The Sweet Stone Parad’Ice

C says:

Ok, the real reason A was keen to have Thai was because a Golden Mile Food Centre opposite, there’s a new gelato and waffle stall inside the hawker centre. The stall certainly stands out amongst the chicken rice, char siew and other generic hawker stalls – the walls have wood panels, it looks clean and sleek, and it’s owned and run by a Belgian guy and a very articulate Singapore Chinese.


Their specialty is Liege waffles, which you can order with gelato, or with chocolate dip. We decided to try the gelato – a scoop each of chocolate, chocolate mint and banana.


The waffles were lovely – thought they looked quite thick, they were surprisingly crisp, and very fragrant. The ice cream was a bit of a letdown though; generally too frothy and runny for my liking. Out of the three, the banana complemented the waffles best. Next time, I’ll just have the waffles with chocolate dip. Apparently they have fondue as well, which we may try next time as well.

Business was quite good – almost a never-ending stream of customers, and one of the owners, James Lee, takes the time to talk to all the customers, and offer a loyalty card as well. Well, as long as this stall is here, I’m sure I’ll get to have more Thai food across the street…

A says:

The waffles are really good. Very small though. And the way they serve it (wrapped in wax paper) makes it super difficult to eat with the gelato.

As for the gelato, I tried the banana and the chocolate flavours which were pretty good, but not fantastic. But then again, it’s only $1.80 per scoop so it’s cheap.

Overall, you get great taste for how much you pay. It’s a good thing I don’t work around the area anymore or I’d have a serving of this everyday.

The Sweet Stone Parad’Ice
Golden Mile Food Centre
505 Beach Road
#01-67/76
Sebastien: 9007-8565
James: 9738-9868
Open daily 11.30 am to 9.30 pm (Mon & Wed closed 6 pm)

Diandin Leluk Thai Restaurant

C says:

Will wonders never cease? A actually agreed to have Thai food again today! When he was working in the Beach Road area, he tried this place a couple of times, and decided to bring me here to try it.

The restaurant is actually a branch of the Tuk Tuk Thai family, with other outlets at Suntec and Amoy Street, to name a few. It’s located in Golden Mile Complex, the infamous Thai hangout along Beach Road.

There were loads of things on the menu that I wanted to try, but we ended up having a Tom Yam soup (for me), and a rice with basil chicken (for A). The basil chicken was very good – very fragrant and tasty, and surprisingly packed quite a punch from the bits of chilli padi that were thrown into the mix.


My Tom Yam was really good – the stock was really rich, so the tom yam soup wasn’t just clear orange but slightly murky. It was packed with lemongrass, galangal slices and kaffir lime leaves, adding to the very heady and authentic flavour. The seafood was passable – the squid pieces were a little on the chewy side, but it was still very shiok (note: later in the afternoon I certainly paid the price for slurping up all of the fiery broth).


They do a good iced tea and lemongrass juice here too. Next time we’re here, I want to try the green curry and pineapple rice. Oh, and if you’re into ‘street food’, they operate a stall opposite the restaurant selling all manner of things on sticks – whole catfish, chicken legs, livers and other strange things. Very interesting indeed.


A says:

Considering I don’t like “exotic” food, I could actually eat almost everything here (I still won’t touch anything with Tom Yam in the name though). Prices are also very reasonable considering you get pretty big portions for the more expensive dishes.

Diandin Leluk Thai Restaurant
5001 Beach Road
#01-67/68
Golden Mile Complex
Tel: 6293-5101

Newton Circus Chicken Wings: Taste Test

C says:

Still dreaming about last week’s chicken wings, today I decided to head back to Newton to do a taste test of the 2 chicken wing stalls – Weng’s and Fatty’s BBQ that we had last week.

These are Weng’s Chicken Wings:


And these are Fatty’s:


The verdict was so clear that it wasn’t even fun – Fatty’s wins hands down. Weng’s wings were overdone and a little dry, and flat-tasting. Fatty’s on the other hand were juicy and succulent, and much better seasoned – sweet and tart at the same time. Plus, Fatty’s chilli sauce has lime/lemon, which works better with the wings than Weng’s garlic chilli sauce.

I’m glad we did a comparison. Now I can make a beeline for Fatty’s right away.

A says:

Fatty’s wings are definitely better. I prefer Weng’s garlicky chili though.

Fatty’s BBQ Wings
Newton Circus Hawker Centre
Stall 40

Galbiati Gourmet Deli

C says:

Rail Mall at Upper Bukit Timah seems to have gotten a new lease of life. The last time we came to our old-favourite Rockys was more than a year, even two years ago, and back them it was a fairly sleep strip mall with just a few nondescript cafes, pet shops, dessert stores and restaurants.

When we were there on Friday night at around 9.15 pm, it was still buzzing with life. Finding a car park is well nigh impossible, and lots more eateries and watering holes have sprouted up. Rockys is still there, as well as Ramen Ramen, but Blooies has set up shop there as well, as well as a strange seafood restaurant called Let’s Clap that boasts an outdoor show-kitchen.

We were there to try a new bistro – Galbiati, that looks amazingly similar to Da Paolo’s Gastronomica. There is an array of antipasti and salads, as well as pizzas and hot food.


A and I shared a Stuffed Portobello Mushroom to start with, and while it doesn’t look too appetising, it tasted really good. The Portobello mushroom was stuffed with even more mushrooms – a mix of shitake, button and some wild mushrooms, and the result was quite a heady mushroom hit.


I decided on the Spaghetti with Squid Ink Sauce, which came with pieces of squid. The squid ink pappardelle at Friends was better, but as it goes this was pretty good. The squid ink flavour wasn’t as strong and rich as I would’ve liked, but the good thing about it was that it wasn’t too gelak.


A had the Spinach Fettucine with Clams, Garlic and White Wine. This started out good at first, but after a while, somehow it got a little overbearing. Maybe the white wine was too strong. Next time I think I’ll try the penne with crabmeat, cream and vodka, and I know A will make a beeline for the salmon ravioli.

