BEST FOOD DISCUSSION - Palatable, Savory, Delicious Food Found In ASEAN

[GR888]

Some footnotes on town area yong tau foo vendors...

The one that got away... New Generation (新时代) Yong Tau Foo @ Chinatown Complex. The Hokkien couple who runs the stall makes one of the best fried YTF. The secret is in changing the frying oil regularly so that the YTF doesn’t carry any stale residual oily taste. Just $6 for a plate of 10 sizeable pieces of YTF plus an additional 50 cts for a bowl of hearty bee hoon soup.... real bargain! Unfortunately they have moved out of Chinatown Complex. Last I heard they’ve moved to somewhere near Simei MRT, sigh!




The overrated one... Koo Kee (高记) @ various locations. Used to be good until they got into franchise mode. Everything went downhill from there. Thanks to a centralised kitchen, the food quality suffered... the tofu no more silky, their taupok became coarse & hard, and their soup went on a salt & MSG over drive. Size of their YTF shrunk beyond recognition & took on a rather “manufactured” taste... totally nothing like before. Mind you, it’s not even cheap. A set meal of minute portions like this cost close to $7. I’m sure we deserve better & tastier YTF.

[GR888]

Originally Posted by sionglim

Curry fish head gomez style have? Sporean original.using red bream fish

Dr Leslie Tay has written about this. Just google & read his take on Gomez’s fish head curry.

[FantaZero]

Nice share of different yong tau foo stalls, thanks!!

[GR888]

Box N Sticks @ 28 Kandahar Street (Kampong Glam)... this is the go-to place for folks seeking an affordable, decent & cosy izakaya to hang out with friends... or even for a casual & relaxing meal with your favourite FL or ML, hee hee!

I brought Busty Bonanza here about two months back. Still remembered that day when we walked down Kandahar Street towards the place, she suddenly grabbed my arm & screamed in excitement (or rather, in orgasmic ecstasy) when she caught sight of the restaurant’s traditional if rustic Japanese-style facade amongst the row of Peranakan & Arab-inspired shophouse fronts. (Can’t blame her. She’s a young Malaysian Chinese girl who has not yet seen the world, haha!)

Indeed, the restaurant exterior decor harks back to the sort of architecture found in Kyoto’s quaint & traditional Higashiyama district. The owners have also taken care in ensuring that the restaurant interior decor - from lanterns & wall adornments to fixed wooden fittings & storage spaces - reflect cutesy & interesting Japanese styles. Great traditional Japanese “feel” to it.

The decor aside, the best part of our dining experience is the affordability & attentive service. The place is crewed by an enthusiastic & friendly bunch of young folks. Prices are definitely very wallet friendly. A meal here ain’t gonna give your credit card a devastating work out.

Food wise the menu is quite extensive. There’s a range of yakimono & yakitori to choose from, on top of sushi, sashimi, maki rolls, soups, salads, donburi & pasta. We ordered a whole load of stuff for two.

Busty Bonanza claimed that asari sake (steamed clams in sake) triggered wetness in her pussy... whoops! I particularly liked the gyu niku teriyaki & tuna tataki. Really oozing freshness & flavour. But Busty Bonanza swore by their grilled butter ebi, hotate metaiyaki & asari sake... and she alone finished 6 sticks of yakitori.

The food was certainly yummy, decent and above average. Could tell from the end product & food presentation that the chefs really take pride in the cooking. Don’t expect really high end stuff for the prices. But it’s certainly great value in a friendly & casual meal setting.

[GR888]

Some pics our food at Box N Sticks. Didn’t manage to snap everything we ordered though.

Asari Sake $8.80



Tori Mentai Mayo $3.80 & Tori Wasabi Mayo $3.80



Grilled Butter Ebi $5.80



Hotate Mentaiyaki $4.80



Grilled Enoki Bacon $3.80



Tuna Tataki Salad & Mustard Dressing $8.80



Salmon Carpaccio $10.80



Grilled Teriyaki Angus Beef (Gyu Niku Teriyaki) $12.80

[GR888]

Box N Sticks menu pics

[sionglim]

Ppl park complex Koo kee yong tau foo,
The panjang ,pretend to forget giving back the change.
Eat liao...

[GR888]

Tuck Kee Ipoh Crayfish Sah Hor Fun (德记怡保虾婆沙河粉) @ Hong Lim Food Centre... Hong Lim is home to a great number of hawker gems, but Tuck Kee is probably the only hawker stall in town that serves up delicious & authentic Ipoh crayfish sah hor fun.

Brought Busty Bonanza here yesterday to satisfy her jiuhu craving for Ipoh hor fun. Got a shock when I realised that the price for a plate of crayfish hor fun has increased to $9 now. It was $8 - which is already considered exorbitant by hawker standards - on my last visit sometime end last year.

