Wow Wow West Genuine (ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre)

Chicken Chop $7

I have always wanted to try out this western stall called Wow Wow West for the longest time ever. I still remember that I read about this stall in 2011 from Daniel Food Dairy blog and made a mental note to visit the stall when I was in the area. It was notable for its generous portion and delicious food then. Fast forward to 2018, I am glad that I have the opportunity to visit the stall at last!

A brief background about the stall. It started with Mr Eric Ng who started a western stall in the canteen of Raffles Institution. He moved out of the school environment to the hawker centre as the earnings were low during school holidays. Today, his son-in-law, Mr Jayden Cheong, helps to run the stall. In fact, he is the main chef at the stall and it is essentially a family business as Mr Eric Ng and his wife are also at the stall.

I visited the stall on several occasions and each time I am there, there is a perpetual crowd of people in front of the stall, either queuing up to order the food or waiting to collect their orders. I must say that I am most impressed with their system and processes, from ordering to collection of food. Despite the crowd, I have always waited for less than 20 minutes for my food. This is not an easy feat considering the crowd and number of orders. Unlike most western stalls, Wow Wow West does not churn out dishes one at a time. Instead, they churn out nearly 5 dishes at a time and different type of dishes too! At any one time, they are frying chicken chop and fish and chips, and cooking beef steak, pork chop and chicken chop, all at the same time! In addition, sometimes, they are frying fries too! I have always tried to observe how they do this, but never figured it out.

Chicken Cutlet $7

Look at the size of the piece of chicken given for the Chicken Cutlet $7. It was huge, nearly as big as my face. For someone who could eat a lot, I was very full after I finished the whole dish. The chicken cutlet was well-marinated and fried perfectly, which is not easily achieved considering the size. The exterior was so crisp and not over fried while the interior was tender and juicy.

Chicken Chop $7

The Chicken Chop $7 was huge too. It was marinated with herbs and pepper and was served with brown sauce. I particularly liked the bits of crisp skin at the sides as they provided a different texture with each mouthful. Surprisingly, the chicken chop was not as juicy as the chicken cutlet.

Pork Chop $7

The Pork Chop $7 was average. Maybe I had too high an expectation considering the quality of the other 2 dishes. I felt that the pork chop was dry and tough. Although the portion was big, I got too tired of chewing the meat.

All their dishes were served with fries, coleslaw and baked beans. Though these lost limelight compared to the mains, I must highlight that the portion of fries and coleslaw given was huge!

If you are looking for a big serving of western cuisine, look no further! This is the place to be at. And make sure that you are hungry. Very hungry! Try their Chicken Cutlet and Chicken Chop! If you are in a rush, you should refrain from eating this western food. Not because of the less than 20 minutes waiting time, but because you will likely need some time to polish off the whole dish considering the portion.

Wow Wow West Genuine (ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre)

#01-133 ABC Brickworks Market & Food Centre

6 Jalan Bukit Merah

Singapore 150006

Tel: +65 9380 8571

Opening Hours: Tue to Sat 10.30am - 2pm, 4.30pm - 8pm

                           Closed on Sun & Mon

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IT Roo Cafe (Malaysia, Johor Bahru)

 Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce RM 16

IT Roo Cafe is widely known as the place to go to for chicken chop in Johor Bahru. Its concept is more of an eatery or coffee shop rather than a cafe. It is located 10 minutes away from the causeway and is in fact 1 minute walk away from its competitor;  Hua Mui Coffee Shop 华美茶餐室. 

The interior of IT Roo Cafe was simple and traditional with a mix of indoor and alfresco seating. There were many old photographs and articles put up against the wall showcasing its history. 

I visited at 12 noon sharp, which was the start of the eatery's operating hours and was surprised to see that there was already three customers sitting down and waiting to collect their takeaway order. I thought that I would be the first customer. 

