jack 'n jill went up the hill

OK, I hear complaints.

I just noticed that I have only made 6 (including this) entries. February is short. OK, no excuse. But, but, I was really busy with other equally important things in my life. :)

How about some snacks to fill you up first?

I used to live in a block with a row of neighbourhood shops conveniently located on the ground floor. My sisters and I loved to visit this mama shop that sells a wide variety of tidbits. (The mama shop is still around!) Before Kettle Chips or Lays and Red Rock Deli, Jack 'n Jill was what made us happy. Our favourite got to be Salsa Chilli flavour.

Now that we are spoilt for choice, I hardly pick up another pack of Jack 'n Jill. Until a few weeks ago, while super-marketing, these attractive packaging caught my eyes. Fusion explosion! New flavours from Jack 'n Jill.



I grabbed all three. For I simply love to try out new and interesting flavours. My favourite is the Jalapeno and Cheez, followed by Mexicana Chilli and lastly Spicy D' Lime. The chips were overall mildly flavoured but pretty tasty.

Nothing earth-shattering really but it's always great to have more variety to choose from. Especially those that bring back good memories. Yes, I will purchase another pack of J 'n J again. In fact, I went NTUC today and was disappointed to find out that the Jalapeno n Cheez and Mexican Chilli were both sold out! :(

By the way, I also picked up a pack of salmon sushi(with wasabi) flavour potato chips. It came in a resealable bag with a bag of chips and a sachet of seasoning in it. You're supposed to empty everything in the resealable bag and shake it. Like McDonald's shaker fries. The chips were rough and K didn't like them. We still prefer Tai Sun's.



That's all for now. I'm going to dig into a bag of Calbee Pizza flavour chips.


Available at any good supermarket and convenience store.

Happy V Day

For all lovers out there.

We all know love is sweet.



Sometimes bitter.



Happy Valentine's Day!


P/S: I have to crop the unglam faces of S&L before they kill me! ;)


Obolo
452 Joo Chiat Road

Big O Cafe & Restaurant
501 Orchard Road
#02-04/05 Wheelock Place

join the queue

There's this notion that typical Singaporeans love to queue because of their "kia su"(afraid of losing) attitude. Be it freebies, food or hello kitties, the queue goes on and on and on.

For me, I simply love food more than queuing. Thankfully, there's man! I've always been fortunate to have them queuing for me willingly. :D IL was gentleman enough to offer standing in the line for Ah Lo's yam and carrot cake at Chinatown Market just to satisfy my curiosity.

The stall sells only yam cake, carrot cake and peanut porridge. While queuing, IL learnt from a friendly lady in front of him that the stall owners used to be very arrogant. They would not sell the peanut porridge alone. It was like a side. I think the old couple mellowed down with age over the years.



Twenty minutes of much anticipated wait later, it was finally his turn. IL got us a plate of yam cake and a plate of carrot cake($2.00 per plate) to share. The yam cake was sprinkled with sesame seeds and spring onions on top of the sweet sauce.



I was expecting to bite into bits of mushrooms, yam and shrimps but I could only taste the silky smooth spongy texture of the cakes. No, don't get me wrong. It didn't feel like biting into flour. This was Cantonese-style as I was told. The chilli sauce was very nice and complemented the plain looking cakes. You have to pay an extra $0.20 for more chilli sauce!

I prefer the carrot cake as no one beats the yam cake my sister's MIL made. Hokkien-style.

While we were eating, an uncle asked us if it was worth queuing. Yes, if you have the time.

Since we were already half-filled, we decided to look around the labyrinth of stalls for other good food. We spotted a queue in front of Heng Ji Chicken Rice stall.



The line wasn't as long and we decided to join in the queue. It didn't take too long to get to our turn. Around ten minutes.

The chicken was smooth and very tender.



The thing that was different was the chilli sauce. It wasn't the usual garlic chilli sauce with a hint of lime but something a tad sweet. I love chicken rice chilli and that was a letdown.



The rice was very fragrant but the serving was really small. I think any guy could have easily gobbled down three bowls at a go.



We had this mixed feelings about Heng Ji's chicken rice as we tucked in. It tasted like Yet Con's. After finishing our meal, we decided it wasn't bad. It just wasn't our plate of chicken rice.

In the end, we spent more than an hour queuing and eating which means we could have waited for the famous claypot chicken rice we wanted to have initially. But I'm glad I got to taste other good food I haven't tried before.

And I'm thankful for the great choices of food here that we Singaporeans get to queue for.

@IL: I didn't forget the super bitter chrysanthemum and luo han guo drink! :P


Chinatown Complex Food Centre
Blk 335 Smith Street

din tai fung

J is someone who has many friends yet she never fails to send me her blessings on my birthday and greetings every Christmas even when I never really remember hers. :P My bad.

