When I was younger, the de facto meeting place for gatherings was definitely at least a cafe, or a nicer restaurant for a special occasion. While I enjoy going out to fancy restaurants, I also like having a simple dinner at a Zhu Chao stall with my friends.

For one of our gatherings, we decided to meet at Tiong Bahru as everyone is working nearby. Since I’ve been to Sin Hoi San Seafood Restaurant, I asked my friend to recommend another eating place in the area, and she immediately suggested Por Kee Eating House – a very popular Zhu Chao Stall at Seng Poh road opposite Tiong Bahru Market.

Like what I’ve mentioned in my Singapore Must-Eats post, Zi Char (also known as Zhi Char/Cze Char/Tze Char/Zhu Chao) is a Chinese stall (in a coffee shop) that serves a variety of ala carte dishes at affordable prices.

The signature Home-made tofu braised with mushrooms is also highly recommended, and this is coming from a guy who only likes hotplate tofu. We also had the famous Champagne Pork Ribs ($16 for small), and it was really good.

As you all know, I’m on a quest to find the best sweet and sour pork in Singapore. Even though I have been disappointed each time, I still continued to try them. Unfortunately, Por Kee’s Sweet and Sour Pork ($12) was only mediocre. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t amazing either.

The food at Por Kee Eating House is good, but not great. Furthermore, the prices at Por Kee are slightly higher than the typical Zhu Chao stalls; vegetable dishes start from $9 (small), and the meat dishes are around $12-16 (small).

I wouldn’t go all the way to Tiong Bahru just to eat this, and even if I am in the area, there are plenty of options to choose from.

Where do you usually eat in Tiong Bahru?

Singapore Food Blog Review
Por Kee Eating House
69 Seng Poh Lane #01-02
Tel: +65 6221 0582

Like many others, I love to find nice restaurants that serve good food at affordable prices. Paradise Inn is a casual dining concept by the Paradise Group, with 11 branches in Singapore.

The food is generally good, and most of the items are priced below $15 (for small portion).

Stand-out dishes include the Braised Vermicelli with Pork Trotters ($12 for small) and the Stewed Pork Belly with Lotus Bun ($2.2 per piece), otherwise known as Kong Ba Bao. We also tried Paradise Inn’s Sweet & Sour Pork with lychee ($10 for small) – decent but not life-changing; and Hot Plate Tofu ($10 for small) which came with preserved caixin and minced pork.

Paradise Inn is a nice and affordable Chinese restaurant to have a simple family dinner. Given that Paradise Inn is a restaurant chain in shopping malls, prices are naturally higher than zi char places. That said, I can see myself going back with my family when we are dining out, especially if we are in a shopping mall.

Singapore Food Blog Review
Paradise Inn Restaurant
(11 Branches in Singapore)
23 Serangoon Central
#03-15 NEX Mall
Tel: +65 6634 4228

313 Orchard Road
#B3-39/40 313 @ Somerset
Tel: +65 6733 0348

For more recommendations, read Paradise Dynasty | Seafood Paradise | Taste Paradise

Reading Food Blogs and watching food shows are among my favorite pastimes. Food blogs with delicious photos and intriguing words have the ability to suck me in for hours, while food shows are somewhat more direct – they make me hungry instantly. I’m sure many of you are currently hooked to Sizzling Woks, the popular food show on the best zhi char eating places in Singapore.

I’m not surprised because I get many requests to blog more about cheap and good Zhi Char in Singapore all the time. Today, I will like to share about one of the Zhi Char restaurants in Singapore that my family always go to: B.K Fortune Seafood Steamboat restaurant. They are located just a few steps away from Bar Bar Black Sheep along Bukit Timah road (towards King Albert Park direction after Sixth Avenue).

Unlike some Zi Char Stalls in neighbourhood coffee shops that charged $40/kg for crabs (prices that are comparable to Seafood restaurants), the ones at B.K Fortune Seafood restaurant are only $30/kg and we paid $56 for two huge Salted Egg Yolk Crabs.

Crabs do not really appeal to lazy people like me. It’s a dish that requires a lot of effort, but offers very little return (in terms of meat) – so you can understand why I don’t really like crabs. But when we eat out at Seafood restaurants in Singapore, I will always go for either the famous Singapore Chilli crab, or the Salted Egg Yolk Crab. And if there’s one thing you should know, Fortune Seafood Restaurant’s Salted Egg yolk Crabs are gorgeous! I’m not going into details about how they taste like, but believe me – they are fingers-licking good!

This isn’t a very pretty photo, but Fortune Seafood’s signature Assam Curry Fish Head ($15) is a must-order dish. The flavours hit you in different waves, first the spicy-and-sourish assam gravy, second the smooth and fresh taste of the fish head – I love it! The assam gravy was so good that I filled my bowl of rice with it.

Amongst the other dishes that we had at Fortune Seafood Steamboat Restaurant, the Sweet & Sour Pork ($10) was exceptionally ordinary – there was too much fatty meat and it didn’t have the right bite.

When eating at Zi Char restaurants, we would usually order the crowd-favorite Hot Plate tofu. But this time round, we decided to throw caution out of the window and went for their Mango Sauce Fried Tofu ($8). It was a disaster. The sauce accompanying the tofu was done the Thai-mango-salad way, but the whole dish was just deep fried tofu (bland and slightly dry) with the dressing. Give me hot plate tofu any day please.

