My way of having a good appetite...?

So what is my favourite way of having a good appetite? I guess that would be feasting on a big variety of dishes at one go. :D And it can be kinda boring if you are feasting on the same type of food at one go(imagine feasting on 5 or 6 plates of barbecue meat at one go), therefore it must be a variety of different types of dishes. And on top of that, things would get better and better if it ended up to be a big selection of small dishes. Therefore, I couldn't resist...

'Dim Sum Buffet' I'm always keeping a lookout for good 'Dim Sum Buffet' to try. With a good pot of Tea and a big variety of dishes, I seriously wouldn't mind giving the 'Dim Sum Buffet' of different Chinese restaurants a try on every weekend. :D As mentioned on my blog over and over again, 'Dim Sum' are pretty much similar to 'Sushi'. These dishes are pretty small in portion and they could easily burn a hole in your wallet. Anyway let's move on to some of the dishes that they are offering over here.

'Poached Pork Wanton in Spicy & Chilli Oil'(紅油炒手) Although the 'Wanton' are pretty tasty and meaty, but the sauce isn't fantastic enough. Basically the sauce isn't spicy enough and it would taste much better if they prepare it differently. Without the correct sauce, these 'Wanton' can never reach the top.

'Pan Fried Dumpling'(鍋貼) Not too greasy and parts of the skin are nice and crispy. And all the 'Pan Fried Dumplings' over here are bite sized. Best of all, there's a good mix of vegetables and minced meat, which makes it pretty good.

How can we leave the table empty? Since it's a 'Dim Sum Buffet', we should continue to cover the table with 'Dim Sum' dishes.... Whahahaha~~~~

'Four Seasons Pork Dumpling'(四方餃) Not all the 'Dim Sum' restaurants have this. This is a normal dumpling with 4 openings on top and each of the opening will be populated with a different type of ingredient. The base is pretty much similar to those of a juicy 'Xiao Long Bao'. Therefore, for this 'Dumpling', there's a mix of crunchy & juicy ingredients, which makes this a (+).

Top Left: Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumpling(蝦籽燒賣) Middle: Steamed Shrimp Dumpling(水晶鮮蝦餃) Bottom Right: Salted Egg Custard Bun(流沙包) Hmm... The 'Steamed Pork & Shrimp Dumpling' & the 'Steamed Shrimp Dumpling' are pretty normal, not something that is deliciously exciting. But the 'Salted Egg Custard Bun' is pretty good. The thick filling is a (+). Not only it tastes good, when you have it with the 'Pandan Bun', you ended up getting something that not only tastes good, it smells good too. However, do be careful, the fiery filling can burn your tongue easily..

'Sliced Chicken in Spicy Sauce'(口水雞) Besides for 'Dim Sum', they also have included sides dishes like these. The slices of chilling tender chicken are pretty nice. However, the supposed-to-be spicy sauce, isn't exciting enough for me. Would be perfect if they can spice it up a bit more.

'Deep Fried Pork Rib with Spicy Mango Sauce'(香芒排骨) We have placed 2 separate orders for this dish. The first plate ended up to be heavenly. But the second one turns out to be pretty bad. When it's good, not only it's coated with a layer of mango, while chewing on the pork ribs, the nice concentrate fragrance of mangoes are bursting inside my mouth which makes it an enjoyable dining experience. :)

Left: Chilled Durian & Fresh Cream in Pan Cake(榴蓮糕) Right: Warm Fuzhou Yam Pudding(香麻芋泥) We have given all the desserts over here a try too. And this is the best. The appearance of it reminds me of the super oldie 'Golden Pillow'... =.="" Either ways, each spoonful of this dessert comes with a strong aroma of 'Durian' and cream. And the chefs over here might have added too much filling into the pan cake, such that the filling were flowing out of the pan cake once you cut a small opening off it. This has pretty much explains why this is the first item that is strike off the menu for the day.

Here's a copy of the menu of this 'Dim Sum' menu. They have also listed down stuff like deep fried 'Dim Sum', 'Baked Dim Sum', 'Noodles', 'Congee', etc...

The name of this restaurant would be 'Ju Chun Yuan'(聚春園). It's located in a corner of 'Far East Square'.

