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Saturday, September 12, 2009
And so after a long hiatus, this blog is finally updated. We are 'away' because semester has started and we were 'still settling in'. It is week 5 of 13 now and the busy assignment period is looming ahead. Still, we know there are people who visit our blog every now and then for updates. Thank You.
This afternoon,we were invited for a pre-opening food tasting session at Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant, The Central branch.
This afternoon,we were invited for a pre-opening food tasting session at Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant, The Central branch.
Main: Hire Katsu Tamago Toji
Main: Sukiyaki
Main: Sukiyaki
Sushi: Tradori Sushi Grandeur
Main: Honkaku Ramen (MUST TRY)
Pictures of Singapore River
Traveling to the western countries, one can often find "Chinese" buffet restaurant selling chinese food. Entering such restaurants would give you a rude shock as you would most probably be able to find fried breaded fish fillets, chips and salad as part of the buffet spread. It is definitely not what one has in mind when chinese food is concern. Seeing such quasi-authentic restaurants overseas is not an unique experience because many Chinese restaurants overseas attempt to localize their chinese dishes to the taste of the locals. Thus, they attempt to add in staples like chips and salad to attract the locals. While from a business point of view it is not wrong to target the main consumer group, it definitely leaves much to be desired for if you are a hungry Chinese traveller, looking around to satisfy your craving for some good old authentic Chinese food.
It is from this perspective that Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant attempts to differentiate themselves by remaining true to their origin by serving Japanese food that has been created by their chefs back in Japan. Whether you are a tired Japanese tourist or a Japanese working in Singapore, staple, good old Japanese food would be served rather than some localized version of Japanese food you find so often in school canteen and hawker centres.
While I definitely have not stayed in Japan long enough to determine how authentically Japanese these dishes were, I can vouch that the dishes were of good quality that would leave you a happy man or woman from a foodie's point of view.
Trying a starter dish, a sushi platter, 3 main courses and a dessert, the Honkaku Ramen (main) was the dish that really impressed us. Noodles contained in a cold soup base with plenty of sesame oil, it really stood out as the sesame oil managed to bring out the natural taste of the noodle. The red bean crepe with green tea ice cream is worth mention as well as the bitter sweet taste of the green tea ice cream contrast well with the sweetness of the red bean crepe.
With most dishes price at a range of between $5 to $10, it is a good price for quality food. Overall, if you are looking for a place for casual dining with a nice view of the Singapore river serving authentic Japanese food at a good price, Watami Casual Restaurant would be a good place to visit.
Address:
6 Eu Tong Sen Street, The Central,
#03-82/83/85/102/108/109
Singapore 059817
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 8.5 (good quality and nice ambience made us happy people for the weekend)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Chay Kway Teow used to be a food dish sold by enterprising hawkers to poor coolie workers who lived and worked alongside the Singapore River. Containing cockles, pork lard and bean sprout (all cheaply available), it appeals to coolies as they need huge amount of energy for their backbreaking work. Adding some black sauce for taste, it soon became popular among them for its high energy and cheap price.
Nowadays however, health conscious Singaporean will choose to ignore the merits that the coolies saw in Chay Kway Teow if they want to have a plate of it. The black sauce and pork lard will do a good job in clotting up our arteries today considering that the majority of us do not have to carry sacks of rice from the ship to the riverside for a living and thus is not recommended as a staple food dish.
The taste of Lau Fu Zi Chay Kway Teow lingers in your mouth long after you have consumed it. The stall have won numerous accolades for it and I guess I would not add anymore superlatives on it. Although I felt that standards have dropped a little since the time I ate when I was a secondary school kid, it is still one of the best Chay Kway Teow I have eaten.
On a parting note, the best way to describe it would be likening it to Popeye's Spinach(yup, have that song ringing in your head). Once you eat it, your productivity grows exponentially.
Address:
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 9.5 (10 if it tasted like how it tasted when I was in secondary school)
51 Old Airport Road
01-12 Old Airport Road Food Centre
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 9.5 (10 if it tasted like how it tasted when I was in secondary school)
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Like most good things in life, you need some patience to get it. This similarly applies to River South prawn noodles facing Jackson Centre. Nevertheless, the wait was well worth it considering that we were treated to a sumptuous bowl of prawn noodles. I would recommend that it is ordered in its dried form, mixed with chilli, fried unions and pork lard. The interplay of the natural sweetness of the noodles, the spiciness of the chilli, crunchiness of the pork lard and the fragrance of the fried union produces an unique taste that lingers in your mouth.