If you have difficulty finding the place, they are located directly opposite the old turf city. Otherwise, look out for the former premises of Brewerkz. Now, it’s your turn to share with me a good zhi char stall in Singapore.

// The name of the restaurant is Forture Seafood Restaurant with a ‘R’, but it seems that there is a common spelling mistake online where everyone calls it Fortune Seafood.

Singapore Food Restaurant Review
B.K Fortune Seafood Restaurant
887 Bukit Timah Road Singapore
Tel: +65 6469 5957
Opening hours: 11am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 5pm – 11.30pm Daily

Oh our love-hate relationship with cravings. It is almost impossible to ignore them, and they always sneak in and catch us unaware during the middle of the night. Sometimes, we don’t really have a choice but to satisfy it.

I was craving for Chilli Crabs a while back, and decided on Seafood Paradise Restaurant at Singapore Flyer since all of us have never been there before.

The Paradise Group of Restaurants have been doing very well recently. Other than their original Seafood Paradise at Defu Lane, and the fine dining flagship restaurant Taste Paradise, they have added Paradise Inn and with the latest being Paradise Dynasty at Ion Orchard.

You know what is the best part about being a food blogger? I get to decide the place, as well as the dishes to order. If you have been reading my blog for some time, you will know that I’m a big fan of chilli crabs ($4.4/100g). Naturally, I persuaded the rest to avoid the pepper crab and go for the deep fried man tou and chilli gravy instead.

Rule number one when it comes to ordering Chilli crab:

Always, always specify the size of the crab to the waitress. Unfortunately, we were too hungry that night and actually forgot to mention that. The poor crab that arrived on our table was undersized – it was just slightly more than 700g, which was barely enough to satisfy our cravings. But everything was forgiven when we dipped the huge deep fried buns into the gravy. There was silence for a few minutes as everyone focused on the crab (& the mantou with chilli gravy).

Another must-order is the Crisp-fried Crystal Prawns with salted egg yolk ($16/small). The one that we ordered only had 5 small prawns, please go for the medium portion ($24) at least.

Hotplate Tofu ($10/small) is one of my favorite dishes when I dine at Zi Char or seafood restaurants. Don’t we all love the sizzling sound coming from the hotplate? The tofu, the minced meat, and the egg tasted perfect together! The one here had additional preserved cai xin to give it a different twist.

Whenever Sweet & Sour Pork appears during dinner, everyone will always turn their head towards me. It is as though there’s the words ‘sweet and sour pork’ written on my forehead.

Other than the rather small portion, I’d think that Seafood Paradise’s rendition was very close to the one that I have been looking for. In short, it’s one of the best Sweet & Sour Pork in Singapore that I had in recent times. With the pineapple and lychee adding to the sweetness, the pork was extremely crispy yet not too oily. Every bite was so good! I managed to get a few extra helpings while everyone was busy with the crabs.

Looking for a Chinese Seafood restaurant to bring your overseas friends for our famous Singapore Chili Crab? Check out Seafood Paradise Restaurant next time!

Which is your favorite seafood restaurant for Chilli crabs?

Restaurant Review
Seafood Paradise Restaurant
30 Raffles Avenue #01-01
Singapore Flyer Singapore
Tel: +65 6336 5101

91 Defu Lane
10 Swee Hin Building Singapore
Tel: +65 6487 2429

When our dear friend Kenny was in Singapore for work recently, we were having a headache where to bring him for dinner — until someone suggested Cafe De Hong Kong at Balestier.

It’s always good to have a friend in town as it provides us with the perfect excuse to pig-out. It’s also a not-so-regular dinner outing for a group of lazy food bloggers.

Cafe De Hong Kong’s Nan Yu Roasted Crispy Chicken ($17 half chicken, pre-order required) is very different from the usual ones. For one, it wasn’t exceptionally crispy, nor was it extremely tender. But it stood out with the use of fermented bean curd to marinate the chicken, giving it a very different twist. While I didn’t like this dish, the rest of the folks enjoyed it tremendously.

The Pumpkin Paste & Salted Egg Golden Prawns ($22) was excellent. Each of us had a huge prawn that was coated with the rich salted egg yolk sauce. It was succulent, meaty and there was a subtle spiciness hidden within the robust sauce.

I felt that the Braised Lamb Brisket ($20) had a strong gamey taste, but the rest thought that it was acceptable and they went on to finish the whole pot!

The only vegetable that we ordered for dinner was the Braised Long Beans ($10) and it was much better than I expected.

The Fragrant Fish Roe Fried Rice ($10) was listed as one of Cafe De Hong Kong’s signature dishes and I was wondering what’s the big fuss about it. I mean, fried rice is just fried rice, how good can it be?

The porportion of grain – fish roe was evenly matched, and every mouthful of the fried rice was accompanied by the flavorful and crunchy red roe. This is definitely worth a try!

Dear God, or whoever in charge of wishes, I know I haven’t been very faithful when it comes to praying, and it isn’t nice for me to come to you only when I need something. But please, let the Sweet & Sour Pork ($10) be good.

There was a strong vinegar smell lingering in the air when the waitress brought the plate to our table, the appearance of the Sweet & Sour pork looked promising. Everyone stared at me to see my reaction as I was the one who insisted on ordering this dish. I took a piece with the chopsticks and placed it carefully into my mouth.

