Kazokutei 家族亭 (Bugis Junction)

Kazokutei 家族亭 is a restaurant chain that serves Japanese cuisine, specialising in serving Udon. Established in 1947, Today, Kazokutei is one of Osaka's most well-known brands of udon restaurant with more than 200 outlets in Japan. The restaurant chain pride itself in offering delicious and high quality handmade udon. Kazokutei serves 2 type of Udon and 2 types of soup bases; Kokudashi Udon from Eastern Japan with a stronger flavoured soup and Shira Dashi Udon from Western Japan with a sweeter tasting soup. 

Udon Lunch Special

The Udon Lunch Special is only valid from Monday to Friday till 5pm only, excluding eve of public holidays and public holidays.

Kokudashi Udon + Katsu Don Set $10.90

Ordered the Kokudashi Udon and Katsu Don Set from the Udon Lunch Special.

Kokudashi Udon (Kokudashi Udon + Katsu Don Set $10.90)

The handmade Udon from the Kokudashi Udon was thick, firm, springy and chewy with a smooth texture. While the soup was made from Katsuo Bushi (Dried Bonito) for a stronger flavoured soup.

Katsu Don (Kokudashi Udon + Katsu Don Set $10.90)

Katsu Don, a popular Japanese cuisine, is a bowl of rice topped with egg, deep fried pork cutlet, onions, seaweed and condiments. I seldom order this dish and am not an expert in this dish (as in I do not know what to look for in a good bowl of Katsu Don). To me, I like how the egg was cooked, it was cooked just nice and was still soft, not to the extend of runny. In addition, having each mouthful of the rice together with the egg, the sauce and caramelised onion was delectable. On the other hand, the Katsu (deep fried pork cutlet) was just average, sliced too thinly for my liking.

On another occasion..

Omurice Lunch Special

Omurice Lunch Special comes with 1 Free Soft Drink/Soda Drink. It is vonly valid from Monday to Friday till 5pm only, excluding eve of public holidays and public holidays.

Pork Cutlet Omu Rice $11.90

Ordered the Pork Cutlet Omu Rice from the Omurice Lunch Special.

Omu Rice ( Pork Cutlet Omu Rice $11.90)

The egg was cooked just nice, soft and a little runny (not too hard). Underneath the egg was fried rice flavoured with ketchup. It was tasty and not oily.

Pork Cutlet  ( Pork Cutlet Omu Rice $11.90)

The Pork Cutlet was average. The cutlet was crispy but thin and dry.

Fries  ( Pork Cutlet Omu Rice $11.90)

To be frank, the fries were just average. A tad too dry.

 Soup ( Pork Cutlet Omu Rice $11.90)

Flavourful and tasty soup. I was pleasantly surprised that there were a lot of ingredients in the bowl of soup such as mushrooms and onions. The downside was that it was on the salty end.

After having lunch over at Kazokutei on two occasions, I find that the lunch sets here are very reasonably priced for the amount of food. The Kokudashi Udon and Katsu Don Set was delicious. As for the Pork Cutlet Omu Rice, the Omu Rice and the Soup are the ones that will make me want to order this again. Service wise, the serving staff was prompt in refilling the drinks, taking the orders and serving the food. Overall, quite a nice place to come for Japanese cuisine.

Kazokutei 家族亭 (Bugis Junction)
200 Victoria Street
#02-49 Bugis Junction
Tel: 6338 0187
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 945pm
Website
Location

Other outlets:
Kazokutei 家族亭 (Causeway Point)
1 Woodlands Square
#03-43 Causeway Point
Tel: 6893 6940
Opening Hours: 1130am to 10pm


Kazokutei 家族亭 (Junction 8)
9 Bishan Place
#02-34/35 Juntion 8
Tel: 6259 6698
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 945pm


Kazokutei 家族亭 (Plaza Singapura)
68 Orchard Road
#04-01 Tokyo Walker, Plaza Singapura
Tel: 6333 9285
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 10pm

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Sawadee Thai Cuisine (Sembawang Road)

Sawadee Thai Cuisine is located along Jalan Legundi (opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre). In fact, it is just opposite Sembawang White Bee Hoon and next to Sum's Kitchen & Hong Kong Roasted Meat.

Pictures of celebrities and their latest promotion - Thai Style Steam Fish at $13.80 Nett (usual price $25). 

Quite and homely ambience.

