Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu, Raffles City

Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu (#B1-63/64 Raffles City, 252 North Bridge Road) is a gyukatsu chain from Kyoto. What they offer is similar to what the defunct Ginza Kushi Katsu did; panko clad beef cutlets of various cuts which one can further cook to the doneness of preference. I thought it odd that for a place that was dishing out fried beef cutlets, there was none of the beefy aroma around the restaurant.

Anyways, their gyutan didn't taste much like tongue. Didn't enjoy it. Tenderloin was much better tasting. That being said, I am still generally not impressed with gyukatsu. Not with what I've had at least.

Revisiting Liu Lang Mian Noodle Bar (流浪面)

Back at Liu Lang Mian. 

Recent special of the month was their dan dian mian (担担面). While it looked pretty much like any of their other dry noodles, one could taste some heat and the sesame sauce in it. What helped cut through the richness were the onions, pickles and vinegar on the side which made it much easier to inhale with some sparing application. Not even close to the classic Chinese rendition but it's pretty good. Cashews too.

Like their DBJ chicken mazesoba too. If anyone was wondering, DBJ = dou ban jiang. 豆瓣酱. The spicy fermented bean paste along with the minced chicken made this bowl. Noticeably less rich with a more pronounced fermented bean profile compared to the dan dan mian. 

Pork and chives wanton looked like 红油抄手 and even tasted like it with the chilli and vinegar. Stuffings tasted similar to guo tie with pork and chives. Not bad.

Empire Fine Chinese Cuisine, Ngee Ann City

We were drawn to Empire Fine Chinese Cuisine (#05-13/14 Ngee Ann City, 391 Orchard Road) because their menu looked interesting, featuring dishes that weren't exactly run of the mill variety.

Sautéed crab with egg white and white truffle oil. Nice. They kept it uncomplicated so one could taste the chunks of crab meat, the truffle and even the egg white.

Stewed goose web with glass noodles/tang hoon in claypot was pretty good. Goose web was slurp off the bone tender though these needed a little more slurping strength than chicken claws. The glass noodles were deliciously salty, savoury and loaded with black pepper.

Stewed bean curd preserved black olives minced pork. Nice.

Never tried this combination before - stewed chicken with yam, pumpkin and coconut milk in claypot. The creamy coconut milk tasted much like chicken broth. Good quality yam and pumpkin in there which together with the spring onions introduced some natural sweetness. 👍🏼

Shiok Hokkien Mee, Tiong Bahru

Shiok Hokkien Mee used to be known as YouFu previously. They've since rebranded and also expanded to a few outlets outside of Golden Mile Food Centre. This was the new shop at Tiong Bahru (11B Boon Tiong Road) located at the unit previously occupied by a very short lived San Hu Bak Chor Mee.

Not bad. Nice intensity from a creamy prawny flavour in the stock and I liked that it wasn't too wet. Chilli was absolutely burning with a bit of bitter. Will come back.

Loo's Hainanese Curry Rice without curry

No curry or gravy this time round. This dredged memories of how I had pork chop rice at Loo's in my distant past. I was never much into their curry since then. The clean taste of just their five spice flavoured pork chop and rice sure took me back and fuelled nostalgia. Even though I'm pretty sure that pork chop today tasted a little different from before. I think this is going to be the way from now. Also trying their meatball (狮子头) for the first time. Tender and lots of chopped onions in it.

First breakfast of 2025

First meal of 2025. Familiar looking setup of fish soup and radish cake.

Sliced fish bee hoon from Wen Xin Fish Soup.

White radish cake from Unforgettable Carrot Cake.

Kopi from Modern Old School.