Tuk Tuk Cha - my favourite Thai milk tea!

Been mad busy with some stuff on the personal side of the house recently so I haven't found the time and energy to blog much. In fact, I am finding it so hard just to post my ultra backdated draft posts these days. Omg need to get my act together.

Anyway so i tried Soi 55 which was so good the first time I tasted it that I convinced myself that it was worth the walk from the office to Golden Shoe for a second cup a few weeks later only to be sorely disappointed. Discovered Tuk Tuk Cha one evening at Suntec City with the boyfriend and we ordered a cup of iced thai milk tea to try. We were instantly hooked! Thick, fragrant milk tea which was not cloyingly sweet and it reminded me of the happy days in Bangkok :):) 

I was afraid it would turn out to be just like Soi 55, an amazing first encounter and a pathetic second so I decided to return another night for yet more thai milk tea. This time I chose to have the hot thai milk tea. The hot drink was certainly thicker, stronger and more fragrant than the iced version, which made it such a perfect perk-me-up. Unfortunately, I had the drink mere hours before bedtime which meant I spent a large part of my night tossing and turning. 

3 Temasek Boulevard Suntec City Tower 3

#02-605A

It's like a small shop in the middle of the pathway, facing a winter wear shop. 

Spicy Thai Thai Cafe, Aljunied

Met up with Jy and Stef for dinner and a long overdue catch up session. We wanted a place convenient for all of us and Aljunied turned out to be a good location. Jy ran a google search and found Spicy Thai Thai Cafe so we decided to make a trip here. It was roughly a 15 minute walk from Paya Lebar MRT Station and I was so famished by the time I reached. Thankfully Jy and Stef had placed our orders so I could just sit down and wait for the food to arrive.

Spicy Thai Thai Cafe is situated at the ground floor of a HDB block, beside Geylang East Swimming Complex. I liked the fact that it was quiet, not crowded, and spacious. We sat outdoors in the cooling night and dug into our delicious Thai food.

First up was the Papaya Salad. Crunchy papaya strips with peanuts in a light spicy sauce. This was really refreshing and appetizing!

Tom Yum Soup was sour and spicy with a generous serving of seafood. I like my tom yum soup thick and robust and this definitely nailed it. 

Olive Fried Rice with well-defined grains of rice. This was fragrant, tasty, and packed with wok hei.

Basil Chicken. It was pretty good and homely, like a dish your mum would cook at home.

The Green Curry was extremely... green. We could not find another word to describe it other than being really green. The curry tasted decent and there were chunks of tender chicken inside.

Oh the barbecued honey chicken wings were fantastic! I am a huge fan of barbecued chicken wings and the ones at Spicy Thai Thai Cafe were fabulous! Crispy skin, juicy meat, fresh chicken wings. What more could I ask for in my barbecued chicken wings?

If you live in the east and would like to have Thai food in a cozy unpretentious eatery, head over to Spicy Thai Thai Cafe. We came on a weekday night and it was relatively empty so I am guessing that a reservation is unnecessary. But if you hope to secure a table, no harm calling in advance!

115 Aljunied Ave 2

#01-35

Daily 11:00 - midnight

67478558

Diandin Leluk, Golden Mile

We wanted to have Thai food and my friends suggested Diandin Leluk at Golden Mile after some research. There were many food blogs that strongly recommended Diandin Leluk so we decided to head over after work for some authentic Thai food.

One of my friends was intending to have a feast so we ordered way too much. Frankly, I did not think we were going to be able to finish everything we ordered when I heard the list and sure enough, we failed to do so.

Fried vegetables were very average and normal, nothing to write home about.

The pineapple fried rice was not bad. However, there weren't much ingredients inside despite the sliced prawns sitting on top. We were mostly eating plain yellow rice.

The phad thai was pretty tasty and sweet, but sadly, it was also way too wet. I do prefer the phad thai to the pineapple fried rice though.

