Anthony Bourdain swears by their chicken rice and he only eats chicken rice from this stall.
Seriously, how can anyone resist chicken that's as succulent, juicy and tender as this!
Some say the Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice is better while some swear by Five Star Chicken Rice or even Boon Tong Kee. However, I beg to differ.
The texture of the chicken here is the best around. The skin is smooth and they always have that delicious layer of subcutaneous gelatine under the skin what is so wonderfully slurpy. The meat has just the right amount of tenderness and is so savoury. It is said the chicken are dipped into cold water before being served, and that's why the meat tend to be slightly cold when served.
I've been wanting to try ever since I saw it featured on television some time back. It's actually Hakka Lei Cha, a healthy rice dish made from the healthiest of ingredients - basil leaves, green tea leaves, mint leaves, Chinese parsley, coriander leaves, etc. And mind you that's just the stock. The rice itself is served with loads of good stuff like anchovies, okra, cabbage, tofu, long beans, and spinach
That's alot of green stuff! Full of fibre and lots of nutrients! This dish looks yucky but actually tastes ok. However, some people might be not be able to stand the potent smell of the green stock.
By the way, you can choose to have brown rice (which I did), instead of the normal white rice.
This Kway Chup stall on the second floor of Amoy Food Centre claiming to serve authentic Teochew Kway Chup (not that I actually know how thats supposed to taste like though) piqued my interest greatly and so I got down to giving it a shot.
$6.60 bought me a platter of Pig's Tongue, Pig's Intestine, Hard Boiled Egg, Tau Pok and Fishcake for 2 pax inclusive of 2 bowls of the Kway. I personally found the ingredients too soft from simmering in the huge pot of gravy for too long. The only highlight was the Kway and the accompanying gravy. The Kway had more bite and wasn't as soggy as the normal ones you get outside. The gravy had a slightly burnt taste with a rather sharp tinge of Cinnamon. Something different and worth a try for the novelty factor. Unfortunately, not even the superior Kway and unique gravy is enough to warrant another try.
Had a craving for Pig's Organ Soup so ordered a bowl to share from Soon Huat's Pig Organ Soup, which has a loyal following of customers, including myself.
$3 gets your a bowl of soup with a reasonable amount of ingredients thrown in. The ingredients in it are pretty normal, but what I like about this dish is the soup. It is slightly sourish and salty due to the salted vegetables and it is so good that it keeps me going back for more. Add a dash of pepper and you get a really great soup. Do try it!
In the same coffeeshop that houses the famous Eng Seng Black Pepper Crabs lies a small nondescript corner stall that sells Wanton Mee. My colleague had raved about it so thought I would pop by to try it during lunch.
For $3, I got a huge bowl of kway teow with 4 relatively huge deep fried wantons and 3 boiled wantons. Each fried wanton had a generous serving of meat in it and was very crispy. The steamed wantons were rather normal though. However, count in the fact that you get a generous serving of char siew as well and this dish is really bang for the buck. Do try it if you happen to be in the area during lunch.
According to the television program, Makan Places Lost and Found, the famous Hong Kee Beef Noodles, which used to be at the old Cuppage Centre, has relocated to the ground floor of Amoy Food Centre. I love beef noodles and I make it a point to eat this dish whenever possible. And so there I was, literally running towards Amoy Food Centre during my lunch hour, to try and beat the lunch crowd.
I opted for the $4 version of beef slices and beef balls. Imagine my disappointment when I saw the miserable amount of beef slices that came with it. 4 beef balls were given, but they were your average sized beef balls that you could buy from the supermarket. Taste wise, the beef balls tasted like the supermarket ones except that they were very much tastier. Texture wise was slightly rougher and more chewy. The beef slices were a little chewy as well, but lacked the strong beef taste that I like. The soup was noticeably bland, just like the beef slices. Maybe its just the Hainanese way of cooking, I'm not sure. If you like bland stuff, then maybe this is the one for you. As for me, I'll stick to the cheaper and better (in my opinion) Teochew Beef Kway Teow located on the same level.