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Menu (c)

Sawadee Thai Cuisine Menu along with prices.

As there were not a lot of customers, we were served our food within 10 minutes of ordering.

Hot & Spicy Seafood Soup (Tom Yam Talay) $8

The Hot & Spicy Seafood Soup (Tom Yam Talay) was served in a claypot.

Hot & Spicy Seafood Soup (Tom Yum Talay) $8

The waitress served the Tom Yam Soup into small bowls. Nice gesture of good customer service.

The soup was clear, slightly cloudy and did not look spicy. It was not fiery red in colour nor was there any chilli oil. But upon tasting it, it was indeed spicy and sour with lemon-grass and galangal fragrant. Ingredients include prawns, fish and mushrooms. The prawns were firm and fresh! 

Pineapple Rice (Khao Ob Sup Pa Rot) $8

When this dish arrived, I was not convinced that it was the Pineapple Rice I ordered as it was different from the picture displayed in the menu. Had to ask the waitress twice to confirmed that it was Pineapple Rice. 

The Pineapple Rice (Khao Ob Sup Pa Rot) was fried with eggs and diced pineapples. After which, it was served with Pork Floss and Prawns. Prawns were again very fresh; bright pink and firm meat. There were very few pieces of diced pineapples, as a result the pineapple flavour was lacking. Despite that, I like this dish. It was well fried! It should be renamed fried rice =)

Rice Noodle Fried Thai Style with Seafood (Kuay Teow Phad Thai) $10

This is actually Phad Thai, Thai version of fried kway teow. It was fried with egg, bean sprouts, dried tuakwa and prawns. It was served with chilli powder, grounded peanut bits and lime. Tasty and fragrant dish. I suspect that they used salted fish and preserved vegetables as their ingredients too.

Pandan Chicken (Kai Hor Bai Toey) $7.50

After having tried the Pandan Chicken at Ah Loy Thai, I was determined to order it over here.

The Pandan Chicken cost $2.50 each. Sawadee's version had its chicken mixed with corn and spices wrapped in pandan leaves and deep fried. I was disappointed as it was not as tasty as I hope. The chicken was not well marinated and the pandan flavour was not infused in the chicken. '

Overall, Sawadee Thai Cuisine serves quite good Thai Cuisine items. Moreover, the items are quite affordable (other than pandan chicken). In terms of ambience, it is quiet and cozy. Suitable for gatherings when one has craving for Thai food.

*Edited on Apr 2014*
Sawadee Thai Cuisine (Bugis)
9, Tan Quee Lan Street #01-01
Singapore 188098
Tel: 6238 6833
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 230pm 
                                  6pm to 1030pm

Sawadee Thai Cuisine (Sembawang Road)
5 Jalan Legundi (opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre)
Tel: 6756 2369
Opening Hours: Daily 1130am to 230pm
                                  530pm to 10pm

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761 Yishun Seafood - Zi Char

761 Yishun Seafood is a zi char stall in Yishun near my home. I seldom post on any zi char stalls especially those near home. But recently, this one caught my eye impressed me. 

During dinner time,  761 Yishun Seafood can get very crowded and waiting time for food may vary between 10minutes to 30minutes. In this post, I will consolidate all the food I have eaten over the past few days.

Shrimp Omelette $8

The Shrimp Omelette was a tad too oily. Despite that, it was sinfully delicious! The omelette was cooked perfectly; soft and fluffy. A few more seconds on the wok, it would have been overcooked; hard and dry. Something to point out, it is actually prawn omelette not shrimp.

'Fu Yong' Fried Egg $6

'Fu Yong' Fried Egg did not disappoint too. Just that it was a tad too oily.

Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce $6

Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce was well-cooked. The Kai Lan was still crunchy with oyster and garlic flavour coating it. Akin to a simple home-cooked dish. Nice.

Assorted Vegetables $8

Another simple home cook fare; the Assorted Vegetables. Mixture of vegetables, button mushrooms, squid and prawns so value for money.

Lemon Chicken $8

Lemon Chicken was my least favourite dish. Not because it was cooked badly, but more of personal preference. I like my fried chicken with spices or with batter, but not with lemon.

Fried Rice $8

The Fried Rice was again a tad too oily. But still it was yummilicious! Lots of ingredients and each cut into a similar size as the rice grains so that the texture is similar.In addition, there was a hint of wok hei coating each grain of rice. Very well fried!

