Emicakes -- Ultimate D24 Durian Puffs

Last eaten: 28 April 2007

We passby this shop because of Botak Jones...they were just located besides each other! :D Since I am not a fan of durian stuffs, I don't really know how famous this shop is. But for those people out there who love durian, you probably would want to bookmark this shop in your list of Favourites. :D

Comments: We picked the Ultimate D24 Durian Puffs and there are two types they offer: 1) More durian paste and less cream; or 2) More cream and less durian paste. Hahaha...well, of course is choice 1 right? *duh!* :DD Well, what can I say about it? It taste just like a good quality D24 durian meat...with some puffs pastries on? :P Hahaha...lol Yet probably because we ate it some time after we bought the puffs from the shop, it started to taste less fresh and a bit sour. So next time, eat the puffs on the spot and avoid bringing it home! *big grin* :D

Location

Emicakes Shop Clementi
Blk 325
Clementi Ave 5
#01-143
Tel: 6775 1361

Operation Time:
Mon-Fri: 10am-8.30pm
Sat & Sun: 9.30am-8.30pm
http://www.emicakes.com.sg

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 4.5
Quality: 4.5
Ingredients: 4.0
Presentation: 4.5
Price: $$ (S$5.50 for 4 puffs)
OVERALL: 4.5

Other remarks: The puffs are good and I love them! :D Durian is a really unique local fruit and turning it into a high quality pastries is just such a wonderful thing. You have to try it...if you want to be a true local Singaporean...hahaha...lol

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon

Last visited: 23 April 2007

I came to know of this place through my hall orientation camp whereby this was one of our game stations in the game "Makan Express". Our OG missed this stop and hence we made our pact to come back together to try their fish head bee hoon. For someone like me who don't really fancy fish (except Sashimi), this is one of the rare few fish cuisine that I LOVE so much! :D

Comments: Like I mentioned before, the essence of a good fish head bee hoon is in its soup. This XO fish head bee hoon is special because, like its name, it contains the liquer XO inside the soup. Even though the stall owner uses probably only one or two tablespoon of the XO, the whole fish soup taste become aromatic. The taste is like...HEAVEN! :DD I just don't know how to describe it to all of you manz... *paiseh* :P

The selected fish meat, according to my mum (who loves fish a lot), is fresh and of very good quality as you can tell from the texture and the thickness of the fish slices (well...it looks more like fish chunks to me! :P). My mum's speculation of the type of fish is Sea Bass, an expensive but juicy fish that is popular in most Chinese restaurants, because the meat we ate is not really tender, but firm and a little rough. But whatever kind it is, it certainly is a GOOD fish. Hahaha...lol

We also ordered their Prawn Paste Chicken Wings as our snack. The chicken wings are deep-fried until golden brown, totally soft and crispy. The owner uses just a very small amount of the corn flour on the chicken wings for deep-frying purpose and hence their original taste is well-maintained. This dish is really good and you probably would not want to miss it when you visit their stall next time. *Thumbs up!* d(^o^)b

Location

Holland Village XO Fish Head Bee Hoon
Blk 46
Holland Drive
#01-359
Singapore 270046

Operation Time:
Mon-Fri: 11.30am - 2.00pm
Sat, Sun & Public Holiday: 12.00nn - 2.00pm
Evenings: 5pm - 11pm

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

XO Fish Slices Bee Hoon

Taste: 5.0
Ingredients: 5.0 (Got XO inside wor...lol)
Quality: 5.0
Presentation: 4.0
Price: $$$ (S$8 for portion of two + S$3 for XO; Take-away container is S$2 but refundable when you return it back to the stall)
OVERALL: 5.0!

Prawn Paste Chicken Wings

Taste: 4.5
Quality: 3.5 (some of the drumstick parts are not fully cooked)
Presentation: 3.5
Price: $$$ (S$6 for 6 pieces - equivalent of 3 complete chicken wings)
OVERALL: 3.5

Other remarks: I was amazed that even on a weekday lunch like today, the coffee shop is still packed with people, in which practicall ALL are having the XO Fish Head Bee Hoon. However, the service from this stall was, supposedly, notorious as the owner (the uncle) either pushed you to buy more from him or he would go black-faced like 包公. This is more obvious if you order from the stall in a big group. (Usually, not much of such special service for groups of one or two persons...)

Yet my friend told me that for lunches, the aunties will take over the ordering jobs (the uncle takes over at some nights). And they are really nice ladies. Hence, if you ever find the stall's services are not up to your expectation, well, take it easy coz they are already 'famous' for it. But then...remember you came here for their food and not for the owners k? So who cares! :P *Don't forget you are also dining at a coffee shop that has no service charges...*

NTU Hall 2 Canteen

Last visited: 19 April 2007

Came here to have breakfast with my neighbours this morning. Hall 2 Canteen is the closest food place, mainly catered for Hall 2 residents and students, nearest to our Sports and Recreational Centre (SRC). It is quite a popular place with its wide variety of food, ranging from Western, Chinese, Malay, and Vietnamess. The canteen was run by 3 NTU Alumnis. There are also other smaller push-cart stalls at the side selling hot snacks such as waffles, hot dog and pastries.

