Category: Food

With continuation of travel restriction to Taiwan, fans of Taiwanese cuisine will surely missed and craved for authentic Taiwanese food. Thankfully, there are a couple of Taiwanese cafés and eateries making ways here for these fans.

Apart from Lee’s Taiwanese and Eat 3 Bowls, there is another new found outlet, +886 Bistro offering authentic Taiwanese flavors with a modern twist which I chanced upon.

Needless to say, it is a must to try out the usual suspect dishes. 😉

Using premium Japanese rice with superior sauce sauce coupled with melt in your mouth pork belly and braised for more than 24 hours. Topped with spring onion and sweet & spicy turnips. This is truly heavenly. Cannot go wrong type. 👍

Shredded chicken with a home made blend of scallion oil and sauce. This is another champion dish. Much better than the one served in Lee’s Taiwanese.

Like Scallion Chicken Rice, except served with udon. Something unique and tastes as good too.

Bonito broth with mushrooms and shredded chicken. This is at best so-so and passable. I would prefer it with intestine instead. Not as flavourful as I expected.

One of their signature item, originated from their Founder’s great grandparents, boneless, fried to a crisp with a slight chew. Frankly, I am not too impressed by it as it does not have the crispy texture to it.

For those who prefer their chicken without the honey. It’s nice but not as power as the crispy chicken chop served in Lee’s Taiwanese.

Braised in the same goodness as their braised pork, includes radish, Taiwanese glutinous rice cake, mushroom, meatball and fish roe strip. The Taiwanese version of Oden. This is another power dish. 👍

There are various flavour options for selection. Decided on their original salt & pepper flavour for the first try. This is surprisingly delicious.

Likewise there are various modifiers that you can choose from. I go for the original flavour that do not require additional top-ups. 😉 Well, I still prefer the crispy enoki over fried shitake as I enjoy more on the crispy crunch feel.

A great starter dish to begin with. Simple yet tasty.

Oooh, this is another good crispy starter to begin with too. 🙂

A chewy texture rice cake dish with a unique salty plummy taste. Very Taiwanese indeed. I would say it is quite acquired. It’s either a love or hate type of dish.

You may also try out some of their desserts too.

An interesting dessert, mochi-like texture similar to fried glutinous rice ball with yam paste wrapped with sweet potato paste. Makes a great dessert dish.

Classic creme brûlée with a dollop of yam. Feels like eating orh nee. Interesting and unique dessert.

Served with condensed milk and brown sugar. Definitely another power dessert without a doubt especially for sweet-tooth lovers. Sinfully good. 😋😋😋

Oh mine….this is one of the better boba brown sugar milk tea that I have had for sure! 👍

Overall, quality is there and certainly a new place which you can try out should your next Taiwanese food cravings arises.

This is truly a hidden gem for traditional coffee lovers. With the recent spate of high inflation with all prices increasing as fast as rocket, you may be pleased to know that there is still one such place that sells coffee at only 50 cents a cup! 😲

Yes, you did not hear me wrong, it is 50 cents!!!! Holy mama!!!!

This place is none other than Jalan Benaan Kapal Hawker Centre. It is tucked in an inconspicuous area around stadium walk, a small hawker centre with just one row of about 10 or less stalls. Most of the stalls do not have a stand out signage name. Just plain vanilla of what they are selling that’s all. Very nostalgic the moment you step in and it gives you the feeling being transported back to an old kampong area. 很有人情味.

This is the coffee stall that I am referring to. Located at the corner stall with no visibly stand out signage or stall name. ☺️

Operated by just a one-man old uncle who is passionate about what he has been doing all these years.

This is insanely unbelievable. You get to enjoy a cup of nice fragrant coffee at 50 cents and also soaking in to the kampong feel environment. This is by far the cheapest coffee you can find in town other than the free coffee offered by Ikea for Ikea members. 😊

So, feel free to drop by this place if you happen to be around this area to lend your support to this uncle and at the same time experience the joy of stretching your dollar further! 👍👍👍

It has been a good 2 years since I last had authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Each time when my cravings comes, I would always make a trip to Ho Chi Minh City for my fooding fix. Thanks to Covid-19, the said luxury has been revoked with the International border closure. Haiz…. 🙄

I chanced upon an article featuring Cô Chung, serving authentic taste of Vietnam cuisine. Upon googling up their menu, I saw some of the food items listed and it does seem to resonate with me. That was what it prompted me to try it out.

