Ah Seng Duck Rice : Kway Chap available at Serangoon Central stall only

Mr Ng Kim Seng, the founder, came up with a recipe on Teochew braised duck in 1965. He started the stall at Lim Tua Tow Market along Upper Serangoon Road. His children, Wendy Ng and Ng Teck Siah, helped out after their school, from taking orders, serving and learning the recipe. He moved the stall to Serangoon Garden Food Centre after the demolition of Lim Tua Tow Market. Wendy went to work as a Secretary and Teck Siah started a Satay stall but he decided to return when Mr Ng suffered a mild stroke. During the renovation of Serangoon Garden Food Centre, he moved the stall temporarily to a coffee shop in Serangoon Central in 2002. Wendy decided to take over this stall when it was time to move the main stall back to Serangoon Garden Food Centre.

There was no queue when I was there on a weekday but when I approached the stall, Wendy was there. She said, "15 minutes. Can you wait or not?" I ordered a set of Kway Chap and added a duck drumstick for $10.50. I waited. When a few minutes before the 15 minutes were up, I saw Wendy waving at me from a distance. I walked over to collect it.

The Kway Chap set came with nicely braised big intestine, braised egg, fish cake, braised tau pok and the braised duck that I added. The flat rice sheets were thin and smooth served with braising sauce then enhanced with fried shallots and coriander. The chilli is different, its level of spiciness is manageable with a hint of tanginess and enhanced by the garlic paste added to it. 

The other Ah Seng Duck Rice at Serangoon Garden Food Centre does not serve Kway Chap. 

AH SENG DUCK RICE

Block 204 Serangoon Central #01-104 SINGAPORE 550204

Operating Hours: 11.00 am to 8.00 pm (Closed on Sundays)

28 Noodles : enjoyable Bak Chor Mee

This is a popular stall in the same coffee shop with the other outlet of Ah Seng Duck Rice, within walking distance from Serangoon MRT. There was just another customer when I was there on a weekday for an early lunch.

I decided to go with the larger portion of the Minced Pork Noodle at $4.5, there is a smaller portion at $3.50. I opted to have kway teow with an extra amount of chilli. Thre are also choices of Fishball Minced Pork Noodle ($3.50/$4.50), Laska ($3.50/$4.50) and Liver Mee Sua ($4.50/$5.50). 

The portion of the nicely cooked kway teow was substantial serving along with ingredients like slices of fishcake, lean meat, and liver with fishballs, meatballs, fish dumpling, minced meat then topped with chopped spring onion. The level of spiciness was manageable even though I requested for an extra amount to be added. The bowl of soup that served along was lightly flavored. 

It is simple yet satisfying. It reminded me of the kway teow dry that I used to eat with my late Grandpa at a stall in Ang Mo Kio but that stall is no longer around. 

I will be back for their Laksa and Liver Mee Sua.

28 NOODLES

Block 204 Serangoon Central #01-104 SINGAPORE 550204

Operating Hours: 7.30 am to 4.00 pm (Closed on Wednesdays)

Tai Lei Loi Kei : The famous Pork Chop Bun from Macau is in Singapore

If you travel to Macau before then you have probably heard of or even eaten this famous Pork Chop Bun from Tai Lei Lok Kei. A long queue usually formed right at their shop before they start serving it at 3 pm, if you did not happen to be in the front of the queue then you might required to wait for the next batch which could means a relatively long wait in the crowded cafe. 

I had eaten it once and i remember it tasted good though not much impression. It is definitely a good news when they set foot in our sunny island. They started their shop at NEX in the early part of this year serving the signature Pork Chop Bun. As you have guessed it, this is a franchise shop but the chefs have been well-trained in Macau to bring over the authentic taste.

I was there on a Saturday during lunch though it seemed crowded but i managed to find a table rather quick. I was then expected to order at the counter and paid for it. A number tag was given and the order shall be served to the table. 

I decided to go with their Pork Chop Bun, i was given the choice to pair it with the different side orders. I decided to go with their curry fish balls, though their signature milk tea is recommended to go with the order but i wanted an upsized soft drink. The Pork Chop Bun itself is $6.90 but i added an extra of $4.00 to go with the curry fishballs and the drink. The curry fishballs is priced at $4.90 if order separately.

They served the drink first then followed by the curry fishballs and the pork chop bun much later.

I actually quite enjoyed the Pork Chop Bun. The chop chop was nicely seasoned to give it a slight peppery taste then well-fried to give it a desirable crispiness. The buns did not taste as hard as i expected, it tasted fresh and unexpectedly soft, a pleasant surprise.

The curry fishballs were decent with a mild spiciness, they might have reduced the level of spiciness for the locals.

I would likely come back for their Pork Chop Bun as i totally enjoyed it. The tastier Pork Chop Bun in Singapore so far and tasted rather close to what i had in Macau and even as good as those i have eaten in Hong Kong.

