Mee pok 白 from Ah Seng Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle (亞誠潮州肉脞面)

This was a bowl of 白 mee pok with vinegar. I wanted to see if it's good with just the slice red chilli but those chilli weren't marinated in the light soy sauce like the last time. They were cut and stored separately so that's another different taste. Anyways, this wasn't as outstanding as the regular bowl with chilli sauce that I had previously so I'm gonna stick with that configuration in the future. Perhaps will try the mee kia next.

Viet9 Baguette, Toa Payoh Central

I was introduced to this bánh mì stall (#01-280, 183 Toa Payoh Central) recently. Looked promising.

Not much beyond bánh mì on the menu but that suited me fine because I was only interested the bánh mì.

Got their special which basically meant every meat they had to offer. Sans coriander/cilantro. I liked that they toasted the baguette after they assembled so that it was light, crisp and airy. Didn't look like much on the surface.

There's a bunch of meats/cold cuts hidden inside that's spiced up and packed some heat from their chilli sauce. Pretty damn tasty. I'm gonna come back again.

More pasta and pizza from Zazz Pizza

We're back at Zazz Pizza.

That's their grilled Brie with prosciutto. I felt compelled to order it for some reason but it's probably because of the Brie and prosciutto. It looked generic as a starter but there was more to it than meets the eye.

There's pear. Not in skinny slivers or thin slices mind you. Each roll of the prosciutto had a meaty slice of the grilled fruit which were warm and roast-y. Great flavour pairing with the cheese and ham. Oh, there's house made fig jam and balsamic glaze too.

Fettuccine bolognese was nicely done. I liked that the meaty ragu wasn't too tart from the tomato and had a solid savoury base for flavour. Texture of the pasta had a nice bite.

We had their meat lover pizza today. Not bad but also not as memorable as the previous ones we had. Not complaining here.

Affogato to finish.

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.