China Street Hainanese Curry Rice (Maxwell Food Centre) 2nd Post

I am always in a dilemma whenever I am in Tanjong Pagar. There are so choices when it comes to food. This time, I decided to visit the newly renovated Maxwell Food Centre. Even then, there are so many types of food to to eat such as Ah Tai Chicken Rice, Tian Tian Chicken Rice, Zhen Zhen Porridge, Xing Xing Tapioca Kueh, Hum Jin Pang, or Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff. 

During a weekday lunch, I decided to have Hainanese Curry Rice. Although there are several stalls selling curry rice, I  prefer the one from China Street Hainanese Curry Rice. I have posted on this stall before and you can read about it here. 

Taken from previous post

I joined the queue which was more than 10 person long. The good thing is that the turnover here is fast as the food are all cooked already. There are the usual choices you get to see in a curry rice stall such as bitter gourd, curry chicken, fried pork chop, cabbage, squid and eggs. I already knew what to order before hand. As you many have noticed, I ordered exactly the same items as what I ordered in the previous post which was 1.5 years back. I really should change and try their other items! 

Bittergourd, curry chicken wings and fried pork chop (which is a must for any curry rice), along with curry drizzled all over the items and rice. This time, the bittergourd was cooked was still hard, a little more time on the wok would have been ideal. The chicken wing was nicely cooked. The meat in it was soft, firm and tender. The pork chop fared the best. Well marinated meat with thin, crisp fragrant batter, it was fried perfectly. It was delicious! Worth the queue and braving the heat in the food centre. Although the food centre has been renovated, it was still quite warm. 

If you like Hainainese curry rice, I would also recommend the curry rice at Bugis called Eleven Finger (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice. 

China Street Hainanese Curry Rice (Maxwell Food Centre)

Maxwell Road #01-68 

Maxwell Food Centre

Opening Hours: Sat - Thurs 1130am - 730pm

                         Closed on Fri & PH

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Alright Cafeteria (Peace Centre)

Alright Cafeteria located at level 3 (top floor) of Peace Centre serves Malay cuisine. There are no signs directing customers to the shop. You will be able to see this eatery in front of you when you take the escalator up to level 3. Most people know of this place through word of mouth (e.g their friends, colleagues).

The eatery offers daily specials during weekdays.
Monday: :Laksa $3.50
Tuesday: Black Pepper Chicken Rice $4.00, Chicken Rice $3.50, Seafood Horfun $4.00
Wednesday: Roti Jala with Curry Chicken $4.00, Prawn Mee $3.50
Thursday: Nasi Briyani (Chicken / Beef) $4.50, Nasi Briyani (Mutton) $5.00
Friday: Ayam Penyet $5.00

Chicken Rice $3.50, Begedil $0.50 

During one of the occasion during my visit, I ordered the Tuesday daily special - Chicken Rice. I also added a Begedil.

Chicken Rice $3.50, Begedil $0.50 

This is the Malay style chicken rice. Unlike our Chinese Hainanese chicke rice, the rice in this case is plain white rice. The chicken is neither steam or roasted. Instead it was fried. The chicken rice was not too bad. I also requested for sambal chilli to be added to go along with the plain steamed rice. 

One another occasion, I ordered Nasi Padang (which is a concept similar to our economic rice stalls). It essentially meant customers choose the items they want.  I chose white plan rice, along with fried egg omelette, tauhu goreng, fried chicken wings and sambal kang kong. It costed $4.80.The food was was quite good. Depending on which aunty you order from, the generousity differs. In this case, my plate was full of ingredients! Almost spilling out =).

ps: If you like Malay food especially Nasi Padang, there is this place called Warong Nasi Pariaman that serves authentic and delicious Nasi Padang. A must try!