Notes:

• Daily Opening Hours:
  Lunch: 11:30 - 15:30
  Dinner: 18:00 - 22:30
• Dim Sum Lunch Buffet: 11:30 - 15:30
• Do take note, depending on the demand, most of the popular items might be sold out before 1 or 2pm in the afternoon.
• Do try and make your reservations as early as possible, as the empty seats are getting filled up pretty early...

* Click here to find out more about 'Ju Chun Yuan'(聚春園).
^ Click here for the Facebook page of 'Ju Chun Yuan'(聚春園).

Love 4 Taiwanese Chick?

Since I have been hanging out the Bugis area quite often, the small alleys of 'Bugis Village' are pretty interesting. There are numerous shops selling all the different types of small bites and the post today has something to do with it...

'Extra Crispy Chicken'(香炸雞排) a.k.a 'Ella' The first interesting point about the 'main dishes' over here are the names. All the 'main dishes' were named after a well-known Taiwanese artiste. For example, 'Ella' is the name of one out of the three artistes of the female group 'S.H.E' in Taiwan. And though in terms of the size the Crispy Chicken over here isn't the biggest in Singapore but the taste is pretty good. The crispy texture and the tender, juicy meat combination is pretty good. However even though this is the main dish I think that in terms of the taste that I'm getting from this 'main dish', it's not as fantastic as the...

'Sweet Potato'(甘梅地瓜) Since I'm not into 'French Fries', I decided to go ahead with this side dish. This ended up to be much much better than normal 'French Fries'. Firstly, the nice crunchy texture of the 'Sweet Potato' is already a big (+). Secondly, the deep fried 'Sweet Potato' has this bright orangey color that not only looks good, it also tastes pretty good too. Third but not least, the nice sweet taste of the 'Sweet Potato'. Though it's coated with 'Plum Powder' but I'm not really getting the taste of the 'Plum Powder'. Either it's the sweet taste of the 'Sweet Potato' that is far too overpowering or the 'Plum Powder' isn't strong enough.

'Caramel Milk Tea with Grass Jelly'(仙草焦糖奶茶) Even though the sweet taste of the 'Milk Tea' isn't that bad, but it's not special enough too. Though with the extra portion of 'Grass Jelly', it have added the chewy sensation to the drink itself but it's a bit too normal as compared to the 'Main' and the 'Side Dish'. :|

The name of this shop would be 'I Love Taimei'(我愛台妹). All the outlets are located inside 'Bugis' area.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  12:00 - 20:00 Daily

* Click here to find out more about 'I love Taimei'(我愛台妹).
^ Click here for the Facebook page of 'I love Taimei'(我愛台妹).
~ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find in 'Bugis' area.

No interest in the genuinity...

Frankly speaking, regardless of the genuinity of this stall, whether it has a long history or not, the most important thing about an ordinary food stall and/or a classy restaurant would be the food that they are serving over there.

'Char Siew and Roasted Meat Rice' Initially I have placed an order for a plate of roasted meat rice, but I ended up going for an extra portion of 'Char Siew'(barbecued pork meat) too. And...

Just by taking a good look at the texture of the slices of 'Char Siew', you can identify how reflective they were. I believe that the more reflective they were, the more juicier the slices of 'Char Siew' were. Hence reflective means juicer meat but too reflective means too raw... But the 'Char Siew' over here were amazingly good. Not only they were juicy, they were both chewy and tasty too. As for the roasted meat, the crispy skin is a big (+) but I don't really like the stiff meaty part of the roasted meat. Though it's not as stiff as similar stalls out there but I'm just not into this type of roasted meat. Too bad they didn't sell the skin part separately else I would like to go for the skin only. Anyway, don't forget about the different types of sauces that they are offering over here. The sweet and dark sauce blends with the meat slices pretty well but I would strongly encourage you to go for the nice combination of the dark sauce and the not too watery chilli sauce. In fact the sauce combination is so good that I could easily finish the whole plate of rice with it. :D

So where can you give this sinful plate of rice a good try?

The name of this stall would be 'Original Tiong Bahru Golden Pig & Roasted'（正宗中峇鲁金豬燒腊）. It's located inside 'Tiong Bahru Market'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  07:00 - 20:00 Daily
• On a separate note, if you have been staying in the 'Tiong Bahru' area for a long period of time, you would know that 'Tiong Bahru Market' is infamous for the Chinese roasted golden pig, which is a must have for a Chinese celebration. ;P Therefore after the major makeover of 'Tiong Bahru Market', it seems that there are more and more stalls specializing in preparing and selling roasted meat. So which stall is the trend setter? I don't really care.