This is quite a pleasant place, and much more easygoing than then sometimes overly-poncey Gastronomica. Their starters look very appetising, so maybe we’ll actually have more starters next time, and just share one main.

A says:

The mushroom was good, even though it was pre-made and had been sitting in the display. The mains we had were nothing special, but I don’t think those are Chef Roberto’s specialties. Roberto was also very friendly and easy to talk to. This place is definitely worth a visit if you live around the area.

Galbiati Gourmet Deli
Rail Mall
400 Upper Bukit Timah Road
Tel: 6462-0926
Open daily from 10 am to 10 pm

Fatty’s BBQ Wings, Newton Circus

C says:

Ahhhh…. Bliss…. I had a chicken wing craving again today, so we headed over to Newton. This is my first visit to Newton since the major renovations, and I must say I’m pleasantly surprised. We managed to find parking although it was 7.30 pm on a Saturday night, and got an empty table fairly quickly without needing one of the seafood bbq touts to score one for us. It helped that it was a fairly cool night, as well.

The place is much cleaner and airier now, with the centre section nicely landscaped. Don’t expect much variety though, because about 80% of the stalls sell seafood bbq. Still, we were there for one thing and one thing only – bbq chicken wings!! There are about 4 stalls selling such wings, with 2 that looked more prominent – Fatty’s BBQ Wings and Otah, and Weng’s Chicken Wings. I decided to go with Fatty’s this time.


We ordered 10 chicken wings between the two of us, and nothing else. At first when the plate arrived piled high, we got a little worried that we ordered too much. However, these are seriously addictive, and slowly but surely we polished off each and every one. I dare say these are better than the ones at Glutton’s Bay. They’re more savoury and less sweet, and the chili sauce is tangier and more garlicky.

Next time (probably next week…) I’ll try the other stall – Weng’s Chicken Wings. I’ll either order all from Weng’s, or maybe order a few stalls and do a taste test.

A says:

It’s pretty good. I’m not the chicken wing fanatic that C is so I have nothing further to add.

Fatty’s BBQ Wings
Newton Circus Hawker Centre
Stall 40

Wah Kee Prawn Noodles

C says:

Yet another case of the memory of a dish being better than reality, just like the Rendezvous Nasi Padang. This prawn noodle place used to be at the Farrer Park hawker centre at Race Course Road, but moved when the place was redeveloped. It relocated at Cambridge Road (Pek Kio) Food Centre, but somehow I hardly came back after they moved.

Back when it was at Farrer Road, I used to order prawn noodles with pig’s liver, and I remember it being extraordinary. The soup was rich and potent – orange and almost opaque with prawny goodness. The liver was perfectly cooked, that is to say, it was verging on underdone.

Since they moved, I almost forgot about this place until I read about it again on ieatishootipost. I persuaded A to have brunch there on Saturday morning, but I was in for a slightly disappointing experience. Firstly, the auntie at the stall was the typical old-school brusque type, and her sullen demeanour was beginning to annoy me. Secondly, when I asked for pig’s liver, she glared at me and told me they don’t sell pork. A panicked call to my brother confirmed this – they stopped selling pork ribs and liver after the Nipah virus.


I ended up ordering a small $3 bowl because I don’t like big prawns. I asked for mifen-mian but ended up just with mifen. The soup looked a little thin, and although it did have some good prawny flavour, it was nowhere near as full-bodied and flavourful as before. At least it did have some yummy bits of lard sprinkled on top.

Maybe this was an off day, or maybe I should order a bowl with larger prawns because maybe the larger prawns contribute to the richness of the broth. That is, if I can convince A to come here again. Prawn noodle soup seems to be very high on his ‘Don’t Touch With a 10-Foot Pole’ list.

A says:

Not a lot of choices so I don’t think I’d go back. Although there is a very good soya bean stall with the best “black & white” (soya bean with chin chow) I’ve had in a long time.

Wah Kee Prawn Noodles
Blk 41A Cambridge Road Hawker Centre (Pek Kio)#01-15
7.30am to 2pm. Closed on Mondays

Tea Cosy, Eclectic Attic

C says:

A and I had dinner at this very interesting place in Plaza Singapura on Tuesday night. The café is called Tea Cosy, and it’s nestled inside a shop called Eclectic Attic, selling all sorts of collectibles, antiques and flea market finds – from vintage clothes and accessories to furniture and knick-knacks.

At first glance, the shop just looks like a vintage furniture store. We happened to chance upon it only because we parked on that level, and saw a menu scribbled on a white board outside the store on our way from the carpark. That’s when we peered inside the store and realised that they had place settings at the tables. We took a seat at one of the tables, and realised that everything is for sale – from the decorations on the table to the wooden benches that we were sitting on, and even down to the crockery, I think.



The place is really quaint because no two tables are alike, although it feels really strange eating on the very furniture that they are trying to sell. There was a funky-looking table with a chair that looked like a wagon, but unfortunately it was taken.

The a la carte menu is centred on tea and desserts, but there’s a fairly good choice of hot dishes too, like grilled dory, minute steak, garlic prawns and even foie gras. Prices for the hot mains are in the region of early $20s. There’s also a daily set menu that’s available for both lunch and dinner. For $15.95, you get a soup/salad, a sandwich/pasta, and a ‘surprise’ dessert which consisted of a tiny square of cake.

In addition to the mushroom soup that we chose for our starter, A and I also shared a starter from the a la carte menu – the grilled mushrooms with parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes. The menu said there would be a 15 minute wait, but these ended up coming even before our soup.


There was a mixture of shitake and button mushrooms. Surprisingly, even though I’m a bigger fan of buttons than shitakes, this dish worked better with the shitakes; maybe because shitakes have a stronger flavour in general. The mushrooms are drizzled with a buttery parmesan cheese combi and baked till the cheese is melted and golden. Unlike A, I’m not a big fan of sundried tomatoes but I do admit that they did add some kick to the mushrooms.

