Shang Pin Hot Pot 尚品火锅 (Rendezvous Gallery)

Tomato Soup and Mushroom Soup $12

I am sure most of us have heard of Hai Di Lao 海底捞火锅, the popular steamboat chain from China which has opened a few outlets in Singapore. But have you heard of Shang Pin Hot Pot 尚品火锅? I have heard from several groups of friends that the food at Shang Pin Hot Pot is as good as Hai Di Lao and its price is cheaper.

The steamboat restaurant is located at level two of Rendezvous Gallery next to Rendezvous Hotel. Given its location, I would have never known that there's such a place if not for word of mouth. This restaurant is located 5 minutes walk away from Dhoby Ghuat MRT station. If you are lazy to walk, you can take the Circle Line and alight at Bras Basah MRT station. The restaurant is located just 1 minute walk away from this station.

Condiments - Sauces and Fruits

There is a wide selection of sauces and fruits available for $3 per person. The sauces range from sesame, soya, peanut, leek flower, chilli, fermented bean paste, beef, mushroom to seafood. There are also sugar, salt, peanuts etc. Such a wide variety!

We chose the multi-flavour soup base consisting of of Mushroom Soup and Tomato Soup for $12. Personally, I like the Tomato Soup as it was well balanced in terms of sweetness and sourness. However, the tangy taste overwhelmed the sweetness towards the end of the meal. As for the Mushroom Soup, we found it on the salty side at the start. Towards the end of the meal, the it tasted more pleasant, complementing the Tomato Soup.

We also ordered the free flow drinks at $2 per person. The homemade barley was real thick and good. Totally justify the price tag.

Pork Slices $8, Shang Pin Beef $14

We ordered the Pork Slices and Shang Pin Beef for $8 and $14 respectively. The quality of meat was good and they were sliced thinly making them easy to cook via shabu shabu style.

Dumplings $5

Although the Dumplings $5 consisted of just chives and meat, it was surprisingly delicious!

Baby Cabbage $4, Fresh Tofu $4, Mushroom Platter $14

These were the other dishes (i.e. Baby Cabbage $4, Fresh Tofu $4, Mushroom Platter $14) we ordered.

We also ordered the Shang Pin Kongfu Noodle $3 which we waited a very long time for ... more than half an hour. It was essentially a flatter version of ban mian and more expensive considering the portion. The two of us had just 4-5 short strands of noodles each. If you come in a big group, be prepared to eat just 1 to 2 strands. I would advise that you cook the noodles for a long period of time for it to become soft. The texture of the noodles was surprisingly smooth and slippery. In terms of taste, it was like the good old days when qui lian ban mian noodles taste awesome! 

For the record, I have visited Shang Pin Hot Pot twice. The first was during dinner on a Friday. The restaurant was fully booked. Thankfully, we made reservations. The second visit was during lunch on a weekday. During lunch time, the restaurant was not full. But in terms of service, it was way better at night when they had full staff strength. The post content and photos are all based on the second visit. 

As for the question whether Shang Pin Hot Pot 尚品火锅  or Hai Di Lao 海底捞火锅 is better? Well, I am in no position to compare as I have not tried Hai Di Lao before. So far, I like the food at Shang Pin Hot Pot =)

Shang Pin Hot Pot 尚品火锅 (Rendezvous Gallery)

9 Bras Basah Road

#02-02 Rendezvous Gallery 

Singapore 189559

Tel: +65 6238 7666

Opening Hours: Daily 12 pm to 12 am

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Dolce Tokyo by MOF: 1 For 1 Main Course Promotion (till 31 Jul 2016)

Source: Dolce Tokyo Facebook

Dolce Tokyo by MOF: 1 For 1 Main Course Promotion (till 31 Jul 2016)

- Valid daily till 31 Jul (Except eve of PH and PH)
- Valid from 3pm to closing
- Valid at 313 Somerset

Blanco Court Food Centre(3rd Storey) Kway Chap 多丽哥粿汁 (Old Airport Road Food Centre)

Blanco Court Food Centre(3rd Storey) Kway Chap 多丽哥粿汁 located at Old Airport Road Food Centre is a well-known Kway Chap stall. There is always a queue at this stall.

