Christmas salmon and coleslaw at Han's

Saw this on their menu and thought they had gotten their act together by actually coming up with something that looked like it was worth a try. They did put on an act instead of getting it together. Getting professional product shots of products that actually don't look like the pictures. I should have known, right?

Didn't taste anything remotely honey garlic in it. I don't think it was a sour cream sauce either. A sour cream smudge on the salmon sounded more accurate. That cranberry almond "crust" - I saw them carefully pour out dried cranberries and almond flakes onto that smudge of sour cream. That was the "crust". Fish was dry. Carrots and broccoli were unsalted and hard but I think we all know that's just their signature. Hard and bland broccoli and baby carrots.

I'm not sure why the coleslaw is on the Xmas menu. Should be a mainstay and half of what they were charging because it was actually decent.

Ru Ji Kitchen (如記小厨), Redhill Food Centre

I got a bowl from Ru Ji Kitchen (#01-25, Redhill Food Centre, 85 Redhill Lane) today mostly because the queue was short(er). These guys here were pretty generous with their chilli and it resulted in a different experience from the stall at Holland Drive. I wouldn't say that it tasted bad but it was definitely excessive. I have a distinct impression that I like the bowl from Holland Drive better. 

Fifty Yong Tau Foo (五十年釀豆腐), Holland Drive Food Centre

Tried Fifty Yong Tau Foo (#02-37 Holland Drive Market & Food Centre, 44 Holland Drive) because they looked pretty good. Queue was almost as daunting as Ru Ji Kitchen but I've to admit that it was worth the wait. A certain elderly gentleman commented that back in the 50s, there weren't fried stuff to be had with yong tau foo. We both agreed that the name took certain liberties but it didn't change the fact that this was a good eat. I like the noodles here better than Hakka Noodle.

Pretty happy with those meatballs, stuffed bean curd and dumplings. There's a bunch of stuff they sprinkled over the noodles which had texture like minced meat but flavour like fried shallots. What are those? 

A re-revisit to MTR 1924 that's been a long time coming

It's been some years since we've eaten at MTR 1924 (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六). The last time was back in 2017. Menu's changed a little so that presented a tiny problem. We'd be overwhelmed by the choices again since there's new stuff to explore and old stuff in the background beckons. 

The strategy was to get a bunch of stuff we haven't had before and also not to neglect the oldies.

Oldies like their delicious and hearty bisibele bath which was in no way diminished compared to what we had in the past. I've just learnt that there is nutmeg in this. Still satisfying like how we remembered it. 

The same could be said for their competent masala dosa.

Getting their rava idly still makes me a little skittish because of the chopped bits of coriander in the steamed rice cake. Today's look greener and fresher than usual. 😅

Thankfully as with previous experiences, the coriander flavour was mild to non-existent. Especially true when it's eaten with chutney and those wonderful drizzles of ghee.

This is where the stuff that we haven't had before begins - the shavige bath. Yes it's vermicelli and looks like bee hoon. There're bits of bell peppers, long beans, mustard seed, cashew, lemon and shredded coconut. And probably a couple of other stuff I've overlooked. Flavour's mild in spite of the colour intensity but that being said, it was delicious.

This was their rasam vada. Pretty sure it's been around on the menu for forever because it's just a vada in rasam. Great flavouring from the tangy broth. Was surprised that a large part of the dense fluffy insides of the vada wasn't soaked through.

Pudi idly - I'm guessing that's another way to call podi. A salty spice powder packed with heat mixed with ghee I think, coats these mini idlys. This was the spiciest item we've had here so far and I love it for the buttery heat on the rice cakes.

Interesting, this was call 'buns'. Looked like a non-oily poori...or hum chim pang. Skin's thicker than both of those and was a little sweet. We ordered this because the ingredient listed bananas and it did have a faint banana taste. Served with coconut chutney. Nice.

That's a kashaya - a drink that was said to be spicy and bitter when we ordered it. Tried it out of curiosity. From what the menu described, it's a milk based drink with ginger, pepper, cumin and coriander seeds. The flavour reminded me of Po Chai pills (保濟丸) or guilin gao (龜苓膏). Took a while for me to reconcile that Chinese herbal flavour with the colour and that it was a spiced drink from an Indian restaurant. 

Two Men Bagel House, Royal Square @ Novena

First visit to Two Men Bagel House ( 一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十 十一 十二 十三 十四 十五 十六 十七, 十八) at Novena (#01-04 Royal Square, 103 Irrawaddy Road, tel : +65 6251 6601). Have been to the one at Holland Village a couple of times but most of the time it's been the Tanjong Pagar shop. Gonna try to hit the Joo Chiat branch some day for the buah keluak bagel. 

Lox is probably one of the better bagel to try their blueberry bagel. Noticed that my sunny side up was almost invisible in it. Like the strawberry bagel, the blueberry's subtle in the background.

This was another blueberry with lamb char siew and smoked pineapple. Not the most tender of lamb but they've never gotten their lamb really tender in the first place. There's a bit of that lamb-y flavour but it's mostly masked by the sweet char siew sauce. There was indeed smokiness in those pineapples. Now that I've tried this, won't be getting it again.

Angry Tomato Tsukemen from Marutama

Marutama has a limited time Angry Tomato Tsukemen. Noodles with shell on mussels, clams, olives, cherry tomatoes and asparagus. Together with the cheese that's shaven table side and the garlicky tomato dip, it looked like they were going for the Italian flavour profile. Noodles weren't the usual thick tsukemen type but more like thicker mee pok.

All the rage came though, from the bottle of Tabasco Scorpion Sauce. Seriously extra hot as the label puts it and supposedly going at 23,000-33,000 SHUs which is 8-10x hotter than Tabasco. Packs a serious burn once you have shaken enough in.