Nonya delights coming to a place near you...

When I was a kid, it's pretty hard to come across a place selling all your Nonya Kueh or goodies. However, it seems that there's a chain of stalls in Singapore that specialize in preparing and selling these Nonya Kueh.

'Kueh Dadar' Loaded with a big portion of 'grated coconut' and 'palm sugar', wrapped in steamed egg pancake skin, this is a nice 'Kueh' to begin with. The sweetness is something that I like, though it might be a bit too much but I like the taste of coconut and palm sugar. (I got to admit that I have a sweet tooth.)

'Chendol Agar Agar' All the goodness that you are getting in a bowl of 'Chendol' has been remake and recompiled into this small little cube. Though it did bring about all the 'Chendol' goodness, but this small little cube just isn't sufficient to satisfy my crave for a bowl of 'Chendol' especially when I'm staying near 'Tiong Bahru Market'.

So where can you give these 'Kueh' a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Chinta Manis'. The above shows the outlet located on basement 1 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.

Opening Hours:

• Depending on the location of the outlet, the opening hours varies. For the outlets inside the shopping malls, the opening hours will start from early afternoon to 9pm.

* Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'Chinta Manis'.
^ Click here to find out more about 'Chinta Manis'.

Better than the normal Chicken Nuggets...

Hmmm.... sometimes it might get pretty boring if you are sitting in a corner reading a book only. Therefore, things will get far more interesting if you can get yourself a beverage and some...

'Crispy Chicken Nugget'(香香炸雞) The helpers just scoop out a tray of nuggets, therefore I'm getting all these mist around the lens of my camera. Well, let me wipe my lens first...

As a snack, these golden brown bite size nuggets are pretty good. They are pretty chewy and tender. Although, it's pretty juicy, but I personally find it not juicy enough. Besides for the taste, 1 good thing that I like about the texture of these Nuggets. They are not very oily and at the same time they are not covered in a thick layer of flour. Anyway, taste wise, it's pretty tasty and I'm also getting the spicy and fiery sensation too. In fact, I don't feel thirsty at all, despite of the fact that I have eaten a big packet of 'Nuggets'.

So where can you give the 'Nuggets' a good try?

The name of this shop would be 'J&G Fried Chicken'(继光香香鸡). It's located on level 1 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza' and at the same time located near 'Bread Talk' too.

Opening Hours:

• 11:00 - 22:00 Daily

* Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'J&G Fried Chicken'(继光香香鸡).

A.I.O buffet...

In case anyone has been wondering what A.I.O is, it simply means 'All In One'. So what sort of a buffet is a 'All In One' buffet? That will be something that we will be finding out today. :)

Just for the starters alone, one of my friends have already gone all out placing orders for the different types of 'Cze Char' dishes. Since this is a buffet dinner, I do agree that we should be giving as many types of dishes a try as possible. Therefore, I also go ahead placing a few orders for some ala carte dishes too. :P Over here, not only they are preparing and serving common 'Cze Char' dishes like 'Sambal Kangkong', 'Pork Fried with Dried Chilli', 'Spring Rolls', 'Ngor Hiang', etc... But they have also listed down some other unique 'Cze Char' dishes like 'Rojak Chicken', 'Curry Leaf Chicken', 'Bacon Prawn Roll', 'Assam Sotong', etc... And basically there's a mixture of yummy and normal dishes. As for myself, I'm not comfortable with the 'Stir Fried Kangkong with Fermented Bean Curd'. I prefer the normal 'Sambal Kangkong' even much more and the taste of the 'Rajak Chicken' is kinda funky too. :P But dishes like 'Deep Fried Seafood Tofu' are pretty good. One thing that I have observed would be the generous portion that they are offering over here. At list, it have proven that each individual dish is big enough to feed/share among the 4 of us.

