Riverside Grilled Fish 江边城外

I love to eat fish but I'm not a big fan of whole fishes (i.e. with the bone and all). Plus, I am definitely not fond of ma la sauce because the spiciness makes my tongue numb. So I am pleasantly surprised that I fell in love with this place after my first visit with my friends at work!

The place was rather empty when we first visited, but fast forward to a couple of months later, and there is a sizable crowd at Riverside Grilled Fish now. No long queues (thank god) but definitely enough people to assure us that this place can survive in Raffles City.

The process is simple enough. You get to choose the fish, the sauce, and the side dishes which will be hidden under the fish. We usually go for the sea bass, the bean paste sauce (one of the two sauces which is not spicy), and lots of side dishes like mushroom, lotus root, luncheon meat, beancurd skin, konjac, and rice cakes.

The sea bass is always very fresh and delicious. The size of the fish varies (naturally) and sometimes we get a really large sea bass and sometimes a slightly smaller one. Not a biggie for me because we are always so full after the meal anyway. 

The sea bass has generally less bones so it was very easy to dig in and enjoy the fish with the sauce. 

The first time I came we also ordered the chinese sausage rice but realized we were so full from the fish that we could hardly finish the rice. Subsequently, we always ordered the 手抓饼 which was like roti prata and soaked up the sauce really well. 

Riverside Grilled Fish is a good place for gatherings since all of us will be huddled around a table attacking the fish together. That is probably the reason why we keep returning to this place when we need a good lunch, and for birthdays and farewells.

 252 North Bridge Road, Raffles City Shopping Centre,#B1-06/07, Raffles City Shopping Centre, 179103

6352 2035

Bao Makers and AEIOU cafe, Lavender

Dinner after work with Stef! Picked Bao Makers from the Entertainer App and met at the cozy little restaurant one night after work. The place was not too crowded on a weekday night even though we came in without reservations. Settled down in a corner table and started flipping through the menu excitedly. 

Truffle fries ($5 as an extra to the bao). I could smell the fragrance of truffle oil from the bowl of truffle fries across the aisle without even looking in that direction. It was really so fragrant! I would highly suggest this as a side to the baos. We also had the house salad ($2) as a side to add some veggies into our meal. 

Chilli Crab Bao ($5.80 each). They were very generous with the crab meat - just look at all the crab meat stuffed into the bao! The weird thing about this dish which we found out pretty soon was the bowl of chilli sauce. The depth of the bowl meant that it was virtually impossible to dip my bao into the chilli sauce. I just cannot fit the bao into the bowl to reach the sauce at the bottom. We resorted to pouring the sauce out of the bowl onto our bao (and dripping it everywhere) and using our fork to smear the sauce evenly on our bao.

Salted Egg Shrimp ($5.80 each). As usual, I love everything salted egg so this was a winner for me! I love the juicy crunchy prawns and that thick savoury salted egg sauce.

We left Bao Makers and headed to AEIOU around the corner. There are loads of cafes in this area and I have tried most of them but I have never tried AEIOU before. It was a very interesting cafe and I totally could not tell that it was a cafe from the exterior. Housed in what looked like a hardware shop, AEIOU was quiet, peaceful and serene when we entered. There was a small cake counter at the front with shelves selling various merchandise. The tables and stools were all different! Some tables were traditional wrought iron tables with a glass top (like this one) and others resembled an old-fashioned sewing machine! Very interesting. We had a tiramisu which was served in a Grey Goose bottle and a pot of green tea. 

Both Bao Makers and AEIOU Cafe are easily accessible from Lavender MRT. 

Was a great evening catching up on life, work, and all sorts of random things in general. Till the next dinner! :)

The Bao Makers

78 Horne Road 

Monday to Friday                    12pm to 10pm

Saturday/Public Holidays        11am to 10pm

Sunday                                     11am to 6pm

Phone: 6291 2330

Aeiou Cafe

111 King George's Ave, 208559

Phone:6291 2698

Chatterbox

Lunchtime affair with friends from office at Chatterbox. I've heard so much about the chicken rice at Chatterbox, always touted the best (and most expensive) chicken rice in town, and I have been dying to try it. Finally got here during a lunch and boy was it good! Many thanks to TT for bringing us here and for the awesome discount too :):) The chicken was really good, extremely tender and fresh, without the usual bloody bits found in other chicken rice places. The rice was fluffy and fragrant without being too oily. Together with the ginger, chilli and dark sauce, this meal was perfect! 