Comments: The stall owner mainly used pandang and kaya for the kaya toast, which is different from the famous Ya Kun kaya toast in which they used butter and kaya. Today's toast was good, fresh and crispy. Unlike the other day in which the toast was soggy and cold.

However, for the half-boiled egg, it is still a little disappointing. The key point to a good half-boiled egg is how cooked the egg was. For this case, the egg seems to have overcooked a little and not so watery anymore. Geez...I guess I like it more in liquid form. :P It just does not taste as good as I would have expected it to be, even with the black sauce. In general, eating in NTU, even for breakfast is still cheaper than outside where it would offer you the same food items. So it's still worth trying... :)

Location

NTU Hall of Residence 2 Canteen

41 Students Walk

Singapore 639549

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 2.5
Quality:2.5
Cleaniness: 3.5
Comfort: 3.0 (Air-conditioned with TV broadcasting mainly Channel 8 programmes)
Price: $ (S$1.80 for a set of breakfast with kaya toast, half-boiled egg, coffee/tea, and fruit)

OVERALL: 3.0

Other remarks: It has a super long queue today as there are students taking their breakfast before the exams. Glad that I feel pretty relax because my paper is just not today...hee... :P

Best Coffee Shop -- Ban Mian (Maggie Noodles)

Last visited: 12 April 2007

Best Coffee Shop is the second closest food place to my hall in NTU. They have quite a variety of different kinds of food provided. I guess due to their location which is further away from the main road, the food here is actually slightly cheaper compared to the other coffee shop, next to City Harvest Church building. So far during this 3 years of my stay in NTU, I haven't really gotten bored with their food yet. Food that I would recommend are Hokkien Prawn Mee, Chicken Chop Rice, Ban Mian, Chui Kueh, Nasi Lemak, and Salad/Lemon Chicken Rice.

What I find more unusual for this coffee shop is that the Ban Mian (handmade noodles soup) stall offers Ban Mian which you can change to Maggie noodles. Most of the Ban Mian stalls in Singapore have a range of Ban Mian (thick noodles), You Mian (thinner noodles), and Mee Fun Kway (flat noodles). But to change to Maggie noodles, the one we usually eat at home, is pretty rare.

Comments: With the maggie noodles, the whole "Ban Mian" actually tastes pretty like the instant noodles we cook back at our homes. Except that while we normally use the seasoning provided, the Maggie noodles here tastes more naturally and healthy with the home-made soup, ikan bilis, and the vegetables given by the stall owner. Hence, you may want to drink this soup down as you eat your noodles as well.

Location

The Best Coffee Shop
Block 959
Jurong West Street 91

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 3.0
Variety: 3.0
Cleaniness: 2.5
Service: 3.0
Price: $$
OVERALL: 3.0

Other remarks: Compared to the coffee shop near the main road, this one does not have plasma TV installed. Hence, it is less crowded and if you want to watch TV, you might just have to go for the other coffee shop.

Bedok Blk 85 Hawker Centre

Last visited: 6 December 2006

This entry is gonna be a super long one because I know this place way too well. I may not have frequent this place as much as last time, but one thing for sure, if it has no major change, I still know it as much as the back of my hand. Why so? I practically grew up here the first 10 years while I was in Singapore. Not only my house (Blk 78) is only 5 minutes away, my previous church (All Saints Church at Anglican High School; 2nd photo above) is located right next to it on top of a hill slope. So I almost have my meals here for everyday throughout that 10 years. And seriously, I never knew how blessed I was till I moved out from there. This entry you can certainly trust me with the food and the stall I recommend here. I just miss those days living there and patronizing that market everyday so so much...sigh... :/

[NB: Sorry I forgot most of the names of the stalls, so I can only try to describe you the location of the stall which are famous there. Will try my best to take pictures of the stalls again when I can go and visit it again next time, meaning that it would not be so soon...hahaha...lol]

Comments: For Blk 85, you practically have nice stuffs to eat throughout the whole day. The front part of the hawker operates mainly in the morning, while the back part, which is the main bulk of the whole hawker centre operates from evening till early morning. Hence, this hawker centre is basically 24-hours daily, in which most stalls will take their break only on Monday. So if you intend to go there, Wed or Thu nights will be the most ideal because from Fri-Sun night it will be super crowded. Since most of the tables are placed outside where there is no overhead cover, you can only come on the sunny days. Of course, you can still sit inside with those proper hawker centre tables and stools, but in general most people would rather choose to sit outside near the road, as it is much more cooler and truly the "Blk 85 hawker style". The food that this hawker is famous for: (Morning) Rojak; (Afternoon) Newton Hokkien Prawn Mee; (Night) BBQ Seafood, BBQ Chicken Wings, Porridge, and of course the best Bak Chor Mee in Singapore!!! :D

How To Get There

Block 85 Hawker Centre
Bedok North Road
Singapore 460085

Bus: Take 14 or 222 from Bedok interchange and alight at the bus-stop right after the Bedok Police Station (on the left side). The ride will only take about 10-15mins.

