牛肉炒面 from Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles (舌尖尖兰州牛肉面)

Hadn't noticed that there was stir fried beef noodles (牛肉炒面) from Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles but then again, we haven't been eating here for a while. The savoury spices/sauce reminded me of a milder rendition of Xinjiang/Xi'an styled noodles or those from Dolan Uyghur Restaurant. Less intense without those heavy cumin accents. I enjoyed it still. Note to self : forget their braised eggs the next time. No flavour from the braising sauce.

Hualong Fishhead Steamboat (華龍魚頭爐), Clementi

My attention was drawn to this cze char stall (#01-129, 325 Clementi Ave 5) after seeing the Yangzhou fried rice on a neighbouring table. Real char siew. So we got ourselves an order which was served with tell tale scorch marks on the grains of rice but it was a little oilier than I liked and not as tasty as the one from Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen.

Also tried their Golden Roll. The menu described it with salted egg (couldn't taste/see it), century egg, luncheon meat (cheap pink slime ham perhaps, not luncheon meat), squid paste, chopped fresh prawns (were those even there?!) and chestnuts (really?). Didn't taste half as impressive as the the description. There I was imagining something along the lines of those crab and liver rolls from Spring Court.

Their kang kong stir fried in fermented bean curd (腐乳) was good though. Loved that pungent saltiness pairing with the spikes of heat from the sliced bits of chilli padi in there with the crunch of the vegetables. What I didn't like were the slivers of ginger which I thought was unnecessary.

OK Chicken Rice, Havelock Road

While this wasn't the best of times to get chicken rice, OK Chicken Rice (#01-06, 51 Havelock Road) was just disappointing. Even in this fresh chicken drought, I've had better. My order came with possibly the most boney chicken thigh I've had. Portions were measly and the meat was dry. Good thing I didn't pay extra for the kampong chicken which would have cost almost $2 more.

Satay from them was not great as well. There was barely any char on the skewered meat and I don't think these guys used a charcoal grill because there wasn't any of that grill aroma as well. Will not be back again.

A Melton Mowbray pork pie from Marks & Spencer

First time we've seen these at Marks & Spencer so we bought one to try at home. Melton Mowbray pork pies are named after Melton Mowbray, a town in Leicestershire. We took ours out one day for an English-y cheese and pie and tomato soup lunch.

It is said that they were popularized amongst fox hunters from their region of origins. I'd take that tail tale, not the pie, with a pinch of salt from easily Google-able sources. There's probably more to it. From what I gathered, these pies are recommended to be eaten cold - or room temperature.

So we took it out from the fridge 30 mins - 1 hr before to "warm" them up. The distinct feature of a Melton Broway pie is the shape of its hand formed crust. They're under Protected Designation of Origin; so supposedly only pies made around a designated zone around Melton using the traditional recipe including uncured pork, are allowed to carry the Melton Mowbray name.

Not bad tasting meaty pork pies. Couldn't get much of the jellied pork stock. Crust was a lot less buttery than I had imagined and understandably so, it is not crisp.

Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen (砂煲小厨), Chinatown Food Centre

I've heard about Claypot & Cooked Food Kitchen (#02-083 Chinatown Food Centre, 335 Smith Street) for some years now and every time I've passed by their stall they appear to be closed. In recent months, I've discovered that they don't do weekends. They're popular with a bunch of more mature discerning palates and certain circles of foodies who appreciate old school flavours coaxed from skilful mastery behind the kitchen and wok. Have been so for some time from what I gather.

Because I was alone I could only order something that was single serving, hence, their fried rice. There's only one fried rice on their menu and it's listed as Salted Fish Char Siew Shrimp Fried Rice at the front of the stall. There're also bean sprouts in it. If you peer a little closer, you'd notice the bits of scorch marks on the grains of rice that indicate high heat searing from the stir fry.

I dug out a couple of prawns and they use real char siew (as opposed to crab sticks or those lower form blobs that imitate crab sticks). Definitely infused with wok hei. Great pairing with their sambal on the side. Very solid plate of local styled fried rice with standards I haven't had in a while. For $4.50.

I came back the next day. Wanted to get ee meen (伊面) but they didn't have it so I settled for the seafood hor fun. Did not expect it to be served in a claypot. It's not bad. Notable aspects included mild smokiness from the scorched rice noodles and two large prawns. While I recognize that this was a cut above most of the seafood hor fun out there, I wouldn't say I was impressed.

Just when I was about to write the rice noodles off, a thought came to mind. The sambal for the fried rice from yesterday sounded like what was needed to awaken this claypot of hor fun. And it did.

Re-visiting Joyden Canton Kitchen

I wanted to come back to Joyden Canton Kitchen for their smoky hak gam olive fried rice (黑金梅州炒饭). Still delicious as I remember it with the savoury dark soya sauce profile and preserved olive leaves that's peppered with bits sweetness from the pork floss.

Today was also a chance to try their sliced red grouper fillet in Chinese rice wine soup which I spied the last time. Nice. Google search identifies pine mushroom listed for this dish on their menu as matsutake but these aren't so I'm not sure what kind they are. There's wood ear fungus in it as well so the ingredients are not bad. 

Don't think they do great roast duck here. The skin's lacking crisp while there isn't enough fat underneath for flavour. Meat's also not as tender and for the price tag, it wasn't unreasonable to expected better. Will not be getting this again.