Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice.Fish Porridge (新記馳名雞飯.鱼生粥), Mei Ling Food Centre

This was kinda where it truly began for me with the old Margaret Drive chicken rice. Sin Kee Famous Chicken Rice. But that old Sin Kee and the current one (#02-22 Mei Lin Food Centre, 159 Mei Chin Road) aren't the same. It's also not the same with another current Sin Kee at the current Margaret Drive Hawker Centre. There's a more complicated history behind the brand which I'm not going into in this post.

This one has a different proprietor at the helm and a smaller stall. Rice was a little wet but still grainy and great flavour from their stock. I could have almost believed that this was a replica of the old Sin Kee but for one thing I noticed. The chicken wasn't as tender. Not that this wasn't any good. It just wasn't the same.

More food from Ye Lai Xiang Teochew Porridge (夜来香潮州粥)

We've been eating at Ye Lai Xiang more than I've been posting about them. Most of the time, we end up getting something pretty similar so nothing much to see on those.

Rice/porridge water is available. I don't know what's the proper term for them.

Omelette with cai por is decent. The rendition from Kheng Nam Lee Teochew Porridge is superior.

More fried pork belly that's been marinated with fermented red bean curd.

Their pork patty with salted egg was so good. The patty was fatty and savoury with salt, topped with a chunk of salted duck egg for more flavour. This and rice maketh a good eat. Gotta get it again the next time.

More hairy gourd.

Sliced fish. Not fantastic but serviceable.

Bean curd stuffed with minced pork. Not bad.

Their unassuming dish of spinach braised with anchovy was umami delicious. Vegetable was tender. The list of repeat order grows.

More chap chye with red fermented bean curd.

Olivia's Signature Grilled Cheese Sandwich from Queic

Noticed that Queic has grilled cheese sandwiches on menu the last time we were here. This was Olivia's Signature - the one with mozzarella, Emmental, blue cheese, mustard and caramelized onions. I enjoyed it. A bit of sour from the mustard and some funk from the blue cheese in almost every bite, punctuated by a cheese pull.

Dan Curry Rice (单咖喱饭), Mei Ling Food Centre

New-ish curry rice stall (#02-19 Mei Lin Food Centre, 159 Mei Chin Road). Not the Hainanese variety and I don't know if there's a specific label to their type. What had gotten me curious about them was the shabu beef option they had for protein. 

Verdict is I'm not digging it. The curry flavour's lacking in animal fat of any sort and wasn't particularly lemak. Scrambled eggs on the side tasted like they were made from liquid eggs. Was wishing those onions with the beef were as tender as their stewed cabbage. Beef looked fatty but not particularly flavourful. Managed to finish this with the help of the sambal belachan which tasted like it was made from a factory.

Yan Ji Gourmet By GoodEarth, Far East Plaza

First time eating at this branch (#01-16A/B Far East Plaza, 14 Scotts Road, tel +65 6369 0988) of Yan Ji Gourmet. I was reeled in by the current limited time hamachi roe porridge.

Got a bowl of that with extra roe. Can't say it's bad but the stock wasn't as flavourful nor robust as their seafood soup. Not to mention that underlying flavour of ginger and the preserved cabbage/dong cai/冬菜 which I'm not a fan of. Otherwise a decent but pricey bowl of porridge.

If anyone's wondering how much roe there was, there's more hidden in in porridge.

More food from A2B Veg Restaurant

Dinner at A2B Veg Restaurant.

Dahi puri to munch while waiting. Refreshingly tangy from the tamarind sauce and yoghurt with a breath of mint and varied crunchy textures.

Party of my exploration of fried noodles in Indian eateries. This was Schezwan paneer noodles - A2B's interpretation of Chinese and spicy fried noodles with chunks of cottage cheese. Texture of the noodles were softer than what I prefer but I liked the straightforward moreish saltiness.

Palak mutter - puréed spinach with green peas. Nice rich savouriness in the spinach from the ghee, adequate salt and garlic. 👍🏼

Some light butter naan to scoop up the palak mutter with.

Washed down with a piping hot badam milk.