Vietnamese cuisine offers a fragrant blend of tastes and smells, with pungent fish sauce, shrimp paste and soy sauce typically combined with a variety of fresh flavours such as lemongrass, ginger, mint, lime, basil and coriander plus spicy overtones of chilli and cinnamon.

Enjoying some of my usual favourite food fix.

Rice paper roll of pork belly, shrimp, noodle, veggie and herb. Best taste together with their special homemade dipping sauce.

Minced pork and shrimp, veggie all in a crispy roll. The fresh and crispy spring rolls are a must haves for me! It is like a package bundle deal. 😀😀

Special marinated ground beef carefully wrapped in betel leaves and grilled over charcoal. This BBQ dish is served with veggies, herb and exclusive fermented fish sauce. A little garnish with peanuts and fried shallots. The beef is super tender.

Nem Nuông is originally from Central Vietnam, sort of grilled pork “sausage”, served with veggies, herb and homemade sauce. It’s like prawn and meat paste wrapped round a stalk of lemongrass for the additional flavours.

Bánh Mì is a Queen of Street Food in Vietnam. Coming to Vietnam without trying it would deem your trip as incomplete.

Bánh Mì, also known as Vietnamese baguette or sandwich, is split lengthwise and filled with plenty of savoury Vietnamese ingredients like meats and vegetables including Chả Lụa (Vietnamese pork sausage), French jambon/pork ham, coriander/cilantro, pickled carrots and daikon, French paté, jalapeño, butter and mayonnaise.

Family recipe and ingredients combined with slow-cooked beef bone creates a unique beef broth. I just love the authentic beefy soup broth.

The stock is made from prawn, pork and tomato served with vermicelli and special mixed crab ball, pork rib, shrimp and tofu. The soup stock is really flavourful and deliciously good.

Special marinated grilled pork, sunny side up egg, egg meatloaf on top of broken rice, served with special condensed fish sauce. Simple yet flavourful.

The string of super thin noodles in firm texture creates unforgettable flavour when combining with special formulated fish sauce, grilled pork, crushed prawn & scallion oil on top. It’s like eating putu mayam with sweet satay pork.

It tasted like non-sweetened beancurd. I would have expected it to be on a sweeter side because of the caramel. It did not do justice to this dessert.

This sweet dessert is served warm. It is actually sago with banana with peanuts without the soup. 😂

How I miss their thick and strong coffee. Brings back fond memories of my great time in Ho Chi Minh City.

Another all time favourite drink of mine. 👍

I am glad to have make this trip to Cô Chung. I really enjoyed the food here! For one moment, I felt being brought back to Vietnam. 😀

The price, though relatively reasonable compared to other Vietnamese joints like NamNam or So Pho, (to me) is still definitely on the high side compared to having it at Ho Chi Minh City for sure. Under such non-luxurious situation, this will certainly be one of my go-to place for my Vietnamese cravings fix whenever I need it!

I am sure many of us will have our own favourite haunt when it comes to roasted meat. There are way too many roasted meat stalls (燒臘店) out there where you are familiar with. I am pretty sure you will be spoilt for choice (at least for me 🤣) when it comes to deciding where to go.

For me, my foremost priority will be none other 九江燒臘 located inside Ghim Moh Market & Food Centre. They are extremely famous for their roast duck and you will be greeted with a constant long snaking queue whenever you are there.

Importantly, 九江燒臘 serves up champion roast meat at affordable pricing for their plate of roast duck rice. Other than the power roast duck (tender & juicy), they have roast pork with a nice crackling rind and char siew. I always ask for the more fatty part of the char siew and I love especially the charred aroma with the sweet caramelized taste.

My all time favourite satisfying roast duck, roast pork and fatty char siew combination plate whenever I am here for my fix.

Another draw for me at this stall is that you can self-help to scoop your own preferred amount of roast meat sauce from the rice cooker on the counter. 👍👍👍

Well, if you have not been to 九江燒臘, I would highly recommmend you to give it a try so that you can compare against your favourite roast meat stall and decide if you have been missing out! 😲

Another new kid on the block. This time round brought about by The Muttons. I just loved their catchy name. So Muttony….