The first impression was not too bad, but after taking a few more bites, I concluded that it wasn’t what I was looking for.  According to the others, they found the Sweet & Sour Pork too sweet, which wasn’t an issue with me. But it wasn’t crispy nor crunchy enough. Sometimes, I can’t help but wonder if I am seeking something that does not exist.

I almost fainted when the two French Toast came to our table. It was huge, and sinful! For a second, I was wondering if I should eat it. But I finally succumbed to temptation under peer-pressure. It was very good – definitely one of the best French Toast in Singapore!

Cafe De Hong Kong is somewhat like an upmarket zi-char stall in a Chinese restaurant setting. The restaurant was almost full when we were there on a weekday night, so you can guess how popular they are. While I am not totally convinced with all the raves that they are getting, Cafe De Hong Kong is probably an option to consider for dinner if you are in the Balestier area.

Restaurant Review
Cafe De Hong Kong
586 Balestier Road #01-01 Eastpac Building Singapore
Tel: +65 6255 3865

Cravings are very intriguing, they can make even the most rational person do something against his or her wishes. The dictionary described it as an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire for something.

How far will you go to satisfy your cravings? Sembawang. To be exact, I went all the way up north for Chong Pang Nasi Lemak. Crazy? Yes. Satisfied? Maybe.

“Where’s the best nasi lemak in Singapore?” My friend asked casually. I was caught off guard for a moment. Okay lets see, there are a few nasi lemak stalls that have been mentioned frequently: like the famous Changi Village Nasi Lemak, the two rivaling Adam road Nasi Lemak stalls, Fong Seng Nasi Lemak, or the popular Boon Lay Power Nasi Lemak.

I wasn’t prepared to go to the extreme end of Singapore for Changi Village Nasi Lemak, and I wasn’t sure if Adam road Nasi Lemak was opened at night. Many people mentioned that the standard of Fong Seng Nasi Lemak has dropped over the years, while I’ve tried Boon Lay Nasi Lemak before. So you see, it had nothing to do with my cravings when my friend suggested Chong Pang Nasi Lemak in Sembawang – there wasn’t any other alternatives.

Nasi Lemak is quintessentially a Malay dish, so naturally some people will think it’s impossible for Chinese to prepare good Nasi Lemak. It’s somewhat like asking an Italian to cook French cuisine, or an American trying to prepare Japanese sushi. But over time and time again, many chefs have proved that it’s possible to master a different cuisine.

My friend mentioned that the main reason why she always come back to Chong Pang Nasi Lemak is because of the fragrant and soft, firm and not-sticky rice. The dark red chili looked like any other normal chili, but it was fiery hot with a vengeance.

Remember I have been on the hunt for the best sweet and sour pork? I haven’t found it yet, but I thought that Chong Pang Nasi Lemak’s rendition was pretty good. Coated with the sweet and sour sauce, the pork had a shattering crisp – oh damn, I wish I’ve ordered two portions of the sweet and sour pork.

Is Chong Pang Nasi Lemak the best Nasi Lemak in Singapore? Judging from the long queue for their fried chicken wings, many people seem to think so. But I probably will not go all the way up north just for nasi lemak. Oh cravings, look what you have done!

* * *

I hardly go up North just for food, it’s just more convenient to meet in town, or even to travel to the other end of Singapore for the best food places in the East. So please let me know if there is any good food that I must try in the North.

Hawker Food Review
Chong Pang Nasi Lemak
447 Sembawang Road
Tel: +65 6756 0048
Open: 5pm – 7 am

Tian Tian Hainaese chicken rice, Boon Tong Kee chicken rice, and Loy Kee chicken rice are arguably the biggest names for chicken rice in the local food scene. I’ve tried all three before, they are definitely among the best chicken rice in Singapore.

There’s nothing wrong with the three chicken rice stalls, but I do not like the fact that everyone thinks that they are the best chicken rice in Singapore. I am not one who likes to go to hyped-up places, and I think this is my problem.

Seah Street and Purvis Street have been known for housing many Hainanese Chicken rice stalls with Chin Chin Hainanese chicken rice, Yet Con chicken rice and Sin Swee Kee chicken rice along them. On this occasion, we decided to check out Sin Swee Kee at Seah Street.

We had (half a chicken) of the Roasted and the Hainanese steamed chicken. I couldn’t quite put a finger to it, but the chicken at Sin Swee Kee didn’t really make an impression. It was not bad, but it wasn’t something that would make me go gaga. All I can say is I definitely had better chicken rice elsewhere before.

I have no intention to stir up a fight between the supporters of Yet Con and Sin Swee Kee, but I think that the former does a better Hainanese Pork Chop. It may have something to do with the sweet sauce, or the fries, but anyway, I have a better impression of Yet Con’s Hainanese pork chop.

Don’t judge. I know you are probably thinking that we are idiots. But we actually (or rather my friend) stupidly ordered the Sweet & Sour Fish instead of the Sweet and Sour Pork. I was having a mad craving for Sweet & Sour Pork, and I insisted on ordering it even though we already had the Sweet & Sour Fish and the Hainanese Pork Chops (which was also in sweet & sour sauce).

