Breakfast @ Cheng San market - Bee Hoon (和發) & Coffee (天天茶室)

Many moons ago, it was during one of the rare occasions that I had a weekday morning off and I decided to pop by the Cheng San market for breakfast. The Cheng San market is located at Blk 527 Ang Mo Kio Ave 10, quite accessible if you drive and exit from CTE AMK Ave 5 exit.

I tried the 'Fried Sotong Bee Hoon' from Hwa Huat 和發 (because 1 key aim of visiting the Cheng San market is to try the coffee next door) and I was pleasantly surprised by how good and cheap the bee hoon is. The uncle would fry the bee hoon on the stop, i.e. hot delicious breakfast instead of pre-cooked portions. I added a Soon Kueh just to top my breakfast quota. 

 

和發

Of course for coffee I had the kopi from Everyday Tea Stall - 天天茶室. They were featured in the TV programme before, where the uncle (seen in the photo below) was commenting that he suffered from backaches due to long hours of making coffee. Nonetheless his coffee is damn good (for hawker fare) and there are often queues. 1 chap who was being interviewed even said that he would buy extra to keep in the fridge, so that he could enjoy the coffee when he couldn't come to the Cheng San market to buy from 天天茶室. Being a typical hawker fare, the mug is just a nice flower-design mug, i.e. not those nostalgic looking cups from the more famous kopi chains.

天天茶室

天天茶室 Uncle

天天茶室 Kopi 

So for those who have the morning off, and would like to try out good local hawker fare, drop by Cheng San market for a little culinary adventure. :)

New Soon Huat Bak Kut Teh @ Jalan Kayu

It has been a while since I had great tasting bak kut teh in Singapore. So when we heard about the New Soon Huat bak kut teh along Jalan Kayu, we decided to give it a try.

We ordered bak kut teh, braised pig trotter, and pig liver soup, and they tasted great. Unlike the peppery clear broth that is pretty commonly in food court, New Soon Huat's bak kut teh soup has a slight herbal and rich smooth texture to the soup. Moreover, instead of just pieces of pork ribs, they served the bak kut teh with a mixture of different pork parts plus some tofu skin. The parts were innards, and both lean and the fatty meat in the bubbling claypot. As for the ribs, the meat pieces came off the bones easily and didn't get stuck between the teeth.

We liked the braised pig trotter as well. The portion that was served had the good combination of the tendons, meat and the fatty parts. The meat came off the bones easily, and was wholly infused with the spices used. The serving was not too oily, and the black soy sauce added much aromatic flavour when we put it onto the rice.

New Soon Huat served liver soup in claypot as well. They didn't have the kidney, which was somewhat disappointing. The liver pieces were cooked just right with slight reddish tint, i.e. not overcooked till somewhat rubbery.

Overall the dining experience at New Soon Huat bak kut teh was good. For a price of $20+ (the dishes above cost $5.80 each and can drinks are retailing at $1.50 each), we get these three dishes that were just nice for two persons. The New Soon Huat bak kut teh is located at 257 Jalan Kayu, opened daily 11am to 10pm. They accept reservation, and those who are interested can call 6484 3224.

Chef Han Cuisine - Chicken Rice (Sunset Way)

Sometimes we chanced upon food that we didn't expect to find. One such occasion was when we 'found' Chef Han Cuisine that opened recently at the Sunset Way Blk 105. We were wondering what to have for dinner, and driving around somewhat adventurously before ending up at Sunset Way.  Voila, in front of us was the famous ex-Chatterbox executive sous chef's shop.

Of course we tried their chicken rice, with a plate of vegetables and the chicken gizzard. The chicken rice is fragrant and not oily, which is a plus point for the health conscious folks. The chicken pieces are tender and juicy. Their chilli and the accompanying soup meet the expectation for a typical hainanese chicken meal. The gizzards are fresh and just lightly seasoned, i.e. not too oily or salty.

According to this Soshiok site, it seems that Chef Han wanted his three sons to inherit his culinary skills, and that is why he left Meritus Mandarin to set up his own shop. Chef Han also has his own blog! So I think the chap I saw at the Chef Han Cuisine must be one of his sons.

Personally I liked the fact that their chicken, and the rice, are not too oily. While the fragrance of the rice is appealing, it is slightly too grainy. I would say that for the price charged ($12+ for a meal for two, including drinks) this is a value for money location, especially for those chicken rice lovers.

Chef Han Cuisine has many other chices, including macaroni, roasted chicken and some nonya options. Guess we can drop by Chef Han someday and savour these options in addition to their famous chicken rice.

民众兴化 Restaurant - Ming Zhong Heng Hwa cuisine

Despite the general high cost of living in Singapore, one can still find many places that offer great food at affordable prices. One such place is the Ming Zhong / 民众 restaurant located along Maude Road (Jalan Besar area). 民众 has 兴化 / heng hwa dishes, of which many are greatly popular.