Anyhow, the quality is still there. The hor fun was smooth & silky, yet soft & pleasing to the mouth. The medium sized crayfish & 2 large prawns (both cut in half) were fresh & sweet, yet firm & succulent. The all-important sauce carried the right taste & consistency as was before, and it mixed in well with the horfun & the rest of the stuff.

Thankfully, the price of a small bowl of dumpling soup remained the same $3. I like their dumplings because each came with a prawn. My only gripe was that the soup was a tad too salty for my liking. Yet despite the price increase, there was still a long queue when lunch time approached.... lol!

[GR888]

Outram Park Fried Kway Teow Mee (欧南园炒粿条面) @ Hong Lim Food Centre ... no trip to Hong Lim Food Centre would be complete without a plate of the famous char kway teow here... esp with hum (cockles) & a nice dose of chili! The only downside to enjoying my plate of Outram Park CKT was seeing the price increase from $3 to $4 per plate. Sigh!

This stall has been around for over half a century & the original boss’ son runs the show now. I was told by family elders that this stall was a member of the famous “four heavenly kings of char kway teow” quartet in Singapore in the ‘60s & ‘70s... the others being Hill Street, Old Airport Rd & one which I can’t recall.

Several factors why I love this char kway teow over the rest. For one, this is the moist variety of CKT which appeals to my palette. Most of the CKT I’ve tried tend to be either too sweet or too oily, often both. Most CKT cooks have this tendency to use too much oil (to prevent the CKT sticking to the wok) and an overdose of the black sweet sauce (to compensate for the lack of skill in generating taste).

The taste of this CKT is very balanced, not too sweet & contains just enough oil for the desired aroma & taste, with enough pieces of fried lard for the yumz effect too! To be able to do this consistently - day in day out, plate after plate - requires mastery of the wok hei and an impeccable sense of timing.

Wok hei (or wok’s breath) as most of us know, is the charring & smoky effect in a wok created by intense cooking heat at extremely high temperatures, thereby driving out the surface moisture & rapidly caramelising the food in the wok while blending & locking in all the flavours.

When Busty Bonanza saw me whacking the CKT like a hungry hyena yesterday, she asked if there was ever a situation where I would voluntarily give up on a plate of CKT. I cheekily told her I would only do so if given a choice between a plate of CKT or great sex with her... hehehe... to which she replied “you can have both today, let’s head back to your place after we are done”!!!

[GR888]

Ah Fatt (亚肥) Fishball Noodle @ Hong Lim Food Centre... Located smack in the Hokkien quarter of Chinatown & bordering the traditional Teochew enclave, it’s no surprise that Hong Lim has a high concentration of Hokkien-Teochew favourites like Fishball Minced Meat Noodles.

The stars of the fishball noodle show there are undoubtedly the famous & time-honoured Tai Wah (大华), Ah Kow (亚九) & Hong Xing (鸿兴), all of which I find really good. But since foodies have written extensively on these stalls, I thought I should mention Ah Fatt (亚肥).

Ah Fatt is considered a new comer in the sense that it has been around for the last 20 odd years (compared to over 80 years for Tai Wah & 7 decades for Ah Kow... lol!) This notwithstanding, Ah Fatt’s selling point is their traditional hand-made fishballs, meatballs & fishcakes, which means less flour, more meat & fresher fish! Even their chilli mix that goes into their noodle seasoning is home fabricated... nice!

Besides that, I particularly like their dumplings, which is filled with liberal amounts if minced prawn & bits of dry sole fish & mushrooms. Can’t get more legit & authentic than that! Food pics below... will find time to post pics of other Hong Lim hawker gems later. Like Old Airport Food Centre, Hong Lim Food Centre got a good concentration of tokong food!

[GR888]

Canto Delights (广东小吃) @ Hong Lim Food Centre... the stall that got Busty Bonanza raving non-stop to her masseuse colleagues... the real gem of Hong Lim hawker gems!!... the place to go for cheap & good food, plus friendly service to boot! Run by an ex-SQ cabin crew couple, eating at this stall really makes hawker center dining a great joy. Just about everything on the menu is awesome to say the least!

The fried chicken crispy chicken chop curry noodles is the pick of the bunch for me. Imagine paying just $4.00 for a yummy whole fried chicken thigh & liberal amounts of fragrant curry to go with Canto-style QQ noodles... it’s orgasmic to say the least. Sometimes I’d also dabao a chicken thigh for $3 to make sandwiches at home.

Their Canto-style charsiew wanton noodles is another hot seller. Their charsiew is the dark honey-roasted Canto-type which they throw in liberal amounts for a $3.50 plate. Their wantons are big too... very juicy & succulent! I usually enjoy my wanton noodles with green chilli, but I make the exception here by partaking it with their powderfully tasty sambal chilli.

If that’s not all, their laksa yong tau foo is another hot pick amongst regulars. Just $4.00 for 10 big pieces with noodles & plenty fragrant laksa gravy. Can even tell the stall boss which types I want (which he will dutifully remember)... which is usually big stuffed red chilli, fried dumpling, stuffed bittergourd, fried beancurd skin & stuffed eggplants. Add additional pieces for just 40 cts each (most other YTF places sell at 60 cts each for a much smaller piece).