Had breakfast with my parents at Toa Payoh on a late Sunday morning. Read somewhere that Fong Kee's Duck Rice at Lorong 1 was pretty good so decided to give it a try. Fong Kee is situated in a small coffeeshop just right under a block of flats and across from the spanking new market and food centre. We ordered the Roast Duck, Roasted Pork and Shui Jiao(Dumpling) Soup for 3 pax.
The Roast Duck had a slightly crispy skin which is quite rare in most places that I've tried (with the exception of restaurants). The gravy was plentiful and Seaseme Seeds were sprinkled all over. Honestly, the gravy didn't add much flavour to the duck. I found the duck slightly above average in terms of taste, but a minus point would be the minimal meat. I like my ducks to be meaty with a crispy skin and not just a crispy skin with not much meat.
The Roasted Pork was a little too salty and pretty fat, which was quite a turn off. The Shui Jiao Soup was average and the Shui Jiao itself tasted slightly above average with its nice filling of diced shrimps, prawns and other stuff.
The meal for 3 cost $13.90. Not exactly cheap for Duck Rice, especially for one which fails to wow and with average sized portions. But it certainly is above average and should you be around, you are most welcome to try it out. Look out for some other stalls which serve excellent food in this old neighbourhood.
Passed by 933 Roast Duck and saw many photographs of celebrities gracing the walls of this small eating house with tables spilling all over the sidewalks and decided to try it out since my gf and I were both hungry. We ordered 2 plates of Roasted Duck Rice and a bowl of Bak Kut Teh to share.
For a stall that has received many good reviews and is purportedly one of the best roasted duck rice stalls in Singapore, it certainly didn't meet my gf's or my expectations. The duck was merely average. No crispy skin, no flavourful meat. Just plain old simple duck meat and it came with a lot of bones to boot, even though I had ordered duck breast meat. The secret to the duck rice lies in the chilli I believe. Concentrated and packing a punch, it is good enough for my gf to like it. The Bak Kut in the Bak Kut Teh was a little too soft in my opinion, probably a result of cooking too long. However, I found the soup very much to my liking. It was clear with lots of pepper in it (Teochew style). Flavourful yet peppery! But I would have liked some more pepper though.
Total for the meal was $13.40, which included 2 glasses of barley. Relatively reasonable if you ask me.
After reading lots of great reviews on Komachi over at hardwarezone forums (yeah, salon reviews on an IT forum), I decided to give it a try. Guess I was in a crazy mood, as I usually don't get expensive haircuts. I also wanted to see what magic they could do to my hair for the high price they charge. Usually it's $65, but for first timers, there is a 20% discount which means I have to pay only $52. Still expensive!
My stylist was Mr. Maeda San. The service standard is excellent. The long hair wash and head massage was exactly what I needed to relax my mind. The shampoo used was some kind of milk shampoo, which smells absolutely heavenly! I was tempted to buy a bottle home. Fortunately, they are not pushy with their products, unlike many other salons.
As for the haircut, given my short hair length, it's needless to say that there is nothing magical he could do about it. It turns out to be rather normal, what I could get with my usual $18 haircut.
Conversing with the stylists can be tricky, as all of them are Japanese. Most of the time, I have difficulty making out anything other than "ne".
They are currently in the process of moving from Liat Towers to Liang Court. So this entry might need updating when they eventually move over, which I believe will be in June.
Following my virgin taste testing session that took place at Persimmon, HFB was honoured to be invited to another launch at TETSU ("哲"), which has just opened its doors at Tanglin Mall.
Japanese cuisine aficionados will rejoice a first of its kind authentic Kushi-style Tempura along with Tonkatsu menu, prepared “LIVE” before their eyes. Seated at specially designed counter bars that are in close proximity to the chef who deftly prepares their Tempura and Tonkatsu, diners get to enjoy a visual feast right before their eyes.
Diners can have a choice from a wide array of freshest seafood, meats and vegetables prepared either Kushi-age style (Skewered with Breaded Batter) or Kushi-tem style (Skewered with Tempura Batter).
