Foodie Paradise

Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee
Old Airport Road Food Centre, #01-115J
12pm to about 7pm 

Ratings: 6.75/10 

Unexpectedly, HC suddenly offered to drive us out to Old Airport Road Food Centre for lunch one day.

Despite the imminent stink on our work attire resulting from the myriad of aromatic food scents, smoke from cooking, and sweat due to the hot weather that day, having lunch at Old Airport Road Food Centre, which was one of the famous local hawker centres known for its delicious food, was an irresistible option that none of us can reject.   It was a welcome break from the almost-daily mundane lunch at the food court!

Of course, at Old Airport Road Food Centre, how can I not have Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee, especially since Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee is one of Makansutra Hawker Legends! 

Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee - $3 a plate

Hokkien Mee is yellow noodles and rice flour noodles fried with seafood stock and topped with prawns, pork strips, and squid rings.  There are two versions of Hokkien Mee in Singapore: dry and wet.  Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee will fall into the dry Hokkien Mee category since there isn’t much gravy in the noodles, as you can see from the photo. 

I can never understand why Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee tastes so good.  If you ask me to imagine how a smashing plate of Hokkien Fried Mee will taste like, I’ll probably describe a hot and aromatic plate of Hokkien noodles.  The entire plate of noodles will be very well fried, with each strand of noodles emitting the characteristic wok hei taste (meaning taste of the wok) that is the defining characteristic of a good plate of fried noodles. 

On the contrary, the plate of Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee that I had was not hot.  Besides that, not every strand of noodles was equally fried and there were a few strands of slightly uncooked noodles.  Whatever that I have just described might make you start wondering why I am saying that Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee is delicious in the first place.  Yet, this is the exact reason why I can never understand why Nam Sing Hokkien Fried Mee tastes so good. 

The first mouthful of noodles may just taste slightly above average from the usual Hokkien mee that you can get elsewhere.  However, Nam Sing Hokkien Mee is one "Mee" that grows on you.  Each mouthful of noodles taste very pleasant and without you realising, the entire plate of noodles is finished.   I attribute the pleasant taste of the noodles to the delicious seafood stock absorbed by the noodles during the cooking process.  Overall, the noodles are very well fried.  As for the few strands of slightly uncooked noodles that "stood out from the crowd", they actually added a crunchy yet soft texture to the plate of silky noodles, making the plate of Hokkien noodles really interesting to eat.

One plate of Hokkien Fried Mee costs about $3.  That’s a really good price to pay for a plate of fingerlicking good Hokkien Fried Mee.

I had a good lunch that day.  Hot weather?  Stinky food scents that had attached itself onto my clothes?  Who cares about them?  It’s the great lunch that matters ultimately. 

Sushi Tei
Outlets

Ratings: 5.75/10 

(edited: Actually, the ratings for Sushi Tei is in between 5.5 or 6, but I never gave any in-between ratings before.  Thus, setting a precedent, I shall have my first in-between rating of 5.75 in order for me to do some justifications to the ratings I have given Sushi Tei.)

Sushi chains have colonised the shopping centres of Singapore.  Some of the popular sushi chains have lost the X factor that have made them popular in the first place, while some of these sushi chains are gaining great momentum as they continue their never-ending expansion plan.

Out of these sushi chains, my favourites are Sushi Tei and Ichiban Boshi.  For this entry, I was having my meal at the Sushi Tei in Raffles City. 

If you are looking for high quality and absolute freshness in your sushi, these sushi chains are definitely not the place to go.  However, if you are looking for relatively cheap and decent Japanese food to satisfy your craving for sushi, Sushi Tei and Ichiban Boshi (mainly the outlets in town), are the best places to go.

I love Sushi Tei for the classy design of its outlets.  For the outlet at Raffles City, there were string-liked curtains separting each table, giving each table some privacy.  Yet at the same time, you can see the chefs busy in the kitchen preparing your sushi.  The dim lighting at the restaurant also added some nice dining atmosphere to the place. 

