapioca flour, pandan and gula melaka. I had this chilled so it was pretty good but for all the green-ness, I couldn't taste the pandan. Texture was kinda custard-y with underlying coconut flavoured creaminess and gula melaka sweetness. Did appreciate that it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet or coconut-y though.

Myung Ga (맛집) ll, Bukit Timah Plaza

The name Myung Ga II (#B1-55 Bukit Timah Plaza, 1 Jalan Anak Bukit, tel : +65 6469 5123) popped up numerous times while I was searching for Korean food along Upper Bukit Timah area. We came by for the first time today. Restaurant looked like some sort of cosy Korean diner.

Banchan was refillable except for the omelette which was for only the first serving. Nothing too fancy here - there's kimchi, myulchi bokkeum (anchovies & peanuts) and some seaweed thingy.

We wanted a go at their donggasu. Large slice of breaded fried pork thinner than tonkatsu slathered in a creamy sauce I am still at a loss to describe. There was sweetness in it and I think one of the ingredients might be ketchup. As we ate, we realized that this fried pork drenched in sauce was kinda addictive. Those yellow pickles on the side were invigoratingly sour. 

Here was a point I got a little confused. I ordered something call yulmu daenjang bibimbab on the menu which translated to a bibimbap with summer radishes. I didn't know what were the blacked out parts in Korean. The confusion was - yulmu from what I could tell is Job's tears. Didn't sound like that was in my bowl. Later on I found out that it might have been yeolmu instead. 

As far as I could tell, there weren't any radishes in the bibimbap......

......and I thought I had I ended up with a regular vegetable bibimbap. Not that it tasted bad. I emptied the seaweed and kimchi from the banchan, squeezed in some gochujang and ended up with a fermented bean-y spicy vegetable rice with a lot of crunch.

Mee Pok Time, ABC Brickworks Food Centre

I remember this particular stall (#01-120 ABC Brickworks Food Centre, 6 Jalan Bukit Merah) being Hosay Mee Pok after their relocation from Cantonment in one of the previous times I was here. It has now become Mee Pok Time, selling similar items. Did they rebrand?

Anyways, I got their $8 bowl of their signature mee pok. The noodle texture was still not great in my opinion but at least it wasn't overcooked, didn't really clump and their chilli made it savoury. 

If my memory serves, this tasted pretty much like Hosay when they were at Cantonment. Same sweetness from the cabbage. With the familiar slices of pork, clams, scallops, bits of pork liver and tasty prawn cakes. I had initially thought that there was minced pork in the soup but it turned out that they were stuffings from wanton which had their skin broken when they were rigorously boiling the soup. Right? Or did they just throw in wanton skins? 

Sheng Li Nasi Lemak, Beauty World Food Centre

We were here early in the morning and this stall (#04-63 Beauty World Centre, 144 Upper Bukit Timah Road) selling nasi lemak was opened when most of the rest weren't. Rustic, if it would appropriately describe, would be what it was. No frills and generic ingredients that had home made appearances and taste. Otah wasn't spicy and was a little stiff while that hot dog was room temperature. Did the job as fuel for the day. At least the rice was salted enough that the brought out the flavour of the coconut in it. Unlike some others. Like what a particular vlogger might ask, would I travel across Singapore for this? That would be an unequivocal no.

Another round at Hui Ji Fishball Noodles (輝記魚圓麵) on their turf

I thought I would have another go at Hui Ji's noodles since it wasn't a good gauge the last time as I had packed them home. Without need for further elaboration, most of us would know that noodles in general don't survive take away very well. I wanted to see how it would be if I ordered and ate almost immediately after.

The verdict was that the noodles were much better but they were still not the doneness that I usually prefer. Would have liked more bite on them. What bothered me a little was that in spite of the chillis and whatnots, there was still that bit of sweetness in them from the dressing. Wasn't as savoury as I prefer. Sugars hidden somewhere that I could detect. Maybe it's their chilli sauce. It's a decent bowl of noodles for sure. I'm just not a fan.

The purple uni soba incident at Healthy Soba IKI

This happened at an event by Healthy Soba IKI where they brought in purple uni for their soba and a bunch of wines to pair their food with. If anyone was wondering, only the spines of the sea urchin are purple. The gonads are still yellow.

The event also included a bunch of normally off the menu items like duck rillette......

......and burrata with toasted buckwheat and Kampot pepper. There only other toppings on this besides those were some thinly sliced negi, salt and EVOO. The nutty toasted buckwheat were very good pairing with the burrata. 

We tried some creamy slices of chilled foie gras with balsamic vinegar glaze.

The main event was the chilled purple uni soba. Soba was topped with lemon zest, EVOO, strips of nori and shirasu. So the flavours were umami and refreshing at the same time. Because of the zest, the flavour had more intensity than their regular lemon soba.

We ordered some cheeses. Again, something that's not on the regular menu. There's Comte and....I don't know what's the other two but they were creamy and stinky so I liked them.