This is the main reason why I wanted to give this place a try. Rather than sharing 1 big pot among a group of people, they are providing each of us a decent steamboat pot. Therefore it means that the more people you have in a group, the more types of soup that you can try in one go. Isn't that great? Basically we ended up trying 4 different types of soup and they are 'Tom Yum', 'Herbal Chicken', 'Fish' and 'Chicken' soup. Being a soup guy, I personally find the taste of the soup to be a little bit too bland. Though it does manage to bring out the unique taste of each soup, but it's just simply not strong enough for my liking. However, I do find the ingredients that they are offering over here to be pretty interesting. On top of the normal stuff like 'Slice Beef', 'Slice Fish', 'Golden Mushroom', etc... they also have stuff like 'Fish Noodles', 'Squid Glue', 'Fish Glue', etc... After a bit of struggling, I decided to give the 'Fish Noodles' a try. (That is the long whitish Noodle that I have shown in the above.) When the waitress pass us the noodles, it was kinda shocking. Rather than giving us a plate of 'Noodles', it was more of a bag of 'Fish paste' with a small opening. The idea behind it works pretty much the same way as the piping bag that you are using to squeeze all the cream onto your cake. But rather than squeezing the 'Fish Paste' onto a cake, you have to squeeze it into the pot. The end product is delicious. The 'Noodles' doesn't have the strange 'fishy' smell and it's pretty chewy too. Not too bad for a 'Fishy Noodles'. :P By the way, remember to set some empty space in your stomach for...

'Ice Cream' They are offering 3 different ice cream flavours over here and it's mainly, 'Vanilla', 'Strawberry' and 'Chocolate'. But that's not all...

'Durian Oozee' No wonder they have limited 1 order of the 'Durian Oozee' per customer. This is fantastically delicious. The idea behind this dessert is pretty much similar to a normal 'Goreng Pisang'. However, the crispy crust is unbeatable and the strong 'Durian' filling is pretty smooth too. :P (To avoid any disappointment, do take note that the 'Durian Oozee' are available on Fridays, Weekends, Eve & on Public Holidays only.)

'Chocolate Fondue' I think that we have ended up trying all the different types of dessert that was listed on their menu that night. As for this dessert, I think that the waitresses over here really know how to tempt the customers. Rather than providing us with a pot of hot chocolate, they have provided us a steamboat pot with a lump of chocolate in the middle of the pot instead. And we are suppose wait for the chocolate to melt slowly... =.=""" Just the thought of it makes me hungry again...

So where can you give the 'A.I.O' buffet a try?

The name of this place would be 'The Rajah Inn'. It's located on level 2 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11:30 - 22:00 Daily
  (Last order at 21:30)
  
  Teochew Porridge Buffet:
  11:30 - 14:30
  Steamboat ala carte (A.I.O) buffet:
  17:30 - 22:00

* Click here to find out more about 'The Rajah Inn'.
^ Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'The Rajah Inn'.

A heavy Teochew Porridge for Lunch

How heavy can your lunch be? That's probably one of the common questions that I have been asking myself on a daily basis. If one's appetite can be measured using some electronical device, I wonder how will mine turn out to be. Either way, let's move on to the main topic today. :D

'Teochew Porridge Buffet' I have given the daily 'Teochew Porridge' lunch promotion a try back then. As far as I could remember they have a large variety of delicious ingredients and the prices are pretty reasonable too. (Therefore, if you are a glutton like me, you really can enjoy it to the maximum.) For a start, Besides for white rice, they also serve 'Sweet Potato Porridge'(番薯粥), 'Fried Rice', 'Fried Bee Hoon' over here too. Out of all the options listed over here I think that the 'Sweet Potato Porridge' would be the best and the most filling too. Just by looking at the big slices of 'Sweet Potato' should pretty much explain everything. However, if you are a 'Curry' guy, a bowl of white rice should be a better choice for you. :P (Anyway, I ended up trying most of them.) As for the ingredients itself, I have list down some of the better one. 'Sichuan' vegetables It's crunchy and despite of the fact that the slices of chopped chilli are missing, the taste of it is pretty spicy, which I love it very much. :P 'Teochew Fishcake' It's pretty chewy and depending on the chef itself, the ingredients used in making this may varies. As for the one over here, they have stuffed quite a bit of vegetables inside it. 'Curry Chicken' Even it's called 'Curry Chicken', there's actually more 'Chicken Drumlets' than anything else. By the way, the taste of the 'Curry' have blend into the 'Drumlets' completely. On top of that, the taste of the 'Curry' over here are pretty milky and sweet too. :D

'Braised Egg and Peanuts' How can one savour a good 'Teochew Porridge' buffet without all these braised stuff? Even though the taste of the braised sauce are pretty much the same, but I just couldn't resist these stuff. Just by picking up one peanut after another into my mouth have definitely made my appetite grown bigger and bigger.

