Being focus is good...

Even though this is a pretty small Food Centre, but they do offer a pretty big variety of good food over here. Besides for local delicacies, one could easily find rare dishes like 'Turtle Soup' too. :). As for the post today...

'Laksa' Being the only stall selling 'Laksa', the business of this stall is remarkably good... no I mean great. Pretty much similar to all the delicious bowls of 'Laksa' out there, this affordable bowl of 'Laksa' comes with a tasty bowl of sweet, milky and spicy gravy. Topped with ingredients like sliced 'fish cake', 'cockles', 'bean curd puffs' 'beansprouts' and not forgetting the 'thick rice vermicelli'. The bowl of 'Noodles' was topped with a spoonful of spicy 'Sambal chilli' and garnished with Vietnamese coriander, or more commonly known as 'Laksa Leaf'. Even though just by providing a spoonful of 'Sambal chilli' isn't strong enough to fire me up? But the overall sweet and tasty sensation is a guaranteed. As I mixed all the ingredients together, besides for the chewy sensation, the taste of the ingredients that have absorbed the tasty gravy just simple makes it almost irresistible. In my own opinion, I think that this is one of the die die must try dish in Singapore. :P

So where can you give this dish a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Guang Fa Laksa'(廣發叻沙). It's located in 'Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  
  Wednesdays - Mondays:
  08:00 - 15:00
  (Closed on Tuesdays)

* Click here for the Facebook page of 'Guang Fa Laksa'(廣發叻沙).
^ Click here for the location of 'Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
# Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Havelock Road Cooked
   Food Centre'.

Where you can get Coconuts and Peanuts...

Stalls that prepare and sell these small bites as a living are getting lesser and lesser. Therefore, every single time I saw a stall preparing and selling these small bites, I just simply couldn't resist it.

"Kueh Tu Tu" Is it me or my eyes are playing tricks on me? Am I getting a 'Kueh Tu Tu' that is actually bending? Hmm... it is actually bending. But that's probably due to the special texture that it has. But how about the taste???

With a texture that is much more fluffy and a higher proportion of ingredients as compared to the snowy texture, the 'Kueh Tu Tu' is actually quite good. Freshly prepared from the steamer, these small bites should be eaten fresh. As compared to the chunky peanuts, I preferred the sweet Coconut filling even much more. In fact, the overall sensation that I'm getting from the 'Kueh Tu Tu' were pretty good, therefore I have managed to finish a full packet of 'Kueh Tu Tu' within minutes.

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

The name of this stall would be "Tan's Tu Tu Coconut Cake"(陳家嘟嘟糕). It's located in 'Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  09:00 - 15:00 Daily

* Click here for the location of 'Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Havelock Road Cooked
   Food Centre'.

A lump of Fried Kway Teow...?

I don't think it's appropriate to categorize this dish by lumps but the looks of the dishes do reminds me of the word 'Lump'...

A 'Lump' of 'Fried Kway Teow'

A good plate of 'Fried Kway Teow' doesn't really need a lot of fanciful ingredients and at the same time doesn't need too much sauce. As for the plate of 'Fried Kway Teow' over here, besides for the Noodles and 'Kway Teow'(Rice Noodles), the main ingredients are 'beansprout', 'fried egg' and cockles. For a start, the 'lump' of Noodles have a moist texture, and as you mixed it with the generous amount of 'beansprout', the crunchy and chewy mix is a (+). Though, this dish isn't spicy enough (despite of the fact that I have requested for more chilli), but the sweet taste of the dish are of an acceptable level, which isn't that bad. One of the key over here would most likely be the fat and juicy cockles that has proven to be pretty impressive too.

So where can you give the 'Fried Kway Teow' a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Meng Kee Char Kway Teow'(明記炒粿條). It's located in the coffee shop beneath 'Blk 22 Havelock Road'.

Opening Hours:

• Mondays - Saturdays: 10:30 - 19:00
  Sundays: 10:30 - 16:00

* Click here for the location of 'Blk 22 Havelock Road' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in that area.

Duck in the Mountains...?

There's actually quite a lot of dining options at the base of this hill and I shall slowly reveal them as I move on. For a start, lst's take a look at...

'Duck Rice' As I go around giving all sorts of delicacies a try, I tend to set some minimum requirements for a common dish to get considered good. As for 'Duck Rice', it should be served with braised or yam rice. Next would be the type of chilli that was provided. 'Sambal Chilli' is a must. On top of that, the quality of the soup. Once you have these minimum requirements fulfilled, it's almost impossible to fail the expectations of your customers.

