More lunch from Fish & Bones

The burger's no longer available at Fish & Bones for lunch. It's...regular Korean food now.

Banchan's refillable. The one with cucumber was refreshing. Bean sprouts have a nice sesame oil flavour. Kimchi's kinda young-ish without the tang I was hoping for.

Hoedeopbap - there's salmon and a white fish which I think might be halibut. Fish here is kinda chewy.

I think this is their gochujang. Didn't taste like most gochujang. Not as beany, tasted more fruity and also more refreshing.

Those vegetables aren't great for mixing. Too bulky and doesn't wilt. Didn't dislike the hoedeopbap but I don't think I'll get it again.

Don't think we've had Korean abalone porridge before. I was expecting something abalone-y but it did not taste like abalone. Tasted like...something we can get from Ah Chiang. 😂 I'm not sure what I'm tasting here.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.

Decent miso marinated hamachi collar.

Lontong Sedap, Margaret Drive Hawker Centre

I've previously had the lontong from Lontong Sedap (#01-25 Margaret Drive Hawker Centre, 38A Margaret Drive) back in their old premise at Tanglin Halt Food Centre. Got a nasi lemak for breakfast today. Did I detect a faint lemongrass flavour in the rice? Anyways, pretty decent plate with standard quality ingredients. Rice was moist and savoury with some coconut richness. Sambal's sweet but not annoyingly so with heat and infused with ikan bilis flavour.

Yong Kiang Chicken Rice (永強鸡饭), Ubi

Yong Kiang Chicken Rice (1st Stop Food Junction coffeeshop, Blk 3014 Ubi Road 1) is in the same coffeeshop as Mei Mei Roast and Da Sheng Minced Pork Noodle. What piqued me about them was the minced pork stuffed fried tau kwa which...isn't something that one normally finds in chicken rice stalls. Said tau kwa was slightly crusty edged with meat stuffings which was lightly flavoured with five spice. The chicken thigh I got today was a little boney but the rice had pretty good flavouring. Chilli seems more vinegary than lime-y.

Hakata Ikkousha, Chijmes

Our first time at Ikkousha at Chijmes (#F1-07 Chijmes, 30 Victoria Street, tel : +65 6338 8460) and the positive impression imparted today was telling; that my prior opinion of them might be biased, or tainted by the cloistered experience from their shop at Tanjong Pagar which gave me the impression that they have become mediocre through the years.

I didn't feel that way here. What surprised me from this shop at Chijmes was their bonito tonkotsu bowl which had that thalassic smokiness overlaying the chicken & pork bone broth, upturning my prior impression of what this bowl was about.

First time getting their mentai don. We knew what it was and while it was probably easily available in ramen shops, we didn't visit ramen shops to eat these. Just didn't happen that way. We did today. Like I said, we already knew what it was. But as I shovelled the first mouthful of that moist warm rice smudged with salty spicy roe laced with nori and spring onions, the thought that came to mind was "fuck me this was good". 😂

This was the tonkotsu shio. I don't know precisely what's the difference between this and the regular tonkotsu aside from the intensity and flavour. This one was cleaner and lighter. Almost like bak kut teh broth minus the herbs and pepper. Not bad when one is in the mood for something less heavy.

God Fire Level 4. Had it previously so I know I could handle it.

Noticed bits of chilli in the broth which I didn't encounter the last time.

Never seen so much gyoza on a plate before.

Single serving with mala sesame dressing from Gong Yuan Ma La Tang (宫源麻辣烫)

This single serving portion came with the same big bowl as the shared ones we've been having previously. 🤔 Anyways, this was 中辣 mala sesame dressing compared to the 小辣 bowl we tried the first time. Rich and nutty as such sauces tend to be. Surfeit does kinda creep in after a while so the trick is a few squirts of vinegar which leaves it still creamy yet much easier to inhale.

At Newton Food Centre after all these years

I haven't eaten at Newton (500 Clemenceau Ave North) for a really long time. The last time was duck macaroni from Kwee Heng. It's been that long. And I felt like a tourist. 😂

As I took in this unfamiliar ground, I wondered which were the stalls that ripped off tourist and chalked up the bad rep in past. 😂

Hokkien mee from Newton Old Signboard 25 (#01-25) was not bad. I like their creamy and robust crustacean stock for the noodles. Not to mention as well their delicious spicy sambal. Might try the clam or oyster version the next time.

Okay-ish black radish cake from Heng (#01-28). Oysters from the oyster omelette were plump and metallic tasting.

Tried the sambal petai from Alliance Seafoood 27 (#01-27). Their rendition has squid and ikan bilis. The petai tasty fume-y. 😂 Like they were emitting gas as we ate them. There were some crunchy bits in the dish which I thought might be crushed peanuts though I cannot be certain. Wouldn't say this was bad tasting but I'm not a fan. That is probably because I've been biased by/used to/spoilt by the no nonsense rendition with just petai and minced pork at Sin Hoi Sai. No fillers like onions to bulk up the plating and mess with the savouriness.

Their weak looking fried rice with the despised red floury goo was actually pretty delicious. Not because of the red floury goo. What's the red floury goo? Old school yang zhou fried rice used bits of char siew. Evolution and lack of pride reduced the char siew component to crab sticks. These red floury goo were even further down that evolution, replacing crab sticks. A replacement of the replacement. A devolution of a devolution.