Itchy Bun, a value for money fusion Izakaya joint that whips out delicious yet affordable Japanese food.

Loved their simplistic interior decoration which one can resonate in a typical Izakaya setting.

Their menu is focused and thus do not expect fanciful items being served in this eatery joint.

According to The Muttons, a lot of R & D effort has been put in to come up with this perfect tori karaage. I must agree that their karaage is of standard and I love especially their tender, juicy chicken meat. This is definitely one of the must order item for sure. 👍

This fried frog legs is a new item on their menu. The frog legs are big, meaty and tenderlicious too. An interesting dish which is almost rarely seen.

A light small bite to start your appetite. Cheese lover will like this and I never knew it would taste so good with the furikake sprinkled over it.

For those who needs carb, you can try their various don options.

The teriyaki chicken is grilled to perfection and goes extremely well with the nori and onsen egg.

For those who are more gung-ho and hard-core, you must go for their sinfully good braised pork belly rice bowl. Mama Mia…..

Instead of the usual kung-ba bao, here you get to enjoy their specially curated spicy karaage bun with the tangy salad wrap. Refreshingly delicious. Now we know why this place is called Itchy Bun. 😉

This is one place you can certainly come by for a refreshing change. 😋😋😋

I chanced upon this new kid on the block, Sushi Raku 鮨樂 during one of my window shopping trip at Raffles City.

Being not able to travel to Japan due to Covid 19 coupled with sushi craving, I decided to give it a try.

Interestingly, Sushi Raku offers good quality food at affordable pricing with a brightly litted Izakaya dining experience. You get to enjoy sushi, sashimi, charcoal-grilled eats, appetisers & sake.

I just love their fugu. This is my all time favourite starter. The texture is chewily delicious and goes extremely well with the tobiko mayonnaise dip. It’s akin to eating bee cheng hiang bbq pork.

Another more economical option will be their dried fish fin which is equally good and can do the job as well. 😉

Their chawanmushi is equally power and comes with asari clam, shrimp, mushroom and crab stick.

I have had pitan tofu and this variation of tofu flooding with roasted sesame sauce is another good surprise in my opinion. 👍

Their tori karaage batter is soft and not the crispy type which we are used to having. Surprisingly, the chicken meat is super tender and juicy. Deliciously power!

Their handroll is one of the better handroll that I have had, crispy seaweed with crunchy prawn tempura that leaves each mouthful with a punch.

Handroll with egg, lettuce, avocado and crab stick with mayonnaise and tobiko coupled with crispy seaweed. Yum yum.

This is an interesting tamago-yaki that comes with 3 kinds sauce comprising of spicy mayo, truffle & olive oil and mentaiko. Really tasty and not overly sweet.

Rich and flavoursome miso soup with a generous serving of big clams.

Light and refreshing. Definitely a great appetizer prior to the start of meal.

One of their seasonal special, shipped weekly and direct from Aomori. This fish is as fresh as it can get. The fish meat is firmed and has a nice chew texture. You can even request to have half of the fish done in sushi style and the other half in sashimi style. 美味しいです.

Another seasonal special, Houbou Sashimi. Houbou (sometimes spelled as Hobo) is a rare kind of fish that can be pricey due to its scarcity. Like most white flesh fish, hobo has a smooth, mild taste and firm flesh when it is served fresh.

In one of my trip, I managed to enjoy a whole Hobo fish on its own.

Enjoying the entire Hobo fish head cooked in a nice soup pot. The sweetness of the fish head coupled with the soup essence is just beyond words.

Enjoying half of the portion for its freshness as sashimi….

……and the other half portion as sushi. Heavenly combination indeed. One fish in 3 different ways of enjoyment.

Another freshly imported seasonal item, whole Okoze Stonefish (220g) enjoyed in 2 different style, sashimi and sushi.

The fish meat is firm and chewy. Super fresh. 👍

Ainame or Fat Greening is another type of seasonal fish and shipped direct from Akita. Super fresh and tasty.

Loved the freshness of the fish coupled with the firm flesh texture.