Alright Cafeteria (Peace Centre)

Level 3 Peace Centre
1 Sophia Road (Selegie Road)
Location 

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Sin Bedok North BBQ Chicken Wings 勿洛北烤鸡翅 (85 Fengshan Food Centre)

Visited the newly renovated 85 Fengshan Food Centre on a Saturday night at 10pm. While we were waiting for our Bak Chor Mee from Xing Ji Rou Cuo Mian 兴记肉脞面, we ordered the the BBQ Grilled Chicken Wings from Sin Bedok North BBQ Chicken Wings 勿洛北烤鸡翅.

The BBQ Grilled Chicken Wings cost $1.30 each and each time you order, you would need to order a minimum of two chicken wings. We had to wait for around 10 minutes for the wings to be served. It's actually a short wait considering that it was during peak hours. 

BBQ Grilled Chicken Wings ($3.90)

BBQ Grilled Chicken Wings ($3.90)

The BBQ Grilled Chicken Wings were superbly executed. Crispy and charred glistening skin on the outside while incredibly juicy and tender on the inside. It was well marinated - very flavourful both on the outside and inside. Although the original flavour was delish enough, those who love chilli can consider dipping it into the chilli sauce to add on to the shiokinglicious factor.

As the old KFC solgan goes, finger licking good and highly addictive. Probably one of the best BBQ Grilled Chicken Wings around!

Sin Bedok North BBQ Chicken Wings 勿洛北烤鸡翅 (85 Fengshan Food Centre)
Blk 85 Bedok North St 4 #01-12
85 Fengshan Food Centre
Location 

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

IKEA Restaurant & Cafe (Alexandra)

IKEA Restaurant & Cafe at Alexandra is also known as The IKEA Food Store. According to a report published last year, the best seller is actually their chicken wings and their Swedish Meatballs are their second best sellers in Singapore selling up to 39,000 meatballs daily! If that is the case, I wonder how many chicken wings they sell each day!

IKEA Restaurant & Cafe is normally very crowded, but the good news is that their dining area is huge! It was quite easy getting a table.  

There are also microwaves available should you need to heat up your food. 

IKEA Restaurant & Cafe is a self-service restaurant. Its concept is similar to a school's or army's cafeteria where customers queue up to take a tray, going to the different sections to order their food. There are also trolleys specially to put trays on it to make it easier to buy lots of food! Great concept. The flip side is that the food is typically prepared before hand and place on warmers. They are not cooked on the spot. 

Once you have collected your food, you will be required to pay up at the cashier. Fortunately, there was no need to lift all the trays up from the trolley. The cashier is able to tally the items without you needing to lift a finger.

Swedish Meatballs (10 pcs) $5.50

IKEA changed their Swedish Meatball recipe to make it softer and also more authentic. There were many customers who posted in IKEA Singapore's Facebook and also on forums requesting for IKEA to switch back to the previous Meatball recipe. After trying the Swedish Meatballs (made of a mixture of pork and beef), I am also one of those who prefer the previous version. This new version was way too soft, lacked texture and was not springy. The potatoes at the side were disappointing. they were hard and powdery.

Editor Note: IKEA Singapore temporary stopped the sales of their meatballs amid the horse meat scandal and sent their meatballs for DNA testing to ensure that they contain no horse meat. After the test results showed that there were no horse meat in the meatballs, IKEA Singapore released a press statement on 7 March stating that they will resume the sales of meatballs on 8 March 2013. To mark the return of the meatballs, IKEA will sell the meatballs at $0.10 per piece on 8 March 2013. 

Chicken Wings $2.80

The Chicken Wings were mouthwatering. The Chicken Wings were so well marinated that even the meat on the inside were tasty and fragrant. As for the outside, the skin was so crispy. Finger licking good and addictive. It will be hard to stop at one. Almost every table in here has a plate of Chicken Wings. 

Poached Salmon with Chives Sauce $7.90

The Poached Salmon with Chives Sauce was delish. A generous serving of salmon was given and the sauce complemented it perfectly. Again, the potatoes were hard and powdery. 

