Seng Kee The Black Seed by Chef Benny : the modern Kopitiam

This recently opened coffee place is a brainchild of Chef Benny that founded Eighteen Chefs, it is located at Bugis Junction, right in front of the taxi stand along North Bridge Road. It is a modern kopitiam serving Eggs & Toasts, Chee Cheong Fun, Sandwiches and Curries in Bread Bowl together with drinks like Kopi and Teh in cold and hot versions, Grass Jelly Bandung and Milo T-Rex. The menu includes desserts like Sour Plum Sng Pao and Soursop Sng Pao that are quite interesting.

It was not as crowded as i expected to be when i was there slightly after 12 pm on a weekday. I was expected to order at the counter then paid and wait for my drink there then wait for my order no to be flashed on the LED panel to collect food at the other counter. 

As i just had lunch, i decided to have their 63 degrees eggs (2 for $2.50 and 1 for $1.50) and Iced Pandan Teh ($4.00).

The sous-vide eggs were slowly cooked at 63 degrees to give the yolk a runny texture, the temperature and timing are really mattered for a perfect soft-boiled egg that has such a desired degree of tenderness. 

Their Iced Pandan Teh at $4.00 is a bit steep for just a glass of normal tea that is infused with a rather slight pandan taste and served with crushed ice. Again, if it is going to be compared with some of those atas cafes out there, their menu prices are considered as quite affordable and in fact, it is slightly lower.

Their customer service was not as attentive, the service staff that took my order did not inform me that there is an ongoing opening promotion that offer set meals that are of better value. And, i do not quite remember seeing any indication about the opening promotion. 

If i do visit again, i would probably like to try their Curry Chicken with Chee Cheong Fun or in a Bread Bowl and also Singaporean-inspired Ciabatta and Focaccia sandwiches if i do visit again. 

SENG KEE The Black Seed by Chef Benny

200 Victoria Street #01-71/72 Bugis Junction SINGAPORE 188021

Operating Hours: 7.30 am to 10.30 pm (Daily)

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

Stateland Cafe - Red Velvet Waffle & Hazenut Honey Toast

It was just a lazy afternoon with their signature Red Velvet Wafflen ($14.90), Hazenut Honey Toast ($14.90) and Latte ($4.70).

STATELAND CAFE

30 Bali Lane SINGAPORE 189866

My Encounter with THE FAT ELVIS, the Burger.

I was there before attending a movie event nearby on a Wednesday evening. Though my favourite Chicken Rice is located in the same coffee shop but my purpose is for that humble looking stall that supposedly served one of the yummiest burgers in town. I was there for a few times but no luck since their relocation in August 2013 from Bestway Building near Shenton Way to this coffee shop at Waterloo Street.

It must be my lucky day on that day. I could not quite describe the overwhelming excitement then. It was the first time when i chanced upon them when the shutter of the stall is not down. No one was there at that moment. I spent a bit of time to study their menu board and decided what to eat. I waited for a few moments then i spotted a tall chap waving his hand while walking towards us.

That tall chap is the owner cum chef of this stall named Keith. He greeted us then to take down our orders. We decided to go with THE FAT ELVIS ($11) and BACON CHEESE BURGER ($9.50). We decided to upgrade the fries for one of the sets to Truffle Fries for a difference of $2 paid. We were informed that only 2 slices of pork bacon were left for the day. He offered to use the Turkey Bacon for one of the burgers and took out $1 from the price. We were asked for the expected done-ness for the patties of both burgers. We decided to have it at medium and medium-well respectively.

That man was working all alone. I offered to make the payment first but was told to do it later. I was not quite sure whether self-service is expected so we decided to sit at the table right in front of the stall.

The waiting time was about 15 minutes or so. He approached our table with THE FAT ELVIS ($11) first. It is a tall burger nicely stacked with all the ingredients in between the buns held together by a satay stick. I was a little skeptical at first when i read the description of the burger stated on the menu.

This is their best selling burger and listed as one of the 5 fave artisanal burgers by Makansutra. It is actually a beef burger loaded with Peanut Butter, Crispy Bacon and the least expected Tempura Banana.