Weekly fresh fish shipped direct from Japan.

For tuna lovers, this is a must order sushi item. You get to enjoy blue fin tuna otoro, blue fun tuna chutoro, blue fin tuna and spring onion fatty tuna warship. Their sushi rice is different from what you are used to having. In Sushi Raku, they uses red vinegar rice that explains the reddish-orange colour sushi rice which is less commonly seen. The rice somehow tastes exceptionally good.

Another seasonal special, the uni is as fresh as it can get.

If you happen to drop by during lunch, you may get to try one of their value for money lunch set too.

You may even go for their tiger prawn roll from one of their creative roll selection if you enjoy prawn tempura.

Alternatively, you may go for their creative Mori Bento that comes with squid & salmon roe, deep fried tosa tofu, edaname, seasonal seaweed, fatty salmon, seasonal octopus, grilled mackerel, egg and fried chicken. Definitely a feast for the eyes. 😯

A more elaborate, Kawa Bento is another option to go for. Comprising scallop, seasonal jelly fish, salmon, edaname, sweet shrimp, yellow tail, blue fin tuna, egg and deep fried tosa tofu. Another great eye candle feast too. 😯

If you are a rice bowl fan, you are highly recommended to try their aburi seafood don. Confirmed champion and won’t go wrong.

This is also a great option for rice bowl. The tempura bits is crunchily good and goes well with the rice coupled with the light battered items.

Another value for money dish. Cooked to perfection with the flavoured onion, egg, slices of shitake mushroom and the main star item (pork chop).

Comprises of Sea Urchin, Snow Crab, Salmon Roe and Salmon. This is really quality ingredients and just nice for small eaters. Great for ladies’ meal.

OMG! A highly recommended must have dish. Loved the well-cooked eel and foie gras. Deliciously good…….😋😍

Their pork jowl is tenderliciously good. It is like having a piece of nicely charcoal grilled char siew. Really power and great beer food for sure!

The beef cubes are grilled to perfection with the crispy garlic chips that gives it a good hit.

A great last line of defence, their soba noodles are springyly good with a nice chewy feel too. 😉

Alternatively you may go for their udon if you are a big fan of udon. Noodle texture is springy and chewy too. Shape like Ipoh hor fun. 🙂

Sushi Raku offers a couple of good and decent desserts as well.

Oh mine, this is insanely refreshingly good. The sherbet is served on a frozen peach skin and tastes peachily appetising. Only comment that I have is on the small portion but it is really good.

You may also consider their yuzu sherbet, citrussy good too. Likewise, it is served on a frozen yuzu skin. My personal favourite. 🤩

This is another nice dessert if you are a fan of mochi and cheese. Nothing fanciful just that it is mochi wrapped with cheese and deep fried to it. 😉

Without a doubt, the food quality is of standard and importantly, it offers great variety menu options to suit all diners. I am definitely looking forward to try all their items in time to come. 😋

If you have enjoyed Lee’s Taiwanese, you will also like Eat 3 Bowls, a Taiwanese Café with train theme serving Taiwanese night market food.

Eat 3 Bowls specializes in authentic Taiwanese food especially with their famed 3 bowls (hence the name) : Braised Pork Rice, Chicken Rice and Oyster Intestine Mee Sua.

The shop’s interior decoration features the theme of a train station, a time table reflecting the arrival timing of the trains at the various train stations in Taiwan. It gives diners a feel of presence being in Taiwan.

Their braised pork rice is of standard and is really good with the savoury braised gravy.

Their Taiwanese Chicken Rice is another must order dish here, it is different from our Hainanese chicken rice. Instead, it is served with tender shredded chicken meat, topped with savoury onion and soy sauce. Really power despite the plain look.

This is definitely heavenly. Loved the vinegary taste of the mee sua. The intestine is chewily delicious coupled with the tasty succulent oyster. Their oyster is exactly the same texture as the one in the oyster omelette when in Taiwan. Power lah!

No wonder, these 3 items are the restaurant’s 镇店之宝. 👍

Their braised chinese cabbage is another great shout-out. Cooked till tender coupled with the strong aroma of the dried shrimp bits. Pretty similar to our nonya chap chye. Goes extremely well with a bowl of white rice.