But truth be told, the price is too steep for me and I am unlikely to spend that much money eating chicken rice at that price even though it was so good. So... I guess the next time I come would be tagging along with TT HAHA. Oh man, I am such a cheaponana sigh.

Update: So I did tag along with TT for another delicious lunch at Chatterbox! Had the Lobster Laksa Noodles this time which was really good too. The laksa sauce was so thick, tasty and fragrant, and went so well with the juicy chunks of fresh lobster. But this was also another dish which was too steep for me at the original price hahaha. 

Ended the perfect lunch with a delicious coconut ice cream. Coconut ice cream paired with sweet coconut flesh, nuts, lychee and a slice of chocolate was just the best way to end our wonderful lunch. YAY TO TT! 

Mandarin Orchard
333 Orchard Road

Botanic Gardens and Earth Jar Treasure Herbal Soup, Sin Ming

Went along with my parents to visit the Botanic Gardens one Sunday afternoon. It was so relaxing to walk along winding paths which cut through lots of beautiful greenery, watch families laze on blankets set on the grass, kids kicking a ball around, and happy happy sounds in the large garden. It reminded me of Central Park, just much hotter and way more humid. Free entry into the National Orchid Garden where so many beautiful species of orchids were on display but it was so crowded in there! I prefer the luscious greenery in other parts of the Botanic Gardens instead. 

I don't remember hanging out with my family in Botanic Gardens when I was a kid. It was a lifestyle that we had neither the luxury nor the time to adopt. My growing years were dotted with memories of my dad working long hours to make ends meet and all of us struggling in one way or another. It is heartening that as my brother and I grew up, my parents could take time off to go to places they do not usually go (with me tagging along) and spend time together. 

It was almost dinnertime by the time we were done strolling through the park and my dad suggested heading to Sin Ming for herbal soup and zichar. The Earth Jar Treasure Herbal Soup is a small shop housed in a coffee shop on the ground floor of a long HDB block. They had a wide selection of herbal soup and some zi char dishes. We picked the lotus pork rib soup, stir-fried potato leaves, beansprouts and sambal sotong.

I am a huge fan of herbal soup and the one at Earth Jar was awesome! The ingredients were stuffed inside a porous bag so that they will not drift around in the soup. This solves the problem of having to sieve out the dregs of the soup. So thoughtful! The soup was thick and flavorful. 

The stir-fried dishes had good wok hei and I love their sambal!

Truth be told, the selection of stir-fried dishes was limited and there was not much to choose from. But the thick soup, hearty stir-fried dishes and homely taste more than made up for the lack of choice. After all, what is the use of variety if nothing hits the mark right?

We went over to Udders where I hopped off and bought some ice cream for my parents and myself! It was a good good Sunday :)

It was not easy to get here and I can foresee that I won't be back unless I get a car or someone offers to drive me. But if you stay in the area, do visit!

#01-244 77 Eating House
22 Sin Min Road
9383 1864

The Noodle Place, Orchard Gateway

Town was crazy crowded as usual on Saturday and there were queues everywhere at dinner time. We headed to Orchard Central and darted upstairs to 49 seats (because we wanted to do pasta) but the queue was frighteningly long. So we came back down and joined the much shorter queue at The Noodle Place.

The Noodle Place is known for their Cantonese style wanton and shrimp dumpling noodles as well as their roast meats. The boyfriend chose the dry wanton mee while I took the shrimp dumpling noodle in soup. We also ordered a plate of char siew to share.

Generally, the shrimp dumpling noodle in The Noodle Place reminded me of their Hong Kong counterparts. I had some of the best shrimp dumpling noodles ever in Hong Kong and they were just so fantastic! The bowl at The Noodle Place definitely paled in comparison to their Hong Kong cousins but the noodle was still rather springy and the dumplings were large and stuffed with fresh ingredients. I was also fond of the soup base!

Char siew was good, just the right amount of lean meat and marbly fats. The fats simply melted away in my mouth and was a good mix with the lean meat. Unfortunately, it was not too well-marinated though. I wanted to try their roast pork too but it was not available. Another time perhaps!

I would recommend the Noodle Place if you are craving for Cantonese style shrimp dumpling noodles or wanton noodles. Definitely more expensive than the usual food court wanton mee but still worth the price. 

#01-17 Orchard Gateway (just a few steps away from the MRT exit at 313 Somerset)

67333171

10:00 to 22:00

Founder's Bak Kut Teh, Balestier Road

The boyfriend and I ventured to Balestier Shaw to watch Kingsman! It was a good show and I love how a suit transforms a person. I also really like the pug. Pugs are just too cute! (And this just goes to show how very backdated this post is hurhur).