J is my ex-colleague. She is easy-going, unpretentious, laid-back, adventurous and fun-loving. I only came to realize lately that she's as greedy as me. Very much a foodie herself, she follows foodblogs religiously and takes pictures of almost everything she eats with her trusty Canon Powershot(can't remember the model). No, she does not have a foodblog. I guess she's just inspired to be a food stylist/photographer so that she can finish up everything after the shoot. :P

I brought J to Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐 for dinner when she came to visit on New Year's Day. A couple of years back when it first opened in Paragon, we usually had to wait for over an hour to get a table. No reservation! Now that there are many outlets around Singapore, we can easily savour the goodness of their specialty-soup dumplings( 小籠包 ). Many are familiar with the food at Din Tai Fung so I shall not go on describing how good they are. Some may argue that the soup dumplings at Crystal Jade's are better, I say Din Tai Fung is not famous around the world for no reason.







I've also tried Din Tai Fung at Taipei which a friend claimed to be better compared to Singapore's.



I'm glad to conclude that the standard of their food is consistent throughout the two countries and different branches in Singapore.



Besides the default soup dumplings, the other must-order dish is the Braised Beef Noodle Soup( 紅燒牛肉麵 ).



The noodles with broad bean sauce(酢醬麵) is one of Taiwan's favourites. Not sure if we were just hungry, it was pretty tasty.



The fried prawn fritter was something new on the menu. Wrapped in crispy beancurd skin, you can actually taste the sweetness of the succulent prawns without the excessive oil.



Speaking of soup dumplings, P and I used to patronise the foodcourt at Sim Lim Square for Shanghai xiao long bao whenever we were there to keep up with technology. They were good and affordable. That was before the birth of Din Tai Fung. And that was before everyone has become caught up with their personal lives.

Anyway, J promised to bring me to Dragon-i to try Malaysia's famous Shanghai soup dumplings the next time we meet up in KL. ;) I hope that won't take another year.

J, where's the picture of the soup dumpling you promised to contribute to my blog? I also figured that there's a Din Tai Fung at The Gardens in KL! Didn't you know that? :P Should have brought you somewhere else.


shot by J

开心点心

The dim sum at Hwa Nam Chinese Restaurant (华南菜馆) may not be the best around but the dining experience is certainly delightful.



Hwa Nam Chinese Restaurant sits along the same stretch of food stalls as the famous Roti Prata House along upper Thomson Road. Besides a variety of decent dim sum, they also serve Cantonese dishes. The place is not only filled with nostalgia and the fragrance of comfort food, love was in the air. Every dish was served with a smile. And it didn't stop there. As we were enjoying our food contentedly, the aunties and uncles were chatting and laughing away happily. It is heartwarming to know find such lighthearted working environment.



E also noticed a Chinese quotation that highlights the importance of happiness stuck on the retro tiled wall.







Anyway, here are some pictures of the nice food we had.



K loves the Lor Mai Kai(glutinous rice with chicken).



I thought the 纸包鸡(chicken wrapped in paper) was really good.







Sometimes it's really the overalll dining experience and not just the food itself that constitutes to a truly satisfying meal. Of course, having quality friends to share the food was just as important as the quality of the food.

Thank you, IL, E and K for the company!


Hwa Nam Chinese Restaurant (华南菜馆)
244F Upper Thomson Road, Thomson Garden Estate
64533645
7am-11.30pm

旺来

Sorry for the absence. Chinese New Year has been really busy. No, I haven't been busy feasting but I was out of town for more than a week and missed my steamboat reunion. In fact, I even fell sick on the second day of CNY. But no worries, I'm in the pink of health now and had my yearly dosage of yusheng and abalone. :)

I'm no big fan of CNY goodies but this year I got my share of delicious homemade pineapple tarts in different shapes and sizes.

These are from a good friend, V. Melts-in-your-mouth pastry with moist filling made from honey rock sugar. $25 per box.



These are from my cousin, the one who taught me how to make bread. The pastry was buttery and fragrant. The pineapple filling was chewy and not too sweet.



These pineapple tarts from auntie S were crisp and had a slight milk powder flavour. The filling was similar to those by my cousin.



They all tasted really good and it depends on your preference. Let me know if you guys want to order next year. ;)

By the way, T gave me a box of my favourite shrimp rolls from home's favourite. Packed in nice tin, the skin of the shrimp rolls was a tad hard but filling was very spicy and tasty. (I can't stand those that are sweet!)

年年有余

祝你在这新的一年里，吃得饱，睡得好。




幸福饮茶
181 Lorong 4 Toa Payoh
#02-602 Singapore 310181
63631717

Miharu Authentic Ramen

Gallery Hotel? Where is that? That was my response when F suggested dinner at Gallery Hotel. Little did I know hidden at a corner of this hotel is a humble-looking Japanese restaurant, Sapporo Ramen Hiharu (美春).



The homely restaurant seats about 20 or so only. Yet there was no crowd when we were there on a Friday night. I came to realize that it's the Japanese culture that the customers usually slurp up their noodles quickly and leave for sake bars.

