Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 (Yishun) 2nd Post

Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.50

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 is popular stall located at a coffeeshop called Choh Dee Place in Yishun; along Yishun Street 21. The expected waiting time is at least 30 to 45 minutes on a weekend morning.

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou's popularity is due to its Koka Instant Noodles dishes which is available with pork / chicken / seafood and/or tom yam flavour. They also offer other variety of dishes such as crispy noodles, mee sua, ee mian and porridge, but these are not as popular.

Menu

The prices of the dishes (menu) are listed in Chinese on the left of the stall.

Seafood Koka Noodles $5.50

This is the Seafood Koka Noodles which cost $5.50. It was pretty pricely for instant noodles that sold at a coffee shop. If you add an egg, it would cost an additional $0.50. It was served with a variety of seafood such as cuttlefish, sliced fish and prawns, and vegetables.

The addition of the prawns added a bright vibrant colour to this dish. There were a total of 3 prawns. They were big and fresh, and enhanced the taste and sweetness to the soup. As for the fish, it was just average while the cuttlefish added texture to the dish. The Koka Noodles was cooked just right; not too soft and not too hard, and the noodles was springy. Overall, this was a very decent dish. It is worth indulging in this every now and then despite the price.

Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.50

This is the Pork Koka Noodles with Egg $3.50. It consisted of vegetables, sliced lean pork meat, minced meat and an egg. The soup was not as tasty or sweet compared to the seafood version. Nevertheless, it was quite a decent dish considering that the main ingredient is instant noodles.

Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg 

This is the Tom Yam Pork Koka Noodles with Egg, another popular item judging from the number of people eating this dish at the coffee shop.It also consisted of vegetables, sliced lean pork meat, minced meat and an egg. The Koka Noodles was cooked just right. As for the Tom Yam soup, if it was slightly less spicy, it would have been perfect. This would be quite a good comforting dish for a rainy day.

If you are a fan of Instant Noodles, you should give this a try. Instant Noodles has never tasted so delicious! While its possible to cook a similar dish at home, you would need some effort (e.g buying fresh ingredients from the wet market, boiling the broth with chicken/pork bones for hours). 

Hai Xian Zhu Zhou 海鲜煮粥 (Yishun)
#01-472 Choh Dee Place
Blk 233 Yishun Street 21
Singapore 760233

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Kim Dae Mun Korean Food (Concorde Hotel)

Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food is located in Concorde Hotel; previously known as Le Meridien Hotel. If you are wondering where is Concord Hotel, it is located along the Orchard Shopping Belt, in between Dhoby Ghuat (Plaza Singapura) and Somerset (Orchard Plaza) MRT stations.

Menu

As it's name suggest, Kim Dae Mun Korean Food specialises in serving Korean cuisine. They order quite an extensive variety of dishes ranging from soup, meat, rice, ramen and side dishes. In a short time span of 4 years, the eatery has shifted located 3 times times; from the food court at level 1 to level 2 and then back to another standalone bigger unit at level. I doubt they will move further as the sitting capacity that they have now is huge!

The kitchen and counter is manned by Koreans. This is the Ahjumma who always takes the order at the counter. After taking the order, she would always relay the order to the kitchen through a mike.

Although there is always a queue, they are perfectly trained to handle the crowd. They moved with clock work precision. I waited just 10 minutes and the food was ready. Upon collection of the food, customers could choose between kimchi, anchovies or cucumbers as sides.

Spicy Beef Soup Set $8

The Spicy Soup Set is one of their most highly raved dish online. This time round I ordered the version that comes with beef; Spicy Beef Soup Set $8. The set consisted of a big bowl of spicy beef soup served with a bowl of rice and a side dish.I chose anchovies.

Spicy Beef Soup $8

The Spicy Beef Soup Set was filled with generous amounts of ingredients such as slices of beef, beancurd, vegetable, Korean (thick) vermicilli, spring onion, egg and onions. The soup was spicy and tasty - not salty (I doubt MSG was added). The combination of soup with rice was perfect. In terms of the price, it was reasonable considering the quantity and taste of the food.

Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8

The Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8 was served in traditional stone bowl.

Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8

This is the Korean's version of mixed rice, that comes with a variety of vegetables, an egg, rice, meat (in this case I had beef) and the hot chili pepper paste (also know as gochujang).

Bibimbap 비빔밥 $8

Give it a good mix to ensure that each grain of rice is well coated with  the hot chili pepper paste. With each mouthful, you would be able to to experience different texture and taste due to the assortment of vegetables (some are crunchy whereas some are soft).

Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50

This is the Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50. It comes in two versions, with or without the spiciness.

Spicy Beancurd Soup (Soondubu Jjigae) 순두부찌개 $7.50

Personally, I thought that the taste was just average. It was spicy but lacked flavour.

Tender Sliced Beef $10

The Tender Sliced Beef $10 is their most expensive item on the menu. This dish is also highly raved about.

Tender Sliced Beef $10

The beef was well marinated and tasty. However, certain pieces were hard and tough. At $10, I thought that the price is on the higher end (i.e. not so value for money).

Did you know that their hotplates items are cooked with water instead of oil? Yes, you heard me right!

I will certainly be back at Kim Dae Mun Korean Food to try out other dishes. I have been wanting to try their ramen. Their food is quite the tasty and authentic. Moreover, it is now no longer tough to find seats!

Kim Dae Mun Korean Food (Concorde Hotel) 

100 Orchard Road #01-03D

Concorde Hotel And Shopping Mall 

Singapore 238840 

Tel: 9112 5910

Opening Hours: 11am to 8.30pm

                           Closed on Mon

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Teck Sing Restaurant 德星茶餐室 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru) 2nd post

Curry Prawn in Indonesia Style 印尼虾 RM 30

Teck Sing Restaurant 德星茶餐室 is a well known Chinese restaurant offering delicious food at affordable prices. It has several signature dishes, it's most famous signature dish is the Teck Sing Paper Wrapped Chicken.

Teck Sing competitor is just next door (at the left of the restaurant) called Bamboo Restaurant which also specialises in serving paper wrapped chicken. Years ago, Bamboo Restaurant's version was more popular. However over the years, the standard has dropped. Currently, Teck Sing's paper wrapped chicken is more popular among the locals and Singaporeans. 

Paper Wrapped Chicken 德星药材纸包鸡  RM 26

Teck Sing's signature Paper Wrapped Chicken 德星药材纸包鸡 aka Yao Cai Ji now cost RM 26. It used to cost just RM18 four years ago! The eatery uses kampung chicken which is wrapped in  a few pieces of thick superior paper and baked for several hours with various Chinese herbs. The chicken was incredibly fresh, soft, tender and juicy. It was so fork tender; the flesh fell part from the bones easily. So delicious and delectable! One of the best Yao Cai Ji I have ever had. A must order!

Kang Kong with Sambal Chilli RM10

The Kang Kong with Sambal Chilli  RM10 was very well executed. It was well-cooked and the Kang Kong was still crunchy. The Kang Kong with Sambal Chilli strangely was more sweet than spicy with the fragrance of garlic and shrimp. Despite that, this dish was so savoury and delicious that we polish it off within minutes. This is a common dish that is available at most eateries and yet Teck Sing has proven that their cooking technique is still one of the best.

Curry Prawn in Indonesia Style 印尼虾 RM 30

Another dish that we tried was the Curry Prawn in Indonesia Style 印尼虾 RM 30. Cooked in a claypot, it arrived pipping hot with several huge prawns in curry broth! The prawns were fresh as they were easy to deshell. Moreover, the meat was firm, succulent and sweet. The curry broth was spicy, fragrant and milky. It is best accompanied with plain rice! 

Teck Sing Restaurant 德星茶餐室 (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

1 Jalan Sutera Satu, Taman Sentosa

80150 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Tel: 07 334 7025

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 10pm

Website

Location

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Ah Hua Kway Teow 亚华粿條(Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Kway Teow RM16

Ah Hua Kway Teow 亚华粿條 is a Teochew kway teow soup eatery located 10 minutes walk from the causeway. In fact, it is near Hua Mui Coffee Shop and Hiap Joo Bakery. 

You can find Ah Hua Kway Teow 亚华粿條, by looking out for the big signage "Restoran Sekee". It is essentially the only stall operating in this coffeeshop/restoran.