Sweet & Sour Pork > Sweet & Sour Fish

But unfortunately, both the sweet and sour dishes were not the ones that I’m looking for. The sweet and sour pork wasn’t crunchy enough, and lacked the wow impact. I’m sorry if it seems that I can’t explain the wow factor for sweet & sour pork clearly. That sort of feeling is indescribable, and you probably will know it only when you have it. Oh well, the hunt for the best Sweet and sour pork continues!

* * *

Obviously supporters of Sin Swee Kee Chicken rice restaurant will call this as the best chicken rice in Singapore, but I am not quite convinced. Having tried both Yet Con, and Sin Swee Kee, I will must check out Chin Chin Hainanese chicken rice next!

Anyway, I am not very familiar with the history behind Swee Kee Chicken rice. Can someone enlighten us about the story behind Sin Swee Kee and Old Swee Kee?

Hawker Food Review
Sin Swee Kee Chicken Rice Restaurant
35 Seah Street
Tel: +65 6337 7180

I am determined to find the best sweet and sour pork in Singapore, and it may seem strange that I’m looking for it at Holland Village Fish Head Bee Hoon – the zi char place famous for their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon and San Lou Hor Fun.

Having grown up in Holland Drive, my family always ate at the coffee shop whenever my mother did not cook. There used to be a Western food stall which had very good chicken chop, but it had since relocated to somewhere else a couple of years ago. Other than that, everyone else came for the famous Holland Village Fish Head Bee Hoon.

I’m not quite sure when, but in my memories, I remember having a very good sweet & sour pork when I was young. But the problem was: I couldn’t recall where. I thought I’d go back to my old fling and perhaps I could find the answer. Once we found a table, I ordered the sweet and sour pork right away.

Please, please let this be good.

I wanted it to be good. My hands trembled as I picked up a piece of the reddish-brown coated pork. The rush of adrenaline saw me putting it into my mouth – crunch.

Oh. I took another bite. Oh.

It was not bad, but not to the extent of being awesome. Definitely not the Sweet and Sour Pork that I’m looking for. And so the search continues.

Besides Fish Head Bee Hoon, they are renowned for the Prawn Paste Chicken. I’d go as far to say that this is the best Har Cheong Kai in Singapore. Amazingly crispy, yet impossibly moist inside – every bite of the succulent chicken was so good! Squeeze a drop of lime onto the chicken, Oh-oh-oh, one plate is never enough.

I repeat: the best Prawn paste chicken in Singapore. Far and away.

Ironically, we did not order the XO fish head bee hoon. According to some, it’s supposed to be really good and you know, there’s like XO inside the fish head bee hoon? Anyway, I tried it on previous occasions, and since I’m neither a fan of XO nor fish head bee hoon, I’d rather order one more plate of the har cheong kai.

Ngo Hiang, or prawn roll is one of my favorite dishes. The one here had a strong peppery taste, but everything was forgiven when I dipped it into the sweet sauce. I know the question on your mind: is this the best Ngo Hiang in Singapore? Maybe not. But then again, I’m biased because of the strong pepper hint, so go try it and let me know.

* * *

When it comes to Fish head bee hoon, I’m probably not the right person to talk to. If you also do not like fish head bee hoon, come here for the best prawn paste chicken, and there’s always Big D Grill in the same coffee shop to keep you occupied.

My search for the best Sweet & Sour pork continues – tell me where and I will be there.

Hawker Food Review
Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon
Jumbo Coffee Hub at Blk 19A, Dover Crescent
Blk 46 Holland Drive
#01-359 Holland Village
Tel: +65 6778 3691

It has been a long time since I last step foot here, my family used to refer Holiday Inn Atrium as “the black glass hotel”.

The air was sucked out of the room when the salad lobster ($9 per 100g) appeared; her sheer beauty took our breathe away, and for the next few second, we were wondering what to do, then one of us took a pair of chopstick and took a bite. And then the whole lobster was gone in a flash.

When in a Chinese restaurant, roasted pork is always a good indicator of the standard of the food. Unfortunately it was sold out when we went for dinner that night, but luckily we still had the suckling pig ($80 for half). Beneath the crispy skin, was the most delicious roasted pig ever, but it was the layer of fats in between that’s so sinful, but good!

I finally found a sweet & sour pork ($16) that’s good enough. I’ve been looking for one to satisfy the sweet-sour-pork-fan-in-me, and I must say Xin Cuisine’s rendition was done nicely; the crunchy pork was coated in the glossy sweet & sour sauce. The sweetness was further enhanced with the addition of lychee and apple instead of just the typical pineapple and cucumber.

And when we thought the salad lobster was good, the baked lobster with foie gras was even better. Thick, creamy mayonnaise sauce with generous chunks of foie gras, baked with the fresh, juicy crustacean. Just the thought of foie gras, and lobster, swoon! You get the idea.

Using the same sauce as the baked lobster with foie gras; the cod fish (not on the usual menu) was nicely seared on the outside and you could taste the freshness inside. We eyed it for a while and then we dug in. Removing the ginger garnish, I shoveled a corner of the fish into my mouth in one bite. The cod was perfect; it tasted good on its own, but it’s even better when we had it together with the sauce.

The Salted crusted baked Kampung chicken ($48 for whole chicken) was specially prepared in advance, and from what I understand, the difference between the normal bred chicken and kampung chicken was that while the former was caged up feeding on grains everyday, the latter gets to “run about” and exercise, which made the meat more tender and tasty.