Since we were in the Balestier area, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try Founder's Bak Kut Teh which was just directly across the road. There was a short queue at the door even before they started business at 6 pm so we joined the queue dutifully.

My childhood favourite is Outram Ya Hua Bak Kut Teh and I go there every time I am craving for some good Bak Kut Teh. But I heard awesome stuff about Founder's so I was super excited to try it.

The boyfriend chose pork slices while I went for mini pork ribs. Pork was fresh but the broth was just not as good as Ya Hua. My mini pork ribs were also less tender than the pork ribs at Ya Hua. 

I left feeling quite disappointed. I expected much higher standards from this well-established Bak Kut Teh store with celebrities' pictures covering every inch of the walls. It feels like a hype that went on forever and did not die down. Aish, I guess I should return back to Ya Hua.

New Orchid Hotel

347 Balestier Road

Wed - Mon: 12:00 - 14:00

Wed - Mon: 18:00 - 02:30

Closed: Tue

+65 63526192

I Want My Noodle, Shaw Centre

After being boarded up for a really long time, the new wing in Shaw Centre is finally up. The new wing looks glitzy, shiny, and exceedingly new as compared to the old Isetan wing but the toilets are just as disgusting. Shaw seriously needs a better cleaning company.

That said, there is seriously nothing much in the new wing. I spy some salons, spas, a handful of boutiques and a few eateries. Heard some good things about I Want My Noodle and their freshly made egg noodles so I brought the boyfriend there on Saturday. 

We started our meal with the meatball soup ($7.90). The meatballs were indeed special, not the usual run-of-the-mill grey meatballs. The meatballs were brown and slightly crispy on the outside, with a a good tasty mix of meat within. I really liked the broth too which was thick and delicious.

We both had My Noodle with Double Roast ($12.50). The noodles were springy and taut, the char siew was lean and well-marinated, and the roast pork was nice and crispy. The chilli packed a punch too and was so good!

Prices were very reasonable too, considering the fact that it is right smack in town. They were also very generous with the ingredients such that my noodles were covered with lots of char siew and roast pork. Not too crowded when we visited and I would definitely return if I was in the mood for more noodles!

1 Scotts Road

97583037

Their opening hours are quite a mystery to me. The Internet tells me that they are open from 10 am to 10 pm but when we came by at 5 pm, the lights were off and the staff was milling around preparing the food. We came back at 545 pm and all was in action again. 

Yet Con Restaurant, Purvis Street

Update on 26 June 2015: I feel cheated by my own post below. How on earth could standards be so inconsistent?! Anyway, I am absolutely bummed because I brought my good friend (who just came back from US and is craving chicken rice) to have chicken rice at Yet Con only to realise that the chicken was dry, tasteless, and horribly bland. The roast pork was still crispy but also tasteless. What a waste of my time, money, and calories! :( :( :( And my friend had to eat some lack luster chicken rice which definitely failed to satisfy said craving. 

Took a stroll in the nice warm afternoon sun from our office to Yet Con which is situated along Purvis Street. Purvis Street is like the place to go in Bugis for good chicken rice with two heavyweights (Chin Chin and Yet Con) facing each other in the narrow street.

Yet Con looked like it stepped out of the 80s or something. Aluminium-rimmed glass doors, tiled floor, a small makeshift kitchen right beside the door, and a vintage cashier counter with an abacus sitting on it. Omg how long had it been since I last saw an abacus! There was a time in my younger days when I spent hours thumbing on my abacus before finally graduating to be able to calculate mentally without the abacus. My parents were not rich folks so I was not the usual kid with a million and one enrichment classes (which is the reason why I don't believe in enrichment classes but that is a topic for another day). But they made it a point to send me to abacus classes and we kept at it for years when I was in primary school. I was damn bloody good in it, if I could say so myself. Eventually, law school wiped everything out of my memory and I can barely count now. Abacus is not something that you can pick up again years after you stop, like swimming or cycling. Abacus is like yoga. The minute you stop practicing, it starts going down the drain. The rules are still there in my brain but I'm no longer as quick or nimble anymore. 

Either there was no menu or we were not given one. But who cares since we knew what we wanted. We took a plate of chicken, hainanese pork chop, roast pork, and sambal kang kong. If you are ever clueless in Yet Con, just go with these dishes. You won't regret it.

Some have complained that the chicken was "bland and tasteless, with no sauce" but that is precisely why I love the chicken here so much. The chicken was served without the usual sauce and oil, and sits on the plate naked. Without the sauce and oil, you are able to taste the fragrance of the chicken for what it is worth. There is no need to hide under the layer of sauce and oil, like a shy maiden hiding behind the screen. Together with the chilli, the chicken was so tender and fragrant. 

The hainanese pork chop was nice, but it was not mind blowing. I really adored the roast pork!! Crispy, not too much fat, and just so good. I was also completely blown away by the sambal kangkong. Sambal kangkong is a very simple dish that I have all the time, but this has got to be one of the best ever. They were very generous with the sambal so the dish was super tasty. 

We finished everything happily and decided to wash this delicious meal down with KOI Bubble Tea from Bugis Plus. I was so full and happy from the meal and bubble tea! We burned the calories by walking back to the office.

The lunch crowd at Yet Con is woah, so be prepared to wait around a bit before getting a table. On the bright side, they are extremely efficient and your food will be in front of you before you are done admiring the vintage deco of the place.

Daily 10:00 to 22:00
63376819

Pu Tien, Marina Square

My mum picked Pu Tien for her birthday dinner so we came by one weekend in January. We chose the branch at Marina Square because it was convenient, accessible, and, most importantly, had a gym shop which sold gym balls (and I bought one for her birthday!). I made a reservation and was thankful that I did since Pu Tien was rather crowded when we arrive.d 

I was generally not too fond of Pu Tien when I was younger because I found the food too light and bland. I guess my palate changed as I grew older and I actually prefer food with lighter sauces now. 

We picked a set for 4 people and it was really worth it! We had 7 dishes for a total cost of approximately $198, and I was pleasantly surprised that the quality was still really good. I have tasted some set dinners at other Chinese restaurants which were (slightly) cheaper than ala carte but which were way below standard.

We had a cold dish platter to start the meal, which was pretty tasty. Don't forget the chilli sauce if you are at Pu Tien. The chilli sauce is beyond amazing!

The chicken had a deliciously crispy skin, but was unfortunately rather dry inside.

Fish maw soup!

I generally prefer my fish steamed, but this fried fish was not bad! Crispy with just the right amount of sauce.

I love the Garlic Prawns. Fresh prawns steamed with a generous amount of garlic and sauce. It was so light and tasty!

The highlight was definitely the Pu Tien Lor Mee (Braised Noodles). Noodles in a thick broth with lots of fresh clams inside. We make it a point to order the Lor Mee every time we visit Pu Tien.

Desserts to complete the meal.

Pu Tien is a great place for family dinners, especially if you have family members who are fond of Chinese food. It was great for us to sit down at the end of the week and enjoy a good meal together as a family. I cannot stress enough how important family time is to me, and it is truly enjoyable to be able to sit down together with everybody and actually chat and eat together. Sure, we live in the same place, but I'm mostly asleep when I'm home or too tired on weekdays to engage in any meaningful conversations. 

Yay to more family dinners!

#02-205 Marina Square

Mon to Sun: 11:30 to 15:00, 17:30 to 22:00

63364068

Teck Kee Chicken Rice, Rail Mall

It was a rainy Saturday and we had just left IMM after browsing through the outlet shops there and deciding that there was indeed nothing much to see. The boyfriend suggested Rail Mall and I was curious about the place so he took me there for dinner. 

The Rail Mall is located beside the suspended railway tracks and consisted of a row of shop houses with eateries, cafes, restaurants, salons, supermarket, tuition centres, and pubs. It was an eccentric mix and the place was generally pretty empty on a Saturday night. A light rain fell while we made our way from the car park to The Rail Mall. 

We eventually settled for Teck Kee Chicken Rice because I felt like eating rice. 

We ordered chicken for 2 pax, omelette with minced meat, and vegetables with oyster sauce. The boyfriend suggested white chicken but I must have been distracted or something and I ended up ordering roast chicken. Sometimes this happens to me. What I perceive to hear might not be what I actually heard. It is as if my brain processes something entirely different from what my ears pick up. Oh well. 

The roast chicken was a little dry and not tender. Blame my ears. The white chicken is apparently more juicy and tender. 

Crunchy stalks of chye sim with tasty oyster sauce.

I really liked the Omelette with minced meat! Fluffy omelette with a generous serving of minced meat.

This was nice comfort food on a cold rainy night, with strong winds outside and a steady patter of rain. Thank you for bringing me here even though it was cold and dreary outside, even though it was a crazy distance from our homes, and even though you were not feeling well that night!