The mushroom soup isn’t really worth mentioning – it was quite thin, not particularly flavourful, and seemed to have a faint aroma of coriander/cilantro/kng chye. Enough said.


A’s main was an open-faced sandwich with smoked salmon. This was totally up his alley – it was like being back in Scandinavia again, heh. The smoked salmon was served on hamburger buns, and was accompanied with an interesting coleslaw of carrots and broccoli.


I chose the duck pasta with sundried tomato sauce. Actually, I didn’t notice the sundried tomato sauce when I ordered it – I just saw “duck” and “pasta” and decided to order it. The sundried tomato sauce turned out to be a light cream sauce with diced sundried tomatoes. I ended up leaving most of the tomatoes behind and A polished them off. They were quite generous with the shredded duck, although the duck flavour was particularly strong. It was quite spicy too, thanks to chilli flakes that I found in the sauce.

I can’t get over how surreal it was to have dinner inside a furniture store. Still, it was a pleasant experience, and some of their tea-time offerings look pretty good, like hot scones and a selection of tea cakes. This may be a nice place to chill out after shopping – it’ll probably be nice to plonk yourself there with a good book and have a tea and some scones.

A says:

Interesting ambience, but the seats next to the window (which is really most of them) can leave you with a bit of a fish tank feel.

Service was very good, but that’s not saying much since we were pretty much the only ones there.

Food was better than expected but nothing really great. I do like how the menu selection isn’t all that boring. Considering the dining choices at PS are pretty generic, if I had to eat there, this would be one of my preferred choices.

Tea Cosy
Eclectic Attic
#05-10 Plaza Singapura
Tel: 6836-9736
Opening hours: 11 am to 9.30 pm

(Takeout Fish N Chips from) Greenwood Fish Market

C says:

We finally tried the takeout fish and chips from Greenwood Fish Market tonight. M (of M&S, not M&M) told us this was the only good thing at this place. To be fair, I’ve only been to the restaurant proper once, a few years ago, but I must admit I was a little underwhelmed back then.

Their fish and chips tonight were great, though. The smell in the car on the way home was excrutiating – it took immense will power not to rip the bag open there and then. When we finally got home, they were still hot and quite crispy – I think they deliberately pack them in paper bags instead of plastic boxes so that the food doesn’t get soggy.


The fish is done traditional-style – light and fluffy batter, seasoned but not too salty, and white flaky fish inside. The chips are pretty good too, but the dips deserve special mention. The tartare sauce is awesome, and there’s also a sweet chilli sauce that’s very good with the chips and very addictive.

If you order the fish and chips in the restaurant, it costs $24.95 and you get two John Dory fish fillets. The takeout version uses New Zealand white fish, but you still get two big pieces, and a huge helping of chips, for just $9.50. It’s a great deal, and kudos (or mad props) to A for suggesting this for dinner tonight.

A says:

Ordering stuff on the phone from this place is super easy. Top marks to the service on the phone. While I don’t usually like this kind of fish & chips (I prefer the breaded kind), the condiments made this meal really good. I only wish I had some malt vinegar as well.

Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro
34 Greenwood Avenue
Tel: 6467-4650
12 – 2.30 pm, 6.30 – 10 pm. Closed Mondays

Pizza Pazza

C says:

This place, a pizzeria within a food court, has changed hands since it was first opened by Romanian chef Peter Bontoi, who used to own the now defunct Il Piccolo at Crown Centre. He has apparently sold the place and is now running his own chef for hire business. Pizza Pazza is now run by a Chinese lady, and there’s a Pasta Pazza stall opposite as well.

Quality has dipped slightly since the change, but not significantly. It’s still pretty good, and now besides their basic pizzas (you can choose any or all of their toppings - $5 for a 7 inch and $12 for a 12 inch), they have a few premier ones as well, like Proscuitto Crudo, Smoked Salmon and Seafood. Prices for these are for a 12 inch pizza – for half the price you can get a 7 inch version.



We had a half size each of the Proscuitto Crudo and Smoked Salmon pizzas. The Proscuitto came with a runny egg so that was good, but the parma ham was a little hard to bite into. The salmon was good but a little on the salty side. In short, I think I still prefer the make-your-own pizzas.

If anyone is interested, they also do catering, and all cutlery and crockery is provided. It’s just $10 per person, minimum 20 pax, and you get salad, pizzas, lasagne, some pastas, and panna cotta for dessert.

A says:

The pizzas are very good for the price. Definitely the most value for money pizza around (I’m ignoring the cheap ones that taste like cardboard). The only problem with this place is the 7” is too small and the 12” is too big.

Pizza Pazza
Oscar’s Food Mall
Anchorpoint
Tel: 6474-3626

Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee

C says:

I thought this place would bring back fond memories, because way before it became Rendezvous Hotel, this restaurant occupied the ground floor and I used to come here for Sunday lunch with my family almost every week. That was ages ago, but I remember that it had swinging wooden doors, like a Wild West saloon, and it serve one of the best chicken curries ever.

When M told me recently that the restaurant was still around and it had just moved to the second floor, I was pretty excited but alas, it was quite a disappointment when we were here on Saturday. The saloon door was gone, and although they tried to retain some old school tables and chairs, the food itself was a pale replica of its former self.


We ordered the sayur lodeh, chicken curry, beef rendang, curried chicken liver and some fried beans and tau kwa that was ambiguously called sambal goreng. Among these, only the rendang was good – it was tender and the rempah was quite flavourful. Everything else was lacklustre at best. The sayur lodeh was tasteless (the colour should’ve given me a clue), the sambal goreng was bland, and while the liver was quite creamy, the curry itself was quite flat.