'Preserved vegetables' If you are into the salty taste of the 'Preserved Vegetables', you have definitely come to the correct place for it. I only took a small portion of it and due to the salty taste of it, I almost have difficulty finishing it. By the way, I think I have ended up having more than 8 'Curry Drumlets' that day and a bowl of sliced oranges for desserts too. Although the whole buffet last for merely 2 hours only, but it only took me an hour to fill my appetite to the maximum. :P

So where can you give the delicious and affordable 'Teochew Porridge' a try?

The name of this place would be 'The Rajah Inn'. It's located on level 2 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11:30 - 22:00 Daily
  (Last order at 21:30)
  
  Teochew Porridge Buffet:
  11:30 - 14:30
  Steamboat ala carte buffet:
  17:30 - 22:00

* Click here to find out more about 'The Rajah Inn'.
^ Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'The Rajah Inn'.

Not the 18 Bronze Men of Shaolin but...

a restaurant that has something to do with the numerical number 18. It's specializing in preparing and serving various types of western food, fusion food (a mixture of local delights and western food), finger food and not forgetting beautiful desserts.

Anyway, after giving the menu a third look, I have finally decided what I'm going to try over here. I have ended up placing an order for a main course and top up a bit more for the Combo 'C' and a beautiful dessert. And here's one of the item that comes with the Combo 'C'. A bottle of 'Ice Lemon Tea' The taste of it is graciously sweet and it have definitely come with a pretty strong taste of Lemon, which makes it one of the best beverages for a hot and humid day.

'Garlic Bread' The 'Garlic Bread' that comes with Combo 'C' isn't interesting enough. Even though a thick layer of garlic spread have been applied onto the bread, but the taste of garlic isn't thick enough for my liking.

'Soup of the Day' The taste of the soup is pretty normal, but nevertheless this still make the whole Combo 'C' pretty worthwhile.

'D.I.Y Baked Rice' As for my main course, I have decided to 'D.I.Y' my own baked rice. I'm not really sure how many eateries in Singapore do actually allow you to do this but by creating your own unique type of baked rice can be pretty fun too. Here's what I have created that day. 'Double Cheese Baked Rice with Spicy Garlic Sauce and Chicken Sausages' Despite of the small portion of baked rice and the portion of sausages that I'm getting, the taste of the mixture of half melted cheese, spicy garlic sauce and chicken sausages ended up to be surprisingly good. I love the way they have prepared this dish. After scooping out a bit of baked rice and a bit of cheese into my mouth, the cheese itself isn't too sticky and the nicely done baked rice is a plus. On top of that, since I have ordered the Spicy Garlic Sauce, which also comes with sliced chilli padi, it have definitely made the overall taste of this main course into something much more spicy, which I ended up loving it pretty much. :D (Too bad the portion of this is slightly a bit too small for big eaters like me. :( )

'Peach in a Jar' This dessert jar comes with 4 scoops of ice cream, a few slices of peach, almonds flakes and raspberry jam. Since the peach have completely covered the opening of the jar, I decided to finish the slices of peach first, which is a big mistake... The mixture of the strawberry and vanilla ice cream topped with the almond flakes are pretty nice. However when I scooped a bit of ice cream and jam into into my mouth, that's why the mistake steps in. The taste of the jam is too sweet. I should have taken it with some of the peach slices. In order not to waste food, my last few bites from the jar were crazily too sweet for me, but for the sake of the beautiful and tasty dessert, I know what I will be doing the next time round. :D

So where could you give all the nice food a try?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Eighteen Chef'. They currently have a few outlets island-wide and the photo in the above shows the outlet located in 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11:30 - 22:00 Daily
  (Last order at 21:30)
• Pretty much similar to 'Wow Wow West' located in 'Bukit Merah View Market and Food Centre', the owner of the restaurant has been hiring ex-convicts as his workers. He's basically giving them a second chance and by offering them a job, it have definitely help them to pick up a useful skill set and at the same time help them to earn a living.

* Click here to find out more about 'Eighteen Chefs'.
^ Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'Eighteen Chefs'.

A whole year of surprises...

Which can give you a whole year of surprises? And my take to the question would be 'Food' and I'm not referring to the topic 'Food', but a type of 'Happy Food' and that would be...

'Large Scoop', which is a combination of 2 scoops of 4oz ice cream

Choice of flavours would be:

'Banana Yoghurt' (Top)
Except for the interesting taste of Banana, I have absolutely no idea
why they have given this ice cream flavour a 'Yoghurt' name.

