Jia Yuan Eating House, Tanjong Pagar MRT

I found out about this place (B1-29/49 Tanjong Pagar MRT Station, 120 Maxwell Rd, tel : +65 9712 0259) recently. Though I've never been much around this section of Tanjong Pagar Station, I am pretty sure it used to be another eatery previously because I'd quite possibly remember if I had seen a stall that claims "Singapore Best Craved Creamy Salted Egg Rice".

I didn't get the salted creamy salted egg. This was the creamy butter (奶油) chicken rice. Definitely creamy and it was also less sweet than I had imagined. That with the aroma from the curry leaves [lus spikes of heat from the bits of chilli padi in the sauce. Didn't taste bad but I don't think I would crave for it again. Maybe the salted egg one is nicer?

Baba Chews, Katong Square

Baba Chews (#01-01 Katong Square, 86 East Coast Road, tel : +65 6723 2025) is...Peranakan. I guess. If I had to venture with my observations, there's western influences, perhaps a shade of Japanese with a tiny breath of Chinese and Thai. As rojak as this nation is. 

Was intrigued by their kopi c spare ribs. That sauce was more coffee than most Chinese cze char coffee pork ribs out there. Which was a good thing if you're wondering. But I'm not sure it's kopi c I tasted. Pretty nice sweet slaw with pineapples and I also kinda liked the crispy dough fritters (油条) they sprinkled on top.

What didn't work out for me was how the ribs were cooked. Not slide off the bone tender like well done barbecued ribs. I wished it were. Meat's lean and a little dry. Pity.

That's chicken rendang lasagne. I had in mind a Malay sort of rendang but maybe this was of a Peranakan rempah recipe. The dish didn't taste bad as whole but......we'll leave it at that.

Scallop Sticks Tempura Soba from Tokyo Soba

Been a while since we were last at Tokyo Soba. We were drawn in by their "scallop sticks tempura" bowl which featured fried scallops on sticks. The texture of their soba and their smoky tsuyu were still fantastic by the way.

One of the stick of scallops was curry flavoured. Batter's a little thicker than I prefer but otherwise, they were just scallops. We did also order some fried natto which I didn't get a picture of. Those were much nicer. Will come back for those again. Note to self : get the portion upgrade the next time.

Yi Pin Beef King (一品牛腩王), People's Park Food Centre

This was another stall (#01-1074 People's Park Food Centre, 32 New Market Road) I've been curious about for a while because their beef noodles weren't part of the more commonly available Hainanese, Teochew or Taiwanese variety. They're Chinese for sure but I'm not sure specifically which style. This was the tendon with soup kuey teow. The cuts of the tendon were rustic and the broth...I'm at a loss with how to describe the taste because it wasn't particularly beefy compared to the other local bowls.

What was different about them was that they had white vinegar you could help yourself to. A generous dash of that and the broth kinda soared with its flavours. Nice. Will come back another time to try something else. 

早餐好了 (Breakfast Hola), South Bridge Road

Came across Breakfast Hola (280 South Bridge Road, tel : +65 81185263) recently. They're one of numerous Taiwanese 小吃/breakfast spots that's mushroomed lately. This one is just across the main road from Jin Yu Man Tang Dessert Shop (金玉满堂甜品). 

I ordered their strawberry & egg 吐司 thinking that there were real strawberries in it. It was just strawberry jam. Silly me? Didn't taste bad with the cucumbers though.

That's the 蛋餅 with spicy chai por. There's a bit of heat but nothing that I would break sweat over. It was the most Asian tasting item we ordered - not bad but it was also not anything I'm going to miss. Never been to Taiwan or had 蛋餅 beyond the local 士林台灣小吃 so I don't know if these were supposed to be anything like the originals.

Coffee took a long time to arrive. It was milky but didn't have the strength I was looking for. Tasted quite similar to those you can get from Hans.

Bacon and peanut butter club sandwich - too little peanut butter so don't think it's well done. The peanut butter component was important because that was why I ordered it. Not a bad tasting sandwich as a whole but we're getting the feels at this point that all the food we ordered was a little sweet.

包天下 (Bao Tian Xia), People's Park Complex

Have noticed 包天下 (#01-K99E People's Park Complex, 1 Park Road) for some time now and have been curious about their hefty looking 肉夹馍.  

We've had 肉夹馍 with stir fried pork strips and shredded/minced pork. 包天下's was stuffed with strips of braised pork belly. It's delicious with the flavour of the braising sauce but I kinda miss the cumin in all of it. 😬

Pretty generous with the stuffings there. There's option for chilli which I thought enhanced the flavours of the stewed pork in the bun. Remember to let them know if you don't want coriander (香菜).