I took the photos some weeks back, hence I can’t remember what I had wanted to blog about.  However, I shall let these photos speak for themselves, while I give some short commentaries along the way! 

Hanasaki Ika Cuttlefish and Smelt Roe - Somehow I wasn’t expecting it to be raw when I order it, but it tasted fresh.  I quite like this dish.

 
Udon - the udon had a very nice bouncy texture to it.  One of the best udons I tasted among the sushi chains in Singapore

Raw Fish - I am a raw fish fan ever since I had my first piece of raw fish some time back.  There’s tuna, yellow tail and salmon here.  My favourite is the yellow tail.  The raw fish at Sushi Tei was decent, not exactly top-notch in terms of freshness, but was reasonable. 

Special Unagi Roll - Unagi, my favourite Jap food.  I can’t get enough of them.  I kept grumbling to my friends that I have unagi craving all the time.  The unagi at Sushi Tei tasted great, smooth and seemingly melted in my mouth.  Yummy!

Dragon Roll - Nice but not exceptional.  One complaint that I had about the sushi at Sushi Tei was the rice.  The rice was not bind sufficient tightly to give that extra X factor to the sushi.  However, the presentation of sushi was very exquisite, giving an additional unique touch to the dining experience at Sushi Tei.

 Chicken Katsu Don - The chicken katsu don tasted really bad.  The chicken was tough, the rice seem soggy.  One of the worst chicken katsu don that I have tried.

 
Sesame Ice Cream - Excellent!  A nice dessert to round off a hefty meal.

The Cheesecake Cafe
Frankel Estate
685 East Coast Road, S(459054)
Tel: 64487725

Operating hours:  Sun/Wed/Thu: 3.30pm-12am, Fri/PH: 4.30pm-1230am,Sat: 3.30pm - 1230am

Ratings: 6.0/10 

New York Cheesecake or was it American Cheescake?
Sorry, I’ve forgotten the name of the cheesecake 

 
Peach and Jelly Cheesecake 

The Cheesecake Cafe was recommended to me by Bal.  When I first heard the name "The Cheesecake Cafe", the first image that comes to my mind was a very happy image: a bright and cheery cafe selling lots of delicious-looking cheesecake.  

I was so wrong.

The only thing that I was right about was the delicious-looking cheesecakes that you can see the moment you stepped into The Cheesecake Cafe, but it was definitely not a bright and cheery cafe.

The Cheesecake Cafe is a cool chill-out spot in the Siglap area.  With comfortable sofa seats, dim lightings with candles dotted around the cafe, chill out music in the background, and a lovely angel fountain, The Cheesecake Cafe has the perfect laid-back ambience where you can sip some wine and enjoy some cheesecake with a group of your friends as you chat the night away.

With such an ambience, you might be thinking along the line of a hotel lounge or a cool spot in town.  But no, located in the Siglap neighbourhood, you’re warmly welcomed even if you are clad in just your berms.  There’s absolutely no pretence at The Cheesecake Cafe.   

The moment you step into the cafe, the service staff will warmly welcome you.  They’ll also never hesitate in making their recommendations to you.  I can only nit-pick on the fact that they seem to clear the plates really quickly the moment you finish the food, which makes the service a tat intrusive to some, but I was okay with it. 

Too bad I didn’t take any photos of the drinks that I had when I was at the Cheesecake Cafe.  I love the drinks best at The Cheesecake Cafe.  I love the tinge of bitterness in the ice milo that I was having that night.  I also took a sip of the Cafe Latte.  It was great coffee and definitely not the sweet and mild Lattes I usually get at the coffee joints such as Starbucks and Coffeebean.

As for the cheesecakes, which is the focus of the cafe, I was actually slightly disappointed by them.  At $6.90, I thought the price for the cake was expensive, especially since the slices were small.  The peach with jelly cheesecake was delicate with a nice peachy flavour and a soft jelly layer in the middle of the cake.   Similarly, the New York Cheesecake was delicate and pleasant.  Maybe it was the delicate taste of the cake; somehow, the cakes just didn’t leave any impression in me or cause me to develop any cravings for it.  Maybe it’s because I prefer my cake to be more strongly-flavoured, so that there’ll be a oomph factor when I taste the cake.