I visited at around 230 pm on a weekday and yet there was a queue of around 8 persons.

This is the menu.

The kway was surprisingly decent and hits all the right notes in terms of taste and texture. The kway (flat and broad rice sheet) was soft and smooth.

I requested for braised lean meat, pig intestine (small and big) and eggs. I dare say that this is one of the best kway chap stalls I have had! There was no unpleasant smell in the braised pig intestine (big and small) which were washed clean. Also, I like how they gave the part where the lean meat comes with soft bones as this part is normally more tender. Furthermore, the braised sauce (dark sauce) was tasty and not salty. 

Blanco Court Food Centre(3rd Storey) Kway Chap 多丽哥粿汁 (Old Airport Road Food Centre)

#01-35 Old Airport Road Food Centre 

Blk 51 Old Airport Road 

Singapore 390051

Opening Hours: Wed to Sun 11.30 am - 3.30pm

                          Closed: Mondays & Tuesdays

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Top 1 Home Made Noodle 一级棒好吃面粉粿 (Beauty World Centre)

You Mian with Meat Balls and Egg

This is a stall; Top 1 Home Made Noodle 一级棒好吃面粉粿 that I have been wanting to visit. But because it is out of the way, I have procrastinated until now. Thanks to the government efforts for a “Car-Lite Singapore”, we now have Downtown Line 2 which has a station located next to Beauty World Centre. So convenient! Located at the 4th level of Beauty World Centre is an open air food centre; Beauty World Centre Food Centre.

Top 1 Home Made Noodle 一级棒好吃面粉粿 has been highly raved about and is (known) as one of the must try at Beauty World Centre Food Centre.

As the name of the stall suggests, it specialises in a variety of hand made noodles. Customers can also choose the cooking style and main ingredient. The different varieties are displayed (as shown on the above photo).

You Mian with Meat Balls and Egg

I ordered the You Mian with Meat Balls and Egg. I heard about how long the waiting time could be; 1 hour. But I did not encounter such a waiting time. In fact, the stall owners were free and they cooked my food immediately. I visited on a weekday during lunch hour at 12.30 pm.

The You Mian with Meat Balls and Egg was served with 3 slices of mushroom, 2 meat balls, 1 stalk of green vegetables and topped with ikan bilis and shallots. The portion/serving of ingredients was quite pathetic. Taste wise, it was an ordinary bowl of hand made noodles which was similar to those that you can get commonly elsewhere. The main difference was the bowl of soup which was flavourful, rich and with a hint of sweetness. I polished off the soup and still felt hungry.

I don't think that this is worth queuing 1 hour for. Nevertheless, as I am a great fan of handmade noodles, I would like to try the dry version if I do come back one day.

Top 1 Home Made Noodle 一级棒好吃面粉粿 (Beauty World Centre)

144 Upper Bukit Timah Rd #04-44
Singapore 588177
Tel: 8448 8450
Opening Hour: Thu to Mon 9am - 830pm
                         Closed on Tue and Wed

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Sweet Monster Singapore: Buy 1 Get 1 Free (till 3 Jun 2016)

Source: Sweet Monster Singapore

Sweet Monster Singapore: Buy 1 Get 1 Free (till 3 Jun 2016)

- Valid till 3 Jun 2016
- Limited to one redemption per customer
- To redeem, show this image and like Sweet Monster Singapore Facebook Page
- Applicable for Monster Ice Cream and Monster Popcorn

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun Restaurant 荷兰村XO鱼头米粉酒楼 (Dover)

XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun Restaurant 荷兰村XO鱼头米粉酒楼  is a zi char stall located in a coffeeshop in Dover Crescent popular for their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon.

This stall is also well-known for their customer service which is terrible. Despite that, they still attract customers from all over the island. It is a testimony of how good their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon is.

This reminds me of some Hong Kong cha chaan teng where the more the service attitude is terrible, the better the food tastes.

The zi char stall sells a variety of food. You will need to ask for their menu. As you can see from the signage, the prices of their most popular item is clearly displayed. This reduces the number of requests for the menu as many people are here for just the XO Fish Head/Meat Bee Hoon.