Small chunks of chicken meat deep fried until golden brown. You may decide on the spiciness based on your choice of spice level by varying the amount of chilli powder sprinkled onto it.

The food quality is without a doubt champion, the portion served is rather small in size though (in my opinion) for the price it charges. 😫

Given the quality and portion, Lee’s Taiwanese is definitely much more value for money. Having said that, this is still one alternative for you to explore if you are craving for authentic Taiwanese snack food.

Apart from Straits Chinese Nonya Restaurant, Tingkat PeraMakan is another option for a truly authentic Peranakan cuisine.

Tingkat PeraMakan offers diners a no-frills authentic Peranakan dining experience with their delicious home-cooked Perankan meals.

Tingkat referring to layered containers, is often used in the past by parents to provide home-cooked meals to their children for them to bring along to their school or work place.

Pricing is relatively affordable as can be seen from their set menu with prices ranging from $12.80 to $16.80 per set. The set comprises of a choice selection from one of the mains, 2 of the side dishes, a drink and a dessert. Definitely a great choice for first timer to sample some of their dishes.

Fresh, juicy squids stir-fried in sambal sauce. I love the sambal sauce as it really creates the wow sambal experience for me. Nonya Chap Chye, cabbage & chinese dried ingredients braised in delicious bean sauce, has the strong aroma of the umami taste from the dried shrimps. Sayur Masak Lemak comprising of assorted vegetables cooked in spicy coconut gravy is similar to sayur lodeh. Another power dish to my liking.

Chicken braised in garam assam & Indonesian black nut pulp. Fluffy egg omelette filled with green chillies, onions and preserved shrimps. Cinchalok comes with an acquired taste and different people have different reactions to the taste. The nonya tauhu is deep fried and served with minced pork and prawns in taucheo (fermented bean sauce) gravy.

Pork belly, dried shitake mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots braised in delicious bean sauce. The pork belly is really tender, savoury and certainly deserves a big thumbs up from me. 👍👍👍

Alternatively, you may choose to order their ala-carte item and go along with a plate of steaming white rice.

This is really a power non spicy dish and a must order item.

For those who enjoy spicy vegetables, this is the dish for you.

Tender pieces of beef cooked in spices & scented with turmeric leaves. Really generous with their serving portion amd literally melts in your mouth type. Another not to be missed dish.

Boneless chicken meat braised in rich Indonesian black nut gravy with one nut. Easy to eat and sizeable portion.

Chicken cooked in spicy coconut gravy. The chicken meat is super tender and you can see it falls apart easily.

The pork belly is tenderlicious good especially with the fats melting in your mouth type. Sinfully good. 😋

Fresh prawns cooked with pineapples in garam assam gravy. Loves the appetizing gravy and goes extremely well with steaming white rice. Comes with 3 large prawns.

Fresh mackeral cooked in garam assam gravy served with brinjals and ladyfingers.

Unique to PeraMakan, fish, squids & prawns in a rich spicy paste, grilled on a kunyit (turmeric) leaf. This is another good stuff.

Super appetizing especially with the sambal sauce over fragrant jasmine white rice.

Petai beans stir-fried with sambal udang. This dish is only offered at their Owen & Tampines Mart outlets only. The sambal sauce is heavenly good and goes extremely well with a bowl of piping hot steam jasmine rice. 👍

Grilled brinjals with onion sambal topped with shrimp. Pretty unique dish with the flavourful sambal sauce.  Tastes awesomely good too.

Noodles tossed in a flavourful laksa sauce, topped with sautéed seafood. Garnished with fresh laksa leaves and crispy bean puffs. Something unique and interesting.

Rice vermicelli stir-fried in Nyonya spices and served with sambal prawns, fried beancake, egg omelette and cucumber. Garnished with chives, fried shallots and sliced red chillies. Tastily done. Perfect.

Cabbage, fish maw, fish, prawn & pork balls in rich pork & chicken broth. Light and tasty. Just right for 2 to share.

Pork, crabmeat & bamboo shoots balls in chicken broth. This soup is really delicious with the power meat ball. Good for single portion.

