Hup Seng Duck Rice

Hup Seng Duck Rice is my favourite stall when it comes to braised duck rice.The perfect balance of the oil, the fats and the dark sauce never fails to make me drool.

Popular coffeshops usually have one super stall that majority of patrons will order from. As the chinese saying, 一山不能藏二虎, having two super stalls in a single coffeeshop is a rare sight. Unless they complement each other. And complement they did. Lilian and I would always order a plate of Hup Seng braised duck to go with Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh. And we would usually order Hup Seng's duck porridge for Xavier. 

We love Hup Seng's braised duck as it is juicy and tender. One bite and you feel like you are in paradise, as the aroma oozes out from the meat. Like Lilian says, "很入味". The other popular dish is the Salted Veg Duck Soup. We are not a fan of the soup but we always see many patrons ordering it.

Blk 22 Sin Ming Road

Eng Ho Hup Coffeeshop, #01-258
Singapore 570022

Tel: 6454 3810

Shan Tou Shi Teochew Fish Head Seafood

Lilian loves streamboat. And ever since Johnson bought us to Fish Head Streamboat at Whampoa Market (one of the best we have eaten, but the >1 hour waiting time is also the "best"), we have been on a lookout for somewhere similar.

煮炒来咯 recommended Shan Tou Shi Teochew Fish Head Seafood in Hougang sometime ago but we have never eaten there despite passing by that coffeeshop a few times. Recently, while passing by yet again, the sight of the oyster omelette was so irresistible that I decided to call for a gathering on Veask Day just to try out the place. Let's just say I'm not impressed. The food was ok, average, not those that die die must try (like the Whampoa Market Fish Head Streamboat).



The Oyster Omelette was one of the better dishes. The oysters are fresh but the omelette is average, abit dry as if it was overcooked.



We ordered the Pomfret Streamboat and as I'm not a streamboat fan I can't really comment. But Lilian didn't think it was good. The soup base seems bland.

We also ordered other stuff like the prawn paste fried chicken, prawn springroll and porkchop. Nothing impressed. Just a normal Zi Char place to me.

Uncle Leong Seafood

Had these photos since Dec '09 and totally forgotten about them. Well it was a Saturday evening when my parents came over after buffet lunch. They were too full from the buffet that they didn't really want dinner. Hence I hatch the evil plan of asking them along for crabs, so that they can help look after Xavier while we satisfy our long awaited and very duly missed crab craving. Afterall, there is no way to bring Xavier along and enjoy crabs if its just the two of us.

Uncle Leong Seafood Restaurant is situated a coffeeshop below the HDB block. And in front of it is a very large carpark. Interestingly at the adjacent corner of the large carpark is another coffeeshop where Mellben Seafood is. I was told before that the owner of both restaurants are brothers but I am not sure if its true or not.

Anyway I have always rated Mellben to be better than Uncle Leong. The food is just better. But the wait is a lot longer and crazier. As we only wanted to satisfy crab craving, I decided on Uncle Leong as the queue was more sane. Afterall, you cannot be waiting for over 1 hour to have dinner when you have a baby with you. The baby will probably drive you nuts.

Ordered the Crab Beehoon, Chinese Spinach with Three Eggs (Century Egg, Salted Egg and Egg), and Wu Xiang. I can't recall how they individually taste but overall it was average, nothing to shout about. Maybe that's why I can't recall the taste as it was forgettable. :P

So would I go there again? Yes if I'm not picky on taste that day and just want to satify craving and not queue for long.

Uncle Leong Seafood

Blk 233 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3

#01-1194

S(560233)

Tel: 65543453

Soon Soon Huat Seafood Restaurant

Had a boys night out with Rick and Guoxian recently and I suggested we try out this place I saw on the TV program "煮炒来咯" featuring pig intestine on sizzling hotplate. We decided to order the three dishes featured on the TV program and add a vegetable dish and rice to complete our dinner.

First up was the vegetable, Sambal Kangkong. I find the taste pretty bland. I mean its spicy but without much flavour. I could hardly taste the shrimp paste.