I had high expectations for the chicken, but it was a letdown as well. I don’t know if the years have raised my standards, or whether time has dulled my memory, but I’m almost certain this can’t have been the curry that kept us going back week after week. The gravy was half-hearted, and the chicken hadn't absorbed much of the curry flavour. It almost tasted like plain boiled chicken with curry poured over it as an afterthought. I’ll take the chicken curry at River Valley Nasi Padang any day.

Actually, insipid is the word that springs to mind when I think about the food in general. It wasn’t bad, it was just…blah. The curries weren’t spicy, weren’t rich, weren’t anything really. It felt franchised, like the chef was just going through the motions and following a recipe, but there somehow wasn’t any soul or personality to the food.

Prices are far from reasonable as well – we paid a hefty $34 for lunch. I guess this place caters to tourists who want an “authentic” nasi padang, or families who want to dine in air-conditioned comfort. For me, I’m definitely not going back. In fact, now I need to go to River Valley soon to remind myself how good nasi padang can be.

A says:

Beef rendang was good, but everything else was very blah. So not worth it.

Rendezvous Restaurant Hock Lock Kee
#02-02/03 Hotel Rendezvous Gourmet Gallery
9 Bras Basah Road
Tel: 6339-7508

What would YOUR last meal be?

C says:

Every Sunday I read the interviews in the papers with celebrities, cookbook authors, chefs and the like, and I especially enjoy reading their answers to the question “What would your last meal be?” The answers are sometimes predictable and sometimes a little questionable, but always interesting.

I’ve been meaning to come up with my own list for ages, but actually going through my entire mental food encyclopaedia was just too daunting so I’ve always put it off. Still, I would like to put some sort of list together, so bearing in mind that it’s in a constant state of flux, depending on what random food suddenly springs to mind, here’s what would constitute my ideal last meal.

1) Chicken wings – Possibly the one food that I absolutely can’t resist. Maybe I’ll have a couple of the buffalo wings from Sunset, and another couple of the hawker centre-style wings, a la Huat Huat.

2) Jonker Street satay, from Malacca. This is Chinese satay at its best - both the pork and intestine versions have alternating layers of pork fat; the intestine version is absolutely fabulous when slightly burnt.

3) Aburi-toro sushi (seared fatty tuna sushi) – I’m surprised that this made the list, but I suddenly thought of the sushi we had at Sushi Tei, and that initial bliss when I bit into the seared tuna belly sushi and it both melted and imparted a charred smoky flavour at the same time.

4) Valentino’s Lobster Pasta with Pink Sauce – This initially wasn’t on A’s list but when I mentioned it, he decided he wanted some of mine too.

5) Roast Kurobuta pork belly with crackling - essentially, high-end gourmet siew yoke

6) Krispy Kreme Original Glazed – Need I say more.

A says:

- Starter of Insalata Caprese (salad of tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and olive oil) with Smoked salmon
- Slice of pizza with parma ham, mushrooms, beef, garlic and extra cheese
- Iggy’s Burger
- Salmon Mayo sushi
- Valentino’s Live Lobster Pasta
- Original Glazed Krispy Kreme
- New Zealand Natural Chocolate Extreme Shake

Gluttons Bay, Esplanade

C says:

We came here on Wednesday night, thinking we’d have a quick dinner after work, but it didn’t turn out that quick after all, because the traffic from A’s office at Tanjong Pagar to the Esplanade was ridiculous. Anyway, the last time we were here was on a Friday night, and I definitely recommend coming here on a weekday night instead. The place is pleasantly filled – not crowded so no long queues at any of the stalls, yet not deserted enough to make you feel uncomfortable.

I’ve been meaning to come here because I’ve been craving some good hawker centre chicken wings for a while. The ones from Huat Huat (Stall F) are great – perfectly barbequed, still juicy and not overcooked, with a sweet honey glaze and slightly garlicky seasoning. Perfect when dipped into the essential tangy chilli sauce that accompanies the wings.


When we were last here, I remembered thinking that I had to have the Thye Hong Fried Hokkien Mee on our next visit. Alas, the stall has changed to Hup Kee – apparently they’re from the original Gluttons Square in Orchard Road. They still serve the noodles on opeh leaves, just like Thye Hong, but somehow the hokkien mee didn’t have much oomph. It was certainly no where near the standard of Nam Sing – the stock wasn’t as rich and hearty, and there wasn’t enough wok hei aroma. And I now understand what Nam Sing are getting at when they insist on not serving sambal chilli with their noodles. The Hup Kee one came with a huge dollop of sambal, and while it was very good sambal (quite spicy, not overly sweet), somehow it adulterated the pure taste of the noodles.


A had the char kuay teow, also from Hup Kee, because for some reason there isn’t anything that he seriously craves at this place. The char kuay teow was pretty good - quite spicy but also pretty oily. At least the cockles were fresh and cooked perfectly (I can’t stand cockles that are too raw), but they weren’t so cooked that they were rubbery.

I noticed a few other tables ordering from the zi char stall (Sew An Seafood Cze Char, Stall H), so maybe the food there is good too. For me, I’ll just stick to having the chicken wings here – lots and lots of them.

A says:

My advice is to go on a weekday so it’s easy to get a good table and there aren’t really queues. Parking at Esplanade is easy as well.

The food is good but expensive as hawker fare goes. It’s probably worth it if you’re coming all the way here though. And they have good teh-cino at the makansutra drink stall as well. I’ll probably try the mee goreng or kaya fondue on my next visit.

Hup Kee (Orchard Road) Char Kuay Teow and Fried Prawn Noodles
Stall L

Huat Huat Chicken Wings/Carrot Cake
Stall F

Mmmm! (Meats, Marinates & Much More)

C says:

This store, located on the fourth floor of the new Novena Square 2, was just 3 days old when we chanced upon it on Monday night. They sell primarily frozen meats –about 90% of their stock is frozen, but they do have some chilled meats on offer as well. A quick disclaimer – since the meats here are frozen, I don’t think it’s fair to make comparisons between the quality of the meat here, and fresh meats that you can get at specialist butchers like The Butcher or Swiss Butchery.