One of the heng hwa dishes is the heng hwa bee hoon, with lotsa ingredients including lala clams, sotong, mushrooms and vegetables.

Of course, for the heng hwa dishes, one must not forget the signature heng hwa lor mee - 兴化 version that uses clear milky soup that is different from the traditional hokkien lor mee. Again, the many lala clams and ingredients (sotong, vegetables etc) give a richness to the soup. Oh, a side note - 民众's lor mee does not have peanuts (I had 兴化 lor mee elsewhere with peanuts) though.

民众 restaurant also offers the deep fried fish slices that is a must-try. The fish slices are accompanied by the chilli sauce that enhances the flavour of the fish slices. I think the fish bone sort of enhances the flavour of this lightly salted dish when the fish slices are deep fried in very hot oil. The slices are not too dried, but give a certain crisp texture when you bite into the meat.

Ming Zhong / 民众 restaurant has been around for quite a while, and typical of such traditional outfit, the dishes have much plainer appearance compared to the new restaurant fares in shopping centres. The plus side is that Ming Zhong / 民众 prices are very reasonable (about $10+ for two, dinner time), as alluded by their name, i.e. 民众 means 'people / popular' in Chinese. So do drop by the place for dinner if you have craving for 兴化 cuisine!

友记家传鸭饭 & Kway Chap - Opp Bugis Junction

There is this great kway chap and duck rice shop (友记家传鸭饭) right opposite Bugis Junction (right across from MOS Burger side). It is a coffee shop setting and is quite suitable for a quick and good meal ($3.80 - $4).

Both the duck rice and kway chap (broad rice noodles with pig innards and egg) are simply fantastic. I think it's got to do with the sauce they used for the dish. They splash generous amount of this sauce onto the meat and I think they put a generous amount of different spices and herbs into making this sauce. Thus there is no 'meat' smell for the different innards.

Yes I know it is sinful. The amount of oil, and the other unhealthy parts of this dish mean that one cannot have it too often. Nonetheless it is definitely worth a try! The 'kway' is also smooth in its feel and yes they use the same sauce for the 'kway' except that they mix in some soy mixture to dilute the concentration or else it will simply be too salty.

Whampoa Food Street (Keng) Fish Head Steamboat

In my late teens years, my family often went to Whampoa market on Sunday for the fish head steamboat. Often the queue was long and we had to wait for nearly an hour. So when we heard that there was another Whampoa Fish Head steamboat around Rangoon Road we naturally became frequent diners at the place.

Over time somehow, the quality of the Whampoa Fish Head at Rangoon Road has dropped somewhat. Nonetheless the charcoal steamboat with flavourful soup is still a great place to have dinner, especially when it is raining.

They added fried yam and a sour plum to the soup, which gave the soup base a richness that is mouth watering. We had pomfret fish when I took this photo. The fish slices are fresh, just be careful about the fish bones, as expected of fish head steamboat.

Part of the reason why the steamboat is good is the chilli they served. The mix of lime, chilli and garlic removes any fishy smell the fish slices might have, and yet the sourish, spicy mixture has an appertising effect.

Other than the fish head steamboat, they have other normal zi char dishes. This plate of dou miao that they charged for $8 is actually quite cheap.

So for those who want to have charcoal fish head steamboat without too long a queue, you could try the one located at Rangoon Road. Parking is not an issue since there are parking lots near the place. In terms of service, the place is only so-so. If you need to add more soup, it is better to ask the aunties to do so earlier. Overall, a meal of fish head steamboat and plate of dou miao (and drinks) cost about $48 for two.

Roast Duck - Four Seasons Restaurant @ Bayswater London

One of the great food attractions in London is the delicious roast duck from the Four Seasons Restaurant @ Bayswater. Here's a photo of the half duck that we ordered. The skin is crispy, meat is flavourful, and of course the oil and fats of the duck pieces carry the aromatic fragrance that is hard to find elsewhere.

Other than the roast duck, we also ordered the roast pork, with crispy skin and tender meat. Actually I think there is more fat than meat, as shown in the latter photo below. It is amazing how the chef managed to find a cut of the pig that is so fatty. I guess the fatty parts allow the spices, sauces and other flavours to be captured in the dish.

We also ordered vegetables and some tofu to go along with these roasted dishes. The vegetables dish was great, especially as a complement to the oily fatty duck and pork. Simple crunchy fresh vegetables to rid the taste of oil is always welcome. The tofu is actually made from minced meats, vegetables and tofu, covered with bean sauce and bittergourd.

We had a short chat with the restaurant stff, and found out that the restaurant is operated by someone from Hong Kong. For those who intend to visit the Four Seasons @ Bayswater, do note that you have to squeeze into the restaurant (becasue there is always a queue outside) and let the waiter note down your name together with the number of diners. After a wait of about 15 mins to 45 mins, depending on the time of the day, they would be able to clear a table for you.