For myself, I made a special trip down to specially their XO Fish Head Bee Hoon.

XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7

I ordered the smallest version of the XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7. It would have cost me $1 lesser if I had ordered the fish meat version. But I am one of those who loves fish head. It is in fact the real deal. If you are also a foodie, you will probably agree that fish head is better than fish meat.

XO Fish Head Bee Hoon XO鱼头米粉 $7

The XO Fish Head Bee Hoon was delicious! The soup which was cloudy, was tasty, creamy and intense XO taste. Surprisingly, I liked the soup and drank most of it. Not bad for someone who does not fancy liquor. Slices of ginger was added to balanced out the flavours and get rid of any unpleasant fishy smell. They were so generous as there was so many chunks of fried fish head in the bowl. They had given nearly the whole fish head (lips, grills, eyes, etc). Moreover, the fish head was so fresh.

Now I understand why the XO Fish Head Bee Hoon has been so highly raved about. In my opinion it is a real hearty bowl of XO Fish Head and value for money.

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hun Restaurant 荷兰村XO鱼头米粉酒楼 (Dover)

Blk 19A Dover Crescent, #01-05

Singapore 131019 

Tel: +65 6778 3691

Opening Hours: Mon to Sun 1130 am - 2pm, 5pm - 11pm

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Kok Sen Restaurant 国成餐室 (Keong Saik Road)

Big Prawn Bee Hoon Soup

Kok Sen Restaurant 国成餐室 is a popular cantonese zi char eatery located at Keong Saik Road. It is around 10 minutes walk away from Outram MRT station. Despite not being air-conditioned, the eatery is nearly always full during lunch and dinner time. Over the years, the eatery has garnered quite a following and is known as one of the best cantonese eatery in Singapore.

Big Prawn Bee Hoon Soup

The Big Prawn Bee Hoon Soup is one of their signature dish. It consists of thick bee hoon, kai lan and large prawns in soup, topped with fried onions (shallots). The large and meaty prawns were sliced in half making it easy to extract the meat. The soup broth was just so robust and tasty! It was red, slightly spicy and full of shrimp flavour. It was so tasty that we drank nearly all the soup! Overall, this dish was delicious! A must try! No wonder one can spot this dish on early every table at the eatery.

Big Prawn Hor Fun

The next signature dish which can also be spotted on nearly every table is the Big Prawn Hor Fun. The dish consists of flat rice vermicelli noodles, kai-lan and large prawns. Similarly, the large prawns were sliced in half. The vermicelli noodles was very well fried with a smokey fragrance and wok hei. The sauce was just out of the world. A bowl of plain rice accompanied with the sauce would suffice! This is a must try too!

Prawn Paste Chicken

The Prawn Paste Chicken is another signature dish at Kok Sen. Interestingly, unlike most places where the prawn paste chicken consist of chicken wings, at Kok Sen, other chicken parts were used. The chef controlled the heat well as the chicken was not greasy. While the flavour of the prawn was evident, it thought that as a whole it was on the salty end. 

This is my second time back at Kok Sen Restaurant. Their signature Big Prawn Bee Hoon Soup and  Big Prawn Hor Fun are fantastic! These two dishes are a must try. But do note that you may expect long waiting times at times and not-so-fantastic service. But the food would make up for it. 

Kok Sen Restaurant 国成餐室 (Outram)

30-32 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089137

Tel: +65 6223 2005

Opening Hours: 12pm to 2.30pm; 5pm to 11.30pm

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Shi Xin Western Food 时新西餐 (Tekka Food Centre)

Chicken Chop with Egg $6.20

Shi Xin Western Food 时新西餐 is a western food hawker stall located at Tekka Food Centre.

Menu

As its name suggests, the stall owner serves Western cuisine such as black pepper beef steak, fish and chips, chicken cutlet, chicken chop and pork chop. 15 varieties in total. The stall is manned by just 1 person, a lady. Not an easy feat considering that preparations are required and she has to juggle between receiving goods, taking orders, cooking and collecting payment. Moreover, this is the only western stall in the hawker centre and business can be quite good during meal times. Amazing how 1 person can handle all these. She must be very capable.

