Yan Seng (炎成), Tekka Food Centre

We noticed Yan Seng (#01-319 Tekka Market & Food Centre, 665 Buffalo Road) in our previous trips to Tekka Market. What drew our attention were the noodles on display that looked like Hokkien mee. The operative word here is 'looked'. It tasted like a peppery 经济米粉/面. Definitely nothing like Hokkien mee. Chilli has a much higher ratio of heat to sweetness and I like it. We also got freshly fried fish cakes since it was the start of the day and those were good.

A couple of weeks later......

Came back to try their tung hoon/glass noodles/冬粉. What you couldn't visually tell was that the noodles were tangy. Maybe lemongrass. Reminded me of tom yam or mee siam. Otah's run of the mill.

Holy Grill, Old Airport Road Food Centre

Have noticed Holy Grill (#01-27 Old Airport Road Food Centre, 51 Old Airport Road) for years but never tried their food until today. This was their grilled dory - a fish I wouldn't have picked usually because of the mushy texture and muddy flavour. It was the only fish that was available and in retrospect I kinda regretted not getting the chicken instead. Portions were pretty substantial and I liked the crust that they caramelized on the fish - but not the fish. Coleslaw was creamy with lots of mayo and baked potato was dry-ish.  

Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle (皇家山大虾面), Food Republic @ Wisma Atria

This bowl from Fort Canning Big Prawn Noodle (Food Republic, Wisma Atria Level 4, 435 Orchard Road) was much better tasting than the appearances belied. I was surprised by the heat from the broth which reminded me of the Penang styled bowl from East Treasure Speciality Prawn Noodle. 

Noticed that there was a herbal flavour infused into the sliced pork belly (tenderer than I imagined) and pig's skin in the bowl. I'm guessing that those were braised separately in herbal stock. Those large ang kar prawns were edible - they were pre cooked and one should not expect the same standards as the freshly cooked like those from that Zion Road Riverside stall. Tobiko prawn balls were more memorable than the prawns.

Wildfire Burgers, Robertson Walk

We didn't have a good experience with Wildfire Burgers previously. The short of it was that I had never thought well of their burgers for a shop that mostly did burgers. I also remember saying that I wouldn't come back. For some reasons, we did. Good thing we did because this third time's a charm. This was the Robertson Quay shop (#01-12 Robertson Walk, 11 Unity Street) which we've never been to before.

Menu appears to have changed. The hoppy Telok Ayer Papa Pineapple pale ale's pretty good drinking. Flavour had citrus which made it refreshing. Yes, there was pineapple flavour minus the sweetness.

Those thin pale onion rings were nicer munching than I imagined. Thin and somewhat crispy.

We decided that we wanted a wedge salad because blue cheese sauce. Not bad.

Their Classic 101 cheeseburger's not bad. It's Stone Axe wagyu but look beyond that.

Meat's coarse mince, beefy and moist in medium-ish doneness. This result was a good texture with a bite while maintaining tenderness. Nice melted American cheese along with a faint register of pickles and onions, all between soft butter brioche buns. I can do with out the Chipotle mayo the next time. 

Tried their seasonal uni ebi burger. Panko-ed ebi patty with a rich squid ink aioli topped with uni. It's served with minimal theatrics.

The theatrics came after. Uni from a box was brought to the table and subsequently laid over. We were told that some people prefer to have it prepared in the kitchen but we didn't mind watching them scoop them onto the burger.

Poppyseed bun. 

It will be apparent for those who have had experiences with uni that not much of the them can be tasted through the burger. They did a great job out of that squid ink aioli which was pretty intensely flavoured on a prawn patty which was also delicious. That sea urchin was more ostentation than thought out burger crafting. It was good eating though.

Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang, Bukit Merah Central

I've been wanting to try Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang for a while. This one was from a relatively new outlet (161 Bukit Merah Central) at the coffeeshop where No. 25 Minced Meat Noodle is. From what I've gathered, what they serve marries local nasi lemak with ayam taliwang, an Indonesian grilled chicken dish with a spicy sambal. Don't know why the plates are so big but the portions weren't. Added an otah which totalled up the plate to $9.50. Would not consider this great value at all considering that I was still thinking of getting more food after that.

Anyways, I didn't like their rice. The first flavour that I detected was ginger. Not overly strong but definitely present. Chicken's fall off the bone tender, pretty tasty and the sambal was fiery. There was a bit of sweetness and considerable heat that followed. Something you wouldn't want to choke on. Nothing else stood out.

Al Mubin, Ang Mo Kio 529

I remember seeing this Indian Muslim coffeeshop previously and recalled it being "sleepy" but it's apparently not as quiet as that recollection. Since then, I've learnt that they're Al Mubin (#01-2359, 529 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10). Not different from other similar outfits doing local Indian food and "Thai styled" stir fry. Came across a black pepper thosai from their menu.

It's not bad tasting. There's a bit more crisp and fermentation in the dough than I imagined and the insides of the pancake was sprinkled with cracked black pepper. So it was a pretty peppery thosai.