The clear tomyam soup was very spicy, but sadly not too fragrant. The pot was filled with seafood though and it was a very hearty pot of tomyum soup. Sadly, not the best tomyum I've tried before.

The oyster egg was not too good. The egg was not crisp and turned out really lumpy. The egg was also really bland and tasteless.

The steamed fish was one of the better dishes. The fish was soft, fresh and absorbed the sauce nicely. The sauce was slightly lemony and spicy and went very well with the steamed fish.

Some desserts to wrap up the meal at Diandin Leluk. We had Red Ruby and Luk Chup, both of which were pretty average.

I would not recommend this place to anyone. You could get much better Thai food at Ah Loy Thai for the same reasonable price.

#01-67/68/69 Golden Mile Complex 5001 Beach Road

Folks Collective, China Square

I was completely out of action for close to two weeks. Came down with what I thought was food poisoning two weeks ago but the slight fever persisted and refused to go away. Over the weekend, the situation deteriorated and by Sunday I was running a high fever and couldn't keep my food down. Paid a fateful visit to the hospital but it was another five more days before my fever subsided. So I was having a fever for almost two weeks! Incredibly scary. Took a long while to recover as well and it was another week before I could start eating more solid food. Even now my appetite is probably half of what it once was. 

Last friday I was feeling much better so I went to meet some friends for dinner. Folks Collective at China Square was suggested. It had been a year since I left work in the CBD area and to be frank, I've never looked back since. It's been long since I had dinner in the area too so I agreed and took the short stroll from my office to China Square.

Folks Collective is more accurately described as being along Nankin Row. If you are following Google Maps, you run the risk of ending up around the corner instead. So just remember to locate Nankin Row and Folks Collective is somewhere down the row of restaurants.

The deco at Folks Collective is very quaint and does not feel like a place which serves thai cuisine. It looks more like a gastrobar or a cafe than a thai restaurant. Just look at that cute red vespa and eye-catching posters all around the restaurant. It just screams a totally different vibe and not one you would associate with thai food.

The chicken wings were awesome. Well-fried, juicy and delicious.

The Chicken Green Curry was all right. Tasted like any other average green curry. The egg plant was a little too hard for my liking though. I'm used to having slightly mushy egg plants in my green curry.

The awesome phad thai. This one was good. It was not too sweet, with just the right amount of sauce and the noodles were springy and chewy.

Sambal Kang Kong which was pretty ordinary. I mean, how different can a plate of Kang Kong be, right? The bomb lies in that small plate at the back - Sun dried pork. It was marvelous! It tasted like lean pork cracklings! It was crispy, chewy, not oily and not fatty at all. It tasted more like a snack than a main dish and I can totally imagine myself chewing on the sun-dried pork happily in front of my favourite Running Men.

We ordered tom yum soup too and took the clear version because our tummies don't really agree with the coconut milk. Folks Collective was generous with the ingredients and there was a huge serving of mushrooms and seafood in the soup. I'm particularly fond of mushrooms in tom yum soup. I love how the tom yum soup explodes in your mouth when you chew on a juicy slice of mushroom.

This is an awesome place to drop by for dinner if you work in the area. It is especially attractive as a dinner location on Friday when everywhere else is mad crowded. We made a reservation for our dinner on Friday but I'm sure we would have been able to secure a table even if we had not. 

#01-25 China Square Central

Maekhong Thai Cuisine, Tanjong Katong Road

The last time I came by was about a year ago and I never got around to writing a review for that time. I can't remember why I neglected to do so but I highly suspect it had something to do with laziness. We were trying to decide on a place to eat and I suddenly thought of Maekhong Thai because the thai food was respectable and the prices were kind on the purse. And boy do I need to rein in my expenses on food. Every time I glance at my credit card bills, I will grimace helplessly at the amount of money I spend just on food. I hardly shop and all I do is EAT. 