Ribeye Steak  $9.90

The Ribeye Steak served with potatoes, broccoli and mushroom sauce was disappointing. The steak was hard, tough and chewy. While the broccoli was overcooked and potatoes were powdery. The only consolation was that the mushroom sauce was quite good.

This time round, I was very disappointed with the quality of food at Ikea Restaurant and Cafe. The Swedish Meatballs, Ribeye Steak and Potatoes were terrible. The Chicken Wings are the only item that makes me want to go back. Can we have the old Swedish Meatballs back, please. 

IKEA Restaurant & Cafe (Alexandra)

317 Alexandra Road

#02-00 IKEA

Tel: 6378 1604

Opening Hours: Daily 8am to 10pm (last order 930pm)

Website
Facebook

Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Eleven Finger (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice (Bugis)

Eleven Finger (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice is located in a coffee shop called 'Rong Liang Ge Eating House' behind Bugis+ (formerly Iluma). The stall serves Hainanese style curry rice. 

Although there is always a long queue during lunch hours, the turnover is quite fast. 

They sell just a few items such as chicken wings, fried egg, tau pok, stewed cabbage (chap chye), braised pork belly as well as fried pork chop.

Curry Rice $4

From the photo above it is hard to figure out what I ordered. Well, I ordered chicken wings, pork chop and stewed cabbage (extra cabbage). It was drenched in a generous serving of curry sauce. Three type of curry sauce to be exact. Hence, you might notice a different shade in colour of the curry sauce at certain portions. The curry was thick, fragrant and yet not overly spicy. Having it all over the food made the food so wet yet so tasty and easy to eat. Shiok!

The cabbage and chicken wings were good with the former providing a crunchy bite. On the other hand, the pork chop was disappointing. Nevertheless, the curry sauce stole the show. With it, I polished off the whole plate of food easily. 

Eleven Finger (Eu Kee) Scissors Curry Rice (Bugis)
Blk 269B Rong Liang Ge Eating House
#01-235 Queen Street
Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Wan Xing Nasi Lemak 万兴椰浆饭，炒米粉 (Albert Centre Market & Food Centre)

Wan Xing Nasi Lemak 万兴椰浆饭，炒米粉 serves Nasi Lemak at wallet friendly price. The stall is located at Albert Centre Market & Food Centre. This stall is very popular, during meal times, the queue can get very long. Fortunately, they are able to clear the queue quite fast.

Wan Xing Nasi Lemak offers seven different sets meals. Alternatively, customers can choose to order a la carte items. 

Set 7 $3.60

I ordered their premium set, Set 7 which was consisted of rice with egg, deep fried chicken wing, luncheon eat, fried fish, sambal long beans, cucumber and ikan bilis with peanuts. The rice was wll executed. Warm and fluffy with each grain infused with pandan and coconut fragrant. 

The deep fried chicken wing was crispy on the outside and soft tender on the inside. It was not greasy and still slightly warm.

I had a hard time with the fried fish as the utensils given was a plastic fork and plastic spoon. In the end, I gave up and used my hands. The fish was fried till it was so crispy that even the small bones at the side were edible. Very fragrant and addictive for fish lovers. 

The sambal long beans was quite decently cooked and still retained the crunchiness. 

The chill was fragrant and was more sweet than spicy. Personally, I prefer a spicier version. 

Overall, the food here is cheap and good! Where else can you get so many ingredients for your Nasi Lemak at just $3.60. 

Wan Xing Nasi Lemak 万兴椰浆饭，炒米粉 (Albert Centre Market & Food Centre)

270 Queen Street

#01-62 Albert Centre Food Centre

Location 

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Beaver's Pub & Grill (Liang Seah)

Beaver's Pub & Grill is a pub located in Liang Seah (opposite Bugis Junction), specialising in offering American cuisine and beer. 

This place gets crowded as the sun set. Noticed most diners chill out over here, ordering beer to go along with their main course and snacks. 

Free Soup that comes with Main Course

A free bowl of soup was served for every main course ordered. The soup was a very small bowl of mushroom soup. The soup was diluted, salty with no mushroom in it. 