Mmmm! imports meats from primarily USA, Australia and Brazil. After speaking to the owner, I found out that they have already been supplying to hotels and restaurants, and this retail store is an attempt for them to reach out to the general public. Most of the meats are nicely sliced, portioned and vacuum-packed; this is done by them (not their suppliers) in their warehouse. There’s quite a vast array of meats – thinly sliced belly pork for sukiyaki, whole pork knuckles, single portion rib-eye steaks and lamb chops, just to name a few.


Since we were having a family barbeque on Tuesday evening, I decided to take the opportunity to see if the meat here is up to scratch. I couldn’t resist the amazing marbling, and bought two 300g packs of US boneless beef short rib slices (commonly known as Karubi); each pack costs about $11. We had one pack at the barbeque, and I kept the other pack for dinner one night with A – I may season it with some teriyaki sauce, and sear it on my grill pan.


At the barbeque, I simply dabbed some oil on the meat, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. Because the slices were so thin, I had to take care not to overcook them. A few quick flips on the grill was all it took. I was a bit too light-handed with the salt, but generally I think the quality of the meat passed with flying colours. The meat was tender and flavourful, probably due in no small part to the marbling of fat running through the meat. It didn’t have the sweetness of the meat from The Butcher though, although I’m not sure whether that’s due to the fact that it was frozen meat, or the cut of the beef itself.

Either way, this store definitely shows promise. Prices aren’t that high since the meats aren’t air-flown, and you can buy in relative bulk because the meats are so well packed that as long as you store them in your freezer, they have a shelf life of about one year. It’s useful when you want to keep some meat on hand at home just in case, and it’s such a shame to buy good air-flown chilled meats just to stick them in the freezer. At least here I have no qualms doing it because they were bought frozen to begin with.

For a newly opened store, they’re certainly very well-stocked, but the same can’t be said of their general administration. They hadn’t printed any name cards yet, and only accepted cash that day. But I guess I have to cut them lots of slack for a three day-old joint. The staff were very helpful though, and the most important part – the meat – doesn’t seem to face the same opening-week teething problems.

A says:

This is probably the place to go for something between boring supermarket meat and fancy butchery cuts. That’s if you can find the place. Novena Square 2 is damn confusing siah.

Mmmm, Meats Marinates & Much More
10 Sinaran Drive
#-4-55 Novena Square 2
Tel: 6397-6818

Old Airport Road Food Centre

C says:

Damn Yummy King! I was watching an old episode on Asian Food Channel (the wonders of Smart TV) featuring fried hokkien mee, and I started to get serious cravings for it. One of the stalls featured was the famous Nam Sing at the Old Airport Road Food Centre, considered by many to be one of the best fried hokkien mees in Singapore. A and I were on leave on Monday and had a few errands to run in the vicinity, so we checked it out.

The Old Airport Road Food Centre is currently undergoing renovations, so some of the stalls have moved to the temporary site next door. They’ll be at the temporary site until about July this year. As a result, quite a few stalls may be using this period to take a break, but luckily for me, Nam Sing is still in business.

This fried hokkien mee isn’t very oily at all. In fact, it relies heavily on its soup stock for flavour, because there isn’t even any pork lard or belly pork to give it extra taste. Just a good balance of thick yellow noodles and laksa beehoon, some squid and a few prawns, and good control of the fire. There’s a good wok hei flavour to the noodles, and the stock is out of this world – rich, full-bodied and fragrant. This place also doesn’t serve sambal with the noodles either, claiming that it affects the taste of the dish. Instead, they provide you with cut red chillies if you want some heat.

This food centre also has two famous wonton mee stalls – Cho Kee and Hua Kee. We found Cho Kee (the one with the digitised signboard flashing your queue number) right next to Nam Sing in the temporary market so we decided to try it out. It was pretty tasty, and the wontons were really good – meaty and smooth, but the soup was tasteless. Still, this is another Yummy King recommendation – taxi drivers’ pick for best wonton mee, according to the certificate proudly displayed at the front of the stall.


If you have other favourites at the market, then I’d recommend waiting until the renovations are done, because it seems that a number of stalls have opted not to move. Best to wait until everyone has moved back in July.

A says:

The place is a mess. I’ll wait till the hawker centre proper reopens before heading back.

Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee
Permanent address: Block 51, Old Airport Road Food Centre #01-115J
Closed on an ad-hoc basis

Cho Kee Noodles
Permanent address: Block 51 Old Airport Road Hawker Centre #01-113D
Closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (not sure about this)

The Roti Prata House

C says:

We’re both clearly recovering from our bouts of illness, because we’re starting to crave unhealthy foods again. We headed over to The Roti Prata House at Thomon because we haven’t had prata in ages, and A felt like having their crispy kosong pratas.

We ordered a few crispy pratas, A had a plaster (a kosong with an egg ‘plastered’ on top), and we shared a mutton curry and a fried chicken. The mutton curry was a tad on the salty side, but the meat was very soft and tender. The fried chicken was delicious – the batter was really fragrant and the chicken was juicy and not overdone. As for the pratas, while the famous crispy one is very crisp and flaky, I find the dough a bit too sweet, such that it tastes almost like a dessert and tends to affect the taste of the savoury curry somewhat. Also, I think I prefer my pratas to have a bit of chewiness and bite to them.


Still, the place is newly renovated and very clean and bright. Staff are very friendly and professional, and it’s open 24 hours. I would come here over the Jalan Kayu one any day - the 45 minute wait there just isn’t worth it.

A says:

This was always my favourite prata place from back when there was only this one, the one at Fong Seng (NUS) and Jalan Kayu. Even though Jalan Kayu has better gravy and the Fong Seng one was closer by, this place still had the best prata (and you didn’t have to put up with irritating NUS hostelites).