So yes Maekhong Thai. It was a pretty hilarious night. The best friend forgot to alight at the bus stop and ended up on the expressway which took her all the way to Bugis instead. So she had to take the bus back to the Parkway area. As for me, I reached on time but I had a hard time trying to cross the street. I ended up taking a ten minute walk to the nearest traffic light to cross the road. 

I settled in and decided on the orders via whatsapp with her. We decided on a few dishes and I ordered once she told me she was in the area. Between the two of us we decided on Phad Thai, Pineapple Fried Rice, Tomyam Seafood Soup, and Fried Kangkong with Sambal. 

Phad Thai was not bad. Very sweet and smooth, not spicy, and with a generous amount of seafood. The seafood is really fresh and crunchy!

The tomyam soup was large! It came in a huge pot filled with various seafood like squid, prawns and fish and the tom yam soup was awesome! Sweet, sour and spicy all at once. I really like tom yam soup. It's definitely one of my favourite thai dishes.

Pineapple fried rice was average but I like it that they were very generous with the pineapple chunks added to the dish.

Maekhong Thai Cuisine is definitely not as awesome as Ah Loy Thai but it serves as a good place to have a casual after-work meal. It's satisfying, reasonably-priced, and not crowded so you can sit around for a nice chat after pigging out. 

266 Tanjong Katong Road

Mookata Thai Bbq, Katong

This place has been along the Katong stretch since as long as I remember, and I always recall walking by when I meet my friends for dinner in the area. We have always wanted to try Mookata but there was always some reason that we were unable to do so, mostly because I was having a sore throat or something along those lines. Ended work late last Friday night and met up with the boyfriend much later than usual. We were deliberating where to head to for dinner and I suggested Mookata Thai Bbq at Katong because I did not want to travel too far.

We parked at Odeon Katong as we couldn't find any parking nearer to Mookata and took a quick stroll over. Mookata is opposite the relatively new I12 Katong, a few doors away from Astons. Despite the late hour, there was still a queue in front of the shop but we decided to join the queue anyway. Mostly because we were so hungry, we weren't hungry anymore so we were pretty all right with a short wait.

While we were in the queue, the waitress handed us a sheet and a pencil and told us to tick what we wanted. This was our first time here so we were unsure what to expect so we simply selected what we wanted. We did end up choosing quite a few items though, more than enough for two. 

The place was warm and stuffy as the heat from the charcoal pot filled the shop. You could practically feel the oil in the air and everything was kind of oily, from the table to the chair. Mookata did fix an exhaust above each table so that the oil can be rapidly removed but it did not help too much I guess.

After waiting a long while, we were served. The charcoal pot had a metal grill in the center surrounded by a moat of clear soup. This arrangement is really interesting because the oil and essence from the grilled meat simply flowed into the soup below. This made the soup very tasty but also very oily towards the end. We ordered lots of mushrooms, vegetables, pork belly, chicken thigh, fish and streaky bacon. I would highly recommend the pork belly because it was so well marinated and tender. The chicken thigh was really good too, soft and juicy. Grilling food over charcoal is indeed different from the usual electric grill because the charcoal just makes the food taste so much better!

Service was a little slow but a lady came by and apologized profusely about the slow pace halfway through our meal. Apparently her managers were not working that day, so they were a little short handed and everything was moving slower. 

Mookata was not exactly the cheapest option and we spent more than $60 for our selection of food. The food was good though so I did not really mind. We left the shop feeling really oily and sticky though so if you do intend to try Mookata, make sure you are not heading somewhere else after your meal and go straight home to bathe. 

103 East Coast Road

Ah Loy Thai

I've been to Ah Loy Thai a lot of times with my friends because the food there is good and reasonably priced. To me, that is an awesome combination that few restaurants can achieve thus the long queue and squeezy sitting arrangement are all but a small price to pay.

Yesterday I brought my family here after work! We ordered a lot for 4 people but somehow I only managed to take a picture when 3 of the dishes were served and then I was so engrossed in the food, I forgot about everything else!

We ordered Fried Sweet Potato Leaves (Spicy) which on first sight did not look like it was fried with chilli at all. But you can definitely taste the chilli the minute you bite into those crunchy leaves. Fried Calamari with butter was next. I liked the tangy butter sauce drizzled on the fried calamari as it not only lends flavour to the dish but makes it not so dry. Of course we did the usual Tom Yam Seafood Soup which was terrific. I love the red kind of tom yam seafood. I popped by another Thai Restaurant previously and they served the white kind which somehow just didn't feel as satisfying. The Tom Yam Seafood Soup had its fair share of seafood, just enough for its price. 

The other dishes not shown in the picture because of my gluttony are Thai Fried Tofu and Thai Lemon Grass Steam Fish. The Thai Fried Tofu is normal but the Thai Lemon Grass Steam Fish was the bomb! I have a weird pet peeve in which I do not eat fish when I can see the head, the tail and the set of bones. I prefer fish slices and fillets. But the Lemon Grass Steam Fish here was so fresh and it was steamed in this lemon grass soup which was so fragrant, I cannot stop eating more. The lemon grass soup was light and tangy, very refreshing and there is a generous serving of vermicelli inside the dish. There's also the Pandan Chicken which was really juicy and well marinated. I love how the chunk of chicken has little bit of fats within to make it so much more chewy. 

After so many times here, I just found out that you could actually make reservations! Oh man, silly me. The reservation number is on the menu below and take your time to check out the menu too. Its an easy, fuss free menu with no pictures but so far the dishes always come out looking like what I had in mind!;)

The nearest MRT station to Ah Loy Thai is Bugis MRT. After alighting, walk through Bugis Junction and exit near the pet shop. Cross the road and walk further down and you would see Shaw Towers. If you are walking from that direction, simply enter through the doors beside the car park entrance of Shaw Towers and walk straight in. Ah Loy Thai is on your right.

For reservation: 91651543/93297599

100 Beach Road #01-39/40 Shaw Tower

100 Beach Road, #01-39/40 Shaw Tower,Singapore

Two Fat Men: good place away from the crowds

This is my second time at Two Fat Men and I'm so glad that it has remained a quaint chill out location in the East.

Two Fat Men is a bar/restaurant that serves good thai street food, western food (which I have not tried so far) and beers. It's dim indoors where you can watch sports on the huge television right above the doorway. I sat indoors for awhile but the dim lights and the ambience made me super sleepy so I agreed when my best friend suggested we switched to the outdoor seats. I must say it's much better sitting outdoors because the night was balmy and the breeze after the rain felt cool against our cheeks.

We ordered a bowl of Tom Yam Seafood Soup, a plate of Basil Chicken Fried Rice, a plate of stir fried kang kong with bean paste and a bowl of Chicken Green Curry. I love the Tom Yam Seafood Soup as it's sour and sufficiently spicy yet not so spicy that I have to extinguish the burning sensation with copious amounts of drinks. The Basil Chicken Fried Rice was very tasty and full of flavour. I'm often afraid that my fried rice will turn out drenched in oil but the Basil Chicken Rice at Two Fat Men was safely out of that category. The Stir Fried Kang Kong was good, but nothing fantastic to rave about. The Chicken Green Curry was nice but I felt that it was a tad too sweet. They were very generous with the chicken chunks inside the curry though!

(No pictures for this post because, guess what? My iphone died AGAIN.)

To get to Two Fat Men, you can drive and park somewhere along the road. Ambiguous, I know, but I didn't really check out parking in that area. I think my girl friend just parked illegally in one of the random small lanes around that area when we came by last time. Otheriwse you can take a bus and stop two stops after Katong Laksa, cross the overhead bridge and continue walking down for about 2 minutes. You would see Two Fat Men in one of the shophouses there!

376 East Coast Road, Singapore