The soup, while tasty on its own, can be enhanced with the chilli powder provided. The sweetness of the prawns mingles well with the chilli powder to tantalize your taste buds. Definitely worth the calories intake for it!
Do rinse your mouth with mouth wash though as the smell of prawn will linger on in your mouth.
Alternatively, you can choose to have the noodles with pork ribs, pork intestines instead. Do drop by to have a look at the different variations.
Address:
River South (Hoe Nam) Prawn Noodles 河南肉骨大虾面
Sennett Estate, 31 Tai Thong Crescent (Facing Jackson Centre)
Singapore 347859
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 8
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Yong He Eating House 永和豆浆油条大王
Beef Noodles
Guo Tie
Tou Jiang aka Beancurd
For awesome food and 'not so awesome' company, head down to any of the Lorongs in Geylang for a continual feast of senses. I've always known that Geylang was the place to hit if you wanted great supper treats so my expectations for this place was pretty high before I arrived.
Solely on food alone, yes I'd give the Mood Uplifting Determinant a meagre 2, meaning enough to fill my stomach but not enough to wow me. Ambience however did elevate my mood determinant a little.
(And you're probably wondering why- NO I DON'T WORK AS SOME PART TIME TIGER GIRL HOR)
For me I guess it was a step out of the Singaporean mainstream- disorderly, unkempt, unruly, blatant, rude. People live completely different kinds of lifestyles here, speak a different lingo, have different motivations, mindsets. It's another brand of survival instinct. We all live to survive man.
So back to the food, I don't really know how an active sex industry contributes to availability of great food. Beef noodles was alright. The beef itself was pretty tender and succulent, and the soup was tasty too, but the noodles were a bit of a giveaway.
'Guo tie' was also alright. (You must think I'm damn anal now.) I've tried better 'guo ties' around honestly. And since it's not too difficult to find 'guo tie' stalls around, and 'guo ties' are relatively easy to make, I expect all 'guo ties' to have MAXIMUM fillings, veggies, meat and all. Yong He Eating House 'guo ties' were a little bland.
As for tau huay, go to Mr Bean better lah. Nothing spectacular. After a while, all tau huays taste almost the same. For some pretty WOW WOW tau huay, go to Ang Mo Kio hawker centre. There's a stall at the back selling tau huay and chin chow. Standing along that very same row is a famous beef noodle(I think) stall, and another stall selling fried bee hoon and kway teow which is pretty damn good stuff too.
As for tau huay, go to Mr Bean better lah. Nothing spectacular. After a while, all tau huays taste almost the same. For some pretty WOW WOW tau huay, go to Ang Mo Kio hawker centre. There's a stall at the back selling tau huay and chin chow. Standing along that very same row is a famous beef noodle(I think) stall, and another stall selling fried bee hoon and kway teow which is pretty damn good stuff too.
But even after this disappointing trip, I still shall not give up on Geylang! There is loads to eat there and I'm pretty sure at least one of them is good. Meanwhile, your friendly visiting food critic here is signing off. KRISTIE OUT!
- Kristie Neo.
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 2
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Like many other food dishes in Singapore, Laksa contains the cultural elements of the different ethnic groups in Singapore. For instance, the spices from the Malays and the rice noodles of the Chinese. Perhaps what makes it even more interesting is how this dish adapts to local conditions by having cockles, which is readily available in the waters around the region as one of its main ingredients. What started off as food for the poor has now gained international recognition as one of the food that Singaporeans can identify with as a truly indigenous food dish.
There are many Laksa stalls claiming to be the best, most authentic in Singapore. One variation of the Laksa dish is the Katong laksa. Two of these includes the 328 Katong Laksa and Sungei Road Laksa.
On this sunny afternoon, we decided to try out the famous, talked-about Sungei Road Laksa located in Kelantan Lane, Seng Chuan Eating House (off Jalan Besar). You can easily identify the place because it is just a stone throw away from Sungei Rd second-hand thieves market and there are also a number of shops selling motorbike equipments.
The review of Sungei Road Laksa - The laksa comes in $2, $2.50 and $3. We recommend that you order $3 since you are going to make a trip there to try the Laksa anyway; might as well be a glutton and order a larger portion to maximize your experience and get the bang for the buck. Nevertheless, $2 portion would be sufficient since they are generous in the serving. The laksa gravy is super rich and they are super generous in giving you fishcake slices and cockles (aka, 'harrmm' in Singapore"). You can get to taste the 'hea-bi', aka. 'xia me' aka. shrimps in the gravy as well. As they cut the noodles into smaller stripes, the laksa does not come with your familiar pair of chopsticks. Still, if you are used to eating with chopsticks, we recommend that you add a Meckerel Otah for $1 which actually comes with chopsticks.