Menu

This is IT Roo Cafe's menu. They sell a variety of food, other than western food, they also sell local cuisines such as fried rice and noodles which is again similar to Hua Mui Coffee Shop.

Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce RM 16 and Mushroom Soup RM 4.50

I ordered the Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce RM 16 and Mushroom Soup RM 4.50.

Mushroom Soup RM 4.50

The Mushroom Soup RM 4.50 was just average.  

Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce RM 16

As for the Grilled Chicken Chop with Mushroom Sauce RM 16, it was delicious! I appreciated the generous amount of mushroom sauce with slices of mushrooms and potato wedges. The sauce had a delicate mushroom flavour. They used a whole chicken thigh for their chicken chop and grilled it perfectly, resulted in a succulent chicken chop which retained the flavour and juices.

IT Roo Cafe serves two types of chicken chop; grilled or deep fried. The next time I visit, I will try their deep fried chicken chop as they are popular for both versions. During my visit, I saw many customers ordering the IT Roo Fried Rice which cost RM 7.50. It seems to be another item worth ordering. 

IT Roo Cafe (Malaysia, Johor Bahru) 
17 Jalan Dhoby, Bandar Johor Bahru
80000 Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Opening Hours: Daily from 12pm to 9.30pm

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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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Jack's Place (Woodlands Civic Centre)

 NZ Ribeye Steak with Mushroom Brown Sauce 

Jack's Place is one of my favorite restaurant for a decent and affordable steak set lunch. I have been patronising Jack's Place for a long time, since the 1990s. 

Jack's Place was started by a Chinese man (i.e. Mr Say Lip Hai) from Hainan island. He joined the British Army as a cookboy and learnt how to cook steak and Yorkshire pudding. With the skills, he opened his first restaurant called Cola Restaurant in 1967 at Sembawang. This was the very outlet which I used to visit. Today, it has evolved to include several concept restaurants such as Eatzi Gourmet, Seafood Harvest, Brewbaker's, Hoshigaoka and Jack's Place under the JP Pepperdine Group.

Daily Set Lunch Menu

The reason why I always visit during lunch time instead of dinner time is because of their daily set lunch which is available day from 11am to 3pm. The Set Lunch is affordable as it comes along with Wholemeal Garlic Bread, Soup of the Day, Day's Dessert and Coffee / Tea.

They have revamped their menu and the N.Z. Ribeye Steak with Brown Sauce (which used  to cost $16) has been removed from the Executive Set Lunch and placed under Main Course instead with a different sauce.

I visited on a Monday and ordered the N.Z. Ribeye Steak with Brown Sauce (by replacing the Onion Demi Glazed with brown sauce at no extra cost). Price wise, it is now $19.90.

Wholemeal Garlic Bread, Lobster Bisque and Cream of Potato Soup

They now use Wholemeal Bread for their Garlic Bread to promote healthy living. As for the soup of the day, it was the Cream of Potato Soup. It was surprisingly delicious. 

We upgraded one of our soup to Lobster Bisque by adding $2.30. Ever since I tried the Lobster Bisque Soup, I could not resist the temptation to order it again. Great soup, rich in flavour and great balance in taste. In addition, there were several chunks of lobster meat in the soup. The Lobster Bisque Soup is one of Jack's Place house specialty.

Curly Truffle Fries Topped with Parmesan Cheese $8.80

The Curly Truffle Fries Topped with Parmesan Cheese $8.80 is a new dish that was introduced recently when they revamped the menu. The fries were essentially fried curly fries with truffle oil and topped with parmesan cheese. It was delicious and not overly oily. It was a tad too salty towards the end. 

 NZ Ribeye Steak with Mushroom Brown Sauce 

The NZ Ribeye Steak arrived on a sizzling hotplate along side with carrots, baby corn, french beans, onions and baked potato. The brown sauce on top complement the steak perfectly. I love the brown sauce! so much that we would always request for extra serving of the brown sauce (kudos to Jack's Place for not charging extra for such request). Anyone knows how I can make the brown sauce?

