Revisiting Lin Da Qiang (林大强酱蒸鱼头頭)

Lin Da Qiang has changed. It's been a number of years since the first/last time we ate here. The old couple that I remember from that time is no longer around. It's a younger pair today. Unless these two are them?! 😲 Mother of...

But I think not. The black bean flavour from the gravy of their hor fun was barely discernible, not to even mention a focal, of black bean sauce. Which to me was most of the point to these dishes. Found it baffling that we could see the bits of the fermented black bean and yet, little of that flavour was in it. Not a fan at all of the tenderized beef that in spite of being tender, had also sinewy parts that were unchewable.

Fried salt & pepper prawns were decent. Nicely fried without being excessively oily. This alone didn't salvage the situation. I still felt let down as a whole from wanting to relive the flavours which we had from the first time.

Sliced fish soup with instant noodles from Mr Batang Fish @96

Got a bowl at Mr Batang today with instant noodles. Was enjoying the thick firm slices of batang and sweet cabbage in the soup while slurping noodles - and then also wondering what the hell do the folks in the crazy queue at Piao Ji know about that I didn't. 🤔

Beeflious Don and a few other stuff at Kuro Maguro

It's been a long while since we last ate at Kuro Maguro (一, 二, 三, 四, 五, 六, 七, 八, 九). 

Current seasonals included ankou karaage. Deep fried monkfish. Meat's a bit springy and almost approaching crab/lobster in texture in a savoury batter. Nice with their ponzu dip.

Finally tried their maguro ribs. They're best eaten with at least one hand just like a pork ribs. Unctuous, moist and tender dark meat easily sliding off the bone with a gentle push from the fork/chopstick needing nothing but a few light brushes of shoyu for the salt to bring out the flavour. I'd come back for these again.

What lured us back this time was a deal their had with their "Beeflious Don". Going for $21.40 from the usual $42.80 only on Saturdays this month. Redeemable via J Passport. What we got were torched thin slices of wagyu topped with a bit of uni and ikura on rice. Obviously the appeal was the beefy oil richness which was ideal with some shoyu and the spikes of brininess from the ikura.

One week later......

Came back for the wagyu don because 50% off the regular price was such a good deal.

Got ourselves more maguro ribs.

And more ankou karaage.

Some deliciously savoury and crispy wakasagi tempura. These little fried fishes were nice munching.

Kuey teow from No. 25 Minced Meat Noodle

Note to self : Never come back here on a Saturday morning after 9am. It's close to an hour of wait. 

Tried their kuey teow today. I liked it.

Savouriness loaded with flavour from garlic and some lard. After a few splashes of vinegar and some sliced chilli, it was a kickass bowl of slurpy rice noodles which I couldn't get enough of. 

Maybe I'll get the smaller portion the next time since the only thing that increases in size is the bowl of soup and its ingredients. Speaking of which, did I imagine a crustacean element in that soup? I thought I tasted something that might have been crab/prawn shells just in the background. Maybe I'm imagining it.

 Still not a fan of their fish dumpling.

Morinaga Izakaya Restaurant, Midpoint Orchard

Noticed this place (#B1-08 Midpoint Orchard, 220 Orchard Road) a couple of times previously and the promptly went out of mind after going out of sight.

Drinks were poor quality. Calpis sour didn't taste like it had alcohol. Even the Calpis tasted diluted. Very watered down stuff.

Marinated chicken liver. Okay tasting. Pretty creamy with a soy sweetness.

Miso marinated grilled pork with cheese. Okay tasting.

Shirako ponzu. Bowl was mostly ponzu. Not much shirako. Least enjoyable rendition we've had.

Stir fried chicken hearts and garlic shoots were not bad.

Some truffle somen. Decent.

Wagyu yukke was very watery. Their seasoning was pretty sweet and masked the flavour of the meat. Assuming there was enough to begin with.

Smoked takuan with cream cheese was not bad. Very little cream cheese though.

Omelette with mentaiko and cheese was okay tasting.

Not getting the return vibes from this joint.

Qi Ji, Funan

Haven't eaten at Qi Ji for ages. I vaguely recall not disliking their food and there were some things that I might have actually enjoyed. For some reason I felt like reliving them and headed to the branch that was the most convenient at Funan (#B2-12 Funan, 107 North Bridge Road).

Nasi lemak wasn't great. Not enough salt to bring out the flavour in the rice in my opinion but that kinda made it pair well with the sambal which tasted of hae bee hiam. Fried chicken and otah were pedestrian.

Poh piah wasn't bad. These guys were generous with the sweet sauce. Will skip the premium rolls and just get the regular ones since the additional ingredients (prawn and chicken) were barely discernible and definitely not worth the extra that you're paying for.