And the main draw of the kampung chicken here was the infusion of the salted crusted into the chicken, and although it’s meant to be done this way, but we felt that it was slightly too salty for our liking.

First thoughts, the Braised 5-head abalone ($36) looks amazing. Drizzled with superior oyster sauce, there’s a reason why abalone is one of the top delicacy in Chinese cuisine. The abalone was braised until it was so soft, yet retaining a chewiness texture. It was good!

Since I had deep-fried ice cream before, I wasn’t so fascinated this time round. But still we couldn’t help not ordering it as it’s on the menu anyway. A split second into the pot of oil, was all it need for this beauty. Any longer and it would be ruin.

There was the chilled mango coulis pomelo sago ice cream ($10), and the chilled mango pudding ($6).

And since it’s the Mid-Autumn festival, we had some mooncakes too!

You like chocolate? You like mooncakes too? So how about some Mini snowskin mooncake with Champagne chocolate and pandan ($40 for 6 mini pcs)? Champagne chocolate centre with a pandan flavoured lotus paste – it’s one of those things that you either love it, or hate it.

On first look, I thought that this was the traditional mooncake with lotus paste, but it was not. Creamy moist custard filling is wrapped around a salted egg yolk and yum – I like custard! A sprinkle of edible gold flakes makes it irresistible, it’s a sin to eat something so pretty. Xin’s Mini special egg custard mooncake with egg yolk ($42 for 6 mini pcs)

The vibrant purplish blue snowskin made it very outstanding, and no, it’s not coloured flavourings. The blue pea flower was used to naturally infused and produce the beautiful colour. My family absolutely adored the Mini snowskin Peranakan mooncake with durian ($42 for 6 mini pcs); two mini mooncakes are definitely not enough for durian lovers.

My folks enjoyed the dinner of course; lobster with foie gras, suckling pig, abalone, I’m hungry now just by looking at the photos. I will probably go back to Xin Cuisine again, to try out their dim sum (it wasn’t available during dinner time).

My appreciation to Lynda from DBS, Cherylene & Seema from Eurorscg, and the Ivy & her staff from Xin Cuisine for the wonderful dinner. This is the third and final restaurant with DBS Foodster, my previous two dinner was at the Queen & Mangosteen, and Umami Japanese restaurant. You can find out more information about the DBS Indulge Series here.

Xin Cuisine
317 Outram road
4F Holiday Inn Atrium
Tel: 6731 7173

I went to Kuala Lumpur, alone. A breathe of new air, seeking of new adventures, finding old friends, could do no harm. On that lonely night, travelling across the dreaded causeway was a breeze, I found myself to be earlier of schedule, bus schedule that was, by one and a half hours. So what I did? I ate. This was supposed to be a feasting journey, and my first meal started with Fillet O’ fish from our good old MacDonald.

The journey towards KL was much faster than I anticipated, so I arrived there 4am in the morning, and found a place which was open and had roti prata; I ate again. This was, the start of my feasting week.

And it was all very exciting indeed. I did it the typical tourist way; monorails, Lrt, cabs and of course walking about. Conversing in “English” with flabbergasted hand signs, I managed to find my way around, somehow.

To whoever who says that the only good food in Malaysia is their street food. I’m sorry, but I don’t agree. The whole dining scene in Malaysia is so vibrant! There’s plenty of creative concepts everywhere, I was so amazed by it that most of the time I was walking around checking out ideas which I’ve never seen before.

And I didn’t mention about the shopping yet. Unfortunately, it was the Malaysian annual sale when I went, everywhere was screaming the four letter word, S-A-L-E! It was almost like a scene out of “Confession of a shopaholic“; every store I walked past, the mannequin seems to be waving and beckoning me to step inside the shop. Among the malls that I went to, KLCC, Pavilion and Sunway shopping mall; the spacious Pavilion stood out with a good mix of the luxury and other mid-level brands.

When I ate with my uncle’s family, we mostly had Chinese food, everything was freaking cheap there (1SGD to RM2.45). So I ate, and ate, and ate some more.

My short four days stay had a typical routine, I’ll wake up to have breakfast from places like Oldtown & it’s competitors like OldBoy. Kaya toast, nasi lemak, soft boiled eggs, and a cup of kopi-o.

And then we will go shopping, until our legs are tired and the stomach started to growl. Then we’ll have lunch, the la-mien was from Chinese restaurant Dragon-i; a Malaysian version of our Crystal Jade. Their sister restaurant, Canton-i recently opened in Ion, Singapore too! Since I NEVER ate at Crystal Jade before, there’s no way I could compare the two, but the food was pretty decent for the price, considering a restaurant setting.

After lunch, we continue to shop, and shop, and shop. I love the tai-tai life, and how can there be no high tea? We had cakes, ice cream, every afternoon. Then we continue to shop, until dinner.

One of the highlight of the trip that I was looking forward to, was meeting the KL Bloggers. I’ve always enjoyed reading their food adventures across the straits. I managed to meet up with Sugar Bean, Kampungboycitygirl, and ivyaiwei for dinner.

And our pursuit of good local street food brought us to Jalan Alor – a long stretch of road where there’s so many stalls to eat from! Our mini food-tour started with the very delicious BBQ chicken wings, siew yoke mee (roasted pork noodle), and fried bee hoon.