In short, this Laksa + Otah (+free parking + cool weather= a day went well) made us happy and satisfied men. It is well worth spending your calories on it!
Address:
31 Kelantan Lane 01-12
Seng Chuan Eating House
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 7.5
The review of Sungei Road Laksa - The laksa comes in $2, $2.50 and $3. We recommend that you order $3 since you are going to make a trip there to try the Laksa anyway; might as well be a glutton and order a larger portion to maximize your experience and get the bang for the buck. Nevertheless, $2 portion would be sufficient since they are generous in the serving. The laksa gravy is super rich and they are super generous in giving you fishcake slices and cockles (aka, 'harrmm' in Singapore"). You can get to taste the 'hea-bi', aka. 'xia me' aka. shrimps in the gravy as well. As they cut the noodles into smaller stripes, the laksa does not come with your familiar pair of chopsticks. Still, if you are used to eating with chopsticks, we recommend that you add a Meckerel Otah for $1 which actually comes with chopsticks.
In short, this Laksa + Otah (+free parking + cool weather= a day went well) made us happy and satisfied men. It is well worth spending your calories on it!
Address:
31 Kelantan Lane
Seng Chuan Eating House
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 7.5
Saturday, June 27, 2009
On a nice Saturday night, while the rest of the more happening people of our age are most probably getting themselves dead drunk at a club in town like Butter Factory and helping to promote the spread of the H1N1 virus in the process, we decided to take a drive down to Katong where there is a nice 24 hours Hong Kong Cafe.
In recent years, due to the increased pace of globalization, Singapore's population has become more cosmopolitan
As a result, it might explain the increase numbers of Hong Kong cafes you might witness blooming in your friendly neighbourhood or in town to pander to the needs of the increasingly diverse population in Singapore. With the reputation of Hong Kong as one of the "food" capitals of the world, you cannot go wrong by leveraging on the reputation of "indigenous" food from Hong Kong.
We ordered a cup of milk tea, a French toast and a bowl of instant noodled in curry sauce with sausages and beef tendon. Before reviewing our meal proper, a side note to this meal is that a meal like this in Hong Kong would probably cost you 25 HKD or around 5 SGD in an authentic Char Chan Teng (Coffeeshop). Paying 12 SGD for this meal in Singapore is more than anything else, paying for the novelty of these dishes rather than its actual worth. Nevertheless, it is good to have such diversity of choice in Singapore when it comes to food even if one has to pay more.
The milk tea was as authentic as it could get as you had to add the sugar (contained in those metallic containers)by yourself and it sure tasted like how I remembered it to be when I was in Hong Kong. Full marks for the milk tea's authenticity even though I am more fond of our humble teh tarik.
Having never tried curry noodles in Hong Kong before, I would not be able to gauge its authenticity. However, taste wise, it would satisfy your hunger but not necessarily perk you up.
The highlight of the night was the French toast with butter and marmalade syrup. The toast was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Together with the butter and marmalade syrup, the French toast formed a perfect blend with its condiments. A dish that is definitely worth trying!
Perhaps what really made our day was the ambience of the cafe in which we could feel that we were welcomed to sit down, order some snacks, enjoy the food, the night and a fair amount of quality conversation. The waitress served us promptly without showing her annoyance at our presence till almost 4am in the morning. Hence, the Hong Kong cafe at Katong village would be a place we would recommend if you prefer an alternative entertainment to clubbing on a Saturday.
Price of meal: 12 SGD
Price of petrol: not more than 15 SGD?
A meaningful discussion about life: Priceless
Address: 86 East Coast Road #01-09/10 Katong Village S(428788) Tel: 63451932
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 8 (for the milk tea's authenticity and the quality of the French toast. Can give the curry noodles a miss)
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 8
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD): 8
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Owning a car in Singapore is an expensive affair. So is having a car in Singapore a want or a need? This topic came up one fine evening by the founders under the cool moonlight. A 1.6L sedan in this land-scarce Republic costs around $60,000 and this does not include the road tax, carpark charges, countless ERP gentries, expensive petrol that you have to pay every day, month whilst owning this piece of metal. All these will add up to roughly an additional $500 to your monthly car installment. Not forgetting that your car faces a yearly depreciation of 4 figures or so. If owning a car is such an expensive affair, why are we seeing more and more Singaporeans heading to car showrooms at Leng Kee Rd, Ubi every weekends? Newer models enter the market every month to cater to the ever increasing demand for newer cars in the market. Why is the queue for car orders piling up every week and Singaporeans are willing to take on this extra financial burden? We aim to argue for the latter (of course, that does not mean that its a must for you to get one and have to cut your expenses for other things) We will argue that having a car will improve your quality of life in Singapore.
