Tien Court

Went to Tien Court @ Copthorne King's Hotel with a good friend for a long overdue catch up.
Couple of hits and misses for some of the dishes.

Service wise could be improved - we had to wave for a good 5 minutes before the service staff came to attend to us. The auntie in charge of our table was very attentive though and kept topping up our drinks but apart from that, our orders were messed up and desserts weren't keyed in to the system. We are generally very patient people and didn't make any fuss.

King prawn with Foie Gras

Unfortunately no taste of foie gras in the gravy. Prawn was done perfectly but that's about it.

Roast Combination

This dish was good. We loved the siu yok (crispy pork) in the middle. Done just right and perfectly. Will order again.

Glutinous Rice Pastry

Not overly sweet. Done just right. We gobbled this down.

Pulut Hitam with Ice Cream


Can't go wrong with this dish ;)


All in all, we would probably only come back for the cantonese roasts and desserts, if we ever. We had ordered pig trotters mee sua and sweet and sour soup which were quite tasty but we forgot to take pictures. Remember to take the free parking coupon if you drive there.

Total bill after 50% discount (friend was member) was $86. Pretty pricey if we didn't have the 50% off.

Till the next post!

F&J Cafeteria Hot Pot @ Bugis

One of my favorite hotpot joints is the F&J Cafeteria @ Bugis / Joo Chiat. They are my favorite for 2 things - the sauce counter which has this epic peanut butter and sesame sauce to pick from as well as they have this uber large cockle like the size of the palm of your hand which I don't see from other places. $20/head for an all you can eat buffet.

As I grow older, it seems like I can no longer stuff food like before. I get filled up pretty quickly and end up eating only a few items at buffets. A sign of aging lol? Anyway if you guys are planning to pick a hotpot joint along Bugis street, why not check out F&J. They are always crowded so be early though :)

PS they also have this 2 hour eating rule that you can't sit for longer than 2 hours if I'm not wrong.. do watch out for that. 

100gsm noodle

I've always wondered what 100grams of yellow noodles actually weighs and today I took out the weighing scale to find out. It was pretty interesting that a 100grams portion size of noodles is actually only this much. Seems like I've been eating way more than the calories that I've been counting. :/

Full House @ Central Clarke Quay

Went to have a light meal at Central Clarke Quay. They have converted most of the basement into a food place. I tried this lil HongKongesque eating corner called Full House and ordered their "Braised Meat Rice". $5.50 gave me a bowl of rice, with wonderfully braised meat, a side of vegs, 1 tofu and 1 egg + 1 soup. Not too bad.

The pork was well marinated and not overly greasy, rice was a large portion. I ate most of it up (ok maybe 25% of the rice). Good comfort and cheap food in a mall. 

Will go back again :) *burp*

Roast Pork @ Vintry Clarke Quay

Love going to Vintry @ Clarke Quay for yummy wine and roast pork with my friends. Their roast pork is very very crispy and worth every single calorie. They usually go at $12, but if you can go during their happy  hours on weekdays, before 8pm, you can get it at $6. 

Not too oily and yet very flavourful. You must eat with their special chilli, super nice! Go try it!

Evertop @ Joo chiat

Went for dinner at Evertop @ Joo Chiat Road. It's a halal restaurant serving local chinese fare. A good place to bring your muslim friends to if you would like to introduce them some chinese halal food. We ordered the horfun, black pepper chicken and sambal kangkong. All were pretty spicy though so if you can't take space, remember to tell the server to add less chili. All these set us back by about $22 including drinks. I think it's a pretty good deal and nice rustic chill out place. Will be back :)

Thunder rice @ Malaysia

Have always been a fan of the Hakka thunder rice. Somehow it makes me feel healthier (although there's a lot of carbs in it). This was what I ordered at one of the hawker centres in Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Nusajaya. the ingredients looked pretty similar to what we have in Singapore. The soup wasn't as strong tasting, which was pretty palatable to me. 

Definitely will be back again for more.

Chuan Jiang Hao Zi Steamboat (West Coast Plaza)

I bought one of those groupon deals for a steamboat buffet at Chuan Jiang Hao Zi. I stay pretty close to West Coast Plaza and have always enjoyed a good steamboat but I never had the chance to try this place out because I thought their standard steamboat buffet pricing was pretty pricey. 

The food turned out to be pretty alright and they didn't have the peanut / sesame sauce that I like at other steamboat joints. Nonetheless I'm not complaining as the serving size was generous. Unfortunately what was not too nice about the place was that I discovered mini cockroaches running across the table top. 

I'm not toooooo picky about insects around the table as long as they do not end up in my food. Then again, who's to say that in the food prep process, that didn't happen. :x

Vegs look fresh

yellow slip to order what we wanted

Nice looking table top sans the mini cockroaches

Pork liver 

We liked the fish!

Mushrooms and bean stuff :P

Cod fish - Mandarin Oriental

The Legendary cod fish @ Mandarin Oriental banquet. My friends have always been raving about the cod fish at Mandarin Oriental wedding lunch/dinners and I was wondering what the fuss was about. Finally after a few years, I managed to get the opportunity to taste this dish. 

The fish was warm when served and literally melts in the mouth. Sweet and savoury without being overwhelming. No wonder people were raving about it. Amazing!!!! Can't wait to have this dish again. The only downside, was that I only had one piece. Boo. 

Vegetarian Breakfast

One of the ways my parents show their love for my brother and I is by buying breakfast for us on saturdays. During the 1st and 15th of the lunar month, my parents would get us vegetarian mee for breakfast. It screws up my diet tremendously (think all carbs and oil) but I still eat it any way because it is their love.

Hope I can get to eat these saturday breakfasts for as long as possible :)

Beef Dao Xiao Mian from Formosa Katong 112

Was at the new Katong 112 mall to watch a movie and we decided to have dinner at Food Republic. Walked past the Formosa (couldn't find the Katong link so put up the west coast link instead) chain of taiwanese food and decided to order the Beef Dao Xiao Mian. 

$6 a serving and the serving was huge. Look at the size of the bowl. Well I was happy with the noodles, though it was sliced really thickly. The meat was a little tough but flavourful. Finished all the meat and some noodles cause I was controlling my carbs. 

Cheap and good comfort food, will go back again :)

BBQ Honey Pork Bun - Canton Paradise @ JCube

Went to canton paradise @ Jcube as my dad saw a flyer from the company and really liked the canton food concept. We ordered the dimsum menu and there was one item on the list that I really really must talk about the BBQ Honey Pork Bun. It was zomg heavenly. A marriage of savoury and sweetness encrusted in a crispy exterior. The moment you bite through, the bun breaks apart to reveal the wonderful filling. We only ordered 3 but the first bite was unforgettable. 

The good news is that you can actually order these things for takeaway at the cashier!!! We ordered 5 to go. However, nothing still beats eating it as it comes out of the oven at the restaurant. You got to try it to believe me ;)

A definite yes and I'll be back for more!!

Sam Loh Hor Fun - Siglap Killiney Kopitiam

Decided to go to Siglap for dinner and everywhere seem so crowded so we settled for Killiney Kopitiam. I ordered the sam loh hor fun and got really really pissed waiting for it. Maybe I might sound unreasonable but I hate having to wait absurd amount of time for my food. Let me share how long I had to wait for this dish. 

1) We arrived first, a couple arrived after us. 

2) We ordered, then another patron ordered, followed by the couple who ordered.

3) Friend's food + drinks came

4) Patron's food came.

5) Couple's food came

6) New patron ordered and food arrived for them.

7) Friend finishes his dinner

8) Couple finishes food and leaves

9) New patrons tuck into their food and were almost finishing them.

All these happened while I was waiting for this Sam Loh Hor Fun. I was really really pissed. A hungry woman is an angry one. 

Eventually the dish was just passe, I would have been happier eating Mcdonald's chicken mcnuggets. Hahaha. Guess I won't be going back there any time soon.

Moral of the story: Don't mess with my food. 

Lao Ban Dou Hua

Brother was raving about lao ban soya beancurd and said that he would get a portion for me to try the next time he goes. He brought one back. Very interesting soya beancurd, it feels like some kind of soya custard as opposed to the standard beancurd. The custard is made alongside with the sugar syrup so the mixture is sweet in itself. It was kinda nice but I feel that it is too sweet for me and I felt kinda guilty chugging half of it down. 

Normally I would simply just eat the top portion of the beancurd and leave the sugar syrup at the bottom. That said, I was rather impressed by the texture as it was milky and soft. Would go for it again, but I will definitely need to share a portion with a dessert partner. 

Lai Lai @ Jurong Point - Herbal Pork Rib Udon

Went to Lai Lai Casual Dining because my dad joined us for lunch and being the typical chinese guy, he only eats chinese/asian food. Lai Lai was the most convenient and pocket friendly lunch in the vicinity. They specialise in Taiwanese food and have really awesome beef noodles. 

I decided to try something different today and went for the herbal pork rib udon. It was surprisingly nice. I am also a big fan of herbal soups so having udon that has been simmered in the herbal broth was heaven to me. 

I polished off the entire plate but left half the udon on it. Need to control my carbs. :x

Crispy noodles @ Baystreet21 (IMM)

Met a friend for lunch at Baystreet 21 @ IMM. I grew up around the area and is a frequent visitor to IMM. I have been walking past this little cafe for a good 10+ years of my life but it never dawned upon me to try it. I never knew what they served and was always under the impression that it was indonesian food. Friend arranges a meeting and asks me to meet him at Baystreet 21. Interesting - menu is a mix of asian and western. Basically everything, reminds me of those  Hainanese eateries along Purvis street - where the chefs used to work for the British and developed their own Singapore style western food. 

I decided to order the Seafood crispy noodles @ $9.80. It is more expensive than other cafes but they do give a little bit more ingredients (ie seafood) and you're kinda paying for eating at a sit down cafe. I guess its fine considering it was a semi business meeting. Pretty yummy though I only ate half the noodles to control my carbs. I still think the best crispy noodles I ever had was at Cineleisure basement food court - some kind of braised duck crispy noodles. However I think the stall is no longer there. 

Frog porridge @ Sinma Live Seafood Geylang

The last time I ate frog porridge was probably in 2008 at Chomp Chomp (Serangoon Gardens). The last time I ate frog porridge at Sinma was probably in 2003 before I flew over to the US for my internship. Still tastes as good as what I remembered from years ago. I like the gooey porridge thing where you can pour the sauce over it to eat it. Frog legs were very tender. I wouldn't say that frog legs taste like chicken, it's just an interesting chewy yet tender texture that I can't find in other meats. Hmm, maybe the thigh of the chicken? Like you know, muscles. 

We spent about $37 including drinks for 2, a plate of vegetables and these 3 claypots of stuff. (Friend says it was 5 frogs but seriously I wasn't paying attention). Overall it tasted good enough for me to want to come back next time, but maybe not wait for years this time round ;)

Braised Duck from Giant Supermarket @ IMM

Duck from Giant Supermarket @ IMM. Never thought that a braised duck from a supermarket could taste this good. Braised duck was flavorfully marinated and meat was cooked just right. Not too tough and dry nor too oily. My dad actually asked me which famous stall did I get this from. Speaks a lot yeah? Well, this duck seems seasonal though, I don't see it there all the time. So if you get lucky and see Giant Supermarket offering this again, why not give it a taste test?

Jian Fei Guo - Diet Fruit

My friend saw this at a chinese medicinal hall and bought me a packet. To cook this fruit, you need to put 1-2 pieces in hot water and stir in some honey or sweetener. This fruit is supposed to help you lose weight but oh boy does it taste nasty. 

I misinterpreted the instructions and actually cooked like 6 pieces of it in 2 cups of water without honey, then fed it to my mom, cause i was trying to help her lose weight too. The bitterness from the fruit was so overwhelming that it kind of traumatized her. I immediately went online to re-read the instructions then realise that you put only 1-2 pieces not 6-7. Sorry mom! Didn't mean it. :(

I'll definitely look into matching the fruit with natural sweeteners and perfect the taste, I'm sure the fruit will be able to help one lose weight from its natural properties, and not its taste.

Teng Yu Chee Cheong Fun Porridge @ Bukit Merah

Was looking for food and walked past this porridge stall in Bukit Merah, Alexandra village - Teng Yu Chee Cheong Fun Porridge. They were serving the dim sum style chee cheong fun that I absolutely love. I mean I am a fan of CCF but I would take the dim sum style anytime over the sweet sauce style. 

Ordered the prawn chee cheong fun and asked the auntie to put chilli only over one of the rolls as my friend doesn't take chilli. Very soft, QQ and yummy. The sesame seeds were nicely toasted and sauce wasn't too salty. Everything came together really well. No wonder I had to queue so long for it. 

Have also taken a picture of their popular menu just in case if anyone is interested. All prices are in Singapore Dollars.

Here's the Full Address:

Blk 120 Bukit Merah lane 1

Stall #01-77 Alexandra Village