MRT: The nearest MRT is Tanah Merah MRT but it will take about 20-minutes to walk there. You just walk back to the Bedok Stadium direction, and walk straight along the Bedok North Road till you see the hawker centre. This method is more troublesome and hence you may consider the bus as a better choice.

Car: You just need to get to Bedok North Road. However, parking lot is limited especially over the weekends. Hence, you might want to park your car at the back of the hawker center, which is the Blk 90 carpark there.

BBQ Seafood

The BBQ Stingray is usually the most popular dish among the others. The well-known stall there is The Chan's Seafood, located right in the middle of the hawker centre. However, I haven't tried this stall yet as their BBQ Seafood is famous because of its sambal sauce, a super spicy chili sauce that I cannot take. So normally, I would order the BBQ Seafood from the stall at the front (Forgot its name; 2nd row nearest to the bus-stop). To me, this stall is one of the few stalls in Singapore who knows how to cook bbq seafood WITHOUT chilli. The stall owner will use garlic to grill the stingray, which works to take away the stench on most seafood. The stingray meat is soft and the bones can be eaten too. Adding some lime juice will help to enhance the taste much better.

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 4.5
Sauce: 4.0
Freshness: 4.0
Price: $$ (approx. S$10 for a normal stingray)

OVERALL: 4.0

Bak Chor Mee

The main reason Blk 85 Hawker Centre is famous for is its unique Bak Chor Mee (minced pork with meatballs soup noodle). The meat is so soft and shredded that you probably "drink" the soup and the meat together down your throat. Unlike most stalls in Singapore, it is absolutely different from those big, chewy minced pork you get. The soup is plain and is enhanced by the crispy onion and the spring onions sprinkled on top.

There are a total of 3 stalls there, with the stall right in the middle (next to the Porridge stall) the newest. The original one which started the fame all over Singapore is the stall right at the back, 2nd from the side. This stall wins for its springy noodles and its soup which is taste slightly stronger but yet not appear to have lots of MSG in it. The stall right next to it (the outermost stall in the last row) is very much the same too. I have make a comparison last time and realise the difference is only the noodle slightly soggy and the soup is milder in taste. But these are almost unnoticeable difference unless you purposely make such a comparison like me. It is faster than the 2nd stall with only 30mins of waiting time on weekend nights. The 2nd stall (the most famous one) will take close to 1 hour and 30mins on weekends and weekdays respectively. As for the newest stall (Ka Po Bak Chor Mee) in the middle, it is the fastest on all days. This DOES NOT mean it tastes the worst ya? In fact, I usually order from the stall just to save time. The Bak Chor Mee tastes about the same to me from all 3 stalls. Except that for those who came all the way from very far ends of Singapore, they still prefer to wait for a long time just for those two stalls that are famous -- for their stall names.

Ratings

Taste: 5.0
Soup: 4.5
Portion: 3.0 (Guys with big appetite can probably eat up 2-3 bowls; hence that's why you can eat many other side orders like chicken wings and stingray with it)
Ingredients: 3.5
Price: $ (Only S$2 per bowl!)
OVERALL: 4.0

BBQ Chicken Wings

It is a habit that Singaporeans like to add one or two pieces of BBQ chicken wings to their meals, especially for dinners when you are eating at the hawker centres. The BBQ Chicken Wings here is very much popular as well. If you are thinking of getting one, try to buy from the stall right behind the Western Food Stall (only have ONE western food there). The chicken wings is just tanned and nicely done. But if you rushing time and you happens to be there on the weekend nights, don't buy from this stall as you can take hours just to wait for it. There is one more stall right at the back of the hawker centre. However, it offers slightly burnt chicken wings. Yet because of its less competitive location compared to the other stall, sometimes it will offer Buy 5 Get 1 Free promotions. So if you come in big groups, maybe you can consider getting from them to save some money.

Ratings

Presentation: 3.5

Cooked: 4.0

Taste: 4.0

Price: $ (S$1 per piece)

OVERALL: 4.0

Porridge

The porridge stall is located right opposite of the Western stall in the middle section of the hawker centre. It sells Cantonese style porridge. The rice is boiled till it is in gravy form and hence it is soft when you eat it. The essence of its ingredients simply mixed with the porridge due to the long cooking time for the porridge. However, you may have to take some patience as it will take about 40 mins to be done after you have placed your order, even on normal weekdays.