Us: Hello, twelve chicken wings (for four of us) please.
Staff: Stunned for a moment. Are you sure about it?

The chicken wings, were freaking awesome, so was the siew yoke mee, althought I would prefer the roast pork to be sliced bigger! We headed to our second stop for BBQ Stingrays and squids. Their interpretation of the stingray was quite unlike our local version (which was closer to JB); it was dried with no wet chilli gravy on top. It was fascinating to hear from the rest about the difference in the rojak too.

Adjacent to Jalan Alor, is Changkat Bukit Bintang which reminded me of Holland Village; another stretch of road for the night owls, very hip & happening, with lots of restaurants, a complete opposite to the street food from Jalan Alor, but they complimented each other perfectly.

It was such a coincidence when we bumped into thenomadGourmand on the street.We chatted like old time friends by the road, and she decided to join us for desserts. But first, she knew that Masak-masak, awhiffoflemongrass, fatboybakes and gang were in the same area too. So we dropped by and say hi!

After some deliberation, our group ended at in Le Bouchon, a fine-dining restaurant for some sweets. It was hilarious and embarrassing at the same time when the complimentary breads seemed to be more than what we ordered for desserts.The creme brulee was pretty decent, while the tiramisu was disappointing. The latter didn’t have any texture, it was more like just mousse with totally no alcohol and coffee flavour.

* * *

This is more or less, the summary of my short trip to KL. Four days were too short, I didn’t want to come back at all. It was a paradise, eating, shopping, eating, shopping. I want to go back again! And there will be three more places, which I’ll like to highlight and show separately in the next post.

Sawatdee Khrab, welcome to the land of smiles. We sailed the seven ocean, and land ahoy at Phuket, the southern tip of the land of smiles; where there are no land boundaries. The beautiful beaches, the awesome weather, the sporty sea activites, oh I heard so much about you.

The poor people, whom we grieved for during the tragedy that happened a few years back; the beaches were ruined, the folks homeless, the kids without food. They are back, slowly but surely, the glory days; the tourists flocked back, the economy picked up and the people are getting back their better life. I’m glad.

The touts and the trout. I always see this as the touts fishing for their trout, after all, it takes two hands to clap; I swindled on you, and of course you are willing to be tricked by me. Two thousand baht! It was the first offer we got, as we walked further away, so did the numbers slowly decreased. Our final bargain, take eight hundred.

Cashew nuts are apparently one of the famous products there, our first stop was inevitably the cashew factories. And they have it in all kinds of flavours; chilli, honey, sugar – you named it, they got it. We also picked up some pork floss; they are so good that you can eat them on its own. Cliché, but true.

They were gifts for others, we take some, and we give some. That’s the beauty of local products, people always buy them, as gifts for family, friends and neighbours.

I wanted to try the authentic Thai food, eat what the Thais eat. And where better than to sit by the roadside stalls at the night market, sipping a bowl of tom yum soup. It was hot, and I’m not those who could hold their chilli, so the sweat glands started to work as I took a sip, and another mouthful of the delightful-spicy soup. Lots of seafood inside the tom yum soup with a sour twist.

The de-constructed oyster omelette. It was definitely a oyster dish, judging from the numbers of the shellfish present on plate. Instead of frying and mixing everything together, they did it the de-constructed way. And there was lots of fried bean sprouts too!

I smelled it from far away – what’s that stuff floating in the air that was so good to the nose? It was Pad thai, their version of our char kuay teow. You couldn’t imagine my delight, finding my favourite food in a foreign land. And the best part was they threw in lots of bean sprouts, our locals one always seemed to scrimp on the cheap bean sprouts. It was good, we finished it almost in a blink.

If you need to know more about my taste bud, I love sweet & sour pork, that’s like my all time favourite zi-char dish. So here I’m, looking for a Thai rendition. Well it wasn’t what I was expecting, you know not those crispy fried pork coated in bright red tomato sauce. But the pork was still tenderly soft, and this plate was just 40 Thai baht. Cheap!

After the fix of the local Thai food, surprisingly, the famous king of burgers, the Ramly burger caught my eyes. They did it differently here, lots of lettuces, and cucumber too! There was however, no eggs, which I wasn’t sure whether was it because I didn’t tell them to do an egg special, or they never had it served with eggs in the first place. Either way, the best part about the ramly burger was definitely the sauce; drizzled with lots of mayonnaise, chilli and barbecued sauce, awesome!

Under the dim flimsy light, we went behind the thin veil for our secret rendezvous. I was a little nervous to be honest, but you were experienced and started slowly. Harder, harder, I urged you on. Deeper, deeper, you thrust into. Oh, surely, this was one of the greatest pleasure in the world. I never knew such joy like this, before. And now I’m hooked.

Read the other stories of The City Kid here.

There used to be a lord, who claimed his territory at the corner of one-one-seven; the people flocked to him, they worshipped and love all the food that were served, the place was basically packed with crowds every weekends. And as fate has it, the arrival of another overlord meant the decline of the former; the dethrone of the king at Commonwealth drive.

I, see it upon my sworn duties, that I’ll try out all the sweet & sour pork from all the places. And this often leads to disappointment when I couldn’t find one that’s equal to the best which I’ve before, in a deep corner of my memories.