I honestly do not know what to expect from the combination of Peanut Butter with Tempura Banana. The taste of both is actually 2 extremes. I was skeptical. I quickly picked up my camera and shooting it. When seeing me doing so, Keith approached our table with a spray bottle consisting the truffle oil to spray a few times on the fries as he said the taste might not be too intense if the fries were left for a little too long. Such effort is commendable. I could feel his passion in presenting the best possible taste to his customers.

I continued to shoot another few pictures before deciding to take a bite of the fries. I could distinctly taste the flavor derived from the truffle oil. It still tasted good even after it turned soggy. The portion of the fries served was definitely generous.

I was eager to have my first mouthful with great anticipation. I decided to have it cut into halves to share it with my dinner partner. I tasted the peanut butter coated crispy bacon first. I totally never quite expect the sweet taste of the creamy peanut butter to complement the crispiness and the taste of bacon so completely. The harmonious combination further amazed me when i took a bite of it with slices of tempura banana. It just went well. The sweetness of the banana blended in perfectly. The patty was done nicely at medium as requested. It was still beautifully pink right within. It was grilled delightfully to give it the desired flavor and the texture. The freshly baked brioche buns tasted impressively soft with an amazing fluffiness.

The overall taste was quite uniquely unforgettable.

The BACON CHEESE BURGER is actually the upgraded version from their basic burger. The nicely grilled 120 grams all beef patty though requested to be done at Medium-well but it still has a pretty pinkishness in it. It was not overly done but still retained the expected tenderness and juiciness. A piece of melted cheese was laid on it before topped with strips of crispy bacon in between the freshly baked brioche buns.

The overall taste made this a worthy burger under $10. It definitely tasted good though not quite outstanding.

While eating, Keith came over to chat. He happened to visit Hong Kong in last December too so we started sharing our food experiences and some of those eateries worth visiting there.

I attempted to compare his burgers to another burger outlet located in a coffee shop at Bukit Merah. And, we actually enjoyed his burgers much more at a lower price range.

We were told to come back to try the BBQ PORK next round as it is one of the creations nicely crafted to give it the perfect taste. And, the next burger that i want to try is THE MUSHROOM burger.

We requested Keith to post for a picture and he spontaneously obliged. So, here is the handsome and passionate Owner cum Chef of meat packing district that served one of the better burgers in town.

UPDATE: It's rather sad to know that decision has been made to close Meat Packing District as announced by Keith on their facebook on 27 January 2014. 

MEAT PACKING DISTRICT

Block 261 Waterloo Steet Food Summons Coffee Shop SINGAPORE 180261.

Ampang QQ Fishball Noodle

I just happened to be there for lunch and came across this interesting stall offers Ampang style Fishball Noodle. 

It was slightly after 2 pm so no queue is spotted. I went ahead to order a small portion of noodle at $3. A bigger portion is available at $5. 

It served with a substantial portion of noodle together with a piece of fried wanton and a fish dumpling and it accompanied with a bowl of soup with 3 handmade fishballs in it. 

The noodle somewhat reminded me of Kolo Mee. The texture was extremely springy with a delightful chewiness. The owner has specially custom made the noodle from a factory at Johor Bahru. It is made from purely egg and supposedly to be tasty enough to eat it by itself.

 The sauce mix for the fishball noodle was rather unique too. It tasted quite different from others. It has got a well-balanced taste of soya sauce and a distinctive level of spiciness. 

The fishballs have got a noticeable bounciness and springy texture. These fishballs are handmade daily from Wolf Herring or commonly known as Sai Toh Fish and also Yellowtail Snapper. The fish paste was obtained from scraping and mincing the flesh and shaping them into those old school tasting fishballs using the recipe that passed down from the Grandfather of the owner.

UPDATED [10 January 2014] : This stall is probably has already closed down. 

AMPANG QQ FISHBALL NOODLE

269 Queen Street #01-05 Q.S. 269 Food House SINGAPORE 180269.