Beaver's Buffalo Wings (4pcs) $9.90

Ordered some finger food to go along with our main course.

The Buffalo Wings arrived piping hot. Well marinated and seasoned, it was juicy and tender on the inside. Fried chicken wings are always so addictive. If only it was less oily.

Deep Fried Button Mushroom $8.90

Although the Deep Fried Button Mushroom was crispy, it was on the oily end. Still it was delightfully addictive.

Chunky Fries (Spicy Original) $4.90

The Chunky Fries was not oily or salty. It was soft and fluffy on the inside. However, lack the crispiness on the outside. 

Beavers Special Chicken Chop with Bacon & Cheese $8.90

The Beavers Special Chicken Chop with Bacon & Cheese did not wow me. A forgettable dish. The only thing I remember is that it was on the oily end.

Beaver's Pub & Grill (Liang Seah)

33 Liang Seah Street

#01-01/02

Tel: 6338 4595

Opening Hours: Daily 12pm to 1am

Website 

Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Sembawang White Beehoon (Sembawang 白米粉) 3rd Post

Another visit to Sembawang White Beehoon at You Huak Restaurant along Jalan Tampang

Source: Sembawang White Beehoon Facebook Profile Picture)

Arriving at 12pm on a Tuesday afternoon, I was surprised that the restaurant was full. No empty tables. Luckily the queue was relatively short and we got a seat within minutes; sharing a table. Despite it's ulu location, people still make the effort to come here to satisfy their craving (bee hoon). Speaks volume of the food here.

Menu

Glad to know that there has not even any (upwards) revision in prices.

Lime Juice

Sambal Chilli

The Sambal Chilli which complements the Seafood White Beehoon perfectly with its spiciness and belacan flavour. They really should start selling this. 

Seafood White Beehoon $4

The signature Seafood White Beehoon that everyone orders. The must order over here. Bee Hoon simmered till soft in the gravy absorbing all its essence. A simple heart warming dish that is likely flavoured yet tasty enough for your to keep asking for more. Delish!

Indo-Style Fried Chicken Wing $6

The Indo-Style Fried Chicken Wing was average; nothing to shout about. Not meaty, a tad too dry and normal marination. The only positive comment I can give was that it was served hot and not oily. $6 for 3 pieces of Chicken Wings, well, I am definitely not impressed. There are cheaper ones elsewhere that are cheaper.

Judging from the queues on several attempts to patronise Sembawang White Beehoon on a weekend and this recent visit where there was a full house on a weekday lunch. There is no doubt that Sembawang White Beehoon has built up quite a reputation. And they truely deserve it. The White Beehoon here is simple yet delicious; a must try. Amazing. Let's hope the standard does not drop and they continue to serve such food. In the meantime, I am definitely still patronising Sembawang White Beehoon.

Sembawang Shuttle Bus Schedule

There is free shuttle bus service to Sembawang Shopping Centre extending into the Sembawang, Yishun and Woodlands residential areas, and even to Yishun and Sembawang MRT stations. The bus frequency is quite fast and operating hours are stated in the flyer above. From Sembawang Shopping Centre, the Sembawang White Beehoon is just a stone throw away. 

Sembawang White Beehoon (Sembawang 白米粉)
You Huak Restaurant
22 Jalan Tampang (opposite Sembawang Shopping Centre)
Tel: 9843 4699
Opening Hours: Daily 11am to 11pm (Closed on Wednesday)
Facebook
Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak (Sembawang)

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak will need no introduction among most foodies especially those staying in the North. But for the benefit of those who may not know, here goes: Chong Pang Nasi Lemak first started in 1973 selling pre-packed Nasi Lemak at Chong Pang Village Hawker Centre. Over the years, they have built up a loyal customer base and shifted to a coffeeshop along Sembawang Road selling a la carte Chinese Style Nasi Lemak.

The coffee shop only has 2 stalls; Chong Pang Nasi Lemak stall and the drink stall. There was a long queue in front of the Nasi Lemak stall.