The baked potato deserves a mention too. It was well baked, not dry not powdery. Topped with Sour Cream Sauce, Chicken bits and Spring Onions, it was yummy!

Day's Dessert and Coffee & Tea

They should bring back the desserts which they served in the past such as the cakes or tarts. The current dessert that they serves are terrible.

In summary, other than the desserts, this is still my favourite restaurant for an affordable yet good steak. Definitely will be back for more!

Jack's Place (Woodlands Civic Centre)

#02-05/06 Woodlands Civic Centre

Tel: +65 6363 4803 

Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 1030pm

Website

Facebook

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Molly Roffey's Irish Pub (Bras Basah)

Irish Butter Baked Salmon

Molly Roffey's Irish Pub was first established in 2010 to provide quality Irish Pubs in Singapore for dining and entertainment. The pub's first outlet is at the heart of Singapore; at Bras Basah. In fact, this outlet is just opposite Singapore Management University (SMU) and is in front of Exit D of Bras Basah MRT station. Today, Molly Roffey's Irish Pub has a total of three outlets, the other two locations are at Esplanade and Dorsett. 

Its outlet in Bras Basah serves an extensive variety of draft and bottled beers, house pour and premium wines and spirits, Western food and traditional Irish cuisine. 

The pub with its wooden interiors and Arsenal banners and flags on the walls, shows live telecasts of sports matches. If you are wondering why the Arsenal banners and flags are there, it is because Molly Roffey's Irish Pub at Bras Basah is the Arsenal Supporters Headquaters in Singapore. 

For the record, I am not an Arsenal fan.  

Dinner Specials

Molly Roffey's Irish Pub at Bras Basah offers Dinner Specials (Dinner Set Meal) daily from 5pm to 10pm, including weekends. The Dinner Specials consist of Soup, Main Course (choice of Molley Roffey's Ribeye Steak, Fish & Chips, Chicken & Mushroom Pomodoro, Golden Roast Half Chicken or Irish Butter Baked Salmon), Dessert of the Day and Soft Drink (choice of Coke, Sprite, Ginger Ale, Soda or Tonic) for $18.80++. 

We both ordered the Dinner Specials. I ordered the Molley Roffey's Ribeye Steak which is their bestsellers while my partner ordered the Irish Butter Baked Salmon. 

Mushroom Soup and Ginger Ale

For our choice of drinks, we both ordered the Ginger Ale.

Mushroom Soup

The Soup of the Day was the Mushroom Soup. It was decent, fully of mushroom flavour with lots of grind mushrooms bits in it.   

Molly Roffey's Ribeye Steak

The signature Molly Roffey's Ribeye Steak is served with potato wedges, salad and madeira sauce. 

Molly Roffey's Ribeye Steak

My Molly Roffey's Ribeye Steak was overcooked, arriving well done instead of medium. During my previous visit, I ordered this same dish which was cooked perfectly; medium. Nevertheless, the steak was still delicious despite being tough (due to overcooking during this visit), it paired off well with the madeira sauce.

Being fans of potato (wedges), we polished this off although most people would find the wedges normal - nothing to shout about. 

Irish Butter Baked Salmon

The partner orderd the Irish Butter Baked Salmon in homemade egg-yolk sauce served with wedges and mixed salad. Found the salmon average only.  

Marble Butter Cake

The Dessert of the Day was Marble Butter Cake which was CMI (cannot make it). It was cold, hard, dense and dry. It was so bad that we both just tried one bite only. 

Hazelnut Cake

Their Dessert of the Day on a previous visit was the Hazelnut Cake. The Hazelnut Cake was fantastic... way better than that marble cake. They should just stop serving the marble cake.