The crispy prata isn’t as good anymore because it’s way more oily. The plaster is better than I remember though. My new thing is to have the teh-cino. It’s perfect if you like your teh very sweet and milky.

So after many years, I’d still rate this as my favourite. Too bad the parking still sucks.

The Roti Prata House
246M & 246K, Upper Thomson Road
Tel: 6459-5260
Open 24 hours

Zion Riverside Hawker Centre

C says:

I meant it when I said that comfort food is on the menu. On Friday night we had another of A’s comfort foods of his youth – kway chap. Being as picky as he is, kway chap is one of the last things that I expected A to like, but he grew up eating it so embedded in his consciousness. Our likes and dislikes are clearly strongly influenced by what we’re exposed to in our childhood. A was brought up on hot dogs, burgers and pizza, and the occasional porridge and kway chap, whereas Asian food dominated my diet.


We happened to see this stall in an episode of Coffee Talk and Hawker Woks, with Kym Ng, a Teochew Ah Nia if there ever was one. She recommended the food of her people, and one of her favourite stalls is Boon Tong Kee Kway Chap Braised Duck, Stall No. 24. I’m not a big kway chap connoisseur, and when I do eat it, I go for the braised duck and small intestine, whereas A likes tau pok and the large intestine. I must say the ‘kway’ here is very good – very fine and smooth, and the chilli is a good balance of spicy and tart.

We shared a plate of carrot cake, which wasn’t too bad but not particularly outstanding. At least it was a very generous portion for only $3.

A says:

Highly recommended by TV celebrities and myself.



Fyi: there are two Zion Road hawker centres. This is the one nearer the Nasi Padang place.

Marutama Ramen

C says:

We’ve both been ill over the past few days (A got it from the army and passed it to me, hmph), so we’ve been having major comfort food cravings. On Thursday we went to Marutama Ramen again; I’ve been hankering for it ever since our last time here. I had the same thing as before – the standard chicken broth with char siew and a stewed egg. It was just as good as I remembered, if not better. The broth was even richer than before, and the stewed egg was insanely good. The soya sauce had penetrated into the very centre of the egg, and the yolk was perfectly gooey. A had the traditional ramen with added seaweed, and the bowl arrived pretty much covered with green.


We tried something new tonight as well – a side order of Yaki Char Siew, which is grilled char siew. This was absolutely fabulous, and a new thing for us to crave. Imagine the already meltingly tender char siew in their ramen, cut slightly thicker, and grilled to impart a charred smoky flavour. A squeeze of lemon juice to cut through the richness, and you’re in heaven.


I must say though that the noodles here are a little thin, since Japanese ramen is usually thicker and more substantial. But I guess since the chicken broth is lighter than the thicker pork bone-based broth that’s served at most other ramen joints, thinner noodles are used so that they don’t overpower the lightness of the broth.

A says:

Everything here is top notch since they have a Jap guy making sure the food is up to standard. I hope the standard stays just as high when he goes back.

Marutama Ramen
6 Eu Tong Sen Street
#03-90/91 The Central
Tel: 6534-8090
Opening hours: 11 am - 10 pm (last order 9.30 pm)

Renaldo’s (Crown Centre)

C says:

Since the first time we wrote about this place, we’ve been back quite a number of times for their burger, and we’ve reached the conclusion that as far as cheap, ‘low-end’ burgers go, this is probably one of the best we’ve had in Singapore.

We’re raving about it because we’ve had it two weekends in a row now – last Sunday, right before A went to the army, and again tonight. A’s a bit sick (again), and whenever he’s ill he tends to crave comfort food. Last night it was Teochew porridge, the food of his childhood, and today it’s a no-frills burger, the food of his slightly more recent past – university in the US.


Everything is just right with this burger. The cheese is melted into the patty, not dumped on top as an afterthought. The bacon isn’t too crisp that it crumbles when bitten. The lettuce is cut into strips, rather than one entire piece that makes the burger hard to hold. The patty is juicy, full of scrumptious fatty bits and well seasoned.


Given that it’s an Australian café, the coffee here is pretty good too. They serve a half decent flat white, and the cappuccino is really quite good. If you decide to come here for the burger, you can always kill two birds with one stone and drop by Swirl Gelateria since it’s just next door. The service staff are very friendly, and it’s a nice quiet place to chill out - a much-needed break from the people-spotting hustle and bustle of Island Creamery. I had an Earl Grey ice cream the other day from here, which was an interesting and very refreshing flavour.

A says:

I hardly call it a no-frills since we order the burger with the works. The guy calls it the whopper when calling out the order to the not bad looking cook/waitress. And I don’t recall having any burger with egg while I was in America.

Anyway, since I’m sick, this really is comfort food for me. Ahhh…

Renaldo’s Apple Strudel & Pastries
557 Bukit Timah Road
#01-12/13 Crown Centre
Tel: 6464-5055
Opening hours: 10 am – 8.30 pm (Fri and Sat, closed at 9.30 pm)

Tai Hwa Bak Chor Mee

C says:

Unlike the last time we were here, where I only had to wait in line for 15 minutes, today we were here much later, at 11 am, and I finally experienced the long wait first-hand - 45 long minutes. I stupidly forgot to bring a book to occupy myself whilst standing in line. Where was A, you might ask? Sitting at the table playing Sudoku on his handphone. While I would have liked for him to stand in line instead, his ineptitude with the Chinese language means that not only would he not be able to order what I wanted (more chilli, more vinegar), but he could quite possibly end up with meatball or dumpling soup instead.


The bak chor mee here is really something else. I won’t wait 45 minutes every weekend, but it’s worth it every now and again (every 3 to 6 months, perhaps). The noodles have a really good bite to them, and the liver slices are perfectly cooked. I saw them prepare it as I was waiting – the liver is sliced really thinly, and a big pile is simply dunked into the hot soup, and removed.

