Beef murtabak from Al Tasneem

Haven't eaten at Al Tasneem in a while. Another itch scratched there with their beef murtabak. For some reasons I just need to know.

Generally speaking, I wouldn't say that it was a bad tasting murtabak. Had at least half of it without curry so that I could taste it properly. The minced beef was as undistinctive as the ones from their neighbours. Tak shiok.

Masala tea tasted dilute. It's a pale shadow of a good brew. Note to self : don't get them here again.

Half fried chicken with rice from Golden Rooster

Came back for the fried chicken rice plate from Golden Rooster. The meat appears to be more moist compared to the barbequed one. Now I'm torn between both. Noticed that the stall has some pretty large chicken legs on display. Legs much bigger than the ones on the spring chickens they're selling. 😳

Overbrød, Anchorpoint

We've been wanting to check out Overbrød (#01-14A Anchorpoint, 370 Alexandra Road, tel : +65 8951 1198) for a while. The food's Swedish as much as it can be here and Nordic isn't exactly commonplace so we were curious. The last time we had something like that was Gæst a decade ago. And no - Ikea's cafeteria does not count.

Elderberry soda - like elderberry syrup in tonic water. It's probably that. Pretty sure they didn't brew the flower or berry in silver lined cauldrons under the magical light of the full moon during the Winter Solstice and then infuse the brew into carbonated water. 🌝 Nice reprieve from the sweltering humidity still.

Leverpostej - House made baked pâté of pork and chicken livers, topped with pickled beetroot, bacon, dill, chives, and saffron aioli, served with a slice of toasted rye bread. Nice this one. The creamy pâté was savoury and livery which was suitably accompanied by the fruity pickled beetroot. Too little of the buttered seedy rye for each serving methinks. 

We had to order more bread more to make good use of the remaining portion of pâté in the manner they had meant for us to enjoy.

Meatballs (frikadellar) were nice. People expectedly compare them with the ones from Ikea across the road. These were undoubtedly superior. Meatballs were more tender sitting on mash layered in a richer creamy brown sauce. Overall experience was more luxuriant compared to......the one across the road.

A fisksoppa - seafood stew with bits of halibut, salmon, shrimp and potato in a creamy dill-y lobster-y broth. This was delicious and a refreshing flavour profile from most lobster bisque around here. Also nice pairing with the buttered fennel toast. 

Tried an open face sandwich. This one was called 'Shooting star' (stjerneskud). Butter fried halibut according to them with.....the picture tells👆🏽. That mustardy coloured stuff was a Danish remoulade which tasted like it had curry in it. 

Chai Kee (財記), Hong Lim Food Centre

Noticed Chai Kee (#01-69 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street) from our previous visits to Hong Lim Food Centre and made a note to come back; to what looked to be pretty credible looking local fish soup

Watch out for the pot of fried shallots at the front.

What caught our eye were the prawns on display. They were huge.

The proprietress told us those prawns come in at about 9am. So we waited for the bugs to arrive.

That wait culminated in their seafood soup with ee mee. Seafood soup at this stall meant just a duo of sliced batang and prawns. Both of which were of respectable quality. The broth was gentle with a seafood sweetness and a hint of ti poh. Personally, I felt that a splash of chilli-ed light soya sauce along with fried shallots in their oil added a depth which enhanced the flavour.

Added fried fish roe to this.

Prawns were solid and meaty with study shells that readily gave up the meat with a bit of light tugging. The bite on these bugs were satisfying.

Here's the fried fish roe which was hidden beneath the noodles.

A few days later...😬

Came back for a bowl of sliced fish bee hoon with fried fish roe. Their fish roe's kinda expensive. It's a dollar a piece and the standard option is $4. For $4, one gets a whole lot more fried fish roe at Cai Ji.

While the quality of the food was undeniable, one cannot help but compare the portions of sliced fish to the chunkier ones from the likes of Cai Ji, 453 Fish Soup or Mr Batang. This shop was noticeably more expensive.

50’s Teochew Minced Meat Noodle (五十年代潮州鱼丸肉脞面), Redhill Food Centre

Spied another bak chor mee stall at Redhill Market (#01-39, Redhill Food Centre, 85 Redhill Lane) next door to Bak Kee Teochew Satay Bee Hoon. There was a queue and that normally deters me but I decided to give them a go because they looked credible and it'll satiate my curiosity.

The bowl was competent. Mee pok was the slightly thicker kind, saucing was a little wetter than I normally like and chilli flavouring was mild. Didn't expect to see a lonely fish dumpling in there. These guys use the non spicy big chillis instead of the small fiery ones. A pretty decent bowl but I don't think I'd want to endure a long queue for it the next time though.

Hwa Kee Lemon Chicken Rice (华记柠檬鸡饭), Peninsula Shopping Centre

Came across Hwa Kee Lemon Chicken Rice (#01-12 Peninsula Shopping Centre, 3 Coleman Street, tel : +65 9001 8109) recently and was intrigued by the focus of their sunny yellow branding on lemon chicken rice. I've had those before and most of them haven't been memorable. Could this be different?

They made mistake with the order but I decided not to pursue it. Still baffled by how 白鸡尾 could have been misheard as 油鸡. Soya sauce chicken was decent tasting, tender but flavour falls short compared to places like Maria Virgin Chicken or the Hawker Chan before Hawker Chan. The lemon chicken was outstanding though. Tasted freshly fried with a solid crunch on the batter and had a better tasting lemon sauce than the usual sweet starchy gloop. The eggs were all double yolked!

Rice was lightly flavoured but not bland. There's achar on the side which was unusual but I definitely welcomed those. Chilli was pleasantly bright and limey with heat and a light hint of ginger. 

Don't ignore the soup which one can help themselves to. It's chicken soup with...I don't know what else but it's better than the majority out there.