Pork Chop $5.50

This is the Pork Chop $5.50. It is served with fries, bake beans, sliced cucumbers and tomato, and a bun.

Pork Chop $5.50

Personally, the sides were decent. The down side was that the main star, which was the pork chop, was too tough.

Chicken Chop with Egg $6.20

On another occasion, I ordered the Chicken Chop $5.50. I added an egg for an additional $0.70. This fared better in terms of taste. The egg was nicely executed with its yolk still runny. The chicken chop was juicy and well marinated! 

I find the price of the western cuisine at this stall very reasonable. Also, all the items come along with a bun. 

Shi Xin Western Food 时新西餐 (Tekka Food Centre)
665 Buffalo Road
#01-307 Tekka Centre
Singapore 210665
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 10pm

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Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow 源记炒粿条 (Ghim Moh Food Centre) 2nd post

Fried Kway Teow $4

Good news! The popular Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow 源记炒粿条 is back! It located at newly renovated Ghim Moh Food Centre.

This stall continues to be one of the most popular stall in the hawker centre. It has the longest queue and I queue nearly an hour during lunch time on Friday. The owner has been frying Kway Teow for 46 years! 

As the stall names suggests, only Fried Kway Teow is available. Depending on the portion you want, it is available at $3, $4, $5. Most people order more than 1 plate / packet since they had queued so long.

Fried Kway Teow $4

I orderd the $4 Fried Kway Teow. It was delicious!! 

The Fried Kway Teow had a semi-wet consistency and each piece of kway teow was well coated with savoury sauce. There were several pieces of cockles added when the dish was nearly ready. The beansprouts provided a crunchy texture in between each mouthful. Chinese sausage (lap Cheong) were added too, it would have been great if more pieces were given. There were several pieces pork lard added in it and it was da bomb! The burst of flavour and fragrance from pork lard made this so addictive!! A must try! 

Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow 源记炒粿条 (Ghim Moh Food Centre)

#01-19 Ghim Moh Road Market and Food Centre

Blk 20 Ghim Moh Road 

Singapore 270020

Opening Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 930am to 230pm 

                         Closed on Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Public Holidays

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Teo's Noodles (Bedok Interchange Food Centre)

Fishball Minced Meat Noodles With Razor Clams $4

Teo's Noodles is a popular traditional Fishball Minced Meat Noodles (aka Bak Chor Mee) stall located at Bedok Interchange Food Centre which is just minutes away from the Bedok MRT station and interchange. 

Teo's Noodles is very popular and I understand that their food can get sold out as early as 12pm on certain days. I visited on a weekday at 9am and was surprised to see a queue (of about 6 persons) at this stall.

Menu

They sell mainly Fishball Minced Meat Noodles with the option to add Razor Clams.

Fishball Minced Meat Noodles With Razor Clams $4

I ordered the Fishball Minced Meat Noodles With Razor Clams $4. I requested for the dry version with chilli and mee pok.

Fishball Minced Meat Noodles With Razor Clams $4

It was served with a bowl of soup that was filled with fishball, meatball, button mushroom, minced meat, and otah fishcakes and normal fishcakes.

The Fishball Minced Meat Noodles With Razor Clams was delicious! The bowl of noodles was well cooked. The mixture of chilli sauce and vinegar complemented the noodles perfectly. In addition, the crispy bits of pork lard was the icing on the cake. The bowl of noodles which contained all the "liao" (i.e fishball, meatball, button mushroom, minced meat, and otah fishcakes and normal fishcakes) was decent. My only complaint is that they could have been more generous with the ingredients especially the minced meat. 

I will certainly patronise this stall again if I visit the hawker centre. 