* Click here for the location of 'Tiong Bahru Market' on Google Maps.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find & get near 'Tiong Bahru Market'.

Plate of ingredients...

This reminds me of the good old days where I used to have my lunch at the market behind my Primary School. (Since there's a long break between the classes, I have to do that especially when the school canteen doesn't have any food left after the lunch hours.) Even though the place doesn't have a air conditional environment but it does have...

'Kway Chap' With a plate of interesting ingredients and a bowl of 'Kway'(Rice Noodles), it can satisfy your taste bud easily. :D

For a start, the bowl of silky 'Kway' is pretty smooth and the flavour soup is pretty good. It gets better and better since they have sprinkle fried spring onions all over the bowl of 'Kway' it.

As for the plate of ingredients, it's kinda a bit too small for me. But there's a wide range of ingredients inside. There's the usual porky stuff like intestines, braised meat, stomach and not forgetting ingredients like braised egg, fish cake, fried beancurd and also salted vegetables. But I do like the chewy intestines and stomach, the tender braised meat and the salty yet crunchy vegetables. Best of all, most of the ingredients have absorbed the nice taste of the braised sauce and it doesn't end up to be super salty. However, as mentioned earlier it would be great if they can increase the portion a bit more O.O... :P

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

The name of this stall would be 'Tong Luck Restaurant'(忠乐餐室). It's located inside 'Boon Lay Place Food Village'.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  05:00 - 12:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays - Wednesdays)

* Click here for the location of 'Boon Lay Place Food Village' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Boon Lay Place Food
  Village'.

Q Duck / Duck Queue?

What can one do if he managed to wake up pretty early in the morning? I'm not sure about the others but as for me, I would go all out searching for delicious food to try. :P And the first item that appears on my 'Have to Wake Up Early to give it try'(ever-changing) list would be...

'Duck Noodles' Though the whole bowl of noodles have been covered with lots of beansprouts, there's a generous amount of duck slices, noodles and a nice mixture of spicy and dark sauce. On top of that, since they have run out of 'Duck Egg', hence I have gone for the extra portion of Noodles and 'Duck Organs'. Even though I have only placed an order for the regular bowl of 'Duck Noodles', with an extra portion of Noodles and ingredients, the portion is big enough to satisfy the stomach of a regular person.

After spending a bit of time stirring and mixing the whole bowl of noodles thoroughly, it's time for the best part of the post. The duck slices ain't too stiff and on top of that, each individual slice of meat is juicy and chewy. And the amount of sauce added into the bowl of noodles is perfect. All the ingredients doesn't end up to be too wet or too dry and on top of that I love the overall spicy and sweet touch of the bowl of noodles. And since there's a good balance of tasty meaty ingredients, noodles and beansprouts, hence there's a good mix of crunchy and chewy sensation in every single bite which is a big (+). Oops, I almost forget about the soup. Pretty much the same as some of the stalls selling good duck noodles out there, the soup that they have prepared over here are pretty thick, tasty and it's not pepperish at all. :D

So where can you give the good 'Duck Noodles' a good try?

The name of the stall would be 'Heng Huat Boon Lay Boneless Duck Noodles'(興發文礼起骨鸭面). It's located inside 'Boon Lay Place Food Village'. By the way...

This should give you a good idea of the popularity of the stall. Just look at the length of the queue. In fact, I was pretty lucky to be the last few customers of the day at around 10:30am in the morning... =.=""

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  05:00 - 11:00 Daily
  (Closed on Mondays)
• Trust me, unless you are super lucky otherwise please try to make your way down to the stall before 10am in the morning otherwise they might wind up business for the day before 11am in the morning.

* Click here for the location of 'Boon Lay Place Food Village' on 'Google Maps'.
^ Click here for the list of delicacies that you can find and get in 'Boon Lay Place Food
  Village'.

God Fire...

While travelling around Japan last year, I finally managed to come across a spicy delicacy in Hakata, Japan. (And Wasabi isn't spicy.) And that delicacy has something to do with this post today.