Deep-fried prawn & pork rolls. Somehow, this seems to be one of the must order item (for me). Simply loves it. ☺

My personal favourite condiment. Their sambal belachan is really power. Goes extremely well with white rice. The thought of doing so can already make me salivate. 🤤🤤🤤

The desserts that comes with the set. Chendol, shaved ice with slurpy chendol, red beans, Gula Melaka syrup and coconut milk. Sago Gula Melaka, sago pudding served chilled with Gula Melaka. Bubor Cha Cha, steamed yams and sweet potato with tapioca jujube in freshly squeezed coconut milk served cold.

Sweet-toothed lovers would enjoy this dessert.

I would prefer the hot version to the cold version.

Their desserts are not overly sweet for those who are worried on the sweetness level. Well for me, only missing part is the sweetness. It will be perfect if the desserts are sweeter, in my opinion. ☺

Tingkat PeraMakan is certainly one place you can consider for a decent Peranakan meal. Delicious, authentic quality food and most importantly value for money. 👍

I have recently been recommended to try out Stella Restaurant (located at 11 Changi Coast Walk) because of its amazing sea view alfresco dining ambience.

Stella is one of those few places in Singapore that offer diners a nice cozy romantic alfresco dining experience.

You can enjoy the cool sea breeze while savouring the gourmet food served right up for you.

Make it a point to be there just before sunset, watch the change in landscape and at the same time enjoy close encounter with the plane zooming past & making music to your ears while you dine.

When will I be able to take to the skies again? 🤣

Stella serves both western and local cuisines on their menu. Food quality is of standard with reasonable serving sized portion.

Items selection are available ranging from Appetisers, Pasta, Local Favourites, Main Courses, 10″ Pizza to Desserts.

Appetisers

Thickly cut luncheon chips to start your appetite. Makes a good beer companion.

Shoe-strings crispily fried drizzled with truffle oil. Oooh….

Another simple appetizer that cannot go wrong. Crispily good too.

Pasta

Spaghetti served with prawn, scallop, mussel, tomato sauce and garnished with grated cheese.

Spaghetti served with prawn, chilli, bacon, garlic and garnished with grated cheese.

Main Courses

Salmon skin is grilled till crispy.

The lamb shank is the melt in your type. Easily broken off using folk.

10″ Pizza

10″ pizza with mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar and gorgonzola.

10″ pizza with chicken, ham, pork pepperoni, bacon & sliced sausage.

Overall, food quality is without complain. Taste wise…. just like what western meal should taste like. No additional surprises. Ambience is what the meal entails and matters most!

Desserts

Single serve size chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream & home made biscuit.

Large sharing size chocolate molten cake with vanilla ice cream and home made biscuits.

If you are wondering where to go for your next romantic alfresco dining venue, do consider Stella. 😉

Remember to call and make advance reservation for a table at the seaside to enjoy a spectacular dining view.

Porridge is often classified as a comfort food (for me) especially enjoying it during cold rainy day.

There are various versions of porridge which we are all familiar with in our growing up years. Commonly known are Teochew Muay, fish porridge, pork porridge, seafood porridge, lobster porridge and many more others that you can think of.

Prawn porridge is something new and unique especially coming from a prawn noodle stall.

There is a new kid on the block which I came across, HeyMe (I love this catchy stall name) that whips out surprisingly delicious power prawn porridge that catches my attention.

This porridge really caught me by surprise with its exceptionally umami flavoured prawn broth. It comes topped with deshelled prawn that are acceptable for the price of $3.50 (small bowl), pork slices, fishcake and crispy pork lards. The prawn broth used for the porridge is somewhat different from the prawn soup broth used in their prawn noodle.

Though HeyMe is supposedly to be known for selling prawn noodle, somehow their prawn noodle is at best consider as average in my opinion. Nothing much to shout about. There are other more deserving Power Prawn Noodle that is way more palatable.

Interestingly, they sell prawn meat roll at this stall too as a side to go along. It reminds me of the old-school type of ngoh hiang and each ingredient is highly visible. I would definitely recommend this side dish when you are here.

Head over to HeyMe should your cravings for the next soupy meal comes along especially on a cold rainy day. 😉

**Sad to learn that HeyMe is now permanently closed.  😂😂 Hope they are not one of the victim of Covid that forces them to exit from the F&B industry.