450 Upper Bukit Timah Road

Rail Mall

63141475

8:00 to 23:00

Thien Kee Steamboat Restaurant, Golden Mile Tower

It was pouring the day I was going to meet Tx and even though our original plan was to have a feast at Old Airport Food Centre, we realised that the rain meant that the seats outside would be wet and the limited seats inside would be crowded. So I proposed having steamboat instead since rainy weather is just perfect for having steamboat. Tx suggested Thien Kee at Golden Mile which I have heard about so we headed to Golden Mile after work.

I ended up at Golden Mile COMPLEX instead. Golden Mile Complex is the building with the awesome Thai supermarket, loads of thai restaurants, and mookata. I ventured into the basement and found nothing but Thai discos so I figured that I must be in the wrong place. Thien Kee is located in the basement of Golden Mile TOWER which is the building beside Golden Mile Complex. Just leave it to me to get lost at any possible moment.

Tx and Ben were familar with the menu so I left it in their good hands to order the food. We had Hainanese Chicken Rice as well as the Steamboat set.

The white chicken was tender and juicy. It went very well with the sour chicken rice chili.

My thanks to Ben for taking care of the cooking and serving while I chatted away with Tx. The steamboat food items were very fresh and the soup base was sweet and clear. I loved dipping all the food items into the sour chicken rice chili and throwing them into my mouth with a spoonful of fragrant chicken rice. Perfect!

This was the first time I had a meal with Tx and Ben since their wedding. There is something incredibly heartwarming about having a nice meal, a comfortable chat, and lots of good laughter with a good old friend and her soulmate. I am looking forward to visiting their new puppy!

It was a great night out with Tx and Ben, pigging out on hot soup, delicious good food, and sweet shaved ice for desserts. Looking forward to our next yummy meal and catch up session!

#B1-20 Golden Mile Tower
62935910
Daily 11:00 to 22:00

Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine, Chinatown, Smith Street

Say hello to another awesome zi char find! I love zi char because they are affordable, easily accessible, completely unpretentious, and often possess fantastic wok hei. I am especially fond of the Cantonese style of zi char because they serve delicious double-boiled soups! Slurps.

Anyway, the Chinatown Complex Market at Smith Street is truly a gem. They serve the best yam cake, the best ikan bilis yong tau foo (Xiu Ji Ikan Bilis Yong Tau Foo), the best clay pot rice (Lian He Ben Ji), and some of the best zi char ever. I grew up eating these yummy food and I used to come here rather often when I was younger. Back then, I still had time to follow my mum to People's Park and Chinatown to buy stuff. Nowadays I leave the shopping in her good hands even though I still tag along every now and then. 

My family wanted to try New Ubin Seafood tonight but we could not get a reservation for 6:30 pm. So we decided to make a trip to Chinatown for zi char. My mum recommended Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine so that was what we had. 

Chicken Feet and Peanut Soup. This is one power-pack soup. Thick and robust traditional double boiled soup which smelled great and tasted even better. 

Stir-fried chicken in salt. The wok hei in this dish is incredible. The chicken was well-fried on the outside yet extremely tender within. Very tasty dish.

I have no idea what this vegetable is called in English. We call this Yao Men in Cantonese (some pretty poor translation there). We had this vegetable fried with fermented bean curd and it was really yummy. Crunchy veggies in a delicious sauce. 

Sour plum boneless pork ribs. This was interesting - pork ribs coated with a tangy sweet and sour sauce. It was good but I would not rave about it.

Eggplant and fish stew in black pepper. This was wonderful. The fish and eggplant absorbed the delicious black pepper sauce and went very well with white rice.

Rice was free! We had a refill and it was also free! Fantastic. I know I sound really auntie but hey, who doesn't like free rice right? We paid a total of $40 for all the dishes. Such a good deal! Even the substandard zi char near my place costs more than this and the food is not even comparable. This is a really good zi char for the price we paid. 

The Chinatown Complex is pretty big so take your time to walk around and see if anything catches your eye. If nothing catches your eye, drop by Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine. Or if the queue at Lian He Ben Ji Clay Pot Rice is too frightening, drop by Macau Fong Cheng Cuisine. 

Update: October 2015 - No more free rice refill when I went back recently. While it was a nice gesture to have free rice refill, I don't really mind so much that they are now charging for rice (everybody is). Plus standard of the dishes was still very good!

Blk 335 Smith Street

#02-211 Chinatown Complex Market