TAI LEI LOK KEI 澳门大利来记猪扒包

23 Serangoon Central #B2-15 NEX Shopping Mall SINGAPORE 556083

Operating Hours: 10.30 am to 10.30 pm

Mee Pok Master

It gotten me all curious when i received an email from Mr Low Mark Jeremy, the Director of Eugene & Mark Pte Ltd that managed Lau Wang Claypot Delight urging me to give Meepok Master a try. I just happened to be there and i thought of it, decided to go by for lunch. It is located in a coffee shop just a block away from Lau Wang Claypot Delight, not too prominent though, you could easily missed it. 

They are serving a few different types of noodle on the menu, mainly Teochew Noodles ($3.50/$4.00), Miniced Pork Noodles ($3.00/$4.00), Fishball Noodles ($3.00/$4.00) and Laksa ($3.00/$4.00). As it has strongly emphazied by Mr Low in that email that they have been tasting and improving the taste as well as the quality of food and he is confident that i will not be disappointed by the taste of their meepok. This has gotten me to look forward.

I decided to go with their signature Teochew Noodles at $3.50 and a larger portion of Minced Pork Noodles at $4.00. 

As it has clearly stated as 'Self-Service', so i paid up and waited right there for the orders to be ready. As i am their only customer at that time, the wait was a short one. 

The $4 portion for Minced Pork Noodles came with a substantial portion of noodles with ingredients like braised mushroom, liver, minced pork, fishball, meatball and fried wanton skin. Apparently, the fried wanton skin tasted quite disappointing and it did not taste as crispy as it expected to be. It would be nicer if more fried lards are added to enhance its overall taste. 

Though i requested to have extra amount of chilli added but it has quite a minimum level of spiciness with a slightly taste of vinegar. The noodle was a bit too slow but it tasted alright when nicely tossed with the sauce. 

The portion was relatively smaller for Teochew Noodles at $3.50. It served with 2 pieces of prawns, slices of fishcake, minced meat, a fishball and meatball. 

It tasted slightly different from the Minced Meat Noodles, i guess the main difference is no vinegar is added to it thus it has a more distinctive of chilli and sauce. The texture of noodle was slightly too slow, but such preference could be quite subjective. 

The overall taste for both was quite acceptable though it is not amongst the bad that i have eaten so far. Well, just give it more time, i hope it will be better when i am here again. 

MEEPOK MASTER

262 Serangoon Central Drive SINGAPORE 550262

Lau Wang Claypot Delights : That Homely Taste.

We decided to come by here for a quick dinner before heading to NEX for movie. We were there at about 5.30 pm and the shop was rather empty then. I have tried the Sesame Oil Chicken and the Ginger & Spring Onion Liver and Kidney before and enjoyed it then. I ordered exactly the same items with 2 bowls of rice. 

The Auntie spotted me with the menu and she came by quickly to take the orders. It was served by the same Auntie in about 10 minutes. The portion was pretty generous for $4.50. It was served with a handful of chicken pieces in a good amount of braised sauce. 

The Sesame Oil Chicken tasted much better than our first visit. It has got a good balance of sesame oil and ginger taste and it tasted good when eaten with the plain rice.

I requested for chilli to be added with the Ginger & Spring Onion Liver and Kidney for $4.50. Apparently, it did not taste as nice as the first visit. The kidney has got a strange taste probably due to not cleaning it thoroughly and properly. Those slices of liver were cooked just right to give it the desired texture.

LAU WANG CLAYPOT DELIGHTS

263 Serangoon Central Drive #01-43 SINGAPORE 550263.

Valentine's at SHAW THEATRES premiere

An entirely different experience celebrating Valentine's at the newly opened SHAW THEATRES premiere at nex, the new shopping centre at Serangoon Central. SHAW THEATRES premiere is the first theatre in Singapore with premium services to feature 3D digital technology. 

As a winner of an online contest organized by SHAW THEATRES, i won a Le Premiere Valentine package for 2 pax. Our comfort level is upgraded as we watched our favourite movie with enhanced technology and the fantastic dinning service, the highlight of this new silver screen experience. This was definitely an unforgetable exclusive movie experience with premium service.

You can choose to have a cocktail or a mocktail, experiencing their full bar services at their exclusive lounge while waiting to watch your movie. 

We were nicely surprised by their exclusive menu of the 3 courses dinner. We had Half Shell Scallop Ceviche as our appetiser. 

Our choice of cocktail and mocktail.

One of the main courses was Truffle Linguine Napoletana.

Another one was Oven Baked Rosemary Crusted Chicken.

After the appetiser and main courses, we were then ushered into the theatre to watch a chinese movie by the title of 'What Women Want' featured Andy Lau and Gong Li.

Our desserts, Mango Tango and Chocolate Tiramisu were served with another round of cocktail and mocktail to us, in the theatre.

Thank you, SHAW. Thank you for an exclusive movie and dinning experience.

Shaw Theatres nex

23 Serangoon Central #04-64 Nex Singapore 556083