For a start, the sweet gravy that was poured over the plate of rice has an acceptable level of sweetness. On top of that, the succulent duck meat is a (+). When I mixed the rice, meat, chilli and the gravy together, so much goodness in one single bite, which makes things even much more better. And that's not all, the soup that comes with a thick and strong herbal taste is a good (+) too. Oh man, I feel like eating it now....

So where can you give this plate of 'Duck Rice' a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Shan Duck Noodles And Rice'(山). It's located in the coffee shop beneath 'Blk 22 Havelock Road'.

Opening Hours:

• 11:00 - 22:00 Daily

* Click here for the location of 'Blk 22 Havelock Road' on 'Google Maps'.

Fishes of Friendship...

Basically, it's not like you can only order this dish in pairs or what, it just so so happen that the name of this stall has the Chinese word 'friendship'(友誼) inside. Therefore I'm giving this post such an title. :) Anyway back to the interesting part...

'Tom Yum Fish Soup with a bowl of Vegetables Rice and a bowl of Fried Fish' Initially, I only want to go for the 'Tom Yum Fish Soup'. But I recalled that when I was passing by this place a few days ago, I saw lots of customers going for the Fried Fish. Therefore, there must be a good reason why there are so many customers going for the same dish. Hence... These are a pretty rare find nowadays. Vegetables rice with slices of cabbages and small diced of yam. The nice aroma of yam and the special blend of rice, is worth giving it a try. :)

'Tom Yum Soup' This tastes pretty funny for a 'Tom Yum Soup', it doesn't taste like the usual 'Tom Yum Soup' at all. Though the stall owner has throw in a lot of ingredients and the fish slices are pretty fat and yummy, but the taste of the soup has pretty much ruined everything.

The 'Fried Fish' on the other end is marvelous. This for a start isn't too oily at all, despite of the fact that it just left the kitchen not long ago. On top of that, this isn't battered in a thick layer of flour and yet the skin has this crispy touch, which is another (+). On top of that, the portion that I'm getting for a relatively low price is amazing. (On a separate note, I managed to finish a bowl of 'Vegetables Rice' with this.) Best of all, the delicious taste of these firm and fresh slices of fish, just simple makes my lunch better and better. :)

So where can you give the 'Fried Fish' a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'You Yi Fish Soup'(友誼). It's located in one of the corners of 'Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre'.

Opening Hours:

• Mondays - Saturdays: 10:00 - 18:00

* Click here for the location of 'Havelock Road Cooked Food Centre' on 'Google Maps'.

Remaking the Claypot Rice

Some dishes have a very long history behind it and it ain't an easy task trying to break away from the same old method of preparing the dish and coming up with a new way of preparing it. However...

'Water Chestnut' For a start, the taste of the 'Water Chestnut' are pretty refreshing for a warm day.

'Stone Pot Chicken'(香香鸡肉) Doesn't this dish looks beautiful to you? There's a nice mixture of different colours. Ingredients like 'Special Marinated Chicken', 'Sliced Salted Fish,' 'Sausage', 'Mushroom' and 'Vegetable' have been added into this dish.

When it comes to 'Claypot Rice', who could forget about the important soy sauce?

With a lot of tedious stirring, I finally managed to stir all the ingredients inside the 'Stone Bowl' nicely together. Here comes the nice part about this dish. The taste of this is pretty much similar to a normal 'Claypot Rice' and unlike the normal 'Claypot', this does not have the problem of the rice sticking onto the bowl. Therefore like some of my friends, if you really love the taste and the texture of the overcook, crispy rice, you could really savour it till the very last bit over here. On top of the crispy rice, each individual bite also comes with a nice fragrance of 'Salted fish' and a good mix of the sweet ingredients listed in the above. Even though the portion of 'Claypot Rice' that I'm getting over here are much more smaller than the regular ones, but I don't need to worry about the bones of the 'Chicken' and I could really emptied the whole bowl without any wastage. (By the way, as compared to any other types of bowl, the 'Stone Bowl' can keep the food warm for a much more longer period of time, which is a big (+) :D)

'Stone Pot Sliced Pork'(片片猪肉) Prefer 'Pork'? No worries! They have a similar dish that have replace all the 'Chicken' meat with sliced 'Pork' meat.

'Stone Pot Bacon & Cheese Rice'(奶酪熏肉) They also have something cheesy for the cheese lovers.

'Stone Pot Chicken, Longans & Black Bean'(龙眼黑豆鸡汤) They are using the 'Stone Bowl' to serve the soup too.