Menu

The menu with prices of the a la carte items.

So many different variety, you will be spoilt for choice on what to choose.

Egg Omelette, Curry Potato, Sambal Long Bean and Chicken Wing with Plain Rice $4.2

I ordered the Egg Omelette, Curry Potato, Sambal Long Bean and Chicken Wing along with Plain Rice. The sambal on the long beans was addictive but oily. The potato given were big and cooked nicely, definitely not overcooked. The Chicken Wing was the winner. It is a must order. Well marinated, thinly battered, crispy on the outside yet juicy, tender and tasty on the inside! The sambal chilli given was delicious too!

Overall not bad, I felt that only the Sambal Chilli and Chicken Wings were good. The rest were just normal.  I should have just ordered the Nasi Lemak and try as that is what they are famous for.

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak (Sembawang)
447 Sembawang Road
Sembawang Park
Tel: 9626 0753, 9655 1868
Opening Hours: Daily 5pm to 7am
Website
Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map

Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road) - 2nd Post

Another visit back to Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆. We visited the Zi Char restaurant on a Saturday evening too. The place was packed and all the tables were occupied.

Huge crabs in tanks. This is essential as almost every table has crab dish on it!

Menu (a)

Menu (b)

Part of the menu. As this was our 2nd visit, we had a rough idea on what to order and what not too. The first post can be found here.

Hot Plate Beancurd $10

 The Hot Plate Beancurd was as deletable as before. The sauce is best paired with plain rice. 

Prawn Paste Chicken Wing $12

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings (Har Cheong Gai) was served pipping hot. The chicken wings were coated and marinated with prawn paste before being deep fried. On the exterior, it was crispy and fragrant. In the interior, the meat was fragrant, tender and full of natural juice.

Birthday Noodles (Mee Sua) $12

The Birthday Noodles which was essentially Mee Sua fried with prawns, squid, beansprouts, quail eggs and fish slices. An interesting dish that suits our palate.

Stirred Fried Baby Kai Lan $12

Their stirred fried vegetables here are surprisingly good.  The Baby Kai Lan was still crunchy. The dish as a whole was tasty and not overly salty. Simple and good.

La La Clams $10

At last, we get to try the La La Clams. This dish was excellent! The la la clams were bigger than what is normally served in the other restaurants and were very fresh and 'meaty'. (Why did we order only $10? We should have ordered more!).

Black Pepper Crab

Huge Black Pepper Crab which did not disappoint. I like the sauce as it was finger licking good as what I described in my last post. The crab was very fresh and meaty!  

Butter Crab

Butter Crab

Leaving the best for the last. The Butter Crab was amazingly delicious! It was not the usual creamy version that most restaurant serves. Instead it was deep fried. Each piece of crab was well-coated with the butter batter and fried till fragrant. Despite being deep fried, the crab was still incredibly tender, juicy and sweet. Adding on, the crab was huge, meaty and fresh. Amazingly, meat did not stuck to the shells (which is not the norm for a fried crab dish). There were lots of buttery fritters at the side. They were crispy and sinfully delicious. The unique buttery fragrant made the buttery fritters so addictive that once you start, you can't stop. A must try! (Bern from The Hungry Bunny mentioned that this is their best dish. Totally spot on! Thanks for the recommendation!) 

The  Butter Crab and Black Pepper Crab cost $86. Well worth the price.

The food here is real value for money. There are two dishes that are a must try over here. They are the Butter Crab and  La La Clams. This time round, the service experienced was not as smooth sailing as before. The lady taking the order was showing an attitude and was impatient. It was also hard to get the attention of the staff. Worth coming down more often for the food here despite the service? The answer is a resounding Yes!

Ban Leong Wah Hoe Seafood 万隆华和海鲜菜馆 (Casuarina Road)

122 Casuarina Road

Tel: 6452 2824

Opening Hours: Daily 5pm to 130am

Location

View FoodieFC's Singapore Food Map in a larger map