In order to recreate the most authentic Japanese dining experience, TETSU has partnered up with one of the most established restaurant groups in Japan with 48 restaurants and employing over 1400 people.
The Hana Group, renowned for their authentic Japanese cuisine and has been advising TETSU in all aspects of their restaurant.
The night was kick-started with an appetiser off the menu, the Cold Tofu with Century Egg and Ebi Roe. It was surprisingly a good dish to start off with as the combination of the heavy century egg and soft tofu attempts to tickle your palate along with the salty exploding sensation of the ebi roe when one bites into it.
The Edamame ($4.00) like others are nothing to shout about, but something that stood out was the aestheticism of the dish, which is visually evident in all the subsequent dishes – it is only then that I found out that TETSU prides itself on offering the most authentic Japanese dining experience, taking it down even to the smallest of details.
The layout of the Kaiseki sets and even the art of serving up these gourmet sets are specially formulated in Japan, to ensure that diners can get the full “LIVE” experience, at the best value. In addition, much of the restaurant’s tableware are all specially flown in from Japan.
Moreover, the good thing about the Kushi-age Soft Shell Crab ($3.00 per serving) is that it does not come oil soaked, although I would prefer it to be slightly meatier.
One might also be intrigued to know that in TETSU, one also get a choice of three dips for their deep-fried food – Tonkutsu sauce, Japanese Mayo and Curry Salt.
Onsentamago To Tofu Salad, or Half-boiled (Hot Spring-styled) Egg & Tofu Salad ($13.50) is another dish that is dedicatedly prepared by the chef – using their bare hands to measure the temperature of the water cooking the eggs, and the eggs only taken out of the cooking water when the water is too hot for their hands to handle.
The only non-authentic dish that we tried that night was probably their Salmon Carpaccio with French Dressing ($18.00). Although the salmon was very fresh and comes with a very nice bite, I feel that the dressing was slightly too sour for me – let’s just say that I prefer sashimi the way it is.
Highly recommended was their Rosu Katsu (A set served with Salad, Pickles, Rice, Miso Soup and Dessert cost $24.50). Similar to Tonkichi, one is also given a bowl of Roasted Sesame Seeds to grind and add to the Tonkutsu sauce.
The sampling of their second deep-fried dish convinced me that their cooking and preparation technique is indeed accomplished. Although I pride Tampopo’s Black Pork Katsu to be the best in taste of texture due to its marbling fats, TETSU’s version comes a close second - one do not really sample the oily aftertaste in the batter.
It was then I was told that TETSU’s chefs have undergone intensive training in the chain’s headquarters in Japan. The attention paid to the preparation of Tempura and Tonkatsu is meticulous – TETSU chefs strictly ensure that all preparation techniques, from marination, to the type of batter and oil, to the time of frying, adhere to their timeless traditional Japanese recipes.
The Roll Sushi ($18.00 for 6 pieces) was another item that was painstaking prepared in many process. One would probably mistook it for a salmon roll sushi if one weren’t told that the filling also consists of scallop and tuna, as the saltiness of the cooked salmon seeks to over-whelmed it. However having said that, it was still a pretty enjoyable sushi roll due to the crunchy batter and the aromatic Sesame Seeds and pairing of Ebi Roe.
The Kushi-style cuisine is very popular in Japan because the skewer-style makes it easy for customers eat and enjoy their sake, shoju or wine at the same time.
However to be honest, by the time the Kaiseki Set Course B ($45.00) consisting of 4 Assorted Appetisers, Stick Vegetables, Kani-Suki (Paper Pot Crab Sukiyaki), Kushi-age or Kushi-Tem, Udon and Dessert arrived, I was pretty much filled up and my palate started to fail me. So I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.
However, one thing I remembered clearly was the very unique Japan-imported Udon that gives one a very chewy bite – one has to try it to truly understand what I mean.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Pris and TETSU for their generous hospitality.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
1=SGD 0.0587
Anthony Bourdain swears by their chicken rice and he only eats chicken rice from this stall.
