Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Tai Hwa Pork Noodle at Sembawang Hill Food Centre

The former worker of the famous Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle has opened his stall at Sembawang Hill Food Centre with the blessing of his previous boss, Mr Tang Chay Seng. It is operated by an elderly couple. The auntie mentioned that Mr Tang is an old friend and he was at the stall on their opening day.

The noodle is available at $4, $5 and $6, much cheaper as compared to Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle and a shorter queue. A standard bowl of noodle consists of sliced pork and liver with wantons and meatballs as well as a handful of minced meat.


I ordered mee kia for the Soup and the Dry version.



The soup version was quite disappointing, the soup tasted rather bland though the ingredients were quite fresh.


I requested to have extra chilli added to the dry version and it tasted quite familiar but not quite yet. The taste of vinegar was a bit overpowering to my liking.

However, this could be a good choice if you do not want to travel to town and not wanting to queue.






TAI HWA PORK NOODLE
590 Upper Thomson Road Sembawang Hill Food Centre SINGAPORE 574419

Monday, March 16, 2015

I Will Miss Grandma

My dearest Grandma has passed away peacefully on 16 March 2015 (Monday) at 10.30 pm, Khoo Teck Puat Hospitial.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Murphy's : A bit of English in Ang Mo Kio

Murphy's is an award-winning Cafe established since 1967 in Hitchin, United Kingdom and it has set foot in Singapore serving its signature Fish & Chip and more. Its first outlet opened on 14 February 2015 in the heartland of Ang Mo Kio, just a stone's throw from where i stay. 

I was there in the evening, when i stood outside looking at their menu board and deciding whether i should give it a try as most of the items are quite pricey for a neighborhood cafe, at this moment, a serving staff came out with the menu. I was impressed with his attentiveness and decided to have dinner there. 


I was expected to order and then pay at the counter. I guess the main reason behind it is they do not charge GST and Service Charge. I decided to go with their signature Fish & Chip at $16 and Beef Burger at $15. Iced water is available at the self-service counter at no charge.


The 2 different types of vinegar, the original flavor and the onion flavor are available at every table to go with Fish & Chip, a typical English way in enjoying their traditional dish. 


The Beef Burger came first, it consists of a rather thick patty with a slice of bacon and a slice of cheese together with a fried egg that served along with lettuce and a slice of tomato. It came with a good portion of thick chunky fries too.


The buns were slightly toasted to give it a nice crisp. I was not quite impressed after my first bite. The patty though juicy but not much seasoning. And, it might be better if they  have melted that piece of cheese. Overall, it was quite an average burger that did not worth the $15. I did not particularly enjoyed the fries as well. 




The Fish & Chip came right after. It consists of a piece of nicely deep-fried fish fillet with a substantial portion of chunky fries and a small handful of salad to go along. To start, drizzled the fried fish fillet with a few drops of vinegar then squeezed that slice of lemon wedge. After tasted the 2 different types of vinegar, i actually prefer the onion flavor a little more. Though special but the vinegar did not particularly enhance its taste. 






It was a pleasant experience though the amount paid did not quite justify the taste and portion served. It might be a challenge for such a cafe to survive in a heartland with this kind of price range. 


MURPHY'S
Block 532 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 #01-2495 SINGAPORE 560532
Operating Hours: 9 am to 10 pm

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Qing Tian Cold & Hot Desserts 青天冷热甜品

This particular dessert stall was in the news recently. It reported that the Prime Minister went to queue at this stall after had his fried chicken wings in the food centre. I gotten all curious about this stall but never get to taste it so far though i was in this food centre a few times. This stall starts at 4 pm to 11 pm and their off days are on every Monday and Tuesday.

There was already a queue of about 5 people when i came around 4 pm when this time. I joined in and waited for about 5 minutes to make an order of Chendol ($1.50) and Red Rubies ($1.80) desserts. The energetic Uncle kept moving his body, doing little dance steps while taking the orders and entertaining his customers.



The Chendol is cheap and tasted not too bad. It might not be the best tasting Chendol that i ever tried but it was quite a refreshing choice though it would definitely be better if more coconut milk and palm sugar added to enhance its taste.



 This is a better choice as compared to Chendol though slightly more expensive. There were a good amount of red rubies in it.