Inside, there is a big seating capacity which can easily fit in 40 customers. When I visited on a Tuesday morning at 10 am, it was not crowded. There was less than 10 customers.  

There was just 2 person manning the stall. The lady took the orders, prepare the ingredients and cook them. Once the food was ready, a man would then deliver it to the table and collect the money. 

What caught our attention was this. The broth and ingredients were cooked over the charcoal stove! Wow, I really wonder how she manage and control the heat!

In terms of product offerings, it is simple. Just 2 sizes (i.e. small bowl for RM8 and big bowl for RM16). Of course you can choose the type of noodles and whether it should be dry or wet version etc.

Kway Teow RM16

Since I rarely visit Johor Bahru these days, I went for the RM16 (big) soup version. For the RM16 version, customers can choose for more ingredients or oysters. I chose more ingredients. 

When the bowl of kway teow arrived, I was surprised... because of the food presentation. The ingredients were were presented neatly. Noodles and meat slices were underneath. Liver slices were placed at one sie while kidney slices were on the other side. It was even topped with a piece of seaweed, that was placed at the top of the pile of kidney. 

Kway Teow RM16

The Kway Teow RM16 was served with lots of kidney and liver slices, lean meat, minced meat, kway teow (noodles), pork lard, shallotand topped with seaweed. She was really very generous with the ingredients. There was more than 6 thick slices of kidney!

The kidney tasted difference from those that I had before. There was no yucky after taste and it was jelly like. Normally, when you cooked kidney soup, the flavour would overwhelm any other flavour in the broth. But for this version, it did not happen. Having said this, I must say that the broth was disappointing. Although it was cooked in pork bone over a charcoal stove, it was quite bland tasting, with just a mild-sweet flavour. Also, I had expected a smokey fragrance as it was cooked over a charcoal stove.. but that was clearly missing. I guess I had my expectations too high.

I noticed that most people ordered the dry version which comes with lots of orangey sauce. Maybe I should have ordered the dry version instead! (anyone ate that before?)

Ah Hua Kway Teow 亚华粿條(Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

Restoran Sekee 司機

30, Jalan Segget, Johor Baru Town

80000 Johor Bahru

Opening Hours: Sun to Thu 8 am - 2.30pm

                         Closed on Fri and Sat, and alternate Thu

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Parklane Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Bras Basah Complex)

Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles $4.30

Bras Basah Complex is a place frequent by art students from nearby art schools as it houses old-school bookstores and a full range of printing shops with different services. At a corner of the complex at level 1, it is home to Coffee Express 2000 Food Court. 

There is hidden gem within this food court and that is the stall selling minced meat noodles - Parklane Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle. If you frequent this food court, you will notice that this is one of the stalls with the longest queue. This stall used to be located at Paradiz Centre (now renamed as POMO) which is 10 minutes walk away. Judging from the queue, their loyal customers might have followed them to Bras Basah Complex.

Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles $4.30

For $4.30, the Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodles came with noodles, minced pork, slices of fish cake, beans sprouts, lettuce, a fishball, two meatballs, a Teochew dumpling and pork lard. Taste wise, this was decent and in fact taste better than other bak chor mee stall. The addition of vinegar was a plus point for me. Also, the dumpling was flavourful. At $4.30, this bowl of noodles was relatively value for money.

Parklane Teochew Mushroom Minced Meat Noodle (Bras Basah Complex)

Coffee Express 2000 Food Court 

Blk 231 Bain Street 

#01-79 Bras Basah Complex 

Singapore 180231

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Cheng Heng Kway Chap and Braised Duck Rice 進興粿汁.鹵鴨飯 (Holland Drive Market & Food Centre)

Cheng Heng Kway Chap and Braised Duck Rice 進興粿汁.鹵鴨飯 is a kway chap stall located in Holland Drive Market & Food Centre. Although this food centre (hawker centre) is relatively big, ironically this stall is located right next to another kway chap stall; Blanco Court Kueh Chap.

To be frank, I was not sure which stall was better. Like a typical Singaporean, I went for the one with a longer queue! 