Next up was the reason I suggested this place. Named "SSH Special Sizzling Hotplate Dish", its sambal pig intestine on hotplate. This dish is very unique as the usual pig intestine dish is the Kway Chap and you would hardly find pig intestine on hotplate. I was half expecting some intestine to have the black char on it but none of it was burned. The hotplate did well to keep the dishes warm throughout the whole dinner. The pig intestine is very Q and doesn't have any smell to it.

I would highly recommend this dish. Named "Royal Pork Ribs", its actually pork ribs over creamy butter sauce and curry leave. I love pork ribs to death and this is an exciting twist to the usual sweet and soar/coffee/mongolian style. The pork ribs are tender and the creamy butter sauce pair very well with the ribs. There isn't much fatty bits to it, which is good. I would come back to this place just for this dish.


The last dish is named "Dragon Ball", I think after the popular Japanese anime ドラゴンボール (七龙珠). There were exactly seven pices on the plate (yes we counted them). Fried yam balls that are crispy on the outside and oh so smooth and soft on the inside. And there is a piece of scallop in each ball. A must have for yam lovers.

Soon Soon Huat Seafood Restaurant
Blk 94 Henderson Road
Singapore 150094

Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh @ Sin Ming

It's been a long time since I blog something on food. I am reminded how torturing it is to do food blog. Imagine editing enlarged photo of yummy food to make them look even yummier, made worse by an empty stomach. Lilian was wondering why I stared at the following picture for so long.

You can't really blame me for staring, the braised pig trotter made me salivate just staring at the photo. The trotter meat is soft and tender and the skin is oh so tasty. If you prefer leaner meat, just let the stall know, but I recommend getting the fatty ones. Afterall, what's braised pig trotter without the yummy skin and that heavenly layer of fat below it.

And on to our main subject, Bak Kut Teh (肉骨茶). The Rong Chen Bak Kut Teh is clear soup based and you usually get one long pork rib and one short in each soup. I love Bak Kut Teh with long rib bone as it adds to the experience of holding it by the rib bone with one hand and ripping the meat off while I scope the rice with the other.

The pork ribs used has two layers of meat separated by a layer of fat. Somehow the meat I had that day was a little tougher than its usual standard. The soup is very fragrant and the mix of garlic and pepper seems just right. Sweet and spicy would be how I would describe it.

However, I do find when we replenish the soup, it doesn't taste as good as the first, usually more bland.

Special mention is the braised duck rice stall in the same coffeeshop. Will do a post on it when I next eat there, provided the insane queue is not too long. Apologises for missing out the photo on the stall. If you look at the block from the carpark, the coffeeshop and the stall will be on your extreme left.

Blk 22 Sin Ming Road
Eng Ho Hup Coffeeshop
Singapore 570022

Lau Zhong Zhong Wu Xiang Found!

My maiden attempt at blogging on food. Want to have something on record online so its easier for me to find in future.

Use to frequent the Wu Xiang stall at Jackson Centre until Jackson Centre was closed. Didn't know where they moved to till recently saw them being featured in Mediacorp's Where the Queue Starts 3. So to satisfy Lilian craving for good Wu Xiang, we decided to head down for an early dinner to avoid the crowd.
Located at a coffeeshop just adjacent from the closed Jackson Centre. Incidently, the coffeeshop and the stall both bear the same name, Lau Zhong Zhong (didn't notice the name of the stall when it was at Jackson Centre, just know it was good).

I love the chilli, I always ask for double chilli bowl. The wu xiang skin is very crispy and the abundent water chestnut within the filling give it a very crunchy feel. The other ingredients are also not too oily so you dun get the oily, bloated feeling after eating one too many.

At the same coffeeshop there is a noodle stall call Jackson Noodles Macpherson with many of those TV food show awards. As the Wu Xiang didn;t have bee hoon, Lilian was afraid we might not be full, so she ordered a Bah Chor Mee from the stall.
Verdict? "Taste pretty good and has heaps of ingredient." coming from Lilian. I'm just not a noodle person.

Tai Tong Crescent