Fu Ji (福記) Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice, Bukit Timah Food Centre

Hmm...a pretty good chicken rice from Fu Ji (#02-191 Bukit Timah Food Centre, 51 Upper Bukit Timah Road). This was a plate of ji wei (鸡尾). I detected a light garlicky sweetness from something they drizzled over the meat which seeped into the rice. Nicely done tender chicken with a layer of jelly beneath the skin. There's the bonus of it being boneless. Pretty good chilli as well. I'm thinking that I need to eat this again another time.

Roti plaster from Tanglin Halt Roti Prata & Nasi Briyani

Here's a roti plaster from Tanglin Halt Roti Prata & Nasi Briyani. With assam fish curry. I liked the crusty crisp on the edges of the folds and rims that's always a good pairing with the tender chewiness on the other parts of the griddled dough. If only the fried eggs had a more molten yolk.

Leng Kee (龍記) Fish Soup after all these years

Story time. There used to be a bunch of roadside hawker stalls just at the back of Fairprice along Beo Crescent. I remember that spot being dark and dingy. What was etched deeper in my mind's recesses was eating satay there as a kid and that satay stall there was my first experience with the pineapple sauce that stalls serve with their satay. Said satay stall also sold fish soup. As a kid, I never bother with names.

I've only learnt from my dad that the above mentioned satay stall was Leng Kee. The fish soup I thought I had only been introduced to a decade ago when in truth I had been eating for far longer was that same Leng Kee. The satay stall and the fish soup stall had separated some time after they had relocated to Bukit Timah Food Centre. Anyways, I got myself a bowl today. Still great slices of fish in that broth perfumed gently with ti poh and fried shallots that I always felt was delicious.

Song Fa Bak Kut Teh (松發肉骨茶), Chinatown Point

We haven't had Song Fa Bak Kut Teh for years. Not since the one near Clark Quay. Yes, it was that long ago. I remember not being impressed by their bak kut teh. But we have heard good things about them occasionally through the years and they did sound like a good idea in this recent cool weather. That and we wanted to find another go to after the last disappointing experience with the declining Old Street Bak Kut Teh. So we thought why not another chance? (#01-04 Chinatown Point, 133 New Bridge Road, tel : +65 6443 1033)

These guys actually have a beer to their name now. That'll be Song Fa x The 1925 Brewing Co, the latter a local brewery, with the King's Garden Ale. What intrigued me about this brew was the chrysanthemum, oolong and green tea in it. Didn't taste very complex but I found myself liking the sweetish floral flavour. 

We had slice pork tenderloin. These were really tender.

Not bad tasting fish in bak kut teh broth.

Pickled mustard which was a killer with their steamed rice.

Pretty decent braised chicken claw they did. Claws were fried well and braised to a slurp off the bone tenderness. Tau kee was also nice.

Tau pok wasn't bad too.

Not a fan of their dough fritters (油条) which were too crispy and hard.

That's braised pig intestines and pork belly. Not bad.

Needed some greens and kailan sounded good.

Gotta have rice with all those dishes. Like I said, those pickled mustard alone were good enough for me to inhale a bowl. The food was on the whole a lot more enjoyable than what I remembered of it from our last time. I guess it was a good idea that we gave it another chance.

Hock Le Xiang (福乐香), Bukit Timah Food Centre

I was recommended this stall (#02-152 Bukit Timah Food Centre, 51 Upper Bukit Timah Road) for their poh piah and these were not bad tasting. While it looked very sauced up beneath the skin, they weren't as sweet as I had imagined. The roll that had chilli was also less spicy than I expected. Wrapping was a little loose that the rolls fell apart when I picked them up with chopsticks. This was possibly the first time I've had such thick ones sliced into only 3 segments. 

Don't mind eating them again but I'll probably also want to try their rojak the next time.

Wen Ge Charcoal Delights (文哥烧腊), Bukit Merah View

These guys (116 Bukit Merah View) are the roast meats stall located at the same coffee shop as Tian Tian Hainanese Curry Rice (天天海南咖哩飯). What piqued my interest about them was that they had mala three treasure noodle (麻辣三宝面).

I kinda enjoyed it. Just as I had suspected, it wasn't very 辣 and does not 麻 at all. It was that Szechuan peppercorn flavour in their blend of chilli paste they used which gave a hint of mala flavour and that was pretty much it. Couldn't even content with the sweetness from those sausages or from the burnt ends of the char siew - both of which were nice by the way. Roast pork was respectably tender and meaty. Will come back another time.