During my visits at Molly Roffey's Irish Pub (Bras Basah), there were hits and misses. I will certainly come back if I am looking for their Ribeye Steak despite the screw up during the last visit (overcooked steak). After all, with the set dinner its quite value for money and has a great atmosphere.

ps: Molly Roffey's Irish Pub at Bras Basah offers daily Lunch Specials from 12pm to 3pm too. The prices range from $12.80++ to $15.80++. 

Molly Roffey's Irish Pub (Bras Basah)
51 Bras Basah Road
#01-02A Manulife Centre
Singapore 189554
Tel: +65 6238 0989
Opening Hours: Daily 12pm to 12am
Website

Molly Roffey's Irish Pub (Esplanade)
8 Raffles Avenue
#01-13E Esplanade Mall 
Singapore 039802 
Tel: +65 6238 1875
Opens Hours: Sun to Thur 3pm - 1am
                       Fri to Sat 3pm - 2am

Molly Roffey's Irish Pub (Dorsett)
313 New Bridge Road
Dorsett Residences #01-04 
Singapore 088764
Te: +65 64445313 
Open Hours: Daily 12pm to 12am

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BeefSteak Nam Son (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh)

BeefSteak Nam Son also known as "Nam Sơn" among the locals is a no frills Vietnamese restaurant. I understand the locals love coming to this restaurant for breakfast and some visit as early as 6am or 630am!

BeefSteak Nam Son as its name suggests specialises in serving Vietnamese style western food; beefsteak (Bít tết). It has 2 branches. The branch that we went to was located along the Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai (main road).

After seeing the signboard, we turned in and found ourselves in a long alley filled with rows of motorcycles. At the end of the alley, we reached the entrance of the restaurant.

Entering the restaurant, we were greeted by rows of dark wooden tables and white plastic chairs that were arranged systematically to maximise the space. The above photo shows part of the outdoor dining area. There was also an indoor dining area with the same type of tables and chairs. In terms of furnishing, it was simple and basic. Although there was no air conditioners, the restaurant had high ceiling with many ceiling and wall fans. Hence, it was well-ventilated.

We were surprised to see that the restaurant was full when we arrived at 9am for breakfast as it had such a large sitting capacity. Despite the crowd, we were able to find a table shortly at the indoor dining area.

Menu 

The menu with most of main and side dishes. This should be for foreigners as it was translated in English language.

Menu

On the other side, it was the beverage menu. We noticed that most of their customers seems to be regulars as they did not need a menu and ordered on the spot. It was fairly easy ordering as they had many staff who were able to multitask. You could order through anyone (e.g. the person who is clearing or serving the food.

The condiments (chilli sauce, fish sauce, pepper) on every table.

Daily Homemade Passion Fruit with Ice (Chanh dây) 25,000 VND (S$1.50)

This was the Daily Homemade Passion Fruit with Ice (Chanh dây) 25,000 VND (S$1.50).

Baguette (Bánh Mì), Salad, Cucumber and carrot mixed with olive oil (Món Chua), French Fries (Khoai tây chiên) 

Although the restaurant was full, shortly after we ordered, these [Baguette (Bánh Mì), Cucumber and carrot mixed with olive oil (Món Chua), French Fries (Khoai tây chiên)] were served at our table!

The Baguette (Bánh Mì) and Salad were complimentary dishes. The Baguette deserves a mention. It was very well executed and it was so good that we requested for more after our main dishes came! (You can request for unlimited replenishment of Baguette)

French Fries (Khoai tây chiên) 15,000 VND (S$0.90)

We ordered French Fries (Khoai tây chiên) 15,000 VND (S$0.90) for sharing. Although it was average, this was a good side dish was soaking up all the sauce in the hotplate of meat!

Ostrich Steak (Bít tết Đà Điểu) 90,000 VND (S$5.40)

The partner ordered the Ostrich Steak (Bít tết Đà Điểu) 90,000 VND (S$5.40) which was served with a sunny side up egg on a hotplate.