There are also two floor seating tables available for a truly authentic Japanese dining experience.



Spotting Japanese at Miharu is a sign that the food is authentic!



So what exactly is authentic at Miharu? The popular Sapporo Nishiyama brand noodles served at Miharu, were made with well water and are specially imported from Japan. These noodles were frozen when they arrived and has to be thawed for 3 days in order to achieve the perfect texture. Sapporo noodles were very popular in Japan and has no doubt attracted many Japanese here in Singapore.

The menu was nothing fanciful. Mainly Sapporo Ramen in different soup base and sauces. It costs about $12.50-$13.00 for a huge bowl. The noodles was chewy and good, the soup brimming with flavour, was however too salty. You can request for the soup to be less salty as stated on the menu though.



The egg which looked like braised egg tasted nothing like Chinese. It was soaked in a secret soy blend for half a day and later boiled to perfection with a melt-in-your-mouth orange yolk.





These meatless gyoza($6.00) were filled with chives only.



We ordered the long beans also known as Yasai itame($4.50) just to complete our diet with some greens. Nothing special.



Overall, dinner was good. But in comparison, I still think Marutaman Ramen at Central(now at Liang Court too) is better. Marutaman Ramen is however pricey and forever crowded. (I will blog about it next time.)

So if you want a quiet and authentic Japanese dinner without having to queue for hours, why not head down to Gallery Hotel which is just down at Robertson Quay.


Sapporo Ramen Miharu
76 Robertson Quay #01-11
Gallery Hotel
6733 8464
Open 12-3pm, 6-10pm
Closed on Wednesdays

The Little Nyonya

Because of the highly rated drama The Little Nyonya (小娘惹), my mum like many, was hooked on TV for the past weeks. To relive the nyonya experience, I took her to Ivins for authentic peranakan food on her birthday last weekend.

As expected, the place was packed. We waited for 15mins before we were seated and that was after I reminded the waitress that I had made a reservation. It took another 40mins before the food was served. Nevertheless, I must say it was worth the wait. But by then, we were all famished and I didn't want to prolong everyone's agony and took a snapshot of each dish quickly before they were attacked.

My first visit to Ivins was ages ago when it was at the other end of Upper Thomson Road. It has since shifted to Jalan Leban which is further down the road, along with other restaurants. Limited parking lots but there's a carpark behind the hawker center not too far away.

The Curry Fish Head($13.20) was the highlight. Served in a claypot, it kept the the flavourful dish warm throughout our meal. The gravy was thick and the fish fresh.



The Ayam Buah Keluak($5.90) is not my favourite. The gravy tasted like peanut sauce which I don't prefer and the buah keluak(according to M) is an accquired taste. My mum, however, was digging into it literally.



The interesting thing about Peranakans is that they are allowed to eat pork even when they are originated from an intermarriage of Chinese and Malay.

"The Peranakans were partially assimilated into the Malay culture (especially in food, dress, and language), while retaining some Chinese traditions (religion, name, and ethnic identity), thereby creating a fusion culture of their own."

K told me it's because the marriage involved a Chinese royal family and they had the rights not to follow the book but set their own rules. I googled and couldn't find any fact to back this up. Can someone enlighten me?

Anyway, like the origin, the Babi Ponteh($4.90) is allegedly a very popular nyonya dish. Lean pork was stewed for hours with preserved bean paste. My niece loved this(and she's also a huge fan of The Little Nyonya).



The Lady's Fingers Sambal costs $3.20 for a really small plate. The good thing about small serving is that you can order a wide variety to share. Even when there's only two of you. It was by the way, very good.



Udang Goreng Assam($5.00), was not too sweet and just enough zest. MM loves the unique taste of the tangy tamarind sauce.



To complete your meal, there are also a good variety of decent desserts in small portion for only $1.20 a bowl. The Chendol was quickily sold out when we wanted to order another.


Gula Melaka Sago (Tapioca jelly bits served with coconut milk and brown sugar)


Buboh Cha Cha(Sweet potato and yam in sweet coconut syrup)

It's a totally different experience dining at Ivins compared to True Blue which is more upmarket. Authentic and unpretentious, if Ivins is not the best peranakan restaurant, it's definitely the most affordable. Go early because the Nasi Kuning(coconut-flavoured rice) and otah were sold out by 8pm.

Happy Birthday, Mum. Today is her birthday. :)


IVINS @ Jalan Leban
No. 2/4 Jalan Leban,
Upper Thomson Road
6451 4622
11 am to 9 pm (Lunch/Dinner)
Closed on Thursday

IVINS @ Binjai Park
19/21 Binjai Park Bukit TImah
64683060
11am-3pm (Lunch), 5pm-9pm (Dinner)
Closed on Thursday

Coffee, tea or me?

Matchazuki Latte($7.20) at TCC is a concoction of Matcha (Green Tea) with Azuki (Red Bean) and Latte. Sounds like a weird combination but it is surprisingly good.