Mata Thai (Bishan) 2nd Post

Mata Thai is a Thai restaurant located at Bishan Street 11 near Bishan MRT station. This is my second post on Mata Thai. My first post can be found here. 

Signature Curry Fish Head Promotion

Mata Thai have been constantly having this promotion selling their Curry Fish Head at $10 instead of $18.

Signature Curry Fish Head $10

The Signature Curry Fish Head which every table has. It was served in a claypot, consisting of half a fish head cooked in curry. The fish was fresh and the curry was flavourful and robust. In terms of spiciness, it was just nice and complement perfectly with plain rice. At $10, its quite value for money.

Omelette $6

The omelette was well executed; fluffy, soft and delicious. 

Roasted Chicken $12

Roasted Chicken $12

The Thai Style Roasted Chicken was also well executed. It was crispy on the outside and tasty. The only downside was that it was a tad too dry on the inside. At $12, it was value for money as half a chicken was served. Much better compared to the Pandan Chicken

Thai Style Fried Baby Kai Lan $6

As for the Fried Baby Kai Lan, it was decent. Lightly flavoured and still crunchy.

Overall, an affordable and value for money meal.

Mata Thai (Bishan) 

Blk 508 Bishan Street 11 #01-390

Tel: 9276 2629

Opening Hours: 11am to 1030pm

Location

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Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant 北腾泰国小食 (Yishun)

Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant 北腾泰国小食 located at Yishun Avenue 5 has been operating for quite a long time. The restaurant specialises in serving Thai cuisine. I used to patronise the restaurant frequently a long time ago (7 years ago), however after that I stopped going there as it started getting ridiculously crowded. Back then the restaurant used to be called 'Bei Sheng Lou'

The restaurant has both indoors and outdoors seating. Indoor is air-conditioned and frequently packed. Outdoor is quite well-ventilated and easier to get seats. 

This post will be a consolidation of pictures and reviews from several visits.

Menu Cover Page

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant's menu (excluded the drinks menu).

The indoor environment.

Outdoor environment.

Once you have ordered, normally, you do not need to wait too long even though there is a full house. They serve the dishes very fast!

Pineapple Fried Rice

A better closed up from a recent trip

The Pineapple Fried Rice was delicious. Very well fried; fragrance of pineapple was evenly mixed in the rice. Moreover, there chinese sausage was added to enhanced the taste of the dish. It was topped with pork floss that added flavour and also a crunchy twist to the dish.

Fried Tang Hoon

Give the Fried Tang Hoon a skip, not worth ordering.

Deep Fried Cuttlefish 

Deep Fried Cuttlefish was average, nothing great about it. But kudos to them that this dish arrived piping hot, was crispy and not greasy.

Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight

The Thai Deep Fried Fish Delight is a dish that I order every time I visit Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant. The fish was deep fried till it was very crispy yet not oily. Dipping it into the sour and spicy sauce heightens the oomph of this dish to  a whole new level. A dish that I would recommend!

Chicken with Dried Chilli

The Chicken with Dried Chilli was another dish that I did not like, did not suit my taste bud.

Fried Chilli Beancurd

The Fried Chilli Beancurd was a dish recommended to us by the staff. It was disappointing, I did not like this dish one bit. The different flavours of the ingredients did not get infused together. It was as if each ingredient was cooked separately and then added on the hot plate just before serving.

Baby Kai Lan  with Oyster Sauce

The Baby Kai Lan with Oyster Sauce was very well cooked and still crunchy. The only downside is that it was slightly on the salty end.

Vegetable with Abalone Mushroom

The Vegetable with Abalone Mushroom was well cooked too. This dish suits my palate (most likely due to the abalone mushroom added).

Sambal Kang Kong

The Sambal Kang Kong was great. Well fried, retained the crunchiness of the vegetable. The sambal chilli used in it was irresistible.

Tom Yum Soup

Most Thai restaurants are well-known for their Tom Yum Soup. But in this case I would beg to differ. The Tom Yum Soup was lousy. It was sour and salty, not spicy. Give this a skip.

Lime Juice

Refreshing Lime Juice.

Overall, Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant has a mixture of hits and misses. It is very affordable (wallet-friendly) and one of the cheapest Thai restaurant around. Order the right dishes, you will find this very value for money and a great meal.

I do believe it is because of its very affordable price, that is why they are able to pull in such a big crowd. If you live nearby, give this place a try (my guess is you would have probably heard of this place if you stay nearby). 

Ps: When the bill comes do, not be surprised if the person collecting the money tell you (in chinese) 'the meal cost $31, $30 will be sufficient.' This happens quite frequently. Regulars will know what I meant. Whatever, the intend of this is, from a customer perspective, this is a nice gesture.

Bei Sheng Seafood Restaurant 北腾泰国小食 (Yishun)
Blk 701A Yishun Avenue 5 #01-01
Singapore 761701
Tel: 6756 4883
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 2pm, 530pm to 10pm
Location

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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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San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 with over 30 years of experience first started out in a small hawker stall  before relocating to where they are now at Taman Pelangi. The current location is around 15 minutes journey from City Square / Causeway and will cost less than RM10 (make sure you request for the metre to be activated when you board the cab). It can difficult locating this restaurant as it is sited at a private residential area. 

Besides serving fresh seafood, San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 is also well known for their  signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon. Alight and when you see the place above.

Even on a weekday evening, there were several Singapore plated cars parked on the sides of the restaurant. 

Big, wide and spacious open concept kitchen that allow customers to have fully visibility of the chefs and the ability to cope with the orders when there is a full house. As you may notice, it was not crowded on a weekday. However, I have heard that on weekend nights, this place is likely to be a full house with a mixture of Singaporeans and locals.

Menu

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Menu (c)

Selected portion of the menu.

Chinese Tea 

San Low Fried Bee Hoon RM12 (L)

When the signature San Low Fried Bee Hoon (rice vermicelli) was served, my first thought was that it look so ordinary. It was another case of 'never to judge a book by its cover'. It was fried with prawns, vegetables (chye sim), egg, fish cake and chicken meat. The bee hoon was infused in seafood broth and fried to perfection. It was charred and crisp on the outside, yet moist on the inside. Furthermore, it was not oily. An unique dish that was incredibly delicious despite the simplicity of the ingredients! A must try. 

The San Low Fried Bee Hoon most essential step towards the end of the cooking process is to press-fry the bee hoon under high heat to get this end result. This dish is so appealing that many other restaurants in Johor Bahru has copied the cooking method and serve this dish.

I did not know that there are so many methods of cooking delish bee hoon! Another bee hoon dish that has impressed  me is the one by Sembawang White Bee Hoon (in Singapore).

Hong Kong Kai Lan RM12 (S)

Stirred fried Hong Kong Kai Lan was ordinary. It was well fried and the vegetables still retained the crunchiness. However, it was on the salty end. 

Chilli Crab RM98

We also ordered, two Chilli Crabs weighing close to 1kg. San Low Seafood Restaurant serves a mean plate of Singapore-Style Chilli Crab that will put some of our Singapore restaurants to shame. 

I was most impressed with the gravy. Robust spicy, sweet eggy gravy with the right amount of starch (to thicken the sauce). The spiciness and sweetness were perfect for me with the spiciness kicking in towards the end. Slices of onions were add and cooked along in it too (probably to enhance the sweetness). Moreover, the crabs were fresh and meaty. The meat easily pulled out from its shell was sweet, juicy and tender. Furthermore, the meat had absorbed the wonderful gravy. It was a delight savouring this dish! 

Man Tou RM2

The Man Tou (Buns) to complement the chilli crab gravy. Heavenly, yummy.

My day trip to JB certainly did not disappoint! Cheap, good and fresh seafood again. The two must order dishes here are the  San Low Fried Bee Hoon and Chilli Crabs. No wonder Singaporeans keep visiting JB for seafood haunts. 

San Low Seafood Restaurant 三楼海鲜园 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Jalan Biru off Jalan Merah, Taman Pelangi

80400 Johor Bahru

Tel: 07 332 3869 / 07 334 3623

Opening Hours: Daily 430pm to 1am

Website

Facebook

Location

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Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Singaporeans always love going across the causeway check point into Johor Bahru (JB) for food and shopping due to the favourable exchange rate. I am no exception. It has been ages since I last stepped into JB for food (due to safety issues and heavy traffic along the causeway). This time round, I made my trip on a weekday (Monday) to check out the food!

Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant located in Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre is a popular seafood haunt which many Singaporeans patronise. It is fairly easy to come to this place from the Causeway / City Square as it is nearby. The easiest way is to just take a cab down (you just need to say Taman Sri Tebrau). It is a 10 minutes journey and will cost around RM7 (Request for the metre to be activated before boarding cab.)

We arrived at 1110am. Although the restaurant opens at 11am, we were the first customer! It was practically empty except for a few staff. We were told the chef was late (probably Monday Blues haha =P). We walked around for 10 minutes before heading back. Luckily by the time we went back, the Chef came in.

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant's menu.

Sugar Cane (small) 

I will give the Sugar Cane a skip the next time I am there. It was diluted and tasted weird.

As we were the only one, we were served within 10 minutes upon ordering. 

Hot Plate Beancurd RM10

The Hot Plate Beancurd was served pipping hot with mixture of ingredients such as mushrooms, carrots, minced meat, egg and tofu on top (Be careful not to touch the hot metal plate). The different flavours of the ingredients were well mixed and cook as the different flavours were infused together. Moreover, had fully absorbed the sauce which was so tasty. This dish paired off very well with plain rice. In fact, the combination of the sauce with plain rice was heavenly.

Fried Dou Miao RM10

The Fried Dou Miao was fried with garlic. Such a well fried dish that fully brought out the flavour of the garlic. Simple yet so delicious.  

Bitter Gourd Salted Egg RM10

Bitter Gourd Salted Egg was yummy. Each slice of bitter gourd was well coated with the salted egg. Moreover, it was not oily. 

Sambal Stingray RM16

The Sambal Stingray was disappointing. The stingray was fresh and cooked perfectly such that it was soft, tender and juicy inside. But I felt that the sambal chilli was the main reason for the let down. There are better ones in Singapore. (Maybe I am too use to the type of sambal chilli in Singapore. Hiang Kee's version was too dry, not as fragrant and spicy)

Butter Crayfish RM56

The star of the day meal: 10 (half) pieces of Butter Crayfish. 

Butter Crayfish

The control of the wok and fire was shown here. The Butter Crayfish was well executed! Big, meaty and succulent flesh that was so fresh that it was easily pulled out from it's shell. Despite it being fried, the meat was still juicy inside and the timing was grasped perfectly. In addition, the buttery fritters (crumbs) fried with curry leaves were so fragrant and addictive. Reminds me of the Butter Crab from Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood. The good news is that it was not oily (thanks to the chef's control of the wok and fire).

The Butter Crayfish is a must order. Other recommended dishes will be the Hot Plate Beancurd, Bitter Gourd Salted Egg and Fried Dou Miao (surprised? Well, it was really very well fried in my opinion). Moreover, where else in Singapore can you get such fresh seafood at this price. Overall, a very good experience, if I have more time to spare, I will certainly want to come back again.

The down side is that you are advised to savour your food fast, before the houseflies zoom into on your food. 

After your meal, there are several options you can take.
1) Walk out to the main road to take a cab to City Square or anywhere else.
2) Walk to Taman Sentosa and savour the famous Paper Wrapped Chicken from Teck Sing. And also Plaza Sentosa Shopping Centre for shopping.
3) Walk to KSL Shopping Centre for shopping or catch a movie.

PS: From Singapore to JB, the cheapest and fastest way to get to the checkpoint is to go to Kranji MRT Station and take bus no. 160 or 170. The bus goes directly to the Causeway Checkpoint, a ten minutes bus ride.

Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Jalan Keris, Taman Sri Tebrau (Hawker Centre)

80500 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Tel: 012 798 9303

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 3am
Location

Location

A - Location of Hiang Kee Seafood Restaurant (Taman Sri Tebrau Hawker Centre)
B - Location of KSL Shopping Centre
C - Location of Plaza Sentosa Shopping Centre
D - Location of Teck Sing Restaurant

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