Teo's Noodles (Bedok Interchange Food Centre)

Blk 207 New Upper Changi Road 

#01-02 Bedok Interchange Food Centre 

Singapore 460207

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 5.30am - 1.30pm 

                         Closed on Sun

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Burger King Singapore: $1 Chick’n Crisp Burger

Source: Burger King Singapore

Burger King Singapore: $1 Chick’n Crisp Burger

- Valid for a limited time only
- Available after breakfast hours
- Limited to 2 purchases per customer
-While stocks last

Gong Cha: Free Gong Cha Drink with FINDAPRO App (till 15 Apr 2016)

Source: Gong Cha Singapore Facebook

Gong Cha: Free Gong Cha Drink (worth $3) with FINDAPRO App (1 to 15 Apr 2016)

- Valid from 1 to 15 April 206 from 11am to 9pm
- Download "FINDAPRO" app and retrieve e-vouhcer
- Valid at Raffles City Shopping Centre, Jurong Point @NTUC, NEX ,Lot One, JEM, VivoCity, Ang Mo Kio Hub, Paragon, Tampines Mall and Orchard Gateway

Tracy Juice Culture (Fortune Centre)

Tracy's Special Udon $6.90

Tracy Juice Culture is a small vegetatrian eatery located at the first level of Fortune Centre. The eatery offers a variety of healthy drinks ranging from Apple Wheat, Creamy Beetroot to Sunflower Carrot. It does not offer much solid food other than the Udon and Wild Rice Congee. They also sell Thunder Tea Rice on certain days. The Thunder Tea Rice availability can be found via their Facebook.

Tracy Juice Culture has a small seating capacity of around 25. Most of the days when I pass by during dinner/lunch time, the eatery is packed. I visited on a Saturday afternoon and the eatery was packed as usual.

Tracy’s Special Udon is something which I had always wanted to try. Whenever I walk pass the eatery, I always smell the aromatic fragrance.  This is a dish which nearly everyone orders.

Tracy's Special Udon $6.90

The Tracy’s Special Udon $6.90 consist of Japanese Udon served with mushrooms, broccoli, mock meat, and cherry tomatoes in a soup base that is made from tomatoes and parsley blended with mushrooms. The highlight is the soup which is so (souperlicious) delicious! It was so good that I drank every single bit, till the bowl was sparkling clean (everyone does that too). As for the rest of the ingredients they were average. They could have cooked the broccoli a little long as they were a tad too hard and the mushrooms were hard and dry. A pity the mushrooms did not adsorb the essence of the soup, else it would have been fantastic. Nevertheless, the wonderfully executed soup made up for it.

Tracy Juice Culture (Fortune Centre) 

190 Middle Road #01-34 Singapore 188978
Tel: +65 6224 0701 / +65 6336 0754

Opening Hours: Daily 9 am to 7.30 pm

Website

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Caffebene: 1 For 1 Regular Beverage and Single Bingsu Promotion (till 31 Mar 2016)

Source: Caffebene Singapore

Caffebene Singapore: 1 For 1 Regular Beverage and Single Bingsu Promotion (till 31 Mar 2016)

- Valid till 31 March 2016
- 1 For 1 promotion valid for regular beverage and single bingsu only
- 30% off a Bingsu/Snowflake eligible only if 1 for 1 Beverage is purchased within the same receipt

761 Fishball Noodles (Yishun)

Minced Meat Noodles (mee kia dry with chilli) $3

761 Fishball Noodles is located in a coffeeshop at Blk 761 at Yishun Street 72. The stall operates in the morning to early afternoon offering fishball noodles, minced meat noodles (bak chor mee) and laksa.

The waiting time is at least 20 minutes even on weekdays. Not an easy feat considering all the other stalls including other neighbourhood stalls have a lesser waiting time.

Minced Meat Noodles (mee kia dry with chilli) $3

I have eaten at this stall several times. Every time I would order the Minced Meat Noodles (mee kia dry with chilli) $3, also known as Bak Chor Mee. They have got every aspect just right. The noodles was cooked just right and was not lumpy. The chilli sauce along with the noodles and minced meat was delicious. As for the fishballs, they were big, bouncy and not fishy.

The Minced Meat Noodles may not be the best, but it was certainly delicious. This is probably one of the reason why the waiting time is so long even on a weekday! Worth a try if you are staying around this area!

761 Fishball Noodles (Yishun)

Blk 761 Yishun Street 72

Singapore 760761

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