More food from Brinda's

These came by from a few more visits to Brinda's.

There was this one time...

I wanted to know how their idli/idly fared. It's not as fluffy as I imagined but then again, I've to disclaim that it was dinner and I don't know if it's because it's been left out. I don't imagine that they make them to order. It's slightly more bouncy/rubbery than the usual texture. Not gonna say that I won't be having them here anymore but they wouldn't be my first pick. 

Decent Kashmiri pulao. I'm not sure if it's all basmati rice and I don't think it was. There's diced maraschino cherries, raisins and cashews rounded up with ghee. That creamy raita on the side was an add on and was absolutely great pairing with the rice.

And then there was this other time...

Curd rice. It's their rendition. Beyond the yoghurt I could only taste the mustard seeds and there were strips of carrots in it for....texture? I found a single lonely dried chilli in there and wondered what its purpose was. Otherwise, can't say I didn't enjoy it.

They have lauki dal this time round. It wasn't bad per se but that something that I couldn't put a finger to previously wasn't there. So I gather there's going to be some inconsistency with it or that previous time was a one off to taunt me with something that I will never get from here again.

Wouldn't get their fish tikka again. Fish wasn't good quality and the tandoor smokiness was lacking. Did not taste freshly made - more like microwaved.

Another one more time...

Not the typical local Indian maggie goreng that was moreishly salty. This one was wet, not red and I could taste some tomato in it.

That's a dosai masala with egg and cheese. The dosai did not taste very fermented and the texture was soft without the least bit of crisp. The quick prep time also led me to believe that they were pre-made and heated quickly on the griddle just before serving. Didn't taste bad though.

Thick milky Bru coffee. Nice.

Yip Economical Bee Hoon (葉記經濟米粉), Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre

Remember me mentioning the stall at the other end with a longer queue? Turned out that was Yip Economical Bee Hoon (#01-33 Bukit Merah View Hawker Centre, 115 Bukit Merah View). In retrospect I understood why there was that queue. The bee hoon was much better tasting with natural looking fried eggs and a chilli sauce which wasn't annoyingly/cloyingly sweet. The luncheon meat slices here appear to be coated in a thin egg wash.

Tried their yam cake and chee cheong fun with just the basic light soya sauce, sesame oil and a sprinkle of sesame seeds. Pretty decent rendition which I had no complains about. I may convince myself to put up with the queue the next time after all.

A yam puff from Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff (东陵酥皮咖喱角)

So I noticed that there're yam puffs from Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff and was intrigued. Didn't detect any particular additional flavour in the yam paste fillings so it was pretty much just that. What I didn't expect was that the puff was kinda hollow on the inside in spite of the full appearances. I assumed that it would be totally filled with that hot sweet yam paste but this turned out to be like a bag of potato chips. A little disappointed.

Ah Fatt Handmade Fishball Noodle (亚肥), Hong Lim Food Centre

Noticed Ah Fatt Handmade Fishball Noodle (#02-10 Hong Lim Food Center, 531A Upper Cross Street) the last time we were here and came back for breakfast because these guys have the grace to be open on Sundays. This was the bowl with fishcake, mushroom, minced meat and the balls - or what's listed as 1 on their menu. Not a bad bowl though I need to disclaim that their soya sauce marinated chilli helped with injecting extra heat which made everything easier to inhale. The fried fishcake was delicious - pretty similar tasting to the one from Khin Kee at Havelock. Will return.

One week later...

This was expensive. Ordered the shrimp dumpling minced meat noodle (虾饺肉脞面) and there was only one shrimp dumpling. It was delicious, packed with minced pork and a shrimp but for $8, didn't represent value for money. Getting a bowl of regular mince meat noodle with an additional bowl of shrimp dumpling soup would cost a few dollars more and net you more dumplings. Gotta remember that.

Bacon fried rice from King of Fried Rice

There's streaky bacon fried rice at King of Fried Rice. After having them for nth amount of times, I've come to the conclusion that these guys which have gotten popular from their Din Tai Fung styled fried rice, isn't as good as Din Tai Fung. Also, those bacon weren't as browned as the pictures led me to believe and were kinda limp. Pretty bland plate for something that has bacon. What's with the fear of salt with so many stalls these days?

Burning Melanzana, Moussaka and what intimate plate at Miznon

Back at Mizon.

The complimentary pita with chilli and tahini is always welcomed. Great to load up with if not for the fact that we were already ordering more pitas. 

Got a couple of eggplant pitas today.

• Burning Melanzana - eggplant with a slab of toasty fried mozzarella. I couldn't taste much of the eggplant. It was mostly the mozzarella and yeah, I liked it.
• Moussaka - beef ragout, eggplant, tahini, chilli and pickles. Also not getting the eggplant but the rest of it was delicious. Loved how the meatiness from the ragout came through. Wouldn't have known there was eggplant in it if not for the menu.

Ironic how we had gotten eggplant pitas and it was the other stuffings that shone because......eggplant. 😅

Their Intimate Plate was not memorable. I've seen it on the menu for a while now and it was basically the short rib that intrigued. In retrospect, the slightly stringy short rib was right at the bottom of the list on the plate. Not the fatty flavourful beefy short rib I imagined. Will not be getting this again.