However, I do like the variety of cakes that they offer at The Cheesecake Cafe.  They have plenty of unique flavours for the cheesecake (unique because I have never seen most of these flavours before).  Besides the all-time favourites such as the New York Cheesecake and Oreo Cheesecake, they also have Blueberry Cheesecake and Peanut Butter Cheesecake, which I’ll have loved to try if I have additional stomach space.   

I will definitely visit The Cheesecake Cafe again if I’m in the Siglap area because I love the ambience there so much.  However, should you want to grab some of those sofa seats in the cafe, I suppose you’ll have to make reservations in advance, because those seats are really popular.

An attempt to explain the rating system that I adopt:

The Rating System

< 4.5     - I’m sure there are better food in the vicinity

5.0        - Average

5.5        - Average, with some bonus points added to it

6.0        - Not bad

6.5        - Nod bad, with some really great hits, though a few misses

> 7.0     - Great food!  Die die must try!

The rating system will be permanently "parked" here should you need further reference.

New York New York
No 1 Raffles Link #B1-47A
Citylink Mall

Ratings: 5.5/10

With its brightly coloured and open concept theme, New York New York is definitely one attention-grabbing restaurant along the Citylink Mall.   Moreover, with the loud blasting of pop music, young serving crew, pool table in the middle of the restaurant, comfortable booth seats, and self-service cotton candy machine, it’s no wonder it’s a hit with the teenage crowd. 

Though I no longer belong to the teenage crowd (my younger cousin who was also there love the place lots), I like the loud presentation of the restaurant, which I felt was unique in our local restaurant scene. Compared to the other similar restaurants such as NYDC and Cafe Cartel, New York New York has definitely won the upper hand in terms of the hip quotient and the quality of food.

BBQ Ribs - $14.90

Chicken and Prawn Combo - $17.90

Bratwurst wrapped in Bacon and Cheese - $10.90 

Among the three main courses that I had tried that day, I love the BBQ Ribs the most.  The ribs were tender and nicely marinated with a lovely sweet taste.  I definitely prefer the ribs at New York New York to those from Cafe Cartel.  The Chicken and Prawn Combo tasted decent.  The bratwurst, on the other hand, tasted average.  I was slightly grumbling about the bratwurst when I had my first bite because I felt that it tasted much like the hot dogs that I can also get at supermarkets.  Luckily, the cheese-covered parts of the bratwurst redeemed the dish a little.  Well, it’s hard to grumble about a dish that had been sinfully covered with cheese. 

All three main courses came with nicely fried fries and wedges.  As I’m such a fries lover, that definitely gave the meal some bonus points.  Who can ever say "no" to lovely fries?!!?

Deep Fried Mars Bar - $7.90

Waffles with Chocolate and Ice Cream - $7.90

The most disappointing part of the meal was actually the desserts.  I was going to give New York New York a 6.0/10 rating because I had enjoyed its main course so much that day.  That was until the desserts were served, which instantaneously caused me to drop its rating.  The ice cream was okay, besides, who can ever go too wrong with ice cream?  However, both the waffles and deep fried mars bar were tough to bite.  It was a jaw exercise getting through the desserts.  That dampened any enjoyment we could have derived from the desserts.

Overall, for a decent meal in a loud and bright theme, New York New York is the place to go.  However, if you are craving for desserts, please move on to the TCC or Geláre nearby, which definitely serves much better desserts. 

Häagen-Dazs Café
Various locations around Singapore 

Ratings: 6.0/10

I was in the Siglap area over the weekend hoping to try the cheesecakes at The Cheesecake Cafe.  Unfortunately, the cafe was closed since 14 Feb til sometime this week.  In my search for a suitable location to satisfy my "slight" hunger pangs, I ended up in Häagen-Dazs Café having the chocolate fondue that I had been hoping to try for quite some time. 