The sambal kangkong was surely one of the weapons that the lord would have, to defend himself; red fiery hot and sizzling sambal were commonly associated with a plate of good sambal kangkong, but, I did not called for the fire brigade after having this: it wasn’t shiok enough.

The prawn roll, ngo hiang, or heh zhor; regardless of which name you called it by, was good. Fried till crispy golden brown, dipped into the sweet sauce, the first bite of it was so reminiscent of my childhood.

The butter pork was definitely one of the best, it was slightly sweet, coated with butter powder which had a uncanny resemblance to cheese; taking a bite of the boneless pork meat was a joy.

I love golden mushrooms, there wasn’t much inherited taste on its own; but I couldn’t stop myself from eating more of it. And similarly, there wasn’t anything fanciful about the golden mushrooms beancurd which came strongly recommended by their staff; it was plain tofu, with golden mushrooms in gravy, yet the result of something so simple was so good!

If sambal kangkong was the armour of the lord, then the prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, would surely be his sword. But, it seems like a blunt one, the fried chicken lacked the oomph factor.

Note:

(1) The old overlord which I mentioned, was refering to the Hongkong Street zichar stall just at the other corner of block 117; in its heydays, they were full every night, but when I went that time, it was barely half filled. Talk about a reverse of fortune.

(2) If you want to eat at Two Chefs without waiting, you need to get there early, before six thirty. It’s crazy to see people actually queue up for zi-char when there’s other two zi-char stalls around the same area. The burst in popularity could be attributed to the article on the Sunday times which proclaimed Two Chefs as one of the best zi-char stall.

(3) Which brings me to the third point, I think that Two Chefs, is overhyped. The butter pork ribs were excellent, but the other dishes which I’ve tried, they wasn’t really worth the fifteen-minutes walk from Commonwealth mrt. And if you are thinking that’s because I did not order their other signatures, maybe, but they couldn’t give me a plate of good sambal kangkong, or sweet & sour pork.

(4) I do eat zichar and hawker food a lot, the lack of them at my blog was due to the simple reason that I couldn’t even finish blogging on the other posts, so how am i suppose to blog about the numerous hawker food that I tried. I grow up on hawker food too you know.

Two Chefs
Blk 116 Commonwealth Drive
#01-129
Tel: 6472 5361

This was a pair of hands of a beautiful lady. She worked very hard to bring up her two sons. It is inevitable that age will catch up with everyone, the wiggles on her hands are the best prove of time. There are many different ways to call her, mother, ma, mommy, or simple mi. But no matter what we call her, there will always be only one mother.

She always cook for us, rushing back from work in the evenings, she will hurriedly prepare all the ingredients and start to whip out a feast, everything simple and home-cook is nice. But on the day where she is feeling tired from all the cooking, we eat out, and it is typical for us to always order the same few dishes at a zi-char stall.

I see it upon my duty to try all the Sweet & sour pork around in search of the best one. Alas, I have not find her yet. But I will try, even it means we have to always order this dish every time.

This is how great my mother is, she will always order our favourite food, just like how a genie always fulfil the master wishes. My brother will get his prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai.

Well at least the Sambal Kangkong is always a crowd pleaser, and everybody love Popiahs! I know you like popiah, this  one is for you to gawk and crave.

You are not mistaken, it is still the month of April. May is my mother’s name, and I will like to give her this beautiful flower. On 11th April, today is my Mother’s day, Happy birthday!

But having mutiple locations doesn’t necessary mean that it’ll be good for the business, even thought you have more accessible points, but the higher costs which comes along with it will poses a difficulty to the operators. However, the issue we are more concern with, will be the drop in quality of the food.

It is a common scene in the F&B industry with the increase in branches, the quality of the food will somehow be affected, and not on par with their original outlet. That’s why i don’t trust franchising, or the commercial restaurants. It can be a dilemma, and expanding should always be taken into consideration seriously.

Having went to Rong Guang @ Alexander Village, I was expecting the same standards at their other branch located at Ulu Pandan, near Sunset way. However, the same experience was not replicated this time round.

Rong Guang @ Ulu Pandan was much bigger than the one at Alexander Village (AV), they had their own area, which was spacious and could seat many. Ventilation was definitely much better than the stuffy hawker centre at AV. But the business there wasn’t as good, which only made us wonder why.

BBQ Sambal sting ray ($14)

The notable difference with the one at AV was the pricing. The small, medium and large portions were $10, 12, and 14 respectively, was more expensive than the pricing at AV, at $8, 10, 13. The sting ray here was not bigger than the one at AV, thus i concluded the higher price was because of their higher rental fee.

Sambal Kang Kong ($8)

One of the most popular dish in Zi-char stores, the sambal kang kong that we had was fierce and fiery with the sambal belachan. But the vegetables were too “old” and lacked the crunch, which rendered fail for this one.

Sweet & sour pork ($8)

I think i never mentioned before that i absolutely love sweet & sour pork, since my recent posts didn’t featured any at all. I’ve been looking around for good sweet & sour pork, but sadly to say, i couldn’t find any.

Good sweet and sour pork, must have the right amount of bite in the pork and the not-so-sweet nor the not-so-sour taste in the sauce. Needless to say, the one here wasn’t up to my expectations.

Prawn paste chicken ($8)

The prawn paste chicken, or Har Cheong Kai, was another dish that we always ordered at zi-char store. Its always freshly fried, not too oily, crispy on the skin, and juicy in the meat. With a twist of lemon on it, no wonder Har Cheong Kai is always a crowd favourite.

But the description that i had just mentioned was not about Rong Guang’s version. The prawn paste flavour was quite tame, and not strong enough. For a fried chicken its still all right, but it didn’t make the cut for a prawn paste chicken.

Prawn roll ($8)

As a kid, i always look forward to Chinese new year since my grandmother will always prepared lots of prawn roll, or heh zhor. The waterchestnuts and minced prawn and pork wrapped within the crispy skin, dipped in the sweet sauce, was always addictive.

Total Bill was $50.3 for 4 person, and like what i mentioned, prices here are slightly more than their original location at AV, and I think that food quality-wise, AV also fared better than the one here. Serving was very fast, less than 5 minutes for the dishes to be cook since there wasn’t much people eating there.

This actually bring about another question, since there aren’t much customers, which could mean that there is a possibility that the food is not as fresh as compared to AV which had better customers flow. Again, this is based on my personal opinion, and does not reflect the truth for Rong Guang. But for me, i’ll go back to Rong Guang @ Alexander Village, not this one.

Rong Guang BBQ seafood
301 Ulu Pandan road
Tel: 6468 8290

Located within the Arena country club at Upper Jurong Road, opposite the Singapore Discovery Centre, Tung Lok Seafood is the mainstay of the Tung Lok group (TLG). This dinner took place actually very long ago, five months to be precise. I was hesitant in writing the post since the food was unremarkable, typical at best, and there were too many photos to handle.

We chose to have their dinner a la carte buffet priced at $33.80++ for adult. The buffet had a wide range of food like Japanese cuisines, cold cut appetizer, soup, seafood, meat, vegetables, rice & noodles selections, and desserts. With a total of 50 items to choose from, we managed to eat close to 30 variety.

I would say that most of the food was average, and we tried quite a lot of variety, so i won’t go into details for each and everyone of them. I’ll highlight the ones that stood out, and the rest are really up to your own judgement if you ever go to Tung Lok to try their dinner buffet.

The pictures were taken with my old canon ixus before i got my present DSLR, so do pardon the poor photos.

Poached prawns (limited to 100g per person)

The poached prawns were one of the few dishes that had limits, which meant that they were not available for re-ordering. Not that the poached prawns were that fantastic anyway.

California Maki

The California maki was actually the saving grace for the dinner. I wouldn’t say that the sushi was exceptionally fresh, but they were acceptable and we had two servings of them.

Barbeque roast meat platter

The barbeque roast meat platter was also one of the few that stood out. The char siew was not bad, but the roast chicken was better. We were in half-mind whether to have second servings but later decided not as we were too full.

Beijing roast duck (limited to two slice per person)

The Beijing roast duck was no doubt one of the more pricer dishes, hence the limitation of two slice per person. The waiteress brought the whole roast duck in front of our table to slice it on the spot and served with spring onion, cucumber and sweet sauce. One of the better dish, but pity the limitation of the serving.

Chili crab A La Tung Lok (limited to one per table)

Tung Lok’s renown for their Chili crab, they are after all a seafood restaurant. Without a doubt, the best dish among the 50 selections, the chili crab was spicy and there was a sweet hint in the thick and wonderful gravy. Served with man tou (soft white bun), i’ll say that their chili crab is on par with Jumbo, NoSignBoard and Mellben. But again, there’s the limit of one per table. Nevertheless, if you are ordering a la carte, this definitely is a must order dish.

Sichuan style dumpling with spicy sauce

Pan grilled miso marinated beef tenderloin

Old cantonese style sweet and sour pork

I’m a huge fan of sweet and sour pork, but Tung Lok’s rendition didn’t have the “wow” factor to entice me for second helpings.

Roast Spring chicken (half)

Another typical dish, nothing exceptional but still acceptable.

Deep fried “soon hock” fish

We were not a fan of rear fish like soon hock, so we were not really expecting much from this dish. And it turned out to be what we thought, the fish wasn’t fresh.

Deep fried fritters with salad sauce

Pork ribs with fruit sauce

Crisp fried baby squids

You would thought that seafood dishes were be better at Tung Lok, but the baby squids were over-fried, too charred and dried.

Vegetarian Spring rolls

Fried hor fun with sliced fish in egg gravy

I was undecided whether to order the hor fun and mee goreng, and the hor fun proved to be a disappoint choice.

Poached Chinese spinach with fresh bean stick and garlic

Deep fried prawn paste chicken

Ice cream puff

The ice cream puff was your normal ones found in the neighbourhood deli, but i was actually quite hooked with it. Well this actually show how desirable the other dishes were.

Glutinous rice balls with peanut crumbs

Chilled herbal jelly with honey

Chilled honeydew with sago cream

Chocolate ice cream

Dessert of the day

Total bill was $142.65 for 4 person dinner buffet. Although it came with a huge selections of 50 dishes, but most of them were mediocre and not worth trying. If you don’t really mind the quality of the food, the dinner buffet does makes a rather value option since you get to try so many dishes. But if you are the type who cares about the quality, I say skip the buffet and go for their a la carte menu instead.

Tung Lok Seafood
511 Upper Jurong Road
The Arena Country Club
Tel: 6262 6996