I asked for duo la jiao, duo chu (more chilli, more vinegar) for mine, and wow, it really packed a punch. There seemed to be a marked difference between the colour of A’s regular noodles, and my jazzed-up one. I must admit that it got a tad overkill at the end, but still very shiok. I don’t regret asking for more of the chilli and vinegar, because A’s looked a little insipid in comparison, and in my opinion, what makes a good bak chor mee is two-fold – the texture of the noodles, and the chilli paste. Tai Hwa comes up tops in both.

A says:

I offered to stand in line until we neared the front and then swap places but C didn’t accept so I can’t be blamed. C says: That’s only because I didn’t have my book with me, so there wasn’t any difference stoning in line or at the table.

Personally, I wouldn’t wait in line considering the Happy Chef Western Food (the next stall) is very good.

Just goes to show the difference in preference between C and myself. I ain’t no fan of that Chinese shit.

Tai Hwa Pork Noodle
Block 466 Crawford Lane
(Behind ICA Building)
#01-12
Tel: 6292-7477
Opening hours: 9.30 am to 9 pm (Closed 1st and 3rd Monday of the month)

Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee

C says:

We’ve been a bit quiet this past week, because A had to go back to the army. It was only a one-week stint, so he’s out and we’re raring to go again. We went to VivoCity on Saturday, and A wanted to have his usual Superdog fix again. I, on the other hand, really wasn’t in the mood for a hot dog, so as ridiculous as this sounds, we had lunch separately – A at Superdog, and me at Jia Xiang right opposite.

As its name suggests, this place only serves kolo mee. No Sarawak laksa here. There are a couple of variations of kolo mee - a standard one with char siew, wanton and prawns for $5.90, and a deluxe one with added abalone for $8.90. Our friends M&M recommended the deluxe one with gusto, so I decided to try it.


First off, I was a little surprised that the base noodle is the same no matter which version you order – the prawn and abalone are served in a separate bowl of soup. I thought this was a slight cop-out, because I somehow assumed that the abalone would be incorporated into the noodles, giving the dish added flavour.

The noodles themselves were pretty good, with a firm and springy texture. It was much saltier, oilier and therefore stronger in flavour than the one at Jurong and now Raffles Place, but to me, that’s precisely why I didn’t enjoy it as much. The Jurong/RP one is more subtle and tastes cleaner, and that’s what I like about it. A’s views differ though.

All in all, this really wasn’t too bad. I realise that one reason for my opinion is that my very first taste of kolo mee was the Jurong one, so perhaps I’ve formed a mistaken impression that that’s how it ought to taste, when the Jia Xiang one could possibly be the more authentic of the two. Nevertheless, the clean, uncomplicated flavour of the Jurong/RP still wins me over, and until I get a chance to taste authentic kolo mee (in Kuching, no less), I think I’ll maintain my position.

A says:

I actually prefer this one since it’s more flavourful. It’s all a matter of personal taste, but with this one being much more expensive, I think I’d go for the one in Jurong/Raffles Place.

Jia Xiang Sarawak Kuching Kolo Mee
(outlets islandwide)
#B2-38, VivoCity
Tel: 6272-0000

KR-50 Contemporary Restaurant & Bar

C says:

My cousin P recommended this place, saying that the owners are the folks behind Gourmet Cellar at River Valley. Indeed, this place does seem to be another whiner’s haven, what with the shelf of wines on display and a dedicated wine and drinks list. However, the bright orange chairs, colourful pendant lamps and customers’ comments scribbled on the walls make this place a less intimidating version of, say, Friends at Jelita.

The name KR-50 is a rather unimaginative tribute to the address of the place – 50 Kent Ridge Crescent. It’s situated in the NUS University Cultural Centre, and sharing the premises is its sister joint, Nicole’s Deli & Bistro. Actually, the comprehensive drinks list is courtesy of Nicole’s, and the menu offers some bar bites like chicken wings and spicy chorizo sausages as well.

KR-50 itself offers a modern European menu with an emphasis on creative vegetarian and seafood dishes. But not to worry, it’s not all chickpeas and lentils; there are more than enough menu choices for carnivores like us.

To start with, A and I shared a Neptune Salad, consisting of seared prawns, scallops and fish on a bed of warm baby spinach, with a lime-mango salsa and topped with tobiko (flying fish roe). Luckily the mango wasn’t overpowering so A had no problems with this dish. The seafood was very fresh – the prawns were downright crunchy – and cooked just right. This was right up my alley but a little too seafoody for A.


For our mains, because I couldn’t decide which to order, we ordered the seared rib-eye and the crabmeat linguine to share. The linguine was served with a creamy tomato sauce and was surprisingly peppery, which suited me fine. I’m not sure that I could have finished a whole plate on my own, though. Good thing we shared.


The rib-eye seemed to be a popular choice, because most of the other tables were having it as well. It comes with a creamy gorgonzola sauce, but I asked for it to be served on the side. As far as rib-eyes go, this wasn’t too bad, but damn L’Angelus for setting the standard for all rib-eyes to follow! Now I can’t have a rib-eye steak anywhere without comparing it to the stellar one there, and more often than not, most places will fall short. KR-50’s rib-eye was a little overdone for the medium rare that I requested, and the meat wasn’t as fine or sweet. Still, it wasn’t too bad when dunked into the gorgonzola sauce, which was watered down slightly so it wasn’t too salty or in-your-face.


Portions weren’t massive so we managed to fit in a dessert each. A had the tiramisu, which based on the scribblings on the wall was a much lauded dessert, and I had the apple crumble that P recommended. A said the tiramisu wasn’t as good as the one at Valentino’s, and I have to agree that it lacked that certain oomph (which has nothing to do with the amount of alcohol). This one tasted like you could have made it yourself, and lacked that rich smoothness of the one made by Valentino’s sister Pirla, which is in a whole different league.