Hor Fun w/Egg $4

The Hor Fun w/Egg was impressive. The gravy was delicious and not too salty packed with wok-hei flavour.

The food at 761 Yishun Seafood is what I call cheap and good. It is affordable and delicious. Did I add that this Zi Char Stall has been around for 26 years? Yes, 26 years!

761 Yishun Seafood - Zi Char
Blk 761 Yishun Street 72
Location

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Yung Kee Restaurant 鏞記酒家 (Hong Kong)

Yung Kee Restaurant is a Chinese Cantonese restaurant reowned for its Roasted Goose and Century Eggs. It has been reported that they sell as many as 300 Geese per day!

Yung Kee restaurant is located along Wellington Street, 5 minutes walk from Central MTR Exit D2. It is located in Yung Kee Building (yes, they owned the building!). If you are lost, ask the locals!

We were directed to level 2 where we saw a large crowd of people gathering around a lady who was in charge of giving out queue numbers and assigning seats. We were assigned a number and told to come back 1 hour later. We decided to go to Tsui Wah Restaurant located opposite for some bites before coming back as we were starving.

Waiting Area

Waiting Area

When we came back, I spotted this sign saying waiting area. True enough, Yung Kee has dedicated a corner as a waiting area with seats and magazines on a rack. We waited just like everyone else. Luckily for us, we managed to get a table soon after coming in. In total, the time when we got the queue number to the time we were assigned a table was 45minutes.

A very packed level 2

Menu Cover

Chrysanthemum tea (per person) HK$12 (S$2) to quench our thirst. It comes in a pot which is refillable.

Century Egg and Pickled Ginger (per person) 

The famous Century Egg served with Pickled Ginger (per person) at HK$10 (S$1.66). Each person gets half a slice of the century egg. This appetizer looks different from those in Singapore. It is the best century egg I have eaten. So smooth, so soft, so tasty! Now I know why some people take the trouble to bring this back to Singapore!

Roasted Goose (Half)

Braised Soya Beans beneath the Roasted Goose.

The award winning Roasted Goose (half) HK$230 (S$38.33). Fragrant and flavourful roasted goose that was crispy on the outside yet soft, tender and juicy on the inside. There were braised soya beans beneath the roasted goose that soaked up all the drippings from the goose making it fragrant and flavourful. Description is pointless for this dish, you got to try this yourself!

Vegetable with Oyster Sauce

Vegetable with Oyster Sauce HK$75 (S$12.50). Honestly I have no idea what this vegetable is. The vegetable was big and fresh, paired well with the oyster sauce.

Chinese 'Waxed' Sausage & Preserved Fresh Goose Liver Sausage 

We also ordered the Chinese 'Waxed' Sausage (lap cheong) & Preserved Fresh Goose Liver Sausage. The Chinese 'Waxed' Sausage was delicious. But the Preserved Fresh Goose Liver Sausage was too adventurous for me.

Fried Rice in Yangzhou Style

Fried Rice in Yangzhou Style (Large Portion) HK$145 (S$24.16). Lots of ingredients (shrimps, char siew, egg, scallions) and was well fried. Certainly another dish to try.

From this meal, I can conclude that a stay in Hong Kong is not completed without stopping over at Yung Kee. The 'die die must try' dishes are the Roasted Goose and Century Eggs. The food here is definitely worth the wait!

As we were leaving, we saw this sign that states that all the roasted geese have been sold out!

If you know when you are coming over, do ensure that you make a reservation for not only a table but also the goose!

ps: H&M is located nearby.

Yung Kee Restaurant  鏞記酒家 (Hong Kong)
32 Wellington Street, Yung Kee Building
Central, Hong Kong (Near Central MTR, Exit D2)
Tel: (852) 2552 1624
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 1130pm
Website
For reservations below 5 pax: http://www.yungkee.com.hk/reserve/reserve-e.html
Location

Location

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Ah Loy Thai (Shaw Towers)

Ah Loy Thai is located in Shaw Towers. This post will cover the food that I ate on three different occasions. 

Long queue (Right of picture)

Visited Ah Loy Thai  on a saturday for dinner. It was around 6pm and yet there was already a long queue that stretched down the stairs to where the male toilet is. Notice the white long sleeve shirt man whose image is not clear and back is facing us? Well he is the guy who ensures that patrons queue up and assign them to the tables. So you will not want to offend him.