'Onion Cheese Mushroom Omelette'(洋葱煎蛋) While preparing this dish, it seems that the ingredients are added one by one, since the ingredients are separated and they are not sticking together nicely.

'Mango Ice Cream' The taste of the Mango Ice Cream is pretty thick and strong. Initially, we were given the impression that the owner has prepared the 'Ice Cream' herself, but she has confessed that the 'Ice Cream' were made by someone else and she herself were pretty impressed with the quality of the 'Ice Cream'. (Hmm... I wonder who's behind the nice 'Ice Cream' over here.)

So what's the name of this restaurant?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Signature Stone Restaurant'. It's located along 'Havelock Road'.

Notes:

• Opening Hours:
  11:00 - 22:00 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'Signature Stone Restaurant'.
^ Click here for the 'Facebook' page of 'Signature Stone Restaurant'.
~ Click here for the location of 'Signature Stone Restaurant' on 'Google Maps'.

A test for your consciousness...

What if all the restaurants or eateries in this world are not going to put a price tag on all the food items on their menu? And, you can simply pay any price for everything that you have ordered and eaten, what will you do and how much are you willing to pay?

'Vegetarian Indian Buffet' Unfortunately, they are providing Vegetarian Indian Buffet that night. Actually I was looking forward to the ala-carte menu, but since I have step into this restaurant, I will simply go ahead with anything that they were offering that evening. Well basically, there are rice dishes, desserts, naans and all sorts of Indian dishes in this buffet spread. Since it's buffet style, that means, you can give everything a try. On top of the buffet spread, you can also place unlimited orders for the various types of beverages over here. I wanted to try the Mango Lassi over here but they don't have it that day, hence I ended up trying the thick blackcurrant Lassi, which is equally thick and good. :D By the way, according to my friend, the Lime Juice over here is pretty strong. After having a glass of Lime Juice over here, you might ended up drinking numerous glass of water to wash the sour taste away.

'Vegetarian Indian Food' Basically, this should give you a rough idea of the dishes that you can try over here. As mentioned earlier, I have visited the place on a weekend, therefore you will only be limited to the buffet spread. However, it seems that if you have visited the place on Mondays to Thursdays, you will be provided a ala-carte menu. Actually, I have taken a look at the menu and it seems to be pretty interesting. I would definitely give this place a try again. So why is this place a test for your consciousness? Basically, you can eat or drink as much as you can and simply pay a relatively low price for everything. In fact, I was wondering will there be chances that someone pays nothing for everything that he has eaten?

So where can you give the test a try?

The name of this restaurant would be 'Annalakshmi'. It's located along Havelock Road.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Lunch: 11:00 - 15:00
  Dinner: 18:15 - 21:30
• For Mondays - Thursday, you will be provided with a partial ala-carte menu and a buffet spread during lunch. Dinner wise, you will be provided a full ala-carte menu and a soup cum starter buffet. As for the rest of the week, you will be provided a full buffet spread for both lunch and dinner.
• By the way the interior of this restaurant is pretty spacious and the services that they are providing over here are pretty good too. Seriously, I really don't mind making another trip over here again.
• By the way, do try to secure a reservations before you pay the restaurant a visit. It can be pretty crowded during dinner hours. (By the way, the contact number of this restaurant would be '6339 9993'.)

* Click here for the location of the restaurant 'Annalakshmi' on Google Maps.

Bak Kut Teh（肉骨茶） - An old time favourite

I have been living in the area pretty close to Tiong Bahru for the past 20+ years. There were a lot of Bak Kut Teh store located in this area. If I'm not mistaken, there were more than 10 Bak Kut Teh stores within a walking distance of 30 minutes. Hence, I decided to pay a visit to one of the stores which is...

Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh（亞華肉骨茶）

Ya Hwa Bak Kut Teh and some other dishes
Peanuts（花生） Preserved Vegetables（梅菜） and Youtiao（油条）	Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh（亞華肉骨茶）

Although, Bak Kut Teh in Singapore is slightly a bit costly, but after tasting and trying numerous Bak Kut Teh stores in Singapore, this is one of the better ones. The service provided by the place is considerably good as compared to the other Bak Kut Teh stores. For example, the waitress would top up the soup of the Bak Kut Teh automatically, topping up of the soup is free and the best part is the Bak Kut given in each bowl of Bak Kut Teh was fantastic. Even though the soup had a lot of pepper in it, I still managed to empty the soup of the Bak Kut Teh a few times.

Click here for the location of Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh.