Beppu Menkan (别府)

30th April, Thursday

Oniyama Jigoku



The outlet at at Cross St, China Square Central. They allow you to choose the number of chillies -- 1/2/4/6/8, I think. I tried up to 4 before. It's spicy, but anything above that is pointless -- the chilli flavour will overwhelm any other soup flavour. My mouth can take the spiciness, but my stomach can't; I usually end up with diarrhea after eating it.

I think this dish will be heavily skewed towards people who love spicy food, like me. The fried chicken is usually good and juicy, though today's was a little on the dry side. $9.30

V's verdict: 7/10


Mayonnaise prawn

Frying is probably one of the easiest way to make food tasty, simply because it masks the flavour. So even food that is not fresh tastes decent after frying. But this dish was definitely a thumbs down. It is dry and yet not crispy. The prawn was also quite tough. I suspect that it had been re-fried. $5.80

V's verdict: 2.5/10


Agedashi tofu

Tasted quite bad, but still less bad than the mayonnaise prawn. $3.60

V's verdict: 4.5/10


Salmon cheese fry

The salmon tasted fishy and stale; they probably chose their stalest salmon for this dish! The cheese managed to hide a bit of the staleness, but... just a bit. $3.65

V's verdict: 4/10

Hong Lim Food Centre, Aglio Olio

29th April, Wednesday

Hong Lim Food Centre:

Laksa (Famous Sungei Road Trishaw Laksa)

Forgot to take a picture of this, damn it. Anyway, this stall is on the 2nd floor. The laksa tastes way lighter than other laksa. It may be good for those who don't like their laksa to be too thick and filling, but it didn't really suit my tastebuds. I prefer my laksa to be thick and tasty. K gave it a total thumbs down. Maybe it's because I didn't add the chilli? But the chilli tasted sour, so I didn't dare to put any of it into the soup.

But the service was good; the stallkeeper was friendly and even apologized that she had a lot of orders to prepare first for the previous customer. I will consider ordering their mee siam next time. $2.50/$3/$4/$5

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 2/10


Chicken rice (Boon Tiong Kee Hainanese Chicken Rice)

Also located on the 2nd floor. Okay, I found the name quite amusing. It's obviously a lame attempt at confusing people with Boon Tong Kee. K found it decent, but I didn't like it. The meat wasn't tender enough, and the chicken flavour wasn't strong enough. The rice tasted a bit... weird too, I dunno how to describe it.

V's verdict: 4.5/10
K's verdict: 6.5/10


Curry chicken noodles (Heng Kee)



From the famous stall on the ground floor. They claim to be the "one and only stall" in Singapore, and I believe that they are the original, since all the other curry chicken noodles I have tried elsewhere don't even come close to their standard. Everytime I go there, I queue for at least 15 minutes and always order the biggest bowl ($6, to justify my queueing time). Their chilli was also fantastic, though a bit on the salty side, so take care not to add too much into the noodles. I added too much before and ruined my whole bowl.

The chicken they use puts some restaurants or stalls specialising in chicken to shame. I don't know where they get their chicken from, but it was so tender and sweet! Finally, if you don't like your food to be too oily, tell the uncle not to add oil into your noodles. Part of the cooking process is that he scoops some curry oil and pours it over the noodles! $4/$5/$6

V's verdict: 9.5/10
K's verdict: 9/10


Aglio Olio:



Soup

The soup was honestly quite lousy. In fact, I think Campbell soup tastes better. At least the prices were reasonable --- $2.20 for soup and lemonade.

V's verdict: 3/10
K's verdict: 3/10


Garlic bread

Not too good, but not too bad either. $2.90

V's verdict: 5/10
K's verdict: 4/10


Sotong Olio



Ok, my main dish saved the day. I ordered spicy -- 3 chillies out of the maximum 4 --- and it was not bad. The sotong was fresh and tender too. The reason why it didn't get a higher rating is because aglio olio style isn't really my favourite. $10.90

V's verdict: 7/10


Cream Bacon Olio



This was done very well! The bacon wasn't too fat, and the cream was delicious and in the right amounts. K loved this dish so much that she gave it full marks! $10.90

V's verdict: 8/10
K's verdict: 10/10

Canopy

26th April, Sunday

Located at Bishan Park. My uncle is actually the one of the owners, and it's one of the few places in Singapore where people can bring their dogs to without worrying whether it is legal or not.

Lobster bisque



Excellent! The soup was thick and full of flavour, with small chunks of lobster inside. $11

V's verdict: 8.5/10
K's verdict: 9/10


New Zealand Green Shell Mussels



The mussels itself didn't taste too good, but their sauce --- a tomato cream sauce --- managed to make up for it. In fact, the sauce was so good that I finished up almost all of it. My father didn't really like the sauce, though. $14

V's verdict: 7/10


Australian Beef Ribeye



This was quite all right. I ordered medium rare, but I think it came out as medium. Couldn't verify it by sight as we were sitting outside and it was too dark. Served with mashed potatoes and asparagus and topped with a thick gravy. $28

V's verdict: 7/10


Canopy's Gourmet Beef Burger



My mother ordered this and was quite pleased with it. The beef patty was juicy, the bread was a bit crisp, and the fries were freshly fried and tasted good. My only sore point is that it didn't come with bacon or cheese; an additional $3 was required. $15

V's verdict: 7.5/10

Orchard Cafe

25th April, Saturday

Located at Orchard Hotel, ground floor. The food has been pretty good consistently, but the last time I went with my parents, it was very disappointing. Tried it again with K today.



(Sorry for the lousy picture!)

Sashimi didn't taste as fresh as before. Their pork with mushrooms and sea cucumber was lousy, but their braised pork (in black gravy) was excellent, much better than the one we had at 一家村. Prawn mee was average only, laksa was all right. Their bbq meat corner was much better than last time, especially the chicken and beef. The lamb was too tough though.

They served pig innards too, and it tasted quite good, surprisingly! The drunken prawns were fresh, but the herbal soup tasted diluted compared to last time. Their ice cream, as usual, was half melted and tasted more like fudge.

I was using a discount card, so the buffet cost us $54 in total. Without the discount card, I wouldn't have come.

V's verdict: 7/10
K's verdict: 7/10

Serangoon Garden Market

25th April, Saturday

Pig organ soup (Soon Huat Pig's Organ Soup)



This stall is quite generous with its ingredients, with lots of pork, fatty meat, pig intestines etc. The soup tastes strongly of pickled vegetables without the overpowering smell of the pig innards, as they were washed clean. $3/$4/$5

V's verdict: 8.5/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Pig innards (Soon Huat Pig's Organ Soup)



I ordered intestines, tau pok, pig skin, and dried beancurd. I asked for a little bit of pig skin only, but they still gave me too much. =/ The gravy was delicious, and because the intestines were washed clean, they didn't smell and tasted great. The price is a bit on the steep side though; this plate alone costs $7.60.

V's verdict: 9/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Fishball noodles (Hao Hoe Siang Noodles Soup)



Another dish which I have been eating since I was small. Interestingly, it tastes better if you da bao --- there's more time for the noodles to immersed in the gravy and for the taste to settle in. I had it at the market today, and it didn't taste as good. $3

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 5/10


Fried hokkien mee (Stall 10)



From the stall right beside the side entrance. This is the wet kind with lots of gravy, so it may not suit some people's tastes. I would admit that my judgement is a bit biased, since I have been eating it since I was young, for around 20 years. Their standard isn't that consistent though, and depends largely on who fries the noodles. $3/$4/$5

V's verdict: 7.5/10

一家村 (Clifford Centre), Banquet (Clifford Centre)

24th April, Friday

一家村:



Lotus soup

One look at today's soup, and I knew it wouldn't be that good. It looked too pale and light, and true enough, it tasted diluted to me. But K seemed to like it and claimed that it tasted better than the one at Mei Xuan. Hmm...

V's verdict: 5.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Porridge

Ordered braised pork with tau pok, beansprouts, and 梅菜. Nothing special to me, but K said the pork was quite good. She didn't really like the 梅菜, though.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7.5/10


Banquet:

幼面 (Handmade Noodles)



Not bad. I would have da bao-ed this for lunch more frequently if not for the fact that they charge an exorbitant $0.30 for take-away. Soup was tasty, noodles was all right. Pork tasted a bit weird and had too much fat, though.

V's verdict: 6.5/10


Dumpling noodles (Handmade Noodles)



Tried it before but didn't like it, but K seemed to like it a lot (but can't give a reason why she likes it). This is the 3rd time she has eaten this, after all.

V's verdict: 4.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10

Men-Tei Japanese Noodles

23rd April, Thursday

Tonkatsu Ramen (面亭 - Men-Tei Japanese Noodles)



(oops, that's my finger at the top of the picture)

Located at Robinson Centre. (61 Robinson Road, #01-01). Reached there at 12pm and got the second last table. Within 5 more minutes, there was already a long queue outside.

The ramen was ok. The soup was quite good, having a good balance between tastiness and lightness. Of special mention should be their egg --- the japanese egg tamago, where the egg white is hard but the egg yolk is still soft. It is excellent, and they actually sell it as a separate side dish for $1.50 each. The pork was a bit disappointing though, since there's a bit of the "frozen taste", due to cooking meats without properly defrosting. But I could still bear it, as the frozen taste was quite mild.

Each bowl of ramen costs $13 along with a free flow of japanese green tea and ice water. No service charge or GST.

V's verdict: 7/10

Mei Xuan Food Court

22nd April, Wednesday

A food court at Raffles Place, formerly known as Mei Sin.

Lotus soup (一家村）：



Average. The 一家村 at Clifford Centre is better though. $3.50 for a bowl of soup, $0.50 for the rice.

V's verdict: 6.5/10
K's verdict: 6.0/10


Curry chicken noodles (Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon):



Average. The soup was decent, but we both found the chicken rather tasteless, without any natural flavours.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 6/10

Other places

21st April, Tuesday

Some other places we have visited before.

Serangoon Garden Market:

Roti prata (V.K.S Indian Food)



The only roti prata stall there. Ordered their kosong, it tasted average. My mother doesn't dare to order from them though, because she doesn't like them to place the plates with curry onto the prata itself.

Interestingly, they received an "A" in hygiene, despite the indian using his bare hands to put the prata onto the plate and to collect money.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Curry chicken noodles (Heng Kee)

How dare they use the same name as the famous curry chicken noodles from Hong Lim? I gave it a try, and it was way below Hong Lim's standards, as expected. Copying a product is one thing, but copying a name or trying to make people think it's the same product is another matter. *snorts in contempt*

That aside, the taste really cannot compare to Hong Lim's. The ingredients were quite similar --- the type of chilli used, the tao pok, the chicken, etc. But the taste cannot be more different. Just one sip of the gravy and disappointment set in.

V's verdict: 5/10


Wanton noodles (Traditional Hand Made Wanton Noodle)

A new stall at the market. Tried it with my mother around 2-3 weeks ago, and we declared that we will never try it again. The char siew was dry and tasted... artificial. The wanton also tasted weird.

V's verdict: 3.5/10


Hong Lim Food Centre:

Curry chicken noodles (Ah Heng Curry Chicken Bee Hoon)

From the stall on the 2nd floor. I think it's the same outlet as the one at Mei Xuan. I haven't tried it before, but K says that it tasted all right. $3.50/$4.50/$5.50

K's verdict: 7.5/10


Fried Kway Teow (Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee)



Fantastic, one of the best fried kway teow I have ever tasted. Be prepared for a long wait though. They are especially generous with their hum (a bit too generous, in my opinion... I eat hum but still ended up throwing half away).

V's verdict: 8.5/10
K's verdict: 8/10


Beef horfun (Hao Jie Claypot Delights)

I had this quite long ago, but the impression was still deep in my head. It... sucks. The worst horfun I have ever tasted in my life. It's practically tasteless, and the texture was soggy and... urgh. The beef wasn't fresh, but was still arguably edible. I couldn't stomach the whole plate and threw almost ¾ of it away.

V's verdict: 2/10

Chomp Chomp

19th April, Sunday

BBQ chicken wings (Daily Fresh B.B.Q)

I thought it was so-so only. $1 per wing.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 7/10


Fried hokkien mee (Ah Hock Fried Hokkien Noodles, Stall 27)

The famous stall that everyone knows. His hokkien mee is mixed with bee hoon and yellow noodles, and was the dry kind without any gravy. Instead of the usual >20 minute wait, the noodles came in just 5 minutes. It was a bit disappointing though, the texture seemed to be off and the noodles looked as if they were glued and stuck together. $3/$4/$5

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 6/10


Fried kway teow (Chomp Chomp Fried Kway Teow Mee)

This stall has been there since I was young, so that's at least 15 years or more. Today's was also so-so, but then again, they were never really excellent in the first place.

V's verdict: 6/10
K's verdict: 6/10


BBQ sting ray (忠忠海味园 B.B.Q)

This stall is located right at the left side of the entrance. We were sitting right outside Lucy's BBQ seafood stall, so we felt a little awkward when our food came. Well, turned out that we should have ordered from Lucy's instead, since I thought our BBQ sting ray tasted quite horrible. I remember ordering it before and it never tasted so bad! K claims that her judgement was biased due to her overwhelming love for BBQ sting ray, though. $8/$10/$12

V's verdict: 3.5/10
K's verdict: 7/10


One thing to note; we were sitting right beside the fan and our food was cold in a matter of minutes. So it is possible that they would have earned a higher score if not for the fan...