Now, here’s the downside. The stall opens for business just past 10 am daily (closed on alternate Mondays). But long queues already form up well before that. Needless to say, it’s madness during lunchtime... and it’s quite often that they finish selling everything before 2:30 pm. So be warned, haha!! My advice... take an early lunch if you plan to eat there.

[GR888]

Canto Delights @ Hong Lim Food Centre... food pics

Fried Chicken (or Pork) Cutlet Noodles in Curry Sauce $4.00 (non-curry option available too)





Honey Charsiew & Wanton Noodles $3.50




Laksa Yong Tau Foo $4.00 (normal soup version available too)

[GR888]

Originally Posted by FantaZero

Nice share of different yong tau foo stalls, thanks!!

Paiseh, missed your post earlier. Yeah, I only listed central district YTF because I live & work in town, so I’m more familiar with these.

I enjoyed the Ghim Moh Hakka Yong Tau Foo @ Ghim Moh Market when a friend brought me there a couple of years ago. The YTF was very nicely fried & served with lots of chopped coriander & tasty fried garlic bits. Damn awesome! The chili & sweet sauce went very well with it. I especially liked the lightly fried stuffed lotus root. Never saw it available anywhere else. Haven’t been back since but I think the stall is still around.






Ghim Moh one aside I’ve also tried the Soon Li Yong Tau Foo @ Bukit Merah View blk 115 (opens only after midnight), Cambridge Rd Yong Tau Foo @ Blk 41 Pek Kio Market and Lau Huang Hakka Yong Tau Foo @ North Bridge Rd Market (near Crawford side) because they are closer to town. They are all yummy in their own unique way.

I’ve compiled a list of the following YTF stalls/outlets from friends’ recommendations & on-line research. Have omitted them from my earlier selection as they fell outside the locus of town. The list is not exhaustive as I’m sure there are a lot more vendors selling great YTF out there.

1. Ampang Yong Tau Foo @ East Coast Rd
2. Golden Mile Yong Tau Foo @ Golden Mile Food Centre
3. Goldhill Hakka Yong Tau Foo @ Changi Rd
4. Hup Cheong Yong Tau Foo @ Toa Payoh North
5. Xi Xiang Feng Yong Tau Foo @ Ang Mo Kio Ave 6
6. Ngee Fou Ampang Yong Tau Foo @ Upper Thomson
7. Fu Lin Yong Tau Foo @ East Coast Rd
8. Da Jie @ Clementi

[GR888]

Fyr Cycene Ond Drinc @ Boon Tat Street (Telok Ayer Conservation District)... OK, you are not looking at a typo. Fyr Cycene Ond Drinc is Gaelic for Fire Kitchen & Drink, lol! Talk about funky tongue twister names. I’m no expert in Celtic languages, so I won’t attempt to even butcher the words by trying to pronounce it. I’ll just refer to it as the Fire Kitchen amongst friends, haha!!

Brought Busty Bonanza here for an uber enjoyable wet pussy dining experience on one of our earlier dates. Part bar part restaurant, this shophouse establishment serves up atas-looking great-tasting fusion fare are very reasonable prices despite it’s town location. Nice joint to have a relaxing dinner with friends before adjourning to the bar area for after makan drinks & chit chat.

The food was indeed creative & novel, epitomised by the baked Maine lobster in lemongrass dressing & the grilled sambal-spiced deboned snapper (the mains came with choice of side dishes). We had juicy pan-grilled scallops & baked freshly-shucked oysters for starters. Ordered the baked pandan melt with pistachio ice cream and the chocolate banana parfait for dessert to complete a memorable meal. Suffice to say that the colours & flavours blended perfectly & the portions were just about right.

Food quality aside, service was prompt, friendly & attentive. The restaurant decor was kind of whimsical if a little over the top, especially the wall art, lol! But the overall experience was nothing short of excellent. Had to kick myself for discovering this place rather belatedly even though I live just a stone’s throw away.

A little bad news as a side note. The menu has changed somewhat since our visit. The Maine lobster is no more on the menu, which I thought was a bit of a shame. I mean, where else can one get a 600g lobster main for less than $40 in town? But there’s still plenty of good stuff on offer... great selection of meats, seafood, tapas style sharing plates & combo platters. Looks like another visit is on the cards very soon.

[GR888]

Here are pics of the stuff we ate... heh!!

Baked Freshly-Shucked Oysters $15.00



Pan-Grilled Atlantic Scallops $13.00



Baked Whole Maine Lobster With Lemongrass Dressing $38.00... AWESUM!!



Grilled Sambal-Spiced Deboned Snapper $29.00... AWESUM!!



Baked Pandan Melt & Pistachio Ice Cream $12.00



Chocolate Banana Parfait $12.00