'God Fire Ramen' They are preparing and selling a wide variety of 'Hakata Ramen' over here. But, for the locals that love spicy food, the most attractive and interesting 'Ramen' over here would most probably be 'God Fire Ramen'.

They are offering 4 different levels of spiciness for the 'God Fire Ramen'. Well, the biggest difference between the 4 levels would most likely be the portion of special paste added into the bowl of 'Ramen'. Trust me, the highest(4th) level can really set fire on your tongue. However, it's nothing as compared to the special '10X Special Paste Ramen' from 'Ichiran Ramen' from 'Hakata', 'Japan'. Besides for the spicy soup base, the thin and chewy noodles, the strong and thick Pork Broth, are the characteristics of the 'Hakata Ramen'. (In fact, I love with 'Ramen' that comes with the thin and chewy noodles.)

Not only the Noodles are chewy, the taste are equally good too. On top of that, the taste of the broth is pretty spicy and the taste of the Pork Broth is pretty thick. However, the standards of the flavoured egg is pretty normal and the slices of barbecue pork ain't satisfying enough, which is a big disappointment. By the way, my face was covered with sweat after spending a bit of time finishing the whole bowl of 'God Fire Ramen'.

The name of this 'Ramen' restaurant would be 'Ikkousha'. In fact, 'Ikkousha' was the overall champion of 'Ramen Champion' for 2 consecutive years. Therefore that might be the main reason why they have decided to have their own outlet in Singapore. The 'Ramen' restaurant is currently located on level 1 of 'Tanjong Pagar Plaza', which is also located opposite 'Orchid Hotel'.

Opening Hours:

• Weekdays & Saturdays: 11:30 - 21:30
• Sundays: 11:30 - 21:30

* Click here for the Facebook page of 'Ikkousha Singapore'.
^ Click here to find out more about 'Ikkousha Ramen'. (Japanese website)

Silently taking over your neighbourhood....

There used to be a period of time where every single neighbourhood has a old school bakery shop. But with the increase in numbers of branded pastry shops like (Ex: 'Bread Talk', 'Prima Deli', etc...), maintaining a neighbourhood pastry shop becomes far more difficult. However...

They have common stuff like... 'Durian Bun'(Huh???) (Lol, in what way is a 'Durian Bun' common?) Anyway, initially I thought that it will be much more sticky, but it ended up to have a jam like durian filling inside. By taking a bite off the bun, I'm already getting the strong durian breath, which is quite a surprise. As compared to a real durian, which requires a bit of 'hard work', this is a good alternative as and when you are hungry for 'Durians'.

'Hokkaido Cake' I don't really see the link between this and 'Hokkaido', but though the overall taste is sweet and the texture is fluffy, I think that it's not as interesting as the...

'Dorayaki' When I'm eating this, it makes me feel as if I am 'Doraemon'. (The Japanese Manga/Comic or Cartoon/Anime character 'Doraemon' is addicted to this delicious pastry.)

Basically it's 2 pieces of mini pancake like patties wrap around a filling. Back then, you would only be getting 'Red Bean' filling only but...

Though the overall look of the 'Dorayaki' might be pretty much the same, but over here there's like more than 7 different flavours to choose from. There's fruity flavours like 'Durian', 'Mango', 'Blueberry', etc, and sweet delights like 'Chocolate', 'Custard', 'Red Bean', etc... I ended up trying the 'Red Bean' and the 'Cranberry with Cheese Dorayaki'. Though these are small costly pastries but the taste is relatively good. The pancake like patties were nice and fluffy and they are pretty generous with the fillings too. The 'Cranberry Dorayaki' has small chunks of fruit slices and cream inside it, therefore it ended up to be both sweet and refreshing. If they are going to reduce the price of these devilish 'Dorayaki' even further, I seriously wouldn't mind getting 1 or 2 for high tea every single day.

The name of this pastry shop would be 'Bakery Cuisine'. The above shows the outlet located on level 1 of 'Buona Vista MRT' and I was looking at their website and it seems that they currently have more than 25 outlets islandwide.

Notes:

• Operating Hours:
  Varies and most of the outlet will be opened till 9pm.

* Click here to find out more about 'Bakery Cuisine'.
^ Click here for the Facebook Page of 'Bakery Cuisine'.