The stall was manned by two ladies. Since I already ate fishball noodles 15 minutes earlier, I decided to just order the Kway Chap set which cost $3.50 without adding other ingredients.

The bowl of kway (flat and broad rice sheet) was soft and smooth. What caught my attend was the broth in which the kway was soaked in. The broth was tasty with a hint of herbal after-taste. Moreover, it was not overly salty.

As for the plate of mixed intestines, the pork belly, intestines and salted vegetables were above average. Particularly, the pork belly had a good ratio of fat to lean meat with a melt in the mouth sensation.

Overall, the kway chap at this stall is one of the better ones around. While it may not be the very best, it hit the right notes for several of their ingredients/items.

Cheng Heng Kway Chap and Braised Duck Rice 進興粿汁.鹵鴨飯 (Holland Drive Market & Food Centre)

Holland Drive Food Centre 

Blk 44 Holland Drive #02-05 

Singapore 270044

Opening Hours: Daily 7.30am to 2.30pm

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The Landing Point Afternoon High Tea Buffet (The Fullerton Bay Hotel)

The last time we had the afternoon high tea at Landing Point was 3 years ago. We wanted to visit more often but as we were busy, we had to space out and plan our foodie journey. So finally, we made a trip down to Landing Point! The setting and ambiance was still the same as before.

The Afternoon High Tea Buffet is available daily from 3pm to 5.30pm and cost $45++ per person. Interestingly, the price has decreased compared to $49 in 2013. Well, this is the first I have heard of. It is more common to hear about inflation. Kudos to Landing Point! In terms of food menu, there are slight changes such as the replacement of Lobster Tarts (my favourite) with Boston Lobster Cornet. Also, there are more than 20 varieties of TWG Tea to enjoy while indulging in the high tea and enjoying the beautiful view of Marina Bay.

Scones with clotted cream and berry jam

We started off with the Scones with clotted cream and berry jam. There have two type of scones available; plain or raisins scones.

Tada! The three-tiered high tea set which is refillable.

Cucumber Sandwich with Ikura Roe, Duck Confit Roulade in Sesame Bun, Boston Lobster Cornet, Smoked Salmon Mille Feuille with Caviar

I still remember that Lobster Tart was one of my favourites. I was disappointed that it was replaced with Boston Lobster Cornet as it was salty and had a fishy after taste.

My favourites this time was the Duck Confit Roulade in Sesame Bun, Smoked Salmon Mille Feuille with Caviar, Truffle Egg Mayo on Baguette and the scones!

The Food and Beverage (Tea & Coffee) menus for this high tea is appended below.

Menu

Beverage (Tea & Coffee) Menu

Overall, I am still a fan of The Landing Point Afternoon High Tea Buffet. Great place to chill and unwind. Moreover, you get to try so many variety of tea and finger food.

The Landing Point Afternoon High Tea Buffet (The Fullerton Bay Hotel)
The Fullerton Bay Hotel 
80 Collyer Quay 
Tel: 6597 5277 
Opening Hours: Daily 7am to 1am (note: afternoon tea is available from 3pm to 530pm only)

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By Grace, Trus (Malaysia, Johor Bahru) (Closed)

*Closed*

Osmanthus Charcoal Earl Grey Soft Serve RM18.90

By Grace, Trus is a soft serve cafe located along Jalan Trus, 15 minutes away from the causeway. In fact, it is located less than 1 minute walk from the famous Hiap Joo Bakery and Biscuit Factory 协裕面包西果厂.

We visited the cafe at 12 noon sharp when it just opened and was the their first customers.

Menu

They specialise in serving only charcoal earl grey soft serve.

Osmanthus Charcoal Earl Grey Soft Serve RM18.90

We were told that their signature is the Osmanthus Charcoal Earl Grey Soft Serve RM18.90. It was one the most interesting and contrasting dessert I had. The unique ingredients includes wolfberries, muffin, charcoal early grey soft serve ice cream, osmanthus, rice crispies pop and osmanthus jelly and foam. It was quite an innovative dessert. But I would just prefer the plain charcoal early grey soft serve. 

By Grace, Trus (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

9, Jalan Trus

80000 Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Tel: +60 17 740 1733

Opening Hours: Daily 12 pm to 10 pm

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