Ratings

Taste: 5.0 (Strongly recommended by my uncle when he came here to visit us from Hong Kong)

Variety: 3.5

Freshness: 4.0

Price: $ (S$2.50 per bowl)

OVERALL: 4.0

Other remarks: There are many other food such as Western Food, Ah Boling (Rice dumplings dessert), Wu Xiang, Oyster egg, Char Kway Teow and Otah which are nice and cheap. You will be amazed by the number of awards and certificates awarded by the TV food shows and media you get to see over there. It simply look like EVERY stall has been awarded or recommended. You certainly won't be able to find THAT many of stalls with awards elsewhere in Singapore in a single hawker centre.

And if you are confuse by my verbal instructions of the locations of the stalls, don't worry coz I will try my best to visit it again...and this time taking down photos of the different stalls as I have mentioned. :)

Ah Fang Coffee Shop

Last visited: 7 April 2007

Went there with my hall friends for lunch. This coffee shop has been one of our main food source during the 3 years of my campus life, providing good lunches, dinners and suppers. It is very populare among the NTU students as a supper place, especially to those who stay in Hall 1, 4 and 5, and sometimes the army guys staying in Jurong Camp as well because it is very near the camp site. Their prata is very famous among us for supper, and their zhu cha is good too. The actual name for the coffee shop is Lai Lai Coffee Shop. Yet we all called it as Ah Fang. Well, I don't know the reason behind this though. It operates 24-hours and hence you need not worry you will go hungry anytime.

Comments: I love the zhu cha stall here as their dishes taste really good. The chef is quite flexible as you can make small adjustments to your dishes such as to add vegetables to your normal sweet & sour pork rice for only S$0.50. They have some unique dishes like chilli-crab-sauce chicken rice, fried hokkien prawn mee (dried). The prata stall is especially popular for during the supper time. Even though the prata may not taste as good as the well-known prata stalls at Jalan Kayu and Upper Thomson Road, the prata here can be considered at above average with a very normal price at S$0.80-S$1.20. At least, I don't think you can get prata at this price at those famous stalls right? The coffee shop also sells other food such as bak chor mee and western food. The stall owner also offers home-made ice lemon tea at only S$1.00, in which most of the other coffee shops sell theirs at S$1.20-S$1.30.

Location

Lai Lai Coffee Shop
Block 907
Jurong West Street 91
Singapore 640907

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 3.0
Quality: 3.0
Service: 3.5
Cleaniness: 2.5
Price: $$

Overall: 3.0

Other remarks: The coffee is more packed during the dinner and supper time. The drink stall aunty will only serves you up to midnight 12am, after which you will have to go to the counter to get the drinks yourself. Most of the stalls, EXCEPT the zhu cha stalls open 24-hours. But the zhu cha stall also operates till about 12am midnight on most days. The usual customers to the coffee shop are NTU students who stay in hall and the army guys in Jurong Camp. It feels good and cozy because most of time I get to see many familiar faces there or the same group of people.

White Char Kway Teow

Last visited: 29 March 2007

I have come across this stall in Chinatown at the hawker centre behind the Pearl's Centre. I cannot recall the stall number but it is located in between a drink stall and a local zhu cha stall. The stall is easily recognised as it specialises in all kinds of char kway teow (local fried rice noodles with clams, bean sprouts, egg and sometimes prawns), ranging from Penang style, Indonesian style and the local hokkien style. But the style that caught my attention is the White Char Kway Teow, in which it EXCLUDES the use of soya sauce in its cooking process (the use of soya sauce is what distinguishes the local char kway teow from the normal fried hor fun). Hence I gave that a try.

Comments: Without the soya sauce, the char kway teow is quite tasteless. It loses its uniqueness of the local char kway teow that most of us like. You may think that it appear to be healthier without that soya sauce. I think the same way as well but after trying it out...it is NOT! It is still as oily as the other char kway teow that you tasted else where. But I have to comment that the stall owner is VERY generous in the portion of clams in the char kway teow. I suppose I had close to 10 over clams in my small plate, consisting of close to a quater of the content of the kway teow. The prawns are quite fresh as well. Hence, if you are a clam lover, you may probably want to give this stall a visit some day.

Location

Pearl's Centre (the hawker centre is behind the main building)

100 Eu Tong Sen Street

Singapore 059812

Ratings (Total of 5 points)

Taste: 2.0

Ingredients: 3.5

Presentation: 3.0

Price: $$

Overall: 3.0

Other remarks: It is worth trying as I seldom come across a char kway teow that is without the black soya sauce in Singapore. You might also want to try out other kinds of char kway teow from this stall too as the pictures there looks pretty attractive. Yet I have to say that the white kway teow is really too plain, even for me who is a person that prefer food with milder taste.