QING TIAN COLD & HOT DESSERTS 青天冷热甜品
Block 85 Redhill Lane #01-60 Redhill Food Centre SINGAPORE 150085
Operating Hours: 4 pm to 11 pm (Closed on Monday & Tuesday)

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Chao Zhou Fishball Noodle : The longest queue in the Food Centre

The long queue right in front of this supposedly famous fishball noodle stall caught my attention, it was the longest queue in this food centre at about 2 pm on a weekday. They were about to close and left with only kway teow or yellow noodle for the last few bowls of the day. I went with the kway teow. This bowl of kway teow came with a good amount of chilli and sweet sauce along with a bowl of soup that consists of 5 pieces of fishball for only $3. I was amazed by the good value and i have no doubt this is likely to be something that is only available in neighbourhood food centres.



When tossed it well, it was a bowl of well-mixed dry kway teow awaiting for my first mouthful. This was my first visit and i expected it to be of certain standard given the consistent long queue. It did not disappoint after i tasted it, though the amount of sauce might seemed overwhelmed but it was just right with a good balance of spiciness and sweetiness.


I am interested to try their mee pok or mee kia if i happen to be in this food centre again.



The kway teow was perfectly cooked to avoid the mushy texture.


Those handmade fishballs tasted rather fresh with an amazingly bounciness. I have no doubt that these fishballs must be the key reason to get their customers to keep going back.

This is a bowl of above average fishball noodle nonetheless.




CHAO ZHOU FISHBALL NOODLE
Block 22 Toa Payoh Lorong 7 #01-20 Kim Keat Palm Food Centre SINGAPORE 310051

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Pie Face : Pies that are worthy of your calories

Pie Face from Australia started its first outlet in Singapore on 9 November 2014 then followed by the other outlet at Bugis on 23 November 2014 and their third outlet at NEX on 14 February 2015. They serve a good varieties of different types of pies with funny little faces on them. If you are observant, you will see that different pie has a different expression to indicate different types of fillings. 

I was there on a quiet evening on a Sunday and was quite surprised to find that the cafe was unusually quiet on a buzzing Sunday. There was only 2 tables occupied at that time. I was served rather quickly. The serving staff took notice of the Groupon Voucher that i was holding on without me making the effort to mention it. I asked for a recommendation and was told their best sellers are the Chunky Steak Pie at $5.20 and their Chicken Mushroom Pie at $4.90. I added another $2 to stack my Chunky Steak Pie with mash potato and pea with gravy added. 

That voucher allowed me to pick 2 choices of cold/hot drinks to go with the pies. I went with the cold Matcha Tea and hot Cappuccino. I was asked to take a seat and they shall serve it to my table. The service was noticeably attentive. 


Some of the interesting choices of their pies, the Thai Green Curry Chicken Pie sounds good enough to check it out. 


The drinks came first then followed by the pies rather quickly. 





The Matcha Tea was a good choice, it tasted rather refreshing with a distinctive matcha flavor, the sweetness was just right as well. The hot Cappuccino complemented the pies perfectly too. 




The Chunky Beef Pie filled with chunky pieces of braised beef mixed with slices of onion and garlic in tasty gravy. The size of pie was just average but the stack of mash and mushy pea made it a substantial portion that is good enough for a light lunch though still not too filling for a proper dinner. The mash was good but i did not like the pea as much. I guess i would rather have more mash and leave out the pea next time. The crust of the pie was light and flaky with a delightful buttery taste created by their French pastry chef using a special blend of butter to create 48 layers. A rather perfect combination. 





The Chicken Mushroom Pie consists of chunky pieces of chicken with slices of mushroom together with garlic in chicken stock and cream. It was nice but rather forgettable and not as good as the Chunky Beef Pie in comparison. 



I do hope they will be in Singapore for a long while as it is not easy to find such a good standard of pies here though their prices are a little too steep.


PIE FACE
249 Victoria Street Bugis Village SINGAPORE 188034
Operating Hours: 11 am to 11 pm

313 Orchard Road #B3-10 313@Somerset SINGAPORE 238895
Operating Hours: 10 am to 10 pm

23 Serangoon Central #B2-49A NEX SINGAPORE 556083
Operating Hours: 10 am to 10 pm