Crab Story

How many ways of cooking a crab do you know? For most restaurants or coffee shops I know, it is normally about three to five ways. So it is going to be impossible to find one place that can cook your crab in say 10 ways, right? WRONG!!!



When I had my dinner here on Tuesday night, it was not so crowded, and I choose a smaller table right in front of the store, it so happen to be right in front of this light box which displays all the type of crabs they are offering. I came here quite often and never really realize they actually offer 16 types of crab dishes. If you are a crab lover, it is going to be tough on your pocket.

So far, I have only tried the Chilli, Black Pepper and Tang Hoon crab since it is the most common type of crab you can order anywhere without looking into the menu. But I will come back for more, some of them(the crabs) just look irresistible.

Sinful Enjoyment

My wife and I went for a walk at IMM few days back. We were feeling hungry when we happen to pass by this “Tea Room” selling Hong Kong food, which have a display menu showing something interesting, the price is reasonable too. The place looks quite popular as there were only few empty seats left. We decide our pick and my wife quickly take up a seat while I went on to queue ordered a ginger steamed egg, oyster beef with egg and HK crispy chicken with mushroom.

I collected my drinks and steam egg from the counter, then make my way to my table and wait for the main dishes to arrive. The steam egg was very smooth and soft, I can smell the fragrance of ginger as I put it in my month. Interestingly, this delicious dessert does not appear in the menu.





I took the beef rice while my wife had the chicken rice. Not only the rice was done in a different way but they also use different ingredients from what we have in our local food court. For example, the chicken rice was covered with molten cheese, and my wife described the rice as sinful. I didn’t understand the description till I tried the rice, it taste good in my month but at the same time, I started feeling very sinful as the molten cheese make its way through my throat.



The dishes also come with a soup as a set, which have included tremella(白木耳), red date(红枣), and papaya(木瓜). Well, whatever, it is really an enjoyment! I’ll be back, 湾仔香港奶茶店!

Have FUN At The FAIR

I have been quite busy lately, and I was neglecting my children. I can feel it by their responsiveness when I talk to them. But I didn’t know what to do, it is men’s weakness, we are made to be less sensitive and reactive to such situation. Luckily my wife have the solution (she’s the patch to my weakness), she suggested a walk at the fun fair.

I can still remember the joy I have when my dad brought me to one, when I was much younger. That’s always one rule to follow, we are not allow to play any “dee kam” (game). His explanation was pretty simple, the game is the first step to the gambling world, so it is to prevent us from cultivating the risk taking habit in our life.

Now that I am a father, I too avoided most of the game unless with close guidance. But these days, the focuses of the fun fair are mostly on necessities and foods. This is the first time I actually tried the fried ice-cream (炸雪糕), price is on the high side in my opinion, but nevertheless, I got two for the two elder girls. The taste is rather interesting, the girls enjoy it anyway.



One store I wish to mentioned, I previously tried this one store selling Teochew meat puff (潮州香饼). As far as I know, it is the only one in singapore, maybe JB and Batam too. I like particularly the one with oyster, definitely worth chewing on.



Then, there were the fun rides, and my wife lures them into take up a new challenge, the Viking (海盗船). My two elder girls enjoy the ride but the youngest one was too afraid and has to drop out half way. But I am delighted that they have the ride, because I had my first Viking ride after the age of twenty. The evening has at least eased the tension I have build up in the pass few days, and I slept well that night.

Hey, Botak! Are You JONES?

This is one botak that changes the face of western food in coffee shop here, the introduction of restaurant standard dining in coffee shops, at affordable price.



Years back when I was younger, steak in coffee shop would mean two pieces of meat grilled to medium or well done, served with baked beans and coleslaw. And it never filled my stomach enough to last a soccer game.



Then, things are different here, the foods are served in good portion, with side dish and the right sauces. You can complain about your steak not been medium rare, you can eat half your serving and ask the waiter to pack it for you to take away, without getting that funny look, without question from them.



