Stinky Roll from 99 Old Trees

So these Stinky Rolls were pretty much the only thing from the menu at 99 Old Trees we haven't tried yet. Until now that is. They're good. Pretty generous layering of some sort of creamy mao shan wang custard in there.

Wagyu beef broth ramen from Keisuke Plus

I did not like this bowl from Keisuke Plus as much as the other wagyu broth from Mashi no Mashi. While it did taste beefy at the start, the flavour suffered from diminishing returns. It got less beefy as we went through the bowl. Noodles were also too soft for their 'hard' option.

Wagyu's thin sliced and pretty tender.  See that lump of minced ginger camouflaged in there? I did not like it. Why would that be necessary if the key component to this bowl was the wagyu. Did not make sense to me.

There's a wonton hidden in it. I'm assuming it's beef as well but the dominant flavour that got through was sesame oil. Tasted very Chinese. Now that I've tried it, I know. Will not be getting this again.

Mee kia from Ah Seng Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle (亞誠潮州肉脞面)

Tried the mee kia bowl from Ah Seng Teo Chew Minced Meat Noodle. Saucing was pretty dry today. Noodles were a little soft. Will likely stick to the mee pok in the future. They've also removed the option for portions so it's just $6 bowls now.

Uncle Peter Hokkien Mee, Lengkok Bahru

Don't know who Uncle Peter (#01-387, 55 Lengkok Bahru) is. The Hokkien mee was okay tasting. Not as dry as Hainan Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee which is the style I prefer.  Nothing about it was outstanding. What got me through the plate were the squeeze of lime, the sambal and those fragrant crispy fried lard. Would have gotten monotonous if not for those. The coffeeshop seems to have seen rotation of the tenants. Sim Lim Square Bak Chor Mee and 6th Avenue Nasi Lemak are no longer around. 

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (歐南園炒粿條麵), Hong Lim Food Centre

The mark of a master stems from the ability, the will and the exercise of both in their craft. Sounds fancy but I think that appeared to be the way with Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (#02-17 Hong Lim Food Centre, 531A Upper Cross Street). One of the basic premise of those mastery is oil control which I found is excellent here. Not excessive yet sufficient.

For context, I've known of their existence for a long time and have never entertained the thought of queueing for a plate of their char kuey teow. Today was happenstance. There were two people in the queue so we thought, why not?

It's not bad tasting. This was the $4.50 plate. Like I mentioned, not excessively greasy. Can't discern the wok hei. No lup cheong because they don't do that. I requested for no hum. This plate has chilli. Tastier than it looked with a moderated sweetness from the dark soya sauce.

Podi & Poriyal, Serangoon Road

I've been wanting to come to Podi & Poriyal (486 Serangoon Road, tel  : +65 9711 2400) for some time. They're a contemporary South Indian vegetarian restaurant. Got their Podi's Signature Lunch which involves what one normally gets in a thali with dishes that get rotated weekly. Why did I mention 'normally'? Because they don't serve it in a thali here. Food from the lunch set was refillable.

Kinda like the upmarket take on Komala Vilas.

A paanagam to sooth the afternoon heat while waiting for the food. It's ginger, lime, jaggery and cardamom. Nice.

Instead of papadum, we get...rice crisp I guess. Flavoured with jeera/cumin.

This was the first part of the lunch set - the appetizers which consisted of a spinach vadai, some really delicious gobi/cauliflower which I cannot be sure is a pakora or a 65. Possibly a 65. On the side were pickled garlic, some powder which I couldn't identify and coconut chutney. Great munching.

The mains were some vegetable dishes that accompanied the starch of either ghee infused rice or millet of your choice. Today's were curried potatoes, snake gourd poriyal and some salad thingy that had starfruit. Actually with the sambar ladled over, it didn't make much of difference if it was the ghee rice or millet. 

Cup o rasam accompanied the food. Their's was nice and sour from the tamarind.

Add on order of cabbage poriyal. Not bad tasting with lots of shredded coconut. The odd thing was the lack of coconut flavour in it.

Another add on order of their edamame sundal. Loads of coconut flavour in this one with cashews and shredded coconut as well. This was outstanding. 👍🏼

A third add on of their podi idly. Podi was salty and nutty and fragrant but hadn't much heat with the spices they used. I liked this. It's a signature dish of theirs and apparently the podi changes weekly.

Payasam was part of the lunch. This one tasted like it was made with millet or oats. Yummy.

Not part of the lunch set but we wanted so masala chai to end. Spice infusion was not one of the stronger ones around but the tea was smooth and pretty enjoyable.