煎年糕 - Fried Rice Cake from Chinese New Year

Every year after the Chinese New Year period, there will be a lot of Rice Cakes (nian gao), i.e. 年糕, and we always look forward to eating the fried rice cakes. Rice cakes or 年糕 are typically served during Chinese New Year because it symbolises good luck for the new year due to the phonetic resemblance to the phrase '年年高升'. Traditionally the sweet rice cakes is also served as a worship item to the Kitchen God during the eve of the Chinese New Year, since the sweet sticky paste will stick to the mouth of the Kitchen God, and thus when he reports about that particular household activities for the whole year, only sweet things will be said.

For fried rice cakes, we have to wait for weeks before the rice cakes hardened sufficiently to be fried. Here's a picture of these rice cakes, properly cleaned and dried.

Well to fry them, we need to cut them into smaller pieces of about 5cm by 3 cm. The thickness of the rice cake pieces is up to individual preferences I guess, but try to keep it to about 1cm thick.

Eating fried rice cakes plainly is not as fun, and many people will also add in sweet potato and / or yam slices to give the dish the crunchiness feel as well as lessening the sweetness of the rice cakes. Sweet potatoes are root vegetables, and they need to be cleaned thoroughly before cutting them into pieces of similar size with the cut rice cakes.

The cut rice cakes and sweet potato pieces are dipped in flour batter so that they will stick together when fried. Slight coating of the batter will do or else the flour batter becomes a thick outer crust that spoils the taste of the dish.

Viola, now the pieces are ready to be fried! Those who have rice cakes at home, do give this dish a try. The dish is quite filing though, and best serve with chinese tea or other drinks to 'wash' away the oiliness.

Heng Hwa (兴华卤面) Noodles near Boon Keng MRT

There are also great coffeeshop stalls selling good (and cheap) food! One such stall is the Heng Hwa (兴华) 小吃 located at the row of stalls right at the Boon Keng MRT exit, i.e. blk 27.

For just $3 you get a big bowl of 兴华卤面 noodles with plenty of 'lala' clams (easily 10 over of them) and pork slices, with cabbages (plus other vegs) and peanuts. The soup is very flavourful, with a stew like texture. Unlike local versions, the 兴华 has no dark sauce and thus appears plain in colour.

Drop by and give it a try when you are in the area. ;)

Chang Cheng Porridge @ Keong Saik / New Bridge Road

When we were at Chinatown for the mid-autumn lights up, we went to the famous Chang Cheng porridge （长城粥）located at the intersection at Keong Saik Road & New Bridge Road.

The bowls of porridge are delicious. We ordered fried intestines porridge （炸大肠粥) and pig liver porridge (猪肝粥), with tau fu (豆腐). Everything cost only $11.30, which is quite cheap considering the size they gave, i.e. two big bowls with lots of ingredients inside. The 炸大肠 is nicer, since after a while the cooked 猪肝 became quite hard to chew. The porridge is smooth. Actually the place also offers hot claypot frogs' legs which is the more famous dish, but we didn't have the mood for hot claypot frogs' legs that evening. Despite it being a busy place, the waiting time for our food was rather short.

The two chicken wings in the background of the picture below is from another stall at the same coffee shop. The lady grilling the chicken wings is very polite, and the wings taste good ($1.30 each). Overall a good place for dinner, especially for porridge lovers.

Thien Kee Hainanese Steamboat @ Golden Mile

Today we went to Thien Kee Hainanese Steamboat at Golden Mile Complex. The food was great, and particularly so for a rainy evening. The outlet has expanded over the years, and now occupied multiple shopfronts. The building looks a bit run-down, but helps to add to the authentic dinning experience.

The steamboat is traditional hainanese style, with food all piled together and served on a single plate. The choice of broth is just chicken broth, i.e. no choice. Nonetheless the broth is good! The broth gets a bit salty after we cooked all the food though. We chose the medium sized 'platter'. Initially thinking that the food is insufficient, we realised later that there is actually a lot of food, i.e. the raw food is really all 'lumped' on the plate. The variety includes vegetables, egg, sotong, prawns (3 each), pork, pig liver, fish balls, fish, sea cucumber, 'fish maw' (suspect it is not fish maw, but taste like one), and most importantly, cockles! You could have beef if you want to. The rice they served is chicken rice. Seasoning comprise of chilli, ginger and garlic mix, and dark soy sauces.

Overall the experience is good. The price is also cheap, with $28 for 2 pax, comprising of $26 for the medium size platter, and $2 for the wet napkins and rice. The small platter costs only $22, good if you are not that hungry. For those going with a bigger group, you could add 'steamed' white chicken or deep fried seafood.

Would most likely go back one day, especially when the weather is cool. :)