rumeL, Tiong Bahru Plaza

rumeL's (#01-107 Tiong Bahru Plaza, 302 Tiong Bahru Road) a mixed bag. Back when they were renovating, I thought the signs looked like they were promoting a generic Italian cafe with Neapolitan pizza. I think they're a bit more and less than what they claim coupled with some localised flavours.

That and the fact that their name is the reverse of 'lemur'. A Madagascan prosimian primate mascot? I struggle to decipher the meaning behind how they amalgamate. 😲 

Anyways there's a kaya butter pizza. Which was pretty nice. Peranakan styled pandan kaya. It's available for breakfast cheaper than their regular prices and can be gotten with soft boiled eggs and kopi. What's notable was their puffy sourdough crust which was kinda enjoyable. I guess I could call it Neapolitan-esque.

Even with some powdered parmesan cheese, the kaya flavour was dominant.

There's the localisation. Though admittedly these kaya-carb-soft-boiled-egg-kopi traditional breakfast has been a lot more marketing than reality. If it had been tradition, it hasn't been much for the better part of the past few decades. When it was, it might have been only for a couple of decades at best and never widespread. This is just the narration driven by capitalism.

Kopi's drinkable stuff.

Hot honey pizza wasn't spicy. Just sweet and cheesy.

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice, Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya

Tiong Bahru Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice has opened a restaurant in town called Tiong Bahru Hainanese Chicken Rice (B2-36A Ngee Ann CIty, 391 Orchard Road, tel : +65 6900 4320). So they're no longer boneless? 🤔 Anyways, there's a slew of other stuff on the menu other than chicken rice. That seems to be how all these old chicken rice brands that expand end up.

Chicken's pretty decent. Quarter portion was bigger than I imagined.

Chook has jelly beneath the skin.

But it kinda feels a little different from eating them at Tiong Bahru Food Centre.

There's Hainanese crispy pork on menu too. I liked this even though I'm generally not a fan of crispy pork with the exception of the ones from the defunct Blk 38 Curry Rice. These were crispy, lardy and savoury. Loads of crunch and porcine flavour.

Even the curry that accompanied those crispy pork was delicious. 

The pickled mustard green were much more intense than those that I remember from their Tiong Bahru stall.

Bean sprouts quite nice. There're bits of salted fish in it.

Egg.

This outpost has chicken rice made using basmati and Niigata Koshihikari rice. Might come back and try those another time. 

Galette des Rois and Dulcet Rose at TWG

Came across galette des rois at TWG. It's pretty good. Pastry was flaky and buttery with a light frangipane filling inside. Sweet but not excessively so. So I did a bit of Googling after that about them came across how these were traditionally eaten from the 12th days after Christmas on Ephipany. Guess we caught the season for the pastry.

I fell back into the Dulcet Rose trap again!

McAffogato

I found McD's affogato a unexpectedly/surprisingly acceptable substitute for... a "proper" one. As much as they would wax lyrical about their managed processes for their food product from kitchen to customer, nothing much was standardised about these. The taste didn't appear to be consistent for reasons. Sometimes, it's milkier and other times, it would have really weak coffee flavouring. But I buy it as an acceptable substitute.

Ah Lim (阿林), Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop

Ah Lim is located in the same coffeeshop (Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop, 15 Upper East Coast Road) as Chendol Melaka - stall's literally a coin's flick away. This was their $8 bowl. There's plenty of minced pork in this one. Okay-ish tasting bak chor mee as a whole but I also thought it was a little pricey. And not particularly memorable.

Chendol Melaka, Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop

I read about Chendol Melaka (Soy Eu Tua Coffee Shop, 15 Upper East Coast Road) quite a while back and have been wanting to try their nasi ulam. It's finally happened.

 

I like it. I'm getting kaffir lime and lemongrass amidst the umami of dried shrimps, shallots and numerous things I couldn't quickly tell apart within the melange of flavours. Their sambal packed respectable heat and was delicious with the rice. 👍🏼 If I had to compare with the ones I've had previously, I like this better than the one from Little Red Hen. 

Sadly their durian chendol wasn't good. The flavour of the puree reminded me of those tubed durian kueh which I never liked because they don't taste like actual durian. Nonya Chendol beats this hands down.