Saturday, April 26, 2014

The Fishball Story at Golden Mile Food Centre

Gotten news about this fish balls noodle from the Makansutra and decided to visit it when i happened to be there on a Saturday. It was slightly after 2 pm when i was there. I did not expect much as i was told it might have already sold out by but it was still opened then. I joined in the queue quickly and there was another 2 customers right in front of me. I waited for less than 5 minutes to be served by Douglas Ng. The first impression has been  a good one. He was smiling, cheerful and friendly as well. 

Though he is only 23 years old but he is the anchor of this fish ball noodle stall. He used to run a Cze Cha business before started this stall with his 26 years old Sister that holds a degree in hospitality. With preserving the hawker culture in mind, they decided to take up the challenge in starting this stall in mid April 2014.


Douglas made the effort to come at 4 am to handmade 700 pieces of fish balls and fish cakes from yellow tail fish everyday. He insisted in using pure fish with no flour added to give the desired texture. He passionately blended the fish paste and hand pressed them into fish balls and fish cakes then he fried the pork lards and made the sambal chilli using a recipe that handed down by his Hakka Grandmother.

Such an amazing effort is definitely worthy of support. 


I waited while he cooked my bowl of noodle. He served it with a smile when done. He asked me to wait for a bit while he sprinkled the chopped spring onion and fried shallots on the noodle. He said it enhanced the taste and it tasted better. Then he asked whether i want vegetable to go with it.

The customer right in front of me ordered fish balls soup to be taken away. When he packed, he told the lady that it comes with 6 pieces of fish balls but he added in an extra piece of a broken one.


For $3, i get 3 pieces of fish balls and a few slices of fish cakes with a good portion of mee pok. I tossed the mee pok lightly to mix it well with the sambal chilli. 


I could clearly taste the dried shrimps in it when i had my first mouthful. The spiciness though distinctively but it was rather mild and it is not as oily as expected.

The fish balls and the fish cakes are the star of this bowl of noodle. The texture was nicely soft, i would say it is much softer than those out there. The chopped spring onion and chilli are added into the fish cake to enhance its taste. 


The texture of mee pok was nicely cooked to achieve the delightful springiness and the desired texture. 

Overall, it was a satisfying bowl of above average fish balls noodle. I do hope such a standard is to be maintained and i hope the queue would not be too long when i visit again as i somewhat expected their delicious fish balls noodle to get popular.


FISHBALL STORY 鱼缘
505 Beach Road #01-85 Golden Mile Food Centre SINGAPORE 199583.
Operating hours: 10.30 am to 5 pm (daily)

Friday, April 25, 2014

Peach Fantasia at Azzura Gelato Bar
















AZZURA GELATO BAR
30 East Coast Road #01-01/02 Katong V SINGAPORE 428751.

Bei-Ing Yun Tuen (Wanton) Noodle at Roxy Square

I spotted this noodle stall when ordering the Katong Laksa right beside. The smallest portion is at $3.00 then followed by $3.50, $4.00 and $5.00. I was asked to come by in a bit to collect it. I was their only customer then so i gotten it pretty quickly. 


It came with 2 pieces of fried wantons and another 2 pieces of soup wantons together with quite a few pieces of thinly sliced Char Siew. I tossed the noodle lightly in the pool of dark sauce then had my first mouthful. The noodle was nicely cooked though lacking in eggy taste. I requested to have chilli added but i could not quite taste any spiciness in it. The texture of char siew was slightly dry and not too flavorful.

The soup that served along with the noodle was rather bland with just a rather light peppery taste.




This is not amongst the best wanton noodle that i eaten so not quite likely to come back. 


BEI-ING YUN TUEN NOODLE
50 East Coast Road #01-64 Roxy Square SINGAPORE 428769.

Janggut Laksa - the Original Katong Laksa.

I came purposely to have this supposedly famous Katong Laksa. Though they might not be the most popular amongst other choices for Katong Laksa but they claimed to be the original Katong Laksa that founded more than 50 years ago. This stall is located in a food court at a not so prominent corner of Roxy Square. You might want to take note that there is another food court located at the basement so as not to mix them up. 

I was there during lunch though the food court was rather packed but i was the only customer right at this stall. There is the $4, $5 and $6 portion for selection. I decided to go with the $5 portion with cockles added. I was asked to take a seat as it shall be served to the table.


It was served rather quickly by the Uncle to the table. First impression was the portion did not quite justify the amount of $5 paid. It was rather little served with 3 pieces of halved prawns with bits of fish cake and beansprouts. I took notice that the spoon used has got bits of dark stains and it did turn me off quite a bit.


Generally, the taste was rather good with a distinctive taste of coconut milk. The chilli tasted slightly sweet and rather mild in level of spiciness. The ingredients including the cockles somewhat tasted fresh.


Overall, it was a nice bowl of Laksa though not particularly impressive.


JANGGUT LAKSA - THE ORIGINAL KATONG LAKSA
50 East Coast Road #01-64 Roxy Square SINGAPORE 428769.

Happy Chef Western Foods at Crawford Lane



HAPPY CHEF WESTERN FOODS
466 Crawford Lane #01-12 Tai Hwa Eating House SINGAPORE 190466.

Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle at Crawford Lane





HILL STREET TAI HWA PORK NOODLE
466 Crawford Lane #01-12 Tai Hwa Eating House SINGAPORE 190466.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Pork Bun at Seng Huat Coffee House (Hougang Central)

It was not a particular pleasant lunch right there though it has started good initially. I was told by a PRC sounding lady rather rudely that no photography is allowed though there is no signage to indicate so. She even attempted to follow me around to make sure i do not do it. She kept insisting that i would have to ask the permission in order to take pictures there. And, i asked whether taking pictures is allowed in this instance. She refused to reply me but instead she asked me where am i from and what do i want. When i told her that i keep a blog and the pictures are to be posted there. She replied with a rather cynical smile that photography is not allowed for that purpose. 


I still went ahead to place my order despite the unhappy encounter. I went to the drink counter and ordered a cup of coffee, a Pork Bun ($3.50) as well as the Hong Kong Fried Noodle ($3.50) for a total of $8.10. I was given a pager and asked to come back to collect the foods when it buzzed. 


I waited for about 10 minutes before it buzzed. The presentation of the Hong Kong Fried Noodle was not as appealing as it shown on the poster. The maggie noodle was simply fried with bits of ham and egg. The texture of the chicken chop was a tad dry with no distinctive taste. It was served with cheese sauce, chilli sauce and mayonnaise by the side.


The Pork Bun was an interesting find. Pieces of black pepper tasting pork chops were sandwiched in between the pig-head shaped buns with a piece of cheese and mayonnaise. I requested to leave out the chilli sauce.




Pieces of odd shaped pork chops were unevenly seasoned with black pepper and grilled it. The texture was a rather too thin tad a little dry.


The overall taste was acceptable though but i am not quite likely to travel all the way there just to eat it again. That behavior of that particular lady contributed largely to such decision.



SENG HUAT COFFEE HOUSE
Block 811 Hougang Central #01-206 SINGAPORE 530811.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014