The crumble was served with a flute of apple jell-o, which were like serious flavour shots of apple juice. I’m not sure if they were meant to be eaten with the crumble, but to me they were each better off separate. The crumble itself was good – I like the addition of the grated coconut that was sprinkled on top, so that when baked it was golden brown and added a distinctive flavour.

A minor downside to the evening was when we were settling the bill. I was fully aware of an HSBC promotion because I had received the flyer just a few days ago; the same promotion was also published in streetdirectory.com when I searched for directions to the place. However, when I asked if there were any credit card promotions, the supervisor said there weren’t any. Now, I usually take the restaurant’s word for it, because I’m really not all that hard up for discounts, nor do I feel ‘cheated’ out of a good deal. However, given that I’d seen the HSBC promotion from two different sources, I had to bring it up. The supervisor looked surprised and said he wasn’t aware of anything, and implied that the promotion happened a while ago. I had to persist, saying I just received it in the mail, before he admitted that perhaps the promotional literature had been sent out to the public before the bank had a chance to inform the restaurant owners themselves. He said that “having been in the restaurant line” for many years, this was not unheard of. Anyway, he said he’d check with the bank on Monday, and gave us a 10% discount anyway (the promotion was for a 10% discount plus a $10 voucher), but I just wish it hadn’t been such an arduous process to get there.

A says:

Packing for reservists so quick post from me:
Food – Starters seem very good. Mains – not so much. Tiramisu not as good as C’s when she gets it right.
Service – Outstanding until it came to the bill part. But it wasn’t that crowded and I think it might be a problem if it is.
Location – It’s an interesting place. No problem with parking since car park is usually empty. That’s if you can find the car park (since it’s in the University Cultural Centre, but the signs only direct you to the Music Conservatory car park). C says: Look for signs to Car Park 3. Inside the car park, the signs on the wall will direct you to the Cultural Centre.
Overall – Might be okay for a quiet, semi-romantic dinner or a small gathering and you want to try someplace different, but I wouldn’t go for a regular dinner.

KR-50 Contemporary Restaurant & Bar
Nicole’s deli & bistro
50 Kent Ridge Crescent
University Cultural Centre
(next to Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music)
Tel: 6778-9878
Open Monday to Saturday
11.30 am – 2.30 pm (lunch)
4.30 pm – 10.30 pm (drinks and bar bites)
6 pm – 10.30 pm (dinner)

Romanee’s Kitchen

C says:

Another Lao Pa Sat discovery. Y introduced this place to me when we had lunch one day, and I was pretty impressed with the quality of the food, and also genuinely bemused that a proper air-conditioned Chinese restaurant can actually exist within Lao Pa Sat. Situated at one corner of Lao Pa Sat, diagonally opposite the soon-to-be-built posh One Shenton development, it’s quite incongruous with the rest of the stalls as well as the satay vendors that pop up in the evenings right next door.

My first impression of the place was that it was a lower-end My Choice - it also tries to introduce wine pairings into Chinese cuisine, and there are even wine books on the shelves and a wine fridge in the corner. I guess that’s no surprise, given that the owner, Ms Romanee Lee, used to be a wine retailer, and has devised a wine-pairing menu for some of the dishes. When we were there for dinner on Friday, there was a table of about ten who were making their way through about eight bottles of wine.

Being rather unadventurous, the dishes we ordered at dinner were mainly repeats of what I had at lunch with W and Y. We ordered the deep fried eggplant with chicken floss, the deep fried pork chop with salt and pepper, and the sautéed string beans with minced pork and chilli.


The eggplant was very interesting, and certainly the first time I’ve had eggplant prepared this way. The eggplant was cut into batons, like French fries, coated with a spiced salt and deep fried, so that the outside was crispy and the inside was soft. It was then topped with lots of chicken floss, and fried chilli and spring onions. The eggplant really did taste like French fries too; I thought this was a very good appetiser dish.


The deep fried pork chop with salt and pepper was loaded with deep fried garlic chips. In fact, the garlic should at least have been mentioned in the name of the dish, because there was a lot more garlic than there was salt and pepper. The pork itself was quite tender, but while the garlic chips certainly packed a punch, I think they overdid it a little bit. After a while the garlic kept getting stuck in our teeth, and it became way too much of a good thing.


The beans with minced pork were pretty good – the beans were tender and crisp, and the sauce was very conducive to steaming white rice.

A quick mention of a few of the other dishes I had at lunch the other day – the squid with salted egg fell short of the one from My Choice, but the beef brisket in claypot was awesome. I actually think it was better than the one at Manhill, because the sauce was delightfully sticky, the meat and tendon pieces were stewed until they were meltingly soft, and there were nice pieces of radish in there as well. Unfortunately I’m still working on A liking beef brisket, so we couldn’t order this dish on Friday. Otherwise, hot white rice and the beef brisket and I’m a happy girl.

Apparently this place does a good stewed beef rib, as well as crab bee hoon. I’m not sure when I’ll ever get to try these, but I’ll keep them in mind anyway.

I would have given this place an unconditional rave review, if not for the fact that I was inordinately thirsty when I got home on Friday. I’m not sure if it was the garlic overload, the salt from the eggplant and pork chop, or whether they use MSG, but I had to glug loads of water all night, which was quite uncharacteristic of camel-like me. Still, that aside I am still impressed with this place and would like to go back one day to try some of the other dishes. Oh yes, and the beef brisket again.

A says:

The eggplant fries dish was really interesting but a bit inconsistent. Some fries would be salty on their own, but some were flavourless and needed the pork floss to give them a good kick.

With decent food, very good service and a nice air-con environment, I’d rate this place as worth considering if you’re in the area, but definitely not worth going out of your way to try.

Romanee’s Kitchen
18 Raffles Quay
Lau Pa Sat Festival Market, Unit 38
Tel: 6222-5138
Daily: 11.30 am to 3 pm (Lunch); 6 pm to 11 pm (Dinner)