Nam Son Specialty Combination of Steak, Sunny Side Up Egg, Meatball and Pate (Beefsteak Thập Cẩm) 60,000 VND (S$3.60)

I ordered the Nam Son Specialty Combination of Steak, Sunny Side Up Egg, Meatball and Pate (Beefsteak Thập Cẩm) 60,000 VND (S$3.60) which was also served on a sizzling hotplate which splattered the oil and sauces out. The serving was generous as the cut of the meat was fairly large. We followed what the local did and shredded our Baguette into small pieces and dipped them into the sauces and also spread pate on it.

If you are wondering what pate is, it is actually minced pork liver.

Never underestimate the influence of western breakfast in Vietnam. It was so crowded when we visited and majority of the crowd was locals except for another foreign couple. Despite the crowd, the service was prompt and efficient! In addition, the food was unique. This is worth a visit if you are interested in trying what the locals eat.  

BeefSteak Nam Sơn (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh)

200 Bis Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, 

District 1,  Ho Chi Minh

Tel: +84 (08) 3930 3917
Opening Hours: Daily 6am to 10pm

Website

BeefSteak Nam Sơn (another branch)
157 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia
District 3, Ho Chi Minh
Opening Hours: Daily 6am to 10pm

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Buddy Hoagies at Nee Soon South Community Club (Yishun)

Buddy Hoagies is a restaurant cafe specialising in western cuisine. I did not call it a restaurant became it has a friendly and relaxed ambience which is child friendly too. Moreover, the photo frames of English oldies singers and environment gave a unique warm comfort country feel. I visited Buddy Hoagies on a weekday evening for dinner at Yishun. They have two other outlets at Bukit Timah and Downtown East.

During my visit, I noticed that there were quite a number of children in the cafe. After walking around, I knew the reasons. Buddy Hoagies was a children friendly cafe! They had plastic utensils (spoon, forks, plates) for kids (not those disposable ones) and a corner filled toys for children to play. Some children even brought the toys to their tables where they could play while waiting for the food to be served. Not bad, I did not notice any children playing with ipad or any mobile devices! 

There was an option to upgrade the main course to a Buddy's Set Meal for $4.50 which would include soup & garlic toast, coffee/tea/ ice tea and ice cream.

We ordered a Fish and Chips and upgraded it to a Set Meal ($13.40), followed by a Western BBQ Chicken ($8.90) and Cheese Fries ($3.50). 

Tea

Cream of Mushroom & Garlic Toast

The Cream of Mushroom was average. It was too thick for my liking while the Garlic Toast was a tad too hard. 

Cheese Fries $3.50

The Cheese Fries $3.50 tasted quite good when it was still warm. When it cooled down, the cheese became hard and the fries at the bottom were soggy. 

Fish and Chips

The Fish and Chips $8.90 served with fries fared better. Though they could be more generous with their servings, both items were not overly oily. In addition, the fish was slight moist in the interior (not hard and dry). In fact, I like this fries better compared to the cheese fries. 

Western BBQ Chicken $8.90

The Western BBQ Chicken $8.90 was essentially grilled chicken in barbecue sauce with vegetables and baked potato. Initially, I thought that the portion was very little. But come to think of it, for the ambience and price, I really should not fault it too much as the operating cost of the F&B industry have gone up.

The chicken was nicely grilled and the interior was juicy and tender. There was a slight hint of smoky flavour. If the smoky flavour could be intensified, this would have been wonderful. There was a big chunk of butter in the baked potato. Needless to say, I took out most of the butter before they had the opportunity to melt. This main course was not bad and quite value for money. 

Ice Cream

The vanilla ice cream was well, simple and ordinary.

There were hits and misses at Buddy Hoagies. But generally, their main course seemed to fared better. They did quite well in creating a warm cozy ambience with a children friendly environment.

Buddy Hoagies at Nee Soon South Community Club (Yishun)
Nee Soon South Community Club
30 Yishun Street 81
Singapore 768455
Tel: 6752 8722
Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm daily
Website

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