Tim Ho Wan (添好運), Great World

Haven't had Tim Ho Wan (#01-139 Great World, 1 Kim Seng Promenade, tel : +65 6483 2000) in a while. I remember they were pretty decent in the past and there was a point where the standards kinda dipped. Gotta say that we were pretty pleased with what we had gotten today.

As fried rice went, their Yang Zhou fried rice passed muster. While the plate was not downright impressive, it was better than many and I guess it checked the boxes of what I thought made Yang Zhou fried rice. Like real prawns, real char siew and how the texture/flavour turned out. I could eat this again.

Edible steamed chicken and cordyceps on rice. What surprised me a little though was that the quality of the steamed rice wasn't even that of what we've had at Victor's Kitchen.

Lemonade espresso from Gyutan-Tan

We stopped at Gyutan-Tan (B2-32 Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Road, tel : +65 8321 3359) for a drink. Got myself a lemonade espresso. Nice one. Citrus-y sweet lemonade in decent coffee with fizz and ice.

Mt. Cheese King from Ramen Nagi

Current limited king at Ramen Nagi - the Mt. Cheese King. It looked disappointing. #disappointed

Because this picture was what got me sold. It's a lot less cheese and I did not expect the base to be the same pesto one as their Green King. My mind was prepared for tonkotsu and powdered cheese. A lot of powdered cheese. And I was definitely not looking forward to pesto in it as well.

This bowl was basically their Green King with a bit more powdered cheese and some toasted pine nuts. Cheese wasn't a dominant flavour in this bowl. I felt lied to but I have only myself to blame for thinking that Ramen Nagi would deliver. They haven't for tonkotsu ramen for a while. Chains like Keisuke and Ippudo have better tasting tonkotsu broth. It's time I had that etched in my brain.

There's cheese gyoza. These were a nicer eat. The crispy skirt tasted like the cheese flavoured version of the usual thing.

The actual gyoza were disturbingly small with mashy fillings which I had difficulty identifying. The shape and size of the gyozas brought up images of silkworm pupa.

Wen Kang Ji (文康記), Food Republic @ Wisma Atria

So this is where Wen Kang Ji has disappeared to (Food Republic Stall 9, Wisma Atria Level 4, 435 Orchard Road). I finally got to try their char siew rice which I've noticed from the menu of their old stall at Joo Chiat.

I liked it. Rice wasn't dry and grainy. Their char siew and sui gao were delicious as I remembered them. What made this plate different from regular char siew rice was a lardy sauce on the side which was the same concoction they use to sauce their wanton mee. The usual order comes with wanton but they were out of wanton today and offered one sui gao. Had to top up a dollar for the second one.

Cakes from Sinpopo

Cakes and tea at Sinpopo.

Mao shan wang cake was not bad. Hard pressed to identify anything that might not have been durian in the durian paste layered in the cake. No artificial sweetness from it too. Nice.

Mango cake's decent. If I had to comment, it looked a little better than it tasted.

I didn't think their pulut hitam cake was bad but it's also one of those that I won't be getting again now that I've tried it. Flavour came through but it's not edging anyway close to being impressive.

Teh tarik's passable. Does not taste like real teh tarik unfortunately. Holding back on the sweetness was probably one of the reasons for that. Like their kopi, it's a name they slapped onto their beverage with little to substantiate that name.

Gagahoho Ox Bone Soup, Burlington Square

Got wind of Gagahoho Ox Bone Soup (#01-57A Burlington Square, 175 Bencoolen Street, tel : +65 6518 4157) recently. Noticed that the sign at their restaurant says Gagahoho Ox Tail Soup. There's no ox tail soup on their menu.

One of the talked about things from them is their kimchi. Pretty young without any flavour from fermentation I could detect. The paste was nutty with a hint of ginger and pretty spicy. Possibly the most spicy one I've ever had.  

My inclination is towards kimchi that's more fermented. I enjoy the tang. This was interesting but not something I'll see myself craving for. 

Peppery gamjatang they have. Also ordinary.

Sliced pork from the gamjatang was pretty good with the kimchi.

This was called mackerel pick and braised kimchi. Don't know what the name means but I reckon it's a jjigae -  similar to the one we've previously had at 88 Pocha. Like that one, the fish tasted like canned sardines. Like that one as well, pretty pricey for the portions. But I am a sucker for these because of the pairing of the sardine-y flavour with a more intense kimchi taste.