The chocolate fondue at Häagen-Dazs Café comes with a wide selection of food for you to dip into the fondue, including green apples, banana, strawberries, ice-cream balls and biscuits.

The Belgium chocolate used in the fondue was thick and sinful!  And guess what’s the ultimate sin…

Coating the already-sinful ice-cream with thick Belgium chocolate!  

The ice-cream fondue tastes extremely delicious!  Imagine combining two favourite desserts! 

Although ice-cream balls being coated with Belgium chocolate tastes absolutely delicious and sinful, my favourite food to go with chocolate fondue is banana.  It doesn’t taste as sweet as coating strawberries or ice cream with chocolate, or having the slightly sour taste of the chocolate-coated green apples.  It has the just-right sweetness and texture for dessert.  Of course, that’s my personal preference.

However, I felt that the fondue, which cost about $34, is slightly on the steep side, despite the wide selection of food it comes with.  Furthermore, I felt a little overdose with sugar after the dessert feast.  

Nonetheless, it’s definitely a great occasional indulgence to pamper yourself in! 

Founder Rou Gu Cha
347 Balestier Road
Opening Hours: 12pm-2pm, 6pm-3am (closed on Tuesday)

Ratings:  5.5/10

About 2 weeks ago, I went hunting for bak kut teh with some of my friends along Balestier Road.  I was hoping to eat at the bak kut teh store that I only vaguely remembered as "the famous one that has air-conditioning".  Somehow, we missed the stall and ended up eating at 333 Bak Kut Teh along Balestier Road.  All five of us came to a unison conclusion - the bak ku teh only tasted average.  The guys were actually still hungry after their meal (or perhaps we were quite disappointed by the place) and we had to adjourn our dinner part two to another place.

(If I were to give 333 Bak Kut Teh a rating, it’ll probably get a 5.0/10)

Undeterred by my previous experience, I went hunting for bak ku teh along Balestier Road again, hoping to find my "famous stall with air-conditioning" this time round.  

This time round, I found the stall.  It was only approximately one block away from 333 Bak Kut Teh. 

The shop opened at 6pm.  I reached the shop around 6.05pm.  The shop was already crowded with diners and plenty of customers were still streaming into the shop.  Just like many of the “notoriously” famous eateries in Singapore, photos of celebrities who had patronised the shop previously adorned the walls of the shop.

In comparison with my "333 Bak Kut Teh" experience, the food at Founder Rou Gu Cha was only slightly better.  Overall, the food tasted average with a few redeeming points that saved it from a 5.0/10 rating.

Liver Soup

Pork Rib (Bak Kut) soup

My main grouse about the Bak Kut Teh is the lack of peppery taste in the soup.  The soup just lacked that aromatic touch to it.  The soup was also a little salty and there was no garlic served together with the soup (hehe…a personal preference).  I prefer the liver soup to the Bak Kut soup.  The liver is savoury.  The bak kut (pork rib) tasted reasonably tender but nothing spectacular.  The only thing that I like most about the soups was that the soups wasn’t oily.

What’s Bak Kut Teh without you tiao (fried dough fritters)?

Preserved Vegetables - another must-have dish when I am savouring my bak kut teh!

You tiao and preserved vegetables are two must-call dishes for me when I eat bak kut teh.  Sadly, they only tasted average at Founder Rou Gu Cha.  (LOL, I’m biased.  If the stall serves great you tiao and preserved vegetables, I am prepared to "close one eye" and give it a higher rating even though the rest of the food just tastes mediocre.  Oh yes, the soup has to be peppery with garlic in them for me to savour.  )

Another redeeming factor of the shop was the lovely pig trotters that it served.   It was just rightly braised.  The pig skin was smooth and the meat was tender.  It was not oily, so you don’t end up getting that disgusted feeling after eating that big pig trotter. 

Twice in a row I have tasted just mediocre bak kut teh.  I need to eat at better bak kut teh stalls in future!