Seriously, how can anyone resist chicken that's as succulent, juicy and tender as this!
Some say the Wee Nam Kee Chicken Rice is better while some swear by Five Star Chicken Rice or even Boon Tong Kee. However, I beg to differ.
The texture of the chicken here is the best around. The skin is smooth and they always have that delicious layer of subcutaneous gelatine under the skin what is so wonderfully slurpy. The meat has just the right amount of tenderness and is so savoury. It is said the chicken are dipped into cold water before being served, and that's why the meat tend to be slightly cold when served.
Rating given:
I've been wanting to try ever since I saw it featured on television some time back. It's actually Hakka Lei Cha, a healthy rice dish made from the healthiest of ingredients - basil leaves, green tea leaves, mint leaves, Chinese parsley, coriander leaves, etc. And mind you that's just the stock. The rice itself is served with loads of good stuff like anchovies, okra, cabbage, tofu, long beans, and spinach
That's alot of green stuff! Full of fibre and lots of nutrients! This dish looks yucky but actually tastes ok. However, some people might be not be able to stand the potent smell of the green stock.
By the way, you can choose to have brown rice (which I did), instead of the normal white rice.
Rating given:
This Kway Chup stall on the second floor of Amoy Food Centre claiming to serve authentic Teochew Kway Chup (not that I actually know how thats supposed to taste like though) piqued my interest greatly and so I got down to giving it a shot.
$6.60 bought me a platter of Pig's Tongue, Pig's Intestine, Hard Boiled Egg, Tau Pok and Fishcake for 2 pax inclusive of 2 bowls of the Kway. I personally found the ingredients too soft from simmering in the huge pot of gravy for too long. The only highlight was the Kway and the accompanying gravy. The Kway had more bite and wasn't as soggy as the normal ones you get outside. The gravy had a slightly burnt taste with a rather sharp tinge of Cinnamon. Something different and worth a try for the novelty factor. Unfortunately, not even the superior Kway and unique gravy is enough to warrant another try.
Rating given:
Had a craving for Pig's Organ Soup so ordered a bowl to share from Soon Huat's Pig Organ Soup, which has a loyal following of customers, including myself.
$3 gets your a bowl of soup with a reasonable amount of ingredients thrown in. The ingredients in it are pretty normal, but what I like about this dish is the soup. It is slightly sourish and salty due to the salted vegetables and it is so good that it keeps me going back for more. Add a dash of pepper and you get a really great soup. Do try it!
Rating given:
In the same coffeeshop that houses the famous Eng Seng Black Pepper Crabs lies a small nondescript corner stall that sells Wanton Mee. My colleague had raved about it so thought I would pop by to try it during lunch.
For $3, I got a huge bowl of kway teow with 4 relatively huge deep fried wantons and 3 boiled wantons. Each fried wanton had a generous serving of meat in it and was very crispy. The steamed wantons were rather normal though. However, count in the fact that you get a generous serving of char siew as well and this dish is really bang for the buck. Do try it if you happen to be in the area during lunch.
Rating given:
According to the television program, Makan Places Lost and Found, the famous Hong Kee Beef Noodles, which used to be at the old Cuppage Centre, has relocated to the ground floor of Amoy Food Centre. I love beef noodles and I make it a point to eat this dish whenever possible. And so there I was, literally running towards Amoy Food Centre during my lunch hour, to try and beat the lunch crowd.
I opted for the $4 version of beef slices and beef balls. Imagine my disappointment when I saw the miserable amount of beef slices that came with it. 4 beef balls were given, but they were your average sized beef balls that you could buy from the supermarket. Taste wise, the beef balls tasted like the supermarket ones except that they were very much tastier. Texture wise was slightly rougher and more chewy. The beef slices were a little chewy as well, but lacked the strong beef taste that I like. The soup was noticeably bland, just like the beef slices. Maybe its just the Hainanese way of cooking, I'm not sure. If you like bland stuff, then maybe this is the one for you. As for me, I'll stick to the cheaper and better (in my opinion) Teochew Beef Kway Teow located on the same level.
