Bee tai bak from Tai Wah Pork Noodle (大華肉脞麵)

First time getting the rat's tail noodle/bee tai bak from Tai Wah at Holland Drive. This tasted like it was of totally different standards from the previous visits. Today's bowl was noticeably more bland and less vinegary. Quantity of the toppings appear to have lessened significantly - noticeably so was the minced meat which looked pathetic. I'm hoping this was a one off which shouldn't be happening in the first place. Definitely not worth what I paid for. 

Revisiting Fu Xiang Chicken Rice (福翔鸡饭)

It's been a long time since we were last here for chicken rice. Too long perhaps. This was dinner, so the rest of their meats like char siew, roast pork and poached chicken have been sold out for the day. Only roast chicken was available. No matter that, since it was these that they were known for and also one of the things we wanted to eat from them.

Half chicken with a couple of hard boiled eggs. Chicken was fresh out of the fryer and we had to wait for them to be sufficiently cooled before they could chop up the bird. One could tell just how recent they had been cooked from the heat within the meat. What's notable about Fu Xiang's roast/fried chicken is that they're not dry like most tend to be.

It can be hard to settle for just one serving of rice when we're here.

The knot beneath the green butterfly

 The ties that bind. From Tai Wah Cooked Food.

Abalone Black Pepper Fried Rice Max from Wok Hey

This was the Chinese New Year flavour of fried rice from Wok Hey. Who would have thunk? Black pepper fried rice with little abalones and pineapple. It's not bad tasting as well because the rice was suitably peppery and spruced up with a bit of their chilli with occasional burst of sweetness from the pineapple. The abalones weren't the rubbery ones as well.

PPP Coffee, Funan

PPP Coffee (#02-19 Funan, 107 North Bridge Road) used to be known as Papa Palheta. We've been to Papa Palheta once years ago in a back alley setup and I remember not disliking their coffee. We stopped by their current outfit today. Mostly because we were curious about the cakes. 😂

Like this one which was a pistachio lemon cake. It's nutty from the taste and texture but I couldn't definitively identify it as pistachio. I know it was because they said so. The only lemon came from the layer of lemon curd on the top. So lemony was only for one section of the cake. We didn't dislike it though. Cake was pleasant as a whole with the slightly dense crumbly texture.

Lychee rose cake lived up to its name. Similar texture to the pistachio lemon one. So far cakes ok.

Got a couple of drinks to go with those cakes. Mocha was very coffee-y and not much chocolate. Pleasant drink but mocha wouldn't be the first thing that came to mind. The one in the glass was their espresso tonic. Hell yeah this was good. Espresso + tonic water....not rocket science I know. But I liked how they did theirs. Pretty sure the coffee they used made a difference.

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.