River South (Hoe Nam) Prawn Noodle, Thai Thong Crescent

It was apparent from the dexterity and speed of the man behind the stall catering to a full house that this noodle shop (31 Tai Thong Crescent, tel : 6281 9293) is a veteran. From what I heard, they've been serveing prawn and pork rib noodles for a long time. They're open almost every day of the year and only take a day off once a month. I've been hearing some good things about them and decided to come down to try their noodles which are supposedly one of the best.

In retrospect, I would suppose that the main draw of Hoe Nam would be the slightly peppery prawn and rib based soup. Which was good but nothing decidedly outstanding. At least for me. No discredit to the folks that have been running this place forever here. It wasn't mind blowing in the department of flavour nor were the noodle outstanding. Those noodles were mostly flavoured by the chilli and fried shallots. Did I mentioned that their abalone clams tasteed like where it came from? Cans.

What I thought was rather good were the plain old fried fish cakes that were sold on the side. These and the intestines could just be what that could make me consider a re-visit. If I could ever convince myself to brave the mad crowd again.

Pho Lan, Prinsep Street

Finally got to drop by Pho Lan (44A Prinsep Street, Prinsep Place, tel : 6835 9441) after wondering about them for a while now. Legend claimed, according to the restaurant at least, that the word 'pho' could have been a French derivative of pot-au-feu which roughly translated into "simmering pot in a stove or fire."

We weren't sure what to expect but still ended up a little disappointed because the broth from their pho wasn't hot enough. That resulted in rather raw bean sprouts. They obliged in our request to heat up that broth (in a pot, not microwave mind you) which overcooked those thin slices of beef in the process. I also detected quite a bit of cinnamon in their broth. While I thought the pho was pretty ok, I preferred the one from Pho24. The portions here were also a little small.


There was a chao tom (shrimp paste on sugar cane) on the side which tasted quite shrimpy. It reminded me of something that I used to have as a kid at the Prima Tower Revolving Restaurant. They had some shrimp or crab fritter thingy that had a stick of sugar cane stuck in them. The sugarcane in this didn't taste as sweet.

I should give the pho at Madam Saigon a try.

Hai Nan Xing Zhou Beef Noodles, Toa Payoh

This Hainanese beef noodle store (Blk 22 Lor 7 Toa Payoh Lor 7, #01-06) apparently has its share of media accolades displayed on the front. Sadly I found it to be very unremarkable. Presumably, it's suppose to be one of the better beef noodle stalls but I was hard pressed to differentiate it from a generic one from food courts apart from the salted vegetables and their blend of chilli. Right down to that starchy gravy and mass produced beef balls. The tendons were very tender and the accompanying soup was a little sweet, but nothing to go out of my way for. On the bright side, I've discovered that Benny that used to operate out of Maxwell has shifted to the coffeeshop just a block away (Blk 18?) from this hawker centre.

More ramen from Menya Shinchan

This sinjiro ramen from Menya Shinchan wasn't the towering bowl as I recalled from the last visit from a neighbour's seat. But, it was still huge and filling the same. I'm not sure if this is a one off or that perhaps, after numerous feedbacks about the portions, those guys have finally decided to reduce the mountain of boiled cabbages. Speaking of which, I thought those cabbages were enjoyable because they were crunchy, fresh tasting and had that drizzle of shoyu over the top. There was also a large amount of bean sprouts underneath the soup with the noodles. I must admit that the accompanying chopped garlic on the side and the ground pepper did help to keep things going.


The spicy mazesoba was expectedly very similar to the non-spicy version that I had previously. Pretty obvious what the main difference was. The pile up in the bowl looked like it matched the size of the sinjiro so I guess this was a pretty large a portion too. For some reasons in the midst of that spicy nutty gravy, I got reminded of ba chor mee and I guess this could be loosely construed as a Japanese equivalent of that. Using ramen. With a slice of cheese.

Ultimately, I think what drew me to Menya Shinchan was their option of "hard noodles" which gave them a more satisfying bite than the other ramen shop's noodles. That and the larger variety of broth. I forgot to ask for the aji tama today. Grrrr....

Some takeout pizza from Donato

Did an unexpected take out from this unique pizza establishment (Pizza da Donato, 8 Sixth Avenue, tel : 6219 7562) down at the Bukit Timah side of 6th Ave which I had just realised that some one had recommended quite a while ago. There's a bunch of other stuff like lasagna, sausages, calzones and desserts available besides the shiny pizzas that were on display.

Crust on the pizzas of Donato wasn't of the thin variety but it definitely wasn't overwhelming and turned out to be not bad. Special mention goes to that quattro formaggi pizza which was generous with that pungent Gorgonzola and that had probably more than twice the blue cheese in each slice of than the whole of one pizza at Mama Lucia. The Hawaiian did look a little cheap though. There was also some pizza sandwich thing filled half with ham and cheese and the other half with spinach. The spinach stuffing was pretty tasty.

Will definitely consider this place again when I next have a pizza craving.

Jin Xing Hong Kong Roasted Meat

I wished I had discovered this place earlier. This roast meat stall (Jin Xing Hong Kong Cantonese Roasted Meat, Blk 214 Serangoon Ave 4, #01-88) was an excellent find. What I hadn't expected was that this coffee shop was also where the Botak Jones at Serangoon is located and for the first time, the Botaks did not seem to be having the monopoly on the business. Anyway, this was a stall where one could get roasted/barbequed meats, cut in hearty chunks and what I thought to be pretty generous portions. There were those honey glazed roasted ribs as well which was a bonus for me.

The only thing that I thought could have been improved on was the rice which I thought was a little beady & dry. Perhaps the chilli could use a little more heat. Still, I'm willing to overlook those just for their roasts. I'm definitely returning.