'Pistachio Almonds' (Bottom)
As for this it's pretty interesting. Besides for the nice 'Pistachio'
taste that reminds me of 'Chinese New Year', the ice cream also comes
with roasted Almonds, which kinda acts like a topping to me. While
one is busy licking the ice cream away, the idea of biting on the
roasted almonds and getting attacked by the nice aroma of almonds
just simple turns my appetite on.

By the way, the texture of the ice cream over here seems to be pretty
sticky/hard. I have a hard time trying to scrub off a small bit of the
ice cream using the plastic spoon. I wonder how will it ended up if I
have gone with the ice cream cone idea...

So where can you try the nice ice cream?

The name of this ice cream place would be 'Baskin Robbins'.
They have a few outlets island-wide and what I have shown in this
post would be the outlet located on level 1 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  10am - 10pm
• They seems to have numerous ongoing promotions happening every single day. Do visit their website to find out more. :D

* Click here to find out more about 'Baskin Robbins Singapore'.
^ Click here for the Facebook Page of 'Baskin Robbins Singapore.'

Souperholic...

I love to drink soup and I'm not restricting it to Chinese Soup only. I love to drink Western Soup like Clam Chowder, Corn Soup, Pumpkin Soup, Mushroom Soup, etc... too. Therefore...

'Boston Clam Chowder'
Probably the chefs are trying to maintain the balance beam of taste and
healthy eating, therefore I personally find the texture of the soup pretty
thick, however the taste of the soup isn't strong enough. It probably will
become much more richer in taste if they have added a bit more seafood and
reduce the amount of vegetables that was added into the soup. However that
will make it more more unhealthy. :P The yeast bread roll that comes with
it is pretty good too and it can blend with the soup nicely.

'Ice Lemon Tea'
This is pretty sweet and the taste of the lemon is crazily strong.

'Mushroom Pesto Half Sandwich'
I didn't expect the sandwiches over here to be so good too. Though it
doesn't comes with a lot of meaty ingredients, but the yeast bread and
the tasty ingredients are pretty nice. Too bad the sandwich is too big
in terms of the height, else I would have the urge of gobbling the
sandwich immediately. :P

So where can you have the tasty food shown in this post?

The name of this restaurant would be 'The Soup Spoon'.
They have a few branches island-wide.

Notes:

• The opening hours of most the branches are from 10am - 10pm. However, do take a look at the website of 'The Soup Spoon' to double check.
• By the way, if you are going for the 'Super Value Meal' for the first time, please go for the regular bowl of soup first as the set meals are pretty filling.

* Click here to find out more about 'The Soup Spoon'.
^ Click here for the Facebook page for 'The Soup Spoon'.
~ Click here for the list of outlets for 'The Soup Spoon'.

The rise of the Crystal Empire

Probably I haven't been dining at 'Crystal Jade' for quite some time, but there seems to be a new trend. It seems that all the shopping malls in Singapore will have a 'Crystal Jade' branch residing in a corner of the shopping mall...

Crystal Jade My Bread(翡翠麦包) This would be one of the newest 'Crystal Jade' branch located inside the shopping mall near my house. Basically by looking at the name, you know that this branch is specializing in selling pastries. I was passing by the place at around 8pm that day and it seems to a large variety of bun so I decided to give some of them a try. Sorry for disappointment but I was busy savouring the buns that I have forgotten to take a photo. :P After trying 6 of them, I think that the buns that they are making isn't that bad. To some extent, I think that they are as good as 'Bread Talk', even though it's slightly more expensive as 'Bread Talk'. One of my favourite so far would be the 'Crunchy Almond Bread'. Back to the main topic, it seems that the 'Crytal Jade' started off making Chinese food/cuisine like Dim Sum, Shanghai cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, etc... Looking at the way they are expanding, I wouldn't be surprise if they move into the other areas in the future. For example: Western food, Japanese food, etc...

* Click here for the website of 'Crystal Jade'.
(It seems that they are undergoing some major site changes, but meanwhile you still can check out the current ongoing promotions that they have.)

Wala, Time for some good pratas....

Through the recommendations of my friends, I finally have the chance to give this place a try. I wanted to give this place a try much much earlier but it seems that either luck isn't on my side or much more people have idea as I do. Either ways...

Dinner is served...

