Revisiting Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee

We're back for more curries and post lunch coma inducing stuff at Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee.

Tried the beef rendang today. Meat was dry and a little tough and if you asked me, it was largely saved by the gravy. Wouldn't get this again. The mutton rendang was much better.

Kang kong's pretty decent.

Their sambal goreng, for a lack of better descriptions, tasted Chinese. Firm crunchy beans and chunks of prawns in there. The latter I have never encountered in the commonly found Malay renditions of sambal goreng.

I like their curried chicken liver/gizzards. Loved that the gizzards were tender and not the crunchy type.

Our begedil today didn't come from a freshly fried batch like the last time. These ones were cold and had more muted flavours from the chicken and black pepper compared to the hot ones. That could be the reason why these things are thought of differently. 

Cucumber salad.

This was the best dish today - sambal fried fish. The sambal was slightly sweet and not very spicy. What made this dish was how crispy the surface was and how freshly fried it tasted with a delicious seasoning on the flour that coated it. I liked that flavour but how to describe it eludes me. Meat was not dry at all.

Astons Specialities, Cross Street Exchange

We learnt of this branch of Astons Specialities (#01-105 Cross Street Exchange, 18 Cross Street, tel : +65 6970 8177) some time ago while we were in the vicinity and had wanted to see if they were on par with the Cathay branch. We've ended up at Zazz Pizza every time we've been in this building. Until now. 😬

They have Spanish chestnut pork on menu. Looked to be a limited time item so we tried. The meat was bone on, pleasantly tender and had delicious bits of fat around for flavour. I hope this pork stays on for much longer because I would love to get it again.

Trying their cheeseburger for the first time. Pretty hefty and basic. I liked that there wasn't much to mess up that cheeseburger profile flavour. A couple of things bothered me. The cheese wasn't melted onto the patty when they served the burger - not a biggie but that kinda revealed that they had likely rested the meat before putting on the cheese rather than having the cheese on while the meat was still on the grill. Unless it was the latter and the cheese still hadn't melted. 😱

The other thing was that the burger came with a salad. I know that they're a business and sometimes they need to charge us for a side which some might not appreciate. I would much prefer it if they allowed us to choose a side we wanted (like what they do for their other plates) rather than force the salad on us.

Mansor D'Cafe, Far East Plaza

Pretty good nasi padang stall (#04-34 Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road, tel : +65 9421 7005) tucked at a corner in Far East Plaza. There was a lot more dishes than we could have tried in a single seating. A few things were memorable. Liked that fried fish (ikan selar goreng) because it was sizeable enough to be meaty. Sambal goreng had a creamy savoury sweet sauce and large chunky pieces of tofu in it. That lemak cili padi gravy that was ladled over the rice was rich tasting and packed a respectable heat at the same time. Gotta come back another time. 

Where Kopifellas doesn't measure up

So like every other such business that has done well enough for themselves to have branches, quality more often than not meets inconsistency because the coffee's standards are pegged largely to the maker - not the branding. Today's coffee looked good, smelled good but didn't taste as good as the smell suggested. Was more enjoyable the last time when it was another brewer. Also I've had a taste of the butter they used from their butter sugar toast. Pretty generous slice between the bread but kinda lacking in that butteriness.

Another go at Meng Kee Fried Kway Teow

I decided to give Meng Kee another try for a couple of reasons. This place is constantly hailed as one of the better char kuey teow and that I had just recently caught the episode of Greg's Big Eats featuring this place. That got me thinking so I thought I could give it another chance. A hum-less $5 plate with chilli. Nope, not impressed with the plate. A decent plate? I could go with that. But it wasn't exceptional. At all. Not getting the smokiness or char on the noodles that people described. Dark soy sauce wasn't especially rich nor fragrant either.  

Zaiton Satay, Adam Road Food Centre

There were a couple of stalls selling satay in the food centre and we ended up getting some from Zaiton Satay (#01-14 Adam Road Food Centre, 2 Adam Road). Their satay weren't as caramelized as I would have preferred so some texture and flavour were missing without those carcinogenic burnt ends. Heh! Still, they were pretty tender and moreish with the sweet marinade - notably the mutton ones which were better tasting than what I had imagined. Liked that the viscous dip had sufficient crushed peanuts.