Oh I have missed thee, spicy dry Megamen

It has been a while. Still loving the spicy dry Megamen from Brothers Ramen (一, 二 , 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九). The one thing I thought could have been improved on this precarious mound of noodles + bean sprouts + minced garlic + seaweed + ajitama + pork fat was their thick charshu from a cut of pork which is kinda boring and lean. Like maybe bring back that braised pork belly. One can hope.

Formaggi con burrata di Parma from Fernando's Pizza

 

Fernando's New York Slices at Margaret Market has been renamed Fernando's Pizza. I'm wondering if the change could be due to the fact that that some of their toppings are starting to look more Italian and, assuming that I'm not imagining it, I'm seeing the wispy spectres of Zazz Pizza on the menu here. Man I miss Zazz Pizza.

Anyways, this was Mozzarella, Taleggio, Gorgonzola, burrata, prosciutto di Parma and figs. How could I say no to them? I did wish that they were more generous with those figs and perhaps, not have them cut up so small. Otherwise, great combination of umami and milky saltiness accented by some of that stinkiness from the Gorgonzola and creaminess from the burrata. Good with and without their spicy hot honey.

Liang Kee Teochew Seafood (亮記潮州菜), Bukit Merah Lane

If my memory serves, the stall that is Liang Kee Teochew Seafood (127 Bukit Merah Lane 1) used to be Beo Crescent Hokkien Mee. What I aren't sure about is, if this was the same Liang Kee as the one I ate at 10 years ago. I think it was.

Nice cai por hor fun. Lots of crunch from the kailan and bean sprouts paired with wok hei on those scorched rice noodles. There's bits of squid in it too.

Pork aspic was delicious. Once it's been out for a little bit, the gelatine would melt with umami in the mouth. Together with the bits of pork, it tasted like some head cheese terrine.

Their bitter gourd omelette was the most loaded one we've ever had. Lots of sliced bitter gourd in it.

Pretty nice orh nee with pumpkin.

Will come back again.

Nanyang Fried Chicken Rice (南洋香脆雞), Hong Lim Food Centre

Came across Nanyang Fried Chicken Rice (#02-09 Hong Lim Food Center, 531A Upper Cross Street) at the unit where BurGrill used to be. Just right next door to Ah Fatt Handmade Fishball Noodle. Fried chicken's pretty decent with crunchy bits on the outside. Chicken rice was nicely flavoured but a little dry - would be awesome if they could improve on this taking cue from the veterans; those are not far from being good enough to eat on their own. Chilli's lime-y and bright. Ajitama with molten yolk's tender and infused with shoyu flavour. Not bad.

Sin Kian Heng Minced Meat Noodle (新建興肉脞面), Sin Ming

I've been wanting to try the bak chor mee at Sin Kian Heng (Gourmet Street Coffeeshop, 22 Sin Ming Road) since hearing about them. Took a while but it finally happened. They're a league of their own with a flavour profile that isn't unfamiliar but also distinctively different from most of not all of their competitors. That I know of at least.

This was a bowl of mee pok with added on pork trotters and sweet intestines/chitterlings/粉肠. The former's mostly skin, fat and gelatinous/collagen-y bits which you could slurp off the bone and the latter's stewed till tender. This bowl was saucy, heavy and intense. What they also do have that other bak chor mee doesn't are fried fish balls. Those tasted freshly fried and were delicious. 

Base flavour profile had a bit of heat, was mostly savoury, a little lard-y and I thought I detected vinegar. The chilli/soya sauce on the side's pretty potent. Lip burning potent with a hit of garlic. Nice.  

Revisiting Kalam Restaurant

Back at Kalam Restaurant. Couldn't resist getting a serving of their Mangalore buns for a start. These banana flavoured hum chim pang. I figured out a good combination here - with a generous pinch of the grated coconut/jaggery and a spoonful of the coconut chutney.

Paneer briyani - portion easily feeds two. Nice warm spices, including cumin and a bit of heat in there. Not heavy handed on the salt here. There's bits of stuff in the rice that looked suspiciously like coriander. Didn't expect fried onions but no complains. Just wished there was more paneer. Came with some delicious korma (refillable apparently) and raita on the side. The orange stuff's kesari - lightly sweet and buttery but a little dry.

Prawn tikka was kinda forgettable. Prawns were a little small and we've had more compelling tikkas.

Thanos juice. Just kidding. 😬 It's blueberry lassi. I couldn't tell if it's real blueberries or some concentrate/cordial inside but the flavour of those berries weren't shy and the lassi was sweeter than I normally prefer.