Soon Heng Hong Kong Style Charcoal Roast, Havelock Road Food Centre

Seems like I've been eating in the vicinity lately. Soon Heng (#01-03 Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22A/B Havelock Road) got onto my radar a couple of years ago. I know, right? But I've finally dropped by for a quick lunch of rice with char siew and roast duck.

I liked it. Pretty much all of it. Moist and piping hot rice drizzled with dark soy sauce, an ubiquitous hard boiled egg, pretty tender duck breast slices and the unassuming char siew which was tender and a lot tastier than its mundane look suggested. The stall name mentions charcoal roast but I don't know if their meat were charcoal roasted because I couldn't tell. But it was good the same. Like the also unassuming watery chilli sauce which packed some heat and a load of garlic.

I'll be back.

Zheng Nasi Lemak (正椰浆飯), Havelock Road Food Centre

I remember having nasi lemak at this stall (#01-12 Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre, 22A/B Havelock Road) a few years ago. It's a local Chinese rendition which I recall not leaving much of an impression. I thought to give it another go since I was around and they were actually open for business. 

The plate was of passable quality if you discounted the fact that the rice wasn't particularly fragrant and had a texture that was dry and a little bit waxy. The good that came out of that was one could just simply inhale that with the sambal which was kinda nice - sweet but not annoyingly so and with just a little heat. The fried goods appear to be fresh out of the wok and not overdone.

Wouldn't take any extra trouble to return but I suppose I wouldn't mind eating it once in a while. And those limited opening hours for this stall isn't gonna be much of a loss.

Instant noodles at O Banh Mi

This used to be their bún gà nướng chả giò, but I suppose it's no longer bún since it's not rice vermicelli but instant noodles instead. Remember my mention about the instant noodles before? Not a big disruptor here. After all the squeezes of lime, fish sauce and Sriracha, it was mostly just a change of texture.

A palak paratha set from Pangat

I've noticed this shop (#B2-39 VivoCity Kopitiam, 1 Harbourfront Walk) years ago back when they were located at Suntec City selling Indian/Chindian food. They became one of the numerous cases of being out of sight and out of mind and hence, I never got to try their food until recently when we were looking for something to eat at VivoCity. It wasn't too bad. Their paratha was freshly made. The only item that I didn't like was their gobi manchurian which had too much soggy batter, too little cauliflower and a sauce that was a little too sweet than I prefer.  

Re-visiting Som Tam

And back at Som Tam we were giving a chance to the new lease of life.

There's grilled squids with mentaiko mayo on their menu. That menu also had pictures that strongly suggested much more mentaiko mayo then what was actually served. Thankfully, it was all salvaged by the nam jim thale which was a way better flavour to complement the squid. Would have been great if there was a bit more char but these chewy squids were pretty good.

Chicken fried rice with preserved olive leaves? Yes please. I thought this was quite nicely done. A little greasy but heartily delicious the same with a squeeze of lime.

The flavour oddity here was their black curry chicken with Musan king durian - or also commonly known as mao shan wang (猫山王). Imagine a consistency akin to black sesame paste with a creamy, nutty almost chocolate like flavour. Kinda like buah keluak. With spices. And a dollop of durian puree. Unusual? Definitely.

D24 Durian McFlurry from McD

A flurry of opinions must have been billowing forth from the D24 McFlurry from McD so here's my take.

The flavour from the durian puree/syrup reminded me of those durian ice cream from the past. I'm not sure if it's Wall's or King's. A hit of nostalgia seeped in artificial flavours for sure since I haven't had those for a long time. Was good for a single try.

My 2 cents was - I'd take those from Udders any day over this. After all, if I were to be burping durian for the next few hours after that, I would want to know that it was worth it.