More seating space

Ah Loy Thai has expanded and taken a unit next to it to cater to the crowd. As a result, their seating capacity has increased around 100%! But my concern will is that the owners increased the seating capacity without increasing kitchen size. How will it cope with serving customers their food and not result in an increase in waiting time? As mentioned in my first post, the waiting time for food was around 40minutes.

Menu

While we were queuing up, we were given a pencil and this slip of paper with all the dishes and prices. We waited close to 20 minutes and had lots of time to decide what to eat.

At last, we had a place to sit. All the way at the back at a cozy corner. Having decided what to order, I went to the cashier and made the payment for my orders with the slip of paper before going to my seat. It will be a 45 minutes wait, that was what the cashier told me.

Thai Pandan Chicken $9.00

Luckily for us, we waited just around 30 minutes. The first dish that was served was the Thai Pandan Chicken. The Pandan Chicken wrapped in pandan leaves was tender, juicy, tasty and well-marinated. The pandan leaves seems to have helped trap and ensure that all the moisture and flavours did not eascape. In addition, pandan flavours were present in the chicken. The chicken were cooked till it was slightly charred. Shiok, delicious! The only down side was, it was oily. Well, for delicious food its worth it.

Thai Fried Keoteow (Phad Thai) $5.90

Having tried the Phad Thai previously, I ordered it again. Phad Thai is the thailand version of fried kway teow. It is fried with prawns, toufu, fried egg and bean sprouts. Accompanied with grinned peanut and lime. The dish was fragrance and tasty! Certainty better than most places.

Tom Yum Soup $6.90

Ah Loy Thai’s Tom Yum Soup looks fiery red with the chilli oil on top. It came with prawns, mushrooms (straw and oyster) and squids. It is a spicy yet sour soup that was balanced nicely such that despite the spiciness (numbing your tongue/sweating), you would find yourself going for more servings. We ordered a bowl of rice to accompany the soup.


On the two other occasions , this was what I ate. 

Pineapple Fried Rice $5.90

To be honest, I was very disappointed when I saw the Pineapple Fried Rice. So different from what I expected, no Chinese sausages, no floss, no cashew nuts and there was very few pieces of pineapples! But omg the moment I ate one mouthful I could not stop. This dish looks so simple and unlike other pineapple fried rice was amazingly delicious! Ingredients include prawns (which were not fresh), chicken, raisins, pineapples (very few pieces) and egg. Sounds like a negative dish? Well, amazingly the chef combined the ingredient and his skills... to cook up a fried rice that was not dry nor hard nor oily. In addition, the killer punch was the amazing wok-hei flavour presence combined with everything else was just heavenly! Certainty, a dish to try! Shiokolicious! 

Thai Green Curry $6.50

The Thai Green Curry was way off expectation. Tasted very different from my visit in 2010. The flavour of coconut was overwhelming.

Fried Butter Calamari $7.50

The Fried Butter Calamari was delicious. Despite a wet look due to the butter, each piece of calamari was still crispy. Great seasoning, very tasty.

Stired Fried Red Basil Leaf with Pork $5.80

 If you love very spicy food. The Stired Fried Red Basil Leaf with Pork is for you. The chilli bits in it had me chocking literally. The spiciness overwhelmed the rest of the flavours. Have your drink on standby! 

Fried Sweet Potato Leaf (Spicy) $4.50

Fried with chilli and garlic. The Fried Sweet Potato Leaf was an average dish. This time, the taste of the spices was not overwhelming. 

Overall, despite the wait time, the food is too good to forgo. After all these visits, the must try items are Thai Pandan Chicken, Phad Thai, Pineapple Fired Rice. If your stomach has space for more food, order Tom Yum Soup and Fried Butter Calamari. Ah Loy Thai is certainty a must try, its Thai food taste great! But do come early if you are planning a dinner as Ah Loy Thai closes at 815pm on weekdays and 715 on weekends.
(I saw several tables having a similar fish dish. Any idea what is their signature fish dish?)

After your meal, you can hop over to Tom’s Palette just opposite Ah Loy Thai for ice cream.

Ah Loy Thai (Shaw Towers)
100 Beach Road
#01-39/40
Tel: 91651543
Opening Hours: Mon – Fri, 12pm to 8:15pm
                          Sat: 1pm to 7:15pm
                          Closed on Sundays

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