Car as a Want
A car is a luxury good in Singapore. The PAP government is discouraging car ownership by introducing various forms of costly disincentives such as the COE, Road Tax, Season Parking, ERP. You don't need a car in Singapore and if you do, you have to bear the high cost of ownership and maintenance. Moreover, there is an efficient, world class, public-orientated Public Transport System network connecting you from and to any place in Singapore (or so some higher mortals are claming for the lesser mortals). Nevermind the yearly profit that the bus and train companies are trying to squeeze out from you. Nevermind the fact that you have to wait 7 minutes for a train to arrive only to have to squeeze with the other 4 million Singaporeans shoulder to shoulder. Nevermind the fact that the bus driver does not understand the language you are speaking. Be a good citizen as the government is advocating, use public transport, free up the roads. Be contented. You do not need a car at all. But if that is so, then why are we facing the phenomenon as posited in the introduction?
Car as a Need
Having a car is increasingly becoming a necessity for some / most/ majority/ all Singaporeans who can afford one (here we are not going to discuss about the cost factor). If you want to improve your quality of life, you will need to have a car. If you want to spend some quality time with your family, loved ones, have a trip to the beach on weekends, you need to have a car. Good food are aplenty in Singapore as introduced in the media every now and then, but without a car, its difficult to get to these destinations. Imagine having to take a 80 minutes ride after changing from Bus to MRT to MRT to Bus from one end of the Republic to another just for a $5 chicken rice or ba chor mee. The thought of the journey would most probably kill off any motivation for the trip. There are numerous places in Singapore where the public transport system is not able to bring you to. There are places which are interestingly enough to visit and yet not having a car is preventing you from doing so. Buying a car is like buying yourself a form of great convenience. You are buying yourself time and a new life that is not constrained by the bus/train timing and waiting time for taxis.
Car as a Want
A car is a luxury good in Singapore. The PAP government is discouraging car ownership by introducing various forms of costly disincentives such as the COE, Road Tax, Season Parking, ERP. You don't need a car in Singapore and if you do, you have to bear the high cost of ownership and maintenance. Moreover, there is an efficient, world class, public-orientated Public Transport System network connecting you from and to any place in Singapore (or so some higher mortals are claming for the lesser mortals). Nevermind the yearly profit that the bus and train companies are trying to squeeze out from you. Nevermind the fact that you have to wait 7 minutes for a train to arrive only to have to squeeze with the other 4 million Singaporeans shoulder to shoulder. Nevermind the fact that the bus driver does not understand the language you are speaking. Be a good citizen as the government is advocating, use public transport, free up the roads. Be contented. You do not need a car at all. But if that is so, then why are we facing the phenomenon as posited in the introduction?
Car as a Need
Having a car is increasingly becoming a necessity for some / most/ majority/ all Singaporeans who can afford one (here we are not going to discuss about the cost factor). If you want to improve your quality of life, you will need to have a car. If you want to spend some quality time with your family, loved ones, have a trip to the beach on weekends, you need to have a car. Good food are aplenty in Singapore as introduced in the media every now and then, but without a car, its difficult to get to these destinations. Imagine having to take a 80 minutes ride after changing from Bus to MRT to MRT to Bus from one end of the Republic to another just for a $5 chicken rice or ba chor mee. The thought of the journey would most probably kill off any motivation for the trip. There are numerous places in Singapore where the public transport system is not able to bring you to. There are places which are interestingly enough to visit and yet not having a car is preventing you from doing so. Buying a car is like buying yourself a form of great convenience. You are buying yourself time and a new life that is not constrained by the bus/train timing and waiting time for taxis.
So should you buy a car then? Yes if you are affluent enough to be able to provide a just-as-comfortable-life for yourself and your family. A car will improve a person's quality of life in Singapore.
For those who frequent Upper Thompson Rd, Hua Nam Restaurant is no stranger to the community living there. It has been there since (as far back as I can recall) the early 1990s. On any typical sunday, the place will be crowded. When I went down during a late tuesday morning, the place was rather empty except for a few early lunch crowd.
The tim sum is reasonably alright but because that the crowd is sparse and during the time of day , the tim sum were only heated up upon ordering. Hence, when the food arrives, you don't get it smoky hot giving you that fresh- juicy taste. As a result, do take note that some of the food might stick to the surface of the metal plate.
In short, for what you can see above and 3 bowls porridge, it cost $22+-.
Mood Uplifting Determinant (MUD):6
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