They have been around for a while, with a good reputation on their food and services. It is quite amusing to see a hawker stall with business volume capable of sustaining more than ten staffs. My dad was a hawker, I know how difficult it is to achieve that. Anyway, though they may not be serving the best food around, but I must say that it is more than value for money, and so far, I really enjoy the food.

Farewell Dinner

Had dinner at River City Restaurant last evening, another colleague is leaving again. The restaurant is located in Excelsior Hotel along Coleman Street, and it come under the umbrella of the Starling Group of Restaurants. Parking and transportation in this location is not an issue at all.





As there were more than fifteen of us, we go for the “Eat all you can” alaka buffet. The food was average, and I have no complain about the service. However, there are a few dishes that are worth the price tag. The restaurant was not very clouded for the evening, making the serving much faster than some Zhi Cha Stall in the hawker centre, and more comfortable too.

Indian Roti

I was dragging my feet home last evening, exhausted due to previous late night, then my wife release a bad news to me. Oh, it is not really a bad news, she has promised my girls a satay treat for supper. Well, a promise is a promise, anyway, I hate to disappointment my girls unless necessary.



Satay Club would be a good choice, it is a pity I don’t know where it moved to when Sembawang Shopping Centre is demolished. So the next on my list, only about fifty meters away from the Shopping Centre along Sembawang Road, D’Rubinah Restaurant, it is actually a coffee shop beside Mobil Station. Parking space in this area is limited, but driver have their way around.



I order only 20 sticks of Satay with one Naan, just enough to ease the crave for a family of five. The Satay stall hides at the back of the shop, which is the end of the alley, but the taste is good and the meat is tender as compared to many others. The Naan here is cooked in a Tandoor, and it comes in a few flavors, garlic, cheese, honey, etc. They also sell roti prata too. For taste above average with good variety of Indian and Malay food, this is the place.

猪, 我来了!

Lunch on Saturday is never an easy decision for me, there are simple too much good food around this vicinity. But since my colleagues have been talking about Bak Kut Teh for the last few days, we somehow did not give much thought about other food. This is one store I have not visit for a while, nothing wrong with the taste but rather the availability of choice we have, Eng Kee Bak Kut Teh (永记肉骨茶). The store is situated at Ang Mo Kio Street 32, Block 341, parking is a breeze in this area.



We practically order every single dish on the manual except the tea, these include the pork rib (肉骨), trotter (猪脚), intestines (粉肠), liver (猪肝), deep-fried breadstick (油条) and Stewed vegetables (菜尾). The trotter is one of the best I have tried so far, the tendons is soft enough to give you the "melt in the mouth" feeling and yet the meat is still tender at the same time, very good balance that very few hawker store could achieve. This time round, I also get to try the intestines, which was out of stock during my last three visits. My only disappointment would be the liver which is not rare enough. I have also notice that the price have went up too.

Durian Marathon

Our plan last week to invade a durian store this Friday meet a little hurdle, a few of us could not make it. But the crave for the king of fruit is just unbearable, so we decided to bring forward the adventure.



We decide on 717 at Yio Chu Kang Road to have our dinner last night.



It was crazy, I couldn’t believe that five big guys actually have problem finishing just six durians until I foot my bill. The durians weight more than 2 kg each, my goodness! We also take away some durian puffs from 727 to treat our fellow colleagues which did not join us.



And how can I forget my family, I brought two durians back. My youngest girl was so delighted and dragged me to take a photo of her with the durians.

Chinese Fast Food

Had my lunch at Shunfu Hawker Center today. We walk all the way into the hawker center and stop right in front of this store, Lai Heng Fried Kuay Teow.



We were there just before the crowd arrives. We made our order and the old lady speaks into a microphone like what they do in Burger King. We then proceed to about three tables away from the store. And there comes the surprise, the old lady is standing right behind us hold two plates of fried kuay teow as we were sitting down.

At $3 per plate, it certainly taste much better than many others, the cockles were of good size and they are fresh. All five of us emptied our plates.



But this is not good, I am spoiling myself, after last night's big feast. To make things worse, I still have to accompanying my wife’s friend from Hong Kong to try some nice food tonight. I will have to lighten my diet next week.