Rating given:
Had breakfast with my parents at Toa Payoh on a late Sunday morning. Read somewhere that Fong Kee's Duck Rice at Lorong 1 was pretty good so decided to give it a try. Fong Kee is situated in a small coffeeshop just right under a block of flats and across from the spanking new market and food centre. We ordered the Roast Duck, Roasted Pork and Shui Jiao(Dumpling) Soup for 3 pax.
The Roast Duck had a slightly crispy skin which is quite rare in most places that I've tried (with the exception of restaurants). The gravy was plentiful and Seaseme Seeds were sprinkled all over. Honestly, the gravy didn't add much flavour to the duck. I found the duck slightly above average in terms of taste, but a minus point would be the minimal meat. I like my ducks to be meaty with a crispy skin and not just a crispy skin with not much meat.
The Roasted Pork was a little too salty and pretty fat, which was quite a turn off. The Shui Jiao Soup was average and the Shui Jiao itself tasted slightly above average with its nice filling of diced shrimps, prawns and other stuff.
The meal for 3 cost $13.90. Not exactly cheap for Duck Rice, especially for one which fails to wow and with average sized portions. But it certainly is above average and should you be around, you are most welcome to try it out. Look out for some other stalls which serve excellent food in this old neighbourhood.
Rating given:
Passed by 933 Roast Duck and saw many photographs of celebrities gracing the walls of this small eating house with tables spilling all over the sidewalks and decided to try it out since my gf and I were both hungry. We ordered 2 plates of Roasted Duck Rice and a bowl of Bak Kut Teh to share.
For a stall that has received many good reviews and is purportedly one of the best roasted duck rice stalls in Singapore, it certainly didn't meet my gf's or my expectations. The duck was merely average. No crispy skin, no flavourful meat. Just plain old simple duck meat and it came with a lot of bones to boot, even though I had ordered duck breast meat. The secret to the duck rice lies in the chilli I believe. Concentrated and packing a punch, it is good enough for my gf to like it. The Bak Kut in the Bak Kut Teh was a little too soft in my opinion, probably a result of cooking too long. However, I found the soup very much to my liking. It was clear with lots of pepper in it (Teochew style). Flavourful yet peppery! But I would have liked some more pepper though.
Total for the meal was $13.40, which included 2 glasses of barley. Relatively reasonable if you ask me.
Rating given:
After reading lots of great reviews on Komachi over at hardwarezone forums (yeah, salon reviews on an IT forum), I decided to give it a try. Guess I was in a crazy mood, as I usually don't get expensive haircuts. I also wanted to see what magic they could do to my hair for the high price they charge. Usually it's $65, but for first timers, there is a 20% discount which means I have to pay only $52. Still expensive!
My stylist was Mr. Maeda San. The service standard is excellent. The long hair wash and head massage was exactly what I needed to relax my mind. The shampoo used was some kind of milk shampoo, which smells absolutely heavenly! I was tempted to buy a bottle home. Fortunately, they are not pushy with their products, unlike many other salons.
As for the haircut, given my short hair length, it's needless to say that there is nothing magical he could do about it. It turns out to be rather normal, what I could get with my usual $18 haircut.
Conversing with the stylists can be tricky, as all of them are Japanese. Most of the time, I have difficulty making out anything other than "ne".
They are currently in the process of moving from Liat Towers to Liang Court. So this entry might need updating when they eventually move over, which I believe will be in June.
Rating given:
Following my virgin taste testing session that took place at Persimmon, HFB was honoured to be invited to another launch at TETSU ("哲"), which has just opened its doors at Tanglin Mall.
Japanese cuisine aficionados will rejoice a first of its kind authentic Kushi-style Tempura along with Tonkatsu menu, prepared “LIVE” before their eyes. Seated at specially designed counter bars that are in close proximity to the chef who deftly prepares their Tempura and Tonkatsu, diners get to enjoy a visual feast right before their eyes.
Diners can have a choice from a wide array of freshest seafood, meats and vegetables prepared either Kushi-age style (Skewered with Breaded Batter) or Kushi-tem style (Skewered with Tempura Batter).
