Putien in June

Came back to try some of the new dishes we noticed from the last time. (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九, 十, 十一, 十二)

Braised tofu. Something we've had before. This felt right today.

The iced bitter gourd strips appear to be larger these days. Not complaining. Wonderfully refreshing with the honey dip.

Broke out of the soursop juice cycle and landed ourselves their orange juice instead. It's creamy for some reasons.

Seasonal vegetables with their century & salted egg infused superior sauce.

One of the new dishes was braised pork intestines in Chinese sauerkraut soup (酸菜大肥肠). Broth was awesomely sour, savoury and spicy at the same time which made it moreish. Those slices of pork intestines were both tender and chewy. Would definitely come back for this.

Their crispy boneless beef rib was another new item. Not bad tasting. There was a nice beefy flavour on the meat and while it was deep fried with a crust, it wasn't excessively greasy at all. Their home made red wine black pepper sauce on the side definitely helped with the moisture since the exposed meat dried up pretty quickly. A tad expensive as well. With the gamut of reliable mainstays that's already in their menu, I don't think this one will be revisited. 

Niu Dian Beef Noodles (牛店), Holland Village

牛店's a pretty new Taiwanese beef noodle shop that's started business some months ago at Balestier. This was their shop at Holland Village (15A Lorong Liput). 

For some reasons, I thought their braised tofu (热花干) might be good. They weren't bad. Tofu was served with chopped spring onions. While at it, I noticed a meaty flavour in their chilli paste which the restaurant later explained was made with beef fat. Nice with the tofu.

This was their combination specialty bowl (满福牛肉面). The cuts of beef were pretty tender and flavourful. Pretty impressed by their golden coin (腱子心) which were possibly the best we've had by far. Noodles were fine.

I'm on the fence about the broth. There was a sweetness in it that I noticed which I would have preferred not there. A sweetness that I've never recalled in the beef broth from back in the days of Lai Lai, any time at Din Tai Fung or in the recent years from Abundance.

More food from So Good Char Chan Tang at 100AM

Back at So Good @ 100AM with dry hor fun & char siew. Rice noodles came with some oyster sauce but adding their roasted chilli sauce on top of that makes them awesome. 

Luncheon meat and egg sandwich was not bad. Pretty sure the luncheon meat from Tsui Wah tastes nicer though

Unexpected pleasant milky bitterness from their coffee sans sugar. I always assumed that their coffee would be weak. While it wasn't the robust brew that Toast Box hits you with, this wasn't half bad. Will not ignore their coffee the next time.

Binky Star, Havelock Road

I noticed Binky Star (729 Havelock Road) quite a while ago. They're an ice cream/waffle shop located along the stretch of shophouses where Starter Lab and Boon Keng New Taste are. We've never stepped in until recently where we got a couple of scoops of their ice cream. Coffee Asteroids was a great flavour by the way with the robust coffee flavour and crunch from bits of nuts and chocolate. Chocolate Sorbet was also pretty refreshing.

We came back to try their waffles which were made to order. Nice crisp on those. Topped them up with a few scoops. Like banana with roasted nuts, black sesame and taro with coconut milk. They were all delicious. Definitely looking forward to coming back for more waffle and ice cream. The little pot that came with the waffles was honey or maple syrup with citrus rinds. 

Breakfast at Old Chang Kee Coffee House

This was our first time eating at Old Chang Kee's Coffee House (#01-36, 1 Tanjong Pagar Plaza, tel : +65 6444 1735). We've previously been here and bought their steamed curry bao to go. 

We got a couple of them today because they're not bad tasting. Personally think they're a better eat than their curry puffs if I wanted their curry chicken whatevers.

That's their blue pea nasi lemak with dry chicken curry. That dry chicken curry didn't taste like how I remembered it at Curry Times which I assumed to be using the exact same recipe since both places are owned by Old Chang Kee. Peanuts aren't toast-y and the ikan bilis tasted like it came from a packet - both of which needed the sambal to be decent. Rice was okay tasting. In retrospect looking at prices that they charge, I'd say that Ponggol Nasi Lemak is a better way to spend one's money. 

Lee Lai Jiak (李来呷), Tiong Bahru Plaza

Lee Lai Jiak (#02-105 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road, tel : +65 6518 4519) is a relatively new Taiwanese fast food joint that's taken over the space previously occupied by Old Street Bak Kut Teh in Tiong Bahru Plaza - just next door to Tongue Tip Lanzhou Beef Noodles and a coin's flick from Ramen Hitoyoshi.

They do popular representatives of Taiwanese food on rice plates which the restaurant term as "bento". Which also kind means that their options bring nothing new to the table. They're selling pretty much the same stuff as every other Taiwanese joint that's been around since....Peng Lai Ge, Lai Lai and Ryoriya Sangokushi/Sun King Ryoriya which actually have better variety as eateries.

I'm not dissing the food. They're not bad tasting. I liked those pickles/salted vegetables which was great pairing with the food especially the rice. Everything we had was fine. Except for the soggy deep fried pork chop from their Railway Bento soaked in the sweet/tangy sauce which I wasn't fond of.