'Ice Limau' Nothing much I can describe about this drink except for the part that it's very sour. I was expecting for a slice of lemon to be added to this but I ended up getting a pure lime juice. Crazily sour for a hot and humid weather.

'Dum Chicken Biryani'
I have ordered the 'Dum Chicken Biryani' as the main dish,
which also comes with 'Achar'(the vegetables), 'Sambar'
(the vegetables stew) and 'Papadum'(the cracker).

So what's a 'Dum Chicken Biryani'?
Basically a 'Dum Chicken Biryani' has a slight difference with
normal biryani. 'Dum Chicken Biryani' means that the chicken
meat and the Biryani rice would be cook and served together.
(Basically, all the 'Dum XXX Biryani' means that the XXX meat
and the biryani rice would be cook and served together.)

Taste wise, the taste of the thick 'Sambar' is pretty strong.
It's filled with a strong potato taste and I love it.
(Pretty ironic, I don't like 'French Fries' but I loved this.)
The crunchy 'Achar' is pretty fantastic too. (Especially when
lots of crunchy cucumber has been given. :P) The crunchy
'Papadum' is a big plus too though one slice isn't enough for me.
As for the biryani rice and the chicken, I personally find it
to be pretty normal only. Probably it would have taste much more
better if they have cook it for a bit more longer. Or perhaps
probably there are numerous complains that the biryani is too
hot to be eaten, therefore they have decided to...
Either ways, I miss the idea of having the 'Biryani RIce' with
some spicy curry and I think that I should try asking for some
spicy curry the next time round. :P (Hmmm... I wonder if I can
ask fore more biryani rice too...)

'Plain Prata'
This is one of the main reason why I have come to this place
for dinner. The 'Prata'. It seems that the 'prata' here is
one of the speciality of this place. (Even the name of the
place says so.) And it has really meet up to my expectations.
The 'prata' is very crispy. Although it's slightly a bit
smaller than normal 'pratas' but this is definitely one of
the crispiest one. The strong curry that comes with it, is
pretty tasty too. This makes me wonder if the other types
of 'pratas' are as good as this.

'Chilli Prata'
This is filled with green chillies. :D This is pretty interesting.
When I was looking at the item on the menu, I was wondering
if the prata is made up of a mixture of flour and grilled
chilli sauce. Never did I expect it to be green chillies.
Either ways, the prata still remains to be pretty crispy
and by adding green chillies can satisfy my fancy 'Chilli
desire'. (Note: this isn't very spicy, so go ahead give it a try.)

'Chicken Murtabak'
My opinion, please do not try to finish this alone. ==
I thought that I can finish a prata and a Murtabak easily,
but my jaws were dropping after taking a look at the Murtabak.
Although the size is pretty big, but luckily it isn't too
thick and the chef didn't stuff a lot of meat inside the
Murtabak. But they have stuffed a combination of spices,
chicken meat and a bit of vegetables inside the murtabak
in order for it to smells and taste good. :)
(Note: If you are a meat lover, go for the murtabak that
you can get at 'Spize'.)

So where to get all these tasty 'pratas'?

The name of the place would be 'Prata Wala'. Although they only have 4 branches in Singapore but it seems that they are expanding rapidly. (And the branch that I have shown here would be the branch located on level 1 of 'Tiong Bahru Plaza'.)

Notes:

• It seems that the branch located at Jurong Point is the only branch that is opened 24/7. The other branches closes at either 10pm or 11pm. :(

* Click here for the website of 'Prata Wala'.
^ Click here to find out more about 'Spize'.

A dessert fantasy for me :D

Everyone in this world had their own fantasies in different areas. you might dream to live in your own castle, dreaming yourself driving a Ferrari or having a dream of you yourself eating a delicious delicacy with all the ingredients that you like. As for myself, this is one of the dessert fantasy that I have been having...

A big bowl of Ice Kacang with only Red Beans and condensed milk covering all the ice.
The ingredients used in this delicacy were pretty simple, and these ingredients were ice, read beans and condensed milk. That's it, simplicity were one of my favorite choices.

(Note: I do agree that I am a Red Bean freak,
but I just couldn't resist the taste of Red Beans.)

But where can you find this delicacy?
It's available at the Kopitiam located at Tiong Bahru Plaza and not all the Kopitiam outlets are selling this delicacy. So hurry down to one of the Kopitiam outlets and try your luck in finding this delicacy, if you have the same dessert fantasy as I do.