In order to recreate the most authentic Japanese dining experience, TETSU has partnered up with one of the most established restaurant groups in Japan with 48 restaurants and employing over 1400 people.
The Hana Group, renowned for their authentic Japanese cuisine and has been advising TETSU in all aspects of their restaurant.
The night was kick-started with an appetiser off the menu, the Cold Tofu with Century Egg and Ebi Roe. It was surprisingly a good dish to start off with as the combination of the heavy century egg and soft tofu attempts to tickle your palate along with the salty exploding sensation of the ebi roe when one bites into it.
The Edamame ($4.00) like others are nothing to shout about, but something that stood out was the aestheticism of the dish, which is visually evident in all the subsequent dishes – it is only then that I found out that TETSU prides itself on offering the most authentic Japanese dining experience, taking it down even to the smallest of details.
The layout of the Kaiseki sets and even the art of serving up these gourmet sets are specially formulated in Japan, to ensure that diners can get the full “LIVE” experience, at the best value. In addition, much of the restaurant’s tableware are all specially flown in from Japan.
Moreover, the good thing about the Kushi-age Soft Shell Crab ($3.00 per serving) is that it does not come oil soaked, although I would prefer it to be slightly meatier.
One might also be intrigued to know that in TETSU, one also get a choice of three dips for their deep-fried food – Tonkutsu sauce, Japanese Mayo and Curry Salt.
Onsentamago To Tofu Salad, or Half-boiled (Hot Spring-styled) Egg & Tofu Salad ($13.50) is another dish that is dedicatedly prepared by the chef – using their bare hands to measure the temperature of the water cooking the eggs, and the eggs only taken out of the cooking water when the water is too hot for their hands to handle.
The only non-authentic dish that we tried that night was probably their Salmon Carpaccio with French Dressing ($18.00). Although the salmon was very fresh and comes with a very nice bite, I feel that the dressing was slightly too sour for me – let’s just say that I prefer sashimi the way it is.
Highly recommended was their Rosu Katsu (A set served with Salad, Pickles, Rice, Miso Soup and Dessert cost $24.50). Similar to Tonkichi, one is also given a bowl of Roasted Sesame Seeds to grind and add to the Tonkutsu sauce.
The sampling of their second deep-fried dish convinced me that their cooking and preparation technique is indeed accomplished. Although I pride Tampopo’s Black Pork Katsu to be the best in taste of texture due to its marbling fats, TETSU’s version comes a close second - one do not really sample the oily aftertaste in the batter.
It was then I was told that TETSU’s chefs have undergone intensive training in the chain’s headquarters in Japan. The attention paid to the preparation of Tempura and Tonkatsu is meticulous – TETSU chefs strictly ensure that all preparation techniques, from marination, to the type of batter and oil, to the time of frying, adhere to their timeless traditional Japanese recipes.
The Roll Sushi ($18.00 for 6 pieces) was another item that was painstaking prepared in many process. One would probably mistook it for a salmon roll sushi if one weren’t told that the filling also consists of scallop and tuna, as the saltiness of the cooked salmon seeks to over-whelmed it. However having said that, it was still a pretty enjoyable sushi roll due to the crunchy batter and the aromatic Sesame Seeds and pairing of Ebi Roe.
The Kushi-style cuisine is very popular in Japan because the skewer-style makes it easy for customers eat and enjoy their sake, shoju or wine at the same time.
However to be honest, by the time the Kaiseki Set Course B ($45.00) consisting of 4 Assorted Appetisers, Stick Vegetables, Kani-Suki (Paper Pot Crab Sukiyaki), Kushi-age or Kushi-Tem, Udon and Dessert arrived, I was pretty much filled up and my palate started to fail me. So I shall let the pictures speak for themselves.
However, one thing I remembered clearly was the very unique Japan-imported Udon that gives one a very chewy bite – one has to try it to truly understand what I mean.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Pris and TETSU for their generous hospitality.
You can view more photos and other reviews @ His Food Blog.
Rating given: