Unagi Tei - formerly known as Man Man Japanese Unagi Restaurant

Yes they are that unagi shop known as Man Man which has been rebranded into Unagi Tei because according to them, they also bring in nodoguro now other than just unagi. I don't understand why but it is what it is. We've eaten at their other outlets at Duo Galleria and Clarke Quay over the years so here's a jump pad to their unagi-verse. (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七)

But first a Suntory kuro.

Man Man had gotten progressively less appealing throughout the years. They used to be more impressive at their start when there was just the regular unagi don and later the hitsumabushi. When the combo hitsumabishi came into the picture, the value of those bowls I felt dropped considerably because it no longer represented good value.

I get suckered in once in a while with those combo hitsumabushi bowls. The only one that I have thought worth the trip was probably the bowl with hotaru ika. I got suckered in this time by the one with kinmedai. The fish didn't have the flavour or texture as what I was expecting. It didn't taste bad. It just didn't give me that kinmedai experience.

This kimo don was probably one of those that was still satisfying because it was to the point. Just grilled kabayaki and eel liver in the sweet glaze with tamago.

Old Shifu Charcoal Porridge (老师父火炭粥), Seng Poh Road

The owner of Ah Chiang's Porridge set up a new porridge shop Old Shifu Charcoal Porridge (#01-17, 58 Seng Poh Road, tel : +65 8201 8668) at the premise where Xun Qin Ji (寻秦记) used to be. From what I've learnt, his business partner used to run Sapporo Ramen Miharu - which has since become Kinya Izakaya & Ramen. Said partner no longer owns the ramen business and I postulate that is probably why it has fallen from the ramen-ya it was. 

Porridge is kinda similar to the one at Ah Chiang. Ah Chiang's might have a thicker consistency. This was the one with meatball. The meatballs seem to be nicer at Ah Chiang. Also, I can't tell what makes charcoal cooked porridge different.

Pretty disturbed by their three egg porridge (regular, century and salted if you didn't know). It has ginger and coriander in it. Who the fuck puts ginger and coriander into egg porridge? The salted egg was strangely, not salty. Could barely detect the regular eggs. I wanted to leave the bowl untouched. Note to self : gotta tell them to omit all ginger and coriander next time!

In my not so humble opinion it's a much wiser option to get another porridge and add egg(s) rather than to get this particular bowl for the eggs. Why? That gets you the raw egg which they crack into the bowl which will swirl beautifully in the porridge. Won't over cook and will enhance the taste with a richness.

Stir fried kung bao frog legs were not bad. I think there were some parts that looked like the spines as well. Decent kung bao sauce that had that smoky sweet and spice which could be drizzled into the porridge. While that sauce wasn't as robust as certain claypot renditions of kung bao frog legs, I'd wouldn't mind this as a substitute.

There's salmon yu sheng.

And some super nice fried fish roe. I think their secret is in their batter which was thin and crisp, covering those thin strips of roe with a good flavoured batter to roe ratio.

Kopi di lo was drinkable stuff.

Great Wall Chicken Rice (长城鸡饭), Toa Payoh Central

Okay-ish tasting chicken rice from Great Wall Chicken Rice (#01-316, 183 Toa Payoh Central). The chicken livers were pretty creamy but the flavour of their rice was just passable and not something memorable that I'll be looking forward to coming back for. Chicken meat (I got 鸡尾) was not bad tasting. Not a fan of their chilli though as it was a little more gingery than I prefer so the dark soya sauce works for me here. They gave a light tasting chicken soup on the side - drinkable stuff but nothing to get excited about.

A bowl from Li Xin (立兴潮州鱼圆面) at Breadtalk IHQ

Here's a bowl of fishball mee pok 白 from Li Xin (#01-06/08 Food Republic, BreadTalk IHQ, 30 Tai Seng Street) at the branch in the food court at the BreadTalk building. 白 works with their bowl because of the crispy (猪油渣) and rendered (猪油) lard that they put into their bowls. Pairing that with their soy sauce marinated sliced red chilli was just the thing I wanted to spike the bowl with some sharpness. The additional minced pork was $1.20 though. 😱 

You might be wondering where's that lard I was talking about. They were hidden at the bottom of the bowl so after it's all tossed up, the melange of flavours and textures from the various ingredients were what made it rock. Nothing life changing but a pretty solid bowl of delicious fishball noodles. I wished that it was bigger though.

Lye Bo Roast (黎寶燒味), Alexandra Village Food Centre

Pretty decent char siew and roast pork rice from Lye Bo (#01-27 Alexandra Village Food Centre, 120 Bukit Merah Lane 1). I asked for no sauce and the proprietress agreeably responded that it would be good without because the char siew was already fatty. She did offer a drizzle of dark soy sauce which I had already intended. I guess we both agreed that there was no need to mask what already sufficed. That toasted chilli on the side was not bad too. Will try the noodles the next time.

Steamed egg with durian from Ah Chew Desserts

Just so that you know, one can request to add durian into the steamed egg dessert from Ah Chew. But because their steamed egg isn't particularly eggy, the durian does kinda overwhelm the flavour. Not complaining here.