Yuzu tonkotsu ramen from Ippudo

Ippudo has this on a limited run. A flavour infusion of yuzu in their tonkotsu broth which I found pretty good. The result was pleasant fruity tanginess that accompanied velvet smoothness. And because Ippudo's broth had always been clear, it also felt right textually. Not so different from the lime infused bushi tonkotsu and lemon tori paitan bowls from the defunct Uma Uma Ramen. I chose the "very hard" doneness for the noodles today and I liked it.

Of rice and dumplings and not rice dumplings

This will be the last time I'll be talking about the dumplings/水饺 at Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Noodle Rice (香港玫瑰油鸡麵饭). At least for a while because...well, I've said what I've wanted to already. But I figured a nice combination to order from the stall.

Just the chicken rice without chicken. Or perhaps we could just call it chicken rice kosong. Plus eggs. The lard, you'll have to help yourself to it. Good eating with their chilli sauce.

Nothing much more for me to say about their delicious 水饺 and broth. Except that....they really stuffed in a lot of shrimps. Like maybe four of them.

Did I mention four shrimps? I think I did. Now where else in the world does one find 水饺 like this? I might have gotten lucky today but still. Be prepared to wait for your order though.

Leek Hainanese Chicken Rice (力海南雞飯), Beo Crescent Food Centre

This might be the first time I've eaten at Leek at the food centre. It tasted a bit better than I remember even though there was this light gingery flavour that I'm usually not a fan of. Otherwise, they're a run of the mill chicken rice which wasn't exceptionally good or bad like what I've previously pointed out. That as they may be, I think I'll still pick them over the other stall just a block away.

More breakfast from Hajjah R.S.A

I might have overdid it a bit today at Hajjah R.S.A. because I was hungry. If anyone's wondering, it's two thosais - one with egg and the other with just ghee. Both are slathered with the sambar and coconut chutney. The fritter on top was a masala vadai which was pretty good - came with a bit of heat in the crumbly crunchiness of the fried lentil patty flavoured with aroma from green chilli. I have got to remember for the next time that getting one thosai would be good enough. That one with ghee was really nice though with all the buttery flavour.

Imma katsu

Haven't eaten at Imakatsu for a while so I ordered a cheese tonkatsu which I hadn't seen on their menu before since the rosu katsu with garlic seemed to be no longer available. Felt disappointing as a whole because it wasn't so cheesy and the tonkatsu was kinda small. Even the one from Tonkichi was nicer. I recall remarking on their slipping standards as a tonkatsu shop a few years back and this one didn't change my mind on it.

Their seafood katsu curry rice featured a couple of oysters, some dry salmon and a prawn. Not a fan of the boring salmon but the other fried items were passable. Am pretty sure that the panko breading is heavier these days than in the past. Curry was disappointing though. Lacked body and wasn't particularly aromatic. Keria as an all rounder made much better curry katsu. Imma stick to Tonkatsu by Ma Maison for the katsu fixes yet I wonder how the shop at Star Vista fares.

Master Prata, Alexandra Central Mall

We've seen Master Prata (#01-02 Alexandra Central, 321 Alexandra Road, tel : +65 8268 8210) around for a long time but haven't eaten from them until today. The place looked old school and is filled with the fumes of the grease that would cling onto your clothes. Aged and stained like an old cracked oil painting. 

Teh halia's not bad though.

The one on the left was the murtabak, not a plaster. Kosong's on the right. Their pastry is in a style that borders almost on a shallow fry and more crispy than chewy which I usually do not prefer. Presumably, there could be exceptions. But I liked that they didn't feel excessively greasy and ending up feeling heavy.

The mutton in the murtabak was marinated to the max. I could barely tell it's mutton so this would be a first and the last. Not as layered and nuanced compared to Zam Zam or Victory for sure. We had originally wanted to try their squid murtabak but squid was apparently not available today. At least it wasn't in the morning.

Thosai masala with egg and cheese wasn't that great. The potato/vegetable masala fillings were too wet. Could barely taste the cheese and egg for some reasons. But I think they did good chutneys. The left reddish one was tangy with the flavour of coriander which I had initially mistaken it for some sort of sambal. Coconut chutney on the right was pretty decent. Their sambar was also nice tasting.

That's a prata with cheese and dates. And a masala vadai.

Was served with a bowl of assam fish curry. Sweetness from the dates and the cheese made it delicious. That dense crusty masala vadai was pretty good soaked with the fish curry.